To have found his name, and thus to know that he had safely passed this point would have been a little re-assuring in those rather doubtful days.

Some had named the date of their passing, and some of them were probably pretty near the gold fields at this time.
All along in this section we found alkali water near the road, some very strong and dangerous for man or beast to use.

We traveled on up the Sweetwater for some time, and at last came to a place where the road left the river, and we had a long, hard hill to pull up.

When we reached the top of this we were in the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, the backbone of the American continent.

To the north of us were some very high peaks white with snow, and to the south were some lower hills and valleys.