Rick and Wendy's Pioneer Pictures

Program and Campfire Fun

This is Granny Packer. Since we are new to this Stake we never knew her late husband who was the beloved Patriarch of the Stake. Sister Packer was amazing! Here she was, 81 years old, always smiling, and out there hiking with the rest of us! She gave a wonderful talk by the river and also put together the Thursday Night program (which was wonderful). Several of the youth mentioned her in their testimonies and said how much they loved her and that they loved her hugs!

Thursday night we listened to the site missionaries act out pioneer stories. This is a picture of one of the missionaries telling the story of Ephraim Hanks. Later he became a member of the Pony Express and passed out letters from home to all of the youth. After the kids had a chance to read their letters from home and write in their journals, we met again for a wonderful evening program. (Rick is the cute one in the blue shirt). The program consisted of members of our group reading and acting out pioneer stories (and they did a fabulous job!) and six singers who sang various musical numbers (they were great too)! The program ended with Brother Hart singing the theme song he wrote especially for this trek called "On Hallowed Ground." The words and music are beautiful and a fitting tribute to the pioneers we became acquainted with this week. We all joined in after the first verse. The program had a nice mix of humor and seriousness and I laughed and cried throughout.
















Tonight the members of the 8th Ward were shining their flashlights into the smoke making it look just like light-sabers. These two had a "light saber" fight and it looked really cool! Then they shined their flashlights through colored waterbottles to give the light sabers different colors. Pretty cool, huh?

Women's Pull

This was an awesome day. We hiked on the Sweetwater Trail for six miles. It was the exact trail that the Willie Company went on. We stopped for another lesson by the Historic Site Missionaries who told the "Willie Company Story."

Later on we stopped again. A man dressed in uniform announced that all of the men were being called away to join the Mormon Batallion. (The Mormon Batallion actually took place ten years before the time of the Willie Handcart Crossing, but they used this today in conjunction with the women's pull.) We all bid farewell to our men and the men went up a hill to be taught by President Barney while we stayed behind to be taught by Sister Barney. She gave a wonderful talk about the importance of the Priesthood and the powerful influence that these young women can have on those who hold the Priesthood. She also talked about how many of the Pioneer women had lost their husbands and sons due to the extreme conditions of their travels. Many of the men had given everything they had for their families until they couldn't give anymore. Then the women and children were left to push the handcarts by themselves.

We got just a tiny taste of what they must have been like when we were left to push the handcarts up the next big hill by ourselves. We couldn't see the men for awhile but then near the top of the hill, there they were, making two lines, one on each side of the trail. They had removed their hats and held them silently over their hearts. It was an inspiring sight. Many of the young women said that this was the most touching part of the trek for them.

After the women's pull, one of the girls in our company had a severe asthma attack. A hush fell over the entire company as she was given a blessing. She was carried the rest of the way back to camp on one of the handcarts and then Rick and I and some of the other leaders drove her into the nearest town to go to the hospital, which was about 45 minutes away. It was pretty scary because she was hyperventilating and she actually stopped breathing several times for about ten seconds and then she would gasp for air again.

It was good to see her happy and smiling again on the way back!




Oh...and I just had to take a picture of the bathrooms -- always a line! But I have to admit -- for outhouses they weren't too bad. I don't know what they put in there, but they actually did not stink. Wow!

Pioneer Dancing

We loaded up and traveled to Sweetwater campground to set up camp. There was NOTHING there. They did have outhouses and a water pump but that is about it.

We set up camp and so the barren land was soon bustling with kids and tents. Tonight Bishop and Sister Reid set up their guitar and microphones and we started the pioneer dances. It was a lot of fun! We did the "Hokey Pokey," "Virginia Reel," "Johnny Oh," and so forth. We were laughing and dancing and for some reason I even got a little emotional thinking about the pioneers and how they had fun times too along their journey!

We had a late dinner (in the dark) and then went to bed. I think everyone slept well tonight! I know that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and I didn't wake up until the bugle call rudely interrupted my reverie about 6:30 a.m. the next day!

Oscar: Trail Leader

As we were getting ready for our first trek we were greeted by the dog, Oscar. We had read about Oscar in the July Friend: Oscar: Trail Leader The kids were so excited to see him! 

Heading out on our first hike

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.)

Thomas Steed

Thomas Steed (Rick's Great Great Great Grandfather) was one of the rescuers of the Martin Handcart company. I took a picture of his name on this plaque but didn't get a close up since there were people in the way. I was told that there was a bigger, nicer plaque in the Museum and so I had planned to take another picture there, but our group ran out of time and we were not able to go in. If you enlarge the second picture you can see Thomas Steed's name. My mother-in-law sent me some information from Thomas Steed's journal:

When Thomas Steed arrived, he saw his brother John's only daughter, Sarah, who was in the Martin Company. Grandpa Tom wrote: "In the early part of October 1856, with a number of others, I started on the road to meet the handcart companies. It was late in the season, and we had a pretty rough time. We met the first company one day's drive east of Fort Bridger. The sight I shall never forget; they looked like Indians from afar. They had encountered a severe snowstorm down on the Sweetwater, a most bitter cold to endure. In consequence, a great many laid down their bodies to rest in death, worn out with the toils and hardships of the journey, and many others were frost bitten very bad. I could not refrain from tears when I beheld the scene that surrounded me.

"Here I met my niece, Sarah E. Steed, my brother John's only child. I had sent for her from England. Thanks to the mercy of Providence, she was in good health, although a lame girl, aged about twenty. With them was also Brother John Bailey whom I had known in England, and his daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who later became my second wife. Brother Bailey was so severely frost bitten that his daughter had to carry him. I calculated to return with these to the Valley. I had come for that very purpose, but there was another company farther back, and Brother William Kimball, who was in charge of the teams, wished me to let others take care of my friends and accompany the teamsters who went after the last company. We wept together when I had to tell them of that decision. My poor friend Bailey died in arriving to Salt Lake.

"We traveled on until we came to the last crossing of the Big Sandy, going east, but could not see nor hear from them. Here we had a very severe snow storm and concluded to send two men down to the Sweetwater to see if any intelligence could be obtained, but the storm was so violent that the two men returned at night to us. Captain Amussen concluded to fall back unto Green River where about fifty teams were stopping. In the morning Van Cott and C. Spencer started back for the Valley. The rest followed until we were as far as Fort Bridger, and here halted for a few days waiting to see if we could hear from the company. In four days an express arrived telling that those people were down at the Sweetwater. We harnessed up and started and met them about ten miles east of the Pacific Springs. They were in a very sad condition; a great many badly frozen. We used all the care and attention we could to make them as comfortable as possible. My only blanket I gave to a sick girl to keep her warm. We made good headway towards the Valley and arrived on the 30th of November, thankful that the Lord had brought us safely through the cold and snow to our families."