Other than for Julia's health, Isaac was well equipped to travel. In the heat of the late spring, Julia gained some weight and felt pretty well. Deciding that they could safely make the trip, Isaac loaded the wagon, making a special bed for his wife. At first she did very well, cheerful that at last they could go west and be with their relatives. But as the trip continued, the strain began to tell. Some mornings she was unable to get up. When they crossed Loup's Fork they again pulled out of the line, getting one of the Elders who lived at the Fork, Isaac and he administered to her. She seemed to relax and feel better, but during the night she lapsed into her last long sleep.
After they buried her, Isaac was so grief stricken that he sat for days, staring in front of him, felled by his tragedy. One evening James Walsh came to his fire and said, "I have seen many tragedies along the trail, and I respect you for your grief, but life must go on. Now you owe your little ones an even greater responsibility than before. Now you must be both father and mother to them. Crying tears of anguish over your lost wife is right and proper, but you must never allow your grief to immobilize you. What would Julia want you to do? You have begun a great quest, which, unfortunately, she was too weak to finish. Now you must finish it for her."
Out in the night Isaac walked for hours, asking why? Why? But with the coming of midnight, a peace enveloped him like a cloud. His beliefs taught him that although her body was dead, she, herself was still alive and would wait for him. He must not fail her. The next morning, 10 July 1852, he gathered a bunch of wild flowers and placed
Born in 1857, B.H. Roberts became a historian, and politician, and would serve as President of the First Council of Seventy. But every famous man was also once a boy, and sometimes boys do the strangest things. When Brigham Henry was nine years old he emigrated to Salt Lake from England with his sixteen-year-old sister, […]
by Leah B. Lyman Manti, Utah Originally published in The Saga of the Sanpitch, First Place, 1969 Historical Writing Contest Azariah Tuttle stopped his wagon in front of Fort Utah. The barking of dogs announced their arrival but the team paid no attention. The unexcitable oxen relaxed and drooped their heads in sheer exhaustion. The […]
from Utah As It Is, by S.A. Kenner, published in 1904 While the object of the pioneers and those who came here soon after the first settlement was made was not the pursuit of wealth nor partaking in any sense of the nature of speculation, it still followed that transactions between man and man must […]
from Utah As It Is, by S.A. Kenner, published in 1904 THE want of proper food was, as it always is, a source of great discontent and great discomfort. Such things as “square meals” were not to be thought of, at least they were not to be had. To give an idea of how poorly […]
Thomas took a very active part in the planning and construction of Lehi's first water ditch and was one of the city's first water masters, when no salary was attached to the office. He was also very active in planning and building Lehi's first bridge across the Jordon River.
This is a cherished time of year as we move from Thanksgiving to Christmas followed by 2022, the New Year ahead. We look forward with anticipation. The current year of 2021 has been a wonderful year despite all the issues that have needed special attention. It appears we are making progress as we traverse our way through the various strains […]
A sail on a wagon to cross the plains? Sounds crazy, but “Windwagon Thomas” Sam Peppard and others gave it a try, not much success, but good entertainment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cattle drives depended on a good foreman and cook. Coffee, sourdough biscuits, bacon, steak, beans, pot roast, short ribs and son-of-a-(gun) stew, cowboys were well fed. They also obeyed strict chuck wagon rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show began in 1883. Gunfights, outlaws, stagecoach and wagon train attacks, sharpshooters and Cossack Prince Tifto all added to the excitement of a real Wild West Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A wagon train was traveling from Missouri in 1861 on the Oregon Trail. In Idaho they took the California trail when disaster struck. Later, another smaller wagon train was also attacked with a much better outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Captain John Gunnison was on a surveying mission in Utah Territory. A wagon train of Missourians, determined to kill Indians, and Pahvant Indians bent on revenge ended in tragic death on both sides, including Gunnison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Brigham Young organized the exodus in 1847. They came by ship, wagon trains and handcarts to settle in the Great Basin. Immigrants heading west were able to replenish supplies and worn out stock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
He didn’t swallow a wagon wheel but did single-handed rob stage coaches. He nearly got away by using disguises and putting horse shoes on backwards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Horror week along the Oregon Trail in August 1862. A narrow passage between the Snake River and lava hills provided a good place for Indian attacks on wagon trains, though most pioneers died from disease or accidents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A lost wagon train in Oregon sparked a gold rush. Three young men picked up some unusual looking pebbles in a creek, they carried them in a blue bucket back to the wagon train. Only later was it discovered to be gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
William Ashley in 1827 took the first wheeled wagon west of the Missouri. William Sublette in 1829, Reverends Whitman and Spaulding in 1836. In 1843 the Stephens-Murphy party were the first to make it all the way to California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Spauldings and Whitmans showed that a wheeled wagon could cross the country. Crossing the Snake River Plain was dry, dusty, with little food, grass was scarce, sharp rocks slashed the feet of the animals. Indians were friendly at first until they saw the destruction of the thousands of travelers. Learn more about your ad […]
Former trappers became scouts for the explorers, missionaries, surveyors, the army and wagon trains. Many were pathfinders who opened up the West, men like Jim Beckworth, Jim Baker, Jim Bridger, Tom Tobin and Kit Carson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dr. Seymour B. Young of the First Council of Seventy Captain Lot Smith Captain Smith enlisted in the volunteer service to help win the war against Mexico in 1846-8. As is well known, this Battalion consisted of 500 volunteers from the ranks of the emigrating companies of the “Mormon” people. Lot Smith was then only […]
This article originally appeared in Vol.55, No.1 (2008) of pioneer Magazine. by Margery S. Stewart The wagon wheels are high and white. They make a scarring in the snow. The way that wheels do, coming hard Behind the oxen, dark and slow. The wind, a winter Indian, stalks Past tattered canvas, tattered shawl. Crouched on […]
Another of the original immigrants to Sail Lake valley was William C. Staines, for many years the emigration agent of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was Utah’s first public librarian, and an early member of the city council of Salt Lake. He was a merchant at one time, but his special […]