"Twenty-seven miles below the Salmon Falls we came to the crossing where the companies which preceded us had passed over to the north side, which is much the nearest and best way, but we, having attempted the crossing and finding it too deep, were obliged to continue down on the south. This is perhaps, the most rugged desert and dreary country, between the Western borders of the United States and the shores of the Pacific. It is nothing else than a wild, rocky, barren wilderness, of wrecked and ruined nature, a vast field of volcanic desolation."

Route Across the Rocky Mountains... Overton Johnson and Wm. H. Winter, reprint edited by Carl Z. Cannon (Princeton University Press, 1932; originally published, Lafayette, Indiana, 1846).

"The numbers of travelers using the northern and southern routes were pretty equal. Diary entries mention seeing Bruneau Sand Dunes, but they did not physically venture over to the Dunes. Since the South Alternate doesn't cross the river at this point, emigrants would avoid that risk at this time. This route was long, dusty, and offered little grass."