Author: Chris York

The following account was featured in the book,  Follow Me to Zion

Jens and Elsie Nielson lived an idyllic life in the lush countryside of Denmark when they were converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and determined to gather with the Saints in the western United States.

All of my possessions had no power over me,

wrote Jens of the great wealth he had accumulated in Denmark and the thoughts of leaving it all behind.

My only desire was then to sell out and come to Zion.

The Nielson home was put up for sale and preparations were made, but Jens was caught by surprise when his family was asked to delay their travels so he could serve a mission. After serving faithfully for two years in Denmark, Jens, Elsie, and their young son Niels were able to travel to America. They were asked to bring along little Bodil Mortensen.

They voyaged by sea and by land, eventually arriving in Iowa City where they joined with the Willie company. The Nielsons determined to leave with the company in August, though many were concerned for the lateness of the season.

By the third month of their travels, tragedy struck. On October 23, 1856, both their son Niels and charge Bodil perished after a blizzard and a particularly long trek over Rocky Ridge in Wyoming. They were not the only ones to perish, Jens would write:

We had to dig a hole and bury [13] bodies of our number, and my only son was among them, and a girl who I had along for Brother Mortensen. I told you there were five men to the tent, but now the four were dead and I was the only man left, so I had to ask some of the largest and strongest women to help me to raise the tent, and it looked like we should all die.

The heartbroken and weakened Jens seemed prepared to die, especially when his foot injuries made it impossible for him to walk. However, his dear wife Elsie would not allow it. One of their descendents, Jay P. Nielson, told of her courage:

The end appeared to be near and certain for Jens. His feet became so frozen he could not walk another step, which caused his right foot to be at right angles the rest of his life. At this point Jens said to Elsie, “Leave me by the trail in the snow to die, and you go ahead and try to keep up with the company and save your life.” If you believe men have a monopoly on strength and courage, then pay heed to Elsie’s immortal words when she said, “Ride. I can’t leave you. I can pull the cart.”

It is not known for how long Elsie had to pull the cart by herself, but one family history suggests it was for at least a day. Her strength carried them through and the Nielsons arrived in Salt Lake City on November 9, 1856. For the rest of their lives, they would dedicate themselves to settling the Utah territory, including Parowan, Paragonah, Circleville, and Bluff, Utah.

Jens died in 1906, two days before his 86th birthday. Elsie would follow in 1914 at the age of 84. Her death after a family dinner is recorded by Jens’s son to his third wife, Uriah:

I stayed there with her quite awhile, and when I got ready to go, I said, “Are you all right Grandma?” “Oh, yes,” she said. “I’m all right. I’ll just turn down my bed now and go to bed.” So that’s what she did. I saw that she got her bed turned down and that she got into bed. WHen I went over to get her for breakfast the next morning, she said, “I can’t come to breakfast. Niels was here last night.” That’s what she called her husband – Niels. She didn’t make any bones about telling that he’d been there. She had either dreamed it, or he was there.

So she stayed in bed even though she wasn’t sick. She didn’t suffer, but she hardly ate anything…She stayed there in bed until the night that she said Niels was coming after her. Then she died. She must have seen him, and he must have talked to her or something, because she was perfectly all right when I left here that night; there wasn’t a thing the matter with her.”

Margaret and her husband Thomas Kirkwood were among the first members to be baptized in the Scotland area in 1840.  She and Thomas eventually had 6 children – one of them, born in 1951, was named Joseph Smith Clements Kirkwood, after the prophet and the missionary that had been so active in their joining the church.  Thomas Sr. died in 1852, as well as two of Margaret’s children, Margaret, 19, and Katherine, 9.  All of them had suffered from lingering illnesses.  Missionaries were always welcome at their home and on April 28, 1856, son James Kirkwood, 11, was baptized.  The next day, the family left Scotland on board a steamship headed for Liverpool.  On May 1^st, they boarded the Thornton and began their journey to join the saints in America.  The family enjoyed the many meetings on the ship. Meetings where they partook of the sacrament, bore testimony of gospel truths, and united in faith and fasting for a safe voyage.  The health of the family was good as they sailed across the Atlantic, a blessing for which they always remembered to thank the Lord.

On June 14^th, the company arrived in New York.  Margaret’s son recorded,

“We had great cause to be thankful to God for his blessing towards us and for everything which had happened since our departure from Liverpool.  The appearance of the country, with the sweet anticipation of being privileged to set my feet in the Land of Promise, tended to strengthen my body.”

Margaret’s son, Thomas, being poorly with ulcers in his legs, which arose from a carriage running over his foot, had to ride in the cart the entire trek to Salt Lake– nearly 1300 miles .  Often time, young Joseph also had to be put in the cart when he couldn’t walk another step.  This put a lot of stress on Margaret and her older son Robert to pull the cart.

The most tragic and difficult day for the Willie company and the Kirkwood family was Oct 23^rd.  Margaret and Robert had struggled about 16 miles that day, pulling Thomas across Rocky Ridge in a storm of wind and snow.  Some families became separated in the struggle, including the Kirkwood family.  James and Joseph,

“were exhausted and fell behind the company.  They walked in the freezing snow all night to reach camp.  Joseph was so young that James carried him on his back.  As they arrived the next morning at the campfire, James fell dead due to starvation and exhaustion.”

James had given his all to help his little brother get to camp.

Margaret was waiting for her sons, keeping a small fire burning, but the warmth of the fire was not enough to revive James.  He was buried in a common grave with 3 other children and 9 adults later that morning.  Margaret wept at the loss of her precious son.  Perhaps her tears, combined with the cold and strong wind, contributed to her subsequent blindness.  “Margaret lost the sight of one eye on account of having been frozen.”

On Oct 25, Margaret Kirkwood wrapped her woolen shawl around her shoulders and bade farewell to the final resting place of her son James, and continued her trek to Zion.  There were still 250 mountainous miles to cover.  The Saints left Rock Creek with very few rescue wagons accompanying them.  Finally, on Nov 2, the Willie company met a large contingent of wagons near Fort Bridger – enough that all could ride.  But Margaret and son Robert continued pulling their handcart through Nov 6^th.  It was one of the worst days of their journey.

The company had traveled 23 miles through deep snow on the previous day, and it was still snowing most of the day on Nov 6^th.  The roads were very bad at each of the dozen crossings of Echo Creek and that night’s camping ground presented a most dismal appearance.  Robert later recorded, “I know that day we had waded 13 streams, and got into camp after midnight.”

Thankfully, an uncrowded wagon driven by Peter McCue reached this exhausted family the next day.  At last, Margaret and her family could ride in this wagon with relative comfort and safety.  The family’s handcart was tied to the back of the wagon and taken into Salt Lake City on November 9^th.   Robert later recorded, “We made this long pull to save my brother Thomas’ life, for had we crowded him into the rescue wagons that first met us, he could not have lived.”

Margaret and her family were taken into American Fork, UT, to recuperate.  Margaret married John Wood in 1857. At the time of her death in 1893, Margaret had 36 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren in Zion.  For several years before her death, Margaret was the oldest living member of the Church from Scotland.  She made the statement many times that if it was necessary, she would go through all the hardships again for the gospel’s sake.

Joseph Elder joined the church in the Midwest in 1855 when he was 20 yrs old.  He was ordained an Elder the next year and at his ordination, and expressed,

“I esteem it as a high and holy privilege to be an elder of the Church, and I am determined by the help of God to perform every duty and bear every burden that God, through his holy priesthood, is willing to lay on my shoulders.”

Joseph was called upon to help gather several herd of cattle for the Willie and Martin handcart companies to take as stock and food.  His work with cattle was a challenge but he determined to do his duty as called upon, even though he felt like some of them were determined to kill them!  After a long day of herding, he retired to bed, only to be awoken to hear the news that he was needed to help the Willie company across the plains.  “They proposed my starting with the present handcart company on the morrow and drive a wagon team until they overtook us on the plains.  Short notice.  However, I determined to start for Utah.”  He would go where he was needed.

Two major events caused hardships.  A bad storm pounded with lightning and thunder – and then a herd of buffalo stampeded near their camp. When morning came, they found half of their oxen gone – apparently joining the stampeding animals.  These oxen provided the power to pull the Willie company’s small complement of wagons, which carried most of the food, tents and other heavy items.  For two days they searched and in the end, had to go on without them.  Joseph and another man were left to keep looking for them – they went back 50 miles and had no luck.  Joseph met up with a small group of saints led by Elder Franklin D Richards.  Joseph had been promised in Florence, that if he would help the saints along, when this group met them, he could accompany them on into Salt Lake.  Seeing the need of the saints, Elder Richards asked Joseph if he would remain with the saints in the Willie company for the rest of the journey.  Surely some disappointment, but his journal entry just said,

“I chose to remain with the handcart company and assist them all that I could.”

On Oct 19, after issuing the last ration of flour, the Willie company had only a 1 day supply of crackers remaining.  That day they traveled 16 miles to reach the next place they could camp.  The people were so weak.  The first snowstorm of that early season began blowing that afternoon.  The squall lasted less than an hour, but in the weakened state of the saints, it seemed insurmountable.

About noon, the sun broke through and they were able to continue on.  After going a short distance, Joseph recorded, “Lo and behold, we saw a wagon coming, and it was close.  Such a shout as was raised in camp I never before heard. What made them shout?  It was that the Spirit of the Lord bore testimony that they were saviors come to (our) relief, and truly it was.  These saviors were 4 men from the first group of rescuers sent by Brigham Young.  They had gone ahead of the main group – to help find and give hope  to the late travelers.  Though they didn’t have much to give them, they let them know that the wagons were 1-2 days behind them.  They then went on to search for the Martin company.

The Willie Saints continued their march and finally reached camp at dark.  Five people had died that day.  Snow continued to fall that night and they awoke to 6-8” of snow on the ground.

Captain Willie asked Joseph to accompany him to find the rescuers and urge them forward.  “We started ahead in search of our brethren.  We rode 12 miles to the base of Rocky Ridge, where we expected to find them but they were not there.  We ascended the Rocky Ridge.  The snow and an awful cold wind blew in our faces all day.  We crossed the Rocky Ridge and upon the west bank of the North Fork of the Sweetwater we found a friendly guidepost which pointed us to their camp down upon the Sweetwater in amongst the willows.  When they saw us, they raised a shout and ran out to meet us.  Great was their joy to hear from us, for they had long been in search of us.  They could scarcely give us time to tell our story they were so anxious to hear all about us.”

Early the next morning, the rescuers started tward the Willie company’s camp.  When they arrived later that day, they were greeted with shouts and cheers.  Women embraced and kissed them and even the men wept.  The rescuers distributed lifesaving food, clothing, and bedding.  The Willie Saints knelt in the snow and gave thanks to God.  The next day, Oct 22, the rescuers divided.  Several men and 6 wagons stayed with the Willie company and the rest continued on to find the Martin company.  The Willie company labored 10 or 11 miles and camped near the base of Rocky Ridge.

When they arose on Oct 23^rd, they faced the hardest day of their journey.  They had to climb Rocky Ridge and travel about 16 miles to reach the next camp.  They had to do it in another snowstorm with freezing wind.  “That was an awful day.  Many can never forget the scenes they witnessed that day – men, women, and children weakened down by cold and hunger, weeping, crying and some even dying by the roadside.  It was very late before we all got into camp.  Oh how my heart did quake and shudder at the awful scenes which surrounded me.  The last wagons rolled into camp at 5:00 am having been on the trail for 20 hours.  Thirteen people died from this ordeal.  They resumed their journey the next day, Oct 25^th, 250 miles from Salt Lake – traveling still through snowstorms and cold.  By Nov 2^nd, enough wagons had arrived that all the company could ride in them the rest of the way.

A week later, Nov 9^th, the Willie company entered the Salt Lake Valley.  “At last we emerged from amongst the mountains, and the beautiful valley with all its loveliness spread itself out before our view.  My heart was filled with joy and gratitude.  The lovely city of G. S. Lake lay about 5 miles distant in full view.  We entered it.  The houses at first looked odd, being built of adobes or sundried brick.  Truly it is unlike anything I ever before had seen.  The journey was over at last, and the people were soon distributed amongst the several wards, and I put up with my old friend Wm. Kimball.”

Two weeks later, Joseph Elder heard Brigham Young make another call for rescuers to help the Martin company.  They had fallen 3 weeks behind the Willie company and their condition was even worse.  Again, showing his courage and commitment, Joseph volunteered to help, and he started east that very day.  After a week in “snow that sometimes would almost blind us and our teams,” he arrived back in Salt Lake City with the Martin Company saints, on Nov 30^th. He said,

“I returned home feeling first rate glad that I had gone,”

When he was ordained a Seventy, leaders asked about the service he had given.  William Kimball answered in his behalf,

“He said that I had not only been a talker but an actor, that I had imparted freely of all that I had, both money, property, time and talent to the emigration and that every word and action proved that I was determined to do the will of God and do all that I was able to help build up the kingdom of God in these last days.”

Joseph married Margaret Joiner in 1858 and had 7 children.  He settled into the occupation of Carpenter.  He served a mission back to his Illinois where he was able to see his mother and other family members.  Later, he served another mission to England.

Joseph Elder was a man of commitment in the Lord’s service.  Determined to “perform every duty and bear every burden that God through his holy priesthood is willing to lay on my shoulders.” , Joseph served when he was needed, where he was needed and how he was needed.

Christina McNeil was a family friend of the Margaret Ann Caldwell Family and emigrated with them from Scotland to America for the journey to Salt Lake when she was 24 years old. The following account was featured in the book, Follow Me to Zion, published in 2013 and features an excerpt from Agnes Caldwell’s biography, who was only 9 at the time of the trek.

By the time the Willie company reached Fort Laramie, provisions became very short, and it was apparent that their current rations would not last until they were met with resupply. Margaret had a plan to obtain extra food for her family, but it came in an unexpected way:

“[She] visited one of the generals in command at the Fort to obtain permission to trade some trinkets and a silver spoon for flour and meat. The officer said he himself could not use any of the things but to leave [Christina] in his office while mother went to another station, where he assured her she would be able to obtain the things she desired. He seemed very kind, and not wishing to arouse any feeling of ill will, she left Christina and Thomas.

“During her absence, the officer used the time in trying to persuade Christina to stay there, proposing to her and showing her the gold he had, telling her what a fine lady he would make of her. Then he tried discouraging her, pointing out to her how the handcart company would never reach Utah, [that] they would all die of cold and hunger and exposure. Like all noble girls and true to the cause for which she had left her native Scotland…she told him in plain language she would take her chances with the others even though it meant death.

“She was greatly relieved to have mother return. The officer, however, seemed to admire her very much for her loyalty to her faith and gave her a large cured ham and wished her well in her chosen adventure.”

Christina McNeil married Warren Ford Reynolds in 1857 and together they had seven children. Christina passed away at the age of 69 in 1901.

Levi Savage was a sub-captain for the Willie Handcart Company who traveled extensively for the Church prior to him joining the Company. He was well known for vocally speaking out against the Company leaving Florence (or, Winter’s Quarters) so late in the season:

“I…related to the Saints the hardships that we should have to endure. I said that we were liable to have to wade in snow up to our knees and shovel at night, wrap ourselves in a thin blanket, and lie on the frozen ground without a bed. [I said it] was not like having a wagon that we could go into and wrap ourselves in as much as we liked and lie down. No, said I, we are without wagons, destitute of clothing, and could not carry it if we had it. We must go as we are.

“The handcart system I do not condemn. I think it preferable to unbroken oxen and inexperienced teamsters. The lateness of the season is my only objection to leaving this point for the mountains at this time.”

However, when the decision was made to start the trek, he dutifully stepped up to fill his role and assist the Company members in getting to Salt Lake.

The day after the sixth crossing of the Sweetwater in mid-October, Captain Willie and Joseph Elder left the Company to search for the resupply wagons they had been told were nearby. While the Company waited hopefully for their return with help, Levi gave assistance to a dying man, John Linford:

John’s 11-year-old son recalled,

“While father was sick and just before he died of starvation, Levi Savage emptied his flour sack to make him some skilly as it was called; after eating this he died.”

Levi Savage continued giving much assistance to the members of the Handcart Company when things seemed most dire:

During the final 16 days of the journey, Levi continued to help those who were most in need. His responsibility for the wagons was especially onerous. They were overloaded with people who were too weak to walk, and the animals that pulled them were faltering. On October 31 the Willie company crossed the Green River, but Levi fell so far behind with the wagons that he couldn’t catch up. The company journal strikes a sympathetic tone in saying,

“Bro. Savage with the ox & cow teams did not get to camp this evening.”

Levi Savage arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on November 9 with the rest of the Company and was reunited with his family, whom he hadn’t seen in four years. Levi eventually moved to Toquerville where he lived out the rest of his life, passing away in 1910 at 90 years old. The previous accounts were featured in the book, Follow Me to Zion, published in 2013.

Archibald McPhail traveled with his family to America from Scotland in order to join with the Saints in Zion. Sadly, Archibald did not survive long enough to reach the Salt Lake Valley, passing away three days before the Willie Handcart Company arrived in the valley. However, his life of exemplary sacrifice stands as a testament to the man he was. The following account was featured in the book, Follow Me to Zion, published in 2013.

On October 23, after crossing Rocky Ridge in a blizzard, Archibald found that one of the women in his group was missing.

It was a cold, lonely walk as Archibald returned to seek the lost one. He eventually found her freezing, fearful, and without hope. She had reached a creek that she was afraid to cross because the ice might break and she would fall in. She reasoned that she was dying anyway and did not want to die with wet clothing frozen to her body.

Archibald called for her to come across the ice to him, but no amount of coaxing would change her mind. He finally went to her, gathered her up, and started back across the creek. Their combined weight broke the ice. Archibald was soaked in the frigid water, but the rescued woman was safe and dry.

After trudging almost four miles through wind and cold, they stumbled into the camp, where “few tents were pitched.” Archibald was met by his loving teenage daughter, who helped him under a handcart, covered it with a half-frozen tent, and then kept vigil by his side the rest of the night. Three times the wind blew the tent cover off the rude shelter. Three times Henrietta replaced it and brushed the snow from her father’s face.