Remain encamped here today for the benefit of our tired mules.
We had a fine shower in the afternoon. A buffalo was killed by one of our company yesterday which affords us plenty of meat.
Tuesday, July 24.
The majority of our company is not ready to advance, consequently we must remain here another day.
The excuse is made that it is necessary for the animals to recruit, but the grass is poor, and I believe the animals will gain very little. A short stop might be of some benefit, but to remain two or three days where there is very little grass seems like wasting time to no good purpose. The company is too large to travel in one body. Some are for going ahead, while others are in favor of resting. A company of ten men is quite large enough to travel expeditiously, but our company is so situated that it cannot well be dissolved at present.
Wednesday, July 25.
We break camp and travel up the Sweetwater River an hour, which brings us to the Devil’s Gate. This is a fissure in the rock in the Sweetwater River, thirty or forty feet wide, two or three hundred feet long, and perhaps two hundred feet high, through which the river passes, and is quite a natural curiosity.
Travel 20 miles and camp on the river.
Thursday, July 26.
Travel 10 miles in the forenoon and 10 in the afternoon, continuing up the Sweetwater. There is a range of mountains of each side of the valley. On the right they are composed almost entirely of barren rocks, destitute of vegetation. On the left they have some soil and some vegetation.