Surrounded by high Rocky and very ragged looking mountains — this valley we take the liberty to call Pleasant Valley, as it is a very good and pleasant for camping. — Leander V. Loomis, circa 1850, describing the Circle Creek Basin.
Circle Creek Basin, the rock-studded valley in front of you, looks much as it did when California Trail emigrants camped here many years ago. This "good and pleasant place for camping" contained the three requirements for a suitable camp: water, fuel, and grass. Many emigrant trains spent the night here, grazing their livestock in the creek bottom below.
But unlike most campsites along the 2,000-mile trail, this spot offered something more; its massive rocks — so very different from the flat prairie traveled thus far — offered inspiration. While friends rested, some emigrants took the time to record their impressions. Most recorded their thoughts with words, a few used pictures.
We nooned among these curious monuments of nature. I dined hastily, on bread & and water, and while others rested, I explored and sketched some of these queer rocks. — J. Goldsborough Bruff, 1849
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