Heritage Gateways

A Pioneer Legacy for our family

by David Johnson

My Wife and I, with our 4 young children live in Forks, Washington. In February of this year we were in our hometown of Logan, Utah, for a funeral of our 97 year old Grandma. While glancing in the local paper one night, we first learned of the 150 year Mormon Trail Wagon Train events of the summer of 1997. We knew that we both had a great legacy of early pioneers in our ancestor linage and this seemed to be something that we needed to do, not only for my wife and I, but for our children. With our children not growing up in Utah, at the feet of grandparents that would tell the old stories of their parents and grandparents that crossed the plains after joining the church, to come to Utah, we felt that they need some great experience in their lives to help them understand their heritage. We had missed out on the re-enactment events of the Brooklyn that took place the summer before, and we were not going to miss out on this one. My wife had 5 ancestors, Newell Bullen and family, that sailed on that ship from New York to San Francisco in 1846. Soon after returning to Washington, we got reservation for 3 days with the wagon train from Torrington to Guernsey, WY. This would be quite short but we had to fit it in with school and a 1300 mile trip just to get to Wyoming in early June.

Some time in May, I started to get the idea that I needed to build a handcart to take with us and pull in the re-enactment. I started an all out search for some old wheels that could be used in the construction of such a cart. For weeks I searched but could find nothing that seemed as if it would work. We live here in a rain forest, it rains more that 130 inches and year, and wooden wheels with steel rims just do not last very well here even if stored in out of the weather. I had pretty much given up on finding the wheels which would enable me to construct the cart, when I was called from a town 60 miles away with information about 4 old fire pumper wagon wheels that were not in very good shape, but might work. This was only 3 days before we were to leave for Wyoming. I should have passed on this idea at this point, but felt very compelled to build this cart. We knew of a lot on great great or(great)or(great)grandparents (I will hereafter abbreviate great with an ^ for convience) that had come to Utah between 1847 and 1869, but had no knowledge of any of them being part of the 10 handcart companies. I went over and looked at the wheels, purchased them and had to frantically have an machine shop make an axle that would work for them. Most of that night I was busy scraping of the bright red paint that had covered them, trying to restore them to more of an 1850's look For the next two days and nights I build a cart, trying to keep fairly close to the instructions that I had been reading on the Internet. I had no hardwoods for construction so build them out of local Firs and Cedars from my back yard, trying to use as much wooden pegging in the joints as possible. When I loaded it on top of the Suburban to head for Wyoming, the preservative was still very wet and It was raining hard so I was not sure that it would get a very good chance to dry, even with the constant 60 mph winds.

We connected with the end of the Oregon train near Portland, OR and followed it backwards all the way to where we met the train near the Wyoming Nebraska boarder. We had good reasons to stop at many of the Mormon train sites all through Wyoming as we went. We paid special attention to the Willy and Martin handcart sites along the way. The last time we traveled this way, we knew nothing about these sites. The trail was still snowed in between Rock Creek and Rocky Ridge so we chose to spend more time at Martin's Cove. This was time well spent. We passed through the area of Three Crossings, WY where my wife's ^^^Grandfather, John Farnes died in September, 1857 while helping set up camp there along the sweetwater river. The more we traveled along, the stronger the emotional pull became for our ancestors that had traveled along this train many many years ago. We knew of about 26 ^^ or ^^^ grandparents that had come this way.

We spent three very enjoyable days with the wagon train. The first day was on the wagons. We knew that most of our ancestors came with the wagon trains, so we had to try that. After riding for 29 miles in the back of one of those wagons it is easy to see why most of them walked. The second day was a rest day at Ft. Laramie. It was a day full of stories and history. It also was a good day to get the handcart finished. I had not planned on a cover for the cart nor had time to build one. After feeling the heat and sun on the first day, I knew that our very small children that would be riding in the cart would need some protection from both. Our neighbor had given me a tarp as we left Forks to help keep the rain off and it was the perfect size for the construction of the cover. All the dirt and paint stains even gave it a very authentic look. On the third day we finally got the chance to pull the cart with the handcart company. It was a lot as I had expected, but nothing, I am sure, as to what the companies 140 years went through, day after day. I did however have wheel problems as they did. My rain forest wheels began to dry in the Wyoming arid climate. The wood separated from the iron rim by 1/4 inch and one even snapped. A little bit of heavy wrapping and we went on. Our children's feet may tell another story, but the pain will go away and the good memories will hopefully continue.

The wagon trip was one that we will never forget, but the story starts to unfold as we return home and dig further into our genealogy. Over the next weeks after returning home, we soon cane to realize that out legacy was much more extensive and interesting that we had ever imagined. We came to find out that we had 23 ^^Grandparents, 33 ^^^Grandparents and 10 ^^^^Grandparents that crossed the plains before the railroad arrived in Utah. 13 of them were in Nauvoo for endowments in the temple and then left there in 1846, heading west. We found the handcart connection, my ^^Grandfather, Jens Christiansen and family, seventh company of 1857. Our family has been deeply touched by this experience. We have so many more questions now that need to be answered. Our Ancestors have left us a legacy of faith, trials, perseverance and sacrifice that will boost the spirits of our family long into the future.

I have included a list of these pioneers and would appreciate any help that I can get to put more information into the heritage. You may contact us through e-mail at nwsquawk@olypen.com.

Last Name (Maiden)	First Name	Birthday	Plains Crossing	Relation
Andersen (Hansen)	Karen Marie	29Sep1798	1857-1859	^^^GM
Ashment	Thomas	15Nov1827	1865-1869	^^^GF
Ashment (Huggins)	Ann	27Aug1827	1865-1869	^^^GM
Bullen	Herschel	10Jan1840	1846	^^GF
Bullen	Newell	18Aug1809	1846	^^^GF
Bullen (Atkinson)	Clarissa Judkins	20May1806	1846	^^^GM
Christensen	Mads	24Mar1825	1857	^^GF
Christensen (Jensen)	Maren Johanne	21May1827	1857	^^GM
Christiansen	Fredrick	20Mar1822	1850-1869	^^^GF
Christiansen (Larsen)	Johanna Margreth	19Apr1819	1850-1869	^^^GM
Corbridge	John	12May1842	1852-1853	^^GF
Corbridge	William	9Mar1808	1852-1853	^^^GF
Corbridge (Lee)	Hannah	30Dec1847	1859	^^GM
Corbridge (Parker)	Ellen	7Jul1817	1852-1853	^^^GM
Farnes	George	29Apr1838	-1863	^^GF
Farnes	John Burnside	29Dec1806	1863	^^^GF
Farnes (Barham)	Mary Ann	7Feb1837	-1863	^^GM
Farnes (Isacke)	Ann	28Sep1803	1863	^^^GM
Griffiths	Thomas	24Jun1834	-1863	^^GF
Griffiths (Arbon)	Elizabeth	16Jun1842	-1863	^^GM
Harris	McGee	8Nov1800	1846-1851	^^^^GF
Harris (Givens)	Mary	27Feb1802	1846-1851	^^^^GM
Hughes	Jonathan	19Feb1863	1863-1874	^GF
Hughes	Thomas F.	1Apr1833	1863-1874	^^GF
Hughes (Jones)	Mary	2May1838	1863-1874	^^GM
Hyde	Heman	30Jun1788	1846-1847	^^^^GF
Hyde	Rosel	20May1816	1846-1847	^^^GF
Hyde (Cowles)	Mary Ann	31Dec1820	1846-1847	^^^GM
Hyde (Tilton)	Polly Wyman	20Jan1786	1846-1847	^^^^GM
Jensen Jorgensen Johnson	Jorgen	24May1841	-1861	^^GF
Jones	William	12Feb1799	1846-1859	^^^GF
Jones (Hughes)	Elizabeth	22Mar1803	1846-1859	^^^GM
Jorgensen	Jens	24Apr1807	-1861	^^^GF
Jorgensen (Rasmusdatter)	Dorthe Kjerstine	23Mar1801	-1861	^^^GM
Lee	George	27Sep1824	1859	^^^GF
Lee (Peaker)	Sarah	14Nov1825	1859	^^^GM
Mortensen (Andersen)	Inger Kathrine	13Aug1852	1862?	^^GM
Mortensen (Nielsen)	Karen Marie	18Sep1815	1862?	^^^GM
Nelson	Chresten	19Nov1831	1851-1853	^^GF
Nelson	Knud Christensen	24Nov1793	1851-1857	^^^GF
Nelson (Christensen)	Karen Margrette	28Nov1803	1851-1857	^^^GM
Nelson (Israelson)	Mary Christina	1Jul1832	-1857	^^GM
Nielson Peterson	Peter	21Mar1840	1850-1869	^^GF
Palmer	Abraham	12Dec1805	1847	^^^^GF
Palmer (Pierce)	Patience Delila	15Feb1809	1847	^^^^GM
Parker	John	17Aug1775	1852-1853	^^^^GF
Parker (Hesken)	Ellen	23Jan1778	Died Nauvoo	^^^^GM
Peart	Jacob	3Jun1801	1846-1848	^^^GF
Peart (Ashment)	Elizabeth	23Sep1849	1865-1869	^^GM
Peart (Loss)	Fylinda Angela	23Nov1826	1846-1848	^^^GM
Petersen (Andersen)	Ane	31Mar1809	1850-1869	^^^GM
Petersen (Christiansen)	Johansine Christiane Augusta	18Aug1850	1850-1869	^^GM
Smith	Benjamin	19Jul1824	1853	^^GF
Smith (Hobson)	Mary	14May1792	1850-1863	^^^GM
Smith (Sidebottom)	Ann	4Apr1829	1853	^^GM
Stephens	Alexander	13Apr1813	-1852	^^^GF
Stephens (Palmer)	Ann Eliza	28Aug1834	1847	^^^GM
Taylor	James Caldwell	27Feb1837	1846-1847	^^GF
Taylor (Hyde)	Sarah Mariah	30Apr1843	1846-1847	^^GM
Taylor (Patrick)	Elizabeth	9Dec1793	1846-1847	^^^GM
Thompson	Edmund Hobart	17Jul1829	-1867	^^^GF
Thompson (Welborn)	Frances Rachel	28Jan1834	-1867	^^^GM
Whittle	John Casper	28May1835	1846-1853	^^^GF
Whittle	Thomas Levi	21May1812	1846-1853	^^^^GF
Whittle (Fuller)	Mary Amelia	18Jun1817	1846-1853	^^^^GM
Whittle (Harris)	Mary Ann	1Apr1839	1846-1851	^^^GM
Woodland (Nielsen)	Nielsine Dorthea	15Feb1852	-1877	^^GM