I just checked on Amazon and “My Grandma Mary” is there and available for sale! It is amazing to see it there for real. I Just had to share this milestone in family stories here. Plus we got it done by Pioneer Day, which is July 24th. The day that Brigham Young and the first batch of Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. I seems like a fitting day to complete this step of my journey to learn about Mary Taylor and share her story.
So I’ve official finished editing “My Grandma Mary” and now we are just waiting for the box of books I’ve ordered to print! I’m so excited and nervous as the same time. That takes me to the next step in the Doable approaching to telling your family stories, link. This book brings a whole new area to learn in sharing it with a broader audience.
One of the fun things about this book is that we have put hidden images throughout the book that represent other stories from the Martin Handcart Company that we didn’t put into the main storyline. The book refers to this blog for help in finding these images. I decided to do 4 levels of hints. The first level of hints in under the “My Grandma Mary” tab above and the rest I wrote as post that you can see below. I have links to these posts of the “My Grandma Mary” tab. Hopefully that this will work well in helping those who get stuck finding all the images. Some of them are really pretty easy but some are much harder. 
I seem to have jumped through all the hoops to get a proof copy of “My Grandma Mary” printed by Lightning Source! I got an email today confirming the order from last week. The holiday has slowed things down but if I understand how it works, I should have the proof copy in my hand this week! I’m really excited to see it. If everything looks good than I will make it available for sell asap. My mom is usually really patient about histories but on this one she asks me about it every time I talk to her. It has taken a long time to get to this point. I’ve learned so much. But I’m sure there is a lot more to learn.
One thing I’ve realized is I’m glad there are places like Blurb and places like Lightning Source. Even though they are both print on demand companies their business models and target customers are completely different. I can see that I’ll be using both companies in the future depending on the project. For small runs, Blurb is a better choice. For books with a larger audience Lightning Source can be the better choice. While Blurb has a higher price per book they have no set up costs and no on going cost to keep the book available to print. While LSI has a much cheaper price per book they set up cost of about $100 mean you have to order at least a certain number of books to make it more cost-effective than Blurb. In the case of “My Grandma Mary” you have to order at least 5 copies to make LSI a more cost-effective option.
I’m still waiting to see how the quality of Lightning Source compares to Blurb.
Fedex tracking say I’ll be getting a proof copy of the book about my great-great-grandmother, Mary Taylor tomorrow. I’m so excited to see it. I’m expecting to need to make some changes before it will be ready but this is a big milestone for me.
Here is the latest version of the text for the children’s storybook about my great-great-grandmother. I’d love some feedback if you have suggestions.
Grandma Mary, will you tell me a story?
Of course, Irene, what story would you like to hear?
Tell me again, Grandma Mary, about how you came to Zion.
OK, I’ll tell you. The story starts far away in England. Close your eyes, Irene, and imagine you could travel back in time to when I was a little girl, just your age. I had a happy childhood. My grandmother would tell me stories too. I was an only child because my sisters and brother died when they were tiny babies. I was rather delicate when I was young so I was raised on milk tea.
I grew up in a cozy village with lots of beautiful Elm trees. That is why we called it Coton-in-the-Elms.
But Grandma Mary, that sounds like there was cotton in the trees. I don’t see why that was the name of your village.
Irene, in the English way of speaking coton means cottage or little house, so Coton-in-the-Elms means cottage in the Elm trees.
Grandma Mary, why did you leave England? It sounds like such a beautiful place.
Coton-on-the-Elms was a beautiful place and we were a happy family but things started to change after the missionaries came. It didn’t happen right away, but the after the missionaries came to our village, our lives began to change. In most ways those changes were good. But some changes where very hard. I was just a little older than you when the missionaries came. They taught us about Jesus and Heavenly Father’s visit to the Prophet Joseph Smith. We also read more about Jesus in the Book of Mormon. My family believed what the missionaries taught and we were baptized in a nearby river.
Was the river cold, Grandma Mary?
No, it was July when I got baptized and the water felt good. Plus I felt all warm and happy inside. It was the Holy Ghost telling me I was doing the right thing. We were happier than we had ever been because we knew how much Jesus and Heavenly Father loved us and that we had a living prophet to guide us. But as the years went by some of our neighbors believed bad things about our new church. And some of them were mean to us and the Prophet said we should gather to Zion where we could be safe and live with other saints.
Grandma Mary, why didn’t you leave England while you were still young like me.
Irene, my family was too poor to go to Zion. We worked hard but we still didn’t have enough money yet for the long trip. When I got older I learned to sew from my uncle who was a tailor. It took me a long tome to get good at making dresses but it helped me to earn more money. I was lucky because when I met, and then married, a handsome young man named William Upton, I could make my wedding dress.
We all dreamed of going to Zion far away from Coton-in-the-Elms in America. In Zion they were building temples to the Lord and we would be with many other saints. Plus we could hear the Prophet speak the words of God. So we continued to work hard and save money to go to Zion.
So Grandma Mary, how long did it take you to have enough money to come to Zion?
Before we had enough money, Irene, a most wonderful thing happened. The Prophet Brigham Young came up with a plan to help Mormons like me and my family go to Zion for less money. We would pull handcarts, instead of needing horses or oxen to pull wagons. Plus we could finish paying for the trip after we got to Zion. So in May of 1856 me and my family sailed with lots of other Mormons on the ship Horizon from Liverpool England to Boston in America.
What was it like on the ship, Grandma Mary?
Well Irene, it took many days for us to sail across the ocean and some days the seas were rough making everyone seasick. There were more than 800 of us going to Zion so it was crowded. We kept busy sewing the tents we would soon be using as we crossed the plains and we sang songs. The children played as quietly as they could but with so many people it was often very noisy.
One day, as we got closer to America, the ship was surrounded by thick fog. We were scared because we couldn’t see, but all the saints prayed and the fog parted just in time for the ship to avoid an iceberg. The fog closed around the ship again but there were no more icebergs and we were safe.
What happened, Grandma Mary, when you finally got to America?
I remember how excited I was when I finally stepped off the ship in Boston. It felt so good to be on solid ground again, but we still had a long way to go to reach Zion. We all climbed into train cars that had been used for cows to continue our journey. It wasn’t very comfortable but we were moving toward Zion, so we endured the hard benches and tight spaces.
One night when the train was stopped a mob of angry men surrounded us as we slept. They were mean and wanted to hurt us because we were Mormons, just like in England. But the Lord protected us and the mob left without hurting anyone.Another night in Cleveland, Ohio, there was a fire. That was scary too, but the saints helped to put the fire out and everyone was safe. Finally we came to the end of the train ride.
Where you in Zion then, Grandma Mary?
No, Irene, in those days Iowa City, more than a 1,000 miles from Zion, was the end of the railroad tracks, By the time we began the hardest part of our journey it was July and very hot. Even though we had traveled for more than two months we still had a long way to go yet to reach Zion. We still wanted to get to Zion so me and my family loaded up a wooden handcart with our few belongings to begin walking across the plains, pulling and pushing our handcart.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Indians along the trail. I was excited and scared at the same time because there were stories about Indians hurting people. But these Indians just looked at us, they didn’t hurt us. I was so grateful. Later in our journey, at Fort Laramie, we saw more Indians and the kind Indian children shared candied fruit with the pioneer children.
Grandma Mary, was did you ever get tired?
Yes, Irene, it was hard work. It was so different from our life in England. But we were going to Zion so each day I walked, pushing and pulling with my mother, father, husband and cousin in the Martin handcart company. Gradually we got used to it. Each night twenty of us slept together in a big round tent with our feet toward the middle and we cooked over fires.
But there were good times too. When we camped by a river, the children had fun swimming. I enjoyed seeing children, just like you, having fun. We had much to do each night in camp, yet we always found time to sing songs. We were glad we were going to Zion We gathered wood or buffalo chips so we could make our fires. The handcart would break and need to be fixed. And we were getting worn down. Time was running out to get to Zion before winter came so we traveled as far as we could each day.
How did you do it, Grandma Mary, walking day after day, pushing and pulling a handcart?
When I felt tired or discouraged I would sing the Handcart Song. The words and the melody helped me continue one step at a time. It gave me strength when the voices of other pioneers around me sang too. The words and the melody would lift our spirits and we could keep going.
There was a big problem. It was taking us too long to get to Zion and we didn’t have enough food. So Elder Franklin D. Richards, an apostle, road ahead in a fast carriage, to tell the Prophet that the handcart pioneers needed help and more food. We prayed everyday for help to come and we kept pushing along as fast as we could go toward Zion, hoping to get help before winter.
Grandma Mary, did you make it to Zion before the winter storms came?
Irene we didn’t. The weather had turned from hot to cold in just a few days.
I remember the day we crossed the Platte River. It started to snow and we had to wade across the river through the cold water. It was so cold that I even saw ice floating in the river. We had to cross many icy cold rivers to reach Zion. Everyone was hungry including me. We worked hard every day and the cold weather made it worse because there wasn’t much food and we had to make it last as long as possible. I felt hungry everyday. But I wanted to reach Zion, so I walked and pushed and pulled anyway, just like everyone else.What about the help that Elder Richards promised to send, Grandma Mary?
Well Irene, we didn’t know this at the time but help was on its way. Hundreds of miles away in Salt Lake City, Elder Richards arrived in time for General Conference and told Brigham Young about me and the other handcart pioneers. He said we needed food and help to make it safely to Zion. The prophet told the men to gather food and wagons and then go and find us on the plains. Then he ended church early so everyone could help get the wagons ready to go.
Tell me, Grandma Mary, about the man who rescued you.
Well Irene, a righteous man named Burt Simmons already had a stout carriage full of food and ready to go. He and many others followed the Prophet’s directions and quickly left Salt Lake to help me, my family and the other pioneers reach Zion. They hurried as fast as they could to reach us before winter came. But they didn’t make it because the snow came very early that year.
How did you keep going, Grandma Mary, not knowing when help would come?
I prayed all the time, Irene. All of us did and we sang songs. I was so hungry and so cold. There was lots of snow and it was hard to pull our handcarts. No one had enough to eat. Some people died, including my mother, my father and my husband. I was so sad but I knew that my only hope was to keep moving on toward Zion and the help that was coming. A big winter storm came and the snow was so deep that we had to stop for a few days in a place now called Martin’s Cove. Soon Burt Simmons found me and he and other rescuers helped all the pioneers make it to the Salt Lake Valley. I was so weak and my feet were frozen. I don’t remember much about that part of the journey.
Grandma Mary, how did you get better? Since your family died who helped you?
Burt Simmons drove me in his sturdy carriage to his home where his wife took good care of me. I was so happy to be warm and have enough to eat and I was finally in Zion. But it took a long time for her to nurse me back to good health. She even saved my feet from the frost bite. Many others lost fingers, toes and even feet because they were frozen. After several months I was strong again and could really start my new life in Zion.
I love that story Grandma Mary. You are so good, noble and kind. I want to be just like you when I grow up.
Thank you, Irene. The Lord has blessed me. I’ve been married in the temple and have nine children, your mother being the youngest. Plus I have 57 grandchildren just like you. I still remember what it was like to not have enough food to eat so I never waste any food, not even a potato peel. I’m so happy that I can tell you about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and how they have blessed me. Making it to Zion made all that possible. I never would have had the life I’ve had in England.
Grandma Mary, I’m so glad that you are my grandmother. Because of you the Lord has blessed me too.
Mary and her mother in England
Here is my current text for the children’s story book about my great-great grandmother, Mary Taylor. It has come a long way but I want to revisit it after Brandy Heineman finishes her series on storytelling for genealogists. I’m sure her posts will help me make the text for my book even better.
Grandma Mary, will you tell me a story?
Of course, Irene, what story would you like to hear?
Tell me again, Grandma Mary, about when you were little, like me.
OK, I’ll tell you. I had a happy childhood. My grandmother would tell me stories too. I was an only child because my sisters and brother died when they were tiny babies. I was rather delicate when I was young and I was raised on milk tea. Close your eyes, Irene, and imagine you could travel back in time to when I was a little girl, just your age.
I grew up, far away, across the ocean in England, in a cozy village with lots of beautiful Elm trees. That is why we called it Coton-in-the-Elms.
But Grandma Mary, that sounds like there was cotton in the trees. I don’t see why that was the name of your village.
Irene, in the English way of speaking coton means cottage or little house, so Coton-in-the-Elms means cottage in the Elm trees.
Grandma Mary, tell me about when the missionaries came to your village.
Oh, Irene, that was a glorious day. I was just a little older than you when the missionaries came. They taught us about Jesus and Heavenly Father’s visit to the Prophet Joseph Smith. We also read more about Jesus in the Book of Mormon. My family believed what the missionaries taught and we were baptized in a nearby river.
Was the river cold, Grandma Mary?
No, it was July when I got baptized and the water felt good. Plus I felt all warm and happy inside. It was the Holy Ghost telling me I was doing the right thing.
Grandma Mary, tell me about how you learned to make such beautiful dresses.
When I got older I learned to sew from my uncle who was a tailor. It took me a long time to learn to be a dressmaker. I was lucky because when I met, and then married, a handsome young man named William Upton, I could make my own wedding dress.
William and I dreamed of going to Zion far away from Coton-in-the-Elms in America. In Zion they were building temples to the Lord and we would be with many other saints. Plus we could hear the Prophet speak the words of God. Sometimes the people were mean to us because we had joined the church. But we didn’t have enough money to go to Zion.
Then, Irene, a most wonderful thing happened. The Prophet Brigham Young came up with a plan to help Mormons like me and my family go to Zion for less money. We would pull handcarts, instead of needing horses or oxen to pull wagons. So in May of 1856 me and my family sailed with lots of other Mormons on the ship Horizon from Liverpool England to Boston in America.
What was it like on the ship, Grandma Mary?
Well Irene, it took many days for us to sail across the ocean and some days the seas were rough making everyone seasick. There were more than 800 of us going to Zion so it was crowded. We kept busy sewing the tents we would soon be using as we crossed the plains and we sang songs. The children played as quietly as they could but with so many people it was often very noisy.
As we got closer to America, the ship was surrounded by thick fog. We were scared because we couldn’t see, but all the saints prayed and the fog parted just in time for the ship to avoid an iceberg. The fog closed around the ship again but there were no more icebergs and we were safe.
What happened, Grandma Mary, when you finally got to America?
I remember how excited I was when I finally stepped off the ship in Boston. It felt so good to be on solid ground again, yet our journey to Zion wasn’t over yet. We all climbed into train cars that had been used for cows to get to Iowa City. It wasn’t very comfortable but we were moving toward Zion.
One night when the train was stopped a mob of angry men surrounded us as we slept. They were mean and wanted to hurt us because we were Mormons. The Lord blessed us and the mob left without hurting anyone.
Another night in Cleveland, Ohio, there was a fire. That was scary too, but the saints helped to put the fire out and everyone was safe.
Tell me about after the train ride, Grandma Mary.
By the time we got to Iowa City and the end of the railroad tracks, it was really hot. We began the really hard part of our journey to Zion. We had been traveling for more than two months but we had a long way to go yet to reach the Salt Lake Valley. Me and my family loaded up a wooden handcart with our few belongings to begin our journey across the plains.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Indians along the trail. I was excited and scared at the same time because there were stories about Indians hurting people. But these Indians just looked at us, they didn’t hurt us. I was so grateful. Later in our journey, at Fort Laramie, we saw more Indians and the kind Indian children shared candied fruit with the pioneer children.
Grandma Mary, was it hard?
Yes, Irene, it was hard work. It was so different from our life in England. But we were going to Zion so each day I walked, pushing and pulling with my mother, father, husband and cousin in the Martin handcart company. Gradually we got used to it. Each night twenty of us slept together in a big round tent with our feet toward the middle and we cooked over fires.
But there were good times too. When we were camped by a river, the children had fun swimming. It was so good to see children, just like you, having some fun. We had much to do each night in camp. We gathered wood or buffalo chips so we could make our fires. The handcart would break and need to be fixed. And we were getting worn down. Time was running out to get to Zion before winter came so we traveled as far as we could each day.
What was it like Grandma Mary, walking day after day, pushing and pulling a handcart?
It was a long hard journey so I would sing the Handcart Song. The words and the melody helped me continue one step at a time. We didn’t have enough food to make it to Zion. So Elder Franklin D. Richards, an apostle, road ahead in a fast carriage, to tell the Prophet that the handcart pioneers needed help and more food. We prayed everyday for help to come and we kept pushing along as fast as we could go toward Zion.Grandma Mary, tell me about crossing the icy rivers.
We had to cross many icy cold rivers to reach Zion. I remember the day we crossed the Platte River. The weather had turned from hot to cold in just a few days. It started to snow and we had to wade across the river through the cold water. It was so cold that I even saw ice floating in the river. Everyone was hungry including me. We worked hard every day and the cold made it worse because there wasn’t much food and we had to make it last as long as possible. I felt hungry everyday. But I walked and pushed and pulled anyway, just like everyone else, so that I could reach Zion.
What about the help that Elder Richards promised to send, Grandma Mary?
Well Irene, we didn’t know this but hundreds of miles away in Salt Lake City, Elder Richards arrived in time for General Conference and told Brigham Young about me and the other handcart pioneers. He said we needed food and help to make it safely to the Salt Lake Valley. The prophet told the men to gather food and wagons and then go and find us on the plains. Then he ended church early so everyone could help get the wagons ready to go.
Tell me, Grandma Mary, about the man who rescued you.
Well Irene, a righteous man named Burt Simmons already had a stout carriage full of food and ready to go. He and many others followed the Prophet’s directions and quickly left Salt Lake to help me, my family and the other pioneers. They hurried as fast as they could to reach us before winter came. But they didn’t make it before the snow because it came early that year.
How did you keep going, Grandma Mary, not knowing when help would come?
I prayed all the time, Irene. All of us did. I was so hungry and so cold. There was lots of snow and it was hard to pull our handcarts. We didn’t have enough to eat. Some people died, including my mother, my father and my husband. I was so sad but I knew I had to keep moving on toward Zion. The snow was so deep that we had to stop for a few days in a place now called Martin’s Cove. Soon Burt Simmons found me and he and other rescuers helped all the pioneers make it to the Salt Lake Valley. I was so weak and my feet were frozen. I don’t remember much about that part of the journey.
Grandma Mary, how did you get better?
Burt Simmons drove me in his sturdy carriage to his home where his wife took good care of me. It was a long time but she nursed me back to good health and even saved my feet from the frost bite. Many others lost fingers, toes and even feet because they were frozen. After several months I was strong again.
I love that story Grandma Mary. You are so good, noble and kind. I want to be just like you when I grow up.
Thank you, Irene. The Lord has blessed me. I’ve been married in the temple and have nine children, your mother being the youngest. Plus I have 57 grandchildren. I still remember what it was like to not have enough food to eat so I never waste any food, not even a potato peel. I’m so happy that I can tell you about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and how they have blessed me.
Grandma Mary, I’m so glad that you are my grandmother. Because of you the Lord has blessed me too.
I’m open to suggestions on my text. I feel very inadequate to write the text but I’m dedicated to making this project the best that I can.
Sleeping in big round tent
Kimberli has been busy get more illustrations done for the Mary book. I’ve worked hard the last few days on the text and I’ve narrowed things down so the book isn’t so long. With these four new illustration we just have five to go plus the cover. My mom turns 90 the end of March so we have to have it done by then. She is going to love this book. The text is evolving in what I hope is a good way. I’m sure it still needs lots more work, but I’m going to work on some other projects for a few days and let it sit. Then I’ll look at it again with fresh eyes. I don’t consider myself a writer and I’ve prayed that someone else would come along to write this book. But no one has come along so I’m forging ahead, hoping for inspiration and a miracle so this book can really share the story of my great-great-grandmother.
Mary being nursed back to health
children playing in the river
Mary with a mob threatening
I had the opportunity this past summer to “walk in the shoes” of my great-great-grandmother, Mary Taylor. She was member of one of the handcart companies that got caught unprepared for early winter storms in 1856. At Martin’s Cove they have everything all set up to experience a little of what it was like for Mary Taylor and learn more about her experiences.
A great gift for a family would be to plan a trip to one of the many historic places that are set up to help us experience and understand a bit about the history of the past. Several year ago we had the chance to visit Plimoth Plantation, which has a pilgrim village set up along with an Indian village. It was very interesting but if I had gone with a specific ancestor in mind it would have been more meaningful.
So do a little research and find a place that can teach you about what life was like for one or more of your ancestors. Then plan a family trip. Before you go take the opportunity to learn more about that person. A trip like this can be a wonderful opportunity. Here are a few links to get you started. I think you will find more information with a more focused search.
List of Historical Reenactment Groups
From John Jacques:
The great object now was, to save as many of the people as possible, to which everything else must give way, and the lives of the people depended in great degree, on the lives of the teams so it was essential to spare the animals all unnecessary labor.
Under this arrangement, the company started from Devil’s Gate, westward, and about three miles away, crossed the Sweetwater to the north side, and camped at a place, since known as Martin’s Ravine.
It is not exactly a ravine, but a recess, or opening in the mountains, which here ran along near the river. The passage of the Sweetwater at this point, was a severe operation to many of the company. It was the worst river crossing of the expedition. It was the last ford that the emigrants waded over. The water was not less than two feet deep, perhaps a little more in the deepest parts, but it was intensely cold. The ice was three or four inches thick, and the bottom of the river, muddy or sandy. I forget exactly how wide the stream was there, but I think thirty or forty yards. It seemed a good deal wider than that to those who pulled their handcarts through it. Before the crossing was completed, the shades of evening were closing around, and, as everybody knows, that is the coldest hour of the twenty-four, or at least it seems to be so, in a frosty time, and it seemed so then, for cold enough it was.
From Samuel Openshaw:
We traveled about two miles, crossed over the Sweetwater, some on the ice and others waded through, which was about 3 1/2 feet deep. James Lord and myself pulled the handcart across the creek. The women and children were all carried across by some of the brethren who had come from the valley.
From John Jacques:
The teams, wagons, handcarts, and some of the men forded the river. A son of Heber C. Kimball, and a son of George D. Grant, and I believe several others of the relief party, waded the river, helping the handcarts through, and carrying the women and children, and some of the weaker of the men over. If I were certain of the names of all those brave waders, I would insert them here.
The handcart company rested in Martin’s ravine two or three or more days, though under the shelter of the northern mountains, it was a cold place. One night, the gusty wind blew over a number of the tents, and it was with difficulty some of the emigrants kept from freezing.
At length, preparations having been completed for a final start from Devil’s Gate and vicinity, the handcart company left the ravine. The precise date I cannot give, but I think it must have been about the 19th of November. I cannot remember the handcarts after leaving the ravine, and my impression is that none were taken from there, but some persons of the company think that a few carts were taken along several days longer.
Be that as it may, by this time, there was a sufficiency of wagons to take in most, if not all, of the baggage of the company, and to carry some of the people.
It was a trying time, that day in leaving the ravine. One perplexing difficulty was to determine who should ride, for many must still walk, though, so far as I recollect, and certainly for most of the company, the cart pulling occupation was gone. There was considerable crying of women and children, and perhaps a few of the men, whom the wagons could not accommodate with a ride. One of the relief party remarked that in all the mobbings and drivings of the “Mormons” he had seen nothing like it. Cyrus H. Wheelock could scarcely refrain from shedding tears, and he declared that he would willingly give his own life if that would save the lives of the emigrants.
After a time, a start was effected and the march was recommenced along the valley of the Sweetwater, toward the setting sun.
From Samuel Openshaw:
Having to leave all the flour that it was thought we could do without [to supply the 20 men staying behind with the freight etc.] until we should meet a fresh supply from the valley, we now realized that such low rations and our bodily strength having been so much reduced by our former privations, and being such cold and inclement weather, a great many died. However, we made another start, some with bundles on their backs, a number of others would join together and put them on a handcart. Some would be crying, others singing, and thus went trudging along as best we could.
According to family tradition Mary’s mother, Harriet Taylor, died and was buried in Martin’s Cove on November 10th with just brush and snow as a covering because the ground was frozen too hard to dig a decent grave. Now it was Mary was alone with Cousin Eliza having lost her first her father, than her husband and now her mother.
Mark, Daedre, Eric, Noreen, Raelyn & Bill
This week I got to do something I’ve wanted to for a long time, go to Martin’s Cove. It seemed the perfect way to celebrate my 50th year by honoring my great-great grandmother. There was just a small group of my family there with me, my sister and one cousin plus our spouses from my generation. My nephew was the only participant from the next generation. We had the best participation from my mom’s generation with her and one sister and one brother, plus their spouses. It seemed especially important to get my mom there to see the Cove. At 89 it is hard to think that she has many years left to do outing like this. I was very proud of my mom for coming even though she didn’t know how she would be able to take part.
My Mom in a hat from one of her ancestors
At first we were planning to get one of the rickshaws to take her to the Cove, but they were all out. But there was an even better solution. They have a couple of rovers that they can take people out to the Cove and either drop them off or bring them back. So my parents and my Uncle Sid and his wife Katherine took the rover to the cove overlook.
Treking to Martin’s Cove
My Aunt Lucy and her husband Jack were the only ones of the older generation to brave camping out and walking with the handcart. Lucy even helped push it from behind. It was rather hot and by the time we got to handcart parking, the heat was taking its toll on Lucy. But soon after we got there the rover came up with the rest of the older folks. So they unloaded and Lucy and Jack to the rover up to the Cove Overlook.
Sid, Katherine, Ray and Iris in the rover
Another cool thing that happened was the missionary who ended up driving the rover for our family was also from Rexburg, Idaho and my parents and Aunt Lucy knew him. Jacob, my nephew was also done with treking so we left him at handcart parking with my parents, while those of my generation started the walk up into Martin’s Cove. No handcarts are allowed in the Cove and we learned that the man who owned the land for many, many years never farmed or developed the land in the cove in any way.
The Cove has a peaceful, reverent feeling and as we walked we reflected on Mary Taylor and her family and the hardships they experienced here. It wasn’t hard to imagine the pioneers camped out along the Cove. It is shaped like a horseshoe with a high area in the middle. The 500 or so people would have been spread out along the Cove. We saw many antelope in the general area of Martin’s Cove but only one deer. That was well up into the Cove. Daedre got the impression that that was where Mary Taylor was camped. I was struck by a spot a little further up the Cove where several patches of purple wild flowers made the spot especially beautiful and peaceful. I’m so glad I got to go to Martin’s Cove and to experience this historical place with some of my family.
telling family tales 