This is my third
of four posts about Devil’s Gate, the well-known landmark along the Oregon,
California, and Mormon trails. Last month, I featured “Devil’s Gate and Fort
Seminoe,” the trading fort built close to this notable landmark. To find the
post, please CLICK HERE. The month before, I featured it as what this area is
best known for among those who love wagon train stories or history in the post
“Devil’s Gate and the Emigrant Trails.” Which you may find by CLICKING HERE.
Realities of Wagon Travel Across the
Plains
Because of the harsh winter conditions in the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, pioneers traveling the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails learned that they must do so within a certain time frame. This was especially true for those emigrating from Europe, who wished to cross the continent the same year they arrived. My thanks to the Martin's Cove Visitor's Center in Wyoming for providing this chart. I hope they will forgive me for passing it along.
The 1856 Late Start Timeline
Missionary work
for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter referred to as
the church) had been successful in Great Britain and other parts of Europe. Many
new members were eager to travel to the United States—the Salt Lake Valley in
particular—and saved to afford the ship, railroad, and wagon train costs. For
those poor who had difficulty earning the money, the church organized the
Perpetual Emigration Fund, which those who used it promised to pay back once
they arrived and were established the Valley. To save costs, the church developed a plan to travel by handcart. Since most travelers on wagon trains walked most of the distance, the biggest drawback was the limited amount of goods and supplies that could be carried in a handcart. The big advantage was, handcarts cost far less than providing a covered wagon and team. The church organized ten handcart companies between 1856 and 1860. Eight made the journey safely and with minimal difficulties. Two ran into trouble and required rescue.
1856 proved to
be a difficult year. England was involved in the Crimean War, which made scheduling
ships for a crossing to the United States difficult and unpredictable. The
first two ships of emigrants managed to sail in a timely manner and safely made
the trek across the Great Plains. The second two ships did not get underway
until later in the season than was advisable.
After leaving
the ships—the company headed by James G. Willie, which arrived in New York on
5/04/1856 and the company headed by Edward Martin, which arrived in Boston on 5/25/1856—boarded
railroads to take them to the westernmost end-of-track closest to Florence
(Winter Quarters), Nebraska, which was in Iowa City, Iowa.
With slow communications in the era before the transatlantic
telegraph, the church's agents in Iowa City were not expecting the additional
emigrants. Some had returned to Salt Lake Valley for the year. Those remaining
made frantic preparations for their arrival. Weeks were spent hastily
assembling the carts and outfitting the companies. When the companies reached
Florence, additional time was lost making repairs to the poorly built carts.
The following timeline shows the travel days of these two handcart companies as
compared to the usual time frame for traveling the three major trails.
Two ox-wagon trains, led by captains W.B. Hodgetts and John
A. Hunt, followed the Martin Company.
The above chart found in the Martin’s Cove Visitor’s
Center shows the departure dates for these last four 1856 companies in
comparison to what was accepted as the safest time to travel.
On September 12, Franklin D. Richards of the Quorum of
the Twelve (a high-ranking leader in the church), returning from Great Britain
with a group of missionaries, passed the Willie Handcart Company east of South
Pass, where the trail crossed over the Continental Divide. They traveled in
carriages and light wagons pulled by horses and mules. Realizing the handcart
companies were in great danger, this group sped to Salt Lake City.
Upon arriving on October 4, Richards made his report to
church president, Brigham Young. The following day was the general conference
meeting of the church. Brigham Young dispensed with most of the usual conference
business and speaking of the conference. Instead, he announced that there were
over a thousand emigrants still out on the plains. His religion was to go save
those people. He called for wagons,
teams, provisions, clothing, and teamsters to conduct a relief effort. The
first rescue party with twenty-two teams and wagons loaded with supplies left
two days later on October 7.
The Crisis That Unfolded around Devil’s
Gate
In early October the two companies reached Fort Laramie,
Wyoming. They expected to be restocked with provisions, but they were unavailable.
The companies cut back food rations down to 12 ounces per person, hoping
that their supplies would last until help arrived from Utah. To lighten their
loads, the Martin Company cut the luggage allowance to 10 pounds per person, discarding
clothing and blankets.
October 19, 1856, a blizzard hit the region.
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Sweetwater River - in June
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The Willie Company were at the sixth crossing the
Sweetwater River—past Devil’s Gate—when the storm struck. An advance rider told
them relief was on its way. The first of the relief wagons reached them at Rock
Creek Hollow on October 21. While some helped the Willie Handcart Company
continue west, the remainder of the relief party continued east in search of
the Martin Handcart Company.
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Crossing the North Platte River
|
The Martin Company was in the process of crossing the
North Platte River when the blizzard hit. They had to struggle through the
water, and then make camp in freezing conditions while wearing wet clothing.
Through the freezing conditions, they struggled along the banks of the river,
traveling only ten miles in four days. On October 23, they make camp near Red
Buttes. Too exhausted to go on, they remained snowbound until October 29.
Between October 19 and 28, fifty-six members of the company died.
The three scouts arrived at the Martin camp near the
Red Buttes on the Platte River during the late morning of October 28. The
Hodgett Wagon Company was camped nearby. The Hunt Wagon Company was ten miles
east.
On the morning of October 29, the Martin Handcart Company
rolled west again, exerting all effort to reach the relief wagons. The relief
messengers sped back past Devil’s Gate to guide the relief wagons to meet the
handcart company, which they did at Greasewood Creek on the last day of
October. Providing warm clothing and food, the rescuers assisted the exhausted
and freezing emigrants forward until they reached Devils Gate.
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Martin's Cove today
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At Devil’s Gate, they found the abandoned Fort Seminoe,
which at that time was referred to as the Devil’s Gate fort. However, the
buildings did not accommodate everyone. It was decided the handcart company
would move to a nearby cove—a u-shaped cut-out in the granite hills just north
of the trail—where they hoped the steep walls would protect them from the wind
and the worst of the weather. It became known as Martin’s Cove. It was at the
area of Martin’s Cove and the Devil’s Gate fort these emigrants were joined by
relief wagons. Soon, the wagons of the Hodgett and Hunt companies joined them.
The
Winter Guard at Devil’s Gate
As George D. Grant, leader of the rescue team now at Devil’s
Gate, looked over the circumstances, he realized they were in a difficult
situation. Most members of the handcart
company were in no condition to continue pulling carts. The members of the wagon companies
had walked over most of the trail because their wagons were filled with goods
and supplies—some everything the family owned. In addition, many wagons carried
freight for others already in the valley. The freight contracts had already
been agreed to and paid for. It was a matter of honor that those carrying the
goods of others see that they safely arrived to their owners. The wagon
companies did not have enough room for all of their own members to ride inside the
wagons, let alone members of the handcart company.
Unlike the handcarts and wagons used to provide food to
emigrants who gathered at Florence, the members of the Hunt and Hodgett companies
had paid for their own wagons. They were sturdy wagons, and the draft animals
pulling them were still in relatively good condition. However, the church had no
claim on the wagons.
While the emigrants rested and, with the aid of warm
clothing and more food, began to regain some of their strength, the leaders
debated what to do. It was a common practice for pioneers on the trail, who had
to leave heavy items behind, to dig holes in which to bury their belongings—wrapped
to protect them the best they could—and return later to reclaim them. It was
decided that the goods and personal belongings in the wagons would be stored in
the remaining buildings from the former fort at Devil’s Gate. They
would be wrapped, or the buildings reinforced to provide as much protection as
possible. A guard would be left behind to see they were not damaged or stolen.
Twenty men were chosen: three from the rescue party with the other seventeen
being teamsters—mostly single men—from the two wagon companies.
On November 9, the Martin Handcart Company abandoned
almost all of their carts and left Martin’s Cove in central Wyoming, with many
of their weakest and ill members riding in the covered wagons. Some riding in
the wagons sent as part of the relief effort arrived the Salt Lake Valley on
November 30, 1856. The Hunt and Hodgett wagon trains did not arrive until
mid-December.
Meanwhile, the contingent of men left behind at the Devil’s
Gate fort stayed on the Great Plains on the east side of the Continental Divide
until spring.
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Daniel Webster Jones later in life
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“There was not enough money on earth to have
hired me to stay. I had left home for
only a few days and was not prepared to remain so long away; but I remembered
my assertion that any of us would stay if called upon. I could not back out.”
Daniel Webster Jones
Daniel Webster Jones, age twenty-six, was called to lead
the twenty men who would stay at the Devil’s Gate fort and guard the goods left in
their care. There was no personal advantage in the responsibility. However, he
accepted it to aid those whose lives depended on reaching the Salt Lake Valley
with as little personal loss as possible.
Conditions
for the Winter Guard at Devil’s Gate
Because the relief parties had been limited in the
amount of food they could carry to feed the handcart emigrants, all they could
leave for the winter guard was rations for twenty days. Those rations were soon
consumed. According to Jones:
“Game soon became so scarce that we could kill nothing.
We ate poor meat. One would get hungry eating it. Finally that was all gone;
nothing but hides were left. We made a trial of them. A lot was cooked without
salt or seasoning and it made them sick, in fact the whole company was sick….”
At one point, Jones came face-to-face with a buffalo on a narrow trail in the
snow. According to his journal, he was able to drop the animal with a single
shot. It was not a matter of bravery; “hunger is a great motivator.”
December 23, 1856-Ephriam Hanks and Feramorz Little
stopped at the fort while carrying mail to the East. Not long after, carriers
for the McGraw Mail Company stopped by the fort on their way to the Salt Lake
Valley.
Feb 1857-Snake Indians camped a mile from the fort
stopped by to trade, bringing much-needed meat. They had been warned the
Indians considered it their hunting territory and would become hostile if the
men from the fort competed with them. For one interaction with Chief Tabawantooa,
whom they worried might be hostile, they used subterfuge to make it appear
there were more of them at the fort than there really were. The morning after
they left, another band led by Tosquatah camped outside the fort. This second
group had been helpful in the past. Although they did not trade at the time,
they promised to share their spoils from hunting. Not long after, the men found
300 pounds of buffalo meat left by the fort.
Mar 1857-Mail Express riders from the Salt Lake Valley
stopped by on their journey east, brought some supplies
Apr 1857-Three oxen wandered into the fort. It was too
early for any trail travel, and there was no indication who they might belong
to. They figured the bell one ox wore kept the wolves from killing them. The
men were able to butcher them for meat.
As spring arrived, there were more people and wagons on
the trail, some of which provided supplies to the men at the fort.
Unfortunately, the snow in the Rocky Mountains had not melted enough to send
wagons to transport the goods to the Salt Lake Valley, so the men stayed.
“If
you think you can take the fort, just try it…the first one that offers any
violence is a dead man.” Daniel Webster Jones
Shortly after the oxen were found, a group of men who
had become disaffected with the church, after learning there was a group
guarding goods at the Devil’s Gate Fort, the men, headed by a man named
Williams, presented receipts and tried to claim a large portion to take east. At
that point, Jones had about forty men staying at the fort. Having been warned
of the coming of these men, he stationed them around the fort—including on the
roofs—with instructions that if any of these men drew a gun or made any
threatening gesture, they were to shoot. The man presented his receipt, which
Jones—who already knew the procedure that would be followed by those claiming
their goods—recognized to be a forgery. When threatened with violence, Jones
retorted that if anyone in their party were to raise a weapon toward Jones,
many, if not all, would be shot. Believing him, the would-be thieves left.
Finally, the wagons to transport the protected goods began
to arrive. One day, there were 200 of them at the fort. They arrived without
any instructions from Salt Lake, so Jones and his men had to carefully match up
the receipts with the goods and make a record. He also organized the loading
and gave instructions for delivery. He found he needed to make it a matter of
fervent prayer so that the belongings arrived to their proper owner.
Their task completed, the winter guard left the fort at
Devil’s Gate and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley about June 1857.
Clara is a wagon train story. This book
picks up Clara’s romance after the wagon train has already traveled the trail
through Sweetwater River valley. The book is currently available for purchase
as an ebook or at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. To
find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE
Sources:
https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/content/historic-sites/wyoming/fort-seminoe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_and_Martin_handcart_companies
Thompson,
Julie Nichols, “The Winter Guard at Fort Seminoe,” Tales of Triumph. (Salt Lake City, Utah: International Society of
Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 2022), pgs. 122-141.
Mormon Handcart Historical Site, Martin’s Cove
Visitors Center, Wyoming
