Patience Loader

Patience Loader was a member of the Martin Handcart Company. In an article from Sherman L. Fleek that appeared in the June 1997 issue of Wild West, he writes:

Teenager Patience Loader watched the large chunks of ice float down the freezing North Platte River in the fall of 1856. There was no other choice; James Martin, captain of their company of Mormon emigrants, said that they had to ford the river at Last Crossing. The cold October wind made unbearable the task of pushing and dragging the hand-drawn carts across. Patience, her sister and mother had no change of clothes, and there would be no time to stop and dry their drenched and freezing garments until they stopped for the night, many more miles and hours away. Exhibiting the great virtue her name symbolized, Patience and her family entered the icy flow. Later, she recorded her experience:

‘The water was deep and very cold and we drifted out of the regular crossing and we came near beign drounded the water came to our arm pits poor Mother was standing on the bank screaming as we got near the bank I heard her say for God Sake some of you men help My poor girls…Several of the brethren came down the bank of the river and pulled our cart up for us. Mother was there to meet us her clothing was dry but ours was wett and cold and verey soon frozen Mother took of one of her under skirts and put it on one of us and her apron for another to Keep the wett cloth from us for we had to travle several miles before we could camp.’

Freezing and nearly drowned as she was, Patience nevertheless was saddened by the sight of a less fortunate handcart member:

‘When we was in the middle of the river I saw a poor brother carreying his child on his back he fell down in the water I never Knew if he drowned or not I fealt sorrey that we could not help him but we had all we could do to save ourselves
from drownding….’

While Mr. Fleek refers to Patience in the article as a "teenager", her Death Certificate indicates that she would have been 29 according to information provided by Sherry M. Smith in a memorial.

Patience has many other stories of trials she experienced while on the trek that we'll provide in future posts.