Many emigrant wagon trains bound for the Oregon or California territories left Independence, Missouri, from mid April to early May so they could cross the high western mountains before fall snowstorms, but leaving too early often brought heavy spring thunderstorms and flooded prairie river and stream crossings. During one such delay in May 1846, nearly a hundred emigrant wagons crowded the meadow at Alcove Spring for several days while waiting to ford the Independence Crossing on the Big Blue River. Emigrants passed the time with chores and exploration, writing in journals and diaries, building rafts to float wagons westward, washing laundry, cutting timber for firewood, and making wagon repairs for the next stop. George McKinstry, traveling with the Donner and Reed wagon train, carved the name "Alcove Spring" into the rock ledges above the waterfalls. Emigrants who rested there or waited for floodwaters to fall found good drinking water, timber for campfires, forage for livestock, and wild game to supplement their food stores. Journal and diary entries from the 1840s and early 1850s preserve glimpses of these experiences: on May 9, 1838, Myra Eells recorded the confusion of breaking camp, the difficulty of catching horses, a seven-hour ride of 21 miles without food, and an encampment on the west side of the Blue amid grand scenery; on May 27, 1846, Edwin Bryant wrote of discovering a large, cold, pure spring about three-quarters of a mile from camp, beneath a projecting rock and a beautiful cascade, whose attractions led the party to name it Alcove Spring; and recalling May 27, 1846, sixty-eight years later, Eliza P. Donner Houghton remembered honey from a bee tree, wild peas gathered for pickles, and an evening of friendly conversation and songs in camp.