Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/173

 water stands in pools but is clear and tolerably good. There is plenty of grass up the stream nearby. The great American Falls [Twin Falls], are about two miles north of this place, but I was too busy to visit them. They are said to be 700 feet of perpendicular descent. They sounded like a continuous roar of distant thunder. We have about fifty wagons here tonight. Here we herded our cattle without grass this night, on account of the Indians.

July 25.—This morning we drove up the creek one mile and let our cattle graze. After we had let them eat until they were satisfied, we drove eight miles to Rock creek and down the creek one mile and camped. The country here is extremely barren, not even sage.

July 26.—Our road today led down the creek. Eight miles brought us to the crossing; here we descend a very rough, stony, but short pitch, to a bottom about ten rods wide, covered with coarse grass. Here we nooned. Our road has been very rough so far this day. We traveled seven miles of much better road this afternoon and camped on the little creek bluff, where we drove our cattle down a long, steep hill to the creek bottom. Here is a very dry, windy, disagreeable place to camp, which appears to have the same influence on many of our company, whose passions occasionally get the better of their judgment.

July 27.—This day, fifteen miles over a dry, dusty plain brought us to where the road led down to the river. Here we could get water but no grass. Here we watered and rested a short time and traveled two miles farther down the river to Warm Spring branch. Here camped late with but poor accommodations. The water was poor, the grass little, coarse marsh grass, and to make the matter worse, we had a very cool, windy night, after a scorching hot day and bad roads. We had suffered considerably this day for want of water. In this region there are only