[William Clayton Journal] The morning fine and very pleasant. At 7 o'clock the President called the Captains of tens to his wagons and gave them a pretty severe lecture. He referred to some who had left meat on the ground, and would not use it because it was not hind quarter. Some would murmur because a fore quarter of meat was alloted to them &c. which is not right, for God has given us a commandment that we should not waste meat, nor take life unless it is needful, but he can see a disposition in this camp to slaughter everything before them, yea if all the buffalo and game there is on our route were brought together to the camp, there are some would never cease untill they had destroyed the whole. Some men will shoot as much as thirty times at a rabbit if they did not kill it, and are continually wasting their ammunition, but when they have used all they have got, they may have the pleasure of carrying their empty guns to the mountains and back, for he will not furnish them. We have now meat enough to last some time if we will take proper care of it. As the horsemen, there are none with the exception of Brothers Kimball and Wilford Woodruff and Benson, that ever take the trouble to look out a good road for the wagons, but all they seem to care about is to wait till their breakfast is cooked for them and when they have eaten it, they mount their horses and scatter away, and if an antelope comes across the track, the whole of us must be stopped perhaps half an hour while they try to creep up near enough to kill it, but when we come to a bad place on the route all the interest they have is to get across the best they can and leave myself and one or two others to pick out a crossing place and guide the Camp all the time. Such things are not right, and he wants them to cease and all take an interest in the welfare of the Camp, be united, and receive the meat as a blessing from God and not as a stink offering from the devil. It is not necessary to preach to the Elders in this camp, they know what is right as well as he does, and he will not preach to them all the time. Let the Captains do the best they know how and teach their men to do likewise." The meeting dispersed, the meat was taken care of and at a quarter past 8 we started out again, and traveled 3/4 miles nearly a west course over a very hard prairie, and good travelling, and then arrived at a nice stream, Rattlesnake creek, about 20 or 25 feet wide, a foot or 18 inches deep and a very strong current . . .
. . . After encampment was formed, went with Elder Orson Pratt to Dr. Richards wagon to enter into arrangements for making a map of our route. The doctor wants me to do it assisted by Elder Pratt's observations. He handed me Fremonts map and I retired to my wagon to commence operations but soon found that the map does not agree with my scale nor Elder Pratts calculations. I then proposed to Elder Pratt to wait until we get through the journey and take all the necessary data and then make a new one instead of making our route on Fremonts. The subject is left here till morning. After supper I took my candle and finished this day's journal . . .
[source: George D. Smith, An Intimate Chronicle; The Journals of William Clayton, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1995, http://amzn.to/william-clayton]
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