Description

James G. Willie and Company

Hundreds of thousands of emigrants made their way over the Oregon\California Trail in the 19th century. Of all those companies, very few are as famous as the one I am about to describe.

They set sail from Liverpool on May 4, 1856 on board the ship Thornton. It was July 12, 1856 when they were formed into a company in Iowa. James was appointed their captain. He was 44 years old, and having been over the trail twice before he was among the more experienced.

Numerous delays created something of a perfect storm for the emigrants. They were leaving too late in the year, but neither was there a place for them to spend the winter. In faith they gave themselves to God and decided to go on. It was August 16, 1856 and they yet had1031 miles to go.

Then, Sunday, October 19, 1856, just after midday snow and howling wind caught the emigrants on one of the most desolate and exposed portions of the trail. Their already difficult circumstances were now deadly.

Word came that a rescue party was somewhere ahead of them; but where? It was cold, the snow was deep and the company was out of food; people were dying daily. Their Captain decided to go in search of the rescuers. He and a friend ventured off into the snowbound wilderness having no idea where the rescuers were. Finally 27 miles later, just at nightfall, they came across a signboard stuck in the snow moments before. Following it, they found the rescuers camp. Had Harvey Cluff not placed that sign, the Captain likely would not have found the rescuers in time to save his company. Moreover, had that intrepid Captain not braved his way into the storm in search of help, his people surely would have died.

That Captain was James G. Willie, and his people—the Willie Handcart Company. “Our captain,” wrote George Cunningham, “did his duty. He was badly frozen and came very close to dying. He showed us all a noble example. He was furnished a mule to ride on our start from Iowa City, but he said, ‘I will never get on its back. I shall show the example; you follow it.’ He did so, and the captains of hundreds followed him. They would crowd on ahead to be the first into the streams to help the women and children across.”

“We all loved Captain Willie,” wrote Mary Hurren. “He was kind and considerate, and did all that he could do for the comfort of those in his company.”

Seventy Four people perished in the Willie Company. They and the Martin Company behind them came to be seen as examples of failure, and an embarrassment for most of the nineteenth century, but then time rightly redirected the spotlight to illuminate, not their failure but their faithfulness. Today they are a shining standard of what it means to be true and faithful to the end.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_and_Martin_handcart_companies

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWV9-K4N