• Henry was a member of the Mormon Battalion, and as a result he initially traveled to the Salt Lake Valley from California with the Jonathan H. Holmes/Samuel Thompson Company in 1848, as indicated in Henry’s reminiscences.

  At the end of a mission to the Sandwich Islands in 1855, he traveled with the William McBride Company as sergeant of the Guard and company historian. His obituary erroneously states that he returned to Utah in 1854. Company sources make it clear that Henry did travel in 1855 with the McBride company. Upon reaching Utah, he married Cynthia Jane Whipple, who also traveled with the McBride company.

  At the end of another mission to the Sandwich Islands, William traveled home with the Frederick A. Mitchell Company in 1858.

Jonathan H. Holmes/Samuel Thompson Company (1848)

• Age at Departure: 32

William McBride Company (1855)

• Age at Departure: 39

Frederick A. Mitchell Company (1858)

• Age at Departure: 43

Sources

• 1880 Utah Census.
• 1900 Utah Census.
• "Discoverer of California Gold Dies at St. George," Salt Lake Herald, 27 November 1900, [2].
• "Elders' Correspondence," Deseret News, 22 August 1855, 190.
• Find a Grave (Website)
• Frederick A. H. F. Mitchell journals, 1856-1858 and 1899.
• Henele Pikale (Henry W. Bigler), "Recollections of the Past," Juvenile Instructor, 15 December 1886, 371.
• Henry W. Bigler reminiscences and diaries, 1846-1850, Volume contents: (1) February 1846-November 1850, 91-106.
• Henry W. Bigler reminiscences and diaries, 1846-1850, Volume contents: (2) July-September 1848, 1-13.
• Norma Baldwin Ricketts, The Mormon Battalion: U.S. Army of the West, 1846-1848 (Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1996), 222-23.
• Norma Baldwin Ricketts, The Mormon Battalion: U.S. Army of the West, 1846-1848 (Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1996), 23.
• Perpetual Emigrating Fund, Financial Accounts 1849-1886, Ledger A, p. 222.
• Pratt, Parley P., Journal 1855 [Apr]-Nov., fd. 2, 162-64, in Collection [ca. 1835-1896].
• Reddick N. Allred journal, 1854 August-1856 November.
• "Sandwich Islands Mission", Deseret News [Weekly], 1855 August 22, 6.
• William McBride journals, 1854-1855; 1874, vol. 2.