As the company made its way along Loup Fork River, a fording place was sought, as the purpose of the pioneers was to follow up the Platte into which Loup Fork emptied. In the evening a Pawnee missionary station was reached—a station which had been abandoned. There were several good log houses and considerable land under cultivation. Here they found large lots of old and new iron, all apparently left to ruin. A quarter of a mile below the missionary village was a government station where Father Chase had been employed as a government farmer at a salary of $300 a year. When, however, Major Harvey learned that Father Chase had joined the Mormons, he was dismissed from service. The Sioux had burned the government station houses and blacksmith shop, but had spared the missionary village. Some of the hay and fodder was used by the pioneers, but none of it was carried away. Some of the plows were taken on an account which Father Chase held against the government for arrears in wages, but a strict report to the government was ordered and the things taken were regarded as the property of Father Chase.
The crossing of Loup Fork was a mile-post on the journey; and the 23rd was a day of great anxiety to those who had been looking carefully for a suitable fording place from which they might drop down again on to the banks of the Platte.
"In the morning twelve of us started on horseback to search out a ford across the dangerous and troublesome Loup Fork of the Platte River. We went down the river some distance when several men waded across. They found the water so deep, and so much quicksand that we came to the conclusion to drive up to the old Pawnee village. So we returned to the camp and harnessed up our horses. My gray horse named Titus was sick, yet I started out with him, and the camp drove up with some difficulty to the old Indian village, or a little below it.
"The men commenced searching out a ford and found the whole bed of the river one body of quicksand into which if a horse or wagon stopped it would begin to sink. We had two channels to cross and a sand-bar in the middle. The deepest water was from three to four feet and very rapid and about three hundred yards across. At some places the quicksand sank both man and beast instantly; and the more they struggled to get out, the more they would sink. Of course, we avoided such places as much as possible.
"As I led the van with my ten, being captain of the first ten, it fell to my lot to make the first trial. Prof. O. Pratt, having a pair of strong horses, went forward and I followed him. I had two yoke of cattle and my horses on my carriage with about ten hundred on it. As soon as I started, I immediately saw that the cattle did but little good, being slow and in the way, we would begin to sink. I jumped out of my carriage into the water up to my waist. About ten men came to my assistance with a rope and hitched it to the oxen and helped me in getting across the first stream, though with great difficulty. We stopped on a sand-bar out in the water, but my horses and wagon began to sink. By treading the ground a little, it would become a perfect quagmire, and though we were sinking in it, the men had to leave the wagon where it was and go to the assistance of Orson Pratt, who, in trying to cross the second stream, had sunk into a bed of quicksand, and all the men had to go to his relief to get his horses and wagon out. The horses were unhitched from the wagon, and the load taken out and carried to shore; the wagon was drawn out by the men.
"I took off most of my load in a boat and went through the second stream. I got two other wagons in the same way, but it was so difficult an undertaking that the rest of the camp would not follow us, so here we found ourselves on the opposite side of the river, six men of us, to spend the night, together with our horses and wagons to guard against the whole Pawnee band, who were then camped below us on the same side of the river, and it was supposed that they numbered six hundred warriors. We divided our company, putting three on guard at a time. Brother Pack, Orson Pratt, and myself went on guard the fore part of the night. Although I had been in the water the whole afternoon, I stood guard in my wet clothing one-half of the night and slept in them the other half.
"When we had guarded our part of the night we were joined by five men from the camp who crossed in a boat. They were sent by President Young to assist us, making eleven of us in all, and we divided our force accordingly. The night, however, passed off in peace, with no disturbance from the hostile Indians.
"The morning was pleasant and Prof. Pratt took an observation on the south bank of the fording place of the Loup Fork. The latitude was found to be 41 degrees, 22 minutes, and 37 seconds. The camp on the other side was now busy devising plans to cross the river. They drew together timber and rails to build two rafts and began to put them together. Some of the brethren made another trial to cross with wagons by putting on several horse and mule teams. They went a little higher up than we did and got over with much less difficulty. The more the ground was trod in the water, the smoother and harder it grew, so the whole company turned their wagons back to the ford and abandoned the raft. By unloading one-half of the baggage, they could cross in safety; and they all crossed by doubling teams and by going back and forth until all were over. Each captain with his ten assisted the others across. In this way all Israel who were present went over the Loup Fork of the Platte River in safety without hurt to man or beast; and we felt thankful to God for His mercies and rejoiced that we were on the south side of the river.
"We all loaded up our wagons and drove four miles and camped for the Sabbath on the bank of the river; and after our wagons were arranged, the Twelve took a walk on the high table lands to make observations, through their glasses, of the surrounding country."