[Hosea Stout Diary] Saturday August 1st 1846. The cattle looked uncommonly had this morning. The road up the ravine was nothing but a deep clay mud and my team was not able to draw me up to the top of the hill.There was a large drove of oxen and other cattle swam over the river this morning belonging to Cahoons company & perhaps some others[.] I was in hopes that they would help me out of the ravin & then I could go on to the camp without further trouble[.] But in this I was mistaken for about the time that his waggons began to cross his son William F Cahoon came to me and wanted me to crowd my waggons a little to one side in this narrow defile and let them pass and done it in such a way that I plainly saw that he did not intend to help me as was the custom in passing up this place
I told him that I could not but he insisted on me trying so I put my oxen on and drew my waggons to a narrow place in the road where a single cow or horse could not pass without climing on the steep hill side and there stoped nor could my team go further for there was a deep mud hole just before me which I could not pass
After a while the old man came up himself and wanted to know what my prospects were for getting out & seemed to be very anxious about it
I told him that there would be teams from the camp to assist me after awhile. He wanted to know when.I told about nine or ten oclock
His waggons by this time had been sent over untill the ravine was filled from me to the river & he could wait no longer & seeing that I was in no hurry for I told him that I was going to take my cattle to the prairie to eat some for they were starving and by that time I thought the teams would be here whereupon he immediately sent team sufficient to move me to a good comfortable place about half way up the ravine where I could camp and left me and went to drawing his own teams up[.] This much to his credit when he had some thirty or forty yoke of cattle doing nothing on the bank of the river. This was fairly squeezed or spunged out of him and when he got his own private waggons up he put out to camp & left the rest to get out the best way they could so said some of his company.
We here took breakfast and began to make arraingements to stay all day for I intended to take the cattle to the prairie to graze for they were very hungry and weak & I did not intend to work them any more till they had recruited themselves.
Before we got breakfast over Father John Tanner came from the camp with a team to assist those who needed it to get up the hill and he turned in and helped me up and learning that I had the public arms he assisted me on to camp[.] He manifested a great interest in heping me when he found that I had public property. We had no no difficulty in going to the camp.
On our way thither we met Brigham and others going to the riverhe told me to select a clean place as near the springs as I could get and encamp near him.
This was the most singular springs I ever saw. It came out of the ground in a place where there was no hills only on the side of a common declivity and affords watter sufficient for the whole camp.In fact there was a continual dipping of watter out of it which did not seem to lessen the stream
The cattle looked uncommonly lank for it was in the afternoon before I came into camp and they had "Fasted" for about thirty six hours and kept in a working or toiling most of the time.
There was numerous hosts of Indians strolling about camp all the time[.] They were the Otos and Mohas or more properly the Omahas.and differed widely in appearance from the Pottawattamies on the other side of the river. They were not so well dressed.Instead of good blankets they were at best dressed in old blankets & some entirely in dressed skins in their pure wild native dress but they were uncommonly friendly & would sell green corn for bread & such articles as they wanted to eat
Br John D. Lee informed me that all those who had been slandering me and propesying against me were now being put to shame for my course had been entirely satisfactory to Brigham and proven to all people the sincerity and integrity of my motives and that it was Brighams intentions to restore me to responsible & honorable stations again & that he thought it best to let matters go as it has this summer in order to prove to those who were my enemies that I was a good man and true & that he never doubted it himself. This he said he told me for my encouragement.
[source: Diaries of Hosea Stout]
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