Pioneer Stories - Reddick Allred

Today's thought is about Reddick Allred, one of the rescuers. Most of this I pulled from the book, "The Price We Paid" by Andrew D. Olsen.

Brigham Young wanted the rescuers to set up stations along the trail to distribute supplies to the handcart companies as they came through. Captain Grant had established one such station on October 19 when he left a small group of men, wagons, and supplies near South Pass. He assigned Reddick Allred to be in charge of this camp and be ready to provide assistance when called upon. It was an unenviable assignment, requiring weeks of waiting while enduring the wrath of the storms at one of the highest elevations on the trail. Reddick Allred wrote:

"Capt. Grant left me in charge of the supplies of flour, beef cattle, four wagons, the weak animals, and 11 men for guard. I killed the beef cattle and let the meat lay in quarters where it froze and kept well as it was very cold and storming almost every day. We were reinforced by 3 wagons and 6 men loaded with flour."

On October 23, the day the rescuers helped the Willie company over Rocky Ridge, William Kimball sent an express to Reddick Allred, asking him to come and meet the company with assistance. The next day, Reddick Allred and some of his men traveled to Rock Creek, arriving just before the last of the stragglers came into camp. In his journal that day he wrote:

"I took 6 teams and met them 15 miles below in such a hard west wind that they could not travel facing the drifting snow even if they had been ready for duty. I found some dead and dying laying over the camp in the drifting snow that was being piled in heaps by the gale and burying their dead. We set in with the rest to make them as comfortable as possible and remained in camp till [the] next day."

After helping the Willie company get back on their way, Reddick Allred was instructed to return to his station and be ready to assist the Martin company. For three tedious, uncertain weeks he waited for any word about the company and his fellow rescuers. During that long wait, some of the men returned to Salt Lake City, presuming that members of the Martin company had died or had found a place to stay for the winter. These men tried to persuade Reddick Allred to go with them. He recorded the following exchange when John Van Cott and Claudeus Spencer arrived at his station in November and learned that there had been no word from the Martin company:

"Bro. Spencer tried to induce me to break up camp and return to the city. I declined his proposition, and he said he would return. I advised him to stay, for the lives of the company depended up[on] us. He then said that he moved that as I was president of the station, they center their faith in me, that I should get the word of the Lord to know what we must do. To this I objected as [the Lord] already said what he would [have us] do. They returned [the] next day."

Because of Reddick Allred's determination to remain at his post, he was known as the "Bulldog." 

Elder Henry B. Eyring spoke of his heroic steadfastness in a general conference:

"There are few comforts so sweet as to know that we have been an instrument in the hands of God in leading someone else to safety. That blessing generally requires the faith to follow counsel when it is hard to do. An example from Church history is that of Reddick Newton Allred. He was one of the rescue party sent out by Brigham Young to bring in the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies. When a terrible storm hit, Captain Grant, captain of the rescue party, decided to leave some of the wagons by the Sweetwater River as he pressed ahead to find the handcart companies. With the blizzards howling and the weather becoming life-threatening, two of the men left behind at the Sweetwater decided that it was foolish to stay. . . . They decided to return to the Salt Lake Valley and tried to persuade everyone else to do the same.

"Reddick Allred refused to budge. Brigham had sent them out, and his priesthood leader had told him to wait there. The others took several wagons, all filled with needed supplies, and started back. Even more tragic, each wagon they met coming out from Salt Lake they turned back as well. They turned back 77 wagons, [some of which returned] all the way to Little Mountain [before they were turned around]. . . .

"Those with the faith of Reddick Newton Allred will keep offering friendship even when it seems not to be needed or to have no effect. They will persist. When some[one] reaches the point of spiritual exhaustion, they will be there offering kind words and fellowship. They will then feel the same divine approval Brother Allred felt when he saw those handcart pioneers struggling toward him, knowing he could offer them safety because he had followed counsel when it was hard to do.  While the record does not prove it, I am confident that Brother Allred prayed while he waited. I am confident that his prayers were answered. He then knew that the counsel to stand fast was from God. We must pray to know that. I promise you answers to such prayers of faith."

Finally, more than three weeks after Reddick Allred helped the Willie company, his steadfastness would be vindicated. On November 18, Captain Grant would arrive at his station with the Martin company. Again Reddick Allred would provide life-sustaining aid. Captain Grant would be so happy to see him that he would greet him with a cheer: "Hurrah for the Bulldog. Good for hanging on."

What makes Reddick Allred's work in the rescue effort even more remarkable is that he was suffering from a severe case of pleurisy, a painful inflammation of the membrane that lines the lungs. Reddick Allred described the intensity of the pain in his journal entry for October 8: "I took cold and it gave me a severe pain in my breast that lasted one month that was almost like taking my life." After reaching Fort Bridger five days later, he wrote, "I suffered much from plurisy or a pain in my breast and side."

That Reddick Allred gave such dedicated service despite this illness reveals much about his character. But perhaps even more is revealed by considering when the illness began. If it had struck while he was at South Pass, he would have had little choice but to stay with the rescue team until their work was done. But instead, it struck the day after he left Salt Lake City. Since he was so close to home at the time, it would have been easy—and justifiable—for him to return home to protect his health. Surely he knew that rest was an important part of the remedy, yet he persisted at a pace that nearly broke the health of those who were well. Then he endured several weeks of hard winds, snows, and subzero temperatures at the crest of the continent with only a wagon cover for protection.

I love the story of his determination to be obedient. It is not always easy to do what we are asked. In his case Reddick had good men trying to persuade him that his determination was foolish. But with a faith that we can all learn from he hung on and persisted in doing what he had been asked to do. A great example of faith and obedience!

Have a great week!

Sister McHood