THE HAND-CART EMIGRATION--PERISHING IN THE SNOW--HEROIC CONDUCT OF
WILLIAM H. AND DAVID P. KIMBALL--PRESIDENT KIMBALL'S PLEA AND
EXERTIONS IN BEHALF OF THE SUFFERERS--THE UTAH WAR--THE GREAT
REBELLION.
The year 1856 witnessed another calamity, upon the harrowing details
of which it would indeed be painful to dwell. It was the year of the
famous hand-cart emigration, in which several hundred souls, overtaken
by winter on the plains, perished in the snows and from starvation.
On hearing of the situation of these poor emigrants, the most
strenuous efforts were made by the authorities and the people in the
Valley to rescue them from their terrible fate. Presidents Young,
Kimball and others despatched all their teams, loaded with bedding and
provisions, to the relief of the sufferers, and prayers in public and
in private were offered up throughout the entire Territory for the
deliverance of the unfortunate companies from the destruction
impending over them.
Among those sent out to meet the hand-carts, were two of the sons of
President Kimball, William H. and David P., the former of whom had
just arrived home from England; also Joseph A. Young, George W. Grant
and others. These brave men by their heroism--for it was at the peril
of their own lives that they thus braved the wintry storms on the
plains--immortalized themselves, and won the undying gratitude of
hundreds who were undoubtedly saved by their timely action from
perishing.
David P. Kimball, George W. Grant and C. Allen Huntington carried
upwards of five hundred of these emigrants on their backs across the
Sweetwater, breaking the thin ice of the frozen river before them, as
they waded from shore to shore. The effects of the severe colds then
contracted by these brethren, remained with them, and finally conduced
to the death of the two former, while the survivor, Brother
Huntington, is a sufferer from the same cause to this day.
The situation and sufferings of the emigrants were the main theme of
the Tabernacle discourses at the time. President Kimball thus refers
to them on the 2nd of November of that fatal year:
"Some find fault with and blame Brother Brigham and his council,
because of the sufferings they have heard that our brethren are
enduring on the plains. * * But let me tell you most emphatically that
if all who were entrusted with the care and management of this year's
immigration had done as they were counseled and dictated by the First
Presidency of this Church, the sufferings and hardships now endured by
the companies on their way here would have been avoided. Why? Because
they would have left the Missouri river in season, and not have been
hindered until into September. * * Our brethren and sisters on the
plains are in my mind all the time, and Brother Brigham has given, to
those who wish it, the privilege of going back to help bring them in.
If I do not go myself I will send a team, though I have already sent
back nearly all my teams, and so has Brother Brigham. Those who have
gone back never will be sorry for or regret having done so. If
brothers Joseph A. Young, my son William H., George D. Grant, and my
son David P. had not gone to the assistance of those now on the plains
I should always have regretted it. If they die during the trip, they
will die while endeavoring to save their brethren; and who has greater
love than he that lays down his life for his friends?"
"Were I in the situation of some of you, I would not sleep another
night before starting to the assistance of the people that are now
struggling through the snow. * * As Brother Brigham has said, I would
rather be helping in those on the plains than be here, if
circumstances and duty would permit. We offered our offering and
started to go but the Lord ordered it otherwise and we came home. But
we have done a better work than if we had gone. * * There would have
been no general stir in behalf of our brethren on the plains; but
scores and hundreds have now gone to meet them, and they have had good
weather so far, have they not?"
The last of the hand-cart companies, the fifth one of the season,
commanded by Edward Martin, arrived in Salt Lake City about the 1st of
December. They had numbered nearly six hundred souls at starting, but
lost over one-fourth of their number by death.
Let the curtain fall over the tragic scene.
During the exciting period of the "Utah War," the subject of which,
treated at length, would cover the four years from 1857 to 1861, the
time of the sojourn of "Johnston's army" in the valley, Heber was one
with Brigham in the bold yet patriotic stand taken by Zion's leader in
repelling the hostile invasion. We need not dwell upon the oft-told
tale. President Kimball was a man of peace, and not of war, and,
though not lacking in courage, preferred to battle with error and the
powers of evil, than with his fellow-men.
In the spring of 1858, when the Saints, to the number of 30,000,
abandoned their homes at the approach of the army, President Kimball
accompanied the exodus of his people south as far as Provo, whence he
returned, after peace was assured, to his home in Salt Lake City early
in July. The soldiers had marched quietly through the deserted city,
crossed the Jordan, and camped at Cedar Valley, forty miles
south-west, opposite the town of Lehi, where they founded Camp Floyd,
afterwards renamed Fort Crittenden, and occupied it until the autum of
1861, when the troops were withdrawn to take part in the war of the
Great Rebellion.[A]
[Footnote A: General A. S. Johnston, who led this army to Utah, fell
at the battle of Shiloh, April 6th, 1862, fighting on the side of the
Confederacy. He was a brave and brilliant soldier, and one of the
recognized great generals of the war.]
Apropos of the war:--In an old memorandum book belonging to President
Kimball, in which he sometimes noted down his thoughts, appears the
following:
"GREAT SALT LAKE CITY,
"March 27th, 1859.
"The word of the Lord to me, Heber C. Kimball. At 9 o'clock in the
evening the Lord said to me that division would take place between the
north and south within six years, and much blood would be spilt, and I
should live to see it."