ATTEMPT TO CROSS PROM WHITE CLAY CREEK TO KAMAS PRAIRIE. 17 
is good to eat when boiled. I could obtain no specimens of them. The guide killed a fine 
elk near camp. 
April 18.—We attempted to-day to find a more direct route to the Kamas prairie and Tim- 
panogos river than that by the mouth of White Clay creek and Weber river. In leaving 
camp, we ascended a narrow ridge, and again almost immediately descended its opposite slope, 
and crossed a small creek, beyond which, in ascending the succeeding hill, we entered upon a 
field of snow, two feet in depth, which was too soft to hear our animals, and was filled with 
brush and concealed fallen-timber, rendering its passage for a mile a severe labor; and several 
smaller fields were passed in crossing a broken country, until 11 o’clock, when we were rising 
a high ridge, and expected, at its summit, to find an end to our snowy labors, and to descend 
with comparative comfort to the prairie; but the snow had driven us off the summer trail, and, 
as we rose to the summit, we were greeted by the sight of another formidable ridge, every¬ 
where presenting one immense field of snow apparently impassable, and the guide came to a 
stand—his last horse had failed. I however examined the country attentively, mounted the 
guide on a mule, and determined to go on, and in two hours, by severe labor, reached the 
succeeding summit; but, instead of seeing an end to our labors, and refreshing fields of grass 
at our feet for our exhausted stock, we saw before us only a precipitous descent of half a mile, 
followed by an ascent still steeper and higher than the former, which we accomplished, with 
increased labor, however, only to find before us an impassable field of snow, extending down 
the face of the mountain for several miles to Weber river. Our altitude was here 8,619 feet 
above the sea-, and a magnificent view of the country in some degree rewarded the labor of the 
ascent. North, south, east, and west, the country presented only one extensive field of broken 
mountains. The opening made in the Wahsatch mountains by the Timpanogos canon, with a 
high intervening peak or two between us and Kamas prairie, looked favorable for our passage ; 
the high, snowy range between us and Great Salt lake, as far north as Weber canon and 
Ogden Hole, was also before us, with those to the east crossed by the emigrant road. Above 
us, the Weber descends through an extensive mountain district, at present covered with impas¬ 
sable snows, and surmounted to the south by the higher and still more snowy peaks of the 
Uinta range. 
Pine covers the steep mountain sides south of the Weber. We encamped on this summit, 
and sent out the guide with a party on foot to find, if possible, a practicable descent; he 
returned at dark with an unfavorable report, however, unless the snow should freeze during 
the night strong enough to bear our animals, of which there is no prospect. 
April 19.—It began to rain during the latter part of last night, and the mountain sides at 
daylight were sending down rivulets of snow-water from every point. We were, therefore, 
reluctantly obliged to turn back, following, through banks of snow for two miles, the course of 
a small branch of White Clay creek, lying between high, steep hills and spurs of mountains. 
The heavy, cold rain from the southwest increased as the morning advanced, falling uninterrupt¬ 
edly for five or six hours, until we had gained a more open country as we approached White 
Clay creek. At every step, after leaving the snow, in this rapid descent, we were passing fine 
fields of grass, extending from the ravines to the mountain tops. We had certainly been driven 
higher up the mountains in our attempt to effect this passage than would have been necessary 
but for the snow ; but it is not too much to say that there is no practicable route for a wagon- 
road, and much less for a railroad, by this Indian trail from White Clay creek to Kamas prairie, 
although it is the best in the vicinity, except that to which we returned. Soon after reaching 
White Clay creek, we passed our camp of the 7th instant, and again entered the valley of 
Weber river, in which we encamped, in the midst of luxuriant fields of fresh grass, 5.25 miles 
from the camp of the 7th. 
In descending the mountain to-day, we passed a few out-cropping ledges of conglomerate 
rocks and sandstone, but soil and earth covered almost the entire surface of the mountains 
3 b 
