Tuesday, 3rd. Ascended a high divide and passed down by a most difficult route into the valley of the Bear river. The course of this stream was marked out as it wound its way through the vale by the willows that skirted its banks. Reached the river, where we found abundance of grass, having come about 20 miles.

An abundance of grass was always welcome. Jimmy John reported trout in the river as well.

The Bear River begins and ends in Utah, where it empties into the Great Salt Lake, but along its winding U-shaped course it wanders through three states: Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. At 500 miles long, it is the longest river in the United States that does not empty into an ocean.

At this point on their journey, the Bidwell-Bartleson Party has come to the Bear River close to where the three states meet.