Trail Excerpt (unedited): 

[Source: British Library, 19th Century British Library Newspapers] 
SECOND LETTER FROM THE MORMON CITY, UTAH TERRITORY 
To the Editor of the Examiner and Times. 

Great Salt Lake City, May 14th, 1854. 
Sir,- 

In my last letter I gave you an account of my journeyings from England to 
Keokuk, a young but thriving city, beautifully situated on the banks of the Mississippi 
river, about 1,500 miles from the mouth of it. It was the place chosen by the Mormons 
for the starting point to cross the plains, it being considered a more healthful route to 
Council Bluffs than the one formerly traversed by them up the Missouri river to that 
place. I will therefore now proceed to give you a short description of the route from 
Keokuk to Great Salt Lake City, as I traveled with a company of Mormons, and did 
not lose any opportunity of observing the order and discipline to which the whole 
body were subjected, and which enabled that singular people to achieve so much and 
overcome so many difficulties, a great deal of which is already known in part to your 
readers. 

On the 1st day of June, 1853, the company with which I determined to travel, 
moved from the city of Keokuk, Iowa, under the superintendence of Mr. Cyrus H. 
Wheelock. The train consisted of upwards of fifty wagons, drawn by ox teams; and a 
very imposing spectacle it presented, as it moved along over the black, loamy soil of 
Iowa, the white canvass of the numerous wagons affording a striking contrast. Away 
we went, somewhat joyfully, to see the wonderful city in the Valley of the Rocky 
Mountains, the rumbling of the wheels of the wagons, the cracking of the whip, and 
the shouting of the teamsters affording a little variety to the monotony which we had 
endured in camp at Keokuk. 

The country through which we were passing was very fertile, and but thinly 
populated. The route through Iowa to Council Bluffs was crowded on the right and 
left with beautiful woodland scenery, and there were immense prairie lands covered 
with grass, varying from one to six or seven feet in height, affording good food for 
cattle. The rivers that intersected the territory were full of excellent fish, and many of 
the company employed themselves at the camping grounds on the rivers in fishing. 
Many times I thought of the English farm-laborers and operatives, and said within 
myself, "Here is a land well fitted for such men to locate upon, and cultivate, and with 
a little industry raise their own crops, and their own stock, and live in comparative