BASIC BACKGROUND INFORMATION
WHY HANDCARTS 
Handcart companies: Between 1849 and 1855, 16,000 European emigrants came to Utah. The PEF (Perpetual Emigration Fund) spent 125,000 English pounds between 1852-5. In 1855, 4,225 emigrated, of which 1,161 were assisted by the PEF at a cost of$150,000. 
Problem: Summer of 1855 was hot and dry. Irrigation supplies were depleted and that fall the grasshopper plague hit. Harvest was reduced 1/3 in some areas, 2/3 in others. Food would need to be rationed. Increased emigration added to unemployment. There was a dramatic decrease in tithing receipts and contributions to the PEF. The General Epistle of Oct. 29, 1855, announced that emigration should not be reduced. Despite heroic efforts, only 1 in 20 of those wishing to emigrate had been able to do so. 
Soultion: Handcarts - Brigham Young wrote the European Mission, Sept. 1855, suggesting that even 15 miles a day would bring them to Salt Lake City in 70 days and realistically, much sooner. They would need provisions for 90 days from the Missouri River, some bedding and a change of clothes - no chests, luggage, freight, etc. A great amount of time would be saved in not having to look after animals. 
PEF plan: One handcart for every 5 persons, 500 to 600 pounds per cart, 15 pounds extra clothing per person, 1 tent for every 20, and a few wagons for every company to carry the tents and extra food. Europe was in a devastated condition economically, and the members were extremely enthusiastic for the chance to pull or push a handcart to Zion. The winter of 1856 was especially hard in Europe, work was scarce and prices were high. Enthusiasm was so high for gathering to Zion. Some had quit their jobs and sold property before arrangements had been made for transportation. Poor sailing conditions and increased demand for the northern route, pushed prices up and availability of ships down. When faced with the choice of remaining in England, starving, going to the poor house, or risking a late joumey across the plains, over a thousand individuals chose the latter. 
The Willie Company left England for New York, May 4th, with 484 PEF and 280 Ordinary emigrants (764 total). The Martin Company left England for Boston, May 25th, with 635 PEF and 221 ordinary emigrants (856 total). Some travelers dropped out of the group and by Florence the company was down to 576. 
Reasons for delays: Schedules were missed, communication between England and Iowa City was slow and inadequate, more people came than was expected which required more handcarts and tents, and these were just some of the problems that faced these 1,620 late emigrants. The Willie Company was delayed in Iowa City 19 days, the Martin Company, 20. Behind them came 2 wagon trains, the Hunt and Hodgett companies. 
Handcarts of Willie and Martin: John Chislett's account; "They (the handcarts) were made in a hurry, some of them of very insufficiently seasoned timber, and strength was sacrificed to weight until the production was a fragile structure, with nothing to recommend it but lightness. They were generally made of two parallel hickory or oak sticks, about 5 feet long, and 2 X 1 Yz inches thick. These were connected by one cross-piece at one end to serve as a handle, and 3 or 4 similar pieces nearly a foot apart, commencing at the other end, to serve as the bed of the cart, under the center of which was fastened a wooden axle-tree, without iron skeins. A pair of light wheels, devoid of iron, except a very light iron tire, completed the "divine" handcart. Its weight was somewhere near 60 pounds. 
Willie Company: Single men divided among the families to balance the strength. Some carts were pulled exclusively by young girls. Two tents were occupied only by single women only 4 of the group had been to the Valley previously, Willie, Atwood, Savage, and Woodward. These and others talked at a meeting to discuss whether they should winter over or continue the trip. 
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Levi Savage offered the only dissenting voice, saying they could not cross the mountains with a mixed company of aged people, women and little children, so late in the season without much suffering, sickness, and death. He advised going into winter quarters without delay. Savage was voted down, the majority being against him. He then added: "Brethren and sisters, what I have said I know to be true; but seeing you are to go forward, I will go with you, will help you all I can, will work with you, will rest with you, will suffer with you, and, if necessary, I will die with you. May God in his mercy bless and preserve us." 
Martin Company: This company took the longest, had the most people - more old, young, and handicapped of any company. It started the latest in the year with the poorest quality handcarts and suffered the worst weather in decades. Many of the well-known stories of suffering and rescue involve this company. 
Emma James (Willie Company) July 1856 
Emma James remembers the council meeting which was called, she says, " .... I think that the thing which I will remember for the rest of my life and wish that we had heeded was said by a Brother Savage. With tears streaming down his cheeks he pleaded with the people, 'Brothers and sisters, wait until spring to make this journey. Some of the strong may get through in case of bad weather, but the bones of the weak and old will strew the way. 'I can remember that when he [mished there was a long time of silence I was frightened. Father looked pale and sick. I turned to mother to see what she was thinking, and all that I saw was her old determined look. She was ready to go on tomorrow. There were many others like her. We really didn't have much choice. There was no work here for us to keep ourselves through the winter, and our family had to live. 'We must always put our trust in the Lord', said Mother, and that was that. 
HAZARDS AND HARDSHIPS Accidents and Disease 
Accidents and disease were the major threats to the emigrants. Many individuals were not used to the fIrearms they carried. Guns were often carried loaded. Unlike most guns today, the earlier fIrearms did not have safeties. As a result, emigrants sometimes shot themselves or others when they accidentally hit the trigger or pulled their rifle out muzzle fIrst. 
Cholera was the most dreaded disease. The three worst years for death by cholera were 1849, 1850, and 1852. Victims often died within hours after it developed. It was especially common during the fIrst half of the journey along the Platte River. Diseases spread rapidly because the emigrants did not know much about sanitation. Most of the Mormons traveled on the north side of the Platte River. Fortunately, it seems that cholera was not as prevalent on that side of the river, but it still killed many. 
Finding clean drinking water was difficult. The smaller springs and creeks could quickly become muddy and polluted with animal and human waste. In the drier sections along the trail the springs and ponds were often full of alkali. Drinking from them only increased one's chances of getting sick and spreading disease. 
Rivers and Streams 
One hundred fIfty years ago western rivers were much wider than they are today and crossing posed a major problem. Some were normally one half to one mile wide. Frequently, rivers were swollen due to spring rains or heavy prairie thunderstorms that made it almost impossible to cross. Some emigrants recorded in their diaries that they waited three, four, or more days before a river receded and they could safely ford it. Quicksand sometimes caused a wagon or handcart to get stuck or turn over. Emigrants often would have to use up to ten animal teams to pull a wagon across. Then they would have to return to get the next wagon. They repeated this process until they got all the wagons across. 
If the rivers were too deep to ford, they would have to be ferried. Sometimes wagons were taken apart and the wagon box was used as a boat to ferry their belongings. The Mormons also established larger ferries on which wagons could be carried across. Fast currents could tip wagons over and carry the contents quickly down stream. Many wagon companies reported the drowning of animals and/or people during a bad crossing. 
Even crossing small streams could be hazardous. Their banks were often very steep, and a wagon could tip over. Wagons were lowered down carefully or the steep stream banks were cut away to make ramps for the wagons to use. 
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lndians 
Even though there were isolated incidents of hostilities, most of the encounters during the early years were friendly and involved trading for the mutual benefit. Rarely was a wagon or wagon company attacked or an emigrant killed. Emigrants wanted fresh meat and information about conditions on the trail. The Indians wanted blankets, clothing, firearms, tobacco, and foodstuffs. Horses were desired by both parties. Emigrants wanted fresh ones to replace their weakened or lost animals. The Indians wanted to increase their herds and wealth. They also provided other useful services for the emigrants such as serving as guides and helping them cross the streams and rivers. 
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The Oregon and Mormon Trails followed the route of the Sweetwater River, winding by Independence Rock and Devil's Gate toward South Pass. In the fall of 1856, this stretch of trail proved tragic for two groups of Mormon handcart emigrants led by Edward Martin and James G. Willie. Plus, two wagon groups of emigrants led by John A. Hunt and William B. Hodgett. Although other handcart and wagon companies had successfully made the trek earlier that year and more would do so the following year, these four groups of people started their journey too late to make it over the mountains before winter. Severe blizzards came in October, catching Martin's company just days after they crossed over the Platte near Casper. The emigrants were already exhausted and malnourished, and lacked warm clothing and bedding. In nine days of miserable travel, fifty-six people died. The same winter storm that trapped the Martin Company near Red Buttes also struck the Willie Company who was just east of Rocky Ridge. With no food, the Willie Company watched as the snow began to fall and the temperatures plummeted. That night, thirteen people froze to death. Before they could move on, another eight succumbed to the elements. 
When Brigham Young learned, in early October, that the parties were still out on the trail, he sent rescue parties east from Salt Lake City to assist them. The first rescuers fmally found the Martin emigrants 65 miles east ofDevil's Gate at Red Bluffs where they had been trapped by the blizzard. 
Dan Jones recorded what he saw. " ... A condition of distress here met my eyes that I never saw before or since. The train was strung out for three or four miles. There were old men pulling and tugging their carts, sometimes loaded with a sick wife or children - women pulling along sick husbands - little children six to eight years old struggling through the mud and snow. As night came on the mud would freeze on their clothes and feet. There were two of us and hundreds needing help. What could we do? 
Elizabeth White Stewart, a member of the Hunt Company recalled an incident at the Last Crossing ofthe Platte near Casper: "Our company camped on the east side and the hand cart company passed over that night. All our able-bodied men turned out to help them carry women and children over the river. Some of our men went through the river seventy-five times. The snow fell six inches during that night; there were thirteen deaths during the night. They were so worn out. It was a terrible night for them ... We kept behind the last handcart company so that our able-bodied men could assist them. My brother Barnard, with others, would go into their camp and see how they were suffering. He said it was terrible. Our company assisted them all they could ... " 
TREK SITES 
INDEPENDENCE ROCK: 
Located 48 miles southwest of Casper, Wyoming, at the far end of what is called the Sweetwater Valley. This is one of the most noted landmarks along the emigrant trails. Popular legend says that the emigrants needed to reach this 
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point by July 4 (Independence Day), thereby giving it it's name. But emigrants arrived at this site throughout the traveling season. It's name actually_comes from a party of fur trappers who camped here on July 4, 1824. The large granite outcropping is 1,900 feet long and 700 feet wide. It is 167 feet high on the south end, 193 feet high on the north end, and covers 24 acres. Names were placed on the rock through engraving or by painting them with wagon grease, tar or a combination of buffalo grease and glue. Over time, many of these name have flaked off or been obscured by lichens. It's said that 5,000 names were once on the rock and that approximately 3,000 names remain and are a source of delight to those who climb the rock. One of the earliest signatures is that of "M.K. Hugh, 1824", other signatures date from the 1840's to the 1860's. 
*** Please don't take away the historical significance ofthis site by placing your name on the rock or destroying the ones that are still visible. 
Wilford Woodruff: 
"We examined the many names & lists of names of the trappers, traders, travellers and emegrants which are painted upon these rocks. Nearly all the names were put on with read Black & yellow paint. Some had washed out & defaced. The greatest number was put on within a Few Years. Some of them were quite plain of about 30 years standing." 
DEVILS GATE: 
A day's travel west ofIndependence Rock, the emigrants encountered another major trail landmark: Devil's Gate. Here, the Sweetwater River has carved a narrow cleft in the Sweetwater Rocks that is about 370 feet deep and 1500 feet long. The cleft is 30 feet wide at the base but nearly 300 feet at its top. 
Although wagons were forced around the cleft, emigrants frequently stopped to hike around this feature and carve their names. It is thought that nearly 20 emigrants are buried near here, although only one known grave remains. Frederick Richard Fulkerson died from a fever and is buried near Devil's Gate .. The occurrence of several murders in this region led some emigrants to believe this truly was a bedeviled site. 
The Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians attribute Devil' s Gate to the actions of an evil beast with enormous tusks that once roamed this area, preventing the Indians from hunting and camping in this region. Eventually, the Indians became disgusted and decided to kill the beast. From the passes and ravines, the warriors shot the beast with a multitude of arrows. The beast, enraged, tore a hole in the mountains with his large tusks and escaped. 
Twenty men, under the leadership of Daniel W. Jones, remained for the winter at Devil's Gate to guard freight unloaded there by the independent wagon companies, in part to make room for exhausted members of the Martin Company. They were left a few crackers and 75 skinny cows which they were supposed to eat only as a last resort. Wolf packs immediately began to decimate the cattle, destroying 25 head in the first week, so the men butchered the remaining cattle. The meat was gone long before spring, however, and the men were soon tempted to eat the carcasses of the approximately 100 wolves they had shot and stacked near their cabins. Instead, they survived six weeks on the boiled cow hides left over from the butchering. When food was the leanest, they boiled and ate their worn out moccasins and even the buffalo skin they were using as a doormat. An old packsaddle was simmering in the pot for supper when help [mally 
arrived. All twenty men survived and were able to travel back to Utah with the emigrants' belongings in early spring. 
Alice Strong Walsh (Martin Company) November 1856 
"We arrived at Devil's Gate about the 1 st of November on account of the nightly fatalities of the male members of our company for 2 or 3 weeks previously, there were many widows in our camp and the women and children had to pitch and put up the tents, shoveling the snow away with tin plates, etc. making our beds on the ground and getting up in the morning with melted snow and lie on our clothing. This hard 
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service continued with all that were able to endure it till we nearly reached the south pass and one night I dropped to the ground in a dead faint with my baby in my arms. I had some pepper pods with me in recovering from my stupor I took some ofthem to warm and to recover my strength. During these times we had only a little thin flour gruel 2 or 3 times a day and this was meager nourishment for a mother with a nursing baby. My husband died and was buried at or near Devil's Gate and the ground was frozen so hard that the men had a difficult task in digging the grave deep enough in which to inter him and nine others that morning, and it is more than probable that several were only covered over with snow. Here I was left a widow with 2 young children. The boy became so weak that he could not stand alone and I had to sit and hold both ofthem in the relief wagons from this time on. At times the most of us had to walk after being met by the teams from Salt Lake and late in the day, and towards the evening my shoes would nearly freeze to my feet and at one time in taking offmy shoes, some of the skin and flesh came off with them. Some of the bones of my feet were left bare and my hands were severely frozen. When the relief help reached us and nearly all of us had been assigned to some wagon, I was sitting in the snow with my children on my lap, and it seemed there was no chance for me to ride, but before the last teams had left the camp I was assigned to ride in the commissary wagon and did so until I arrived in Salt Lake City." 
Elizabeth Sermon(Martin Company) November 1856 
"Many cruel and painful things happening, the dying and dear ones all around us, poor souls, would sit down by the roadside and would never move again until carried into camp on handcarts by someone. It is a wonder any of us lived through it. My husband's health still failing, a young woman by the name of Caroline Marchant assisted me with the cart ... Not far from here (Devil's Gate) the Captain called us together to tell us we must lay our bodies down. Were we willing to do so for the Gospel's sake? Many poor half-starved men shouted with what remaining strength they had, 'Aye." But mothers could not say that and were quiet. We went back to our tents, food would have suited us then. My faith was in my Heavenly Father. I never lost that faith in Him. It is as sweet today to trust and my prayer is, may I always trust Him. He is a friend that has never failed." 

MARTIN'S COVE: 
With the assistance of the rescuers, the Martin Company took refuge in a sheltered pocket on the south side of the Sweetwater Mountains, now known as Martin's Cove. Nearly one-fourth of the 576 members of the Martin Company died before the company finally arrived in Salt Lake City on November 30, 1856. 

Sarah Ann Franks & George Padley (Martin Company) 
Sarah Ann Franks and her sweetheart George Padley had immigrated in 1856 to America from the same village in England. Sarah and George were engaged and desired to be married as soon as they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. They were assigned to travel to Zion with the Edward Martin Handcart Company. As they journeyed across the plains across Wyoming they encountered the terrible early winter storms that caused so much suffering and death among the 1856 pioneers. Sarah became so weak and ill with chills and fever that she was taken into one of the wagons. They eventually abandoned their handcarts at the crossing of the Sweetwater River, west ofDevil's Gate, and took refuge in an area now known as Martin's Cove. While camped in Martin's Cove, George also became very ill from hunger and exposure, developed pneumonia, and died. Sarah took her long-fringed shawl from her almost freezing body and requested that the brethren wrap her sweetheart's body in it. She couldn't bear to think of his being buried with nothing to protect him from the shoveled dirt and ravages of the weather. She also feared that his body would be ravaged by wolves, since the graves being dug were so shallow due to the cold temperatures and the weakness of those burying the dead. She requested that his body be hung in a tree in the Cove as a protection from the wolves. 
Elizabeth Horrocks Jackson Kingsford (Martin Company) October 25, 1856 
"About nine o'clock I retired. Bedding had become very scarce so I did not disrobe. I slept until, as it appeared to me, about midnight. I was extremely cold. The weather was bitter. I listened to hear if 
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my husband breathed, he lay so still. I could not hear him. I became alarmed. I put my hand on his body, when to my horror I discovered that my worst fears were confmned. My husband was dead. I called for help to the other inmates of the tent. They could render me no aid; and there was no alternative but to remain alone by the side of the corpse till morning. Oh, how the dreary hours drew their tedious length along. When daylight came, some of the male part of the company prepared the body for burial. And oh, such a burial and funeral service. They did not remove his clothing-he had but little. They wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in a pile with thirteen others who had died, and then covered him up with snow. The ground was frozen so hard that they could not dig a grave. He was left there to sleep in peace until the trump of God shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall awake and come forth in the morning of the fIrst resurrection. We shall then again unite our hearts and lives, and eternity will furnish us with life forever more. I will not attempt to describe my feelings at fmding myself thus left a widow with three children, under such excruciating circumstances. I cannot do it. But I believe the Recording Angel has inscribed in the archives above, and that my suffering for the Gospel's sake will be sanctifIed unto me for my good." 
SPLIT ROCK: 

The Sweetwater Valley contained three distinctive granite landmarks: 
Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, and Split Rock. The last of these, Split Rock, had guided travelers for decades before the emigrants arrived. The distinctive "gun sight" notch in the Rattlesnake Range was visible to the emigrants for the better part of two days. Rising some 1000 feet above the prairie, Split Rock aimed the emigrants directly at South Pass, still more that 75 miles away. This region's gentle landscape offered the emigrants a short, but much needed, respite 

in their long journey. 
John Briggs (Martin Company) 
John Briggs and his wife Ruth were converted to the LDS Church in 1840. They and their seven children were part of the fated Edward Martin handcart company. Father John died in that terrible tragedy at Devil's Gate, Wyoming on the 3 November 1856, just a few days after Captain Grant's advance rescue party came to their assistance. Two of their children also perished on the trail, Thomas, age 13, on 11 November near Split Rock, Wyoming; and Mary, age 7, on the 29 November in the Wasatch Mountains, just one day before the company's arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. 
ICE SLOUGH: 

Having just trudged through deep sand and been confronted with three crossings of the maddeningly inconsistent Sweetwater River, the emigrants now found a grassy swamp. Just below it, by digging down sometimes as little as just a few inches, the emigrants found a bed of solid, clear ice. This was known as the Ice Slough and, according to Gregory Franzwa, was "one of those absolutely delightful interludes that somehow seemed to crop up just as the incessant slogging west was putting emigrants in the lowest of spirits. " 

The Ice Slough is actually a small tributary which drains into the Sweetwater. A variety of marsh grasses and related tufted marsh plants, known as sedges, form a patchwork of surface plant life. Water flowing underneath this peat-like vegetation freezes solid in the winter and remains frozen during the spring and early summer as a result of this insulating peat. 
In the middle of the hot, dusty trek, emigrants found ice an exceptional treat and this area became a popular camping site. While here, many emigrants dug up large blocks of ice and stored it in their water barrels to provide cold water for the long difficult stretches ahead. J. Goldsborough Bruffnoted in 1849 that "The surface is dug up all around by travelers - as much from curiosity as to obtain so desirable a luxury in a march so dry and thirsty .... " Today, irrigation diversions have left the slough almost dry and very little ice now forms. 
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William Clayton: 
"During the morning march the company found what Jacob called a "great curiosity" an ice spring buried under the prairie turf. The ice was found when the pioneers dug in a bog where sulphUr water boiled out of the ground. About a foot under the water was a layer of ice "as clear as I ever saw and good tasting." 
SIXTH CROSSING: 
The emigrants following the main route crossed the Sweetwater River for the sixth time about three miles southwest of Sweetwater Station. All emigrant routes crossed at the Sixth Crossing. Just East of Rocky Ridge, at the Sixth Crossing of the Sweetwater, the ill-fated Willie Company became snowbound. Captain Willie and another company member forced their way through the snow and found the rescue party riding out the storm. After relating the desperate conditions of the company, the rescuers pushed east with supplies. The approaches to the crossing were swampy and had to be avoided when the route was wet. Ruts at this site are deep and well preserved. 
John Jacques (Martin Company) 
"In the rear part of the company two men were pulling one of the hand-carts, assisted by one or two women, for the women pulled as well as the men all the way, so long as the hand-carts lasted. When the cart arrived at the bank of the river, one of these men, who was much worn down, asked, in a plaintive tone, 'Have we got to go across there?' On being answered yes, he was so much affected that he was completely overcome. That was the last strain. His fortitude and manhood gave way. He exclaimed, 'Oh dear! I can't go through that,' and burst into tears. His wife, who was by his side, had the stouter heart of the two at that juncture, and she said soothingly, 'Don't cry, Jimmy. I'll pull the hand-cart for you.' ... While in the river the sharp cakes of floating ice below the surface of the water struck against the bare shins of the emigrant, inflicting wounds, which never healed until he arrived at Salt Lake, and the dark scars of which he bears to this day." 
John Chislett (Willie Company) 
"In the morning the snow was over a foot deep. Our cattle strayed widely during the storm, and some of them died. But what was worse to us than all this was the fact that five persons of both sexes lay in the cold embrace of death. It was also resolved in council that Captain Willie with one man should go in search of the supply train and apprise the leader of our condition ..... They were absent three days - three days which I shall never forget. The recollection of it unmans me even now - those three days! During that time I visited the sick, the widows whose husbands died in serving them, and the aged who could not help themselves, to know for myself where to dispense the few articles that had been placed in my charge for distribution. Such craving hunger I never saw before, and may God in his mercy spare me the sight again." 
ROCKY RIDGE: 
Rocky Ridge is the highest spot on the Mormon Trail. This rugged stretch of trail caused the emigrants no limits of grief. The emigrants ascended this barren rocky ridge after leaving the Sweetwater Valley en route to South Pass. Along Rocky Ridge, the trail ascends about 700 feet in two miles through a rugged boulder strewn path. 
On the eastern edge of Rocky Ridge sits a monument to the misery endured at this site by the Willie's Handcart Company. The full stretch of trail known today as Rocky Ridge runs about 12 miles, across two high ridge shelfs, crossing Strawberry Creek and passing the old ghost town of Lewiston. The rock cuts left by wagon wheels are among the most dramatic trail remnants remaining on the westward emigrant trails. 
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Jens Pedersen (Willie Company) October 23,1856 
"When they were having such hard times with low rations and cold weather, one man decided he didn't want to put up with any more so just said he wasn't going another step. Different ones tried to talk to him and urge him to go on, but had no effect upon his decision. Grandpa, Jens O. Pederson asked for permission to talk to the man. Some told him it wouldn't do any good, so they went on and grandpa tried to reason with him, but that did no good. Finally he said, 'Well, if you are not going, I'm going to give you a whipping before I go on,' and he slapped him quite hard on the face, and started running to catch up with the company. It made the man angry and he started after grandpa and both of them caught up to the company. The man went on and later thanked him for saving his life." 
Sarah James (Willie Company) October 23,1856 
"The day we [ascended Rocky Ridge] I'll never forget as long as I live. It was a bitter cold morning in October as we broke camp. As usual there were dead to be buried before we could go on. Father and Rueben were on the burial detail. Mother, who was helping to pull the heaviest cart, had stayed behind until they could fmish their sad work. After a short service we, with my cart ran ahead to catch the rest of the company, and Mother and Rueben started to follow. Father collapsed and fell in the snow. He tried two or three times to get up with Mother's help, then fmally he asked her to go on and when he felt rested, he would come on later. Mother knew in her heart that he had given out, but perhaps, she said, in a few minutes with some rest he could come on. She took the cart and hurried to follow us. She found us on the riverbank, we were too frightened and tired to cross alone. We had forded this river before many times but it never seemed so far across. It was about 40 feet, I guess, to the other bank. Mother soon had us on our way. The water was icy and soon our clothing was frozen to our bodies. Our feet were frozen numb. Cold and miserable we reached the other bank, put on dry clothing and joined the rest of the company. When we stopped for the night, we made inquiries about our people, but nothing had been heard of them. Since there were some who had been a few hours behind us we felt they would come with the next group. All night we waited for word. Toward morning some of the Captains who had gone out to gather up the stragglers came into camp bearing the dead body of my father and the badly frozen body of my brother Rueben. His injuries were so bad that he would suffer from them for the rest of his life. When morning came, Father's body, along with others who had died during the night, were buried in a deep hole. Brush was thrown in and then dirt. A fire was built over the grave to kill the scent to keep the wolves from digging up the remains. 
ROCK CREEK: 

Located on a small tributary of the Sweetwater. The Willie Handcart Company, after being stopped by the early October blizzard on the east side of Rocky Ridge, made a debilitating eighteen hour forced march over the ridge before fmally reaching this site on Rock Creek. Here, the company made another camp. The exact location ofthe camp is unclear as some journals refer to this campsite as Willow Creek, and others describe it as being actually at the Sweetwater. 

Finally, the rescuers sent out from Salt Lake arrived and provided them with limited provisions before hurrying on to assist the Martin Company trapped near Red Buttes. The assistance, while valuable, came too late to save many members of the company and several died in the vicinity of Willow Creek and Rock Creek. A plaque here marks the spot where those who died were buried in a common grave, probably in the deep snow. 
Elizabeth Cunningham (Willie Company) 
Elizabeth was 12 years old at the time. She began the climb to Rocky Ridge in a blizzard with 18 inches of snow on the ground. She later related that she collapsed before reaching camp and her family thought she had died. Because of the lateness of the hour my family was so exhausted that they wrapped me up in a blanket and left me by the side ofthe road. My mother decided to come back for my body. As I was brought in to camp some hot water happened to spill on one of my feet. Because the water was so hot against my cold foot, a quiver was seen in that limb. It was assumed that I was still alive so they worked on me until I was revived. 
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Joseph Elder (Willie Company) October 1856 
Through the day they struggled up over the ridge and on to the Rock Creek area, a distance of 16 miles. The wind was blowing hard from the northwest and the snow was knee-deep. Joseph Elder wrote, 
" ... that was an awful day. Many can never forget the seens [sic] they witnessed that day men women and children weakened down by cold and hunger weeping crying and sum even dying by the roadside." 
SOUTH PASS: 
This almost imperceptible crest in the Rocky Mountain chain is the most significant site on the westward emigrant trails. Here, the emigrants crossed the Continental Divide, moving from the drainage basin of the Atlantic Ocean to that ofthe Pacific Ocean. As they moved over South Pass, they could legitimately say that they had entered the Oregon Territory. 
South Pass was certainly known to the native inhabitants of this region for centuries. Nonetheless, its "discovery" is almost always attributed to the Astorians of 1812 who, under the leadership of Robert Stuart, crossed here as they headed east with dispatches for John Jacob Astor. Twelve years later, it was rediscovered by a party of fur trappers including Jedediah Smith and Thomas Fitzpatrick. Captain Benjamin Bonneville took the first wagons over the summit in 1832. Ten years later, Lt. John Charles Fremont set the stage for the next year's great migration by announcing that the pass could be crossed without any "toilsome ascents." In the years that followed, nearly every diarist of the great trek recorded the exhilaration of crossing South Pass. 
Two markers are on the summit. The one, a granite boulder, was erected in June 1906 by Ezra Meeker, an 1852 emigrant who traveled the route from west to east in 1906, to mark the "Old Oregon Trail." The other marker is dedicated to Narcissa Prentiss Whitman and Eliza Hart Spalding, the first white women to cross South Pass, which they did on July 4, 1836. This marker was inscribed and erected by Captain H. G. Nickerson, president of the Oregon Trail Commission of Wyoming, in 1916. Nickerson recorded that it took him two days to inscribe the 80 letters. 
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Martin Cove to Cottonwood Creek 
John Jaques Journal (Story for the Cottonwood Creek area west of Martin's Cove) 
While on the Sweetwater, Eph Hanks was net one day. He had left his wagon behind him and came on alone on horseback and had managed to kill a buffalo. Some other of the relief parties, further this way (toward SLC) had come to the conclusion that the rear companies of the emigration had perished in the snow, but Eph was determined to go along, even alone and see for himself. ... And (at) evening, just before sunset, a strange quiver like a thrill of hopefulness was communicated down the wavering line. Coming toward the train was a lone man leading two horses with great pieces of buffalo hung on each side of the animals. It was Brother Ephraim Hanks and he had brought fresh buffalo meat that everyone set to cooking at his own fire. But more than meat, he brought them hope, the advance scout of the rescue party were just a day away, and behind them a day or two further down the road were food and clothing and a chance to rest. It was like this, "he was saying, his large hands spread out to the fire. "No matter what I did or or where I went I couldn't forget you folks. I kept wondering how you were getting on, what with the early snows and everything. This night I was down near Utah Lake where I had gone fishing .... I was after a load that time, not just a string for supper. Well, I was staying at Gurnsey Brown's place, and though the bed was comfortable enough, I could not sleep. Finally I did drop off, but no sooner that I'd done it I was waked up again. Somebody said, 'Ephraim!' that's my name, so I said, 'Yes?' But it wasn't Gurnsey that was speaking, no one was in the room, then my name was spoken again. My heart was like to pound right out of my body, but I couldn't see anything. 
Third time the voice said 'Ephraim,' seemed like it was sort of sharp and out of patience. I said, 'Yes, yes. Is there something I can do for you?' Then the voice said clear as if I'd been face to face with a neighbor, 'Ephraim, that handcart company is in trouble, will you help them out?' I got right out of bed. Gurnsey, he got my team hooked up and Sister Brown fixed me a bite and some food to carry along. Got to Salt Lake about daylight, and what should happen but I met a messenger from brother Brigham, on his way to fetch me ... seems since I was a boy that the Lord has always been willing to keep in touch with me if I'd keep in touch with Him .... This is the way I have it figured .. The Lord isn't going to fool around with any gifts just to impress folks. I don't hold for goings on in meetings like I've seen I some sects. I do know when a body needs the Lord-need something the Lord can do for him so bad there isn't any other way out-that is the time that the Lord will show His face or His voice and there will be healing and tongues and prophesy and all the rest." or a time no one spoke, then Brother Hanks said in a different, more jovial voice, "Yes, the Lord does some strange things, but I noticed he always counts on human folks to help Him out. Now I've traveled this road time and time again and at this time or year I wouldn't ever have expected to meet a buffalo. But you folks needed meat and he was put in my way. Now, if[ hadn't been there, or ifI couldn't have brought him down-well, the way I figure it, the Lord wouldn't have bothered to have him there, that's all.. " 
The next morning everyone in camp was talking about Brother Hanks, about his prayers for the sick, but even more the operations he had performed with his hunting knife. Many of the Saints were carrying frozen limbs which were endangering their lives. Brother Hanks anointed these folks and prayed that the amputation could be done without pain. Then when he took out his great hunting knife, held it to the fire to cleanse it, and took of I' the dying limb wit its keen blade; many with tears in their eyes said they hadn't felt a thing. 

Harvey Cluff account of the Rescue 
(Story to be told at the Lindford Monument by 6th Crossing Camp) 
" ... this relief party proceeded eastward as rapidly as possible and in due time passed over the South 
	Pass .. we camped on the Sweetwater River for the night. On arising in the following morning snow was 	4 
several inches deep. During the two following days, the storm raged with increased fury until it attained the capacity of a northern blizzard. For the protection of ourselves and animals, the company moved down the river to where the willows were dense enough to make a good protection against the raging storm from the north (Rock Creek area). The express team which had been dispatched ahead as rapidly as possible to reach and give encouragement to the faultering emigrants, by letting them know that help was near at hand. Quietly resting in the seclusion of the willow copse, three miles from the road I volunteered to take a sign board and place it at a conspicuous place at the main road. This was designed to direct the express party who were expected to return about this time. So they would not miss us. In facing the northern blast up hill I found it quite difficult to keep from freezing. I had only been back to camp a short time when two men rode up from Willies handcart company. The sign board had done the work of salvation. Had Captain Willie and his fellow traveller (Joseph Elder) , from his company, continued on the road they certainly would have perished as they would have reached the Sweetwater where the storm first struck us. The handcart company was then 25 miles from our camp, and as they had traveled that distance without food for themselves or horses and no bedding, they mist have perished. I have always regarded this act of mine as the means of their salvation .... Preparations were made and early in the morning of the following day we were on the road pushing our way for Captain Willies camp. The depth of snow made traveling extreemly difficult and the whole day was spent before we reached camp. It was about sun set when we came in s:ght of the camp; which greatly resembled an Esqumeax Village fully on mile away. The snow being a foot deep and path having been made from tent to tent gave the camp that appearance. As we reached an eminance overlooking the camp, which was located on a sagebrush plain near the river a mile away. When the people of the camp sighted us approaching, they set up such a shout as to echo through the hills. Arriving within the confines of this emigrant camp a most thrilling and touching scene was enacted, melting to tears the stoutest hearts. Young maidens and feable old ladies, threw off all restraint and freely embraced their deliverers expressing in a flow of kisses, the gratitude which their tongues failed to utter. This was certainly the most timely arrival of a relief party recorded in history ... "