John Banks Company (1856)
"St. Louis Company"
Departure: 9 July 1856
Arrival: 22 September - 5 October 1856
Company Information: 300 individuals and about 600 wagons were in the company when it began it's journey at the outfitting post at Florence, Nebraska (now Omaha). Also known as the St. Louis Company.
Samuel Lorenzo Howard was 15 when he crossed the plains to Utah. He traveled with his sister, Sarah Freelove Howard, who was 17 at the time. Their sister Betsy Prudence Howard left earlier with the James MaGaw Company in June of 1852.
In the book, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah (pg. 444), it says that Samuel arrived in Utah on September 20, 1856 and that he had traveled with the Helm family.
* The following narrative and trail excerpts are not personal accounts written by Samuel Howard. They are journal entries written by others in the same wagon train company, or other publications about the John Banks 1856 company.
Narrative:
Known as the Saint Louis Company, this party included English, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish Saints, some of whom had stopped for a while at St. Louis en route to Salt Lake City. A steamboat carrying 170 of these emigrants, with 30 wagons, arrived at Florence, Nebraska Territory, on June 14, 1856. Other party members had arrived earlier; some would arrive a little later. Florence was then the Mormon outfitting point for plains travel. Not until June 18 did the emigrants' 100 yoke of oxen arrive. After that, the travelers held a meeting where they were entertained by the St. Louis brass band and where they organized themselves, selecting John Banks as company captain. Banks was exceptionally qualified as a leader. Before emigrating from England in 1850, he had presided over the following: (1) the branch of the Church in Preston, Lancashire, England; (2) the Edinburgh, Scotland Conference; (3) the Manchester Conference; and (4) the London Conference. He had also served as second counselor in the presidency of the British Mission. Now he was returning to Utah after serving a mission in Indiana.
Not all of the company left Florence at the same time. The first group (24 wagons) started west on June 26 but traveled only two miles before making camp. The next day, an equal number of vehicles belonging to English Saints set out, traveled five miles, and then stopped at a stream in order to build a bridge. On the 28th a contingent of Scandinavians with 26 wagons joined the train. [Charles South Diary, pp. 7-8, 65] These first few days of travel provided interested spectators with a great deal of amusement because few of the emigrants had prior experience with oxen and all of the animals were wild. Several wagon tongues broke and were replaced with green wood.
Finally, the train began its journey in earnest. It was divided into two segments and on alternate days each half took its turn leading out. At night the circled wagons formed a corral while, just beyond this enclosure, tents and campfires made two more concentric circles. The men took turns guarding the cattle when they were out on the range. All members of the party were reportedly in good health on June 29. On July 1 the train crossed the Elkhorn, but before it reached the Platte, five oxen and one woman had died. It was very hot. On July 5, the company arrived at Mormon Ferry on Loup Fork. Until then the train had been traveling through woodland. Now it entered open country. On the 13th the emigrants camped south of Wood River, where they had their first experience cooking with buffalo chips. Continuing along the north side of the Platte River they began to see occasional Indian camps. On July 14 the travelers saw their first buffalo. Later they would hunt these beasts and add a little buffalo meat to their diet. One hunt ended in tragedy, however. Two men, trying to get close to a buffalo, crawled out through some tall grass, one behind the other. Suddenly the second hunter's gun accidentally discharged, shooting his companion in the thigh. The wound was fatal. Early in August the travelers met two different parties that were returning from California. On August 7, they passed Chimney Rock. Then tragedy struck again. A buffalo bull charged the train. When the men shot at it, the cattle stampeded, and a wagon ran over a young man, killing him. The train then passed Scotts Bluff before reaching the Platte River ford near Fort Laramie on August 13. At the fort the emigrants saw a large encampment of Sioux Indians.
Most Mormon emigrants crossed the North Platte River at Laramie so that they could follow the well-traveled road south of the river. But because his company received word that Indians recently had killed some travelers on the main route, Banks decided to stay north of the Platte, following a trail that had been pioneered in 1850. One member of Banks' company later recalled that this northern route was very rocky and mountainous, with steep hills to traverse. In some places the men had to double-team the wagons in order to get up the grades, and then they had to chain the wheels when descending (the wagons reportedly had no brakes). Though the Banks party did not have any accidents, they saw the remains of numerous wrecks-silent testimony that other travelers had not been so fortunate.
A later generation named this segment of the trail "Childs' Cutoff." It followed a meandering route, periodically leaving and then returning to the North Platte. Passing the site of modern Hartsville, Wyoming, it went through Rocky Pass and down Emigrant Hill. Later it passed Box Elder Springs (then called Alder Clump Springs), Red Canyon, and the sites of modern Orin and Douglas. North of the latter place it entered fairly rugged, mountainous terrain, crossed a high rocky ridge and then passed the future site of Orpha before rejoining the main trail at the upper crossing of the North Platte. It was September before the company finally left this river and headed for the Sweetwater. Nights were getting cold. When the train camped at Devil's Gate, it snowed and the ground froze into thick ice. Some cattle died. At some point along the Sweetwater, the travelers met a relief train from Salt Lake City, taking supplies to the handcarts. Near Pacific Springs, Edmund Ellsworth's Pioneer Handcart company passed the Banks train. After leaving the Sweetwater, Banks' company passed the Sandy, the Green, the Black's Fork and Ham's Fork rivers, Fort Bridger, the Bear River, Yellow Creek, Echo Canyon, the Weber River, Big Mountain, and Little Mountain. The night before reaching Salt Lake City the company camped in Emigration Canyon. They then entered the Salt Lake Valley on October 3, 1856. At her first sight of the city, one young woman was reminded of Jerusalem, the "holy city where the people of God dwelt."
Trail Excerpt:
THE third company, consisting of 50 wagons, and two carriages, under the command of Capt. John Banks, arrived at the Elk Horn on the 10th inst., in fine spirits and good health. No deaths—but two births.
They appear to be having a good time out on the "Horn." The Brass Band from the Hand Cart company united with the St. Louis Band, and played to the great delight of the trains.—[ Council Bluffs Bugle, July 22.
Source: "Across the Plains," The Mormon, 9 Aug. 1856, 2.
Trail Excerpt:
When he (the speaker) arrived at Salt Lake on the 6th of October, 1856, the half yearly conference had commenced. . . . He himself, though eight weeks ahead of the hand-carts, had been met by severe storms 300 miles back. Nineteen head of cattle had died in twenty-four hours, and they were fain to leave their goods and escape as best they could.
Source:
"Mormonism: As illustrated in a lecture by Thomas Harris, late an Elder in the Mormon Church," Alton Weekly Courier, 30 July 1857.
Trail Excerpt:
At Council Bluffs my father bought five wagons which he loaded with merchandise, household goods, and provisions, some of which had been brought from Elba. He also purchased cattle to haul the wagons, the cows not only supplying milk for the party, but serving in teams with the oxen.
It was during this tedious journey of three months' duration that the train halted for four hours to usher me into the world. The date was August 15th; the year, 1856; the place—well, my father subsequently wrote "near the foot of the Black Hills, five hundred miles from the nearest settlement;" while my mother stated in writing, "about fifty miles east of Fort Laramie." So my natal State may be Wyoming, but the country was then know[n] as Nebraska Territory. Twenty years later, my father, referring to the event in an autobiographical sketch, said; "This almost proved too much for my wife and child, being exposed to the broiling sun by day and the cold mountain breezes by night, with only canvas covers to shelter them, but they both survived."
Source:
Child, Warren Gould, Reminiscences, 2. (Trail excerpt transcribed from "Pioneer History Collection" available at Pioneer Memorial Museum [Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum], Salt Lake City, Utah. Some restrictions apply.)
Trail Excerpt:
The next morning, which was the 3rd of June 1856, we started on our journey to Utah, father having sent all of his wagons and cattle to the starting place across the plains, which was old Winter Quarters of Florence, about six miles above Omaha on the Missouri river, at which place we arrived, having spent a few days with relatives in Schuyler County, Illinois.
A few days after our arrival at Florence, Brother William Wardsworth and a few other Elders arrived from Utah, who had been sent to organize our company and see that we were started out on our journey across the plains in good order, which they did. On July 3 father's teams and a few others left Florence and pulled out some three or four miles, at which place we spent the fourth of July and had a very pleasant time.
We continued our journey without any interruption until the morning of the 24th of July. Owing to the fact that we had to make a dry camp the night before, digging wells to get water enough for culinary purposes, we could give our stock but very little water. We had only got fairly started when two of our teams became unmanageable and ran away. In one of the wagons there was a little boy about eight or nine years old, who was the son of a widow, by the name of Burton. He attempted to jump out of the wagon from the front end, but slipped and fell in front of the wheel, both the front and the hind wheels passed over his body, killing him instantly.
About three o 'clock that afternoon we came to what was then known as Pra[i]rie Creek and very unwisely camped on the north side of it. That night a very heavy rain occur[r]ed some few miles north of us and the next morning the creek, which had been only a shallow streamlet, was a raging torrent, the water being some six or eight feet deep. We were therefore obliged to stay until evening when it got so low we could ford it. We had only got fairly across when there came another storm and it was well for us that we were on the south side of the creek, for it raised some five or six feet again in the night.
The next day we continued our journey camping on the south side of Wood river that night.
On July 27, we saw our first buffalo. Some of the men of the company took their guns and went out and killed two or three and brought in some of the meat, which we enjoyed, for it was the first meat we had had for some time. On the morning of the 28th we continued our journey and had traveled about two miles when we came to the foot of some sand hills which were literally covered with buffalo. Two of our horses became frightened and ran into the midst of them. Of course we expected that that would be the last of them, but after we had traveled about half a mile, to our surprise and joy we saw the two horses in the middle of the road, coming toward us. We soon caught them and got some of the company to ride them and help drive the loose herd which was always in the rear of the train. On getting to the top of the hills and looking down on the valley below we there saw the sight of our lives, for as far as the eye could see west, north and south it was a heavy mass of galloping buffalo. When we got to the foot of the hill we were obliged to send men ahead of the train shooting blank cartridges to scare them so we could progress. We had proceeded this way for perhaps an hour or so when there was a line of two abreast coming from the north which broke through our train, and it was with a great difficulty that we got them turned so that our train could be reunited. We traveled this way until we came to a bend in the Platte river where we stopped and camped for the night, turning our horses and cattle into the bend and guarding the north side so that they could not get out during the night or the buffalo get in. It was a terrible night for all concerned for we were surrounded by those wild animals whose bellowing was like the roaring of the ocean. In the morning the captain of the train called a council of the other five captains of the company, for we were in five different companies of ten wagons each. They concluded to lay over there that day and get some buffalo meat and jerk and dry it, which they did, but while we were there another bad accident happened in which one of father's teamsters lost his life by being shot accident[al]ly through the thigh, severing the large artery that passes through the leg, which caused him to bleed to death. His name was Solomon Hall. We buried him that evening in a very deep grave to keep the wolves from scratching him up.
The next day we continued our journey, nothing of interest happening for about ten days, when we came upon a village of about three thousand Sioux and Cheyenne Indians. They demanded a toll of flour, bacon, sugar, tea, coffee, etc. We gave them all that we could spare and started on. We had only gone a short distance when they again formed in a semi-circle and demanded more provisions. We then called for the principle cheif and told him, through a man we had with us who could talk some Sioux language, that we had given all we could spare, and he asked where we were going and we told him to Salt Lake City and that we were Mormons. He then told his men to get up and let us pass which they did in a very sullen manner. We turned our teams to the south and went a few rods from the road and formed a corral with our wagons, then made a bargain with the Indians to herd our cattle and horses and bring them in the next morning at sun-up. They demanded some shirts and a few other things for their services, which we gave them when they brought the stock in the next morning as per agreement, not one hoof being missing. We did some trading with them and they let us pass on our way peacefully.
We continued our journey until we arrived west of Fort Laramie, where our company split up into five companies, each company going by itself. In the meantime we crossed the Platte river twice, the last time on the second of September.
On the fourth of September we crossed the great alkali beds where we gathered enough crude soda to last us for years and camped that night at the first crossing of the Sweetwater river. About one half mile east of Independence rock, which, as near as I can remember is about three hundred feet long and about one hundred feet high and about one hundred fifty feet wide, being in the shape of the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.
That day was the warmest we had experienced on the road. The next morning when we awoke there was six inches of snow on the ground and about thirty head of our oxen had been chilled to death. Fortunately there were some Indian traders there who sold us what cattle we wanted at a very reasonable price.
That afternoon we moved about four miles up the river and camped in some cabins near the Devil's Gate, which is a crevice through solid rock about one hundred fifty feet high and about thirty or forty feet wide. We traveled along quietly overtaking and being overtaken occaisionally by some of the other tens of our company and frequently camping at the same camp grounds, where the young folks, to say nothing of the older people, always had a pleasant visit together.
About the tenth of September we crossed the Great Divide and camped that night at Pacific Springs on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. On the top of the divide we saw water coming from one spring and dividing, one part flowing toward the Atlantic ocean and the other toward the Pacific ocean. About eight o'clock that evening the first handcart company came up and camped there also. The next morning they passed us and we did not see them any more.
There was nothing to mar our happiness from that point until we arrived in Salt Lake City on the second day of October 1856.
Source:
Groesbeck, Nicholas Harmon, Reminiscences. (Trail excerpt transcribed from "Pioneer History Collection" available at Pioneer Memorial Museum [Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum], Salt Lake City, Utah. Some restrictions apply.)
Trail Excerpt:
Correspondence from the Camp at Florence.
FLORENCE, N. T., Aug. 14, 1856.
ELDER J. TAYLOR—Dear Bro : Knowing you, as well as the Saints generally, feel a lively interest in the gathering of Israel, prompts me to write a few lines to let you know a little of the emigration at this point. Bro. T. Woolley intended writing to you, but I believe he has not done so, and as he has left here for Atchison to cross with Bishop A. O. Smoot's train, I will endeavor to give you the information he intended. The first, second, and third companies of independent emigrants, with their ox teams, left this camp with, in all, about 175 wagons, 1050 head of cattle, and 800 souls; they rolled out in right good spirits, rejoicing in their emancipation from gentile bondage, and with the flattering prospect of speedily testing the sweets of liberty in the bee-hive State of Deseret. Good health has universally prevailed in our midst, and I am happy to be able to state that very few deaths have to be recorded. We feel to acknowledge the hand of our God in preserving us from sickness and death. Among the 800, above referred to, were two deaths, both Danish brethren; they died from disease contracted in the old county. Elders Grant and Kimball, whom you appointed to purchase cattle for the emigration this season, have brought up several hundred head, and as far as I know or can learn have given general satisfaction in the discharge of their laborious duties.
The first and second companies of emigrants by hand carts, under the care of Captains Edmund Elsworth [Ellsworth] and David D. McArthur, assisted by Elders J. Oakley, William Butler, Truman Leonard, and S. W. [Spicer Wells] Crandall, piloted by Elder Joseph France, who acted as agent and Commissary, arrived in Camp on the 17th of July, in fine health and spirits, (singing, as they came along, Elder J. D. S. [John Daniel Thompson] McAllister's noted hand cart song—"Some must push and some must pull," &c.) One would not think that they had come from Iowa City, a long and rough journey of from 275 to 300 miles, except by their dust—stained garments and sunburned faces. My heart is gladdened as I write this, for methinks I see their merry countenances and buoyant step, and the strains of the hand cart song seems ringing in my ears like sweet music heard at eventide or in a dream.
The first company had among its number the Birmingham Band, and though but young performers, they played really very well—far superior to anything to be found this far west. In giving you this discription of the feelings of the first companies, I give you in effect the feelings of the whole. This is the bright side of the pictures, and is of those who may really be called Latter Day Saints; who have in continual remembrance the covenants they have made; who obey counsel, and may really be called Saints of the Most High God. There are others—for I have seen both sides of the picture—who are apt to forget the God who has delivered them from their gentile chains and task masters, and are allured by fine promises and high wages; others there are whose faith is not of that nature to stand the trials they are called upon to undergo, and back out from five to fifty in a company of 300; but the mirth of the one kind does not interfere with the gloom of the other; or, vice versa, each one does what suits him best. Those weak in the faith soon find those who will make them weaker; those who have backed out before them come up with their long faces, smooth words, and melancholy tone, prating away their words of comfort (?), and if they will only go away with them there is no end of the money and comfort they are going to have, and a team, ONLY NEXT SPRING, to ride in and go to the Valley. I will say that these apostates, who give their time, and horses, and wagons, to pick up the wavering, are right zealous, and I thought if they were only as zealous in assisting the widow and the orphan, instead of those who are already cared for, they would be driving a good team; but it is all right, the sort that are led away from the line of their duty by such spurious promises and oily tongues—well never mind that—are not wanted in the Valley, and by staying here they save themselves two journeys—one to Utah and one back.
I am prolonging my letter longer than I had any idea of, and will shorten it as much as possible by just giving you dates of arrival and departure of companies; and as I have before said the companies are much alike; they do not need separate descriptions. The first hand cart company (Capt. Ellsworth's [Ellsworth's]) left the ground on Thursday, July 16th; went out three and a half miles and camped; on the 20th I went out to settle up with Capt. Elsworth [Ellsworth], and saw them start off in good earnest to the tune of "Some must push," &c., (cant move without that.)
The second company (Capt. D. [Daniel] D. McArthur's) started on July 24th, being the anniversary of the entry of the Pioneers into the Valley, and was rendered more memorable to that company from their exodus from winter quarters. The third company, under care of Capt. Edward Bunker, were nearly all Welshmen; they arrived on the 19th of July, and set out on their journey across the plains on the 30th. The fourth company, Capt. J. [James] G. Willie, President, assisted by Elders [Millen] Atwood, [Levi] Savage, Abinansen, [William] Woodward, and [John] Chislett, moved on the ground on the 11th August; part of the company moves out a mile or two to-day, and the remainder go on on Monday. The companies stay here longer than they otherwise would in consequence of their carts being unfit for their journey across the plains; some requiring new axles, and the whole of them having to have a piece of iron screwed on to prevent the wheel from wearing away the wood.
Another company—perhaps of hand carts—have yet to arrive from Iowa City, in addition to the wagon companies. I will, if I have time and opportunity, give you an account of these companies. I will now conclude by wishing you every good thing, and that you may be preserved in health and strength is the prayer of
Yours truly,
J. H. LATEY.
Source:
Latey, J. H., "Correspondence from the Camp at Florence," The Mormon, 30 Aug. 1856, 2.
Trail Excerpt:
I Started from Cincinnati to Forance [Florence] of the 14th of My in 1856 on the Steam bote [boat] Emma and arived in St Lewis [St. Louis] on the 18th[.] I S[t]arted from St. L 20th[.] Arrived at Omeho [Omaha] City on the 28th Seven miles b[e]low Florance[.] Arrived in Florance on the 30th.
June 5th there was forty Waggons Started for Greate Salt Vall[e]y
6th There was Seven Waggons started out
June 14th There was a steam boat arrived in Florance from St. L. with One hundred and Seventy Saints all in good he[a]lth
17 Theire was One hundred yoak of t Oxen for the Saints to go to GSL City
Jun 18 The third Company of Saints was organised and Bro J[ohn] Banks ele[c]ted over that Fifty[.] Bro Wadsworth was elected marchel [marshall] in Floranc [Florence]
22 We went up the River about four miles x on the ferry Boat to fetch us sum [some] fence poles to make a carel [corral]
23 The Saints had a dance on the Steam boate
27 I Started from Florance 24 Waggons [with] people that spoke the English Language & 26 Waggongs [wagons] Dainesh [Danish] & Norweganss [Norwegians,] Swdanains [Scandinavians.] Camp on 5 miles from florance [Florence] on a Creek—
28 We Com[m]enced Working made a bridg[e] over a creek
29 Went four miles[.] Camp on the Papio [Papillion]
30 We left big Papio traveled to Elk Horn
July 1th Crossed the Elk Horn & traveled thirteen miles[.] five Oxen died[.] Camp on the plat[te.] a verry hot day
3 Camp all Day[.] One woman died
4 Trav[e]led thirteen M[.] all well
5 Trav[e]led thirteen Mi Arrived at the Mormon ferry
11 Traveled ten miles and found no water[.] we dug wells[.] found water in the evning[.] plenty of it
12th Camp on preare [Prairie] Creek
13th Campd. of South of wood River
14 The first Buffalo we Saw on the plains[.] it was on the North side of the train and a man the name of Clark got on [h]is hores [horse] and got a head of the Buffalo and A turned him and back and he came right through the train and about thirty of the Brethern Shot at him and did kill kill him
Sep 22 I Arrived in Greate Salt Lake City 1856 in good he[a]lth
Source:
South, Charles, Diary 1856-1865, 64-67.
Trail Excerpt:
So in the spring of 1856, we received an offer of the use of a wagon for hauling it to the Valley, and by selling our home and the lease we could fit ourselves out with provisions and clothing and one yoke of steers. With my brother putting in one yoke, we were prepared for the journey.
A train was fitting out in St. Louis, Missouri. The means to buy cattle was sent in and cattle and wagons were to be shipped to Florence, Nebraska. We took passage with the St. Louis Saints on a steamboat to go up the Missouri River to Florence. There were six in the family, besides our mother [Elizabeth Gould Weech], as my oldest sister, Sarah, had married a William Betts in August, 1853, and they were intending to follow us the next year. With my brother and his wife, there were nine of us to go in one wagon.
We left St. Louis in June and had a hazardous journey up the river as there were so many sand bars and snags. The river changed its channel often in flood time, cutting through strips of timber, breaking the trees off from their roots and leaving snags. If the boat ran into them it was likely to pierce the side or bottom of the boat and sink it, so the captain had to be very cautious and it made the journey slow. But we enjoyed the trip very much as we had a brass band in the company and they would go up on the hurricane deck of the boat and play very often in the evenings until bedtime. My brother, Lorenzo and I, slept in the engine room, and the noise was annoying until we got used to it. We had no accidents and arrived safely at Florence, Nebraska, about the middle of June and went into camp a short distance from the town, which was a small place at that time, and awaited the arrival of the wagons and the cattle which were expected in a few days but which did not occur for some time.
We lived in a tent and spent our time in fishing and picking wild blackberries. I caught a nice catfish, and we had all the blackberries we could use.
Before the wagons and cattle came, my married brother, Henry, and his wife got dissatisfied and concluded that they would not go any farther and left the camp. We all felt very bad, but mother was determined to go on without them. Arrangements were made with another family to join teams with us and have part of the wagon. The cattle came at last, and we were very glad for we wanted to begin the journey.
The cattle were unbroken and we had a time breaking them in, teaching them to go to the right, by saying, "gee," and to come to the left, when we said, "haw," and to stop, when we said, "whoa." We drove them loose from the wagon with only the yoke on for a few days. Then on the fourth of July, our captain, John Banks, decided to make a start and go to a spring about five miles out. So the train started in the afternoon.
It was amusing to see the way the teams were herded along. Very few of the company had ever driven cattle before, and the women would walk on the one side and the men on the other side. But some of the steers ran around and broke several wagon tongues and then the people had to cut a green tree and put in a new tongue, and they did not get into camp until way in the night. Our family, however, did not have any trouble.
In a few days we arrived at the river, called the Loupe Fork Platte, and here we had to ferry our wagons across and make the cattle swim, as it was too deep to ford. This took us all of one day.
When our train camped, we would make a corral of the wagons so that the cattle could be driven into it to be yoked up. This was done by making a half circle with one-half of the wagons on one side of the road and the other half of them making a half circle on the other side of the road with the tongues on the outside and the front wheel of one wagon coming to the hind wheel of the wagon in front of it. Sometimes they could not get up quite close enough and a chain used for hitching the one yoke of the oxen would be hooked to the front wheel and then stretched and hooked to the hind wheel of the wagon that was in front of it. This would prevent the steers from going out of the corral between the wagons.
One team would take the lead each day, then the right side of the camp would follow one day and left side the next day. The tents were pitched on the outside of the corrals, opposite each family's wagon with the doors toward the wagons. The campfires were made on the outside of the rows of tents. When a stop was made at noon, they did not pitch the tents, but cooked the meals and ate them by the side of the wagons. When the cattle were turned out to feed, a number of men would take their guns and go out with the cattle to guard them to prevent them from becoming frightened or stampeding and running away, for the scent of the wild animals and their coming around them would frighten the cattle. These guards went out night and day. Those going at night would bring the cattle in with them in the morning and those doing the guarding at noon would do the same. They would eat their meals while others were hitching up the teams. Then another guard was placed around the camp every night. This duty of guarding was taken in turns by the men. After leaving the Loupe Fork, the next stream we came to was Little Wood River. Up to this time we had traveled through a timbered country, but this stream was void of wood. Only occasionally some driftwood could be found. Here we had our first experience of cooking our meals with buffalo chips, the dried dung of these animals and of the cattle that had passed there in former years.
The next stream we came to, was the Platte River. This stream had timber growing along its banks in most places. The river was a shallow stream at this time of the year. We traveled on the north side of it, and here we began to see the wild buffalo of the plains and the Indian camps, and the guards had to be alert to keep the cattle from stampeding at nights and noon whenever they were turned out to feed. As we traveled farther, they, the buffaloes, increased in numbers and would be coming in to the river to drink.
One day a large bull was seen coming from the river straight for the train, and the men were ordered to get their guns and shoot at him. They did, but could not turn him. On he came and ran through the train three wagons from the rear end. The cattle of these three wagons stampeded and ran after the buffalo. A boy about twelve or fifteen years of age, who was riding in one of the three wagons, was thrown out and was run over by the wagons and was killed. This was the first serious accident that had happened. The train went into camp and the boy was buried on the plains.
As we traveled on, the captain decided to stop a day and let the men have a hunt and get some buffalo meat for the camp, and also to let the cattle rest. Quite a number went out. There were two, who saw some buffalo feeding at a distance and they started to crawl on their hands and knees toward them, one behind the other with their guns in their hands. In drawing the guns through the grass, something caught the hammer of the gun of the man who was behind and the gun was discharged. It shot the head man through the thick part of the thigh. The weather being very warm, they could not save him and he died and was buried there. Out of all the men who went, they got only one buffalo.
Then we arrived at Ft. Laramie, a government post. There were several hundred soldiers kept there to protect the traveler from the Indians. At this time, several thousand of the Sioux tribe had come in to receive their annuity from the government. They were a fine looking lot, camped along the river in their tepees made of buffalo skins. They were clean and well dressed in their buckskin clothes, and it was a grand sight to see so many of them.
At Ft. Laramie, the road forked, one road crossing the river to the fort and the other keeping on the north side. A short time before, some men who were going back from Utah along the road on the south side had been killed by Indians. Because of this our captain decided to take the north road although the south one was better and most of the travel went that way. The north road was very rocky and mountainous. We had very steep hills to climb and go down. As we had no brakes on our wagons, we had to lock the wheels with chains to go down hills and had to put two teams on one wagon to go up hills, one half of the train going up at one time. We got along without accident, but we saw many wrecks of wagons left by those who had traveled the road before.
We continued up the Platte and at last left it to the south and struck across the Sweetwater River. It was now September and the nights were getting cold. We came in sight of the box canyon the river runs through, walls of solid rock and called the "Devil's Gate." The clouds were hovering over us when we camped that night not far from the gate, and in the night it snowed and froze thick ice. Some of the thinnest cattle had become chilled and could not get up without help and some died. We stayed there that day. The sun came out and most of the snow melted off. Here we had plenty of sage brush to burn and it made warm fires which kept us from suffering from the cold.
We left Sweetwater, going north and crossing to a stream, called Sandy. Then to Green River and on to Blacts [Blacks] and Hams Forts [Fork] to Fort Bridger. While we were on the Sweetwater, some men with teams from Salt Lake met us. They were carrying provisions for the hand cart companies who were coming not far behind us. One train passed us while we were camped on that river. They seemed happy and traveled much faster than we did. Our flour was about all gone and Joseph traded a gun to the men from Salt Lake for some flour. It made very dark bread, but it tasted good to us as we had been on rations.
Fort Bridger was one hundred and twenty miles from Salt Lake Valley. There we were near the towering mountains that border the valley on the east, and from then on our road lay through these mountains. The next stream we came to, was Bear River, then Yellow Creek and over a divide into the head of Echo Canyon and down this canyon of perpendicular walls to the Weber river, a nice clear mountain stream. We went down the stream and crossed it into a wide mouth canyon, up the canyon and over a divide called the Big Mountain, then down a short distance in one fork of Parley's Canyon, then over another divide called Little Mountain, and then we got a glimpse of the Great Salt Lake Valley, and our hearts were filled with joy and gratitude to God, for his protecting care that had been over us on our long journey. We were thankful that no accident had happened to any of us and that the cattle had stood the long journey and that we were now near our journey's end.
That night we camped in Immigration Canyon, and the next day we came out of the canyon. There before us lay the beautiful Great Salt Lake Valley, and nestling close under a ridge of the mountains which ran down into the valley sheltering it from the northern blast, lay the city of the Saints, a city which seemed to me to resemble Jerusalem which was a holy city where the people of God dwelt. That night, we camped in the city.
Our journey ended on the third day of October, 1856.
Source:
Weech, Hyrum, [Autobiography], in Our Pioneer Parents [1970], 1-5.
This information can also be found at:
http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompany/0,15797,4017-1-60,00.html 
