USA > Utah > History of Utah > Part 27
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On April 16th, at about 2 p. m., the pioneers broke camp and traveled three miles. On the 17th they proceeded seven miles farther, camping that night near a cotton-wood grove. In order to save their corn they felled hundreds of these trees, and permitted their teams to browse on the foliage.
During the next few days the camp was thoroughly organized
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under the direction of President Young. In addition to the captains of tens, already named, there were captains of hundreds and fifties appointed. The captains of hundreds were Stephen Markham and Albert P. Rockwood; of fifties, Addison Everett, Tarlton Lewis and James Case. There was also a military organization, the officers of which were as follows: Brigham Young, Lieutenant-General; Jesse C. Little, Adjutant; Stephen Markham, Colonel; John Pack and Shadrach Rounty, Majors; Thomas Tanner, captain of artillery. The artillery consisted of one cannon, carried at first in a wagon, but subsequently mounted on a separate pair of wheels. It was taken along to overawe hostile Indians, or perform more serious execution if found necessary. Captain Tanner had eight men to assist him in its management.
Thomas Tanner and Burr Frost were the blacksmiths of the camp. On them devolved the duty of repairing wagons, resetting wheel tires, etc .; a portable forge and tools having been provided for that purpose. Farmers with plows, mechanics with tools, builders and colonizers in general were all included in the company. Like Cæsar's legions in Gaul and Britain the pioneers went prepared, not only to fight if necessary, but to make roads, build bridges, construct boats and do all things necessary in the settlement of a new country.
Thomas Bullock was clerk of the camp, and Willard Richards and William Clayton its historians. Besides, many others kept daily journals of events, thus preserving a very complete record for the use of the historian in after years. Among the best of these may be mentioned those of Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt and Horace K. Whitney. From these records we learn that the pioneers had, at starting, seventy-two wagons, ninety-three horses, fifty-two mules, sixty-six oxen and nineteen cows. The census of the camp also comprised seventeen dogs and some chickens. In addition to the animals used in the teams, there were only eight or ten horses. Mounted men consequently were few. Most of the pioneers walked nearly all the way from the Missouri River to the Great Salt Lake, a distance of over a thousand miles. The same is true of the vast majo- rity of Utah's early settlers who subsequently crossed the plains.
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General Young instructed the camp as follows: The men were to travel in a compact body, each with his loaded gun in hand, or, if a teamster, in his wagon, ready for instant use. If the gun were a cap-lock, he was to take off the cap and put on a piece of leather to exclude moisture and dirt; if a flint-lock he must take out the filling and fill the pan with tow or cotton. Each man was to keep beside his wagon, and not leave it except by permission. The vehicles were to travel two abreast wherever practicable, and in case of hostile demonstrations by savages, four or five abreast. At five o'clock in the morning the bugle would sound the call to rise, assem- ble for prayers, feed teams, and get breakfast, and at seven give the signal for starting. At 8:30 p. m., at the sound of the bugle, each was to retire for prayers in his own wagon, and at 9 o'clock all but the sentries to bed.
The sentries were selected from a body of fifty men, with Stephen Markham as their captain; twelve guards were on duty at a time, and the night was divided into two watches. These guards were not to leave the vicinity of the wagons. Whenever it became necessary to stake out the horses and cattle to graze at a distance from the camp, an extra guard was provided. The stock, however, were generally kept inside the enclosure formed by corralling the wagons, according to the custom of the plains. In forming the corral, the tongues of the wagons were placed outside, with a fore-wheel of each vehicle locked in a hind wheel of the one ahead. At one or both ends of the cir- cular or oblong enclosure thus formed, an opening would be left. These gateways were carefully guarded. Sometimes, near a lake or river, the camp would form a semi-circle, resting on the bank.
· The pioneers sacredly observed the Sabbath; no unnecessary toil or travel being done on that day. Divine services were held reg- ularly. As formerly, excessive levity was frowned upon by the leaders.
Thus organized, equipped and instructed, the pioneers proceeded on their way, slowly traveling up the north bank of the Platte. The regular route at that time was along the south bank, where grass was
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more plentiful and the Indians less troublesome. Few if any trav- elers chose the north side, which was regarded as more difficult and dangerous. The pioneers preferred it for one reason : that their people who followed them would thus escape contact with the migrating Mis- sourians, who sought every occasion to quarrel with the Mormons whenever they met them. For several hundred miles, therefore, they virtually broke a new road over the plains; a road subsequently trav- eled by tens of thousands of their people with ox-teams and hand- carts. It was known for many years as "the old Mormon trail." Much of it is now covered by the track of the Union Pacific Railway.
Pursuing their journey from the Elk Horn, the pioneers, in the latter part of April, found themselves in the heart of the Pawnee Indian country. These savages were still quite numerous, though their ranks had lately been decimated by the warlike Sioux, their implacable enemies. Thus far they had been very troublesome to the pioneers, stampeding and stealing their stock, and burning the prairie grass before and around them, destroying the feed upon which they mainly depended for their teams. But the Indians had offered no violence.
It was about one o'clock in the afternoon of April 21st that the pioneers halted on the bank of a long, narrow lake close by the river. They had scarcely formed their wagons in a semi-circle and placed their guards, when they were surrounded by swarms of savages, male and female, coming from all directions. Many had forded the river some distance below and followed the pioneers to their camp-ground. Among them was Shefmolun, chief of the Pawnee nation. Their manner was not hostile, and their motive, as soon appeared, purely mercenary. Presenting certificates, signed by various travelers, to the effect that the Pawnees were friendly and that it was the custom to make them small presents for the privilege of passing through their country, they intimated by a young Indian interpreter that similar gifts would be acceptable from the pioneers. The latter read- ily responded, imparting of their limited stores a few articles, such as powder, lead, salt, tobacco and flour, in quantities proportionate to the
Ellen . Kimball.
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amounts possessed. But the red men were not satisfied. Like Oliver Twist, they wanted "more." More the pioneers could not afford to give, and so informed them. The Pawnees professed the fear that their "white brothers" would scare away the buffalo in passing along, and hinted that from such a large company they expected bigger presents. Further parleying ensued, and finally the savages left, still unsatisfied, though not at all unfriendly. That night, which was cold and stormy, the. cannon was limbered and placed outside the camp, while an extra guard stood armed and ready to repel any assault that might be made by the Indians. But the night wore away in peace, and the pioneers were not molested. Some of the guards, overpowered by the previous day's toil, fell asleep at their posts, and their guns and hats were removed by their waggish com- rades. Their mortification on awaking served in lieu of a reprimand, and the sleeping act was not repeated.
Next came the difficult passage of the Loup Fork, another of the Platte's numerous tributaries, rolling like that majestic river over treacherous beds of quicksand. Some of the teams narrowly escaped drowning, and heavily laden vehicles came near capsizing. The water was only two feet deep, but the quicksands would nearly pull a wagon to pieces, making a sound like the rattling of wheels over a stony pavement. Fording with the loaded vehicles was finally dis- continued, and rafts were constructed to carry the loads, leaving the empty wagons to be drawn across by teams. A boat of leather called the Revenue Cutter, which had been brought as a wagon-box from Winter Quarters, was also used in crossing this and other streams. This boat had formerly belonged to Ira Eldredge. The passage of the Loup Fork was finally effected without accident.
During the next few days several valuable horses were lost, two being killed by the accidental discharge of firearms and the others stolen by Indians. This loss was considered serious, as there were scarcely enough horses in camp. to make traveling "at all comfort- able." Several men were shot at by Indians while out hunting for the stolen animals.
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Prior to crossing the Loup Fork, some of the pioneers had picked up a few plowshares and other pieces of iron lying around the site of a government station which had recently been burned to the ground, during an incursion of the hostile Sioux. President Young would not permit this appropriation of property except upon the score of the government's indebtedness to James Case, one of the company, who had been employed as an Indian farmer. Those who took the iron were required to settle for it with Father Case, who was in turn directed to report to the proper authorities the amount he had thus collected on account.
The country through which they were passing, though monoto- nous in aspect, was nevertheless pleasing to the eye. Before and behind, on right and left, a vast level prairie, its waving grass, swept by gentle winds, limited on the right at a distance by a continuous range of majestic bluffs. On the left the muddy waters of the Platte, rolling ceaslessly over beds of quicksand; the river often hid from view by many handsome cottonwood groves fringing its sandy shores. The soil was everywhere of a sandy nature, promising little at that time to agriculture. Such was the general appearance of that region, where the iron-horse now thunders along the river's majestic course, and where flourish and wave the golden corn-fields of Nebraska.
Grand Island was reached about the 1st of May. Here the prairies swarmed with buffalo. A grand hunt was indulged in by the pioneers,-a dozen horsemen and as many footmen having previously been detailed for that purpose. After much exciting sport, ten of the animals were killed and brought to camp. Most of the company had never seen a buffalo before. Some of the hunters were verdant enough to attempt to kill one by shooting him full in the forehead, from which the bullets rebounded without making the least impression. The hide on the skull-piece of one of the dead bisons was found to be an inch thick, and covered with a coarse mat of hair -in itself a helmet of defense-which fully accounted for the pheno-
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menon of rebounding balls .* The proceeds of this buffao hunt,- one bull, three cows and six calves,-were carried to camp in five wagons, temporarily unloaded for the purpose. The meat was equally distributed among the tens, each company receiving about one quarter.
After this day's sport the President instructed his men not to kill game wantonly, as was the custom with many who crossed the plains,-a custom which has done much to render the buffalo race extinct. "If we slay when we have no need," said he, "we will need when we cannot slay." Game continued more or less plentiful, the hunters supplying the camp with buffalo, deer, antelope, geese, ducks, etc., as often as necessary, and as they approached the moun- tains fine trout began to be taken from the streams. A grizzly bear and her cubs also became trophies of their skill.
Early in May a French trader named Charles Beaumont, returning with furs from Fort Laramie to the frontier, visited the pioneer camp, fording the Platte for that purpose, but leaving his wagons on the southern shore. Many embraced the opportunity thus afforded of sending letters back to Winter Quarters. Hitherto they had been content to improvise post-offices by the way, using the skull of a dead buffalo, or some other conspicuous and sheltering object, in which to deposit the missives left for their friends who were to follow. Fifty or sixty letters were now written, all of which Mr. Beaumont courteously undertook to deliver. The pioneers at this point were strongly tempted to cross the river and continue their journey along the regu- lar route. There grass and game were abundant, and travelers were not so much molested, while on the north side the Indians kept up their prairie-burning' tactics, and horses and cattle were at times almost famished for feed. The temptation, however, was resisted, for reasons already given, and up the north bank they proceeded.
* A favorite method of the Indians for killing buffalo was to chase them until they were " winded," and then, riding up alongside, strike one with an arrow in the lower part of the spine. The beast, falling paralyzed, could then be hamstrung, and the chase con- tinued ad libitum.
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On May 21st they put up a guide-board, reading: "From Win- ter Quarters 409 miles; from the junction of the north and south forks (of the Platte) 9ª miles. * According to Fremont, this place is 132 miles from Laramie." Similar guide-boards they had placed, and continued to place, at various points for the benefit of future emigration. Their method of measuring distances was by means of an ingenious machine invented by William Clayton and constructed by Appleton M. Harmon, a skillful mechanic. The machinery of the "roadometer" was so arranged that the revolutions of a wagon wheel, acting by screws and cogs upon smaller wheels, the whole attached to an axle-tree of one of the wagons, indicated from day to day the miles and parts of miles traveled .*
Near Chimney Rock, on the 24th of May, the pioneers encoun- tered a band of mounted Sioux, about thirty-five in number, who forded the river and made friendly advances. These Indians were much better accoutred than the Pawnees and other tribes nearer the frontier. Many of them wore broadcloth, with fur caps, profusely decorated with beads and other ornaments, and were armed with bows, steel-pointed arrows and fire-arms. The chief sent his men to lodge some distance from the camp, but requested for himself the privilege of remaining with the pioneers over night. They granted his request, spreading a tent for his accommodation, and feeding him and his band that night and the next morning. These Sioux carried with them the American flag, and bore a recommendation
* The machine is thus described by its inventor :
" The whole machinery consists of a shaft about eighteen inches long, placed on gudg- eons, one in the axle-tree of the wagon, near which are six arms placed at equal distances around it, and in which a cog works which is fastened on the hub of the wagon wheel, turning the shaft once around at every revolution of the wagon wheel. The upper gudg- eon plays in a piece of wood nailed to the wagon box, and near this gudgeon, on the shaft, a screw is cut. The shaft lays at an angle of 45 degrees. In this screw a wheel works on an axle (fixed in the side of the wagon) of 60 cogs, and which makes one revolution for each mile traveled. In the shaft on which this wheel runs four cogs are cut on the forepart, which plays in another wheel of 40 cogs, which shows the miles and quarters of miles up to ten miles. The box incasing the whole is 18 inches long, 15 inches high and 3 inches thick."
My Claytone
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written in French, from a Mr. Papan, agent of the American Fur Company.
About June 1st the pioneers arrived opposite Fort Laramie. According to their reckoning, they were now five hundred and forty- three miles from Winter Quarters. They had traveled this distance in about seven weeks. The first half of their westward journey was now over.
Before crossing the river - North Platte - they were visited by several men from the Fort, who announced themselves as Mormons from Mississippi, a portion of a company which, with Cap- tain James Brown and the invalid detachments of the Mormon Bat- talion, had spent the winter at Pueblo. Of the Mississippians the Crow and Therlkill families and a few others-seventeen in all-had come on to Laramie to join the pioneers and accompany them over the mountains. They had been waiting at the Fort for two weeks .* They had five wagons, one cart, eleven horses, twenty-four oxen, twenty-two cows, and a few bulls and calves. Captain Brown's com- mand, they said, expected soon to be ordered to California, by way of Fort Laramie and the South Pass.
From a party of traders who arrived from the west, the pioneers received rather discouraging reports regarding the route ahead. The snows, they were told, were so deep on the Sweetwater, and deeper still in the mountains, that no grass for feed could be found.
President Young and several of the Apostles now crossed the river in their leathern skiff and walked up to the Fort to confer with the resident authorities. Fort Laramie, at this time, was a trading post of the American Fur Company. It had been established in 1834, by William Sublette and Robert Campbell, with a view to monopolizing the trade as well as resisting the attacks of those warlike tribes, the
* Their names were as follows : Robert Crow. Elizabeth Crow, Benjamin R. Crow, Harriet Crow, Elizabeth Jane Crow, John McHenry Crow, Walter H. Crow, William Parker Crow, Isa Vinda Exene Crow, Ira Minda Almarene Crow, George W. Therlkill, Matilda Jane Therlkill, Milton Howard Therlkill, James William Therlkill, Archibald Lit- tle, James Chesney, Lewis B. Myers.
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Arapahoes, Cheyennes and Sioux, roaming over the plains between the Missouri river and the Black Hills. It was situated upon Laramie River, a branch of the North Platte; Laramie being the name of a French trapper killed by the Arapahoes on that stream. Sold in 1835 to Milton Sublette, James Bridger and others, Fort Laramie had been rebuilt, and was now the chief trading post on the great overland route.
The principal man at the Fort was James Bordeaux, a French- man. He received President Young and his party very politely, and as they had decided to travel from that point on the south side of the river, owing to reports that the north side was no longer practicable, he hired to them his ferry-boat for the reasonable sum of fifteen dol- lars. He informed them that their old enemy, ex-Governor Boggs, of Missouri, had passed that way with a company some time before, and had warned him to look after his horses and cattle when the Mor- mons came along. According to Mr. Bordeaux, the ex-Governor did not succeed in prejudicing him to any great extent, for he had answered that let the Mormons be what they might, they could not be worse than Boggs and his party, who were quarreling and separating continually. "Mr. Bordeaux told us," says Wilford Woodruff, "that we were the best behaved company that had come that way." He said the Crow Indians were very troublsome in that region, having lately run off all the mules and horses belonging to the Fort.
The pioneers now crossed the Platte; the ferry averaging four wagons an hour. While thus engaged the rumor reached them that companies of emigrants, aggregating two thousand wagons, mostly from Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa, and bound for Oregon, were on the way west. Some of them expected to reach Fort Laramie next day. Many other trains were said to be forming on the frontier. Camping near the Fort, the pioneers set up their forges and repaired some of their wagons prior to resuming their journey.
Amasa M. Lyman, Thomas Woolsey, John H. Tippitts, and Roswell Stevens were now sent horse-back to Pueblo to take charge of the main body of the Mississippi Saints, and bring them over the
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mountains in the trail of the pioneers. It was supposed that Captain Brown's detachment would come also. Indeed the Battalion men had already started, and were now marching toward Fort Laramie.
Friday, June 4th, the pioneers resumed their journey. Deducting Apostle Lyman's party, and adding the Mississippians who had already arrived, the company was now increased to one hundred and sixty- one. They started about noon, taking the regular emigrant trail toward the mountains. On the 5th, while resting to let their cattle graze, a small company of eleven wagons, bound for Oregon, rolled ahead of them. Next day-the Sabbath-another company, number- ing twenty-one wagons, passed. A third company, with thirteen wagons, went ahead during the noon halt of the 7th. On the 8th a small company from the west was encountered. These wagons were from Fort Bridger, the first trading post beyond the mountains, and were laden with furs and peltries for Fort Laramie. The day following, three men with fifteen horses, mostly pack animals, over- took and passed the pioneers. They were from Santa Fe, and bound for the Bay of San Francisco, via the Great Salt Lake.
In the Black Hills region the pioneers consumed a week, recross- ing the Platte. Here the river was usually fordable, but it was now the high water season and fording was impracticable. The stream was fifteen feet deep and a hundred yards wide. To this point the President had previously sent a detachment of men with their boat, the Revenue Cutter, to ferry over the Oregon companies. When the main body of the pioneers reached the river this work was in progress. The little skiff carried the loads and the empty wagons were floated. Some of them were whirled over several times by the swift current. For each wagon and load the ferrymen received $1.50, and were glad to take their pay in flour, meal and bacon at Missouri prices. A little money was also realized. Other companies that soon arrived were carried over at the same rates. The proceeds of this labor, excepting a few extra dollars for the ferrymen, were equally divided among the members of the camp.
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These supplies were as timely as they were totally unexpected Their provisions were well-nigh exhausted, and to have their flour and meal bags replenished in this far-off region, and at the hands of their old enemies, the Missourians, was regarded by them as little less than a miracle. Apostle Woodruff compared it to the feeding of Israel with manna in the wilderness.
Besides their boat, two or three light rafts, constructed on the spot, were used by the pioneers at this ferry. It being demonstrated that "swimming" the wagons injured them, a heavier raft was built, strong enough to bear a loaded vehicle, and by means of this the rest of the wagons were taken over. This raft consisted of two large cot- tonwood canoes, placed parallel to each other, a few feet apart, firmly pinned with cross-pieces, and with nailed slabs running lengthwise. A rudder and oars were attached, with a little iron work, and the "boat" was complete. The only loss sustained during this crossing was one horse belonging to the Crow company, drowned while swim- ing the river.
It occurred to President Young that this was an eligible place to establish a ferry for the benefit of the companies that were to follow. Accordingly, nine men were detailed for that purpose. They were Thomas Grover, Captain; John S. Higbee, Luke S. Johnson, Appleton M. Harmon, Edmund Ellsworth, Francis M. Pomeroy, Wil- liam Empey, James Davenport and Benjamin F. Stewart. They were instructed to remain at the ferry for about six weeks, or until the next company from Winter Quarters came along, by which time it was thought they would have earned enough to supply the needy with provisions. They were then to join that company and come on to the mountains. Eric Glines, against the President's wish, insisted on remaining at the ferry, but a few days later reconsidered his design and following, rejoined the main body.
On the 19th of June the camp continued its journey. The order of traveling was as follows: Each company of ten took its regu- lar turn in the lead; the first ten one day, the second ten next day, and so on ; every ten taking its turn in van and rear.
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They reached Independence Rock* on the 21st of June. A mile or two beyond they forded the Sweetwater, and, contrary to report , found plenty of good grass along that river. But they had to beware - of the poisonous alkaline waters of the vicinity, which proved so fatal to the cattle and horses of succeeding companies. Five days later they arrived at South Pass, the celebrated dividing ridge sepa- rating the waters here flowing east and west toward the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Now began the western descent of the Rockies.
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