1st July. We have been here Nine Day recruiting our animals and preparing to pack. To Day we have Come to Weber river and ferried over. This Stream is Nine Rods wide and & four feet Deep. We have passed through Some good grazing Land to Day. 28 miles for the Day.

2nd We are delayed herre until noon getting horses Shod. After noon we passed one hot Spring, encamped on Box Elder Creek, timber Scarce. 20 miles for the Day.

3rd We are out of the Settlement. We Crossed a hansome Creek & Some good Springs, one hot Spring & a Cold one, five Rods apart. This Cold Spring water Brackish. We Came to Bare River & got Feried over, Alkali here. We have now in our Company Seven men & thirteen Animals. We Stand guard every Night, we are in Indian Country. We have Sold at this Ferry, Sixteen pounds of fruit at one Dollar a pound, Bacon at twenty five cts per pound. This River here is twelve Rods wide and twenty feet Deep and Verry Difficult to Swim horses. At this place a great many Drowned. 28 miles for the Day.

4th Independence Day. This morning we kept an account of the money these Ferryman took in and it was one hundred Dollars before Breekfast. Two miles to Mud Creek, a tole Bridge. We have this morning from Bare River 22 miles to water and when we Come to it, it was so warm and So Brackish that neither Animals or men Could Drink it with any Satisfaction. This is a warm Day, Twelve miles to the next water. Grass Good, Dust Bad, water a little Brackish. 34 miles for the Day.

5th Six miles to Sink Creek. Here we see a waggon waiting the arrival of an old man of their Company that had went out the night before to See after their horses and had not yet returned. We passed on four miles further and met the old white headed Deaf fellow. He was making his way Back to the Camping place. He had traveled all Night and Come to the Road fifteen miles west of the place he Started from. We encamped at a Spring and a Cedar Grove. the only timbe[r] that we have Seen for three Days travel. 28 miles for the Day.

6th Water plenty to Day. Nineteen miles to Carus Creek, no grass or fuel on this Creek. 30 miles for the Day.

7th Sunday. Three miles to the junction of this and the Fort Hall Roads; Sublets Cut Off and the Fort Roads are the Same here. It Passes here before it joins the Salt Lake Road, Between the Steeple Rocks, two high Peaks where there is just room for a waggon to Pass. Five miles to the Summit of a mountain that Divides the waters of Salt Lake and the Columbia. Loos Creek on the West Side of this mountain flows into Clarks River. We here Cross the line into Oregon, Rough and Dangerous for waggons. After we pass the Summit we assend Good Creek, twenty miles. We See here a great many Dead horses & Cattle, owing to the poisoness grass & water on Sublets Cutoff. We have passed Seventy-two waggons to Day. 29 miles to Day.

8th We assend another high, Rough & Rocky mountain and again into the Valley of the Salt Lake. No Rock, Suitable for Building. Those mountains have evidently been Burned and are now Burning. It is Cool on the mountains here. We had a heavy frost this morning.We have to wear our Coats all Day. 34 miles to Day.

9th We are now in Thousand Spring Valley. This valley takes its name from the fact of its great number of Springs in it and them of various kinds. There are here Hot & Cold, Salt and Sulphur Springs. Some resemble our Common Wells, being Deep & round. We pass a grave this morning, a young man, by the name of Bowen of Iowa, Drowned on the first of this month. Another Grave of last year. We leave this valley, assend another high ridge, Decend again. Here we Come to a tributary of Humbolt or Mary's river; quite cool here, snow in great abundance Near us. 30 miles for the Day.

10th We Decend this Stream. It Sinks & rises, Snow Mountains on the North & on the South, good grass & water, but no timber. At three o'clock we Come to & Cross Humbolt. It is here four rods wide & three feet Deep. We have Crossed the Oregon line and are in California again. In the evening we Come to & Camp near the Grave of Samuel Oliver of Wisconsin. He was Shot by an Indian, while on guard, on the Night of the Second Inst. and Died on the fifth. There is another Camp near us that had four animals Stolen Night before last (two horses & two mules). After Daylight two of the men pursued them, until they found one of the Mule, Dead. It had been Shot. One of the men here turned back & the other followed the trail until he Came up with three Indians and the two Horses. The Red men Showed Signs of friendship and Shaked hands with him and told that they had found these poneys. But when he turned his horses to Start back with them the[y] Stopped him and one of them Standing behind him Drew a Pistol & Cocked it. He heard it and just as he was in the act of turning, the Indian fired; the Ball cut through his Cloths, broke his [?] and Passed without injuring his Person. The Indian turned to run. He fired & killed him Dead. The Second threw his gun Down. The whiteman Drew a Pistol & Shot him Down. The third, a Boy, Started and ran but Stoped & Shot an arrow back, then left. The man then took his Horses and some fresh meet that they had & Started Back. This was one oclock and him twelve miles from the Camping places and the waggon gone fourteen miles further, making twenty Six miles for him to then go and had not eaten anything that Day. He got in and last Night one of the Same horses was taken again. This morning three of the party Started again to try to recover that Horse a Second time. The man that was out yesterday has gone to Day. Their waggon has gone ten miles to Day. 32 miles for the Day.

11th This morning those men have not yet returned. At ten oclock we pass two graves of last year. At Eleven we Cross Salaratus fork of Ogdon, Humbolt or Mary's River. This stream is three Rods wide & three feet deep. At three in the Evening we passed a fresh grave. We see on a Card on the headboard that their has been Twentyone Horses Stolen and one man Scalped naked by the Indians within one mile of this place. The Bottom here is from four to Six miles wide and grass plenty near the River. The grass is Hurd grass & red Clover, also wild Flax, mustard and Currants. It all resembled that of tame kind. 31 miles for the Day.

12th Three oclock this morning our guard Roard out Stampeed. We Sprang to our feet from where we lay Sleeping on the ground and our [horses] were among us and Bad fritened. They ran towards a Slough. They ploughed in and mired. We Crossed and Caught Some of the, followed on and finally got all of them. We were very mutch Chilled, being in our Night Dress & getting wet to[o]. The fright, we learned was taken from Some other horses being run past our tent by Some Indians. They were taken from the first tent below us. We assend a very high and Steep mountain, to avoid Crossing the river. We Stoped on the top of this mountain to graze. We here paid fifty Cts. for three quarts of water. We passed Down this mountain and joined the river again. 29 miles for the Day.

13th This man that killed those Indians has got in. They follow the Second Day Thirty miles, killed one Indian and retook the Horse. Two others Stolen. I hear of another & another. Roads rough, grass Seared. 20 miles for the Day.

14th Sunday. We are resting to Day. We See men passing in all kinds of ways. Some with teams, Some on horse Back, others on foot with their packs on their Backs.

15th Very Dry and Dusty. We are traveling through ash Land. We pass around the point of a mountain where there is Some warm Springs. This mountain Shows Signs of the latest Burning of any that I have Seen. The ashes and Lime here render it very Disagreeable for travelers. 32 miles to Day.

16th We have an Eighteen miles this morning without water or grass and later no grass and the first water we Come to is alkali, but we pass on Forty Rods further and Come to the river. Here we pass a fresh grave, Died of Consumption, aged twenty one years. Land very Baren here producing nothing but Chaperell. We have to Cross a Slough to get grass for our horses. The Sloughs are so Bad that our animals Cannot Cross and go to the grass. 28 miles to Day.

17th We are Preparing hay for the Desert. Some think we are not near the Desert. We get our hay two miles above on an Island, put it in the river and raft it Down. We have it Dry and ready to Start at Dark. We go round a great Bend, follow the river four miles then turn to the right, go through a pass of the mountains twenty miles and join the river again. Here we Stoped to rest at three oclock in the morning. 24 miles for the night.

18th We went five miles, found grass and Stoped to get Breekfast. While we were Stoped here Some Packers passe[d] on their return from the mines, the first that we have met. They tell us that they are Six Days travel from the Desert. What a great mistake we have been labouring under. Sand and ash Land to Day. We in the evening go round a bend, Cross a Creek, pass over a ridge between too mountains, and Down to a Slough and encamped. We hear of a man being Shot by the Indians some distance back, while on guard. Those Indians Claim to be of the Shoshone tribe. But the ordinary name for those tribes west of Salt Lake is Root Diggers. Three horses Stolen last night. 20 miles for the Day.

19th Heavy Sand to Day. At Eight oclock we See a note by the Road Side stating that there had been four Mules Stolen by the Indians from this place last night at Eleven. C. Crippen Bought a ham of Meet for which he paid one Dollar a pound ($14). At Noon an old man Came to us and wanted to buy Some provision. Browning told him he could let him have Some Dried Beef at one Dollar a pound. Said he, if I had the money I would take it But I have only Eight Dollars and have to furnist five men through a journey of twelve Days. At this moment the Tears ran Down over his Cheeks. He told us that they had been on rations of one pint and a half of flour a Day for the five men, for the last Seven Days. We gave them Some meet and flour. This evening we pass a fresh grave, the Name is I. Bates. This evening we have to Cross a Slough with our animals in order to get a little grass. Two of our lost from the Company to Night. 25 miles to Day.

20th We have twelve miles without grass or water, ash land, Dust Deep. We come to the river, here we find the Boys. A fresh grave here of a man that was taken out of the River yesterday. A mile below we have to Swim our horses over the river to grass and but little their. A Drowned man taken out of the river while we are nooning here. He is naked, no marks or bruises on his person. We pass this evening the grave of a little Child of last year. This evening we have to tie our horses up without feed. 19 miles to Day.

21st. Sunday. We have Come three miles for feed and have to Swim the river to get it. The river here is Nine Rods wide and very Deep. When we got over we had to get our grass in a Swamp where the mud and water was to our nees and it very Strongly impregnated with alkali. Great Suffering of Men & animals. From this place we bare to the right around an inundated flat and join the river again. Here the Rivers bares to the left and the Road leads over table lands ten miles to River. A grave here at the foot of the Hill. We encamped here for the night. Have to swim our animals across the River and drive them out one mile to grass. Browning & I guarded that knight. We had to Swim across Several times in order to get our Clothes and Some Blankets over Dry. A Man Drowned here this evening. He was from Pike County, Iowa. His wife was with him. She was a German woman & had been married but a short time. When She Saw him Drowning She ran in the water to her Waist but was Caught by Some of the men that were present. She Beged them for Gods Sake to let her go and Drown with him. They are Spoken very highly of by those of their Companym that are acquainted with them and a grreat deal of Sympathy Seems to be manifest for her from the fact of her being left entirely among Strangers and at the Same time being Pregnant. 18 miles for the Day.

22nd We have ten miles over ash land. Again we Come to the River. Here is a Grave, B. Heaton, Drowned on the 17th July, 1850. He was of Adams Co., Illinois. No grass here, ten miles again over baren land. Here we Come to a good Spring of Cold water. From this place we bare to the Left, go Seven miles. Here we Come to the great Meadow, near the Sink of this River (Humbolt). Here are thousands of men geting Hay for the Desert. 27 miles for the Day and we have seen 62 Dead animals.

23rd We are resting and cuting grass for the Desert. This Great Natural Meadow, as it So termed, has an abundance of the finest quality of grass, being the Sage, Buffalo & Red Clover, but as River is now at almost its highest Stage we have to waid in water to our knees to get grass. We See Human Suffering here almost beyond Description. Some have lost their provisions by accidents in Crossing Deep waters, others did not Start with a Sufficient quantity to last them through. Some others have by accident got Separated from their Company and consequently have no provision. Some few have a little parched Corn (a Scanty Substinance for a traviling man). Some have neither money or provision. Some are butchering their miserable Poor oxen and Selling the bones (for it Cannot be Said to be beef) out at twenty five Cts a pound, and when they have Sold out they will go through a foot. There are men, at this place, hurding and recruiting givout Horses and agree to take them through for the Sum of twenty Dollars each. Some Indians are here. They are of the Shoshone tribe and engaged in helping the Emegrants prepare Hay.

24th We are all well and geting our Hay out of the water and preparing to Start. The valley here is about ten miles wide but only the East Side is fertile Enough to produce grass or any kind of Substinance for an animal. Six oclock P.M. and we are ready to leave this place, we have our Hay and Baggage Packed on our animals and are on foot ourselves. We prefer traviling in the Night, because we think our animals will not get So thirsty as they would in Daytime, as it is twentyfive miles to the nest water. We have traviled twenty miles and Stoped to rest our Selves and animals. 20 miles for the Night.

25th Nothing this morning to be Seen but a perfect Desert and my Father has the Sick Headache. We have Come five miles and Stoped to water, feed, and get Breckfast. This is the Sink and final termination of the Humbolt River. On the whole length of this River, we have not Seen a tree or Stick of wood. It has a valley of from one to ten miles wide and the greater portion of it producing Sage and Chaperell Bushes, only grass being verry Scarce, One oclock P.M. and Father verry Bad. Six oclock, Father is Some better and we are off. We travel a South Course and a Direct toward a bluff of a considerable highth and verry uneven, having a variety of Peaks or Nobs and to the left or East of this is a massive Heap, resembling the ruins of an ancient Castle. It is from appearance (as I was not immediately on it) of a four Square Shape and the North West Corner as it now Stands, is the highest part, and on the west Side (it being longest from North to South) from about the middle to the South West Corner is a wall about twelve feet high. There are portions of the wall to be Seen on the other Ends & side. The South portion or End Seems to have a greater proportion of the fallen wall than the other End, as though it had more partition walls than the other End. The walls has been of Stone and was burned and fallen, as it yet has a very red appearance. East of this is the principal Mountain. At this place is the last water and this is only to be Seen when the river is at a high Stage. A horse Cannot at any time Drink of this on account of the Alkali. We are Now on the Great American Desert. The last water is five miles from where we Started at Six oclock. Fifteen miles farther we Come to two wells of water, but not fit for use it being verry Salty. We have Come four miles fathe[r] and Stoped to rest. It now being one oclock A.M. 24 miles from Six oclock, making for the Day and night 29 miles.

26th Three oclock A.M. we move again. The general apearance of the Country there is level and entirely Baren, or nearly So producing nothing except Some Small Chaperell Bushes as they are on Small mounds (the other land being blown away) it presents quite an uneven Surface. This land is Composed wholy of Ashes and Lime. The lavy and other melted Substances that are here to be Seen Shows Strong indications of this once being a Burning or Volcanic Mountain. Nine miles and we Come to a Mound or ridge. This is on the left and is Covered with burned Stone. Two miles further we Come to heavy Sand. This Sand continues to Carson River. We See great Suffering of both Men and animals. I Shall not undertake to Describe the loss of animals and other property. Suffise it to Say it was Exceedingly great. My Father & myself fell in the rear of the balance of our Company. We turned to the left from the Road, passed over a ridge and their found a fresh water Spring, also a Salt water lake of about five miles in Surcumpherance. This Lake has a verry high rim or Ridge around it and has neither inlet or outlet and the water exceeding Salty. We refreshed our Selves from the water of the Spring, eating Some (as it was then ten oclock) and Bathing in the Lake. We on our return to the Road and along the Side of this Lake passed a large Spring, of Sulphur water. We passed over the Ridge and got Back to the road where it joins the Salmon Trout or Carson River. This Stream here is ten Rods wide and five feet deep. It has some Cotton wood Timber and the only trees that we have Seen for the last four Hundred miles travel. We have Come Seven miles farther up the River and Encamped. Good grazing here but we have not found our Company. They are five in number; G.W. Browning, C. Crippen, W. & F. Priddys, and R.D. Repley. Here we find Some Supplies of provisions. They were fetched from Sacramento City. All articles are Sold at the rates of one Dollar & fifty Cts pr pound. 33 miles for the day.

27 We are resting to Day. We have not as yet Seen any wild animals larger than the English Rabbit, since we have been in the valley of the great Salt Lake. As we are assending this River and nearing the mountains, I will mention that the weather has not been So Hot here as is Common at this time of year in the States. Six oclock P.M. we Start on a Sixteen mile Stretch without grass or water. Some heavy Sand and Some Rocky portions of the Road. at eleven oclock P.M. we have Stoped to rest and our Boys Came up. We joined them, got to water at two A.M. and Encamped. 16 miles of Desert for this Night.

28th Sunday. We have Swam our animals across the River to grass and are waiting until the Cool of the Evening when we will Start on another Desert of Twentyfive miles. Five of the Clock we are off. We find heavy Sand and Rocky Road, very bad traveling three fourth of the Distance through. At four oclock we are through. Find good water and grass. 25 miles.

29th This morning we are again in Sight of Snow on the mountains. We have not Seen any before for the last Six Days, Some Timber also on the sides of the mountains. At two of the Clock we Start in on another Desert (So Called there) of fifteen miles. This Evening one of the Browning's horses failed and he Sold it to a Trader for Eight Dollars and one pound of Sugar. On this Stretch we find bad traveling being heavy Sand in Some places and others very Rocky. On this Rocky portion of Road that I Speak of the ground is literally Covered with Stone from the Size of Small Pumkins up to the Size of a flour Barrel. We have Encamped at Sunset and turned our Animals across the River. It Does not Swim them here, grass and water good. 15 miles to Day.

30th We have another Stretch this morning of ten miles without water. At Eleven oclock I Sold a giveout Horse for ten Dollars. At twelve oclock we arrive at a mormon Station. Here we See Some Log Houses and Six Families, Emegrants from Salt Lake. We learn that there are Gold mines in this vicinity, bot to what Extent has not as yet been ascertained. There are also Some Traders here from Sacramento City. The best of Pine timber is to be seen here. We have Come Six miles further and Encamped. 21 miles for the Day.

31st The Valley here is & has been, for Several miles, about Nine miles wide and produces an abundance of the finest quality of grass for grazing but it does not last many months in the year, in Consequence of the Cold, it being Closely encompassed around by Snow mountains. We have a heavy frost this morning. After Seven miles travel this morning, we Enter a Canyon or narrow pass through which the Head waters of this River (which we have been assending) Decends. The water here rushes over the Rocks in torrents and indeed no less than a perfect Caterack and is only passable by Bridges, as Some animals have been dashed to pieces in their attempt to ford it. It is here about twenty five feet wide and two & a half feet Deep. We are meeting a great many miners who are going to those late Discoveries or mines about the Station. It is Six miles through this Canyon. When I look at the Huge Rocks, the large Pine & Fir Trees, the Steep precipices and lastly the Machy or Swampy places that are near the Head of this Canyon, I only Consider barely Passable. While nooning toDay, we have Concluded that we had better know, if possible, Some thing more about those late mines. Accordingly Father & Crippen Set out on their return to the Station. Six miles further and we have Encamped. Grass good here. 20 miles for the Day.