| Description |
3The suffering of members of the Utah Expedition was reminiscent (altnough not compar^^Ie in "I'erms o.' compositor! o[ the party o; adequacy of equipment) of that undergone by members o^ the Mormon handcart companies the year before. Two companies of Mormons of James C. Willie <;nd Edward Mariin began preparations Ther rip < sboitage of equipment, food, and clo;hing. It was August 11 before the Willie and Martin companies reached the Missouri River. By then they were rationing; the food: ten and a halt ounces f<_ir men, nine ounces for women, six ounces for children, and three ounces for infants. With this meager diet they hardly had the strength to walk and pull their handcarts whkh were beginning to fall apart because they had been so poorly and hastily made. Moieo\er many of "ne cai t wheels had boon :nade without iron for tires.' Before they reached Fort Laramie they eneountered snow storms and freezing weather. Although many members of the potty were without shoes and wea^fnod by the .Lick of food and from dysentery from eating fresh meat killed en route, still they pushed ahead. "The Willie company rrvichec. S.ilt Lake Valley on November 9, having'lost from exposure about"70 of its 400 members.... The Martin company,, with about 580 members, did not arrive until November 30, but the casualties of t<ii£; pai tv are r;o^ known. Dii^i.'^ o.i Vririou.^ roporLs R. H. Roberts places the number of deaths of the Martin company at 145." Neis Anderson O^r-eil Sain'*- Tlu Mormo". Iro.ther hi Ut,,h (Chicago: University of Chicago 1'ress, 1942), p. 157; for a more complete account see LeRoy R. and Ann W. Hafcn, eds., H^df.iri- to Zion: The Story'of ;'. Unique l'V,-iff,r Msgrai,.,,:, 1S57 !HoO. . (Glendale, California: Arthur H. Clark, I960]. preceded us about three weeks had about 6000 animals, & in the same storm, (which met us on the summit of Rocky mountains & met them near this point) they lost 2000 animals. In passing through the last desert (mauvaises Terres) we were two or three days passing through this Golgotha. 20, 30 bodies in view at a time sometimes. There was no wood to burn-& the weather intensely cold-only Sage bushes for fuel-which burns like paper-so we cut up the deserted U. S. waggons for fuel-fine, large new waggons-harness & all left most of them with their six oxen, (or mules as might be) lying by their sides. We gathered the yokes from the dead oxen, & chopped the thin parts of the waggons, & carried them on for fuel-& so we cooked sometimes. Sometimes had no food at night. The morale was worse than the physique. In the very cold weather, the teamsters seemed more like madmen than human beings. Much Sin abounded. The cold & privations seemed to make them crazy? Alfred is well. I am well-but have not had a shoe on till to-day for a month-foot frost bitten, & not being able to stop to take care of it, it swelled & burst & I had a very bad foot. We have been here long enough & the weather has moderated sufficiently to improve it. I have been afraid I might be permanently lame-the inflamation in the joints being so bad-I do not walk yet, except with pain & difficulty-but it is much better-I found some letters from friends here-but none from you-Direct as before-the mail, if it comes through again, this winter, will stop here-must stop here. You will see by the papers what B. Young has been doing -his position. A. would have gone on to Salt Lake, but we 14 |
