The grass was so completely eaten off that the cattle were very poor and unfit for long journeys. The movement of the buffaloes was eastward and they ate everything before them. It did not require many days, however, at this season of the year for the grass to make a considerable growth. "We passed through some miles of dead grass which we burned to give new feed for the next company. It made a great fire indeed." Here in the midst of the journey, more than 300 miles from the Missouri River, with scant material, and few mechanical appliances, the ingenious nature of man asserted itself to meet a daily desire to know just how far the pioneers were traveling each day. William Clayton writes under date of May 8, 1847: "I have counted the revolutions of a wagon wheel in order to get the exact distance we have traveled. The reason why I have taken this method which is somewhat tedious, is because there is generally a difference of two, and sometimes four, miles in a day's travel between my estimation and that of some others, and they have all thought I underrated it. This morning I determined to take pains in order to know for a certainty how far we would travel today. Accordingly I measured the circumference of one of the hind wheels of Brother Kimball's wagon, being the one I sleep in, in charge of Philo Johnson. I found the wheel exactly fourteen feet eight inches in circumference, not varying one eighth of an inch. I then calculated how many revolutions it would require for one mile and found it precisely 360, not varying one fraction, which somewhat astonished me. I have counted all the revolutions during the day's travel and find it to be a little over 11 1/4 miles. According to my previous calculations we were 285 miles from Winter Quarters this morning before we started, and after traveling ten miles I placed a small cedar post in the ground with these words inscribed on it with a pencil. 'From Winter Quarters 295 miles, May 8, 1847. Camp {282} all well. Wm. Clayton.' Some have estimated the day's journey at 13 and some 14 miles, which serves to convince more strongly that the distances are overrated. I have repeatedly suggested a plan of fixing machinery to a wagon wheel to tell the exact distance we travel, and many begin to be sanguine for carrying it into effect."