Butch Cassidy Read Free

embarrassment of his father, Maxi simply walked away from the job. Though punished severely by the elder Parker, young Maxi refused to return to the mill.
    By this time, Robert Parker was an elder in the Mormon church and the head of a small mission in Preston. After lengthy deliberation and prayer, he ultimately decided the best thing for him and his growing family was to heed the call from Brigham Young and go to America. His skills as a weaver would be invaluable, and he was convinced the move would provide opportunities for his children they would not have in England.
    Robert sold his home, his furniture, and his small herd of cattle to raise the price of boat fare to America. On March 22, 1856, the entire Parker family boarded a ship, the Enoch Train , for the United States. With the Parkers were approximately 530 other Mormon immigrants, all ultimately bound for the region of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The passage took five weeks. The ship finally arrived in Boston on April 30. Maxi was twelve years of age when he first stepped onto the shores of his new country. Following a trip to New York City, the group of Mormons boarded a train for Iowa City, Iowa, arriving May 12.
    At Iowa City, the immigrants became part of a group historians have since labeled the Handcart Pioneers. Here, they spent approximately one month in preparation for the long trip across the plains and mountains. Generally, wagon trains had been the normal mode of transporting groups of people to California and points in between. For reasons not entirely clear, leader Brigham Young was convinced simple handcarts would be faster and easier than wagons. These large, two-wheeled wagons were fitted with a pair of long poles that extended forward. A Saint would position himself or herself between the poles, strap on a harness similar to one designed for a mule, lift, and pull. Young reasoned that few of the Saints had enough money to purchase teams of oxen or mules. He also assumed and claimed they knew little about how to handle such animals. Furthermore, Young did not want the members of his flock spending their savings on what he considered expensive wagons and stock. He told them they needed to carry their savings with them to their destination.
    A large number of the handcarts were hastily constructed with green, unseasoned wood and poorly fashioned for such a long and rugged journey. As the lumber dried out in the arid environments of the West, many wagons broke apart, forcing migrants to abandon precious belongings along the trail and take only what they could carry on their backs.
    The first group of Handcart Pioneers, some 274 strong, departed Iowa City on June 9. The second group, called the MacArthur Company, left two days later and included 221 Mormons, among them the Parker family. While Robert pulled and young Maxi pushed the cart, the rest of the family walked alongside. In that manner they covered hundreds of miles across unfamiliar terrain.
    Late on the afternoon of July 1, the Parker family experienced disaster. As the adults of the MacArthur Company set up camp for the night and prepared dinner, the children scattered throughout the adjacent countryside to play. A sudden thundershower, however, sent them hurrying back to camp. As the Parker children gathered near the family cart in the pouring rain, Ann Parker noticed that Arthur, the fourth child, was missing. None of the other children remembered seeing him and a search was undertaken, one that extended well into the night and most of the following day. In spite of the missing child, the leader of the company, Elder MacArthur, ordered the party to pack up and continue their journey.
    After packing his wagon, Robert Parker sent his family along with the others and remained alone to continue the search for his son. Just before parting, Ann handed her husband a red shawl, telling him that if he found the child he was to wave it so she would know he was all right.
    For two more days, the