# California Historical Society Quarterly/Volume 22/The Journal of David Jackson Staples

​The Journal of David Jackson Staples
Edited by Harold F. Taggart
7"^ HERE ARE many acounts of the migration of the forty-niners, and those best known concern expeditions which, because of lack of proper leadership or adequate preparation, experienced great difficulties. On other hand, many groups came through after months of hardships and dogged persistence and entered California with no fanfare, to be absorbed among the nameless thousands. The journal of David Jackson Staples, pub- lished here, for the first time, is the story of an expedition for which the members carefully prepared and which probably typifies the experiences of the great majority.^
Twenty-six men of Boston and Newton, Massachusetts, spurred on by the cry of "Gold," formed an association to go to California for the purpose of bettering their economic lot. They bought the bark Helen Augusta^ filled it with supplies and sent it around the Horn. Soon after, they left via the over- land trail, accompanied by a physician and supplied with money to buy equipment along the way. David J. Staples, a member of the party, was born in Medway, Massachusetts, on May 3, 1824, the son of John and Dorcas (Reed) Staples. Left an orphan at eleven years of age, he worked at various jobs— as a farmhand, shoemaker, millhand, and machinist. On April 20, 1848, he married Mary Pratt Winslow, a descendant of Edward Winslow, who came to America on the Mayflower and was a governor of the Plymouth colony.^ Together with the other twenty-five men, David Staples left Boston on April 16, 1 849. The following is his day by day account of the journey.
JOURNAL OF D. J. STAPLES
Memorandom Book on the Journey to Cal.
Apr 16, 1849 Left the city of Boston a member of the Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association bound for Calafornia for the purpose of bettering our condition on money matters and seeing the country. I left home with regret as it is no easy matter for me to leave wife home friends and attach- ments, the company numbered 26 members made up of people from Bos- ton an Newton.^ We started from the Western Depot at Y^ past 8 oclock had a car to ourselves through to Albany being detained in Springfield two hours we arrived at Albany at 9 oclock. Nothing of note occurred on the way. We now begin to see the developments of the character of the men. We are strangers with few acceptions, but a remarkable trait in Americans is to have confidence and respect for each other and only on being disap- pointed or deceived do they distrust their ability or zeal to opperate to​gether. We shall know more of each other after we have passed the bounds of civilization and camped together on the Western Prara.
Apr 17' We left Albany at noon on the emigrant train for Buffalo having procured tickets through to Cincinnatti on this road we managed to have a car to ourselves. We passed through a beautifuU country from Albany to Buffalo Many fine towns and some citys We arrived in Buffalo on the 17' at 2 oclock proceded direct on board a fine Steamer "name Baltic" bound for Sandusky city. We arrived in Sandusky on the 20th having had a very rough time this being the first trip of the Boat this season the offi- cers and crew were nearly all sick as well as a large number of the passangers. I was as sick as need be and did not get over it under a day or two after land- ing this place has the appearance of having grown up in a short time.
Apr 21st We left Sandusky at five oclock A. M. for Cincinnatti. the first part of the day we passed over a new country houses mostly made of logs and to a New England man there is nothing verry enticeing about them however this must eventually be a populous country. We arrived in Cincin- natti at 9 oclock P. M. put up at the Henry House a first class hotell here we stopped over Sunday On Sunday we went to Church most of us we attended meeting at the Christian Baptist and Orthordox heard good preaching at both places.
Cincinnatti is a great city on the Banks of the Ohio on nearly level land with the exception of that part next the river which is the same as the banks of all the western rivers quite Bluff there is some high ground back of the Citty on which some of us stroled here we had a chance to view Ken- tucky on one side Ohio on the other one free the other [a] slave state Slave labor cannot compete with free labor in making things look thrifty.
Monday Apr 23' 1849 Today we engaged passage in the Steamer Griffin Yeatman for St. Louis. We also bought two waggons for our trip across the plains having sattisfied ourselves we could transport more goods with the same number of mules than we could if we packed mules having got all our baggage on board the Steamer and all being redy we left at 7 P. M. and moved off down the river,
Apr 24' This morning was delightful! and a New England [er] feels a pe- culiar sattisfaction on moving down such a river as the Ohio the trees were leaved out and the banks of the river was beautifull We had a good table set on the boat and a verry fine Captain there was but little change in pasing down the river One thing of note was being let through the locks at Louisville the rapids in the river near this place are such as make it nec- essary for boats of large size to go through the canal and locks at this place we saw Porter the Kentucky giant who stands 7 ft 8 in high he has a fowl- ing piece 10 ft in length and such a cane— he is quite feble now.
Apr 25' Arrived at the mouth of the Ohio at 10 oclock A. M. touched at Cairo The vilages west and south look as though they lacked New ​England enterprise no prety fenses round their houses and they lack a finish so it looks to me. We started up the mighty Missippi the water was more mudy than the Ohio this afternoon we saw a large island covered with wild geese all the rifles on board were soon in requisition but to no purpose as we did not come near enough the men on board seemed to en- joy murdering the ducks as we passed near a cove.
Apr 27' This morning by the recommendation of our Dr quite a number of us went down to the Wheel house for the purpose of getting a shower Bath from the spray of the wheel it was a good idea as was prooved by our feelings during the day after While I passed in the Wheel house Brother Freds dog Carlo thinking (to all appearance) I had gone overboard jumped over and was soon far in the rear we saw him head for the shore and Brother Fred and I got set on shore to go back and search for him this was 7 miles below St. Mary's Landing on the Misouri side we started through the timbered bottoms we searched in vain for him it was accessive hot and having nothing to eat it was a luxury to find a log cabin where we got a little corn bread and butter-milk after eating a lunch we started up the banks of the river for the landing in the bottom lands water stands in little pools and on pasing through the Musquitoes would arris in swarms and com- mence their work of drawing blod in hot haste they were as bad as some of the Dr's in times past We hailed two steamboats in the afternoon they were New Orleans boats and asked us 5 dolls to take us up to St Louis it was only 60 miles and our fare from Cincinnati to that place was only $4. We concluded to stay in the landing and take a smaler boat we put up at a tavern such as is common out here and had another opportunity to ob- serve western maners
Apr 28 We took passage up the river in the Oriental an infirm boat at $3. and arrived in St Louis at 4 A. M. on the 29 at light we went in serch of our party. We found them on board the steamer Bay State and nearly ready to move up the river to Independance. here they bought the provisions for our overland consumption and hurried on, on account of the report that the cholera being quite prevelent there was four cases on the boat that arrived the day before St. Louis is a large place and is destined to be the great point for emigrants to start from here they can purchase provisions cheap and a general out fit for a good deal less money than at Independance. This being Sunday we thought best to have a meeting there being a minister with the Granite State Company we invited him to preach and it was a pleas- ant sight to see me[n] from all parts of the Union come to gather in the Cabin and worship alike one God^ We made good headway up the river
Monday 50^^ Today we have moved on well occasionally getting aground on the shoales this river is full of these places and requires the best of pilots to get a large boat up to St. Joseph the destination of our boat
May I St Nothing of note has occured today We have learned there is a ​great difference between the Captain of this boat and the Captain of the Griffin Yeatman this one is a real half cent Yankee We live verry plain but healthy. the banks of the river look more ruged than the Ohio the water is verry Mudy but quite sweet we observed quite a number of natu- ral chimneys ricks [sic] piled up as though the hand of man had been opper- ating on them Nature works out some queer shapes we got aground several times but got off without trouble
May ^rd We arrived at Independance this morning at 2 oclock A. M. having got our loading on shore at sunrise the directors started up to see the town and make some enquiries about matters the town is three miles from the landing it has the appearance of haveing grown up in one night like "Jonah's gourd" we concluded to camp i mile below the town near a small stream and camped out for the first time in my life we bought no mules today thinking it advisable to look about some first
Friday May 4th iS^p. Today we have made further investigation on gen- eral matters we purchased 3 mules and engaged one waggon
May f The directors are at loss to know what kind of mules to purchase, today we purchased 7 American mules but think they shall generally buy Spanish mules
Sunday May 6^ I together with two more started out some three miles for a pair of mules No one knowes how vexatious it is to manage wild mules these were as wild as Arabs and we were tired enough
Monday May yth. Today we commenced in earnest we bought 30 Spanish mules and at night our camp began to look like starting but to new beginers business crowds in every form waggons to buy harnesses to fit &c &c
Tuesday May 5" Mr. [J. A.] Hough and I started in the country to pur- chase a few horses and chains it being next to impossible to get any black- smithing done We directed our course to the town of Liberty Clay county Mo. We bought a verry fast horse for ^^ dolls such as would bring in Mass $200, quick the land here is a good deal prara and most of the horses raised on them will skim over the ground like a bird we put [up] at a fine tavern and receved the best of treatment.
May p Friend Hough and I started out in the country to find a few horses the day was a fine one and we enjoyed the ride much we purchased 3 horses at an everage price of 40 dolls, here we bought our chains and whiffle trees as well as shoes for our mules packed our chains on a mule and started for camp we arrived late at home on account of being de- tained at the ferry all well in our party but they are dying with cholera all around us
May 14 Tuesday From the 9th to the 14th was spent in preparing for the journey all being ready we made a final move from Grove Camp as we called it at Independance We moved out 1 3 miles where there was plenty ​of grass the mules wild and roads mudy it was hard for man and beast
ijth we lay by and arranged our loads, etc.
May 77' Today we divided the rideing horses by lotery they were all brought up and numbered horses and mules and as bad luck would have it I drew the smallest Spanish mule we had in the lot it was a cream coloured one I riged on a Mexican sadle and trimmings and mounted being full six feet tall I must have presented a picture truly rediculous my feet came within less than a foot of the ground he used his best endeavours to throw me off but failed, and many a hearty laugh the boys have had at my expense today
My friend Hough was more unfortunate haveing been throwed several times from a similar article of horse flesh We got ready and moved 7 miles over a very rough road and crossing quite a stream here the hard work comes for men lifting and prying out of the mud waggons we camped on the edge of the prara and a fine sight it was as far as the eye could reach nothing but a roleing plane during the day we had two poles (or toungs) broken by our mules being wild and teamers not acquainted with driving we camped tired and hungry
Saturday May 18^ We spent the first part of the day in mending our wag- gons We passed on 1 3 miles over the most beautifull country man ever beheld Prara pinks were in abundance and the odor arrising from them delightfull to one's allfactory's One that has never seen these plains can form no idea of their vastness it looked like an ocean of prara Only one thing we observed to mar the scene that was quite a number of new made graves and the voluntary thought and wish was that he had laid up for him- self treasure in heaven in seeking treasure across the plains and the thought naturally occur it may be our lot next but large hope and stout hearts will do much towards sustaining us we arrived in camp late found water but no wood This I expect will be our great trouble in passing over this wood- less country
Sunday May 20' We felt it our duty to move today as we had no wood to cook with and poor water we traveled some 12 miles to what is called Indian Creek this is inhabited by the Shawnees Most of them have left their houses on the road on account of the Emigrants haveing the Cholera We saw one half breed quite inteligent he said "great many go never get there" here we found wood and a fine spring here we found quite a number of emigrating parties before we got onharnessed there came up a shower and such showers as they have on the prara beats all I ever saw. We put up our tents but were blessed with a soft bed by the ground being well soaked this is one of the beauties of camp life
Monday^ May 21^ We got started at 8 oclock as it is a great job to harness up wild mules We stoped at noon baited our mules on the banks of a ​fine creek. Moved on till six oclock and camped haveing had a hard days work for our mules it being mudy by last nights shower
May 22* Today we crossed the Wakarusa river the banks were steep we had to let our waggons down by ropes and hired some Santa Fee oxen to get our teems up the opposite bank there is heavy timber for a half mile on each side of the river for three miles we had to pass over a wet bottom prara had to double teems and much of the way the wheels went down to the hub however we have got through it at dark and camped on fine rise on the high prara tonight for the first time our ears have been saluted by the howling of wolves about our camp.
May 25' Today we have traveled over a roling prara and as we passed along on the ridge we could see to the right and left where the streams were by the lines of wood.
May 2^th Today we made a good drive haveing traveled full 25 miles We camped on a small stream at 5 oclock Mr. [Walton C] Felch and I started out to hunt wolves we heard nearby We saw them but could not get a shot at those fiends of the prara they are a redish color and all the evening our camp has been kept awake by their howling Today I have been taken with the diarea comon now on the prara and have been kept quite busy attending to the wants of nature having 25 passages today
May 2^th 49 Got an early start at 1 1 oclock we came to a small creek which was much swolen by the late rains here we had to unload our waggons and draw them across by ropes we got our goods over in our rubber boat and found it to be valuable we got all over at six oclock and camped on the left bank at sunset we were saluted by the screching of a dozen Indians who were riding at full gallop towards our camp they were Potawatamas and only wanted wisky We had none to give them and they went of soon without giving us any trouble Today I have been followed up with the diarea as hard as yesterday it soon weakens one I hope to be better tomorrow
May 26^ Today we got started early and after an hours travel came to the Kansas river at the lower crosing here we had to be ferryed over in flat boats owned by half breeds the wind blew and we could not persuade them to take us over till tomorrow Several Indians have visited us today all Friendly
Sunday 2jth 49 This morning we got ferryed across at a cost of 10 cents a head for our animals and % i .00 for our waggons we got all over at noon and passed out on a wet prara some six miles on to high land we got into camp at 9 oclock haveing to double our teems to get along the last wag- gon had got in carralle when the mules took fright and broke a toung to our best waggon This morning George Winslow was taken with diarea and vomiting this evening feels some better at the crossing we met a party returning haveing lost a husband father and Friend of Cholera We bought ​a pr of mules and a wagon of them the mules we paid $200 pr pair and noble fellows they are to the great trouble to getting along is our loads are [too] heavy for such bad roads While at the crossing we saw a good many Indians We saw a Cheif of the Caw nation he behaved with a good deal of dignity he was full six feet tall strait as an arrow head shaved all but a top not he asked for coffey tea sugar &c our camp tonight is on a beautifull rise with a creek on our right and the Kansas on the left a grand scene for a painter
Monday May 28^ This morning was spent in mending our waggon we passed on till six oclock over roling prara and camped near a good spring new species of flowers continue to attract our attention distance traveled 12 miles
May 2p' We got started early this morning I feel better today and am in hopes to feel better still by being carefuU what I eat George is better to owing to the attention of our Dr. 1 1 oclock A. M. we are at Soldir Creek the east bank of this stream is verry steep we let our teems down by ropes and were fortunate in getting over in an hour We drove out to grass through the timber and got some diner George eat some of a minute puding we moved on an hour and George was taken vomiting and cramp the worst kind of a cholera attack We stoped immediately no water within a half mile or wood we hope for the best in his case but fear the worst this evening he is out of his head
Wednesday May 50 This morning George is some better but it is doubt- full if he lives I watched with him last night I am near sick in conse- quence at 2 oclock he went into a calaps state and it was with greatest exertion we succeeded in bringing him to. We all gave him up but he would not beleve he was near his end we laid by today to give George quite repose This evening George is better and we have some hopes of his recovery this afternoon Hough and I went back 10 miles to the Pota- wattoma tradeing post for some articles for the association this is quite a town some six or eight stores there filled with nearly everything wanted to eat drink or wear While there a shower came up and we could not get across the river till dark and then only by paying double price we got in camp late
Thursday May ^ist 1849 Today our sick men are better we still stay in camp so not to expose them this afternoon four of us started for the Kansas with our sein to fish We tried but caught only one we re- turned and I lost my revolver on my way to camp bad luck hope to find it in the morning
Friday June ist George and Easterbrook are better this morning I took an early start to serch for my pistol after looking an hour I found it good luck I picked a fine bunch of flowers and returned to camp well sattisfied today we made up beds in the waggons for our sick and moved ​on slowly we camped on a small creek plenty of wood distance traveled today 1 2 miles our men stand it well
June 2 Today the men are better we have traveled over a roling prara some of the most beautifuU landscape views I ever saw it looked as though some wealthy monarch of the East had spent a fortune in laying it out today we could not camp till late on account of not finding water and wood we camped at sun set on the banks of a small stream George is tired and quite sick I am to watch with him tonight distance traveled today 1 6 miles
Sunday June 5 We concluded to move on a short distance we got started at 1 1 oclock George is not much better it is hard to ride all day we passed some verry bad places lowered our waggons down the steep pitches it is the most vexing life man ever led tonight while eating supper a German party came along and pasing a bad place over goes a waggon wheels broke all up men cross and tired We camped early on George's account he being tired distance traveled 1 5 miles Just as we were coming into camp one of our toungs got broke and so it goes
Monday June 4th This morning was spent in mending our waggons this afternoon we started on over roling prara with but little to relieve the monotony except the great number of plover and prara hens that start up at every rod we camped today on a small stream at half past five distance traveled 10 miles
Tuesday June jth This morning we were all up for an early start most of our party indulge in bathing when they have a chance and this morning they looked like ducks dipping in the limpid stream we got started at six oclock crossed we passed the Big Vermilion before noon moved on at a rapid pace and arrived at the Big Blue at 4 oclock the stream was low and we were soon over we camped just out of the timber near a fine spring that run a stream out of the bank of rock there is a rich smell on this river resembles the odor of a strawberry bed here some of our party caught a pail full of fine fish distance traveled according to Fremont 25 miles^ George is still improving fast and with good roads will not retard our progress any Esterbrook is got out about camp
Wednesday June 6th This morning our sick are still better we got an early start traveled 1 5 miles before noon came to a small creek of poor water but learned by one of Fremont's guides that near by there was a fine spring we did not find it not knowing where to look we moved on till four when one pair of mules in the last team gave out from hard driv- ing Mr Wilson and I started back with an extra pair and a shower coming up in a hurry we had to stand and take it and such a shower is seldom seen one continual stream of lightning all about us some of the men had quite a shock after the shower we found the team and started for camp the first team having got in just as the shower commenced we got in at 9 ​oclock wet and tired and hungry distance traveled today 25 miles
June jth George got cold in the shower last night we started late it was quite mudy in consequence of the hard rain last night the sun has been very hot today we stoped two hours at noon to bait we camped late tonight on account of not finding water to cook with George is worse this evening.
Friday June 8th Last night I watched with George and there was a per- ceptible change going on all night I laid down this morning to sleep was waked at 8 oclock and we thought he was dying He did not know us and we all gathered round him in the tent to witness the last strugle of breath leaving his body and a most solmn sight it was at 1 5 minutes past nine he ceased to breathe and God only knows the feeling in our camp and particu- larly his friends away from home & kindred with but 3 acceptions as mel- ancholy an event as was ever witnessed by man but all and everything was done to save him but it was of no avail and we must content ourselves with the thought that Gods ways are best yet we cannot see as he see's our ways are not his ways and our thoughts not his thoughts the company feel it hard
Uncle Jesse [Winslow] and I searched this forenoon for a stone that could be engraved we found a large sandstone and we engraved his name and where from and age on it in good deep large letters his grave was dug in a conspicuous place on the main road 30 miles west of the Big Blue river on the right [side] of the road near the junction of three tracks and a small stream runing south from it at 5 oclock in the afternoon all being ready we assembled in the Carrale the corps brought out of the tent Mr. Burt was requested to read scripture he read a psalm and the last chapter of Ecleasiastees Mr. [A. C.j Sweetser made an appropriate prayer there was not a dry eye in the group of sunburnt faces we formed a pro- cesion and followed him to his last resting place each man deposited a green bough as a token of respect and the first earth was put on him at six oclock we returned to camp each praying the like never to happen again in our number
Saturday June ^th This morning we moved on and it was with reluctance we left the grave of Brother George but such is life we passed today over a more level prara we have traveled today in company with a large party from New York and Verginia We passed today what appeared to be the bed of once a river in this bed we found some specimans of cactus one I noticed the center stalk had Eighty buds and blossoms here I killed a rattlesnake the first I have seen we camped tonight near wood and water distance traveled 25 miles
Sunday June loth We started this morning before 5 oclock and moved six miles to the banks of the Little Blue here we camped for the day Brother Fred and I took a walk down the river to see if there was any game ​we saw one deer and several wild turkeys Mr Evens [Benjamin C. Evans] was taken sick today with diarea
Monday June 1 1 '45) We had a hard shower this morning set a tire to one of our wheels and started at 1 1 oclock we have traveled today on the banks of the Blue plenty of wood nothing of note today. We camped near the party we traveled with yesterday distance 1 2 miles
June 12 Today we have traveled on the bottom of the Blue the country grows more level as we advance this morning a fine wild turkey ran across the road and the Virginia party saw two antelopes we camped on the blue Evans is quite sick tonight with diarea
Wednesday June 75 Last night we had a hard rain which makes the road bad today we broke a pole in the mudhole we camped early dis- tance 1 2 miles
June 14 Today we left the Blue with regret passed up on a table lands I saw a fine deer and followed him a mile but no use they can see all about them on these plains we camped off the main road Vi mile good grass but no wood or water this evening we broke an axle tree to one of our best waggons in a bad crossing vexing to keep stoping to mend wag- gons we noticed a new kind of flower today but not being a botanist could not give it a name it was a deep orange distance traveled today 20 miles
Friday June if This morning was spent in putting in the axle tree we got started at 10 oclock after traveling three hours we came in sight of the Platte River we stoped to bait while here a guide to a Washington City party came up we invited him to dine with us and gathered such information as we could about the route he said we were some 15 miles from Fort Kearny^ a new one haveing been built in a year or two we camped within 5 miles of the fort this is in the Pawnee Teretory we have not seen one yet they keep off the main road on account of the great number passing
Saturday June 1 6 This morning we moved up to the fort it is made of turf with the acception of one frame house under erection there is two companys of infantry one of dragoons stationed here to protect emigrants and keep Indians straight there is a boarding house kept here The Of- ficers board there and we availed ourselves of the opportunity to get a good diner once more it was equal to any "Fremont" diner in Boston to us
June I'l Sunday Mr Evans is quite smart and we stop here to keep Sun- day this morning the Washington city came up and also a German com- pany we left back aparty of five one waggon wants to join us has been traveling with the Washington company but there is two much quarreling in it to suit them three brothers by the name of Rohrer one Simmons one Morford We have given them permission to travel a day or two to see how we like each other this evening we had a meeting prayers were ​made by Mr Crist and Sweetser and hymns sung it seemed like home to hear old hundred
June 18 Monday We left the fort and passed up on the river bottom saw several antelope and a most beautifull flower a deep red the root of which when cooked tastes like potatoes and makes a good pickle we camped off the river and to get water we had to dig a well we got good water by diging three feet distance traveled 1 5 miles
Tuesday June 19 We made a good drive nothing of note made 25 miles.
Wednesday June 20th Today has been hot we have had to lay by at noon three hours We have to eat hard bread and make our coffee with Buffalo chips for the first time We look now anxious for Buffallo dis- tance 20 miles
June 21 We have made good time today and camped near wood and water We have seen quite a number of Cactus beds blossom pale yellow distance 20 miles
Friday June 22 The river bottom narrows and the Bluffs grow higher today noon we saw distinctly on the opposite side of the river two Buffallo two of Rohrer's party and the Dr of our party went after them re- turned had a chase but did not get one we camped late without wood or water except what we brought from the river a mile distance 2 3 miles
Saturday June 25 We are now in the Sioux country and this afternoon one
of the Virginia party shot a large Buffalo they gave us as much as we
wanted a party of our men went out from our camp but did not get one
We camped near a running brook for Sunday distance traveled 20 miles
Sunday June 24th This morning before sunrise the cry of Buffalo was raised and every man was out to see one of those animals we had long looked for within a mile of our camp were fifteen large ones feeding and back on the Bluffs a mile or two there were hundreds on every hill top it was two strong a temptation for us who had never seen any game larger than a patridge Several of us took our rifles and went out to get a nearer view of the "elephant" We had gone a couple of miles and came direct on a large hurd we layed behind a rise of ground some 30 rods from them We watched them some time and we were getting ready to shoot when they discovered us and off they started on a kind of a clumsy gate I had the sattisf action of putting a ball in one of those Old Bulls just back of the fore- shoulder he hobled off evidently feeling worse for the opperation None of the rest fired and my ball being light did not suddenly stop him there was one seen in the direction he went off some hour after streched out for good they will go a good ways with a half ounce ball in them unless it passes through their lounges to prove this Mr. Nichols Ester- brook and I could not give it up, so, we started for another drove some mile ​and half off we crept up to them as near as ten rods and all three of us put a ball in an old bull he made off ran more than a half mile before he showed signes of haveing been hit. we followed him and had the sattisfac- tion of seeing him lay down We got near enough and let him have three more balls and he never tried to rise but yealded up the ghost this was my first attempt at Buffalo hunting We skined up a place took out a few pounds of the best stake and returned to camp at noon we went after them on foot and was tired traveling over these sand bluffs on coming to camp it was all excitement and we soon had a party of ten to go out and bring in the Meat We found a hurd near by the one we shot and could not deny ourselves the pleasure of one charge we started and our horses entered into the spirit of the chase and we were soon along side of a mighty herd full five hundred darting over the prara at full speed such feelings of delight I never realized before Brother Fred had the pleasure of one charge mounted on an Indian poney on fireing the horses turned as though they were trained to the chase after loading four mules with the best of the meat we left well satisfied with our first attempt.
Monday June 2^th This morning we were moveing in season mules well rested we came to the crossing of the South fork of the Platte river at eliven oclock we baited an hour and commenced to cross the stream here was full a mile wide this crossing is a new one and 20 miles below where Bryant crossed^ the afternoon was spent in getting our teems over haveing to lighten considerable and packed it over on horses and mules the quick sand and deep places rendered it almost impossible for the teem to draw we camped on the opposite side of the river without wood and verry few chips this evening the Verginia company are crossing and a government waggon is on the opposite side dis 10 m
Tuesday June 26th. This forenoon we passed up the left bank of the South Fork soon after noon halt we struck the bluffs to cross over to the north fork at the place we crossed to it the two rivers were not more than three miles apart but verry high hills between we camped tonight near the river without wood but plenty of musquitoes
Wednesday June 2'jth Today the road has been some sandy not any- thing of note till just as night several of us started off for some wood a mile distant it proved to be a few willows the worst of wood to burn, we found a spring of cold water three feet deep and such things are a rarity in these parts we drank harty tonight we camp near the river and of all imaginable pests the musquitoes excede all at this place this is the hard- est camp we have had to sleep we expect to be troubled the rest of the way on this river. We have noticed some new kinds of cactus the most most abundant kind is of a pale yellow blossom and they grow in large beds as many as a hundred buds and blossoms on one root distance traveled today 20 miles ​
Thursday June 28^ 49 Today has been rather hard drive we have passed over a good deal of hardy sandy Bluffs today we have found wood and three the finest springs man ever quenched his thirst at this afternoon we had one of the hardest pulls we have ever had to get on a rise before going into ash hollow this is a most beautifull place we found the Verginia party camped in the mouth of the hollow Mr Crist the gentleman that joined us at Independance went to see them they asked him to take some supper he sat eating and one of the party had a revolver and by accident it went off the ball passing through his arm struck a rib and passed round saving his life whereas if it had struck between his ribs it would have killed him we camped near by distance traveled 2 3 miles
Friday June 29' Today we lay by on Mr. Grist's account he is better and we hope to move tomorrow our cooks have been busy baking here plenty of wood and good spring of water we have now filled a wheel to- day and rearranged our loads all well in camp now but the shot man
Saturday June 50' This morning were moveing early fixing Mr. Christ a bed in a waggon We passed on over a sandy hard road the Bluffs coming down to the river the country grows more sterile and the grass poorer we camped at 5 oclock distance traveled 1 5 miles. Just at night a white wolf passed a head of the train I took a rifle and after following him a short distance I put a ball in his hip which stoped his progress our dog had a clinch with him his teeth were like sheers when they came together this is the first one we could get near enough to shoot at
Sunday July ist We have commenced this month by a fine drive we camped on a fine creek of clear water and good grass nothing of note we passed a large company who were laid by for Sunday distance traveled 25 miles
Monday July 2 We got an early start this morning made our noon halt opposite Court House bluff after noon several of our party went over to take a look at it I climed to the top and engraved my name and such a view man seldom sees we overtook the train just before camping camped tonight on a Bluff two miles from the river no wood or water distance traveled 25 miles
Tuesday July 5 Last night two men that formerly belonged to the Dayton Ohio company came to camp and wanted to stop the night with us their party has broken some gone back these were returning hartily sick of the trip this morning we were of in good season we camped some 5 miles before reaching chimney rock this we thought worthy of a visit it being one mile of the main road before reaching it we passed several new made graves we found a spring near the rock coming out of a clay bluff cold and reviving we climed up the base of chimney rock some two hundred feet engraved our names and returned to the party they halted at noon near the river five miles beyond the rock good grass this ​afternoon we left the river near Scott Bluffs here we filled our water tanks We camped near the Bluffs some four miles from the river dis- tance traveled 25 miles
July 4th 1849 This is the nation's birthday and as americans our liveliest thoughts are called out in gratitude for the day that declared us an inde- pendant people We could not celebrate it much in the usual way but our thoughts were at home and we made the hills ring with our cheers for the day and fond ones at home small arms were used to make a noise We halted at noon near a verry cold spring just before crossing the Bluffs here we found there was a log house up [of] a Black smith who kept a store he bought his goods of Emigrants who find they have to much and most of them do. We sold him a bag of coffee pork he would not take as a gift has made a good deal of money by mending wagons &c. he has a squaw of the Sioux tribe for a wife here we passed two large companys who were repairing just after leaveing this tradeing post we came up on a Bluff and we beheld for the first time the rocky Mountains one prominent peak arose far above the surrounding hills and was a majestick sight we had longed to see it some weeks we camped tonight near a creek of fine water and good grass distance 20 m
Thursday July ^th We were off in season this morning this country grows more sterile and on the left bank of the river nothing but sand hills were seen we were most fortunate in coming up to a capital spring in time for dinner it is the largest we had seen furnishing quite a stream and a tributary to the river good grass on the banks of the creek after dinner our boys took the sein and caught seventy fine fish out of the clear spring water they were nice and hard I am surprised that Bryant did not discover it we have made a long drive today camped at half past Eight poor grass the grass seems much more parched up here than it has been back distance traveled today 30 miles good
Friday July 6th We acerttained by a party returning that we were near the fort We started early came up to the crossing at 10 oclock there were several parties crossing after waiting an hour we had our turn this crossing was on Larime near the junction of the platte the water ran verry rapid and was near three feet deep we got all safely over without wetting our load much we crossed opposite Ft John^ one mile below Ft Larima^^ these places are nothing but a mud wall with quarters for a com- pany of a hundred men the government have lately bought it of the A. Fur Com and are getting ready to create a new one near by here we saw some hundred or two waggons deserted to pack and pork was piled up all about. We found that we had Eight hundred [ lbs. ] more of the swine than we should actually need we sold it for ^ cents pr pound we moved three miles from the crossing up the river and camped near a spring calculating to stop tomorrow to rest our mules and repair our waggons there has not ​been any rain here for 35 days and the roads are verry dry the wheels are shrinking tires get loose distance traveled 8 miles
Saturday July jth This day has been spent in overhauling loads and repair- ing waggons and the members limited to one hundred pounds including arms ammunition &c We find we can lighten considerable in old chains barrels and everything is ready for an early start tomorrow. We found a mile from camp a man left by some party he was deranged and sick with a verry bad diarea our Dr gave him some medicine and something to eat but could not get him to camp he is entirely naked and sun burnt a pitiable object we shall take some measures to get him to the Fort the party that left him are verry censurable hardly human. This evening it looks like rain hope to have a shower. Our camp is pleasantly set out with cactus the pineapple and a new species to me having a verry fine red flower today our boys picked quite a mess of wild currents and for sauce they are a treat
Sunday July 8th We camped yesterday three miles from the fort on the Platte we got our tire reset and this morning we were off in season I went over to carry letters to the Fort our party kept up the river road I struck across the Bluffs by "Warm Spring"^^ laid down by Bryant the upper one was as clear a spring as was ever seen, discharging a large quantity of water I came up with the party at two o'clock haveing taken the wrong road four miles we now begin to find it uphill work as we near the Mounts we passed a creek that had the appearance of lately haveing been swollen moveing some of the bushes and drift wood we found large quantities of hail the stones after a warm day as large as pees we camped tonight on a rise some 20 miles from the fort fair grass the road has not run as formerly near the river it keeps up today on the bluffs more, occasionly comeing in sight of the river We have passed one party with Oxen dis- tance traveled 22 m.
Monday pth This morning we were off in season at 9 oclock we came to cold clear spring these springs are soule reviveing as we come uppon them unexpected ^vc miles from this spring we came to fine creek water clear and cold abundance of grass timber &c this was the best nooning place we have had here we found a party throwing away their bacon to lighten their loads we met several return [ing] trains all ox teams re- port poor grass ahead we traveled late and camped on the Platte a few miles above where the river makes through the ridge called by Fremont the Cannon^^ good grass today we passed several parties of ox teams now we have the advantage of oxen distance 25.
Tuesday, July 10th 184P Today we have had a verry uneaven road work- ing around Laramie, at noon hour we had to run of the road some half mile side of a small creek Wood water and grass here we reset several of our tire the sun is hot and air verrv drying the wood work to our waggons shrink verrv much we moved at four oclock we camped tonight ​on the banks of a small stream not a spear of grass this is the first time our teems have had to be tied up without some f eede the guide book says some 17 miles we find a stream grass and water we have found several glorious good springs the water boiling up out of the clear sand we found camped here severall parties that passed us some time since while laying by with our sick we have several unwell from diarea &c distance traveled today 20 miles
Wednesday July nth This morning we moved early out five miles found some grass and turned out two hours here our mules got quite refreshed we have passed over a verry hilly country, this afternoon we could not find a green patch of grass and were obliged to bait on dried up Buffalo grass we camped on a small stream, now but has the appearance of quite a river in a wet time we could not find near this stream grass enough for one mule we tied our teems up with a view of an early start dis- tance traveled 25 miles
Thursday July 12th Today we have made a good drive to arrive at deer creek we passed several streams but the banks are grazed as close as sheep can perform that duty this forenoon we saw a buffallo I followed a short distance the ground so uneven my horse could not keep up with him we baited at noon near a cold spring these springs coming out of the hills are a perfect "God send" to the traveler the road today has been over hills and bluffs we struck the platte some ^yq miles before arriveing at Deer Creek a mile further we saw at a distance a buffalo Mr Whittier and I started after him it proved to be one that had been shot today we saw several carcases indicating they were here we took a survey and to our joy we [saw] three at a distance We made for them by hideing behind the hills we came directly upon them I put a ball in back of the fore- shoulder he went on I loded up and started my horse slowly and suc- ceded in comeing up to him and putting a ball in his back it is difficult to shoot on the full gallop we though we had him he laging behind the others we came up to him I headed him and he stoped I fired at his head he droped on his knees and came up and with a tremendous rush came directly at me my horse was to quick for him and saved me a shock we followed him slowly expecting to see him fall he was bleeding freely and his lungs was evidently pierced as the Blood was runing of his toung he passed in a ravine that led to a branch of deer creek We lost sight of him and it being near night we could not find him in time to return to camp we struck the creek five miles above the mouth of the creek we started down the stream it was dark and comeing across a party hurding cattle we staid with them over night distance traveled 2 5 miles
Friday July iph This morning Whittier and I returned to our party found them camped near the crossing of the river we moved up the creek six miles to stop a day or two for our mules to rest and cut some hay we ​camped near a fork in the creek a grand place fair grass we mowed some hay enough to give our mules a lunch for a few days today some of our men shot several ducks I shot four prara hens and if nothing hap- pens we will have a rich dinner tomorrow.
Saturday July 14th This day has been spent in shoeing mules making hay &c We have had a glorious dinner a regular fowl soup delicious. Since we have been here we have had as much milk as we wanted of parties hurd- ing their cattle near us
Sunday July i^th 1849 Today we have crossed the Platte again being ferryed across by a party from 111. who on coming up to the ferry found it governed by a Mormon who was asking I2.50 for ferrying over a waggon they went to work and made a raft of log's dug out, they ferreyed us over for .50 cts a waggon this had the right effect to make him reduce his fare the same we had to swim our mules over we got all safely over and started at four oclock over a hilly sandy road we camped on the banks of the river in a pleasant grove some grass We are all well enough today to ride on horseback (distance from the old camp up to the creek 10 miles)
Monday July i6th This morning we moved at six oclock and the hardest road we have had very soft sand Bluffs We have all heavy loads today haveing one waggon for hay and buying yesterday at the crossing hard bread and rice to the amt of four hundred pounds we halted at noon on the river some little grass has the appearance of haveing been mowed the head teems eat it so close We had a meeting today noon to see about light- [en]ing loads we concluded to leave all but 500 lbs of our pork finding we did not consume near as much as was estimated We left it beside the road for all that need it we concluded to part with 75 lbs of coffee and all that could be spared We moved late this evening camped on a sand Bluff and found our hay most valuable distance 1 8 miles
Tuesday July ijth This forenoon our road was more hilly and sandy We left the river at 1 1 Oclock for good halted in a valley four miles be- yond the teams had to labor so hard that quite a number called a meeting to make arrangements for packing the company the majority voted not to pack but try it a day or two longer this afternoon the road has been better we have passed today some hard hills We camped tonight on the banks of a small creek found a spring some alkali taste to the water no wood but wild sage distance 20 miles
Wednesday July i8th Today we started early with a view of getting to a spring 14 miles distant we pased (rock Avanue) this morning but the road has generally been quite good we halted at noon near the spring and creek no grass we fed out the rest of our hay here as we found no grass this afternoon we passed "Willow Spring" a spring of as cold water as man ever tasted after leaving the spring we ascended a verry high hill ​here we had a most glorious view of mountain scenery we camped near a spring and good grass this was the best camp we have enjoyed for some time distance 20 miles
Thursday ipth Today we have had a verry hard sandy road we passed this morning a fine running stream and at 1 1 oclock we came to a succession of lakes crusted over with alkalie some of them near a half inch thick some places more than others we halted on the rise after passing these lakes for the teams to come up we moved after an hours halt and four miles brought us to the (Sweetwater) We hailed it with delight found a good place to camp and halted for the night near independance rock^^ a place where every passer by leaves his signature distance 1 6 miles
Friday July 20th 49 Today our road has been mostly along the Banks of the river occasionally strikeing across the Bluffs these are soft sand and verry hard for teems to get through at 1 1 oclock our road run near the upper side of the "Devils Gate"^* an opening in the Mountains for the river to run through the cut is called by the Mormon guide^^ 400 feet perpendicu- lar and 80 feet wide it looked like the passage way of some higher power anyway it is one of those wonders of nature that man likes to admire the "Sweetwater" Ridge must be a part of the Rocky Mountains as they are a solid rock no herbage but an occasionally stunted Cedar in some crevice we camp tonight on the banks of the river 1 7 miles from our last camp
"Today we have disposed of one of our waggons making our remaining loads rather heavy" "For a week past we have passed a large number of Ox trains the hard chance we have had for grass has compelled them to give out many of them, we find them along the road oftener than every mile and parties with them have to lay by to recruit the remaining one."
Saturday July 21st 184^ Today we have laid by to give our mules a chance to recruit We found it expedient to improve some of our waggons by shortening the body we find others have done it with good results All well and everything ready for an early start
Sunday 22 This morning we were moveing at five our road lay mostly along the river banks some hard sand Bluffs to cross we halted at noon on the river 10 miles from our camp yesterday. While here a Buffalo came down to drink a little above our camp the camp was soon roused and the rifles read [y ] a dozen men started on foot to cut him off they returned in an hour only one getting a shot at him This afternoon a man came to us who got lost four days before on a hunting excursion he looked miser- able haveing nothing to eat for four days we fed him and he is with us tonight he proves to be a regular Phys[ician] from Miss belonging to a pack mule party This afternoon we have had a real shower the first we have had for 35 days it was a great relief to the dust we camped to- night near the crossing of the river under a mountain of rocks good grass and wood distance 19 miles ​
Monday July 25 This morning our road for the first three miles was directly through the mountains crossing the river three times in a mile or two at half past ten we traveled up a rise and the first sight that attracted our notice was the Mountains ahead covered with snow they were supposed to be the "Wind river" Mts north of the South Pass We made our noon halt at a crossing in the river and learned we had to travel 16 miles before comeing to the river again no grass between the two points we pushed for it came to the river at 10 oclock P. M. Mules and men hartily tired haveing traveled 28 miles on short feed the air this evening is quite cold being like our evenings the last of September here at the crossing we found several trains of ox teems and learned the great Pass was within two days drive some parties here had lost their whole teems by a stampede
Tuesday July 24th 184P This morning we moved on up the river passed over a verry high rise as much of a mountain as we have passed over Struck the river some six miles above our last camp here we found a party leaveing a waggon we obtained it for wood and camped for the day to rest our teems etc
Wednesday July 2f This morning the water in our pails near the campfire were frozen over an indication that we were on a good deal of an eleva- tion we passed up the banks of the sweet water some five miles our road then struck over the hills and verry high and hard compared to any we have passed we halted at noon on Strawberry creek while here Capt Duncan^^ of the Mounted rifle men came in to camp We invited him to diner We learned he was in persuit of four deserters from his Company who had run from Fort Larime besides taking horses and arms belonging to the Company they robed an emigrant of two hundred dollars and ravaged his wife he kept company with us this afternoon his horse nearly given out he offered $ 100 to our party to send on a man or men to catch them we had no horses that it would do to send we passed this after- noon two fine creeks both tributaries to the sweetwater we camped to- night near the last crossing of the river distance traveled 24 miles.
Thursday July 26th We had Capt Duncan stay with us last night this morning he got several of our men to acompany him a few miles hopeing to come up with the men he was in persuit of we started late intending to travel only 14 miles to pacific spring 9 miles from camp we passed the turning point in the Mountains the road has been good today and the rise verry little we began to decend and three miles further brought us to pacific springs good grass and fine water we arrived at one oclock camped for the day distance 1 2 miles
Friday July 2jth This morning we made an early start having learned bv our guide that it was 24 miles to the next water and grass^^ our road has been some decending generally level more so than I anticipated no herabage except wild sage and occasionally a bunch of greese wood we halted at ​noon and baited our mules on corn we had with us the road has been much harder today than usual we arrived at sunset on our camp ground on the banks of the little Sandy a fine stream 1 5 ft wide cold Water comeing right from the Mountains no grass and little wood distance 25 miles
Saturday 28th 4^ This morning we were off before sunrise We arrived on the Banks of the Big Sandy eight miles from the Little found good grass grazed our mules till noon While here we shot several sage hens and hares furnishing us meat for a soup today we have passed several large trains of ox teems we find on this the Mormon Road better travel- ing than we expected the wind has been verry strong today and cold so much so that an overcoat is not uncomfortable We camped tonight on the Big Sandy 2 5 miles from our last camp and ten miles to the Color ad or green river ^^
Sunday July 29th We determined to move on to the Green river to find better grass We arrived river at Eleven oclock found it hard to ford hired a Mormon to ferry us over at $2. a wagon this is a beautifull stream 200 yards wide swift current and clear water we moved down the river four miles and camped on its banks good grass and plenty of timber and is a great relief to the barron country we have passed over since we left the Platte
At the ferry we came up with Captain Duncan who left us three days be- fore he found his four deserters at this place poor fellows they are to be pitied distance 1 3 miles
Monday July ^oth This morning for three miles our road lay along the banks of the Green River and after traveling over a barron country for a month such a change as this is a great relief the banks are well wooded and the green lawns present a most grattifying picture After leaving the river we struck over the bluffs and for 1 7 miles the country is more roling than a few days back we struck a fine stream Black fk We passed on after wattering and camped four miles beyond on Maders creek good grass no wood but willows distance 25 miles While we were haveing our nooning a most brutal affair took place between two of our members "White and Ayer" it commenced by White pushing Ayer and kicking him in return Ayer threw a hatchet he held in his hand at the time it struck White on the thy and cut a gash four inches long quite deep men get cross sometimes on this trip and haveing all restraint thrown off they act rash I hope we shall not have another case of assault it lowers us in the eyes of other Companies and ourselves
July ^ist We moved early crossed the creek we camped on pased over a more roling country this forenoon we met the Mormon express going back to the states^^ they informed us that considerable of the gold from Cal had arrived at the settlement we learned that we could get vege​tables etc at the Salt Lake this was good news to us our road ran along near the "Rain Bow" bluffs they derive their name from the different col- ours of clay and sand mixed up the sides we noticed one prominent Bluff whose sides presented with a little strech of imagination every variety of forms groups of men heads of animals &c looked like egiptian archi- tecture we halted at noon on Blacks Fork good grass this after- noon we saw several antelope shot some sage hens and one hare which furnish us good material for a soup we camped on a creek of rapid run- ing water cold and clear comeing from the Utaw Mountains whose peaks are ever covered with snow making the nights cold and needing over coats in the morning
Wednesday August ist/49 Mr Noyse is quite sick this morning of an at- tack of Mountain fever we moved on at 7 oclock thinking to stop at "fort Bridger"^^ eight miles from our last camp the road was good some de- cending arrived at the fort at 10 Oclock near the fort we passed three rapid runing streams within a half mile of the Fort on the Banks of these streams was a large number of Indian wigwams most of them Sosone or Snake quite a number came to us and by signes asked for bread we gave them and they still beged it seamed as though there was no sattisfying their hunger poorly clad the men lazeing about and the Squas at home working hard dressing skins here we found several traders who had most of them Indian wives and you could see in the little pappoose crawling about the blood of the white man The Indians were remarkably civel no one of them showed any disposition to steal we paid a visit to the Fort it is built of logs and quite a comfortable place to stay after our halt we moved on and our road was over high hills and part of the Utaw Mts after 1 2 miles traveling over hills a splendid valley appears below some two miles we found a fine stream and pretty good grass, some wood we camped well sattisfied our sick man some better distance 22 miles
Thursday Aug 2d 49 Our road this morning lay over high hills after traveling up three or four miles we had a tedious decent road rocky nothing of note except mountain scenery which is grand the snow cov- ered peaks on one hand and the thousand streams runing from them with an occasional raviene with a grove of pople[r] to releive the mind we find the mornings verry cold here ice quite often is found in our watter buckets we made our noon halt on the side of one of the highest peaks we have passed after passing this ridge our road decended into a most beautiful valley after winding about the hill we struck across another ridge and had a fine view of Bear river and valley from the hill our road was verry steep and stoney for a mile which brought us to the river a fine stream of three rods wide rapid current we did not find grass here suflicient to stop haveing been well grazed bv party and Indians here we found two lodges of the Snake Indians these fellows beat all for begging we passed on ​over the first ridge and camped plenty of grass no water or wood distance 22 miles
Friday ^rd Aug This morning we were off in good season we had a good road somewhat hilly the first part and then by a pleasant decent we found ourselves in a splendid valley we found a good spring this four miles from our last camp the edges were frozen over the air is quite cold this morning we followed down this valley and small stream four miles and struck across the ridge into an other valley by a long and tedious decent we halted at noon near a spring of cold water good grass this was 15 miles from the river here we found two more lodges numbering in all twenty they persued the course of all we have passed beg we gave them and they seemd eqully dissatisfied want more they are of a smaller size than those we met in the first part of the trip and miserably poor soon after noon we struck into echo valley and followed it till night crossing a small stream in it several times towards night the hills grew higher and squarer three or four hundred feet perpendicular and the ravine where we crossed more dangerous we camped tonight near the stream poor grass distance 28 miles
Sat Aug 4th This forenoon we still followed the valley often crossing the stream saw some splendid views on one side perpendicular Bluffs sev- eral hundred feet high on the other the side hills covered with grass and herbage I noticed today some shrub oaks the first I have seen at noon we struck "Webbers" river a fine stream.^^ We halted a mile below where we struck it grass rather poor plenty of wood on it we passed party of Mormons today and obtained of them milk and Butter the latter the first we have had since leaving the States and as great a luxury as could be offered to us we forded the river three miles below our noon halt passed on the hills into a ravine two miles from the river and camped for the night dis- tance 1 5 miles
Sunday Aug ^th ^4p Today we have had a hard road passing up a narrow ravine most of the way on the side hills quite dangerous crossing a creek near a dozen times one of our teems got upset in a bad place we came up with a large party of forty Waggons Ox teems we followed them within a mile of the road leaving the river and camped for the night dis- tance 1 2 miles
Monday Aug 6/4P Today our road after a mile from camp turned to the right up a Kenyon we followed it some four miles up often crossing a small gulley with some water this Kenyon was well timbered it led us on a verry prominent peak of the range the decent of which was exceed- ingly steep and dangerous we followed it down four miles and many times crossing a rapid runing creek near a dozen times we camped at the foot of the last hill (rightly called Mountain) that seperates us from the Salt Lake Valley today we have had the best view of mountain scenery ​that has greeted us on the trip we descended the hill without accident and well sattisiied with our days work
August 7 Tuesday This morning for a mile our road lay up a steep hill on arriving at the top we halted for a while then decended a sharp pitch into a ravine with a rapid runing stream of cold water after crossing the stream 19 times brought us in full view of the Valley and a more beautifull sight could not be presented to our view hundreds of acres of corn wheat and vegetables we moved through the main street [of Salt Lake City] and camped on what is calld the commons outside the city fence we gave our mules over to the herdsman for a few days and prepared ourselves to enjoy the good things of the Valley for a few days distance traveled today 1 2 miles
Aug 8 ^49 Today we have looked about the city for information respect- ing the wisest way to finish our trip and have decided to pack our mules and shove through and have made arrangements for our packs and disposed of some of our waggons in exchange
Today our party took dinner with Mr. ha J. Williss one of the Mormon battallion who was in Cat on the discovery of gold his brother was in the trench to work for Sutter when the discovery was made^^ Ira gave us some verry grattifying inteligence of the abundance of the filthy lucre We shall be better sattisfied when we see for ourselves
Aug ijth 1849 After a weeks sojourn with the Mormons we leave today with regretts haveing received the kindest attention from all we have had to do with. On the tenth we pitched our Marque tent and invited Elder Tay- lor^^ to address us on the general items that constitute the Mormon creed he spoke to us in verry plain talk of the treatment they received in the States and wo be to those men that were active in the persecution if they ever enter the City we were visited several times in our stay by President [Brigham ] Young their leading prophet (for they beleive in prophets and Bishops and all the ancient organization of society) He seemed to be a fine man the people generally are a verry social people and hospitable and you may be- lieve that the vegetables had to suffer while we stoped. The City is laid out in squares on a good plan streets wide they irrigate the soil haveing plenty of water from the Kenyons near by have raised this season some excellent wheat and the valley for a hundred miles will be good tillage land. The people give one tenth of the products of their labor to the church for to feed the poor. they have not erected a temple as yet but intend to soon as they have raised grain to keep them the while. While we have been here it has been verry warm in the Valley but at a distance of sixteen miles the peaks of the Mountains are ever covered with snow we did not visit the Lake some 20 miles distant expecting to pass near it on our way There is one place of interest that we frequently visited was a warm sidpher spring one mile above the citv and reputed healthy it was uncomfortably warm on ​first entering but after a moment it was delightful! Our men are much better in health and spirits than on entering the city Quite a number had a bit of Mountain fever but are all well now We started with high hopes of a speedy trip from here to our destination. We got started at four oclock P. M. came out Eight miles to a junction of the road part of our men took the right [road] that hugged the mountains through the settlements. [An insert, at bottom of previous page and upside down: "we passed a hot spring 4 m from the city, we could not bear a hand in it"] I together with the other part took the cut off near the lake we stoped at the first house and got supper and camped for the night distance 8 miles
Thursday Aug 1 6th This morning we packed up and started at 8 oclock each man has two animals to take care of and pack, which makes the labor equel this morning our road for several miles lay over a salt flat bottom not a spear of grass the ground moist with a salt crust on top 1 5 miles brought us to the junction of the two roads we camped in wait for the rest of the party to come up they soon arrived and we all got dinner at a farm house the farms all have to be irrigated to produce good crops here there was a fine stream run near the house, this house unlike those in the city was made of logs the "City houses were made mostly of douby bricks" distance 1 5 miles
Friday Aug ijth 49 We moved on today and 17 miles brought us to the last house of the settlement a mile beyond Capt Brown's crossed Webber river and camped near another fork of the river two miles most of our men went back to Brown's to get dinner I had a good bathe after get- ting clean I met a man by the name of Chase who lived on the other side of the creek I got permission to go home with him and get supper on ar- riving at his house I found it the most agreeable family I had been in in the valley a fine young lady presided at the table as mistress [her] mother being away we had for supper peas corn buiscuit butter milk tea coffey in fact all the heart of man could wish after tea the old man went into the merits of the Mormon faith after an evenings chat I retired to rest on a feather bed for the first time since leaving the states haveing been used to laying on the hard ground my rest was not so pleasant as I anticipated the old man said he would provide a breakfast for the whole party
Saturday 18^ ^p This morning I returned to camp and informed the Boys we could have breakfast and we geered up and went over at 9 oclock and a better breakfast we never sat too. This was our last hope till we get through
after biding our friends goodby we moved on passed several springs of good water we came to one after ten miles and rushed down to quench our thirst but found it so hot that we could not bear our hand in it near by was another cold but salt great our disappointment these springs are a wonder we arrived at a small creek and camped for the night good grass and water distance 15 miles ​
Sunday 19th Today we made a long drive we passed several springs some good some warm and salt our road lay along the valley near the Bluffs. Some of them high and nearly perpendicular forming numerous steeples and presenting some magnificent scenes on our left we could see the Lake and marsh for miles presenting the appearance of being covered with snow the salt crust being verry white we arrived at Bear river at 4 oclock steep banks on either side but with pack mules there is no difficulty in going down as up compared with waggons we camped after crossing on the banks of the river good grass here one of our men shot several wild geese and ducks near our camp which makes us a good meal distance 32 miles
Monday 20" Today we were off in good season three miles from camp we crossed a small stream of poor water called Malad Creek today our road passed along north of the Lake today about a west course after leaving the creek six miles brought us to a warm spring on the side hill here we filled our tanks expecting to have a long drive to good water we were not disappointed the sun was hot in the extreme the roads dusty a kind of powder which would rise in clouds enough to suffacate a person after twenty miles of such roads over some hills we came to a spring gushing out at a dozen places clear water men and animals rushed to it as if beside themselves and what a disappointment just warm enough to be sickish and salt! Oh! horrors. We had traveled far as the animals could bear and camp we must and make the best of it We boiled some for coffee which only made it the Salter We have suffered as much today for want of water as any day since we started our men are all well so we can stand it dis- tance traveled today 29 miles
Tuesday Aug 21st/ 49 Today we started with our throats dry and husky drinking so much warm salt water in hopes to find some good cold water we traveled four hours over a mountainous country and thank fortune we came to a spring in the moutains cold pure water this we considered a perfect God Send here we refreshed ourselves and animals for an hour and moved on to a creek of good water deep but narrow we passed down the creek five miles and camped good grass here we found letters papers and sermons of an Episcopal Clergyman by name of Yeager who formerly preached in Boston the writings of many hours scattered to the wind we supposed he had died back on the road his journal we found kept up to the South pass the last of it showed rather a depressed spirit, poor fellow he like many who started to improve their helth on this trip have found a grave on these plains. We met today a party returning to the city of Mormons We could not learn much about them but supposed they were a party of gold diggers as we learned they expected some home soon distance traveled today 28 miles
Wednesday Aug 22 This morning our road for twelve miles was across a ​plain covered with stunted sage and not a spear of grass, we came to a small spring of good water seven miles farther brought us to a mountain cov- ered with stunted cedars here we found a weak spring hardly furnishing water for ourselves and animals we halted an hour or so while here Brother Fred was attacked with a violent pain in his back he was better in an hour and moved on with the train we traveled till dark and came to a good spring here we camped takeing our mules to a Kenyon near by for grass distance 26 miles
Thursday Aug 25 This forenoon our road was some hilly till we struck the Clajux Creek a distance of fourteen miles passing several good springs this creek is four feet wide and two ft deep good water we passed up the creek nine miles to where the road leaves it and camped Here we found our friends Rhorer's & co who have traveled with us since leaveing Ft Kearny they started from the city two days before we did and were in waiting for us grass poor distance 2 1 miles
Friday Aug 24th ^49 Last night it rained quite hard most all night and this morning the clouds look lowery enough as they come over the mts we packed up soon after we struck over the ridge and had quite a shower it soon cleared off and the dust being laid we had the pleasantest time to travel that we have had for some time six miles brought us to the old road that passes Ft. Hall^^ near Steeple Rock this is two elevations of rock ris- ing from one base four or five hundred feet after striking this road we had sixteen miles very mountainous some verry steep decerns where men hitch a tree behind waggons to hold back this distance brought us to goose creek we passed up three miles and camped for the night near the creek distance 25 miles
Saturday Aug 2f This morning at daylight two of our mules was mising one belonged to Rhorer the other ours we were soon up and a dozen horsmen looking for a track they soon struck the trail in a Kenyon near by and a half a dozen followed in hot haste after following the trail for ten miles through ravines and over steep mountains they sudely came on one of the mules and a horse hitched no men to be found one man that was behind saw two men run down the opposite side of the hill in a ravine he followed but lost sight of them the party returned bringing the horse and mule back the horse we learned soon after was stolen four miles above from a small party the mule found was Rohrer's the probability is that a third man took some other course with ours and we did not find it we laid by for the day giving the men a chance to attend to personal matters
Sunday 26^ Aug '^p This morning our road was on the banks of the creek for twenty miles here we passed several trains of ox teams who were re- cruiting we halted at noon near the creek where the road leaves it and then moved on sixteen miles to Hot Spring Valley arrived at 9 Oclock P. M. near where we camped was a warm spring but became cold after run​ing a few rods the water was pure sweet water no grass of any amount this has been a hard drive for our mules 36 miles on poor feed
Monday 27 Today we have made a short drive passed down the valley over some few hills passing several of the finest springs we have seen this is called the Thousand Spring Valley we came to a creek after traveling 1 5 miles with pools of water occasionally we followed it five miles and camped poor grass and few willows to cook with distance traveled to- day 20 miles
Tuesday Aug 28th '49 This morning we found that the grass our animals have had for a few days was not sufficient to sustain them on such long drives several of our horses laging yesterday we packed up deter- mined to stop the first grass after driving three miles we came to a bottom of blue grass quite green we halted four hours to give our mules time to fill up. after dinner we moved down the valley twelve miles to the mouth of Kenyon one of our horses gave out and we left him My horse we could not get into camp without great urging the conclusion is the grass they have eaten has hurt them and have had but little of that, here there was no grass and we were compeled to drive our mules a mile up a ravine near by. For several nights back it has been verry cold on the 25th water froze near our camp fire an inch thick and this morning was equally cold, distance 12 miles
Wednesday Aug^ 25)' 4^ This morning our road lay over quite a ridge and passing down a valley several miles we saw a spring on the right up on a side hill and halted for noon after an hours halt we moved on Some eight miles into a fine valley good grass and a fine spring here we camped for the night. the country over which we have passed for some days back has presented some high Mts on the right and left peaks covered with snow which makes our nights cold The greatest inconvenience we suffer in traveling here is the dust is of a powdery character and traveling along will rise in clouds that will almost suffocate us roads besides are generally good for waggons. We find that packing saves much hard work climbing up hills and locking down distance today 25 miles
Thursday Aug 50 ^4^ Today we have had a verry level road after two hours travel we struck a fine creek which soon lost itself e in the valley at noon we came to a fine creek suposed to be the headquarters of the Hujn- bolt river here we made our noon halt This forenoon we left two of our horses they haveing given out after noon we made our drive down the river some 15 miles towards evening we lost our frying pans this seemed our all as we gave up our dictch ovens at the city we camped near the river after dark. We saw three Indians appreared friendly here we
I herd of several head of cattle being stolen and several wounded with ar- rows here we found good grass distance 25 miles Friday Aug 31st/ 4^ This morning four of us went back to look for our ​pans after going back 5 miles we saw two men coming with them they haveing found them half mile back at M we packed up and moved on crossing quite a stream towards night did not know the name. We saw a notice from Mas^s train stateing that an Indian had been shot and Mortally wounded and probably his tribe would be revenged five miles further we camped poor grass distance 1 5 miles We have passed a large number of ox trains in the last few days and the roads have been quite rough and dust beyond account as fine as flour rising in clouds no wind during the day The country has exhibited nearly the same appearance as has been seen over the first ridge
Sept I St 4p [the last entry is in pencil] Today our road lay along the river most of the time occasionally leaveing it for a few miles dust/ dust!! dust! ! ! towards night we left it struck into a Kenyon and overe hills in- stead of keeping the river and camped near a small spring at 9 P. M. no feed passed a mile back from camp. We passed a Mormon train from Cal they report Gold! Gold! Provisions reasonable fortunes made but 40 times as many spent Society not yet under Uncle Sams laws
The record of the expedition ends abruptly with this last penciled entry. Apparently the party followed the Truckee River, crossed the Sierra by the Donner Pass and arrived at Sutter's Fort on September 27, 1849. The bark had already arrived at San Francisco, and the goods and boat were sold at a profit. David Staples and his brother Fred, after a short try at mining, soon engaged in the business of packing supplies from Stockton to the South- ern Mines. Returning east in 1850, David brought back his wife and infant daughter around the Horn, arriving in San Francisco in January 185 1.
Staples bought land on the Mokelumne River near where Lodi now stands, and became one of the leading citizens of that area. He raised cattle and wheat, operated a ferry and a toll bridge, was postmaster for several years, and was the first justice of the peace in Elliott Township, San Joaquin County. In 1858 he was a director of the State Agricultural Society. There is a story that he trapped bears and sold them at San Jose for the bull baiting there.2^
Although he took an active part in politics, he held no public office other than those of justice of the peace and postmaster. He supported and fought for the CaHfornia Constitution of 1850 and was among the first to join the Republican party. He was a delegate to the state convention of that party, on June 8, 1859, which, after a debate on the question of fusion with the Anti-Lecompton Democrats, nominated a straight Republican ticket headed by Leland Stanford for governor.^^ At the state convention, on June 15, i860, he was chosen as a delegate to the national convention,^^ and later cast his ballot at Chicago for Abraham Lincoln. In the spring of 1861 he went to Washington to attend the inauguration, but because of an Apache outbreak ​he arrived after the ceremonies were over. For a short time he was a member of the Cassius Clay battalion in defence of the capital. At the California state convention, on June 19, 1 861, he was a candidate for nomination as gov- ernor, but was defeated by Stanford.^^ In 1862 he was appointed warden of the port of San Francisco by Governor Stanford,^^ and served until 1866.
In 1 866 Staples was appointed vice-president of the Fireman's Fund Insur- ance Company, and became president the following year. He remained the active head of this growing business until October 1 899, when he retired. He was president of the Board of Fire Underwriters from 1867 to 1891, and was a vice-president of the Society of California Pioneers while his friend James Lick was its president. He died on April 3, 1900.^^
NOTES
1. The Journal, in a leather-bound notebook, is in the possession of a grandson, David S. Painter, of San Mateo, California, who has been kind enough to permit its publication here. All entries but the last are in ink, in good legible handwriting. The writer used few periods to mark the end of sentences or capitals to indicate the beginnings of new sen- tences; spaces have accordingly been left to indicate breaks in thought. Most of the orig- inal spelling has also been kept in an effort to retain the character of the journal.
2 . Biographical material concerning Staples is to be found in Alonzo Phelps, Contempo- rary Biography of California's Representative Men (San Francisco, 1882), II, 337-47; W. F. Swasey, The Early Days and Men of California (Oakland, 1891), pp. 291-97; Frank Morton Todd, A Romance of Insurance (San Francisco: Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, 1929), pp. 291-97; The Bay of San Francisco (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892), p. 386; San Jose Pioneer, May 15, 1900, p. 76; Obituary Notices of the Society of California Pioneers (bound typewritten MSS), VII, 195-98.
3. The company included Bracket Lord, president; Walton C. Felch, vice-president; S. D. Osborn, secretary; Jesse Winslow, treasurer; and David J. Staples, J. A. Hough, A. C. Sweetser, H. W. Dickinson, Benjamin C. Evans, and Thomas H. McGrath (or Me- grath) . Boston Evening Traveler, April 17, 1849. See also C. W. Haskins, The Argonauts of California (New York, 1890), p. 397.
4. The story of the Granite State and California Mining and Trading Company, which left Boston the day after the Staples party, is told by one of its members, Kimball Web- ster, in The Gold Seekers of ^49 (Manchester, N. H.: Standard Book Company, 1917.) Webster makes no mention of the religious services on Sunday, April 29, but does say that the Bay State "is very much crowded with Calif ornians." Op. cit., p. 31.
5. John Charles Fremont was the first to record accurately on a map the road to the South Pass, as well as other routes to the Pacific. "After 1845, the emigrant commonly carried in his kit a copy of Fremont's journal with a useful map of the country as far as the Pacific." Frederic Logan Paxson, History of the American Frontier (Boston and N. Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1924, p. 338. "In 1846 the Senate of the U. S. published a detailed oblong folio map in seven sections, compiled from field sketches and observa- tions made by Charles Preuss. The map shows the overland route from Westport to Fort Walla Walla in great detail, also gives tables of meteorological observations, extracts from Fremont's report, and remarks concerning water, grass, fuel, game and Indians." Fremont's Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and North California in the Years 1843-44 (Washington, 1845), printed as 28th Cong. , 2d sess., S. Doc. 174, and also as H. Doc. 166, was the source for a number ​of pamphlets issued during the gold rush. Henry R. Wagner (Charles L. Camp, ed.), The Plains and the Rockies (San Francisco: Grabhorn Press, 1937), P- 89. Staples un- doubtedly carried one of these works as a guide. See Fremont, op. cit., p. 13.
6. "In 1846 Congress allowed the War Department to garrison selected spots [on the overland route] for military posts. The first of these, near the head of Grand Island in the Platte, was 310 miles from Fort Leavenworth and was called Fort Kearny, after Stephen Watts Kearny, first lieutenant-colonel of the dragoon regiment." Paxson, op. cit., p. 338. Colonel Kearny, with Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke, led five companies of dragoons, each with its own uniform color of horses from the Missouri River along the old Oregon Trail to the South Pass. Fort Kearny saw much of the historical pageantry connected with the conquest and gold discovery in California.
7. "June 17 [1846].— We reached the ford of the Platte about two o'clock, P. M., and ascertained by an examination that, although the river was still rising, our wagons could pass over without much difficulty." Edwin Bryant, What I Saw in California: Being the Journal of a Tour . . .in the Years 1846, 184J (New York, 1848), p. 94. Bryant, in 1849, was again on his way west. He had left the Wakarusa about eleven days before the Staples party, with a train of 170 pack mules, and now was probably far ahead. Isaac Jones Wistar, Autobiography (Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Bi- ology, 1937), p. ss; Elizabeth Page, Wagons West, a Story of the Oregon Trail (New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc.), p. 128.
8. Scott's Bluff was about a day's journey from Chimney Rock. This elevated and re- markable formation is said to have derived its name from a noted mountaineer named Scott in the employ of the American Fur Company. With a party of five or six trappers he was returning by boat down the Platte to the settlements when he was seized with a disease which rendered him helpless. His companions deserted him and left him in the boat to die. Returning to their employers, they reported that Scott had died and that they had buried him on the banks of the Platte. The next year a skeleton wrapped in blankets was discovered by a party of hunters. From the clothing and papers the remains were identified as those of Scott. After being deserted by his men, he had recovered suf- ficient strength to leave the boat and had wandered into the bluffs where his bones were found and which now bear his name. Bryant, op. cit., p. 104. A town called Scottsbluff now occupies the site.
9. Fort John was one mile south of Fort Platte upon the Laramie River. It was a station of the American Fur Company. For further information about these forts see Leroy R. Hafen and F. M. Young, Fort Laramie and the Pageant of the West, 18^4-1890 (Glendale, Calif.: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1938).
10. "Fort Laramie, or Tort John,' as it is otherwise called, has been the principal trad- ing-post of the American Fur Company. Its distance from Independence [by the Bryant route] is 672 miles ... It is situated on Laramie River, near its junction with the Platte, and is surrounded by an extensive plain . . . 'The Fort' ... is a quadrangle, the walls of which are constructed of adobes . . . The area enclosed is . . . about half or three-fourths of an acre of ground. Its walls are surmounted by watch-towers, and the gate is defended by two brass swivels. On three sides of the court, next to the walls, are various offices, store-rooms, and mechanical shops. The other side is occupied by the main building of the Fort, two stories in height." Bryant, op. cit., p. 109. Rufus Sage, in his Rocky Moun- tain Life; or Startling Scenes and Perilous Adventures in the Far West (Boston, 1857), p. 96, states that Fort John was a mile south of Fort Laramie and that "between these two posts a strong opposition is maintained in regard to the business of the country," Fort Laramie, 337 miles west of Fort Kearny, was built in 1835 [1834] by William Sub- lette and Robert Campbell and was then called Fort William. Later it passed into other control and was rechristened Fort Laramie for one Laramie who was killed there by the ​Indians. Hafen and Young, op. cit., p. 60. See also Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming (San Francisco, 1890), p. 683.
11. "At the distance of ten miles from the fort, we entered the sandy bed of a creek, a kind of defile, shaded by precipitous rocks, down which we wound our way for several hundred yards to a place where, on the left bank, a very large spring gushes with con- siderable noise and force out of the limestock rock. It is called 'the Warm Spring' . . ." Fremont, op. cit., p. 46.
12. "We were approaching a ridge, through which the river passes by a place called 'caiion' (pronounced kanyon), a Spanish word, signifying a piece of artillery, the barrel of a gun, or any kind of tube; and which, in this country, has been adopted to describe the passage of a river between perpendicular rocks of great height . . ." Fremont, op. cit.,
P.73-
13. Independence Rock is a granite pile, a relic of the glacial age, that rises above the plain on the north side of the Sweetwater River in Central Wyoming. Between the rock and the river ran the combined Oregon -Mormon-California trails. Father De Smet, in 1840, wrote: "It might be called the great registry of the desert." Some authorities give the Ashley-Henry trappers of the early 1820's credit for naming the landmark, upon which, it is said, they held a celebration on July 4 and engraved the words "Independence Rock." Fremont left the impression of the cross deeply carved on its face. Howard R. Driggs, Westward America (New York: American Pioneer Trails Association, 1942), pp. 96-100.
14. Devil's Gate, about six miles west of Independence Rock, is a chasm through which flows the Sweetwater River. Driggs, op. cit., p. 10 1. The Gate is described in many annals of the pioneers. Clayton gives the measurements under date of June 21, 1847, as the baro- metrical measurements by Elder Orson Pratt. The rock on the east side is perpendicular, 399 feet 4'/4 inches high. The one on the west side is about the same height but bends a little from the river gradually to the top. William. Clayton^s Journal: Diary Record of the Original Company of Mormon Pioneers from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, Published by the Clayton Family Association (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News, 192 1 ) .
15. The "Mormon guide" was undoubtedly William Clayton's The Latter-Day Saints^ Emigrants^ Guide: Being a Table of Distances, Showing All the Springs, Creeks, Rivers, Hills, Moiintains, Camping Places . . . from Council Bluffs to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake . . . (St. Louis, 1848). The reference to Devil's Gate is on p. 15. Clayton pre- pared the guide from his own observations and the records of Orson Pratt's roadometer. The guide was reprinted in Leander V. Loomis (Edgar M. Ledyard, ed.). Journal of the Birmingham Emigrating Company (Salt Lake City, 1928).
16. Captain Thomas Duncan. The Mounted Riflemen, according to the Act of Con- gress passed on May 19, 1846, comprised ten companies. An appropriation of $76,500 was allowed for mounting and equipping these troops. Duncan was in Company E, which consisted of five officers and fifty-eight men. Hafen and Young, op. cit., pp. 138-42.
17. The Mormon Guide, under "Pacific creek (crossing)" remarks: "After you leave here you will find a good road, but very little water." Of the Dry Sandy, nine miles farther on, the Guide says: "The water brackish, and not good for cattle. Very little grass, but no wood." Six miles beyond that came the "Junction of the California and Oregon roads. Take the left hand road." And it was 7 74 more miles to the Little Sandy. Clayton, op. cit., pp. 16-17.
18. The Green River, the "Rio Verde" of the Spaniards and the "Seedskeedee" (or "Siskadee") of the Crow Indians, rises in the Rockies in what is now the State of Wy- oming and flows into the Colorado River. ​
19. "The Mormons established their own stage and express from the Missouri border." Paxson, op. cit., p. 461.
20. Fort Bridger was an important trading post west of South Pass named for Jim Bridger, a scout in the party of Capt. Benjamin L. E. Bonneville, a French born officer of the regular United States Army. The Mormon Guide states that the fort was "composed of four log houses and a small enclosure for horses." Clayton, op. cit., p. 17.
21. The Mormon Guide calls this the "Red fork of the Weber river." Clayton, op. cit., p. 19.
22. Ira J. and Sidney S. Willis were among the Mormon workmen employed by Sutter at his flour mill at Natoma at the time gold was discovered in the tailrace of his Coloma sawmill. Reva Holdaway Stanley, "Sutter's Mormon Workmen at Natoma and Coloma in 1848." This Quarterly, XIV (September 1935), 269-82. See also Daniel Tyler, A Con- cise History of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War, 1846-184"] ( [Salt Lake City], 1881), pp. 334 and 335. The Willis brothers are also mentioned in James S. Brown, Life of a Pioneer (Salt Lake City, 1900), pp. 102, 103, 108, 109.
23. John Taylor, a former Methodist minister in Toronto, Canada, became an out- standing Mormon apostle. His biography is given in William Alexander Linn, The Story of the Mormons from Their Origin to the Year 1901 (N. Y. and London: The Macmillan Company, 1923), p. 412, and Edward W. TuUidge, History of Salt Lake City and Its Founders (Salt Lake City, n. d.), pp. 23-30.
24. Fort Hall, built in 1834, was near the junction of the Snake and Portneuf rivers in what is now Idaho. It was named for William Hall, a Boston financier who had backed Nathaniel Wyeth in his western trading venture. In 1832 Wyeth had made a contract with the proprietors of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, William Sublette and Robert Campbell, to fetch certain goods to them on the frontier. In the meantime the two latter sold their interests to Milton Sublette, James Bridger, and Thomas Fitzpatrick. When the three later repudiated the Wyeth contract, leaving him in the wilds with a train load of goods, Wyeth was so angry that he warned Milton Sublette: "I'll roll a stone into your front yeard that you won't be able to get out." That "stone" was old Fort Hall. Driggs, op. cit., pp. 137-42.
25. George H. Tinkham, History of San Joaquin County (Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1923), pp. 95-96.
26.Winfield J. Davis History of Political Conventions in California, 1849-1892 (Sacra- mento, 1893), p. 97.
27. Ibid., p. 109.
28. Ibid, p. 176. See also George Thomas Clark, Leland Stariford, War Governor of California, Railroad Builder and Founder of Stanford University (Stanford University, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 193 1).
29. Clark, op. cit., p. 1 29.
30. See Note 2.