Morgan Pioneer History Binds Us 'Together to the ground with her children. They would have been swept away if they had not been rescued by some men who helped them back to safety. This was one of the worst storms witnessed by them during their journey. They started their journey the next day after repairing the damage as best as they could. They arrived at the Mormon town of Genoa, 102 miles out from Florence, Nebraska, on the twenty-second of June. When the campground was reached at night, the carts were placed in a circle leaving an open space which was used as a corral for the oxen. Oxen were driven about a half mile away from camp to feed during the night and were guarded by two men. As soon as breakfast was over, they were ordered to line up for another long, hot day. The carts were loaded with bedding, cooking utensils and sometimes little children rode when their feet had become too tired to walk any further. Most of the others were seen trudging along on the scorching ground, sometimes barefoot, leading their barefoot young children by the hand, stopping once in a while to try to relieve their blistered feet. When Eliza's shoes completely wore out, she wrapped her feet with rags and continued this way until they met a band of Indians and were able to purchase a pair of moccasins. Eliza was in a weakened condition due to recent childbirth and lack of food. Mr. Fosket, the man in charge of storing away the necessary provisions failed to store enough food for the people in this handcart company. Eliza could hardly walk so her brother, William, let her ride in his wagon with his son, David, who was very ill, suffering from dysentery. The young boy, not quite two years old, died and was buried on the plains of Wyoming. At one point on their journey, Eliza became so weak she could not continue. It wasn't possible for her to ride in the wagon because the animals were getting weak. Her husband, Conrad, did not dare stop with her because they would be left behind. He placed his wife in the shade of a bush and continued on with the company, marking the trail as he went. As soon as they camped for the evening, Conrad went back to get his wife. Eliza did regain her strength and helped pull the handcart. Travel was not easy for these Saints. Days were hot and nights were cold. As food became scarce flour was rationed out at one half pound per day. At that point, Captain Robison swam the Platte River and made arrangements for provisions to be sent to the camp. Canteens of water hung on the sides of the carts, but water was scarce in some areas, and it became necessary to dig shallow wells three or four feet deep. Sometimes the water was filled with alkali which caused it to be yellow and hardly drinkable. Women would gather buffalo chips and fill the pockets of their aprons. These chips were used in the place of wood for cooking. The chips made more smoke than fire and would turn the bread yellow. The flavor was not the best, but the hungry people were glad to get what they could. This handcart company's journey was very peaceful. Several bands of Indians passed, but the Saints were not molested by them. When they camped for the night they always had prayer and a song. They seemed happy and put their trust in God. Arriving at Sweetwater, Wyoming, they found the bottom of the river covered with fish. Everyone had all they could eat. This was a very special treat after eating salty bacons all the way. They had no other meat because of spoilage problems, and they did not see any game animals except an occasional rabbit, which would feed only one family. When they reached the Green River, all the people were taken across on a ferry boat, and the animals swam across. At this point they were running very low on provisions and became weak from hunger. While they were fighting hunger and despair, a Church relief train arrived with 2,500 pounds of flour and 500 pounds of bacon. This was indeed a welcome sight. With the new supplies the Ninth Handcart Company moved on toward their destination. Since they were close to journey's end, and in order to get some much needed rest, they camped two days at the mouth of Echo Canyon on the Weber River at a small town called Henefer. A man by the name of Mr. Henefer donated five bushels of potatoes if the Saints would dig them. The fishing was very good on the Weber River, and everyone had all the potatoes and fish they could eat. The Saints still had some steep hills to climb, but help was ahead. A man living on top of Big Mountain sent seven yoke of oxen down to help pull the carts to the top of the mountain. A few miles outside Salt Lake, they stopped to clean up. They boiled and ironed clothes, and polished shoes to wear into the valley. The endless miles of walking barefoot had resulted in their shoes being so tight they could scarcely hobble. They reached Salt Lake City on August 27,1860, eleven weeks after they had departed Florence. They were told that previous handcart companies had been greeted by the First Presidency, a brass band, and some of the citizenry. Based on that, the members of