Friday, July 31
Attending to wagons, cattle, etc., all day.
August 1846
Saturday, August 1
This morning I went to the river to see how soon we could cross and learned there was a prospect of our crossing this evening or tomorrow morning. I then went back to my camp and we started with the wagons a few at a time. My brother James is lame in bed. Pitt is lame. Brown is lame and Corbitt nearly spent. About noon we got all the wagons to the river and Corbitt returned to take the cattle to grass. I went to Larpey's and got the balance of the money then went to Mitchel's to try to trade my music box for a cow but did not succeed.
Sunday, August 2
Preparing to cross the river. Pelatiah Brown went swimming all the forenoon and when Corbitt asked him to help with the teams he swore he would not if Jesus Christ would ask him. I told him if he did not feel like helping us he could go somewhere else, I did not want him. He went and I am again left without a teamster. I will here say that Brown will not work only when he has a mind to and during the last week when James and Corbitt and Pitt were all gone he would go to the river swimming instead of attending to the cattle and I may as well be without a teamster as have a man who will go away in a cramp. About noon we crossed three wagons over and kept to work until we had got them all over which took us till dark. We had to crowd our wagons together in the road just above the river on account of its being stopped up by other wagons. We could not get our cattle to grass and they have had none since last night, but having a few bushels of corn we gave them five ears a piece. After supper I went fishing with Wm. F. Cahoon and others until two o'clock but had very poor luck.
Monday, August 3
Started this morning to get our wagons on the prairie. The road is very narrow and bad, up steep bluffs and very muddy. It took four yoke of oxen to take a very light load. When we had got four of the wagons up eight yoke of Bishop Whitney's cattle came to help us and afterwards nine yoke of President Young's and Kimball's. We got to the prairie about noon and stopped to feed our cattle. I sent on five wagons with the teams sent to help us and after feeding about an hour started with the remainder. I drove the spare cattle and horses. We got the wagons to camp about six o'clock. One of President Young's oxen killed himself when going to drink, being so eager he pitched into the creek and broke his neck. When we got to camp we were all completely tired. My feet were sore and my limbs ached and had to go to bed. We camped on the north end of Heber's company. We have left nine head of cattle over the river yet and there is little prospect of being able to find some of them.