As night was coming on we camped in company with these people.  Next morning we crossed Truckey river and struck out in a south east direction, leaving the site where Virginia city now stands a little to our right going by the sink of the Carson River.  Here we camped and laid over one day to give our horses a rest.  Before we left here we filled our canteens with water.  Bridger told me that for the next fifty miles it was the poorest watered country in the United States.  Said he:  “There is plenty of water, but it is so full of alkali it is not fit to drink; it is dangerous for both men and beasts.”

Jim took the lead all day, and when we came to a little stream of water he would get down and taste the water while I held the horses to keep them from drinking.  It was about four o’clock that afternoon before we found water that was fit to drink; here we camped for the night.

Jim said, “From this on we may look for Indians; we are now in the Ute country and tomorrow night we will be in the Apache country.  Now we must avoid the large streams for the Apaches are almost always to be found near the large streams at this time of year.  Their hunting season is about over now, and they go to the large streams to catch fish and for the benefit of a milder climate.  If we keep on the high ridges and mountains away from the large streams we will have no trouble with the Indians and what is better for us we can get all the game we want without any exertion.”

The next day we were traveling along on a high ridge in the south east corner of what is now the State of Nevada.  We looked off to the south at a little valley that was perhaps a half a mile from us, and there we saw a grand sight.  There must have been at least a hundred elk and amongst them two very large old bucks fighting.  Their horns were something immense, and strange to say all the rest of the band stood still, watching the fight.  At last Jim said, “Will, I believe I will break up that fight.”

He jumped to the ground, raised his gun and fired.  At the sound of the gun all of the band ran away except the two who were fighting.  I laughed and said, “Jim, I thought you were going to stop that fight.”

He replied, “Give me your gun, and I will stop it.”

This time I handed him my gun, and he squatted down and took a rest on his knee and fired.  At the crack of the gun one of the elks fell to his knees, but got up and ran for all that was in him, and that was the last we saw of the elk.  I told Jim he had spoilt the fun, and we had got no meat out of it.  He grinned and said, “Oh durn it that old elk was too old to eat any way.”

We went on and camped at the head of a little stream that emptied into Green river.  The sun was perhaps an hour high, when we went into camp.  As soon as we had staked out our horses Jim said, “Now Will, I will get the supper, if you will go out and see if you can get some meat.”