Thursday, June 14.
Leave camp at seven in the morning and travel until eleven o’clock. We take dinner on the bank of the Big Blue River—a fork of the Kansas. We start again at two o’clock and camp at six on the Big Blue. (Distance, 25 miles.)
Friday, June 15.
Weather fair and cool. Travel up the Blue River today. This is a most beautiful stream; has a rich and fertile soil, with considerable good timber. (Distance, 25 miles.)
Saturday, June 16.
Decamp at eight o’clock and travel ten miles to the point where the trail leaves the Blue River. We dine here.
The road from this place to the Platte River is through prairie country destitute of wood. We travel fifteen miles in the afternoon and camp on the prairie, without wood, and with quite poor water.
Sunday, June 17.
Travel twelve miles in the forenoon to the Platte, or Nebraska River. In the afternoon we go up the river eight miles and camp near Fort Kearney, at the head of Grand Island. This island is 52 miles in length and appears to be well timbered.
The Platte is a large river, being from one to two miles wide, and has a very rapid current. Its waters are so very muddy that after a bucketful has settled, an inch of mud, or sediment will appear at the bottom. It has a bed of sand which is constantly in motion. (Distance traveled, 20 miles.)