One of the few stories I knew from my family history before
embarking on this journey is that one of my ancestors was a Pony Express rider.
Pretty cool! Even cooler, he was one of the last living Pony Express riders at
the time of his death in 1930. (He lived to the ripe, old age of 93!) His
passing kind of marked the end of an era, or as one obituary put it, “the end
of the frontier.”
William Streeper, the Pony Express rider, is my
great-great-great-grandfather. That’s three greats for those of you that lost
count. And here’s why, in my estimation, he’s pretty great.
The Boy Who Lived
When William Streeper was born, nobody thought he was going
to live. He was so frail as an infant that his mother had to carry him around
on a pillow for four months! Well I guess that unusual prescription worked
because he lived.
When he was still a young boy, his parents were baptized
into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Shortly thereafter, they
moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the main body of the church resided. William
Streeper recalls playing ball as a boy with Joseph Smith, the first leader and
prophet of the LDS church.
There’s this scene in the movie “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration," which I saw countless times while I was a missionary for the
LDS church, where Joseph Smith is playing baseball with a bunch of kids. It’s just so
cool to think that not only did Joseph actually play ball and that wasn’t just
a scene to romanticize him, but he played ball with my third
great-grandfather! (William Streeper was quite proud that he personally knew
all the prophets of the LDS church. He had lunch with Brigham Young after he
was mistakenly reported dead following a deadly encounter between Native
Americans and Pony Express riders. He worked for John Taylor hauling freight.
And so on…)
Pioneer Work Ethic
When I think of the pioneers who settled the American
frontier, I think of men and women who had a great determination and an
excellent work ethic. I’m sure there were a few lazy pioneers, but William
Streeper was not one of them.
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William began working when he was 8 as a lamp lighter in St. Louis. He
was responsible for lighting 125 lamps every night and extinguishing them every
morning. (Okay, I couldn't help but think of the lamplighter in "Le Petit Prince!" So please indulge me this picture.) And he was paid a whoppin’ $5 a month! William saved the money to help
his family purchase cattle so they could make the long trek to Utah and join
the Mormon pioneers. At age 13, his family had saved enough money to travel
west. On the journey, William learned how to drive cattle, a skill that served
him well throughout his life.
When William was just 17, his father passed away. As the
oldest, William was suddenly the provider of a large family. He began carrying
mail for the Pony Express to support his mother and siblings. After the Pony
Express was replaced by stagecoach (and then rail), William began hauling
freight from L.A. to Salt Lake. Sometimes, his work carried him as far as
Montana or Missouri.
William was absent from home for months at a time, but on
one of his breaks at home, he met Miss Mary Amelia Richards. William continued
hauling freight to save money so he could settle down with Mary. On his last journey,
his mules (63 head) were stolen by a band of Indians, and he was left stranded with his
freight a hundred miles outside of Omaha. He was discouraged, but he didn’t
give up. He made his way back to Omaha, got a loan to purchase a new team and
finished the haul.
After Mary and William were married, they were given the
unpleasant assignment to settle the “Muddy,” a wasteland somewhere in Nevada.
These were difficult days for the new couple. Just when things were starting to
flourish and their hard work was paying off, a fire destroyed everything they
had except the clothes on their back. Literally. And they weren’t wearing much
either because of the unbearable heat in Nevada. After putting out the fire, he found his
wife sitting on a stump in only her petticoat looking defeated. Never one to
let a situation beat him, William announced that this was just the opportunity
they had been looking for! They were going to move closer to family and start
fresh. He gathered clothes (to cover their petticoats and long johns) and food from
neighbors--just enough to make it to Centerville, Utah where they lived for the
rest of their lives.
In Centerville, William’s hard work finally paid off. He was
an industrious man and all his business, agricultural, and merchandising endeavors
thrived.
Pure religion undefiled is this…
From an early age, William sought opportunities to serve
others as Jesus Christ would have. In October 1856 (when William was 19), a group of immigrants traveling
by handcart to the Salt Lake valley got caught in a series of early winter
storms that blew through the Rockies. Decimated by hunger and freezing
temperatures, the immigrants had little hope of survival. After news of the
handcart companies reached Salt Lake, a rescue company was assembled. William
Streeper was one of the first to volunteer.
Because of his kindness, William avoided many confrontations
with Native Americans. Rather than treating them as hostile savages, he treated
them as friends. He tried to learn their language. He shared food with them and
farming tips. He was also the beneficiary of kindness on their part.
William also believed in defending others. In one humorous
account, he retells helping a woman who was being harassed by the local
sheriff for “parking” her horse in front of ZCMI, a large department store downtown.
He was always giving food to neighbors and those that were
in need. His daughter recorded that "he never went empty-handed to Salt Lake or anywhere. He bought meal and flour supplies for widows and 'underground' widows. He always had pockets full of candy for the children." He reminds me of an old man in my congregation as a child that we called "Grandpa Gumball." I loved that man! I'm sure William had many fans as well! Maybe they called him Grandpa Gumball too.
He and Mary were also generous hosts. They loved to have company and rarely was their house without guests. In the wintertime, William would take friends and neighbors out on his beautiful sleigh. He never neglected to take the widows of Centerville out for a ride each winter. One year to repay him for his kindness, the widows of Centerville threw him a birthday party!
He and Mary were also generous hosts. They loved to have company and rarely was their house without guests. In the wintertime, William would take friends and neighbors out on his beautiful sleigh. He never neglected to take the widows of Centerville out for a ride each winter. One year to repay him for his kindness, the widows of Centerville threw him a birthday party!
William’s kindness reminds me of a verse from the Bible. “Pure
religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from
the world.” (James 1:27) It’s one of my favorites because it captures the
essence of being a Christian. How can we profess to love God if we don’t care
about His children that need our help?
So that’s why William, the boy who lived, is so great! Not
only did he have a cool job, but he worked hard and he knew what it meant to be
a Christian.
