Some events in the life of Robert Cowie Walker

In 1868 a group of Saints left Glasgow District for Liverpool. They had booked passage on the sailing boat "Constitution". Among the group were two young friends. They were Robert Walker, age 21, and Jane Wright, age 25. Robert’s family and some of his friends were in the group. Jane was alone. Robert had been baptized 4 years earlier at age 17.

When they arrived in Liverpool, they found among the Saints a very sad family. They were short one ticket and were going to have to leave one son behind. When he saw their situation, Robert gave them his ticket and he stayed behind, having no idea when the next boat would go or where he would get the money to pay for a ticket. He did odd jobs in Liverpool, whatever he could find. Two weeks had passed when he heard that a steamboat, the first to leave Liverpool, was getting ready to cross [the] America. That night he prayed that somehow he would be able to get to America to join his family. The next morning he went to the ticket office, but was told that all the tickets had been booked in advance for the crossing. He was disappointed but not discouraged. As he walked away from the office, a voice told him to go back and ask for a job on the ship. He was hired immediately as a steward and worked his way across the ocean. He arrived in New York two weeks ahead of the sailing vessel and worked at odd jobs until his family arrived. He was waiting for them at the dock when they arrived. He had saved enough money that they were soon on their way West to join the Saints. They traveled by train to Omaha which was the end of the railway in 1868. Whenever the train stopped at a town along the way, Robert would get off and challenge someone or everyone to a foot race. They thought, He’s a dumb kid from Scotland. We can beat him." But, as he was an exceptional athlete, he always won and in this way he made enough money to pay his fare. From Omaha, they walked the rest of the way to the Valley.

On 2 Feb 1869, Robert Cowie Walker and Jane Wright were married in Salt Lake City. They owned a quarter block of land on the south-west corner of Third South and Main Str. Brigham Young called them to go to Coalville to open a store and help with the settlement there. He sold his property for $350[?] dollars and moved to Coalville where he lived for the rest of his life farming and running the store. He and his wife had 9 children.