Levi Savage Jr.: 'I Will Die with You' — The Prophet Who Warned, Then Served Unto Death's Edge

Levi Savage Jr. (March 23, 1820 – December 13, 1910) had already circled the globe as a missionary to India and Burma before joining the Willie Handcart Company in Iowa City in July 1856.

At the tense Florence, Nebraska meeting on August 13, 1856, Savage stood before the company and pleaded with them not to leave so late in the season. He knew the trail. He knew the Wyoming winters. He told them plainly that their late departure with elderly, women, and young children would lead to 'suffering, sickness, and death.'

He was overruled. The majority voted to go. Savage then gave one of the most selfless declarations in pioneer history: 'What I have said I know to be true; but seeing you are to go forward, I will go with you, will help all I can, will work with you, will rest with you, and if necessary, will die with you. May God in his mercy bless and preserve us.'

He was later censured by company members for his warning. Yet Captain William Woodward, who had overruled him, later wrote: 'Levi Savage, who was censured for his truthful statement at Florence, was I think the best help we had — resolute and determined, his whole soul was for the salvation of our company.'

Savage personally hauled handcarts, carried children, helped bury the dead, and kept the company moving through the brutal Wyoming winter. He arrived in Salt Lake City on November 9, 1856. Over one-fifth of the company had died. He survived — and his declaration of faithful service even when overruled became one of the enduring testimonies of the pioneer era.