| Description |
Exploring Great Salt Lake The Capt & myself commenced taking down the tents fully expecting a sail to Black Rock. Fearing some hostile demonstration the Capt sent for his pistols & the arrival of a brace of Colts made the odds in our favor. Perceiving their misapprehension, the real facts were detailed, they then repented of their rashness, & re- turned to work. Cap S. rewarded Roland, one of the faithful by a present of ten Dolls & raised the other mans wages to $1.50 pr day. 72 After this episode, business was resumed, a station was built & I started for a ramble, this ground lay low was in some places marshy & tenanted by myriads of merciless midges, which assailed me so unceasingly as to make me feel quite ill. I therefore soon returned to camp. Sunday May 12. While the noonday glare makes the distant mountains appear as one continuous chain the subdued light of an exquisitely beautiful sunset this Eveng, reveals fresh beauties in the landscape. chain after chain is disclosed in the most delicate grada- tion of color, until the mountains can scarcely be distinguished from rosy clouds, in forcible contrast to the sombre mountain which rises majestically from the lake of the color of indigo save where it reflects the sun, vieing with that luminary in splendor The long shadows of the artemisia makes the foreground of this attractive picture. 73 72 The incident involving Henry Standish, the "mulatto cook," recounted fully by Stansbury in his Journal, receives no mention at all in his published Report-professional protocol again. With the captain's reprimand rankling in his soul, Henry, as any independent-minded cook would do, resigned and began to gather up his traps prepara- tory for a final and lasting departure from the expedition. Carrington explained that the "meeting" was caused by the hands "thinking the Captn had discharged the . . . cook . . . to go a long distance on foot & alone without provisioning when in fact he had quit voluntarily after the best of treatment." When the facts became known, the men "appeared very foolish (as they were) & apologized very humbly-" William Roland received the $10.00 award and Nelson the raise of $1.50 per day. Stansbury's two gentle- men associates received an even greater commendation from the captain-"Mr Carrington & Hudson stood by me like men, & I feel much indebted to them for their firmness." The contriteness of the crew was assisted by Stansbury's declaration that if they left they would forfeit their entire pay. He admitted that the men promised "by assiduity to atone for it." As for Standish, nothing is known of his lonely trip back to the Weber settlement, but he was unrelenting to the end in his defiance of the captain. Carrington, Journal, 11 May, p. 12; Stansbury, Report, pp. 180-81; Stansbury, Journal, vol. 4,ll May. 73 four of Even though this was Sunday and a day of rest, it was still necessary to dispatch the men to the ponds near Ca mp No. 8 for a supply of drinking water. They did 156 |
