Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 2.djvu/169

 carry. This evening a thunder gust passed over us with a little rain, then cleared off, but did not stay clear till daylight.

"July 17.—Quite cloudy and cool. We are preparing for an early start and hope we shall have a fine day for traveling. It has been cool and pleasant, and we have made a good day's travel, and are now camped on the bank of the South Fork of the Platte. This has been a day of events. Wolves, antelopes, and buffalo during the day. In the afternoon a herd of buffalo were seen in the forks between the south and north branches. Hunters went over and gave them a start, which brought them over near where we were, when our boys with guns soon brought down three or four. The scene was so interesting that some of our women actually joined ip. the chase. This evening a thunder gust came over, but did not rain very much."

The ford of the South Platte was now reached, and Saunder's company crossed on the eighteenth. We followed on the nineteenth. The ford was four or five miles from the junction of the two branches. The bottom of the river was a moving mass of sand, and the wheels of the wagons, hauled by the oxen, sunk in this so quickly that they rattled and shook as though passing over rough rounded bowlders. To stop in the stream was for the wagon to begin to sink immediately, and to halt half a minute was exceedingly dangerous. The depth of water was nearly two and a half feet where we crossed. The writer crossed and recrossed six times, the last time to bring over a bull team which drew a