| War and History Flash Fiction posted June 26, 2017 |
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a story about the Mormon pioneers
Lost in the Rockies
by RodG
All night Anna fought the bitter cold and snow with a feeble fire. But the last red ember winked out, and her husband died soon after. Now, stiff-legged and numb, she watched the sun spill over a distant ridge.
"Vertoren," she muttered.
"We are not lost," said Greta Hoffmann, an older woman also from Germany. She placed a tattered blanket around the new widow's shoulders. "See those wagon ruts? We can follow them all the way to Deseret."
"No, it is like Papa predicted. He strongly objected to our plans to come to America. 'Remember, Anna,' he said. 'Your family makes you what you are. Without it you are lost, and if you leave us you will have none.' Hans is gone. I no longer have family. I am lost!"
Greta smiled. "God tests us every day, Anna. Yes, we have little food, and more than a hundred of us have died thus far. But we are Mormons. We shall prevail."
Anna glanced briefly at the blanket-covered mound between the handcart's wheels.
"Must I leave him here?"
Greta nodded. "The men will bury him . . . like the others."
Then she cupped Anna's face with her hands. You are not lost. Your family is all of us here and those waiting for you in His city."
* * *
Anna and Hans Mueller were newly-weds in Heidelberg when they read The Book of Mormon the Church of Latter Day Saints recruiters had given them. Hans insisted they join the Kingdom of God in the far western desert of America. Anna, having vowed to be a good Mormon wife, followed her husband.
The Church had loaned them the money to get to Iowa and lease a handcart. In late July they joined a company of Mormons heading west. Hans usually pulled the rough-hewn cart with iron-rimmed wheels while Anna walked beside him. They'd almost lost what few possessions they owned crossing the swollen Sweetwater River. Following the Platte River was easier as both grew accustomed to the daily regimen.
By the time they reached the Rockies and Ft. Bridger, it was October. Both the terrain and weather drastically changed. The bitter cold and steep inclines took their toll. Hans' strength and stamina waned. Anna's feet ached constantly.
Striving to pull their cart toward the crest of a mountain range, Hans collapsed, and a sudden storm buried the whole party in snow. Food became scarce, and many damaged carts were abandoned. Hans became so sick he mostly slept. Anna searched for scarce wood to keep their fire going. Since others shared what little food they had, Anna fed Hans a thin gruel when he was awake. As the relentless winds blew, she lay beside him, trying to keep him warm.
Long before sunrise, she heard the death rattle in his chest, watched it heave once . . . twice . . . not at all.
* * *
Anna kneeled by the cairn of rocks.
"Oh, Hans, your dream--ours--will come true. I--I'll get there."
Lost - Flash Fiction writing prompt entry
All night Anna fought the bitter cold and snow with a feeble fire. But the last red ember winked out, and her husband died soon after. Now, stiff-legged and numb, she watched the sun spill over a distant ridge.
"Vertoren," she muttered.
"We are not lost," said Greta Hoffmann, an older woman also from Germany. She placed a tattered blanket around the new widow's shoulders. "See those wagon ruts? We can follow them all the way to Deseret."
"No, it is like Papa predicted. He strongly objected to our plans to come to America. 'Remember, Anna,' he said. 'Your family makes you what you are. Without it you are lost, and if you leave us you will have none.' Hans is gone. I no longer have family. I am lost!"
Greta smiled. "God tests us every day, Anna. Yes, we have little food, and more than a hundred of us have died thus far. But we are Mormons. We shall prevail."
Anna glanced briefly at the blanket-covered mound between the handcart's wheels.
"Must I leave him here?"
Greta nodded. "The men will bury him . . . like the others."
Then she cupped Anna's face with her hands. You are not lost. Your family is all of us here and those waiting for you in His city."
* * *
Anna and Hans Mueller were newly-weds in Heidelberg when they read The Book of Mormon the Church of Latter Day Saints recruiters had given them. Hans insisted they join the Kingdom of God in the far western desert of America. Anna, having vowed to be a good Mormon wife, followed her husband.
The Church had loaned them the money to get to Iowa and lease a handcart. In late July they joined a company of Mormons heading west. Hans usually pulled the rough-hewn cart with iron-rimmed wheels while Anna walked beside him. They'd almost lost what few possessions they owned crossing the swollen Sweetwater River. Following the Platte River was easier as both grew accustomed to the daily regimen.
By the time they reached the Rockies and Ft. Bridger, it was October. Both the terrain and weather drastically changed. The bitter cold and steep inclines took their toll. Hans' strength and stamina waned. Anna's feet ached constantly.
Striving to pull their cart toward the crest of a mountain range, Hans collapsed, and a sudden storm buried the whole party in snow. Food became scarce, and many damaged carts were abandoned. Hans became so sick he mostly slept. Anna searched for scarce wood to keep their fire going. Since others shared what little food they had, Anna fed Hans a thin gruel when he was awake. As the relentless winds blew, she lay beside him, trying to keep him warm.
Long before sunrise, she heard the death rattle in his chest, watched it heave once . . . twice . . . not at all.
* * *
Anna kneeled by the cairn of rocks.
"Oh, Hans, your dream--ours--will come true. I--I'll get there."
"Vertoren," she muttered.
"We are not lost," said Greta Hoffmann, an older woman also from Germany. She placed a tattered blanket around the new widow's shoulders. "See those wagon ruts? We can follow them all the way to Deseret."
"No, it is like Papa predicted. He strongly objected to our plans to come to America. 'Remember, Anna,' he said. 'Your family makes you what you are. Without it you are lost, and if you leave us you will have none.' Hans is gone. I no longer have family. I am lost!"
Greta smiled. "God tests us every day, Anna. Yes, we have little food, and more than a hundred of us have died thus far. But we are Mormons. We shall prevail."
Anna glanced briefly at the blanket-covered mound between the handcart's wheels.
"Must I leave him here?"
Greta nodded. "The men will bury him . . . like the others."
Then she cupped Anna's face with her hands. You are not lost. Your family is all of us here and those waiting for you in His city."
* * *
Anna and Hans Mueller were newly-weds in Heidelberg when they read The Book of Mormon the Church of Latter Day Saints recruiters had given them. Hans insisted they join the Kingdom of God in the far western desert of America. Anna, having vowed to be a good Mormon wife, followed her husband.
The Church had loaned them the money to get to Iowa and lease a handcart. In late July they joined a company of Mormons heading west. Hans usually pulled the rough-hewn cart with iron-rimmed wheels while Anna walked beside him. They'd almost lost what few possessions they owned crossing the swollen Sweetwater River. Following the Platte River was easier as both grew accustomed to the daily regimen.
By the time they reached the Rockies and Ft. Bridger, it was October. Both the terrain and weather drastically changed. The bitter cold and steep inclines took their toll. Hans' strength and stamina waned. Anna's feet ached constantly.
Striving to pull their cart toward the crest of a mountain range, Hans collapsed, and a sudden storm buried the whole party in snow. Food became scarce, and many damaged carts were abandoned. Hans became so sick he mostly slept. Anna searched for scarce wood to keep their fire going. Since others shared what little food they had, Anna fed Hans a thin gruel when he was awake. As the relentless winds blew, she lay beside him, trying to keep him warm.
Long before sunrise, she heard the death rattle in his chest, watched it heave once . . . twice . . . not at all.
* * *
Anna kneeled by the cairn of rocks.
"Oh, Hans, your dream--ours--will come true. I--I'll get there."
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Writing Prompt Write a flash fiction story under 500 words about being lost |
 Recognized |
painting is courtesy of Google images.
Easily the worst single disaster on the Mormon Trail happened in the fall of 1856. Some 4400 European converts, sponsored by the church's Perpetual Emigration Fund, had been brought to New York and carried by train to Iowa City, Iowa. Under normal circumstances they would have been outfitted there with large wagons and animal teams. But a grasshopper plague in Utah had reduced the church's available moneys, leaving only enough to buy these pilgrims light wooden handcarts in which to transport their food and possessions. They would have to WALK all the way to Salt Lake City--nearly 1300 miles.
Three companies made it without major incident. But the last three--including more than a thousand people--got trapped in Wyoming's plains by winter weather. Food ran perilously low. People starved. Brigham Young sent rescuers, but it is estimated more than 200 died on the trail that winter.
The Book of Mormon--Joseph Smith says he found it and his followers established the Church of Latter Day Saints. He was lynched in Carthage, Illinois. In 1847 Brigham Young led the persecuted Mormons on a trail that paralleled most of the OregonTrail.
Deseret--the name of the country (most of present-day Nevada and Utah) the Mormons founded. Brigham Young remained their leader.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Easily the worst single disaster on the Mormon Trail happened in the fall of 1856. Some 4400 European converts, sponsored by the church's Perpetual Emigration Fund, had been brought to New York and carried by train to Iowa City, Iowa. Under normal circumstances they would have been outfitted there with large wagons and animal teams. But a grasshopper plague in Utah had reduced the church's available moneys, leaving only enough to buy these pilgrims light wooden handcarts in which to transport their food and possessions. They would have to WALK all the way to Salt Lake City--nearly 1300 miles.
Three companies made it without major incident. But the last three--including more than a thousand people--got trapped in Wyoming's plains by winter weather. Food ran perilously low. People starved. Brigham Young sent rescuers, but it is estimated more than 200 died on the trail that winter.
The Book of Mormon--Joseph Smith says he found it and his followers established the Church of Latter Day Saints. He was lynched in Carthage, Illinois. In 1847 Brigham Young led the persecuted Mormons on a trail that paralleled most of the OregonTrail.
Deseret--the name of the country (most of present-day Nevada and Utah) the Mormons founded. Brigham Young remained their leader.
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