The morning fine and very pleasant. At seven o'clock the President
called the captains of tens to his wagons and gave them a pretty severe
lecture. He referred to some who had left meat on the ground and would
not use it because it was not hind quarter. Some would murmur because
a fore quarter of meat was alloted to them, etc., which is not right,
for God has given us a commandment that we should not waste meat, nor
take life unless it is needful, but he can see a disposition in this
camp to slaughter everything before them, yea if all the buffalo and
game there is on our route were brought together to the camp, there are
some who would never cease until they had destroyed the whole. Some men
will shoot as much as thirty times at a rabbit if they did not kill it,
and are continually wasting their ammunition, but when they have used
all they have got, they may have the pleasure of carrying their empty
guns to the mountains and back, for he will not furnish them. We have
now meat enough to last some time if we will take proper care of it. As
to the horsemen, there are none with the exception of Brothers Kimball,
Woodruff and Benson, that ever take the trouble to look out a good road
for the wagons but all they seem to care about is to wait till their
breakfast is cooked for them, and when they have eaten it, they mount
their horses and scatter away, and if an antelope comes across the
track, the whole of us must be stopped perhaps half an hour while they
try to creep up near enough to kill it, but when we come to a bad place
on the route, all the interest they have is to get across the best
they can and leave myself and one or two others to pick out a crossing
place and guide the camp all the time. Such things are not right, and
he wants them to cease and all take an interest in the welfare of the
camp, be united, and receive the meat as a blessing from God and not as
a stink offering from the devil. It is not necessary to preach to the
elders in this camp, they know what is right as well as he does, and he
will not preach to them all the time. Let the captains do the best they
know how and teach their men to do likewise. The meeting dispersed,
the meat was taken care of and at a quarter past eight we started out
again, and traveled three and a quarter miles nearly a west course
over a very hard prairie and good traveling and then arrived at a nice
stream, Rattlesnake creek, about twenty or twenty-five feet wide, a
foot or 18 inches deep and a very strong current. This stream must take
its rise some distance back in the bluffs or else is supplied from many
strong springs, for there is much water comes down it. We traveled on
from this near the bank of the river about a northwest course over
tolerably rough land till 11:10 and then stopped to feed having come
six and a half miles this morning, the weather very hot. Opposite the
stream last mentioned on the south side the river, are several pine
groves, or rather cedar groves. There is some little pine wood, such
as knots and dead branches that can be picked up on the banks of the
river. It has floated from above. This, with a little buffalo chips,
makes a good fire for cooking. Latitude noon 41° 3' 44". Rattlesnake
creek was so named from the following incident: President Young, as he
rode up to the banks of the creek discovered that his horse stepped
within a foot of a very large rattlesnake. He turned his horse away
without harming it. Soon afterward, one of the brethren came up on foot
and stepped within two feet and a half of it. It immediately coiled up
and sprang at him and would have struck him (as it sprang 2½ feet) had
he not jumped to one side. He took his rifle and shot the snake dead.
The head of Cedar Bluffs, as named by Fremont, is three miles west of
where we camped last night. At 1:05 p.m. we continued our journey.
Our route lay near the banks of the river which seems narrower here.
After traveling three and a half miles, we crossed a stream about six
feet wide, and three quarters of a mile farther another stream of
tolerably deep, clear water about five feet wide. This stream is very
crooked and seems to run from the bluffs to the river in a perfect
serpentine or zig zag direction. Soon after starting this afternoon, we
discovered some dog towns, the grass eaten perfectly bare all around.
The feed is growing worse again, evidently eaten up by the buffalo. At
noon, a heavy black cloud arose in the west and we had a little rain,
accompanied by lightning and distant thunder. After passing the last
mentioned creek about a mile, we had to change our course to nearly
northwest on account of a bend in the river. We traveled till 5:30
and formed our encampment on the west bank of a running stream about
eight feet wide and one foot deep which is five miles from the crooked
creek, making our afternoon's travel nine and a quarter miles and the
day's travel fifteen and three quarters. The bluffs and the river here
are about a quarter of a mile apart, the river very wide, feed poor,
plenty of float wood, pine and cedar, for fuel. The weather calm and
warm, though cloudy. After encampment was formed, went with Elder Orson
Pratt to Dr. Richards' wagon to enter into arrangements for making
a map of our route. The doctor wants me to do it, assisted by Elder
Pratt's observations. He handed me Fremont's map, and I retired to my
wagon to commence operations, but soon found that the map does not
agree with my scale nor Elder Pratt's calculations. I then proposed to
Elder Pratt to wait until we get through the journey and take all the
necessary data and then make a new one instead of making our route on
Fremont's. The subject is left here till morning. After supper I took
my candle and finished this day's journal. At dark Colonel Markham
called the camp together to tell the brethren their duty in regard
to traveling, guarding teams, and standing guard at nights. The old
laws of April 18th were talked over and additional by-laws added, but
not being present I did not hear them, neither can I learn anything
from those who were present, for they all say that there were so many
little matters touched upon, and so many resolutions passed that they
remembered only one--and that is, when any man goes out of the
sound of the horn to fetch in his team, and sees another man's horse
or mule or ox, a little beyond or near his, he shall drive it also to
camp, and if he neglect to do so, he shall be sent back to do it even
if it requires an escort to make him. About seven o'clock the wind
shifted around to the north and blew strong and cold.