1st May We this morning leave the States and all white Settlements and Start on our arduous journey westward. We go 19 miles and Cross Pappea Creek, 8 miles further to Elkhorn, here is a ferry. The Stream is about Six Rods wide & 3 feet deep. We Crossed over and encamped on the West Side.

2nd We See to Day about forty Pawnee Indians. Traveled 27 miles and encamped.

3rd We have good roads, except Some Bad Sloughs, high wind & Cold. We Came to the Platt river & encamped. This river is from one to two miles wide & two feet deep. 29 miles for the Day.

4th Heavy frost this morning. We went 12 miles & Came to the Loup fork, a ferry here and one hundred waggons waiting to get across and we have thirty in our Company. Some Smallpox in Camp. There is wide furtile bottoms on those rivers but no timber exept Some Cottonwood on the Streams.

5th We lay here all day waiting to get over, this river is a half mile wide & three feet deep.

6th Frost this morning, high wind & Cold. We crossed the river to Day. This Stream is verry difficult to Cross on the account of it being verry Sandy. We forded our horses. We camped on the Bank.

7th We traveled up the Loup. We had good road level wide bottom & rich Soile, Some game, Deer, Antelope, & Elk. 28 miles for the Day & venison for Supper. Some grass.

8th We leave this river & Cross over to the Platt. We have 20 miles through a miserable Por Sandy region. Some Rattlesnakes and lizard is all that Can inhabit it. We camped without wood and verry Poor water.

9th We Started at Sun rise went two miles to get good water but no wood. Here we found Some grass for our horses we drove to Wood Creek and Camped. Here our Company parted leaving us Seventeen waggons & 60 men. We passed three graves to Day of white men. 15 miles for the Day.

10th We traveled until now. Stoped to graze when one of our men Came up with a good venison. We went on and encamped on the Prairie, went 3/4 of a mile to the Platt river & found some dry wood, here we Stoped near a Dog town it is about three miles in length & half mile wide. 24 miles for the Day.

11th We went 12 miles and Stoped to lay ove[r] Sunday. We passed one grave to Day. It was of last year. Here are a great many Buffalo and a great many of them are Burned to Death, by the Burning of the Planes. Here Browning and I went out to a dog town to amuse ourselves with our guns. We could [see] a hundred at one Sight. At Sight of us they Set up a most hideous Barking. We Stormed the town, killed five of the inhabitance, enjoyed ourselves for about two hours, really f[o]rgetting our families & our homes, for the time. Those animals burrow in the ground. Rattle Snakes & owls live in the Same holes. Those owls are of a yellowish Colour & are about as large as the Common Small owl. Those Dogs are about the Size of a muskrat, or a Small house Cat & are of reddish or Clay Color. They Bark veery mutch like a Smal Fiste. We are at the head of grand Island oposite Fort Kerney and two hundred miles from the Bluffs. This Island is 45 miles long. Some of our Boys went over to the fort, 7 miles Distant. They waid the river. It is two miles wide. We passed a grave to Day of last year. Twelve miles to Day.

12th It is to Day (Sunday) in Stead of yesterday that the Boys went to the Fort. We have Sent letters with them. We are laying over to Day resting.

13th Lite frost this morning. Roads, good, we See Deer, Woolves & Buffalo laying on the plains burned to Death. We See a great many Big yellow rattle Snakes to Day. Our horses here refuse to lick Salt on the account of the Saltpeter that is on the Surface of ground. 25 miles to Day.

14th We went three miles & Stoped to graze. Rather a bad Chance to keep a journal as I have to Do all of my writing on the Prairie, where I am hurding the horse. This evening we See a hurd of a hundred Buffalo, on the Planes, near the Road. We encamped at Petah Lake. Twenty one miles for the Day.

15th Some of our Boys went out killed Some Deer, two wolves & one Buffalo. Some other Boys of another Company, but in train with us went out on the Sand hills. One Shot an old Buffalo Bull and wounded him. This set him in a rage. He Started towards the man. He reloaded and fired again. The Bull Caught him on his horns, threw [him] in the air. When he fell on the ground the Bull Pitched at him again & got over him but could not injure him. The man drew a Pistol and Shot him but without effect more than to agravate. A Second man, hearing the reports ran to his assistance and hav[ing] a Double Charge in his gun, when it fired it burst & whirled him Topsy tervy. A third ran up and fired and burst the tube out of his gun. The three then wholy unarmed. By this time the Bull Saw fit to crawl off. They took themselves up and left. When they got in they looked like the latter end of hard times, though their wounds were not Serious. Some other men killed the Same Bull after Shooting him three times. We have some heavy [?] this evening. We encamped without wood. Here we have to use Buffalo Chips for the first time. 23 miles for the Day.

16th Warm and Clear, Heavy Sand this forenoon. Afternoon we have good roads. The Bottom here is two to five miles wide and the grass is getting good and I see more Buffalo this afternoon than I had any Idea of Seeing on the whole trip. They extend the whole length of our afternoons travel and they are not in hurds but in Solid falanx. We have encamped and we See thousends of buffalo, laying tonight in Sight of us. 20 miles to Day.

17th We Started again. C. Crippen and I went out to the Bluffs to take alittle [tour] among the Cattle of the Planes. When we got near the Bluffs we Came among them. They were as thick as Sheep on a pasture. We broke in on them, Started a lot and pursued them to Sand hills and there we found the whole hill Country alive with Buffalo. They are very Poor just now. We have Shot at Some & chased Some to try their Speed. Here I see a Mexican or English rabit or hare, we are mounted. We pursued an[d] overtook the train at Noon. Here we pass the Buffalo hurd. I am not able to [make] anything like a Satisfactorial estimate, but I have no hesitation in saying I Saw two millions. This forenoon we passed the mouth of the South Platte. Afternoon, we have heavy Sand. 27 miles to Day.

18th Heavy Sands this forenoon. Afternoon, Some Slous, but Roads good. No timber except Some Cedar on the South Side of the River, just now we See Some three white men, Came Booming across the river. They had been out on a hunt & they Came in Sight of five Indians (Sioux Indians). The Indians Came towards them, the men took a fright and boolged [?] the river. When they got over they were entirely exhausted. 28 miles for the Day.

19th Sunday, we are laying by resting. The river here is about three fourths of a mile wide, 2 1/2 feet Deep, Banks two to four feet high, Current Rappid, water verry riley, owing to the Sandy Bottom & Banks. The whole Earth Seems to be nothing but a Bank of Sand, notwith-Standing the Bottoms have Soile and yield great quantities of grass.

20th Some heavy Sand, no timber to Day on the North Side, an ash grove on the South, a large lone Cedar tree on the North Side. It resembles an old apple tree. I see Some Stone in the Bluffs, this afternoon, the first that I have Seen since I left the Desmoins. We passed one grave to Day, an man from Illinoise, Died last year. We have encamped near Some Nine hundred Sioux Indians. Some of the Chiefs have Come to our Camp, Shown Signs of friendship and Smoked the pipe of peace. They have a very large Pipe with a Stem about two feet long that they use expressly for ocations of this kind. They are large well looking Indians, rather fare Complected, more so than Common among the Northern tribes. They are a verry numerous tribe, numbering about Sixty thousand warriors. They Boast that they never have Shed the Blood of a white man. They had a petition and asked our officers to Sign their names to it, this they intended to present to Congress asking for some renumeration for the rite of way through their Territory. 25 miles to Day.

21st Some heavy Sand. We passed the grave of a woman, Died last August, aged forty three years. Encamped on Crab Creek after driving 25 miles.

22nd Heavy Sand the most of the Day. In Cite of Chimney Rock this morning, thirty Seven miles distant. Noon, we Stope to graze, Browning and myself. Here I will mention that we are messing with C. Crippen & L.W. Browning as may have frequent occasion to Speak of them. We were neighbors at home and got together at Kanesville, went to the Bluffs or Cliffs to examine what is Called the ruins of an ancient Castle, but we could not Discover anything that Shew to us any particular traits of ruins. We assended Some verry high Clifts, when we were on the highest we looked and Saw below in the valley, a Deer, or Antelope and its appearance was about the Size of a Common Rabbit. We Descended, Saw on our return four Antelope. No timber yet we encamped after a Drive of 30 miles.

23rd We went twelve miles and Stoped to graze opposite Chimney Rock. It is on the Sotuh Side of the river. [I]t is Cituated about thirty Rods from the river, has a Base of about Sicty Rods in Diameter, it then tapers up about Ninety feet, forming a hansome Space for a walk or Promenade around it. It then has another gradual taper up about Sixty feet, here is a second offset. It then tapers up again about Thirty feet. Here is another jog. This is the third and last offset. Here this Dome, or Chimney is about fifteen feet in Diameter and extends, or rises from the Center about Sixty feet, retaining about the Same Size to the top. This is only Clay and wearing away fast. We have come to Some Prairie Sage, also Some Prickly pare. We passed on and encamped oposite Scotts Bluffs. This has the appearance of an ancient Fort and at the East end Stands a rock that has verry mutch the appearance of a Lite house. We have a heavy Storm this evening. The rain lasted about one hour & the thunder and litening Continued about two hours. It was tremendous. This is the first rain of any account that we have had. 31 miles toDay.

24th Good roads. In the afternoon we Come in Sight of some Cottonwood timber. Rain this evening. 27 miles for the Day.

25th Sunday. We understand the river is verry high and have thought it best to Drive up to get our turn at the ferry. One man drowned last night by the Boat Sinking. This Fort has one hundred men. It has two good frame Houses, but the quarters are built of Doby Brick and Covered with Dirt. No timber here of any amount. This Fort, in the forks of the Laremie & platte rivers, we are in Cite of Laremie Peak. It is two miles high & Sixty miles Distant and has perpetual Snow on its top, looks from here as white as a Swan. We traversed this river Five hundred & Eighteen miles. It affords a great quantity of water, but can never be Navigated owing to its Sandy Bottom. It has no Channel, has neither Rock, wood or Stonecole.

27th We Crossed over the river, but not without Difficulty. The first trip we made the Boat Sunk with Six of our men on board, My Father & Browning (two of our men) and four other men of our Company. The river here is about two hundred yards wide and the Boat Sunk about the middle. Two of the men went out on horses. Browning and another man Swam out. Father and another went out on the Roap. All got out safe altho the water was verry Cold, just out of the Snow mountains, the wind high and water high and verry rappid. We Camped on the bank near the Fort. We went to the Fort and Bought Some good Bread.

28th Frost this morning. We have Started over the Black Sand Hills. We are Credibly informed that the Big Black woolves here do actually kill horses and Cattle. They do it by cutting the Hamstring. Horses that are fettered are in the most Danger. Roads hilly other way good. Encamped after a Drive of 20 miles.

29th Roads good but very hilly. The river here in places Decnd through narrow passes where the Rocks rise on each Side to the highth of four hundred feet perpendicular. The Current very Swift. We learned at the Fort that there aare fourteen hundred teams ahead of us. 29 miles for the Day.

30th All harnessed & three of our horses missing. After an hour the horses found three miles ahead on the Road. Pleasant weather and grass good. 31 miles for the Day.

31st Roads good. Some Cedar on those hills, also Stonecole in reach of the Fort. Snow in Sight to Day. The wild Sage grows large here being four feet high and is used for fuel. 30 miles for the day.