A Night at the Symphony

The Phoenix Symphony was presenting their Symphony Classics No. 14 with conductor Michael Christie. The featured work would be Organ Concerto in G minor, by Francis Poulenc. Also on the program was Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Jennifer Higdon’s Machine, and Saint-Saens Organ Symphony with Paul Jacobs as the guest organist. Besides being the chairman the Julliard School organ department Paul has many other musical accomplishments to his name. In 2002 at age 23, Paul celebrated the 250th anniversary of the death of J.S. Bach by playing a collection of the composer’s complete organ music in an 18 hour non-stop marathon.

This is one performance which I am really excited to attend. It is unfortunate that I have put myself into a position where I will have to attend it alone. After taking each of my grandchildren to either an opera or a symphony, they have all put their collective foot down and proclaimed that they will never attend another opera or symphony with me again. I guess you can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy. Of course they are not here at the time anyway so it makes no difference. Now my son Mike, he would go with me. He plays the piano and the organ and I think that he would really appreciate this kind of presentation. But then of course he’s not here either. Now Sharon, my wife; you would think that I would ask her, but I know that after the first ten minutes she would run screaming from the hall with her hands covering her ears.

So here I am; center section, second row, and all alone. These are good times!

The night began with a brief discussion period between symphony conductor Michael Christie and organist Paul Jacobs. They discussed the pieces to be played, Paul’s musical background and a bit about the organ he would be playing. It was an electronic organ, three keyboards with many organ stops and a full array of foot pedals. Gigantic speakers were located in the back of the orchestra stage to give the organ all the authority it needed.

Following the discussion, the orchestra members started to filter on to the stage and began tuning up their instruments and brushing up on any difficult pieces they would be playing. The tuning session; this is about the time when my wife Sharon would run screaming from the hall shouting “Enough! Enough! How can you stand all that noise”?

As the orchestra was filling up, I noticed one violinist who was confined to a wheel chair. She had the assistance of a service dog and as she entered onto the stage, the dog walked along side, winding his way through chairs and music stands until they finally reached the proper position in the orchestra; there she started to set up her music and stand. As she moved from the music stand, to the violin case, then back to the music stand, Dog would move around trying to keep out of her way. First, she laid her violin case down on top of Dog, then as she tried to set up her stand, in a clumsy attempt to get out of her way, Dog bumped into the stand, tipping it over, resulting in a loud crash with sheets of music scattered all over the floor. Other musicians helped her pick up the stand and arrange her music again. Just as it seemed that she had it all under control the set up period was over and the orchestra members left the stage so Dog had to get up and follow.

After a short period the entire orchestra entered again onto the stage, with Dog in tow. After picking up their instruments for one final tune they were ready to begin. Once Dog found his place, he just lay down, looked around, and went to sleep.

The first selection, Fugue and Cantata, was powerful and energetic. It was played by the orchestra with wind and stringed instruments, but not the organ. This is one of my favorite organ pieces, but I guess I can manage.

Next was Francis Poulnec’s Organ Concerto in G minor. It was a wild piece of music that brought out the passion of each musician. As the music would crescendo, each head would raise and fall with the music while the violinist’s bows would disappear into a blur as they were played across the strings. At one time the crescendo was so great that as the conductor was reaching forward to get the most from his orchestra he almost pitched forward off the podium. At the conclusion, the audience was on their feet. “Bravo, bravo!’ It was insane.

In appreciation of the endless applause Paul played an organ encore that was just fantastic. At times his hands would appear to just flutter over the keys, with a touch as light as a feather. Then he would pick up the pace, hands flying from keyboard to keyboard, pushing and pulling at the stops, and his feet dancing around the pedals just as fast as his hands were going on the keys. At one time he stopped playing with his hands, held them down at his side and played entirely with his feet with movements that would make any tap dancer envious.

As moving as it all was, Dog was not impressed. Occasionally he would rise up his head from a sound sleep, look at his master as if to say “Is it over yet?”; then, getting no response he would yawn, lay his head down and go back to sleep.

During the intermission there was a brief question and answer period where the audience could ask the organist, Paul Jacobs, any questions. One man noted that he seemed to hear the organ let out a screech during the last piece played. Being fast on his feet, Paul exclaimed…..”Yes, that is one of the great things about the organ. You can play the keys and push the knobs into many combinations and make any kind of sound you want. Guttural, blaring, scratchy, or even any other type of musical instrument you wish.

After the final piece had been performed, the applause had died down and the last curtain call had been made, the orchestra gathered their instruments and started to move off stage. The wheel chair bound lady was the last to leave, so Dog just had to lay there and suffer all the indignities of having everyone step over him, bump into him and have the long ladies gowns brush over his head and body.

I mean, honestly now, how can anybody not enjoy entertainment like that?

Proposed Organ

Such a deal; an evening of entertainment at the Gold Canyon United Methodist Church listening to an organist who is “becoming recognized as one of North America’s most virtuosic younger generation of organists”. And all this for the price of only one can of diced tomatoes; the entrance price of at least one non-perishable food item per person.

Isabelle Demers was the featured organist. Born in Montreal, Canada, she began piano at age six, then she studied at the Montreal Conservatory of Music, the Ecole Normale de Paris-Alfred Cortot in Paris, and received her Master’s degree from the Julliard School in New York. Tonight all of this schooling was to come forth in one magnificent concert.

The church organ is a 3-manual Rodgers Trillium 967 Organ w/MIDI, for those of you who know of such things. To me it is just one colossal electronic digital organ. Part of the reason for this concert is to collect funding for the addition of 12 ranks of true, windblown pipes from Fratelli Ruffatti of Padua, Italy. That my friends will be a sweet day for Gold Canyon.

Isabelle’s first piece was Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 548, The “Wedge” by J. S. Bach. The organ is magnificent, with four levels of keyboards, banks of buttons and stops on both sides, and a full array of foot pedals. I think that Bach utilized most all of the keys, buttons and pedals on this one piece.

Edward Elgar and his Allegro Maestoso; now here was a real piece of work which required all that the organist could provide. Isabelle would be playing so softly that you could almost imagine a soft wind gently blowing through the wheat fields, using the “pencil” pipes to bring out the sound of songbirds in the trees. Within two stanzas, all stops were out, both hands and feet were playing which would extract a sound from the organ that would part your hair. It was magnificent. At times her hand would rise, and fall so gently that barely a sound would come forth. Then the pace would pick up until you could only discern a blur as her hands flew across the keys, followed equally as fast, by her feet as they danced from one pedal to the next, erupting into such furry and strength of sound as to vibrate my glasses right down to the tip of my nose.

She would be playing the middle keyboard, and then switch to the upper keyboard, with only the slightest difference of expression between the two. The same melody would then be extracted by the foot pedals, resulting in a sound which you could literally feel through the bench you were sitting on.

One of my favorite pieces was by Max Reger. He was asked to write a piece which would be impossible to play. What’s the point? It was rumored that Max would compose for a while, and then he would take a two hour break and go down to the local pub for a six-pack of beer and a steak. As the piece went on, it became very evident as to just when he had finished the beer and the steak. Nonetheless, Isabelle won the contest, with her hands and body flowing ever so rhythmically across the keyboard during the sober moments, and then erupting into a flurry of key pounding, stop pulling, and peddle dancing, during the pub portions.

Because it was an electronic digital organ, there were speakers located both in front of, and behind the audience. During Sergei Prokofiev’s excerpts from Romeo and Juliet, the sounds of Romeo would come from the speakers located in the front of the chapel and then ever so softly they would be answered by the sounds of Juliet emanating from the speakers in the rear of the chapel.

For an encore Isabelle performed a piece which used the organs foot pedals only, and it was a real crowd pleaser. Her feet were dancing on the pedals like Sammy Davis Jr. doing one of his famous tap dance routines. Then as she really got into it, her feet were flying around so fast that she would literally have to hang on to the bench to keep her stability.

What a performance; what talent, what dedication. Isabelle never once used a sheet of music; every piece was memorized and performed flawlessly. And to think that after just one or two operas my grandkids say that they will no longer come to visit if I was going to take them to another opera. How sad. Who is going to teach them?

Well, after a performance like that, I think that was the best can of diced tomatoes I ever spent.



Gary Hyde

The TREK - Sunday Day 7

Follow-up


None of the leaders of the handcart companies ever denied the inspired purpose of the trek. They may have been critical of the management and timing, much which was beyond any control, but they all grew from the experience and had received unshakable testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ.


Francis Webster had this to say, “I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. I have gone to that sand, and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.”

Forty years after the handcart trek and three years before his death, leader John Jaques wrote these final words about the experience: “Although suffering so much privation, the emigrants felt nothing like the discouragement which many people feel now-a-days when they go to our grand City and County Building to pay their burdensome taxes.”



President James E. Faust said: “In the heroic effort of the handcart pioneers, we learn a great truth. All must pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact and strong. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. Yet this is part of the purging to become acquainted with God.”



Each one of us has experienced disappointment, tragedy or loss in our lives; our trek up Rocky Ridge. At times we may even feel as John Stewart Sr. (Oct 24) when he was placed with the frozen corpses for burial in the mass grave. Thankfully his wife Ann noticed that he was still breathing and saved him from a premature death.

Or like Elizabeth Cunningham, age 12, ( Oct 12) who was left for dead along the trail, only to have her mother recall a promise their family had been given prior to emigrating that “if they would live the gospel, all the members of the family would arrive safely in Zion.” Following the promise of this blessing, her mother went back to where they had left her, to revive her and bring her back to the camp. She knew that merely waiting for the anticipated blessing would not be enough; they needed to continue to act.

The faithful action of the mother and her daughter helped to invite the promised priesthood power and in part satisfied the requirement that we "dispute not because [we] see not, for [we] receive no witness until after the trial of [our] faith" (Ether 12:6).

Just as Joseph Kirkwood’s older brother James (Oct 23) carried him over Rocky Ridge to safety, we have an elder brother who will carry us over our Rocky Ridge. Jesus Christ has already made that sacrifice for us. He gave up his life for us that we may live. “…yea, all are fallen and lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement” (Alma 34:9). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3”16).

As we accept the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us, as we love Him, as we believe in Him, we will once again be able to live with Him, to live once again with our deceased loved ones who have also shown that love for Him. “For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

We each have a heritage in this life; something passed down to us from our ancestors, from our culture, from our faith. As we learn of it, we gain from it. Those sacrifices made by others will not be made in vain if we but hold true to those ideas and ideals which they espoused.

I pray that this week has helped to bring your life into a sharper focus as to those ideals which are of the greatest worth. We can be enveloped in the present, the mundane and the dross, or we can lift ourselves above that which we think we can achieve, and accomplish those things which we capable of achieving, when we seek the Lords help.

Go now and climb that mountain.



Gary Hyde



Please leave any comments you wish;


on this blog,
on Facebook – Gary Hyde,
or at garyhyde5@gmail.com

The TREK - Saturday Day 6

Oct 26



Travel:


Deaths: Samuel Witt, age 65; Mary Roberts, age 44

 Almost imperceptibly the Saints crossed South Pass.


Paul Lyman Commentary


Crossing South Pass was a gradual affair. They went up a slight incline and then, almost imperceptibly, they started a decline. Pacific Creek was really only a spring that flowed a short distance to the west and then dried up. The Saints camped on the creek before it dried up.



Oct 27

 For the first time since October 14, no one died on this day.



Robert T Burton


“No deaths in camp tonight”


Paul Lyman Commentary


Finally, the company had a day without deaths. Eliza Chapman Gadd, age 40, had gone snow blind on the 23rd in the blizzard over Rocky Ridge. Her daughter, Mary Ann, age 7, was her trusted guide, until her sight returned. At last Eliza could see again. She and her husband, along with their eight living children, had started for Zion together. On October 4th, their two-year-old twin son, Daniel, had died. Five days later, on October 9th, her husband, Samuel, age 42, had died. Finally, her 10-year-old son, Samuel, had died and was buried at Rock Creek with the dozen others. Amazingly, she was not even a member of the Mormon Church. However, these experiences stirred her soul so much that after arriving in Salt Lake City and before the end of 1856, she was baptized a member of the Church.


*************************

After the Martin Company was rescued at Martin’s Cove, it was decided that all the cattle, handcarts and belongings would be left at Devils Gate and the Saints would be carried back to Salt Lake City in the wagons. Dan Jones and a small group of rescuers were assigned to stay at Devils Gate and guard the freight until spring when wagons could be sent to retrieve it. Over the harsh winter they were often low on food. The cattle were starving and the heard had been decimated by wolves. The rescuers butchered and ate the rest but by early March Dan Jones and his men were out of food. This time they had consumed every scrap of cowhide, every moccasin, all the rawhide ties off the handcarts and the wagon tongues and even an old doormat made of buffalo hide. “They took inventory and found nothing edible in the whole place, except a set of harness and a rawhide pack saddle.” Just as the men were soaking the pack saddle to cook, the Lord intervened again. An express mail team arrived and the mules were carrying buffalo meat. The saddle was removed from the pot and replaced with the meat. The express men were a long time getting over the dinner they saw on the fire that night/ For years they called Dan Jones the man that ate the pack saddle.


Dan Jones gives us this recipe for boiled cow hide: Scratch and scrape the hair off; this had a tendency to kill and purify the bad taste that scalding gave it. After scraping, boil one hour in plenty of water, throwing the water away which had extracted all the glue, then wash and scrape the hide thoroughly…in cold water, then boil to a jelly and let it get cold, and then eat with a little sugar sprinkled on it.



Please leave any comments you wish;



on this blog,
on Facebook – Gary Hyde,
or at garyhyde5@gmail.com

The TREK - Friday Day 5

FRIDAY – Day 5


Oct 24

Travel: No travel recorded

Deaths: William James, age 46; Elizabeth Bailey, age 52; James Kirkwood, age 11; Samuel Gadd, age 10; Lars Wendin, age 60; Anne Olsen, age 46; Ella Nilson, age 22; Jens Nilson, age 6; Bodil Mortensen, age 9; Nils Anderson, age 41; Ole Madsen, age 41



Paul Lyman Commentary

The weather remained severe. Levi Savage described “the severe wind which blew enough to pierce us through.” Eleven more people had died since the base of Rocky Ridge. The day was spent resting and burying the 13 who had died on the 23rd and 24th in a mass grave.

Sadly, the two youngest Saints were part of the Nielson family. Jens Nielson, age 35, who was believed to be a large man, and his wife, Elsie Rasmussen Nielson, age 26, and under five feet in height, had earlier given up their considerable means to allow others to travel by handcart. As Jens and Elsie crossed Rocky Ridge, Jens’s feet became so frozen they were useless. He could not walk any more and his feet would never completely heal. When Elsie was faced with the choice of leaving him or staying with him to die, she chose to load him in their handcart and pull him to camp. He survived Rocky Ridge. Their son, Jens, age 6, and the young girl they had traveling with them, Bodil Mortensen, age 9, could not take the horrible strain and did not survive. Elsie hauled her husband in their handcart until there was room for him in a wagon at Fort Bridger

One close call with death involved John Stewart, Sr., age 31. He was placed with the frozen corpses for burial in the mass grave. While he was there his grief-stricken wife, Ann Stewart, age 29, noticed that he was still breathing. Fortunately, the error was discovered and he was carried to a fire and revived, thus avoiding a premature death.

The sacrifice of Archibald McPhail at Rocky Ridge (His daughter Henrietta related this story to her granddaughter, who recounts it as follows):

A terrible blizzard had been raging all day, and when they reached camp, [Archibald] found that one of his group was missing. [He] felt it was his duty to go back after her. It was indeed an undertaking for one so exhausted by the lack of food and nearly perishing cold, but he cheerfully accepted his responsibility and went in search of the women. He found her sitting by the wayside on the other side of a frozen stream they had crossed earlier. He pleaded with her to come on, but she refused, saying she was going to stay there and die. There was nothing to do but cross the stream and get her. He picked her up, and as they crossed the stream the ice broke and he was soaked with the icy water to the waist”.

“By the time he reached camp, his clothes were frozen to him and he was taking heavy chills. The air was cold and wet, and the men were so weak and hungry they could not go in search of dry wood to make a fire. Without anything warm to eat or drink, he was placed in a cold bed with a covering of a handcart pitched over him for a tent. There was a strong wind . . . which blew it over three times, and they stopped trying to keep it up, He was in high fever, and Henrietta [his 16-year old daughter] sat by his bed brushing the snow from his face as he lay dying”.

In his weakened condition, Archibald McPhail was taken into the rescue wagons after that night. He was never able to regain his strength, however, and died two later. His wife Jane often told the following story of his death;

“She was setting in the wagon that night beside her husband in the dim light of a small tallow candle. She prayed fervently that the candle might last until his suffering had ended. Her prayer was answered, for the light of the candle and the life of her husband went out at the same moment. At the time of his death he was just thirty-nine years of age”.

Levi Savage quit writing daily journal entries at this point. In summary he wrote, “nothing of much note transpired, except the people died daily.” He then left the sole source of a daily report to William Woodward and his entries in the company journal. It appears that many of the Saints were in a dazed relief. They knew they had been rescued, but were too worn out to function well.


Please leave any comments you wish;


on this blog,
on Facebook – Gary Hyde,
or at garyhyde5@gmail.com

The TREK - Thursday Day 4

Oct 21

Travel: No travel reported

Deaths: John Linford, age 49; Richard Hardwick, age 63; Mary Ann Perkins, age 62; Sophia Larsen, age 11

Paul Lyman Commentary

The relief wagons left very early in the morning to travel the roughly 25 miles that separated them from the Willie Company. They brought with them 14 wagons containing flour, onions, and some clothing. Onions were the first fresh vegetables that the Saints had to eat since Florence.

Lucy Ward, age 23, traveled with a handcart of young women. She had a fur hat, which she habitually tied on with a green scarf. James Barnett Cole, age 28, one of the young rescuers, had a dream in which he saw his future wife. She was beautiful and had a fur cap held on by a green veil. He shared his dream with William H. Kimball. As the rescuers rode into camp, William H. Kimball spotted a beautiful woman with a fur cap held on by a green veil. He told his friend, “There is your dream girl.” Lucy and James were married by November 2nd, within two weeks of meeting each other, and stayed that winter together at Fort Supply in the Fort Bridger area while Lucy regained her health.

John Chislett's First Hand Account

“The storm which we encountered, our brethren from the Valley also met, and, not knowing that we were so utterly destitute, they encamped to await fine weather. But when Captain Willie found them and explained our real condition, they at once hitched up their teams and made all speed to come to our rescue. On the evening of the third day after Captain Willie’s departure, just as the sun was sinking beautifully behind the distant hills, on an eminence immediately west of our camp several covered wagons, each drawn by four horses, were seen coming towards us. The news ran through the camp like wildfire, and all who were able to leave their beds turned out en masse to see them. A few minutes brought them sufficiently near to reveal our faithful captain slightly in advance of the train. Shouts of joy rent the air; strong men wept till tears ran freely down their furrowed and sun-burnt cheeks, and little children partook of the joy which some of them hardly understood, and fairly danced around with gladness. Restraint was set aside in the general rejoicing, and as the brethren entered our camp the sisters fell upon them and deluged them with kisses. The brethren were so overcome that they could not for some time utter a word, but in choking silenced repressed all demonstration of those emotions that evidently mastered them. Soon, however, feeling was somewhat abated, and such a shaking of hands, such words of welcome, and such invocation of God’s blessing have seldom been witnessed.

“I was installed as regular commissary to the camp. The brethren turned over to me flour, potatoes, onions, and a limited supply of warm clothing for both sexes, besides quilts, blankets, buffalo-robes, woollen socks, etc. I first distributed the necessary provisions, and after supper divided the clothing, bedding, etc., where it was most needed. That evening for the first time in quite a period, the songs of Zion were to be heard in the camp, and peals of laughter issued from the little knots of people as they chatted around the fires. The change seemed almost miraculous, so sudden was it from grave to gay, from sorrow to gladness, from mourning to rejoicing. With the cravings of hunger satisfied, and with hearts filled with gratitude to God and our good brethren, we all united in prayer, and then retired to rest.

“Among the brethren who came to our succour were elders W. H. Kimball and G. D. Grant. They had remained but a few days in the Valley before starting back to meet us. May God ever bless them for their generous, unselfish kindness and their manly fortitude! They felt that they had, in a great measure, contributed to our sad position; but how nobly, how faithfully, how bravely they worked to bring us safely to the Valley—to the Zion of our hopes!”

Oct 22

Travel: 11 miles

Deaths: Eliza Philpot, age 36; John James, age 61

The company moved to the base of Rocky Ridge.

With snow on the ground, the Saints encountered a new problem. When they went to sleep, it was on frozen, snowy, or wet ground. They each slept, wrapped only in a blanket or a quilt laid directly on the ground.

John Chislett's First Hand Account

“Timely and good beyond estimate as the help which we received from the Valley was to our company generally, it was too late for some of our number. They were already prostrated and beyond all human help. Some seemed to have lost mental as well as physical energy. We talked to them of our improved condition, appealed to their love of life and showed them how easy it was to retain that life by arousing themselves; but all to no purpose. We then addressed ourselves to their religious feelings, their wish to see Zion; to know the Prophet Brigham; showed them the good things that he had sent out to us, and told them how deeply he sympathized with us in our sufferings, and what a welcome he would give us when we reached the city. But all our efforts were unavailing; they had lost all love of life, all sense of surrounding things, and had sunk down into a state of indescribable apathy. The weather grew colder each day, and many got their feet so badly frozen that they could not walk, and had to be lifted from place to place. Some got their fingers frozen; others their ears; and one woman lost her sight by the frost. These severities of the weather also increased our number of deaths, so that we buried several each day.”

Oct 23

Travel: 16 miles

Deaths: James Gibbs, age 67; Chesterton J. Gilman, age 66

Company Journal

Ascended a steep hill, travelled about 16 miles & camped on the Sweetwater. Crossed several creeks on the road, several men were near frozen thro the day; two teams loaded with sick did not get to camp till very late.

Levi Savage’s record drew a more detailed picture. It was a “severe” day. The climb up “the Rocky Ridge” was long. The wind was blowing snow in their faces. It was steep and snow-covered. People became exhausted from the strain of the hike and the weather. Two of the wagons, full of the sick and children, were so loaded down that they did not arrive until dawn on the 24th. At 10 or 11 p.m., the teams pulling these two wagons refused to cross a stream, Strawberry Creek, due to the ice and cold. Levi Savage was with those wagons when the animals balked, and as a result he walked four miles to the camp at Rock Creek for help. At the campsite, he found the exhausted Saints with few tents pitched. The people were spent and were huddling around small fires. Many hours later the two wagons carrying the sick and the children pulled into camp. These latecomers came to camp in the dark, since moonrise was at 2:25 a.m., with only a quarter of the moon visible.

The trail from the Sweetwater River to the top of Rocky Ridge is just over three miles long and has a rise in elevation of more than 750 feet for roughly a 5 percent grade. However, it is not a consistently rising grade. Instead, it has several steep portions and one portion where it actually drops in elevation for some distance before turning uphill again. It is hard to find a day that the wind does not blow on Rocky Ridge. The wind was blowing snow down the hill and into their faces as the Saints trudged up toward the ridge top and then onward for miles.

John Chislett's First Hand Account

“A few days of bright freezing weather were succeeded by another snow-storm. The day we crossed the Rocky Ridge it was snowing a little—the wind hard from the north-west—and blowing so keenly that it almost pierced us through. We had to wrap ourselves closely in blankets, quilts, or whatever else we could get, to keep from freezing. Captain Willie still attended to the details of the company’s travelling, and this day he appointed me to bring up the rear. My duty was to stay behind everything and see that nobody was left along the road. I had to bury a man who had died in my hundred, and I finished doing so after the company had started. In about half an hour I set out on foot alone to do my duty as rear-guard to the camp. The ascent of the ridge commenced soon after leaving camp, and I had not gone far up it before I overtook a cart that the folks could not pull through the snow, here about knee-deep. I helped them along, and we soon overtook another. By all hands getting to one cart we could travel; so we moved one of the carts a few rods, and then went back and brought up the other. After moving in this way for a while, we overtook other carts at different points of the hill, until we had six carts, not one of which could be moved by the parties owning it. I put our collective strength to three carts at a time, took them a short distance, and then brought up the other three. Thus by travelling over the hill three times—twice forward and once back—I succeeded after hours of toil in bringing my little company to the summit. The six carts were then trotted on gaily down hill, the intense cold stirring us to action. One or two parties who were with these carts gave up entirely, and but for the fact that we overtook one of our ox-teams that had been detained on the road, they must have perished on that Rocky Ridge. One old man, named James (a farm-labourer from Gloucestershire), who had a large family, and who had worked very hard all the way, I found sitting by the roadside unable to pull his cart any farther. I could not get him into the wagon, as it was already overcrowded. He had a shot-gun which he had brought from England, and which had been a great blessing to him and his family, for he was a good shot, and often had a mess of sage hens or rabbits for his family. I took the gun from the cart, put a small bundle on the end of it, placed it on his shoulder, and started him out with his little boy, twelve years old. His wife and two daughters older than the boy took the cart along finely after reaching the summit.

“We travelled along with the ox-team and overtook others, all so laden with the sick and helpless that they moved very slowly. The oxen had almost given out. Some of our folks with carts went ahead of the teams, for where the roads were good they could out-travel oxen; but we constantly overtook some stragglers, some with carts, some without, who had been unable to keep pace with the body of the company. We struggled along in this weary way until after dark, and by this time our ‘rear’ numbered three wagons, eight hand-carts, and nearly forty persons. With the wagons were Millen Atwood, Levi Savage, and William Woodward, captains of hundreds, faithful men who had worked hard all the way.

“We finally came to a stream of water which was frozen over. We could not see where the company had crossed. If at the point where we struck the creek, then it had frozen over since we passed it. We started one team to cross, but the oxen broke through the ice and would not go over. No amount of shouting and whipping could induce them to stir an inch. We were afraid to try the other teams, for even should they cross we could not leave the one in the creek and go on. There was no wood in the vicinity, so we could make no fire, and were uncertain what to do. We did not know the distance to the camp, but supposed it to be three or four miles. After consulting about it, we resolved that some one should go on foot to the camp to inform the captain of our situation. I was selected to perform the duty, and I set out with all speed. In crossing the creek I slipped through the ice and got my feet wet, my boots being nearly worn out. I had not gone far when I saw some one sitting by the roadside. I stopped to see who it was, and discovered the old man James and his little boy. The poor old man was quite worn out.

“I got him to his feet and had him lean on me, and he walked a little distance, but not very far. I partly dragged, partly carried him a short distance farther, but he was quite helpless, and my strength failed me. Being obliged to leave him to go forward on my own errand, I put down a quilt I had wrapped round me, rolled him in it, and told the little boy to walk up and down by his father, and on no account to sit down, or he would be frozen to death. I told him to watch for teams that would come back, and to hail them when they came. This done I again set out for the camp, running nearly all the way and frequently falling down, for there were many obstructions and holes in the road. My boots were frozen stiff, so that I had not the free use of my feet, and it was only by rapid motion that I kept them from being badly frozen. As it was, both were nipped.

“After some time I came in sight of the camp fires, which encouraged me. As I neared the camp I frequently overtook stragglers on foot, all pressing forward slowly. I stopped to speak to each one, cautioning them all against resting, as they would surely freeze to death. Finally, about 11 P. M., I reached the camp almost exhausted. I had exerted myself very much during the day in bringing the rear carts up the ridge, and had not eaten anything since breakfast. I reported to Captains Willie and Kimball the situation of the folks behind. They immediately got up some horses, and the boys from the Valley started back about midnight to help the ox-teams in. The night was very severe and many of the emigrants were frozen. It was 5 A.M. before the last team reached the camp.

“I told my companions about the old man James and his little boy. They found the little fellow keeping faithful watch over his father, who lay sleeping in my quilt just as I left him. They lifted him into a wagon, still alive, but in a sort of stupor. He died before morning. His last words were an enquiry as to the safety of his shot-gun.”

One of the greatest personal sacrifices that day came from James Kirkwood, age 11. James’s mother and older brother had to pull their handcart carrying James’s disabled brother over Rocky Ridge. James was left in charge of his younger brother, Joseph, age 4. The two young boys faced the long climb up and over Rocky Ridge and on into the Rock Creek camp together. Their shoes were worn and they were definitely cold. Although no one will ever know with certainty what happened, James likely carried his brother for many of the miles. When James arrived in camp, James set his brother down and died of exhaustion.


Please leave any comments you wish;


on this blog,
on Facebook – Gary Hyde,
or at garyhyde5@gmail.com

The TREK - Wednesday Day 3

Oct 17:


Traveled 13 miles

Death: William Philpot, age 51

Paul Lyman Commentary

The company journal described travel through the “Three Crossings” portion of the trail. It required them to cross from the south side to the north side of the Sweetwater River. After about one and one-half miles the trail crossed the river to the south and then, due to the canyon walls, back to the north side.

After eating soup made from the bones of cows that had no fat on them, Sarah James, age 19, suggested to her parents that they make soup out of the tatters of her shoes. Her father smiled at her, while her mother impatiently told Sarah that she would “have to eat the muddy things” herself.

John Chislett's First Hand Account

“We had not travelled far up the Sweetwater before the nights, which had gradually been getting colder since we left Laramie, became very severe. The mountains before us, as we approached nearer to them, revealed themselves to view mantled nearly to their base in snow, and tokens of a coming storm were discernible in the clouds which each day seemed to lower around us. In our frequent crossings of the Sweetwater, we had really ‘a hard road to travel.’ The water was beautiful to the eye, as it rolled over its rocky bed as clear as crystal; but when we waded it time after time at each ford to get the carts, the women, and the children over, the beautiful stream, with its romantic surroundings (which should awaken holy and poetic feelings in the soul, and draw it nearer to the Great Author of life), lost to us its beauty, and the chill which it sent through our systems drove out from our minds all holy and devout aspirations, and left a void, a sadness, and—in some cases—doubts as to the justice of an overruling Providence.

“Our seventeen pounds of clothing and bedding was now altogether insufficient for our comfort. Nearly all suffered more or less at night from cold. Instead of getting up in the morning strong, refreshed, vigorous, and prepared for the hardships of another day of toil, the poor ‘Saints’ were to be seen crawling out from their tents looking haggard, benumbed, and showing an utter lack of that vitality so necessary to our success.

Oct 18:

Traveled 8 miles

Deaths: Ann Rowley, age 2; Eliza Smith, age 40; John Kockles, age 66; Daniel Osborn, age 7; Rasmus Hansen, age 40

It snowed. The Saints met the advance party of the rescuers and five people died during the day.

Company Journal
The company rolled on again, & were soon met by Cyrus H. Wheelock & Joseph A. Young & two other brethren from the Valley, bringing us the information that supplies were near at hand, the camp halted, a meeting was called. Bro. Wheelock informed us of the liberality of the Saints in the Valley, of Bro. Brigham Young’s kindheartedness in speaking in behalf of the Handcart companies now on the Plains, & of himself fitting up ten teams & wagons & supplying them with flour, &c., & others in proportion.

Paul Lyman Commentary

Never before had five people died in one day. The 16 mile forced trek without a water break, in horrible weather, had exacted a terrible toll. All hope may have been lost, were it not for the advance party of rescuers finding them after the snowstorm.

Without the Willie Company knowing all of the details, President Franklin D. Richards and his companions had raced to the Valley. They arrived on October 4th. President Richards went immediately to President Brigham Young and reported the dire circumstances of the two handcart companies that were still on the plains. The two companies had no hope of making it to the Valley without additional supplies. Brigham Young went immediately into action. The next day was the first day of the Church’s fall general conference. Brigham Young called for wagons, teams, teamsters, food, and clothing to be driven to the east to provide essential aid to the unfortunate Saints. The response was immediate and, on the 7th, the first fully supplied rescue wagons left Salt Lake City.

The company was in serious trouble. Nineteen Saints had died since Fort Laramie. Shortly after leaving Fort Laramie, they had covered about 21 miles in one day, October 4th, and three people died. On October 19th they had walked 16 miles without water enduring a brief snowstorm and five people had died. Now it was snowing and they were out of food. They had only the promise of rescue to give them hope.


Oct 19:

Travel: 16 miles

Deaths: Ann Rowley, age 2; Eliza Smith, age 40; John Kockles, age 66; Daniel Osborn, age 7; Rasmus Hansen, age 40

Joseph A. Young knew Emily Hill, age 20, from his time in England. When he saw her pitiful condition, she reported that he burst into tears. He told her that it was because she looked “starved.” He then quietly gave her a small onion from his pocket and told her to eat it. Instead, she saved it. She saw a man lying on the ground near death by a fire. She felt so badly for him that she gave him the onion. He later credited her act of kindness with saving his life.

Oct 20

Travel: The Company was out of food and was stopped by the snow.

Death: Anna F. Tait, age 31

Paul Lyman Commentary

The Saints woke up to four inches of snow. It continued to snow all day. The company journal reported that the last of the food had been issued the night before, while Levi Savage reported that it was issued in the morning. It was the hard bread or crackers that President Willie had acquired at Fort Laramie. Due to the lack of food and the snowstorm, no effort was made to move from their camp at the Sixth Crossing of the Sweetwater River. They were out of food and had to hope and pray for the anticipated supplies.

Paul Lyman Commentary

During the morning President Willie decided to go on ahead and find the rescue wagons. He was joined by Joseph Elder. They took two mules and no bedding or other provisions. They intended to find the relief wagons, regardless of what time or effort it took. They did not know that, when faced with the same October 19th snowstorm, the rescuers had sought protection below the mouth of Willow Creek on the Sweetwater River, off the main trail. A rescuer, Harvey H. Cluff, had felt inspired to walk three miles north to the main trail and place a signboard on the trail pointing in the direction of the camp. He thought it would guide Cyrus H. Wheelock, Joseph A. Young, and the two others when they returned. Shortly after Cluff arrived back at the rescue company’s camp, near nightfall, President Willie and Joseph Elder rode into the rescuers’ camp. Had they not been guided by Harvey Cluff’s sign, they would have missed the camp and possibly perished, along with even more of their starving company

As the Saints huddled together in a storm enduring their forced fast, they may have been encouraged by memories of other miracles. Ann Jewell Rowley’s family recalled that, on an earlier night, her ten family members had nothing to eat but “two hard sea rolls.” She needed God’s help to feed the ten people. She placed the sea rolls in a Dutch oven, covered them with water, and prayed. Later, when she took the lid off, the Dutch oven was “filled with food.”


Please leave any comments you wish;


on this blog,
on Facebook – Gary Hyde,
or at garyhyde5@gmail.com

The TREK - Tuesday Day 2

Oct 11:

Traveled 12 1/4 miles

Death: None reported

Susannah Stone, age 25, wrote, “Only once did my courage fail. One cold dreary afternoon, my feet having been frosted, I felt I could go no further, and withdrew from the little company and sat down to wait the end, being somewhat in a stupor. After a time I was aroused by a voice, which seemed as audible as anything could be, and which spoke to my very soul of the promises and blessings I had received, and which should surely be fulfilled and that I had a mission to perform in Zion. I received strength and was filled with the Spirit of the Lord and arose and traveled on with a light heart.”

                   ______________________

“Cold weather, scarcity of food, lassitude and fatigue from over-exertion, soon produced their effects. Our old and infirm people began to droop, and they no sooner lost spirit and courage than death’s stamp could be traced upon their features. Life went on as smoothly as a lamp ceases to burn when the oil is gone. At first the deaths occurred slowly and irregularly, but in a few days at more frequent intervals, until we soon thought it unusual to leave a campground without burying one or more persons.

“Death was not long confined in its ravages to the old and infirm, but the young and naturally strong were among its victims. Men who were, so to speak, as strong as lions when we started on our journey, and who had been our best supports, were compelled to succumb to the grim monster. These men were worn down by hunger, scarcity of clothing and bedding, and too much labour in helping their families. Weakness and debility were accompanied by dysentery. This we could not stop or even alleviate, no proper medicines being in the camp; and in almost every instance it carried off the parties attacked. It was surprising to an unmarried man to witness the devotion of men to their families and to their faith, under these trying circumstances. Many a father pulled his cart, with his little children on it, until the day preceding his death. I have seen some pull their carts in the morning, give out during the day, and die before next morning. These people died with the calm faith and fortitude of martyrs. Their greatest regret seemed to be leaving their families behind them, and their bodies on the plains or mountains instead of being laid in the consecrated ground of Zion. The sorrow and mourning of the bereaved, as they saw their husbands and fathers rudely interred, were affecting in the extreme, and none but a heart of stone could repress a tear of sympathy at the sad spectacle.


Oct 12:

Traveled 13 3/4 miles

Death: None reported

Elizabeth Cunningham, age 12, was traveling with her parents and three of her siblings. Somewhere after Fort Laramie, she got cold enough that she was left for dead along the trail. After leaving her, her mother recalled a promise that their family had received prior to emigrating. They were promised that “if they would live the gospel, all the members of the family would arrive safely in Zion.” Her mother then returned to the dying child and warmed her until she revived and was brought back to the camp. On October 12th the company journal recorded, “The night was cold.”

Oct 13:

Traveled 12 1/4 miles

Death: Paul Jacobsen, age 55

Paul Lyman Commentary

Prospect Hill, or Ryan Hill, required the company to go up a strenuous climb, from the top of which they could see to the Independence Rock and Devil’s Gate areas. From that hill top the trail was easier, until it ascended Rocky Ridge.

John Oborn, age 12, was traveling with his parents. He told about their rations being reduced. He later wrote, “Our scant rations had reached the point where the assigned amount was consumed in one meal and it had to suffice for the day. From here on it is beyond my power of description. God only can understand and realize the torture, privation, exposure and starvation that we went through.” He went on to write, “We had resorted to eating anything that could be chewed, bark and leaves from trees. We young ate the raw hide from our boots

Oct 14:

Traveled 13 miles

Deaths: None reported

Paul Lyman Commentary

Despite their extreme hunger, they gathered saleratus, or baking soda, as they trekked onward past Independence Rock. It was recorded that they crossed the Sweetwater River on a bridge. They would cross the Sweetwater a total of seven times in the next two weeks.

“Captain Willie received a letter from Elder Richards informing him that we might expect supplies to meet us from the valley by the time we reached South Pass.” Pacific Springs is the first spring west of South Pass.


Oct 15:

Traveled 16 miles

Death: Caroline Reeder, age 17

“One beef heifer & one poor cow were killed this evening for the camp. Last evening a council & a meeting were held to take into consideration our provisions & the time it was considered we should have to make it last before we could depend upon supplies. It was unanimously agreed to reduce the rations of flour one fourth - the men then would get 10 1/2 ozs. per day; women, & large children 9 ozs. per day; children 6 ozs. per day; & infants 3 ozs. per day each”.

Paul Lyman Commentary

“Another miracle occurred around this time. Elizabeth Crook Panting, age 28, was escaping an abusive husband in England to travel to Zion with her two small children, ages five and one. Somewhere in this area, she went to gather buffalo chips to make a fire. As she filled her apron with fuel for her fire, a man approached her. She told him that they were short on food. He offered her help and had her follow him to what seemed like a cave. She saw a large amount of dried meat in the cave, and he helped her load up her apron. She turned to go and when she looked again to thank him, he and the cave were gone”.

Oct 16:

Traveled 11 miles

Deaths: George Curtis, age 64; Lars Julius Larsen, age 3 months; John Roberts, age 42

Birth: Ella Wicklund gave birth to a son, who lived. Birth: Jacob Wicklund to Ella and Olof Wicklund. Both mother and son survived the trek.

Levi Savage pointed out that the oxen were worn down. Although there was little food left to carry in the wagons, the wagons were still needed to haul the tents, along with the sick and the exhausted. Years later a woman asked William Woodward if he remembered a good pair of rawhide shoes that had come up missing. He did. She reported that she had boiled them to make soup.


Please leave any comments you wish;

on this blog,
on Facebook – Gary Hyde,
or at garyhyde5@gmail.com

The TREK - Monday Day 1

Setting the scene




Between 1847 and 1869, some 70,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to Utah by the 1,300 mile overland trail. Most of them traveled in wagon companies, but approximately 3,000 - 4% of the total- came by handcart.

In all, ten companies of handcart pioneers made the journey to Utah between 1856 and 1860. Although pulling handcarts was arduous even in the best conditions, eight of these companies made the journey more quickly and with fewer deaths than the typical wagon company. In 1856 there were five handcart companies to make the trek, of which the last two were the Willie and Martin companies.

These two handcart companies - the Willie and Martin companies - suffered a tragedy that President Gordon B. Hinckley described as "without parallel in the western migration of our people. They paid what he called "a terrible, terrible price."

This price included some 200 deaths, numerous amputations of frozen limbs, the widowing of many women, and the orphaning of many children. It included broken hearts and broken dreams of families who had left Europe with the hope of living together in Zion.

Most of the handcart emigrants were from Europe. Many were poor and had sold all their land and possessions or saved for years to afford passage to America by ship. Most of the emigrants traveled on eight ships, with the size of the groups ranging from 146 to 856. Rather than have the emigrants travel on their own, the church highly encouraged the saints to travel in companies.

Nearly half of those who emigrated in 1856 needed assistance from the Perpetual Emigration Fund. Many of the wealthy were asked that rather than purchase an expensive wagon and team, that they make the journey by handcart and with the money they save, provide funds for several other poorer families to travel by handcart. Many did so without hesitation.


Brigham Young said that "After they get accustomed to it, they will travel 20, 25, and even 30 miles with all ease, and no danger of giving out, but will continue to get stronger and stronger: the little ones and sick, if there are any, can be carried on the carts, but there will be none sick in a little time after they get started.

The Willie handcart company, a group of about 500 saints, left Ohio City on July 15, 1856 under the leadership of Captain James G. Willie. Delays in travel and in the construction of the handcarts put them far behind their intended schedule. Those were some of the circumstances which precipitated the following events.



Excerpts from the Willie Company journal




John Chislett's First Hand Account

 “We reached Laramie about the 1st or 2d of September, but the provisions, etc., which we expected were not there for us. Captain Willie called a meeting to take into consideration our circumstances, condition, and prospects, and to see what could be done. It was ascertained that at our present rate of travel and consumption of flour, the latter would be exhausted when we were about three hundred and fifty miles from our destination! It was resolved to reduce our allowance from one pound to three-quarters of a pound per day, and at the same time to make every effort in our power to travel faster. We continued this rate of rations from Laramie to Independence Rock.”




Oct 4:


Traveled 3 miles
Deaths: Benjamin Culley, age 61; George Ingra, age 68; Daniel Gadd, age 2

Levi Savage reported that this was the first day of the reduced rations and that some of the people had been stealing provisions. Consequently, the food was all placed into three of the four remaining wagons and a guard was posted. He indicated that the rations had been reduced from a pound of flour per day to 12 ounces.

On October 4th, President Richards arrived in the Valley. President Brigham Young called an evening meeting of the First Presidency and of the missionaries who had just arrived. Although sketchy, minutes were kept of the meeting. President Richards reported meeting John Smith on September 24th near Independence Rock. Smith was hauling 600 lbs. of flour intended to resupply the Saints. In the minutes President Richards optimistically stated, “They will not need flour until they come to the Sandy.” Clearly, he believed that the Willie Company had enough flour to get to the Little Sandy River, which was about 60 miles west of the Sixth Crossing of the Sweetwater River, where they actually ran out of food.

Because of the underestimated need of the saints, the flour from wagons was cached 15 miles from Pacific Springs, about 120 miles from where the saints of the Willie company were located.


Oct 5:

Traveled 15 miles
Deaths: None reported

Forded the North Platte River

(The following is a report from the Martin handcart company when they forded the Platte River)

Mary Goble (13); We traveled on till we got to the Platte River. That was the last walk I ever had with my mother. We watched them cross the river….It was bitter cold. The next morning there were fourteen dead in camp through the cold. We went back to camp and went to prayers. We sang the song “Come, Come, Ye Saints, No Toil Nor Labor Fear.”

Oct 6:

Traveled 16 miles
Deaths: None reported

Margaret Caldwell had earlier traded trinkets with the Indians for dried meat. On a cold night, which may have been around October 6th, she stewed the meat and thickened the broth with some flour. She gave a half pint of the thickened broth to two men who were serving as guards. They declared that it saved their lives

Oct 7:

Traveled 15 miles
Deaths: None reported

Forded the North Platte River again, this time to the south side.

“Father George P. Waugh, then between 65 and 70 years of age would be seen and heard calling between tents for his company muster between 7 and 7:30 AM. These consisted of all the aged who were not required to pull at the carts…. Away they would start ahead of us, singing and talking and cheering each other. As the day progressed, those who tired out would fall back to be taken up by some young man and carried to camp on his handcart”.

Oct 8:


Traveled 15 miles
Deaths: None reported

Levi Savage repeated that the old people were failing fast.

Jenetta (16) and Heber (13) McBride give this story of their handcart experience. “Mother being sick and nothing for her comfort, she failed very fast. She would start out in the morning and walk as far as she could. Then she would give out and lie down and wait until we came along. …Father also began to fail very rapidly and got so reduced that he could not pull any more at the handcart. Sometimes we would find Mother lying by the side of the road first. Then we would get her on the cart and haul her along until we would find father lying as if he was dead. Then Mother would be rested a little and she would try and walk and father would get on and ride.”

Oct 9:

Traveled 16 1/2 miles
Death: Samuel Gadd, age 42 (His son Daniel Gadd, age 2, had died on Oct 4)

Comments

The James and Amy Loader Family; The Loaders expected to travel the first part of the overland journey by train and the last part by wagon. After arriving in New York they were asked to travel by handcart instead and donate the money they would save to the Perpetual Emmigration Fund to help less fortunate purchase handcarts.
Patience Loader “Father and mother think this cannot be done, and I am sure I think the same, for mother cannot walk day after day, and I do not think that any of us will ever be able to continue walking every day….Mother, I am sure, can never go that way. She says herself that she cannot do it”. “Mother says that she must have a revelation before she can see this right”.
James Loader “Mother, I am going to Utah. I will pull the handcart if I die on the road.”

The Loader family traveled with the Martin Company. James Loader and one of his sons died on the trail. His widow Amy Loader (Mother) who had been so sure she could not make the journey would become one of the stalwart examples of strength, leading and literally cheering on even her adult children through untellable difficulties.

Oct 10:

Traveled 12 miles
Death: None reported

John Jaques called it a cornet; John Southwell called it a bugle. It would be blown to call to breakfast, take down the tents, break camp and start on the trail. It was blown again in like manner at noon and then at days end. “Each cornet call was some well known air or tune. How hateful those tunes did become! I verily believe….that eventually they were abhorrent to every ear in camp. It was a shame to use good and innocent tunes in that way and render them forever after repulsive.”
One of the Saint’s favorite songs was “The Handcart Song.”



Please leave any comments you wish;
on this blog,
on Facebook – Gary Hyde,
or at garyhyde5@gmail.com