There began now the tedious and distressing journey across the state of Iowa. The inconveniences of loaded wagons and the inclemency of the weather superseded the comforts and conveniences of well-appointed homes. On the first day out their wagon mired down in the mud; the wagon tongue and several chains were broken in the effort to extricate it. Similar accidents occurred at intervals, and on the twenty-seventh he says in his journal that while his father was trying to climb into the wagon fell to the ground. Both wheels of the wagon which was loaded with twenty-five hundred pounds ran over his legs. It was marvelous that no bones were broken. At Farmington, Iowa, they bought a supply of flour consisting of four barrels. There they crossed the Des Moines River at the ferry. They were then twenty-five miles from Nauvoo on the 28th day of May. Several days later they overtook the Ramus Company consisting of about twenty-five wagons. On the evening of Sunday the 7th they traveled some distance when they came to a long swail which covered a distance of one and a half miles. It was wet and miry. He succeeded in getting his carriage across by dark, but in the center of the swamp his baggage wagons cut through the turf, and the wheels went down almost to the hubs. He worked most of that night in mud and water nearly knee deep and at the same time kept a watch upon the cattle. About daylight he rolled himself up in a buffalo robe and went to sleep. All day Monday they were obliged to rest and prepare for the journey the following day. His anxiety to overtake the main body of the pioneers led to this violation of his custom to refrain wholly from work on the Lord's day. Tuesday, the 9th, the company traveled twelve miles and camped with a body of Saints from Macedonia. The latter had thirty-one wagons. Here and there they were joined by scattered families of Saints who were wending their weary way westward. On the 15th of June they reached the Camp of Israel called Mt. Pisgah. President Kimball and others of the Twelve were still ahead. Elder Charles C. Rich had been left in charge at Mt. Pisgah. There were many of his old-time friends there and the meeting brought with it reminiscences of earlier days. There was an exchange {250} of the experiences which they had undergone since Brother Woodruff had left them for his mission, more than a year before. "I encamped," he says, "on the east side of the creek near the Camp of Israel. Here I learned that Brother Noah Rogers recently from a mission to the South Sea Islands had died and was the first to find a resting place in the burial ground at Mt. Pisgah. Brother Turnbow, one of our company, lost a child today. I was present at its funeral." Lorenzo Snow was also in this company and was suffering from sickness, but found great relief in the administration of Elder Woodruff.