, we soon had a good fire, for the
nights are getting cool here in the mountains, & after supper we were
seated around it, some sitting on yokes, & some on buffalo heads; & they
do not make a bad seat; and some are used for writing upon, & then
setting them up by the side of the road, generally informing the
passerby, that Mr. A. B. &c. passed such a day, all well &c. Saw some
written in '49 & '50, & though penciled was not yet effaced, we
frequently find a buffalo head stuck up with a notice, that there is a
spring in such & such a place; nearly all the skulls & shoulder blades
along the road, are more or less written upon. Loyd he wrote a
moralizing epitaph upon a very large old skull, stating that this animal
had fulfilled the laws of nature, & that his head, still served as a
seat to the weary traveler.

[June 24--72d day] Had a shower last evening, quite cool, have to wrap
up to keep warm, good roads, except 3 or 4 this morning, passed the ice
springs; here are great quantities of alkali, & saltpeter, which kills
the stalk [stock] which stop here, for we saw more dead cattle to day,
than we have seen before on the route. We did not stop to dig for
ice,[71] for we were cold enough without it. Passed on crossed Sweet
Water twice, & encamped on the same, found tolerable grass. There was a
trading post at the head of this little valey, which we passed in the
morning. [June 25--73d day] The roads to day hilly & rocky, weather
cold, had a sprinkle of snow & hail; as we reached the top of a high
ridge we had a fine view of the wind range of mountains[72] a little to
our right, these are the highest peaks of these mountains, which we have
been so long gradually ascending, nothing that I had before seen of
mountain scenery, was half so beautiful, for the white snow lying upon
the dark blue ground, looked like pictures of silver; no painting can
give that delicate tint, of light & shade, & it continually varied, as
the light of the sun shown upon it, or when it was obscured by clouds.
We passed a bank of snow, and an ice spring, so called, from its water
being as cold as ice could make it. It was excellent water but the
weather was rather to cold to have made much of a relish for it. We went
on to Strawberry creek[73] & encamped, good grass, & the water of this
beautiful stream, is excellent. George had a severe chill, this evening,
and a high fever, he was sick a day or two. We are about 15 ms from the
South Pass, _we are h