Chapter XXXVI: Conclusion: Conclusion (1)

The traveler and the lecturer have apparently laid down a law that, whether the journey does or does not begin at home, it should always end at that “hallowed spot.” Unwilling to break through what is now becoming a time-honored custom, I trespass upon the reader’s patience for a few pages more, and make my final _salaam_ in the muddy-puddly streets, under the gusty, misty sky of the “Liverpool of the South.”

After a day’s rest at Carson City, employed in collecting certain necessaries of tobacco and raiment, which, intrinsically vile, were about treble the price of the best articles of their kind in the Burlington Arcade, I fell in with Captain Dall, superintendent of the Ophir mines, for whom I bore a recommendation from Judge Crosby, of Utah Territory. The valuable silver leads of Virginia City occupied me, under the guidance of that hospitable gentleman, two days, and on the third we returned to Carson City, _viâ_ the Steam-boat Springs, Washoe Valley, and other local lions. On the 24th appeared the boys driving in the stock from Carson Lake: certain of these youths had disappeared; Jim Gilston, who had found his brother at Dry-Creek Station, had bolted, of course forgetting to pay his passage. A stage-coach, most creditably horsed, places the traveler from Carson City at San Francisco in two days; as Mr. Kennedy, however, wished to see me safely to the end, and the judge, esteeming me a fit Mentor for youth, had intrusted to me Telemachus, alias Thomas, his son, I resolved to cross the Sierra by easy stages. After taking kindly leave of and a last “liquor up” with my old _compagnons de voyage_, the judge and the marshal, we broke ground once more on the 25th of October. At Genoa, pronounced Ge-nóa, the county town, built in a valley thirteen miles south of Carson, I met Judge Cradlebaugh, who set me right on grounds where the Mormons had sown some prejudices. Five days of a very dilatory travel placed us on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada; the dugways and zigzags reminded me of the descriptions of travelers over the Andes; the snow threatened to block up the roads, and our days and nights were passed among teamsters _en route_ and in the frame-house inn. On the 30th of November, reaching Diamond Springs, I was advised by a Londoner, Mr. George Fryer, of the “Boomerang Saloon,” to visit the gold diggings at Placerville, whither a coach was about to start. At “Hangtown,” as the place was less euphoniously termed, Mr. Collum, of the Cary House, kindly put me through the gold washing and “hydraulicking,” and Dr. Smith, an old East Indian practitioner, and Mr. White, who had collected some fine specimens of minerals, made the evenings pleasant. I started on the 1st of November by coach to Folsom, and there found the railroad, which in two hours conducts to Sacramento: the negro coachmen driving hacks and wagons to the station, the whistling of the steam, and the hurry of the train, struck me by the contrast with the calm travel of the desert.

At Sacramento, the newer name for New Helvetia--a capital mass of shops and stores, groggeries and hotels--I cashed a draught, settled old scores with Kennedy, who almost carried me off by force to his location, shook hands with Thomas, and transferred myself from the Golden Eagle on board the steamer Queen City. Eight hours down the Sacramento River, past Benicia--the birthplace of the Boy--in the dark to the head-waters of the glorious bay, placed me at the “El Dorada of the West,” where a tolerable opera, a superior supper, and the society of friends made the arrival exceptionably comfortable.

I spent ten pleasant days at San Francisco. There remained some traveler’s work to be done: the giant trees, the Yosemite or Yohamite Falls--the highest cataracts yet known in the world--and the Almaden cinnabar mines, with British Columbia, Vancouver’s Island, and Los Angelos temptingly near. But, in sooth, I was aweary of the way; for eight months I had lived on board steamers and railroad cars, coaches and mules; my eyes were full of sight-seeing, my pockets empty, and my brain stuffed with all manner of useful knowledge. It was far more grateful to _flaner_ about the stirring streets, to admire the charming faces, to enjoy the delicious climate, and to pay quiet visits like a “ladies’ man,” than to front wind and rain, muddy roads, _arrieros_, and rough teamsters, fit only for Rembrandt, and the solitude of out-stations. The presidential election was also in progress, and I wished to see with my eyes the working of a system which has been facetiously called “universal suffering and vote by bullet.” Mr. Consul Booker placed my name on the lists of the Union Club, which was a superior institution to that of Leamington; Colonel Hooker, of Oregon, and Mr. Tooney, showed me life in San Francisco; Mr. Gregory Yale, whom I had met at Carson City, introduced me to a quiet picture of old Spanish happiness, fast fading from California; Mr. Donald Davidson, an old East Indian, talked East Indian with me; and Lieutenants Macpherson and Brewer accompanied me over the forts and batteries which are intended to make of San Francisco a New-World Cronstadt. Mr. Polonius sensibly refused to cash for me a draught not authorized by my circular letter from the Union Bank. Mr. Booker took a less prudential and mercantile view of the question, and kindly helped me through with the _necessaire_--£100. My return for all this kindness was, I regret to say, a temperate but firm refusal to lecture upon the subject of Meccah and El Medinah, Central Africa, Indian cotton, American politics, or every thing in general. I nevertheless bade my adieux to San Francisco and the hospitable San Franciscans with regret.

On the 15th of November, the Golden Age, Commodore Watkins, steamed out of the Golden Gates, bearing on board, among some 520 souls, the body that now addresses the public. She was a model steamer, with engines and engine-rooms clean as a club kitchen, and a cuisine whose terrapin soup and deviled crabs à la Baltimore will long maintain their position in my memory--not so long, however, as the kindness and courtesy of the ancient mariner who commanded the Golden Age. On the 28th we spent the best part of a night at Acapulco, the city of Cortez and of Doña Marina, where any lurking project of passing through ill-conditioned Mexico was finally dispelled. The route from Acapulco to Vera Cruz, over a once well-worn highway, was simply and absolutely impassable. Each sovereign and independent state in that miserable caricature of the Anglo-American federal Union was at daggers drawn with all and every of its next-door neighbors; the battles were paper battles, but the plundering and the barbarities--cosas de Mejico!--were stern realities. A rich man could not travel because of the banditti; a poor man would have been enlisted almost outside the city gates; a man with many servants would have seen half of them converted to soldiers under his eyes, and have lost the other half by desertion, while a man without servants would have been himself press-gang’d; a Liberal would have been murdered by the Church, and a Churchman--even the frock is no protection--would have been martyred by the Liberal party. For this disappointment I found a philosophical consolation in various experiments touching the influence of Mezcal brandy, the Mexican national drink, upon the human mind and body.

On the 15th of December we debarked at Panama; horridly wet, dull, and dirty was the “place of fish,” and the “Aspinwall House” and its Mivart reminded me of a Parsee hotel in the fort, Bombay. Yet I managed to spend there three pleasant circlings of the sun. A visit to the acting consul introduced me to M. Hurtado, the Intendente or military governor, and to a charming countrywoman, whose fascinating society made me regret that my stay there could not be protracted. Though politics were running high, I became acquainted with most of the officers of the United States squadron, and only saw the last of them at Colon, alias Aspinwall. Messrs. Boyd and Power, of the “Weekly Star and Herald,” introduced me to the officials of the Panama Railroad, Messrs. Nelson, Center, and others, who, had I not expressed an aversion to “dead-headism,” or gratis traveling, would have offered me a free passage. Last, but not least, I must mention the venerable name of Mrs. Seacole, of Jamaica and Balaklava.

On the 8th of December I passed over the celebrated Panama Railway to Aspinwall, where Mr. Center, the superintendent of the line, made the evening highly agreeable with conversation aided by “Italia,” a certain muscatel cognac that has yet to reach Great Britain. We steamed the next morning, under charge of Captain Leeds, over the Caribbean Sea or Spanish Main, bound for St. Thomas. A hard-hearted E.N.E. wind protracted the voyage of the Solent for six days, and we reached the Danish settlement in time, and only just in time, to save a week’s delay upon that offensive scrap of negro liberty-land. On the 9th of December we bade adieu with pleasure to the little dungeon-rock, and turned the head of the good ship Seine, Captain Rivett, toward the Western Islands. She played a pretty wheel till almost within sight of Land’s End, where Britannia received us with her characteristic welcome, a gale and a pea-soup fog, which kept us cruising about for three days in the unpleasant Solent and the Southampton Water.

APPENDICES.

I. EMIGRANT’S ITINERARY,

Showing the distances between camping-places, the several
mail-stations where mules are changed, the hours of travel, the
character of the roads, and the facilities for obtaining water, wood,
and grass on the route along the southern bank of the Platte River,
from St. Joseph, Mo., _viâ_ Great Salt Lake City, to Carson Valley.
From a Diary kept between the 7th of August and the 19th of October,
1860.

+-----+-----------------------------------+------+------+------+-----+
| No. | | | | | |
| of | | | | Ar- | |
|Mail.| |Miles.|Start.|rival.|Date.|
+-----+-----------------------------------+------+------+------+-----+
| 1. |Leave St. Joseph, Missouri, in N. | | | | |
| |lat. 39° 40′, and W. long. 94° 50′.| | | | |
| |Cross Missouri River by steam | | | | |
| |ferry. Five miles of bottom land, | | | | |
| |bend in river and settlements. Over| | | | |
| |rolling prairie 2000 feet above sea| | | | |
| |level. After 6 miles, Troy, capital| | | | |
| |of Doniphan Co., Kansas Territory, | | | | |
| |about a dozen shanties. Dine and | | | | |
| |change mules at Cold Spring--good | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |water and grass. |20-24 | 9 30 | 3 | 7 |
| |Road from Fort Leavenworth (N. lat.| | | | |
| |39° 21′ 14″, and W. long. 94° 44′) | | | | |
| |falls in at Cold Spring, distant 15| | | | |
| |miles. | | | | |
| |From St. Jo to Cold Spring there | | | | |
| |are two routes, one lying north of | | | | |
| |the other, the former 20, the | | | | |
| |latter 24 miles in length. | | | | |
| 2. |After 10 miles, Valley Home, a | | | | |
| |whitewashed shanty. At Small Branch| | | | |
| |on Wolf River, 12 miles from Cold | | | | |
| |Spring, is a fiumara on the north | | | | |
| |of the road, with water, wood, and | | | | |
| |grass. Here the road from Fort | | | | |
| |Atchinson falls in. Kennekuk | | | | |
| |Station, 44 miles from St. Joseph. | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |Sup and change mules. |22-23 | 4 | 8 | 7 |
| 3. |Two miles beyond Kennekuk is the | | | | |
| |first of the three Grasshopper | | | | |
| |Creeks, flowing after rain to the | | | | |
| |Kansas River. Road rough and stony;| | | | |
| |water, wood, and grass. Four miles | | | | |
| |beyond the First Grasshopper is | | | | |
| |Whitehead, a young settlement on | | | | |
| |Big Grasshopper; water in pools, | | | | |
| |wood, and grass. Five and a half | | | | |
| |miles beyond is Walnut Creek, in | | | | |
| |Kickapoo Co.: pass over corduroy | | | | |
| |bridge; roadside dotted with | | | | |
| |shanties. Thence to Locknan’s, or | | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |Big Muddy Station. | 25 | 9 | 1 | 7, 8|
| 4. |Seventeen miles beyond Walnut | | | | |
| |Creek, the Third Grasshopper, also | | | | |
| |falling into the Kansas River. Good| | | | |
| |camping-ground. Ten miles beyond | | | | |
| |lies Richland, deserted site. | | | | |
| |Thence to Seneca, capital of | | | | |
| |Nemehaw Co. A few shanties on the | | | | |
| |N. bank of Big Nemehaw Creek, a | | | | |
| |tributary of the Missouri River, | | | | |
| |which affords water, wood, and | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |grass. | 18 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| 5. |Cross Wildcat Creek and other | | | | |
| |nullahs. Seven miles beyond Seneca | | | | |
| |lies Ash Point, a few wooden huts, | | | | |
| |thence to “Uncle John’s Grocery,” | | | | |
| |where liquor and stores are | | | | |
| |procurable. Eleven miles from Big | | | | |
| |Nemehaw, water, wood, and grass are| | | | |
| |found at certain seasons near the | | | | |
| |head of a ravine. Thence to | | | | |
| |Vermilion Creek, which heads to the| | | | |
| |N.E., and enters the Big Blue 20 | | | | |
| |miles above its mouth. The ford is | | | | |
| |miry after rain, and the banks are | | | | |
| |thickly wooded. Water is found in | | | | |
| |wells 40-43 feet deep. Guittard’s | | A.M. | NOON.| Aug.|
| |Station. | 20 | 8 | 12 | 8 |
| 6. |Fourteen miles from Guittard’s, | | | | |
| |Marysville, capital of Washington | | | | |
| |Co., affords supplies and a | | | | |
| |blacksmith. Then ford the Big Blue,| | | | |
| |tributary to Kansas River, clear | | | | |
| |and swift stream. Twelve miles W. | | | | |
| |of Marysville is the frontier line | | | | |
| |between Kansas and Nebraska. Thence| | | | |
| |to Cotton-wood Creek, fields in | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |hollow near the stream. | 25 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| 7. |Store at the crossing very dirty | | | | |
| |and disorderly. Good water in | | | | |
| |spring 400 yards N. of the road; | | | | |
| |wood and grass abundant. Seventeen | | | | |
| |and a half miles from the Big Blue | | | | |
| |is Walnut Creek, where emigrants | | | | |
| |encamp. Thence to West Turkey or | | | | |
| |Rock Creek in Nebraska Territory, a| | | | |
| |branch of the Big Blue: its | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |approximate altitude is 1485 feet. | 26 | 6 | 11 | 8 |
| 8. |After 19 miles of rough road and | | | | |
| |musquetoes, cross Little Sandy, 5 | | | | |
| |miles E. of Big Sandy; water and | | | | |
| |trees plentiful. There Big Sandy | | | | |
| |deep and heavy bed. Big Sandy | | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |Station. | 23 | 12 | 4 | 9 |
| 9. |Cross hills forming divide of | | | | |
| |Little Blue River, ascending valley| | | | |
| |60 miles long. Little Blue fine | | | | |
| |stream of clear water falling into | | | | |
| |Kansas River; every where good | | | | |
| |supplies and good camping-ground. | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |Along the left bank to Kiowa. | 19 | 6 | 10 | 9 |
| 10. |Rough road of spurs and gullies | | | | |
| |runs up a valley 2 miles wide. Well| | | | |
| |wooded chiefly with cotton-wood, | | | | |
| |and grass abundant. Ranch at | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |Liberty Farm, on the Little Blue. | 25 | 11 | 3 | 9 |
| 11. |Cross divide between Little Blue | | | | |
| |and Platte River; rough road, | | | | |
| |musquetoes troublesome. Approximate| | | | |
| |altitude of dividing ridge 2025 | | | | |
| |feet. Station at Thirty-two-Mile | | | | |
| |Creek, a small wooded and winding | | | | |
| |stream flowing into the Little | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |Blue. | 24 | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| 12. |After 27 miles strike the Valley of| | | | |
| |the Platte, along the southern bank| | | | |
| |of the river, over level ground, | | | | |
| |good for camping, fodder abundant. | | | | |
| |After 7 miles Fort Kearney in N. | | | | |
| |lat. 40° 38′ 45″, and W. long. 98° | | | | |
| |58′ 11″: approximate altitude 2500 | | | | |
| |feet above sea level. Groceries, | | | | |
| |cloths, provisions, and supplies of| | | | |
| |all kinds are to be procured from | | | | |
| |the sutler’s store. Beyond Kearney | | | | |
| |a rough and bad road leads to | | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |“Seventeen-Mile Station”. | 34 |10 30 | 8 | 10 |
| 13. |Along the south bank of the Platte.| | | | |
| |Buffalo chips used for fuel. Sign | | | | |
| |of buffalo appears. Plum-Creek | | | | |
| |Station on a stream where there is | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |a bad crossing in wet weather. | 21 | 9 30 | 1 15 | 10 |
| 14. |Beyond Plum Creek, Willow-Island | | | | |
| |Ranch, where supplies are | | | | |
| |procurable. Road along the Platte, | | | | |
| |wood scarce, grass plentiful, | | | | |
| |buffalo abounds; after 20 miles | | | | |
| |“Cold-Water Ranch.” Halt and change| | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |at Midway Station. | 25 | 2 30 | 8 | 10 |
| 15. |Along the Valley of the Platte, | | | | |
| |road muddy after rain, fuel scarce,| | | | |
| |grass abundant, camp traces every | | | | |
| |where. Ranch at Cotton-wood | | | | |
| |Station, at this season the western| | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |limit of buffalo. | 27 | 9 | 1 45 | 11 |
| 16. |Up the Valley of the Platte. No | | | | |
| |wood; buffalo chips for fuel. Good | | | | |
| |camping-ground; grass on small | | | | |
| |branch of the Platte. To Junction- | | | | |
| |House Ranch, and thence to station | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |at Frémont Springs. | 30 | 6 15 | 11 | 11 |
| 17. |Road passes O’Fallon’s Bluffs. | | | | |
| |“Half-way House,” a store and | | | | |
| |ranch, distant 120 miles from Fort | | | | |
| |Kearney, 400 from St. Joseph, 40 | | | | |
| |from the Lower Crossing, and 68 | | | | |
| |from the Upper Crossing of the | | | | |
| |South Fork (Platte River). The | | NOON.| P.M. | Aug.|
| |station is called Alkali Lake. | 25 | 12 | 5 | 11 |
| 18. |Road along river; no timber; grass,| | | | |
| |buffalo chips, and musquetoes. | | | | |
| |Station at Diamond Springs near | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |Lower Crossing. | 25 | 6 |10 15 | 11 |
| 19. |Road along river. Last 4 miles very| | | | |
| |heavy sand, avoided by Lower | | | | |
| |Crossing. Poor accommodation at | | | | |
| |Upper Ford or Crossing on the | | | | |
| |eastern bank, where the mail passes| | | | |
| |the stream en route to Great Salt | | | | |
| |Lake City, and the road branches to| | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |Denver City and Pike’s Peak. | 25 | 11 | 3 15 | 12 |
| 20. |Ford Platte 600 yards wide, 2·50 | | | | |
| |feet deep, bed gravelly and solid, | | | | |
| |easy ford in dry season. Cross | | | | |
| |divide between North and South | | | | |
| |Forks, along the bank of Lodge-Pole| | | | |
| |Creek. Land arid; wild sage for | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |fuel. Lodge-Pole Station. | 35 | 6 30 |12 45 | 12 |
| 21. |Up Lodge-Pole Creek over a spur of | | | | |
| |table-land; then, striking over the| | | | |
| |prairie, finishes the high divide | | | | |
| |between the Forks. Approximate | | | | |
| |altitude 3500 feet. On the right is| | | | |
| |Ash Hollow, where there is plenty | | | | |
| |of wood and a small spring. The | | | | |
| |station is Mud Springs, a poor | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |ranch. | 25 | 3 | 5 45 | 12 |
| 22. |Route lies over a rolling divide | | | | |
| |between the Forks, crossing Omaha, | | | | |
| |Lawrence, and other creeks, where | | | | |
| |water and grass are procurable. | | | | |
| |Cedar is still found in hill- | | | | |
| |gullies. About half a mile north of| | | | |
| |Chimney Rock is a ranch where the | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |cattle are changed. | 25 | 8 |12 30 | 13 |
| 23. | Road along the south bank of North| | | | |
| |Ford of Platte River. Wild sage the| | | | |
| |only fuel in the valley: small | | | | |
| |spring on top of first hill. Rugged| | | | |
| |labyrinth of paths abreast of | | | | |
| |Scott’s Bluffs, which lie 5 miles | | | | |
| |S. of river, in N. lat. 41° 48′ | | | | |
| |26″, and W. long. 103° 45′ 02″. | | | | |
| |Water found in first ravine of | | | | |
| |Scott’s Bluffs 200 yards below the | | | | |
| |road, cedars on heights. To | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |station. | 24 | 1 30 | 5 30 | 13 |
| 24. |Road along the river; crosses | | | | |
| |Little Kiowa Creek, a tributary to | | | | |
| |Horse Creek, which flows into the | | | | |
| |Platte. Ford Horse Creek, a clear | | | | |
| |shallow stream with a sandy bottom.| | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |No wood below the hills. | 16 | 6 30 | 8 30 | 13 |
| 25. |Route over sandy, and heavy river | | | | |
| |bottom and rolling ground, leaving | | | | |
| |the Platte on the right: cotton- | | | | |
| |wood and willows on the banks. | | | | |
| |Ranch at Laramie City kept by M. | | | | |
| |Badeau, a Canadian, who sells | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |spirits, Indian goods, and outfit. | 26 | 6 |10 20 | 14 |
| 26. |After 9 miles of rough road cross | | | | |
| |Laramie Fork and enter Fort | | | | |
| |Laramie, N. lat. 42° 12′ 38″, and | | | | |
| |W. long. 104° 31′ 26″. Altitude | | | | |
| |4519 feet. Military post, with | | | | |
| |post-office, sutler’s stores, and | | | | |
| |other conveniences. Thence To | | | | |
| |Ward’s Station on the Central Star,| | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |small ranch and store. | 18 |12 15 | 4 | 14 |
| 27. |Rough and bad road. After 14 miles | | | | |
| |cross Bitter Cotton-wood Creek; | | | | |
| |water rarely flows; after rain 10 | | | | |
| |feet wide and 6 inches deep; grass | | | | |
| |and fuel abundant. Pass Indian shop| | | | |
| |and store. At Bitter Creek branch | | | | |
| |of Cotton-wood the road to Salt | | | | |
| |Lake City forks. Emigrants follow | | | | |
| |the Upper or South road over spurs | | | | |
| |of the Black Hills, some way south | | | | |
| |of the river, to avoid kanyons and | | | | |
| |to find grass. The station is | | | | |
| |called Horseshoe Creek. Residence | | | | |
| |of road-agent, Mr. Slade, and one | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |of the worst places on the line. | 25 | 5 | 9 30 | 14 |
| 28. |Road forks; one line follows the | | | | |
| |Platte, the other turns to the | | | | |
| |left, over “cut-off;” highly | | | | |
| |undulating ridges, crooked and | | | | |
| |deeply dented with dry beds of | | | | |
| |rivers; land desolate and desert. | | | | |
| |No wood nor water till end of | | | | |
| |stage. La Bonté River and Station; | | | | |
| |unfinished ranch in valley; water | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |and grass. | 25 |10 45 | 2 45 | 15 |
| 29. |Road runs 6 miles (wheels often | | | | |
| |locked) on rugged red land, crosses| | | | |
| |several dry beds of creeks, and | | | | |
| |springs with water after melting of| | | | |
| |snow and frosts in dry season, | | | | |
| |thence into the Valley of the | | | | |
| |Platte. After 17 miles it crosses | | | | |
| |the La Prêle (Rush River), a stream| | | | |
| |16 feet wide, where water and wood | | | | |
| |abound. At Box-Elder Creek Station | | | | |
| |good ranch and comfortable camping-| | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |ground. | 25 | 4 | 9 | 15 |
| 30. |Along the Platte River, now shrunk | | | | |
| |to 100 yards. After 10 miles, M. | | | | |
| |Bissonette; at Deer Creek, a post- | | | | |
| |office, blacksmith’s shop, and | | | | |
| |store near Indian Agency. Thence a | | | | |
| |waste of wild sage to Little Muddy,| | | | |
| |a creek with water. No | | | | |
| |accommodation nor provisions at | | A.M. | NOON.| Aug.|
| |station. | 20 | 8 30 | 12 | 16 |
| 31. |After 8 miles cross vile bridge | | | | |
| |over Snow Creek. Thence up the | | | | |
| |river valley along the S. bank of | | | | |
| |the Platte to the lower ferry. To | | | | |
| |Lower Bridge, old station of | | | | |
| |troops. To Upper Bridge, where the | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |ferry has now been done away with. | 18 | 1 15 | 4 15 | 16 |
| 32. |Road ascends a hill 7 miles long; | | | | |
| |land rough, barren, and sandy in | | | | |
| |dry season. After 10 miles, red | | | | |
| |spring near the Red Buttes, an old | | | | |
| |trading-place and post-office. Road| | | | |
| |then leaves the Platte River and | | | | |
| |strikes over high, rolling, and | | | | |
| |barren prairie. After 18 miles, | | | | |
| |“Devil’s Backbone” Station at | | | | |
| |Willow Springs; wood, water, and | | | | |
| |grass; good place for encampment, | | | | |
| |but no accommodation nor | | | | |
| |provisions. On this stage mineral | | | | |
| |and alkaline waters dangerous to | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |cattle abound. | 28 | 6 30 |12 50 | 17 |
| 33. |After 3 miles, Green Creek, not to | | | | |
| |be depended upon, and Prospect | | | | |
| |Hill, a good look-out. Then, at | | | | |
| |intervals of 3 miles, Harper’s, | | | | |
| |Woodworth’s, and Greasewood Creeks,| | | | |
| |followed by heavy sand. At 17 | | | | |
| |miles, “Saleratus Lake,” on the | | | | |
| |west of the road. Four miles beyond| | | | |
| |is “Independence Rock,” Ford | | | | |
| |Sweetwater, leaving the “Devil’s | | | | |
| |Gate” on the right. Pass a | | | | |
| |blacksmith’s shop. Sage the only | | | | |
| |fuel. Plante or Muddy Station; | | | | |
| |family of Canadians; no | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |conveniences. | 33 | 2 30 | 9 15 | 17 |
| 34. |Along the winding banks of the | | | | |
| |Sweetwater. After 4 miles, “Alkali | | | | |
| |Lake” S. of the road. Land dry and | | | | |
| |stony; stunted cedars in hills. | | | | |
| |After 12 miles, the “Devil’s Post- | | | | |
| |office,” a singular bluff on the | | | | |
| |left of the road, and opposite a | | | | |
| |ranch kept by a Canadian. Mail | | | | |
| |station “Three Crossings,” at Ford | | | | |
| |No. 3; excellent water, wood, | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.|
| |grass, game, and wild currants. | 25 | 7 | 11 | 18 |
| 35. |Up a kanyon of the Sweetwater. Ford| | | | |
| |the river 5 times, making a total | | | | |
| |of 8. After 16 miles, “Ice Springs”| | | | |
| |in a swampy valley, and one quarter| | | | |
| |of a mile beyond “Warm Springs.” | | | | |
| |Then rough descent and waterless | | | | |
| |stretch. Descend by “Lander’s Cut- | | | | |
| |off” into fertile bottom. “Rocky | | | | |
| |Ridge Station;” at Muskrat Creek | | | | |
| |good cold spring, grass, and sage | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |fuel. | 35 | 5 45 |12 45 | 19 |
| 36. |Up the bed of the creek, and, | | | | |
| |ascending long hills, leave the | | | | |
| |Sweetwater. After 4 miles, 3 | | | | |
| |alkaline ponds S. of the road. | | | | |
| |Rough path. After 7 miles, | | | | |
| |“Strawberry Creek,” 6 feet wide; | | | | |
| |good camping-ground; willows and | | | | |
| |poplars. One mile beyond is | | | | |
| |Quaking-Asp Creek, often dry. Three| | | | |
| |miles beyond lies M‘Achran’s | | | | |
| |Branch, 33 × 2. Then “Willow | | | | |
| |Creek,” 10 × 2; good camping- | | | | |
| |ground. At Ford No. 9 is a Canadian| | | | |
| |ranch and store. A long table-land | | | | |
| |leads to “South Pass,” dividing | | | | |
| |trip between the Atlantic and | | | | |
| |Pacific, and thence 2 miles to the | | | | |
| |station at “Pacific Springs;” | | | | |
| |water, tolerable grass, sage fuel, | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |and musquetoes. | 35 | 7 45 | 3 | 20 |
| 37. |Cross Miry Creek. Road down Pacific| | | | |
| |Creek; water scarce for 20 miles. | | | | |
| |After 11 miles, “Dry Sandy Creek;” | | | | |
| |water scarce and too brackish to | | | | |
| |drink; grass little; sage and | | | | |
| |greasewood plentiful. After 16 | | | | |
| |miles, “Sublette’s Cut-off,” or the| | | | |
| |“Dry Drive,” turns N.W. to Soda | | | | |
| |Springs and Fort Hall: the left | | | | |
| |fork leads to Fort Bridger and | | | | |
| |Great Salt Lake City. Four miles | | | | |
| |beyond the junction is “Little | | | | |
| |Sandy Creek,” 20-25 × 2; grass, | | | | |
| |timber, and good camping-ground. | | | | |
| |Eight miles beyond is “Big Sandy | | | | |
| |Creek,” clear, swift, and with good| | | | |
| |crossing, 110 × 2. The southern | | | | |
| |route is the best; along the old | | | | |
| |road, no water for 49 miles. Big | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |Sandy Creek Station. | 33 | 8 |12 50 | 21 |
| 38. |Desolate road cuts off the bend of | | | | |
| |the river; no grass nor water. | | | | |
| |After 12 miles, “Simpson’s Hollow.”| | | | |
| |Fall into the Valley of Green | | | | |
| |River, half a mile wide, water 110 | | | | |
| |yards broad. After 20¹⁄₂ miles, | | | | |
| |Upper Ford; Lower Ford 7 miles | | | | |
| |below Upper. Good camping-ground on| | | | |
| |bottom; at the station in Green | | | | |
| |River, grocery, stores, and ferry- | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |boat when there is high water. | 32 | 1 45 | 6 30 | 21 |
| 39. |Diagonal ford over Green River; a | | | | |
| |good camping-ground in bottom. | | | | |
| |Follow the valley for 4 miles; | | | | |
| |grass and fuel. Michel Martin’s | | | | |
| |store and grocery. The road leaves | | | | |
| |the river and crosses a waterless | | | | |
| |divide to Black’s Fork, 100 × 2; | | | | |
| |grass and fuel. Wretched station at| | A.M. | NOON.| Aug.|
| |Ham’s Fork. | 24 | 8 | 12 | 22 |
| 40. |Ford Ham’s Fork. After 12 miles the| | | | |
| |road forks at the 2d striking of | | | | |
| |Ham’s Fork, both branches leading | | | | |
| |to Fort Bridger. Mail takes the | | | | |
| |left-hand path. Then Black’s Fork, | | | | |
| |20 × 2, clear and pretty valley, | | | | |
| |with grass and fuel, cotton-wood | | | | |
| |and yellow currants. Cross the | | | | |
| |stream 3 times. After 12 miles, | | | | |
| |“Church Butte.” Ford Smith’s Fork, | | | | |
| |30 feet wide and shallow, a | | | | |
| |tributary of Black’s Fork. Station | | | | |
| |at Millersville on Smith’s Fork; | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |large store and good accommodation.| 20 | 2 | 5 15 | 22 |
| 41. |Road runs up the valley of Black’s | | | | |
| |Fork. After 12 miles, Fort Bridger,| | | | |
| |in N. lat. 41° 18′ 12″, and W. | | | | |
| |long. 110° 32′ 23″, on Black’s Fork| | | | |
| |of Green River. Commands Indian | | | | |
| |trade, fuel, corn; little grass. | | | | |
| |Post-office, sutler’s store, | | | | |
| |grocery, and other conveniences. | | | | |
| |Thence rough and rolling ground to | | | | |
| |Muddy Creek Hill; steep and stony | | | | |
| |descent. Over a fertile bottom to | | | | |
| |Big Muddy and Little Muddy Creek, | | | | |
| |which empties into Black’s Fork | | | | |
| |below Fort Bridger. At Muddy Creek | | | | |
| |Station there is a Canadian, | | | | |
| |provisions, excellent milk; no | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |stores. | 25 | 8 30 |12 15 | 23 |
| 42. |Rough country. The road winds along| | | | |
| |the ridge to Quaking-Asp Hill, 7900| | | | |
| |(8400?) feet above sea level. Steep| | | | |
| |descent; rough and broken ground. | | | | |
| |After 18 miles, Sulphur Creek | | | | |
| |Valley; stagnant stream, flowing | | | | |
| |after rain; ford bad and muddy. | | | | |
| |Station in the fertile valley of | | | | |
| |Bear River, which turns northward | | | | |
| |and flows into the east side of the| | | | |
| |lake; wood, grass, and water. Poor | | | | |
| |accommodations at Bear River | | NOON.| P.M. | Aug.|
| |Station. | 20 | 12 | 5 30 | 23 |
| 43. |Road runs by Needle Rocks; falls | | | | |
| |into the Valley of Egan’s Creek. | | | | |
| |“Cache Cave” on the right hand. | | | | |
| |Three miles below the Cave is Red | | | | |
| |Fork in Echo Kanyon; unfinished | | | | |
| |station at the entrance. Rough | | | | |
| |road; steep ascents and descents | | | | |
| |along Red Creek Station on Weber | | | | |
| |River, which falls into Salt Lake | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |south of Bear River. | 36 | 8 15 | 2 30 | 24 |
| 44. |Road runs down the Valley of the | | | | |
| |Weber. Ford the river. After 5¹⁄₄ | | | | |
| |miles is a salt spring, where the | | | | |
| |road leaves the river to avoid a | | | | |
| |deep kanyon, and turns to the left | | | | |
| |into a valley with rough paths, | | | | |
| |trying to wheels. Then crosses a | | | | |
| |mountain, and, ascending a long | | | | |
| |hill, descends to Bauchmin’s Creek,| | | | |
| |tributary to Weber River. Creek 18 | | | | |
| |feet wide, swift, pebbly bed, good | | | | |
| |ford; grass and fuel abundant. The | | | | |
| |station is called Carson’s House; | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |accommodations of the worst. | 22 | 4 30 | 7 45 | 24 |
| 45. |Ford Bauchmin’s Creek 13 times in 8| | | | |
| |miles. After 2 miles along a small | | | | |
| |water-course ascend Big Mountain, | | | | |
| |whence first view of Great Salt | | | | |
| |Lake City, 12 miles distant. After | | | | |
| |14 miles, Big Kanyon Creek. Six | | | | |
| |miles farther the road leaves Big | | | | |
| |Kanyon Creek, and after a steep | | | | |
| |ascent and descent makes Emigration| | | | |
| |Creek. Cross Little Mountain, 2 | | | | |
| |miles beyond Big Mountain; road | | | | |
| |rough and dangerous. Five miles | | | | |
| |from Emigration Kanyon to Great | | | | |
| |Salt Lake City. Road through “Big | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.|
| |Field” 6 miles square. | 29 | 7 | 7 15 | 28 |
+-----+-----------------------------------+------+------+------+-----+

GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, N. lat. 40° 46′ 08″
W. long. 112° 06′ 08″ (G.)
Altitude 4300 feet.

The variation of compass at Temple Block in 1849 was 15° 47′ 23″, and in 1860 it was 15° 54′, a slow progress toward the east. (In the Wind-River Mountains, as laid down by Colonel Frémont in 1842, it was E. 18°.) In Fillmore Valley it is now 18° 15′, and three years ago was about 17° east; the rapid progression to the east is accompanied with extreme irregularity, which the people attribute to the metallic constituents of the soil.

Total of days between St. Jo and Great Salt Lake City. 19
Total stages. 45
Distance in statute miles. 1136
From Fort Leavenworth to Great Salt Lake City. 1168

ITINERARY OF THE MAIL-ROUTE FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO SAN FRANCISCO.