THE DIARY OF SOPHIA LOIS GOODRIDGE

 

June 7, 1850 [Friday] We started from Kanesville [Iowa] at 1 :00 P.M. -rode 10 miles camped at Margreta Creek, a very beautiful shady spot. We heard the wolves howl in the night for the first time. Our horses were frightened.

June 8. Traveled 7 miles. We enjoyed ourselves very much at the last two places we camped. Had two violins in our ten; had some music and dancing. Good feed and water for the cattle. We stopped at this place until June 14.

June 14 [Friday]. Went 3 miles; camped at a place called Bethlehem. Had a pleasant time -some music and dancing.

June 18. We traveled 6 miles today; camped at a creek -good feed and water. Our company was organized today. Capt. Perry was chosen Captain over a hundred. Leonard W. Hardy Captain over the first fifty; brother Whipple over the second fifty. George Gardner Captain over ten. Our company all well.

June 19. Did not travel. Did our washing.

June 20. Still in camp. Did our ironing and picked some gooseberries on the banks of the creek.

June 21. Traveled 4 miles. Camped on the banks of a creek.

June 22. Went 4 miles. Crossed a creek.

June 23 [Sunday]. Traveled 4 miles. Raining.

June 24. Went 2 miles. Still raining. Camped by the side of a creek.

June 25. Crossed the creek this morning. Passed 5 graves. They died the 15th of June. They all had grave tablets made of wood rudely hewn, and the name engraved with a knife. A verse was written on the grave of M. Dona, which was very touching. We crossed three more creeks today without accident. Went ten miles and camped at Weeping Water Creek.

June 26. We traveled ten miles today. Passed three graves. No names on them. Came up with a Government Company. One man sick with cholera. Died and was buried in the forenoon. In the afternoon, passed three more graves, no names, died June 22nd. One of our company took sick with the cholera. Camped at Salt Creek.

June 27. Sister Green died of cholera this morning. Brother Blazerd taken sick. Crossed the creek and went on to the bluff and camped for the night. The first fifty caught up with us today. They are on the other side of the creek. One man sick with the cholera among them.

June 28. We started about noon and traveled six miles and camped on the open prairie without wood or water. Found water about one-half mile from camp. Passed the grave of a child.

June 29. Our company all in good spirits this morning and I feel grateful of my Heavenly Father for his kindness in preserving our lives and health this far and that he has preserved us from accidents and dangers of all kinds. We traveled eight miles and camped on the open prairie without wood or water, except what we brought with us. There is nothing to see but one boundless sea of grass, waving like the waves of the sea, and now and then a tree. We had a very heavy thundershower this morning.

June 30 [Sunday]. Jane Green died of cholera this morning. She was 18 years old. Our first fifty came up with us this morning. They had buried Brother Smith this morning. The rest of the camp all well. We went four miles and camped where there was wood and water. We killed a rattlesnake.

July 1 [Monday]. Joseph Green died this morning, age 19 months, making three out of one family that have died within five days. Came up with our first fifty. Found Brother Hall dead wih cholera. Our camp afflicted and distressed. We felt like humbling ourselves before the Lord and pray that he might turn from us the sickness and distress. We therefore met together, the speakers exhorting us to be diligent in our devotions and united. A vote was taken to that effect. They then called upon the Lord in prayer, that He would bless and preserve us on our journey to the valley. We then started on our journey rejoicing. We met the mail from the Valley. Brother Crosby and seven other missionaries on their way to England. We were very glad to see them. They brought cheering news from Salt Lake which caused us to rejoice. We traveled six miles and camped on the prairie.

July 2. Very warm and pleasant. We traveled 16 miles -all level plain.

July 3. We traveled about 15 miles; camped on the bluffs on the north side of the Platte River. Plenty of wood and water. Our first fifty camped about a mile from us. Samuel Hardy buried his youngest child today.

July 4. Stopped to wash. Lucy Johnson took sick this afternoon and died at 12 o'clock.

July 5. Went 12 miles. Stopped at Clear Creek.

July 6. Traveled 16 miles.

July 7. [Sunday]. Camped for the day. Sister Snow died this morning, making five that have died in our division since we started.

July 8. We traveled 16 miles and camped on the Platte River. Good camping grounds -our two companies together -all well.

July 9. Had a heavy thunderstorm last night. This morning cool and cloudy. Brother Woodruff baptised 12 persons -Father, Mary Jane, and George among the number. We traveled 17 miles and camped on the Platte River.

July 10. Cool and pleasant. We traveled 15 miles. Camped on the bank of the Platte River. Heavy showers.

July 11. Heavy showers. Very warm and sultry. Sister Huntington, of the first division, died of fever. The road was very wet and hard to travel. We went 10 miles and camped on the Platte.

July 12. Had a heavy rain last night. The river rose two feet. One horse drowned. Traveled about 10 miles and camped on the open plain. Heavy thundershowers. The cattle wandered away -found them all again.

July 13. Weather cool and clear. Went 10 miles. Camped on the Platte.

July 14. Sunday. Camped for the day. Both divisions camped together. Held a meeting in the afternoon. Brothers Whipple, Hardy, and Woodruff were the speakers. We felt very much encouraged by what was said.

July 15. We traveled seven miles. Came to Fort Childs, formerly Fort Carney. A thundershower came up and William Ridge was struck by lightning and instantly killed. Three of his cattle were killed at the same time, and one of his children slightly injured. A number of people felt the shock. We went two miles farther and camped.

July 16. A child of Mr. Burns died of cholera this morning. The weather is clear and cool. Very muddy. Traveled about eight miles and camped on the prairie. Used buffalo chips for fuel.

July 17. Traveled 14 miles. Saw an Antelope. Did not kill any.

July 18. Went 18 miles and camped on Plum Creek. We passed a number of groves of trees. We saw some animals, probably buffalos. Weather good. The roads good. The camp in good health.

July 19. This morning clear and beautiful. We traveled 16 miles and camped on the open plain without wood or water.

July 20. Traveled 14 miles. The weather cloudy. Brother Emmet killed an Antelope. It was distributed among the camp. We found it very good eating. We camped on the bank of the river -a beautiful place. The bluffs begin to look higher and more rough and rugged.

July 21. Sunday. We did not travel today according to council. We held meetings in the forenoon and afternoon and received some excellent instructions which cheered us on our journey.

July 22. We started this morning in good spirits. David Cook shot a sage hen. We saw some antelope and some wolves. Did not kill any. We passed Brother Woodruff's company about noon. Brother Petty was sick -had buried one of his children the day before. We traveled about 16 miles. Camped on the Platte. Grand place for bathing. Brother Woodruff's company caught up with us tonight.

July 23. Traveled 14 miles and camped near the Platte river. Brother Emmet killed an antelope. We had a steak from it -very good. Brother Woodruff's company camped with us tonight.

July 24. We laid over today to do some repairing.

July 25. We traveled about eight miles and camped. We passed near a number of herds of buffalo. Our division killed one and brought it into camp. The first division killed two. The feed for cattle scarcer. We saw quite a number of buffalo dead on the ground. We made a rule not to kill more than we needed to eat.

July 26. It is very warm today. We traveled about eight miles and camped on the Platte South Fork. Our folks killed a buffalo and brought it into camp.

July 27. Cloudy. Saw two big white wolves. Passed a number of herds of buffalo. Went about four miles and camped. Our wagon wheels were very musical. We had to stop and burn coal. Our men cut wood and started a coal pit in the afternoon. Part of our company stopped at the last camping on account of the excellent hunting. There was no wood there but cedar which they thought would not make as good coal as the willow. We found this place grand for wood and water. It is situated on the South Fork of the Platte River. There is quite a large island covered with groves of cottonwood and willow and excellent feed for our cattle.

July 28. Sunday. Did not travel. Had a meeting in the forenoon. Had a heavy shower which we needed very much. It tightened our wagon wheels and saved our men the trouble of taking off the tires and resetting them. Brother Woodruff is sick today -worn out with fatigue and care.

July 29. Traveled about 17 miles and came near a small creek about two miles from the Platte. Saw a herd of buffalo.

July 30. We traveled about 10 miles when a stampede started in the first division. There were three wagons smashed. It was caused by a runaway horse. The first division stopped to fix up their wagons. A number of wagon tongues were broken. Brother Woodruff's beautiful buggy horse had his leg broken. The buffalo bellowed all night and we expected they would be down among us before morning but fortunately they kept back among the bluffs. Their bellowing sounded like distant thunder. Brother Leonard Hardy is quite sick with cholera.

July 31 [?] and came to the crossing of the South Fork of the Platte River. Our wagons all crossed in safety before dark. Camped on the bank of the river: It is about ¼ mile wide.

Aug. 1 [Thursday]. We ascended the bluffs this morning and came upon an extensive plain or rolling prairie. Had some very steep bluffs to descend. It seemed impossible for such heavy loaded teams to descend. in safety, but we all reached Ash Hollow in safety. We traveled 18 miles and camped on the North Fork of the Platte.

Aug. 2. We washed today. Ash Hollow is a beautiful place. Bluffs on both sides of the Hollow which appears to have been the bed of a river once, which opens onto the North Fork of the Platte. Brother Woodruff's company joined us tonight with the exception of six wagons which were left, two broken down, and it became too dark to drive down the steep hills. Brother Hardy's health very poor.

Aug. 3. Remained in Ash Hollow to fix. up our wagons.

Aug. 4. Sunday. Had a meeting this afternoon. Brother Woodruff made a proposition -that he stop with his ten baggage wagons and let the first and second divisions, or as many as wished, go on ahead. He felt he had so much care on his shoulders. Brother Whipple said he would take the burden of the ten baggage wagons on “his” shoulders. Brother Gardner, the blacksmith, worked all day and had a number of men to help him repair the wagons, but did not get all done.

Aug. 5. Brother Hardy is better this morning and started out with 16 of his division to go ahead, Brother Whipple started with part of his division and went four miles in search of feed for our cattle which was very scarce. The land on the north side of the river is prairie, while on the south side is high towering bluffs which look like fortifications in many places.

Aug. 6. Brother Hardy started off this morning feeling very much better. Mr. Wallace saw a bear. He was asleep. He did not disturb him.

Aug. 7. Brother Woodruff came up with -us this forenoon. He had a meeting this afternoon. Had a new organization -Brothers Whipple, Gardner, Goodridge, and Rawson were transferred into Brother Woodruff's division making 24 wagons in that division. Brother Moffet was chosen Captain of the remaining 20 wagons.

Aug. 8. Very warm. Started out about 8 o'clock, the second division taking the lead. We had a very hard road today -sandy and steep hills to climb. We traveled about 12 miles and camped on the Platte River. Feed rather short.

Aug. 9. Had heavy showers last night -very sharp lightning and loud thunder. The wolves killed a calf belonging to Brother Whipple. We traveled about 15 miles. Camped on the bank of the Platte.

Aug. 10. Saw some antelope this morning and some wolves. We traveled about 15 miles and camped on the Platte. Found good feed.

Aug. 11. Sunday. We did not travel. Held a meeting this afternoon. We had an excellent discourse by Brother Whipple on the difference between Jews and the Gentiles. Brother Woodruff and Gardner gave us excellent instructions. This evening we saw the prairie on fire.

Aug. 12. We started on our Journey at 4 o'clock. All well. We passed a high bluff called the Exchange on account of its resemblance to a large building. Passed Clear Creek, a small stream of very clear water. It comes from the bluffs and flows into the Platte River. We traveled 18 miles. Had very good roads. We met some Government trains from Fort Larimie. They said our first division was about 15 miles ahead of us. Killed two rattlesnakes.

Aug. 13. Started about 8 o'clock. Traveled 16 miles. Camped about 3 o'clock on the Platte. A heavy rain started just before we stopped. We passed Chimney Rock. This is a notable curiosity. It is 834 yards around the base and 200 feet high. The main shaft 100 feet in diameter. It appears to be formed of clay and sand of two colors -gray and white. It also has the appearance of cement between the two columns. It is supposed by some to be the work of the Nephites.

Aug. 14. It is a clear beautiful morning. We made an early start and went about 19 miles. We saw some Indians for the first time since we started. Their wigwams were spread along the road. They were Sioux. They looked very neat and clean for Indians. The men came out on horses to look at us. The Squaws with their papooses stood along the road and tried to sell us some moccasins. One of the men wanted to trade a horse for a white woman. We passed Scotts Bluff on the right. We leave the river here and strike into the bluffs. We found chokeberries and wild plums not quite ripe. We camped on the open prairie. There is a beautiful cold spring here.

Aug. 15. We did not start until late this morning. We had a long meeting to settle some little difficulties between some members of the company, not worth mentioning. We crossed Horse Creek and camped about half a mile farther on. This creek is several rods wide, about a foot deep and very muddy. The water after standing awhile, becomes perfectly clear and very good to drink. A very heavy shower came up just after we camped. We traveled 12 miles.

Aug. 16. We started at 7 o'clock and traveled 15 miles, over rolling prairies and sandy bluffs, and camped on the Platte River.

Aug. 17. We traveled about 10 miles. We passed by a good many traders and Indians. Some of them had the small pox. The feed is very poor.

Aug. 18. Sunday. On account of the feed being so poor, we thought it best to travel. Went about 12 miles. Passed Fort Laramie. We camped on the Platte. We found Captain Hardy's train about ¼ mile from us. We had not seen them for two weeks. They were all well. Mrs. Bird had a still born child Saturday morning.

Aug. 19. Cold and stormy all day. Did not travel.

Aug. 20. We traveled about 2½ miles. The feed was so good we thought it best to let our animals feed up and rest. A company of “Shian” Indians came along in the afternoon and camped beside us. They had been out on a buffalo hunt and were returning to Fort Laramie to sell their skins. They looked very neat for Indians. They came down to see us and were very friendly. We traded some with them. Brother Woodruff lost an ax last night. He had to go back to the Fort for more, which delayed us some.

Aug. 21. We started about 2 P.M. and traveled about 4 miles. We had a very bad hill to go down. Brother Woodruff's carriage horse became frightened and ran away. Phebia Foss was in the carriage but jumped out. The horse ran until he got tangled up in the brush but there was no damage done. We camped on the Platte.

Aug. 22. Started early, traveled about 21 miles over a very uneven road. We passed through a band of “Shian” Indians. They were camped on the bank of a beautiful clear creek. There were several hundred of them. We crossed another creek and camped.

Aug. 23. We started early and traveled 25 miles. We crossed three creeks. One of them was about 3 rods wide and a foot and a half deep. The roads very uneven -dangerous in some plaes and in others nice and smooth. Camped on the Platte. Cool and pleasant. There were some buffalo on the bank where we camped.

Aug. 24. We are in the midst of the Black Hills. They look black at a distance but when you get near them, they are green and covered with stragling pines. We traveled 8½ miles and camped for the day. We met Brothers Stratton and Hanks from Salt Lake. They had been sent out to meet us and cheer us on our way. They brought us some potatoes which tasted so good. They will tell us where to find good camping places. We held a meeting in the afternoon. Brother Stratton read a letter from Pres. Brigham Young. It was truly cheering to hear from our friends in the valley and know that they had not forgotten us. It caused us to rejoice and feel like starting anew on our journey. We camped on the Platte.

Aug. 25 [Sunday]. We took a vote last night to travel today on account of the delay we had the forepart of the week. We traveled 19½ miles Labont Crossing. This is a beautiful river about 2 rods wide and a foot deep -clear and cool. The road was rough. Our first and second division left this place this morning. Brother Hardy lost an ox and his horses were giving out. We found some cherries. Camped on the Labont River.

Aug. 26. We traveled 18 miles. Came up with our two first divisions. They were all well but Brother Hardy, who is still suffering from cholera. Only three families came up; Brothers Gardner, Goodridge, and Rawson. The rest of our division camped about a mile and a half.

Aug. 27. Our division that stayed back lost about half their cattle last night. We have got to stop and hunt them. The first and second division went ahead. Brothers Stratton and Hanks killed a buffalo today and brought it into camp. They saw a grizzly bear.

Aug. 28. No cattle found yet. We cannot travel today. We went out this morning and picked 14 quarts of cherries.

Aug. 29. Part of the cattle found last night. They are out hunting the rest today. It is very sandy here. The last day we traveled about three miles through it. We saw some mountain sheep on the hills.

Aug. 30. We started this morning before breakfast and went to the place where the remainder of our division were camped on the Laprelle Creek. Our company killed two buffalo today. The rest of the cattle were found all but three. Brother Smoot passed us today. Brothers Hawood and Wooley camped with us tonight. They had had but one death in their company and had got along remarkably well.

Aug. 31. We started this morning about 10 o'clock. We crossed Boxelder Creek. Brother Badlam has got his road meter going today. We traveled 14 miles and camped on the Platte.

Sept. 1 [Sunday]. Started at 10. Crossed Deer Creek. Traveled about 13½ miles. Passed Brother Smoot's company. Had strong. winds and some rain.

Sept. 2. Started at 10. Crossed Crooked Muddy Creek and camped on the Platte. Traveled about 13 miles. We picked 33 quarts of buffalo berries. They taste very much like currants and are red. They have one seed in them and make very good sauce and pies.

Sept. 3. Started at 8 and came to the Platte crossing. We stopped two hours to rest and feed our cattle and then crossed the river. The scenery along the Platte River is very grand. A long and high mountain chain extends southwest. We have followed it for three days and have not come to the end of it yet. We crossed the North Fork of the Platte without any accidents. We traveled about 9½ miles and camped on the Platte. Saw a grizzley bear.

Sept. 5. We planned an early start but our cattle got mixed up with Smoot's on account of our herdsmen not attending to their duty. George caught some fish, bass and suckers. We traveled 14 miles and camped by a beautiful clear spring. We passed quite a number of dead cattle, perhaps 25, caused by a poisoned spring of water which we passed today. The country here is not quite so rocky and barren as it has been the last few days. We came through a place called Rock Avenue. It is about a quarter of a mile long and lined with rocks on each side.

Sept. 6. We traveled 16 miles and camped on Greesewood Creek, a beautiful place of good feed. The weather is very pleasant. We camped with Brother Smoot's company. Brother Stratton started. They took a beautiful wild horse with them that they had captured.

Sept. 7. Traveled 8 miles today. Passed a saleratus lake. Camped at the foot of Independence Rock. This evening we had a dance on the banks of the Sweetwater. The whole company participated. We had a good time.

Sept. 8 [Sunday]. I have just climbed Independence Rock and the view is beautiful. The Sweetwater flows southeast at the foot of the rock and winds around at the foot of the mountains. The Saleratus Lake is seen in the northeast, the Devil's Gate is in the west, while mountains are to be seen on all sides. We crossed the Sweetwater and traveled until we came to the Devil's Gate. We stopped and ate lunch. The rocks are perpendicular, 400 feet high and in one place, the gap between them is only 2 feet wide. The Sweetwater flows through the gap. Some of us crossed it on foot just for the novelty of it. We traveled 15 miles and camped on the Sweetwater.

Sept. 9. We crossed the Sweetwater twice. The road is very sandy and heavy. We passed many high bluffs and rocky hills. We camped on the Sweetwater opposite a high sandy bluff. We went 12 miles.

Sept. 10. We traveled eight miles over a heavy sandy road. Crossed the Sweetwater and camped. We were detained in the morning until nearly noon on account of Brother Woodruff's teamsters. One of them was fired and the other two left. They were rough, obsene men, did not belong to the church and were stealing the supplies.

Sept. 11. We started early. Crossed the Sweetwater three times. Camped at Ice Springs. Traveled eight miles. Windy and dusty -many rocky hills. The Ice Springs are a great curiosity. About one or two feet below the surface of the ground, any quantity of ice can be found. It is not good to use. It has a bad smell. The ground is soft and marshy above it. Very little feed here.

Sept. 12. We started early this morning. We passed a very fine saleratus lake. We gathered what we wanted. It was very white and clean. We crossed the Sweetwater. Good feed. We found ice in our pails this morning.

Sept. 13. We started at noon and went eight miles and camped on the Sweetwater. Plenty of good feed. Some of our cattle gave out last night, so our Captain thought it best that we rest part of the day.

Sept. 14. We started at 9 and traveled about two miles and came to a new route to the pass, made by Capt. Andrus. We took it and went 11½ miles and lost three miles by doing it. We found it rough, stony, and uneven. We traveled 13 miles and camped on Quakenasp Creek. We met several head of cattle and one wagon for Haywood and Wooley.

Sept. 15. [Sunday]. Traveled four miles and camped on the Sweetwater. Started a coal pit and held a meeting. Four wagons came up from Hunter's company.

Sept. 16. We crossed the Sweetwater for the last time. We traveled 15 miles and camped at Pacific Springs. We met Captain Hardy in search of his horses. They had been lost two days and two horses belonging to another man.

Sept. 17. We stopped to do some repairing this morning. We let Capt. Hardy have a yoke of oxen so he could travel on. We started about noon. Just as we were starting, five Indians came up. One could speak English. They said they had found two horses. Brothers Woodruff and Atwood went with them to their camp. They took a few articles to give them in case they were not willing to give the horses up. Aunt Hattie sent a blanket shawl. We wait the results. We crossed two creeks. Traveled 13 miles and camped on Bitter Creek.

Sept. 19. We have heard nothing from Brothers Woodruff and Atwood and we feel somewhat alarmed at their long absence. We sent two messengers back to Captain Wooley's camp to see if they had heard from them and if not, to have him join us and send united forces of men after them. They had not been gone more than half an hour, when we saw them returning with Brothers Woodruff and Atwood with one of Brother Hardy's horses and one of Brother Curriers. We were very glad to see them. It seems that the Indians had stolen them and wanted to be paid for returning them. When the brethren got to their camp, they found 300 warriors and about 1,000 horses. They were going to war with the Shians. These Indians were Shoshones. They lost one of the horses. He was an ugly wild thing and ran away and took several of the Indians' horses with him. We traveled 11 miles and camped on the Big Sandy River. William nearly shot an antelope.

Sept. 20. We camped last night with Haywood and Wooley's company and our first division. We started out at 10, Captain Hardy moving out first; Brother Wooley next. We traveled 16 miles and camped with Brother Hardy's company on the Big Sandy River.

Sept. 21. Brother Woodruff's ox died last night. Brother Woodruff could not go on. They concluded to let him take Brother Goodridge's oxen which was on one of Brother Hardy's wagons and Brother Hardy take one of Brother Burrows, so as to have all the borrowed animals in this division. We traveled six miles and met Brother Young from the valley. He stated there was no feed on Green River, so we camped on Big Sandy River.

Sept. 22. Sunday. We held a meeting and felt very much instructed by the remarks of the speakers. We made a coal pit. Set some tires and made shoes and nails.

Sept. 23. We traveled nine miles and camped on Green River. George caught a cat fish a foot long.

Sept. 24. Started at 8. Went 19 miles and camped on Ham's Fork. We passed some beautiful scenery on the banks of the river. We met two Brethern from the Valley, stating that the Snake Indians were hostile and had killed some of the brethern; that 400 Indians were in the mountains and we had better be on our guard.

Sept. 25. We started at 10 and traveled 120 miles and camped on Black Fork.

Sept. 26. Started at 10. Went ten miles and camped on Sunset Creek, a beautiful stream of water two rods wide and two feet deep.

Sept. 27. Started about 10, traveled 80 miles. Camped on Bridge's [Bridger's] Creek, about a mile from Fort Bridges [Bridger].

Sept. 28. We drove our cattle in order to make an early start. Found after one got started that about 10 cattle were missing. All hands went to search for them and finally concluded that they had gone back. Some of the Brethern mounted horses and finally found them 14 miles to the back trail. Got in with them about dark. We were very glad to see them. We spent the day. Caught some beautiful large trout.

Sept. 29 [Sunday]. We started early and traveled 11 miles and camped on a small creek. We had a very bad hill to descend. Some of the wagons were broken.

Sept. 30. We had to lay over to mend our wagons. Some of the first division went ahead. Some of them complained a good deal at being detained so much.

Oct. 1 [Tuesday]. We started early and went 15 miles. Had a very good road, hilly but even and smooth. One of Brother Woodruff's cows died in the yoke today. We passed the highest summit of the journey today. There is some beautiful scenery in these mountains. We camped in a valley at the foot of the mountain.

Oct. 2. We had rain, thunder, and lightning last night. Cleared up this morning. We traveled six miles. Had a very steep hill to climb, had to double teams. We camped on Bear River. We caught a glimpse of our first division climbing the mountains ahead of us.

Oct. 3. We picked 12 quarts of haw berries. We intend to make vinegar of them. We traveled six miles and camped on a small creek. Joseph Webb tipped his wagon over, which prevented us from going any farther today. Our road winds along at the foot of the mountains, very wild and picturesque. Camped on Yellow Creek.

Oct. 4. It was very cold last night, froze the water in our buckets quarter of an inch thick, but it has been a beautiful day. We met Brother Hyde on way to the States. He brought good news from Salt Lake. We traveled 10 miles.

Oct. 5. Started early, traveled 18 miles. Camped on Echo Creek. Brother Hunter came up and camped with us. We had to cross the creek a number of times and some places it was bad and we had to fix the roads. Brother Gibson tipped over without doing any damage.

Oct. 6 [Sunday]. We traveled eight miles and camped on the Reed Fork of the Weber. Our road very rough and bad on account of having to cross the creek so many times.

Oct. 7. We laid over to rest our cattle. Caught some trout.

Oct. 8. We traveled 12 miles and camped on a small creek at the foot of a mountain. We met a relief team from the Valley. We were rejoiced to see them.

Oct. 9. We had a snow storm. Were obliged to lay over.

Oct. 10. The mountains are covered with snow. It melted partly as it fell in the valley. We traveled 70 miles. We had to make our fires with damp wood which made it very bad. Brother Woodruff's wagon tipped over -no damage. We crossed the creek seven times.

Oct. 11. We traveled three miles and camped at the foot of the mountains. We had dinner and then started for the top. The second division being ahead, we found the road very bad, but we made out to get to-the top. We made seven miles and camped on top of the mountain.

Oct. 12. We took our teams and went down the mountain and helped the others up. We traveled down the other side of the mountain about nine miles and camped at the foot of another mountain.

Oct. 13 [Sunday]. We traveled and camped at the mouth of the canyon.

Oct. 14. Mrs. Delin had a daughter born last night. Brother Woodruff came up with us this morning and we all drove into the Valley of Salt Lake and camped in the Fort. It was rather a dreary home coming. It was very dry and dusty and the wind was blowing the dust in clouds. Only a few little log and adobe houses to be seen, fenced in with willow and rail fences. A few shade trees and fruit trees to be seen here and there. I thought at first, have I got to spend the rest of my days in this dreary looking place? But soon felt all right about it and love my mountain home. We stayed in the Fort for a few days and then Father moved his wagons up to Brother Wilford Woodruff's lot, caticorner from the Temple block. On the southeast corner of the Temple Block was a large bowery covered with brush where the Saints held their meetings and amusements. It was here that John Kay, Sara Kay, and Sophia and Esther Goodridge, and Clara Hardy sang the Resurrection Day, the first time it was sung in public.