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Brigham H. Young Freight Train (1860)

Departed
Circa 1860
Departed From
Eagle Island, Nebraska
Arrived
On 1860 September 14
Vehicle Type
Wagon
Company Type
Freight Train
Company Direction
Westbound

Very little is known about this company. Though it primarily transported freight, it included a few English Mormon families. Captain Young, son of Phineas Howe and Clarissa Hamilton Young, was a nephew of Brigham Young. On July 15, the company was at Eagle Island, west of the Mormon settlement Genoa in Nebraska Territory. On July 26, they were 40 miles east of Ash Hollow. Richard F. Burton, the celebrated British traveler, reported visiting with Young's company near the Upper Crossing of the Platte River on August 16. He noted that there were 24 wagons. Captain Young "wore a bowie knife on his left hip and a six-shooter on his right." To Burton, the emigrants looked healthy and reasonably well fed. When they arrived in Salt Lake City on September 14, the company consisted of 16 wagons.

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