William Arthur Cox
Another Call Across the Plains
On 15 Apr 1866, William Arthur was called to go back to Nebraska on the Missouri River for immigrants again. This was his second trip. He was to act as assistant wagon-master to Captain Lowry of Moroni, Sanpete County. Just before the expedition was made ready, a meeting was called by Apostle Orson Hyde, where the presiding officers were to apportion to each town a quota of the outfit for the trip, which was to consist of teamsters, cattle guards, oxen, & wagons.
When they had decided what proportion of the train should be furnished by each community, Apostle Hyde read the report. At this moment, William Arthur entered the meeting & took a back seat. After the reading of the report, Apostle Hyde asked if there was any more to be said. William Arthur arose & said, "I think you have asked too much of those poor people at Richfield, & I think that Manti should furnish the other team instead of those people, for they are not able to do it." This outfit consisted of four yoke of oxen & a wagon. One of the men present rose & said that he proposed that Brother Cox furnish the team. The Cox family had already furnished all that they had asked for, which consisted of William Arthur as teamster, a wagon & one yoke of oxen. William Arthur at once arose & said, "We can do it." His father also spoke up & said, "Yes, we will furnish that team." When William Arthur left Manti on that trip, the Cox family had furnished a teamster, one wagon, & five yoke of oxen.
Upon arriving in Nebraska, the train was required to remain for six weeks waiting for the immigrants to arrive. After they did arrive, it was found that they were afflicted with the dread disease, cholera. The season was so far spent, however, that they were compelled to load & start at once for Utah. The sick were hastily put into wagons & the company started on their return trip with sixty wagon loads of immigrants. They started on 15 August 1866. During the first two hundred miles (first two weeks), they had to bury from two to seven people a day. The teamsters were young, unmarried men, & many of them had never had any experience in nursing the sick, but they were obliged to perform this duty. They would roll the dead bodies up in a blanket, dig a hole four feet deep, place the body in it, cover it with dirt, then make a fire on the grave so the wolves would not disturb it. They buried those who died by the wayside, with not a stick or stone to mark their resting places. William Arthur tells of one entire family that was laid away on this trip, leaving not a soul to meet their daughter who was in Salt Lake City waiting to meet her parents, brother & sister when the train arrived. The teamsters drew lots to see who would break the sad news to the waiting girl. The lot fell to Peter Anderson & Peter Munk of Manti.
Finally, there were so many who were sick that it was decided to pitch a large tent & make it into a hospital. All of the sick were taken there so they might receive better care by the teamsters. The teamsters would make gruel & care for them as best they could. When they arrived at Fort Kearney, William Arthur was also taken ill with the cholera. The other teamsters thought he would surely die, but he told them that he was not going to die. The only medicine they had was some pain killer. William Arthur had faith that the Lord had called him on this mission, that he was able to heal him, that his loved ones were praying for him at home, & that he would be permitted to return to Utah. The teamsters wanted to stop & make camp, but William Arthur said, "No". He asked that they put him in a wagon with other sick people & drive on.
He was soon better & back on duty again. It was his job to ride the circle when they made camp. In this way, they would form two half circles with two entrances where the guard was placed at night, the best way to protect themselves & their cattle from the Indians. They would sometimes drive their cattle into their corral to yoke them. At times, the Indians came to their camps to trade buffalo robes for flour & clothing.
When they were near the end of their journey, & traveling along the Weber River, it started to snow. Snow fell for two days & nights to a depth of fifteen inches. Their cattle were so nearly exhausted after their long trip that thirty to thirty-five head of them perished for want of food & from the cold. With the road being down a canyon, they were able to travel with two yoke of cattle to a wagon, which saved the day. Many of the immigrants suffered greatly, after what they had already suffered during the long journey. This was the last ox team train to arrive in Salt lake City.
On 22 Oct 1866, when William Arthur arrived in Manti, he learned that on the previous 27 July, the Indians had made a raid on the stock at Manti & Ephraim, & had driven off one hundred & fifty head. All the oxen the Cox family owned had been taken, so the five yoke of cattle William Arthur took across the plains were all they had left. He had brought back all of his five yoke of oxen, though it was unusual for all of such a team to return from those long, hard trips, where many were poisoned by alkali water or poisonous from weeds. They felt that the Lord had blessed them for having volunteered to help others, & had given them more than their share.