The Undaunted

It is not very often that you will find me blogging about a book but this book has been my life for the last few weeks. It took me a while to get into but now I cannot put it down. I have neglected my family for so long and still have 250 pages to go. Yes, the book is 814 pages! Who writes that? Seriously.
I first took interest in this book because I had always heard a story about one of my great ancestors who went through Hole in the Rock and used his red underwear to make a flag to celebrate the 4th of July. So I thought this will be cool to read about a possible ancestor of mine. Little did I know I would be enveloped in the history of this story and then in my own family history.
After staying up til 2 in the morning doing Internet research, I discovered that it was not some distant relative that pioneered the hole in the rock but about 25 pretty close relatives. Including this lady Harriet Emily Decker.

She was my great great grandmother. She was 19 when her and her husband and a new baby were called to go on the San Juan Mission. She was accompanied by 5 of her siblings and their families as well as her father. The story is truly amazing to me and has helped me realize a lot at this time in my life. It is amazing to see the faith that these people had and the longing they had to be obedient to the Lord. Because the entire journey was very difficult, and much harder than anticipated in every single way you can imagine. I mean, can you believe that they brought wagons down this? (add an additional 300 feet to get to the base from the water level) 250 people were in this party with waggons and hundreds of cattle. And this steep grade was not the worse part of the trip. More difficult terrain lay ahead for them. Originally it was thought that this route would be a short cut and only take them 6 weeks, but when they came across this crazy terrain the trip ended up taking 6 months, including a severely bitter winter.
They were not even half way to their destination after going through Hole in the Rock.
I still have a couple of hundred pages of reading to do, but after reading about my ancestors and the other research I found, I am drawn into this story even more. But, mostly I want to go visit Manassa, Colorado and meet my family that still lives there.

So Lynsey I'm ready for an invite!

**Addendum to post: I have finished the book, and I have been thinking a lot about it. The facts are simple. People risked their lives to take this journey, they gave up their homes and more to go where they were called. Once they arrived, they experienced conflict with the Indians and continued difficulties and many people left. It has made me wonder why they were even called. And made me think about my own life and why for example, I felt so strongly about going to California only to come back home. I still haven't figured that out, but I LOVED reading this book and seeing the strength these people had. They received blessings and strengthened their faith regardless of how the story ended.

One more thought: Though there was not much of a reason to stay, many did stay because, when you sacrifices so much and work so hard for something, it becomes what you love. Though my story is definitely not EVEN comparable, It makes sense to me why I did not want to leave California.