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Who Was at Winter Quarters? Who was at The Grand Encampment?

Who Was at Winter Quarters? Who was at The Grand Encampment?

Posted: 19 Feb 2015 9:19PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Culbertson; Culberson; Eggleston; Eccleston
I have family that was in Council Bluffs, Iowa, planning to go to Winter Quarters in Nebraska. Either they went there and returned to the Grand Encampment in Iowa later, or they stayed at the Grand Encampment to help others prepare to make the long journey to Winter Quarters and then to Utah. I believe either option is likely. Many people died of things like scurvy, for example, at Winter Quarters, but also might have suffered a great deal at The Grand Encampment as well.

My grt grt grt grandma lost all of her teeth to scurvy and the story is that the family suffered so greatly that they had to return to "Winter Camp." Either the family mistakes Winter Quarters for The Grand Encampment or something else happened. I predict that the large family had to just stay at Council Bluffs where most of them stayed for generations afterwards, never making it to Utah at all. Some did later go to areas of Nebraska and the Dakotas but never to Utah. This particular grandmother in particular did end up in South Dakota, dying there of a snake bite in her old age...however: she was in poor condition due to the journey, however long, during the pioneer migration. She may have even been pregnant during that time, and therefore nourishing a baby or babies while suffering so much.

My QUESTION: Are there any lists or documents available to Ancestry users (who aren't LDS) to look at? Lists showing who lived at or went through those two camps? They aren't appearing in the one thing I can find, which is the index of pioneers in the handcart companies. Since I guess most of them came from Europe, and most of them went on to Utah, I doubt they would be on there. My family came from Kentucky after living there for a generation or two and wouldn't need handcarts. They came from a fairly affluent background back home in KY.

Huge appreciation to anybody who can help!
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