Transcript

I came to Utah in the fall of 1848 [1850], walking most of the way, as most of the children did. I was 18 years old then. Our team was one cow yoked up with one ox, and travel was very slow. Aunt Mary Ann Griffeths [Griffiths] would milk the cow and place the milk in a churn in the wagon and the jolt of the wagon would churn the cream of the milk into butter. Then we would have the buttermilk for supper, as it was still sweet and good to drink. We children gathered what they called “buffalo chips” every day and these were burned as fuel when any cooking was done. Cholera broke out in the Company and aunt Mary got it and died, and another woman in the same company also died. I remember one of the men had a dream to the effect that if tar was burned in the wagons, the disease would be stopped. Captain Warren smith [who was a division captain within the Shadrach Roundy company] had faith in that dream, for he had all of them pitch camp and ordered the wagons cleaned and tar burned in them. Then the women washed all the clothes and everything that could be washed and burned some things. There was no more cholera in the company after that.