The
morning was very cold (thirty degrees) as the pioneer company broke camp at
5:30 a.m. At 7 a.m., they viewed a
fascinating and exciting site. Seven
buffalo were spotted sheltering themselves from the north wind. This was the first time most of the pioneer
camp had ever seen a buffalo. Luke S.
Johnson, Porter Rockwell, and Thomas Brown started to pursue the beasts.1
The camp
halted at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast on the bank of the Platte River. Another herd of buffalo was spotted about
six miles ahead on a bluff. Using
telescopes, several of the men counted up to seventy‑four animals. Three more men went out in pursuit of this
herd.
At 10:45
a.m., the wagon train was in motion again.
By noon they crossed the mouth of a creek. Soon, the buffalo hunters returned. They wounded several animals, but did not kill any. “It was new business to them, and they found
their rifles altogether too unwieldy in the chase.”
At 1 p.m.,
yet another large herd of buffalo was spotted at the foot of a hill. When the camp arrived near the herd, they
halted and eleven hunters mounted their horses to go after them. Thomas Bullock recorded:
At the same
time one of the brethren shot at an Antelope, when a dog ran it straight among
the herd of Buffalo, which alarmed them, and away they went, raising a cloud of
dust behind them, running along the side of the hill in a Westerly direction,
then galloped the hunters down & along the hill in full chase; all
enveloped in one cloud of dust. . . . Now was a time of great excitement ‑‑
every glass was in operation to see the chase & every man was intensely
anxious for the success of our raw hunters; this being their first chase.
William
Clayton added:
The
brethren’s feelings who were left with the wagons were now strung up to the
highest pitch, a feeling of exciting interest appeared to prevail throughout
the camp, they having heard and read so much of the mad ferocity of the buffalo
when hotly pursued, and knowing that all the hunters were inexperienced in
regard to hunting the wild buffalo.
While they felt for the safety of the hunters, they still desired to see
as much of the chase as the distance would allow.
Wilford
Woodruff wrote:
I was in a
company in the centre of the Herd & we all made a charge upon them from the
Bluffs & rushed on to the Plain.
The herd ran vary fast down the ruff Bluffs into the plain but when we
came on to the Plain we soon came on to them each company singled out his
game. We made choice of Cows
generally. Then rushed up by the side
of them & fired upon them with our Pistols such as Horse Pistols, Rifle
Pistols &c which are much better to carry than rifles as they are vary
combersom in runing.
Heber C.
Kimball joined the chase and shot down a buffalo that had been previously
wounded. Horace K. Whitney
remarked: “His horse, partly alarmed at
the discharge of the gun, and partly at the sight of the animals, suddenly
started, and came very near throwing him.”
William Clayton added:
Elder
Kimball’s horse sprang and flew down the bluff like lightning and he having let
go the lines to shoot, her sudden motion overbalanced him and his situation was
precarious to the extreme. The other
hunters saw his situation and trembled for his safety but could render him no
assistance. However, being a good
horseman, he maintained his position in the saddle and soon succeeded in
gaining the lines and by a vigorous effort succeeded after some time in reining
in his horse and returned to the rest unharmed and without accident.
William
Clayton continued: “This being the
first day buffalo has been seen on our journey and in fact the first ever seen
by any except about five or six of the brethren, it excited considerable
interest and pleasure in the breasts of the brethren, and as may be guessed,
the teams moved slowly and frequently stopped to watch their movement.”
The chase
ceased at 4 p.m. and some of the hunters returned at 5 p.m. Others stayed to guard the fallen
buffalo. Wilford Woodruff remarked that
he had ridden about ten miles during the chase. They secured one bull, three cows, and six calves. “The entire Camp were very glad & felt
thankful to our Heavenly Father for supply of food, which came at a very
acceptable time, many being without meat.”
Throughout
the excitement, the wagons continued to press on. They traveled through a large prairie dog town, about three to
four miles long. One of the men caught
one of the timid animals. The pioneers
established camp at 6:30 p.m. a mile above the head of Grand Island, near a
creek that they named Buffalo Creek.
Five wagons were immediately unloaded and several teams were sent back
to fetch the meat. William Clayton
wrote: “Having a great desire to see a
buffalo in his natural state, my feet being very sore, and the distance to the
bluffs being over three miles, I got into Brother Aaron Farr’s wagon, he being
one who unloaded to fetch in the meat, and we started for the one shot down by
Elder Kimball. He and O. P. Rockwell
following on horseback.” On the way,
they met Luke Johnson and two others returning. Brother Johnson had a calf tied on his horse and he was walking
on foot. When they arrived at Elder
Kimball’s cow, they found that three of the brethren had already skinned
it. The meat was put in the wagon. The cow probably weighed about 700 pounds.
They
returned at dusk. “The brethren’s faces
beamed with joy to see the meat begin to come into camp, and with some
astonishment to view the size and ferocious appearance of the head, which still
had the hide on.” The meat was
distributed throughout the camp. They
had a wonderful feast of buffalo:
“Their meat is very sweet and tender as veal.” Erastus Snow wrote:
“After dark two [buffalo] calves came near our camp and some little
youngsters with a dog came close and caught one and made him fast to their
wagon.”
In the
evening, it was discovered that Joseph Hancock was missing, and had not been
seen since breakfast.2 He had started out on foot with his gun
toward the first herd of buffalo. Guns
were fired and the bugle sounded to let him know where the camp was
located. They greatly feared for his
safety.
Mary
Richards worked hard getting settled into her new house:
Washed
& scoured all the Tin ware knives &C also the sheets & boxes
shelves & the floor. Got all things
fixt in order. I put on a clean dress
& sat down, and our little house seemed to me almost like a Palace. I rejoiced to think that after passing
through such a dreary Winter living in a Tent, and wandring from house to house
to keep from perishing with Cold, suffering almost every inconveniance and
often very unpleasent feeling, I had once more a place I could call my home.
Eliza R.
Snow and several sisters gathered at Sister Leonard’s home. Sister Snow wrote that they spoke “by the
spirit of prophecy that the Pioneers were well, happy, & were in council ‑‑
that tomorrow they will have a greater time of rejoicing than they have ever
had.” Patty Sessions added: “Sylvia and I went to a meeting to Sister
Leonard’s. None but females there. We had a good meeting. I presided.
It was got up by E. R. Snow.
They spoke in tongues. I
interpreted. Some prophesied. It was a feast.”
Asahel A.
Lathrop passed through Summer Quarters with the herd from the north. They were on the way back to Winter Quarters
after spending the winter months feeding on the winter rushes about fifty miles
up the river. The herd had been greatly
reduced because of plundering by the Indians.
Isaac Morley arrived from Winter Quarters with some seed potatoes. In the evening some more men arrived from
the north and spent the night. They
included Brothers Simmons, Murdock, Haight, and Miles.
Henry
Standage was ordered to work on a detail at a “bakehouse.” The government decided to issue the men
bread instead of flour, so he worked in the bakehouse all afternoon.
Robert S.
Bliss wrote, “I am in the Fort comfortable situated, Hearty & well,
weighing 147 lb., 4 more than I ever weighed in my life before; for which I
truly feel thankful to my Heavenly Father after so many hardships as we have
suffered in coming here.”
Bagley, ed., The
Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 142‑43; “Erastus Snow Journal Excerpts,” Improvement
Era 14:926; “Excerpts from the hitherto unpublished Journal of Horace K.
Whitney,” Improvement Era, 50:276; Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s
Journal, 3:163‑65; William Clayton’s Journal, 116‑24;
“Levi Jackman Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 29; Ward, ed., Winter
Quarters, 121; The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 170;
Kelly, ed., Journals of John D. Lee, 159; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 220; “The Journal of Robert
S. Bliss,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:92
It was
quite cold in the morning. Ice about a
half inch thick was found in buckets.
Just before breakfast, to the relief of the camp, Joseph Hancock
arrived. He reported that he had shot a
buffalo yesterday afternoon and became lost.
He had built a fire, and warded off the wolves from his catch. Men were sent back to retrieve the meat but
by the time they found it, much of it had been eaten by wolves.
Even
though it was Sunday, it was decided to work at cooking the buffalo meat and to
move the camp to a better location to feed the animals. Levi Jackman wrote: “Our camp this morning had the appearance of
a meat market. All hands were fixing
their beef for cooking or drying and making ropes of the hides.”
Albert P.
Rockwood wrote:
I will now
state in what way we used the buffalo hides as it is the time of shedding the
hair. We stretch them on the ground by
putting sticks through them and driving them into the ground, then with a sharp
[knife], trim them round much as a shoemaker would a piece of leather to cut a
shoe string. Then run it into strips
from 1/2 inch to one inch wide according to the size we wish to make a [blank]
or rope which is made either by twisting or by brading after pulling the hair
off. These answer a better purpose then
common ropes for securing horses, cattle, &c. The hair is used in stuffing pillows, beds, &c. The bones are broken up to git the marrow
which is used for cooking instead of butter.
The meat is cleaned from the bones and jurked over a slow fire so that
it will dry & not cook.
In the afternoon, they traveled three miles
and camped by a creek. Everyone went
back to work putting up racks to dry the buffalo meat. The buffalo calf caught the night before was
killed and dressed.3
After camp
was established, a herd of buffalo came down from the bluffs to drink at the
river. Some of the men were anxious to
go after them, but Brigham Young forbid them, reminding them that it was the
Sabbath.
Ahead, the
prairie was on fire, burning rapidly.
Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball went a few miles ahead to examine the
fire and the trail ahead. They decided
the pioneers should spend another day at this camp to do some blacksmith work
and hunt some more.
Levi Jackman
enjoyed the buffalo meat: “The buffalo
meat came good to us, for Curtis and myself had lived on cornmeal bread and
water porridge for some time; only we could get a little milk of Brother John
Brown, to put in it. When he could
spare it he would give us some. I shall
never forget his kindness to us.”
Parley P.
Pratt spoke to the Saints gathered at Winter Quarters. “I want the brethren to take care of their
cattle, and not let the Indians kill them all off, to build pickets round the
city to prevent them from coming in to your houses and insulting your woman and
children or robbing your tables while they are out tending their gardens.” He wanted a company to be prepared to leave
for the mountains on June 1. John
Taylor also spoke. W.W. Phelps reported
that General John J. Harding, who had been the commander of the Illinois state
militia during the fall of 1845, had been killed in a battle between Zachary
Taylor and Santa Ana. Hosea Stout wrote
that this news was “a joy to me.”
Elder
Lyman O. Littlefield, still preparing to leave on his mission, was invited for
dinner at Mary Richards new home. She
wanted him to take word to her missionary husband that she was comfortable
because she was finally in a house and was doing well.
At 11
a.m., the Saints gathered for a Sunday service. John D. Lee preached on Priesthood duty. “We are messengers of salvation and special
witnesses to the nations of the earth and have been called from darkness to the
marvelous light of the everlasting gospel of peace to perform a certain work in
this the dispensation of the fullness of times.”
A
daughter, Welthy Matilda Higgins, was born to Nelson D. and Sarah Blackman
Higgins.4
Henry
Standage wrote:
For the
last two days I have been more or less through the city of Angels . . . and
must say they are the most degraded set of beings I ever was among. . . . There
are almost as many grog shops and gambling houses in this city as there are
private houses. . . . The Spaniards conduct in the Grog shops with the squaws
is really filthy and disgusting even in the day time. Gambling is carried to the highest pitch, men often losing 500
dollars in cash in one night, or a 1000 head of cattle. All kinds of clothing is very cheap and
cattle and horses very cheap.
Major
Cloud arrived from Los Angeles with pay and letters. They were informed that the rest of the battalion was preparing
for a possible attack from John C. Fremont’s troops, “swearing they will kill
every damned Mormon in the country.” It
was also rumored that the Mexicans were coming to retake San Diego.
Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:165‑66; Howard Egan’s Diary, Pioneering
the West, 32‑3; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical
Quarterly, 14:156; William Clayton’s Journal, 124; “Levi Jackman
Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 29; Kelly, ed., Journals of John D. Lee,
159; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters, 122; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 220‑21; Journal
Extracts of Henry W. Bigler, 5:60‑1; “The Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 4:92; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, 1:
253; “Albert P. Rockwood Journal,” 24
The
morning was cold, with ice in the water buckets. Thomas Tanner and James Davenport put up their portable forges to
repair some of the wagons.5
Three buffalo were spotted heading to the bluffs. The camp rested for the day at this spot because the grass was
very good for the animals to feed on.
Twenty
hunters went off at 9 a.m. on foot with two wagons to bring in game. Wilford Woodruff started out with the
hunters, but he had jarred himself badly during the buffalo chase on Saturday
and felt pain in his side where he had been seriously injured the previous
autumn. The hunters went into the
bluffs and separated into two groups.
They traveled through the hills but only spotted antelope and wolves. After a while, Wilford Woodruff felt so
poorly, that he decided to head back with Amasa Lyman and three others.
After the
hunters had left camp in the morning, Erastus Snow was directed by Stephen
Markham to take fifteen horsemen up the river for ten or fifteen miles to see
if Indians were nearby and to determine how widespread the prairie fire was.
Norton
Jacob wrote:
Bro. Seth
[Taft] our Capt. and four of us started on ahead a mile from camp in some
willows. We discovered a camp which had
contained some fifty wickeups or lodges.
The camp fires were still burning.
A large body of Indians had left them upon our approach into the
neighborhood on Saturday. Bro. [James]
Case who had been with the Pawnee Missionaries for eight years, expressed it as
his opinion that this party is the Gran Pawnees who live below on the other
side of the Platte. Their object is to
destroy the grass by burning and driving off the buffalo so that we cannot
subsist, ourselves nor our teams. We
proceeded about ten miles and found the prairie burnt and burning as far as we
could see.
Erastus
Snow recorded: “We went according to
directions about ten miles, and found only here and there a patch of grass not
burned, but fire still raging in different directions, and as far as we could
see up the river fresh fires and smoke were rising.” William Empey spotted two antelope and took off after them.6 He ascended a hill and as he looked down on the flat, he spotted
a war party of about four hundred Indians.
They appeared to be waiting to ambush the men on horses. Brother Empey returned to the scouting party
and they all returned quickly to the camp, arriving at 2:30 p.m. On the way back they were followed by about
100 Indians down a ravine who they supposed hoped to rob their horses and take
their lives. They shared the alarming
report and also mentioned there would still be enough grass ahead for the
teams, despite the fire.
Brigham
Young immediately sent twenty‑three well‑armed men on horses to
retrieve those who had been sent out to hunt buffalo. They found the men within four miles. The horsemen took the opportunity to do a little hunting. Some buffalo calves were spotted. William Dykes dismounted his mule in order
to get a better shot.7 His mule broke away and ran after the
fleeing buffalo. Stephen Markham, on
his horse, pursued the mule and caught it after three miles. They all returned at dusk with three calves
and four antelope.
The cannon
was prepared and fired at 9 p.m. to give the Indians a signal that the pioneer
company was armed and ready.
Mary E.
Gates, age seven months, died of consumption.
She was the daughter of Jacob and the late Caroline Gates, who died in
December, 1846.
“Erastus Snow Journal
Excerpts,” Improvement Era 14:927; “Luke S. Johnson Journal,”
typescript, BYU, 5‑6; Howard Egan Diary, Pioneering the West, 33;
Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:166‑67; Bagley, ed., The
Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 144; William Clayton’s Journal, 126;
Knight and Kimball, 111 Days to Zion, 67
The cannon
was fired at 4 a.m. which woke up the camp.
The temperature was thirty‑three degrees in the morning. Two horses ran east as far as six or eight
miles and were pursued by several men back.
William Smoot was thrown from a horse and knocked out of by the
fall. He soon recovered and appeared to
have no serious injury.8
Brigham
Young called the camp together at 7:30 a.m. and cautioned them against leaving
their wagons to scatter off hunting without permission. The Indian threat was a great concern. Ten additional guards were appointed to protect
the company. President Young stated
that they had proceeded thus far without scolding and it would not be needed if
the men strictly followed the camp rules.
He asked that the rules be read every two or three days, especially on
Sunday. “This is not the time for
preaching, but for doing -- and it is necessary for every man to be vigilant
and seek his neighbor’s welfare as much as his own.”
The
pioneers started out their journey at 9 a.m. by traveling in four columns,
making five rows. This was done to be
ready in case of an Indian attack. The
cannon traveled in the rear. Levi
Jackman wrote: “We started on but had
not gone far before we found that our fears were too true. The Indians had set fire to the old grass
which was among the new and all was burned together, excepting here and there a
small spot. The sight was gloomy
indeed.”
After
traveling three miles, they noticed three wagons across the Platte River on the
Oregon Trail. Not knowing much about
the river at that point, they continued on.
But later, one of the men waded across the Platte to see who the
pioneers were. This man explained that
his company of nine were traders, heading back from Fort Laramie. He introduced himself as Charles
Beaumont. He had been at the Fort for
two years and said he had not tasted bread for four years. He informed the pioneers that they were
about sixteen days from Fort Laramie and that the grass was green and good on
the south side of the river but burned away on the north side. He said that he had never seen so many
buffalo along the trail as he had seen this year. There were several times that they had to halt the wagons to let
herds pass.
The trader
offered to take letters to Trader’s Point, so the pioneers stopped and quickly
wrote fifty‑two letters in an hour to their families.9
Brigham
Young wrote to his wife, Mary Ann Angell:
I want to
wright a long letter but have not time.
We are all pretty well at present though my labour has been verry hard
for me on the journey. I pray for you
continualy. The Pawnees have watched us
close and we have watched them but they have got two of our horses, Bros.
Richards’ and Little’s. Our cattle
stand it well. . . . We stop every Sabbath and have a day of rest‑‑the
Lord has blessed us in all things for which we are thankful. . . . On Saturday
last we saw Buffalo for the first time; they went on a chase after them and got
four old ones and five calves which have made us plenty of meat. . . . We shall
have to cross the Platte River here on account of feed . . . the prairie is all
burnt over on the North side . . . the Pawnees have gone ahead of us and burnt
it. The next company had better keep up
on the North side. I think it is a good
route for us hereafter. . . . Joseph and Brigham be good Boys and mind your
mother.
Howard
Egan wrote to his wife Tamson:
Not having
an opportunity to send this letter when I expected to have one, I believe there
is now a chance to send it, and I embrace the opportunity with pleasure. There is some travelers on the other side of
the Platte River going down, one of them came over and will take the mail for
us. My health continues to be pretty
good. Thank the Lord we are now in a
buffalo country and have killed a number of them, and we are now traveling 5
wagons abreast of each other as there is Indians all around us, and we have not
time to write much. We have just
stopped our teams for a few moments, we are about 250 miles from the camp. . .
. Dear Tamson, I want you to be humble and prayerful, to take good care of
yourself and your children, pray for me for I do not forget you night nor
morning. . . . May the Lord God of Israel bless you and your children, and
preserve you until I return that we may enjoy each other’s company again. Give my love to all. Goodby my dear, think of me.
William
Clayton wrote in his journal: “I feel
my mind relieved by this unexpected privilege of writing back to my dear family
and hope they will have the pleasure of perusing the contents.”
John
Brown, Thomas Woolsey, and John Pack accompanied Charles Beaumont back across
the Platte to deliver the letters to their wagons.10
They also gave the traders enough bacon and bread to last their company
until they reached the Missouri. Some
of the men purchased buffalo robes. The
rest of the pioneers continued their journey for three miles and then rested
the teams. When the three men returned
to the company, a council meeting was held to determine if the company should
cross the Platte or continue their journey on the north side of the river. They understood that it appeared that the
grass would be much better on the south side.
Wilford
Woodruff wrote:
But when we
took into consideration the situation of the next company & thousands that
would follow after & as we were the Pioneers & had not our wives &
children with us we thought it best to keep on the north side of the river
& brave the difficulties of Burning Prairies & make a road that should
stand as a permanent route for the Saints independant of the old emigration
route & let the river separate the emigrating companies that they need not
quarrel for wood, grass or water & when our next company came along the
grass would be much better for them than it would on the south side as it would
grow up by the time they would get along.
A vote was called & it was unanimous to go on the north side of the
river.
After the
council meeting, the pioneers moved on, traveled a total of nine miles, and
camped near a creek which the pioneers gave various names: Grand Creek, Buffalo
Creek, and Clear Creek. A large herd of
buffalo lay only a short distance ahead.
Orson Pratt
recorded:
Antelope
for a few days have been quite plenty, and buffalo almost constantly in
sight. We have not as yet seen any
fresh signs of Indians or their horses & we have generally concluded that
the large party seen yesterday [by William Empey] were nothing but a drove of
antelope or some other wild animals mistaken in the distance for Indians, a
mistake is not unfrequent in western prairies.
The Anson
Call family arrived at Winter Quarters from Ponca.
Sarah
Ellen Turley, age twenty-nine, died of scurvy.
She was the wife of Theodore Turley.
A meeting
was held in the evening at John D. Lee’s house. Several resolutions were adopted. M. M. Sanders was to herd all of the cattle for $1.50 per day,
payment in crops in the fall. All the
sheep were to be penned up at night. A
bridge was to be built over Mire Creek on Saturday for the cattle to pass
over. Samuel Gully was appointed as the
Summer Quarters clerk. A gun fired
three times was to be an alarm of distress.
Luman
Shurtliff arrived back safely from his journey to obtain donations for the
Garden Grove Saints. He had been gone
for three months. He had traveled two
thousand miles and had successfully obtained $1,500 worth of goods through much
hardship. He was very glad to be home.
Jefferson
Hunt wrote a letter to Brigham Young:
We are in
perfect suspense here. In two months we
look for a discharge and know not whither to steer our course. We have a very good offer to purchase a large
valley, sufficient to support 50,000 families connected with other excellent
country, which might be obtained. The
rancho connected with the valley is about thirty miles from this place, and
about twenty miles from a good ship landing.
We may have the land and stock consisting of eight thousand head of
cattle, the increase of which was three thousand last year, and an immense
quantity of horses, by paying 500 dollars down, and taking our own time to pay
the remainder, if we had only the privilege to buy it. There are excellent water privileges on it.
An order
was read from Colonel Cooke giving the men the privilege of reenlisting with
the army for a five‑year enlistment after being discharged from the
battalion.
Thomas
Dunn wrote: “We received 6 months of
our pay which was gladly received.
Though many made a bad use of it in drinking and carousing.” The “Hauns Mill Begger” was convicted for
stealing a pocket knife and sentenced to work the “Doby Yard.”
Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:167‑69; Howard Egan’s Diary, Pioneering
the West, 33; Watson, ed., Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 553;
Watson, ed., The Orson Pratt Journals, 384‑85; “Luke S. Johnson Journal,”
typescript, BYU, 6; Our Pioneer Heritage, 14:208, 506; The Exodus and
Beyond, 40; William Clayton’s Journal, 127‑32; “Levi Jackman
Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 30; Our Pioneer Heritage, 4:373;
Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 144‑46; Journal of
Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 220‑21;
“Journal Extracts of Henry W. Bigler,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 5:60;
Kelly ed., Journals of John D. Lee,
159‑62; Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 79
The
morning was warm, fifty‑eight degrees.
As the pioneers arose, they saw a herd of buffalo nearby. At 8 a.m., they started their journey. They soon came to a bad swampy area and had
to take a detour to the north in order to cross it. From there, the prairie was quite soft and the horses feet cut
deep into the sod.
After
eight miles, a little before noon, they found some grass that had escaped the
fire and stopped to let the teams feed.
Two buffalo bulls approached the herd and men were sent to drive them
off. Orders had been issued to not kill
anything that could not be carried to the next camp. Norton Jacob explained why these orders were necessary: “The president had directed then not to kill
anything they could not bring in on their horses, but the anxiety among some
men to singnalize themselves by killing a buffalo or an antelope is so great
that they cannot refrain from the shedding of blood without a commandment. Well they had better learn wisdom.”
Wilford
Woodruff wrote: “We rode up within 3
rods of one [buffalo] that was asleep, stopped & looked at him for some
minutes. He awoke & shook himself
& leaped off.”
During the
afternoon some of the hunters brought in a buffalo cow and five calves. Heber C. Kimball and Orrin Porter Rockwell
caught a live calf which they hoped to try to raise. Wilford Woodruff wrote:
“It would drink water out of a pail.
They had some sport in trying to make it suck to a cow. It would try hard to bunt the men & dogs
& some got hard raps.”11
At 4 p.m.,
they reached a column of fire, running from the river to the north as far as
they could see. They decided it would
be safest to camp on the burned prairie, about a half mile back. Thomas Bullock wrote: “The teams then turned round & the Wind blew
the ashes of the burnt grass in all directions which soon caused us to look
like [Chimney] Sweeps. However by
washing, after our halt, we were enabled to discern each other again.” William Clayton commented that the brethren
looked “more like Indians than white folks.”
They let the animals graze on some patches of grass until dark. Some of the horses were taken out to an
island and cottonwood trees were cut down for them to browse on.
Luman
Shurtliff delivered the donated goods and money to the President of the
settlement, President Fullmer. He
distributed the goods to all the poor.
Brother Shurtliff wrote, “Thus, the Lord provided for his poor saints at
Garden Grove.”