History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

282 IN THE VALLEY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
thistles, to which fare was sometimes added a little
flour or milk. The wheat crop, however, turned out
better than was expected, and pumpkins, melons, and
corn yielded good returns. 22
On the 10th of August, however, the harvest being
then gathered, a feast was held in the bowery, at
which the tables were loaded with a variety of viands,
vegetables, beef, and bread, butter and cheese, with
cakes and pastry. Sheaves of wheat and other grain
were hoisted on harvest poles; "and," says Parley,
"there was prayer and thanksgiving, congratulations,
songs, speeches, music, dancing, smiling faces, and
merry hearts."
The rendezvous for westward-bound brethren in the
spring of 1848 was the Elkhorn River, and thither at
the end of May came the president, who organized the
people and gave them instructions to be observed on
the way. Good order was to be preserved in camp;
there must be no shouting; prayers were to be attended
to, and lights put out at 9 o'clock. Drivers
of teams must walk beside their oxen, and not leave
them without permission. Brigham was general superintendent
of the emigrating companies, with Daniel
H. Wells as aide-de-camp, H. S. Eldredge marshal,
and Hosea Stout captain of the night-guard. Moving
west early in June, on the 14th the emigrants
were fired on by Indians, two being wounded. At
this time also there was sickness in the camp. To
secure grass and water, the emigration was^ separated
into divisions, of which there were two principal
22 'Wheat harvest good. Co.:: crop good. The worms ate some in the
ear. Price of wheat, |2 a bushel. Population, 1,800; nam fence, 12 miles
long. Had a surplus of bread-stuff this year.' Hist. B. Young, MS., Aug.
1, 1848, 52. Parley states that he and his family, in common with many
others, suffered much for want of food. He had ploughed and planted,
in grain and vegetables, nearly 40 acres, nearly every women and child in his
family toiling in the field so far as their age and strength would permit.
Autobiog., 405. 'One family had nothing but milk to live upon; ... they
would let a portion thicken, and then mix it with new milk and eat it for
bread. They lived upon it for six weeks, and thrived.' Eliza Snow, in Utah
Notes, MS., 6.