Two hundred and fifty LDS pioneer were called in 1879 to settle San Juan. The shortest route they found was through Glen Canyon, with a river running 2,000 feet below the red cliffs. A path was made for the wagons to descend down the "hole" to get down to the river where a raft was built to carry the wagons across the river. Twenty men and boys with ropes attached to the back of each wagon with chains on the wheels for brakes were required for each wagon to make the descent.
Arabella Smith and her husband Stanford were traveling west with a wagon company and when they had this experience (in the words of Elder Durham)...
Joseph and Arabella Smith's wagon was the last to descend for the day. Joseph had been helping preceding wagons all that day and had himself been evidently forgotten by the others. After making the 2,000 foot climb to the top of the cliff, he found Arabella sitting on a quilt, holding the baby, patiently waiting. His outfit and their two other children in the wagon were hidden behind a huge, mountainous rock.
Stanford Smith got his load and moved it to the edge. A third horse was hitched to the rear axle. Stanford and Arabella looked down the “Hole.”
He said, “I am afraid we can’t make it.”
The wife replied, “we must make it.”
He said, “If we only had a few men to hold the wagon back we might make it, Belle.”
Replied his wife, “I’ll do the holding back.”
A quilt was laid on the ground. There she placed the baby between the legs of three-year-old Roy. “Hold little brother til papa comes for you,” she said. Ada, the older girl, was placed in front of them. Behind the wagon Belle Smith grasped the reins of the horse hitched to the rear. Stanford started the team down the “Hole.” The wagon lurched downward. The rear horse and Belle were thrown from their feet. Recovering, she hung back, pulling on the lines with all her strength and courage. A jagged rock cut a cruel gash in her leg from heel to hip. The horse behind the wagon fell to his haunches. The half-dead animal was dragged down most of the way. The gallant woman, clothes torn, with a grievous wound, later said, “I crow-hopped right along!”
On reaching the bottom, Stanford and Arabella heard a faint call from the children. Joseph Stanford Smith climbed to the top to get them. They were safely in place. Carrying the baby, the other children clinging to him and to each other, he led them down the rocky crack. As they approached the river’s edge, they saw five men carrying chains and ropes in the distance. The Smiths had been missed. The men were coming to help. Stanford called out, “Forget it, fellows. … My wife here is all the help a fellow needs.”
I love this story because it depicts the legacy of courage the pioneer women began and reminds me that we need to have that same courage as women in these latter days. We need to and can be a powerful force for good.
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