One hundred and fifty years ago as of July 31, 2016, Charles P. Anderson with his mother, Maria, brother Claus, and sister Hilda arrived in New York from Sweden. This journey was documented in "From Sweden to American." Eighteen years later Charles Anderson made another journey, this time with his wife Anna.
The focus of this blog is the 44 day trip of Charles and Anna Anderson with their two children from Grantsville, Utah to St. Johns, Arizona in 1884. Charles P Anderson kept a journal of this trip and through the years I have been locating the places he mentioned and researching information about them. Because I am very involved in genealogy and family history research, this blog will not only give information about the trip, but explain how some of that information was obtained. For those interested in the process, this may be helpful. This blog is also for those who also had ancestor who went to Arizona from about 1876-1890 and traveled on the Pioneer/Honeymoon Trail.
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| Charles and Anna Anderson |
Charles and Anna were called by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in 1884 to go to St. Johns, Arizona. There were 102 families called, Two families were from the Tooele Stake. Some of the places mentioned in his journal have taken years to find. Most, but not all, of them have now been located. When I travel to or from Arizona I search for places where C. P. Anderson camped or nooned. I have gotten to know the trail well. Much of it can be found by following Highways 89 and 89A. But some of it will be missed if you don't go on older roads, dirt roads. Over the Buckskin Mountains, a 4WD may be necessary.
Pages 1-2: Journey to America in 1866.
Pages 2-5: Life in Tooele County. Some of the places mentioned by the journal in Tooele County can be found in Tooele County Guide to Historical Attractions. Hilda Erickson Anderson, the sister of C.P. Anderson, is mentioned on the Ibapah Historical Monument and the Hilda Erickson Cabin is included as an attraction. A History of Tooele County is also available online.
Pages 5-7: Trip from Grantsville, Utah to St. Johns, Arizona.
Parts of an earlier journal (below) were used to chronicle the trip to Arizona. There will be some minor differences between this journal and the final typewritten journal which was taken from the final journals of C.P. Anderson. Each posted daily entry will first include the Original Journal Entry from the journal below and then the Final Journal Entry after this journal was transcribed with minor changes into his final journals later. In 1975 his final journals were typeset and this journal is included online (and cover in Final Journal Entry for each day of the trip.
It is interesting what C. P. Anderson left out and what he added in the later journal. I hope Grandpa Anderson doesn't mind if I include in the Original Journal Entry what he left out. I didn't see anything that would incriminate him. Since he isn't here, I can't even ask permission.
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FIRST JOURNAL OF C. P. ANDERSON.
HE EDITED THIS JOURNAL INTO HIS FINAL JOURNAL |
I have called this blog the Pioneer/Honeymoon Trail, and have followed their route as closely as possible. The Pioneer Trail in this case will be from Grantsville to Kanab. After Kanab the route to Sunset (Winslow), Arizona was followed by nearly everybody who went to Arizona from about 1876-1890. This route was later part of "The Honeymoon Trail," to St. George, Utah where many of these early pioneers traveled to be married in the St. George Temple. If you had ancestors who settled in Arizona before 1890, they probably followed this part of the "Honeymoon Trail."
I would encourage you to follow the "Honeymoon Trail" next time you are traveling to or from Arizona. In addition, there are some present day "nooning" places," such as the German bakery in Orderville. On the trail are many scenic attractions. Slightly off the trail as well, you won't want to miss The Wave, Red Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and Cove Fort just to name a few. This blog will go off the trail from time to time.
Chances are you could even find an inscription with your ancestor's name along the way.
A database is being prepared which will identify many of these travelers and where they inscribed their names. When it is available, notification will be given on this blog.
You are invited to request that I check the database for a family name by leaving a comment on one of the posts in this blog. Please make comments as you travel with me. Tell me what you like and what you don't so I can improve. I will do what I can to make the journey as pleasant as possible
