Show fy dads misa fac 9 letter ff 4 r 14 1 NUMBER THREE 4 containing interesting historical information james H wallis the pioneers reached grand island about the first of may here the prairies were swarmed buffalos buffaloe buff alos A grand hunt was indulged in ili by the pioneers a dozen har horsemen semen and as many footmen having previously been detail 1 tor for that purpose atter after much exciting sport ten of the animals vere killed and taken to camp most of the company had never seen a buffalo before some of the hunters were green enough to attempt to kill one by shooting him trill frill in the forehead from which the bullets rebounded bou dod without making the least impression the hide bide on the skull piece of one ot of the dead I 1 buffaloe buffalos buff alos was found to be one I 1 inch illicit thick and covered with a levarse coarse mat or of hair tin fai itself a helmet of 0 defense which fully accounted for the phenomenon ol of rebounding I 1 balls the proceeds eda of 0 this hunt orte one bull three cows and six calves were carriel to c camp amp in I 1 ive five wagons temporarily tempora temporarily ril 1 1111 unloaded loaded for tile purpose the 1 ie meat was equally distribute among the camp after this lays days sport president brigham yering Instruct edl his men not to kill game wantonly as was wag tiie the custom with many who ciossek the plains a custom which has done much to render the buffalo race extinct if we slay when we have no need said he we will it have ave need when we cannot slay early in may a french trader amed named charles beaumont returning with furs from fort laramie to the frontier visited the pioneer camp fording the platte for that purpose many embraced the opportunity thus afforded of sending letters back to winter quarters quarte rs hitherto they had been content to improvise Impi post offices by the way using the skull of a dead buffalo or some other conspicuous ous and sheltering object in which to deposit the missives left for their friends who were to follow fifty or s sixty I 1 aty letters wore now written all of which mr air courteously undertook to deliver when lie reached winter quarters on may 21 the pioneers put up it a headboard reading from winter quarters miles Sin lilar guide boards were placed at various points ifor the benefit of future emigration their arla thod of measuring distance was by means of an ingenious ton well known Al moison oiron author of af the hymn come come ye saints the roa dometer as it was called was so arranged that the revolutions of a wagon wheel acting by screws and cogs upon smaller wheels and the whole attached to an axletree ot of one of the wagons indicated f from r orn lay day to day the miles anil and parts darts of miles traveled about june I 1 the pioneers plon eera arrived opposite fort laramie they were now about from winter quarters they had traveled this distance in about seven weeks the first half of their westward journey was now over here they were visited by several men who announced announce lf themselves as ag Mo imons inions a portion of a which with cip cap 1 maln james brown and the invalid detachment of the Alor mormon moril battalion had spent the winter 1 at pueblo they had bad been watt wailing at fort laramie for two weeks they had five wagons one cart eleven horses twenty tour four oxen twenty two bows cows and a few bulls and calyes calves port fort Lar laranelle Laran anille lle at this time was a trading apost by the Arno american rican fur company it had been established in 1834 by wm win sublette and robert Cani with a view to monopolizing the arale araie as well as is resisting the attacks of those warlike tribes the ara and sioux ro roaming arning over the plains between the missouri river and the black hills laramie was the namee name 0 a french trapper killed b by the Arapah Arapaho oes ea on the north platte sold in ili 1835 to amilton sublette and jim almi bridger fort laramie hal been rebuilt and was now the chief trading post on the great overland route here president young and lits his party were received very politely the pioneers were informed that their old enemy ex gover nor boggs of missouri had passed that way with a company compan y some time before and had been warned to look after his horses and cattle when the mormons cormons came along friday june 4 the pioneers resumed hemmed their journey and were now increased to persons jim bridger the trapper told brigham young that it would be unwise to take a large colony into the great salt lake basin until it had ad been proven that grain could be raised there he aid he would give a thousand dollars for or the fast ear of corn that ripened in great salt lake valley dossing crossing and journeying jowel jo the he right bank of the bis big sandy the pioneers on the last day ot or june came to green thor several of the pioneers here f fell ell ill 11 with fever causing delirium the river was high and rapid about feet wide and front rom twelve to fifteen feet dep deep fording was waa therefore crit ot of the question q u estion rafts from cottonwood cotton wool i tr trees e es lining ang the banks of the river 1 were constructed preparations I 1 tor for crossing the were at once begun just at this juncture who should ride into the camp but elder samuel brannan who in february 1846 had sailed from froin new york tor for california on the I 1 ship brooklyn a company of latter day saints alei he was just in from the bay of sari sail francisco having left there with two companions on the ath of april one day before the pioneer vanguard started from winter quarters elder brannon and his companions had crossed thel the sierra mountains over the deemi deep snows which had burled buried the donner 1 party whose ghastly relief in flails and scat scattered terel bones they had beheld in passing and then came cama by fort liall hall now pocatello idaho to meet the plo neos s brannon informed tomed in brigham young that his colony of saints which had reached the bay ot of san francisco on the SIA ot of the previous july were settling on the tha san joaquin river ile ho hal had brought with him from the coast sixteen copies ot of the california star a paper ho be had established establish od there and which was the first paper published on oil the pacific coa coat at and that b by the mormons cormons Mor mons brannons Dr Br annona annons eatn main purpose in coming to tocea the president was to induce him to settle with hla his people on the pacific coast but in tills he was unsuccessful as we shall show shoie in our next letter |