Heritage Gateways

Official Sesquicentennial K-12 Education Project
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Osamu Sekiguchi Journals

June 17, 1997

Location: Independence Rock - 314 miles left, Wyoming - [Sweetwater River]. (In low water the river is easily forded.) It has a peculiar shape and magnitude. There are many names of visitors painted in various places. on the southeast corner. 698 3/4 miles from Winter Quarters.

Summary: Tuesday, June 17, 1997 (Fine Day) Independence Rock 68F.

Altitude: 5950ft. Atmospheric pressure: 819hPa.

Journal entry: [Translated by Tomoko Nakayama]

It is extremly difficult to walk 30 miles. It is more than 45km. No matter how much we walk, we'll never reach the end. As I look at my watch, it is already past 4:30 and I feel more hunger. It is always 4:30 when I feel like "I don't walk anymore."

Independece Rock is a storange mountain (or perhaps rock?). In Japan, it probably would have been named Turtle Rock. It looks like the shell of turtle and there are no trees on the rock. It got its name because the pioneers celebrated Independence day on the top of this rock. "Shall we try to climb the rock?" Takako asked. It looked like we could climb it in ten minutes, but I had a headache, so I decided not to climb.

After a while, TV reporters approached us. "We want to film you on the rock, so will you climb up there?" so we ended up climbing the rock anyway.

Camping life is busy. The TV reporters don't let us rest very much.

"After this shoot, let's have a break," this is what we always tell our children. Today, we were interviewed by two TV stations and one newspaper, and during the interviews, my headache disappered. From the top of Independence Rock, we could see all the sights around Devil's Gate and Marten's Cove. We enjoyed the scenery all around us and stayed until the sunset.

I felt that there is no other place better than here to celebrate Independence day. I also thought to myself that the scenery hadn't changed for 150 years.

While my family watched the far sky and pondered various things. Standing in front of nature's beauty, there was no need for word to express our feelings. Everybody seemed to feel how the pioneers felt, and the greatness of God who created all of nature.