"The camp consisted of seventy-three wagons, one hundred and forty-three men, three women, and two children, making in all one hundred and forty-eight souls. The general orders from Brigham Young for the camp were as follows: 'The whole regiment was to journey in a compact body as they were in an Indian country, and every man was to carry his gun loaded. The caplocks were to be shut on a piece of buckskin with the caps ready to slip on in an instant in case of attacks; for flint-locks, guncotton or tow was to be put in the pan and the powder flask kept handy to prime without delay. Every man was to walk by the side of his wagon and not to leave it except sent away by order.' The object of all this caution was to prevent accident, for strict discipline was necessary while traveling through a hostile Indian country. "On Saturday, the 17th," continues Wilford Woodruff, "some traders came down from the Pawnees and camped with us over night; they had plenty of buffalo meat dried, and gave us what we needed, and informed us that we were in two days' drive of a large band of Pawnees. "On the following morning President Young called the captains together and gave the following instructions: 'We were to start in the morning, two wagons abreast. All who were not driving teams were to carry their guns and walk beside the wagons, and no man was to go hunting or get out of sight of the wagons. In the morning the bugle was to be blown at five o'clock and the pioneers were to arise and pray, cook, eat, and feed the horses and start at the call of the bugle at seven o'clock. In the evening the bugle was to be blown at half past eight when all were to go to prayers in their several wagons and retire by {265} nine o'clock. Each Saturday night we were to pitch what tents we had and prepare our camps for rest on the Sabbath.' "On the morning of the 19th of April, Prof. Pratt took an observation and found the latitude to be 41 degrees 27 minutes and 5 seconds. The point of observation was on the north bend of the Platte, 10 1/2 miles north of where the Saints had crossed the river. It was while camping at this place that Elder Little overtook the Saints on his return from the Eastern States mission. On the evening of that day we camped near a grove of timber on the banks of the Platte where we formed a semi-circle. The river on one side was our defense, and one of the four wheels of each wagon was driven up to the back wheel of the wagon ahead of it, and all the horses and cattle were taken into the corral thus formed so that we might be secure against the Indians. There was a hard wind during the night and the morning was fair with a strong southwest wind which covered our wagons with sand dust."