Abandoned on The Trail
Two little girls, a prompting, and a miraculous rescue.
Emma Olsen was just 7 years old when she found herself and her friend alone on the plains.
It was the job of the children to “gather the chips.” Which doesn’t sound so bad until you understand that “chips” are dried up buffalo poop that they used to make fire. Can you imagine the smell?
But, these young pioneer girls must have had strong stomachs because they didn’t seem to mind too much. Emma’s dad had even made her a special apron with which to collect these chips. As a precaution, they were warned over and over again to stay by the wagons.
But just like kids today, did they heed this very sound advice? Of course not.
One day Emma and her friend were collecting chips & found way more than usual. In their excitement they kept going farther and farther away from the wagons without really noticing. Once their aprons were full they headed back for the wagons only to discover…
the wagons were gone.
I wonder what was going through their minds at that point. Did they think they got lost? Did they know the company had gone on without them? They found the trail, but could not see the wagons. Their company had “crossed the green river into Wyoming and were out of sight.”
Not knowing what else to do, they plopped down on the grass and awaited their fate. These poor little girls were terrified, worried that an animal would come to eat them, the Indians would kidnap them, or that they’d die of starvation.
After what seemed like forever to the young girls,
two men appeared on top of a hill. They seemed as happy to see the girls as the girls were to see them. They told the girls how the Captain of the company had forced all the wagons to stop and do a “check up”. He had a feeling that someone was missing. Once it was discovered that Emma and her friend were indeed gone, two men were sent back to scout for the girls.
I’m sure those girls were forever grateful that the captain heeded that prompting!
When they arrived at the camp, Emma and her friend were ready to be scolded, but instead, the Captain decided to camp for the night and called a meeting to offer thanks to Heavenly Father “in prayer and song” for their safe return.
Do you have an experience with promptings you'd like to share? I'd love to hear it!
Haws , Sterling. “Pioneer Personal History Answers: Mrs. Emma A. Neilson Olsen: Works Progress Administration Biography Sketches.” J. Willard Marriott Digital Library, 19 Apr. 2016, collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=698216&page=9&facet_type_t=%22Text%22&q=mormon%2Bpioneer.