WHITE CLAY CREEK.—BEAR RIYER.—SNOW-BLINDNESS. 
13 
noon 38°. For the benefit of our animals, we ascended the side of a hill, where the snow had 
disappeared, on a branch of White Clay creek coming in from the southeast, and encamped just 
before sundown on a soft, muddy soil, sprinkled with dry grass. The Uinta mountains, whose 
general course is apparently nearly due east and west, have been plainly in sight for the last 
two days, some 25 miles south of our path, with numerous high peaks covered with vast fields 
of snow from the lowest. points visible on them to their summits, the sources of the Uinta, 
Timpanogos, Weber, and Bear rivers, and of Black’s fork, and numerous smaller streams. 
From the northern foot of this range to our path, a level, timbered terrace country extends, 
called, in the Sho-sho-nee or Snake language, Yaw-ning-got-it, or Porcupine terrace ; from the 
west it extends from the sources of the White Clay creek, (To-sho-sho-coop, in the Snake 
tongue,) across Bear river, the Muddy and Black’s fork, broken only by a few low detached 
hills and the ravines of the water-courses. Its timber, pine and fir, is abundant, and of a 
suitable size for bridges and building purposes. 
For the first ten miles this morning our ascent averaged 84.20 feet per mile, and 54.20 
feet per mile for the following 8.15 miles, to the junction of the branch on which we en¬ 
camped, with White Clay creek. 
April 9.- A bright clear morning; thermometer at daylight 21° below the freezing-point. 
We returned to White Clay creek, striking it near its head, by passing over the hill on which 
we had encamped, a distance of 11.50 miles, by the windings of that stream, from the junction 
of the branch where we left it to encamp, which we examined in repassing this point on our 
return trip on the 18th instant. This creek preserves its open character, with easy, gentle 
curves, to its source, the grade averaging 41.80 feet per mile, and the country becoming more 
level and open as we ascend. We were here upon the divide between the waters of Weber and 
Bear rivers, immediately overlooking the latter stream a mile and a half distant and but a few 
feet below us, our altitude being 1,491 feet above the sea. 
We immediately descended to the first channel of Bear river, which is forty feet wide and one 
deep, with a firm bed, crossed without difficulty to a large level plain, four or five miles wide 
by ten or twelve in length, extending southward to the foot of Porcupine terrace, through 
which the river winds in a narrow ravine. The snow upon this plain was from six to ten inches 
in depth—hard and stiff, but not sufficiently so to bear our animals—with pools of water 
and soft ground beneath it, affording no firm footing, and our progress was consequently 
very laborious. The sun was very bright, and its powerful reflection from the snow very 
severe upon our eyes. Three miles from the first we crossed the second channel of Bear 
river, a small stream four feet wide, beyond which we rose a bluff 12 or 15 feet high, to a 
second plain extending to our camp on Sulphur creek, which descends in a small ravine from 
the terrace above. Altitude, 7,494 feet. 
April 10.—A light snow begun to fall during last night, and continued all day, with a 
high, driving wind, which rendered our progress very disagreeable ; and nearly one half the 
officers and men of the party were so snow-blind as to be unable to see beyond a few feet, and 
suffered intense pain from their inflamed eyes, the lids of which were swollen to a dropsical 
appearance, while their faces were quite as badly inflamed, skinned, and intensely sore. We 
crossed a small stream running into Bear river, four miles from our morning camp, and after¬ 
wards three small branches, which unite and form the Little Muddy, and encamped on the main 
creek of that name, after a march of only 11.’20 miles. Our altitude on the divide, between 
Bear river and the Muddy, an affluent of Black’s fork, which flows into Green river, and con¬ 
sequently upon what is called the eastern rim of the Great Basin, was 8,133 feet, and at our 
camp this evening 7,779 feet above the sea. 
We encountered but little snow on the high surfaces and western slopes of the hills to-day, 
but invariably found large drifts just below the crests of the northeastern slopes, occasionally 
so compact as to hear our animals, hut generally giving way under their feet. 
April 11.—Thermometer at 5 a, m., 26°. Soon after leaving camp we crossed a small branch 
