Journal, 1847-1849

[My great-grandfather continued to live in the Council Bluffs area and attend the various meetings and conferences of the Mormons as the days and years go by.]

1847:
Jan - Weather intensely cold then warmed up.
Jan 23 - Walked nine miles to Winter Quarters with a friend. [Winter Quarters was across the Missouri River in Nebraska, part of Omaha today.]
Jan 24: Attended meeting.
Jan 25: Returned home.
Jan 31: Back to Winter Quarters.
Feb 1:  Meeting cancelled due to bad weather. Returned home.
Mar: Wants to head for the Rockies, but has no team to pull a wagon.
Apr: Decided to clear field for crops.
May: Brigham Young and company have already left for the Rockies. Another company leaving soon.
        Cleared and ploughed [his spelling] with borrowed team six acres of land and fenced it off with split-rails.
Jun:  Finished planting corn.
       Cut oak and black walnut logs for twelve and a half cents each for a neighbor.
Jul:  Hoed weeds in corn, weeds plentiful. No horse to plough with.
Aug: Cleared one and a half acres and planted turnips.
Sep:  Worked for father-in-law.
Nov:  Added room to house for brother-in-law to use, he returned from the Mormon Battalion a company of which  had gone to Salt Lake. More turnips than I can take care of, 300 bushel so far. [He now had a total of three acres of turnips.]
Dec 31: Thankful for the 250 bushels of corn and the 300 of turnips. Have not suffered for food and clothing.

1848:   
Jan 9: Taken sick.
Jan 24: Finally able to get around a little. Lost memory.
Jan 29: Daughter born.
Mar 12: Able to do a little work.
Mar 26: Daughter got sick and died.
Sep: Worked all summer. Got 16 acres ready for planting. Built a grist mill with a couple of friends.

1849:
Worked in mill.
May: Gold discovered in California. Many people leaving. Sold a lot of grain.
Dec 31: Cholera raged this year with many dying. Gave thanks for escaping it and for a prosperous year.