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| President Gordon B. Hinckley |
"It is good to look to the past to gain appreciation for the present and perspective for the future. It is good to look upon the virtues of those who have gone before, to gain strength for whatever lies ahead. It is good to reflect upon the work of those who labored so hard and gained so little in this world, but out of whose dreams and early plans, so well nurtured, has come a great harvest of which we are the beneficiaries. Their tremendous example can become a compelling motivation for us all, for each of us is a pioneer in his own life, often in his own family, and many of us pioneer daily in trying to establish a gospel foothold in distant parts of the world."
--President Gordon B. Hinckley- Ensign July 1984
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| John Chislett |
October 1856, along the Sweetwater River
Life went smoothly as a lamp ceases to burn when the oil is gone. At first, the deaths occurred slowly and irregularly, but in a few days, at more frequent intervals, until we soon thought it unusual too leave a campground without burying one or more persons…. Every death weakened our forces. In my hundred I could not raise enough men to pitch a tent when we camped…. I wonder I did not die, as many did who were stronger than I was… We traveled on in misery and sorrow.
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| Levi Savage |
"We buried our dead, got up our teams and about nine o'clock a.m. commenced ascending the Rocky Ridge. This was a severe day. The wind blew hard and cold. The ascent was some five miles long and some places steep and covered with deep snow. We became weary, set down to rest, and some became chilled and commenced to freeze. . . .
"About ten or eleven o'clock in the night we came to a creek [Strawberry Creek] that we did not like to attempt to cross without help, it being full of ice and freezing cold. Leaving Brothers Atwood and Woodard with the teams, I started to the camp for help. I met Brother Willie coming to look for us. He turned for the camp, as he could do no good alone. I passed several on the road and arrived in camp after about four miles of travel. I arrived in camp, but few tents were pitched and men, women, and children sat shivering with cold around their small fires. Some time lapsed when two teams started to bring up the rear. Just before daylight they returned, bringing all with them, some badly frozen, some dying and some dead. It was certainly heart rending to hear children crying for mothers and mothers crying for children. By the time I got them as comfortably situated as circumstances would admit (which was not very comfortable), day was dawning. I had not shut my eyes for sleep, nor lain down. I was nearly exhausted with fatigue and want of rest."
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| Jens O. Pederson |
When they were having such hard times with low rations and cold weather, one man decided he didn’t want to put up with any more so just said he wasn’t going another step. Different ones tried to talk to him and urge him to go on, but had no effect upon his decision. Grandpa, Jens O. Pederson asked for permission to talk to the man. Some told him it wouldn’t do any good, so they went on and grandpa tried to reason with him, but that did no good. Finally he said, “Well, if you are not going, I’m going to give you a whipping before I go on,” and he slapped him quite hard on the face, and started running to catch up with the company. It made the man angry and he started after grandpa and both of them caught up to the company. The man went on and later thanked grandpa for saving his life.
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| Elizabeth Horrock Jackson Kingsford |
"I have a desire to leave a record of those scenes and events, through which I have passed, that my children, down to my latest posterity, may read what their ancestors were willing to suffer, and did suffer, patiently for the Gospel's sake. And I wish them to understand too that what I now [write] is the history of hundreds of others, who have passed through many like scenes for the same cause. I also desire them to know that it was obedience to the commands of the true and living God [to gather to the Salt Lake Valley], and with the assurance of an eternal reward- an exaltation in His kingdom-that we suffered these things, I hope, too, that it will inspire my posterity with fortitude to stand firm and faithful to the truth and be willing to suffer, and sacrifice all things that they may be required to pass through for the sake of the kingdom of God."
-Elizabeth Horrocks Jackson Kingsford (Survivor of the Martin Company)
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| Mary Goble Pay |
When we arrived at Devil’s Gate it was bitter cold. We left many of our things there… My brother James… was as well as he ever was when we went to bed that night. In the morning he was dead….
My feet were frozen; also my brother’s and my sister’s. It was nothing but snow. We could not drive the pegs in our tents…. We did not know what would become of us. Then one night a man came to our camp and told us…. Brigham Young had sent men and teams to help us… We sang songs; some danced, and some cried.
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| James Hurren |
-James Hurren (Survivor of the Willie Company)
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| Elder M. Russell Ballard |
- Elder M. Russell Ballard
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| Ephraim Hanks |
-Ephraim Hanks (Rescuer)
George Padley (Martin Company) "On the 19th of October the company crossed the Platte for the last time... That was a bitter cold day. Winter came on all at once, and that was the first day of it. The river was wide, the current strong, the water exceedingly cold and up to the wagon beds in the deepest parts, and the bed of the river was covered with cobble stones. Some of the men carried some of the women over on their backs or in their arms... The company was barely over when snow, hail and sleet began to fall, accompanied by a piercing north wind." -John Jacques (1827-1900), Martin Handcart Company
George Padley, age 20 and from England, was among those who carried others across the icy North Platte River on Oct. 19, 1856. His sweetheart and fiancé, Sarah Ann Franks, was one that George took great care to look after and assist in every way. George had also taken his turn staying up nights guarding the cattle. With the shortened rations and severe exposure, George developed pneumonia. Over two weeks later, on November 4, George would be carried by others across the Sweetwater and into Martin’s Cove for shelter. Just prior to his death at this place, George approached Mary Taylor, a 31-year-old widow in the company and said, "Mary, I feel so weak. Will you make me a little gruel?" She said that she would, but her feet were frozen so badly that the captain of their group insisted that George get his own fuel to make enough fire to prepare the meal. George did gather the fuel and Mary made him some gruel. George drank it and retired to bed and died sometime during that night.
Sarah Ann could not bear the thoughts of George’s body being placed in a shallow grave and subjected to the depredations of the wolves. She left behind her warm paisley shawl in which George’s body was wrapped and hung in a tree for protection to await a proper burial in the Spring and a glorious resurrection at some time in the future.
Isaiah 43: 2-3 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee... For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior..
Susanna Stone – age 25 – Willie Company
“Only once did my courage fail. One cold, dreary afternoon, my feet having been frosted, I felt I could go no further, and withdrew from the company and sat down to await the end, being somewhat in a stupor. After a time I was aroused by a voice, which seemed as audible as anything could be, and which spoke to my very soul of the promises and blessings I had received, and which should surely be fulfilled and that I had a mission to perform in Zion. I received strength, and was filled with the Spirit of the Lord and arose and traveled on with a light heart. As I reached camp, I found a search party ready to go back to find me, dead or alive. I had no relatives, but many dear and devoted friends, and we did all we could to aid and encourage each other.” “I am thankful that I was counted worthy to be a pioneer and a handcart girl.”
(The Price We Paid, Andrew D. Olsen, p. 40, 191)
Margaret Judd was 17 when she crossed the plains, arriving Oct 16, 1849
Sister Catherine McAleer walked in Margaret's honor on the 2007 Trek
MARGARET DALGLISH-
Born 2 May 1825, Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Alexander Dalglish and Elizabeth McNee. Her parents soon moved back to Glasgow, Scotland. They had come to Ireland for work. Margaret’s mother died when she was only 8 years old. Margaret was baptized in Glasgow on July 18, 1842, when she was 17. Margaret later told her grandchildren “I saw the valley before I ever left Scotland.” Margaret got the opportunity to come to Utah through the Perpetual Emigration Fund, sailing on the Thornton, with the Willie Company. Margaret’s captain of 100 was William Woodward, a returning missionary, and clerk who kept the company journal. Margaret was assigned to tent #3, with 18 others, including the Kirkwood family. It is reported that Margaret pushed her handcart over a cliff at the end of the journey and walked into the valley “with nothing but her gaunt bones, her empty hands, and her stout heart.” Most of the Willie carts were left at Ft. Bridger, so the event may have happened there. Diaries record that some carts were pulled behind the rescue wagons into the Valley. On April 12, 1857, Margaret became the second wife of Andrew Cowan, also from Scotland, who had come to the valley from Nauvoo. She lived in SLC and had one daughter, Margaret, and two sons, William, and Robert. Her grandchildren record that Margaret was a “student of Scripture and had the Gift of Tongues. She also was a lover of the soil and spent much of her time in her flower garden. She passed on to her reward September 23, 1905, and was buried in the City Cemetery.”
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| Susanna Stone |
“Only once did my courage fail. One cold, dreary afternoon, my feet having been frosted, I felt I could go no further, and withdrew from the company and sat down to await the end, being somewhat in a stupor. After a time I was aroused by a voice, which seemed as audible as anything could be, and which spoke to my very soul of the promises and blessings I had received, and which should surely be fulfilled and that I had a mission to perform in Zion. I received strength, and was filled with the Spirit of the Lord and arose and traveled on with a light heart. As I reached camp, I found a search party ready to go back to find me, dead or alive. I had no relatives, but many dear and devoted friends, and we did all we could to aid and encourage each other.” “I am thankful that I was counted worthy to be a pioneer and a handcart girl.”
(The Price We Paid, Andrew D. Olsen, p. 40, 191)
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| John Jaques |
The Saints also had fun during the voyage [ship Horizon, Martin Company]. When the waters were calm, they danced to a fiddle, and tambourine. Children played marbles and skipped rope both above and below deck. ‘So merrily we live together,’ wrote John Jaques. ‘We want but the stalls and gingerbread to give our deck the appearance of an English country fair…’”
(The Price We Paid, Andrew D. Olsen, p. 224)
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FROM THE “LIFE DOESN’T CHANGE MUCH” FILE
(The Price We Paid, Andrew D. Olsen, p. 224)
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FROM THE “LIFE DOESN’T CHANGE MUCH” FILE
“Forty years after the handcart trek, and three years before his death, John Jacques wrote these final words about the experience: ‘Although suffering so much privation, [the emigrants] felt nothing like the discouragement which many people feel now-a-days when they go to our grand City and County Building to pay their burdensome taxes John Jacques was baptized in England in 1845 at age 18. He and his wife and daughter were in the Martin Company. He later worked in the Church Historian’s office and as an editor for the Deseret News. (excerpt from “The Price We Paid”, p. 412, Andrew D. Olsen, 2006)
“Along in the early fall, we used to find wild fruit, such as chokecherries, service berries, and a little red berry called buffalo or squaw berries. One day I decided to have a reception that evening, so after we camped, I asked some of the girls and boys to come and spend the evening at our campfire after their chores were done. Verbal invitations and short notice never gave offense then. All were delighted to come, no regrets. In the meantime, I had asked Mother to let me make some buffalo berry pies. Of course, she did. Pies were a great luxury and were seldom seen on the plains. I wanted to surprise my guests with the sumptuousness of my refreshments, and I did. Well, I had hardly got the ox yokes and some other things artistically arranged before my company arrived. After we had chatted awhile and sung songs together, I excused myself to go in to the pantry (a box under the wagon) and brought out my pies. In passing the pies, I rather apologetically remarked that they might not be quite sweet enough. One gallant young man spoke up very quickly saying, ‘Oh, anything would be sweet made by those hands.’ And I believed him. After serving the company, I joined them with my piece of pie. Well, with the first mouthful—oh, my, how it set my teeth on edge, and tasted as if it had been sweetened with citric acid! That ended my pie making on the plains. I often wondered how my friends could have eaten it, but etiquette demanded it. I don’t think there was enough sugar in the camp to have sweetened that pie.”
Margaret married Hiram Clawson in 1852. They became the parents of 13 children, including two sets of twins. She was known for her keen sense of humor, her poise and charm, and her devotion to her family. Later, she was a worker in the Salt Lake Temple. Margaret died in 1912.
(I Walked to Zion, Susan A. Madsen, 1994, p. 146-47)
Sister Catherine McAleer walked in Margaret's honor on the 2007 Trek
MARGARET DALGLISH-Born 2 May 1825, Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Alexander Dalglish and Elizabeth McNee. Her parents soon moved back to Glasgow, Scotland. They had come to Ireland for work. Margaret’s mother died when she was only 8 years old. Margaret was baptized in Glasgow on July 18, 1842, when she was 17. Margaret later told her grandchildren “I saw the valley before I ever left Scotland.” Margaret got the opportunity to come to Utah through the Perpetual Emigration Fund, sailing on the Thornton, with the Willie Company. Margaret’s captain of 100 was William Woodward, a returning missionary, and clerk who kept the company journal. Margaret was assigned to tent #3, with 18 others, including the Kirkwood family. It is reported that Margaret pushed her handcart over a cliff at the end of the journey and walked into the valley “with nothing but her gaunt bones, her empty hands, and her stout heart.” Most of the Willie carts were left at Ft. Bridger, so the event may have happened there. Diaries record that some carts were pulled behind the rescue wagons into the Valley. On April 12, 1857, Margaret became the second wife of Andrew Cowan, also from Scotland, who had come to the valley from Nauvoo. She lived in SLC and had one daughter, Margaret, and two sons, William, and Robert. Her grandchildren record that Margaret was a “student of Scripture and had the Gift of Tongues. She also was a lover of the soil and spent much of her time in her flower garden. She passed on to her reward September 23, 1905, and was buried in the City Cemetery.”
