The morning very fine and pleasant though tolerably cold. I put up
a guide board at this place with the following inscriptions on it:
"From Winter Quarters 409 miles. From the junction of the North and
South Forks, 93¼ miles. From Cedar Bluffs, south side the river, 36½
miles. Ash Hollow, south side the river, 8 miles. Camp of Pioneers May
21, 1847. According to Fremont, this place is 132 miles from Laramie.
N. B. The bluffs opposite are named Castle Bluffs." At 7:35 we
continued our journey. We found the prairie tolerably wet, many ponds
of water standing which must have been caused by a heavy fall of
rain, much more heavy than we had back. However, it was not very bad
traveling. We made a pretty straight road this morning at about the
distance of a mile from the river. The bluffs on the north appear to
be five miles or over from our road. At 11:15 we halted for dinner,
having traveled nearly seven and three quarters miles, course north
of northwest, very warm and no wind. Presidents Young and Kimball
rode forward to pick the road, and near this place they saw a nest of
wolves, caught and killed two with sticks. Four or five others escaped
to their hole. At half past one we proceeded onward and found the
prairie wet, and grass high of last year's growth. After traveling four
and three quarters miles we arrived at a range of low bluffs projecting
to the river, which at this place bends to the north. There is,
however, bottom of about a rod wide between the bluffs and the river,
but as it is wet and soft, it was preferred to cross over the bluffs by
bending a little more to the north. We traveled on the bluffs a little
over a quarter of a mile and then turned on the bottom again. The
bluffs are low and almost as level as the bottom. After we crossed the
bluffs we found the road better. We saw about a mile this side of the
foot of the bluffs, a very large bone almost petrified into stone. Most
of the brethren believe it to be the shoulder bone of a mammoth, and is
very large indeed. About this time a badger was brought to the wagons
which Brother Woodruff had killed. As I was walking along and looking
over the river, I heard a rattlesnake, and looking down saw that I had
stepped within a foot of it. It rattled hard but seemed to make away.
We threw it away from the track without killing it. At five o'clock
Elder Kimball rode up and stopped the forward teams till the last ones
got nearer saying that some Indians had come down from the bluffs to
the brethren ahead. When the rest of the wagons came up we moved on a
quarter of a mile farther and at half past five formed our encampment
in a circle with the wagons close together as possible, having traveled
seven and three quarters miles this afternoon, making fifteen and a
half through the day. As the camp was forming the two Indians came
nearer, being a man and his squaw. They represented by signs that they
were Sioux and that a party of them are now on the bluffs north of us
and not far distant. By the aid of glasses we could see several on
the bluffs with their ponies, evidently watching our movements. This
man was hunting when first seen and appeared afraid when he saw the
brethren. The squaw fled for the bluffs as fast as her horse could go,
but by signs made to them they gathered courage and came up. President
Young gave orders not to bring them into camp, and they soon rode off
to the bluffs. The man has got a good cloth coat on and appears well
dressed. The horses they rode are said to be work horses which makes
us suspect they have stolen them from travelers. The day has been
very warm and some of the teams gave out. We can see some timber on
the bluffs on the other side of the river some miles ahead which is
the first timber we have seen for more than a week, except some small
cedar and the timber in Ash Hollow, all on the south side the river.
We are nearly a mile from water and the brethren have to dig wells to
obtain a supply for cooking. The feed here is very poor, not much but
old grass. Our course this afternoon has been a little north of west.
Lorenzo Young shot two very large ducks with one ball and brought them
to camp. Elder Kimball proposed tonight that I should leave a number of
pages for so much of his journal as I am behind in copying and start
from the present and keep it up daily. He furnished me a candle and I
wrote the journal of this day's travel by candle light in his journal,
leaving fifty-six pages blank. The evening was very fine and pleasant.
The latitude at noon halt 41° 24' 5".