During the late summer and early fall, Fourmile Canyon saw wagons moving west across the Columbia Plateau. By this stage of the journey, emigrants had endured blazing heat, bitter cold, and blustery winds, and some traveled in the cooler evening hours, often by moonlight, to escape the heat. West of the Umatilla River, weary travelers faced a long three-day trek to the John Day River crossing, twenty miles from this point, and most wagons passed through Fourmile Canyon on the second day while moving between the established camps of Willow Creek and Cedar Spring. Travelers recalled dense dust, dangerous chuck holes hidden by darkness, little grass, scarce water, exhausting climbs over high bluffs, tired cattle, and icy mornings, even as Mount Hood rose snow-covered in the distance.