John Gillespie Company

John Gillespie captained a company of emigrants comprised of about 500 people in 54 wagons. Gillespie, who was from Tooele, left Salt Lake on June 18 with a contingent of out-and-back teamsters to assist the emigrants. They reached the end-of-track terminus at Benton, Wyoming, before late July. Most of the emigrants who joined his company had crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the ship Constitution. That ship reached New York on August 6, and the emigants left the next day on the Hudson River Railroad for the West. They traveled on trains (including cattle cars on some stretches of track) through Albany, New York, crossing into Canada and past Niagara Falls, Detroit, Chicago, and arriving in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 13. They reached Benton on August 16 and found Gillespie's teamsters and wagons waiting for them. The company's departure was delayed waiting for luggage, so they left Benton on August 24. Some of the wagons traveling with the company carried merchandise and freight destined for stores in Salt Lake City. They traveled in a northwesterly direction from Benton through Whiskey Gap and northward from there until they reached the Sweetwater River and joined the old emigrant road 10 miles west of Devil's Gate. Upon reaching Echo Canyon, many of the men left the company to work on the railroad. A portion of the company traveled ahead and arrived in Salt Lake on September 3. The majority of the company entered the valley via Parley's Canyon and arrived in Salt Lake on September 15. There were 6 deaths.