--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young, Seymour B. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 25 number: 8 published: 1922-06 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Seymour B. Young, "Lest We Forget—VIII," *Improvement Era* 25, no. 8 (June 1922): 722–726.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2508unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2508unse start_page: 722 end_page: 726 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1922-06) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2508unse publication_year: 1922 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1922, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Lest We Forget—VIII Lest We Forget By Dr. Seymour B. Young, of the First Council of Seventy VIII — The Snake River Expedition (Continued) Through the beautiful valley of Teton, we went by slow marches, allowing the horses frequent grazing opportunities, and the men to rest, for strenuous travel was impossible, as lack of food was already beginning to tell on the men. Early in the day a small cinnamon bear was roused from his den; some of the boys gave chase and succeeded in ovrtaking him in a dense grove of quaking asp, where he was soon dispatched and divided among the men. A swan and a badger were also added to our catch during the day. "When we encamped for the night, a few miles west of the lower end of the Teton Basin, the men were refreshed with the wild game cap- tured during the day and lay down to rest, more cheerful and comfortable from this partial satisfying of their hunger. Our mess of eight had for its portion the skin of the badger, which was placed on a bed of live coals, when the hair and fur were completely singed and burned away, then the bared skin of the beast began to sizzle and roast, and by this process of roasting the thickening of the hide increased to at least three quarters of an inch. When thoroughly cooked through it was divided between the eight men of the mess, and after devouring each his portion, with the rest of the party we rolled in our blankets and slept for the night. On the 10th day we resumed our travel, still in a westerly direction, till we struck a branch of the Snake river. We hoped to be able to cross successfully this small stream, and then continue south and find the large river divided into several smaller streams, thus enabling us to cross these tributaries, which would bring us to the south shore of the main Snake river, where we hoped to continue our march through a country well sup- plied with wild game. Accordingly a number of the command entered the stream, and swam with their horses to the other shore. Among the first to land was Corporal Young and Private Charles Crismon. While the first- named trooper succeeded in landing safely on the other side, Crismon's horse seems to have been taken with a cramp, or else his feet became en- tangle with the stirrups or the lariat attached to the saddle; at any rate, he soon became helpless and sank to the bottom. Comrade Crismon immediately disengaged himself from his horse, swam over, and joined Comrade Young. Crismon not only lost his horse but his saddle, bridle, and all of his clothing. On our return to camp the following evening, the comrades made up for him a suit of clothes, and he was given one of the pack animals with the pack saddle to ride until a better mount could be found for him. On arriving on the Island the two waited further developments. Some of the boys constructed a small frail raft and placing it in the stream near the shore three of them who could not swim, namely: Jimmie Sharp, Joe Fisher and Joe Goddard, embarked on the boat, and, on pushing off from the shore, they were instructed to lie flat on the raft and paddle and LEST WE FORGET 723 steer with their hands across to the other side, which it was believed possible for them to do, since the current was quite slow and ihe stream not more than 200 feet wide. But the raft was too frail, and immediately began to sink. Finally the boys had to stand on their knees, then on their feet, to keep their heads above water. By this time Captain Smith and Jimmy Wells and others had crossed over and joined Comrades Young and Crismon; they eagerly watched the three comrades on the raft, which was now drifting with the current in the middle of the river, the boys on it unable to guide or help to propel it to either shore. Several of us ran hastily down the bank, following the course of the raft, till it drifted nearer the Island, when Jimmie Wells, with the loup of a long lariat slipped over his right arm, plunged into the stream and swam with the current till he overtook the floating raft with the boys, slipped his roped arm between the poles of the raft and shouted, "Pull.'* In the meantime when Wells entered the stream other ropes were added to the one he had trailed behind him, so that, when he shouted to them on shore to pull, the comrades on the frail raft were soon safely landed. After this very exciting experience, several of the comrades explored further to the south limit of the island. There it was discovered that the big Snake river, swollen as it was from the melting snows of the Teton range, would present an obstacle probably insurmountable in the way of their progress in that direction. It was therefore concluded that the swimmers of the morning should recross to the mainland, one of them carrying a line at- tached to the raft across to the main shore. The same three comrades were placed again upon the frail boat, but this time they were drawn speedily and safely to shore without delay or accident, landing near the same point from which they had embarked earlier in the day. Here camp was established for the night, and camp fires plentifully provided that the men might stand around them and dry their wet clothing. Later in the afternoon, Comrade Joseph A. Fisher, approached the commander, and, after saluting said, "Captain Smith, this is my twenty-first birthday, July 28, and I would like to have a birthday dinner." The Captain replied, "Well, we'll do the best we can for you, Joe." Accordingly a shank bone of the bear was fished out of the pack and placed in the camp kettle half full of water, and hung over the fire. Comrade Hale brought out a flour sack that had once contained flour and, turning it inside out, it was found that, in mixing dough in the sack, some of it had adhered to the inside, and this was scraped off and added to the kettle of soup. What with the scraping of the flour sack and some frogs' legs, added by Comrade Hale, a kettle of broth without salt or seasoning of any kind was produced, and Comrade Fisher records that twenty men ate from this his birthday kettle of thin soup! The following day, July 29, we marched fifteen miles to the south fork of the Snake river, secured some dry quaking asp logs, constructed a raft and Captain Smith, O. H. Spencer, Andrew Bigler, S. B. Young, Peter Corney, James Sharp and Tom Caldwell, with the bag- gage of their mess, succeeded in crossing over. On reaching the opposite bank most of the boys succeeded in grasp- ing the limbs of a cottonwood tree which had fallen on the edge of the stream. It was designed to pull the raft ashore and fix it with ropes for the ferrying over of the balance of the company, but the current was too strong, so that the raft was swept from under them all ; one of the com- rades succeeded, however, in reaching the shore safely by the aid of the limbs of a tree to which he clung. Captain Smith, seeing Caldwell still on the raft and being carried swiftly down the river, plunged into the stream and swam until he overtook the raft, climbed on it, and, with Comrade Caldwell continued down the swift current of the stream for more than a mile. It was now near the main encampment where it 724 IMPROVEMENT ERA lodged on the point of an island. Here William Longstroth swam with a long rope from the shore to the rescue of the two men on the raft. Making fast the rope to the raft the three were soon hauled safely to shore, with the loss, however, of two saddles, some cooking utensils and some clothing. The five comrades namely: Bigler Corney, Young, Sharp and Spencer who had succeeded in landing upon the island when the raft got away, found themselves being without clothes suffering intensely from bites of the clouds of mosquitos that seemed to envelope them. Two of the comrades, rebelled against this terrible mosquito scourge, and de- termined to swim that night back to the opposite shore to obtain their clothing and be with their comrades in camp through the night. These two were Bigler and Corney, who made their way through brush and bramble several hundred yards up the stream where they secured a dry quaking asp log and succeeded with it, in crossing safely again this mountain torrent. The other three who remained on the island, namely: Spencer, Young and Sharp endured as best they could the bites of the hungry insects through the long, weary night, naked as they were, with no de- fense against the fierce onslaught of the millions of mosquitos. At daybreak in the morning, however, the three comrades followed the trail of those who had crossed the night before, going up the stream several hundred yards and there securing a dry log, and pushing it into the stream, and by its help were enabled to reach the shore from which they started on their perilous voyage the day previous. They were warmly greeted and welcomed by the captain and comrades in their camp a mile further down the river. It was determined at this point that the command would make no further efforts to recross the south fork of the Snake river as two at- tempts had already failed, in both instances nearly costing precious lives. After these escapades the following day, the 30th, we continued our march westward along the course of the river, but owing to the condition of the men, on whom the want of food was beginning to tell seriously, the company halted soon after noon, and our wagon master, Comrade Sol Hale, was commissioned to interview Captain Smith and obtain from him per- mission to kill one of the horses and divide it among the men, this to re- lieve their hunger and to husband what little strength remained. Captain Smith consented, and requested Comrade Hale to select one of the animals and shoot it, and see it properly prepared and delivered to the different messes according to their number. The horse was ac- cordingly selected, tethered to a sage brush, and Comrade Hale walked to within ten or twelve paces of the animal, leveled his six shooter, and took deadly aim at the doomed animal. We all stood by expecting to hear the report of the gun, and to see the poor, old faithful beast drop dead, but Comrade Hale did not fire. All of a sudden, he dropped his hand which held the gun by his side and said, tears blinding his eyes: "Darned if I can shoot that poor old horse!" Then another trooper, Jimmie Larkins, was selected to do the killing. The horse was soon dis- patched and divided, and each man began to roast and eat his portion, while the cooks engaged in boiling the larger and more bony portions for a more substantial meal. It was observed that Captain Smith was not eating. A comrade secured a piece of seemingly healthful liver and after carefully roasting it over the fire, the Captain was induced to eat a portion of it. The comrade also made his supper of the roasted liver, not being able to eat the boiled meat, prepared as it was without salt or seasoning of any kind. The fresh smell coupled with the strong odor of the horse was sufficient to prevent any desire for the horse flesh that night, but the following day hunger overcame every other consideration, LEST WE FORGET 725 and a hearty meal was made of the boiled horse flesh. On July 31 we reached the north fork of the Snake river, at a point near the two buttes, about seven miles west of where Rexburg is now located. Here the remnants of the slaughtered horse were devoured and the boys worked vigorously hauling with their saddle horses dry logs from a little clump of trees several miles away with which to construct a raft. The following morn- ing, the 1st day of August, Mr. Hereford superintended the construc- tion of a substantial raft, binding the timbers firmly together with thongs of raw hide, cut from the hide of the slaughtered horse, and with this raft the men who could not swim, and the baggage of he company, were safely ferried to the other side of the stream. Though very deep at this point and at least 30 rods wide the current being sluggish, enabled the remainder of the men to swim over with their horses without diffi- culty. They then crossed over a very swampy piece of ground which was bridged with willows, the men carrying the baggage and their saddles across this willow bridge, because the horses had all they could do to wallow through the mire without anything to carry. Soon after crossing this swamp, a small branch of the river was encountered and successfully crossed, and the company safely landed on high ground near the foot of the two buttes mentioned above. On Aug. 2, the company marched twelve miles, and halted to allow the animals to graze and rest. At this point Captain Smith and Corporal Young rode in advance for the purpose of finding and intercepting any company of emigrants that might be traveling to the north. After riding about fifteen miles, a small camp of about eight wagons was overtaken on the road leading towards some newly discovered mines in the northern part of Idaho. They were camped for their mid-day meal. After much solicitation, they reluctantly furnished us a hundred pounds of flour, and a side of bacon, charging a very high price. The men stated that a few days before, Indians had attacked their camp and killed one of their men and run off one of their horses and five of their cattle. Capt. Smith gave up his horse to Corporal Young, the Corporal using his mount and saddle on which to pack the flour and bacon. "When the pack was made up and thoroughly lashed, Young mounted the Captain's horse, in obedience to the Captain's orders, and drove the pack animal swiftly on the way to meet the approaching column of famished and hungry men. Captain Smith was left to the tender mercies of the emigrants who had threatened, when we first entered their camp, that they would hang each one of us to the end of a wagon tongue. "We explained to them the fact that we were members of a command of Utah Volunteers of the United States army, and also the fact that about forty men belonging to said com- pany were a few miles in the rear and very much in need of something to eat, and should any harm come to us, vengeance might be taken upon those who did the injury. After this their venom seemed all to have passed away, and the provisions were furnished as above stated. The captain marched along near the train, both coming up with the camp of volunteers about dark in the evening, at which time we had established our camp and were engaged in the baking of bread and the frying of bacon to satisfy the hungry men. When the emigrant train had gone into camp near the vol- unteers, they seemed desirous of showing, in every way possible, their re- gret for the threats made to hang Captain Smith, and his comrade. They furnished two large camp kettles, with soup bones and plenty of fresh beef, also salt and pepper for seasoning. From these ingredients two brim- ming kettles of soup, with dumplings, were being ladled out to the men, and the feast of this delicious supply lasted till midnight. From this time on till our arrival home there was no want of food. The fol- 726 IMPROVEMENT ERA lowing day the command marched twelve miles to the outlet of the Snake river which supplies Market lake. Here we encamped and rested till the following morning at daybreak when we mounted our horses and swam the outlet of the lake, and with ropes attached to the pack animals as- sisted them to cross the stream by dragging them through it, part of the time under water with their packs. From this crossing we made our way twenty-two miles in a southwesterly direction, when we reached the point on the Snake river called Eagle Rock, where a ferry had been established by the Barnard Brothers, from Box Elder county, Utah. After crossing on the Barnard ferry boat, Captain Smith purchased, of the ferry men, several sacks of flour and a dressed beef. At this point we obtained from Mr. Barnard a couple of wagons and some harness and hitching our pack by slow and easy stages, by way of Fort Hall and past the trapper's lodge where PocateUo is now located. Continuing up the Pertneuf river, past animals to the wagons, we loaded our baggage and continued our march the present site of McCammon, we reached Soda Springs, the second night from the ferry. The following day we resumed our march down the Bear river as far as the north end of Cache Valley, and on reaching the little hamlet of Clifton, entered the defile of this mountain stream and followed it over the divide into Malad Valley. The next day we continued our march thirty-five miles to the Bear river bridge, owned by Ben Hampton, over which we crossed without difficulty, by paying the stipulated price for men, horses and wagons. The next day we reached Brigham City, and the following evening camped a few miles north of Ogden, and in the afternoon, Aug. 15 about 4 o'clock we rode into Salt Lake City where we were warmly welcomed by President Young, General Wells, and the populace. Nothing is Wasted In a mood of pessimistic scorn, I wailed of the spots on God's great earth Which then, to my limited mind, «eented shorn Of beauty, of value, and every worth. But since I have pondered well my words And thought and prayed, till I understood These words in the wonderful book — the Lord's, "He created all things and called them good." For the dead, dull wood and inanimate wire, When shaped and formed and made a whole, And christened "violin" or "harp" or "lyre," And played, will be found to possess a soul. AM things are God's, and nothing is waste, The least thing created, if studied, shows That each has its work and each its place; God speaks, and the desert blooms as the rose. So the blackest soul, though purged with grime, Through the mercy of Christ may yet be cleaned, The wickedest heart though steeped in crime, May repent to God and be redeemed. Clifton, Idaho Orvid E. Howell