Responding to Terri's comments on meteor showers, I thought I mention some "heavenly occurrences " observed by pioneers in 1860. Diarists from the 9th Handcart Company saw the aurora borealis on the night of the 4th of July. They were camped near Carrion Creek in Nebraska, 300 miles out from Florence. Other 1860 travelers mentioned an eclipse of the sun; one saw it from Independence Rock on July 16, the other from Rocky Ridge on July 17. (This is an example of occasional date errors in pioneer diaries. Sometimes they wrote several days' worth once or twice a week.)