John R. Shinn Journal, Vol. 3

Covering June 16th- 30th.

"June 16 Stayed by (Sunday) to rest. Weather good.

June 17 Traveled 22 miles. Camped on Camp Creek, plenty of feed and water. No wood. Weather good.

June 18 Traveled 25 miles over level country. Camped on the Platte River near Castle Bluff. Had a very [heavy] shower of hail, the stones varying from the size of a Pea to that of a marble.

June 19 Traveled 17 miles. Camped on the Prairie. Plenty of feed and water. No wood, used Buffalo chips for fuel.

June 20 Traveled 25 miles. Camped on the Prairie. Plenty of feed and (mosquitoes) but very little water and no wood, but Buffalo chips. Pleasant [weather].

June 21 Traveled 23 miles level country. Campe[d] on the Prairie opposite Chimney Rock, this is a large rock which stands by itself in the form of a chimney to quite an elevated height. Found plenty of feed, some water, no wood except Buffalo chips which are used as a substitute. Weather quite warm.

June 22 Traveled 22 miles. Camped on Spring Creek, 4 miles above Scotts Bluff. Feed and water good, no timber, weather warm.

June 23 Sunday, laid by to rest ourselves and teams. Weather warm.

June 24 Traveled 19 miles. Camped on the Platte near Fort Laramie. Not much feed, plenty of wood and water. Weather good.

June 26 Traveled 4 miles. Crossed the Platte at Fort Laramie at noon. Traveled 3 miles. Camped on high ground. Found some feed, no wood, nor water withing 3/4 of a mile. Weather pleasant through the day and shower at evening.

June 27 Stayed in camp making shoes for cattle. Weather good.

June 28 Still in the above camp making shoes, etc. Weather warm with a heavy hail storm in the afternoon, some of the hail as large as a Pint-Cup.

June 29 Traveled in the afternoon 10 and a half [miles]. Camped 1 mile west of the Warm Spring in the Black Hills. Weather cool and showery.

June 30 Traveled 22 and a half miles. Camped on a small creek. Pretty good feed and water, no wood. Weather cool and windy. Passed 7 graves."

During this installment John passes from Nebraska to Wyoming. A map of his route can be found here.

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