The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-10-27

Article No. 2 concluded with our ar
rival and making camp on Friday, Au-
gust p, near the old Mormon sawmill
or Winter Quarters, and near Flor
ence. Neb., where we remained in camp
TIL the afternoon of Monday, the 18th.
During the three days rest here of
the members of Martins handcart
company, Hodgetts and Hunts indie
pendent wagon companies, the former
now consisting of COS souls and the lat
ter of $50 to 300, the question of our
proceeding farther this season, on ac-
count of the lateness, was the main
and nearly the only one of daily dis
-cussion by President Franklin D.
Richards and a score of returning mis-
sionaries from the British Isles, Scan
dinavia, India and other points, includ-
ing members of the Mormon battalion,
who had crossed the plains several
times before.
Recorder Bleak has only one short
entry in his journal of: Sunday, Aug.
cath, two meetings and partook of the
sacrament" His data is invaluable,
and as a shorthand pupil of Ben Pit
man, he viii write up a digest of
what one in particular. and both of
those meetings were.
Meeting That Decided Our Journey.
The first meeting was in the morn
ing or afternoon, when the sacrament
was administered. 1t was not lengthy,
nor reference made 10 any extent as
to our onward journey, but spiritual
and encouraging, with the announce
ment that at 6 or p. m. another
meeting would be held on the same
ground, and that every member then in
the camps of the handcart and wagon
l was advised many years ago that
President Richards had met with the
returning elders and missionaries in
private council, and that two meetings
had been held on the evenings of the
2lst and 23d of August, when the adj
visibility of our not going on and I'M
dertaking more than a 1,02lmile jour
ney at that date, was discussed at
length, and resulted in an agreement
that it be left 10 a vote of the members
OF the handcart company first, and
then the wagon companies. There was
full attendance at the time called,
and such men as James @. Bleak, John
JaQues, John Toone, Jesse Haven,
John T. D. McAllister. General George
ID. Grant, David c! Dunbar, the I'M
selfish and generous-hearted Joseph A.
Young, President Brigham Young's old
est son, Cyrus Ii. Wheelock, General
James Ferguson Zone of the most dis
tinguished soldiers and orators OF the
Mormon battalion), Brother Webb, the
father of Ann Eliza, the latter the au-
thor of Tell 1t All" celebrity, and who
It is said was the most opposed TO our
starting so late. These were all there,
with Captain Edward Martin and his
captain of the guard, Daniel Tyler,
both members OF the Mormon battal-
Ion, with such Mormon stalwarts from
England as Professor Thomas Dur
ham, resident since for fifty years
of Parowan, Iron county, Utah; Fran
els Webster. a resident of Cedar City,
Utah, for the same jubilee of years,
that had made the journey from Lon
don to Australia and return, and from
London 20 California and returned by
the Isthmus of Panama, before he
pulled the cart from Iowa City, Ia, to
Winter Quarters. John Parkinson, pre-
viOusly referred to in paragraph l of
our Article No. 2; Captains Peter
Mayo, VIM. Wigna1. Robert Holt,
Thomas Ord and John Bailey, of Nephi,
for the last fifty years. and by no
means ordinary men in any commun-
ity, and last but not least, the Twelves
and Sam and Albert Jones and Wat
kins, of Provo; the Rogersons, Dob
sons, Jacksons and scores OF others still
living, were there at that very impOr-
tant meeting.