[William Clayton Journal] Morning cloudy and cool. At 4 o'clock the first division Commenced ferrying their goods over the river in the Cutter and some time afterwards commenced taking the wagons across on a raft which proved to be very slow work. The second division also began to take their goods over on a raft but the current was so strong they only took two loads over in it and then quit. The second division then got a rope stretched across the river from shore to shore and lashing 2 wagons fast together to keep them from rolling over they dragged them over by the roap, letting them drift with the current to save breaking the rope. When the wagons struck on the sand on the other side the upper one keeled over, and finally rolled over the other one, breaking the bows considerably and losing Iron &c. in the wagon to the amount of $30 belonging to John Pack...The plan of taking one wagon at a time on a raft is the safest, no accident having happened with it and the wagons get over dry, but it is very slow and would take us 3 or 4 days to get all the wagons across . . .
[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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