"Leaving our camp at Little Cottonwood at 6 1/2 [6:30] a.m. The morning is heavy and misty until 9. Then the veil lifts and the sun shines out clear and warm. Mr. Layton [another army officer] loans me his horse, and I have a pleasant ride to Horse Shoe [a campground between Forts Laramie and Fetterman], which we reach at 11."

"Here, although so early in Tuesday, we go into camp and have dinner and fiesta, the glaring upon our table. Towards evening a fine thunder shower, which we had observed advancing from Laramie Peak, breaks upon us. It is soon over, and the evening is fresh and delightful. The cavalry amuses themselves with acrobatic performances. The sun sets with a tonnage of saffron clouds. Laramie Peak bears off some 40 to 50 miles away to the s.w. It sits like a cloud of indigo on the horizon. The box elders on the Horse Shoe are very picturesque."