Preservation During the Cholera Epidemic at Rush Creek

Jacob Gates provided an eyewitness account of the cholera outbreak that struck the camp in late June 1834 near Rush Creek. He recorded that his wife, Mary, was present during this trial, which he described as a time when 14 or 15 of the brethren died. Despite the high mortality rate and the severity of the epidemic that affected many in the camp, both Jacob and Mary Gates were preserved and survived the expedition.