The Mormon Battalion

After releasing butterflies at the San Diego Temple we went and toured the Mormon Battalion. It was such a great tour and VERY entertaining. Derek had 2 relatives that were in the Mormon Battalion so before we went in, while we ate our picnic lunch he told us the amazing story about Meltier and Orin Hatch...brothers that were in the Mormon Battalion. Orin got sick while on the trial and the leader told Meltier to just leave Orin behind because he couldn't keep up. Meltier would not leave his brother to die so every night with the help of a friend he would march back to where Orin was and carry him to camp and then he would march with the battalion all day and do that over and over again. Finally the commander in charge had pity on him and gave Orin a horse to ride until he got better. It was fun at the end of the tour to look up their names and see pictures of these amazing relatives. After the tour they had some fun little activities for the kids. Panning for gold was so much fun. It was a great and memorable day spent learning about the early pioneers.






Panning for gold.