Fire of the Covenant

by Gerald N. Lund

Elder Spencer went on. “As Brother Willie has indicated, the four of us were sent here to act as agents for the Perpetual Emigrating Fund. We stand ready to help you in any way possible to further your journey to Zion.”

  He stopped and the smile on his face slowly died. When he began again the crowd quickly became very, very still.

  “Brothers and sisters, I must tell you that we did not expect more emigrants to come this season. Yes, we heard recently from some of our people traveling west that more companies were on their way, but that was only a few days ago. We hoped that perhaps you would stay over in New York until next season. It is very late now. We have already outfitted and sent off three handcart companies in the last six weeks. The last one left just a few days ago. We thought that was it. In fact, we were packing up our things and getting ready to start west ourselves.”

  Now a buzz swept through the crowd.

  Maggie was staring at her mother. Too late? She had left James and Scotland and a job that helped her support the family, and now they were being told they were too late? What did the Church agents expect them to do? troop back to the railway station? climb back on the cars and return home? The Scottish in her flared in irritation.

  “What will we do, Mama?” Hannah asked.

  “It will be all right,” Mary soothed. “Let’s listen and see what they say.”

  Daniel Spencer sighed, shaking his head slowly. “To have this many people show up now . . . This will tax our abilities greatly. We have exhausted our lumber supply. We have very little canvas left for the tents. We don’t even have a place for you to sleep tonight.” There was a long, long silence. Then in a low voice he concluded, “Our resources and funds are nearly gone.”

  James G. Willie had gone rigid. “But Brother Spencer, President Richards said he had written to tell you of our coming.”

  Spencer was a middle-aged man of medium build and height. He was clean shaven, and his complexion had been marred some years before by acne or some other infection. His hair and sideburns were very curly and combed back from a high forehead. All of these combined to make him look stern, almost grim. His mood at the moment did little to dispel that impression.

  “I suppose he did, Brother Willie, but the mail from Europe—especially out here on the frontier—is very unreliable. Your arrival comes as a great shock to us.”

  Millen Atwood raised his hand. “We are not the last,” he said loudly. “Another ship was supposed to leave about three weeks after us.”

  Spencer whirled, as did all of his companions. “What?”

  Willie nodded slowly. “Yes, it’s true. It could not be helped. With the announcement of the handcart plan, many more Saints responded than was expected. Brother Edward Martin is bringing another shipload. They were scheduled to leave three weeks after us.”

  “But it is already way past the time for departure,” Brother Grant said. “It is the last of June. By now we should be gone from Florence, and that’s three hundred miles farther on from here. And you’re saying there are others still three weeks behind you?”

  “What were we to do?” Brother Willie answered. “You must realize how things are in England. These people had quit their jobs, or were let go for being Latter-day Saints. They sold everything. When they came to Liverpool expecting passage, they had nowhere to stay, no way to make a living in England. As you know, England’s laws are very strict. Many of them would have been thrown into the poorhouse. President Richards did the only thing he could do.”

  Brother Kimball spoke up now. “How many are there in the next group?”

  Willie shook his head. “They were still forming it when we left. President Richards thought perhaps there might be as many as a hundred more than in our company.”

  “And you’re seven hundred?” Grant exploded.

  “Yes. Some stayed in New York to come next season, but yes, we are about seven hundred.”

  The agents huddled and began to talk in great excitement. The crowd erupted in a low roar of sound. Daniel Spencer raised his hand and shouted for order. He had to shout again, and then again a third time before he got their attention.

  “Brethren and sisters, obviously this news is distressing to us as it is to you. There is no question but what it is very late in the season.” He took a quick breath. “In fact, President Young has counseled us to send no groups west if they cannot leave from Florence by June first.”

  Maggie felt sick. It was June twenty-sixth and they had just arrived.

  The head of the agents in Iowa City shook his head slowly. “This is not good.”

  Jane James touched her husband’s arm. “Surely we haven’t come this far only to stop, William?”

  “We must not lose faith.”

  A hand shot up near the front of the crowd. It was one of the English members, Eric saw.

  “Yes, brother?” Spencer said.

  “Some of us are not going by handcarts. We have sufficient means to go by wagon. What about us?”

  Spencer nodded. “We shall be forming one or two independent wagon companies—independent meaning that you can travel on your own without having to go with the handcarts. However, those of you who are in that category will be asked to delay your departure. If the weather does happen to turn cold, the risk to a wagon company is not as great as to the handcarts. You will be able to carry more food and supplies in the wagons than we can in carts. So you will follow after the handcart companies so you can give them aid if they need it.”

  “Thank you.”

  Mary was looking at Maggie, seeing the distress in her eyes. “We have to wait and see, Maggie. The Lord didn’t bring us here just to forsake us.”

  Before Maggie could answer, Brother Daniel Spencer cried out again. “Brothers and sisters, please!”

  The sound died quickly.

  “I’m sorry if we have appeared discouraged. There are hard realities we have to face. But . . .” the word hung in the air like a banner. “But it is not upon us that you are relying, it is upon the Lord. That’s why you’ve come. In obedience to His commandment.”

  Mary shot Maggie a triumphant look. It was nice to have your words validated so quickly.

  “We find it hard to believe that the Lord led you this far only to have you stopped. You’ve come in faith. Let’s not let faith die now.”

  Without conscious thought, Maggie began nodding slowly. Sarah reached out and laid a hand on her arm. “It will be all right, Maggie,” she murmured.

  Daniel Spencer’s face was resolute now, his voice firm. Any feelings of his being harsh or unfeeling were now completely dispelled. “Brothers and sisters, the coming of this many so late may have caught us off guard, but it hasn’t caught the Lord by surprise. He who knows all things will watch over our labors. If it is His will that we winter over here at Iowa City or at Florence, then we shall bow to that will. But until He tells us otherwise, we shall go forward with full faith. We shall go to work and secure those supplies that we need. We shall find the lumber. We shall secure the funds. We shall locate the flour we need.”

  Now all around the assembly, people were nodding as he punched out each sentence. There were smiles too. They were tentative, anxious, but also hopeful. And Maggie’s was one of those.

  Brother Spencer straightened to his full height. “Brethren and sisters, our outfitting camp is about two miles south of town. As yet we do not have tents enough for all of you. We are pleased to hear that you have sewn some together on your voyage. We shall take those to camp and set them up first thing tomorrow. Perhaps some of the women and children can come with us and stay. In the meantime Brother Webb has contracted with the local superintendent of the railroad to let us have use of one of the large engine sheds for the night.”

  He glanced toward the west, where far in the distance there was a line of gray clouds. “It looks like we may have rain, so you won’t want to be out in the open. Tomorrow the rest of you can come on down and we will go to work.”

  He stopped and smiled warmly at th
e faces of these people who were hanging on his every word. “Though we may sound dismayed, make no mistake, brothers and sisters. We are pleased that you have come. You are doing what you have been called upon to do, and we are proud to be associated with you in this great task.”

  Chapter Notes

  The details shared in this chapter about the journey from New York City to Iowa City are drawn from the Willie Company journal (see Turner, Emigrating Journals, pp. 1–10). Since the travel by rail and steamboat did not involve the same sacrifice as traveling by wagon and handcart, most of the journal entries that cover the “sail and rail” portions of the journey are not as detailed as those that cover the latter half of the company’s journey. However, by modern standards, it is clear that this portion of their travel had its own set of hardships.

  One author has written: “Mormons, because they almost always traveled in ‘emigrant cars’—that is, the cheap cars rather than the first-class and ‘palace’ cars—experienced most of the discomforts typical of mid-nineteenth-century railroading. Among the standard problems were crowding (up to eighty-four in each car), uncomfortable cars, poor heating, bad ventilation, dim lighting, marginal sanitary facilities, few if any sleeping arrangements, inadequate eating conveniences, and a lack of drinking water; loud noise, strong smells, jolting, shaking, vibration and fatigue; an abundance of dirt, lice, soot, sparks, smoke, and fire; gamblers, thieves, tramps, drunks, marauding soldiers, impolite railroad personnel, and ‘mashers’ who tried to ‘take advantage’ of women; loss of luggage; plenty of snow and ice; and such other inconveniences as sickness, bad breaks, animals on the tracks, derailments, accidents, wrecks, [and] delays” (Stanley B. Kimball, “Sail and Rail Pioneers,” pp. 30–31).

  The experience with the engineer who declared that he would drive the Mormons to hell is a true one, though it did not happen to the Willie Company as shown here (see Kimball, “Sail and Rail Pioneers,” p. 31).

  In the Willie Company journal, the entry for 26 June 1856, the day of their arrival at Iowa City, reads: “This morning at 7 a.m., we left and crossed the Mississippi by the steam ferry boat, and at 9 a.m. we left by rail for Iowa City. We arrived there at 1:30 p.m., and camped on the green, but in consequence of a thunderstorm approaching, we obtained possession of a large engine shed and remained there during the night, it raining in torrents all night. Many of the brethren from the camp visited and cordially welcomed us, and on their return, took a large number of the sisters to the camp with them” (in Turner, Emigrating Journals, p. 10).

  There seem to have been four Church agents operating in Iowa City at this time, and in both the Willie Company and the Martin Company journals frequent mention is made of Daniel Spencer as the presiding agent. All of these brethren, along with most of the leadership of the Willie and Martin Companies, had gone to England in 1852 or 1854 as missionaries and were returning home after almost four years of service.

  There is some confusion as to whether the Church agents in Iowa City had any advanced notice of the late companies. Three handcart companies consisting of about eight hundred Saints had already been outfitted and sent west. The last of these had left Iowa City on 23 June, just three days before the Thornton company arrived (see Hafen and Hafen, Handcarts to Zion, p. 193). If the agents did know of the coming of the last two shiploads, it couldn’t have been very long in advance, and so they were still caught off guard by the numbers and the lateness of the emigrants’ arrival (see ibid., pp. 91–92).

  The speech given by Daniel Spencer here is not based on any recorded address but seeks to capture some of the concerns these brethren faced with the arrival of two more shiploads of Saints. The reference to President Young’s counsel that companies were not to start west from Florence, Nebraska, (Winter Quarters) later than June first is accurate (see Christy, “Weather, Disaster, and Responsibility,” pp. 11–12). However, this seems to have been viewed more as a general rule than a specific directive. All of the first three companies of handcarts left Iowa City (three hundred miles east of Florence) after that deadline, and no one seemed too concerned about it.

  Book 3

  The Journey

  June – August 1856

  When I saw Brother [Edmund] Ellsworth come into this city covered with dust and drawing a handcart, I felt that he had gained greater honor than the riches of this world could bestow. . . . The honor any man can obtain by his faithfulness in this cause and kingdom is worth far more than all the honors and riches of the world.

  —Wilford Woodruff, address given in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, 6 October 1856

  Chapter 7

  Iowa City, Iowa

  I

  Friday, 27 June 1856

  President James G. Willie lowered his head and took a deep breath, obviously fighting for patience. Finally he looked up to face the anxious eyes that looked at him from every side. “Brothers and sisters,” he said slowly, “sleeping out in the open is just a temporary thing.”

  That didn’t seem to help much. There was a low murmur, much of it grumbling. They were at what the Iowa City residents called “the Mormon campground,” two miles south of town. After spending the previous night in town, they had just arrived at the camp and were gathered around President Willie and Brother Daniel Spencer, the chief agent here in Iowa.

  Maggie wasn’t too surprised at the mood. They had been ten days coming from New York. Those were long, miserable, monotonous days. Nights spent on jolting, swaying railway cars or on the decks of steamers or, in one case, on the cement floor of a warehouse didn’t provide significant amounts of sleep, and tempers were growing short.

  Brother Spencer had come to give them their instructions, but at the first mention of sleeping outside, a dismayed mutter had erupted and President Willie had jumped in. Now a thought struck him. “How many of you have never slept out beneath the stars before?”

  Maggie straightened and looked around as she and her family raised their hands. There was a rustle of astonishment. Fully three-quarters of the people had their hands in the air.

  Willie was surprised as well. “Hmm,” he said. Then he went on cheerfully. “Well, it is something that every free man and woman ought to do at least once in life. I think you’ll find it an invigorating experience.”

  He stepped back and Brother Spencer came forward. “It shouldn’t be for long. As we finish each new tent, we’ll assign people to them on the basis of need. Within the week, you should all have shelter.”

  “How many to a tent?” someone called out.

  “Twenty.” There were a few groans, but he went on quickly. “We’ll organize you into companies of hundreds. There are five tents per company, twenty people per tent. We’ll do that by families as much as possible, but there will have to be more than one family to a tent.”

  Maggie could sense the mood of the crowd beginning to relax. Brother Spencer’s easy manner and quick confidence seemed to be what they needed. Actually, she found the idea of sleeping outside intriguing. On the ship the berth above her and Sarah was just six or eight inches above them. Then had come the nightmare rides on the railway cars, which had no beds at all. A ceiling of stars and a “room” full of fresh air sounded wonderful to her.

  An elderly man stood up near the front. “I have to get up in the night,” he said, his eyes twinkling, “especially if I have a lot to drink. Any advice?”

  “Sleep on the far edge of the camp,” Spencer shot back without hesitation.

  The laughter was spontaneous and sustained. Several clapped their hands at the quickness of the answer. Mary looked at Maggie and smiled. The mood of the group was changing quickly. The man waved amiably and sat down again.

  “What about snakes?” another woman, a younger one, asked.

  “Aren’t any snakes around here,” Spencer said. “At least not poisonous ones. Too many people. And besides”—he was warming up to his audience—“all a prairie rattlesnake wants is a warm body to curl up next to during the night. So if you wake up and find s
omething with scales sleeping beside you, just say good morning and roll out of bed the other direction.”

  There was more laughter, but it was tentative, and several people, especially the women and children, looked at each other nervously. The agent instantly saw his mistake. “I was just joking, folks. There will be places along the trail where we’ll have to watch for rattlesnakes, but Iowa City isn’t one of them.”

  Levi Savage was one of the returning missionaries. He had been in Siam for two years and was one of the few in the company who had been across the trail several times before. Now he raised his hand. The agent saw it and nodded. “Brother Levi?”

  “You might also mention that snakes have a keen sense of smell. Since the last time any of us had a chance to bathe was in Chicago, I think it’s a pretty safe bet no snake with any sense at all is going to come within a hundred yards of our camp.”

  The people roared. They were all keenly aware of the ripe smell they carried with them.

  Spencer smiled and nodded. “Point well taken, Levi. Oh, and one other thing. You parents need to start letting your children go barefoot. It’s hard to keep young’uns in shoes on the trail, so most go barefoot. They’ll do fine once their feet toughen up.”

  He waited for a moment, but they had been warned about that back in England and so no one seemed too bothered. Then he became quite serious. “All right, folks. We’ll give you the rest of the day to get settled. Find a spot on the prairie and roll out your beds. Tomorrow we’ll start you sisters sewing tents while the brethren return to Iowa City and bring the baggage back to camp. The next day is the Sabbath. Worship services will be held at two o’clock. But come Monday morning, we will go to work full speed ahead. There is much to do.”

  He waited a moment, but now all were quiet. “Iowa City is only a short distance away. If you’ve got things you want to trade or money enough to buy supplies, there’ll be time for that. I hope you got rid of your English money in New York City. The merchants here will probably insist on American dollars. But most of you will be bartering for what you need. This is a good chance for you to divest yourselves of things that you won’t be taking with you. We just ask that you wait to go into town until after the work is done each day and that you let your leaders know if you’re going.”