Told by the Pioneers - Washington Secretary of State

Told
by the Pioneers
sage brush, as he found ns that morning, while talking. He tiptoed
up on his moccasin feet and peered out among the sage hrush as though
he heard something. He said the Crow Indians were very treacherous
and might give us trouble in a camp like that. ,Ve made many inquiries
of him about different thing's we had seen: big pillars of smoke
towering up to the clouds away off to the north. He said they were
signal fires made by the Crow Indians, out on their buffalo hunting
expeditions; also that they were away to the north, fighting against
the Blackfoot Indians.
,Ve passed Independence Rock, 'which stood lovely and grand on the
plain. It looked to me like the biggest rock in existence; as big as a
city block two or three stories high. Possibly it was much larger than
this; only a boy's recollection, you know. It was literally covered
with names and dates, some carved into the rock and some painted on.
Brother Samuel took the bucket of tar used for wagon grease and
marked some of our names on it.
"Ve were now getting' into the foothills of the Rockies. There were
pretty groves of trees and grassy meadows. Father and :Mother declared
it resembled England and were much pleased with the scenery.
Dcvil's Gate on the Sweet TVater
Devil's Gate on the Sweet Water was an interesting sight to us.
,Ve were following along in the bed of the Sweet ,Vater, crossing and
recrossing, as it was a shallow stream at this time of the year. It
must be a wicked torrent in winter, as it was running swiftly over the
rocks. "'e came to where it cut through the mountains, with perpendicular
walls hundreds of feet high. We boys climbed up the mountain
side to the top of this cliff until we could look down into the foaming,
roaring stream below. The attraction of gra,-itation would draw
the stone to the side of the wall, it would be so great. Tom climbed
still higher up and found blood in a basin in the rocks. As he could
not account for it, he hastily came down with the rest of the party.
Occasionally we would see a mountain sheep perched high 011 a ledge
of rocks.
East Slope of the Rockies
Our emigrant train had become scattered by this time, only five, six,
eight and ten wagollS camping together. Some wanted to drive farther
in a day. Father had figured that twenty-five miles a day was
about right and would always rest on Sundays, unless conditions were
quite unfavorable. \Ve did not see many Indians in the Crow territory.
Arriving at South Pass in the Rockies, we drank out of Pacific
Streams, the first water flowing to the west. Near the end of our
journey, Father got out his astronomical instruments from the wagon
68