14th After getting all things in readiness to leave I called
my family together & Blessed my wife & childrens
And left them in the hands of the Lord. I bid farew
ell to father Woodruff & family and all around me
& took my leave of winter quarters & in company
with Elders O Pratt, LymanG. A. SmithE. Snow & others
we again took the indian trail & rode through the
prairie to the Elk Horn & went over on a raft & camped
two miles below the ferry, & we had a splendid
supper composed of fried, cat fish, pork, beans, short
cake, Honey comb, coffee, milk &c &c we all eat vary
Harty, Had prayers & retired to bed 25 miles
~ Thursday
15th
Professor Pratt took an observation this morning
for the correct time. we had a good Breakfast
soon Br's Young, Kimball, Benson, Whitney & many
others came & crossed the ferry & we all moved up
to the general camp ion the Platt River109 miles
we found the camp vary busy in Blacksmith work &
getting ready to continue the Journey. we spent the
night at this place. during the evening Br Little arived from
the eastern states in our midst. When He arived at winter
quarters findeding we he had left He followed us post haste
& leaving all things behingd him he over took us this
evening. He gave us news of the eastern churches spoke
of many friends Among wholm was our friend col Kane who had remembered the qQuorum of the Twelve
& others by forwarding A varieyty of Presents to us. He for-
warded to us me A Patent Life Preserver & stop compass
Br Little spent the night in camp
~ Friday
16th Brother Little, P. Rockwell & J. Readeing returned
to winter quarters the camp continued up the Platt
4 miles & camped & turned their Horses upon
an Island of cottonwood & Rushesh. the wind
Blew exceding hard during the night. Before we left
this morning the camp came together, And was
organized for Journeying as a military body into tens
50 & 100s. Col Markham & A. P Rockwood was appoin-
ted captains over A Hundred & 4 captains of fifties
& captains of tens. I was Appointed capt of ten
the following are the names of the persons belonging
to my ten W. Woodruff J. S FowlerJ. Burnham, O. Pratt, Joseph Egbert, John M. Freeman, Marcus B
Thorp, G. A. Smith, George Wardle. Being 9 in all
the camp consisted of 73 waggons & 143 men
3 women & 2 children making 148 souls in all
~ Saturday
17th we travled 8 miles & camped in the edge of a grove
of cottonwoods to spend the sabbath in the Afternoon
the organization of the camp was finished in the follow
ing order B Young Lieutenant General. Stephen
Markham Colonel. John Pack 1st Major. Shedrich
Rounday 2nd Major
~ Wednesday
14th After getting all things in readiness to leave I called
my family together & blessed my wife & childrens
and left them in the hands of the Lord. I bid farew
ell to father Woodruff & family and all around me
& took my leave of winter quarters & in company
with Elders O Pratt, LymanG. A. SmithE. Snow & others
we again took the indian trail & rode through the
prairie to the Elk Horn & went over on a raft & camped
two miles below the ferry. & we had a splendid
supper composed of fried, cat fish, pork, beans, short
cake, honey comb, coffee, milk &c &c we all eat vary
harty, had prayers & retired to bed 25 miles
~ Thursday
15th
Professor Pratt took an observation this morning
for the correct time. we had a good breakfast
soon Br's Young, Kimball. Benson, Whitney & many
others came & crossed the ferry & we all moved up
to the general camp on the Platt River 9 miles
we found the camp vary busy in blacksmith work &
getting ready to continue the Journey. we spent the
night at this place. during the evening Br Little arived from
the eastern states in our midst. When he arived at winter
quarters finding we had left he followed us post haste
& leaving all things behind him he over took us this
evening. He gave us news of the eastern churches spoke
of many friends among wholm was our friend col
Kane who had remembered theQuorum of the Twelve
& others by forwarding a variety of Presents to us. He forwarded to me a Patent Life Preserver & Stop compass
Br Little spent the night in camp
~ Friday
16th Brother Little, P. Rockwell & J. Reading returned
to winter quarters the camp continued up the Platt
4 miles & camped & turned their horses upon
an Island of cottonwood & rushes. the wind
blew exceding hard during the night. Before we left
this morning the camp came together, and was
organized for Journeying as a military body into tens
50 & 100s. Col Markham & A. P Rockwood was appointed Captains over A Hundred & 4 Captains of fifties
& Captains of tens. I was appointed Capt of ten
the following are the names of the persons belonging
to my ten W. Woodruff J. S FowlerJ. Burnham,
O. Pratt, Joseph Egbert, John M. Freeman. Marcus B
Thorp, G. A. Smith, George Wardle. Being 9 in all
the camp consisted of 73 waggons & 143 men
3 women & 2 children making 148 souls in all
~ Saturday
17th We travled 8 miles & camped in the edge of a grove
of cottonwoods to spend the sabbath in the afternoon
the organization of the camp was finished in the follow
ing order B Young Lieutenant General. Stephen
Markham Colonel. John Pack 1st Major. Shedrich
Rounday 2nd Major
"Journal (January 1, 1847 – December 31, 1853)," April 14, 1847 - April 17, 1847, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, accessed November 21, 2024, https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/p/n5j5