Martin Handcart Company

NOTES ON MARTIN HANDCART COMPANY,

Taken from a talk given by Vaughan J. Featherstone titled:

“Purity of Heart”

It left Iowa City on July 29th, 1856. During July and August they made fairly good distances each day. Fall came early though and the chill of winter brought frosty nights. The consequences of threatening storms, decreased rations, and insufficient clothing and bedding dampened their spirits.

They traveled on. The storms continued. The wind was shrill and blew about them furiously. The snow was several inches deep. The Willie Company (which left two weeks before the Martin Handcart Company) recorded that the snow was over a foot deep after the storm. Five people died. The Willie Company camped and waited for help to come.

Sister Jackson, in the Martin Company, recorded: “My sister became sick. So severe was her affliction that she became deranged in her mood, and for several days she ate hard, frozen snow.” I wonder if she may have considered this as the only way to have her rations given to others.

Sister Jackson also wrote: “A few days after the death of my husband, the male members of the company had become reduced in number by death and those who remained were so weak and emaciated by sickness that on reaching the camping place at night, there were not sufficient men with strength enough to raise the poles and pitch the tents. The result was that we camped out with nothing but the vault of Heaven for a roof and the stars for companions. The snow lay several inches deep upon the ground. The night was bitterly cold. I sat down on a rock with one child in my lap and one on each side of me. In that condition I remained until morning....”

“Deaths continued in the camp. Some died ... lying side by side with hands entwined. In other cases, they were found as if they had just offered a fervent prayer and their spirit had taken flight while in the act.... Some died sitting by the fire, some were singing hymns or eating crusts of bread....”

Sister Sirman, whose husband was near death and whose two sons were suffering with frozen feet, appealed to Captain Martin, “Do you think that the relief party will come soon with food, clothing, and shoes?”

The Captain’s answer was “I almost wish God would close my eyes to the enormity of the sickness, hunger and death among the Saints. Yes, Sister Sirman, I am confident as that I live that the President (Young) will and has dispatched relief wagons.”

Samuel and Margaret Pucell and their two daughters were in the Martin Handcart Company. Margaret became so ill she had to ride in the handcart part of the way. Her husband grew so weary and weakened from the lack of food that this additional burden caused him to slip and fall one day as he crossed a river. Having to travel in the cold, wintery weather with wet clothing, he too became ill and died from hunger and exposure. His wife died 5 days later, leaving 10 year old Ellen and 14 year old Maggie orphans.... Many died (135) and many others suffered from frozen limbs, among them the Pucell girls, both having badly frozen feet and legs....

President David O. McKay, at an annual Relief Society Conference in 1947, talked of the criticism given by a teacher, who commented that it was very unwise even to have permitted the Saints to cross the plains under such circumstances. President McKay said:

“Some sharp criticism of the Church and its leaders was being indulged in for permitting any company of converts to venture across the plains with no more supplies or protection than a handcart caravan afforded.

“An old man sat silent as long as he could stand it, then he arose and said things that no person who heard him will ever forget. His face was white with emotion, yet he spoke calmly, deliberately, but with great earnestness and sincerity.

“In substance the father said: ‘I ask you to stop this criticism. You are discussing a matter you know nothing about. Cold historic facts mean nothing here, for they give no proper interpretation of the questions involved. Mistake to send the handcart company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it and Sister Nellie Unthank, whom you have cited, was there too. We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that company ever apostatized or left the Church, because everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives, for we became acquainted with him in our extremities.

“I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, ‘I can only go that far and then I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it.” {And a wife with a baby in her arms by his side!} “I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.

“Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.” (David O. McKay, “Pioneer Women,” Relief Society Magazine, Jan. 1948, p. 8)

Comprehensive History of Church Vol 4 : XCVIII : 84 : ‑

Comprehensive History of Church Vol 4 : XCVIII : 107 :

THE HANDCART COMPANIES OF 1856

"In regard to the foreign immigration another year," (1856), said the epistle, "let them pursue the northern route from Boston, New York, or Philadelphia, and land at Iowa City or the then terminus of the railroad; there let them be provided with handcarts on which to draw their provisions and clothing, then walk and draw them, thereby saving the immense expense every year for teams and outfit for crossing the plains.

"We are sanguine that such a train will out‑travel any ox train that can be started. They should have a few good cows to furnish milk, and a few beef cattle to drive and butcher as they may need. In this way the expense, risk, loss and perplexity of teams will be obviated, and the saints will more effectually escape the scenes of distress, anguish and death which have often laid so many of our brethren and sisters in the dust.

We propose sending men of faith and experience, with suitable instructions, to some proper outfitting point to carry into effect the above suggestions; let the saints, therefore, who intend to immigrate the ensuing year, understand that they are expected to walk and draw their luggage across the plains, and that they will be assisted by the fund in no other way."*4

The immigration that year was unusually large, amounting in all to 4,326 souls; of whom 2,012 were emigrated by the means provided by the Perpetual Emigration Fund Company.*5 The names of the eight ships and the number of saints going with each are recorded. The unusual number emigrated by the perpetual emigration fund, that is to say, means for their emigration was advanced by the company, represented an effort on the part of the church leaders in Utah to bring "to Zion" the worthy though poor saints who had long desired to gather to the body of the church, but had not been able to lay up sufficient means. "I will here repeat my wish and counsel to you," wrote President Young to Franklin D. Richards, president of the European Mission at the time, "that in your election of the saints who shall be aided by the fund, those who have proven themselves by long continuance in the church shall be helped first. whether they can raise any means of their own or not; let those be brought, so long as you can act within the means of the company, if they have not a sixpence in the world, but be wary of assisting any of those who come into the church now, during these troublous times for Britain, whose chief aim and intention may be to get to America."*6 This arrangement which was carried out would naturally and did bring into the emigration of that year many of the aged, the sickly, the feeble, and many with large families of children.

The route of the immigration in the main was via Boston to Iowa City, in the state of Iowa, that being the most westerly railway terminus at the time along the proposed line of travel. Here the handcart companies were fitted out for the journey across the plains. The first two companies led by Edmund Ellsworth and the second by Daniel D. McArthur left on the 9th and 11th of June respectively. These companies as reported on their arrival in Salt Lake City numbered‑‑Ellsworth's: souls, 266; handcarts, 52; McArthur's: souls, 220; handcarts, 44; eight teams were divided between these two companies.*7 A third and smaller company, chiefly composed of Welsh converts, under the leadership of Edward Bunker, left Iowa City on the 23rd of June.

The three companies made the journey to Salt Lake City without serious adventure, or loss, though of course their traveling was attended by the toil and fatigue incident to such a method of migration.

The first two companies entered Salt Lake valley together on the 26th of September.. When Governor Young learned of their arrival in the mountains east of Salt Lake City, he took a military escort attended by bands of music and met them at the foot of Little Mountain in Emigration canon and escorted them into the city, where they were cheered and made welcome by the populace that turned out en masse to receive them. They encamped on Pioneer Square, but in a few days had found homes among their kindred and friends in the community. Bunker's company arrived six days later, 2nd of October, also without serious adventure or loss. They had traveled with Captain John Banks' wagon company of immigrating saints.

Commenting on the successful journey of 1,300 miles made by the two first companies, the Deseret News said: "This journey has been performed with less than the average amount of mortality attending ox trains; and all, though somewhat fatigued, stepped out with alacrity to the last, and appeared buoyant and cheerful. They had often traveled 25 and 30 miles in a day, and would have come through in a much shorter time, had they not been obliged to wait upon the slow motion of the oxen attached to the few wagons containing the tents and groceries." Time and distance considered, they had not averaged more than eleven miles a day.

If the curtain could be rung down upon this handcart emigration incident of the year 1856, with the arrival of these three companies in Salt Lake valley, and their dispersion among the people, that method of traveling over the plains might pass without very serious objections, beyond a protest against the hardship of excessive toil involved in it. The successful accomplishment of the journey by these companies demonstrated that such a method of migration was possible rather than feasible. And what remains to be set down involves the whole adventure in a tragedy, making one of the saddest pages in Latter‑day Saint history.

THE WILLIE COMPANY THROUGH IOWA

There were two other handcart companies fitted out at Iowa City in that fateful year of 1856, led respectively by James G. Willie and Edward .Martin, and numbering in all above nine hundred souls.*8 Their respective journeys are here but rapidly sketched.

The emigrants who made up Willie's company arrived at Iowa City on the 26th of June, and here met their first disappointment the tents and handcarts, the one to afford them shelter, the other the means of conveying their food and bedding on the journey across the plains, were not, as yet, provided; and in waiting for the manufacture of these necessary things the company was detained until the 15th of July. The journey through Iowa to "Old Winter Quarters," by this time known under the name of Florence, Nebraska, was accomplished in twenty‑six days, since they arrived at Florence on the 11th of August and remained there until the 16th. The chief hardship of this stage of the journey was the midsummer heat, the dust; and when heavy rains converted this to mud, the heavy roads. The part of Iowa through which their route passed was then fairly well settled, and from the people of that state they received varied treatment. Sometimes they were met with good‑natured badinage, at other times with threats of personal violence. At one point they were overtaken by a sheriff's posse with a search warrant issued by a justice of the peace, authorizing the posse to search to the very bottom of the few wagons for young women, alleged to be tied down in them with ropes.*9 Of course the search revealed no such conditions as were alleged. At Des Moines an act of kindness varied the treatment. A Mr. Charles Good presented Captain Willie with "fifteen pairs of children's boots." There were some few desertions from the company in this first stage of the journey, eight in all‑‑who were persuaded to the step by inducements held out by the people of Iowa‑‑"for the leeks and onions"‑‑is Captain Willie's manner of phrasing it.*10

WILLIE'S COMPANY AT FLORENCE‑‑

SHALL THE JOURNEY BE CONTINUED

At Florence the question of continuing the journey through to Utah, or going into winter quarters on the Elkhorn, at Wood river, or some other eligible location in Nebraska, was debated; but it was finally determined to continue the journey, the majority of the leaders in charge, among whom were George D. Grant, Win. H. Kimball, advance agents of the emigration that season, and Elders Willie captain of the company of handcart emigrants‑‑Atwood, Savage, Woodward, and John Van Cott, all favored it, except Savage, and the views of the majority of these leaders were accepted by vote at a mass meeting of the emigrants, anxious to get to Zion, ignorant of the difficulties and dangers to be encountered, and willing to trust the judgment of these leaders.*11

Levi Savage was returning from a more than two years mission in Siam and Ceylon, where he had most earnestly sought under trying circumstances to present the message of the New Dispensation. His action in the above named discussion deserves special mention. To the overzeal, not to say fanaticism, of his brethren, Elder Savage opposed common sense, and his knowledge of the country, both of which persuaded him that a mixed company of aged people, women, and little children, even though it had some strong men in it, could not cross the mountains so late in the season without much suffering, sickness, and death. He advised going into winter quarters; but when overruled, according to Chislett's Narrative, he said: "What I have said I know to be true; but seeing you are to go forward, I will go with you; will help you, all I can; will work with you, will rest with you, will suffer with you, and if necessary, will die with you. May God in mercy bless and preserve us." He lived up to his promise "no man," says the narrative, "worked harder than he to alleviate the suffering which he had foreseen, when he had to endure it." But it had been represented to these saints in the handcart companies, and, indeed, to all the saints in Europe, that a special providence would attend this method of migration, and hence they would be apt to discredit any warning that might be given concerning dangers that might overwhelm them. "Know ye not," wrote Elder John Jacques, assistant editor of the Millennial Star‑‑"Know ye not that it is the holy ordinance of the Lord revealed through his prophet, Brigham Young, for the redemption of the humble, faithful poor, and that it will be blessed and sanctified of him to the salvation of thousands who are not too proud to be saved in his appointed way, while many who will despise that way will be left to perish in Babylon. The Lord has promised through his servant Brigham Young that the handcart companies shall be blessed with health and strength, and be met part way with teams and provisions from the valley.*12 And I am not afraid to prophesy, that those who go by the handcarts, and continue faithful and obedient, will be blessed more than they have ever dreamed of."*13 Religious enthusiasts imbued with these ideas of blessing and favor, would, of course, vote to continue the journey "to Zion."

WESTWARD HO! INCIDENTS BY THE WAY

The Willie company left Florence on the 19th of August, and began the journey across the plains in earnest. The Cheyenne Indians were bad that season, and the emigrants heard of occasional attacks upon emigrant team‑trains, among them of the attack upon Almon W. Babbitt's train, and later of the killing of Mr. Babbitt himself. From the Omaha Indians the handcart company received some kindness, and were able to buy some buffalo meat of them. By the 5th of September the company had made 265 miles west of Florence, but at this point they had the misfortune to lose thirty head of cattle, which they spent two days in searching for, but they were not found; and the journey was resumed with their few teams very much weakened. On the 12th of September they were overtaken by a company of returning missionaries in three carriages and some wagons. The company included Elder F. D. Richards, ]Daniel Spencer, and C. H. Wheelock, late presidency of the European Mission.

On the 17th of September, while yet on the Platte they had their first frost, "a very severe one." On the 30th they arrived at Fort Laramie‑‑still five hundred miles from Salt Lake City.

On the 1st of October the journey was resumed. Occasionally they met eastward bound parties, among these were Parley P. Pratt and a company of missionaries, bound for the eastern states. That was to be this eminent apostle's last mission, since he fell a victim to assassination in Arkansas about seven months later.

ON RATIONS

At the very start the handcart company had been put upon rations, one pound of flour per day per man, a little less for women, and still less, of course, for children was allowed; and these scant rations from time to time had to be reduced until they were barely sufficient for subsistence, The last reduction left them at 10 1/2 oz. for men; 9 oz. for women; 6 oz. for children, and 3 oz. for infants.*14

On the Sweetwater river they encountered extremely cold weather and severe snow storms; but while disheartened by this circumstance they were cheered by the coming to them of two messengers from the west, driving a light wagon, and bringing the news that a supply train was on its way to meet them, and they could expect to meet it in a day or two: and then the young men drove on to take the same cheering word to Martin's company, and to the wagon trains still further eastward.*15

THE FIERCE STORMS OF THE SWEETWATER‑‑DEATHS

After the departure of these welcome messengers, however, the snow storms, accompanied by fierce winds, were renewed, until from sheer exhaustion the company sought such shelter in hollows and willow thickets as could be found and awaited the coming of the relief trains. Dysentery broke out in the camp, aggravated by eating the fresh meat that was obtained from killing a few of the broken down oxen. Deaths had been frequent the past few days from exhaustion and cold. Fifteen died in one of the terrible days immediately preceding the encampment above referred to, which was made at Willow Creek on the Sweetwater, and many were frost‑bitten. The storm that was proving so fatal to the handcart company had also overtaken the relief train, and hindered its progress. Not knowing the absolute destitution of the emigrants, and that they were perishing only a few miles distant,. the relief train had gone into encampment, awaiting the arrival of the handcart company or the passing of the storm. Meantime Captain Willie with a single companion, started westward in search of the relief train. He found it; whereupon all possible haste was made to reach the sufferers. It was the evening of the third day after his departure that Captain Willie returned at the head of fourteen well loaded wagons. Their arrival came none too soon, if the camp was to be saved from utter destruction: for the ravages of hunger, dysentery, and exhaustion were threatening the extinction of the helpless emigrants.

CHISLETT'S PICTURE OF REJOICING RELIEF

Chislett's account of the meeting of the handcart company and the relief train deserves perpetuation:

"On the evening of the third day after Captain Willie's departure, just as the sun was sinking beautifully behind the distant hills, on an eminence, immediately west of our camp, several covered wagons, each drawn by four horses, were seen coming towards us. The news ran through the camp like wildfire, and all who were able to leave their beds turned out en masse to see them. A few minutes brought them sufficiently near to reveal our faithful captain slightly in advance of the train. Shouts of joy rent the air; strong men wept until tears ran freely down their furrowed and sunburnt cheeks, and little children partook of the joy which some of them hardly understood, and fairly danced around with gladness. Restraint was set aside in the general rejoicing, and as the brethren entered our camp the sisters fell upon them and deluged them with kisses. The brethren were so overcome that they could not for some time utter a word, but in choking silence repressed all demonstration of those emotions that evidently mastered them. Soon, however, feeling was somewhat abated, and such a shaking of hands, such words of welcome, and such invocation of God's blessing have seldom been witnessed! * * * Among the brethren who came to our succor were Elders W. H. Kimball and Geo. D. Grant. They had remained but a few days in the valley before starting back to meet us. May God ever bless them for their generous, unselfish kindness, and their manly fortitude! They felt that they had, in a great measure, contributed to our sad position; but how nobly, how faithfully, how bravely they worked to bring us safely to the valley‑‑to the Zion of our hopes !"

Mr. Chislett had left the church when he wrote that passage!

Eight of the relief wagons passed on to the camps still further eastward, and six remained with Captain Willie's company.

Fortunately, after reaching the South Pass, and descending into the Green river valley, the weather moderated, more supply wagons were met, some passing on to take the needed relief to the companies still in the rear, and others turning back with Willie's company to give such increased aid and comfort as was still required; and so abundant was the help in the last stages of the journey that most of the toil‑exhausted, hunger‑weakened emigrants could be taken into the wagons.

This company arrived in Salt Lake City on the 9th of November, and soon received every evidence that they had come among warm‑hearted friends. "On our arrival," says Willie's Narrative, "the bishops of the different wards took every person who was not provided with a home to comfortable quarters. Some had their hands and feet badly frozen but everything which could be done to alleviate their suffering was done, and no want was left unadministered to. Hundreds of the citizens flocked around the wagons on our way through the city, cordially welcoming their brethren and sisters to their mountain home. * * * The total number of deaths in this party from Liverpool, was seventy‑seven, * * * we had also three births and three marriages on the trip."*16 Nearly all the deaths in the camp occurred after leaving Fort Laramie.

JOURNEY AND SUFFERING OF EDWARD MARTIN'S HANDCART COMPANY

Edward Martin's handcart company, known as the fifth of the handcart companies, and the last of this fateful year, duplicated the experiences of Willie's company, but was attended with even more disastrous results since it was a larger company, and had a larger proportion of women and children and of the aged and feeble, and also had a later start and was detained longer by the mountain storms.

The emigrants that made up Martin's company and the two independent wagon companies of that season, under John A. Hunt and Benjamin Hodgetts, respectively, arrived at Iowa City in the early part of July, but were detained‑waiting for their tents and handcarts to be made‑‑until nearly the last of the month. One of the chief contributing causes to the handcart disaster was the frailness of these carts, and the unfitness of the material put into them. They were hurriedly made of unseasoned timber, and so much was sacrificed to lightness that the necessary strength and durability was impossible. The result was that in Martin's company, as also in the companies that preceded it, the breaking down of handcarts which began a few days after the start was made‑‑and the necessary halting to repair them contributed much to the delay of the journey.

FAULTY STRUCTURE OF THE HANDCARTS

Both Chislett's and Jacques' account agree in this. John Jacques, author of the great Latter‑day Saint hymn, "O, Say What is Truth," was a member of Martin's company, and wrote a series of letters to the Salt .Lake Herald in 1878 and 1879, describing somewhat in detail the events of the journey. The letters are seven in number, beginning in the Sunday impression of December the 1st, 1878, and appearing in each Sunday impression until Jan. 19, 1879. Elder ,Jacques had been a very earnest advocate of this handcart method of traveling over the plains, and had sharply reproved some who doubted the feasibility of the plan.*17 "Many of the carts had wooden axles and leather boxes,"' he writes in his description of them. "Some of the axles broke in a few days, and mechanics were busy in camp at night repairing the accidents of the day." Chislett's account of the carts is that they had to be made at Iowa City while the emigrants were waiting for them. "They were made in a hurry, some of them of very insufficiently seasoned timber, and strength was sacrificed to weight, until the production was a fragile structure, with nothing to recommend it but lightness. They were generally made of two parallel hickory or oak sticks, about five feet long, and two by one and a half inches thick. These were connected by one crosspiece at one end to serve as a handle, and three or four similar pieces nearly a foot apart, commencing at the other end, to serve as the bed of the cart, under the center of which was fastened a wooden axletree, without iron skeins." The wheels were devoid of iron, except that in some of them there was a very light iron tire. The whole weight of a cart was about sixty pounds.

It doubtless will aid in appreciation of the difficulties and even the dangers of the handcart expedition westward if the matter of roughness of mountain roads and altitudes be considered. These are "To give a better idea of of the journey, I may say discussed by ,Jacques as follows: the nature of the latter one‑half that the altitude of Salt Lake is about 4,200; * * * and that of Fort Laramie 100 feet lower. It may also be recollected that the whole of the winter part of this journey was performed at a much greater altitude, beginning at about 5,000 feet at North Platte camp, where the relief express found the company [i.e. Martin's], and never sinking so low again until in Emigration canon near this (Salt Lake) city; but rising at Devil's Gate it was 6,000 feet; near the three crossings of Sweetwater to 7,000 feet; by the South Pass a little higher. From Green river to Bridget about 6,700 feet; on Bear river to about 6,800 feet; in Echo canon, about 6,000; on the Big Mountain, about 7,245, with different ridges and summits which were passed over varying from over 7,000 to nearly 8,000 feet."*18

The start from Iowa City did not begin until the 28th of July. At first there were two companies organized; one under Martin, the other under the leadership of Jesse Haven, returning missionary elder from South Africa. The two companies numbered nearly six hundred souls. The arrangement to travel in two companies continued until the companies arrived at Florence, Nebraska, which was on the 22nd of August. Here, as in the case of Willie's company,... which was but four days departed‑‑the question of venturing upon the journey so late in the season was debated. "Unfortunately," remarks Jacques, "It was determined to finish the journey the same season."

AT FLORENCE‑‑ADJUSTMENTS

Matters were somewhat readjusted at Florence. The two companies were united into one; Edward Martin was continued as captain assisted by Daniel Tyler. Both of them had made the journey with the Mormon Battalion from the Missouri river to the Pacific coast; both of them at first corporals, and afterwards as 2nd and 3rd sergeants, respectively, in Company "C."*19

The start was made from Florence on the 25th of gust. It was the 8th of October when they reached Fort Laramie. Here they remained one day and some were able to exchange and sell watches and other personal effects they could spare for food which they were allowed to purchase from the military stores, at reasonable prices.*20 Soon after leaving Laramie, however, it was found necessary to reduce the daily ration. "The pound of flour was reduced to three‑fourths of a pound, then to half, and subsequently yet lower. On the 19th at Red Buttes they met the first severe snowstorm, accompanied by a piercing north wind; that day they had forded the Platte. Two days before, in order to lighten the loads on the carts they had sacrificed much bedding, the need of which they now sorely felt.

On the 28th Joseph A. Young and two companions, with the news of coming supply trains, met them, an event which brought forth "the cheers and tears and smiles and laughter of the emigrants." Two days later they met the promised supplies on the Sweetwater near Devil's Gate. This assured relief, but much of suffering had yet to be endured. From a foot to a foot and a half of snow was on the ground and the cold was intense. The question was discussed as to whether the company should go into such winter quarters as could be provided or push on to Salt Lake. The latter course was determined upon. The freight that could not be taken along was left at this point with three men from the valley, and seventeen from among the emigrants to guard it. Only a small allowance of food could be left them, and because of this the men suffered terribly, and nearly perished of hunger by the time spring opened and relief arrived from Salt Lake valley.

Shortly after leaving Devil's Gate enough wagons were met to carry most of the baggage of Martin's company and some of the people, but the crossing and recrossing of the Sweetwater was a trying ordeal. There were so many who were helpless, or nearly so, that it was difficult to decide who should be taken into the wagons and who should be compelled to walk. "There was considerable crying of men and children," remarks Elder Jacques, "and perhaps of a few of the men, whom the wagons could not accommodate with a ride." "One of the relief party remarked," continues our authority, "that in all the mobbings and drivings of the 'Mormons' he had seen nothing like it." C.H. Wheelock (who, it will be remembered, was one of. the presidency of the British Mission when this enterprise was undertaken, and who was now returned with the relief party to assist these emigrants, also one of the last who was with the Prophet Joseph at Carthage Prison) could scarcely refrain from shedding tears, and he declared that he would willingly give his own life if that would save the lives of the emigrants.

EPHRAIM K. HANKS‑‑HERO

The men with one group of relief wagons, not yet met by the emigrants, concluded from their long delay in appearing that the rear companies of the emigration had perished in the snow, and were for turning back to Salt Lake;*21 but Ephraim K. Hanks, commonly known as "Eph Hanks," who was connected with the mail carrying service, was determined to ascertain the fate of the emigrants, and accordingly mounted one team horse, and leading another, rode on alone. He met the emigrants while yet on the Sweetwater. He had killed a buffalo two of them, in fact‑‑and cutting the meat into strips, packed it on the horse he was leading; and this with other buffalo he had killed after joining the company, materially added to the meat supply.*22

By the time South Pass was reached enough relief teams had arrived to allow of some passing on to help the wagon trains still further back, and at the same time admit of all the emigrants riding in the wagons. The journey now was more rapid. By the 21st of November Green river was reached. On the 28th the company camped on the Weber. Meantime other parties had been at work keeping the road open over the mountain passes east of Salt Lake City. By this time the relief wagons numbered one hundred and four, and the emigrants were welcomed by throngs of people into Salt Lake City, where they arrived on Sunday, the 30th of November.*23

Every relief that shelter, and food, and clothing, and kindness, and devoted attention could bring to these belated emigrants was accorded them. The usual Sunday morning services were in progress at the "Old Tabernacle" when President Young learned of the approach of Martin's company to the city. In dismissing the congregation that the people might meet the emigrants and care for them, he said:

"When those persons arrive I do not want to see them put into houses by themselves. I want to have them distributed in this city among the families that have good, comfortable houses; and I wish the sisters now before me, and all who know how and can, to nurse and wait upon the newcomers, and prudently administer medicine and food to them. * * * The afternoon meeting will be omitted, for I wish the sisters to go home and prepare to give those who have just arrived a mouthful of something to eat, and to wash them, and nurse them up. * * * Prayer is good, but when (as on this occasion) baked potatoes, and pudding, and milk are needed, prayer will not supply their place. Give every duty its proper time and place. * * * I want you to understand that I desire this people to nurse them up; we want you to receive them as your own children, and to have the same feelings for them. * * * Now that the most of them are here, we will continue our labors of love until they are able to take care of themselves, and we will receive the blessing. You need not be distrustful about that, for the Lord will bless this people."

It was in this spirit that the emigrants were received and waited upon by the people, President Young and his family doing their full share. During his remarks above referred to President Young had said:

"I have sent word to Bishop Hunter that I will take in all that others will not take. * * * I am willing to take my proportion."*24

The exact number of those who perished in this company is not of record in our official annals; and it is difficult to fix upon any approximate number with certainty. Joseph A. Young coming in from the farthermost companies reported at a meeting in Salt Lake City, on Sunday, the 16th of November, that on meeting Martin's company at Red Buttes on the Platte, 56 deaths were reported up to that time;*25 that, however, was on the 28th of October, and there was yet before the company more than a month of exposure, and toil, and suffering, in the midst of fierce mountain storms. Chislett declares of this company that of the six hundred at starting they "lost over one‑fourth of their number by death." "The storm which overtook us while making the sixteen mile drive on the Sweetwater," he writes, "reached them at North Platte. There they settled down to await help or die, being unable to go any farther. Their camp ground became a veritable graveyard before they left." One‑fourth of 600, would be 150. Jacques says that exaggerated ideas have been entertained with reference to the number of deaths. His own estimate is that about one in six of the "entire number that left Liverpool in the ship Horizon" died. As that number is listed at 856, Jacques' estimate of those who perished would be 142, or about the same as given by Chislett. Jacques also says that others "who claim to know" put the number of deaths in Martin's company "at about 100; or about one‑eighth of the entire number that left Liverpool in the ship Horizon."*26 All things considered the estimate of Chislett and Jacques,‑‑putting their estimate at 145‑is perhaps not far from the facts. And these added to Willie's seventy‑seven deaths, brings the total of deaths to 222. The number who were frost‑bitten was also large, and some were crippled for life.*27

The wagon companies were also helped in the last stages of the journey. The people el: Fort Supply, near Bridget, led by Isaac Bullock, as well as relief teams sent from Salt Lake City rendering them valuable assistance by providing them with fresh teams and supplies of food. All belated emigrants were reported as safely arrived in Salt Lake valley shortly after the middle of December.

The one redeeming feature of this unfortunate incident in Latter‑day Saint history was the heroic efforts of the people in Salt Lake valley to save these unfortunate companies of emigrants. Especially is this true of the people in Salt Lake City and county; of Davis county; and latterly of Tooele county. These, because of their accessibility, bore chiefly the burden of the relief work; and there are men whose names deserve a permanent place in history for the activity and heroism then displayed in seeking to save from misery and death large numbers of their fellow men. Among these are‑

Joseph A. Young,

Wm. H. Kimball,

George D. Grant,

Cyrus H. Wheelock,

Ephraim K. Hanks,

Stephen Taylor,

Able Garr,

Daniel W. Jones,

Thomas Alexander,

Ben Hampton,

Robert T. Burton,

Charles Decker,

G. G. Webb,

Hosea Stout,

James Ferguson,

Isaac Bullock,

Joseph Simmons

Others were, of course, equally worthy to be remembered; their risks and services were equally as great as these whose names are here set down'; but it happens with nearly all expeditions and enterprises of men that the few only can be specifically remembered in the annals of events. It is reserved to the "Lamb's Book of Life" to perfectly record the names of all who render service to humanity, and these, here unnamed, rank and file of the relief parties, who in that trying and adventurous enterprise of rescuing the stormbound and starving handcart companies of 1856, can be confident of being registered, and on the page with their names, these words will be written:

"Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me. * * * Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me."*28

Of this service, remembrance of which I would perpetuate, President Young said:

"This is what I can say truly, with the rest of your counselors and directors, that no man or woman, that we have any knowledge of in the church. has refused to do as requested with regard to this immigration; they have run by day and night. Our messengers have been traveling from here to the Platte, and back and forth between Bridger, Green river, and the Sweetwater; and scores of men have been riding by day and night, without having enjoyed an undisturbed night's rest, during the last two months, only occasionally snatching a little when sitting by. the camp fire. They have been riding by day and night, hurrying to and fro and laboring with their might, and have not refused to do what we have required of them. This is to their praise. Works have been most noble when they were needed. We put works to our faith, and in this case we realize that our faith alone would have been perfectly dead and useless; would have been of no avail, in saving our brethren that were in the snow; but by putting works with faith we have been already blessed in rescuing many, and bringing them to where we can now do them more good."*29

Nor is this appreciation to be confined to those who braved the storms to carry the relief to the place where it was needed; but it is to be extended also to those who supplied the teams and the food, who by prudent counsels and prompt action conceived the relief plans and prepared the outfits for starting, and who by the consecration and sacrifice of their means made possible the rescue of their brethren from what would otherwise have been inevitable and miserable destruction.

Of course, among the foremost of these were Brigham Young and others of the general authorities of the church then in Utah. O. F. Whitney in his History of Utah writes:

"Many besides those who went to the rescue of these companies would gladly have gone had it been their privilege. None were more anxious in this respect, for none felt more keenly for the sufferings of the unfortunate emigrants, than President Franklin D. Richards, under whose administration in the British Isles the handcart project had been inaugurated. He had arrived home only three days before the relief parties set out. He desired to accompany them and made all preparations to that end, but was called to assist President Jedediah M. Grant and other elders who were just then arduously engaged in carrying on what is known in 'Mormon' history as 'The Reformation.' Had it not been for this, Apostle Richards would have returned to meet the handcarts, and it is not saying too much, to those who know the man and his great sorrow at the disaster which befell his brethren and sisters on the plains, that could his own life have averted the terrible calamity which overtook them, it would willingly have been given."*30

Near the close of his circumstantial account of the suffering endured by Martin's handcart company, John Jacques very briefly and temperately discusses the question of "blame" for the disasters that overtook it; and the matter is put so fairly that I quote it here at length: "The question may be asked, whom do I blame for the misadventure herein related. I blame nobody. I am not anxious to blame anybody. I am not writing for the purpose of blaming anybody, but to fill up a blank page of history with matters of much interest. I may say that notwithstanding the serious misfortune of this company, I have no doubt but that those who had to do with the management meant well and tried to do the best they could under the circumstances."*31

THE MISSIONARY EAST‑BOUND

HANDCART COMPANY

Doubtless to show the saints in Europe that the brethren in Utah did not shrink from the toilsome method of travel that had been suggested to them, a company of missionary elders numbering 74 men, with 25 handcarts, left Salt Lake City on the 23rd of April, 1857, for the Missouri frontiers, en route for various parts of Europe and the states to preach the gospel.

Following is the description of the departure of this handcart company of missionaries from temple square, published at the time:

"All things being ready, at a quarter before 10 a. m., the company started off in regular order, with as much apparent cheerfulness and unconcern as though they were going to return in the evening, whereas many of them will be gone for years, and all will probably have to pass through trials. and endure hardships, of which the pulling of their carts across the plains will be among the least.

The company consisted of 74 men, with some twenty‑five handcarts, and was made up of individuals of nearly every imaginable occupation and pursuit of life: farmers, mechanics, tradesmen, merchants, and clerks‑‑some Americans, some English, Scotch, Irish, Welsh, Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Germans, and of other nations, were to be seen in the company, which made it an unusually interesting sight. To see such a variety of men, some of them young, some in the prime, and some past the meridian of life, leave their vocations at a moment's notice, and go forth in that way to proclaim the gospel of salvation to the nations that have long been wandering in the darkness, bespeaks a devotion to the principles of eternal truth not often seen."*32

Instead of increasing in difficulties of road and dangers of approaching winter, however, as in the case of the west‑bound handcart companies, it grew daily easier, and less dangerous as they approached the Missouri river. The company was made up moreover by men alone, and the presence of aged people and children did not enter into their problems; and their journey was down hill from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri river, and attended by a constantly expanding summer, instead of threatening and actual fierce storms of winter. It was, however, the best expression, perhaps, that could be given that the elders who went among the people to preach the gospel were willing to endure the same toilsome method of travel as had been suggested to the saints in Europe, and such an expression, on the part of those who gave it, was worthy of all acceptation and praise.

Two small companies of handcart emigrants crossed the plains in 1857, led respectively by Israel Evans and Christian Christiansen. They arrived in Salt Lake City on the 12th and 13th of September. In 1858, Latter‑day Saint emigration both from Europe and the states was nearly suspended, and there were no handcart companies that year. In 1859 there was one company, led by George Rowley, numbering 235 souls, with 60 handcarts, and six wagons. In 1860 there were two handcart companies. The first was led by Daniel Robinson, numbering 233 souls; 43 handcarts; 6 wagons. This company arrived in Salt Lake City on the 27th of August, and President Young took the precaution to send out teams to meet it with 2,500 lbs. of flour and 500 lbs. of bacon. The second company of handcart emigrants that year was led by Oscar O. Stoddard, and numbered 126 souls, 22 handcarts.

This was the last company to come by that method of travel.