Thomas
Bullock woke up near the river, and observed a thick fog hanging in the
air. He built a fire and soon several
Indians joined him to warm themselves by the flames. Brother Bullock later traveled to Winter Quarters and pulled his
team into Willard Richards’ yard. He
was immediately seized by a high fever and shakes. Elder Richards laid his hand on Brother Bullock and it helped
considerably.
Brigham
Young and Heber C. Kimball returned from Trader’s Point in the afternoon. Brother Matthews arrived from Savannah,
Missouri, with two hundred bushels of wheat.
He needed a place to store all the grain.
Willard
Richards gave out notices to the Twelve and High Council that he was going to
have a “bee” or a gathering, on Thursday, to help him put the roof on his
unusual octagon‑shaped house.
Horace K.
Whitney spent the day with William Kimball, Howard Egan, and John Davenport,
putting up the logs for George B. Wallace’s house.
In the
afternoon the weather turned cold and windy.
Lorenzo Dow Young visited Brother Stillman Pond and found his family
very sick and destitute. Brother Young
returned home and sent the family some beans.
Francis
Turley Daniels, age twenty‑one, died from childbirth. She was the wife of Cyrus Daniels. Their infant daughter Francis F. Daniels,
also died. Elizabeth S. Boss, age
nineteen, died of chills and fever. She
was the wife of Alexander Boss. Leah
Bostwick, age seventy‑five, died of consumption.
The
battalion marched seven miles, winding down a dry creek bed of Guadalupe
Canyon. The road was difficult because
of immense tufts of grass and sod. They
crossed into the far southeast corner of present‑day Arizona. They did not stay in Arizona long. They soon crossed into, and camped in
today’s Mexico. Colonel Cooke
described: “We passed today beautiful
scenery, the broken mountains about, the precipices, and the confusion of the
rocks. Amongst them, mescal and Spanish
bayonet now become true palm trees ‑‑ the evergreen oaks, the
cottonwoods, and sycamores brilliantly colored by the frost.”
Colonel
Cooke hiked up a mountain to get a view of the trail ahead. He could not see San Bernardino, which had been
thought to be only eight miles ahead.
They observed that all the streams headed west, indicating that they
were west of the continental divide.
During the
night, George P. Dykes, the officer of the day, attempted to spy on the men,
hoping to find some to put on report.
As he was sneaking around, Henry G. Boyle, who was standing guard,
thought he was an enemy sneaking up of the battalion. He cocked his gun, aimed, and almost pulled the trigger. Luckily, he recognized Dykes just in time.
Lieutenant
William Willis arrived in Santa Fe, one day ahead of the third sick detachment
of the Mormon Battalion. He had
traveled ahead to arrange for provisions and wood to be used by the
detachment. Stearling Price, now
commander of the fort, ordered the detachment to continue on to Pueblo. The Quartermaster was ordered to furnish
them with the necessary provisions and mules.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 467‑68; Horace K. Whitney Journal; “Diary
of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:151; Cooke, Exploring
Southwestern Trails 1846‑1854, 127‑28; Yurtinus, A Ram in
the Thicket, 382‑83; Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon
Battalion, 192, 211; Our Pioneer Heritage, 4:436; “Thomas Bullock
Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of the Saints; Nibley, Exodus
to Greatness, 284
Members of
the Twelve met with the High Council to review a proposal to levy a tax
assessment on all personal property.
They were not able to settle on a fixed tax percentage.
Wilford
Woodruff worked on his house and also worked with many others, shoveling dirt,
working on the mill race.
Martha
Angell, age ten, died of fever. She was
the daughter of Truman O. and Polly Angell.1 Pleasant D. Noah, age forty‑one, died
of chills. He was the husband of Martha Ann Noah. Laura Jane Pond, age fourteen, died of chills and fever. She was the daughter of Stillman and Almira
Pond.
The
battalion arose and found thick frost on their tents. They transferred all the loads back into the wagons that had been
packed down the mountain on the mules, and soon were on their way. They followed a dry creek for several miles
and then ascended onto a high prairie which gave them a view for the first time
of the San Bernardino Ranch ruins. As
they descended the plain to the ranch, they were surprised to see a wild bull
rushing by them at full speed.2 Finally they arrived at their long
anticipated destination, San Bernardino Ranch.3 They set up their camp near some old
houses. The former settlement had a
very nice spring.
Apache
Indian chiefs arrived and met with Colonel Cooke. He pledged friendship from on behalf of the American government
and the Indians said they were their friends.
Colonel Cooke wrote that they “wear their hair generally long and in
various fashions. They wear a kind of
leather skullcap, now and then ornamented with feathers and with
chinpieces. The Indians sold to the men
baked roots called ‘Mescal.’ This was a
sweet and nutritious treat.”
Colonel
Cooke decided to stop for several days at this point. The men were in need of a long rest. Henry Bigler wrote, “My health is so poor, I can hardly
travel. Every muscle in my body is sore
as if I had been beaten with a club.”
Colonel Cooke also believed that they could kill some bulls to help
their food supply. A few hunters were
sent out. Daniel Tyler was among those
who killed a bull. After he had shot it
several times, it still tried to charge at him with a broken leg. After firing six bullets in fatal places,
the bull finally gave up. Sergeant
Tyler stayed by the bull late into the night until his mess mates arrived to
help pack it out.
John Allen
stumbled into camp. Colonel Cooke
believed that he had deserted several days earlier. It turned out that he had become lost in the Guadalupe Mountains. Indians had robbed him of his gun, knife,
canteen, and clothes. He had survived
by eating the carcass of Captain Jesse D. Hunter’s dead horse which had been
left behind, and by chewing on hoofs of various creatures.4
General
Kearny and his men arrived at Warner’s Ranch, after a difficult journey across
the desert. He had run short of
provisions. At the ranch, he learned
that Commodore Robert Stockton was in possession of San Diego.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 468; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The
Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 215; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:97; Cooke, Exploring Southwestern Trails 1846‑1854, 128‑31;
Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 384‑87; “Journal Extracts of Henry
W. Bigler,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 5:2:47; Tyler, A Concise
History of the Mormon Battalion, 212‑13; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 189‑90; Talbot, A
Historical Guide to the Mormon Battalion and Butterfield Trail, 36
The
weather was continued cold. So much ice
was flowing fast on the river that it stopped people from crossing the river.
Brigham
Young ordained Joseph Knight Jr. to the office of bishop. He was set apart to serve the Saints on the
east side of the river, near the ferry crossing.5
The
leaders turned out in force to help Willard Richards put a roof on his octagon
house. They first covered it with straw
and then with about fifty loads of earth.
It made it look like “a new England potato heap.” Wilford Woodruff was not sure what to call
the structure. He said it was a “tower
or rotunda. . . . It was framed round or eight square covered with puncheon
(wood) & we put upon it 50 loads of dirt.”
Thomas
Bullock went with Levi Richards to drive cattle on the prairie. He watched men pull an ox out of the mire by
chains. Brother Bullock had lost his
cows again because his company had left them on the other side of the river.
A meeting
of the Seventies was held at President Zera Pulsipher’s house. The Seventies had been previously charged to
take care of the poor within their quorums.
However, because there had been numerous bishops recently called, it was
decided to refer the poor to the appropriate bishop. The Seventies were still responsible to make sure that the poor
were getting attention. It was also
proposed that several of the quorums start meeting together in order to have
enough numbers to conduct quorum business.
Isabella
Alice Rushton, age fourteen months, died of canker. She was the daughter of
John and Margaret Rushton. A daughter,
Agnes Ann Callahan, was born to Thomas and Lucinda Austin Callahan.6
Four men
were sent from each company to hunt wild bulls and more than a dozen were
killed. They were as plentiful as the
buffalo had been, back on the plains.
Many pack mules were away from camp being used to haul the meat back to
the battalion. Some of the men spent
all night cutting up beef and packing back as much as they could haul. Robert Bliss recorded, “Their meat is fat
& tender, the best beef I ever eat.
We have plenty of meat now.”
Captain
Cooke took an inventory of the rations and discovered that he only had fifty‑one
days’ worth of rations. He needed six
or seven more days of food. The bull
meat would help this situation somewhat.
The third
sick detachment was in Santa Fe. The
anti‑Mormon feeling among the Missourian soldiers at Santa Fe was as
intense as it was when the Mormons were driven out of Far West, Missouri.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 468; Bitton, Guide to Mormon Diaries and
Autobiographies (1977), 198; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 14:151; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:97;
Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861,
215; Cooke, Exploring Southwestern Trails 1846‑1854, 131‑33;
“The Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:79; “The
Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:9; “Thomas
Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of the Saints;
Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 387‑88; Journal of Henry Standage
in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 190‑1
Work
continued on Willard Richards’ house.
In the evening, the Twelve and the High Council met in the new house for
a council meeting. Henry G. Sherwood
reported that the new Winter Quarters cemetery, on the second ridge to the
west, had been surveyed. The Council
voted that those who hauled wheat from Missouri purchased by the Church, could
receive half of the wheat as payment for hauling. The Council decided to turn over excess money in the wheat fund
to be used for the battalion members’ wives.
Reynolds Cahoon had found work to build a bridge, to be paid in corn and
he was advised to take the contract.
Horace S. Eldredge was released from his assignment to collect the
police tax. Brother Eldredge had gone
to Missouri with some teams to trade, and would not be able to perform this
duty. Jonathan C. Wright was appointed
in his place. The Church beef committee
was instructed to kill some beef for the police. This was greatly appreciated.
The police had been living on bread and water.
Hosea
Stout wrote: “Br J. C. Wright &
I[saac] C. Haight each lost one of their children who had been sick. They were of the police and on guard. Such is the adversity attending police
duty.” Among whom died this day
were: Enoch Haight, age eleven
months. Nathan Kimball Lutz, age two,
of canker. He was the son of Albert and
Susannah Lutz. Mary Van Wagoner, age
forty‑nine, wife of the late Halmagh J. Van Wagoner. Eleven‑year‑old Harriet Pond was
also one of at least five deaths in the city during the day. Within a 5‑day period, Stillman and
Almira Pond lost three of their daughters, who died of “chills and fever.”
Ursulia
Hascall later wrote in a letter,
I suppose
you have heard of the deaths in brother Ponds family. The children are all dead but Elizabeth and Loenza. When they were on the way here, they turned
from the main road into a settlement where he and Samuel could earn two dollars
per day with their teams. It proved to
be an unhealthy place. They were all
taken sick and they came away as soon as they could, but they were unable to
take care of themselves on the road and suffered for the want of care. Lowell died before they arrived, the rest
lived to get here and then dropped away one after another. Sister Pond has not recovered and I fear she
never will.7
More than
fourteen deaths occurred in Winter Quarters during the week. John R. Young, nine years‑old at the
time, later recalled: “Our home was
near the burying ground; and I can remember the small mournful‑looking
trains that so often passed our door.”
A son,
Alma Theodore Dayton, was born to Hiram and Syphia Thorton Dayton.
The
hunters were successful in bringing in five days’ rations of fresh wild bull
meat. The men were very busy in the
morning drying the meat in the desert air on scaffolds. But soon Colonel Cooke ordered the battalion
to move out.
The
battalion marched for eight miles to the west, into a pass of a low range of
mountains.8 The prairie behind them caught fire due to someone’s
carelessness. They camped at a spring
where hundreds of wild cattle watered each day.9 Some Indians came into camp with two hundred
pounds of delicious meat for the men.
Many men took shifts during the night, laboring to dry their meat.
Colonel
Cooke ordered that the men cease shooting at cattle and to remain in the camp
during the night.10 He also discovered that company B had been
using a private wagon to carry their equipment. He ordered that the company carry their own knapsacks and
blankets.
The third
sick detachment left Santa Fe, heading toward Pueblo (Colorado) by way of Taos
(New Mexico).
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 468‑69; Kelly, ed., Journals of John D.
Lee, 1846‑1847 and 1859, 30; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier,
The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 215‑16; Cooke, Exploring
Southwestern Trails 1846‑1854, 133‑34; Yurtinus, A Ram in
the Thicket, 282, 388‑90; Stegner, The Gathering of Zion, 107‑08
Brigham
Young received a letter from Thomas L. Kane in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (See
October 26, 1846).
John D.
Lee received a letter from Levi Stewart, who was tending his stock at the rush
bottoms, up the Missouri River. He
reported that the cattle were doing well and that he would do all he could to
take good care of them.
Horace K.
Whitney, William Kimball, and Howard Egan spent the day branding Heber C.
Kimball’s sheep, with a brand of H.C.K. placed on each forehead. There were also some Church sheep in this
corral. Those who took care of the
Church sheep during the winter would receive all the wool produced and half of
any lambs born.
Lorenzo
Dow Young left Winter Quarters for a trip to St. Joseph, Missouri. His son, John R. Young, recalled, “President
Young called one day at the door of our cabin, and said to my father: ‘Lorenzo, if you will hitch up your horses
and go down into Missouri, the Lord will open the way, so that you can bring up
a drove of hogs, and give the people fresh meat and be a blessing to you.’ As I
remember, the next day father took me in the wagon, and . . . started on that mission
. . .”
In the
afternoon, the first snow of the season fell in Winter Quarters. Thomas Bullock was very concerned about his
sick son, Willard. He wrote that he was
“reduced again almost to a mere Skeleton, but Father [Willard] Richards has
said he shall be well in a month, so I trust to the Lord that I shall not lose
any of my family. I and Wife went to
the burial of John Rushton’s [fourteen‑month‑old] babe. It was buried in grave No.24.”
Jsie C.
Hoytes, age 16 days, died of inflammation.
He was the son of Jsie C. and Eliza Hoytes. Enoch Wright, age eighteen days, died of spasms. He was the son of Jonathan C. and Rebecca
Wright. A son, Alanson Eldredge, was
born to Ira and Nancy Eldredge.11 A son, Joseph Smith Turley, was born to
Theodore and Sarah Ellen Turley.12
During the
night, two mules died, despite the fact that the night was warm and the mules
had received two days of rest prior to their march the day before. This indicated just how sickly and weak the
mules had become.
The
battalion marched up a difficult road that caused one of the wagon tongues to
break. Colonel Cooke decided to salvage
it for parts and leave it behind. Later
in the day, an axle‑tree would break on another wagon. This one was also left behind. The battalion was down to fifteen wagons.
After
fourteen miles, they reached a sulphur spring near contemporary Agua Prieta,
Mexico. Colonel Cooke wrote:
The wild
cattle are very numerous. Three were
killed today on the road and several others by officers. . . . I suppose, I
myselve have seen fifty. One died (that
I saw) only after twenty wounds, half a dozen fired at ten paces‑‑quite
as hard as the buffalo. Mr. Hall, with
Doctor Sanderson, was chased by one and put in some danger by his obstinate
mule. . . . It is thought that as many as five thousand cattle water at this
spring. They are much like the buffalo
in their habits, etc.; are rather wilder and more apt to attack individuals.
Colonel
Cooke had given orders to kill no bulls during the march that day, but a few
men had killed one “slyly during the day.”
At night, they quietly took some mules and went back after the
meat. They arrived back safely, with
the beef, before morning.
The sick
detachment was having difficulty getting accustomed to traveling with pack
mules. Richard Brazier became too sick
to travel. Lt. Willis decided to leave
him behind with Thomas Burns to care for him.
Lt. Willis also planned to leave several more of the sick behind, at
Turley’s ranch, near Taos.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 469‑70; Kelly, ed., Journals of John D.
Lee, 1846‑1847 and 1859, 31; Nibley, Exodus To Greatness, 285;
Cooke, Exploring Southwestern Trails 1846‑1854, 134‑35;
Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 390; “The Journal of Nathaniel V.
Jones,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 5:8; Tyler, A Concise History of
the Mormon Battalion, 192 ; “Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley,
ed., Pioneer Camp of the Saints
It was a
cold day with snow and sleet. No public
Sunday meeting was held. Brigham Young
instructed John D. Lee to write a letter to William Crosby and John Brown. These brethren had led the Mississippi
Saints to Pueblo and then had returned to Mississippi to bring their own
families west. Brigham Young wanted
Brother Lee to let these brethren know what the plans were for the coming
spring. They were to leave their
families in Mississippi for another year, but to send all the men who could be
spared to go as pioneers in the spring.13
Mary
Richards spent the day visiting various friends. She wrote, “Next called at Uncle Willard [Richards] house to see
Bros [Thomas] Bullock and [John] Rushtons families who had just arrived. Found Sister [Margaret] R[ushton] mourning
the loss of her child [Isabella Hannah Ruston] she having died the day
before.”
Eliza
Partridge Lyman’s baby, Don Carlos was very ill. She wrote, “My baby is sick and getting worse. . . . “He cried
all day but I cannot see what ails him.”
Wilford
Woodruff moved his family into his new house.
Sister Woodruff was very ill and seven months pregnant.
In the
evening the Presidents of the Seventies met and made arrangements to better
take care of their poor.
Augustus
P. Rolston, age one, died. He was the
son of John and Hannah Rolston.
A storm
blew in during the night. In the
morning, the men could see fresh, new snow on the lofty mountains. The battalion started to head toward the
northwest.14 The trail was difficult as they marched up
the San Jose Wash. They had to cut
their way through thick mesquite brush.
After a twelve‑mile march they made their camp near today’s
Christiansen Ranch. Colonel Cooke
wrote, “Here is a fine grove of ash and walnut, and to make it still more
comfortable, an old cattle pen of dry wood.
We were thankful, for this afternoon it rained and snowed, with a very
cold wind.”
Daniel
Tyler had become sick during the march.
However, he did not want the doctor to find out, so he hid in some
bushes and marched on his own to the next camp. Dr. Sanderson had run out of his supply of calomel medicine and
was substituting arsenic. Sergeant
Tyler and others would do almost anything to avoid taking this treatment.
Lt. Willis
left behind twelve more incapacitated men under the care of Richard
Brazier. They were to go to Turley’s
ranch, near Taos, at a slower pace, to rest and wait for more help.
As General
Kearny and his men approached San Pascual, they encountered a much larger enemy
force mounted on horses. Captain
Johnston made a furious charge with his advance guard and the enemy started to
retreat. Captain Moore led off in
pursuit. A fierce fifteen minute battle
ensued. In that battle, Captains Moore and Johnston, and nineteen other
soldiers died. Thirty-six of the enemy
force were killed or wounded. General
Kearny was wounded in two places. The
opposing force rode off with one of Kearny's
brass howitzers.15
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 470; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:87;
Kelly, ed., Journals of John D. Lee, 1846‑1847 and 1859, 31‑2;
Cooke, Exploring Southwestern Trails 1846‑1854, 135‑36;
Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion, 215, 257; Yurtinus, A
Ram in the Thicket, 283; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters, 100; Amasa
Mason Lyman, Pioneer, 158; Autobiography of Pioneer John Brown, 71;
Talbot, Mormon Battalion and Butterfield Trail, 38; Bigler, The Gold
Discovery Journal of Azariah Smith, 66;
It was
cold, frosty and cloudy. Those in
Winter Quarters were busy at work on their houses. Hosea Stout killed a cow for food. Thomas Bullock visited John Scott’s house, where he was shown a
spring of beautiful water. Brother
Bullock spent the rest of the day with Willard Richards. Elder Richards gave him twelve pounds of
flour. Harriet Young, wife of Lorenzo
Dow Young, spent the day dipping more than three hundred wicks, for
candles. Mary Richards spent the day
sewing, knitting, reading and cooking.
Abigail A.
Pond, age eighteen, died of chills and fever.
She was the daughter of Stillman and Almira Pond. This was the third daughter in the family to
die within five days. Also, Mary
Beakly, age eighteen died of chills and fever.
She was the daughter of John and Mary Beakly. Mary Jones, age nine, died of chills. She was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Jones.
A
daughter, Rachel Almira Caldwell, was born to Mathew and Barzilla Guyman Caldwell.16
The
battalion stayed in their camp, drying meat, while the guides went ahead to
look for water. They returned in the
afternoon, unsuccessful, after traveling about fifteen miles to the west. Colonel Cooke gave orders to have kegs
filled with water. The men should plan
on camping without water the following day.
One of the
battalion’s sheep herders, an Indian, had recently deserted. There was a rumor circulating that a Mexican
army of five thousand men was planning to capture the battalion as it traveled
toward Tucson.
During the
evening, Elisha Smith died.17 Daniel Tyler wrote, “the large wolves,
probably scenting the corpse, made the night hideous with their howls. Their grum voices almost rent the air only a
few feet from our camp.”
The third
sick detachment, led by Lt. Willis continued their journey toward Taos. They marched fifteen miles and camped near a
Mexican village. Alva Calkins requested
to stay behind and wait for the men traveling at a slower pace. It snowed ten inches during the day.
With their
provisions gone, horses dead, and mules broken, General Kearny’s troops took care of the dead and wounded men and
marched toward San Bernardo. They
encountered the enemy on a hill, who retreated, allowing Kearny’s troops to
take the hill. In their starving
condition, they ate some broken-down mules.
“Thomas Bullock Poor
Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of the Saints; Brooks, ed., On
the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 216; Cooke, Exploring
Southwestern Trails 1846‑1854, 137‑39; Tyler, A Concise
History of the Mormon Battalion, 192, 215‑16; Yurtinus, A Ram in
the Thicket, 392; “The Journal of Nathaniel V. Jones,” Utah Historical
Quarterly, 4:8; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly,
14:152
The sun
broke through the clouds, making it a pleasant day. Wilford Woodruff wrote: “At
half past 3 oclock this morning, Mrs Woodruff was delivered of a son which was
untimely six weeks before her time. The
boy was alive, smart, and active, yet we cannot suppose him to live but a short
time. We call his name Ezra. Mrs. Woodruff is doing as well as can be
expected.” Patty Sessions helped with
the delivery.
Sister
Harriet Young went to visit the mourning Pond family. “Found them in a suffering condition. One of their daughters lay a corpse in the house, and one they
buried yesterday and another 5 days previous.
They are truly an afflicted family.
I sent some beans and some onions to them.”
Bishop
Newel K. Whitney opened a “bishop’s storehouse” in Winter Quarters to supply
the wives of the brethren in the Mormon Battalion, and other individuals with
goods.
It had
been very cold overnight. In the
morning there was so much frost on the grass that the mules would not drink
before leaving. The men buried their
fallen comrade, Elisha Smith. Henry
Bigler wrote, “We buried him on the banks of this creek. We made a brush heap over his grave and
burned it to hide him from savages and hungry wolves.”
Levi
Hancock wrote a song in the memory of Elisha Smith:
Death and
the Wolves
The
Battalion encamped
By the side
of a grove,
Where the
pure waters flowed
From the
mountains above.
Our brave
hunters came in
From the
chase of wild bulls
All around
‘rose the bin
Of the
howling of wolves.
When the
guards were all placed