The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-11-24

party journal: Monday, oct "a, re-
manned IN the same place; feed toler-
ably good, etc. but before proceeding
on our journey a few more entries from
the same journal are necessary, as will
be seen to make connection;
Tuesday Oct. 2S-Remained in the
same camp; weather fine; snow going
away. At night, cloudy; snow began
to fall fast. After prayers il ceased
showing. 1t must be remembered that
the day before, Monday, Oct. q, Gen
eral Burton had not up to that date
heard anything of our company, and
the second express was sent east with
orders to continue till they found us
"Wednesday. Oct. 29-In same camp.
Fine warm morning, and continued so
through the day.
Thursday, Oct. 30-Gcod weather;
snow going away slowly. Remained i'm
the same camp today. The express re-
turned tonight at : o'clock. Reported
the companies on the Platte river; had
been camped 7here thee to six days,
not far apart"
Here Historian John Jacques makes
an interlineation in red ink in General
Burton's journal: Three days is
wrong. II was eight or ten days" No
doubt it seemed that length of time to
Brother Jaques, and longer, for his
strength and nerve were nearly gone
The return of this express after find
ing us at the Red Buttes, and previous
ly recorded in our last chapter, shows
that from some time on Monday morn
ing, till Thursday at p. m. they had
Travelled through the snow and storms,
day and night, nearly $50 miles. re-
CARELESS of exposure and their lives.
Who shall ever write and record the
need of praise due these three brave
men?
Deaths and BuriaIs at Red Buttes.
l would readily pick up my cart and
roll on from here without writing an
other line as TO our fatalities and the
dying of many of our martyrs here
but my narrative would be incomplete
without some more mention of these
losses. Brother Bleak's diary says:
After the express came into camp. as
heretofore written, our losses by death
since leaving Florence. Neb.. were only
ifty-siX." Since writing this para
graph in my last chapter, 1 have given
IL further consideration.
Not by any means desiring TO aug
ment or increase the death roll of our
company, yet we must now come to the
fact, and the writer is certain that this
number of fifty-siX was misunderstood,
and that at least it meant fifty-six that
died here during the six days We We're
snowbound at the Red Buttes. If this
latter conclusion be not correct, then
we did not Hose $50 during the whole
journey, and the statement has been
made by several OF our most intelli-
gent survivors. and among the num-
Der Historian Bleak. that we lost sos,
or nearly that number
In support of this statement. from
the day We left Fort Laramie till we
reached the. Buttes, there certainly
wasn't a night when our deaths were
less than three TO six and eight, and
one evening more. and on the Monday
morning OF Oct. p, previous TO Wed
nesday when we again started west,
the writer remembers eighteen adults
that were buried I'm three graves, side
by side, for / assisted in the digging
and the intermentS. How easily death
can come to the exhausted will be seen
by the following brief incident: One
morning while at the Buttes the wife
of Samuel PuCell. about So or 90 years
of age, from the Ashton-Under-Lyn
branch, Lancashire, England, came to
out tent and, pushing aside the cloth
door, said, calling to my mother:
MARY. our Sans cher husband)
dead, and I'll not be long after him.
When I'm dee-ad do thee take care of
my two lassies after thou gets to the
valley, and be a good mother to 'em.
I'll not reach There" No words of
mother could cheer her Up, or dispel her
conclusion. The next morning after
ward, not later than the second, she
had gone TO her Sam, and. if possible
they were laid side by side at my moth
er's request. The two daughters Mar
garet and Helen, went with my mother
TO Parowan, Iron county. Utah the
same winter, and have been residents |
OF Cedar City, Utah, for the last forty
I'VE years, and we'll known as Mrs
John Walker and Mrs. Unthanks Their !
mother and father. just referred to. /
were among the first members of the 1
Preston branch of the church. Lam /
cashire, England, organized there in
July, 1887, by President Heber c. KIM
ball and others, and have it from my
mother that Sister PuceH q think her
name was Margaret) at one time,
hearing that some of the six or eight
associate elders of President Kimball
hadn't anything To eat one day, took
one OF her skirts and pawned it for
enough TO buy a loaf of bread, a few
ounces OF tea and sugar and half a
pound of butter, which she took to the
elders, begging them to accept the do
nation. The youngest daughter. Helen.
Of the Pucell family, then about u
years OF age, arrived IN Salt Lake with
her feet so badly frozen that both were
soon afterWard. Of such
Saints and graduates in the primitive
owe of the gospel was Captain Edward
Martins handcaTt company composed
! shall not depict further here our
sufferings, deaths and the increasing
md exceeding hunger that prevailed
n the camp. but leave this task to sur
living comrades TO tell 10 their Off
spring, as the hour may suit the re-
.ital at their own firesides. and / shall {
set down the total of our death list up
o this date at 125
On the DEVILS Gate.
And now we must go on again, as I
We have vet between $50 TO $50 miles to I
make before the valley is reached. {
Brother Bleak says: {
"Wednesday. Oct. 29-Traveled ten Z
niles. Going in the direction of c
strawberry valley and Greasewood I
reek. 1
Thursday, Oct. 3O-Traveled nine
allies. The roads yesterday and today /
we're very muddy and slushy, and the 2
arts pulled hard. a
Friday. Oct. 31-TraveIed eleven I
niles. and were met by General G. d.
rant and his relief company during {
he day, from whom we received addi- s
onal supplies of flour, and our rations '
ere raised TO one pound for adults and {
half pound for children. and we will y
L. l..