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Location:
Chariton River
Crossing
Distance: 80 miles from Nauvoo
The main body of the pioneers chose to remain here to
wait out some of the worst weather of the Iowa crossing. The
pause allowed Saints scattered along the length of the trail
to, in effect, catch up, completing the organization of the
initial pioneer company.
Orson Pratt
 March 22-31, 1846
"The heavy rains had rendered the prairies impassable;
and our several camps were very much separated from each
other. We were compelled to remain as we were for some two
or three weeks, during which time our animals were fed upon
the limbs and bark of trees, for the grass had not yet
started, and we were a number of miles from any inhabited
country, and therefore, it was very inconvenient to send for
grain. The heavy rains and snows, together with frosty
nights, rendered our situation very uncomfortable. Our camps
were now more perfectly organized, and captains were
appointed over hundreds, over fifties, and over tens, and
over these all, a presidency and counsellors, together with
other necessary officers."
(Orson Pratt, Journal, 22-31 March 1846, as reprinted in
the Millennial Star, 15 December 1849.)
Zina Huntington Young
 "On the banks of the Chariton an incident
occurred ever eventful in the life of woman. I had been told
in the temple that I should acknowledge God even in a
miracle in my deliverance in woman's hour of trouble, which
hour had now come. We had traveled one morning about five
miles, when I called for a halt in our march. There was but
one person with me—Mother Lyman, the aunt of George A.
Smith; and there on the bank of the Chariton I was delivered
of a fine son. . . . Occasionally the wagon had to be
stopped, that I might take breath. Thus I journeyed on. But
I did not mind the hardship of my situation, for my life had
been preserved, and my babe seemed so beautiful."
(Zina Huntington Young, as quoted in Edward W. Tullidge,
The Women of Mormondom [New York: Tullidge &
Drandall, 1877], 328.)
Sarah Rich
 "We left the Chariton on our march towards the
Rocky Mountains, leaving all the settlements behind, so from
there on we had to pick our way without any road, only as we
made it."
(Sarah Rich, Autobiography, typescript at the Harold B.
Lee Library, Brigham Young University.)
Journal photographs
courtesy of Infobases, Inc.
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