[June 3--51st day] Had a fine shower of rain last night, which has laid the dust, & the road is level, & it is fine traveling to-day, nooned opposite Cedar Bluffs,[51] which are on the south side of the river, & the little dwarf cedars which grow upon them, are all the trees that I have seen for many mile, & shall see again very soon. [June 4--52d day] Passed where they were burying a man; scarce a day but some one is left on these plains, to return to their mother dust; may the Lord pity, & bless the widows & orphans, who are left behind. [June 5--53d day] Nooned nearly opposite Castle Bluffs,[52] here we were joined by 2 teams, a man & his family, & his widowed sister with her family, she was going only to Salt Lake, they had 5 or 6 cows which gave milk, they gave me an excellent one to milk, for they had more than they could well tend to, & we were willing that they should travel with us, which they did to the end of our journey. [June 6--54th day] Most of the soil here is very barren, the wild sage sets in here it is very small, not much wood about this. Came in sight of Courthouse[53] and Chimney[54] rocks some 30 or 40 miles distant, they have a beautiful appearance. Passed some bluffs on our right which presented a very singular & picturesque appearance, resembling a ruined wall & buildings. A few miles onward to the left we found good camping. In a tent near by was a man very sick, the Dr. went & stayed with him till morning [July 7--55th day], when he died, leaving a wife & one child, they put him in his narrow bed & left him there to sleep (rest) alone. Traveled about 25 ms, & encamped on the bank of the river opposite Chimney rock, which appeared to us to be very near the other bank of the river but I am told it is 3 ms. distant & that is why it did not look larger to me, but I knew it was much larger than it seemed to be there, for when we were 10 ms distant it did not appear any smaller & not much farther off. There was a man very sick in a tent near by, supposed to be cholera.