David P. Kimball

David P. Kimball was one of the young men who carried members of the Martin Handcart Company across the Sweetwater River in 1856. While the handcart companies traveled across the plains, the Saints were carried across rivers many times, but what is notable about the service of David and others is the extreme conditions of cold and wind and the time of year that the Saints labored under while they traveled toward Salt Lake City.

David P. Kimball was born on August 23, 1839, in Nauvoo, Illinois, to Heber C. and Vilate Murray Kimball. He was named for apostle David W. Patten who had been killed in the battle at Crooked River in Missouri.

David, now age, seventeen, was present during the General Conference when President Brigham Young told the Saints about the stranded handcart companies and called for rescuers. David joined with his father to go.

After a few nights at Devil’s Gate, the handcart Saints were told they needed to walk three more miles where there was a cove that would provide wood and shelter for them. They needed to cross the Sweetwater River to get to the cove. Crossing the River seemed impossible to most of the emigrants. The Sweetwater River was not more than two feet deep, but was around 90 to 120 feet across. Ice caked the banks and floated in the river. When they reached the river, George saw men and women weeping as they gathered around the riverbank not knowing what to do.

On November 4, 1856, David and his two friends, C. Allen Huntington and George W. Grant, knew what needed to be done. They and other rescuers stepped into the icy water and offered to carry the beleaguered Saints across the Sweetwater.

Patience Loader of the Martin company wrote: “We came to the Sweetwater River and there we had to cross. We thought we should have to wade[,] as the cattle had been crossing with the wagons with the tents and what little flour we had and had broken the ice. But there were brave men there in the water, packing the women and children over on their backs. Those poor brethren were in the water all day. We wanted to thank them, but they would not listen.”[1]

When President Brigham Young heard of the kindness and courage of the young men, he wept. He later said in public, “That act alone will ensure C. Allen Huntington, George W. Grant, and David P. Kimball an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds without end.”[2]

The words of Brigham Young were later engraved on David’s headstone.

David married Caroline Marion Williams on April 15, 1857. He continued to work for his father, Heber C. Kimball, teaming and farming. In the 1865, David left to go on a three-year mission to England while Caroline cared for their three sons.

When David returned, he took up contract work, hauling goods across the plains. He helped build the transcontinental railroad through Utah (1868–1869) and was a teamster. A short time later, Brigham Young called him to go on a mission as president of the Bear Lake Stake. In July 1869, they left their home and moved to Paris, Idaho.

At the end of the year 1878, David received a mission call to help settle Arizona. The end of October 1877, David and his small company left and settled in the village of Lehi to build a comfortable home and establish schools, etc. They were here only a short time when David was called on another mission to preside over the St. David Ward at the head of San Pedro River. At St. David [named after David] they settled again, and established a home.

In November 1881, David was making a freight run between Maricopa railroad station and Prescott when he was caught in a snowstorm near Prescott and contracted pneumonia. On the return trip, he became separated from his traveling companion and wagon and got lost in the Salt River valley south of Wickenburg. He spent four days in the desert with no food or water. During this time, he reported seeing a vision in which his deceased father warned him to get his life in order, and that he had only two years to live. His traveling companion assembled a search party, and they found Kimball near present-day Surprise.

After St. David was well established, David died on November 22, 1883, at age forty-four. He and his wife had seven sons and three daughters. He is buried in the St. David Cemetery in St. David, Arizona.

Elder Quentin L. Cook is a great-grandson.