“CROSSING THE PLAINS” - A JOURNAL BY OUR GRANDFATHER LYMAN CURTIS
Lyman Curtis was my 4th great grandfather. When he was 35 years old he crossed the plains, for the first time, to the Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young’s own company. Lyman, who owned a good rifle and was an excellent marksman, was called to travel with Brother Brigham’s company to help obtain fresh meat.
Lyman was married to Charlotte Alvord, his first wife and our grandmother (he later had two other wives). She stayed behind at Winter Quarters during this first trip. They had six children under 11 years of age at the time Lyman crossed with Brother Brigham’s company. Charlotte was pregnant, with my 3rd great grandfather, Joseph Nahum Curtis, who was born on 9 August 1847, before Lyman returned home from this church calling sometime in the fall.
Lyman’s traveling partner for this trip was a 49 year old Latter-day Saint, Levi Jackman, whose wife did not want to make the trip at this time. If Lyman kept a journal, we don’t have access to it. Levi kept a very detailed journal, of which the original is still available and may be viewed on several websites. Levi mentioned Lyman from time-to-time in his journal, so we know that Levi and Lyman were together for the entire trip and had essentially the same day-to-day experiences.
I am taking great liberty in writing this historical fiction. I am using Levi’s interesting, and fairly long, actual account and condensing it into what I hope will give the reader a brief but accurate idea of what crossing the plains was like, and then putting it in the first person with our grandfather, Lyman, speaking, sometimes Levi’s written words. I don’t want to detract from Levi, who was a great man, for whom we should be thankful. I hope this literary style will make it more compelling reading for my posterity, whom I hope will read it to learn more about what “crossing the plains” means, realizing that every one of their ancestors had to do it, some under much more difficult circumstances (one grandmother crossed the plains in stocking feet because she had no shoes). Our lives are still being blessed, into the 4th and 5th generations, because of our pioneer ancestor’s obedience and sacrifice.
This story is a work in progress. I am going to begin putting footnotes in to show where I obtained the information. If you know or learn something that would make this story better, please let me know. John Hoopes, 730 Hopkins Lane, Soda Springs, Idaho 83276, (208) 547-2033, or
I left Keg Creek, Pottawattamie County, Iowa at the end of March, 1847, with Brother Brigham’s company, to cross the plains to the Great Salt Lake. I was called to go as an advance scout and hunter, to provide fresh meat.
Leaving my dear wife, Charlotte, and six little children behind, I traveled with Levi Jackman, 14 years my senior, in the thirteenth ten[1]. Brother Brigham organized this company with captains of 100, 50 and 10, like Brother Joseph organized Zion’s Camp. This is where Charlotte and I became acquainted, when I was 22 years old and she was 18.[2]This rugged journey, the same distance as from Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley, served as a test to determine who was worthy to serve in positions of leadership and trust in the infant Church. Zion’s Camp chastened, polished, and spiritually refined many of the Lord’s servants, including Lyman and Charlotte.
Our captain of ten was John Brown, who was also a good hunter. We had two of the three Negro Saints in our ten, Hark Lay and Oscar Crosby. They were good men. Other good people I had known in our company, in addition to Brother Brigham and his wife Clarissa, included Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt, Ezra T. Benson, Truman O. Angell, Heber C. Kimball and his wife Ellen, William Clayton, Orson F. Whitney and Joseph’s old friend, Orrin Porter Rockwell. I had also known Levi Jackman since the Missouri days.
Levi had a good wagon, pulled by a yolk of oxen. I had one horse, and traveled light.
We took what we could to make our trip easier, and for Levi to live once he got to the Salt Lake valley. I knew I would be turning around and coming back home to my family, having fulfilled my calling by Brother Brigham.
We took, carefully loaded in Levi’s wagon, breadstuff to last 18 months, some beans, a little pork, but no other fresh things, as we weren’t able to get them. We didn’t know what we would have to contend with on the journey, only that we must go and that the Lord would preserve and protect us.
We arrived at Winter Quarters on March 31, and left on April 3. On the 6th, we arrived at the Elk Horn, where we crossed the creek on a raft and waited for the remainder of the camp to assemble, including Brother Brigham.
On Saturday, April 10, we learned we were 1,330 miles from the mouth of the Bear River, where it flows into the Great Salt Lake. We learned this from accounts of John Freemont, a well-known explorer of the Rocky Mountains.
On Monday, April 12, Brigham Young and the other Apostles in our company went back to Winter Quarters to hold a council with the remainder of the Twelve Apostles, who had just come from the East. There were 63 wagons in our camp when they left. We waited for them.
Thursday, April 15. Brother Brigham and the others returned, the next day the camp was organized and started, we went 7 miles and camped. Now we had 73 wagons and 143 men, three women and four children, two of them 6 years old. The weather was cold, ice three-fourths of an inch thick in the mornings, no grass for our teams, and we had to chop cottonwood for the animals to eat.
Wednesday, April 21. Cold wind and signs of rain. About 10 am we saw some Pawnee Indians, a few came out and met us and seemed friendly. The heads of the bucks were shaved, except for a strip about two inches wide down the middle, standing up like a rooster’s comb. Their skin was lighter than most Indians. They wore breechclouts and a buffalo skin robe over their shoulders, some had leggings. They wanted presents, but when we did not give them as much powder, tobacco, etc., as they wanted, they went away. Some of them stole a few things, such as bridles, etc. Because we were afraid the Indians might attack us, we had 50 men, including me, on guard through the night.
Thursday, April 22. We crossed the Beaver Fork, about three rods (49.5 feet) wide and two feet deep or less. The banks were high and steep and we had to attach ropes to the tongues of the wagons and have men help the teams up.
Friday, April 23. We went about 7 miles and spent the rest of the day preparing to cross the river again. We camped below the old Pawnee town, which had about 140 lodges. Last winter, when the Pawnees were all gone hunting, the Sioux Indians came and burned the town, leaving only the chief’s lodge.
Tuesday, April 27. We went south to the Platte River. We had been feeding our animals some of our breadstuff, as there wasn’t enough grass for them. Here we saw our first signs of buffalo. It was hard to find any firewood, but we found a few dry willows. I killed an antelope, which is the first game had been killed since we started. When we stopped, a gun was carelessly discharged and broke a horse’s leg. This was the fourth horse lost since Friday. On that night one of Brigham’s own horses got hung by its halter.
Saturday, May 1. It was windy and cold, but about 9 am we saw about fifty buffalo. We tried to get some, but did not get any. But after this we saw hundreds of them and got five old ones and a few calves. I done my part. We also passed through a prairie dog town, which covered many acres. Just before sunset we got in our buffalo meat and had a fine feast that night. We went about 12 miles today.
Sunday, May 2. Levi said our camp had the appearance of a meat market, everyone was working on their buffalo meat, cooking, drying or making ropes of the hides. The ice was about one-half inch thick this morning, but when the sun came up it was warm and pleasant. Levi and I had been living on cornmeal bread and water porridge for some time, but now we had meat to eat, which we enjoyed. Before we had meat, we sometimes were able to get fresh milk from our captain of ten, John Brown. We appreciated his kindness in giving us the milk to go with our bread.
Monday, May 3. The camp stopped to do some blacksmith work and let the teams rest, since it was the best place of grass we had found. Today I went with a company of about 20 hunters, and we discovered a lot of Indians who tried to surround us, but we escaped to safety. We killed three antelope and about as many buffalo calves. We saw smoke ahead and learned that what little grass there was would all be destroyed by fire, which would make it hard for us.
Tuesday, May 4. We learned the Indians had set fire to the grass. We saw a small company of traders passing down the other side of the river from us. One of them came over and told us the grass was good on the other side, but our leaders decided it would be better if we stayed on this side of the river, to make it easier for our brethren, who would follow us.
May 5. After traveling about ten miles, we had to stop because of the smoke, the wind had blown a furious gale all day. We camped close to the river and put our teams on a small island where there was grass. Another buffalo and five calves were killed today. I done my part. We now had plenty of good meat.
Friday, May 7. We started late so the teams could eat their fill. The Indians had camped along the way and we used sticks they left behind, as well as buffalo dung, for our fuel. There were so many buffalo we had to stand watch to keep them and our cows from running together, as we did not want to lose any cows. We went 9 miles today.
Monday, May 24. It snowed a little, and we could not keep warm, and the road was quite sandy. We saw some more Indians. When they saw us they hoisted the American flag, and we answered it with a white one. They were quite friendly. We traveled 16 and one-half miles today. William Clayton had devised a way of measuring the distance we traveled with a device called a roadometer.
Tuesday, May 25. Some Sioux Indians and squaws came to our camp and wanted to trade. We traded some corn meal and bread, and in exchange, got buffalo robes. They were good looking people and were well behaved, dressed neatly and clean, and acted like gentlemen and ladies.
Saturday, May 29. This morning Brother Brigham, after the rain stopped, called the camp together and reproved some of the men sharply for indulging in things that were leading them astray, like dancing, card playing, dice, and using bad language. He warned them of the distress that would come to them unless they repented and reformed. After much good instruction and admonition, he asked the men to covenant that they would reform, which they did. He then said that tomorrow, Sunday, would be a day of fasting and prayer, and for baking bread. After noon we traveled 8 and one-half miles. It rained hard before we camped, but stopped before sunset.
Sunday, May 30. We had our usual Sunday meeting. We fasted and prayed and had a good spirit, and many of the brethren expressed their determination to do better.
Wednesday, June 2. We had to cross the river. The friendly traders had a flat boat, which cost $15 to use for the crossing.
Thursday, June 3. We crossed the river, but were hindered by the rain.
Friday, June 4. We finished crossing the river. Here three men in our camp, who had been in the Mormon Battalion, left go to 180 miles to Pueblo (Colorado) to get their families. A few Saints, with several wagons and one cart, who had wintered at Pueblo, joined us today.
Today we learned how the Indians bury their dead. They roll them up in a blanket or buffalo robe and lash them into the forks of a tree, high up from the ground, and leave them that way.
Friday, June 11. The weather was good and so were the roads. We killed more antelope and deer. I done my share. Our bread was running out, so we had to eat more meat, which gave us “bowel complaint.” There was a pioneer behind every bush. We traveled 17 miles today and camped on the river bend, where we overtook company of Gentiles going on to Oregon.
Saturday, June 12. Levi was very sick today with “bowel complaint,” but we went 11 miles and reached the main ford. The river was so high we couldn’t cross it. We had brought a leather boat from Winter Quarters, and used it to cross the river. The pioneers going to Oregon traded some good provisions with us, which we much needed.
Sunday, June 13. We held a good meeting, where Brothers Brigham, Heber C. Kimball and Orson Pratt gave us good instructions. We each got five and one half pounds of flour, two of meal and bacon, which we needed. We had been feeding a lot of our food to the teams to keep them alive. The Lord has blessed us and preserved our lives.
Monday, June 14. We used pine and fir poles to make rafts and crossed the river with our wagons. In the afternoon there was a thunder storm with heavy wind, which stopped us.
Wednesday, June 15. We traveled 27 and one-half miles and then stayed at this place until Sunday, crossing the river and trading some more with the Oregon companies.
Sunday, June 20. Because there wasn’t any grass, we traveled to Willow Springs, arriving at noon. Gravelly hills and a sandy bottom made it very hard for our wagons to travel. Had meeting in the afternoon.
Monday, June 21. There was frost this morning–strange for June, and we found some saleratus[3] which is good for baking.
Sunday, June 27. This morning was cool and pleasant, there is still snow in the mountains. We met another company from Oregon and one old mountain man gave us a gloomy account of the country around Bear River and the Salt Lake.
Monday, June 28. This afternoon we met Captain James Bridger of Ft. Bridger, who also gave us much information about the Salt Lake valley, which wasn’t favorable. Everyone was telling us our destination was not good, and this was disheartening. We traveled 15 miles today.
Wednesday, June 30. We came to the Green River[4] at noon. We made some rafts to cross the river. This afternoon we met up with Brother Samuel Brannon, who had taken a shipload of Saints from the East around the horn to settle in California. He told us how good California was and tried to persuade Brother Brigham to go on to California instead of to the desolate Salt Lake valley. Brother Brigham still wanted to go to the Salt Lake valley. He had seen it in vision, as had Brother Joseph.
Thursday, July 1. Today we crossed the Green River, and it was a lot of hard work.
Sunday, July 4. We traveled 3 miles and sent five men back to meet the company that was coming after us, to give them instructions and guide them on. The weather was warm and quite a few in our company had come down with mountain fever[5]. They would usually get better in two or three days.
Wednesday, July 7. On Monday, Levi became violently ill with mountain fever, and several others came down with it. The stony ground on which we traveled is very hard on those sick folks who have to ride in the wagons. I rode my horse or walked. We crossed Black’s Fork a number of times and camped near Ft. Bridger, traveling 17 and one-fourth miles today. The fort consisted of three log rooms and a small yard, enclosed with logs pointed up with sharp ends, called pickets.
Monday, July 12. Today Brother Brigham became ill with the mountain fever when we stopped at noon. Levi was still so sick he could hardly walk. Because of the sickness in the camp, it was decided to stop and rest for a day or two. However, me and a few men went out to work on the road ahead of us. We went 16 and one-half miles today.
Wednesday, July 14. Went 14 miles today and struck the Weber Fork and camped.
Thursday, July 15. We wound our way up a ravine to the top of a hill, which was very difficult to ascend, for about 7 miles, then descended, which was equally bad, and camped, having gone 12 miles. Today I became very sick with the fever, and Levi was not yet well, which made things look rather gloomy for us.
Tuesday, July 20. Our journey for several days had been very gloomy. We traveled up mountains so high and ravines so crooked that we couldn’t see very far ahead, and the going was very difficult. But we found more timber than we had seen since leaving Winter Quarters, although much of it had been burned by fires. After getting to the top of the hill, we had a long, steep hill to go down.
Thursday, July 22. Today some of those who had been sick caught up with us, but some had to stop today because they were too sick to travel. The road was so bad we were only able to go about 4 miles. But when we finally got through the canyon, we now, for the first time, entered the valley of the Salt Lake. We were filled with joy and rejoicing and gave thanks to the Lord, who had preserved us and brought us to this place. We could see the Great Salt Lake and the valley extending far to the north and to the south. We didn’t see much timber, but there was plenty of grass and some brush for fire. Tonight I built a large sagebrush fire that could be seen by the others still camped in the canyon[6].
Friday, July 23. Early today I went with Brother Parley Pratt and others to explore the valley. We went a short distance to a small grove on a little stream and camped. Later, Brother Pratt called the camp together, as Brother Brigham was still behind us because he was sick. Brother Pratt dedicated this country to the Lord. We then commenced plowing to put in a little early corn, buckwheat, potatoes, peas, beans, etc. The soil was good and before night we had put in the seed. We thanked the Lord that we could worship God unmolested, as we had been in Nauvoo and Missouri. Brother Clayton, with his roadometer, measured that we had gone 1,040 miles from Winter Quarters.
Saturday, July 24. I went back up the canyon on my horse to help those who were behind us. About noon Brother Brigham’s company arrived. He was still down with the fever, but was able to raise up in the buggy and see the land, and said: “this is the right place, drive on.”[7] Now, with Brother Brigham, we had a time of rejoicing together, without restraint. He showed us a place for a permanent settlement, and said the men should have their lands set off, and each one manage his own affairs and work for himself, etc. I went with several brothers further exploring the country and found that there was a large amount of timber in the mountains, but it was hard to get.
Sunday, July 25. A day of prayer and rejoicing. Surely the Lord was with us. O that I had Charlotte and my little family with me, I missed them so much.
Tuesday, July 28. We have been working very hard to settle this place. More Saints are on their way. Today was Levi’s 50th birthday. In the evening Brother Brigham called the camp together and we listened to the men, who had been exploring, give their reports. They had found no other place that looked so good as this one. Many of the brethren expressed their feelings and all seemed to feel that this was the place to stop. Brother Brigham said he also knew it was the place for the city, because he had seen it in a vision before and that we were now standing on the southeast corner of the temple block. He said many other prophetic things, which did our hearts good to hear.
Under Brother Brigham’s direction, we raised our hands to the square to vote to sustain him that this was the place the Lord wanted us to settle. Brother Brigham then told the men that they should build a fort for protection from the Indians–it should be made of sun-dried brick, 40 squares of land, the walls ten feet high, which would form the back of the houses inside, and to have one large gate on each side of the square. Levi wrote in his journal that a colony was never settled under so many disadvantages as this. I was thinking of my little family, still at Winter Quarters.
The country was truly forbidding. The face of the earth, wrote Levi, had the appearance of a barren desert, no grass, only on the streams on low ground. Nothing green on the remainder. The old mountain men that we had met on our journey warned us that no grain would grow here, for they had tried it, and from what we saw, it seemed they might be right. All the men had was in their wagons, tools for farming, seeds, clothing and provisions to last until they could raise some–if ever that would be. The valley was out of the reach of commerce and a thousand miles from any settlement to the East. The settlers must depend on God and do the best they could. However, the mobs would not be likely to disturb the Saints here for at least a few years. So the brethren took courage and went to work, some at farming and some to work on the walls of the fort that Brother Brigham saw in vision.
Shortly after we arrived in the valley, a part of the Mormon Battalion arrived, which was joyful to us. Brother Brigham sent some of the brethren, including me, back to Winter Quarters, so we could get back before winter, to take care of our families.
I was fortunate to be able to take Levi’s team, although it left him with none. He had provisions to last about 6 or 8 days, but Brother Kimball advised him to stay, for to go back, Levi said, would be like going back to the land of sorrow and death.[8] I eagerly went back to my family I loved so dearly.
This is a brief biography I found about Lyman on a website:
Lyman Curtis was born in New Salem, Massachusetts, on January 21, 1812, the oldest son of Nahum and Millicent Waite Curtis. He was baptized into the Mormon Church on March 13, 1833, at Milford, Michigan, and the following year married Charlotte Alvord.
At Salt Creek, Missouri, he became a member of Zions Camp. Anti-Mormon mobs drove them to Illinois and then to Winter Quarters, Iowa, where he was chosen to be a hunter and scout in the first company of pioneers to explore and settle the west.
He owned a good gun and was considered a fine hunter, supplying wild game for table use enroute to the west.
Traveling in a wagon with Levi Jackson (Jackman), he and his companions rode ahead of the main company and entered the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on July 22, 1847. That evening Curtis built a huge sagebrush fire that could be seen by others still camped in the canyon. The next day he went back and helped others over the rough road to the site of their future home. This first company explored the valley and selected the site between the two forks of the City Creek as the best place to build a city.
In August of the same year Curtis and others started back to Winter Quarters for provisions and to bring out their families. They walked and carried their guns. A single horse (perhaps Lyman’s) carried their bedding (Levi Jackman’s journal says he gave Lyman his wagon and team for the trip back) and supplies that included only six pounds of flour per man.
One night when they were sleeping on the plains they awoke to find their horse was stolen. A light snow had fallen and they followed the tracks to an Indian camp. After consultation with the chief, the horse was returned.
In 1850, Curtis returned to Utah, bringing his family with him. His ninth child was born enroute. After a year in Salt Lake City, Brigham Young sent him to the Santa Clara Mission. There he supervised construction of a canal from the Little Muddy River (now Moapa in southern Nevada), and also helped build a canal out of the Santa Clara River to the vicinity below St. George.
After five years, the family went back to Utah County and settled at Pond Town, three miles east of Payson. Curtis studied the Spanish Fork River and stated that a canal could be taken from it. He calculated that with water, 2000 acres of land between Spanish Fork and Payson could be irrigated. The people near the river were especially opposed to such a project, and at first he could get no one interested in working on the project. His brothers helped him through several months, then others, seeing the feasibility of the plan, came to his aid. They worked until it was completed.
Before he died on August 3, 1887, at Salem the people honored him by changing the name of Pond Town to Salem, after the place of his birth, Salem, Massachusetts.
(From a book Lyman Curtis, ‘One of the Nine Horsemen,’ written by his son, Dr. A. L. Curtis, in an attempt to prove that Lyman Curtis entered the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on July 22, 1847, ahead of the main party of pioneers, also from ‘Life is a Fulfilling’ by Olive Kimball B. Mitchell, and an article by Rhea C. Hone published (1947) in the Payson Chronicle quoting Nellie C. Kapple and Elizabeth C. Gale.
[1] “Thirteenth ten” refers to the thirteenth group of 10 saints. Brother Brigham organized the pioneers into companies as Joseph had organized Zion’s Camp.
[2] During the winter/spring of 1834, the Saints were still hoping that the governor of Missouri would assist them in regaining their homes in Jackson County. However, Joseph Smith received a revelation (D&C 101) that the Saints might have to occupy their rightful lands by force. As events unfolded, the Lord instructed the leaders in Kirtland, Ohio, to raise an army and go back to Zion in Jackson County, Missouri, some 1,000 miles. This Mormon army is known as Zion’s Camp.
The Lord instructed Joseph (D&C 103) to raise an army of 500 men, if possible, but no fewer than 100, to march to Missouri. The army was organized into groups of 100, 50 and ten, with officers appointed over each group.
Missionaries were sent out to visit the branches of the Church to recruit for the army. The Prophet’s brother Hyrum, with is companion, Lyman Wight, went to Michigan. It was here that 22 year old Lyman Curtis, baptized at Milford, Michigan only a year before, heeded the prophet’s call. His sister, Sophronia, also went to Zion’s Camp. (Learned from Lyman’s brother’s history: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~sjensen/jensen/references/ref69.htm
Their company joined Zion’s Camp on Sunday, June 8, at Salt Creek, Missouri.
Zion’s Camp eventually included 207 men. There were also 11 women, 11 children and 25 baggage wagons in the army known as Zion’s Camp.
Charlotte Alvord, daughter of Thaddeus Alvord, was one of the 11 women in Zion’s Camp. She was born on 25 Sep 1815, so she was 18 years old at the time.
The daily routine of Zion’s Camp was similar to that of other armies. Most able-bodied men walked beside heavily loaded wagons along muddy and dusty trails, usually about 35 miles a day. Obtaining edible food along the way was one of their most persistent problems. Even fresh drinking water was a problem, as they had to strain ‘wigglers’ (maggots) from swamp water before drinking it. Cholera took the lives of 14 of Zion’s Camp’s troops, including one of the women. Awakened 4:00 AM by a trumpet, actually an old French horn, they had prayers morning and at night before retiring. Armed guards were posted for the night, as there were enemies who sought their lives.
Levi Jackman, with whom Lyman would later cross the plains, was called to the high council in Clay County on 3 July 1834, the day the soldiers in Zion’s Camp, including Lyman, were honorably discharged.
Charlotte Alvord and Lyman Curtis became acquainted (this would make a good historical romance novel) during Zion’s Camp and were married at Liberty, Clay County, Missouri during this same year, 1834 (we don’t know the month or day, nor by whom). They must have settled for a while in Liberty, as their first child, Julia, was born there, less than a year later, on 7 May 1835.
[3] Salaratis is what they called salt ponds, which contained natural bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). They could bake biscuits and bread with it, but pioneers generally used sour dough more than baking soda.
[4] Green River, Wyoming
[5] Tick-borne rickettsia, that caused Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
[6] Lyman actually did build a large bonfire, which brought much joy to the weary travelers, as recorded in Brigham Young’s account
[7] Words traditionally believed to have been said by Brigham Young, but there is no account of what he actually said.
[8] Actual words from Levi’s journal.