Extracted, consolidated and edited from Christian’s own writings by Glen Moosman

I was born on the 18^th day of November 1835 in Troggenried by Muhlenberg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. My father Johan Moosmann of Wylervoltigen was from a rich family as well as was my mother Elizabeth Tschannen of Ostermannigen office Aarberg, Canton Bern. There were 11 children, 3 boys and 8 girls of which John and a girl named Maria already died in their early youth.

After we lived in Troggenried for a few years we were forced to sell our house and land to pay for the debts which my father had accumulated through his slothful and squandering life style. From there we moved to Wylervoltigen where my father continually served as a bad example of strife, quarrelsomeness and drunkenness. More than twice did he leave his family and burdened dear mother with sorrow, heart break and much trouble so that in my early youth I often cried hard about the sad fate of our family.

As we children grew, some of us could hire out. Thus I came to the 16^th year of my life and was permitted to leave school. For some further time I worked at the home of my parents on the farm and when there was work to do, I did it. During this time I was supposed to be learning my father’s profession. However, I could not be moved to it, for in the first place he had no understanding toward my brother Bendicht, who was learning it as well as others, and secondly I did not like the profession. Finally I went into apprenticeship with Jakob Gutknecht and learned the weaver profession according to my mother’s wishes. Completely ignored by my father, I had to spend a year and afterwards repay the apprenticeship cost. But my good mother and brother did everything they could for me.

On the 8^th day of April 1856, I traveled to the Waardtland in order to learn my profession better and become as familiar as possible with the French language. For a short while I worked in Apples for Moorsen, afterwards I worked for Joseph Schneeberger in Cranei. In order to learn the language better, I worked for Jean L. Belaz for one year. This was also in Cranei. After a year worked again for Schneeberger.

When I still worked for Belaz, I met a certain Johann Ledermann in the city of Cossonay. He told me in brevity that he had read a book, the writing of a which had ladin in the earth several hundred years. He told me other things. We parted one from another and from then on I could not hear from him for half a year. Unexpectedly, this my friend returned from Genef (Geneva) to Granci and there we worked together in the same workshop. Soon he began to bear his testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to me. I believed his testimony without any objection as soon as he proved the principles with the Bible. Already I had been at his home every evening for 14 days to learn more about these things from him. I was filled with joy and with great longing waited for the opportunity to walk 8 hours unguided to be baptized as Christ ordered. There on the banks of the Rhone river by Genf at the hands of the dear brother Henri Morel, President of the Genf branch, on the 1^st of August 1857 and Sunday, the 2^nd, a Seventy from Zion, John Luwig Smith laid his hands upon my head for the Gift of the Holy Ghost and confirmed me a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the meeting. Those were golden days for me. There I received unperishable riches, a heavenly blessing which the kings of this earth do not possess nor are capable of taking away.

Now I went to Genf with Ledermann and worked as a weaver in that city. I was happy to be in Genef and stay among the brethren and sisters there, for in my heart I felt more and more that these teachings were eternal truths and would be for all eternity. On the 5^th of September 1858, I was ordained an Elder by Jabez Woodard, President of the Swiss and Italian Mission. I then went to Wylervoltigen to give testimony of eternal truths I had found to my parents. But after a few weeks having accomplished little, I again left going to the Canton Waadt where Itook work in Cossonay with a certain Wehrli. I also worked for Abraham Charade in Pentelaz by Cossonay, but only for a few weeks because after that I left by wish of President Woodard. On the 28^th of July, 1859 Jabez Woodard ordained me a Traveling Elder for half the Canton Bern, from St. Immer to Bern and Langnau.

On the 6^th of November 1859, I was called to be President of the Zurich Conference. By order of President Woodard, I traveled to Basel on the 29^th of November. The feet were very swollen from all the traveling. On the 2^nd day of January 1860 I went to Wylervoltigen to preach some more to my parents and siblings since I had high hopes that someone from my dear family would soon be baptized.

(Elder Moosman went into great detail about the places he visited and the people whom he taught and baptized. He worked as counselor with Ignaz Willi and John Keller)

On the 16^th of March 1861 I baptized my sister Magdalena in the presence of Elder Peter Gulli and Math. Schuler in th eSchnuss by the Biel. I said farewell on the 25^th of March to my brother and sisters in Wylervoltigen. Bendicht gave me 60 Franken and several pair of pants. Anna Maria believed in the gospel and wanted tocome with me to america but the relatives would not let her go. I traveled over Bern to Thau and baptized Ka. Gloser and I. Hatter in the Aarn. This man had peg leg.

On the 4^th of May we went to Basel. On the 5^th our emigrants (89 persons) traveled through the province of Baden to the city of Mannheim by train. From here we took a steamer going down the Rhine river to Holland and the city of Rotterdam. We saw the cities of Mainz, Koblenz and Cologne, beautiful vineyards, castles, windmills, etc. Until Rotterdam, it was a pleasure trip. But on the trip over to Hull, England through the English Channel it was different. After 15 or 20 minutes out on sea, the first people started to get seasick. I was no exception. The weather was cold and stormy. Hardly anybody partook of the meals. After a day and a night and the weather cleared up and we recovered fast. From Hull to Liverpool, England we went by railroad and then down to the harbor. Saw S. Francis, Apostle Leyman and Rich and Kumar, heard him preach but I couldn’t understand anything.

On the 12^th of May I saw Maria Justet and Anna Rivoir of Piemont, Italy with Br. Banot from the hotel to the ship, “The Monarch of the Sea.” We boarded the big sailship with three masts. As soon as we were all settled on board, a tugboat pulled us through the St. George Channel onto thehigh seas. On the 14^th we slept on the ship. Leyman, Rich, Pianon, J.L. Smith and Woodard ordained the people, numbering 1008 of all creeds, including the ship personnel. On the 2^nd day the steamship left us. We then had enough wind to sail towards New York. It was the 16^th when we took off. We had a great storm and good health. Two or three persons died. There was enough to eat but I did not have much appetite.

On the 19^th of June we arrived with great joy in New York in Castle Garden. This was a big round house, near the harbor, built by the government for the immigrants. There we met a type of men well dressed addressing you a “friend” or “\landsman” willing to show you the sites of town and in so doing relieve you of your money, watches, etc. And then disappearing like ghosts. It is well to carry your watch where they can’t get at it and your money in a money belt next to your skin. We continued to travel from here by train.

We left on the 21^st. We went through the states of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. We went over Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago. From Quincy we went over the Mississippi by steamship and then again by train to St. Joseph. This was through the beautiful Missouri valley. Saw lots of soldiers since the South led war against the North. The trip from New York ‘til here took us 8 days and nights. On the 30^th, the Saints traveled to Florence. I and W. Davis and Conrad Nageli stayed to buy oxen. From St. Joseph, we went by steamer up river to Florence, Nebraska. Arrived on the 14^th of July and left for the first camp. On the 16^th, we left the camp with 70 wagons and more than 420 heads of animals, mainly oxen.

Now started life on the prairie. We had to make fire and maintain it besides cooking our meals. We had to take care of the new wagons and over 300 oxen. They had to be yoked and placed in front of the wagons, quite often in 15 to 20 minutes. We used to make 15-20 and often up to 30 miles a day, as we had a contract for the use of wagons and oxen for 10 weeks. We had to stay out of other companies way and detour around mountains to prevent our people from freezing as we went straight towards a cold climate.

Quite often we had to get up at 2:00, 3:00, and 4 o’clock in the morning and cook our beans for the day, or go hungry.

On this trip of 1000 miles, we never missed our prayers. We were healthy and happy. The wagonburgs were with two oval rounds, open front and back to facilitate the driving of the oxen in and out. Saw many Indians and little good water, much grass on the plains, but little in the mountains. We traveled early and late, and arrived with 52 wagons, lost 25 oxen. Sigti Johnson was captain. David Nicola drowned in the Platte river. He was from Lausanne. The telegraph was built that year, and also the last soldiers returned to the State of Utah. We traveled over Fort Laramie and Bridger without seeing a raven, but mountains. So, after a trip of 3300 hours we finally arrived in Salt Lake City on the 28^th of September. Here we became our own boss and could go or do where and what we wanted. Here we had the freedom to honor God as to the dictates of our heart.

I worked for Heinrich Reiser and stayed and looked for G. Hafen’s oxen which had escaped from the enclosure and found most of them. Pres. B. Young called about 2 or 300 families to go south, among them Hafen, not me. However, Hafen wanted me to go along. He would take care of me and my fiancee ‘til there in order to grow cotton, grapes, and all kinds of tropical fruit.

On the 18^th of October Maria Justet and I were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City as were other Swiss people. On the 30^th of October we, Swiss left for Dixie. We traveled over Provo, Payson, Saltcreek, Beaver, Cedar City, to Washington over and through snow, sand, over stones, the armies with the Church trek, I and Maxi from Florence to St. Clara where we arrived on the 28^th of November.

Today, on the 9^th of December 1861, I and my wife started setting up household in Clara Fort. On Christmas Day we moved to our city lot under Br. Daniel Bonelli’s control or almost force, so he and other English brethren among us could have room. But Br. Snow made several of the Swiss people move to make room for the English speaking in our midst. He led us unwisely.

In the year 1862 we had a great flood, which tore away our already finished dam. It also took Jacob Hamblin’s fort and several homes and home furnishings, also land and a corner acre. I built me a house of willows. On the 2^nd of September my wife gave birth to Dina. For 5 ½ months my wife had chills and fever every day or night. Towards the end of her illness she was swollen from head to toe and in the year 1863 she lost her fever. I believe on the 8^th of January. On the next day Dina got the sickness and on the following day the suffering child died. I and Jacob Tobler buried her which grieved us greatly.

Because I had received only about 2 ½ acres of land, I had to move my family to Washington. In the spring I planted and harvested sugar cane and about 8 to 10 bushel wheat. We received our Patriarchal blessings from Br. Elmer Harris.

We were called to go to the Muddy mission in the spring of 1865 by Erastus Snow. Also Maria Emma was born on the 8^th day of March ‘64. Soon after that we arrived at Muddy with one yoke oxen and 2 cows, but lost our best ox on the mesquite grounds. We traveled with Engelstatt and H. Christensen and the brethren from Muddy sent us 2 yoke oxen to help us, for the way was very bad, and 28 times we had to drive through the river washes.

I built myself a little adobe house in the first Fort. In this house Maria Emma died in the spring of 1865. And in the year ‘66, on the 12^th day of April, Christian was born. And only several days prior we moved into the new Fort. Here I built me a house with two little rooms. Here also was born David Daniel on the 8^th of January ‘68. Then we moved from the Fort to a city lot in the following year. Also Sarah was born on the 28^th of October ‘69 before I had built my house. However, rocks, adobes, everything was right there.

For 6 years we worked on the Muddy fort under great heat. We also lost many animals because of the Indians who also gave u much trouble otherwise, also we had to fight much against the white and the black mineral. We also planted thousands of all kinds of trees but in vain. Grapes, figs, cottonwood trees were all that would grow among the 200 Indian patches. The following 4 consecutive years such ground brought about 40 bushels per acre the first harvest and in the fourth year hardly 8-10 bushels. We had a 12 mile long water table, but only little water in the summer. There was grass enough but only of poor quality. There were three villages in the lower and one in the upper valley, Bishop Lighthead (Leithead) also had a good flour mill in Overton. This village, St. Joseph, and West Point had enough water, but St. Thomas did not. And in the 1870 the Muddy or its villages were dissolved and on the 21^st of January, the last brethren left Muddy, driven by tax collectors of the State of Nevada. Nothing was supposed to be destroyed that could not be moved.

Pres. B. Young gave us an honorable release from our six year mission and everyone could go where they wanted to. I had my lot full of trees and grapes. I also had bought land for over $100 during the last year and I could not move from it. We received nothing for our labor but God will reward us. We were 100 miles from St. George, 100 miles from Pahranagat, 40 miles from Catsville, 25 miles from Colorado or Junction. I stayed in St. Clara until the end of June 1871, when also Will was born on December 9^th 1871 in Pine Valley, beginning with the 1^st of January ‘72 I herded Ulrich Ranches sheep for 50 dollars until the end of June.

I was splitting lots with H. Schleppe until Christmas, each 1000 for 2 ½ -3 dollars. On the 1^st of November I moved into Conrad Nageli’s house in Clara, worked for non or everyone, all for trade money goods. On the 20^th of May (probably 1873) we again arrived in Pine Valley with2 cows and one yearling heifer. No wagon and no train, but well and healthy and in good faith with strong determination to serve God and not to work for the gentiles anymore.

On November 9, 1873 Elizabeth Jane Moosman was born in Grass Valley, Utah about 3 miles northwest of Pine Valley. The entry on the back cover of Christian’s “Wanderbuch” or passport shows her name as “Jeanne Elisabeth” born in Grass Valley by Pine Valley Washington County.” The next location we have on Christian comes from a March 1874 letter he sent from Pine Valley to his relative in Switzerland. Sometime between Christian’s writing of this letter in March 1874 and February 1875, the family moved to New Harmony, Utah. On February 19, 1875 their fourth son John Henry Moosman was born in New Harmony, Utah. On September 9, 1877 their two older sons, Christian and David Daniel were both baptized in Harmony, Utah. On April 28, 1878, Sarah was baptized in New Harmony.

When Christian’s family left New Harmony they went to Panguitch. This was probably in the latter half of 1878. While in Panguitch James Harvey their fifth son ws born on February 18, 1879. Christian and Marie apparently stayed in the Panguitch area about a year to a year and a half before they moved to Escalante.

During the move the older boys drove or trailed their three head of livestock while Marie and the smaller children rode in their ox drawn wagon which also carried all their modest earthly possessions. They traveled over a “9000 foot high mountain pass with a very poor road” before the family arrived in Escalante on “December 24, 1879.” Christian was now 44 years of age and his oldest son, Christian was 13 years and 8 months of age. But it was in Escalante that Christian and Marie basically raised their children. Here it was, that they would stay, build a home and send their children to school. Their wandering from place to place was over, but their daily struggle was still on going. A large storm struck 3 days after they arrived dropping three feet of snow. The spent the balance of that first Escalante winter in a dugout with another family. The following summer, Christian rented a farm in town. The year after that he rented a farm up the canyon next to the mountain in Main Canyon. They prospered and later purchased the place. In the meantime they built a one-room log cabin in the northwest part of town.

Christian work most of his time in the timber. Their last child, Anna Isadora was born in 1883. Christian did much genealogy work for his family. After Marie’s death in 1905, Christian moved from place to place with his children and their homesteading. He spent his last years in Manti where he was able to do much Temple work. He lived by his motto: Work while day lies, night cometh, then you can’t work!”   He passed away June 8, 1930 at the home of his son Wil’s home in Escalante and was buried there by his wife.

Marie Madeleine Justet also known as Mary and Maria was born December 1, 1838 near Pinache, Perouse, Piedmont Italy. Her father Daniel Justet was born May 29, 1818 and her mother Jane Rostan was born on November 22, 1817. The Justet name is French and its European pronunciation could be shown as Jew-stay. They were part of a group of people called the Waldenses or Vaudois. They lived in the Piedmont valleys or alpine areas of Italy to which their forebearers had been driven by the Catholic Church because of their religious beliefs. The origin of the Vaudois people “is very uncertain and their history quite meager owing to the fact that their persecutors sought in every way possible to exterminate them from the face of the earth and to destroy every vestige of their history.” The date of the origin was about 1160 or 1170 A.D. Others believe they originated even earlier, but in either event, they predated the reformation by centuries.

The Justet family were among the very first converts to the L.D.S. Church in Italy. Marie’s father, Daniel, was possibly the 13^th person baptized in Italy. He was baptized on April 17, 1851 and ordained a Priest on March 1, 1852. On April 1, 1852 he baptized Marie, her brother James and their mother Jane. Then on August 26, 1855 all four were excommunicated for “infidelity.” It is doubtful the cause of the action is as it sounds. During that period there was a “pruning of the vineyard” and whole families were excommunicated for various and sundry reasons, many of which, we could not conceive of today. The Malan family descendants, whose church roots in Italy even predate Daniel’s baptism by about seven weeks, write a quarterly research and news letter. They have addressed this subject as such: “A check of most early (Italian) LDS records will show that “pruning the vineyard” was a common practice. This is understandable, given the fact that religious leaders previously familiar to converts – thus having served as models of leadership style – still often used the heavy-handed tactics of the Middle ages. A disagreement with the person in charge, or failure to attend meetings on a regular basis, could lead to excommunication. The Angrogna Branch record (film 160,244) indicates that of the 41 early converts 20 were excommunicated within four years – for offenses such as “negligence” and “infidelity” which could mean loyalty to the leader as well as to the Church.

Other branches in the area had similar levels of excommunication, for similar reasons (adding offenses such as “unbelief,” “cowardice”, and “nonchalance”. They also indicate that some so called excommunications at that time, were actually reprimands. This points out how hard it was for the church to function with just new converts to staff its functions.

On April 30, 1860 Marie was again baptized. And on August 20, 1860 her father and mother were also baptized again. The Italian branch records indicate she emigrated on March 13, 1861. She was 22 years of age at that time. She emigrated with Anne Rivoir. They went to England where she met her future husband, Christian Moosmann. He records in this diary of seeing his future wife at the docks in Liverpool. They reached Salt Lake City on the 28^th of September. During the emigration Marie and Christian Moosmann had become engaged and were married in the Endowment House on October 18, 1861. Two weeks later on October 30, they left for Utah’s Dixie arriving in St. Clara on November 28, 1861. Here they lived in wagon boxes then a house of willows where Marie gave birth to Dina, their first child, on September 2, 1862. Then Christian records, “For 5 ½ months Marie had chills and fever every day or night. Towards the end of her illness she was swollen from head to toe, and in the year 1863 she lost her fever. I believe on the 8^th of January. On the next day Dina got the sickness and on the following day the long suffering child died.”

They moved to Washington where their second child Maria Emma was born. From there they were called to go to the Muddy mission in the spring of 1865.Christian records, “The way was very bad, and 28 times we had to drive through the river washes.” After arriving they built a little adobe house in the first Fort. In this house their second daughter Maria Emma, died in the spring of 1865. While in St. Thomas, Nevada three more children were born to them, Christian, David Daniel and Sarah. In 1868 Marie’s family emigrated from Italy via England on the steamship Minnesota. Leaving on June 30, 1868 they arrived in in New York on July 12. Their son, James, is reported to have died in the French army. The Justet family reached Laramie, Wyoming on July 22 where the railroad ended at that time. The Justets were also sent to the Muddy Mission where Marie was. The Justet family group who came at this time per the ship log are as follows: Daniel Justet age 50, Jeanne age 49, Jenne age 47, Daniel age 25, Madeline age 22, Susanna age 18, Margaret age 20, Catherine age 9.

After six years of struggling with Indians, extreme heat, poor soil and the state of Nevada over taxes, the Muddy Mission was closed. Marie and her husband were given their honorable release to go where they wanted. They initially returned to St. Clara. Here Marie’s father died. On January 6, 1870 Marie’s brother, Daniel Justet, had married Nellie Waddie Leithead, a full blooded Indian woman, raised and educated from childhood by Bishop Leithead and his wife.

Next Marie and Christian went to Pine Valley where Wili was born. They again returned to Santa Clara, and then back to Pine Valley and over to Grass Valley where Jane was born. The returned to Pine Valley once more before going on to New Harmony where John was born. From there they went to Panguitch where James was born. Their final move was to Escalante on December 24, 1879, where their last child, Anna Isadora, was born four years later. Here they settled and raised their family. Marie’s mother and b rother Daniel and some of her sisters and their families were also there. The Moosmann’s first winter in Escalante was spent in a dugout with another family. Her brother Daniel is reported to have dug one but it is not known if the Moosman’s used it. The family lived in a dugout until they built a 14 by 16 foot log cabin. They rented a mountain ranch farm which they eventually purchased when they began prospering. Here Marie and her children would gentle cattle for others and receive the use of the milk for their efforts, from which they would make cheese for the market. In the winters they would move back to their home in Escalante so the children could go to school. In Escalante they had fruit to dry from their orchard. Marie had a spinning wheel she would use to spin wool on for their socks and other items. She also made their candles, soap, and lye, and many other things we take for granted today.

In 1895 Marie’s mother, Jane Rostan Justet, died and was buried in Escalante. In 1897 Marie’s son, David, lost his wife leaving Marie and her daughter, Dora, to help him with his two children. His infant daughter died a month later. Shortly after Marie’s daughter, Sarah, became very ill and she had two small children for which help was needed. Dora wrote at that time that her mother’s health wasn’t very good. In time Marie saw all her children reach adulthood and all marry except Jim and Dora. Marie had several grandchildren by 1904 when her daughter, Jane, was expecting another baby. On July 3^rd Mason went to Escalante to get Marie to be with Jane in Boulder. “It was so hot and going through those ledges and box canyons, it was too much for her. The next morning she took a stroke. She was unconscious for six weeks before” she was taken home. After that “she never walked or talked again or fed herself.” A year later, on July 7, 1905, Marie M. Justet Moosmann died and was buried in Escalante.