Running with the saints: day 6 & 7

My running reminds me that if I want to get things done I need to engineer my environment to reduce resistance. For example, If I want to increase the chances I’ll get out of bed for a morning run I need to get my running gear ready the night before. I’d better have it all neatly folded and in easy reach. If I wake up and my mind is casting about to mentally gather everything, the chances I’m getting out of bed are greatly reduced. Less thinking and more doing in the moment of decision. I expect those saints that didn’t have this kind of attitude before setting out would by the time they reached the valley.

Thursday 6.

Broke up camp at 9 o’clock—Dinner on Loup Fork—The tributary has the same muddy complexion as the Platte into which it empties—crossed a very bad slough just before dinner which came up near the wag. beds—Came into camp about 5. Two miles from Columbus—16 miles—Plenty of wood—river water—and feed good. Indians still in camp increased in number.

My Thursday run came in 3 parts. I did not engineer my environment well and failed to get up at 6 am. I went in to work at 8:30 and got things rolling. At 9 am I set out for a 10k run. This brought me back to work in time for my next meetings. I forced down a lunch of perogies and eggs before heading out for another 10k at noon. This had me back in the office for my next meeting at one. Still, I was not done. I punched out the final 6k at 2:30. With the running all done I managed a shower before heading out for Edgerton where I had a board meeting to attend. This is a little community 90 minutes drive from here. On the way down, I stopped in Lloydminster to pickup some new appliances I ordered (washer, dryer, gas stove, fridge). By the time I got home and swapped out the old washer and dryer (on the upper floor of my house) it was midnight. I was not really planning for an upper body workout in the evening but those washing machines gave me one. My son and I both had an intense workout with those! In the end, I got in a full day’s work, managed 16 miles (26k) of running, and checked off a big box on the “Honey do” list. I did not, however, have time to write this post.

Friday 7.

Came out about 7½ – 2½ mi to Ferry at Columbus swam the loose stock—Teams commenced crossing at 9 and were all across at 5. P.M.—Ferry extends about half way across the river. boat coming to the shore on the east side leaving a long distance on the west side to be forded—Quick sand forms it [at] bottom which renders the fording very difficult for loaded wagons—most passed with little difficulty. some teams afraid of the water—In camp near the west bank of the Fork with plenty of water and wood—a very fine Spring about ¾ of a mile from camp[.] our team came in today which raises our number to 61 wagons…

This ferry crossing made for a bit of a rest day for me. I had a nice 2.5 mile walk with my running buddy, Lewis. It doesn’t sound like it was very restful for the saints though. I imagine it was a bit of work swimming the loose stock and fording through quicksand like areas.

It is on this day in his record that Bartlett makes a list of the wagon teams and travellers. I won’t include the full list here. You can check it out in the online transcript. It is fun to look some of these folks up and read about their lives. I’m sure I’ll tell some of their stories as these post continue. The family I am most concerned with is listed as:

“A) S[olomon]. J. Despain. wife & Six chil. Susan Dean. 2 oxen 2 cows. 2 Horses. 2 wags-“

The children were:

• William Joseph (18) – My second great-grandfather.
• Hyrum Smith (15)
• Henry Waters (14)
• Orson Augustus (10)
• Amanda Caroline (7)
• Ella Eugenia (3)
• Susan Dean was an orphan (18)… we’ll get to her story in the coming days.

David Alvin would be born just two weeks after they reached the valley on September 1st.

Reviewing this list, I am a little annoyed that Ruth Amelia Newell is listed simply as “wife.” We can do better than that. This impressive matriarch was 39 years old when they set out for the promised land. She’d make that trek in her third trimester with David Allen. What anxiety must have pursued her? She had lost 3 children already. Her eldest, Solomon, died the same day of his birth, April 9th, 1843. She buried her 5th child, Edwin Sylvester, in Belleview, Calhoun, Illinois. He was 2 years old. She would then bury her second daughter (8th child) in Dean Island, Mississippi, Arkansas, also at age 2. She would go on to have two more children after David, Oscar Newell and Clara Louisa. In the tenderest of mercies, she was outlived by all these remaining children. In total, she carried and mothered 8 sons and 4 daughters.

I am grateful to her granddaughter, Verna, for leaving us this little biography:

The last 16 years of her life, she suffered much with rheumatism. The last eight years, she was perfectly helpless. She was such a kind, patient soul, as l, her granddaughter took care of her, and waited on her, when I was a child. I loved her for her kind, encouraging words. I know her trials were many, and her suffering great. She wanted so much to die, so she would have relief from pain, and not be a burden on anyone. She was a real, true, Latter-day Saint. I hope I live worthy to be with her, She gave me such a wonderful mother, I can’t thank my Heavenly Father enough for having such a grand, sweet grandmother. She was tested in the fire of pain and suffering in so many ways. We, as her grandchildren know little about the pain and suffering she was called on to endure. She was president of the Relief Society for many years and she died on the 21″ of August, 1901 in Granite, Salt Lake County, Utah. ” — Verna Maud Boyce Judd.¹

I am encouraged by Verna’s assessment of Ruth. Having endured so much it would not be surprising if she’d been a bitter and cantankerous creature. If I am called to wade through deep waters I hope I’ll remember Ruth, and know that if my foremothers could pass through hard times to emerge as Verna describes then so too might I.

1. Ruth Amelia Newell, by Ella Eugenia Despain Boyce and Verna Maud Boyce Judd, https://www.familysearch.org/memories/memory/116062059?cid=mem_copy. Family Search. Accessed May 8, 2024. ↩︎