56 EIvDORADO 



day, with no loss to ourselves or animals, as we found 

 by consulting our Mormon guide that a day's travel 

 lay between this place and the Big Sandy, which would 

 be our next camping ground. 



The distribution of the large number of trains at Pa- 

 cific Springs over the three routes I have mentioned, 

 was of great benefit to all concerned. There had been 

 a marked abatement of illness among the emigrants 

 after leaving the Platte bottoms, and no case of cholera 

 occurred after crossing the Rocky Mountains, so far 

 as I know. iVevious to this time it had been a gradual 

 ascent for the i.ooo miles traveled, and we had to con- 

 tend with sandy roads, driving storms and sickness. 

 From now as we entered the Great Basin extending 

 over J ,000 miles, reaching from the Rockies to the 

 Sierra Nevada it was a gentle descent, greatly appre- 

 ciated by our faithful beasts. 



Leaving the Little Sandy on July 6, nmch refreshed, 

 we pursued our way over an open, sand}- ])]ain twenty 

 miles to the Big Sandy. It was "Little Sandy, Big 

 Sandy, sandy plains and sandy roads," but the traveling 

 was good, and we made camp on the bank of a stream 

 of beautiful, clear water and plenty of fuel of dried 

 willows. We had seen the last of the buffalo chips. 

 After a bath in the Sandy, we enjoyed a good night's 

 sleep in the piu'e atmosphere under a star-lit sky. 



