We’ll All Pull Together

Charlotte Mee, age 20, and Betsy Mee, age 14, traveled to Zion with the Martin Handcart Company. They were headed for Nephi, Utah, where their married sister, Sarah Mee Wright, had immigrated previously. The girls’ father had died in 1845 and their mother in 1848, so the girls had all worked very hard to accomplish their goals.

To complicate things, Charlotte had an accident in 1853 which left her crippled. Charlotte wrote:

“When I was seventeen years old, I sprained or broke some of the ligaments in my ankle and the doctor said I must lose my leg, but I refused to have it amputated. I was forced to use crutches for nearly four years.”

The use of crutches, however, did not keep Charlotte from her commitment to travel over 1,300 miles to her promised land. Besides her crutches, she had to rely on the kindness of her sister, Betsy, as well as the others close to her in the company.