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Mormon Historical Studiesby Andrew D. Olsen & Jolene S. Allphin“We Buried 13 Souls” Identifying the Willie Handcart Company’s Campsite and Mass Grave after the Tragic Ordeal on Rocky Ridge. Rock Creek Hollow has long been recognized as the site of the Willie handcart company’s camp and mass grave after they crossed Rocky Ridge in a bitter winter storm on October 23, 1856. In 1933, leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built and dedicated a monument at Rock Creek Hollow, marking it as the burial place of the fifteen members of the Willie company who died from that crucible. In 1994, Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church’s First Presidency again dedicated the Rock Creek Hollow site (see page 11).This article is posted with permission from the Ensign Peak Foundation (formerly Mormon Historic Sites Foundation) and Latter-day Saint Historical Studies (formerly Mormon Historical Studies). Cover art for this issue is Redick Allred in Stationed at South Pass. Courtesy Julie Rogers. |
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