The following account comes from the diary of Hannah Settle Lapizh, who crossed the plains in the Robinson Company of 1860. On April 14, 1910, Hannah, then 75 years old, brought together a group of 50 women at her Salt Lake home at 381 4th Avenue and formed them into a group determined never to forget our pioneer heritage. That organization is known today as the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. This story happened near Fort Laramie, Wyoming.
“Of course it was a dreadfully hard journey and like the other companies, we suffered from lack of food. One day on the journey there was a great deal of suffering owing to the scarcity of provisions. As we were near a trading post, I decided to see what I could do. I left the rest of the company and went to a store where I offered the proprietors my jewelry in exchange for a little flour, which at that time and place was $10.00 per hundred pounds. I soon observed that he was not going to make the exchange and as I turned around I saw a very tall man, perhaps a trapper or a miner, dressed in a beaded buckskin suit standing in the store. He eyed the jewelry which I had in my hand and finally said, ‘What do you want for that thing’ (meaning the jewelry). For a moment, I hesitated and then the answer seemed to come to me by inspiration, ‘Seven hundred pounds of flour, sir,’ I answered. He took the jewelry and sent the flour to the camp. I gave it to the commissary of the handcart company who dealt it out judiciously to the hungry travelers, the last measure, half a pint per person, being distributed on the day we crossed Green River.
“While we were being ferried across that stream a shout of joy went up from our company as the word was passed that a relief train sent by the Church authorities had just arrived with provisions for us. With this relief our main troubles were over and we arrived safely in Salt Lake City August 27, 1860. Our company was one of the last companies to make the journey in that pathetic way—pushing handcarts across the western prairies and mountains. We are the crusaders of the 19th century.”
This is only a sample of the miracles, faith, and courage of our pioneer fathers and mothers. They were truly ordinary people who did extraordinary things in the name of the Lord and should not be forgotten.