. . . [May] 19. At 8 a.m. went on the Wyoming. Assisted in locating the Saints in their berths. At 1 p.m. President [George] Teasdale came on board. He appointed William Wood as president, Brother John Sutherland and myself as counselors, & Charles Kingston, secretary. Number of Saints on board: 129. Returning elders: 9. Besides the above named were Elders E. White, L. S. Huish, William Bench, Thomas Wrighton, & H. Kruperman. Along with Presidents Wood and Sutherland, visited the Saints. Found them tolerably comfortable. Weather fine. Spent evening on deck. Retired at 10 p.m.

20. Rose at 6 a.m. Found a number of Saints seasick. Wrote cards to friends. Arrived at Queenstown 9 a.m. Remained there until 12:30 p.m. Administered to several during the day. Evening cloudy. Ship rolling. Passed Cape Clear about 5:30 p.m.

21. Heavy sea. Nearly all seasick, myself included. Ship rolled all day. Visited several of the sick but had to go alone. I went into dinner at 6 p.m. Record at noon, 317 miles from Queenstown.

22. Sea still rolling but not so bad as yesterday. Passengers gaining a little. Wind southwest. Record at noon, 291 miles. [p.104]

23. Very heavy sea. Water splashing over decks. Passengers improving in health. Brother [William] Wood and I visited among them, sang hymns, and tried to cheer them up. Elders Kingston and Huish still very sick. Record, 300 miles.

24. Pleasant day. Passengers on deck generally feeling cheerful. Conversed with several on the doctrines of the Latter-day Saints. Record, 280 miles.

25. Rather strong head wind. Day pleasant. Passengers on deck. Elders Kingston & Huish better. Record, 301 miles.

26. Pleasant day. Visited the Saints. Collected money of them for exchange. Nearly all well. Record, 329 miles.

27. Sunday, pleasant. Have passed the banks of Newfoundland. Attended church service in the forenoon in the saloon. In the afternoon we held meeting on the foredeck. A rough Irish element on board, which had made itself obnoxious during the week, tried to disturb the meeting but the rowdies were promptly dispersed by the officers of the vessel. President Wood spoke a short time and I followed on the importance of God's commands and the necessity of obeying them. In the evening another meeting was held and Elders Sutherland, Huish, and Wrighton occupied the time. Record, 348 miles.

28. A pilot was taken on board at 3:30 a.m. Fine day. Moved around among passengers. Conversed with several. In the evening a concert was held in the saloon. The doctor was chairman. I recited "A Handsomer Man Than Me." Record, 344 miles.

29. A flash of lightning split the ball at the masthead early in the morning. Land was soon in sight. We arrived at the harbor about 10:30 a.m. [p.105] Record, 326 miles. Officers came on board. Passengers passed inspection and we arrived at the wharf at 2 p.m. Busy with luggage and changing money for company until late. Slept on board the "Wyanoke," Old Dominion Line.

30. Woke up feeling thankful and proposed prayers with company which we held. Was busy with luggage all forenoon. Went to Brooklyn Bridge with Elder Wood and some of the sisters. Left the docks at 3 p.m. for Norfolk. Company all feeling well. Elder E. White was left behind but came on cars to Norfolk. Had saloon passage. Splendid entertainment. Evening, had concert with our company.

31. Heavy showers yet smooth sea. Reached Norfolk, Virginia about 5 p.m. Raining fast. Took cars and departed about 6:15. Serving provisions all evening.

June 1. At daybreak reached Lynchburg. Were attached to a regular train and stopped at all stations. At noon arrived at Bristol, 408 miles from Norfolk via Norfolk and Western Railway. Were transferred in same cars to East Tennessee, Virginia, & Georgia Railway and arrived at Chattanooga at 10 p.m., 242 miles further. We were then transferred to Memphis & Charleston Railway and continued our journey.

2. Passed through northern Alabama & Mississippi and were sidetracked near Memphis, 310 miles further on at 12 noon. Left Memphis at 6 p.m. being ferried in the cars across the Mississippi which is 2 miles wide at that place. We continued our journey via Kansas City, Fort Scott, and Gulf Railway. 403 miles to Kansas City.

3. Sunday. Passed through Missouri and Kansas. Conversed with passengers, &c. Fort Scott was about the only important town passed through. [p.106] It is growing fast. We reached Kansas City about 5:30 p.m. where we changed cars. Here the company was divided, a portion going via Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and Denver and Rio Grande Railways under the care of Elders Sutherland, Huish, & White, and the remainder of us going by the Union Pacific. The baggage was transferred here and much is in bad condition. We left Kansas City at 9:40 p.m.

June 4. We found ourselves traveling across the Kansas prairies. Prairie dogs, prickly pears, cattle feeding, and small railroad towns attracting our attention during the day. At 8 p.m. we arrived at Denver, 639 miles from Kansas City. Walked around Denver with Brother Kingston. Purchased provisions, etc. and at 12:30 midnight, resumed our journey.

5. Early in the morning the piston rod of the engine broke, and we were detained for a time causing us to miss connections and to have to remain all day at Cheyenne. Mrs. Calder of Edinburgh and myself took a walk, gathered wild flowers, enjoyed the mountain breezes, had some fresh new milk at a small ranch, and were struck with clean, neat appearance of the dugout and the hospitality of its inmates. Another engine coming took us into Cheyenne where we arrived at 8:30 a.m. and remained all day repairing boxes, trunks, &c. At 6 p.m. we resumed our journey and the day closed as we passed Summit Station, the highest point on the Union Pacific line.

6. Daybreak found us near Rawlins and by breakfast time, Rock Springs. 201 miles from Ogden was reached. Soon Green River, Granger, and other familiar names reminded us that we were rapidly approaching home. From New York we have traveled as follows: New York to Norfolk via S. S. "Wyanoke." [p.107] Old Dominion Line, 290 miles; Norfolk to Bristol via Norfolk & Western Railway 408 miles. Bristol to Chattanooga via Eastern Tennessee, Georgia & Virginia Railway 244 miles. Chattanooga to Memphis via Memphis & Charleston Railway 310 miles; Memphis to Kansas City via Memphis, Fort Scott & Kansas City Railway 483 miles, Kansas City to Denver via Union Pacific Railways 639 miles; Denver to Cheyenne, 106 miles; Cheyenne to Ogden 514 miles; making a total of 2994 miles. Added to ocean route makes about 6000 miles from Liverpool to Ogden. We reached Ogden about 6 p.m. Sarah Beecher came to meet her little girl. I had tea at a Mr. Bennett's near the depot. Spent the evening at Brother William Pearce's. At about 9 p.m. we started for Willard and I reach home just after midnight where I was welcomed by Harriet and the family. . . . [p.108]

BIB: Chandler, James J. Reminiscences and diary (Ms 1893), pp. 104-08. (CHL).
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