Thursday, August 5
Again at the roadometer, day very warm. J. C. Little and others have returned and report that they have been at the Utah Lake. As they went up they saw bodies of two dead Indians lying on the ground proving that there was one of each tribe killed the other day. They consider it to be about forty miles to the Utah Lake and on the east side is a handsome valley about six or eight miles wide. They are now convinced that the stream which runs a few miles below here is the Utah outlet, they having followed it to its junction with the lake.
Friday, August 6
The day very warm.
Saturday, August 7
Today William A. King has finished the roadometer which will now tell the distance for one thousand miles without keeping any account. About noon a very large whirlwind struck the south side of the camp forming a cloud of dust about twenty feet in diameter and making a loud roar. It carried a chicken up some distance, tore up the bowers, and shook the wagons violently in its course. It passed off to the northeast and seemed to break at the mountains. This morning fifteen of the brethren commenced building a dam a little above the camp so as to bring the water around and inside the camp. They finished early in the afternoon and we have now a pleasant little stream of cold water running on each side the wagons all around the camp. Where the water runs off or overflows the gutters, it soon becomes miry and cattle will sink a half a yard in mud. This is owing to the lightness of the soil, it being very light and rich. In the evening, many of the brethren went and were baptized in the dam by Elder Kimball for the remission of sins, Elders Pratt, Woodruff, and Smith attending to confirmation. I went and was baptized amongst the rest. It has been recommended for all the camp to be baptized and this evening they have commenced it.
Sunday, August 8
Morning cloudy with strong northeast wind. The brethren have resumed baptizing and a number have obeyed the ordinance both male and female. At ten o'clock, a meeting was held in the bowery and instructions given to the brethren. At two o'clock, sacrament was administered and 110 of the brethren selected to make adobes. Wrote a letter for Heber to Elder Martin and others.
Monday, August 9
At eleven o'clock, Brannan, Captain James Brown and several others started for San Francisco. Elder J. C. Little accompanies them to Fort Hall. I spent three hours taking observations with the barometer with Elder Pratt to ascertain the height of the land on the creek above the city. Ensign Peak, etc. The twelve had decided on a name for this place and a caption for all letters and documents issued from this place, which is as follows: Salt Lake City, Great Basin, North America.