Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman - Seek by Deseret Book

Catherine Clark Smith Harrison (1813–1903) 25
All were born in the San Francisco area, where the Harrisons had
friends and support from the Church. 30
Life for a family in the untamed gold fields had its challenges.
Hastily built towns were a collection of tents and crude wooden
buildings. The people were from a variety of backgrounds, and order
was minimal. The challenge, as the Harrisons grew “from faith to
faith,” was retaining their beliefs and values. This was a time of hard
work. Running a hotel included doing copious amounts of laundry
and obtaining and preparing food for the guests. There were also
the daily requirements of cleaning and general upkeep. The older
children had lessons to do, and everyone capable was expected to
help with chores. There were, however, mountains to explore and
interesting, colorful people to meet. Isaac and Catherine taught
their family the importance of hard work and resisting the abundant
temptations around them.
During the eleven years she was in California, Catherine and
Isaac had opportunities to depart for Utah but chose to stay in
California. Nevertheless, the Church remained important to them.
In 1857 they received word that induced them to move to Zion. 31
In Utah a drama had been unfolding, primarily a conflict over
who should have the political upper hand: the local government,
headed by Governor Brigham Young, or the United States government.
This debate escalated into what has been called the Utah
War. When an army was dispatched to enforce national supremacy,
Brigham Young sent a request for all Saints in distant settlements to
gather to Utah. Catherine’s defining statement, “I know all this to
be true,” directed their lives, and Catherine and Isaac committed to
go. In August 1857 they joined the Zacheus Cheney Company and
traveled over the Sierra Nevada mountains and the arid Humboldt
30. Harrison Family Bible.
31. Ricketts, Mormon Battalion, 226.