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But ere before the valley gained

We will be met upon the plains

With music sweet and friends so dear

And fresh supplies our hearts to cheer.

Then with music and the song

How cheerfully we’ll march along

So thankfully you make a start

To cross the plains with our hand carts.

—John D. T. McAllister, “The Hand Cart Song,” verse five

Historical Introduction

“Fort Laramie, more than any other military post during the frontier era, witnessed the salient events that shaped the western United States—the great westward migrations, the gold rushes, the Pony Express, the transcontinental telegraph, landmark peace-treaty councils, and the overland mail to California,” writes historian Douglas C. McChristian.[1] Fur traders William Sublette and Robert Campbell first constructed the fort at the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte rivers in 1834. Subsequent owners sold the outpost to the U.S. government in 1849 as a military station. It became an important resupply and stronghold post for emigrants on the Oregon and Mormon trails. According to trail historian Merrill J. Mattes, “Until the birth of Cheyenne in 1867, incidental to construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, Fort Laramie was the undisputed capital of the vast territory between Santa Fe and Denver to the south and the chain of Missouri River outposts to the north, as well as the last significant outpost of civilization on the Great Platte River Road from Fort Kearny to South Pass.”[2]

In late June 1859, just one month before the Eighth Handcart Company passed by Fort Laramie, Horace Greeley, the celebrated editor and publisher of the New-York Tribune, arrived at this famed military installation aboard a stagecoach before heading to Utah and then on to California. He had previously traveled west to Denver (Colorado) on the newly opened Pike’s Peak Express Leavenworth-Denver route from the Missouri River across the Kansas Territory to Denver.[3] Penning his observations for his newspaper, he dedicated three chapters of his resulting volume to his overland journey from Fort Laramie to Salt Lake City. His travelogue, An Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco in the Summer of 1859,[4] became a bestseller in the East. Greeley described the making of his popular travel narrative:

Hurriedly written, mainly in wagons or under the rudest tents, while closely surrounded by the (very limited) appliances and processes of pioneer meal-getting, far from books of reference, and often in the absence of even the commonest map, they deal with surfaces only, and these under circumstances which preclude the idea of completeness of information or uniform accuracy of statement. The value of such a work, if value it have, must be sought in unstudied simplicity of narration, in the freshness of its observations, and in the truth of its averments as transcripts of actual experiences and current impressions.[5]

As a veteran journalist, Greeley writes with wonderful description and helps us better understand what the Mormon Trail was like in 1859. As such, to add color to the handcart pioneer accounts, I have included several his descriptive passages in the footnotes.

Some of the most stunning and rugged scenery of the entire Mormon Trail is located in Wyoming between Fort Laramie, on the trail’s eastern edge, and Fort Bridger, on its western border. According to trail historian Stanley B. Kimball, “Wyoming is the most scenic of all the states that the Mormon emigrants trekked through. It is also the most difficult state in which to follow the original trail. . . . In Wyoming the Mormons crossed the Platte River and picked up the Oregon Trail, which they followed west some four hundred miles from Fort Laramie to Fort Bridger.”[6] To track the Eighth Handcart Company’s route from Fort Laramie, Nebraska Territory to Fort Bridger, Nebraska Territory in summer 1859, see “Map 5. Mormon Pioneer Trail in eastern Wyoming, 1847” and “Map 6. Mormon Pioneer Trail in western Wyoming, 1847,” in Kimball’s Historic Sites and Markers along the Mormon and Other Great Western Trails.[7]

Source Note

Thomas McIntyre, diary, CHL; Henry Hobbs, diary, CHL; Hans Olsen Magleby, diary, CHL; and Mathias Brock Nilsson, diary, CHL.

Document Transcripts

Thursday, July 28, 1859 (day 50 on the Mormon Trail)

[McIntyre] We make a start [and] are immediately told to camp again, as the provision wagons have broken another wheel. Father [William Thomas] Harris is sent to [Fort] Laramie to trade for one. He is refused there but manages to get one from the man at the ferry.

We have a meeting in the evening. It is moved and carried unanimously that chaplain [Henry Olpin] be released for neglect of duty and Brother John Smith take his place. Prayers to be favorably attended to night and morning in the different companies and altogether in the middle of the corral. The grumblers were also remembered, and the day was closed with prayer.

[Hobbs] Traveled a few hundred yards and then [Martin] Hansen’s wagon broke down. Camped near to where the accident happened. Some of the boys got a wheel at [Fort] Laramie today. Thomas Jarvis [Kirkman] left camp and went with some Pike’s Peakers. Some three hundred soldiers left Laramie today for Salt Lake. In the evening a meeting was held. Brother [Henry] Olpin was removed from the office of chaplain for not being punctual in calling the Saints to prayers, and John Smith was appointed instead. Brother [George] Rowley said he was ashamed of the grumbling in camp, saying that some said he had a panful of bacon at every meal, but he said he had not eaten a pound on the journey. Some said that the teamsters went to the bacon whenever they felt disposed. Captain Rowley said there was only four weeks’ provisions and a few days on hand and we were only halfway. He said much of the dilemma we were in was owing to the grumbling. But, says he, rather than the good should suffer, he would have a division, and those who would do right should go through, and the others could do as they pleased. He spoke of some visiting apostates and telling a pitiful tale to get a little salt, etc., and saying they had not enough to eat. He said if the people did not alter, they would fall by the way. Brother [William] Scogings related a dream touching the same thing.

[Magleby] Remained in camp until afternoon, when we broke camp to continue our journey. We broke a wheel of one of our wagons so that the journey could be continued only about twelve hundred feet. Some of the brethren then went over to the fort to obtain a wheel, and some went there to trade and to visit the place. I was among these. I looked around and bought myself a piece of bacon. In the evening we had a meeting. In the morning our English brother [Thomas Jarvis Kirkman] left us and continued with the [miner] captain, who gave me the $5.00.

[Nilsson] The captain [George Rowley] for some reason did not get ready to start until twelve o’clock noon, and then we only just made a start and got off the campground when another wheel broke down, so we had to lay over here for the day and go over to the fort [Laramie] to obtain another wheel. This old wagon, which they fitted us out with at Florence, has given us a great deal of trouble and has caused us to consume considerable of our provisions while waiting for repairs. At this place some apostates visited our camp. They told us some wonderful stories about Brigham Young and Utah. We held a meeting in the evening at which Captain Rowley told us that from now on we should have to make better time, as we had provisions to last us only five weeks and we had 520 miles yet to travel before we reached the [Salt Lake] valley. Some of the people complained they could not live on the rations they received, as they had to eat only flour and water.

Friday, July 29, 1859 (day 51)

[McIntyre] We leave [Fort] Laramie at eight o’clock [a.m.] and climb over a few hills, roads sandy. An incident occurred at this [place] which nearly cost the lives of a few of our boys. We proposed to wade the river to see Laramie, so we stopped and sent our clothes across on horseback. Before us the current was strong and the river in some places three and four feet at the fording place. As union is strength we got hold of each other’s hands and in this manner we got safely over, took a view of Laramie and came back to the river. A raft was tied to the side of the water’s edge. The less cautious took this plan to cross, and I with the balance took the old plan, which had not failed. When about [in] the middle of the river, clasping each other’s hands, the other party on the raft (naked) started down with the current, having no power to turn the raft right or left. In desperation some clung to the long rope that is stretched across the river for ferrying. The others, missing the rope as it passed, were carried a little further and finally seeing no help for them jumped into the river. They were with great difficulty saved from drowning.

The three boys that clung to the rope had to work themselves with their naked hands and legs to the edge of the water. After dinner we roll out again. As we move along our attention is directed to a soldier on horseback very anxious to cross and see our outfit. After making several failures and noticing that he had engaged our attention he made another attempt, urged his horse on, got into deep water, was unhorsed, and an awful plunging takes place to save themselves. Luckily, they were both saved, but the soldier’s curiosity was not satisfied. We travel over a very rolling country, the scenery quite interesting, the country always forming a new picture as we ascend to the tops of each hill. Traveled today fifteen miles.

While at prayers tonight Brother [William] Scogings indicated that he had something to say. He dreamed that the Saints were murmuring, and that the Spirit of God came upon him and caused him to prophecy that if the Saints did not cease their murmuring that disease would lay hold on them and that many would fall by the way. So about eight o’clock [a.m.] this morning when we started, he was in perfect health, in fact never felt better, till about three hours’ travel, and then he was suddenly attacked with violent pains in his bowels, yet he still kept on with his cart. The pain increased, and his eyes grew so weak that he was obliged to drop by the way. Here he prayed fervently to the Lord to ease his pains and give him strength to keep up with the company. He tried to remember if he had done anything wrong to incur the Lord’s displeasure. Being alone he again prayed earnestly with his face to the earth, he felt now so ill that he thought he must die, he tried to look up but his eyes failed him. All at once his dream flashed vividly across his mind, so he prayed again and said that if it were the Lord’s will, he should tell his dream to the Saints that his pain might leave him. That moment the pain left him, and in a short time he was with the camp again as well as ever.

[Hobbs] Traveled nineteen miles through sand and the Black Hills,[8] some of the hills very steep. Some delightful scenery on the way. Picked some cherries, gooseberries, and currants here. Handcart upset. Arrived in camp just as it was getting dark. Camped by a small stream. I went a little way from camp, and when I came back, I was delighted with the sublime scenery. Notwithstanding the people were much tired and fatigued and dark when they camped, yet as if done by magic power, all the fires were lit and the camp seemed all in a blaze. Went on guard till twelve.

[Magleby] This morning we left the camping place near [Fort] Laramie. A number of soldiers visited us and gave some coins to some of the children. The road is hilly but good. Camped for noon. Found some berries; the seeds are like cherries. Continued our journey until late that evening. The camping place was good with respect to water and fuel but very poor in grass.

[Nilsson] We left our encampment near [Fort] Laramie at seven o’clock a.m. and traveled about six miles along the river. We then left the river for about two miles but came back to its banks again and halted for noon about three hours. Resuming our journey, we traveled about ten miles and halted by a cold spring. Day’s journey eighteen miles.

Saturday, July 30, 1859 (day 52)

[McIntyre] We make another start at eight o’clock [a.m.] and travel among the hills for the greater portion of the day. We strike the river again and refresh ourselves, and at five o’clock we start to make for some springs[9] represented in a [trail] guide we have where there is good feed for cattle and wood and water. After traveling the distance designated, viz[10] nine miles, we find ourselves surrounded by darkness and no signs of any camping place. We camp here without grass, wood, or water. We have come over some very difficult rocky hills, and fears are entertained for the provision wagons that are coming over the same place in the dark. By very careful management of Brother [William Thomas] Harris and the blessing of God, to the great surprise of us all they arrive in camp all right. Two of our handcarts are missing. We have traveled eighteen miles. I was sent back on horseback after the missing, a job I have to do often.

[Hobbs] A lovely morning. The guard calls me at five a.m. In fifteen minutes we have prayers in our separate companies, after which we all go in the corral for public prayer. We then take breakfast and start on our journey. This morning the spirit of peace seems to be brooding over the whole camp. Traveled this day twenty miles, rough roads and lofty mountains to travel over. Had to double teams, got benighted,[11] five or six tires came off. Camped on the wayside, where there was neither wood or water. The Saints were completely exhausted.

[Magleby] Very hilly and rocky roads. Camped for noon by a river. Better road in the afternoon. Traveled on until late in the evening and found no water. Camped just before dark.

[Nilsson] We left camp at eight o’clock [a.m.] in the morning and traveled over a hilly and very rocky road for about seven miles to the river, where we halted for dinner. At five o’clock p.m. we made another start and traveled until ten o’clock [p.m.] in the evening, when we made a dry camp after traveling during the day seventeen miles. We had no water for use during the night except what we brought with us in our water cans. One handcart was left behind, and it had not come in the next morning.

Sunday, July 31, 1859 (day 53)

[McIntyre] Sabbath morning, our missing arrive early. We start early in order to get to water where we can get breakfast for man and beast. In about an hour and half travel, we arrive at the much-longed-for springs, where we camp till two p.m. We start again to make for the river, we pass one creek and wade through Deep Creek, pass over very good roads. Again, we are overtaken by darkness and obliged to camp by the roadside without water or fuel.

[Hobbs] Traveled three miles to the springs. Here we remained several hours to rest ourselves and get something to eat. Under the greenwood shade, it is cool and refreshing. The water is lovely. There is a good supply of wood but not much feed for cattle. There are some currants here. At middle day we resumed our journey and traveled nineteen miles. Left George Reid and Richard Mills[12] behind with a handcart and one hundred pounds of flour.[13] I desired to go one mile and fetch them into camp, but Captain [George] Rowley said I had better not or else I would be left behind. Went through deep creek up to our thighs. Got into camp at nine o’clock. Called for prayers, but the people were tired and hungry and would not come.

[Magleby] Continued our journey early. Traveled about five miles when we found good water. Camped. Ate breakfast and dinner. Broke camp about two o’clock [p.m.] but found no water during the day. Camped a little before dark.

[Nilsson] We left camp at six o’clock a.m. and traveled about three miles to the spring. Here we made camp and remained for several hours. Resuming our journey at two o’clock p.m. we traveled about ten miles but had to make a dry camp again, as we were four miles from the river. An old English sister [Elizabeth Watson] was left behind this afternoon.

Monday, August 1, 1859 (day 54)

[McIntyre] As soon as daylight appears, we are up again to get breakfast but must travel to get water and fuel for to cook it with. When we are on the road about half an hour, our captain [George Rowley] calls for volunteers to go back for two young men [George Reid and Richard Mills] who have become dissatisfied and are one or two days’ travel behind us.

Brothers [Squire] Thornton,[14] [Benjamin] Hibbert,[15] and myself are called upon to fill this mission. We are told not to force the boys to come on if they feel inclined to stay but get the property from them which belongs to the [handcart] company.

We started back after receiving a few cakes from some of the sisters, who had some left from the last meal, and the camp moved forward. We rested by the roadside and partook of our cakes and chokecherries that grew by the roadside. Brother Thornton thought he was not able to pursue the journey with us, so he returned to camp. We meet Brothers Joseph Young[16] and [Horace] Eldredge returning from the [midwestern] States with [a] mule team and buggy. After a little conversation we move on again in gloomy silence, hoping soon to meet with the boys who had given us this trouble. After a good ten hours’ march we came upon them seemingly very comfortable under a chokecherry tree cooking. Their names are Richard Mills and George Reid.

Their excuse for staying behind was that they were sick and that they were not treated well by the captain. After a little talk on both sides they started back with us; this was about three p.m. We had traveled about an hour when we meet two wagons with apostates. One of them, a six-footer, asked us if we would not go back with them. This was just what Mills and Reid wanted, so the handcart is set down and a conversation ensues which ends in the two boys consenting to go back with them. This tall apostate then turned his attention to us and took great care in displaying a colt revolver. Could we let him have some caps? Oh yes! We were glad to show that we were armed as well as he. Could they have the handcart? We replied no! They then asked if they could have the flour. We told them our orders and we meant to perform them, namely, to bring back the handcart and its contents whether Mills and Reid came with it or not. Having gained our point, the boys turned back with the apostates, and we took up the handcart, very glad to get off without any fuss. We have traveled all day since five this morning, and necessity compels us to travel all night, as we have no food and no likelihood of getting any until we get up to camp again. Soon darkness surrounds us, and it is with great difficulty we can keep the road. The wolves are barking around us, something very disagreeable to our inexperienced ears. We are traveling in moody silence, listening to the echoes of our carts’ wheels as we pass some weird-looking bluffs with our pistols ready in case of some wolf coming too near to us, when in one instant both of us are precipitated down a sharp declivity of six or seven feet and fall flat on our faces in the sand and the handcart on the top of us.

Ben, my companion, is very much disheartened. After gathering ourselves together we travel a little further, and not being sure of our road we conclude to corral our handcart and get below it and rest until daylight would come to point the right track. We huddled close together for warmth but could not get any, it being so very cold. Daylight at last came to our relief, and to our joy we saw the campfire ahead of us. The brethren and sisters were glad to see us, as we were to see them. We had traveled since we saw them about seventy miles and that without food or rest.

[Hobbs] Went six miles before breakfast. Camped by Platte River.[17] Three of the boys started back with weapons of defense, twenty miles to bring in the handcart left behind; this detained us one day. The names of those who went back were [Thomas] McIntyre, Big Ben [Hibbert], and Squire [Thornton]. The clouds look dark and lowering, so we fly to our tents for shelter. About six p.m. Brother [Horace] Eldredge, Joseph Young, and a small company of the boys drove into camp and brought us good news. Said Captain [Robert] Neslen’s [wagon] train was one hundred miles behind and had lost nine oxen. [Edward] Stevenson and his fifty-nine wagons were doing well. Neslen has fifty-one wagons. There is behind twelve wagons of mules and fifteen of oxen, all doing well. Joseph Young Jr. has been passing blood all the way he has come and is very weak in body; he feels better today. Eldredge and Young gave orders for us to have a quarter of a pound more flour per day and then we could do our work. They said we had traveled well and were prospering, losing no oxen. Said we had better ford the Platte and by so doing save fifteen miles and miss the sand.

[Magleby] Broke camp early. Traveled five or six miles. This brought us to the river where we camped. We waited for some of the brethren who had gone back to look after a handcart which had not yet came up to the company. During this evening three wagons reached our camp. It turned out to be the immigration agent from Zion, Joseph Young, [Horace] Eldredge, and others. They had passed [Robert] Neslen’s company, which is about one hundred miles behind us. They had lost a number of oxen and some had been run over.[18] Mr. Anderson from Copenhagen had broken a limb, and one brother [Jens Vaarden][19] was dead. The visiting brethren felt that in comparison with that company we had been very greatly favored.

[Nilsson] We ate an early breakfast and broke up our encampment at six o’clock a.m. Four young men were sent back for the handcart that was left behind. We traveled four miles to the river where we laid over the remainder of the day. In the afternoon Bishop [Horace] Eldredge and Joseph W. Young overtook us. They told us that Robert F. Neslen’s company was coming along alright. They also instructed our captain [George Rowley] to distribute more flour to the emigrants in his company, as provisions would be sent from the valley to meet our company.

Tuesday, August 2, 1859 (day 55)

[McIntyre] Brothers [Horace] Eldredge and Joseph W. Young camped with our company last night and departed this morning.[20] We remained in camp today. Twenty or thirty of the brethren are sent to hunt up an old sister named Elizabeth Watson who was not missed till this morning, not having camped with us last night. Large fires are made at night to guide the brethren who are among the hills. They return late with no tidings of her. One brother brought in a pair of boots and stocking believed to belong to the lost sister.

[Hobbs] [Thomas] McIntyre, Benjamin [Hibbert], and Squire [Thornton] arrived with the handcart. Were within three miles of the camp the night before but could not see the fires, as we were in a hollow.[21] They said the boys [George Reid and Richard Mills] had turned back with some apostates and took some clothes belonging to Brother [Joseph] Gilbert.[22] Today the camp is resting to recruit ourselves, and the oxen seem very much strengthened. This afternoon a company of twenty and upwards were sent back in search of Elizabeth Watson, an old lady upwards of sixty who was missing from camp. She had not been seen in camp since Sunday, 31 of July. We explored the hills on either side for twelve miles, then made a fire while a few of the Danish boys went further on. We found a pair of shoes three miles from where we camped on the Sunday which the boys declared was hers, for they had seen her wear them. Hence we came to the conclusion that she had gone back with an apostate [wagon] train on the first of August and had left her boots to tell the tale. We sung some songs round the fire. Brother [Richard George or George Richards] Jones[23] prayed, and as soon as the rest of the boys arrived, we started for camp, twelve miles. As soon as we got breakfast, the camp moved forward nine miles, camped one hour for dinner, then traveled three more miles. Picked some fine cherries and gooseberries. A fine breeze of wind blowing.

[Magleby] Brethren from Zion [Utah] left us very early, and the brethren [Thomas McIntyre, Benjamin Hibbert, and Squire Thornton] who had gone out hunting for the carriage came back with it, but the two men [George Reid and Richard Mills] who were in charge of it had left it and had remained behind with some apostates. This morning received nine pounds of flour for each person. During the afternoon I was called to go out with twenty other brethren to seek an old English sister [Elizabeth Watson] who had been left behind. We took some provisions with us and separated and went in different directions. After about two hours’ walk, I found a pair of old shoes and stockings and gave the signal agreed upon to call the others together. After we had gathered there was some who recognized these articles as both belonging to our sister. We decided she must have left them there as a sign that she gone back with some of the others who the day before had passed us. Since two of the Danish brethren did not join us, I had to go with some of the brethren back to the creek where we had agreed to gather during the night, and we remained there during the night, but they did not come back, after which we went back to the other brethren who were waiting for us, and together we went to the camp which was twelve miles away. When we reached there, we found the two brethren. They had gone back during the evening.

[Nilsson] The camp was aroused at four o’clock in the morning and provisions were distributed. Eight pounds of flour for seven days and half pound of bacon to each person. The four young men who were sent back arrived in camp with the handcart that was left behind, but the people [George Reid and Richard Mills] to whom the handcarts belonged had gone to the fort [Laramie]. Twenty-one men were sent back to find the old lady [Elizabeth Watson] who was left behind Sunday afternoon. On that account we had to remain in camp all day. We had plenty of fuel but only a little grass for the oxen.

Wednesday, August 3, 1859 (day 56)

[McIntyre] All the other boys return after a fruitless search for the old lady [Elizabeth Watson], who is seventy-three[24] years old. We start at nine o’clock [a.m.] and travel over good roads and take dinner by the river. We take up the march for three miles more and for the night by the river’s side.

[Hobbs] [blank]

[Magleby] The camp broke up soon after we arrived. Had a good road. Camped early for the night. We who had been out received extra bacon.

[Nilsson] The brethren who were sent back to find the lost sister [Elizabeth Watson] returned without finding her. They had found a pair of shoes which they supposed had belonged to her, and the brethren decided that she had gone back with some of the apostates. But a day or two later we received word that a couple of hunters had found her remains and buried them. We left our encampment about ten o’clock a.m., traveled eight miles, and stopped for dinner. In the afternoon we traveled four miles and camped on the river.

Thursday, August 4, 1859 (day 57)

[McIntyre] At six [a.m.] we are again on the road, and we have scarcely gone a mile, whether owing to the carelessness of the driver or some other accident of the road, the wagon containing the sick was upset and the sick all [fell] below the wagon bed. After all are cleared out, we discover that only a few are slightly bruised or scratched. The wagon is soon repaired, and we are again on the road. We make an effort to cross the river to get a better road on the south side but can find no fording place, so we keep [on] the north side, our captain [George Rowley] thinking it safest for the company. We have a meeting and [are] addressed by the captains of ten.

[Hobbs] Traveled eight miles and camped for dinner. Went four miles and tried to ford the river but found it too deep. Some of the boys drove the cattle across to feed and remained with them all night. After supper had a meeting [with] captains of ten, and Captain [George] Rowley addressed the meeting. Tonight we had the remainder of our flour taken out of our carts and seven cans given us to last ten days.

[Magleby] Broke camp early, but we had not traveled long before a wagon with six people in it turned over; however, none was injured seriously. Some of the brethren remained with the wagon to put it in shape again. The others continued. During the afternoon we came to the river, where we tried to cross but found it to be entirely too deep. Here all the handcarts were emptied of flour sacks, then provisions were divided for seven days, one pound bacon today. Had meeting in the evening.

[Nilsson] We resumed our journey at six o’clock a.m. but had traveled only about two hundred yards from the campground when [Martin] Hansen’s team turned over a bank and tipped his wagon over. Some of the sick folks were riding in that wagon, and they all got somewhat shaken up, yet no limbs were broken. After everything was fixed up, we traveled ten miles and stopped on the river for dinner. Here we had planned to cross the river to the south side, and for this purpose we started with one of the handcarts, but as the water was deep and the quicksand treacherous, we gave up the attempt. So, we traveled four miles further and camped for the night on the river after making our day’s journey fourteen miles.

Friday, August 5, 1859 (day 58)

[McIntyre] We start at six [a.m.] with a good resolve to make better progress, our carts being lightened up. We [travel] over sandy roads and through a hilly, barren country, ascending and descending all day, which is very fatiguing. At night we arrive at a very pleasant spot by the river where we camp.

[Hobbs] Left a little before seven a.m. and traveled ten miles over rugged cliffs and steep hills. Camped for dinner two hours, then went nine miles. Early in the morning several of the boys were sent back nine miles to look for a lame ox.

[Magleby] Broke camp early. We had a somewhat uneven and hilly way. Camped for noon. We had a sick ox which we had to leave behind. We continued our journey and found a fine camping place for the night.

[Nilsson] We continued our journey at six o’clock a.m. and traveled about ten miles over some big sandstone hills. Reaching the river again we halted for noon. In the afternoon we traveled eight miles over good roads and camped for the night by some springs near the river, where there was plenty of wood. We had lost one of our oxen at the place where we stopped for dinner, and the captain [George Rowley] thought best to send someone back in the morning to hunt for it.

Saturday, August 6, 1859 (day 59)

[McIntyre] A few boys go out early this morning after a lame ox. They return at two p.m. with the ox. Our camp moves on again. We meet two of the brethren from the [Salt Lake] valley going down east to bring on their friends. We also come in contact with a Brother Grow, a dentist who has come ahead of [James] Brown’s company to find a good road for the wagon containing his drugs. Being made aware by them that we would not get water for fifteen miles and that most of the road was heavy sand, we camped immediately, it being a little too much to undertake tonight.

[Hobbs] In camp all the forenoon waiting for a lame ox. Went one and a half miles, then camped by the river. [Went] to get some pills from Doc Kearney, who made us believe that the sand was knee deep and no water for fifteen miles. We believed the lying report and lost a day’s march.

[Magleby] Some of the brethren were sent back to feed the ox. For this reason, we all remained in camp. Sometime in the afternoon they came to the camp with the ox, and then we broke camp and continued our journey only a mile, as someone told us that there was no water nor grass for a long distance. This, however, we found later to be incorrect.

[Nilsson] The camp was aroused early in the morning, and six men were sent back to find the lost ox. Consequently, we had to remain in camp awaiting their return. About noon the brethren returned with the lost animal. Being then ready to start, we traveled one mile when we met three brethren on horseback. Two of them being from [James] Brown’s Company a little ahead of us. These brethren told our captain [George Rowley] that we had better camp where we were, as there was no feed within reaching distance that night. Taking the advice of brethren, we made camp, in which we remained the rest of the day.

Sunday, August 7, 1859 (day 60)

[McIntyre] We make a very early start this morning at four o’clock [a.m.] and make eleven miles before dinner and two of these miles being very deep sand. In the afternoon we ascend a very steep hill. We camp among trees by the riverside. Traveled today fifteen miles.

[Hobbs] Traveled eighteen miles. Much sand in the forenoon. Got to a good campground and picked some nice berries and had a splendid cake for tea. About one mile to the water.

[Magleby] Broke camp early. Went about ten or twelve miles during the forenoon. Continued during the afternoon five or six miles over a hilly and heavy road. On the other side of the river, we saw a settlement or trading post[25] and a train of sixteen wagons. We intended to hold a meeting but were prevented by bad weather.

[Nilsson] We resumed our journey at five thirty o’clock a.m. and traveled at a quick pace about ten miles over good roads in the forenoon. In the afternoon, after having halted for dinner, we traveled nine miles. Part of the way over good roads and part of the way over sand hills. We camped for the night by the river, where there was lots of fallen timber. We passed a fort in the afternoon.

Monday, August 8, 1859 (day 61)

[McIntyre] A very cold morning, we start at seven [a.m.], and soon we find ourselves contending with heavy sandy roads till twelve o’clock [p.m.] and rest and take dinner by the river. Traveled today twenty miles, the hardest day’s travel we have had yet. Camp two miles west of the Platte Bridge.[26]

[Hobbs] Traveled some eighteen miles over heavy sand mountains. Camped about one mile from the Platte Bridge. Many of the Saints were footsore and came into camp very late. Some did not get in till morning.

[Magleby] Traveled until late. Saw another settlement.

[Nilsson] Commencing our journey at six o’clock in the morning, we traveled all day over heavy sand hills. After traveling eight miles in the forenoon, we halted at a place where there was plenty of timber and grass for the oxen. In the afternoon we went six miles and camped for the night on the river, where there was no wood.

Tuesday, August 9, 1859 (day 62)

[McIntyre] We start in advance of the wagons and travel sixteen miles and camp where there is no water; we soon find it by digging for it; tastes alkali.[27] One of the Scandinavian brethren [Jorgen Olsen][28] [is] missing. We pass immense quantities of dead oxen lying along the road. We count in one day as many as twenty-five and thirty [oxen].[29]

[Hobbs] Up at three a.m. and made a big noise with the rest of the captains [of ten] in order to get the people to rouse from their slumbers and prepare for marching. We got off in good seasonable time. Before starting I went to the river and got a bath, very cold but quite reviving. Traveled seventeen miles, then camped for dinner. Left Brother [Charles] Mann’s cart and pulled with Brother [Frederick] Cooper[30] and Matilda Barrett. We had no water on our first march and numbers had nothing cooked. This with the heat of the sun quite overpowered them, and they became faint and weary. At last we came to water, though not of the best kind. For this boon we felt very grateful. It was with much difficulty that the cattle were brought into camp. Through continued traveling and want of food, they bled at the nose, and the dung that passed from them was mingled with blood and matter. We should have gone ten or eleven miles farther if the cattle could have stood it. As it was, we had a good rest. Repaired my boots.

[Magleby] A hilly road and without water. Traveled fifteen or sixteen miles. We camped sometime in the afternoon in order to wait for the wagons which were behind us, and as they did not arrive, we remained there.

[Nilsson] Making an early start, we pulled our handcarts over big sand hills for about one mile to a point where we left the river, from which the distance to the next water was sixteen miles. We kept going as fast as we could and reached the place designated as the next water early in the afternoon. Here we dug a hole in the ground to the left of the road and thus obtained some good cold water. Our wagons were five miles behind; hence, we made camp and remained in the same all day. A Danish brother [Jorgen Olsen] was left behind.

Wednesday, August 10, 1859 (day 63)

[McIntyre] Several of the boys start in search of the missing brother [Jorgen Olsen]. We start at eight [a.m.] and travel seventeen miles [on] good roads and camp at Willow Springs,[31] where we find the lost man.

[Hobbs] Sent four men back in search of a Scandinavian brother [Jorgen Olsen] that had missed his road. Up at three this morning and left for the springs, some eleven miles, or rather eighteen. Got some water halfway, but it had saleratus[32] in [it]. Found the brother that was lost at the spring enjoying himself with two Indians. At this place the water is pure and good. Feed for cattle is tolerably plentiful. Captain [George] Rowley spoke for some time and said he would send back for no more that stayed by the way and that we could make the journey in sixteen days from Devil’s Gate. Tonight I repaired my boots. Two Indians in camp tonight.

[Magleby] As Jorgen Olsen had not arrived in camp, four brethren were sent back to look for him. We broke camp about nine o’clock, traveled about fifteen or sixteen miles, which brought us to a little spring of good cold water. Here we found Jorgen Olsen among some Indians. He had taken a shortcut to the place.

[Nilsson] The camp was aroused at daylight, and we made an early start. Four men were sent back to find our lost brother while the company moved on over good roads and traveled eleven miles, where we came to a spring of good water on the right of the road. After traveling four miles further we reached a small creek, which we followed three miles further and came to Willow Creek, where we camped for the remainder of the day. Here we found Brother [Jorgen Olsen], the lost man. He had taken the south road and thus got ahead of us.

Thursday, August 11, 1859 (day 64)

[McIntyre] We start before the wagons and travel to Grease Wood Creek,[33] where we find ourselves surrounded by Indians and wigwams.[34] We wait here a couple of hours, do some trading and talk with the Indians, and start again for Sweetwater,[35] which we reach at half past ten evening. The boys who were in search of the lost brother [Jorgen Olsen] arrive here. Traveled twenty-one miles.

[Hobbs] Left at quarter before seven a.m. and traveled twelve miles. Here by a large stream of water was an Indian village. Nearly all the Indians came to see us cross the water with our handcarts. Camped on the other side of the water and waited several hours for the arrival of our captain [George Rowley]. Some of these Indians here learned the art of pilfering. Biscuits here are forty cents per pound. By and by Captain Rowley arrived, and we pursued our journey with vigor till we reached the Sweetwater seven miles from Devil’s Gate. We had the moon to guide us and got in camp at eleven o’clock [p.m.]. We had much sand to travel through and made upwards of twenty-one miles. Some few did not reach camp till morning. Here we had good feed for the cattle.

[Magleby] Continued the journey. About noon came to a creek where some Indians had camped. We went over on the other side and waited for the wagons. The Indians came over to us, and we had to be very careful, for they were deceiving. When the wagons came, we continued our journey until ten o’clock in the evening. We reached a trading house and a creek where we camped. The four brethren who had gone after Brother [Jorgen] Olsen reached us.

[Nilsson] We resumed our journey at eight o’clock in the morning and traveled over good roads about eight miles to Greasewood Creek, where we found a large Indian camp. The Indians were friendly. After we had passed their camp, we stopped for dinner, and in the afternoon, we traveled eleven miles and came to Sweetwater, where we made camp for the night. From this point we began to see the Rocky Mountains.[36] At this point we found a trading store, but as we had no money, we could make no purchases.

Friday, August 12, 1859 (day 65)

[McIntyre] After the duties of the morning are over, we cross the Sweetwater all right, roll merrily on, pass Independence Rock,[37] and arrive at Devil’s Gate[38] at one o’clock. Here we have the last of the provisions dealt out to us; the wagons are emptied out and cleaned and a general cleaning and mending by all the Saints. One of our best oxen die here.[39] A tribe of Upahaw [Arapaho] Indians[40] pass here bearing twelve scalps and three Ute[41] prisoners.

[Hobbs] Left for Devil’s Gate. Two or three miles of sand on our way. Forded the river. Saw Independence Rock on our right. The Sweetwater runs through two rocks, and this is called Devil’s Gate. It is a great curiosity. There is some fish in the river, there is plenty of feed for cattle, two stores, etc. It was quite a treat for us to get to Sweetwater after being deprived of it so long. This afternoon a number of Indians came into camp. They had been to war with the Utahs [Utes]. They had with them a number of scalps of those they had killed, one woman prisoner and a child, and a number of fine horses. They offered us large pieces of buffalo and antelope[42] for a small cake. Tonight I had a piece of antelope given to me by the storekeeper and a piece of bacon by Sister [Jane] Harris, some flour by William [Harris], and two pounds by Sister [Esther] Yeates. These things helped us materially while we were on short rations. This place is surrounded by rocks. I went on guard from twelve till three a.m. in the night. Two of the oxen died, and all the flesh was cut off and eaten eagerly.

[Magleby] Very good weather. Broke camp about nine o’clock. Traveled about six miles, which brought us to Devil’s Gate, where we camped. Provisions were distributed among us for eight days.

[Nilsson] We crossed Sweetwater about nine o’clock a.m., and after traveling seven miles further we reached Devil’s Gate, where we camped and remained at that point the remainder of the day. Here provisions at the rate of eight pounds of flour to each man for a week were distributed. This was our last flour. Two of our oxen drank some alkali water [and] died during the night.

Saturday, August 13, 1859 (day 66)

[McIntyre] Another [one] of our oxen die during the night, and numbers of the Danes do not question how the animal died but cut up the choicest pieces and eat with great gusto. We rest here today, weigh up our luggage, and make arrangements to leave five wagons behind to rest the oxen. In the evening we enjoy ourselves in the dance, call to prayers, and in a short time silence reigns around the camp.

[Hobbs] Waited all day for Captain [George] Rowley to return. I went onto the top of the rock called Devil’s Gate. The scene was awfully grand. Gathered a bag of [buffalo] chips and returned home at night. Captain Rowley returned and said he would have returned sooner, but the Indians had stolen his pony and he had to go and hunt it up and pay the men who went with him. Had a dance at night.

[Magleby] Two of the oxen died last night, which gave us a supply of meat. I bought little provisions here, but they are very expensive.

[Nilsson] In the morning we cut out some of the best meat of the oxen to take with us on our journey, as we had nothing to eat but a tin cup of flour for each day. We remained in camp all day.

Sunday, August 14, 1859 (day 67)

[McIntyre] Sabbath morning. At ten a.m. we have a public meeting. We are addressed by the captains of tens. A few of the Saints have lost bread and other eatables supposed to be stolen by some of their companions, and it is to the guilty parties the burden of the discourses are directed. Brother [William] Scogings reproves the sisters for giving encouragement to strangers to lounge around camp. Brother [Henry] Hobbs spoke of [the] straightforward way the elders had of reproving sin and contrasted it with the sectarian fashion. The [balance] is left to the Saints, who bear testimony, and a good time is enjoyed. Captain [George] Rowley closed with some excellent remarks. Sarah [Ann Pearson] Jones[43] leaves us to get married to a friend of hers [Edward Munn][44] who lives at the fort [Seminoe][45] here, and Hannah Moor,[46] wife of Brother Edward Moor,[47] with her child [Hyrum],[48] engages as servant to a man [Luis Silva] at the same trading post.[49] She never belonged to the Church. We [leave] this place at four p.m., bidding farewell for a short time to those who are left behind with the five wagons. We go only three miles and camp for the night.

[Hobbs] First thing on waking that saluted my ears was Mark Lindsey abusing William Adams for taking flour out of Sister [Ellen] Gyde’s bag and Sister [Emma] Cook’s. Lindsey threatened to thrash him and turn him out of the camp, but the evidence was not clear to our captain [George Rowley], and hence he did not leave the camp. He joined my company and pulled at my cart. I found him to be a good young man. Stayed in camp most of the day for one thing and another. Had a meeting in the forenoon. Brother [William] Scogings in his remarks said that as soon as our sisters came across any Gentiles, they would trim up[50] and enter into conversation with them, no matter how obscene their language was. Captain Rowley said the cause of so much bickering and backbiting was because the captains [of ten] indulged in these things. Today Sarah [Ann Pearson] Jones of Birmingham stayed behind and got married to a storekeeper [Edward Munn], and Brother [Edward] Moor’s wife [Hannah Moor] left him to go to a store four miles from Devil’s Gate. This afternoon camp moved two miles.

[Magleby] We remained in camp until afternoon. The wagons were then divided. Three were to follow us and five were to remain behind. During the afternoon we traveled about two miles and camped. During the evening had meeting, which I conducted.

[Nilsson] We fixed up three wagons to continue with the company with the best oxen in camp and left two wagons behind to travel at their leisure, and the company rolled out, as we expected to meet help from the [Salt Lake] valley with provisions. Leaving our encampment at four o’clock in the afternoon, we traveled only one and a half miles and then camped for the night.

Monday, August 15, 1859 (day 68)

[McIntyre] The morning as usual smiles upon us, encouraging us to be up and doing. Prayers are attended to, breakfast discussed, and at eight [a.m.] we leave this part of the Sweetwater. In short time we arrive at a trading post, where to our astonishment, we meet the lost Sister [Elizabeth] Watson, whom we gave up for dead on the evening of the thirty-first of July. Her story from her own lips runs as follows:

I traveled till darkness came upon me, and here I lost my way and of course gave up all hope of seeing camp. That night [I] passed the night alone without food or fuel. Next morning, cold and hungry, I started out to try and find camp; but no camp or human being could I see. For two days I traveled in this way, without food or covering at night, and the third day I came upon an Indian camp. Without fear I went up to an Indian who was cooking and tried to make him understand I was hungry and wanted something to eat. He soon made ready a cake and with some beans and milk I soon made a good meal. I then made him to understand that I wanted to cross the river, so he kindly ferried me across and put me on the proper road. I traveled on till night again without seeing anyone, and quite exhausted I laid me down to sleep. The wolves would pay me a visit and walk off again without doing me any harm.

Morning came, and I arose stiff and cold, but by walking I soon got warm. I had not traveled far when I was glad to see three men before me, and from them I hoped to get help and some news of camp. When I came up with them, they questioned me very closely. I told them I was a Mormon [who] had lost the camp and had been without food (only what I received of Indians) for three days. As soon as they learned I was a Mormon, one of them said he would kill every one [of] them that came in his way and got hold of me very roughly and seemed as if he was going to commence to carry out his threat with me, but I was soon pulled out of this disagreeable scene by one of his companions and shown on the road. I was almost giving up all hope of seeing the handcarts again when I noticed ahead of me a wagon. I soon made up to it and found a very agreeable man who told me I had just escaped from a band of robbers. This man treated me very kindly and brought me to the trading post

[This is] where we meet her. We go off the road and take dinner by the side of the river.

Henry F. Strugnell,[51] who was married on board the vessel [William Tapscott] coming across the Atlantic, leaves wife [Emma Strugnell][52] and religion and returns back to the fleshpots of Egypt,[53] his only excuse being “that he had more luggage to carry than his own” [and] “he was determined he would not do it.”

We touch near the river several times, travel over very sandy roads, and camp near the river on a fine green bank. Traveled today seventeen miles.

[Hobbs] Left at half past seven a.m. Traveled seventeen miles, nearly all sand and very hard pulling, wind and sand blowing in our eyes. Camped at dusk. Had a swim. Today Sister Elizabeth Watson, who had been lost for several days, returned to camp. Two days and nights she had been without food. Her life was preserved by an Indian; otherwise, a bandit said they would slay her. Today [Henry] Strugnell left the camp and turned back.

[Magleby] Continued the journey. Passed some traders.

[Nilsson] We broke our encampment at 6:30 o’clock a.m. and set out on our day’s journey on the strength of the meat from the dead oxen. Our road was good part of the way and at other places the road was sandy. We followed the river all day past two stores by the roadside and at noon we met a team from the [Salt Lake] valley coming to meet a Scotch family in our company. We traveled seventeen miles that day and camped on the Sweetwater.

Tuesday, August 16, 1859 (day 69)

[McIntyre] The camp is astir early. Call to prayers and off again at five o’clock [a.m.]. Travel four miles and take breakfast. Resume our journey and find the road still sandy. We now come to the second crossing of the Sweetwater. Here we meet Brothers Andrew Smith[54] and [Leishman?] with a covered wagon, who have come from the [Salt Lake] valley to meet their families, who are with us. We ford the third and fourth crossings[55] and take dinner. We travel another eight miles and camp by the Sweetwater again. Traveled today twenty miles.

[Hobbs] Started at six a.m. and traveled one and a half hours, then camped two hours for breakfast. Traveled till one o’clock through considerable sand, and after crossing the Sweetwater three times, camped for dinner at the first crossing. Brother John Smith and the rest of the family were met by their brother [Andrew Smith] and a wagon with some provisions. These were the first we had met from the [Salt Lake] valley. Hard pulling today. Traveled twenty miles, nearly all sand. Camped by the Sweetwater. Had a bath, which quite refreshed me.

[Magleby] Broke camp early. Drove about five miles before breakfast. About noon we passed a trading post[56] by a creek which we crossed three times in succession. Today we met a wagon from the [Salt Lake] valley which had gone out to meet some members of the family. Those who were met were very happy. They accompanied us during the remainder of the way.

[Nilsson] Continuing our journey at five o’clock in the morning we traveled five miles before breakfast and six miles further before we stopped for dinner. During the last mile we crossed the Sweetwater three times. We passed another store by the roadside, traveled eight miles in the afternoon, and camped by the river where the grass was good. Day’s journey, nineteen miles.

Wednesday, August 17, 1859 (day 70)

[McIntyre] Continue our journey over sandy roads. Pull along for nine miles and rest for dinner by the roadside. No water, travel another nine miles and camp by the riverside at five p.m.

[Hobbs] Left at quarter before eight a.m. and traveled eleven miles. Took dinner. No water and sandy road. Crossed Sweetwater once,[57] traveling eight or nine miles mostly through sand. Went for a bath, which very much refreshed me. We had no water through the whole day till we camped.

[Magleby] Continued until noon. No water. In the evening we reached a creek. The weather is somewhat cold.

[Nilsson] We left our encampment at six o’clock in the morning and traveling on left the river. After journeying ten miles we stopped an hour for dinner at a place where there was no water. In the afternoon we traveled nine miles further and came to the river once more, and then camped for the night. The travel all day was over good roads.[58]

Thursday, August 18, 1859 (day 71)

[McIntyre] Ford the river again,[59] travel six miles, take breakfast. We keep the right-hand road to avoid two crossings. Travel on a good road and reach Strawberry Creek,[60] making twenty-three miles, and here we camp.

[Hobbs] Left at half past four a.m. without breakfast and traveled six miles. Crossed the Sweetwater. In the onset, climbed two very steep hills.[61] Nearly all our strength was gone. Clara Bartlett and my wife [Jane Hobbs] came into camp quite late with sore feet. Altogether we traveled twenty-three miles, wood and water close at hand, but a hard bed to lay on. Most of the want of flour.

[Magleby] Crossed a creek and traveled about five miles before breakfast. Continued thereafter about seventeen or eighteen miles.

[Nilsson] Resuming our journey at five o’clock in the morning, we traveled seven miles before breakfast. We then traveled four miles further and then left the Sweetwater. Traveled over big sand hills in the afternoon, passed several springs with good water, and in the evening reached Willow Creek,[62] where we camped for the night. Day’s journey, twenty-three miles.

Friday, August 19, 1859 (day 72)

[McIntyre] Rather cold this morning, travel briskly and make six miles before breakfast. Start again at ten [a.m.] and ford the last crossing of the Sweetwater.[63] One of our sisters today engages as servant to a family at a trading post. Her name is Ann Hibbard. We travel on to Pacific Springs[64] and here we camp. Some of the Saints are out of provisions.

We cross the South Pass[65] of the Rocky Mountains. We had always looked at the water running east and now over the [continental] divide the waters streams run west.

[Hobbs] Left in good time and traveled seven miles to breakfast. Walked through the water the first thing. Camped by a nice stream of water, had a good bath. Had a few melons given me by a storekeeper. Traveled to Pacific Spring, fourteen miles. Sister [Ann] Hibbard stayed with a Gentile. Many of the Saints are faint, worn, and weary and coming in hours after the rest with their handcarts. Much of this weakness is caused through the lack of food. Met some travelers going to the States. Strong headwind against us at Little Sandy Hook.[66] Weather very cold during the night. Sister [Clara] Bartlett, [Emma] Booth, Sister [Sarah or Catherine] Farrar[67] stopped back. They were so tired. Sister [Ellen] Gyde would not leave Sister Booth ill as she was and stayed with her for twenty-four miles. This day we had no water. I think a one-horse trap[68] should be sent with the handcart company to fetch up the sick and not leave them to the care of strangers, and it was with difficulty they even got into camp.

[Magleby] Traveled about five or six miles before breakfast. Good road and pleasant weather. We passed a trading house. Camped by a little stream about five o’clock.

[Nilsson] We continued our travels at five o’clock in the morning. And after going two miles, we came to a little creek which we followed a short distance and then left it. While traveling five miles, we then reached the same creek at a point where there was a store or a trading post. A young English woman [Ann Hibbard] from our company stopped here. During the day we traveled nineteen miles.

Saturday, August 20, 1859 (day 73)

[McIntyre] We leave Pacific Springs at seven a.m., roll over excellent roads,[69] and arrive at Little Sandy at five o’clock [p.m.]. Many of the Saints who could not travel quite so fast as the others are left behind. I am sent back to bring up the sick who are left behind. Sister [Emma] Booth is cared for by a family on the road who is the only one sick. Traveled today twenty-seven miles.

[Hobbs] Refer above for particulars.

[Magleby] A good road. Camped for the night by another little stream.

[Nilsson] We resumed our journey at six o’clock in the morning and crossed the creek. After that we had good roads all day but no water. We traveled during the day twenty-six miles and camped overnight on a creek.

Sunday, August 21, 1859 (day 74)

[McIntyre] Sabbath morning. Some of the Saints come in today who were left behind last night. As some of our oxen are rather tired, it was thought proper that they should rest and wait for Sister [Emma] Booth and that some of the sick rest here also while the body of the camp move on.

We arrive at Big Sandy[70] and breakfast there. Hard times are coming upon us. Many are out of provisions, and quite a number of the Saints feel dissatisfied. We start again at eleven [a.m.] but in a very disorderly manner; some camp twenty-one miles ahead, and a few handcarts are six miles behind the principal camp. Sisters [Agnes] Birrell and [Jane] Hanson[71] stay behind at a mail station with their friends but intend coming on to the [Salt Lake] valley in November with the mail coach [wagon].[72]

[Hobbs] Left at good time and traveled six miles to breakfast. We then traveled twenty miles, crossed one creek. Some had no food all day and were very weak and feeble. Camped at sundown. Some few camped seven miles behind us. It was with difficulty that Brother [Henry] Olpin got his wife [Sarah Olpin] into camp.[73] Took me a bath in cold water, which did me good.

[Magleby] Went about six or seven miles before breakfast, after which the handcarts went on as they would or could.

[Nilsson] We started from our night’s encampment at six o’clock a.m., traveled seven miles, and came to a creek to the right of the road. We followed this creek a mile and then crossed it, after which we had the creek on our left, for a distance of twelve miles. Going six miles further over a bench, we came to the same creek once more and camped for the night after traveling twenty-six miles. Some of the handcarts did not arrive in camp until the next wagons. Our three wagons were camped five miles behind. Brother [Edward] Shanks was bitten during the day by a poisonous reptile.[74]

Monday, August 22, 1859 (day 75)

[McIntyre] The wagons come into camp and all concentrate at Big Sandy. We move off to Green River.[75] We ford in two hours. This has been the most difficult fording we have done yet, some of the handcarts being nearly carried down the stream. The sisters are all carried over one or two at a time on horseback while the handcarts are getting pulled through the stream. It was here where the Saints were expecting relief from the [Salt Lake] valley in the shape of provisions but are disappointed.

[Hobbs] Fine. Spent some time repairing shoes with wire, writing journal, and other duties. At half past eleven a.m. left for Green River, twelve miles. Had some heavy sand to pull through. I assisted in pulling three carts through the river; it is a clear water, about three feet deep. Very strong current, some fish in it. My strength all began to fail me after the third time of crossing. Went two and a half miles to camp through heavy sand. Old Father [Edward] Shanks was left out all night and nearly exhausted when Brother [James] Davies[76] found him. My wife [Jane Hobbs] made them their breakfast, and this was the last meal they ate together before they departed from this stage of action.[77] Today Jane’s feet are very sore. She can scarcely get along.

[Magleby] Broke camp about ten o’clock. Traveled about ten or twelve miles, which brought us to Green River, which I crossed five or six times. It was very deep and swift. Continued about two miles. As we camped here, we expected to find wagons from Zion [Utah] with provisions for us but in vain. We turned to the captain [George Rowley], who gave us the last flour, about a spoonful for each person. Our provisions are now all consumed. May the Lord open a way for us.

[Nilsson] Early in the morning Captain [George] Rowley instructed us to remain in camp until the whole company could come together, but Brothers [Hans] Magleby and J. Jensen left the camp about nine o’clock a.m., ahead of the rest. About nine o’clock a.m., the stragglers had caught up with the main company, and we traveled about ten miles to Green River, which stream we now prepared to cross. As it took four men to take a handcart across, considerable time was consumed in getting to the other side. The women in crossing the stream held together joining hands, with men in the lead and in the rear. The water was about three feet deep but clear and cold. The current was the swiftest we had experienced in our travels. The bottom of the river was covered with cobble stones which had been washed smooth by the water so that they were very slippery. After about two hours’ hard labor, the whole company had crossed the river. In crossing, some of our clothing was soaked, but as the day was warm and the sun shone bright, our clothes soon dried. After crossing we traveled down the river for about a mile and camped for the night in a cottonwood grove and where also willows grew profusely along the river. But our greatest trouble was having nothing to eat. Some of the emigrants had nothing whatsoever to appease their hunger, and in this condition some of them went out a short distance from camp and cut the flesh out of a dead ox lying near the road. The captain distributed one pint cup of flour to four persons and promised to get us some flour the next morning. I was not entirely out of provisions, as Caroline [Chappell Woodward], my intended wife, had a couple of days before pawned a gold ring to the captain’s family for a few pounds of flour. But I could not eat the bread I had when I saw the children crying for bread, and I had to give them some. We were all weak and exhausted, so we rested well through the night.

Tuesday, August 23, 1859 (day 76)

[McIntyre] Captain [George] Rowley starts early this morning for the next trading post[78] to get some flour, as we are entirely out. He soon returns to say he was unsuccessful. The only alternative is to kill an ox, which satisfies the Saints for the time being. We remain here all day.

[Hobbs] Lots of the folks have nothing to eat, and some of the Scandinavians have left the camp and will not stay till Captain [George] Rowley returns. He is gone in search of flour at a store five miles distant. [Reuben] Atkins,[79] I am informed, has been begging flour and selling it to the Saints at fifteen cents per pound, and the folks are down on him for so doing. The days are very warm but nights very [blank]. Some who have not a sufficient quantity of clothes suffer from the cold nights. A few Indians in camp this morning. There is excellent feed here for cattle and lots of trees, which make the scenery very pleasing. This place is fifty-five miles from Fort Bridger. Today we have no food, and Captain Rowley is compelled to have an ox killed to satisfy the cravings of the people, one and a half pounds to each person. I did not feel like the same after getting some food.

[Magleby] Our captain [George Rowley] went to a trading post about four or five miles from us to buy provisions. We waited for him, and when it became about ten o’clock and he did not come, I took my handcart and went to meet him. Six other handcarts followed. When we reached two miles, he came riding and told us that there were no provisions to obtain and told us that we would slaughter an ox and remain behind. Meanwhile, we met a trader by the river, and from him we bought some provisions so that we had a good dinner, after which some of us went back and obtained some meat, while others went on with the handcarts about four miles to the place we were to meet them. During the night, the oxen were slaughtered and divided, two pounds for each person.

[Nilsson] Captain [George] Rowley went out to some of the settlers or campers along the river trying to borrow or buy some flour for the company, but he failed to get any, so we remained in camp, except Captain [Hans] Magleby and J. Jensen, who went on with seven handcarts. I was asked to go with them, but I told them that I would rather perish with the company. So, in the afternoon the captain said that we must slaughter one of the oxen, and as we had an old stag who was in pretty fair condition, he was killed and the meat divided up in portions of two pounds to each man. After this division, there was not a scrap left of hide, feet, head, or anything else of that ox. It was all used and most sparingly, too. Some of the emigrants made soup of willow leaves and beef.

Wednesday, August 24, 1859 (day 77)

[McIntyre] Rose early and started pulling along without breakfast. I am summoned to go on a mission to meet the supplies from the [Salt Lake] valley with a message to bring them up. I get the captain’s [George Rowley] horse, who by the way is lame. After bidding farewell to the camp, I start on my journey, determined to keep on as long as the horse will until I meet them. After traveling till six o’clock [p.m.], I camped with an emigrant [wagon] train and asked permission to drive my horse among their stock, which they granted. As I lay down I could not sleep. I kept listening for the roll of wagon or buggy. At last came the rumbling of wagons like music to my ears. I was up in an instant to stop them and enquire who they were. They said they were from Salt Lake with provisions for the handcarts.

I delivered my message to them, received a few crackers for myself, and laid me down till morning. When daylight came, I got my horse up and went back to camp, where I expected to see a happy company. I arrived at night and got rewarded for my trouble by witnessing the joy the brethren from the valley had brought them in furnishing us liberally of the good things of this life, for which they were almost dying for. I was told that the Saints were so overcome with joy to see them that many shed tears. After some provisions are dealt out, we move a little further on, as there are a few Gentiles here who do not seem to understand our outburst of joy, so we leave this place for one where we can give proper vent to our feelings and enjoy ourselves. We arrive at Ham’s Fork[80] and here we camp. Sister [Mary] Shanks[81] was missing this morning, supposed to wander out of her way in coming into camp last night.

[Hobbs] Traveled five miles and took breakfast by the riverside. Here Jane Jarvis[82] from the Manchester [England] Conference was seized with the cramp and died. She was forty-seven years of age. We attended to her burial and traveled till it was quite dark. We got broke up into three companies. I had to pull my cart myself, Jane [Hobbs] was so poorly. I was quite exhausted on the way till Brother [Paul] Morel,[83] a Frenchman from Italy, stopped me and gave me a warm cup of coffee and some sugar in it. It invigorated my whole system and enabled me to pursue my journey till I got to camp. We had but one match to light our fire. The wind was very blusterous, and we had to act with some skill or we should have got no fire. I saw on my journey some fires. I went a mile out of my way to see if it was the camp. It was a few of the company that could not catch up with the camp. I returned to nearabout where I left my handcart and called to the party, who said they would take charge of it, but they had gone on two or three miles to camp. I supposed they had taken my cart, but when I arrived in camp, I found they had not. Consequently I had to go back several miles by myself, tired and weary as I was, for all the boys were too tired or footsore to go back. I traveled some thirty miles. A Gentile man came into camp by the name of [Robert] Dempsey,[84] an Irishman. He was informed of our distress for flour and offered to let us have five hundred pounds, either for money or we could return it in flour by October. He also proffered to kill an ox if our captain [George Rowley] wished it. This was the best friend we had met with on the journey. He gave a loaf and two bottles of whiskey to some that were hungry and invited some of [us] to his tent to breakfast.

[Magleby] We with our seven handcarts would not wait for the others and broke camp early and started out to meet the wagons from Zion [Utah]. About seven or eight miles before breakfast and after that about fourteen or fifteen miles, we then reached water, ate our lunch, and about three miles farther brought us to Ham’s Fork, where we traded for some flour. We continued two miles farther and camped for the night by the side of a little stream.

[Nilsson] We resumed our journey at five o’clock in the morning, following the river about five miles, and stopped for breakfast. An English sister by the name of [Jane] Jarvis died this morning. She was buried by the roadside after breakfast. After that we traveled nineteen miles before we came to water. I arrived at that point with some of the first in the camp, but together with some of the other young men, I had to return quite a distance to bring in the sick and those who had given out through weakness and starvation. We did not reach camp again until midnight. My partner, Caroline [Chappell Woodward], told me that a man by the name of Bob [Robert] Dempsey from Ham’s Fork had visited the camp and treated them to a drink of whiskey and a piece of bread and that we would get some flour in the morning.

Thursday, August 25, 1859 (day 78)

[McIntyre] [blank]

[Hobbs] Left early and traveled five miles to breakfast and took a good one in Mr. [Robert] Dempsey’s tent with Captain [George] Rowley and a few of the sisters. We had for breakfast butter, new bread, boiled beef, milk, coffee, and sugar. This was the best meal I had eaten for many a day. He also gave us milk, whiskey, and sugar. Just as his men [were] weighing the flour, six wagons were making for us full drive with provisions sent by the President [Brigham Young] for us. There was bacon, flour, and onions, a few crackers. These were truly welcome and blessed visitors. Here my dream which I had at Devil’s Gate was fulfilled. I dreamt that the provisions met us some distance this side Fort Bridger. Some of the Saints expected they would meet us this side of Green River, but I did not. Several remarked the fulfillment of my dream. After resting a few hours we traveled thirteen miles with a headwind against us. It was the worst road I ever traveled.[85] We were smothered in dust and were glad to get a rest. We camped near the river opposite Castle Rock.[86] Brother [Charles] Wilson[87] was seen taking a cake out of [William] Scogings’s cart. Today I had some crackers given to me by the teamsters; they made a good cake.

[Magleby] Ate a good breakfast, crossed the stream, and after about two miles we met the wagons with provisions. They stopped at once and supplied us with flour, bacon, and onions; then they continued immediately. We reached the others, which I suppose were about six or eight miles behind. We traveled on until we reached water and camped for the purpose of waiting for the others. In this camping place the [federal] troops had been camped, who were sent out against the Mormons in 1857.[88] During the evening the remainder of the company caught up with us, and we brought our handcarts together.

[Nilsson] At daybreak I was called by the captain [George Rowley] to take his horse and ride ahead to stop the seven handcarts and tell the brethren traveling with these that we would have some flour at Ham’s Fork, the distance to that stream being four miles. I went ahead as instructed, passed Ham’s Fork bridge, crossed a big hill, and went down to a shallow creek where the seven handcarts had camped overnight, and asked them to stop for the rest of the company. This they refused to do, as they had secured some flour from Mr. [Robert] Dempsey and would go on. I turned back, but as I was going down the hill towards Ham’s Fork, our company was crossing the bridge and making camp on the west side. We were to have six hundred pounds of flour from Bob Dempsey, and we fixed up a handcart ready to cross over the bridge for the flour, when down the hill came a four-mule team and swung into our camp and then another one and so on until six mule teams which had been sent to our assistance rolled into our camp with plenty of provisions. This made the people’s hearts rejoice, and tears of thankfulness flowed freely. Now we could get two pounds of flour for each man. And we had some johnnycakes[89] and some flour, enough to satisfy our hunger, and oh it tasted so good. After breakfast we traveled twelve miles and made camp on a stream called Black’s Fork.[90] We had now caught up with the seven handcarts which had gone ahead of the company. We all got one pound of bacon for each man, and thus we could afford to grease the axles of our handcarts once more.

Friday, August 26, 1859 (day 79)

[McIntyre] We remain here all day, rest, and enjoy ourselves. Around a large campfire we have a public meeting when we receive some useful instruction, also songs and recitations in which the boys from the [Salt Lake] valley contribute largely.

[Hobbs] Went for a bath. Spent the forenoon writing journal and seeing my company served with flour for three days, each person getting four cans. Today we are resting in camp.

[Magleby] The company remained in camp for the purpose of resting. Provisions were distributed for three days. During the evening a council meeting was held concerning an English brother [Charles Wilson] who had stolen bread. He was forgiven.

[Nilsson] We remained in camp all day. Each person in camp received four cups of flour for three days and some onions. We held a meeting in the evening. One English brother [Charles Wilson] was forgiven for stealing bread from someone. He had been caught eating the bread. Some of the brethren from the [Salt Lake] valley spoke encouragingly to us, and we were now a happy bunch of people.

Saturday, August 27, 1859 (day 80)

[McIntyre] We move out at eight [a.m.], ford two crossings of Ham’s Fork, and arrive at Eckelsville,[91] where we meet Brother [Joseph] Olpin[92] from the [Salt Lake] valley, who is come to meet his family who are in our company.[93] We ford Smith’s Fork[94] and camp within two miles of Fort Bridger.[95] Traveled today seventeen miles.

[Hobbs] Traveled seventeen or eighteen miles. Camped two miles from Fort Bridger. Hard pulling through the sand. Had a nice place to camp in the hollow, plenty of water and wood. Went for a bath. Was dangerously ill in the night with the wind.

[Magleby] This day’s journey brought us within two miles of Fort Bridger. The sick and the tired had an opportunity to ride on the wagons.

[Nilsson] We resumed our journey at seven o’clock a.m. Followed the Black Fork for some distance, crossed the stream twice, and after traveling about eight miles came to Millersville.[96] Here was a fine stream of good water, and here we found a great number of wagons standing which had been sent by the United States Army about a year before as the said Army was on its march to Utah.[97] After passing this place we traveled a short distance further and camped for the night about two miles from Fort Bridger.

Sunday, August 28, 1859 (day 81)

[McIntyre] We start at ten [a.m.], and in two hours we are marching in close order through Fort Bridger. All the soldiers are turned out to see the novelty [of] 250 persons pulling handcarts over a wild country of a thousand miles and all for a religion in which they have implicit faith and confidence. And a few of them try their persuasive wiles to prevail on the sisters to go no further, but it is no go. We take dinner at the Springs,[98] descend a very steep rocky hill,[99] and camp at the foot of it beside Little Muddy.[100] The camp is disturbed tonight by a man shooting off a revolver and riding into camp bareheaded, saying that some damned Mormons had demanded his horse. We learned afterwards that he was the only person of that stamp[101] around that night, for he was an apostate.

[Hobbs] Traveled fourteen miles uphill a good portion of the way. Fort Bridger is getting quite a busy place. There are some four hundred soldiers there and lots of good houses. It is well supplied with water and wood; some good bridges are erected. The soldiers stared to see us so jovial while pulling our carts. Some little disturbance in camp tonight by a party of hickory Mormons[102] who camped near to us. They had taken a little too much whiskey, and one of their horses upset one of our tents. Brother [Henry] Olpin’s son [Joseph] came and met his father on Saturday, August 27.

[Magleby] The road took us through the fort [Bridger], and before we camped, we went down a very high hill. Mary [Magleby] is not well. Provisions were distributed.

[Nilsson] We resumed our journey about eight o’clock a.m. and soon reached Fort Bridger, which we thought a fine little settlement, as it contained several stores. We traveled about nine miles beyond Fort Bridger and stopped for dinner near a spring. After dinner we traveled on, descended a very high and stony hill, and reached a creek (the Muddy) where we made camp for the night. Here four tin cups of flour and one pound of bacon was distributed to each man to last for three days.

Notes

[1] McChristian, Fort Laramie, 33.

[2] Mattes, Great Platte River Road, 501; Gordon B. Dodds and Richard N. Ellis, “Fort Laramie,” in New Encyclopedia of the American West, 384–85.

[3] For a map and description of Greeley’s selected overland route through the Kansas Territory (including modern-day Colorado), see Root and Hickman, “Pike’s Peak Express Companies: Parts I and II.”

[4] Greeley, Overland Journey.

[5] Greeley, 3.

[6] Kimball, Historic Sites and Markers, 77.

[7] Kimball, 7–8.

[8] The Wyoming wilderness between Fort Laramie and the Upper Platte River crossings, not the popularized Black Hills in present-day southwestern South Dakota. Mattes, Platte River Road Narratives, 5.

[9] Likely Bitter Creek and Cold Spring in Wyoming, which were about 546½ miles from Florence, 484½ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 60–61.

[10] An abbreviation for “that is to say.”

[11] To be overtaken by the dark.

[12] Richard Isaac Mills (1836–1910), FamilySearch–KWJH-X3J. See “Appendix 3: Eighth Handcart Company Roster,” in this volume; hereafter Appendix 2.

[13] George Reid and Richard Mills deserted the Eighth Handcart Company and continued their journey to Utah with the Robert F. Neslen Wagon Company in 1859. For Richard Mills’s perspective on this incident, see Mills, Of Noble Birth, 25–30.

[14] Squire Thornton (1834–1880), FamilySearch–KWNF-XXY. See Appendix 2.

[15] Benjamin Hibbert (1841–1894), FamilySearch–KWJC-682. See Appendix 2.

[16] Joseph Watson Young (1828–1873), FamilySearch–KWV3-3JF, traveled to Utah with the Horton D. Haight/Frederick Kesler Wagon Freight Train in 1859.

[17] This likely refers to the North Fork of the Platte River in Wyoming, which was about 614¾ miles from Florence, 416¼ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 64–65.

[18] On August 6, 1859, at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, Robert F. Neslen wrote a letter to Brigham Young describing the overlander disaster: “Our accidents have been but slight and few, with but one exception, which was a stampede of ten teams, resulting in the death of one man instantaneously and breaking the leg of one and wounding five others; but I am happy in stating that the injured are recovering. We have no other sickness in camp.” “Correspondence from the Plains,” Deseret News, August 24, 1859, 5.

[19] Jens Christian Jensen Vaarden (1818–1859), FamilySearch–KWVM-2LJ, was killed by a runaway wagon team on July 15, 1859, while going overland to Utah in the Robert F. Neslen Wagon Company in 1859.

[20] These men provided the following emigration update to the Deseret News once they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley:

Gen. H. S. Eldredge, J. W. Coward and Joseph W. Young arrived from the States, on the evening of the 16th, in thirty days from Florence, Nebraska, having left that place on the 17th of July. They are in good health and had a pleasant trip across the plains. . . . Capt. Stevenson’s company, of 53 wagons, was passed by them near Ash Hollow, on the 28th of June. Neslin’s, 51 wagons, was about 40 miles ahead of Stevenson’s. The hand-cart company, with 8 wagons and 57 hand-carts, was 35 miles west of Laramie on the 2d of August. Brown’s company, consisting of nearly 70 wagons, and the Church train, 71 wagons, in charge of H. D. Haight and F. Kesler, were encamped on Greasewood on the 6th inst., and J. H. Lemmon, with 16 wagons, was passed near the third crossing of the Sweet Water. . . . The companies were all getting along very well, though somewhat slowly, and will not arrive as soon as has been anticipated. . . . Feramorz Little, with a mule train of some 15 wagons, was expected to start from Florence on the 20th of July, and Daniel Davis on the same day, with a small ox train. The latter, of course, will be late in getting over the mountains.”

“A��������������,” Deseret News, August 17, 1859, 4.

[21] A small valley.

[22] Joseph Gilbert (c. 1825–?). See Appendix 3.

[23] Richard George Jones (1821–1902), FamilySearch–KWNK-KFG; and George Richard Jones (1836–1917), FamilySearch–KWJ6-9LH. See Appendix 3.

[24] According to the Church’s records of the William Tapscott, Elizabeth Watson was sixty years old. British Mission Emigration Register, 103.

[25] Likely Deer Creek in Wyoming, at the confluence of Deer Creek and the North Platte River and nearby Joseph Bissonette’s trading post. According to Obridge Allen’s guide: “Trading post at this point, if the grass is eaten off at this point, good grass may be found one mile up the creek.” Guide Book, 63.

[26] This would be the last time the Eighth Handcart Company crossed the Platte River, a major milestone on their trek west. Obridge Allen notes: “Trading post and blacksmith shop at this point; if the river is fordable keep upon the south side of the river to avoid sand banks on the north side.” Guide Book, 63.

[27] Salty or mineral in taste.

[28] Jorgen Olsen (c. 1822–?). See Appendix 3.

[29] Likely near Red Buttes, Wyoming. Obridge Allen describes: “U.S. Mail Station No. 28—The road leaves the river at this point, if the grass is eaten off at this point, good grass may be found on the south side of the river, wood in abundance, in next distance the road crosses numerous alkali branches which are poisonous to [live]stock.” Guide Book, 64.

[30] Frederick Alfred Cooper (1837–1914), FamilySearch–KWJH-KWR. See Appendix 3.

[31] A spring in Wyoming that was 677¼ miles from Florence, 353¾ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 66–67. According to Obridge Allen, “This spring is at the head of the branch in a hollow, if the grass is eaten off about the spring, good grass may be found one mile north west of the bluffs, wild sage for fuel, in next distance the road ascends a steep slope.” Guide Book, 64. See also Kimball, “Willow Springs Site,” in Historic Sites and Markers, 83.

[32] Sodium bicarbonate, the main ingredient in baking soda.

[33] A creek in Wyoming about 687½ miles from Florence, 343½ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 66–67. About the creek, Obridge Allen writes, “Grass limited, good water, sage brush for fuel; in next distance, there are several alkali lakes along the road, which are poisonous to cattle.” Guide Book, 64.

[34] An Indian hut constructed with arched poles covered with bark or hides.

[35] A Wyoming county that begins in southwest Fremont County and flows east across Wyoming for about 175 miles. After the muddy Platte River, the pioneers enjoyed the better taste of the Sweetwater River, which they followed and crossed nine times as they traversed central Wyoming. Their first crossing was about 698 miles from Florence, 333 miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 66–67.

[36] The majestic Rocky Mountains, which form America’s continental divide, span about three thousand miles from northern British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the United States. Overland emigrants accessed the Far West through the Rocky Mountain barrier by way of South Pass in Wyoming.

[37] A site in Wyoming about 698¾ miles from Florence, 332¼ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 70–71. Of this landmark Obridge Allen writes: “A granite rock oval or egg shape, river crooked, 150 feet wide, 2 feet deep, grass plentiful, fuel scarce.” Guide Book, 64. Horace Greeley adds,

Of wood, the Platte and its more easterly tributaries have, at intervals, a shred of the eternal cotton-wood of the plains, much of it the more scrubby and worthless species known as bitter cotton-wood, with a very little of the equally worthless box-elder—and that is all. But, one hundred and forty miles this side of Laramie, we leave the Platte, which here comes from the south, and strike nearly forty miles across a barren ‘divide’ to its tributary, the Sweetwater, which we find just by Independence Rock, quite a landmark in this desolate region, with several low mountains of almost naked rock around it, having barely soil enough in their crevices to support a few dwarfish pines.

Overland Journey, 185. See also Kimball, “Independence Rock Historic Site/�Ѳ�������,” Historic Sites and Markers, 84–85.

[38] A rock formation in Wyoming, about 704 miles from Florence, 327 miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 70–71. “A canyon of steep rocks, 400 feet high, the river runs through the chasm, U.S. Mail Station No. 29, one mile west of the Devil’s Gate, grass good, sage brush for fuel, cedars on the bluff,” Obridge Allen notes. “The road from this point continues up the valley of the Sweet Water.” Guide Book, 64. Horace Greeley describes this site to his readers:

Five miles above this [Independence Rock] is the Devil’s Gate—a passage of the Sweetwater, through a perpendicular cañon, some twenty-five feet wide, and said to be six hundred feet high—a passage which must have been cut while the rock was still clay. Here a large party of Mormons were caught by the snows, while on their way to Salt Lake, some years since, and compelled to encamp for the winter, so scantily provided that more than a hundred of them died of hunger and hardship before spring. Many more must have fallen victims had not a supply-train from Salt Lake reached them early in the season. And here is a fountain of cold water—the first that I had seen for more than a hundred miles, though there is another on the long stretch from the Platte to the Sweetwater, which is said to be good, but a drove of cattle were making quite too free with it when we passed.

Overland Journey, 185. See also Kimball, “Devil’s Gate Historic Site,” in Historic Sites and Markers, 85.

[39] In a reminiscent account, William Hobbs describes how Church leaders in Salt Lake City learned of the handcart pioneers’ pending starvation and then sent needed supply wagons: “In passing through the alkali flats, two oxen I was driving died from drinking alkali water. As they had not died from any disease, they were cut up and eaten by the company. When we got to Devil’s Gate, we had only about two pounds of flour left for each person. The Ben Holladay Stage drove by us every day, so we sent word of our condition into Salt Lake by the stage. We were looking for relief every day.” “From Missouri to the Valley, 1,000 Miles by Hand-cart,” Deseret News, June 4, 1921.

[40] In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Arapaho and their close allies, the Cheyenne, migrated from the Midwest into the Great Plains. They often battled with other tribes in the region, as well as with Euro-American settlers. The Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1851 recognized the natives’ land claims in Colorado, but continued settlement by whites led to additional fighting. Henry G. Waltmann, “Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians,” in New Encyclopedia of the American West, 193–95.

[41] The Utes lived in present-day eastern Utah and western Colorado for centuries. They adopted an equestrian lifestyle, which allowed them to raid other tribes and European settlers throughout the West. Latter-day Saints settled in Ute territory beginning in 1847, establishing a tenuous relationship between the two groups. Francis Haines, “Ute Indians,” in New Encyclopedia of the American West, 1151–52.

[42] Pronghorns, commonly called antelope, wandered across the prairies and semideserts of North America west of the Mississippi River, perhaps even outnumbering the number of buffalo (bison) on the Great Plains before white colonizers decimated their numbers. Bart W. O’Gara, “Pronghorn,” in New Encyclopedia of the American West, 915.

[43] Sarah Ann Pearson (1839–1926), FamilySearch–KWNK-1H7. See Appendix 3.

[44] Edward Fredrick Munn (1833–1913), FamilySearch–LLQX-YCV, was a Latter-day Saint emigrant living near Devil’s Gate who had abandoned the ill-fated Edward Martin Fifth Handcart Company in 1856. He married Sarah Ann Pearson, who continued on to Utah by stage in 1860, and he joined her there in 1861.

[45] A trading post on the Oregon and Mormon trails about midway between Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger, established by fur trader Charles “Seminoe” Lajeunesse in 1852. He and his trading partner abandoned the fort near Devil’s Gate in 1855. During the fall of 1856, Latter-day Saint handcart immigrants found temporary shelter here during early winter snowstorms. Curtis Ashton, “Fort Seminoe,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, March 19, 2019, https://www.history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org/content/historic-sites/wyoming/fort-seminoe.

[46] Hannah Moor (c. 1813–?). See Appendix 3.

[47] Edward Moor (c. 1813–?). See Appendix 3.

[48] Hyrum Moor (unknown). See Appendix 3.

[49] One year later, in mid-August 1860, celebrated British explorer Sir Richard F. Burton traveled the Mormon Trail by stagecoach past Devil’s Gate on his way to Salt Lake City and his stay among the Latter-day Saints. There he met Hannah Moor at the nearby Three Crossings Station on the Sweetwater River. Burton described his experience with great detail:

Beyond the [Devil’s Gate] Post-office was another ranch belonging to a Portuguese named Luis Silva, married to an Englishwoman who had deserted the Salt Lake Saints. At 11 A.M. we reached “Three Crossings,” when we found the “miss” a stout, active, middle-aged matron, deserving of all the praises that had so liberally been bestowed upon her. The little ranch was neatly swept and garnished, papered and ornamented. . . . Miss Moore’s husband, a decent appendage, had transferred his belief from the Church of England to the Church of Utah, and the good wife, as in duty bound, had followed in his wake whom she was bound to love, honor, and obey. But when the serpent came and whispered in Miss Moore’s modest, respectable, one-idea’d ear that the Abrahams of Great Salt Lake City are mere “sham Abrams”—that, not content with Sarahs, they add to them an unlimited supply of Hagars, then did our stout Englishwoman’s power of endurance break down never to rise again. “Not an inch would she budge;” not a step toward Utah Territory would she take. She fought pluckily against the impending misfortune, and—à quelque chose malheur est bon! [French for “every cloud has a silver lining”]—she succeeded in reducing her husband to that state which is typified by the wife using certain portions of the opposite sex’s wardrobe, and in making him make a good livelihood as station-master on the wagon-line.

City of the Saints, 154–55.

[50] Dress up; improve one’s appearance.

[51] Henry Fox Strugnell (1830–?), FamilySearch–MQR7-3NH. See Appendix 3.

[52] Emma Caroline Slade Strugnell (1840–1890), FamilySearch–KWJC-MY9. See Appendix 3.

[53] This is an allusion to the hunger complaints of the Israelites to Moses while wandering in the wilderness: “And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3).

[54] Andrew Smith (1837–1921), FamilySearch–KWNY-HSR, married Jane McKay, a member of the Eighth Handcart Company, on October 24, 1859, in Salt Lake City.

[55] These crossings of the Sweetwater occurred about 735 miles from Florence, 296 miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 70–71. According to Obridge Allen, “Good grass may be found east and west of the crossings, at this point you cross the river three times in the distance of a mile and one half.” Guide Book, 64.

[56] Likely Cut Rock (Wyoming). Obridge Allen documents, “U.S. Mail Station No. 30—Grass in abundance, sage brush and willow for fuel.” Guide Book, 64.

[57] The fifth crossing of the Sweetwater was about 743 miles from Florence, 288 miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 70–71. According to Obridge Allen: “Good grass and wild sage for fuel, in next distance the road leaves the river for 16 miles.” Guide Book, 64.

[58] Between the fifth and sixth crossings of the Sweetwater River, the handcart pioneers would have passed, in Obridge Allen’s description, “Ice Spring—Good grass, water scarce, wild sage for fuel, in next distance the road leaves the river for 16 miles,” and “Warm Springs—Here the roads fork and join near the last crossing of Sweet Water; take the north road, grass and water scarce at these springs, sage brush for fuel.” Guide Book, 64. Horace Greeley notes the following:

Our road left a southerly bend of Sweetwater after dinner, and took its way over the hills, so as not to strike the stream again till after dark, at a point three miles from where I now write. We passed, on a high divide some miles before we were crossing of the Sweetwater, a low swamp or meadow known as “Ice Springs,” from the fact that ice may be obtained here at any time by digging down some two or three feet into the frosty earth. We met several wagon-loads of come-outers from Mormonism on their way to the states in the course of the afternoon; likewise, the children of the Arkansas people killed two years since, in what is known as the mountain-meadows-massacre. We are now nearly at the summit of the route, with snowy mountains near us in several directions, and one large snow-bank by the side of a creek we crossed ten miles back. Yet our yesterday’s road was no rougher, while it was decidedly better, than that of any former day this side of Laramie, as may be judged from the fact that, with a late start, we made sixty miles with one (six mule) team to our heavy-laden wagon. The grass is better for the last twenty miles than on any twenty miles previously; and the swift streams that frequently cross our way are cold and sweet. But, unlike the Platte, the Sweetwater has scarcely a tree or bush growing on its banks.

Overland Journey, 187.

[59] The sixth crossing of the Sweetwater was about 759½ miles from Florence, 271½ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 70–71. Obridge Allen writes: “Grass in abundance up and down the creek, sage brush and willows for fuel; in next distance the road crosses a high ridge.” Guide Book, 64–65.

[60] About 779 miles from Florence, 252 miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 72–73. “This creek is a tributary of Sweet Water, good grass may be found up and down the creek, quaken aspen timber on the slope of a ridge on the north side of the creek,” Obridge Allen writes. Guide Book, 65.

[61] Rocky Ridge (Wyoming) was about 772 miles from Florence, 259 miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 72–73. According to Obridge Allen: “Wood, water and grass, in next distance, the road ascends a steep slope of Rocky Ridge on to the high table land of the mountains.” Guide Book, 65.

[62] Willow Creek (Wyoming) was about 785 miles from Florence, 246 miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 72–73; Allen, Guide Book, 65.

[63] The ninth crossing of the Sweetwater was about 789¾ miles from Florence, 241¼ from Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 72–73. Obridge Allen writes the following of this final crossing: “Gilbert’s Station and Forks of Lander, Pacific Wagon Road, U.S. Mail Station No. 31, in the next distance 6 miles from this crossing, there is a good camp ground on Sweet Water, one mile north of the road.” Guide Book, 65.

[64] Pacific Creek and Springs (Wyoming) was about 802½ miles from Florence, 228½ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 72–73. Of this area, Obridge Allen writes: “Grass limited, wild sage for fuel, this is the first water of the Pacific going west.” Guide Book, 65. See also “Pacific Springs Historic Site,” in Kimball, Historic Sites and Markers, 89. Horace Greeley expresses difficulties he had in this area:

Passing the Twin Buttes—the distance between the mountains on the north and the hills on the south being not less than thirty miles, and thenceforth westward rapidly widening—we ran down the side of a dry, shallow water-course some five miles, to a wet, springy marsh or morass of fifteen or twenty acres, covered with poor, coarse grass, in which are found the so-called “Pacific Springs.” The water is clear and cold, but bad. Perhaps the number of dead cattle of which the skeletons dot the marsh, made it so distasteful to me. At all events, I could not drink it. This bog is long and narrow; and from its western end issues a petty brook, which takes its way south-westwardly to the Sandy, Green River, the Colorado and the Gulf of California. Hence, toward the south and west, no hills are visible—nothing but a sandy, barren plain, mainly covered with the miserable sage-bush.

Overland Journey, 192–93.

[65] South Pass (Wyoming) was about 799½ miles from Florence, 231½ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 72–73. It is situated in the Central Rockies and marks the Continental Divide. From its Euro-American discovery in 1824 until the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad, hundreds of thousands of emigrants made their way over it on their way to Utah, California, and Oregon, making it “the most famous gateway to the Far West in American history.” Howard R. Lamar, “South Pass,” in New Encyclopedia of the American West, 1069. See also “South Pass Historic Site/Marker” and “South Pass Exhibit Site,” in Kimball, Historic Sites and Markers, 89–90. Greeley notes his disappointment with the area:

If any one has pictured to himself the South Pass as threading some narrow, winding, difficult, rocky mountain-gorge, he is grievously mistaken. The trail through the South Pass is the best part of the route from Atchison to California; the clay has here been almost wholly washed away and carried off, so that the road passes over a coarse, heavy, gravelly sand, usually as compact and smooth as the best illustrations of the genius of MacAdam. I never before traversed forty-five miles of purely natural road so faultless as that through the South Pass which I have traveled to-day. But this tract would be good for roads, as it seems absolutely good for nothing else.

Overland Journey, 192.

[66] Little Sandy (Wyoming) was about 826¾ miles from Florence, 204¼ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 74–75. The river was, according to Obridge Allen, “20 feet wide—Water good, and fuel plenty, grass limited, road good from this point to Bridger.” Guide Book, 65.

[67] Likely either Sarah Ann Farrar (1839–1907), FamilySearch–KWV7-WSS; or Catherine Emma Farrar (1836–1910), FamilySearch–KWN5-GFF. See Appendix 3.

[68] A light carriage.

[69] Between Pacific Springs and Little Sandy, the handcart pioneers would have passed the Sublette-Greenwood Cutoff and taken the Mormon Trail fork south, bound for Utah. Allen, Guide Book, 65.

[70] Big Sandy (Wyoming) was about 835 miles from Florence, 196 miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 74–75. Obridge Allen describes: “Barren sandy land, road good, stream 110 feet wide, by 18 inches deep, grass scarce, willows and sage brush for fuel, in next distance the road cuts off a bend of Big Sandy, and water with a limited supply of grass may be found by turning off the road one mile on to Sandy.” Guide Book, 65. Of this wilderness, Horace Greeley writes:

We are now out of the South Pass, which many have traversed unconsciously, and gone on wondering and inquiring when they should reach it. Seven miles further brought us to Little Sandy, and eight more to Big Sandy, whereon is the station at which, at four p.m. we (by order), stopped for the night. All these creeks appear to rise in the high mountains many miles north of us, and to run off with constantly diminishing volume, to join the Colorado at the south. Neither has a tree on its banks that I have seen—only a few low willow bushes at long intervals—though I hear that some cotton-wood is found on this creek ten miles above. Each has a “bottom” or intervale of perhaps four rods in average width, in which a little grass is found, but next to none on the high-sandy plains that separate them. Drouth and sterility reign here without rival.

Overland Journey, 193–94.

[71] Jane Hanson (1843–1917), FamilySearch–LLQF-RRL. See Appendix 2.

[72] Agnes Birrell traveled to Utah that fall and married William Thomas Van Noy on December 25, 1859, in Salt Lake City. Jane Hanson married Charles Francis McCarty, a stagecoach driver, and moved to Utah by 1860.

[73] Sarah Ann White Olpin (1805–1859), FamilySearch–L211-3HF. See Appendix 3. Sister Olpin would pass away on September 11, 1859, one week after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley.

[74] There are only two species of venomous reptiles in Wyoming: the prairie rattlesnake, which lives in southeastern Wyoming, and the midget faded rattlesnake, which dwells in southwestern Wyoming near the Green River and its tributaries. It is likely this latter snake that bit and ultimately killed Edward Shanks. Travsky, “Know Your Snakes.”

[75] The Green River, which flows into the Colorado River and helps carve the Grand Canyon, is about 862 miles from Florence, 169 miles to Salt Lake City. It was named in 1823 by General William Ashley due to its color, which was caused by its green soapstone banks. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 74–75; Urbanek, Wyoming Place Names, 87. “U.S. Mail Station no. 32—River 120 yards broad, 2½ feet deep in low water, wood, water and grass in abundance,” Obridge Allen notes. Guide Book, 66. See also “Green River Mormon Ferry Historic Site,” in Kimball, Historic Sites and Markers, 92. Greeley compares this area to the rivers of New York:

We crossed Big Sandy twice before quitting it—once just at the station where the above was written, and again eighteen miles further on. Twelve miles more brought us to Green River—a stream here perhaps as large as the Mohawk at Schenectady or the Hudson at Waterford. “It winds with a rapid, muddy current through a deep, narrow valley, much of it sandy and barren, but the residue producing some grass with a few large cotton-woods at intervals, and some worthless bushes. There are three rope ferries within a short distance, and two or three trading-posts, somewhat frequented by Indians of the Snake tribe.

Overland Journey, 194.

[76] James Davies (c. 1810–?). See Appendix 3.

[77] Both Edward and Mary Shanks would die on the Mormon Trail in the coming days.

[78] Likely Battease’s Trading Post in Wyoming, which according to Obridge Allen was located “on west side of Green River, [with] Wood in abundance, grass scarce, good grass may be found one and a half miles down the river.” Guide Book, 66.

[79] Possibly Reuben Atkins (1832–1922), FamilySearch–LWMS-2JC. See Appendix 3.

[80] Ham’s Fork, Wyoming, was about 886¼ miles from Florence, 144¾ miles to Salt Lake City. This mountain-man settlement dates from 1824 and is named after the nearby creek; it was a station on the overland stage route by 1859. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 74–75; Urbanek, Wyoming Place Names, 90–91. Obridge Allen writes: “U.S. Mail Station No. 33—There is a government bridge on this fork, at this point good grass above and below the bridge.” Guide Book, 66.

[81] Mary Jane McClure Shanks (1802–1859), FamilySearch–MZD4-PF2. See Appendix 3.

[82] Jane Morris Jarvis (1813–1859), FamilySearch–KWVZ-X53. See Appendix 3.

[83] Paul Henri Morel (1802–?), FamilySearch–KWJL-CQW. See Appendix 3.

[84] Robert Dempsey, a well-known mountain man in the Green River region, was born in Ireland in 1832 and immigrated to America as a young man. According to the 1860 census, he was married to an Indian woman, and together they had five children and were living near Fort Bridger. He was a fur trader and trapper in the wilderness area and helped build the Dempsey-Hockaday Trail, a shortcut on the Sublette Cutoff on the Oregon Trail. Rosenberg, “Dempsey-Hockaday Trail,” 59, 63. Horace Greeley wrote of these mountain men:

Eighteen miles more of perfect desolation brought us to the next mail company’s station on Black’s Fork, at the junction of Ham’s Fork, two-large mill-streams that rise in the mountains south and west of this point, and run together into Green River. They have scarcely any timber on their banks, but a sufficiency of bushes—bitter cotton-wood, willow, choke-cherry, and some others new to me —with more grass than I have found this side of the South Pass. On these streams live several old mountaineers, who have large herds of cattle which they are rapidly increasing by a lucrative traffic with the emigrants, who are compelled to exchange their tired, gaunt oxen and steers for fresh ones on almost any terms. R[obert]. D[empsey]., whose tent we passed last evening, is said to have six or eight hundred head; and, knowing the country perfectly, finds no difficulty in keeping them through summer and winter by frequently shifting them from place to place over a circuit of thirty or forty miles.

Overland Journey, 194–96.

[85] The Eighth Handcart Company crossed the Black’s Fork River three times during this stretch of the trail. Allen, Guide Book, 66.

[86] High sandstone cliffs that rise above the town of Green River, Wyoming. Castle Rock was a popular place for early overlanders to engrave their names onto the landscape. Urbanek, Wyoming Place Names, 35.

[87] Charles Wilson (1827–1866), FamilySearch–KWJD-Z47. See Appendix 3.

[88] The Utah Expedition of 1857–1858, also known as the Utah War, was a military campaign pitting Church President Brigham Young and the Utah Territorial Militia (Nauvoo Legion) against U.S. President James Buchanan and almost a third of the U.S. Army. “Rooted in decades of Mormon persecution, poor communications, and insensitivity—as well as major misjudgments—by the senior leader of both sides, it was the nation’s most extensive and expensive military undertaking during the period between the Mexican and Civil wars, with disastrous, far-reaching, and long-lasting consequences,” writes historian William P. MacKinnon. Buchanan sent 2,500 U.S. troops—from infantry, dragoon, and artillery regiments—to the Utah Territory to put down the supposed rebellion there by the Latter-day Saint leadership. Departing in mid-July from Fort Leavenworth, the troops followed the Oregon Trail but were unable to cross South Pass before the winter snows and were forced to winter near Fort Bridger (Wyoming). After negotiating peace, the U.S. troops entered the abandoned Salt Lake City in June 1858 and established Camp Floyd in the southern end of the Salt Lake Valley. MacKinnon, “Utah Expedition of 1857–58, or Utah War,” in New Encyclopedia of the American West, 1149–51. Of “Buchanan’s Blunder,” Greeley writes:

We passed yesterday the two places at which a body of Mormons late in 1857, surprised and burned the supply-trains following in the rear of the federal troops sent against them. The wagons were burned in corral, and the place where each stood is still distinctly marked on the ground. It seems incredible, yet I am assured it is undoubtedly true, that none of the military officers who were severally dispatched from Kansas, late that season on the road to Salt Lake without a commander and with no definite instructions, was directed to afford any protection or give any feed to these important towns. It is lamentable that presidents and secretaries of war are not subject to court-martials.

Overland Journey, 196.

[89] A loaf of bread made with cornmeal.

[90] A creek that flows into the Green River. It is named after Daniel Black, one of General Ashley’s expedition members. Urbanek, Wyoming Place Names, 19–20.

[91] Eckelsville, Wyoming, was the neighboring civilian community to Camp Scott, a temporary winter camp created by Colonel Albert Johnston during the Utah War (1857–58) when he discovered that nearby Fort Bridger and Fort Supply had been burned and abandoned by Latter-day Saint guerillas. Urbanek, Wyoming Place Names, 32.

[92] Joseph Olpin (1835–1880), FamilySearch–KWJD-M8K. He is Henry Olpin’s son.

[93] Henry Olpin, his wife Sarah Ann, and their children Ellen, Sarah Ann, Dorcas, and Julia were all members of the Eighth Handcart Company. See Appendix 2.

[94] The stream is named for mountain man Jedediah S. Smith, who explored this region and created maps for General Ashley’s expedition. Urbanek, Wyoming Place Names, 186.

[95] Fort Bridger in Wyoming is about 917½ miles from Florence, 113½ miles to Salt Lake City. Prior to the Utah War, the Latter-day Saints had purchased the fort from Louis Vasquez in 1855. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 74–75. Obridge Allen described the military installation as follows: “On Black’s Fork—this stream furnishes an abundance of Mountain trout; the fort is occupied by a detachment of the U.S. Army; sutler’s store, and blacksmith shop at this point; wood, water and grass in abundance; in next distance the road crosses a high divide between Black’s Fork and Muddy.” Guide Book, 66. See also “Fort Bridger Historic Site” and “The Mormon Wall at Fort Bridger,” in Kimball, Historic Sites and Markers, 93–94. Of the surrounding agriculture, Horace Greeley noted that “an improvement of 500 acres, begun some years since by the Mormons, has this season been put under cultivation, with flattering prospects. Oats, barley, potatoes, peas, etc., are the crops sought; and the enterprising growers have contracts for the supply of Fort Bridger at prices which will insure them a liberal return in case they realize even a moderate yield.” Overland Journey, 198.

[96] An early overland stage station; named for a local stage driver. Urbanek, Wyoming Place Names, 136.

[97] Of the Latter-day Saints’ efforts to thwart the advance of the U.S. Army to Utah, historian Brandon Metcalf writes:

The Nauvoo Legion hindered the army’s progress for three months by annoying them with the tactics of night surprises, stealing cattle, destroying supplies, blocking roads with trees, and burning the country before them so that animals had little to feed on. Provisions became a serious concern with the burning of seventy-four of the army’s freight wagons and the seizure of 1,400 of the 2,000 head of cattle that accompanied the expedition. The guerrilla warfare, fortification of Echo Canyon, as well as the fear and intimidation that sprung from these tactics throughout the fall of 1857, successfully frustrated and averted the army leaving General Johnston no choice but to squander the winter away in the mountains and suspend his invasion of Utah.

“Nauvoo Legion,” 321.

[98] Cold Springs (Wyoming) was about 923¾ miles from Florence, 107¼ miles to Salt Lake City. It was a stage station from 1859 until 1862. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 76–77; Urbanek, Wyoming Place Names, 41.

[99] Summit of High Ridge (Wyoming) was about 926 miles from Florence, 105 miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 76–77.

[100] Muddy Fork or Creek (Wyoming) was about 930½ miles from Florence, 100½ miles to Salt Lake City. Clayton, Latter-day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide, 76–77. “Willow for fuel, U.S. Mail Station No. 34. If the grass is eaten off at this point, good grass may be found north and south of the road, half mile in the vicinity of the creek,” according to Obridge Allen. Guide Book, 66. Horace Greeley notes the following: “From Fort Bridger (named after an Indian trader who first settled here; then settled as an outpost and relief-station by the Mormons when they began to people this valley, but abandoned by them on the approach, late in ‘57, of the army, by which it has since been held) the Salt Lake trail rises over a high, broad ridge, then descends a very steep, rocky, difficult hill to Big Muddy, a branch of Black’s Fork, where—12 miles from Bridger—is the Mail Company’s station, at which we had expected to spend the night.” Overland Journey, 199–200.

[101] Distinctive character; “the only one of that sort.”

[102] Latter-day Saints of “half-hearted persuasions.” Cooper, Dictionary of Christianity, 120.