"Just as we were starting in the afternoon, we rose to a small bluff and saw two antelopes in the valley before us. Brothers Young, Kimball, and myself were together. Brother Brown and another brother were on the other side of the hill and saw them also. Brother Brown first fired at one, and then the other man and I fired. We all hit him, but he did not fall, so we rode up and cut his throat. This was the first antelope killed. He was dressed and put on board the wagon, and we continued on and in a short time saw three more looking at us from the top of a mound. Brother Brown and I went after them, but could not get them, so we turned about ten degrees east of south and went to the creek and camped. Our cattle and horses were very dry, not finding any water during the day. We had a heavy storm of thunder, lightning, wind, and some rain which lasted about an hour.
"A rifle went off in Brother Brown's wagon by accident and the ball went through a bag of clothes, set it on fire, then through the wagon, and broke the leg of a fine horse. The result was the breaking up of one of the teams of the pioneer company.
"Brother Rockwell and three others had gone in the morning again in search of the horses which the Indians were supposed to have stolen. Toward evening they returned and reported that they had been attacked by fifteen Indians, who were in ambush in the grass. They came upon them, determined to take their horses from them, but the brethren kept them off by their rifles and pistols. The Indians were armed with guns and bows. When they found that they could not scare the brethren, they professed friendship to get to them; but the brethren were resolute and determined not to move but to fight, though only four to fifteen. The Indians finally rushed upon them to catch the horses by the bits. The brethren drew their pistols upon them, determined to fight and do their best. The Indians, seeing their determination, broke and ran, but fired their guns upon the brethren. The balls whistled around them, but no one was injured. The brethren did not return the fire, not wishing to kill any of them if they could help it."
The morning of April 28th the company reached the eastern end of Grand Island. There Elder Woodruff accompanied the hunters, but a wolf and a goose were all they secured. In the evening, they camped on Wood Creek. Great numbers of deer could be seen on the island, but President Young thought it dangerous to cross over, as the Indians might be in ambush.
The morning following was very cold. The camp was moved at five o'clock; and after a drive of three miles, a stop was made for breakfast. Here the hunters explored Grand Island which they found covered by rushes and cottonwood. The grass was now in greater abundance. The cattle and horses were greatly in need of improved feed; and better grazing meant the entrance into the lands of the deer and buffalo. They saw great numbers of antelope, but could not reach them. The hunters killed four geese. Elder Woodruff killed two of them and shot one deer which he could not overtake.
On May 1st the pioneers were well into the home of the buffalo. It was a great day for the hunters and welcomed by the pioneers who were greatly in need of fresh meat. Those who knew President Woodruff's ardent love of the chase will read the experience of his first buffalo hunt with some appreciation of what that day meant to him.
"This was an interesting day to the hunters of the camp of Israel. The pioneers made an early start, and after traveling six miles, camped for breakfast on the prairie in sight of a herd of buffaloes feeding on a bluff to the right of us. There were about two hundred. Three only of the hunters started out. They rode as near to them as possible and crawled along the grass, but the buffaloes became frightened and ran away. We had not traveled more than two miles farther before we discovered another large herd five miles before us. The hunters assembled and held a council. We determined to get some of the buffalo meat if possible. We traveled, however, with the camp until within a mile of the herd when a halt was made and fifteen hunters started together. Amasa Lyman and myself of the Twelve were with them. We went along together until we reached a bluff within a few rods of the herd and then divided, Brother Grover and Luke Johnson went on to the bluff, O. P. Rockwell and Brother Brown took the entire left, and so we divided into companies on the right, left, and center. I was with the company in the center of the herd.
"We all made a charge upon them from the bluffs and rushed on to the plain. The herd ran down the rough bluff into the plain, but when we reached the plain we soon overtook them, and each company singled out its game. We made choice generally of cows, then rushed up to the side of them and fired upon them with our pistols, which we found much better to carry than the rifles which were very cumbersome in running. The first we gave chase to was a cow with her calf. I rode up to her side and fired two balls, both of which took effect. The other brethren with me also fired at her until she was killed. I then ran my horse to the assistance of another party who had wounded one which was soon dispatched.
"I then saw that O. P. Rockwell had three bulls at bay on the prairie. Brother Pack and myself ran with our horses to his assistance. At the same time Brother Kimball came up. We surrounded them and commenced firing. They bolted ahead. I put spurs to my horse and ran in front and was within about a rod of them when they all pitched at me and gave me a chase for a fight. It hurried me to get out of their way. Two broke for the bluff and Brother Brown followed them; but Rockwell, Kimball, Pack, and myself stayed with an old bull. I fired two balls into him, Kimball one, and Pack one. The bull fell dead. We also shot a calf that was with him. I returned to Brother Brown on the bluff and found that one of the bulls to which he had given chase was wounded and had lain down; but Brother Brown having no more powder or ball, the bull got up again and ran into the herd on the bluff before I could reach him. We now all returned to our hunting ground to gather up the buffaloes we had killed, there being three cows, three bulls, and five calves, making eleven in all.
"In the morning, Brother Solomon Hancock had gone out to hunt buffaloes on foot. As he did not return in the evening, we felt greatly concerned about him; but in the morning he returned, having killed a three year old cow which he watched during the night to keep the wolves from eating her. Three wolves came upon him. He shot one and the rest ran away. This was our first day's buffalo hunt and we considered the results quite good in as much as we were all strangers to a buffalo hunt, very few of us having ever seen one before.