Our first adventure in our travels was Martin's Cove. We spent Friday, June 13 exploring this great historical site and learning so much about the strong and faithful Mormon pioneers of the Willie and Martin Handcart companies.
Here we are with our modern-day wagon behind us! This was a great experience for us. I came away with a greater appreciation and respect for these brave saints. Our guides told us that there are no temples in Wyoming yet but this area of Martin's Cove has been kept so sacred that it is considered Wyoming's temple. I agree this is definitely sacred ground.
When you visit Martin's Cove you are not required to wear the traditional pioneer trek clothing unless you are with a Youth Conference or something like that. I decided I did want to wear pioneer clothing while we were here so the kids and I dress up in bonnets, hats and skirts. We were the only ones who dressed up but I am glad we did because the bonnets were great at keeping the sun off our faces.
When I made reservations for the Martin's Cove Campground, I did not realize that I made reservations for the whole trek too. But I guess I did. When we arrived at the Historical Site, the missionaries told us they had been waiting for us and our handcarts were ready. We were kind of confused but we went along and decided that yeah we wanted to do the whole experience and pull the handcarts along the trail.
Here is our pioneer family ready to set out on our trek. I would imagine that the original pioneers were happy to set out on their trek too. After getting oriented with the safety rules of the handcarts, we needed to select a "Pa" to be the leader and guy in charge and a medical person for safety. Since the registration was under our name, Russell was selected or I guess told to be the "Pa" and Terral volunteered to be the medical person. Russell had to wear an orange band and Terral wore a red band. Because Russell was the "Pa", we were designated to decide where we wanted to go with our trek. Yeah this is not the job we wanted because we do not like to make decisions for the group. The missionaries that were our guides wanted to know if we wanted to do the whole 5-6 mile loop or just the one mile. We decided to see how far we could get with the kids and then decide.
Before we started our trek, we watched a video presentation on the Willie and Martin Handcart companies. This video was great and it really gave you feel for what these pioneers went though and the great courage of the rescuers that came and saved them. When we were done the missionaries told us to try and imagine that we are the pioneers, we are starving, it is November 1856, and it is -11 degrees and the icy Wyoming wind is blowing on us. This was hard to do because we have never felt real hunger and we have never really been in temperatures that cold so I don't think we fully understood the hardships and sacrifices these early Saints made.
As we started out our trek, we first did a river crossing. Okay this is not the real river crossing the pioneer did. That Sweetwater crossing is much bigger and the water would have been up to our knees. Since the river was running quite high and fast and we had little kids, our guides, Brother and Sister Grover, thought it would be better to do the smaller crossing. We agreed. So here we are doing the small river crossing or as one missionary said, "The creek crossing." The Bassett's when down first. Then when we saw them struggle a little, some of the Hughes' ran to help. Then the Hughes' went across and we ran to help them. Then it was our turn. We put the kids in the cart and tried our best to get across the creek and up the other side of the steep bank. Soon others were grabbing our cart and pushing from the back and we got across. It was so awesome to help each other and the spirit of working together over this small trial was amazing. We all seemed to feel the Spirit at that time and after we got across, Klint and Lacie came up to me and said, "This trek was a great idea. That part alone and us working together made this trek for us. So lets enjoy this trek and not worry about when we leave for our next place." That made me feel good that we made a good decision for the group.
After the river crossing, we made it to the Rescuers bridge over the Sweetwater River.
At this point the missionaries told about the rescuers honored by this bridge. The first rescue was the story we have all heard and that Pres Hinckley told in the 1981 priesthood session general conference about the three 18-year-old boys that carried multiple if not all of the people across the Sweetwater. At the time of the crossing on November 3, 1856 chunks of ice were floating in the river. To the pioneers the river looked like stepping into death but these three young men showed courage and helped everyone cross. They later died because of the effects. When President Brigham Young heard of their heroism, he declared that these three young men would have everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom. All I can think is would I have done that? How many times are there people struggling around us today and we just look the other way instead of trying to help? The other rescue parties that came from Salt Lake were also honored. This was what the missionaries called the first rescue. The second rescue is what Saints do today by learning about their heritage, learning about the pioneers and their ancestors, and then doing the temple work for these people so we can all be connected and together in Heaven.
Aren't these the cutest little pioneer children ever? Emily and Colby walked most of the way but as you can see they liked riding in the cart better. They would set in the cart and eat our snacks even though I told them to save some for later. Sis Grover told me a funny but sad story to go along with that. She said that there was one family that had a little kid probably Colby's age. The little boy was riding in the cart and the family had some bread in the cart to save for their dinner. The little boy was so hungry that while he was riding, he kept taking little bits of the bread and eating it. By the time they got to camp, the bread was gone. No one in the family had any bread that night. The little boy felt so bad but he was so hungry he couldn't help himself. I cannot imagine what that must have been like.
So we trekked on down the trail to the Handcart parking. This is the place all of the handcarts park while we hiked up to the Cove. We were only allowed to use carts on the property that the Church owns but because the BLM owns the Cove portion, we could not take the handcarts on that part of the hike.
We had to walk up to the Cove, which had I known, I would have brought the baby carrier backpack to put Logan in. But then again, we were pioneers in 1856, right, so no baby carriers. It was okay though, Logan had a good time riding on Grandpa's shoulders and being passed around. He even liked walking for a bit. In fact toward the end he refused to be carried and wanted to walk by himself. Logan and I walked a little slower than everyone else at that time. Emily and Colby had fun walking with their cousins. The above picture is of the Martin's Cove valley and the Handcart parking.
As we got inside the Cove, we stopped at a little amphitheater to rest and hear more stories of the pioneers. Because we were on BLM property the missionaries technically could not proselyte or tell stories unless you asked them and we did ask them. Bro Grover told us the history of the Cove and a few stories. He told us that the rescuers moved the company into the Cove to get them out of the cold wind and somewhat shelter them from the weather. They also had to keep the people in the company moving so that they would not freeze to death. They made little jobs for them to do like hiking to find fire wood and things like that. Bro and Sis Grover were amazing guides. Bro Grover talked of the trials these pioneers went through but also emphasized all of the blessings and miracles that came to these early Saints. He said something that really hit me. He said "The Lord will not give you any trial that He does not prepare a way for you to overcome it." I know I have heard this before but after going though this experience, and hearing the stories and miracles that came from it, this statement really rang true. You could really feel the Spirit in this sacred place.
Behind us in this picture is the Cove. As we walked in the Cove, Bro and Sis Grover asked that we try to remain as quiet as possible because this was holy ground and they liked to keep a feeling of reverence in this area. After spending some time in the Cove, we started heading back down to the Handcarts.
As we got back to the carts and headed back to the Visitor Center, the kids zonked out. (Well all except Logan.) They were so tired from walking. We decided to head back the way we came instead of doing the full loop. I am kind of sad we missed the other side of the loop because we missed the statues and the area they do the women's pull and the actual river crossing. But it was okay. On our way back, we crossed the river/creek we crossed at the beginning of the trek.
For some reason pulling across the river on this side was a little harder than the first time. Thanks Justin and Taylor for helping us across even though you both fell in the water. We made it!
When we returned from the trek, we had to spray the handcarts down to get off any mud and then park them in the storage place. Emily loved helping Russell put the handcart away.
In all we walked 6-7 miles this day. We were so tired but we were healthy and it was warm. I cannot imagine doing this in the freezing winter, starving and being sick. I definitely have a greater appreciation for these early Saints and the sacrifices they made to come to Utah. The great faith they must have had to make this trek even though they started late. They knew just as Bro Grover said, that the Lord would not give them any trial they could not overcome.
After lunch we walked around the different buildings and the Visitor Center. Our first stop was the Blacksmith shop. Bro Grover showed us all of the different tools in the blacksmith shop. Then he gave each of the kids a Prairie Diamond ring. Earlier he had told us the story of the Prairie Diamond. The story he told went something like this: There was a young pioneer girl that was very beautiful and there were three young men that really liked her and wanted to court her. She like all of the young men and didn't mind being chased by all of them but her dad wanted her to choose. So he brought the three guys together and made a deal with them. The father said the first one to bring my daughter a diamond ring can marry her. They agreed on this deal but since they were out on the plains and no real way to get a diamond ring two of the men gave up. The third young man really loved this girl (and she really favored him to the others) and thought and thought about how he was going to get a diamond ring. One night, he noticed a horseshoe nail glowing in the fire. When he pulled it out of the fire, he noticed that the head of the nail looked like a cut diamond and when held just right the light made it shine. The young man took the nail to the blacksmith and asked him if he could shape this nail into a ring. The blacksmith said he could. The next day, the young man took the ring to the girl's father and told him how much he loved the man's daughter and presented the horseshoe nail ring and asked if he would accept this diamond ring. The father knew how much thought and work had gone into this and he knew that the boy did love his daughter and his determination would prove him to be a good husband. The father accepted the ring and the two were married. Since then the horseshoe rings have been called the Prairie Diamonds. I loved hearing that story.
We also walked through the Visitor Center where we were able to see the names of all of the handcart pioneers as well as those who died along the way. I was amazing to read all of the names and see the ages of the people travelling. There was one family that was exactly mine and Russell's age with 3 little kids the same age as our kids. This little family like ours overcame the odds and all made it. That to me was awesome. The above picture is of the original fort that was here when the pioneers came through. The map shows the area where all 6 westward trails came through this area.
One more cool story... I wish I could remember the settler's name but a few years after all of the handcarts came across the plains, a settler staked his claim on 1,000,000 acres that included the Martin's Cove area. Knowing the history of the land and all of the immigrants and travelers that had used the trails through the land and the lives lost and buried along the way, this settler regarded this land as holy. Because of this he never plowed this ground. He raised his cattle on the natural grasses that grew here. This settler's beef was the best beef sold during this time. He was definitely blessed for protecting this sacred land.
As we bid farewell to Martin's Cove, we came away with a greater love for the early Saints. We also came away with a greater understanding of the reasons they left on their journey. Their faith and testimony was very inspiring to me. I am grateful for the sacrifices all of the pioneers and early Saints made to help this Church grow. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church.
This is a Independence Rock near Martin's Cove. Because of the time, we were not able to explore the rock so we just drove by. The reason this is called Independence Rock is because if the pioneers arrived at this point by July 4 or Independence Day, they were okay to make it to the Salt Lake Valley before the first snows of winter. The pioneers of the Willie and Martin Companies did not arrive at this point until late October/early November. In fact they did not even leave on their trek until July.
After leaving Martin's Cove, we headed to our next destination, Custer, SD. This was a 260 mile trip that took 5-6 hours. We drove through the oil fields of Wyoming and saw many oil rig pumps. We also drove passed an open coal mine. We saw antelope everywhere in the open fields as we drove. As it got dark, we could see the full moon. I took a picture of the moon because a full moon on Friday the 13th will not happen again until 2049! We finally made it into South Dakota and it was amazing the instant change in scenery. Wyoming is flat grasslands as far as you can see; no trees anywhere. The moment we crossed the boarder into South Dakota, the trees appeared. Tall beautiful pine and aspen trees were everywhere. I loved the mountains and the scenery of South Dakota.
We camped at the Flintstones Theme Park campground in Custer, SD for the next two nights.
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