The Route of Travel
The line of travel taken by the pioneers was along the north bank of the Platte River to Fort Laramie, and from there they crossed the river, and continued over the Oregon trail up the Sweetwater and over the Continental divide through the South Pass across Green River to Fort Bridger. They then traveled to the southwest through Echo Canyon, and East Canyon over Big and Little Mountain into Emigration Canyon, and then to the valley of the Great Salt Lake.
On the south side of the Platte was the Oregon trail, but the pioneers remained on the north bank where there was no trail, for reasons expressed by Elder Wilford Woodruff as follows:
“We were convinced that it would be better for us as a company to cross the river and take the old traveled road to Laramie as there was good grass all the way on that side, while the Indians were burning it all off on the north of the river where we were traveling. But when we took into consideration the situation of the next company, and the thousands that would follow, and as we were the Pioneers and had not our wives and children with us—we thought it best to keep on the north side of the river and brave the difficulties of burning prairies to make a road that should stand as a permanent route for the Saints, independent of the then immigrant road, and let the river separate the emigrating companies that they need not quarrel for wood, grass, or water; and when our next company came along, the grass would be much better for them than it would be on the south side, as it would grow up by the time they would get along; and the vote was called and it was unanimous to go on the north side of the river; so the camp again moved on.”
Measuring the Distance
The pioneers were anxious to know the distance of each day’s travel and the length of the entire journey. In order to obtain this information they first resorted to guesswork, but this proved unsatisfactory. They then tied a piece of cloth to a wheel of one of the wagons and a man was placed on duty to count the revolutions. However, this was tedious though accurate if the count was correctly kept. April 19 William Clayton suggested to Orson Pratt that a set of wooden cog wheels might be attached to the wheel of a wagon to record the distance automatically. The result was that an odometer was constructed on “the principle of the endless screw” and was installed during the month of May, after they were well along on the journey.
Dangers on the Way
The pioneers were under the necessity of keeping constantly on the alert to protect themselves from attacks by Indians. They had considerable anxiety while passing through the Pawnee tribes. At times the brethren were fired upon. The Indians made several attempts at night to creep into the camp, evidently to plunder and steal animals. At one time before the camp was organized for the night they were successful in stealing two of the best horses belonging to Dr. Willard Richards and Jesse C. Little. The following day, April 27, a party was sent out to search for the missing animals. They encountered a number of Indians who endeavored to decoy them to a point where the brethren would be in their power, but they were on the alert and well armed, so the Indians dared not make an attack. As the brethren prepared to return to camp the Indians fired upon them, whereupon the searching party turned upon their foe, and the Indians hastily fled.
Not all of the Indians, however, were hostile. Generally they showed a friendly spirit, but were ever ready to commit theft. The brethren at times gave them a few articles such as powder, lead, flour and salt.