RIVER CROSSING

Share experiences:  the hardships of crossing the rivers which symbolizes the extreme hardships they had to go through.  What rivers do we cross in our day?

Louisa Mellor

AGE 15

On October 19th, the Martin Company made their final crossing of the N. Platte River. It was very cold and the Saints were already in a weakened condition from rations having been cut recently. Louisa and her sisters tied up their dresses and waded in water up to their waists as they navigated their handcart through the chunks of ice and swift water. When Louisa’s sister, Charlotte (10 yrs old), was older she told about it in these words: “On entering the water, our first impulse was to turn back and not wade across. The water was so cold that it sent pains right to the bone and the muscles cramped. We steadied ourselves as we held on to the cart and pushed. Father pulled. By the time we got across, our limbs were so numb that we could hardly keep from falling as we trudged along. The north wind cut like a sharp knife. We finally camped where we could get some cottonwood and willows for firewood.” Nine days later, the first rescuers would locate them near this place, stranded in deep snow, and many dying. 

PETER MCBRIDE

AGE 6

When they came to the North Platte River, Peter Mcbride who was six years of age said his father “worked hard all day pushing and pulling handcarts through the icy waters of that dangerous river,” helping people reach the other side. Peter’s father had a beautiful singing voice, and before he went to bed that night, he sang about how he longed to be in Zion. “The wind was blowing very cold,” Peter described. “The snow drifted in and covered our tent.” 1 The next morning, Peter’s father was dead. Peter cried as he watched his father’s body being buried beneath the snow.

Peter’s older sister Jenetta was left in charge because their mother was sick. Jenetta often walked to the river to get water for cooking, even though her shoes had worn out. Her bare feet left bloody footprints in the snow wherever she went. Realizing they could go no further, the company camped near the Sweetwater River and hoped that help would arrive before it was too late.

George D. Grant 

Rescuer

“You can imagine between 500 & 600 men, women and children, worn down by drawing handcarts through snow and mud, fainting by the wayside, falling chilled by the cold; children crying, their limbs stiffened by the cold, their feet bleeding, and some of them bare to snow and frost.  The sight is almost too much for the stoutest of us. 

When the handcarts arrived at the bank of the Sweetwater one man, tired and weary worn asked, “Have we got to go through there?”  On being answered yes, he was so much taken back that he was completely spent.  He exclaimed, “Oh, dear I can’t go through that,” and burst into tears.  His wife who was by his side, said soothingly, “Don’t cry Jimmy.  I’ll pull the cart for you.”