Transcript

In the spring of 1860, I went to Nebraska to help my father home. I stopped in Santaquin[, Utah] and my cousin Don Babbitt concluded to go with me. We left and caught the company we were to travel with at Green River. We went with them as far as Wood River, Nebraska where I met my father. We stayed there a few days, then took our teams, went down to Florence on the Missouri River where the Mormon emmigrants were loading up to cross the plains.

George A. Cannon had just come from England, he had charge of the company. As soon as I got in Florence, Brother Cannon had them send for me. He wanted me to go into Iowa and get a lot of oxen that had been bought for the emmigrants. I was to yoke them up and divide them to the company of 83 wagons which came across the plains in Williams [Budge] company. I was appointed to take charge of the traveling department of the whole company. The stock had been bought by Joseph W. Young, who came after the emmigrants. He said he would send me the best man he had in the company to help me yoke and hitch up the oxen. He sent me a young man by the name of Myron Abbott who was an extra good hand at the business. It took us several days to get the cattle in shape to turn them over to the emmigrants. They had got their wagons and loaded them. We hitched two oxen to the wagons and drove them out of Florence on to the hill above town, we then turned the teams over to the emmigrants. Two days after, I started the company of the road to Utah. We had a merry time for a few days as there was only a few men in the company that had driven oxen. They had many adventures, wagon tongues and axel trees broken. Wagons tipped over, but no one was killed.

The first two weeks out of Florence I had a very hard time at night when I laid down, to sleep, my clothes would be as wet with sweat as though I had been in the river. When we crossed Loup Fork of the Platte River, I went into the river when I was very warm, I took a bad cold in my lungs and could not speak loud for three days. I rode in Robert Bodily's wagon. When I got better, I got my horse and looked after the company. When we got over the Platte River we divided the company, all the Scandinavians, Swiss and a few Americans were put in a company ahead. Houston Patterson was given charge of them. I had to go ahead and look after them every two or three days, in this way we got along alright.

We arrived in Salt Lake on the 4th of October 1860. We had one fatal accident on the plains, two men were out hunting, one accidently shot the other. He lived six hours after being shot. Without further accident, we went to near the South Pass, where a sister [Catherine] Bennet died, we buried her by the side of the road and went on our way.

While crossing the plains I formed the acquaintance of a young Danish girl who came across in my company, her name was Conradine A. Mariger. We were married by President Brigham Young October 11, 1860 in Salt Lake City.