• Rufus initially traveled to the Salt Lake Valley in the Daniel Spencer/Ira Eldredge Company in 1847. However, he later participated as one of the rescuers that were sent out in the winter of 1856 to assist the members of the Church stranded in Wyoming.

  His birth and death dates are confirmed by his death certificate.

Daniel Spencer/Ira Eldredge Company (1847)

• Age at Departure: 14

Rescue Companies (1856)

• Age at Departure: 23

Sources

• 1850 Utah Census, Salt Lake County.
• Ensign, Martin Luther, Autobiography, in Utah State Historical Society Cache Valley Chapter, Historical resource materials for Cache Valley, Utah-Idaho, 1955-1956, reel 1, item 9, 1-2.
• Find a Grave (Website)
• Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 21 June 1847, 13.
• "Pioneer Who Died Suddenly at Home Early Last Night," The Herald-Republican , 10 May 1915, [10].
• "R. B. Ensign, Indiana Fighter, is Dead," 10 May 1915, 2.
• Utah Death Certificates.  
• "Utah State News" Ephraim Enterprise, 15 May 1915, 3.