Heritage Gateways

Pioneer Date Summary

Previous | Next

04/22/1847 - Crockett

Location: Fullerton, Nebraska - Location: 41:21:48N 97:58:08W Elevation: 1630 feet

Date: April 22, 1847

On the Loup Fork, Nebraska:
There was much joking in the morning because during the night some of the men had fallen asleep at their guard post and other men would steal their guns. Even Stephen Markham's hat was taken. The pioneer company traveled two miles and then crossed over Looking Glass Creek at 8:24 a.m. The stream was only about fifteen feet across. They observed many otter on the water. Numerous swallows were seen flying and an eagle's nest was spotted. William Clayton went ahead on foot and stopped to see the view on top of a high mound, the site of an Indian grave.

After eight miles, at noon, they stopped to feed the horses and cattle at a stream called Beaver Creek, which was about thirty feet wide and two feet deep. The temperature was sixty-eight degrees. Many of the men went to work on improving preparing the banks of the creek to cross. At 2 p.m., the company hitched up and started again. Their first obstacle was to cross over Beaver Creek. The opposite side of the creek was so steep that it required twelve men, pulling on ropes, to bring the wagons up the banks. [They crossed over Beaver Creek about a mile south of the present-day city of Genoa, Nebraska].

Howard Egan wrote: "This afternoon we traveled through a beautiful country, with the Loup Fork on one side and a ridge on the other and groups of trees that resembled orchards in an old settled country." The pioneers arrived at the Pawnee Missionary Station and set up camp for the night. [This government farm houses, shops, and other buildings were burned by the Sioux in June, 1846. In July, George Miller had led a group to salvage provisions at the Presbyterian mission and to bring the Missionaries back to Council Bluffs. Later, several hundred Saints arrived to this point but then headed for the Ponca Village. Jacob Gates provided leadership for several families who remained with the Pawnee for a few months. In October, as counseled by Brigham Young, Jacob Gate's group returned to Winter Quarters.]

Howard Egan described: "There is quite a large farm fenced in and some very good buildings on it. We had plenty of corn fodder and hay for our teams. It is the prettiest location that I have seen this side of the Mississippi River." The corn and hay had been gathered Jacob Gate's group during the previous fall.

William Clayton added these words about the settlement: "The Plumb Creek runs through it, and but a few rods from the missionaries' house. Its banks are lined with a little timber. . . . There are a number of good log houses here, considerable land under improvement enclosed by rail fences, and a good quantity of hay and fodder, large lots of iron, old and new, several plows and a drag. All apparently left to rot. There are also two stoves, etc."

Lorenzo Young wrote: "I went and viewed the houses where they once dwelt, but it looked lonesome, and I thought those that were driven from there had suffered something as well as us. It is a pleasant location, and people could live at home if they could be let alone."

At 6 p.m., George A. Smith had a mishap with his horse. Thomas Bullock recorded: "As George A. Smith was watering his horse, he [the horse] sprang suddenly, throwing George against the bank, the horse having his hind foot on G.A.'s foot, & his fore foot on G's breast, in which situation he continued until the brethren took the horse off him. It was very fortunate that the place was muddy, so he escaped with only a few bruises, having his life lengthened out & spared to him, for further usefulness."

Captain Thomas Tanner drilled his men in the use of the cannon. A meeting was held and Brigham Young forbid the men from taking anything from the mission. However, since James Case had been in charge of this mission for some time, and the government owed him money, he was permitted to sell things from the mission to the men and report to the government. [James Case did not receive his pay after Major Harvey learned that he had joined the Church. He had been baptized at this Pawnee settlement last July by those who went there with George Miller.] A guard of only twenty men was raised for the night. They no longer feared that the Pawnee would trouble them, but they were worried that the Sioux might try to steal some horses. At 7 p.m., the temperature was sixty degrees. William Clayton again spoke with some of the men about constructing an odometer to measure the distance traveled each day. Several of the men thought it was a great idea and were confident that the machine could be constructed.

Winter Quarters, Nebraska:
The High Council met at the Council House in the evening to receive the report of the committee that visited with the Omaha Indians. They reported that the Indians said they would stop killing the cattle if the Saints would haul two hundred dollars worth of corn from Missouri which Indian Agent John Miller had brought for them. Parley P. Pratt asked the members, "Will we haul the corn or not?" No firm answer was given. Elder Pratt said that he wanted a better way of herding their cattle to help find a peaceful solution to the problem with the Omahas. If this their cattle continued to be killed, harsh measures would be needed.

Mormon Battalion, at Los Angeles, California:
Colonel Cooke gave orders have James Pace lead a company of twenty-nine men to relieved Company C stationed at Cajon Pass. That detail was to return to Los Angeles to receive their pay of forty-two dollars. In the evening, Captain Jefferson Hunt called the men together for a Church meeting. David Pettigrew and Levi Hancock preached on "the necessity of keeping ourselves from being polluted and remember our covenants and told those who had sinned to sin no more." Captain Hunt was the concluding speaker.

Sources:

• Howard Egan's Diary, Pioneering the West, 27-8
• Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 3:155-56
• Charles Harper Diary, 17
• Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young, Utah Historical Quarterly, 14:156
• Appleton Milo Harmon Goes West, 17
• Erastus Snow Journal Excerpts, Improvement Era 14:818
• William Clayton's Journal, 88-91
• Bagley, ed., The Pioneer Camp of the Saints, 127-28
• Brooks, On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout, 1:251
• Stephen F. Pratt; BYU Studies Vol. 24, No. 3, pg. 376
• Journal of Henry Standage in Frank Alfred Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 218

Source: 150 Years Ago Today ©These materials have been created by David R. Crockett. Copies of these materials may be reproduced for teacher and classroom use. When distributing these materials, credit must be given to David R. Crockett. These materials may not be published, in whole or part, or in any other format, without the written permission of Mr. Crockett, Tucson Az, crockett@goodnet.com.