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............