Merritt Kellogg and his family decided to go to Pike’s Peak in Colorado, but before actually getting there, they decided to go on to California. The year was 1859, and the only way then to get there was by covered wagon, unless you went by ship.PPP 130.2

When I engaged to take the freight through to Pikes Peak I drew up a contract in which it was expressly stated that the team and wagon were to be at all times under my control and that we would not travel on Saturday, as that was the Sabbath day. All parties agreed to this and Capt. Parks signed the contract, he being the chief man of the party of five.PPP 130.3

The first Friday after leaving Columbus [Nebraska], we camped at a fine place in which to spend the Sabbath, expecting to remain there until Sunday morning. All parties were agreed to do so, until a wagon came up and camped near us. A man by the name of Esther owned the outfit. He had with him his wife and child and a Mr. Ide, his wife’s brother, and a young man. This party were all old acquaintances of Capt. Parks, and as they were going to Pikes Peak, Capt. Parks asked me next morning to hitch up and travel with them. This I could not conscientiously do, and so I told the captain. Upon finding that I would not go on, he began to talk with my wife to get her to insist that I go on. He represented to her that it would be dangerous for us to travel alone, as we were liable to be attacked by Indians at any time. (We had not seen an Indian since leaving Elk Horn.) He finally got her so frightened that she wanted to go on, but I would not consent. I told him that I would travel as far Sunday as they could Saturday, so that we could camp together every night except Saturday. This did not suit him, however, and asking the other four men to help him, he hitched up and drove on, although I forbad it and told them to remember how our contract read.PPP 130.4

When I found they would go on I took my Bible and a lunch, and my pistol, and stayed behind. After they had passed on, I walked down to the Platte river one mile distant and waded across a narrow and shallow branch, onto a wooded island and spent the day there.PPP 131.1

The sun shone quite hot at midday, and I began to feel drowsy. So I closed my Bible and using it for a pillow, I soon fell asleep. I did not sleep long, however, for I was suddenly awakened by a hissing noise, and, opening my eyes, I beheld a snake’s head within three inches of my face. The head was fully three inches wide and five inches long and was the most frightful sight I had ever beheld. With a sudden bound, I sprang fully five feet and grabbed a club with which I speedily put the snake out of commission. This snake was of an unknown kind, to me at least, and was the largest I had ever seen except at a show. It was six feet long and three inches thick.PPP 131.2

I did not get sleepy again that day, nor did I see any more snakes. . . .PPP 131.3

[After attempting unsuccessfully to shoot two wolves who at different times that afternoon came toward him, he continued his story.] A few minutes later I started for the road, which I reached just as the sun was sinking below the western horizon.PPP 131.4

I had seen a string of four wagons pass along the road at about noon, so I expected to reach their camp about eight or ten miles ahead. As soon as I reached the road I took a dog trot, which I did not break until I reached my own company, at half past 10 P.M.PPP 131.5

On reaching camp I found all was well excepting that one of the men had lost my ax in the river, while attempting to wade to an island to get wood to cook supper with. This was a great loss to me, as I could not procure another and had only a small hatchet with my tools.PPP 132.1

The men did not attempt to interfere with the team again, nor did they ask me to travel on the Sabbath. Sometimes the wagons would all stop over both Saturday and Sunday. Whenever they went on the Sabbath, we would lay by and then catch up with them while they lay by on Sunday.-M. G. Kellogg, M.D., Notes Concerning the Kelloggs, 1927, pp. 69-72.PPP 132.2

Not only would Kellogg become the first Seventh-day Adventist in California, but before long he had 16 converts to the Sabbath worshiping in San Francisco. As a result, in 1866 he appealed to the General Conference in Battle Creek to send a missionary to California, even sending $100 to pay the cost of sending such a person. Finally, in 1867, Kellogg traveled to Battle Creek to make a personal appeal to the GC session. Another personal appeal was made in 1868. This second appeal resulted in J. N. Loughborough and D. T. Bourdeau agreeing to go to California as missionaries, which they did in 1869.PPP 132.3

Ordained to the ministry in 1872, Merritt Kellogg would go on to help found the St. Helena Sanitarium in northern California; sail on the mission ship Pitcairn on its second trip; and accept a call in 1893 to serve as a missionary in the South Pacific, where he helped found sanitariums in Samoa, and Sydney, Australia.PPP 132.4

22. Stephen N. Haskell

24. Anna Knight