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our clothes & provisions were soaked Mamma spread them out on rocks & bushes to dry I remember their temple clothes spread out with everything else a crate of crackers was spoiled & other things from the soaking, things had plenty of time to dry as the sun shone bright & every wagon had to be taken to pieces to go across the river a little at a time then the wagons put together to go on our journey, as father reached out to pull the rowboat to shore one time the bank caved off & he was in the river I was very scared but many hands were there to reach for him & get him out, When everything was ready the company went on over Lees Backbone as the road around the cliff was called the horses had been swam across in a place where there were no Rapids, our next camp was at Navajo Springs, I remember walking over Lees Backbone how narrow the road was no wagons could pass each other it was solid rock & so far down the cliff to the bottom. Next camp was Bitter Springs but we always had big barrels of water fastened to the sides of the wagons for our use & the horses to drink we always stopped at noon to rest the horses, give them grain & water & get our dinners, After Bitter Springs the camp was Limestone Tanks where there were places in the rocks that held water from rains & floods that came from the hillside into the wash, Our next water was Willow Springs, we came by Sunset a Mormon settlement & on to the crossing of the Little Colorado. Here were many Indians decked out in their best with red bands around
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their heads & so much silver decorating them & their saddles there were so many on ponies so different from Indians in Utah around Salt Lake City where they would come into the city & towns & beg for food. Years before, Brigham Young had told the people it was better to feed them than to fight them, many times they came to our house & suddenly put out their hands saying 'Biscuit' it always startled me they were Utes, these at the Colorado River did not beg like the Utah Indians they were more independent, these were Navajos. I remember in the early days of St. Johns, the Zuni Indians brought Peaches & grapes to sell & it was a treat before trees had started to bear in St. Johns. We arrived in St. Johns about the middle of June we started from Salt Lake City soon after the first of May so we were about 6 weeks on the road. The people were very nice to us sociable & kind & we didnt feel like strangers long, at first we camped west of the Public Square it was only a block from the Richeys & father felt like he had met old friends because James Richey the father of them had been called to Manti when my fathers father was called to Manti but they hadnt seen each other for years for James Richey was called from Manti to raise cotton in St. George because he was raised in the south where it grew & my Grandfather had cut stone for the temples the Saints had to leave so the Chapmans moved to Salt Lake City for cutting stone for the Salt Lake Temple
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