The decision to land on the smaller island was Fremont's choice because of the food shortage. After a meal of yampah root, seasoned by "a small fat duck," the expedition was tiring of boiled birds and becoming restless. The men warmed themselves at the campfire on the night of Sept. 8 and wondered what the new day would hold in store. Preuss, as usual, was not so enamored of the adventure. He was more interested in how his food tasted. "So close to the Salt Lake and we have to get along without salt!" he confided to his diary.

But Fremont's plans for an early start were soon dashed. In unpacking the India-rubber (guttapercha) boat, they discovered that instead of being strongly sewn like the one used a year earlier in exploring the canyons of the Upper Platte River, this boat's air cylinders had been pasted together—and poorly at that—by a manufacturer rushed for time. He had been told to cram two months' work into a week, and this was the result At sunrise the rubber raft was inflated, with men alternating on the bellows. When two of the lengthy cylinders leaked and threatened to sink the boat, one man was constantly at the bellows while the others rowed for all their worth.

Midway to their intended landing point, the wind grew stronger and the air cylinders started to collapse. Again the bellows were pumped feverishly. At last, the boat made it to the island beach. It was about noon on Sept. 9.