As I reached the lower part of the valley I walked over what seemed to be boulders of various sizes, and as I stepped from one to another the tops were covered with dirt and they grew larger as I went along.  I could see behind them and they looked clear like ice, but on closer inspection proved to be immense blocks of rock salt while the water which stood at their bases was the strongest brine.  After this discovery I took my way back to the road made by the Jayhawkers and found it quite level, but sandy.  Following this I came to a campfire soon after dark at which E. Doty and mess were camped.  As I was better acquainted I camped with them.  They said the water there was brackish and I soon found out the same thing for myself.  It was a poor camp; no grass, poor water and scattering, bitter sage brush for food for the cattle.  It would not do to wait long here, and so they hurried on.

I inquired of them about Martin’s Pass, as they were now quite near it, and they said it was no pass at all, only the mountain was a little lower than the one holding the snow.  No wagon could get over it, and the party had made up their minds to go on foot, and were actually burning their wagons as fuel with which to dry the meat of some of the oxen which they had killed.  They selected those which were weakest and least likely to stand the journey, and by drying it the food was much concentrated.  They were to divide the provisions equally and it was agreed thereafter every one must lookout for himself and not expect any help from anyone.  If he used up his own provisions, he had no right to expect anyone else to divide with him.  Rice, tea and coffee were measured out by the spoonful and the small amount of flour and bacon which remained was divided out as evenly as possible.  Everything was to be left behind but blankets and provisions for the men were too weak to carry heavy packs and the oxen could not be relied on as beasts of burden and it was thought best not to load them so as to needlessly break them down.

When these fellows started out they were full of spirit, and the frolic and fun along the Platte river was something worth laughing at but now they were very melancholy and talked in the lowest kind of low spirits.  One fellow said he knew this was the Creator’s dumping place where he had left the worthless dregs after making a world, and the devil had scraped these together a little.  Another said this must be the very place where Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt, and the pillar been broken up and spread around the country.  He said if a man was to die he would never decay on account of the salt.  Thus the talk went on, and it seemed as if there were not bad words enough in the language to properly express their contempt and bad opinion of such a country as this.  They treated me to some of their meat, a little better than mine, and before daylight in the morning I was headed back on the trail to report the bad news I had learned of the Jayhawkers.