The first company of pioneers, which left Winter Quarters in April 1847, was led by Brigham Young. The group included 143 men, 3 women, and 2 children. These pioneers had 73 wagons and 93 horses, 66 oxen, 52 mules, 19 cows, 17 dogs, and some chickens. The oxen pulled the covered wagons across the plains. Oxen are large, strong cattle, but they are very slow. The pioneers also took along a boat and a cannon.

Brigham Young gave the pioneers the following rules at the beginning of the journey:

1. A bugle will blow at 5:00 A.M. Everyone is to get up, pray, eat breakfast, feed and water the animals, and be ready to go by 7:00 A.M.

2. The wagons are to keep together while traveling.

3. Every man must stay by his wagon and keep his gun by his side.

4. At night the wagons are to be drawn into a circle. The bugle will blow at 8:30 P.M. Everyone is to pray and be in bed by 9:00 P.M.

The first pioneers were to prepare the way for the many Saints who would come later. As they traveled, they made roads and prepared bridges and other ways to cross rivers and streams. They also made maps of the trail and recorded information that would be helpful to the next companies of pioneers, such as good places to camp or feed the animals. The pioneers also stayed busy hunting for food, repairing their wagons and equipment, and taking care of their animals.

At night the pioneers brought their wagons into a circle, with the openings of the wagons facing out. The horses and oxen were tied inside the circle. Some people had brought musical instruments with them, and the pioneers loved to sing and dance. William Clayton had written “Come, Come, Ye Saints” (Hymns, no. 30) during the difficult journey to Winter Quarters, and the pioneers sang this hymn often to give them courage to face their problems. The pioneers also enjoyed playing games such as checkers and telling humorous stories.

Ask the children some riddles similar to those the pioneers might have enjoyed:

When Brigham Young left Winter Quarters, what did he see on his right hand? (Four fingers and a thumb!)

What animals can jump higher than a house? (All animals—houses can’t jump!)

What are eggshells used for? (To hold eggs together!)

One good trail through the Rocky Mountains already existed when the pioneers moved west. This trail was known as the Oregon Trail, and it was used by hundreds of people such as traders, fur trappers, and explorers. The Oregon Trail followed along the south side of the Platte River. Because they wanted to avoid trouble with other people traveling west, Brigham Young and the pioneers built a new trail on the north side of the Platte River. The new trail was easier to travel than the Oregon Trail because it was not as steep. This trail was called the Mormon Trail.

The pioneers wanted to keep a record of how far they traveled each day, so William Clayton tied a red flag on one of his wagon wheels and counted the times the flag went around. He was able to calculate the distance the wagon had traveled using the measurement of the wheel and the number of turns of the flag. This was a very tiring job, so Brother Clayton invented a machine that would do the counting for him. Some other men helped him build the machine. This machine, called an odometer, was connected to a wagon wheel. As the wagon wheel turned, smaller wheels inside the machine moved and measured the distance the pioneers traveled each day (see enrichment activity 1).

As the pioneers traveled across the grassy plains, they saw many wild animals such as antelope, deer, and wolves. They also saw thousands of buffalo. The buffalo herds ate the grass on the prairie, often leaving nothing for the pioneers’ animals to eat. When food for their oxen and horses was scarce, the pioneers could not travel as far that day. The pioneers killed and ate some buffalo, but they were instructed to kill only the animals they needed.

The pioneers were always alert to protect themselves from Indian attacks. Sometimes Indians tried to sneak into the camp at night and steal animals. Other Indians demanded gifts for the right to cross their lands. Most of the Indians were friendly and helpful, however, and the Saints treated them as friends.

On Sundays Brigham Young told the Saints crossing the plains to rest their animals and themselves. No fishing, hunting, or labor of any kind was allowed on Sunday. The pioneers held sacrament meeting, prayed, and studied the scriptures. Sometimes they wrote letters to family members left behind.

Chimney Rock, near the present-day Nebraska-Wyoming border, marked the halfway point of the journey from Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley. This large rock formation resembling a chimney could be seen for many miles before the Saints actually reached it on 26 May 1847. The Saints stopped at nearby settlement Fort Laramie to make repairs to their wagons and equipment.

After the pioneers left Fort Laramie, they needed to cross the Platte River. They used the leather boat they had brought to take across their belongings and supplies, and they built light rafts to take the wagons across the river. Other people also wanted to cross the Platte River, and they paid the Saints to take their supplies across the river, paying the fee with flour, meal, and bacon. The Saints’ supplies were low and this food was very welcome. Wilford Woodruff said, “It looked as much of a miracle to me to see our flour and meal bags replenished. … The Lord has been truly with us on our journey, and has wonderfully blessed and preserved us” (quoted in Joseph Fielding Smith, Essentials in Church History, p. 365).

The pioneers wrote down the miles they traveled each day and often left the information for later pioneers to see as they came along the trail. Sometimes this information was carved on the side of a tree or on a wooden post set in the ground. Other times the pioneers carved the information into buffalo skulls that were lying by the trail. These engravings became known as “bulletins on the plains.” Brigham Young once wrote on a skull:

Pioneers

camped here

June 3rd, 1847

making 15 miles today

All well

Brigham Young.

(Note to the teacher: B. H. Roberts believed this date is incorrect and should be June 23rd. See A Comprehensive History of the Church, 3:177–78.)

As the pioneers traveled along the Sweetwater River toward the Salt Lake Valley, they met several trappers. One day they met the most famous trapper in the West, Jim Bridger. Bridger told Brigham Young that he did not think crops would grow in the Salt Lake Valley, and he offered $1,000 for the first bushel of corn the pioneers could raise there.

Brigham Young had heard that California and Oregon were beautiful places where the soil was rich and crops grew easily. But he knew that thousands of people, including some enemies of the Church, were already moving to these places. The Saints needed to settle where they would not be persecuted again. Brigham Young knew that Heavenly Father would help the Saints make the Salt Lake Valley a beautiful place.

The horses and oxen had difficulty traveling when the pioneers reached the Rocky Mountains. The hillsides were very steep and there were many streams and rivers to cross. Temperatures were very cold at night and hot during the day. This part of the journey was difficult for the people too. Many of the men became sick with mountain fever. The company split into three groups: a small group went ahead to prepare a road for the wagons, the main group followed, and a group of those who were sick trailed behind.

On 20 July 1847 the small scouting group reached East Canyon, just above the Salt Lake Valley. The next day Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow rode ahead of the wagons and were the first pioneers to enter the valley. The first wagons reached the valley two days later. The pioneers gathered together and dedicated the land to the Lord; then they set to work planting crops. They placed a dam in a nearby stream and flooded the land to prepare it for planting.

Brigham Young and the rest of the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley on 24 July 1847. Brigham Young was very sick and was riding in Wilford Woodruff’s carriage. Brother Woodruff turned the carriage so that President Young could look at the valley. The Lord had shown President Young a vision of the place where the Saints should settle, and after gazing at the valley for a long time, Brigham Young said, “It is enough. This is the right place. Drive on!” (quoted in B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church, 3:224).

The pioneers were thankful that the Lord had blessed them during their travels to this new land. Not one person had died on the difficult journey. The pioneers’ hard work and courage had helped prepare the way for thousands of other Saints to come to the Salt Lake Valley. The pioneers knew they would fulfill the prophecy of Joseph Smith and “become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains” (History of the Church, 5:85).