Page:California Historical Society Quarterly vol 22.djvu/153



Sunday 19th Today we made a long drive we passed several springs some good some warm and salt our road lay along the valley near the Bluffs. Some of them high and nearly perpendicular forming numerous steeples and presenting some magnificent scenes on our left we could see the Lake and marsh for miles presenting the appearance of being covered with snow the salt crust being verry white we arrived at Bear river at 4 oclock steep banks on either side but with pack mules there is no difficulty in going down as up compared with waggons we camped after crossing on the banks of the river good grass here one of our men shot several wild geese and ducks near our camp which makes us a good meal distance 32 miles

Monday 20" Today we were off in good season three miles from camp we crossed a small stream of poor water called Malad Creek today our road passed along north of the Lake today about a west course after leaving the creek six miles brought us to a warm spring on the side hill here we filled our tanks expecting to have a long drive to good water we were not disappointed the sun was hot in the extreme the roads dusty a kind of powder which would rise in clouds enough to suffacate a person after twenty miles of such roads over some hills we came to a spring gushing out at a dozen places clear water men and animals rushed to it as if beside themselves and what a disappointment just warm enough to be sickish and salt! Oh! horrors. We had traveled far as the animals could bear and camp we must and make the best of it We boiled some for coffee which only made it the Salter We have suffered as much today for want of water as any day since we started our men are all well so we can stand it dis- tance traveled today 29 miles

Tuesday Aug 21st/ 49 Today we started with our throats dry and husky drinking so much warm salt water in hopes to find some good cold water we traveled four hours over a mountainous country and thank fortune we came to a spring in the moutains cold pure water this we considered a perfect God Send here we refreshed ourselves and animals for an hour and moved on to a creek of good water deep but narrow we passed down the creek five miles and camped good grass here we found letters papers and sermons of an Episcopal Clergyman by name of Yeager who formerly preached in Boston the writings of many hours scattered to the wind we supposed he had died back on the road his journal we found kept up to the South pass the last of it showed rather a depressed spirit, poor fellow he like many who started to improve their helth on this trip have found a grave on these plains. We met today a party returning to the city of Mormons We could not learn much about them but supposed they were a party of gold diggers as we learned they expected some home soon distance traveled today 28 miles

Wednesday Aug 22 This morning our road for twelve miles was across a