Martin's Cove

Our first Sunday in the ward here in Casper, we noticed a few missionary couples whose name badges said Martin's Cove. We asked around and found out that Martin's Cove is only about an hour away from Casper. So when Brad had the day off last Friday, we decided to go.

There is a nice little visitors center a couple of miles from the cove where the missionary couples are stationed. We spent some time there and learned the story of the Martin Handcart Company. It's an incredible story. We were very touched by what we learned. If you want to learn about it, there is a good account here.

We were especially touched by the story of the rescuers of the company.One of Brad's great grandfathers, Elias Gardner, was one of the rescuers. We just thought it was incredible that these men, comfortable in their homes in Salt Lake, were willing to risk their own lives and leave in the middle of winter to do whatever it took to get those suffering pioneers to safety.

One quote I read said: "The miracle of the Martin Handcart Company is that anyone survived."

Another read: "Perhaps their suffering seems less dramatic because the handcart pioneers bore it meekly, praising God, instead of fighting for life with the ferocity of animals...But if courage and endurance make a story, if human kindness and helpfulness and brotherly love in the midst of raw horror are worth recording, this half-forgotten episode of the Mormon migration is one of the great tales of the West and of America" (Wallace Stegner).

Before going up to the cove, we read this from Gordon B. Hinckley: "We hope that a spirit of peace and reverence and sacred remembrance will hover over this whole area as a beneficent cloud on a hot summer day, and that those who here perished will not have died in vain. I make a plea, go in a spirit of reverence and respect, and know that you are walking on hallowed ground."

We definitely felt like we were on hallowed ground as we crossed the Sweetwater River and went up into Martin's Cove. It was so quiet. So peaceful. Like a temple. It was a special experience we won't forget.

Here are some pictures.

Brad and the Girls with Devil's Gate in the background

Me and the girls in front of a cabin

Lainy pulling a handcart

Devil's Gate (a landmark along the Mormon Trail)

Brad pulling the girls in a handcart

Enjoying the ride

Me pulling the handcart (it's heavy!)

In the visitor's center

The Mormon Trail is still visible - look to the left of the paved road and you'll see it

The Sweetwater River - the spot where they believe the company forded the river

Sculptures along the Sweetwater River erected as a tribute to the four men who carried the company across the freezing river

In our "rover" with our missionary guide

Martin's Cove

 

 "I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can only go that far and there I must give up for I cannot pull the load through it. I have gone to that sand, and when I reached it the cart began pushing me! I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there. 

Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No! Neither then nor any moment of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay and I am thankful that I was privileged to come to Zion in the Martin Handcart Company." - Francis Webster