The accounts mention an improvised float to keep supplies dry during the river crossing.

The Snake River in January is cold and fast.

Crossing it with two children and supplies required either a very shallow ford or the improvised float device described.

The specific location of the crossing is not established in the sources.

From the Snake River, she moved northwest, following the Burnt River and then the Powder River valleys through what is now eastern Oregon.

These river corridors offered the most practical route through terrain that becomes increasingly rugged as it approaches the Blue Mountains proper.