THE "TRAILS" AND THE "TRIALS" -- the 2014 CES TOUR

Each year we have the special privilege of having officials from the Church Education System (CES) come here to teach us all they can about the Mormon Trail.   This year Kyle Anderson and Clint Udy came to teach us, beginning with a wonderful fireside after our Sunday Pot Luck dinner.  

During the fireside they had missionaries hold up signs with the names of locations along the trail and arrange them in the proper geographical order from East to West, finishing with Salt Lake City.  Then other missionaries holding the names of the Willie, Martin, Hodgetts and Hunt Companies positioned themselves on the east, while missionaries holding the names of rescuers formed at the west.  Kyle then took us day by day of the rescue, and had the appropriate companies and rescuers move towards each other, passing key locations along the way until they met and all arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

My great, great grandfather, Reddick Newton Allred was the rescuer in charge of the supply wagons stationed at South Pass waiting for word of the missing handcart companies.  Elder Moench's great, great grandfather Joel Parrish was in that same group - they knew each other!

Some of those rescuers became fearful that they too would starve or freeze to death and turned back to Salt Lake.  But Reddick Allred stayed right there in the snowy blizzards and earned the nickname of "the Bulldog" for remaining true to his assignment.  He was able to bring supplies and give much needed help and support to both the Willie and the Martin Handcart Companies.

The following day almost all of our missionaries happily boarded two large buses and headed out on the trail.  In addition to having Kyle on one bus and Clint on the other, Jolene Allphin came clear from Utah to join us on our road trip.  Elder Moench and I didn't think there would be room for the two of us on the bus, but at the last minute, one couple didn't feel well and stayed home, so we got the last two seats in the back.

Our first stop was Deer Creek, about 80 miles east of Martin's Cove, where the Martin Handcart Company, realizing how very late they were, tried to lighten the load on their handcarts so they could make better time along the trail.  They discarded and burned many of their warm quilts, blankets, and winter clothing.  The weather had been warm, and they did not know it would begin snowing two days later on October 19, 1956.  Sadly, many of those items might have have saved lives.

We then went to Reshaw's Bridge, the Anglicized pronunciation of the last name of Frenchman John "Richard."  Had they been able to afford to cross the North Platte River on this bridge, members of the Martin Company might not have been so wet and frozen as they forded the river and were caught in the snowy blizzard that began that day and took the lives of 14 people.

It was a much nicer day this year when we visited it.

Lots of money was made for the owners of this and other bridges and ferries along the way, and as you can see by the last quote, they charged the Mormons as much as they could.

We all ate lunch together at Fort Caspar out in their lovely picnic area. 
(The city of "Casper" is actually a misspelling of that name.)

There were no tables left when we were finally ready for lunch, so we got to eat on the playground in the stagecoach.  The Freemans and the Ereksons also ate on the playground equipment.

Our next stop was Bessemer Bend where the Martin Company hunkered down close to the river for 5 days in the deep snows.  The storm raged, and they were on such severely reduced rations that 56 of them died here of starvation, exhaustion, and freezing temperatures.  

Today was a totally different story - sunny and warm with kayakers enjoying the North Platte River.

We were finally able to visit the Avenue of Rocks, a long line of jagged rocks and peaks that crosses the trail here.  Weeks ago we and a few others had passed this on our "Great Mud Adventure," but we were trying to maintain momentum up the hills and were not able to stop and see this unique formation.

Our last stop along the trail was at Greasewood Creek, named after a variety of sagebrush.  Here the first rescuers with supply wagons finally met up with the starving, freezing Martin Handcart Company.   When the beleaguered saints came into camp here, the rescuers already had large fires burning to give them some warmth and a little food.

We also returned to food and comfort after our long day's journey, and we were very appreciative of the delicious meal prepared by the Ames and the Thomases who have perfected the art of cooking for very large groups and serving us all in record time.

The following day we began the second leg of our training at the Sixth Crossing Trek Center where Kyle and Clint and Jolene taught us more of the Willie Handcart experience, Again, none of us can comprehend the unimaginable circumstances these pioneers were in when the rescuers found them hunkered down in the willows and out of food. 

We headed out in many trucks and other vehicles and first visited the meadow where the Willie Handcart Company took shelter from the wintry storms while their beloved Captain and Joseph Elder rode to find the rescuers.

Clint told us about the rescue from the viewpoint of Captain Willie as he returned with rescue wagons over this "eminence" and found that his beloved handcart pioneers were still there in the meadow below.  He must have shed tears of joy to see them still alive.

We then rode in about 30 trucks up to the Lower Monument honoring the pioneers who died in the valley below and marking the beginning of the "trail" and the "trial" up and over Rocky Ridge, a journey that took many of them until the early morning hours of the following day.  Jolene, Clint, and Kyle each spoke to us about the climb over this difficult part of the trail.

Finally the Willie Company reached their camp at Rock Creek, although 13 people died during that cold and snowy  climb.  They are buried here in a mass grave dug by two other men who died later the same day and are buried here also.  The trail coming down the hill and into camp is still visible.

Not one of us living today has ever been as hungry or as cold or as exhausted as these dear pioneers who gave their all to get their families to Zion!

We owe them such a debt of gratitude for their great and faithful example to all of us!