As it was agreed to start early, I went in company with some others to
fetch our cattle from some three miles up the river, where they had been
feeding. A snowstorm came on about daybreak and I had the full benefit
of it. I walked several miles in search of a couple of ponies that
belonged to the company and was at last compelled to return without
them. The face of the country there is nearly destitute of vegetation,
wild sage, greasewood and an occasional bunch of grass being the entire
product of the soil. We left Big Sandy at about eleven and a half A.
M. with the intention of traveling all night and reaching Green
River the next morning. We pushed on as fast as we could against a
strong wind and a blinding dust. A little before sundown we stopped an
hour for supper and to feed our cattle, having gone fifteen miles. This
over, we entered the night, and the most tedious part of our journey.
With the sun went down the wind and we hoped that an agreeable night
would follow such a boisterous day. But we were disappointed. A dark
cloud overcast the sky and soon a snowstorm came drifting in our faces,
and continued all night. At twelve o'clock we stopped to rest and feed
our cattle, and then pushed on till eight o'clock in the morning, when
we reached the Green River. The country between these streams is not so
barren as I was led to suppose. It is but little more so than much of
the ground we had passed over before, west of Fort Laramie. Green River
is about 1,000 feet lower than Big Sandy. Upon this stretch of forty
miles there is not a drop of water, and this is the reason why it is so
barren. Our cattle stood the drive very well. In the morning the sun
shone out clear and warm and the thin mantle of snow soon disappeared
beneath his beams. Distance, forty-six miles.