Amelia Emma Hulse

Amelia Emma Hulse is the seventh of 13 children born to Charles Wesley Hulse and Ann Smith. They were born in England and immigrated to America. In Massachusetts, the family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While in Pennsylvania, Amielia was born.

When Amelia was 2-years-old, the family traveled to Nebraska and joined the Henry W. Miller Company to journey west the Salt Lake Valley. The Company left August 5, 1862.

Exhaustive travel conditions, disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, prematurity, and extreme weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. When the company was one week from arriving to the Salt Lake Valley, Amelia became sick with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (a bacterial disease caused from a tick bite). With limited food, Amelia grew more and more weak. Her father had to carry Amelia most of the way. Eventually Amelia passed away and was buried near Echo Canyon.

From her mother’s history: “They gathered frogs and fed her roasted frog legs. As they moved farther out onto the plains, frogs were harder to find. Scouts went out to hunt for them until it was felt to be too risky to go farther from the company. Hope was held out that they could keep her until they got to the mountain territory once more, where no doubt frogs would be plentiful.”