Day in the Life

Jul 8, 1847

Journal Entry

July 08, 1847 ~ Thursday

8th [FIGURE] The calculation was to spend the day at the fort, As soon As I
got my breakfast I riged up my trout rod that I had brought with me
from Liverpool, fixed my reel, line, & Artificial fly & went to one
of the brooks close by camp to try my luck cetching trout, the men
[page covered] [a]t the fort said there were but vary few trout in the streams, And
[page covered] [a] good many of the brethren were already at the creeks with their rods
[page covered] [&] lines triying their skill baiting with fresh meat & grass hoppers, but
no one seemed to ketch any. I went & flung my fly onto the wat[er]

And it being the first time that I ever tried the Artificial fly in
America, or ever saw it tried, I watched it as it floated upon the
water with as much intens interest As Franklin did his kite when
he tried to draw lightnigng from the skies. And as Franklin recieved great
Joy when he saw electricity or lightning desend on his kite string in
like manner was I highly gratifyed when I saw the nimble trout
dart my fly hook himself & run away with the line but I soon
worried him out & drew him to shore & I fished two or three
hours includind morning & evening & I caught twelve in all
And About one half of them would weigh abought 3/4 of A pound each
while All the rest of the camp did not ketch during the day
3 lbs of trought trout in all which was proof potsitive to me
that the Artificial fly is far the best thing now known to fish
trout with. In the Afternoon I went to Bridgers House & traid[ed]
off my flint lock rifle for four Buffalo robes the robes were
large & nice well taned or dressed. He called the gun $20 & the
robes $5 each, the Articles generally at Bridgers fort were at least
one third or one half higher, than at any other traiding post in
America that I ever saw. His robes were $5 buck skin shirts $6
Pants $6 dressed skins $3 &c while At fort hall, Doe skins 50 ct
Buck 75 Elk $1 shirts & pants $1.50, Robes $2, &c

Professor Pratt took observations At fort Bridger in Lat. 41º 19' 13"
Highth above the sea 6665 feet

People

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Franklin, Benjamin
6 Jan 1706 - 17 Apr 1790
14 mentions
Historical Figure, Eminent Men and Woman
6 mentions
Pratt, Orson
19 Sep 1811 - 3 Oct 1881
1087 mentions
Apostle

Places

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Fort Bridger, unorganized U.S. Territory
Fort Hall, unorganized U.S. Territory
Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Events

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Jul 8, 1847