Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 37.djvu/172

 were on Big Sandy Mr Davis married a grass widow from Poria County. Her fathers name was Collins. Davis and his wife went to work to get the property belonging to the estate into her own hands, (for Mr. Collins died on the Platt,) but the other members of the family found out what he was about, and raised such a fuss that he left them and us too, and I have seen nothing of him since though he did not leave us untill we had got some 150 miles down Snake River. We passed him however where we come on to Boysse River, but he was in his grave, having died some 3 or 4 days before. A great many died with the Cholera on the Snake, from Salmon Falls to this side of the river at Ft. Boyse and with the diarrhoea all the way to this place, and many of the emegrants have died since they have arived here. When I was in the states I could learn but little or nothing about this end of the road, but let me tell you Levi that the other end of the road is not to be compared with this, for in the first place, there is not one tenth part the feed for stock, not so much water, a thousand times more dusty and hilly, and dryer for we had but one little rain from Bear River Mountains to the Blue Mountains which gives our cattle the hollow horn, and hundreds of them die before any one knows there is any thing out of the way with them. The water from Bear River all the way with the exception of two places this side of Ft. Hall a few miles is very good, especially some hot springs on the road, which are hot enough, one is 196 degrees on the Malheur River, and others we passed that were scalding hot.

But we are here, in Portland, we came down the river because we were to late to cross the Cascades, many had tried it, but had to return, and the snow began to fall on the Blue Mountains while we were there. The rainy season has fairly commenced yet it is not so but that we can get about very well. The weather is warm, the grass is springing up and many things look like early spring in the States. Last evening I went into the market and saw radishes, and green Peas. I have not been able to get into any kind of business yet, tailoring is not worth anything, but a carpenter can get work enough at four or five