"We commenced crossing the river on a boat [ ] got all over but 17 [] had some rain in the afternoon and evening"
**************
As a child I remember seeing this item somewhere. I don't remember exactly where I was, but it must have been at some museum in Salt Lake. It fascinated me then and it still does. Brigham Young wrote on this as a message for the wagon trains coming behind them. I don't have any idea where it is now, but I saw it once. The photo is from Church History Library site. The miracle is that it has made it safe and sound through 163 years.
So, what's going on with the pioneers. Today they are having to switch to the south side of the Platte because of easier terrain. They are trying to blaze out a trail for other Mormon emigrant trains to follow. The south side wasn't what they wanted to do. They knew it was the actual Oregon Trail and was more heavily traveled, and that was something the pioneers did not want .... contact with other travelers. They had been through too much in the years behind them. They wanted peace. But now on the south side, they would be jockeying for campsites with California and Oregon bound people and it could (and did) become quite a traffic jam for them.
They had a violent thunderstorm this day and had to house their animals in the ruins of Fort Platte which was nearby them.
