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Journal of Western Travel
by John McTurk Gibson
edited by Weldon Hoppe
August 14th, 1859 -- More alkali and more dust, wherever we find sagebrush and greasewood, there we can safely reckon on sand and dust. Today we passed over ten miles of the hardest and most disagreeable road we have had for a long time. We had to cross a large bend, and when we reached the river again we took dinner, and then crossed another about nine miles, camped and turned out the cattle on the other side of the river. Here we found a human skull and all pronounced it to be that of a white man, but who can tell how or when he died.Powell
Travelled 18 miles. We left the river this morning for a distance of 10 miles and travdlled over heavy dust and sand. The dust in some places was 6 inches in depth. The mosquetoes are very bad through the day and fore part of the knight. We took a cut off this afternoon and got into more slews than a few. We saw hundreds of ducks, while some of the boys were in a swimming. I went a head and before I knew my danger, I was almost in a camp of about 40 Indians. When they saw me, they grabbed their guns and bows and started for me. Then I stopped to help them fight. Before they got quite to me, the other came in sight and they went back to camp. These Indians have willow bushes stuck in the ground for wigwams. They only serve for a shade.