Chapter VI I have never returned to Ogden but the memory of those good people will always be green in my mind. Our train stopped at a small station and a lady came in and introduced herself as Mrs. Bowler formerly from England and urged us to stop and make our home there which in justice to others and to keep my word with them I could not do but I promised to write to her when we were settled. She left the car with tears in her eyes stating that she had read our names in the Deseret News and was in hopes that some of her kin-folk were coming to live near her. We did not know the name of that place and when we tried to get in touch with them later no one seemed to know even the name of the person or the place we referred to.
On our arrival at Salt Lake City that night no one was there to meet us as they had been informed that the train would not come in till the next morning. This was our first great disappointment as we did not know where to go and our eight children were sleepy, but by watching a group of people standing there I concluded they were in the same condition as ourselves and I said to my wife we will go where they go and so we passed the night in the tithing house as best we could, but even that was better than thousands of others who came to this country in early days. On Saturday morning Bishop Hunter sent for me in his office and informed me that he had a letter from Bishop Terry stating that he could not meet us in Salt Lake City as he intended but would meet us at Milford. Another disappointment but as I handed Bishop Hunter a letter from his son Oscar who was president of the Nottingham conference another change took place. That was all the introduction necessary for a fatherly clasp of hand and an invitation for my family to make their home there until we could do better or go to Milford.
Early on Sunday morning many of our former friends with whom we had shared the blessings of the gospel in our native land came to greet us and invite us to their homes and truly a very pleasant day was spent with them. Every inducement was offered to us to make our home in the city of the Saints but had I not before leaving Nottingham promised Elder Zera P. Terry that we would go to Hebron? I could not make any other promise at least we must go on until that promise was kept in honor to all concerned. Elder William Brimhall from Springville who had so often visited at our home in Nottingham and the good kind Sister Groosback of Salt Lake City especially urged us to stay with the best of promises for our future but to all I very kindly answered I must keep my promise with Elder Terry. So kindly were we treated that blessed Sunday that we really had forgotten for the time the pressing invitation of Bishop Hunter to spend the day at his home which we regretted very much when too late in the evening to make our way there. We were forceably reminded however early on Monday morning when the bishop came to his office. I tried to explain to him the cause but he felt bad about it all the same. Brother and Sister Hardy guardians in my youth with whom I resided so many years and who taught me my trade showed the parental affection as formerly. No wonder that such a good impression was made upon our minds the few days we dwelt in Salt Lake City. When leaving his office on Monday evening Bishop Hunter took each of my family by the hand and gave them a father’s blessing, a blessing that has been realized in the years that have passed. Never can I forget how strictly he charged the attendant to prepare provisions to last us a week and to be sure and have the carriage ready in good time to meet the train early in the morning. At the depot we met Elder Nelson Empy who had been President of the Nottingham conference and again we were urged to stay where so many of our former acquaintances resided but our arrangements were now complete and we bid adieu to our many dear friends for the present at least.
Milford was the southwestern terminus of the railroad at that time and although but little more than two hundred miles from Salt Lake City we did not reach there until midnight and was told that they had some difficulty with the engine during the day. That was a bitter cold night the 16th of November 1880 in a strange place not a light to be seen and our children asleep. We asked the conductor the privilege of staying in the car until morning and he told us that could not be done because he had to take the train on to Frisco that night. That was our first introduction to that mode of travel and so far from home and so near the wilderness but help was at hand in a form altogether unexpected. A voice rang out in the still night air, is that you Brother Bowler. The voice sounded quite familiar to be sure and there I recognized Brother William Ashworth from Beaver who had come to meet his cousin from England. Our feelings may be better imagined than expressed at the sudden turn of events and the firm grip of a hand as true as steel in the bonds of friendship and brotherly love. I mention names of persons who were well known to verify my statements and also to acknowledge our appreciation of their acts of kindness to us this being one of them. Brother Ashworth realized our condition that night and proved himself equal to the occasion by escorting us to the only hotel available and would have paid our bill--more anon.
November 17, 1880 presented the strangest aspect we had ever seen and one never to be forgotten by myself and family the open desert. Brother Aaron Huntsman came forward and introduced himself as the man sent by Bishop Terry to convey us to Hebron. We soon discovered that he had one team and wagon and there being ten of us with two or three trunks we naturally wondered where he could crowd us in. We did not remain long in doubt however as Brother Maudsley a total stranger agreed to take our trunks to Cedar City and leave them there until we could have them forwarded, another kind act in a strange country, but that being fifty miles out of our way we did not receive them until late the next spring. We started our hundred mile journey that afternoon, found ourselves on the open desert with nothing in view but sage brush and space, a wild appearing aspect to be sure to person that had been born and raised in a city with as many inhabitants as there were in Utah Territory at that date. Brother Huntsman and myself and our oldest son had a good walk before the sun went down and then what happened? Oh, well the team stopped and the harness was taken off and turned out to pick what bit of grass there was, but were we to do the same? There was no house in sight, no fire, no shelter, no nothing, what then were we going to do? We were quite tired and rather anxious for a good soft bed but by that time we discovered a smoke near by and were introduced to our bill of fare or to be plain about matter, our entertainment for the night. I recall how sick my wife was after drinking tea cooked on the sage bush fire while sitting on, not a nice easy chair but a quilt laid on the ground. Our bedroom that night was about one hundred miles square with no one near to dispute our rights of spreading our quilts in either direction. We retired quite early and might have enjoyed a good sound slumber had not the denizens of the wild west aroused us and brought us up standing--hair and all. Something new but not called for. I suppose we imagined there were ten thousand evil spirits within one thousand yards of us. Goodbye sleep for that night although Brother Huntsman tried to reassure us that it was only a few coyotes barking. The second night we camped at hot springs the only house we saw on our journey a family of foreigners keeping a kind of small store there made it appear a little more like real life to us. We were still on the lookout for any and all kinds of objects that might be presented but nothing more ferocious appeared than wild horses and antelope, of which there were plenty at that date 1880.
We were becoming somewhat acquainted with that mode of travel but Brother Huntsman not having the best of health and the slow way of traveling made us a little uneasy for fear a storm might overtake us so far away from shelter and we had always been accustomed to going by railroad. I was or thought I was a good walker by the time we reached Antelope Springs on the third night, about mid-way across the desert where we were greeted by a lone sheep herder which seemed to break the monotony and afforded a brief rest. It certainly was amusing to see our large family accept an invitation to join or form a company around the campfire that night and partake of the mutton broth as though they had never had a good meal in their lives. They declared that it was the best they had ever tasted. We had to smile at that remark because we knew that at home they would have objected to that kind of fare entirely but they romped around and appeared to enjoy their freedom to the limit while we had a good talk with sociable friend the herder. Upon retiring as before there was a repetition of sounds as on the two nights previous, only in fact they were louder and closer, but we were brave enough by this time to stay under our quilts, if not calm enough to close our eyes in slumber. We read of the shepherds watching their flocks by night in far off Judea Plain and had always pictured them as having habitations at least when off duty, having no idea of the reality of such conditions until on the desert wild ourselves. Saturday November 19, 1880 dawned, here let me state however that it was the thirty-eighth anniversary of the birth of my wife and under present conditions a day of some anxiety on our part as our son was born less than two months later. That day was full of anticipation of reaching our destination ere another dawn. We started quite early and as the team neared their home they made better time by far than the days previous so that a little after dark we stopped to water the team at the Holt Reservoir about twelve miles from Hebron, a Bible name and the end of our journey. Several times during those three or four hours the question was asked, how far is it now, oh, not far Brother Huntsman would say and then some of the children would sing again and so the time seemed to pass with them but not so with my brave hearted wife who had sat cramped in that position so long, too long for any person in her condition but the time was near when we would have a change and rest and that brightened her hope and stimulated her to endure to the end. When the team finally stopped and we heard the word here we are we naturally looked for lights but there were not any to be seen and we wondered yes wondered.