Chapter 4

The journey across the desert began with some relief—they were leaving the Mormon territory. Most of the emigrants didn't care about the Mormons one way or the other, they had their own problems, but the Mormons seemed to run around looking for trouble.

They would be crossing a desert where there was not a drop of potable water. They could expect blistering sun with 100 degree plus heat with no relief, except at night, when they would need blankets for protection against the cold. Everybody, especially the children, must cover all skin and wear hats, because the sun would produce painful, possibly fatal, burns if they didn't take precautions.

Traveling across the desert was not a joyful experience! There was at least one skeleton or abandoned wagon for every mile; you could find your way across just by following these depressing markers. They couldn't help breathing in the dust containing alkali and salt particles, even though they wore cloth masks. The only thing to do was stoically bear the discomfort, but it only added another layer on top of the boredom.

The children were the only ones to find some relief from the boredom of the long march. They delighted in investigating the abandoned chests and dressers, pianos, and other artifacts discarded over about 12 years of relatively heavy traffic along the trail. It was amazing what people would struggle to carry all the way from home, only to abandon it as it got to be too much for their teams to haul. A philosopher might make a lifetime's study of the lost dreams of a people on the move.

Jasper was relieved about one thing, people got sick on the march through the desert, but nobody died! On occasion, he would wonder how many now-unmarked graves they passed; the steady wind sand-blasted grave markers into oblivion after a few years, so there was nothing to mark a lonely grave. He thought that was sad, but beyond his power to change.

At last—the Humboldt River valley! Potable water in excess. The river seemed to swell out of the ground from a swampy area situated in the middle of nowhere. Whatever its source, it was a welcome sight to one and all! Again, there was fresh meat from the abundant animal life and there were fish! Many of the emigrants had never eaten fish because they had lived too far away from a major river, but now they feasted on it. It's questionable how many developed a real liking for fish, but everybody delighted in the novelty. Some had taken fish from the Platte River, but not in the number nor with the joy they felt when they plundered the Humboldt River.

And the Indians! The Paiutes they met were universally friendly and helpful. Some of this may well have been because the Indians knew that the migrants were just passing through and had no intention of settling on "their" land, but a part must have been out of just plain friendliness. The children of the two races got along very well and there was much playing, and learning, that went on between the two groups. The Indians were also very happy to trade for things like pots and pans which they could not make for themselves; pots and pans may have been the real reason for the downfall of many Indian cultures as they came to depend on items which they had to obtain from the Whites!

Almost every meal was now a feast as the Indians joined the emigrants in their march down the Humboldt. Boredom was gone! It was chased away by the new friends with new topics of conversation. So what if the Whites couldn't speak Paiute, many Paiutes had enough English that they could make themselves understood, and those that didn't still broke the tedium of the journey with the sheer effort at communication.

These weeks were like an extended vacation in another world for the emigrants, and they were very sorry to see it end, as it had to when they came to the Humboldt Sink. Everybody was warned to repair the water barrels and stock up for crossing the 40-Mile Desert they had left to traverse. They could see the high mountains in the distance, so they were cheered by the thought that their goal was nearly in sight.