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Our labours are not so hard as they are constant a good place for a lazy man without a house? horse? he must root pig or die

    City of the Lakes July 20th 1849

Dear Sarah Tel John Thomas Dareson? is at Council Bluffs Mo

  I got to this place yesterday at -4 oclock, found the mail 

is to start for the States at 12 to day, and I will write you as much as can get time to You will wonder why we took this route, if I dont tel you, When we commenced crossing the Black Hills we found the grass very scarce and our oxen began to fail, up the Platte and the Sweet Water, the Bottoms are unclear and the grass was ate off close to the ground, then over the South pass 4 dayes travel to Pacific Spring 3 miles over, there was scarcely any grass at all, thence to little Sandy River 23 miles no water and but little grass. here we saw a man just from Big Sandy 12 miles he said there was no grass there, from Big Sandy to Green River is 35 miles without water or grass We had ascertained that the mormons had sent out 100 teams to the mines this Spring and was told that the grass was good on this route and as the Roads forke here (at little Sandy) we determined to take this route but could not prevail on the whole Company to do so, Some were afraid the mormons were not teling the truth, Some thought there would be more danger from the Indians, and they all reminded me of a man in Provo, he was teling us of a better and shorter road, I dont suppose (sayes he) you will take it for where the first Californian went, they will all follow if he went to the Devil, and so it is the great crowd all follow each other up, and try to get ahead, and in so doing they are killing their oxen by hundreds Some of our Company that started with 4 good yoke of oxen, have lost? {just? two yoke left. and Some have left their waggons and hiched their teams together