The Donner Party left Springfield, Illinois about the same time Edward left Nauvoo Illinois in March/April of 1846. The Donner Party left Independence, Missouri in May; Edward and the Battalion departed from nearby Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas in mid-August.

At Fort Bridger the Donner Party made an ill-fated decision to take "Hastings Cut-off" to the Salt Lake valley and across the Great Salt Desert, a shortcut no one had ever traversed before. The more typical California trail would have taken them to Fort Hall in Idaho and then down into Nevada and the Humbolt River.

They passed through the Salt Lake Valley in late summer of 1846, but in so doing lost precious time. It took them 28 days to travel the last 50 miles into the Salt Lake valley.

The "Cut-off" took them across the great salt desert where they lost 100 oxen and had to abandon several wagons and much-needed supplies. They were a divided, "quarrelsome" group.

Before they reached Truckee Pass, the last major barrier before the Sacramento valley, they were caught in a terrible snow storm. They were helplessly short of supplies and imprisoned in snowy mountain country.

Many of their number perished in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Lake Tahoe that winter. Some of the survivors subsisted for some time on the bodies of the dead. Forty-two of the original ninety in the Donner Party finally reached Sutter's Fort in the Spring of 1847.

About that same time at Los Angeles, prior to being mustered out of the army, the Battalion men received six months pay. Most used this money to purchase animals, clothing and an outfit for the return trip. Horses and mules were cheap and each member of the returning party purchased adequate provisions for the trip.

In late June Edward first heard of terrible suffering of the Donner Party. There must have been some anticipation of what the returning Battalion soldiers would find when they reached what is now known as Donner Summit.

EB: Having drawn our pay and procured an outfit, we prepared to return to our homes by way of Sutter's Fort and across the North Pass of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Old Emigrant Trail. The returning men of the Battalion divided into three squads on their return trip, and I was in company with Brothers Tyler, Hancock and others.

In the latter part of August, 1847, the returning company stopped at Sutter's Fort, about one-and-a-half miles from the present city of Sacramento, California. Captain John A. Sutter was desirous of building a flour mill some six miles from the fort and a saw mill about forty-five miles away. He offered jobs to the Battalion men who would stay and work. They also met with some of the survivors of the Donnor Party and heard the horrible account of the suffering. The company rejected Sutter's offer and pressed on for Salt Lake City.

A few months prior to Edward's arrival at the sight of the Donner Party encampment, General Kearney and his troops had stopped at the cabins at Donner Lake in order to collect and inter any remains they found. Near the principal cabins they found two bodies that were nearly intact except the abdomens had been cut open and the entrails extracted. The flesh had decomposed and so the bodies appeared as mummies. One author wrote: "Strewn around the cabins were dislocated and broken skulls (in some instances sawed asunder with care, for the purpose of extracting the brains), human skeletons, in short, in every variety of mutilation. A more revolting and appalling spectacle I never witnessed."

The soldiers dug a large pit in the center of one of the cabins where the remains were collected and interred. The cabins and everything connected to the horrid tragedy was then set on fire. A party of men were detailed for the purpose of finding the body of George Donner at his camp, about eight or ten miles distant. There they found the body, which had been wrapped in a sheet, and they buried it.

Edward and company were next on the site of the tragedy. On September 3rd, 1847 they passed the location where General Kearney's party had burned the remains of the famished emigrants. That evening they reached the place where the rear wagons of the unfortunate Donner Party were trapped by the snow. General Kearney's party had not completely burned or buried every evidence of the incident.

Edward saw for himself the horror of the event. Human body parts were scattered around in different directions: a mangled arm or leg, a skull covered with hair, and even a whole body covered in a blanket. Bones were broken "as one would break a beef shank to obtain the marrow from it." It was a sobering sight. The intense human suffering that occurred was overshadowed by the thought of the desperate acts perpetrated by man against man as a result of hunger. The lessons of the Donner party were graphic and powerful: they lacked leader-ship with experience and resourcefulness, they lacked unity and organization, and they lacked respect for nature's elements and human life itself.

The morning of September 6th Edward and company resumed their journey, and after traveling a short distance met Samuel Brannan. He had journeyed from California to meet the main body of the saints in the Salt Lake Valley and was now returning to meet the Saints arriving by ship in California. That night as they camped together, Brannan told how the pioneers had reached the Salt Lake Valley in safety, but that it was not a place the saints would desire to stay. He was confident the Saints would ultimately travel on to California, probably in the coming Spring.

The following morning, shortly after Brannan left, Captain James Brown and a small party arrived. This was the same James Brown that had married Abigail Abbott as a second polygamous wife in Nauvoo after the death of her husband. He had been a member of the Battalion, but left with the Pueblo detachment, which arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 27th. He brought the mail. This must have been an enjoyable reunion for Edward to visit with Brown about news of the Abbott family. Edward probably already knew that Emily was not in the Salt Lake Valley and this meeting with Captain Brown undoubtedly confirmed that.

EB: Brown brought word from Brigham Young that those of the Battalion who had not provisions to last them into Salt Lake Valley had better remain in California during the winter. Some of the brethren [about half] turned back and a few others continued eastward. I was in the latter number.

The eastward-bound battalion members traveled up the Humbolt River, turned north to bypass the great salt desert and pressed on to Fort Hall (near the present city of Pocatello, Idaho). Fort Hall consisted of a stockade of cottonwood logs about fifteen feet high reinforced with clay and enclosed a space about eighty feet square. At opposing corners were two eight feet square bastions provided with portholes for rifles. Inside the stockade were log huts for the accommodation of the men. The Hudson Bay Company occupied the fort at the time of Edward's arrival. From Fort Hall they proceeded south to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake.

EB: We arrived in Salt Lake Valley on the 16th of October, 1847. After resting awhile, we [thirty-two] proceeded on our journey towards the Missouri [with eagerness to meet wives and children]. When I left the valley, I had sixteen pounds of flour to take me a thousand miles and three mules which I took from California to Council Bluffs. The articles I had for a winter campaign [were]: One pair of white cotton pants, a white cotton jacket, and old vest, a military overcoat, which I bought from one of the dragoons, a pair of garments, and a shirt; the latter articles were made from an old wagon cover by Sedric Judd, the tailor of our mess.

The battalion members expected to obtain provisions in the valley, but found the people were struggling for their own subsistence and could spare little. They were informed that Fort Bridger, some 115 miles away, had provisions. They left the valley in good spirits on October 18th, 1847. After witnessing the fate of those who were caught in the Sierra Nevada mountains in winter, it is curious that these thirty-two would embark on a thousand-mile trek with winter coming on. The prospect of once again being with wife and family and caring for their needs was worth risking life itself. Provisions were in short supply at Fort Bridger as well, and so they pressed on with what they had.

EB: On our journey we bought some buffalo meat from the Indians and killed a few of these animals ourselves. On arriving at Loop Fork on the Platt River, we camped for the night and tried to ford the river, but the ice was running so thick that our mules would not try to cross, so we put up for the night. The next morning found us in as cold a northeastern snowstorm as I had ever experienced in the state of Maine.

We stayed in camp all day and ate the last bit of provision we had, even a pair of raw hide saddle bags which I had brought from California on a wild mule. The next morning there was about ten inches of snow on the ground and we started down the river hoping to find missionaries at the Pawnee Mission. That day we killed some prairie chickens which was all we had. Next day we came opposite the mission houses which were across the river from us. Some of the boys commenced to build a raft when, on looking down the river, we saw Robert Harris crossing the ice by means of a long pole. We abandoned our raft and followed his example and crossed the river on the ice. We found the mission deserted and the corn all gathered, but we went into the fields and with our feet gathered a few ears of frost-bitten corn which the Indians had left, and which we ate raw. We went into the houses and stayed all night without bedding. One of the boys brought a frying pan and the corn we didn't eat raw, we parched and ate all we wanted and took the rest to camp with us.

On reaching camp the next morning, we found that one of our mules had got into the water and was so badly chilled that he had to be killed, and we ate all the meat except the lights. Those I tried eating, but they were so much like Indian rubber that I gave up the attempt.

After getting all the company across the ice, we went to the Mission homes and stayed all day. Having obtained a little good corn from the Indians, we took up our line of march for Council Bluffs, 140 miles distant, with the snow from 8 to 10 inches deep. We arrived in Winter Quarters on the 18th of December, 1847, having been gone 18 months.

Three days later the Missouri River froze over sufficiently hard to be crossed by teams and wagons. On reaching Winter Quarters I spent the night with one of my companions thinking my wife was still in Garden Grove where I had left her.

Next morning I went to find Bro. Brown's family and they told me my wife was living a short distance from them. This was good news, I assure you, and I lost no time in seeking out Emily and her mother, Abigail Abbott, who was a widow with eight children. Emily, being the eldest, had been able to move to Winter Quarters with the assistance of William Robinson.

I found my wife in quite poor circumstances, but with a fine boy eleven months old, my eldest son, Edward.

It is curious that Edward refers to his mother-in-law as a widow. At the time Edward wrote the previous quote it was nearly 50 years after the incident. Perhaps his recollection of the fact she was married did not occur to him. Though she was married to Captain James Brown, she lived most of the time as though she were a widow and received little companionship from him.