Early Sunday morning, June 23, 1872, Ellen White wrote from her hideaway home in Washington, Iowa, to her longstanding friend in Greenville, Michigan, Mrs. Maynard: "We leave today for California. My husband and myself need rest.... Next Sabbath we expect, if the Lord prospers us, to be in Santa Rosa."--Letter 1, 1872. The Whites did not reach California, however, until Friday afternoon, September 27, fourteen weeks later.
They had planned to attend most of the western camp meetings (Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota), and then join J.N. Loughborough in California for a camp meeting to be held in late September. But when the Iowa meeting closed, they saw that to carry out their plan in their state of health, the strain would be greater than they could bear. After a few days' rest, they decided to go at once, thinking to arrive in California in late June. They had to have some rest.
With travel plans flexible, they started out, taking with them 17-year-old Willie, who had now joined them in Iowa, and Mrs. Lucinda Hall. Lucinda, 33 years of age and the daughter of Ira Abbey, was a widow; she had been Ellen's closest friend for twenty years. They stopped briefly at Civil Bend, Missouri, where the church needed help, and there decided to make another stop at Ottawa, Kansas, where Ellen White's oldest sister, Caroline Clough, lived. They arrived at the Clough home Tuesday, July 2, thinking to remain for two days. It had been twenty-five years since the two sisters had been together, and the reunion was a happy one. In a letter to Edson, Ellen described her sister, fifteen years her senior:
She is an understanding, intelligent woman, living, I think up to the best light she has had. She is a powerful singer. This is as much her talent as speaking is mine. I think I never heard a voice that would thrill the soul like hers.--Letter 10, 1872.
The home is described as a small, comfortable dwelling on a large prairie, some six miles from Ottawa. The Cloughs insisted that they stay for a few days, and the pleasant visit stretched through two weeks less one day (The Review and Herald, September 3, 1872). When Caroline was assured that their stay would extend over the second weekend, she mounted her horse and rode eighteen miles, visiting three communities, each in a different direction, and invited people to hear Ellen speak. Three times on Sunday--once in the morning and twice in the afternoon, Ellen spoke in grove meetings. Before they left Ottawa, James White stated that
Brother and Sister Clough informed us that they had four children in Colorado Territory, and expressed a strong desire that we should visit them. We decided to stop at Denver and spend a day or two with their daughter, Mrs. Walling.--Ibid.
When the party arrived in Denver a city of twelve thousand, (WCW, in The Youth's Instructor, December, 1872), Willie was sent out to find the Walling home. He soon returned to the station in a carriage with Mr. Walling. At the Walling home, the White party met two of Ellen's nieces, Mrs. Walling and Miss Mary L. Clough. She described Mr. Walling as "very free and kind," and engaged in a large profitable, lumbering business. Being quite well-to-do (Letter 25, 1872), he spared no expense to please and entertain them. His lumber mills were some forty miles west, at the edge of the Rocky Mountains, but he had his home in Denver so that the children might have the benefit of a school. Instead of staying a couple of days, the Whites accepted an invitation to remain for a while. Ellen had an opportunity to get to her writing. In a letter to Edson penned July 23, she mentioned a point of particular interest:
Yesterday I wrote all day trying to get off the matter in reference to schools. I am going to write in regard to the Health Institute as soon as I can have clearness of head to write.--Letter 30, 1872.
When they left Michigan, a denominational school had been started in Battle Creek, a project in which James and Ellen White were deeply interested. During the past few weeks they had conversed a good deal about the new enterprise. They had read reports and George Butler's articles in the Review about the school.
At this time Ellen wrote the familiar sentence "It is the nicest work ever assumed by men and women to deal with youthful minds." These were the opening words of the chapter "Proper Education," now found in Testimonies, volume 3, page 131. Needing material for her department in the Health Reformer, she wrote and submitted what is now found in Testimonies, volume 3, pages 131-138, for publication in the September, 1872, issue. There are slight verbal differences in the Reformer article, written for the general public, and the Testimony chapter, prepared especially for the church.
She followed this in the Health Reformer with six installments of modest size, appearing in December, 1872, and in the issues of April, May, June, July, and September, 1873. She wrote these with the general public clearly in mind, at times quoting material, properly credited, from other journals. As she filled out the article "Proper Education" for Testimonies, volume 3, pages 138-160, she set forth counsel directed particularly to the church and urged:
Time is too short now to accomplish that which might have been done in past generations; but we can do much, even in these last days, to correct the existing evils in the education of youth. And because time is short, we should be in earnest and work zealously to give the young that education which is consistent with our faith.--Testimonies for the Church, 3:158, 159.
Two Months in the Rocky Mountains
In her letter to Edson, written July 23, Ellen White announced their immediate plans:
We expect to leave Denver for the mountains tomorrow. We shall range about amongst the mountains and try the mountain air. Father does not improve as we would be glad to see. One day he is feeling well, the next not as well. When he tries to write he is all used up. Still he is hopeful and of good courage, cheerful and free in the Lord. When we get into the mountains, will write to you in regard to the scenery.... Write to our address, Black Hawk, Colorado, care of W. B. Walling.--Letter 30, 1872.
At Central City, close to Black Hawk, lived Ellen's niece Addie Clough Fair, and her husband. This was mining country; gold and silver had been found deep in the mountains. The houses were crowded together in a narrow ravine. Writing at the Fair home in Central City, Ellen White provides a description:
Here I am ...looking out and upward upon mountains of perpendicular rocks estimated at five hundred feet high. From the foot of these mountains to the top, upon ledges of solid rocks, slight excavations have been made and houses built in every spot that could be made available by stone foundations. Directly in front of me are several tiers of houses, rising one above another. Never did I behold such a scene as this. There is scarcely a sign of vegetation, no trees, but abrupt, barren rocks.
Some of these houses are very nice and expensive. Just before me is a large, fine house, built high on the top of the mountain. A wall of masonry several feet high bears up the front of the house, while the back of the house rests upon the solid ledge drilled and chiseled out for the builders. A very nicely finished barn is built in the same manner. Out of the house, there is not a level place for the feet to stand upon unless [it is] built up like a platform.--Letter 12, 1872.
As is often the case, the first impressions of the situation were deeply engraved in Ellen White's mind. She continued:
There are but a very few natural yards, and these are lower down the mountain and are only one or two feet in width. They build up a yard several feet high, draw dirt and place upon the top of the stone and then have but a few feet to just step out of the doorway. It is only the most wealthy who can afford this extravagance. The [homes of the] poorer class and even some very nice houses have not one foot of level land around them. The banker's wife's mother stepped out in one of these high, made yards to hang out clothes. She was 60 years old. She made a misstep, fell from the wall, and broke her neck.--Ibid.
Walling's Mills
She mentioned in this letter that Black Hawk and Central City, both incorporated cities, and another nearby, Nevada, had a combined population of eight thousand. Compare this with all of Denver's twelve thousand.
It was Mr. Walling's business to furnish lumber for the houses and timbers for the mines in this region and in others. One sawmill was located near Black Hawk, and another some thirty miles north, near the city of Boulder. He employed quite a number of men to operate these mills. James and Ellen White traveled back and forth several times between the two locations. In their travels they met a large number of people who had come to Colorado hoping for an improvement in health.
Enjoying the Mountains
Walling's Mills, near Black Hawk, was not in the steep ravine but in an expansive area above. Here there was a cottage that he made available to the White party, and here they lived, read, wrote, and took their walks. The first two days, Thursday and Friday, July 25 and 26, Ellen suffered severe headaches, as is often the case in the higher altitudes. But it was quite different on Sabbath, which she described in her diary:
We arose this beautiful morning with some sense of the goodness and mercy of God to us. This is our first Sabbath among the mountains. James, Sister Hall, and myself took a blanket and walked out to the shelter of the fragrant evergreens, rolled up stones for seats, and I read a portion of my manuscript to my husband.
In the afternoon our niece, Mary Clough, Willie, and myself walked out and sat beneath poplar trees. We read about sixty pages of Great Controversy, or Spiritual Gifts [volume 1]. Mary was deeply interested. We were happily disappointed [A term employed to indicate "happy surprise."] in the earnest
manner in which she listened. We see no prejudice with her. We hope she will yet see and receive the truth. She is a pure, simple-hearted, yet intellectual girl. We closed the Sabbath of the Lord with prayer. Mary united with us in prayer. Wrote letters upon religious subjects to Louise Walling and Elder Loughborough.--Manuscript 4, 1872.
The next day she spent part of the day writing, then she sat under the spruce trees and read some of her manuscript to James, correcting it for the printer. Afterward the four of them walked out to see a "gigantic rock towering up hundreds of feet." Willie climbed to the top of it; others were not so ambitious. The activities of the next day are described in her diary:
Monday, July 29, 1872:
We arose feeling quite bright. We enjoy the mountain air very much. My husband and myself walked out in the grove and had a good and very precious season of prayer. We felt that the Lord was very near. I had some conversation with Mary.
Mr. Walling returned from Central with letters and papers. We were thankful to hear from friends and children again. Spent considerable of the day in writing.
In the evening we talked with Mr. Walling in reference to our anticipated trip over the mountains [to Middle Park on the west slope]. We hardly knew what to do. James, Lucinda, and I made our way up, up, up into a high mountain, where we could have a good view of the surrounding mountains. We knelt among the trees and prayed for heavenly guidance. The Lord met with us and we had the assurance He would answer our prayer.--Ibid.
But a little more than a month passed before the trip materialized.
Mr. Walling was eager that his wife's Uncle James and Aunt Ellen should see all they could while they were in the mountains. On Tuesday, July 30, he took them sightseeing. Of this she wrote:
Mr. Walling took us up, up, up the mountains. We feared sometimes we should never reach the top. We had a commanding view of the country. We could look down upon Black Hawk and Central, and see all there was of both cities. It looked fearful so high, and below was a fearful precipice of rocks. If the horses had stepped over to one side we should have fallen hundreds of feet.
We had a commanding view of the mountains. They were on every side of us. We could distinctly see the high mountains covered with large patches of snow. These banks of snow are estimated to be from fifteen to fifty feet deep. Some of them are perpetual. Frequently the air coming from these snowbanks was so chilly that although the sun was shining very warm in the valley, we were obliged to put on extra garments in the mountains.
Black Hawk and Central are a rough, seamed, scarred country. Heaps of rocks and dirt that have been cast out from the mining mills and from which the precious ore has been taken were lying everywhere....
The view upon the top of the mountain was most interesting, but words cannot present the picture before your mind in its reality. The mountain scenery of Colorado can never be described so that the imagination can gather distinct and correct ideas of this country. It is wonderful! It is marvelous!
The scenery of the grand old mountains, some bald and others covered with trees! Instinctively the mind is awed and deep feelings of reverence bow the soul in humiliation as the imagination gathers a sense of the power of the Infinite. I would not be deprived of the privilege of seeing what I have of the mountain scenery of Colorado for considerable.--Letter 12, 1872.
Writing to Edson and Emma of their activities of that day, she reported:
I walked miles yesterday up the steep mountains and I did not get to rest until past eleven o'clock. But this morning I am up at five, bright and active. This trip among the mountains is doing much for my health. None of you were aware of my miserable state of health. I knew it would not make home better to complain when I left Battle Creek.
Father is better, we are sure; but he has times of shortness of breath and faintness and giddiness. He is careful of his diet. One drawback here in Colorado is that there is no fruit in this country, only that which is imported. This is seldom fresh, and sells at very high prices. The pure air and freedom from care are advantages we gain.--Ibid.
The Proposed Camping Trip
When the Whites went from Denver into the mountains, they had no definite plan as to how long they would stay, but thought in terms of about two weeks. Walling was anxious to have them see points of interest over the mountains to the west. Ellen wrote of this to Edson and Emma. "Mr. Walling is very earnest that we should go with him across the Snowy Mountain Range to what is called the Park, on the other side of the Snowy Range." She described the involvements:
We should have to ride on ponies over the mountains. Our provisions for three or four weeks would be taken in a wagon. All of us would have to ride ponies over the mountains while two horses would draw the provisions and blankets for lodging. When there, over the mountains, we are away from all settlements and must carry everything along that we need.
Willie is perfectly enchanted with the idea, but we fear some it may be too hard for your father. Again, would the Lord be pleased for us to spend our time thus? These questions we carefully and prayerfully considered.--Ibid.
She added, in closing her letter, "Your father is perfectly cheerful and happy. We had precious seasons of prayer before God in the groves and mountains in behalf of ourselves and you and the cause and work of God in Battle Creek."--Ibid. Through the entire month of August the Whites vacationed. They hiked; picked raspberries as they ripened; visited interesting places, such as the stamping mills in which the ore was broken up and then processed; gathered samples of minerals for an exhibit they proposed to set up; and, of course, wrote. They learned of three or four Adventist women in the area; these they visited and held some meetings with them, distributing literature. They also held meetings with Mr. Walling's mill hands. On some occasions they pitched their tent and camped.
On August 22, Ellen wrote to Edson and Emma:
Last night Father and I rode six miles on the Indian ponies, that we might get accustomed to riding. We have decided it would be better for Father to go up the mountains over the Snowy Range and be benefited with the exercise he would obtain in so doing than to go to California just now. We have applied ourselves closely to get off as much matter as we have, and now we both need a period of rest.
Father was at first quite feeble. He was troubled about breathing, but this no more affects him. We knew that his difficulties arose from the lightness of the air. We have lived out of doors nearly all the time. We go up in the pine forest and sit under the trees and write and read and do not go to the house until sent for to go to dinner. We feel much encouraged in regard to Father, but we dare not yet go to California.--Letter 13a, 1872.
She saw in the proposed trip over the Snowy Range the needed incentive and opportunity for James to "be at liberty to enjoy the scenery, get tired, camp and rest, and become hardened for California." She added, "We are getting used to a hard bed. We lie on a bed about as hard as the floor. We enjoy it, too."--Ibid. Finally, on Monday, September 2, they were ready for the big venture. James White wrote of it in two articles published in the Health Reformer under the title "The Summer in the Rocky Mountains." Willie White wrote quite in detail about the trip in a series of nine articles for the Youth's Instructor, titled "Trip to California." Ellen White wrote of it in her diary and in her letters. The following preview is from Willie's lead article:
After pleasantly spending a month with Mr. Walling at the Mills, it was proposed by him that we take a pleasure trip to Middle Park, and camp awhile at Sulphur Springs. The parks in Colorado are great basins or depressions with surface and soil more or less similar to that of the plains, but entirely surrounded by lofty mountains. There are four of these parks, the North, Middle, South, and San Luis.
Their elevation is from seven to eight thousand feet above the sea. They are well watered and abundantly timbered, have delightful climate throughout most of the year, and are exceptionally healthful. All abound in mineral springs and minerals of great variety. Owing to the great altitude, they are adapted to the culture of the hardier agricultural products only.--The Youth's Instructor, January, 1873.
The Caravan Starts Out
James White describes the start of the long-anticipated trip.
It was on Monday, 11:00 A.M., September 2, 1872, when we mounted our horses and ponies for the trip over the Snowy Range, into Middle Park.... Our course lay along through Rollinsville, Boulder Park, up the mountains through Boulder Pass.--The Health Reformer, January, 1873.
By midafternoon a heavy storm came up and they took refuge in an empty log shanty, where they built a fire in a big stone fireplace. By the time the storm was over, night had almost fallen; as they had brought all their gear in with them, they decided to spend the night there. Bearing in mind that many of the readers of the Reformer lived in the New England States and New York, James described the traveling party:
We wish to state that our guide and benefactor, W. B. Walling, is a Vermonter, Mrs. White, Mrs. Walling, and her sister, Miss M. L. Clough, and the writer were born in Maine, and Mrs. L. M. Abbey Hall and Willie C. White are Yorkers.
The four ladies were on ponies. Mr. Walling had the principal part of the baggage in a wagon drawn by two powerful horses, while Willie and his father were each on a good horse, ready to help in packing baggage up the sharpest ascents, or to assist the ladies in the most dangerous places.
But the babe was an object of curiosity with most we met on the route. Some pitied the little traveler, which we shall here call Peregrine, as up to the time of that pilgrimage he had no name, because his parents, brothers, and sisters could not find one good enough.... Rover, one of the largest, bravest, most intelligent, and most beautiful Newfoundlanders, who shall hereafter be called Lion ...[was] as happy as a dog could be and live.--Ibid.
Tuesday was a beautiful day. As their path was along a narrow, twisting road by a rapid creek, they traveled "Indian file," allowing a little distance between one another. Of the baby, White wrote:
Miss Mary had her little nephew, Peregrine, in her arms, and as she galloped away on Bronco, we decided that it was well that the child was not cream, for in that case, he would turn to butter and buttermilk before noon. But he seemed to enjoy the "movements" as well as any of us.--Ibid.
Passing through Boulder Park, with its beauties in wildflowers, carpet of green, and towering, guarding mountains, such exclamations were repeated as, "Delightful! Magnificent! Sublime! Glorious!"--Ibid.
The Pony Throws Ellen White
Soon after starting the ascent again, Ellen White was involved in a bad accident. She had her pony well under control when the strap holding her bedding roll gave way. In a letter to Edson and Emma she described what followed:
As I was in the best of spirits, enjoying the scenery very much, my pack behind me became unloosened and dangled against the horse's heels. Your father had tarried behind to arrange his pack more securely. I was between two companies--three of our company ahead and five behind me. I saw the situation of things, slipped my feet from the stirrup, and was just ready to slip from the saddle to the ground and in one moment should have been safe. But the pony was frightened and threw me over his back. I struck my back and my head. I knew I was badly hurt, but felt assured no bones were broken. I could scarcely breathe or talk for some time, but finally improved a little. I was in great pain through my head, neck, shoulders and back, and bowels.--Letter 14, 1872.
James White picks up the story: "We soon became satisfied that bones were not broken. Neither could we discover external injuries of any kind; but as breathing and speaking were so very difficult, we feared internal injuries." With towels that Mrs. Hall brought, and water, hydrotherapy was applied. James reported:
Patient improved, and was soon able to take the writer's arm, and walk a few rods from the company, where we asked the following questions: 1. Shall we pitch our tents here, and go into camp, let Mr. Walling return to his business, and we remain till we see how your case shall turn? 2. Or shall we apply to the Great Physician, and, by faith in the efficacy of prayer, move on our journey?
Mrs. White decided, as she frequently has done under circumstances alike trying, to go forward. As we bowed in prayer, evidences of Divine Presence caused us to weep for joy. And in a few moments we were in our saddles, moving joyfully, and yet solemnly, along, resolving that we would not leave camp another morning without first thanking God for mercies past, and imploring His care and protection for time to come.--The Health Reformer, January, 1873.
Ellen's injuries were more extensive than at first fully sensed, and she suffered for many years. In 1907 she made reference to her left leg, which had troubled her long after the accident: "The ligaments were torn from the ankle." When she sought medical help, some time after the accident, the word was "You will never be able to use your foot, for it has been so long without close investigation that nothing can relieve the difficulty and unite the ligaments torn from the ankle bone."--Manuscript 156, 1907.
With the decision to continue the trip, the party was soon faced with a very steep climb, the steepest of the journey. The wagon was lightened of its supplies and equipment and with difficulty the horses pulled it up the ascent, leaving tents, equipment, and supplies to be taken up piecemeal by James and Willie with their horses. At noontime they stopped by an old log shanty in a forest of pines. Here Ellen White took a warm bath and seemed to be improving. Just before reaching the timberline, they found a good camping spot for the night.
Crossing the Continental Divide
Pressing on early the next morning, they found it a steady climb to the eleven-thousand-foot mark. Here, wrote James White,
the air was so light that the climbing horses breathed and panted as though they would lose their breath; and their riders were frequently disposed to take a long breath, which did not seem to hit the spot, nor satisfy the usual demands of the breathing apparatus. This gave an excellent opportunity to expand the lungs and chest....
We hastened on, and up the sharp ascent, to the summit of the range, which we reached at 11:00 a.m.... From this grand range, the backbone of the continent, waters rise from springs, within a gunshot of each other, which flow, one to the Atlantic, and the other to the Pacific. We had now reached an altitude too cold for trees of any kind to exist.--Ibid., March, 1873.
At the top of the range the terrain was rather level but rough and "untrodden, rocky, mountain way." Then they must descend. Ellen White elected to ride in the wagon with Mr. Walling, but soon she found the jerking wagon seat so uncomfortable she chose to ride with the baggage, sprawled over and clinging to the big bundle of tents. Willie described the descent:
As we descend, the cold winds and snowbanks are left behind, but the roads are fearful. They go down so steep you are in danger of slipping over your horse's head, then through little marshes which are numerous near the top of the range, and where you must work sharp to keep your horse above ground, and the rest of the way over loose rocks and boulders, through creeks and over logs, up and down, but mostly down till we reach the park [Middle Park].
Lame and weary, we were glad to stop and camp in the edge of a thick forest surrounding a little meadow through which wound a crooked mountain brook, clear and cold, and full of speckled trout. As usual, we tied the horses where there was good grass, pitched the tents, cut spruce boughs for our beds, and then, building a big fire in front of the tents, retired to rest, and slept well till sunrise.--The Youth's Instructor, January, 1873.
A Week at Hot Sulphur Springs
Now it was an easy trip across the valley to Hot Sulphur Springs, their destination. They picked wild strawberries as they traveled, adding to their dinner rations. An old hunter, Mr. Byers, known as "Buckskin," had leased the hot springs. He helped the newcomers find a good camping place, lent them a sheet iron cookstove, and left them much to themselves. But not his Newfoundland dog, who soon challenged Lion, Mr. Walling's Newfoundlander. Lion won the contest and was put in charge of guarding camp for the week they were there. They found twenty or thirty people camped near the hot springs, and people coming and going. In addition to the sulphur springs, people were attracted by the beautiful scenery and fishing and/or hunting possibilities. In his Youth's Instructor series, Willie described Hot Sulphur Springs in detail:
On the hillside, a few rods back from Grand River, stands a long log cabin, and at the left stands a strange-looking affair built of logs on three sides, and leaning against the perpendicular side of a huge rock for the other. Its roof is made of bark laid on poles. Through a large hole in the roof, a column of steam is constantly rising, showing this to be the location of the famous Sulphur Springs.
There are three or four of these springs close together. Their waters bubble up through the rocks at almost scalding heat, and, uniting in one little stream, fall over the ledge that forms one side of the bathhouse, into a natural basin in the rock over which the bathhouse is built.
The basin and fall afford a fine chance for hot sitz ... baths. The water is so hot that at first you can hardly bear your hand in it, being 110 degrees F., and a sudden plunge into it could not be borne; but by entering gradually you soon come to enjoy the heat, and can stand directly under the stream as it dashes over the rock. Then you have a bath as is nowhere else to be found.
Wonderful stories are told of the healing properties of these springs. The Indians used to bathe in them, put their sick papooses into them, and sometimes try their healing powers on lame horses. They were loath to give up control of them to the whites.--Ibid., February, 1873.
As to the wildlife in the area, Willie listed grouse, sage hens, deer, antelope, and elk, with now and then puma or a grizzly bear. Just before the Walling-White party's arrival, a grizzly bear and a cinnamon bear had been killed. Streams were full of trout. The Indians inhabiting the park were said to be friendly, but they had gone over to Denver to trade and to receive their usual allowance of provisions from the government.
Considering the time of year they were in the park, they experienced no problem in securing good food. Wrote James in his Reformer article:
We found no difficulty in securing the most healthful food. And here the health reformer has the decided advantage in packing his supplies, as his meal, flour, rice, dried fruit, and the like are much lighter than those commonly used. These, well cooked, with the wild fruit, which is abundant in August and September, are enjoyed with a keen relish by those who have a clean, hygienic appetite.
The sweetest cake we ever ate was one made of corn meal, mixed with pure water from a Colorado creek, and baked before a campfire, upon a tin plate, supported by a stone at the back.--The Health Reformer, March, 1873.
Calls from California Cut Short the Vacation
The Whites hoped they might remain at Hot Sulphur Springs for three or four weeks, but on Thursday afternoon, September 12, after they had been there just a week, Mr. Walling came, bringing mail and the word that the California camp meeting, which had been postponed that the Whites might be present, would open on Thursday, October 3. They must be there. So Friday morning they broke camp and started back to Black Hawk. Hardened to fatigue by camp life, they were able to make the return trip, which had taken four days in coming, in two traveling days. They spent the Sabbath en route, resting.
On Friday, September 20, they journeyed the 110 miles from Denver to Cheyenne, where they caught the Union and Central Pacific train bound for San Francisco, California. They were amazed at the railroad trestles spanning rivers and gorges, and the tunnels and snowsheds as they crossed the Sierras, then on to the broad Sacramento Valley. At last they had reached California.