Transcript

We left St. Louis in the spring of 1859, and after sailing up the Missouri River for a week arrived in Florence. This was a gathering place for the saints to get everything in readiness for crossing the plains. We stayed in Florence for six weeks, and then started on that long and tiresome journey across the plains, which lasted between four and five months.

There were seventy-five wagons in our train and all were poor, and had to be repaired quite often. Of course this caused delay and took much longer to make the journey. My brother Sam and I made a small tent to sleep in. The first night we camped out, was by the Platte River. The captain would go on ahead and locate a place to camp, and then when we camped, we would drive the wagons all around in a circle, so as to protect ourselves from Indians. One morning when we took our bed up we found a small snake under it. I soon wore my shoes out and had to walk bare footed most of the way, and my feet got very sore. We had to wade the streams and rivers. It surely was a hard journey. Some would murmur, and worry saying if they had known what a trial it was they would not have undertaken it but we traveled on and on. Then our oxen began one by one to give out. They got tired and weary and sore footed, and some of them died. Some would bleed at the nose, and they drop over, dead. Others would die through drinking alkali water and some got poisoned.

Crossing the sand ridges was indeed very trying, and was a scene never to be forgotten. Our oxen were very weak, so we all had to get to work and push on the the wagons and lift on the wheels. In this manner we dragged on day after day. I began to think we never would get over those ridges.

Some would cry and others would laugh. I remember my mother saying many times, "We're going to Zion and we will surely get there." It was a very hot summer and many of the company died through the hardships. There were also some severe thunder and lightening storms, and we would get wet. One girl was struck by lightening and killed. By the time we got over the sand ridges we had but three head of oxen left, so we had to yoke up the cows. In this way we could not keep up with the rest of the train, so finally the Captain furnished us a pair of oxen. We then traveled on without much trouble until we arrived in Salt Lake City. But with all our trial there were some pleasures. In the evening we would gather round the camp fire and hold meetings and sing the songs of Zion. On moonlight nights we very often danced as some of the men had brought their violins along with them. It was now getting along toward the latter part of September, and our food supply was almost exhausted, but the saints in Salt Lake brought food to us, which was indeed a very great blessing.

After all these struggles we finally arrived in Salt Lake on the first part of October, 1859.