Come, Come, Ye Saints
"A reporter from the Council Bluffs Bugle, located across the
Missouri River from Florence, wrote with admiration about the Willie company as
they started…toward Fort Laramie."
He writes:
"Having seen several handcart
trains pass through this city, and cross the ferries at Elk Horn and Loup Fork,
we could not help but remark on the enthusiasm which animated all classes and
ages…
It may seem, to some, that these
people endure great hardships in traveling hundreds of miles on foot, drawing
arts behind them. This is a mistake, for
many informed me that after the first three days' travel, it requires little
effort for two or three men or women to drag the light handcart….It is also a
fact that they can travel farther in a day, and with less fatigue, than the ox
trains…
This is enthusiasm- this is heroism
indeed. Though we cannot coincide with
them in their belief, it is impossible to restrain our admiration of their
self-sacrificing devotion to the principles of their faith."
"John Chislett also recalled the good spirits as the Willie company left Florence. "We moved gaily forward full of hope and faith. At our camp each evening could be heard songs of joy and merry peals of laughter(concerning) our conditions and prospects." The Price We Paid, pgs. 86-87
"We did all we could do to aid and encourage each other. In the blizzards and falling snow, we sat under our handcarts and sang, Come, Come Ye Saints...The Lord gave us strength and courage."
-Stone-Willie Company
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