December 1995 Blazer

An Echo in the Canyon

THE UlSTORY BLAZER A'EII'S OF UTAH'S PAST FROM THE Utah State Historical Societv 300 Rio Grande Salt Lake City. L7T 84101 ( 801) 533- 3500 FAX ( 801) 533- 3303 An Echo in the Canyon HENRYA UGUSTUSSQ UIRES RAN FROM WAGON TO WAGON, tent to kilt, trying to find a pin to fasten clothing around his newborn daughter. Like every new father he was excited, but unlike most new fathers he was also desperate. And although births were common along the immigrant trail to Utah, this birth was anything but normal. Snow lay deep upon the ground; the air was frigid. The approximately 400 immigrants in camp lay in various stages of starvation and with frozen limbs and exhausted bodies. They were being cared for by their rescuers, a large group of men who had risked their lives, wagons, and teams to save them when they had become stranded in Wyoming snowstorms. For several weeks they had inched their way west and had at last been able to make it to the head of Echo Canyon, leaving over 150 in graves along the trail. But new life had demanded entrance onto this bleak scene. It was the early morning of November 27, 1856, when Echo Squires was born. With high hopes the Squires family, consisting of Henry, Sarah, and their five young daughters, the oldest only eight years old, had left London, England, in May 1856. Sarah was pregnant with another child they hoped would be born after they arrived in Salt Lake Valley. At Liverpool they had boarded the ship Horizon and after five weeks at sea landed in Boston. With more than 800 other Mormon immigrants, the Squires family herded their little daughters onto the train for the journey to Iowa City where they would be outfitted for the trail. This being the first year for the Mormon handcart experiment, the family was given a two-wheeled cart that Henry would pull with his wife's help instead of purchasing a wagon and oxen. The youngest children would ride, but the three oldest would have to walk. After much delay, the Martin handcart company, with which the Squires family was traveling, left from the campground to cross Iowa. Approximately a month later, they reached Florence, Nebraska, where they were resupplied. The immigrants considered staying in eastern Nebraska but rejected the idea in their enthusiasm to reach Utah that year. Though it was now dangerously late in the season, they voted eagerly to go on, not understanding the hazards ahead- the long distance, the climate in the mountains, the fatigue, and the insufficient supplies. They could not have envisioned the horrors of being caught in an early and severe winter. Day by day the journey took its toll on the men and women who pulled the carts. Sarah would undoubtedly have become progressively more drained by the child growing within her, and Henry would have begun to wear out with ovenvork. In eastern Wyoming, Captain Martin realized that their food would run out long before Utah was reached. Therefore, the rations were cut. Daily the people became weaker, and it was necessary to lighten the carts to keep moving. Clothing, bedding, and anything heavy or ( more) nonessential was discarded. Food rations were reduced to almost nothing. On they plodded, until the last crossing of the North Platte was reached in mid- October. As sleet fell on them, they waded the frigid river. Barely had the company crossed, when the snowstorm hit. During the next few days they made only a few miles, and then had to give up. In camp at Red Buttes they waited for help or death. Many died during the next several days before word was received that there was relief at Devil's Gate. The people forced themselves fonvard. Reaching Devil's Gate they found relief wagons from Utah, but there were so few for so many. The weather was too severe to move. Using the bedding, bits of clothing, and scant supplies received from the rescue wagons, the people waited in Martin's Cove for several more days, the camp a scene of death and suffering. Sarah, the expectant mother, became snowblind. On November 9 they at last pushed westward, leaving many carts behind. Sarah had to be led by the hand. A few days later they met more relief wagons, and by the time they reached South Pass enough wagons had arrived so that all the handcart immigrants could ride; the last carts were abandoned. The Squires family probably huddled together in one of the Utah wagons. Each night the blind mother would pray with her family and sing hymns to keep up their spirits. At last on the night of November 26 they reached Echo Canyon. Camp was made in a small side canyon running into the main canyon from the north. The baby would wait no longer. Henry used a frying pan to scrape away the snow so a tent could be pitched for his wife. Bedding was laid and during that bitterly cold night another daughter was added to the family. They named her Echo in honor of the place of her birth. In light of the circumstances, mother and baby did remarlably well. There was no clothing to wrap the tiny infant in, but one of the men of the rescue team took off his wool flannel undershirt and offered it for the baby's use. Most likely the father never did find a pin in that destitute camp; nevertheless Echo was wrapped securely. Three days later, after fighting their way through the snow- clogged Wasatch Mountains, on Sunday, November 30, 1856, a relieved father, a happy mother, five cold and hungry little girls, and tiny Echo reached Salt Lake City and were at last in their desired home. Sources: " Echo Squires Kirkham DeLee: A Short Sketch of the Life of Our Mother," ca. 1938 by her seven children, typescript in LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City; LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, Handcans to Zion ( Spokane: Arthur H. Clark, 1960); William V. Haight, " Biographical Sketch," in Joel E. Ricks Collection, MS 8237, item 49, LDS Church Archives; John Jaques, " Some Reminiscences," Salt Lake Daily Herald, December 22, 1878; Patience Loader, " Recollections of the Past, " typescript, Harold B. Lee Library Special Collections and Archives, Brigham Young University, Provo. THE HISTORBLYA ZERi s produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone [phone] ( LC)