about eight in
the morning
Campbell accordingly started his wagon up to the ferry , and all the remainder of the outfits , with the exception of a few men on herd , started out in search of the drowned man . Within a mile and a half below the ford , there were located over thirty of the forty islands , and at the lower end of this chain of sand bars we began and searched both shores , while three or four men swam to each island and made a vigorous search . The water in the river was not very clear , which called for a close inspection ; but with a force of twenty-five men in the hunt , we covered island and shore rapidly in our search . It was about eight in the morning , and we had already searched half of the islands , when Joe Stallings and two of Scholar 's men swam to an island in the river which had a growth of small cottonwoods covering it , while on the upper end was a heavy lodgment of driftwood . John Officer , The Rebel , and I had taken the next island above , and as we were riding the shallows surrounding it we heard a shot in our rear that told us the body had been found . As we turned in the direction of the signal , Stallings was standing on a large driftwood log , and signaling . We started back to him , partly wading and partly swimming , while from both sides of the river men were swimming their horses for the brushy island .