On Friday, September 10th, 1852, Parthenia Blank wrote of traveling about 5 miles along the foot of the mountain to another creek, where the party stopped for the night with plenty of dry bunchgrass, no timber, but willows and sage, and where eight graves were found; after leaving the Hot Springs, the Oregon Trail crossed the desert to Rattlesnake Creek, a small stream of good water with willows and bunch grass where many emigrants rested or camped, and where many also died, with diaries noting eight graves in a row.