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By Handcart to Utah: The Account of C.C.A Christensen
https://files.lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/articles/ByHandcartToUtahTheAccountOfCCAChristensen.pdf
Av: CCA Christensen
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Volume 66, Number 4, Winter 1985
Jame< A. llan~on Dirt>etor
Jarne~ E. Pnller !Ji~torian
Patricia Gaster A~i~tant F.rlitor
By Handcart to Utah: The Account of C. C. A. Chri tensen . ... 333 Translated from Danish by Richard L. J nsen
"A Thousand and One Little Delavs":
Training the Missouri River at Omaha, 1877-1883 .......... 349 By Lawrence Carroll Allin
Ernst H. Herminghaus, Landscape Architect ........ . ..... .. 372 By Richard K. Sutton
Chancellor James Hulme Canfield:
His Impact on the University of Nebraska, 1891-1895 ........ 392 By La Von Mary Gappa
The Nebraska State Historical Society in 1985 ............... .411 B~· James A. Hanson
Book Reviews . ... ...... .................. .. . .. . ........ 450 Edited by Anne Polk Diffendal
On the Bookshelf ....... .. .. ................. ..... .. . .... 463 Edited hy Anne Polk Diffendal
New Arrivals in Genealogy . ..... .. ... ... . . ...... .. .. .... . 465 By Ann Reinert
Index ............. ... . .... .. .. .. .... . ... ........... . .. 472
Nebraska !Tistory (publication number ISSN-002R-18.S9) i published quarterly by the Nebraska tale Historical Society, 1.500 R Street, Lincoln, Nehrac;ka 68.1'>08, and distributed to members as part of their duec;. ( 1cmbership: Annual $8.00; Con tributing $10.00: Supporting $2.5.00; Corporation-Business $.50.00; Lif $100.00; Joint-Spouse Life $1.'50 .00.) Single issues, $3.00. CommtJnications should be addressed to thP editor. The oc1ety do s not ac;sume rf'sponsibility for c;tatem nts made by its contributors. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln , J."ebra<>ka. Copyright 198.5 by the Nchra.ska State Historical ociety. Postmast r: nd address changes to Nebraska tate Historical . oci tv, Box 82.5.54, Lincoln. Nebraska 68.101.
Magazin<''i ret~trncd to the Society hy the poc;t office I ·ausc of incorrect addr o;es will he forwarded only on re<'eipt of $2.00 to cover remailing costs. We regret that in creased poo;tal rates makes this step necessary .
C. C. A . Chrisfrnsen. about 1867. Courtesy of Historical Department, Church of ]f'SII.'i Christ of LottC'r-day Saints.
By Handcart to Utah:
The Account of C. C. A. Christensen Translated from Danish by Richard L. Jensen
INTRODUCTION
Between 1856 and 1860 approximately 3,000 Latter-day Saints made the overland journey from Iowa City, Io va, to Salt Lake City, Utah, carrying their provisions and belongings in handcarts. This novel mode of travel was an attempt to help emigrants with limited resources gather to Utah at a time when their church and its Perpetual En1igrating Fund had in
curred heavy indebtedness for teams and wagon in earlier years. Despite the tragedy of hvo Mormon handcart com panies caught in the snow in late 1856, Brigham Young en couraged the continuation of the handcart cheme, which was quite effective under favorable circumstances. By 1861 another approach, using mostly teams and wagons from Utah, proved more sati factory, and a colorful chapter in American pioneer transportation came to an end.
One of those vvho pulled a handcart in 1857 was Carl Chris tian Anton Christensen (1831-1912), a Danish immigrant. Christen en's reminiscences of the trek, much like his w 11- known paintings of Mormon history, incorporate charmingly detailed vignett s into the telling of the broader story. 1 Thus Christensen shares with the reader a feeling for the nature of the human experience of cro , ing plains and mountains with very limited resources. There are not more than a half dozen detailed accounts by participants of traveling by handcart, so Christensen's, published here in English translation for the first time, is significant. 2
Born in Copenhagen, Christen en was apprenticed to a decorative painter and was imultaneously studying at the Royal Academy of Art when at the age of 18 in 1850, he vas converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Christensen's oil painting Handcart Pioneers Coming Through the Mountains depicts the final stage of the long journey that began 1,375 miles away in Iowa City. Note the Scandinavian cap on the man pulling the lead handcart. Courtesy of .1rs. L1ary Christensen Condie (owner) and Historical Department, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
C. C. A. Christensen 335
Eager to share his nev-found faith with others he Vas called in 1853 to serve as a proselytizing missionary, first in Denmark and later that year in Norway.
Among many young Danish converts also called to be mis sionaries were brothers Carl Christian Nikolai Dorius and Johan Frederik Ferdinand Dorius. They and Christensen became lifelong friends. In 1857 they were released from mis sionary labors and given permission to emigrate to Utah-the fulfillment of a fond dream for most European Latter-day Saints in the 19th century. They emigrated with a large com pany of Scandinavian Latter-day. Saints, including three Norwegian girls whom the friends planned to marry in Salt Lake City. Christensen's narrative begins with their departure from Norway in March 1857. From Liverpool, England, they sailed for the United States April 25, 1857, aboard the American ship Westmoreland.
The present account is translated from writings of C. C. A. Christensen published in1 the Salt Lake City Bikuben (The Beehive), a Latter-day Saint Danish-Norwegian newspaper. I have attempted to amalgamate several separate accounts into one, because each contained useful information. In order to avoid too severely fragmenting the narrative, I have retained a few overlapping details. In some cases I have divided long sentences and paragraphs for greater ease in reading. 3
THE REMINISCENCE
In the spring of 1857 C. C. N. Dorius and his brother Ferdi nand ... were released from their missions with permission to emigrate. C. C. A. [Christensen] was given the same privilege, and [C.] Dorius and the last-mentioned embarked at Kris tiania [now Oslo] directly for Hull (England], while F. Dorius and the emigrants left for Copenhagen. The current of our lives had now again merged, and now it took an entirely new direction.
Having reached Liverpool, we were able to see and talk with the renowned Apostle Orson Pratt for the first time. 4 He received us with great kindness; but with the dignity of his manner, the veneration his sermons and pamphlets had in
stilled in us increased even further when we entered his actual I
Nebraska History
presenc . W c at t nded a meeting at which he spoke on the . u bj t "The Patriarch Jacob blesses his two grandsons, Ephraim arc M anasseh .. and illustrated his remarks by laying his hands upon our h "ads as the two young m n, with hiinself as the patriarch. The fc ling that thrilled both of us on this oc
casion was almost one of mixed joy and pride, and although V!'e understood only a very little English, it still seems to me that at that time we caught the gist of the Apostle's remarks verv w ll.
When V!'C had finally c me on board the ship lVestmorelond, 'vhich was to take us across the Atlantic Ocean, w and other brethren were counseled to marry before we left Liv rpool I-Iarbor. ~ All three of us had with us our chosen maid ns. intending to enter into matrimony at the con
clusion of the journey ralh r than at its beginning, but we found absolutely no rea on to obj ct, and therefore all three [couples] were married that very hour by Elder John Kay, who was at that time on a mission in England. C. Dorius's bride was Ellen G. Rolfsen from Risor. [C. C. A. Christensen's bride was Elise Rosalie Scheel [ Fredrikshald. J(j
The voyage across th ocean, which took about five weeks, proceeded without any unusual occurrences, and we landed at hiladelp ia on Pt>ntccost May 31, 1857]. Our first view of the
ovely Ian scape along the De aV!'are inspired us greatly. [Christen. en must have b n inspired to an extent before ar riving in Anlf'rica. He composed the following poem while aboard th YVrstmoreland at sea. In the original Danish it has a marching rhythm.]
HANDCART SONG FROM 1857
Con1e, brethren, let us all gladly
Go tog ther to Salt Lake City,
And if w get tired, don't be faint-hearted;
Spit in your fist, and that's all there is to it.
We'r going to our beloved home,
Alwa 'S forward. Dulidu lidu. 7
And if it~ em a little hard, still we can take it.
The handcart does feel strange and new,
It i~ true, from one view~
But every fellow in some way
C. C. A. Chri.yten'>en
Will take hold better every day
Till in the end it goes right neatly,
Doesn't it? Dulidulidu.
And even if it seems a little hard, we can take it.
So it goes, up and down
More and more, for several weeks,
Till we get up on the mountain.
At its top we will stop.
There Salt Lake Valley we will see
And a little snow-dulidulidu.
337
The last tug was a little hard, but we could take it.
Then we go merrily down again;
Come, my follower and friend!
Our trip is now almost at an end.
We are free as a bee.
Now we quickly hurry on
Toward our joyful home-dulidulidu
And even if it was a little hard,
We could take it.
The journey then continued by rail to Iowa City, which was the westernmost point the iron horse had reached, and there we were to begin our honeymoon trip with handcarts.
At the campground11 we encountered our first trials, in that we had to give up books which were bound and had been kept carefully for a long time, particularly our "Skandinaviske Stjerner" ["Scandinavian Stars"]. 9 We were only allowed to take with us fifteen pounds in weight for each person who was to travel with the handcarts, and that included our tinware for eating, bedding, and any clothing we did not wish to carry ourselves. Thus I remember that I sold my best trousers to a passing ox driver for twenty-five cents, and others had to leave valuable articles behind at the campground without any com
pensation. Books were left there in large numbers, and their loss has been felt afterwards with sorrow by others as well as myself.
We were given a returning missionaf)j by the name of [James P.] Park, a native of Scotland, as captain of the hand cart company. The less said about this unfortunate choice of a
Nebraska History
lead r for st h a peopl as us, the better for him. We suffered greatly the first two r thr e hundred miles, traveling through th state of ow a until we r ached the Missouri River. The hot season of the year, frequent rainshowers, almost bottomless roads, exertion a1 d diet to vhich we were unaccustomed, and th unreasonabl . in onsiderate course of action pursued by our leader r ark], brought about much sickness and many deaths among 11s. 10 But through all these trials the brothers Darius and were as before, always one another's in
s parabl , faithful helpers. Each of us had a little part of the company to help organize. Then as afterwards, Carl Darius was the Sam a i tan among the . ick; the encouraging, helpful friend and brother to the despondent and the exhausted. That was no les. true of his young wife, and I must say the same of the ther nev.dy-married wiv sand of F. Dorius.
Aft r we were reorganiz d in Florence (Nebraska J, and were given our w 11-known Danish brother Christian Chris tiansen as our leader, things went much better. 11 The very weak st persons vvcre left behind; we took a number with us who we e half xhausted. He [Christiansen] began with very short lai1y travel and walked the entire way himself in ord r to b ttcr bC' near at hand and to be able to assess the strength of th<:> pe0ple,, rath r than riding horseback like other
aptains. His g ntle, fatherly treatment will never be forgot ten by those "vhom he led across the plains and the mountains in 18.57.
Our train con!"ist d of between thirty and forty handcarts. Each of thcsC' haci a average of five persons and was loaded with what ittle bedding, tin eating ware, and other equip ment vv-as a lowed '2 •••• In addition to that, we were to have a couple of hundr d pounds of provisions in each handcart. Moreover, it was usually nee sary for small children to ride in the handcart "vhich the father, mother, and older brothers and sisters of the family pulled.
One of th<:> people we ad was a blind sister from Norway, who was about ixty years old, and she walked the whole way. But she was ahvays ch rfn), and a she pushed the handcart her young daughter wa hel 1ing to pull we could often hear her m rry laught r when she unexpectedly found herself wading through one or anoth r of the many streams of water which were found along our way. "Now, Mother, we are
C. C. A. Christensen 339
about to cross some water, "we could hear her daughter warn ing her, "Is it deep?" or "How deep is it?" vve h ard in reply from the blind woman; and when the explanation was
satisfactory, she walked cheerfully out into the water. One of the most difficult streams that we had to ford was Loup Fork, a tributary of the Platte River. At the time we crossed, it was very wide, and besides that the bottom was loose sand, which was constantly shifting. The sick and the blind woman were allowed to ride in one of our freight wagons, for we had three wagons drawn by mules, which car ried our tents and cookware, and in extreme emergencies one or more of those who were sick or fatigued were allowed to ride. But such a ride was an object of dread for most, for to be driven over rocky and uneven roads, and with only the tents under oneself, was for sick people usually only a means of in creasing their suffering, and in some cases of hastening their death.
At the river mentioned above, Loup Fork, several in teresting and almost amusing scenes also took place. A large Indian encampment' 3 was located at that time right at the fording place, and several of the young girls were ferried across by sitting behind a half-naked Indian on horseback, having to hold on to him around the waist in order not to fall off. Those of the emigrants who dared to wade had to hold on to each other in order not to be carried downstream in the strong current, and now and then the handcart also lost its footing and threatened to leave the company, at which time extra resources for rescue had to be utilized. But all went well, and not a thing was lost, nor was anyone hurt.
Early in the morning, generally, the children who could walk-some even under the age of four-w{fre sent ahead, ac companied by their sisters, partly to avoid the dust and partly to walk as far as possible before the burning sun and exhaus tion would make it necessary to putthem in the handcart.
For me it is beyond all doubt that the angels of the Lord were with us, though they were unseen, for we were walking defenseless in a long, spread-out row, in what was then the land of wild Indians, and many times we were among great herds of buffalo that could have totally annihilated us if they had been startled or for one reason or another had been led in the same direction we were traveling. But they seemed to be
Nebraska Hi{]tory
held at a snitabl distan c the whole time, although they were often only a gun hot avay.
rememb r a certain sister who came up one morning when the tPnts wPr hcing pa ked up. vith something in her apron. Upon ins e tion it prove to be a little person who had come to the ' ·or d the pr<'vious evening. The mother had walked with her handcart a 1 day the p;:evious day, and she thought she woulc als valk a far that day as she could, but he was prevented from doing that and rod for a few days. Both the mother and th child are stil alive and living in Monroe, Sevier Connty, Utah.
W<' also had "the blind and the lame, the woman with child and h r that travail th with child together. . . ," 14 all repres ntcd in our traveling cmnpany, for we had a girl who had a wooden eg. And oddly enough, these persons made it all the way to their destination, while many younger persons marked our path with their grav s, without as much as a narneboard, except where there happened to be a bleached buffalo skul . Yet the mood was, overall, cheerful and jovial, and very se1dom w re complaints or displea ·ure heard from anyon , cv n when si kn ,ss or death had invaded the family.
We were only poorly supplied with provisions when we left Flor nee and had a thousand miles of wilderness to cover before we could expe t any more. The little smoked pork, dried beef, and sugar, coff e, salt, and other seasoning with which w were furnished lasted only about three weeks in most cases. and aftPr that there was naturally flour, flour, flour, and onl · flour to eat. With this they baked bread, cooked porri lg . gru 1, soup, coff e, pancak s, and several other nice di hes, but still it was just flour, flour and flour; and at one point the flour was s arce, too.'~ We only shot one buffalo, and thio; happened almost like a miracle, for it had lagged behind tht" r st of the herd. We dared not attack the great herd und r our circun1stanc s at that time. -
Our supplies w re intend d to be as few as possible, for the w ight of the provision had to be considered, and the hard daily toil incr as dour app tite, rather than decreasing it, ex cept in cases of illness. Therefore, a it said in one of our songs of ncouragem('nt from those days:
Surely. it as hard, ancl often we got very tired/But the carts, with our ap petile, /Soon became light. lAnd yes, the road was long,/But there was merry joking, je. ts, and song/When we made camp.
C. C. A. Christensen 341
But the camp in the evening was not an absolute resting place for the tired pilgrims, for then it was a matter of prepar ing a meal from the sparse provisions that we had brought with us . . . . We also baked our bread in kettles we had brought along. 16 This was the women's work, and sometimes took until past midnight, for each had to wait for the other to use the dutch oven. The men fetched water and gathered fuel, where firewood could be found; otherwise the women and children helped gather dried "Ko-kasser," 17 as we call them in Danish, since on the great plains along the Platte River there were enough of that kind, from the abundant buffalo herds which existed there at that time. After that the men had to do guard duty four or five hours every fourth day and then begin the hike anew, after breakfast was prepared and consumed.
One nice trait characterized these people, both young and old, namely that their prayers and thanksgivings were held regularly every morning and evening. The train started mov ing at about 6:30. The vap.guard of the procession consisted of the few cows which some of those with more means had bought from farmers along the way. The small boys drove them as far ahead of the company as was possible with tolerable safety, for you must remember that we were in the land of the Indians, and one could not always depend upon them for his life. 18 Besides that we had th~ great herds of wild buffalo around us for many days, and if they had been alarmed and charged, that would have been the end for us, just as we could have been swept away by a tornado. But the Lord held his hand over our defenseless emigrant company, and we were not molested by either wild people or wild animals.
One of the most important questions every morning, which Ve usually asked our leader-we called him captain-was: "How far is it to water today?" For he had a book which gave the distance and other information about the route, par
ticularly with regard to water and grass for the emigrants' draft animals. 19 Only one single night did our captain make a mistake with the directions, and we found it necessary to stop when darkness fell without water. Then some of the brethren had to go back several miles to get water for their crying little ones. But as soon as daybreak came we broke camp and found water a few miles further along our way and soon forgot the privation of that night.
• 342 • Nebraska History
Although it was a tria] and involved many hardships, there verc. til al. o now and th n both interesting and happy scenes a well as con1ical sc nes on the way. Our costumes would look fine al one of our so-called "Hard Times Balls." Our hats, or what m1g t once hav b en called hats, assumed the most grot sq P shapes, s eing that the sun, wind, and rain had the
up rior f rce. Th ladie · kirts and the men's trousers hung in irregular lnmmings, and the foot coverings proportional to the rest, with or vithout bottoms. Our faces were gray from the dust, ~vhich sometimes prevented us from seeing the vanguarcl our noses ·with the skin hanging in patches, especially on those who had as much nose as I have; and almost evt>ry lower lip covered vith a piece of cloth or paper because of its chapped condition, which made it difficult to speak and particularly to smile or laugh.
B dding vas often altered to become everyday clothing, and a gentleman with trousers sewn from bed ticking was no curio ity in those days. Nor were the ladies so particular about whether their skirts could hide their poor footwear, if indeed they w r weJl enough off to own a pair of shoes, for there were many who had none; but the Scandinavians managed well with wooden shoes in those days.
A very old man, who had completely lost his sense of smell, came into camp one day, after the rest of us had things somewhat in order. with a skunk which he counted on cooking for soup. This aJmost made the rest of us leave. He had killed it with his cane and knew nothing about its peculiar means of defense.
W had with us a tailor who was getting along in years, but who did not therefore think anv the less of his own charm but wanted to try his luck with ~ne of our Norwegian sisters. There were two who pleased him, but the one was married, and he Jet him continue with his mistake for some time, to the amusement f t 1ose of us who were in on the matter.
At the sam · 1 ime we were traveling as peaceful emigrants to Utah, a onsiderable military force was also on the way to Utah. But providentially they never came near us, in that they marched along the other side of the Platte River, where we could see t em, and their weapons shone in the sun. They were sent out by 1h government to suppress a supposed rebellion-which did not exist at ali-in Utah. 20 A~ they
C. C. A. Christensen 343
amounted to several thousand men, large trains of provisions and fat stock were also sent out for their use, and most of these traveled on the same side of the river as we did. But we had no further inconvenience from them other than the dust they raised. One morning after we had been without any ort of meat for several weeks, we passed a large, fat ox which they had left behind because one of their heavily loaded wagons had run over one of its feet and crushed it.
As we stood looking at the poor animal, the leader of the provision train to which it belonged came back, and in a coarse yet half-friendly tone he said, "You people can have that ox; I suppose you might need a little meat." Again we saw in this instance, the Lord's care for us. We got the ox butch
ered and divided the meat among our elves, but that was not so easily done, for we did not even have a decent ax in the whole company, for almost everything that 1 was heavy had to be left at the campground at lova City.
Since we had a butcher with us, the art of supplying us with fresh meat was turned over to him, but unfortunately he was accustomed to hitting cattle on the forehead. The ax he had brought was, like everything else, of the lightest kind, and the poor animal merely shook its head at his blows. Then came a mighty hunter. In all probability he had belonged to the militia in the town from which he came, and so he shot it through the nose. But finally another, luckier Nimrod came and felled the animal with his shot and put an end to its suffer
ing.
There lay [at the campground near Iowa City J heaps of handsomely bound books, good warm clothes, and much el of value, of which we deeply felt the loss when ve reached Utah. But greatest of all was the loss of many dear relatives and friends, who died along the way, in a sense as voluntary martyrs for their faith in the gathering to this land. 21
Perhaps many would have suffered an even worse fate if President Brigham Young had not established provision sta tions where flour could be obtained, and the first of these sta tions was about 400 miles east of Salt Lake Citv. 22 Afterwards we were met by ·wagons vith flour and fruit, hich benefited us greatly, but particularly since these wagons picked up the weakest and sickest among us and thus lightened considerably the responsibility for the rest of us.
344. ~ Nebra. ka History
on hut tho c who have experienced such a trial of pa tienc , faith, and endurance can form an idea of what it meant to .l ull a handcart, which frequently even threatened to collapse b cause of lhe extreme heat and lack of humidity, which coul cause the [ vood of the] cart to split and thus deprive them of t 1 la t means they possessed to bring with them their absolute n cessitie .
Along t e way lay the skeletons of worn-out oxen, but these h r es and heroin s ndured .... With their lips half eaten up by saleratus dn t, 23 anrl lothed in rags, with almost bot tomless shoes on lheir fe t, yet they greeted with songs of delight the rising sun which let them see Salt Lake City for the first time.
What ch~nges hav taken place since that time! In less than one Veek our emigrant are now brought here from the Atlan tic coast, vvher they disembark after a few days' pleasant ocean voyag by steamship, ·while we in those days were tumble 1 ahout by sailing ships for several weeks, uncertain of the time when we could expect to see the promised land. And then th journey by land over the great, empty plains and high mountains on foot, poorly supplied with food and clothing- in short, subj cted to almost every deprivation that people could b ar and endure, and that for all of thirteen weeks. 24
One can perhaps form a vague idea of our feelings when we finally stopped here in this city and were met by kind brothers and sister , rnany of ·whom brought cakes, milk, and other things that for us w r so n1uch needed.
Tt was a~ unday, and with the Danish flag on the lead hand cart ve marched to our last resting place as far as this journey was concerned .... A f w days later all these pilgrims had disappeared from their last camping place, having found shelter and hospitality among the Saints in Zion.
Sine that time I have traveled back and forth several times across thee mountain. and plains, but never have I seen peo pl mor ~ pati nt and d voted to God than those with whom I fac d these trying cir umstances in the year 1857.
Christensen's Handcart Pioneer' First View of the Salt Lake Valley depicts the ascent of Little Mountain at the top of Emigration Canyon before the descent into the valley. Courtesy of Springville (Utah) Art Museum (ou:ner) and Historical Department, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Nehraska llistory
NOTE
1. Jane Dillenberger, "Mormonism and American Religious Art," Sun.,tone 3 (May-June 1978), pp. 13-17. Richard L. Jensen and Richard G. Oman, C. C. A. Christensen (1831-1912): Mormon Immigrant Artist (Salt Lake City: Th Chur h of J sus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1984). Carl Carmer, "A Panorama of Mormon Life,'' Art in America (May-June 1970), pp. 52-65.
2. Otlwr a counts of M rmons traveling by handcart in the 1850s are publish din LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, Handcart,s to Zion (Glen dale, California: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1960; reprint, 1981). Addi tional infonuation is found in L onard J. Arrington and Rebecca Cornwall, Rc rue of thr 18/!'6 Handrari Companies (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Pre<;s, HJRl).
3. This amalgamat d a count i taken from the following sources: C. C. A. :hristf'nsen. " . C. . Dorius, .. Salt Lake City Bikuben, March 22, 18fl4.
Chri<;tPnsen, "H<~and karre -S ang fra 1857'' ["Handcart Song from 1857''], Salt Lake City Bikuhen, Septemb r 23, 1896.
Christensen. "Erindringer fra 1857'' ["Memories of 1857''], Salt Lake City Bikubrn, Ortnher 1, R, 1903.
Ch rislens<'n, "Over Praeriern ., ["Across the Prairies"], Salt Lake City Bikubcn, Sept(->mher 8. 1910.
Christen en correspondence. Salt Lake City Bikuben, September 15, 1904. Chric;lensen. "Et Mindeblad til afdode Soster Laura A. Lar en" ["A Page in Memory of De<'eased Sister Laura A. Lars n"'], Salt Lake City Bikuben, Februar 20 902.
4. Or;on Pratt vas then pn:•.,iding over Latter-day Saint affairs in Europe and was concurrenlly pre..,ident of the Church's British Mission. At least four of Pratt's popular religious tracts had been published in Danish translati0n hy the time Chnc;lc>nsen and his friends visit d Liverpool, and several of his sermons had appe::lrcd in the Scandinavian Mission periodical.
.5. The vV('sfmnreland eft Liverpool April 2.5, 1857, with 544 Mormon passeng r<; nn hoard. Jomvay B. Sonne, Saint on the Seas: A Maritime TJ~<;tory nf fnrmnn Migrntinn 1R30-J890 (Salt Lak City: University of Utah Pre<;<;, l!=IR3), p. ].1J2.
6. Rtc;or and Frcdrikshald. on opposite shores of Oslofjord, were among the first to vns in Nnnvay proselytized by Latter-day Saints. Fredrikshald has <;ince h en remnn d Halden.
7. "Duliduhrln" was apparently intended to suggest th trill of a fife. 8. Thc> <;laging area for the handcart trek was on the banks of Clear Creek, thr mile.c; est of Tm: a City, in present-day Coralville, Iowa. See Stanley B. Kimball. DiscnPC'rinf!. formnn Trails: NC'w York to California 1831-1868 (Salt Lak City: Dc<>Pret Bnok, l H79). p. 36.
H. Skandinadrns SfjC'rnr [The Star of Scandinavia] was th Latter-day Saint mis<>ion peri dJcHl for Denmark. orway, and Sweden. 10. ChristE'nsen xplains lsewhere that Park "could not understand our languag . nor hav<' any particular sympathy for those who were tired, sick, or dissatisfied a<;< result of lh ne'' and unaccustomed circumstances.,. C. C.
C. C. A. Christensen 347
A. Christensen, "Erindringer fra 1857" ["Memories of 1857"], Salt Lake City Bikuben, October 1, 1903.
11. The replacement of Christiansen for Park at Florence was a rather unusual occurrence among a people known for thei~ submission to officially appointed leadership. It must have been the result of complaints by the Scan dinavians to Latter-day Saint authorities at Florence, although the process is not well documented. Christiansen had emigrated to Utah earlier, had presided over Scandinavian Latter-day Saints in the Midwest in 1856-1857, and was preparing to return to Utah with an ox-team party when he was called upon to assist the handcart emigrants.
12. A. Milton Musser, who assisted with Church emigration arrangments at Florence, reported that the Scandinavian company left there with 68 handcarts and about 330 persons. Musser to William Appleby, July 16, 1957, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 19, p. 620. Thus Christensen's estimate of the number of persons per handcart was accurate, while his recollection of the number of persons and handcarts in the company ap
parently was not.
13. Undoubtedly a Pawnee village. During 1857 the Pawnee ceded other lands to the United States and moved several villages to this vicinity. 14. Jeremiah 31:8.
15. Christensen wrote elsewhere, "Our diet was ... very monotonous, but our appetite gave it seasoning, so that we ate often and much, and yet were always hungry." Christensen, "C. C. N. Dorius,'' Salt Lake City Bikuben, March 22, 1894.
16. They baked their bread "without yeast or baking powder." Christensen, "Et Mindeblad til Afdode Soster Laura A. Larsen" ["A Page in Memory of Deceased Sister Laura A. Larsen"], Salt Lake City Bikuben, February 20, 1902.
17. Buffalo or cow chips are the corresponding American terms, denoting dried animal dung used as fuel. In Christensen's painting on the cover of this issue of Nebraska History, a woman in the foreground is gathering buffalo chips.
18. In an insightful examination of emigrant-Indian relations along the westward trails, John D. Unruh, Jr., indicates that the threat posed to travelers by Indians was often gros ly exaggerated, but that depredations were more common by the mid-1850s than before. He finds that relatively few emigrants were killed by Indians east of South Pass. Unruh, The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1979), pp. 156-200.
19. Probably Villiam Clayton, The Latter-day Saints' Emigrants' Guide (St. Louis: Republican Steam Power Press-Chambers & Knapp, 1848). See also William Clayton, The Latter-day Saints' Emigrants' Guide, ed. Stanley B. Kimball (Gerald, Mis ouri: Patrice Press, 1983).
20. In response to complaints from federally appointed officials and a former mail contractor, the administration of James Buchanan sent troops to Utah under General Albert Sidney Johnston-as it was claimed-to restore federal authority over the territory. For a discussion of the entire episode, see Norman F. Furniss, The Mormon Conflict, 1850-1859 (Ne"v Haven: Yale University Press, 1960).
Nebraska History
21. J amf'.s Jens n another Danish immigrant in the arne handcart com pany, statf'd that one ont of every ten in the group died en route. J. M. Tan ner, Biographical Sketch of fames Jensen (Salt Lake City, 1911), p. 40.
22. Thf' aid station mentioned was at Deer Creek, present-day Glenrock, W oming.
23. Aerat· sodium bicarbonate. Perhap Christensen was also remember ing alkali dust.
24. Before thf' adop ion of steam transportation, Latter-day Saint im migrants from Europe took from three to five months to reach Utah. In 1869 the first company of Latt r-elay Saint immigrants to use both steamship and the nc>-.vly completed transcontin ntal railroad traveled from Liverpool to Ogden, Utah, in 24 days. By 1877 the entire trip took as little as 17 days. See Richard L. Jensen "Steaming Through: Arrangements for Mormon Emigra tion from Europe, 1869-1887," Journal of Mormon History (1982):21.
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