Seldom did winter blizzards strike with such force so early in the season as they did in October and November of 1856. Two handcart companies and two wagon trains who had already been ravaged by many obstacles after a late start found themselves in perilous circumstances as storms stopped their slow advance while they were yet over 300 miles from their destination. Their only real hope was that rescuers from the Salt Lake Valley would hear of their destitute situation and bring supplies and relief before they froze or starved to death. While many died during this tragedy, most were rescued and arrived in “Zion.” One 24-year-old young man, who traveled with his bride and infant who was born on the trail, said of his experience, “I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. I have gone to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there. Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then, nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.” – Francis Webster, 1856