# Wife No. 19/Chapter 12
### CHAPTER XII.
#### BRIGHAM'S HAND-CART SCHEME, CONTINUED. — FAILURE OF THE "DIVINE PLAN."

* Arrival of the First Train.
* Fearful Sufferings of the Emigrants.
* Women and Girls toiling at the Carts.
* The Prophet's "Experiment."
* Burying the Dead.
* Greater Mortality among the Men.
* Arrival of Assistance.
* Hand-Cart Songs.
* Scenes in the Camp of the Emigrants.
* How every Prophecy of the Elders was Falsified.
* How the Tennant Family were Shamelessly Robbed.
* One of the Vilest Swindles of the Prophet.
* Mr. Tennant's Unhappy Death.
* His Wife Views the "Splendid Property" Bought from Brigham.
* Brigham Cheats her out of her Last Dollar.
* She is Reduced to Abject Poverty.
* The Apostle Taylor Hastens to Zion.
* Richards and Spencer are made Scapegoats.
* Brigham evades all Responsibility.
* Utter Failure of the "Divine Plan."
"Some must Push, and Some must Pull."HE first Hand-Cart Companies, which had left Iowa City early in the season, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley the last of September. They were very much fatigued, and were greatly rejoiced when their journey was ended.
The entire company had waded every river on the route to Salt Lake, and, as a consequence, the health of almost every man and woman was completely broken. The married women suffered the least, as they only had to assist their husbands in pulling the hand​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/224 ​and loving, their hearts no less sore, than if the last rites had been as imposing as those of royalty itself. The only thing they could do to prepare their dear ones for the grave was to close the eyes, the loving eyes that, to the very last, had turned longingly Zion-ward; to fold the pulseless hands over the silent hearts that, through all the hardships and toil, had kept their trust firm and their faith bright; to straighten out the tired feet that, bleeding and Relief in Sight. sore, had yet toiled joyfully along the rugged path that led to the fair Canaan of their dreams; to smooth the tangled hair away from haggard faces, where the lines of care lay heavily, and yet through which the light of peace divine shone serene and pure; to arrange as decently as possible the tattered garments, which were their only clothing for the tomb, and to lay them, coffinless, in their cold bed in the Rocky Mountains, in their last, long sleep; then to ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/226 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/227 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/228 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/229 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/230 ​sorrow mingled. It was then that they began to realize their loss. As one after another of their old companions came up, and missing some familiar face, inquired for the friend so dearly beloved, always the same sad answer came — "Died on the Plains." Sixty-seven were left on the way from the Missouri River to the Valley, which was about one sixth of the number which started.
I remember distinctly when these companies came in; their wretched condition impressed me at the time, and I have seen many of them since, poor crippled creatures, stumping about the city, trying to do enough work Arrival of "Hand-Cart Companies" at Salt Lake City. to keep soul and body together; more than that, they were not able to do. I have heard, too, from some of them, the most harrowing stories of their journey, that terrible, fatal journey, which was one of the very worst blunders that the Prince of Blunderers, Brigham Young, ever made.
The recollection is made more vivid because my youngest brother, Edward, who went out with a team to assist the emigrants, got lost in the snow, and for a week we supposed him to be dead. After wandering for some days in the mountains, with both feet badly frozen, he was found by a mountaineer named Battiste, who kept him, ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/232 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/233 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/234 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/235 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/236 ​Page:Wife No 19.djvu/237