[Hosea Stout Diary] Saturday Oct. 9th 1847. All was well this morning.
Sent 3 men up the Horn to look for a ford as we understood that there was one some where up there[.] They returned in about an hour & reported that we could ford the river so we all started at 9 oclock & found a beautiful patch of plumbs just at the ford where we all refreshed ourselves with what we wanted & left Bushels yet on the trees.
We crossed without any difficulty only the water came into the waggon beds a little. After crossing we had to cut a road through thick willows and other bushes about a quarter of a mile which we did with axes knives & swords in a short time & was on the move in one hour from the time we left our place of encampment.
We traveled on a level bottom for 12 miles and encamped on the Platte at the Liberty pole which stood on a high mound on the Banks of the Platte.
The Bed of the Platte is as large as the Bed of the Missouri & was at this time almost dry at the place we came to it. The current ran on the other side of an island & to us it presented but a large plain of white sand. The water of the platte is of a while milky coulor and is very pleasant to drink[.] It is seldom more than 2 or 3 feet deep[.] The current often changes.
The Bed of the river is but a Bed of quick sand in which animals easily Bog and drown especially if they stand long in it in which case they settle down and are fast in the sand
We now had the best of weather being warm and dry
[source: Diaries of Hosea Stout]
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