The different tributaries of Salt Creek came down from the range of hills at the southwest.

At the foot of the valley another small river--Plum Creek, also flowed.

The bluffs fringed with trees, clad in their full foliage, added greatly to the picturesqueness of the scene.
While this beautiful valley greatly interested me, yet the most novel sight, of an entirely different character, which met my enraptured gaze, was the vast number of white-covered wagons, or "prairie-schooners," which were encamped along the different streams.

I asked my father what they were and where they were going; he explained to me that they were emigrant wagons bound for Utah and California.
At that time the Mormon and California trails ran through this valley, which was always selected as a camping place.

There were at least one thousand wagons in the valley, and their white covers lent a pleasing contrast to the green grass.