Individual

death-date-qualifier-death

Maren Oletti Otterbeck

birth-date-qualifier-birth

Anthon H. Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1900

Anthon H. Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1900, Page 215.

In the spring of 1868, through the help of President C.C.A. Christensen, I succeeded in borrowing enough means to emigrate [immigrate] to Zion. I had then been in the Church a little more than seven years, the first two of which had been devoted in part, and the last five wholly, to missionary service. I married at this time, Anna Christina [Christine Jacobsen] Krogero, an assistant in the mission office, who was a widow with four children. After bidding farewell to the many Saints in Christiania, we traveled to Copenhagen and thence to Liverpool, where we boarded the sailship, John Bright, which has carried many of our people across the ocean. After a voyage of six weeks, mostly in the face of a strong headwind, we reached New York on the 15
th
 of July, 1868, during a spell of very warm weather. There were over 700 immigrants in our company.
We spent a few days in New York and were then sent westward by railway. The terminus of the railway was Laramie, which left about 600 miles to Salt Lake City. At Laramie there was a company from Utah with horses and mules to conduct the immigrants onward. We were organized into companies with Hector C. [Horton D.] Haight as captain, and we began our journey over the plains along the banks of the Sweetwater.
We reached Salt Lake City the first week in September, 1868, after a six weeks' march from Laramie over the dry and warm plains, immersed in a cloud of dust from morning until night. The children and the weak mothers were allowed to ride in the wagons; while all the men were obliged to walk the whole distance in dust by day, and keep watch against the Indians at night. We were pretty well supplied with meat, flour, fruit and other food for our journey over the plains. When we camped in the evening, we cooked our food, and made our bread. All went fairly well.
At last we came to Emigration canyon, and had our first glimpse of Salt Lake City. We were glad and grateful to our Heavenly Father for his fatherly care of us during our journey. On arriving at the Tithing yard, in Salt Lake City, our captain was released. I pitched our little tent and remained there during eleven days awaiting an opportunity to go to Cache Valley where I had some Norwegian friends of earlier days.
That fall, the grasshoppers visited Cache Valley, and all the crops were destroyed, so that there was not enough food to supply the needs of the people. As I was responsible for a family I took my blanket on my shoulder and walked over the mountains to Salt Lake Valley in search of work that would bring me a little money with which to buy bread stuff,—the greatest need of my family at the time. There was just then a call for "Mormon" boys to go out and do section work on the Union Pacific Railway. I worked at this until the October Conference at Salt Lake City, which I felt I must attend. I was given free fare to Salt Lake City, upon my promise to return, as the railroad company wanted the "Mormons" to continue the work on the road. When the railroad was laid to Corinne, Box Elder Co., we were laid off, and I went home to Logan the following night.

Transcript for Skanchy, Anthon L., [Autobiography], in John A. Widtsoe, trans. and ed., Anthon L. Skanchy: A Brief Autobiographical Sketch of the Missionary Labors of a Valiant Soldier for Christ [1915], 34-35

Anthon H. Lund, Scandinavian Jubilee Album (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1900.

Utah State History Cemeteries and Burials Database

Utah State History Cemeteries and Burials Database.

Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days

Prophets of the Restoration

Global Histories

Revelations in Context

Women of Conviction

Joseph Smith Papers

Church Historian’s Press

More

Publications

Church History Museum

Historic Sites

Church History Library

Visit

Church History Catalog

Missionary Database

Pioneer Database

Treasures of the Collection

Pioneer Resources

Research

Church Historic Sites

Quick Links

Church History Biographical Database

/chd/landing

company-arrived

joined-company

with-pioneer-activity

Anders Nicholai Otterbeck

Anna Christine Jacobsen

Anthon Lorenzo Skanchy

Anne Claudine Mathilda Otterbeck

Christina Victoria Otterbeck

pioneerCompanyReferenceIdValue

Default List Title

Name

Presided Over

Sources

Title

Maren Oletti Otterbeck

Birth Date

Death Date

Gender

Sources