I have many pioneer ancestors, but I have the story of one of my great, great grandpas on my Mom's side that I especially love. His name was Joshua Terry. He was born in Canada, went with his family to Missouri, was baptized into the Mormon church and went through the persecutions there. His family was driven from their home there, so they settled in Nauvoo, Illinois where Joshua helped build the temple. He joined the Nauvoo legion serving under Joseph Smith and thereafter moved to Iowa. In 1847 he left Winter Quarters and arrived
in Salt Lake Valley on September 28, 1847. He made camp on Little Willow Creek..now known as Draper. After many hardships and trials and an employer that left him high and dry, he went first to Fort Peck in Idaho for a couple of months and then a kind hearted man, a Doctor Rogers gave him 3 dry biscuits and a half pound of jerked beef and advised him to go to Fort Bridger 200 miles away. For the first part of the journey he lived mainly on thistle roots. His moccasins became badly worn and a heavy snowstorm caught up to him. His feet became raw and bloody so he could not travel very fast. One time he traveled all day in a foot of snow without anything to eat or seeing another living thing. The wind was blowing hard and cold, night was coming on
and he was in despair feeling like he would probably die before morning. He knelt in fervant prayer. When he arose he noticed a large black rock in the shape of a coffin. He went over to examine it and found it contained a hole on one side. He crept into the hole and out of the storm. It was pitch black inside but he had shleter for the night. He had not been in the hole long when he heard something approaching which proved to be an animal of some kind looking for shelter from the storm too. They remained together in the hole all night long with the animal's body next to his which warmed him and kept him comfortable. The next morning before daylight, the animal crawled out and went on his way. Joshua regarded this as a miracle given to him as an answer to his prayers. He made it to Fort Bridger and became acquainted with Jim Bridger who employed him and he soon became Bridger's most trusted employee and foreman. Joshua had an uncanny sense of direction and Jim Bridger gave him a test once. He took Joshua into the heavily timbered part of the Uintah Mountains and tried to get him lost but Joshua always knew the way back to camp. Bridger said he was the only man that he could never lose. Joshua stayed with Jim Bridger for 2 years.

(By the way, I didn't inherit this gift. I can't find my way around a parking lot)

There are many more stories of Joshua Terry and my other pioneer ancestors and I am so glad to have them. I feel a love for, and connection to them when I read their stories. I am so glad they felt the need to write in their journals and to keep a history. Now their grandchildren will have a sense of what their lives were like and have an appreciation of how blessed we are now.