After the orientation, each family picked up their handcart and got prepared for our first hike into Martin's Cove.
We stopped for a Cove Talk by the Historic Site Missionary and then continued on our hike. We were able to see statues of the young rescuers who carried pioneers back and forth across the Sweetwater river in the bitter cold so long ago.
Here is their story (from James E. Faust's article: "A Priceless Heritage," Ensign, Nov 1992, 84:
"It was an emotional experience to see the Sweetwater River crossing where most of the five hundred members of the company were carried across the icy river by three brave young men. Later, all three of the boys died from the effects of the terrible strain and great exposure of that crossing. When President Brigham Young heard of this heroic act, he wept like a child and later declared publicly: “That act alone will ensure C. Allen Huntington, George W. Grant and David P. Kimball an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds without end.” (Solomon F. Kimball, “Belated Emigrants of 1856,” Improvement Era, Feb. 1914, p. 288.)
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