Here Comes the Oxcart, Oh How Slow!



Dave, Tarah and Elliana   May 15-20, 2018

 Jared, Mikael, Elder Nelson. Sister Nelson, Saba, Rayhan, Diana, Pat, Marion,
(missing: Trent)  May  26-31, 2018

Victor, Elder Nelson, Jennifer, Sister Nelson, Ali, Ryan, Peter, Lizzie  June 6-9, 2018

Elder Nelson, Sister Nelson, Laura, Brandon, Michael, Kili, Kris June 22-25, 2018

Elder Nelson, Sister Nelson, Justin, Amie, Benjamin, Taylor, Hunter   June 30-July 5, 2018

Elder Nelson, Sister Nelson, Andrew, Miles, Brooklyn, Raeley, Jessica, Tanner July 2-5, 2018

Lisa, Meg, David, Susan, Elaine, Nathan, Tanner, Karianne, Logan, Tom, Norah
July 21-25, 2018


It's pulled by an ox, of course, you know!

One of the rides you can take in Nauvoo is on the oxcart.  It is not a long ride but it gives you a chance to experience what it might have been like to travel by wagon, though of course the pioneers mostly didn't ride.  They WALKED!  The wagons were all built to be 3 feet wide and 11 feet long.  Brigham Young had them all built to the same size so that the parts would be interchangeable.  While they were building them, they were parceled out so that each family was assigned a specific part and they made a lot of them.  When there were enough parts prepared, the wagons could then be assembled quickly.  And if anything broke down they had replacement parts that would fit.

The wagon we rode on had the cover rolled up on one side so that we could see out.  The missionary leading our rides walked along by the side of the wagon and talked us.  I was shocked to see how small the wagon bed was.  We often think about the "schooners" that were glamorized by Hollywood in the movies, but this was nothing so grand.  They were allowed to take 2000 pounds of goods in each wagon.  1200 pounds was food and the other 800 pounds had to include all of their clothing, bedding, tools, seeds, eating and cooking utensils, furniture, etc.  Space was at a premium so there was no room for people to ride unless there was a medical reason why someone absolutely could not walk.

Fun fact:  "Oxen" is a title or job description and not a breed.  If an animal is trained to pull a wagon and work in a team it can be used as oxen. Gender does not matter. The reason that cattle worked best is because they could survive on the grass.  Horses required grain so if that is what they used, they had to use part of their weight allowance for oats for the horses.  Cattle, on the other hand, are ruminants with multiple stomachs which allowed them to eat a lot of grass and then bring it up as cud to nourish them all day.  A horse required a "driver" who had to sit on the wagon and guide the horses with reigns (again taking up space and weight.)  Horses walk faster than a man can walk which made it hard for the family members keep up.  Cattle walk just at the pace of a man making it easy to keep up with them.  They are easy to lead and can be taught to obey voice commands. Our guide explained about yokes; how they are made and how they work to keep the animals working in unison.  Then he bore his testimony about how wonderful it is to accept Christ's offer for us to take His yoke upon us and in so doing he will become our yoke-mate and help us bear our burdens.  


Lizzie, Elder Nelson, Peter, and Ali pet the oxen








They have two yoke of oxen here.  One team is black and white.  The other ones are brown.  One of the fun things that happened this summer is that they got some new little baby oxen.  They came from the ranch of one of the district temple ordinance workers, the Droste's, from Iowa.  It was fun to help feed them while they were still on bottles and watch them as they grew over the months.  They brought in three in case one of them didn't make it.  They start the training almost immediately.  It takes about 5 years to grow to about 2000 pounds and to be trained as a good yoke of oxen.


Laura and Brandon let the calves suck on their fingers


Kili feeds the baby oxen with a bottle.  They had to be fed three times a day.



As they grew they were moved to a bigger pen so they could eat the grass

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Isaac Morley Home

Image
About one mile north of the center of Kirtland, lies the Morley Farm.  Brother Isaac Morley and his wife had developed a very good productive farm. He was a long-time resident of Kirkland and was converted to the church when the missionaries came through in 1830 along with many of his friends from the Campbellite church.  He was a strong believer and never wavered in his testimony. He had built a 14 x 14 log schoolhouse for his children and others up on a small hill above his farm.  When Joseph Smith came to Kirtland the schoolhouse was used for many of the meetings held for the community and the church.  The fourth conference of the church was held in this schoolhouse. Isaac Morley was a great  support to the growing church. Whatever was asked of him, he obeyed the Lord.  When Joseph asked him to sell his farm and give the proceeds to the church, he did so. He was called to be first counselor to Bishop Edward Partridge.  He was ordained a patria...
Read more

Winter Quarters

Image
When we visited this area in 2008, we were there when the temple was closed so we missed going inside.  Our goal this year was to arrange our trip home so that we could be there for a session.  Even though the session was small, it was wonderful to see this beautiful temple that blesses the lives of the people that live in Omaha, Nebraska and the surrounding area.  One feature that was especially beautiful was the abundance of stained glass windows which contain images significant  from early church history. The Winter Quarters Temple Will we ever master the Selfie? The next morning we went to the Visitor's Center to learn more about what happened here when the pioneers had to stop and camp for the winter.  Amie called my attention to one of our ancestors who was here as well as in Nauvoo.  The father died before they arrived in Nauvoo and Sarah and her daughter and sons were left in a rather desperate situation.  She remarried in order...
Read more

The Rest of our Trip Home

Image
We stayed one night in Waterloo, Iowa so that we could go to the John Deere factory to watch how they manufacture large tractors.  We went to the tractor cab assembly plant because we couldn't see the large harvesters as their plant was closed that week.  It was a great tour.  We rode on a tram pulled by a little John Deere tractor as we traveled around the assembly floor of this 48-acre plant to watch the tractors being assembled. It was amazing to watch how well coordinated the whole process was, even though there were many different things going on at the same time.  Many parts of the process are completely automated to be done by "robots" with little human supervision.  For instance, in the section where the green or yellow paint is applied it is done by an automatic sprayer tube that was able to twist and turn to reach all surfaces of the part being painted.  And when it gets done, it knows to go back down and suck up all the excess paint so it won...
Read more