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Page: of 436
JUNE-JULY 1849
behold the river. Thus we toiled on till the golden sun sank behind the
western horison. The mules began to exhibit signs of exhaustion, and
some were taken from the harness, unable to go farther and haul their
loads.
As if to render our progress more difficult, we now approached deep
ravines into which the trail descended by precipitous roads, and again
ascended by ways equally difficult and dangerous. In descending into
one of these ravines, Reed, a driver, was thrown from his saddle mule,
the wagon passing over him and injuring him severely.
[Reed being] unable to drive his team, I volunteered to take his place,
and for the first time attempted to drive an eight mule team. At 10 PM we
had come, according to our computation, upwards of 40 miles, yet no
signs of any river were found. It was apparent that our guide books were
erroneous in regard to the distance, and in consequence of their
blunder, we were compelled to pass the night without food for man or
beast, and undergo the parching thirst incurred during the march till our
arrival at the point which we expected to reach this night.
The mules were no sooner liberated than their natural instinct became apparent by their making off in the direction of the river. They
were with difficulty forced back and closely corraled till morning. For
my part, tired and disappointed, . threw myself upon the ground and was
soon dreaming of home and absent friends. Distance 45 miles.
July 24th—A more woebegone looking set of fellows than emerged
from camp this morning could not easily be found. Some satisfied the
cravings of appetite by eating raw bacon, thereby adding tenfold to their
thirst, but the majority preferred waiting breakfast till we reached the
river.
The wagons were let down several long hills by means of drag ropes,
and, by the united assistance of men and mules, hauled to Green River, a
distance of 7 miles, making in all, 52 miles from Big Sandy. Had the
authors of our guide books been along during the last few miles, . fear
they would have paid dearly for their ignorance.
The sight of the river, however, a fine swift stream descending from
the snow covered mountains on our right, and a hearty draught at its
brink soon soothed our perturbed feelings and revived our spirits. The
channel contains from six to ten feet of water, and is crossed by a ferry
established by some Mormons from Salt Lake.
The terms for ferrying are $2 per wagon, and from 60 to 75 are
crossed per day. The stream is lined with wagons waiting to recruit their
teams after the unexpected drive. Charley came in about noon, having
rode nearly all night. We were all safely ferried over by sunset and shall
remain a day or two. Distance 7 miles.
213