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Pioneer Date Summary

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07/08/1847 - Crockett

Date: July 8, 1847

Fort Bridger, Wyoming:
The morning was cold. Ice formed during the night be melted as soon as the sun rose. By 9 a.m., the temperature stood at sixty-six degrees. It was decided to spend the day at Fort Bridger, preparing for the rugged roads ahead in the mountains. While blacksmith work was being done on the wagons and horse shoes, some of the men tried their hand at fishing for trout. Wilford Woodruff wrote about his efforts fly fishing: "The man at the fort said there were but very few trout in the streams, and a good many of the brethren were already at the creeks with their rods & lines trying their skill baiting with fresh meat & grass hoppers, but no one seemed to ketch any. I went & flung my fly onto the [brook] and it being the first time that I ever tried the artificial fly in America, or ever saw it tried, I watched it as it floated upon the water with as much intense interest as Franklin did his kite when he tried to draw lightning from the skies. And as Franklin receive great joy when he saw electricity or lightning descend on his kite string, in like manner was I highly gratifiyed when I saw the nimble trout dart my fly hook himself & run away with the line but I soon worried him out & drew him to shore." Within three hours he had caught twelve large trout.

In the afternoon, Wilford Woodruff went to Fort Bridger and traded a rifle for four buffalo robes. The prices were high, but the robes were of good quality. Howard Egan traded two rifles for nineteen buckskins, three elkskins, and some material for making moccasins. Heber C. Kimball obtained hunting shirts, pants, and twenty skins.

The brethren planned to head to the southwest toward the Salt Lake. Andrew Gibbons was tried before the Twelve for an assault on George Mills. Both had used abusive language against each other and ended up asking for forgiveness. Brother Gibbons was honorable acquitted. The Council also decided that Sergeant Thomas Williams of the battalion and Samuel Brannan should head back to meet Captain James Brown's company of the battalion. William Clayton explained: "Inasmuch as the brethren have not received their discharge nor their pay from the United States, Brother Brannan goes to tender his services as pilot to conduct a company of fifteen or twenty to San Francisco if they feel disposed to go there and try to get their pay."

Mormon Ferry, Wyoming:
The men did $6.40 worth of blacksmithing for emigrant companies and Luke Johnson cleaned teeth and did other dentistry for $3.00.

On the Platte River, Nebraska:
The pioneers found another buffalo skull with a message that Brigham Young's company had written to them on May 4. Perrigrine Sessions wrote that this gave the Saints much joy. Brother Sessions spotted some wild or stray horses. Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor caught them and they were brought in to the camp. The companies crossed over several steams and built bridges over some of them. Buffalo was spotted.

Winter Quarters, Nebraska:
Before Hosea Stout was notified the guard about the order to disband, he went to see the president of the High Council, Alpheus Cutler. Brother Stout couldn't believe that the order from Daniel Russell to dissolve the guard was true. President Cutler told him that there had been discussion on this subject, but no order to stop the guard has been issued. He told Brother Stout to keep the guard together and the matter would again be discussed at the next High Council meeting.

Hosea Stout wrote: "This was one of the hottest days I ever saw. But in the evening the wind came from the North accompanied by torrents of rain which ran like rivulets down the streets. It bursted in to my house in torrents and filled it up in a few moments untill I had to throw the water out by the bucket full untill we were all completely drenched. This I believe was the hardest rain this season."

Kearny detachment of battalion in Nevada:
They small detachment of the battalion reached a crossroad in present-day northeast Nevada. The road to the right was a two-day journey to the Salt Lake. They took the road to the left on the California trail which headed to Fort Hall. They camped at the headwaters for the Humboldt River.

Company B, Mormon Battalion, at San Diego, California:
Henry Bigler wrote: "Our brick masons [Philander Colton, Rufus Stoddard, Henry Wilcox, and William Garner] finished laying up the first brick house in that place and for all I know the first in California. The building, I believe, was designed to be used for a courthouse and schoolhouse. The inhabitants came together, set out a table well spread with wines and different kinds of drinks."

Sources:

• Watson, ed., The Orson Pratt Journals, 439-40 Wilford Woodruff's Journal,
• 3:225 Charles Harper Diary, 29 Cook, Joseph C. Kingsbury, 119 Smart, ed.,
• Mormon Midwife, The 1846-1888 Diaries of Patty Bartlett Sessions, 90
• Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 40 Howard Egan Diary, Pioneering the West,
• 93 The Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones, Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:21
• William Clayton's Journal, 286 Brooks, On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of
• Hosea Stout, 1:265 Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 221

Source: 150 Years Ago Today ©These materials have been created by David R. Crockett. Copies of these materials may be reproduced for teacher and classroom use. When distributing these materials, credit must be given to David R. Crockett. These materials may not be published, in whole or part, or in any other format, without the written permission of Mr. Crockett, TucsonAz, crockett@goodnet.com.