Norton Jacob was convinced that his oxen had greater strength than the horses and wanted to try crossing with his wagon fully loaded. It stopped twenty yards short of the bar. Luke Johnson and others unloaded the Revenue Cutter and they began to ferry Norton’s goods across to the other side.
By the time they got their fifth or sixth wagon across, Brigham called for a halt. They were going to have to build a raft. At this rate they would lose two or three days making a linear distance of three hundred yards.
In the end, they did not build the rafts. The following morning, as they started work on cutting down the trees, the scouts went out to see if they might find a better place for the crossing. About a mile upstream they found a place where they felt they could take the wagons across if they lightened the loads some and double and triple teamed the wagons.
They worked in teams. One team would unload about half of each wagon and carry it down to the water where the Revenue Cutter waited. A second team rowed it across the river and unloaded it, then returned for the next load. A third team worked on taking the extra teams and hitching them to each wagon. It was hard labor for all of them, but it was working. With the extra teams, the wagons were making it across without the help of men in the water.
To their pleased astonishment, with the passing of each wagon, the sand in the river bottom began to pack together. By noon they were passing easily with the extra teams. By two they were no longer unloading the wagons. They still had to double team but they were taking them across fully loaded. By four o’clock they were done.
Nathan and Matthew’s was one of the last wagons to go, and so they had not been forced to unload their supplies. As they reached the other side and began unhitching the extra team of mules Brigham had lent them, Wilford Woodruff sidled up to them. “Well,” he said with a droll smile, “all Israel went over today. Not over the mighty Jordan, but across the Loup Fork of the Platte River. And we did so without harm to man or beast.”
“If you ask me,” Nathan said without expression, “I think I’d prefer the Jordan.”
Chapter Notes
Four principal sources have been used by the author for the information about the original Pioneer Company as they crossed the continent from Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley. The four sources are described below:
1. Day by Day with the Utah Pioneers—1847was a series of articles published in the Salt Lake Tribunein 1897, the fiftieth anniversary of the journey of the Pioneer Company. It is a day-by-day account of the trek west written by Andrew Jenson, who was at that time the Church historian. It contains a detailed account of each day, along with biographies and pictures of those who came with the Pioneer Company.
2. Hal Knight and Stanley B. Kimball produced a book called 111 Days to Zion.This too is a day-by-day account of the trek west. While this draws on the Jenson source for some of its information, it has additional material and some excellent maps showing the campsites for each day. A reprint edition of this book was published in 1997 by Big Moon Traders, Salt Lake City.
3. William Clayton’s journal is an invaluable source of information on the crossing, though it is written from the point of view of his own experience. George D. Smith has provided an edited version of Clayton’s journals in An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton(Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1995). The entries are by date and therefore easy to find. However, Smith has cut a great deal of material in order to have a one-volume edition. The pioneer-trek portion of William Clayton’s journal can be found in full on the Infobase Library available from Bookcraft on CD-ROM or at
4. Wilford Woodruff was a meticulous and careful journal keeper. His journals have been published in several volumes by Signature Books, with volume 3 covering 1847 and the trek west. Portions of Wilford Woodruff’s journal appear in Matthias F. Cowley, Wilford Woodruff: History of His Life and Labors(Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1964), and this book is also found on the Infobase Library.
Hereafter, rather than tediously document all of the details used in the novel in each chapter, reference citations will be given only for significant items from other sources. Each of the four sources above uses a day-by-day format, so that the interested reader can easily check the details for any particular date.
The trip across the plains is generally said to have taken 111 days (from 5 April, when Heber C. Kimball first began to move, until 24 July, when Brigham Young’s carriage finally entered the Valley).
To the casual reader, it may seem as though the start of the Pioneer Company was somewhat disorganized. However, from the beginning the plan was that the various elements of the company would make their way separately to the Elkhorn River, about twenty miles west of Winter Quarters, and assemble there. Heber C. Kimball was the first, leaving on the fifth of April. As depicted here in the novel, four other members of the Twelve, including Brigham Young, left on the seventh, the day after general conference.
They didn’t move either very far or very fast at first. On the eighth of April, word reached Brigham Young that Parley P. Pratt had just arrived at Winter Quarters from his mission in England. Anxious to talk with his fellow Apostle, Brigham returned to Winter Quarters, then rejoined his company on the eleventh. They had barely finished ferrying their wagons across the Elkhorn River when another letter came to the camp. Now it was John Taylor who had returned from Great Britain. In addition to bringing a substantial sum of badly needed cash from the British Saints, Elder Taylor also carried about five hundred dollars’ worth of scientific and surveying instruments—two barometers, two sextants, two artificial horizons, a circle of reflection, and a telescope. Those would prove to be of critical value in laying out a trail for others to follow and for surveying new cities and towns in the Great Basin. So while some of the camp moved slowly westward and others stayed in place, Brigham returned again to Winter Quarters. With him went seven of the Apostles. After getting the funds and the instruments and holding a warm reunion with their brethren, the Twelve left Elders Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor in charge of organizing the companies that were to follow as soon as possible. On April fifteenth, the Apostles rejoined their company on the Platte River, about forty-six miles west of Winter Quarters, and prepared to formally depart the next day. (See Leonard J. Arrington, Brigham Young: American Moses[New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985], pp. 130–32.)
Originally there was to be 144 in the original Pioneer Company, a number symbolizing that this was the camp of Israel—there being twelve men chosen to represent each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Three dropped out because of sickness, and two—Thomas Bullock and William Clayton—were added at the last minute, leaving the final total at 148 people with the three women and two children.
The Luke Johnson mentioned here was one of the original Twelve Apostles chosen in 1835, but had left the Church during the Kirtland apostasy. He came to Nauvoo seeking fellowship and was rebaptized in 1846. Thereafter he remained faithful for the rest of his life. He was not restored to the apostleship.
Lorenzo Dow Young’s milk cow went the full distance to the Salt Lake Valley, providing the Pioneer Company with greatly appreciated milk and cheese.
Chapter 38
Alice Samuelson Steed rose to her full height, which was barely more than five foot two inches, and waved her hands. “All right, you two, that’s enough.”
Both Will and Peter looked up in amazement. They had been so engrossed in their argument, they had totally forgotten that they were not alone. To see Alice standing before them with her eyes locking theirs in challenge came as a bit of a shock.
“What?” Will said, not sure what it was that she had said.
“I said that’s enough.” She moved between them. “Sam Brannan is going to come back here and want an answer and you two will still be fighting over who gets to go with him.”
They looked at each other sheepishly, knowing she was right.
“All right,” she said, coming to a decision. “I’ll be
the judge here. Peter, you go first. You give all the reasons why you think it should be you who goes east with him. Will won’t say a word until you’re done.” She glared at her husband. “Will you?”
He shook his head meekly.
“Then when you’re done, Peter, William here can have his turn. And you will listen until he is finished. Understood?”
“Yes, Alice,” Peter said with equal humility.
She moved back to her chair, trying not to smile. “Okay, Peter, you may begin.”
“All right,” he said, leaning forward. “First, we know for sure that there is no way that Sam Brannan is going to agree to let Alice and Jared go with you. Which means you have to leave a wife and child behind. I don’t. That’s the most important reason. Second, my wife and the child I have never seen are waiting for me somewhere at a place called Fort Pueblo on the east side of the Rockies. I promised that I would come for them as soon as possible.”
He was trying hard not to sound triumphant. He knew he had the strongest case, and he was pretty sure Alice would agree with him. “Third, if we were going by ship, I would have to defer to you, Will. But we’re not. We’re going overland. And which of the two of us has just come all the way across the continent by wagon? Tell me that, please.”
Will started to mutter something, but Alice held up her hand. “Not yet.” She turned to Peter. “Is that all?”
He looked sober. “We could say something about having the better-looking of the two of us go, but that would just be rubbing salt into the wound.”
“Ha!” Will cried.
“I’m afraid I would rule against you on that one,” Alice laughed merrily. “You’re very nice-looking, Peter, but my Will—oh, goodness, he is so handsome.”
“Nowcan I speak?” Will cried in exasperation.
“Yes, dear,” Alice answered sweetly.
He turned to Peter. “Granted, you’ve made some strong points, but let me note the following. I have driven many a wagon with my father in the freight business. Maybe I haven’t crossed the plains, but I’m not inexperienced.”
“Can you drive three yoke of oxen at the same time?” Peter shot back.
“Peter,” Alice warned.
“Sorry,” he murmured.
“Next,” Will went on, as though he hadn’t been interrupted, “yes, I will have to leave Alice and the baby here, but if Brother Brannan’s right, then the Saints may end up here. Then she won’t have to go anywhere. As far as my leaving her alone, you’ll be here to make sure she’s cared for.” He took a quick breath. “And as for meeting your Kathryn and your new baby, I understand how you feel. But remember, my family is coming across the plains too. I haven’t seen my father and mother in over a year now. Savannah and the other children—they are my brothers and sisters. I am as anxious to see them as you are to see Kathryn.”
Again Peter stirred, but said nothing when he saw Alice’s look.
“Finally,” Will went on, “I know Samuel Brannan well. You have met him only once. We have lived with him and dealt with him for over a year now. I know how he thinks and acts, and that’s important. He can be very frustrating at times.”
He stopped, and Peter leaned forward. Alice looked at the two of them. “Are you finished, Will?” she asked.
He nodded, and Peter jumped right in. “I know Brannan now too, so that’s no great advantage for you.”
Away they went again, and Alice jumped to her feet a second time. They sputtered out like candles in a rainstorm. When they were silent, she spoke quietly but forcefully. “I would like to rule on what I’ve heard,” she said.
They both nodded, watching her expectantly.
“You both make strong arguments, but . . .” She turned to her husband and her eyes softened. “But I’m afraid that I’m going to rule in favor of Peter.”
“Alice,” Will cried. “I—”
She cut him off quickly. “I know that you think it’s because I don’t want you to leave me, Will. And that’s true, of course. But that’s not enough. There’s one reason stronger than all the rest. That’s why Peter has to go.”
“What?” Will asked, already seeing that he was going to lose this one.
“Kathryn and the baby,” she answered quietly. “That outweighs everything else. If it were me out there, Will, I would want it to be you that came for me.”
Sam Brannan had somehow secured the services of Charles C. Smith, an experienced mountain man and trail guide, and that was a great comfort to Peter. As they checked their saddle girths and the lashings on their pack mules one last time, he remembered what John Sutter had said the night before. “This is pure, unvarnished folly,” he had exclaimed in his heavy Swiss accent.
“Now, John,” Brannan replied, trying to smooth things out. “Charles here knows what he’s doing.”
Sutter just harrumphed at that. “First of all, it’s madness for three men to travel alone. Yes, yes, I know it’s the end of April, but even the Indians are saying they’ve never seen the snow deeper in the Sierra. It’ll take you two months just to get over Truckee Pass.”
“We’re counting on the warmer weather and the rain to help pack the snow more solid,” Smith had drawled lazily. “Some of them up in Bear Valley are reporting that a horse can pretty well stay on top of the snow now, especially at night.”
Sutter ignored that. “You’ll never make it, Brannan. Give it another month.”
Peter didn’t say anything through all of that. He had been in that snow twice now, and he had deep misgivings. But he also trusted Charlie Smith.
None of that changed Sutter’s mind, but it was not like him to pout about it. This morning as they prepared to leave, Sutter had come out to wish them farewell and Godspeed. He also brought a sack with almost twenty-five pounds of dried beef to send with them.
Brannan looked around, then at his two companions. “Are you ready?”
“I was ready three days ago,” Smith drawled amiably.
“Ready,” Peter answered.
Will stepped forward and gripped Peter’s hand. “You take care now, you hear?” he said softly.
“When I see your parents, I’ll tell them you wanted to come.”
“Thanks. It’s okay, Peter. Alice is right. It’s you who should be going.”
Peter went to Alice and took the baby. He kissed him quickly, even as Jared struggled to be free of the attention. “Good-bye, my little friend,” Peter said. Then he gave Alice a big hug. She threw her arms around him and hugged him back tightly.
“That’s for all the family,” she said, near tears. “And especially for Kathryn.”
“I’ll give it to her,” he promised. Then he stepped back and mounted his horse. Smith was already up. Brannan shook hands with Will and Alice, then with Sutter one last time. Then he too mounted up, and with a jaunty wave he nudged his horse and it started for the gate.
Peter thought he had been exhausted before. The night he and the Reeds had come across the Salt Desert they had gone over thirty miles on no more than three or four hours of sleep. But that had been a child’s task compared to what they were undergoing now. They had ridden the twenty-five miles to Johnson’s Ranch, rested for less than an hour, and pushed on, making an estimated forty miles before they stopped. When they camped at Mule Springs at the head of Bear Valley that first night, it was clear and cold. By morning the temperature dropped and a light rain started. Charlie Smith looked up towards the mountains, which were hidden in the gray clouds. “This will be snow on top,” he said darkly.
That did it. Aside from the risk of being trapped themselves, Brannan did not want to be delayed further. Peter had not yet figured out exactly what urgency was driving the leader of the Brooklyn,but whatever it was, it was driving him hard. They set out immediately. Within an hour they were in snow five or six feet deep, but Charlie was right. The weeks of warmer weather mixed with rain had packed the snow in a denser mass than the deep powder Peter and James Reed had tried to bull through. The crust was not ha
rd enough to carry the weight of a horse and rider, but a horse alone could stand in most places without breaking through. So they tied their horses in a string and moved ahead on foot.
It was the twenty-seventh of April. In the valleys below them, spring had come two months before. But here winter still had the mountain locked in its grip. They made the pass at about five o’clock that night. As they stood amid the rocky crags, looking down on the lake below them—still partially covered with ice—Peter felt sick to his stomach. From the descriptions given by the survivors and the rescue party, he knew exactly where the camp had been. He was looking at the site. There below him was the place of death and suffering, and it made him sick to think again of those he had known who had died there.
Brannan was watching him closely. After a moment he touched Peter’s arm. “Come on,” he said. “We won’t stay long.”
Charlie Smith looked at the sky. Snowflakes were floating gently down upon them. “It’s all down from here,” he said with satisfaction. “I think we beat the main storm.”
When they reached the meadows near the east end of the lake, the snow was only three or four feet deep, and there were bare patches of ground around the trees and where the sun shone in its strength. Brannan stopped the horses for a rest. “I’m going to go take a look,” he said. “Do you want to come, Peter?”
Peter immediately shook his head. “I’ll stay here with the horses.”
Brannan nodded and handed him the rope; then he and Charlie set off at a brisk walk and disappeared into the trees. They were gone only about fifteen minutes. When they reappeared, Peter watched them closely for any reaction. Both were shaken. Brannan looked a little gray, but that might have just been the fading light.
“Unbelievable!” Brannan muttered, then said nothing more. Charlie Smith kept looking back in the direction from which they had come and shaking his head. They took their horses to the creek and let them drink. As they waited for the animals to get their fill, Charlie suddenly gave a short, triumphant laugh. “Don’t you wish old John Sutter were here?”
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