called on a mission to great britain—prepare to depart—start without purse or scrip—journey to salt lake city—set apart for the mission—begin the journey eastward—organization of the company—my post as chaplain—overtaken by apostles a. m. lyman and c. c. rich—traveling through the mountains—snowstorms and wind—forage is scarce—meetings with the indians—captain reynolds' exploring party—army deserters in our camp—mail from home—emigrants westward bound—dissatisfaction in camp—feeling about apostles lyman and rich—i resign as captain, but am elected again, and finally resume command—mail robbery—more disagreeable storms—meet a handcart company, and apostle george q. cannon—reach the missouri river—visit my father and his family—go to st. joseph, missouri—my first view of a railway train—at my old home in brown county, illinois—journey eastward by rail—arrive in new york for the first time—find friends.
some time in february of this year (1860), i received a letter from president brigham young, informing me that i had been selected to accompany apostles amasa m. lyman and charles c. rich on a mission to great britain, starting in april. the letter authorized me to call on bishop chauncey w. west, to have my city and five-acre lots fenced and cultivated by labor tithing, for the benefit of my family; also for the bishop to furnish my family, from time to time, with such necessary articles as they needed and could not otherwise obtain. i called on the bishop as authorized, and showed him the letter, but the work he was called on for never was done, and my family suffered in consequence.
i settled my business and prepared for the mission, and in april attended conference in salt lake city, where my name was presented and sustained with those of many others called to perform missions. on the 19th of april, i blessed my family and bade farewell to them till i should be released from the duty which now rested upon me of preaching the gospel among the inhabitants of the british isles. i had a ham and a few articles of food, a light change of clothing, and my rifle. these i put in the wagon of h. hanson, who was starting to salt lake city, on his way to fill a mission in denmark. then, with my shot-pouch and a new pair of boots across my shoulder, i began my journey from ogden, intending to hunt up a yoke of cattle i had on the range, and drive them to salt lake city. not a dollar of money did i have—i was entirely without purse or scrip. i found my cattle, drove them to salt lake city, turned them over to my father-in-law, nathan tanner, to pay a debt i was owing and to obtain some flour for food on my journey, and i was ready on april 20th, the date appointed, to leave on my mission. but some of the others were not ready, and the departure was postponed to april 25th.
on the last named date, we gathered at the church historian's office in salt lake city, to be set apart and receive instructions for our missions. president brigham young there gave us counsel never to be forgotten, and our hearts rejoiced therein. each of us received a certificate of our missionary appointment, signed by the first presidency, brigham young, heber c. kimball, and daniel h. wells. we were then instructed to meet next day, the 26th, at the mouth of parley's canyon, and to proceed therefrom under command of joseph w. young, our baggage being hauled by teams owned by the church that were going to florence, nebraska.
president young had designated me to take charge of one of the teams, with permission to leave it when apostles lyman and rich overtook us, which they expected to do in three or four days. thus i had in my care four yoke of oxen and a large government wagon; and, in company with several others, went to president young's mill south of the city. we took on from a thousand to twelve hundred pounds of flour to each wagon, and proceeded to the place of rendezvous, where there were gathered thirty wagons, with about forty missionaries and the beebe and buzzard families, who were going back to their farms in iowa.
on april 17th, presidents young and wells came out and organized the company, appointing joseph w. young as captain, and john woolley as sergeant of the guard. myself and two others were selected as chaplains. the company was instructed as to necessary duties in crossing the plains, and we started. our route was up parley's canyon, then down silver creek to the weber river, thence up to the mouth of chalk creek. at the spriggs coal pit a number of us visited the mine, the tunnels of which went straight into the mountain side. then we proceeded across to bear river, and followed along the big muddy. the beebe and buzzard families and e. d. woolley and company continued on by way of fort bridger, while the rest of us made a road across the bend of the muddy.
apostles a. m. lyman and c. c. rich overtook us on may 4th, and we all camped together that night. walter m. gibson and i were transferred to samuel white's wagon, and on the 5th we bade farewell to joseph w. young's company, taking an early leave of them, and proceeded to ham's fork, on which we camped for the night. there i was made captain of the company, with john tobin as sergeant of the guard, and w. h. dame as chaplain. guards were placed out to take care of the stock. that night there was quite a snowstorm.
next morning, the weather was cold and disagreeable. we made our way to green river, where we met some people who had apostatized from the church, and were going back to st. louis; we also met some shoshone indians who were friendly. we camped on the big sandy that night, and had quite a hunt for our animals, which strayed off because there was so little grass. but we recovered all of them.
on may 10th we came to pacific springs, where we met buzzard, beebe, woolley and company, and received them into our company without any change in organization. that day we crossed over the south pass and the sweetwater river, and camped on willow creek. next day we went through a number of snowdrifts, passed over the rocky ridge and to the sweetwater, following along the river. that night we met a party of shoshone indians returning from a fight with the crow indians. the following morning, the 12th, we missed part of our animals, and were detained till 11 o'clock securing them again. we then moved forward on our journey, and on the 13th, at the second crossing of the sweetwater, encountered a severe snowstorm.
from then till the 18th the wind was very high, and the weather disagreeable. grass was very scarce. on the 14th we met a band of arapahoe indians on a buffalo hunt, and on the 15th met captain reynolds with a party of explorers. we afterwards heard that the entire party were killed by blackfeet indians, on the headwaters of the missouri river. on the 18th, as we were traveling down the platte river, sergeant min, with a small party of soldiers from fort laramie, searched the wagons in our company for three deserters from camp floyd. there were two of them in our camp. they had come to us in parley's canyon, saying they had been discharged. one of them, george kelly, showed his discharge papers, but he had re-enlisted, and deserted after receiving his bounty. the other was a servant who had stolen a gold watch. his name was alexander demster. both were taken to fort laramie.
on may 20th we arrived within seven miles of fort laramie, where we rested our animals and attended to necessary work for proceeding farther. we also built a raft and went across to the fort for our mail, getting a few letters. there was none for me. we wrote to our families, and on the 22nd again moved forward. this time we had two other discharged soldiers with us; one of them had a wife and child. i had changed from samuel white's wagon to d. savage's, and drove his six-mule team most of the way. from the 23rd on we met many people bound for california, oregon, or the pike's peak gold mines.
we passed chimney rock on may 25th, and rested that evening at a fair camping ground. there had been some dissatisfaction on the part of owners of teams because the grass had been short and the animals were not doing well. fault was found with the camping places, and as apostles lyman and rich often had been consulted and had suggested the location for camp, these prominent members of our company felt that if there were any blame in making the choice it belonged to them. so the apostles asked forgiveness for what they had done, and promised they would have no more to do with directing the journeyings of the company. when i found that i was deprived of the counsel of such men, i resigned my office as captain. john tobin also resigned as sergeant of the guard. that night was passed with the camp in a disorganized state, and next morning there was no one to lead out with orders to proceed. the team owners and others found themselves well puzzled, and began to realize the mistake that had been made. by advice of apostle c. c. rich, i called the company together, but none knew what to do. finally, elder rich suggested that they elect as captain someone they would not find so much fault with. the vote was for me, and at the request of elder rich i again assumed command, and we moved on. john brown was selected as sergeant of the guard.
at ash hollow we learned that the st. joseph and great salt lake mail coach had been robbed on greasewood creek, by shoshone indians, and that the mail carriers had been killed. we were detained at ash hollow several hours on the 27th, by the severe illness of a. beebe's wife. for several days thereafter there were high winds, and showers, making the roads very disagreeable, so that it took us till may 31st to reach buffalo creek, where we saw some buffalo. the next night we camped ten miles above fort kearney. on june 2nd we called at dr. henry's ranch for dinner, and seven miles further on reached the place where joseph e. johnson and his brother had located, and were publishing a paper called the mountain echo. at this point nephi johnson and daniel babbitt left us, as they had reached the end of their journey. we continued on four miles further, and camped.
proceeding on our journey, we reached and crossed the elkhorn river on june 6th, and that night met and camped with a company of latter-day saints crossing the plains with handcarts. the company was in good spirits, and glad to see us, and we spent the evening in singing the songs of zion. just as we had gone to bed, apostle george q. cannon; who had charge of the church emigration that year, came up, in company with horton haight and others, and we were glad to arise and shake hands with him. he was a particular friend and brother with whom several of us had traveled many miles and spent many pleasant hours. after a long talk elder cannon turned in with me for sleep.
on the morning of june 7th, the members of the handcart company were called together, and apostles lyman and rich gave them some good instructions. then we bade them good-bye, and proceeded to florence, where we met many warm-hearted saints from europe. on the 8th, i procured a span of mules from horton haight, and a carriage from george q. cannon, and accompanied by j. c. rich, crossed the missouri river to calhoun, harrison county, iowa, where we met with my father and his family. they were well, and greatly pleased to see me. we visited with my relatives till the 11th, when j. c. rich and i parted at crescent city, while i returned to florence, where my father visited me on the 12th, and invited apostles lyman and rich and myself to take dinner at the finest hotel in the town, which we did. my father promised me there that if he lived and was able to sell his property, he would accompany me to utah when i returned from my mission.
on june 15th, i went to omaha in company with j. c. rich, f. m. lyman, and r. mcbride, where we were joined next day by a. m. lyman, c. c. rich, g. q. cannon, and john tobin. we took passage on the steamboat omaha for st. joseph, missouri, where we landed on the morning of the 18th. that day while strolling through the city with francis m. lyman, i first saw a locomotive and railway train in motion. it was to us a grand sight, and we viewed it with admiration and satisfaction. at 6 a.m., on the 19th, we boarded the train, c. c. rich, j. c. rich and john tobin going to st louis, and the rest of us to quincy, illinois, where i left the party and went to versailles, brown county. there i received a hearty welcome from relatives and friends.
i remained in that locality five days, until the 24th, visiting uncles, brother-in-law, cousins, and other relatives, and also the farm on which i was reared. at versailles, on the evening of the 21st, i lectured, by request, on my travels and experiences. the schoolroom being too small to accommodate the people, the methodist church was procured, and was well filled, many of the audience being my old schoolmates. they were glad to meet me, as i was to meet them.
i stayed that night with joseph f. vandeventer, and next day, in company with him and his brother thomas, visited my father's old farm, then owned by william knox. there were many changes about the place. the cemetery was fenced into a pasture, and i was unable to find my brother's grave. the fruit trees in the orchard were well grown, and i was given some good apples and the best cider i ever tasted, made from fruit from trees i had set out with my own hands.
that day's walk brought to my recollection my youthful days, my hunts through the woods and my adventures, my toilsome labors in grubbing underbrush and clearing the land, threshing wheat in the hot, autumn sun, feeding stock in the cold winter, my cold fingers, benumbed body, and frozen toes—once shedding my toenails through frost, and peeling the skin off my feet—in short, i was reminded of much toil on the part of my parents, brothers and sisters and myself, and of many days of sickness with fever and ague. we returned to versailles, and next evening, the 23rd, after more visiting, i consented to preach, and was given good attention by a large congregation. on the 24th, i went down to the river landing at the mouth of crooked creek, with my uncle and joseph f. vandeventer, but learning that the boats were uncertain, i resolved to go to meridotia and there take train for new york, in order to meet elder c. c. rich. to do this, it was necessary for me to borrow twenty dollars, which i did of mr. vandeventer. at 9 o'clock that evening i was on my way, on the quincy and toledo line, passing through the great wabash valley. after several changes of cars, and crossing north river on a ferry boat, i landed in new york city on june 26th, without knowing a soul that lived there.
i walked up to broadway, and took a sixth avenue omnibus to twenty-third street, where i found the residence of brother jonas croxall, and introduced myself to his wife, as he was not at home. i had eaten but two meals since i got into the cars at meridotia, and they cost me seventy-five cents. i had ridden over one thousand miles on the cars from illinois, and had ninety-five cents when i reached the end of the journey. my supper that night was provided at brother croxall's. about 11 o'clock in the evening brothers croxall and a. m. lyman came in, they having been on a visit together at brother schettler's.
