Heritage Gateways

Margaret Clark Journals

June 30, 1997

Location: Parting of the Ways, Wyoming - Where the California/Oregon trail and the Mormon Pioneer trail separate.

Summary: The Wagon Train moves on....to more sagebrush fields.... near Parting of the Ways

Journal entry: My niece and nephew, Heidi and Mark Fetzer, are walkers today. It's really nice having them here for two days. We were told at morning devotional today that the trail today is some of the most pristine and unspoiled trail in all of Wyoming. It is on a slight decline, as we have passed over the continental divide.

The handcart company left early and were escorted by the BLM into the area of the two tracks of the Mormon Trail. This is also an area that shows three sets of wagon ruts, side-by-side, coursing through the sagebrush desert. The wagons followed about an hour later. We had two wagons with break-downs today. One was quite serious and sent the driver, Brenda Cornell to the hospital in Rock Springs. She suffered broken ribs and a ruptured spleen. We certainly worry about her and we pray in our devotionals for her recovery. She is quite a woman and we look for her return with us.

Can I say......many of us are getting tired? I have been sick with a cough for over two weeks and I am dragging. I don't think I am alone, either. Many of us are really ready to get to Salt Lake Valley. And this wilderness we have been passing through for the last two weeks has been so hard. We are dirty. Many have not bathed for a long time, and our last baths were in streams or out of tiny basins with a quart of water. We wash out our clothes in basins and hang them out to dry in the sandy wind. Or we just pull out the least dirty clothes to wear, or we just never change our clothes. I think I've had these clothes on now for at least four days. And forget my hair!!!!

We had such a wonderful devotional tonight. We sang songs, then hymns. We were feeling badly for Bre's accident today, and hope she recovers quickly. It was just a very close feeling with our group. We almost didn't want to go back to our tents. But tomorrow comes early. HappyNetTrekkin