John L. Bear: A Swiss Convert and Pioneer of 1860

John L. Bear was a Swiss convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who, with other European Saints, crossed the plains in the James Darling Ross Company of 1860. His autobiography, 'Autobiography of Elder John L. Bear,' records his conversion in Switzerland and his journey to gather with the Saints in the valleys of the mountains. Brother Bear's life is a faith-promoting witness of the European converts—Swiss, German, English, Scandinavian—who, having found the restored gospel, left their homelands and gathered to Zion in the great latter-day gathering.