Early in
the morning (Brigham Young’s forty‑sixth birthday) Wilford Woodruff
visited the company dentist, who tried to pull his tooth. The tooth broke off and the root was left in
his jaw, causing much pain.
The
pioneers traveled five and a half miles and halted for the noon rest across the
river from the ruins of an old trading post which still had a few chimneys
standing. The pioneers turned their
horses loose to feed in a luxurianty grassy ravine.
In the
afternoon they traveled six and a half miles and came to a point across from
Fort Platte, a vacant fort crumbling into ruins. Fort Laramie could also be seen on the north bank of Laramie
Fork, about two miles to the south. The
pioneer company decided to establish the camp at 5:45 in the form of a V, on
the bank of the North Platte.
Soon, two
men came from the fort and were seen across the river. “Revenue Cutter” was launched with Luke S.
Johnson, John Brown, Joseph Matthews and Porter Rockwell. With great joy, they learned that the two
men were Robert Crow and his son‑in‑law, George W. Therlkill, two
of the Mississippi company of Saints who spent the winter at Pueblo with the
sick detachments of the Mormon Battalion.1
The two
men were brought back across the river to meet with Brigham Young. They reported that they had been at Fort
Laramie since May 16. They also
reported that the detachments of the Mormon Battalion would shortly receive
their pay and planned to leave Pueblo about the first of June.2
William
Clayton wrote: “It caused us much joy
to meet with brethren in this wild region of country and also because we should
have some news from the brethren in the army.”
Wilford Woodruff added: “No one
can imagine the joy of friends on meeting each other under such circumstances
away from the abodes of white men where they are only visited by savages.”
Brother
Crow and Brother Therlkill shared sad news that Melcher Oyler, Arnold Stevens,
James Scott, and Mervin Blanchard had died since John Tippets and Thomas
Woolsey had left Pueblo during the winter to return to Winter Quarters. They also said that Solomon Tindall was near
death. Most of the other men were doing
well and had regained their health during the winter. The two men had no news from the rest of the Mormon Battalion in
California. They relayed news that
three traders from the mountains had arrived at Fort Laramie six days
earlier. The traders’ animals had
nearly starved to death because of lack of feed and there had been up to two
feet of snow at the Sweetwater River more than 150 miles to the west. After giving their report, Brothers Crow and
Therlkill returned to their families at the fort.
William
Clayton calculated that they were 543 1/4 miles from Winter Quarters. They had made the journey to Fort Laramie in
seven weeks. “We have arrived so far on
our journey without accident except the loss of two horses by Indians and two
killed. We have been prosperous on our
journey, the camp are all in better health than when we left Winter Quarters
and we see daily that the Lord blesses us and directs the movements of this
camp as seemeth Him good and as is for our good and prosperity.”
In the middle
of the camp, in a large ash tree, was the bundled body of an Indian baby. It was tied between the two highest limbs of
the treed. The bark was peeled off the
tree below to prevent wolves from getting up.
Porter
Rockwell visited Fort Laramie, then came back and told the brethren that there
were eighteen men with their families living there. They were mostly Frenchmen.
It was learned that about three weeks earlier, a larger number of Crow
Indians had come to the Fort in broad daylight and stolen many horses. Brigham Young called all the captains
together to give them instructions and to see that two men from each company of
ten stand on guard while they were camping at this location while they made
arrangements to cross the river. A
crossing at this point was needed because the Black Hills ahead made it
impossible for them to continue their journey on the north side of the North
Platte. He suggested that they leave
most of their plows at the fort and that they should do their blacksmithing to
mend their wagons as soon as possible.
James Case, Shadrach Roundy,3
and Seth Taft4 were
appointed to overhaul and select the plows to be taken ahead.
Eliza R.
Snow wrote: “This is truly a glorious
time with the mothers & daughters in Zion altho’ thrust out from the land
of our forefathers & from the endearments of civiliz’d life.” A great spiritual meeting was held during
the evening at Lyman Leonard’s home.
Brother Leonard spoke about the evils in the American government and
contrasted it with the happiness of the Saints. Sister Snow said, “Language cannot describe the scene.”
Lucy
Elvira Holmes, age one year, died. She
was the daughter of Jonathan H. and Elvira Cowles Holmes.
Robert S.
Bliss wrote: “June 1st 1847 ushers in
another Summer 1 month & 1/2 more and we bid good by to Unkle Sam having it
to say ‘You are the most exact Unkle we ever had.’”
Watson, ed., The
Orson Pratt Journals, 409; Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:432; William
Clayton’s Journal, 205‑08; Excerpts from the Hitherto Unpublished
Journal of Horace K. Whitney, Improvement Era, June, 1947, 371; “Erastus
Snow Journal Excerpts,” Improvement Era 15:54‑55; Kenney, ed., Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:192‑93; The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy
Snow, 176; “The Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah Historical Quarterly,
4:94
The Twelve
and others crossed the river and visited the deserted Fort Platte. It was 144 by 132 feet, with 30 rooms inside
which had been burned. The Oregon Trail
ran right by the fort.
The
brethren next went to Fort Laramie (also called Fort John) which was occupied
by French and Indians. James Bordeaux
was the manager of the fort, including more than thirty‑eight men and
their families, associated with the American Fur Company. Twenty of the men were currently away on
business. Many of the men were married
to Sioux Indian women.
Mr.
Bordeaux invited the brethren into his sitting room, up a flight of
stairs. Appleton Harmon recorded: “He invited us into a room upstairs which
looked very much like a bar room of an Eastern hotel. It was ornamented with several drawings, portraits. A long desk, a settee, and some chairs
constituted the principal furniture of the room.”
Bordeaux
shared with them information about the route ahead and agreed to rent to the
pioneers a flatboat for fifteen dollars to ferry over all the wagons. He said there were buffalo two days ahead
and there were also grizzly bears. He
was expecting some Oregon emigrants to arrive soon. The next fort along the route would be Fort Bridger, over the
mountains.
Bordeaux
told them that Governor Lilburn Boggs, the former governor of Missouri, had
passed by this way the previous year.
He had tried to prejudice the men in the fort against the Mormons,
telling them to make sure they watched their horses, because the Mormons would
try to steal them. But the Boggs
company had behaved terribly, and Bordeaux told him that the Mormons could not
be any worse than his company was.
After
their visit with Bordeaux, the brethren visited the trading post and found the
provisions to be very expensive. All
the goods had been brought in from other locations. It was said that until recently there had not been rain at the
fort for two years.
The
brethren boarded the flatboat, floated down the river, and returned to the
pioneer camp at noon. They saw a bald
eagle perched on top of a stump. Orson
Pratt measured the river at the camp to be 108 yards wide and it flowed about
three miles per hour.
During the
day, the rest of the camp was very busy.
They made a coal pit within the circle of wagons and set up three
portable blacksmith shops for shoeing horses and repairing wagons. Others worked at digging at the river bank
to prepare a place to ferry over the wagons.
John Higbee and others went fishing and caught 60‑70 fish with a
net. They caught all kinds of fish
including carp, catfish, salmon, pike, and others.
After
dinner, the Twelve met in council and decided that Amasa Lyman, Roswell Stevens,
John Tippets, and Thomas Woosley should travel to Pueblo to take instructions
to the detachment of the battalion. The
soldiers were to come and follow the pioneer company over the mountains. Brigham Young dictated a letter to the
soldiers that included:
If
experience has not already taught you, we would say, keep a sharp lookout for
buffalo, Indian and bears, all of which may be met and endanger the life and
liberty of men, women and children, beasts and property. Be wise, and watch as well as pray continually,
and having done all you possibly can, and exercised all the skill, wisdom and
prudence and care and strength that you possess, should you be overtaken with
accidents or losses of any kind, take the spoil thereof patiently and
cheerfully, and murmur not for Christ’s sake.
Let the unity of the Spirit and brotherly love abide in every heart, be
made manifest in every action and reciprocated by every word, and our
blessings, and the blessings of our Heavenly Father shall abide with you
continually and you shall prosper.
A son,
John Taylor Brown, was born to Captain James Brown and his wife Eunice Reaser
Brown.
It was a
rainy day at Winter Quarters. Mary
Richards was visited by the Robert Burton family, whom she had stayed for
several weeks during the winter on the Nishnabotna River, in Missouri.
John D.
Lee visited the store in Austin to buy provisions. He returned to Hunsacker’s ferry to spend the night with the
family of Samuel B. Frost. He found
murmuring in the family, especially from Sister Rebecca Frost. He reasoned with them and preached to them
until midnight.
Two ships
were in the port, loading up hides to be shipped back to the states. Robert Bliss was impressed by the oats which
grew spontaneously. He believed the
oats were as fine as any raised with great labor in the east.
The
detachment camped in San Joaquin Valley.
James R. Clark, Messages
of the First Presidency, 1:322; Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:194; “Erastus Snow Journal Excerpts,” Improvement Era 15:55; Appleton
Milo Harmon Goes West, 27; Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints,
178; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters, 145; Kelly, ed., Journals of John D.
Lee, 173; “The Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah Historical Quarterly,
4:94; “The Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones,” Utah Historical Quarterly,
4:18
During the
cold morning, the pioneers started to ferry the wagons across the North Platte
River. The wind blew strongly upriver,
which made the crossing easier. A wagon
could be ferried over in about fifteen minutes. The blacksmiths continued their hard work repairing wagons and
shoeing horses. They set up their shops
in the deserted Fort Platte. Charles
Barnum did some washing for Wilford Woodruff.
It was the first time Elder Woodruff had washed his clothes since leaving
Winter Quarters.
Albert P.
Rockwood wrote about an unusual form of amusement: “During this morning, many of the brethren were engaged in
gathering beads from the ant hill in the vicinity. The ants gather small gravel to butify their habitat or cities
and . . . they gather many beads of various colors which have been strewed by
the Indians or otherwise.”
At 11:15
a.m., Amasa Lyman, Roswell Stevens, John Tippets, and Thomas Woolsey started
their journey toward Pueblo to meet the men and families of the battalion sick
detachments. They would carry 349
letters to the soldiers. Brigham Young,
Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, and Orson Pratt rode with them as far as
Laramie Fork. The men sat down on a
large fallen tree and listened to President Young issue instructions. There were worries that Captain James Brown
was leading the battalion members to Santa Fe, rather than to the north. Firm instructions were given that the
battalion men must not follow Captain Brown to Mexico. Rather, they should follow the pioneers over
the mountains. If the officers would
not support this plan, Amasa Lyman would need to have those officers replaced
by men who would support this plan. If
the main companies of the battalion were still at Santa Fe, they should also be
retrieved and be brought back. They
knelt down, dedicated their mission to the Lord, and blessed each man.5
Porter
Rockwell, Thomas Brown, Joseph Matthews, and John Brown went ahead on horseback
to scout the road for the pioneer company.
At 1:40
p.m., a loud thunderstorm rolled through.
Rain fell for two hours. During
the storm, the horses were secured inside the deserted Fort Platte on the south
side of the river. After the storm, the
wagon crossings continued. They were
able to get a wagon across in eleven minutes.
At 7 p.m., again the work had to stop because of another storm, leaving
about seventeen wagons on the other side, unable to cross.
Four men
had been spotted the previous evening arriving at Fort Laramie on pack
horses. They came from the fort to
visit the brethren, and informed the pioneers that they were from St. Joseph,
Missouri. They reported that twenty wagons
were about three miles to the east.
Their company had traveled from Missouri in only seventeen days and had
passed about 600‑700 wagons during their journey west. They estimated that there would be about two
thousand wagons leaving the states this season, heading for Oregon and
California. A company would probably
arrive at Fort Laramie on each of the next three days.
Appleton
Harmon and others visited a French/Sioux burial. He recorded: “They had
set four forks into the ground about seven feet high and placed poles across,
and made a scaffold on which the corpses were deposited, wrapped in a skin, a
pillow under each head ornamented with beads.”
Wilford Woodruff wrote: “The
French were buried in the ground, strong pickets around, with a cross at the
head being Catholics.”
Elder
Lyman O. Littlefield continued his journey to his mission in England. He wrote:
The scenery
along the Ohio River in many places was very fine. Cincinnati is certainly a very tidy place, with streets clean and
neat. We left Cincinnati June 3rd. At the junction of the Erie and Cleveland
canals we parted company with Brother Campbell, daughter and sister Polly
Thompson. They followed up the Erie
canal and went up the Cleveland. We had
to pack our trunks three‑fourths of a mile before we could find a tavern,
which gave us a relish for our bed.
The
weather was pleasant. Mary Richards
stewed some apples, picked some gooseberries, and made some pies. She visited friends who were preparing to
leave with the next pioneer company.
Four Omaha Indians came near Winter Quarters and presented a letter from
Big Elk, stating that he was going out against the Pawnees and wanted to know
if and when he could meet with brethren and receive permission to enter the
city. In the evening, a problem with
the police guard arose. A meeting was
called by Marshal Horace S. Eldredge at Isaac Morley’s shop. The marshal wanted to induce the police to
reduce their wages. They firmly
refused. Brother Eldredge then accused
the police of not doing their duty.
Hosea Stout told him that the police matters were none of his
business. While they were having a
heated discussion, Elders Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, and John Taylor
arrived. Hosea Stout immediately
stopped talking and the brethren told him to continue. But the matter was dropped and the brethren
had come to ask about some property which had been stolen on the other side of
the river. Nothing was known about the
property.
A
daughter, Ann Elizabeth Riter, was born to Levi E. and Rebecca Dilworth Riter.
The
Catholics celebrated Saint Mary’s birthday.
Henry Standage recorded:
The
inhabitants of [Los Angeles] have been sweeping the public square fro 2 days
past, and this morning they erected 4 stages, one in each corner of the square,
also erecting an altar at each place, making it of green bushes, and decorated
with roses, strips of white cloth and very handsome serape or a kind of outside
covering thrown around the man while on horseback, were thrown on the ground.
The mass
started at 10 a.m. Colonel Stevenson
ordered that one of the cannons be brought to the square to show the Mexicans
that they would be protected during their celebration. After the mass, the priest came out to the
square to perform certain rites at each of the altars. A band belonging to the New York Volunteers
played while a procession marched from corner to corner. All the people continuously showered roses
down on the priest’s head. The cannon
fired at intervals as the procession moved from place to place.
Diary of Howard Egan, Pioneering
the West, 63‑4; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 28; Watson,
ed., The Orson Pratt Journals, 417; “Excerpts from the Hitherto
Unpublished Journal of Horace K. Whitney,” Improvement Era, June, 1947,
407; Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:194‑95; Bagley,
ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 178‑79; “Lyman Littlefield
Reminiscences (1888),” 191‑92; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The
March of the Mormon Battalion, 224; The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy
Snow, 176; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters, 145; “Albert P. Rockwood
Journal,” typescript, BYU, 48
It was a
clear, pleasant morning. The snow‑capped
Laramie Peak could be seen clearly in the distance. The ferrying of wagons started early, at 4:30 a.m. The last of the wagons were brought over by
8:00 a.m. Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball, and others went up to Fort Laramie for one more visit. They brought back good reports from traders
about Bear River Valley. It was
described as well‑timbered, with plenty of grass, and mild winters. There were many fish in the streams. Wilford Woodruff recorded: “I conversed with a mountaineer who had
wintered at the great Basin of the Salt and Utah Lakes & he recommends the
country very highly for a healthy, fertile Country, the lakes and streams
abounding with trout and other fish, a good supply of sugar maple & other
timber &c.”
Levi
Jackman described the Fort Laramie:
“The walls are made of adobes with door attached to the walls on the
inside and one two stories high. A row
of houses also runs through the center of the fort.”
Porter
Rockwell traded a horse with James Bordeaux for two cows and calves, one
heifer, two pairs of moccasin shoes, and two lariats. John Pack traded a lame horse for three robes. Luke S. Johnson provided his dental services
to several people in the fort in exchange for some moccasins and skins. Many letters were left behind for loved‑ones
back at Winter Quarters. They would be
sent back to Peter Sarpy at Trader’s Point and then delivered to Winter
Quarters.6
Appleton
Harmon and Albert P. Rockwood used a yoke of oxen to tow the ferry boat back up
to the fort. Brother Rockwood paid the
fifteen-dollar fee, seven in cash, one dollar’s worth of potatoes, and Robert
Crow of the Mississippi Saints paid the other seven dollars. Mr. Bordeaux was very pleased to see that
the Saints settled up with him. He remarked
that he had never had a group of people pass Fort Laramie who first made sure
they had settled up with him. Albert P.
Rockwood wrote: “The keeper of the boat
said to me that this was the most gentlemen like company that had ever visited
the establishment. Other companies took
liberties to go in all and every bit of the fort with leave where as our people
asked to examine and look. . . . Every man of us had acted the part of a
gentleman which was not practised by other companies.”
At 11:30,
the three families from the Mississippi Saints came from the fort and took
their place in the pioneer company. The
seventeen new members of the camp were:
Robert Crow, Elizabeth Crow, Benjamin B. Crow, Harriet Crow, Elizabeth
Jane Crow, John McHenry Crow, Walter H. Crow, George W. Therlkill, Matills Jane
Therlkill, Milton Howard Therlkill, James William Therlkill, William Parker
Crow, Isa Vinda Exene Crow, Ira Minda Almarene Crow, Archibald Little, James
Chesney and Lewis B. Myers. This
increased the size of the pioneer camp to 161 (148 men, eight women, and five
children). Certainly the three sisters
traveling in the pioneer company were delighted to welcome five new sisters7 and three children. Lewis B. Myers was a valuable addition to
the pioneer company because he had in years past traveled in the rocky
mountains. The Mississippi Saints
brought five wagons, one cart, eleven horses, twenty‑four oxen, twenty‑two
cows, three bulls, and seven calves.
This brought the camp totals to ninety‑six horses, fifty‑one
mules, ninety oxen, forty‑three cows, nine calves, three bulls, sixteen
chickens, sixteen dogs, seventy‑nine wagons, and one cart.
William
Clayton put up a sign board at the ferry crossing that read: “Winter Quarters, 561 1/4 miles. 227 1/2 miles from the Junction of the
Platte. 142 1/4 miles from Ash
Hollow. 70 1/4 miles from Chimney
Rock. 50 1/2 miles from Scotts Bluff”
Harriet
Young spent the morning baking some bread and pies and frying some cakes.
At noon,
the pioneers again started their journey, now on the south side of the North
Platte River. After three miles, at
1:20, they halted to feed the cattle.
Horace K. Whitney wrote: “At
this place the grass was the most luxuriant that we have seen for a long time ‑‑
here to our right, a short distance, the river winding in a serpentine
direction, glides gracefully by, while immediately to our left are large crags
& masses of rock, as it were, suspended over our heads.”
As the
group traveled, they noticed Archibald Little, a newcomer and nonmember with the
Mississippi group, whipping his oxen very badly. Brigham Young and others went to help him, but he treated them
with contempt and continued to whip his animals. President Young commented that there had been more abuse of
cattle in those few minutes than by all the brethren since they left Winter
Quarters. President Young had Albert P.
Rockwood notify Robert Crow that he would not allow such abuse in the
camp. Robert Crow was to notify
Achibald Little that if he did not reform from this moment, he must leave the
camp. It was explained to Brother Crow
that even nonmembers in the pioneer company had to live by the camp rules. Brother Crow firmly agreed and received the
order well.
The
journey continued at 2:30. About eight
miles from Fort Laramie, they descended a very steep hill [Mexican Hill] and
had to lock the wheels on the wagons for the first time. At 5:30 the night’s camp was
established. Soon a heavy thunder shower
rolled through. Thomas Bullock
wrote: “We saw two perfect rainbows in
the heavens and an Eagle flying in the Air.”
The
weather was very warm. Mary Richards
traveled around the city with the Burtons.
“We went into store & traded, afterwards we went to the Mill and the
Miller took & shewed us through every department of the same, it was then
in Motion. We were well pleased with
our visit there.”
A son,
Lewis Oviatt, was born to Ira A. and Ruth Bennett Oviatt.8
The Pueblo
detachment was having trouble with mad wild dogs. A man had recently died because of a bite. Colonel Stevenson asked some men from the
battalion to go and kill all of the stray dogs that they could find.
A large
drove of horses was brought into town to sell to the battalion.
Diary of Howard Egan, Pioneering
the West, 64‑65; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 28; “Excerpts
from the Hitherto Unpublished Journal of Horace K. Whitney,” Improvement Era,
June, 1947, 407; Watson ed., Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 557;
Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:196; Bagley, ed., The
Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 179‑81; “Levi Jackman Autobiography,”
typescript, BYU, 34; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters, 146; Brooks, ed., On
the Mormon Frontier, 1:258‑59; “The Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 4:94; Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon
Battalion, 290; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly,
14:161; “Albert P. Rockwood Journal,” typescript, BYU, 49
The
company was delayed in the morning because of some missing oxen. After they were found, the pioneers traveled
up and down hills. Appleton Harmon
wrote that they “mounted the bluff in a gradual winding pass and then down a
steep hill making one‑half a mile over, then up a bed of a stream that is
now dry and from all appearance has long since ceased to pay its tribute to the
North Fork.” Near the bottom of the
hill, Robert Crow’s wagon tipped over, but there was no damage. William Clayton put up a guide board every
ten miles.
They soon
reached the intersection of two roads from Fort Laramie, where there was a warm
spring. They rested the animals and
some men went to see the spring. It
bubbled out of the bluff, but was not very hot. Orson Pratt recorded: “A
short distance from this spring, and on the opposite side, we saw an old lime
kiln, where probably lime had been procured for the uses of the Fort.”
Wilford
Woodruff penned: “The bluffs, peaks
& hills begin to be more lofty as we get unto the hills. We are beginning to come to an elk, bear
& mountain sheep country. We saw
their signs to day.” While they were
still resting, a company of Missouri emigrants with eleven wagons caught up and
passed them. They said that two more
companies arrived at Fort Laramie during the morning and three other companies
were within twenty miles of Laramie.
This company had traveled all the way from the fort on this day. They had taken the southern road from Fort
Laramie which turned out to be a shorter and better road.
The
pioneers traveled ten and a half miles in the afternoon and camped by a pure
stream of water with good feed. The
Missouri company camped a quarter mile behind on the same stream. Traveling with them, were four men from Fort
Laramie who were heading for Vancouver Island to obtain sea shells. Another thunder shower came through in the
evening.
It was
another historic day in Winter Quarters.
Pioneers who would be part of the second company of Saints left the city
to start the trek west, to follow the lead company to the mountains. Those who started the journey included: Parley P. Pratt, Perrigrine Sessions, and
Jesse W. Crosby. Parley P. Pratt later
recorded: “I loaded my goods and family
into my wagons, and, obtaining a few more cattle, started for the Rocky
Mountains; or rather the Elk Horn River, where we expected to form a
rendezvous, and establish a ferry, and wait the arrival of others, and the
organization of companies for the purpose of mutual safety in travelling.” Jesse Crosby left with a company of fifty
wagons.
Patty
Sessions wrote: “We start for the
mountains and leave Winter Quarters for the mountains or a resting place. Ten years to day since we left our home and
friends in Maine. We now leave many
good friends here and I hope they will soon follow on to us. I drive one four ox team.”
George
Whitaker described the required preparations:
We had to
get so many pounds of flour for each individual, 350 pounds for each person, if
not, we were not allowed to go. There
were men appointed to inspect each wagon to see if we had the requisite
quantity. We knew that we were going
into a country where we could not buy any.
We had to take enough to last us fifteen months, or until we could raise
it. We had to take our seed grain,
farming implements, cooking utensils, and such things that we could not do
without. Some would take a few chickens
fastened on behind the wagons, and some would take a pig. We had our wagons all loaded up and
inspected and pronounced all right.
Mary
Richards visited some new stores that had recently opened. She bought a tea bottle and a water
pail. From Brother Abel Lamb, she
bought a wash board. Then she went to
collect five dollars of groceries that had been brought for her from St. Louis.
A party of
eighty Omaha Indians came to Winter Quarters and Hosea Stout was asked to meet
with them six miles below the city. The
chiefs were introduced to Hosea Stout, whom they recognized as a war chief or
captain. They all came to shake his
hand. Brother Stout escorted the Indian
party into town and they camped on the first ridge west of the city. A council meeting was held with them in the
evening. Big Elk confirmed everything
that Young Elk had told the Saints during his visit on May 25. The meeting went well and good feelings
existed between the two parties. Some
beef was given to the Indians for supper.
A strong guard was raised for the evening to guard the city.
John D.
Lee returned from Missouri and arrived at the ferry crossing. He found sixty wagons waiting to cross over
to Winter Quarters. Many families were
planning to be part of the large second company of pioneers.
The sick
detachments of the Mormon Battalion and the rest of the Mississippi Saints
spent the day crossing the South Platte River near present‑day Greeley,
Colorado. The river was about three to
four feet deep, making the crossing difficult.
Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:196‑97; Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt,
358; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 28‑9; Watson, ed., The
Orson Pratt Journals, 418‑19; Diary of Howard Egan, Pioneering the
West, 65‑6; William Clayton’s Journal, 216‑18; Ward,
ed., Winter Quarters, 146; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier,
1:259; Kelly, ed., Journals of John D. Lee, 173‑74; Yurtinus, A
Ram in the Thicket, 319; The History and Journal of Jesse W. Crosby,
typescript, BYU, 33; “Norton Jacob Journal,” typescript, 85; “Albert P.
Rockwood Journal,” typescript, BYU, 50; Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 84;
“Life of George Whitaker, A Pioneer, as written by himself,” in Madsen, Journey
to Zion, 85
In the
morning, the wagon train from St. Joseph, Missouri, passed by the pioneer
camp. Because it was Sunday, the camp
of pioneers rested. They were again
told to fast until the meetings were over.
At 9 a.m., they assembled for a prayer meeting. The speakers were Erastus Snow, Jesse C.
Little, and others. The meeting closed
at 11 a.m. Appleton Harmon
commented: “I believe that the whole
camp feel as much of the Spirit of God as ever the same number of men did under
similar circumstances. All is peace and
union.” William Empey agreed: “I can surely say that God poured out his
Spirit upon us and we enjoyed our selves well.”
During the
morning they were visited by three or four men on horseback reporting that
their company from Missouri was a short distance back. They had camped for the night at the Warm
Springs. William Clayton wrote: “Some of these are recognized by the brethren
and they [the Missourians] seem a little afraid and not fond of our company.”
At 11:40
a.m. the brethren assembled for a preaching meeting. Orson Pratt asked the camp choir to sing the hymn on page 95,
“With all my powers of heart & tongue.”
Ezra T. Benson opened with prayer.
Just as soon as Orson Pratt started to preach, the rail fell in torrents
with thunder and lightning. Brigham
Young “jumped up and said every man go home out of the rain.” During the storm, another Oregon-bound
company from Missouri came up with nineteen wagons and two carriages. Their guide said water could be found
sixteen miles ahead, but no more for fifteen miles after that.
When the
weather cleared around 1 p.m., it was thought best to travel six miles during
the afternoon in order to shorten Monday’s travel to the next water. At 2:30 p.m., the pioneer camp was on the
move. After traveling up the creek four
miles, they passed the Oregon company of nineteen wagons. They camped one mile further by a stream of
water, called Bitter Creek, where there was plenty of wood. The first emigrant company from Missouri was
camped a short distance ahead.
William
Clayton recorded: “One of the men in
the company of the nineteen wagons told G. A. Smith that he had broken his
carriage spring and seemed much troubled to know what to do to get along. He asked George if there was any man in our
company who could fix it. George told
him there was. After we were camped,
Burr Frost set up his forge and welded the spring ready to put on before
dark.” Several of the Missouri
emigrants came to see the roadometer.
They wanted to see the gears inside and looked upon it as a curiosity.
Harriet
Young wrote: “Camped for the night in
the most beautiful place we have found since we started. I churned and picked a mess of great, eat
supper and went to bed.”
In the
evening, it learned that a letter could be taken to Samuel Brannan in San
Francisco. Willard Richards composed a
letter for Brigham Young that included:
By my date
you will discover my location, and as there is an emigrating company from the
states camped about one‑fourth of a mile back this eve, some of whom, as
I understand are destined for San Francisco, I improve a few moments to write
to you. . . . This camp which left Winter Quarters between the 6th and 14th of
April, consists of something less than 200 men ‑‑ two men to a
wagon, accompanied by two‑thirds of the council and men in pursuit of a
location for themselves and friends. We
left upwards of 4,000 inhabitants at Winter Quarters and expect a large company
which have since started, and are now en route, among whom will be as many of
the families of the Battalion as can be fitted out. If any of the Battalion are with you or at your place, and want to
find their families, they will do well to take the road to the States, via the
south bank of Salt Lake, Ft. Bridger, South Pass, etc. and watch the path or any turn of the road
till they find this camp. . . . The camp will not go to the west coast or to
your place at present; we have not the means.
Any among you who may choose to come over into the Great Basin or meet
the camp, are at liberty to do so; and if they are doing well where they are,
and choose to stay, it is quite right.
After the
Omahas had breakfast, they left Winter Quarters to return home. Hosea Stout escorted them until they were
six miles from the city.
John
Taylor spoke to the Saints at a Sunday meeting. “He exhorted the Saints to be diligent in doing their duty, and
in keeping their sacred covenants and walking uprightly before, and keeping all
his righteous commandments.” Elder
Taylor explained to the Saints about their authority to lead and the need to
change some of the procedures that Brigham Young had set up before he
left. “When the Twelve are present they
lead. . . . But I tell you Bro. Young never set up stakes that cannot be drawn
up according to circumstances. When
Elder Hyde is here he is Elder Young.
If Bro. Pratt is here he would be Elder Young. If 2 or 3 of the Twelve were here the oldest would preside.”
In the
evening an entertaining and thought provoking meeting was held. A Universalian Minister preached from Mark
Chapter 15 and 16. After he preached,
Benjamin Clapp responded. They each
took several turns to respond to each other’s remarks.
Eliza R.
Snow was trying to decide if she should leave with the next pioneer
company. Sister Peirce had mentioned
that she wanted Sister Snow to go with her family, but Brother Peirce was not
sure if he had the means to take her with them.
About
fifty wagons were camping at Papillion Creek.
These families would be part of the second pioneer company. A heavy thundershower beat against the
wagons during the night.
Rebecca
Mayberry, age eight months, died of lung complaint. She was the daughter of David Y. and Rebecca Mayberry.
After
getting some grain ground up at the Winter Quarters mill, John D. Lee returned
to Summer Quarters and found everyone doing well.
The men
continued to have good success killing many dogs in the Pueblo. The Mexicans had been keeping a huge number
of dogs. Horse racing was held by the
Mexicans.
Robert S.
Bliss wrote: “Rode to the coast to
examine a bed of coal. Saw a variety of
sea animals & objects interesting to me.”
Diary of Howard Egan, Pioneering
the West, 66; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 29; “Luke S. Johnson
Journal,” typescript, BYU, 11; Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints,
182‑83; William Clayton’s Journal, 218‑20; Our Pioneer
Heritage, 3:480‑81; Kelly, ed., Journals of John D. Lee, 173‑74;
Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, 1:259; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters,
146; The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 176‑77; Journal of
Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 224; “The
Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:95; “Diary of
Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 14:161; “Journal of
William A. Empey,” Annals of Wyoming, 21:131; Pratt, “Parley P. Pratt in
Winter Quarters and the Trail West, BYU Studies, 383-84; Smart, ed., Mormon
Midwife, 84
The two
Missouri emigration companies started out before the pioneer company. Harriet Young commented: “A camp from Missouri came up with us, but
seemed in a hurry to get away from us, and we was willing to have them.” Brigham Young bought a cow from the
emigrants for a very good price.
Willard Richards left behind another letter to Charles C. Rich and the
next company in a letter box.
In the
morning, the pioneers traveled almost eight miles and spent the noon rest on a
small spring with very little water and grass.
The roads had been rough and they had been going uphill. While there, a third company from Missouri
passed by with 13 wagons, 14 horses, 64 cows, and 43 yoke of oxen. They were from Andrew County, Missouri.
Thomas
Bullock recorded: “We then ascended
some hills skirted & dotted with Pine Timber; when at the top we had view
of a most beautiful country, being in two directions like an immense Park,
without any fence, & dotted with Pines.
On the other side had a full view of Laramie Peak, covered with Timber
& tipt with Snow.” William Clayton
described the Black Hills:
From a fair
view of the peak I am satisfied that the Black Hills, of which this is a
prominent part, are so named from the vast forests of pine trees covering their
surface and being of a dark green color within a few miles of them. The pine grows in the most rocky places and
abounds on the highest hills, while on the lower bluffs it is sparsely scattered
and in the bottom land, which looks rich and good, there are none.
William
Clayton continued: “We began to descend
and had to lock the wagons in several places.
The descent was rendered unpleasant by the many large cobble stones
scattered in the road. Many of the
brethren threw them out of the road as we went along and the road is much
improved. They have also dug down some
places and leveled others, which will make the road much better for other
companies.”
After
descending into a valley, they camped for the night at Horseshoe Creek where
there was wonderful feed for the cattle.
Wilford Woodruff wrote:
“Horseshoe Creek is heavily timbered with cottonwood, ash &
willow. It is quite a large
stream. I went fishing with a hook
& line to see if I could not get some trout but I caught nothing. The Black Hills are a good deal timbered
with pine.” The three Missouri
companies went on ahead. Another heavy
thunderstorm poured rain upon the pioneer camp.
John Brown
killed a long‑tailed deer and another hunter killed an antelope. Robert Crow’s hunter, Lewis B. Myers, also
killed a deer but was not willing to conform to the camp rules of dividing it
among the camp, and instead kept it all for the Mississippi Saints. Brother Crow promised that it they obtained
more meat than they could use, they would share it with the rest of the
camp. The fact that the Mississippi
Saints continued to live by their own company rules was certainly a frustration
to the leaders of the pioneer camp. The
pioneers were curious to watch Lewis Myers roast the young antlers of the deer
and eat them. Some of the Missouri companies
killed an antelope, took off the quarters, and left the rest on the
ground. John Pack picked it up and
brought it along.
Patty
Sessions and her family arrived at the Elkhorn.
It rained
in the morning and was very muddy in the city.
Hosea Stout went around town to collect the police tax from some of
those who were preparing to leave with the next company of pioneers. He also asked about the possibility of
himself going as captain of the guard.
Henry
Standage took his turn at guard duty and was posted at the jail. One of the prisoners, an American, put on an
Indian woman’s clothes who had brought him his meal, and went out the
door. Private Standage suspected
something and discovered the trick. He
immediately ordered him back to the jail at bayonet point and requested that
the jailer lock him in a more secure room.
The jailed man issued many threats and curses against “the Mormon.”
Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:197‑98; “Luke S. Johnson Journal,”
typescript, BYU, 11; Diary of Howard Egan, Pioneering the West, 67‑8;
Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 184; William Clayton’s
Journal, 220‑23; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, 1:260;
Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
224; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 14:161;
Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 84
On this
cool morning, the pioneers started their journey at 7:30 a.m. by crossing
Horseshoe Creek. For two and a half
miles they wound their way through high bluffs and then began to ascend
them. This was the worst hill of the
journey so far. They had to climb three
very steep pitches, which required doubling teams. Wilford Woodruff recorded:
“We formed a company of men & went forward of the teams &
cleaned the road of stone. We used pick
axes, bars, spades, &c. It was a
great help to our weak waggons.” From
the top of the hill they saw their first buffalo since May 21. They continued on and then had to climb
another bluff. Thomas Bullock left
behind a buffalo skull message that read:
“Pioneers‑‑Double Teams‑‑8 June, 1847, Camp all
well. Hail Storm last night fine
morning. T Bullock. No accident.”
An
accident did occur a little later, which was recorded by Thomas Bullock:
Sister
Harriet Crow got on the Wagon tongue to get a drink of Water. As she was jumping down, her coat caught by
the Wagon Hammer & she fell to the ground; her husband seized her, pulled
her body from under the Wheel, but her coat being still entangled on the Wagon
Hammer could not clearly extricate her, before the front Wheel passed over her
left thigh & ankle. Fortunately no
bones were broken. She was much
bruised, had great pain, but before night was considerably easier.
At 11:45,
the company halted for the noon rest by a small creek with only a little water.
There was
no sign of the two Missouri companies this day. John Higbee had gone ahead hunting and reported that he saw them
start out, and “they had such strife one with another in trying to start first
they did not stop to milk their cows, & in clearing up their breakfast,
they strewed their meal, salt, bacon, short cake, jonney cake, beans &
other things upon the ground through their encampment & when we came up 3
wolves were feeding upon the fragments.”
Wilford Woodruff wrote “I picked up a pocket knife & spoon left upon
the ground.”
At 1:40
p.m., the journey continued. They
crossed another creek and ascended another bluff. After five miles, they finally began to descend and crossed
Labonte Creek. Elder Woodruff recorded,
“When we came over the high hills to day it was so cold it pierced us like
winter.” They soon stopped, circled the
wagons, established the camp, and built roaring fires.
Three
traders came to visit. They were part
of a company who had lost their cattle in a snowstorm on the Sweetwater River
ahead. They had three wagon loads of
pottery and firs from Fort Bridger.
Some of the brethren went to visit their camp and the traders told them
that mountaineers could ride to Salt Lake from Fort Bridger in two days and
that the Utah country was beautiful.
Letters were sent back with them to Fort Laramie. Porter Rockwell reported that he had been to
the North Platte River which was about four miles away.
Heavy rain
fell at 6 p.m. The extra water caused
the mill dam to break during the night.
Twins,
Hellen Louisa and Horace Alonzo Eldredge, were born to Horace S. and Betsy
Chase Eldredge. A daughter, Hannah
Grover, was born to Thomas and Hannah Tupper Grover.9
Diary of Howard Egan, Pioneering
the West, 68; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 30; Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 557; Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:198‑99; Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 185; Kelly,
ed., Journals of John D. Lee, 175
The feed
was not good at the campsite, so the pioneers started early, at 5 a.m., and
went one mile to a better location near the traders’ camp. Some of the men traded with their company
for robes, shirts, pants and other items.
At 7 a.m., a company of 40 men and 15 wagons were chosen to travel ahead
of the main camp to the river crossing at the Platte River. The traders mentioned that they had left a
boat made from buffalo skins hanging in a tree at the river and the brethren
were interested in obtaining that boat before the Missouri emigration companies
did. This small company would also make
preparations for the river crossing ahead by building a raft. They took “Revenue Cutter” with them. The company consisted of all of Robert
Crow’s Mississippi families, Aaron Farr, Jackson Redden, John Brown and others.
Letters
were left with the traders to take back to the Missouri River. Thomas Bullock wrote a letter to his wife
that included: “We are now about 300
miles from Fort Bridger, but where we go, we know not.” He mentioned that he was “up before the sun
every morning praying for you & long to clasp you feverently in my arms
again.” William Clayton put up another
guide board that read: “To Fort John 60
miles.”
Appleton
Harmon described the morning journey.
After one
and a half hours’ refreshment, we started on traveling over a rough, broken
country as before, changing our direction every few minutes to wind around some
point or gutter, to pass some creek or confused mass of rocks which lay in fragments,
or to avoid some steep that is too rugged for our times. . . . We came to a
valley some two miles wide which was somewhat picturesque. Along each side there were high ranges of
hills. The soil in the valley and on
the sides of the hills is, a major part of it, a dark red, while here upon the
sides of these hills and nearer the summit it is white.
Brigham
Young and Heber C. Kimball saw what was a curious creature to them. It was a large toad with horns on its head
and a tail. Instead of hoping, it
crawled like a mouse.
While the
main camp was traveling during the morning, they were overtaken by a company of
French mountaineers with fifteen pack horses and mules, who had traveled from
Santa Fe. They were heading to the
Green River, Great Salt Lake, and San Francisco. They informed the brethren that the Mormon Battalion had arrived
in California in January. They had seen
Captain James Brown recently in Santa Fe obtaining pay for the sick detachments
of the battalion. They believed these
detachments would be moving on very soon.
They mentioned that the Mormons at Pueblo were much dissatisfied and
many of them talked about returning to the States to their families.
At the
noon stopping point, the ground was covered with crickets which were so
numerous that it was impossible to walk without stepping on some. In the afternoon, the pioneers traveled
eight miles and camped on A’la’parele (Le Prele) Creek. Some brethren rode ahead on horses and
overtook the little lead pioneer group, who were not far behind the Missouri
companies. Starling Driggs killed an
antelope and a deer.10 Some of the men viewed a river flowing under
a mountain causing a natural bridge.
A meeting
was held to appoint a time for the next company to start from Winter Quarters
to head for the Elkhorn River. Because
the mill dam had broken, further grinding would be delayed. Those who had already had their grain ground
were asked to divide it with those who would not be able to have it done before
they left. Hosea Stout wrote that this
“made a great disappointment to many and caused a great stir.”
Mary
Richards wrote in a letter to her missionary husband, Samuel:
There is a
noble large field plowed and part planted, and the brethren are plowing and
planting every day when the weather will admit. They have covenanted not to make short furrows in order for every
man to plough his own piece of land, but to commence on one side of the field
and plough through to the other, no matter wither it be their own land, or
their brethrens, for we are all one family.
A
daughter, Sarah Marinda Bates, was born to Ormus E. and Morilla Spink Bates.11
Wagons
started to arrive at the Elkhorn River.
Men started work to build a raft to cross over the hundreds of wagons
that would soon follow. There were some
mishaps. As one of the Sessions’ wagons
was being taken across, the back wheels slid off into the water. They had to unload everything out of the
wagon and then pull it back onto the raft.
Nothing was lost or wet.
Nicholas Singley was not as lucky.
His wagon sunk the raft and fell into the river. They were able to pull the wagon out of the
river, but the load had become totally soaked.
The grain and meal were later dried out and very little was lost.
Elder
Lyman O. Littlefield arrived at Kirtland after walking for many days. His feet were swollen and blistered. He stayed with his father‑in‑law,
John Andrews, who were very kind.
Robert S.
Bliss started out with others for San Isabel, a fifty to sixty mile journey in
the mountains to go buy horses and mules for the journey home. They rode over difficult mountains and after
about forty miles camped for the night.
During the day they had seen hundreds of horses and mules as they passed
a ranch called Cahoe.
The
soldiers had to cross the deep Stanislaus River by swimming the animals and
carrying their goods across in skins.
The men learned that there was a small settlement of the Brooklyn
Saints six miles downriver. Nathaniel
Jones wrote: “We have been passing
through the Indians for several days.
They are very numerous and are called the ‘diggers.’ They live upon
grass seed and roots, and go naked except a wisp of grass tied around them.”
Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:199; “Erastus Snow Journal Excerpts,” Improvement
Era 15:56; Autobiography of John Brown, 76; Watson, ed., The
Orson Pratt Journals, 422; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 31; William
Clayton’s Journal, 225‑28; “Lyman Littlefield Reminiscences (1888),”
192; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, 1:260; Bagley, ed., The
Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 186‑87; “The Journal of Robert S. Bliss,”
Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:95; “The Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 4:18; Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 84; Ward,
ed., Winter Quarters, 169
Thomas
Bullock recorded in his journal:
Opened with
a lovely morning. The place I had to
stand guard was on a hill where I had a beautiful view & delightful
company, the Birds were singing merrily.
The country looked Green. I
could see a great distance in some directions.
A solemnity prevailed near me & altogether to praise their
Creator. Two Deer galloped by in their
happy manner & “the Brook murmured by” in its course to the Father of
Waters.
He
observed a grave near the camp with a name written on a stone: “J.
Umbree 1843.”12
At 7:30
a.m., the pioneers moved out of camp.
The morning was warm, fifty‑seven degrees. They were fascinated to see a stream flow
through a natural tunnel in a mountain.
Howard Egan recorded: “It runs
through a tunnel from ten to twenty rods under the high bluffs. The tunnel is high enough for a man to stand
upright in it, and the light can be seen through from the other side.
After
traveling almost nine miles and crossing three streams, they halted for the
noon rest on the east side of a stream about thirty feet wide. They had crossed over several steep bluffs
and the streams had been difficult to ford.
One of the Missouri companies could be seen a few miles ahead of
them. William Clayton said: “We have learned today from one of the
travelers that there is one man living and making a farm in the Bear River
valley.”
At 1:45
p.m., the wagons rolled out. During the
afternoon, they came within sight of the North Platte River for the first time
in several days. They came upon a sick
horse that had been left to die by the Missouri companies ahead. The men tried to treat it, but also had to
leave it behind.
William
Clayton recorded: “At a quarter to six
we passed another stream about thirty feet wide and two feet deep, swift
current and clear water. Name is Deer
Creek. There is plenty of timber on its
banks and abundance of good, rich grass for our teams. We formed our encampment on the west bank in
a grove of large timber.”13
In the
creek there were plenty of fish.
William Clayton caught twenty‑four herring with a hook and
line. A few catfish were caught by
others. A bed of stone coal was found a
quarter mile upstream. The coal vein
was about ten feet thick and about 300 feet long. George A. Smith and Albert Carrington brought samples back into
camp. The hunters killed several
antelope.
The Twelve
walked down to the North Platte to examine the river and have prayers.
Erastus
Snow wrote:
I have been
agreeably surprised in the country of the Black Hills, over which we have
travelled a distance of ninety miles from Fort Laramie. Instead of sand and continual barrenness,
without water, as I had expected, we have found hard roads through the hills,
and at convenient distances beautiful creeks skirted with timber, and bottoms
covered with grass, though the country otherwise presents generally a rough and
barren appearance.
Harriet
Young added: “The scenery is romantic,
the grass is up to 8 or 10 inches high and yet within six miles there is bed of
snow to be seen.”
Wilford
Woodruff recorded this experience:
At the
blowing of the horn I did not feel much like retiring to bed so I walked 1/2
mile from the camp on the bank of Deer Creek & found Br Clayton fishing
with a hook. He had caught about two
dozen good fish. Another Br Harmon had
caught some. They resembled the eastern
Herrin. They were about to leave &
they left their lines for me to fish with so I sat down for half an hour musing
alone as unconcerned as though I had been sitting upon the banks of Farmington
River. Very suddenly I heard a rustling
in the bushes near me & for the first time the thought flashed across my
mine that I was in a country abounding with grizzly bear, wolves, & Indians
and was liable to be attacked by either of them at any moment & was half a
mile from any company & had no weapon not even enough to have defend myself
against a badger & I thought wisdom dictated for me to return to camp so I
took up my polls & fish & walked leasurely home & retired to rest
which closed the business of the day.
As the
second company of pioneers continued to gather at the Elkhorn, the men built a
fence to pen in the cattle.
Mary
Richards visited Sister Taylor to bid her good‑bye. Sister Taylor was about to leave with the
second pioneer company. Hosea Stout
delivered the public arms to Alpheus Cutler, as ordered, and the wagon to
Charles C. Rich to be used for his journey west.
Brother
Stout was getting frustrated in his efforts to figure out what was going to be
done with the guard in the second pioneer company, and whether or not he would
be going with them. He wrote:
[I] could
not learn anything about it nor as much as get any of them [the leaders] to
talk on the subject to any satisfaction but to refer me to the other. [Isaac] Morley refered me to [Charles C.]
Rich & he to [John] Taylor, who requested me not to trouble him about it
for he said he had never considered it before, and refered me to [Alpheus]
Cutler & he said he had not time to talk & [Newel K.] Whitney knew
nothing about it. Thus I was sent
around all day and learning nothing so seeing that there was no arrangement for
either me or a guard on the journey, I now give up the idea of going &
bought a house of Br A[braham] O. Smoot which was more spacious &
comfortable than the one I now occupied.
Those at
Summer Quarters were busy plowing and harrowing corn. At 2 p.m., Isaac Morley came for a short visit.14
Several
men were detailed to go to San Pedro to guard a military store.
Diary of Howard Egan, Pioneering
the West, 69‑71; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 32; “Erastus
Snow Journal Excerpts,” Improvement Era 15:164; Kenney, ed., Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:199‑200; William Clayton’s Journal, 228‑30;
Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 187‑88; Ward, ed., Winter
Quarters, 147; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, 1:260; Kelly,
ed., Journals of John D. Lee, 175; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The
March of the Mormon Battalion, 225; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 14:161; Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 84
Howard
Egan wrote:
The morning
was very pleasant. I stood guard the
later part of the night, in the place of some of the brethren that have gone
ahead. About 3 o’clock this morning I
commenced cleaning the fish Brother Clayton caught. I fried them and we had a firstrate breakfast. This is the first place I have seen since we
left Winter Quarters, where I should like to live. The land is good and plenty of timber and the warbling of the
birds make is very pleasant.
Thomas
Bullock wrote on a skull a message to the next company and also planted a hill
of corn as he had been doing for some time.
The
pioneers traveled along the North Platte river bottoms all day. They rode their horses into the river
several times to see if they could find a place to ford, but the water level
was too high from the melting snow in the mountains. Appleton Harmon wrote:
“No timber, only now and then a few scattering cottonwoods, in groups
along the river. At times we changed
our direction to wind around some ravine that sits back from the river, or some
gutter that had been washed by the heavy rain in the sandy soil which was but
partially covered by grass and wild sage.”
William
Clayton put up a guide board indicating that it was one hundred miles to Fort
Laramie. Some of the brethren had
started to taken an interest in his guide boards and helped him to find good
wood to be used for the signs.
They
camped in a cottonwood grove after traveling seventeen miles, near two of the
three Missouri companies, who were trying to ferry over their wagons with their
skiff and newly constructed rafts.
Thomas Bullock observed: “The
two camps half a mile off make more noise by ten times than all our camp put
together.” The emigrants told the
brethren that the advance company of pioneers was working a ferry crossing ten
miles further up the river. One of the
emigrants brought a snowball to camp. They
had been up the mountains and reported the two or three bears had been killed
by their company. Orson Pratt learned
about an accident that happened in one of these companies. “The day before their teams took fright by
the running of a horse, upsetting two of their wagons: one woman and two
children considerably injured, but no bones broke: some crockery, &c.
broken.”
The
hunters had great success. They brought
in thirteen antelope. The Missouri
company killed three buffalo. Appleton
Harmon described the surroundings:
“There is a range off to the black hills or mountains extending in a
long parallel with the river from two to four miles distant and most of which
is thickly covered with evergreens, mostly cedar, and at this time is partially
covered with snow which can be distinctly seen from the camp.”
The
advance company of about forty men arrived at the ferry crossing, four hours
ahead of any of the Missouri companies.15 They could not find the boat made from
buffalo skins which they had been told was left behind by a company of
traders. Soon, some of those from the
Missouri companies arrived. One of the
men of the Missourian company tried to swim across the river with his clothes
on. When he reached the current he
became frightened and began to moan.
Some of the pioneers went to him with the “Revenue Cutter” and reached
him in time to save his life.
While
camped at Lodgepole Creek,16
the detachment from Pueblo met Amasa Lyman, Roswell Stevens, John Tippets, and
Thomas Woolsey. They had been sent from
Fort Laramie by Brigham Young to bring these Saints to follow after the pioneer
company. Amasa Lyman delivered a large
package of letters to the battalion from their families back on the Missouri
River.
William
Karchner wrote about battalion member John Hess: “On meeting them Brother John Hess ran and embraced and kissed
Amasa for joy.” John Hess, recalled: “This was indeed a happy meeting to get new
from our loved ones and it greatly relieved our anxieties as we then learned
that the camp ahead of us led by President Brigham Young and he led by
revelations, so we pushed on with fresh courage.” Joel Terrell was somewhat miffed at being charged postage for the
letters from home. “At any rate it gave
us another chance to part with one dollar more of our hard earnings . . . it
was joy and grief to me.”
Fifty-five
more wagons belonging to the second pioneer company crossed over the Elkhorn on
rafts. Patriarch John Smith, the uncle
of Joseph Smith, arrived from Winter Quarters.
Mary
Richards spent the day saying good‑bye to several families who were about
to leave in the next pioneer company.
She wrote: “May the Lord bless
them and bring them to the end of the journey in Peace and safety.”
For some
time, Eliza R. Snow and other sisters had been participating in sacred meetings
at which the Spirit of the Lord was in great abundance and spiritual gifts were
experienced. In the afternoon, such a
meeting was held. Sister Snow
wrote: “We had a glorious time ‑‑
Sis. Leavitt & M[argaret] Peirce spoke in the gift [of tongues] & I
could truly say that my heart was fill’d to overflowing with gratitude to my
Father in heaven.
An express
arrived from Monterey with some letters from the Kearny detachment. Orders were read from Colonel Mason, now
governor of California. One of the
orders was related to the case of John Allen, a battalion member who joined the
Church at Fort Leavenworth and signed up with the battalion to go to
California. He had been in jail for
deserting his post as a guard. He also
no longer belonged to the Church. He
had been cut off by a Quorum of Seventy at Los Angeles for drunkenness,
swearing, and other vices. Henry
Standage believed he had never really been a Mormon, showing a bad spirit for
the whole journey. The order stated
that his sentence should be to have half of his hair shaved and to be drummed
out of town.
Elder
Addison Pratt arrived at San Francisco after a long voyage from his mission
that lasted nearly four years to the South Pacific. When he landed, he met many of the Saints who came to California
on the ship Brooklyn. He
discovered that their leader, Samuel Brannan was away to visit the pioneers,
hoping to guide them to California.
Elder Pratt wrote:
I soon
found there was much dissatisfaction among the Brooklyn brethren as to
Brannan’s proceedings while on board of the Brooklyn, and several of
them proposed to me to take charge of the spiritual affairs among them. But I told them it was not my place to
meddle with their affairs in any wise as Brannan was the man that was appointed
by the church to look after them, and my mission was to another part of the
world altogether.
As the
detachment traveled toward Sacramento, they came across some Americans. They learned that a letter had been received
from the Church and that Samuel Brannan had gone back to pilot them through the
mountains to California. In the
evening, they met Brother Thomas Rhoads, who with his family had been the first
Church members to emigrate overland to California. They had arrived in October, 1846. He told them that there were Church members settled in several
different places throughout the area.
Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:200‑01; Watson, ed., The Orson Pratt
Journals, 423; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 32; Diary of Howard
Egan, Pioneering the West, 71‑2; William Clayton’s Journal,
228; Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 188‑89;
Ellsworth, ed., The Journals of Addison Pratt, 330; Ward, ed., Winter
Quarters, 147; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 322‑23; Journal
of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 225; The
Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 177; “The Journal of Nathaniel V.
Jones,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:18; Our Pioneer Heritage,
2:443; Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 84
At 8 a.m.,
the pioneers continued their journey along the North Platte River. Wilford Woodruff recorded how he was bitten
by a horse: “I started in the morning
to go forward in company with Br. Albert P. Rockwood who was riding President
Young’s stud when suddenly he sprung upon my horse but instead of striking my
horse, he took my knee into his Jaw & bruised me considerable. Sunk one tooth to the bone through three
thicknesses of clothing & one of them buck skin.”
After
crossing over two creeks, they halted for the midday rest at noon. One of the creeks was crossed over on a
bridge, which the advance group of pioneers had built.
News came
from the advance group at the ferry crossing four miles ahead that they were
busy helping two small bands of emigrants ferry across the river. Brother Alexander P. Chesley had traveled
back and reported that they were receiving thirty‑four dollars for the
service.17 The goods were loaded in the “Revenue
Cutter” and the wagons were pulled over by a rope fastened to the end of the
wagon tongue. Frequently the wagons
would roll over because of the fierce current.
The river crossing was about one hundred yards across, and fifteen feet
deep. Some of the horses almost drowned
as they were swimming across. The
payment for the crossing service was made in desperately needed flour.
Rodney
Badger traded a wagon for a horse, one hundred pounds of flour, twenty‑eight
pounds of bacon, and some crackers.
William Clayton remarked: “The
Missourian company seem to feel well toward us and express their joy at having
got across the river so soon.” They
made quite a feast for the brethren to thank them.
Stephen
Markham learned from Judge Bowman, the leader of one of the Missouri companies,
that his son, William Bowman had been murdered for aiding in the escape of
Joseph and Hyrum Smith from Liberty Jail, Missouri, in 1839. The mob had been led by Obediah Jennings. The Missouri mob had rode William Bowman on
a bar of iron until he died.
The main
pioneer company debated for a half hour whether or not they should cross the
river at their current point or travel four miles more to join the advance
group. They had been able to ford the
river on horses, but they decided to travel on.
After four
miles, they made a half circle with the wagons on the bank of the river,
one-half mile east of the ferry location.
The hunters killed three buffalo, a black bear, some cubs, and several
antelope. Seeley Owen killed a mountain
goat and said that there were plenty of others in the mountains.18
Wilford Woodruff visited the camp of some of the traders and saw the
foot of a bear that measured seven and a half inches long.
Tunis
Rappleye19 and Artemas Johnson20 were reported missing. Brother Rappleye returned at 11 p.m. He had foolishly tried to hike up to the
mountains to get some snow, but the mountains were much further than he
thought. Brother Johnson was found by
some of the men. He had become lost
while hunting. A company of horseman
with the bugler was sent out to search for them. Guns were fired and a large bonfire built to help them find the
camp. They even “sounded the conk
shell.” Erastus Snow recorded the two
men’s reaction after they finally returned to camp: “Their extreme mortification at being the cause of so much
trouble and anxiety in camp served greatly to heighten the merited chastisement
which they received from the president.
They reported the mountains to be full of bear, elk antelope and sheep,
and snow from six to ten feet deep in places.”
Brother Rappleye had accepted a bet of one dollar to retrieve the
snow. The snow ball melted in his hand
at the foot of the mountain. He now
said that he would not go on another such journey after a snow ball for one
hundred dollars.
The number
of families continued to swell at the gathering point for the second pioneer
company at the Elkhorn River. Some men
went fishing in the rain with a net, but came back without any fish. News arrived that one of Parley P. Pratt’s
wives, Mary Ann Frost Pratt, arrived at Winter Quarters from Nauvoo. Elder Pratt left the camp to go see her.21
Eliza R.
Snow started her journey to the mountain west.
She wrote in her journal: “Bade
farewell to many who seem dearer to me than life & seated in the carriage
with [Margaret Peirce] & [Edith Evaline Peirce] I took my departure from
Winter Quarters.” It soon started
raining and shortly after that one of the wagons in her company broke their
wagon tongue and it had to be repaired.
They traveled seven miles toward the Elkhorn River and camped with a
company of fourteen wagons. Sister Snow
continued: “I felt a loneliness for a
while after parting with my friends but the spirit of consolation &
rejoicing return’d & I journey’d with good cheer.” Later, Sister Snow recalled:
Previous to
starting for an indefinite point ‑‑ probably one thousand miles
into the interior, and far from all supplies, the idea of an outfit was a very
important consideration. Some of our
brethren had purchased and brought from St. Louis a few articles of Merchandise,
which supplied our local store with some of the necessaries and comforts for
journeying. I was to start immediately,
and what about my outfit? Its extent must be determined by the amount of means. On examining my purse, I found it contained
one dime ‑‑ I was nearly minus ink ‑‑ I could not go
without that article: one dime was just the price of a bottle, and I made the
purchase.
Mary
Richards lamented in a letter to her missionary husband, Samuel, that the Van
Cott family, who recently left with the pioneer company, took all the cattle
used by the Richards’ family. The Van
Cott’s cattle had died during the winter, so they had to take back the cattle
they loaned to the Richards. “So you
will see we are left without.” They
only had one cow. She continued: “I would like much to go on next Season, if
we could conveniantly but I feel very contented about it, for I expect the
means will have to come through my Samuel and I know he will do the best he
can. At any rate, I shall be satisfide
to be where he is, wither it be here or the Land of promise.” She continued: “We hear that the Mormon Battalion have arrived in California,
but we hear nothing from our friends who are with them of late. It seems as though I can scarcely endure to
think about them since Joseph is no more.”
She wrote about the city. “There
is a merchant here from St. Louis who has brought up a large quantity of dry
good groceries &c &c and opened a store in the Council House. They sell very reasonable. Winter Quarters has quite the appearance of
a City, and I never saw the Ladys dress half so well in Nauvoo as they do
here. We have a firstrate Mill here and
in fact it is quite a business city.”
Because
the Winter Quarters mill was no longer functioning, John D. Lee resorted to
using a mortar with a spring pole to beat corn into meal. There was some trouble in the settlement as
the stock was destroying crops.
Elder
Lyman O. Littlefield, on the way to England on a mission, met up with his
companion, Brother Fox. Elder
Littlefield wrote of Kirtland at that time:
“We found there several members of the Church ‑‑ some of
them firm in the faith, some rather lukewarm.
There were plenty of apostates, the leader of whom was William E.
M’Lellin, once one of the Twelve Apostles.”
John
Spidle was thrown from his horse and was badly injured.
Appleton
Milo Harmon Goes West, 33; History of the Church, 3:321; Diary
of Howard Egan, Pioneering the West, 72‑3; Watson, ed., The
Orson Pratt Journals, 424; Watson, ed., The Manuscript History of
Brigham Young, 558‑59; “Erastus Snow Journal Excerpts,” Improvement
Era 15:166; Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:201‑02;
Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 191; Kelly, ed., Journals
of John D. Lee, 175; William Clayton’s Journal, 233‑36;
“Journal of Albert P. Rockwood,” typescript, BYU, 54; The Personal Writings
of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 177; Our Pioneer Heritage, 17:335; “Lyman
Littlefield Reminiscences (1888),” 192; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The
March of the Mormon Battalion, 225; “Norton Jacob Journal,” typescript,
BYU, 89; Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 84; Our Pioneer Heritage,
17:211; Book Reviews; BYU Studies, 33:2:358; Autobiography of Parley
P. Pratt, 374; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters, 171-72; “Life of George
Whitaker, A Pioneer, as written by himself,” in Madsen, Journey to Zion,
59
The
morning was very pleasant. A prayer meeting
was held at 9 a.m. At 11 a.m., a
preaching meeting was held. The first
speaker was Heber C. Kimball, who spoke of the natural alienating principle in
man. He said that it was natural for
man to be concerned about themselves and independent. This could be seen in looking at the Missouri emigrant companies
that were continually dividing themselves into smaller companies. But the Saints needed to put away their
selfishness and become one.
Elder
Kimball testified that the mission they were on was the greatest in the history
of the Church. Some talked about
staying at the ferry site to earn money from the emigrants, but he felt it was
more important to be part of the historic pioneer company than to even earn a
fee of fifty dollars per wagon ferrying them across.
He urged
the brethren to obey counsel. He told a
story about Joseph Smith. “Brother
Joseph once told me to drive my team between two trees where one horse could
not go through. I said I could
not. Joseph stared at me. ‘Drive through.’ I jerked my reins and
popped my whip. ‘There,’ said Joseph,
‘that will do. I only wanted to see you
try.’”
Elder
Kimball used one of his favorite analogies ‑‑ the potter and
clay. Every man had the privilege of
being exalted to honor and glory if he did not mar in the hands of the
potter. William Clayton said his
remarks were “very touching and appropriate to our circumstances.”
Brigham
Young next spoke to the camp. He spoke
on the liberty of the gospel. He showed
how living the gospel had blessed their lives.
He said that some wanted their liberty to ignore the camp rules, to
curse, swear, run to the mountains, but would that be liberty? No, it would
lead to death, not life. “This is the
liberty of the gospel: Not giving men license to commit sin, but delivering
them from the bondage of sin.” The way
to best worship God was to be obedient.
They could clearly see the difference between their camp and the
Missouri emigrant camp. Those ruffians
would be forgotten, but the Saints, if faithful, would inherit the earth and
increase in power and glory.
Orson
Pratt exhorted the camp to listen to President Young’s teachings and “to
improve our time in treasuring up useful knowledge that we ought not to spend a
moments time needlessly.” They were to
avoid “all excesses of folly of every description, inasmuch as it disqualifies
from the society of just men and angels.”
In the
afternoon, the captains met at President Young’s wagon to plan how to take the
company across the river. A few men
were to cross the river and make rafts that would be used to help haul over the
wagon contents. It was also decided to
send men to the mountains, seven miles away, to obtain poles for the river
crossing. These poles would be used to
lash two or four waggons together to prevent them from rolling over like the
Missouri company wagons. The men
departed on horses and soon arrived at the mountains where they found plenty of
snow. They washed their faces with the
snow and came back with the poles and some snow at 9 p.m.
Meanwhile,
Brigham Young and others took the boat into the river to ascertain its
depth. They found it to be six feet
deep. Some of the men from the advance
group at the river crossing ahead came into camp and presented flour and bacon
to the leaders. Brigham Young
instructed that the provisions be divided up throughout the camp. The Missouri emigrants had been very
generous in their payment for the ferry service. Wilford Woodruff wrote:
“It looked as much of a miracle to me to see our flour and meal bags
replenished in the Black Hills as it did to have the children of Israel fed
with manna in the wilderness. But the
Lord has been truly with us on our journey. . . . Great good will grow out of
this mission if we are faithful in keeping the commandments of God.”
The lead
pioneers also displayed a bear paw which Thomas Bullock wrote would “give any
man an ugly clutch, or the ball of his foot would give a man a very ugly box on
the ear, & may the Lord preserve me from such animals.” William Clayton wrote: “The day has been very hot, more like a
summer day than any we have yet had on the journey. The ground seems to be alive with the large crickets, and it is
said that the bears feed on them and pick them up very fast. A person who has never seen them could form
no idea of the vast numbers of crickets in this region.”
Wilford
Woodruff wrote in his journal about his recent study of the scriptures. “I have taken great delight of late in
reading the Book of Mormon, seeing the great & glorious things revealed
& recorded in that book & that we are now trying to fulfill . . .
building up Zion, redeeming Israel, warning the Nations & sealing salvation
upon the meek of the earth & laying a foundation that the earth may be
prepared for the coming of the Messiah.”
Amasa
Lyman spoke to the soldiers and Mississippi Saints, exhorting the brethren to
“leave off card playing and profane swearing and return to God.”
Eliza R.
Snow, traveling with the Peirces, continued her journey toward the Elkhorn
River. She met Parley P. Pratt
returning to Winter Quarters to see his wife.
She wrote: “Arriv’d at Horn just
before sunset ‑‑ my feelings were very peculiar thro’ the day ‑‑
it verily seem’d that the glory of God rested down on the wagons (21 in No.)
and overspread the prairie.”
Many of
the Saints continued to roll out of Winter Quarters, to gather at the Elkhorn
River and to organize for the next pioneer company. Andrew J. Allen wrote:
“We started on the 13th of June, 1847.
I had two ox teams. One of my
sisters, Marthy went with me. My wife
and her were the only help I had to help me drive the team. I had four small children. My two brothers not being able to get a fit
out could not go on and we had to part for the time being.” Sister Phoebe Woodruff, wife of Wilford Woodruff,
recorded that she left Winter Quarters with her nineteen‑day-old
baby. “I began the journey to follow
the pioneers. . . . I started with dear old father, Aphek Woodruff, blessed be
his name, for in the hands of the Lord, he was the means of saving my life.”
William
Casper recorded: “According to plans, on June 13, 1847, I took two yoke of
oxen, Casper’s wagon, his cow, bedding, provisions for over a year in a desert
home, placed Sister Sarah Ann and babe on the spring seat of the wagon, with
faith that the goodbyes were for but a year when we would all be together
again.”
Leonard
Harrington also left: “I started from
Winter Quarters on the 13th of June, with my family, consisting of four (as we
had previously taken a little girl 11 years old by the name of Emma Blocksom),
with one wagon, three yoke of oxen, two cows, one mare and colt, provisions for
a year and a half, some seed grain, clothing, farming tools, etc.”
Isaac C.
Haight wrote: “[Left] Winter Quarters
and started for the West in good health.
We travelled about five miles and camped by a small point of timber.”
Mary
Richards visited with Mary Ann Frost Pratt.
Sister Richards recorded: “She
has been very sick before coming out here and her health is still poor. I think she is a very unhappy woman and a
very good one also.”
A council
meeting was held in the evening. An
order was given to keep all cattle out of the corn field. The owner of any cattle or horses found in
the field would pay a fine of a dollar for each. Alpheus Cutler and Hosea Stout were authorized to raise as many
men to guard the city as they thought proper.
A letter arrived from the Pioneer company, which was sent from the head
of Grand Island on May 4th.22
At 3 p.m.,
the Saints gathered at John D. Lee’s house for a Sabbath meeting. They were addressed by Levi Stewart, Brother
Johnson, and Brother Lee. After the
meeting was adjourned at 5 p.m., all the other brethren were asked to remain to
discuss some business. They needed to
discuss what should be done to protect the crops that were being overrun by the
cattle. Brother Lee said, “I will say
that there has not been a day nor a night but what there has been more or less
stock turned off our crops.” The
brethren discussed the problem for an hour and voted to pen the cattle up
better.
Elder
Lyman O Littlefield, on the way to his mission in England wrote:
Being
anxious to see the inside of the temple, on Sunday 13 I went to meeting,
feeling doubtful whether I would have another opportunity, as M’Lellin had
possession of the key. A man by the
name of Knight ‑‑ who joined J[ames] J. Strang but at that time a
follower of M’Lellin ‑‑ occupied the stand. He dwelt upon the abominations he said the
Church had entered into, in consequence of which the Saints had been driven
into the wilderness to suffer. M’Lellin
followed him and talked of the secret orders which he falsely said were in the
Church ‑‑ said they were contrary to the Book of Mormon, said David
Whitmer was the man to lead the Church, that Joseph Smith transgressed about
the year 1831, and only had power left with God to appoint another in his
stead, which he said Joseph did in 1844 by appointing David Whitmer. To confirm this he referred to a conversation
he had in Pittsburg with Benjamin Winchester.
After meeting I was shown through the interior of the temple. I also went upon the top or roof of that
noble structure where a delightful view was obtained of Kirtland and the
surrounding country.
The
detachment arrived at the American Fork River and crossed it about one and a
half miles from Sacramento. Nathaniel
V. Jones wrote: “Sutter’s Fort is one
and one‑half miles from the crossing; there are twenty‑five
soldiers stationed at this place.
Crossed the river just at night.
This is called St. Clare Fort.”
A general
inspection was held by Colonel Stevenson in the morning of arms and
quarters. In the afternoon, as Henry
Standage was going to water his mare, a Mexican woman scared his mare
purposely, which caused Henry to be thrown and injured. Some of the men were working on a ranch for
a man named Isaac Williams to cut grain and to dig a mill race.
“Journal of Albert P.
Rockwood,” typescript, BYU, 54; “Journal of William A. Empey,” Annals of
Wyoming, 21:132; Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:203‑04;
Autobiography of John Brown, 76; Diary of Howard Egan, Pioneering the
West, 73; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 33; Bagley, ed., The
Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 191; William Clayton’s Journal, 236‑37;
Our Pioneer Heritage, 1:103, 10:234; William Casper, Biography,
typescript, 3; “Leonard Harrington, Journal,” Utah Historical Quarterly
8:13; “Lyman Littlefield Reminiscences (1888),” 192; Brooks, ed., On the
Mormon Frontier, 1:260; Kelly, ed.,
Journals of John D. Lee, 175‑77; “The Journal of Nathaniel
V. Jones,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:18; Yurtinus, A Ram in the
Thicket, 323; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the
Mormon Battalion, 226; “Isaac C. Haight Journal,” typescript, 40; “Norton
Jacob Journal,” typescript, 89; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters, 175
At first
light, the pioneers started to ferry their wagon contents across the river in
“Revenue Cutter.” A raft was also used,
but the current was so strong that it made it unsafe to take provisions across
on the raft. A rope was stretched
across the river at the narrowest place, two wagons were lashed together with
poles, and the pioneers attempted to float them across the river. When the wagon wheels hit sand near the
other side, the strong current rolled over John Pack’s wagon, breaking the
wagon bow and causing other damage.
They next tried to lash four wagons together, and again tried to drag
them across with the rope. This method
worked much better. The wagons reached
the other side in safety but one of the poles broke.
Howard
Egan wrote:
Not having
poles or rope enough to lash them, we thought we would try one wagon
alone. Some of the brethren thought
that if some person would get in the wagon and ride on the upper side, it would
prevent it from turning over. I volunteered
to go across in it. Soon after we
pushed off, Brother [Andrew] Gibbons jumped in the river and caught hold of the
end of the wagon. When we got out about
the middle of the river, the wagon began to fill with water, and roll from one
side to the other, and then turn over on the side. I got on the upper side and hung on for a short time, when it
rolled over leaving me off. I saw that
I was in danger of being caught in the wheels or the bows, and I swam off, but
one of the wheels struck my leg and bruised it some. I struck out for the shore with my cap in one hand. The wagon rolled over a number of times and
was hauled ashore. It received no
damage, except the bows were broken.
They soon
concluded that the safest way to take the wagons across would be to ferry them
over on rafts. They understood that
this method would take much time. The
journey would be delayed for several days.
Two or three rafts made of pine poles were completed and used for this
purpose. Many of the men worked all day
in the water. Only twenty‑four
wagons were taken across during the day.
A very
heavy thunder storm blew in at 3:30 p.m. with hail and severe wind. Wilford Woodruff wrote:
We had just
drawn Dr. Richards two waggons of his goods on the shore & loaded them into
his waggons with all speed. Just got
through as the storm struck us. I
sprung into my carriage & tied all down tight but the rain, wind & hail
beat upon me so heavy that I had to lay out most of my strength to hold my
waggon cover on. Both hail & rain
came inside my carriage untill my bed & things were nearly drenched. It only lasted 7 minutes but was very severe.
The horses
panicked and ran two or three miles away during the storm. William Clayton recorded:
After the
storm was over the ferrying was continued, getting my trunk, etc., and the
loads in Brother Johnson and Harmon’s wagons over, and also Harmon’s wagon,
Johnson’s being got over just before the storm. It took till nearly ten o’clock to get the loading into the
wagons and get regulated. The river has
been rising all day and has risen very fast since the storm. The men have tried hard, much of the time
being in the water and sometimes up to their armpits which is very fatiguing
indeed.
About 200
wagons were camped side by side. As the
second large company of pioneers continued to gather, the men stayed very busy
building rafts, crossing over wagons, building bridges and fires, and preparing
for the long journey ahead. Eliza R.
Snow crossed over the river on a raft in the afternoon. Patty Sessions wrote: “Sister Snow and a great many others have
come to day.” Sisters Snow, Sessions,
and their close friends continued to meet together and experience the gift of
tongues. Parley P. Pratt rejoined the
pioneers with the sad news that his wife, Mary Ann Frost, was returning to
Maine with their children, Olivia, age six, and Moroni, age two. John Taylor also arrived at the Elkhorn.
One of
Brigham Young’s wives, Harriet Cook Young, wrote a letter to her husband that
included: “I feel my weakness at this
time, and my inability to perform this task well, but knowing that my greatest
fault has been not placing the confidence in you that I ought, I am determined
to lay too with all my might and overcome it.”
She mentioned that their infant son, Oscar Brigham, was recovering from
a severe burn. “Oscar is well and
playful as ever. . . . His arm is almost well.
He can use it well as the other.
He was burnt bad but I am glad it was no worse.”
The
Charles C. Rich family, numbering seventeen people including teamsters, left
Winter Quarters. They traveled three
miles and camped for the night. Brother
Rich returned to Winter Quarters in the evening to “urge forward the
artillery.”
Hosea
Stout moved into the recently vacated home of Abraham O. Smoot which was much
more comfortable than the Stout’s former home.
Despite the warning about cattle destroying corn, a large herd was
brought in from the corn. The owners
were not pleased because they would have to face up to the penalty. The stray pen was full during the
night. A guard was placed at it to keep
the cattle from being taken away without paying a fine.
Newel K.
Whitney wrote a letter to his sons, Horace and Orson, who were with Brigham
Young’s pioneer company. Bishop Whitney
told them that he had sent a wagon from Winter Quarters for the mountains. He had wanted to send three wagons, but
because the mill dam had broken, he only had enough breadstuff for one
wagon. This wagon was in the charge of
Archibald Hill and Stillman Pond.
Brother Hill and Pond were being sent to take care of the Whitney family
interests until Bishop Whitney arrived at the new mountain home. Bishop Whitney wrote about Winter Quarters:
It is a
general time of health in this place, but there are quite a number of poor on
our hands, which makes it rather hard times; but as we have a large quantity of
grain growing, we hope we shall be able to do better by them by and by. We have been hindered in starting a company
early, as anticipated when you left, in consequence of not being able to
procure a supply of breadstuff sufficient to warrant it, and some other reasons
might be assigned.
We have
concluded to fit out but one company to the mountains this season, and it is
expected that it will consist of not less than from four to five hundred
wagons, from the present calculations, and the most of them will be under the
necessity of taking the greater part of their grain unground. Bro. Eldredge takes a pair of small
millstones with him, and the necessary irons, etc., to set a mill in operation
by horse power or otherwise, in a short time after his arrival at the place of
destination.
The men
each received one horse for the journey east, over the mountains. They dried some beef during the day. Nathaniel Jones commented on the Sacramento
area: “We are thirty‑five miles
from the head of the bay. Corn does not
do so well unless it is watered.
Mechanics wages are very high, also all kinds of common labor. Land can be bought for twenty‑five
cents per acre, wheat one dollar per bushel.”
John
Allen, a disgraced soldier, had his head half shaved and was drummed out of
town. He was marched between four
sentinels with drummers and fifers in the rear. He was marched through town at the point of a bayonet as the
musicians played the “Rogues March.” He
would not be allowed to return until the war was over. If he did, he would be locked up in irons
for the duration.
William
Pace recalled Allen’s crime of leaving his guard post:
Well he
left his post, came into town, traded off his gun and accoutrements for wine,
got drunk and was found next day in an Indian Rancherie by an officer of the
guard. . . . Being requested I joined the drum chore and assisted in drumming
him out of camp and out of town. For
the information of those that never saw a man “drummed out,” I will say he was
a tall, well‑proportioned man with heavy beard, one half of which, and
one half of the hair of his head was shaved off clean, leaving the remainder to
show up. He was then brought on the
parade ground by the guard (a file of soldiers) the band was formed and
sentence of the court martial read to him.
Then it became the duty of the fifers and drummers to play the “Rogues
March” until he was well out of camp, and out of town, then he was turned loose
with instruction to leave the country and never be seen, or he would be subject
to arrest and be shot on sight.
A great
celebration was held because of the happy news received that General Zachary
Taylor was victorious over thousands of Mexicans. It was reported that American forces would soon reach Mexico City. The cannon was fired from both the fort and
the town. Robert S. Bliss remarked,
perhaps with a smile: “The Catholic
Church had a few less Glass than usual when we ceased firing. The ceremony was concluded at sun down by
firing the guns & lowering the flags with 3 Cheers.”
Appleton
Milo Harmon Goes West, 34; Diary of Howard Egan, Pioneering the
West, 73‑4; Watson, ed., The Orson Pratt Journals, 425; “Luke
S. Johnson Journal,” typescript, BYU, 12; Jesse, “Brigham Young’s Family: The
Wilderness Years,” 41; Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:204‑05;
“The History and Journal of Jesse W. Crosby,” typescript, BYU, 33; William
Clayton’s Journal, 237; “Sarah Rich Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 69‑70;
Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, 1:260; The Personal Writings of
Eliza Roxcy Snow, 178; “The Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 4:18; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The
March of the Mormon Battalion, 226; “The Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 4:95; The “Private Journal of Thomas Dunn,”
typescript, 25; Arrington, Charles C. Rich, 113; “William Pace
Autobiography,” BYU, 17; Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 85; Woman’s
Exponent, 15:1:6
The
pioneers tried to continue to ferry across the wagons, but had a very difficult
time because the river level had risen from the recent rains and the winds were
high. Two more rafts were constructed. In the afternoon, only twenty-five
additional wagons were ferried across, during which time more rain fell. The method used to get the wagons across on
this day was to load them on a raft, pull the raft upstream more than a mile
with oxen, and then with oars row across, landing at the opposite side across
from the initial starting point.
William
Clayton wrote: “In the afternoon they
commenced driving over some of the horses and cattle belonging to Brother
Crow’s company. They neglected to take
the lariats off the horses and the buffalo horse was soon seen to be
drowning. Some of the men immediately
went to it with the skiff and dragged him to the shore but could not succeed in
bringing him to life.”
Another
company of Missouri emigrants with eighteen wagons arrived at the river
crossing and wanted the pioneers to also help them across. It was decided to leave behind about ten
brethren at this point to establish a ferry until the second pioneer company
arrived. By providing a ferry service
for the hundreds of Oregon emigrants on the trail, many provisions could be
obtained as fees for this service. The
reports received from emigrants convinced the leaders that the second pioneer
company of Saints might already be as far as Grand Island.23
The
battalion detachment was met by a Sioux Indian war party. Joel Terrell recorded that the Sioux were
seen on horseback, armed with bows, arrows, guns, and spears: “There was not
far from 100 that seen us at a distance supposed us to have been the Crow Indians
with whom they were at war but finding the mistake they all commenced shaking
hands with us and you may depend they went the whole hog at that. They gladly escorted us to Laramie.”
Sarah Rich,
wife of Charles C. Rich, recorded: “We
traveled about fifteen miles and overtook Brother [John] Taylor’s company, and
on the 15th we reached Elkhorn River and the main camp crossing the river. It took a long time to cross over, there
were so many wagons and stock here.”
About three hundred wagons crossed over by noon.
Isaac C.
Haight recorded: “Crossed the river on
a float made of cottonwood logs. Found
many of the brethren waiting for the whole company to come up.”
A liberty
pole was erected on the west side of the Elkhorn. Parley P. Pratt began to organize the huge company of 1,561
people leaving Winter Quarters to be part of the second pioneer company. He organized the company in a different
manner than was initially proposed by Brigham Young.24
Issac Morley and Bishop Newel K. Whitney, visiting from Winter Quarters,
helped to organize the camp. Parley P.
Pratt and John Taylor, were appointed to preside over the spiritual affairs of
the camp. John Young was appointed to
be the president over the camp with Edward Hunter and Daniel Spencer as
counselors. Jedediah M. Grant, Willard
Snow, and Abraham O. Smoot were called to be captains of Hundreds. John Van Cott was appointed marshal of the
camp and Charles C. Rich at the head of the military organization. William Staines was appointed as the camp
historian.
Elder
Pratt explained why the organization of the camp had to be modified: “Captains of hundreds, of fifties &c
appointed last winter, are not here, some coming on, some [not]. Now I think it is best to act according to
our circumstances.” He said that yes,
they could stay another week and debate how the camp should be organized, but
he believed they should not wait any longer.
He understood that President Young wanted the company to be organized on
adoptive family lines, but this was no longer practical. “Now act in cooperation & union with us
& we will deliver you up to those whom you belong. You will not be hurt any nor lose any rights
of yours.”
In the
evening, Hosea Stout received an express letter written by Parley P. Pratt and
John Taylor at the Elkhorn River. “The
Council here has made the following vote which is here copied . . . that Hosea
Stout be sent to mount his horse and come on immediately to act in his
appointment as Captain of the Guard.”
They mentioned that he was sustained in the public meeting held earlier
in the day. They expected to see
Brother Stout in the camp within 24 hours from the time he received the note.
This
greatly frustrated Hosea Stout, who had asked the brethren many times if he
should plan on coming with the second company.
Because they would not give an answer, he had gone ahead and bought a
new house. “I was now cited to mount my
horse & leave home as a runaway & leave my family without any means for
their substinance or provisions for myself only their blank promise to ‘sustain
me as a people’ which was weak indeed and go & take my place as captain of
the guard.” His pride had been
hurt. He felt abused and
neglected. He was inclined to refuse
the order, but decided to sleep on it.
The
detachment left Sacramento, starting their journey toward the mountains. They traveled fifteen miles and camped.
In the
evening, some of the men heard an extract read from a journal belonging to a
member of the Donner-Reed party. Henry
Standage remarked that these members suffered so much in the mountains on their
way to this country, having been caught in deep snows in the mountains and
forced to eat their animals and afterwards the hides also, many dying and some
forced to eat the bodies of the dead.
Much suffering experienced by them all.
“Journal of Albert P.
Rockwood,” typescript, BYU, 54‑5; Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s
Journal, 3:205; “Luke S. Johnson Journal,” typescript, BYU, 12; William
Clayton’s Journal, 238‑39; “Levi Jackman Autobiography,” typescript,
BYU, 36; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 34; “Sarah Rich Autobiography,”
typescript, BYU, 69‑70; Watson, ed., Manuscript History of Brigham
Young, 559; Stephen F. Pratt; BYU Studies 24:3:386; Brooks, ed., On
the Mormon Frontier, 1:261 Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The
March of the Mormon Battalion, 226‑27 Yurtinus, A Ram in the
Thicket, 324‑25; “The Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 4:18; “Isaac C. Haight Journal,” typescript, 40
More efforts
were made to ferry over the wagons.
Brigham Young said he was tired of experimenting with ways to get the
wagons over. A group of men was sent
four miles downriver to make some canoes for a large ferryboat. Others were sent to get timber for a new raft. Brigham Young worked very hard with this
detail to make a raft made from white pine and cottonwood. A Missouri company of ten wagons came to the
crossing and they hired the pioneers to ferry them over for $1.50 per wagon,
with a $5.00 bonus if they were taken over before evening.
Orson
Pratt described the raft being constructed.
“We made two large cottonwood canoes, and placing them parallel to each
other, a few feet asunder, firmly pinned on cross pieces and flat slabs running
lengthwise of the canoes, and having attached a rudder and oars, with a little
iron work, we had a boat of sufficient strength to carry over the loaded wagons
of the emigrants.”
William
Clayton wrote about the day’s river crossings:
When they
started over with Brother [Stephen] Goddard’s wagon the wind was blowing
strong.25 James Craig and [William] Wordsworth were on
the raft with poles and when they got nearly half way across Brother Craig’s
pole stuck in the sand and threw him overboard.26
He swam back to shore and in spite of Brother Wordsworth’s exertions,
the wind and current carried the raft about two miles down the river. It was finally landed by the help of the
cutter and without accident. They have
had three rafts working today, two of which they now work by oars which are
proving to be far superior to poles in this strong current. At the close of day there were still a
number of wagons on the south shore.
Wagons
were scattered all over the north bank for about a mile. The “Revenue Cutter” filled partially with
water and nearly sank during the day.
By
evening, the group of men constructing twenty-five-foot dugout canoes returned
with their task nearly complete.
The Sick
Detachments and Mississippi Saints arrived at Fort Laramie. Some of the men wanted to head east to their
families at Winter Quarters, but the plan was for them all to follow the
pioneers. Amasa Lyman wrote a letter to
Brigham Young: “I laid the instruction
before them which had the effect of quelling the spirit of mutiny, and instead
of leaving as they intended, they followed the counsel.”
Eliza R.
Snow visited Parley P. Pratt. She sang
a song of Zion to his family in tongues.
Patty Sessions interpreted.
Sister Snow wrote a poem for Mary Ann Angell Young, wife of Brigham
Young, who was still in Winter Quarters.
It included:
Mother of
mothers! Queen of queens
For such
thou truly art ‑‑
I pray the
Lord to strengthen thee
And to
console they heart.
From
infancy thou hast been led
And guided
by his hand
That thou
in Zion’s courts may tread
And in thy
station stand.
Thou’rt
highly favor’d of the Lord
And thou
art greatly blest;
Most
glorious will be thy reward
In peace
& joy & rest
Altho’ thou
hast been call’d to share
In sorrow
and distress
That thou
thro’ suff’ring might prepare
The broken
heart to bless,
Thou wilt
arise o’er ev’ry ill ‑‑
O’er ev’ry
weakness too
For God
will in thy path distil
His grace
like morning dew
Hosea
Stout sent word to the Elkhorn camp that he decided to turn down his
appointment as captain of the guard and not go with the second pioneer
company. He wrote that he did not think
it was fair to ask him to make this sacrifice after he had been neglected so
long. “Thus my expedition west was
brought to a close.” He heard much
discussion and surprise from others at his decision to reject the order from
the Apostles.
As many of
the Saints left Winter Quarters for the west, they would sell their homes to
those who were staying behind. Louisa
Barnes Pratt, wife of missionary Addison Pratt, wrote:
I have
determined to add one more to my many efforts to buy me a dwelling above
ground. Some were beginning to go to
the mountains with their families. I
found a cabin to be sold for five dollars.
I made the bargain and moved into it.
I thought in that I could keep dry in a rain storm, but I was
mistaken. The first thunder shower I
caught a barrel of water in my fireplace.
I went about to making repairs.
Henry
Standage recorded: “Many suffering from
colds. No rain in this country. Heavy dews, very warm at noontimes and very
cold nights especially for June. High winds
generally from the North till night.
Many horses purchased daily by the Battalion, all preparing to go home.”
Robert S.
Bliss wrote: “One month more & we
hope to be on our way to our beloved famileys & the Church.”
Appleton
Milo Harmon Goes West, 34; Watson, ed., The Orson Pratt Journals,
426; William Clayton’s Journal, 238‑40; Kenney, ed., Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:206; Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints,
194; The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 178‑79; Brooks,
ed., On the Mormon Frontier, 1:261; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder,
The March of the Mormon Battalion, 227; “The Journal of Robert S.
Bliss,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 95; “Norton Jacob Journal,”
typescript, 91; “Reminiscences of Louisa Barnes Pratt,” in Madsen, Journey
to Zion, 235
Thomas
Bullock observed: “The mosquitoes have
been very plaguy the past night; they are more numerous there than any other
place on our route.”
Wilford
Woodruff wrote: “Early this morning we
swam our horses over the river. One
mule came near drowning by being tangled in a rope but the curant carried him
ashore & he made a live of it. The
men went to work to finish their ferry boat while the men continued to cross
waggons on the raft.” The rest of the
pioneer’s horses were left over on the other side because the brethren thought
that it was too cold and the wind was blowing too strong to risk crossing them
on this day. The men suffered greatly
working in the cold water.
The last
of the pioneer wagons were ferried over by 2 p.m. All the wagons were once again moved into a circle. Phinehas Young’s wagon was the
exception. It did not return from the
mountains until the evening.
They then
started to ferry over wagons for two emigration companies for $1.50 per
wagon. William Clayton wrote about the
great opportunity to earn some provisions.
Two
companies of the Missourians had arrived and made application to be set over at
a dollar and a half a load. When the
contract was made with the first company to be sent across as soon as our
wagons were over, the other company of ten wagons offered to pay the brethren
50¢ per man extra if they would set them over first, making $5.00 over the
stated price for ferryage being ten of the brethren to work at it. Colonel Rockwood had made a contract to the
above effect with the first company and did not like to break it. However, he received a hint that this was
Colonel Markham’s day for the use of the boat and consequently Colonel Markham
had a right to take the last offer if he chose. He took the hint and they went to work forthwith at a dollar and
a half a wagon in provisions at Missouri prices and 50¢ extra per man, in what
they preferred for themselves.
The ferry
operation continued all night and by daylight the last of the Missouri
companies had been ferried over.
Charles C.
Rich sent a note back to John Scott at Winter Quarters ordering him to send the
cannon “as the whole camp is waiting.”
He also wrote to Alpheus Cutler, the presiding member of the High
Council, requesting that he help Brother Scott send forward the cannon, boat,
and Nauvoo temple bell with the second pioneer company.
Ira
Eldredge’s fifty, part of the Daniel Spencer Company officially started their
pioneer trek, leaving the Elkhorn River.
The Eldredge fifty consisted of 76 wagons and 177 people. The captains of tens were Isaac C. Haight,
Hector Haight, Samuel Ensign, Erastus Bingham, and George Boyes.27
Joseph Horne’s
fifty, part of the Edward Hunter Company also officially started their pioneer
trek. The Horne fifty (also known as
the John Taylor company) consisted of 72 wagons and 197 people. The captains of tens were Ariah C. Brower,
Abraham Hoagland, Archibald Gardner, William Taylor, and Thomas Orr Sr.28
Samuel
Russell’s fifty, part of the Abraham O. Smoot’s Company also officially started
their pioneer trek. The Russell fifty
consisted of 95 people. The captains of
tens were Lauren H. Roundy, Amasa Russell, and Farnum Kinyon.29
Walter and
Maria Wilcox visited Mary Richards to say good‑bye. They were leaving for Missouri where they
would be spending the summer and maybe the winter.
The
soldiers camped at Bear Creek at Johnson’s Ranch, the last house that they
expected to see. They were forty miles
north of Sutter’s Fort.
Addison
Pratt decided to travel to the New Hope settlement on the Stanislaus River to
help harvest nearly three hundred acres of wheat. He traveled by boat in the bay with some of the Brooklyn Saints,
George K. Winner, Richard Knowles, Isaac Goodwin, and Samuel Ladd. They spent the night at Samples Ferry, in
the straits of Carquinez. The ferry was
run by one of the Brooklyn brethren, Abram Combs.
John
Allen, the disgraced soldier who was drummed out of town, was recaptured near
the city and put back in jail. He later
escaped by digging a hole through the adobe wall. In the evening, Colonel Stevenson started efforts to convince the
battalion to reenlist. He read an order
calling for volunteers to reenlist for six more months. No one stepped forward to sign. The army was worried that Los Angeles would
not have enough men to properly guard the post. The building of the fort was progressing slowly. Henry Standage commented:
They cannot
in reason expect us to enlist again and especially when they know the treatment
we have received, receiving no pay to go home and no ammunition to be given to
us with our guns &c. and no pay for our back rations, although we have paid
out much money on the road when our rations were kept back or in other words
when the Col might have procured full rations at Govt. expense. But hard has been our fare as soldiers.
Elder
Lyman O. Littlefield, still in Kirtland, was visited by former apostle, William
McLellin. Elder Littlefield wrote: “He commenced upon me in relation to the
Church, its authority, its transgressions, etc. I argued in defense until 12 o’clock at night.”
Arrington, Charles
C. Rich, 114; “Journal of Albert P. Rockwood,” typescript, BYU, 55; Kenney,
ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:206; “Luke S. Johnson Journal,”
typescript, BYU, 12; Howard Egan Diary, Pioneering the West, 75; William
Clayton’s Journal, 240‑41; “Lyman Littlefield Reminiscences (1888),”
192‑93; Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 194; Black, Pioneers
of 1847: A Sesquicentennial Remembrance; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 227; “The Journal of
Nathaniel V. Jones,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:19; Ellsworth, ed., The
Journals of Addison Pratt, 331; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters, 148
The horses
were brought across the river in the morning.
William Clayton went fishing at a creek and brought back sixty
fish. Thomas Bullock had to spend the
morning hunting for two stray cattle.
He became very wet and cold wading through the high grass for five or
six miles.
More
Missouri emigrants arrived and employed the pioneers to ferry them across. The new ferryboat, named The Black Hills
was launched. Appleton Harmon
wrote: “I worked on the ferryboat and
got it launched about 1 p.m. and crossed a loaded wagon on it. It worked well and was built of two dugouts
twenty feet long and ties across. They
were placed six feet apart and run plank lengthwise.”
While the
wagons were being ferried over, the captain of the Missouri company invited
some of the men for breakfast. Thomas
Bullock commented: “Eating a good
breakfast from Woman’s Cooking is a remembrance of past times & renews the
desire for such times to come again.”
The ferry
ran all afternoon with great success.
Brigham Young called together those who were appointed to stay behind
and operate the ferry until the second company arrived. They were Thomas Grover, Luke S. Johnson,
John S. Higbee, Francis M. Pomeroy, William Empey, James Davenport, Appleton M.
Harmon, Benjamin F. Stewart, and Edmund Ellsworth. In the evening, the Twelve went off some distance from camp and
read to these brethren formal written instructions that included:
You are
about to stop at this place for a little season, for the purpose of passing
emigrants over the river and assisting the Saints, we have thought fit to
appoint Thomas Grover Superintendent of the Ferry, and of your company. If you approve, we want you to agree that
you will follow his council implicitly and without gainsaying and we desire
that you should be agreed in all your operations, acting in concert, keeping
together continually and not scattering to hunt.
As your
leisure, put yourselves up a comfortable room that will afford yourselves and
horses protection against the Indians should a war party pass this way. But, first of all, see that your boats are
properly secured by fastening raw hides over the tops of the canoes or some
better process. Complete the landings,
and be careful of lives and property of all you labor for, remembering that you
are responsible for all accidents through your carelessness or negligence and
that you retain not that which belongs to the traveler.
For one
family wagon, you will charge $1.50, payment in flour and provisions at stated
prices or $3.00 in cash. You had better
take young stock at a fair valuation instead of cash and a team if you should
want the same to remove.
Should
emigration cease before our brethren arrive, cache your effects and return to
Laramie and wait their arrival, and come on with them to the place of location.
. . . When our emigration companies arrive if the river is fordable, ferry them
and let them who are able pay a reasonable price. The council of their camp will decide who are able to pay.
Eric
Glines wanted to stay behind even though he had not been appointed. The brethren wanted Brother Glines to
continue on with the pioneer company but said he might do as he pleased. Wilford Woodruff wrote: “He did not manifest a good spirit & Br
Young reproved him.” Brigham Young
launched into a sermon. He said that
when he gave a man counsel, it should not be rejected, or many arguments should
not be presented to alter the counsel.
“When a man did it, I will turn on my heal & leave him.”30
He said
that the young Elders were eternally grasping after something ahead of them,
which belonged to others instead of seeking to bring up those who were behind
them. He said that the way that the
young Elders could enlarge their dominions and get power was to go to the world
and preach the gospel, and then they would bring their converts with them to
the house of the Lord.
The Lord is
determined to establish his kingdom in the last days & He will have a
faithful diligent and obedient people and He chastises the Saints to keep them
humble and make them do their duty. If
we had not been mobbed and afflicted but always been in prosperity, we should
have been lifted up in pride of our hearts and not gathered together and build
up Zion as we ought to have done, so that these trials will work together for
our good.
The
provisions obtained thus far from the Missouri companies were distributed. They had received enough goods for about
twenty‑three days. They estimated
that they had received about $400 worth of goods at Fort Laramie prices.
Eliza R.
Snow attended a meeting at the Beech’s wagon.
Most of the Parley P. Pratt family was there. She wrote that they had “a refreshing time.”
George B.
Wallace gave orders for his fifty to move one mile from the river, where they
camped for the night. His fifty were
part of the Abraham O. Smoot company.
The Wallace company consisted of 223 people. The captains of tens were James Smith, Samuel Rolfe, Joseph
Mount, John Nebeker, and Samuel Turnbow.31
George
Washington Hill, part of this fifty, later recalled the start of this journey:
It was
amusing to see us with our oxen, cows and two-year-olds all yoked up, and in
some instances the yearlings, as we thought that even yearlings could pull
something, following the tracks the pioneers had made through the illimitable
prairie, going we knew not where, but determined to seek an asylum where
Christian charity would never come, notwithstanding our destitute
condition. We left, indeed, without a
regret.
Near one
of the encampments that night, a body of a dead man was found which had been picked
by wolves. They found a letter in his
pocket that indicated he was the “bearer of dispatches” for the Indian Agent
from St. Louis. It was believed that he
had been killed by Indians.
The ground
was saturated from the recent rains.
The men were busy getting puncheon timber, hauling brick, and finishing
rooms in the houses. Brother Colby came
up from Winter Quarters and reported that the bridge across Turkey Creek had
been washed away because of high waters.
The
detachment traveled twenty‑five miles through the mountains, through
thick woods. They noticed a grave on
the way.
A detail
of men returned from the mountains with two liberty poles, fifty feet long.
William
McLellin returned in the morning before breakfast to continue “bashing” against
Elder Lyman O. Littlefield. His host
even joined in the arguments against him.
Elder Littlefield wrote: “I bore
my testimony faithfully which made no apparent impression, but I felt that I
had done my duty towards them.”
Cook, Joseph C.
Kingsbury, 116; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 34‑5; Howard Egan
Diary, Pioneering the West, 75‑77; “Luke S. Johnson Journal,”
typescript, BYU, 13; Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:207‑08;
The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 179; Bagley, ed., The
Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 195; “The Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 4:19; Kelly, ed., Journals of John D. Lee,
178; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
227; “Lyman Littlefield Reminiscences (1888),” 193; Black, Pioneers of 1847:
A Sesquicentennial Remembrance; “The History and Journal of Jesse W.
Crosby,” typescript, BYU, 33; “Incidents in the Life of George Washington
Hill,” in Madsen, Journey to Zion, 362
After
waking up to a heavy frost, the pioneer company finally moved on at 7:50 a.m.,
traveling on the north side of the North Platte River. They passed red buttes and “many rough
picturesque sceneries.” They ascended a
steep mile‑long bluff that presented a very nice view. The road down on the other side was crooked
and rough.
After
traveling twelve miles, they stopped for the noon rest near a spring, which was
the first water found since the ferry crossing. After a good rest, they continued on. William Clayton wrote:
At the
distance of eight miles from the spring there is a steep descent from a bluff
and at the foot there is a high ridge of sharp pointed rocks running parallel
with the road for near a quarter of a mile, leaving only sufficient space for
wagons to pass. At the south point
there is a very large rock lying close to where the road makes a bend, making
it somewhat difficult to get by without striking it. The road is also very rough with cobble stones.
With well‑rested
animals, they were able to travel a total of twenty‑one and a half miles
this day, a new record for the longest distance traveled in one day since
leaving Winter Quarters. William
Clayton mentioned: “It was remarked by
several that their stock had fattened so much while stopping at the ferry, they
hardly knew them.” They camped near a
“small miry stinking crick around which there was many mire holes of the worst
sort.” Wilford Woodruff wrote: “Our camping place for the night was the
most wretched of any ground we have found on the way. President Young thought it might properly be called Hell
gate.” The water tasted terrible. The cattle would drink a little but would
then stop. They were cautious, because
they knew that they were near a poison spring which would kill cattle if they
took a drink. William Clayton
added: “The mosquitoes are very bad
indeed at this place which adds to the loathsome, solitary scenery around.” The cattle were tied up to keep them from
the mire, but three still became stuck.
The
hunters brought in a buffalo and several antelope. There was no fuel for fires, except for sage roots. Lewis Myers, the hunter for the Mississippi
Saints killed two buffalo, but took only the tallow and tongues and left rest
on the ground to rot. About 9 p.m. an
alarm was sounded that an ox had mired in the slough. It was almost totally sunk but soon was pulled out.
Heber C.
Kimball and George A. Smith reported when they were looking for the night’s
camp, that they saw six men suddenly spring up out of the grass with blankets
like Indians, and then they rode away.
The brethren followed them for a short distance until one of the
“Indians” signalled them to stop coming.
The brethren ignored the signal and continued on. Finally, the “Indians” galloped off at full
speed. The brethren were convinced that
the men were Missourians and were using this trick to scare the brethren away
from their camp. Howard Egan wrote, “It
is considered an old Missouri trick and an insult to our camp, and if they
undertake to play Indian games, they might meet with Indian treatment.”
The ferry
workers were very busy. They ferried
across sixteen wagons for the emigrants and then had dinner with them. James Davenport did some blacksmithing for
them. They learned that a young man,
Wesley Tustin had drowned about five miles down the river while swimming a
horse across. His body was not found.
The
ferrymen gathered their things together and prepared for their first night at
the ferry without the rest of the pioneers.
Including Eric Glines, there were ten men with three wagons, three horses,
one mule, three heifers, and one bull, and five dogs. As of this date, the pioneers had ferried across seventy‑five
Mormon wagons and sixty‑four for Oregon emigrants.
The George
Wallace company rolled out of their camp at 9 a.m., and reached the encampment
at the Platte River at 5 p.m. They
joined another company of fifty to form their first wagon ring. All the livestock were tied inside the
circle except for cattle which were sent out to graze. Joseph Kingsbury commented: “We already see the good of this way of
encamping . . . if only every man will do his duty.”
The Joseph
B. Noble fifty moved out. They were
part of the Jedediah M. Grant Company.
The Noble fifty consisted of 171 people. The captains of tens were: Asahel A. Lathrop, Robert Peirce,
Hazen Kimball, Amos Neff, and Josiah Miller.32
They
traveled fifteen miles to the encampment at the Platte River. They saw that another company had raised a
Liberty Pole with a white flag which could be seen for miles.
The
Willard Snow fifty also moved out. They
were also part of the Jedediah M. Grant Company. The Snow fifty consisted of 160 people. The captains of tens were: John Vance, Thomas Thurston, Jacob
Gates, and Simpson D. Huffaker.33
The Jacob
Foutz fifty moved out. They were part
of the Edward Hunter Company. The Foutz
fifty consisted of 59 wagons and 155 people.
The captains of tens were: Ariah C. Brower, Alva Keller, Vinson
Shurtliff, Daniel M. Thomas, and John Lowry.34
Perrigrine
Sessions also moved his fifty out during the afternoon. His fifty (also known as the Parley P. Pratt
company) were part of the Daniel Spencer Company. The Sessions company consisted of 75 wagons and 185 people. The captains of tens were: Elijah F. Sheets,
John Van Cott, Elijah K. Fuller, William Leffingwell, and Asa Barton.35
As the
company traveled, they came across the body found the day before by
others. Patty Sessions wrote: “Pass[ed] a dead body supposed to be killed
by the Indians. The wolves had eat him
considerably. His buttons were cut off
and the legs of his pantaloons.”
By the end
of the day, a total of about five hundred and seventy‑five wagons from
Winter Quarters had crossed the river.
Terrible
tragedy struck this day. Alfred Lambson
and Jacob Weatherby were driving a team of oxen back toward Winter Quarters as
couriers when three Indians arose from the grass and halted the wagon about
eight miles from the Elkhorn. Two
sisters, Almira Johnson and Nancy Chamberlain, were also in the wagon. Brother Weatherby negotiated with the
Indians to let them pass, but the Indians, who were armed, cocked their
guns. The two brethren grabbed the guns
and there was a struggle. The third
Indian, about fifteen feet away, fired at Brother Weatherly, severely wounding
him. The Indians ran away. The oxen became frightened and Sister
Chamberlain applied the whip on them, driving off to the Elkhorn, leaving the
rest behind. Brother Lambson ran off to
get help at Winter Quarters while Sister Johnson cared for the wounded Brother
Weatherby. Brother Lambson soon met Lot
Cutler and Bishop Newel K. Whitney on the road. They quickly rode to the site of the tragedy and took Brother
Weatherby to Elkhorn.
Charles C.
Rich stayed at the Elkhorn with his company to wait for the arrival of the
artillery from Winter Quarters. At
dusk, Newel K. Whitney and Alpheus Cutler brought in the wounded Jacob
Weatherby, who was taken into the Rich tent.
Sarah Rich wrote: “We all could
see that he would not live, so we fixed him a bed in our tent and did all we
could to ease his pain. He suffered
awful pain through the night.”
Brothers
Martin, Houston, Tuttle, and George W. Hickerson departed for Winter Quarters
to get provisions. They had to take a
new route on a divide because the bridge over Turkey Creek had been washed out. Isaac Morley arrived in the afternoon and
told the settlement that he had been to the Elkhorn River and had seen about
fifteen wagons belonging to the second pioneer company, ready to leave for the
mountains.
A
daughter, Tryphenia Roseltha Perry, was born to Stephen C. and Anna Hulett
Perry.36
There was
some worry amount the men that the Colonel might invoke some special power to
force the battalion into serving six more months.
Robert S. Bliss
hoisted a signal flag to notify the town that a ship had been spotted outside
the harbor. It was anchored, waiting
for a favorable wind to come into port.
The men expected that their new colonel was probably on the ship.
Arrington, Charles
C. Rich, 114; “Journal of Albert P. Rockwood,” typescript, BYU, 55‑6;
“Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 14:161; Kenney,
ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:208; “Erastus Snow Journal Excerpts,”
Improvement Era 15:167; William Clayton’s Journal, 242‑45; Appleton
Milo Harmon Goes West, 36; Cook, Joseph C. Kingsbury, 116; Deseret
News 1997‑98 Church Almanac, 120; “Sarah Rich Autobiography,”
typescript, BYU, 70; The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 179; Howard
Egan Diary, Pioneering the West, 79; “The Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 4:95; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The
March of the Mormon Battalion, 228; Kelly, ed., Journals of John D. Lee,
178‑79; Black, Pioneers of 1847: A Sesquicentennial Remembrance;
Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 85
Even
though it was Sunday, the pioneers had to move away from their miserable camp
ground to find better water and to get the cattle away from the mud holes. They traveled about four miles and stopped
for breakfast by a clear stream with good grass. At 8 a.m., the temperature was a warm sixty‑one degrees.
After
breakfast, they traveled nine miles, crossing over a few small streams and
halted for the noon rest at Willow Springs.
It was two feet wide, ten inches deep, with water cold as ice. In the afternoon they crossed a rapid stream,
ten-foot-wide Greasewood Creek,37
and camped on this stream away from the road.
They traveled a total of twenty and one half miles.
Wilford
Woodruff and John Brown had been sent by Brigham Young in the morning to go
scout the road ahead and did not return in the evening. There was great worry in the camp about
their safety. They blew the bugle,
watched for the men until midnight, and finally fired the cannon.
Wilford
Woodruff and George A. Smith had traveled in the morning to the head waters of
Willow Spring. They found a doctor
there who was taking care of a sick family from Missouri. Elder Smith stayed at the springs to wait
for the wagons to arrive, while Elder Woodruff rode on alone. Soon, John Brown joined him and they rode
together to a stream about ten miles ahead and then rested their horses to wait
for the pioneers. By 4 p.m., the
company had still not arrived. They saw
two men on horses in the distance and signaled to them, but the men supposed
they might be Indians and went away.
Elder Woodruff caught up with the men, who were hunters for a Missouri
company. These men had not seen the
rest of the pioneers.
Elder Woodruff
wrote: “I then concluded our camp had
stopped at the Willow Springs, so Captain Smith, who was the leader of the Mo
Company invited us to go on & camp with them for the night as they did not
expect to go but a few miles further.”
They accepted the invitation.
But the Missouri company ended up traveling many more miles and camped
near Independence Rock, by the Sweetwater River. They ended up about twelve miles ahead of the pioneers. Elder Woodruff recorded: “I found a great difference between the Missouri
emigrant companies & our own. For
while the men, women & children were all cursing, swearing, quarrelling,
scolding, finding fault with each other & other companies, there was
nothing of the kind allowed or practiced in our own camp.”
Thomas
Grover asked William Empey and Benjamin F. Stewart to travel with a wagon and
four horses back to Deer Creek, twenty‑eight miles, to retrieve some of
the coal that had been discovered by the pioneers while camping at that
location. William Empey recorded that
he did not really want to go because of the dangers from the Indians, but he
obeyed his leader and left. They camped
for the night two miles from Deer Creek.
Francis M.
Pomeroy and Eric Glines were sent a few miles downriver to see if a boat there
could be charted to float down to Fort Laramie.38
They later returned and reported that the boat was on the other side of
the river with some men waiting for another company. James Davenport, the
company blacksmith, shod three oxen and several horses for some emigrants who
had been left behind because one of their women was sick.
Amasa
Lyman spoke sternly to the detachments of the battalion and the Mississippi
Saints. He urged the brethren “to leave
off our folly and be men of God.” Joel
Terrel noted in his journal that Elder Lyman gave them “a good whipping.” Even Captain James Brown was affected enough
to confess some of his faults.
Word
reached the companies at the Platte River that Jacob Weatherby had been
attacked by Indians.
George
Wallace tightened the guard in his fifty.
A general Sabbath meeting was held for the hundreds of pioneers.
Jacob
Weatherby died in the morning from his wound.
He was the first person to die in any pioneer company that had left
Winter Quarters, and it was the result of an Indian attack. Sarah Rich recorded:
He was
conscious until a few minutes before his death, then he dropped off like one
going to sleep. As the rest of the
company had gone on, they had to bury Brother Wetherby that night. Our folks had raised a Liberty Pole, and he
was laid to rest with a few words from C. C. Rich, and prayer by him. He was buried just at dark as we were in
fear of Indians, and had to keep out guards all night.
Patty
Sessions further explained that they had initially planned to bury Brother
Weatherby back at Winter Quarters, “but he mortified and smelt so bad they
buried him in a buffaloe robe near the liberty pole.”
The
cannon, boat, and Nauvoo Temple bell arrived from Winter Quarters at 11 a.m.
A public
Sabbath meeting was held. Elder Orson
Hyde, the only remaining member of the Twelve at Winter Quarters spoke to the
Saints. He firmly stated that he wanted
his word to be law and for his counsel to be followed. “If you would rather have any other one to
lead you, you may appoint who ever you please.” The congregation voted to sustain Elder Hyde as the presiding
authority. He then spoke out against
counterfeiters and thieves. He asked
all those who knew anything about such evils among the Saints to come forth and
tell him. He knew that some men had
taken secret oaths to protect their evil doings, but he stated that they were
released from all such unworthy oaths.
Elder Hyde
condemned the swearing. He had heard
children using the name of the Lord in vain on the streets of the city and had
even heard a man who had received his temple ordinances do such an evil thing. He asked the High Council to deal with the
man and even disfellowship him from the Church if he continued. Elder Hyde encouraged the Saints to hold
schools for their children, where they would learn to behave themselves since
their parents evidently could not teach them correctly. His words caused quite a stir and a few
people confessed their sins.
A council
meeting was held in the evening. Two
trials were held regarding cattle recently taken from the corn field. Hosea Stout attended and was criticized for
not going with the pioneers as ordered.
Isaac Morley reproved him severely.
He said he would not have rejected such a call “for kingdoms.” Brother Stout was finally permitted to
speak. He spoke his feelings plainly
and criticized the Church Leaders for the way they had recently treated him and
for not following Brigham Young’s orders for the organization of the
companies. The brethren there counseled
together and Orson Hyde proposed that Hosea Stout take ten men as a guard and
still overtake the second pioneer camp.
Brother Stout agreed to do this, but they changed their minds and it was
thought best to keep Brother Stout at Winter Quarters.
Robert
Crookston and Ann Welch were married.
Josina Glasgow, age twenty-five, died.
She was the wife of Samuel Glasgow.
John D.
Lee spoke to a gathering of Saints at Winter Quarters on the subject of God’s
dealings with his people. Other
speakers were Absalom P. Free, Levi
Stewart, J. Allen, James Busby and others.
Later, Simeon A. Dunn and Martin returned from Winter Quarters and
brought news the mill was clear again.
They also reported about the shooting of Jacob Weatherby.
Twins, Ada
Adelia and Ida Francelia Simons were born to Orrawell and Martha Dixon Simons.39
The
battalion members arrived at Bear Valley and found the cabin that had been used
just four months earlier during the rescue of the Donner‑Reed party,
stranded and starving up in the mountains.
The soldiers found many things left in the cabin.40
Addison
Pratt was delayed on his journey to the New Hope settlement because he had
become sick from drinking a mixture of fresh water and sea water. He shoved off again in his boat, passed
through the Suisun Bay, and entered the mouth of the San Joaquin River. He wrote:
We
commenced ascending the river against a strong current. We had not proceeded far before one of the
crew cried out, “There is an elk, crossing the river!!” I look’d ahead and saw
what I thought to be at first sight a bunch of brush afloat, but on closer
examination, found it to be a pair of elk horns, the heads and ears were to be
seen also, but the rest of him was completely under water. We made all speed possible with the boat,
but he had got so much the start, and being a good swimmer reach’d the opposite
shore before we got within rifle shot of him, and he was soon out of sight in
the tulies.
David
Pettigrew and Levi Hancock addressed the brethren in a Sunday meeting. Henry Standage wrote: “The brethren truly rejoicing to think that
the hour of redemption draweth nigh (15th of July).”
The ship Loo‑Choo
came into port. It was a merchant ship
with many interesting articles. Some of
the men were able to go on board to look around and have dinner. Battalion members Stephen St. John and
Brother Averett arrived from Los Angeles.
Elder
Thomas Smith was arrested and imprisoned at Covington, Warwickshire, England,
for casting out evil spirits. After
examination, he and Richard Currell, the subject of administration, were
dismissed. The court found no cause of
action.
Yurtinus, A Ram in
the Thicket, 324; Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 36; Watson, ed., The
Orson Pratt Journals, 427‑28; Autobiography of John Brown, 76;
Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:209‑10; “The Journal of
William Empey,” Annals of Wyoming, 21:135; “Sarah Rich Autobiography,”
typescript, BYU, 70; Arrington, Charles C. Rich, 114; Cook, Joseph C.
Kingsbury, 116; Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 197;
Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, 1:261‑62; Ward, ed., Winter
Quarters, 148‑49; Johnson, ed., “Unfortunate Emigrants,” 226; “The
Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:19; Kelly,
ed., Journals of John D. Lee, 178‑79; Howard Egan Diary, Pioneering
the West, 79; “The Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah Historical
Quarterly, 4:96; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the
Mormon Battalion, 228; Ellsworth, ed., The Journals of Addison Pratt,
321; Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife, 86