History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

CALIFORNIA IMMIGRANTS.
It included about thirty families, most of them related
by marriage or kindred, and its members were of every
age, from the grandsire to the babe in arms. _ They
belonged to the class of settlers of whom California
was in need. Most of them were farmers by occupation;
they were orderly, sober, thrifty, and among
them was no lack of skill and capital. 4 They travelled
leisurely and in comfort, stopping at intervals to recruit
their cattle, and about the end of July arrived
at Salt Lake City, 5 where they hoped to replenish
their stock of provisions.
For several years after the gold discovery the ar-
rival of an emigrant party was usually followed, as
we have seen, by friendly traffic between saint and
gentile, the former thus disposing, to good advantage,
of his farm and garden produce. But now all was
changed. The army of Utah was advancing on Zion,
and the Arkansas families reached the valley at the
very time when the Mormons first heard of its approach,
perhaps while the latter were celebrating their
tenth anniversary at Big Cottonwood Canon. Moreover,
wayfarers from Missouri and Arkansas were
the former for reasons
regarded with special disfavor ;
that have already appeared, the latter on account of
the murder of a well-beloved apostle of the Mormon
church.
Missouri 'wild-cats,' and that the Arkansas party was advised by a friend of
his to keep clear of the Missourians while passing through the Utah settlements
and the portion of that territory occupied by Indians. I find no confirmation
of this in other authorities, though, according to Mrs Stenhouse,
Tell It All, 325, her husband's friend, whose name was Eli B. Kelsey, 'said
that the train was divided into two parts, the first a rough-and-ready set of
The truth
men—regular frontier pioneers; the other a picked community. '
appears to be, that there were a few Missourians in the Arkansas party, as
stated in Hutchings' Cal. Mag., iv. 345.
4 They had about 600 head of cattle, 30 wagons, and 30 horses and mules.
Forney's Kept, ut supra, p. 75. Stenhouse mentions that they had also several
travelling-carriages. Rocky Mountain Saints, 424. At least $30,000 worth
of plunder was collected after the massacre, besides what was appropriated by
the Indians. Cradlebaugh estimated the value of their property at $00,000
to $70,000. ,
5 1 find no mention of their arrival in the files of the Deseret News, although
the names of passing emigrants were registered in that paper at a nominal
charge; and when the party was a large one, its passage was usually noticed
among the local items of news.
Hist. Utah. 35
545