John Oborn: 'Like a Thunderbolt Out of the Clear Sky, God Answered Our Prayers'

John Oborn was 12 years old when he left Bath, England, with his parents Joseph and Maria to join the Willie Handcart Company in 1856. They had sold everything to gather to Zion. His father Joseph, a devoted member of the Church, pulled the handcart while John and his mother pushed behind.

John later wrote: 'I was but a boy of 13 years, but I never shall forget the testimony and the wonderful spirit of sincerity and loyalty of all members of our company.'

As the journey wore on, rations dropped to 4 ounces of flour per day. Then, at Rocky Ridge, they stopped entirely. John wrote: 'From here on it is beyond my power of description to write. God only can understand and realize the torture and privation, exposure, and starvation we went through.'

On October 20, a winter storm struck. 'Movement in any direction had practically stopped. Our scant rations were now gone. Ten or twelve of our members, faithful to the last, were buried in a single grave.'

A few days later, John's own father died near the Green River on October 30 — just 10 days short of the end of the journey. John was 12 years old.

He and his grieving mother continued on with the rescue wagons. The rescuer who took them in he described as someone who 'seemed like an angel from heaven.'

Of the rescue, John wrote: 'Then when it seemed all would be lost, already 66 of our members dead, like a thunderbolt out of the clear sky, God answered our prayers. A rescue party, bringing food and supplies from Great Salt Lake City, sent by President Brigham Young, came in sight. Those of you who have never had this experience cannot realize its intensity.'

Decades later, in 1906, John wrote to the Handcart Veterans Association. His letter closed: 'I well remember that snowstorm... And I shoveled the snow away with a tin plate at the 3rd Crossing of the Sweet Water... And before this we were 2 or 3 weeks on 4 ounces of flour a day — But I had a good appetite and good teeth so I ate rawhide... I am going to say what I ought to have said first — I approve of your work in trying to effect a reunion of the remnant that is yet alive of the Handcart People.' He enclosed $2.50 — and added: 'If it is not enough, write me.' The letter was signed with tears.