July 23, 1853

Saturday July 23rd. This morning we passed the greatest natural curiosity we have seen yet. It is called the Steamboat spring. It is situated on the left of the road near the waters edge. It is constantly boiling up to a height of 2 or 3 feet, through a hole in the rocks and is quite warm. It is also very strong with soda. There are numerous other springs in the vicinity of it. Five miles farther and we came to the forks of the road; the left hand being the Hedspeth cut-off, the right the Fort Hall road; We took the Ft. Hall road. Two miles from this is Basin spring. This is also strong with soda. Ten miles farther is a branch 10 ft wide. Camped on this branch at dark after a drive of 22 miles. About 9 o’clock discovered something the matter with our horse. We immediately gave her some lard and vinegar and she soon got better.