Melissa Coray and the Emigrant Trail

In addition to the necessary number of men in the battalion, there were women and children who accompanied them. In 1994 the U.S. government dedicated a mountain peak in the Sierra Nevada to Melissa Coray of the Mormon Battalion. The range is near the Emigrant Trail, behind Kirkwood Ski Resort. Even as a woman, Melissa came to idealize the courage and strength the battalion became known for.

Melissa was one of only four women to successfully complete the entire 2,030-mile military march accompanying her husband through dreadful exposure, exhaustion, lack of food and medicine. She was an 18-year-old bride, being married only four days, at the time they left. She said, “I didn’t mind it. I walked because I wanted to. My husband had to walk and I went along by his side” (Kenneth N. Owens, Gold Rush Saints, 197). “If he must go, I want to go,” she said. “Why must women always stay behind and worry about their husbands, when they could just as well march beside them.” (Ricketts, Melissa’s Journey with the Mormon Battalion). There were many sacrifices, but leaving her mother and father was extremely difficult for Melissa for she never saw her mother again. Hannah Burton died on the trail to Salt Lake before she could embrace her daughter Melissa again.

Melissa was wise beyond her years. During the never-ending miles of marching, she watched as others ate until they were satisfied without thinking or planning ahead. She, on the other hand, prudently planned to meet she and her husband’s needs. The young wife cooked their food cautiously so she never wasted. While many men suffered from starvation, Melissa and Will were never in danger, though they were never full. Her wisdom carried her through the bone dry conditions they were called to endure. “Thirst only gets worse when you think of it. When I was thirsty, I tried not to think of it.” It was at such a time that she learned to carry a pebble in her mouth. This caused the saliva to flow more freely and lessened her unquenchable thirst. (ibid, [pg#42]).

Toward the end of the trail, Melissa became pregnant. Nausea became another obstacle to overcome. She was anxious about her baby and wished for the day she and William could settle down to make a home for their new family. When the couple was discharged from their military service, they headed north. She delivered a baby boy named William Coray Jr. at Monterey. He lived a short while before being buried in a cemetery there.

By the time they reached Sutter’s Fort, Mormon Battalion veterans had discovered gold. William and Melissa stayed just long enough to gather two bags of gold, one of which was to be sent to some of their family back east. It would be enough to equip the family for the trip to Salt Lake.

The Corays did not linger in the gold fields long, they were anxious to reunite with the saints. The couple joined the Browett-Holmes Company with 45 men, two cannons, 17 wagons, 150 mules and horses, and about the same number of cattle. The lone woman was Melissa. The Truckee Route required 27 crossings over the mountains, so rather than ford the river with all the livestock and wagons they blazed a new trail, appropriately dubbed the Mormon Emigrant Trail.