In the winter of 1856 a very sad thing happened. That year some emigrants came to Utah in handcart companies. Small, two wheeled carts were made at the place of starting in Iowa. On these carts were loaded baggage and provisions, and the men and boys pulled them across the plains. Sometimes the women and girls helped. A few ox teams usually hauled the heaviest loads in wagons, and in this way the Saints walked and pulled their carts over the thirteen hundred miles of their journey. This plan succeeded very well for those who started early and reached the valley in good time, but a number of companies started too late and were caught in fierce snow storms in the mountains. Many of these poor travelers died from hunger and cold, and if it had not been for some of the brethren who came out from Salt Lake to their help, no doubt most of them would have perished.
Topics.—1. Making settlements. 2. Trouble with the Indians. 3. Organizing Utah Territory. 4. Famine of 1855-6. 5. The handcart companies.
Questions and Review.—1. Where was the second settlement in Utah made? 2. When and by whom was Ogden settled? 3. Tell about the settlement of Provo. 4. What trouble did the Provo settlers have? 5. What was President Young’s Indian policy? 6. Who was Chief Walker? 7. What was done March 4, 1849? 8. What did the people wish to name the state? 9. When was Utah Territory organized? 10. Who was the first governor? 11. Name the first missionaries to France; to Denmark; to Sweden; to Italy; to the Society Islands. 12. Tell something about these missions. 13. Tell about the work of the Church leaders in making settlements, etc. 14. What was the cause of the famine in 1855-6? 15. What were the handcart companies?
THE “UTAH WAR.”
The president of the United States appoints the leading officers of a territory. Many of the officers sent to Utah by the president were good men and did justice to “Mormon” and Gentile alike; but some were men who could see no good in the Saints, and were therefore always trying to oppress them. Such men were Judges Stiles and Drummond, and Secretary Ferris, who were in Utah in 1856. At last they left the territory and sent in a report to the president. In it Judge Drummond said that the “Mormons” were traitors to the United States, and would not obey its laws; that they had a secret organization whose duty it was to murder all who opposed them; that the court records had been burned; that the government officials were in danger of their lives, etc. Like reports were made by other persons, and the result was that a strong feeling was created in the East against the people of Utah.
On the 24th of July, 1857, the people of Salt Lake City were having a grand celebration in Big Cottonwood canyon. They were having a happy time. The band played, the choirs sang, the cannon roared, while the Stars and Stripes waved from trees and mountain peaks. Suddenly four dusty travelers rode into the camp. They brought news from the East, and startling news it was: the president of the United States had sent an army to Utah to establish law and order among the “Mormons!”