Personal History of
Margaret Jane Casteel
 From The Kartchner Family Book
Compiled by Karen H. Miller
Compiled 2004

Margaret Jane Casteel was born September 1st, 1825, In Copper county, Missouri. Her parents were Jacob Israel Casteel and Sarah Nowlin Casteel. There may have been more than the six children, whose names are known, but there were six brothers and sisters at least. Their names were Mary (St. Mary), Emoline (Savage), Margaret Jane (Kartchner), James, Joshua, and Francis Steven, called Frank. It was Frank who made a journey down the Mississippi River, supposedly to Texas, and never returned. His fate was never known, and this was a great cause for mourning by his mother and brothers and sisters.

 The Casteel blood was of French extraction with mixture of English, Dutch, and Irish. They were evidently of devout Christian faith, for Margaret's father's family consisting of eight brothers and one sister were given bible names through out. They were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel, Shadrack, Meshack, Abendego, Daniel, Benjamin and Mary.

 Very little is known of Margaret's life until she was 18 years of age, when she married William Decatur Kartchner, on March 17, 1814 in the city of Nauvoo, Illinois. She was a skilled operator and weaver. One square piece of her home-spun cloth is still in possession of her youngest son, Orin Kartchner. He tells of brothers shearing their won sheep, then watching his mother wash each fleece, cord, spin and weave it into cloth.

 From all evidence known, Margaret did not have much schooling, but she was a woman of fine intellect and sterling character, modest and refined in manner, deeply religious. She was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the age of fourteen in Pike county, Illinois.

 She and her husband began a westward journey in company with a pioneer group in September 1844, but traveled only as far as Iowa City that year. They spent the winter there doing any work
 possible for means of subsistence, until another start was made in March 1845. There was much hardship and short rations of food, Margaret Jane Kartchner walked for many miles of the journey because she was young and able bodied. At one time during this hard journey, when their rations had been reduced to one jill of corn a day to the person, with now salt they walked In water and mud shoe mouth deep up the Ohio River with no road. Then leaving the river they turned westward across a large prairie toward the Sioux Indian Country.

 One day some Frenchmen and Indians came to their camp and invited them to come and camp near their fort. They pointed to their thin cheeks, realizing how near starvation they were; the Indians gave them dried buffalo meat which the pioneers thought to be the best they had ever tasted. They also brought them roasting ears of corn, and finally a Frenchman M. Henrey told the young Kartchner that his Indian wife was away and offered them a boarding place, if Margaret would do the cooking. They gladly accepted the offer and sincerely appreciated this kindness.

 About the middle of July, a chance came to them, to go on a steamboat down the Missouri to St. Louis. They decided this was a good move under the circumstances. They had very few possessions to take on board with them but Mr. Henrie and the Indians prepared two large bundles of meat for them, and provided them with food and clothing. A rich French gentleman, traveling for his health, gave them a pair of blankets and ten dollars in silver, for which they gave him sincere thanks.

 William D. Kartchner had an older sister living in St. Louis, but she was proud and haughty and considered the young pioneer couples scarcely worth any notice form her. Margaret became seriously ill. with intermittent fever, but the sister, Mrs. James Webb, seldom came to see her. However a Mrs. Powell, a wife or a rich southern planter, from whom they rented a small room came often and cared for Margaret, administering medicine and attending to her needs. When she was finally out of danger her husband crossed the river and went on foot sixty miles to see his brother, John Kartchner
 He came in his wagon and the young couple ferried their belongings across the river in a skiff, where he gave them welcome and a comfortable home during the fall and winter of 1845.

 William learned of a pioneer company leaving for the Rocky Mountains in the spring of 1846. His determination to join this company annoyed his brother who had made him fine offers of land if he would stay with him for five years. They finally parted in anger, and William and Margaret Kartchner joined the Mississippi Company in March 1846.

 They had hired out to drive a wagon loaded with a thousand pounds of provisions for a Mr. Crow. They traveled to Fort Pueblo, on the Arkansas River. By the later part of July. Her Mr. Crow broke his obligation, fearing his provisions would run short. This left the young Kartchners again stranded, without even a wagon to camp in. The company had hauled here to await instructions from their leader, Brigham Young, and the Kartchners made a camp under a large cotton wood tree, and for a time were at the mercy of kind friends for food. There under a large cottonwood tree, in these destitute conditions, their baby daughter was born August 17`", 1846 the first white child to be born in the state of Colorado, an honor for which, many years later, the state presented to her, Sarah Emma Kartchner Miller, of Snowflake, Arizona a gold medal.

 Not long after the birth of their daughter, the father obtained work as a blacksmith in which line he was skilled, at Bents Fort, eighty miles down the river. The young wife and child were left to the kindness of a Mrs. Catherine Holiday, and the journey was made on horseback. The work was heavy, largely consisting of work for U.S. army troops, under General Kearney, on the way to the Mexican War. William worked there until late in the fall, and thankfully receiving two dollars a day for his labors, but was finally stricken with a serious attack of rheumatism and was obliged to return to Pueblo. His wife was often compelled to wade as much as a hundred yards through snow knee deep to get a cottonwood-for fuel.

 Early in the spring of 1847 they began making preparations to resume their westward journey. With some of the money he had earned they bought an old wagon and provisions, another man of the party permitted them to use a pair of his own. William was still unable to walk, but did. repairing of his own and other men's wagons by means of his blacksmith tools screwed to his wagon tongue. Margaret carried the pieces to him so that William could repair them. When they reached Fort Laramie they learned that they were only three days behind the pioneers under Brigham young. The company traveled that distance behind them all the rest of the journey, reaching the Great Salt Lake Valley July 27, 1847.

 Margaret had another attack of Mountain Fever but recovered in less time than in the year before. They located at a spring about nine miles southwest of the city, and began the usual building of the adobe house, fencing, and farming the land allotted to them. Their food was very scarce but William went once during the winter Into the city and brought flour at fifty cents a pound to make bread for the little girls. The parents were without bread of any kind for about two months, until new wheat and corn were ripe.

 In the winter of 1850 a call was made for a group to colonize San Bernardino, California. The Kartchners and the Casteels were among those called to go and a start was made in March 1851. They remained at San Bernardino until the later part of 1857, when they were called to return to Utah. The Casteels did not make this sacrifice and Margaret left her people in California. She settled at Beaver, Utah with her husband and children.

 Another call was given to William Decatur Kartchner to help colonize on the Muddy River, a location near the present settlement of Overton and Logandale, Nevada. Margaret and her children followed William there in May 1866, but after several locations were made, and much more land cleared and farmed the settlements were abandoned. In February 1871 they settled in Panguitch, Utah. The hand planed log house, which they built in 1871, is still standing and is in good enough condition for a family to be living in it at the present time. William Kartchner was the first Postmaster of Panguitch and the hole for posting letters is still to be seen, covered with a small board.

 Margaret was always busy raising chickens, spinning, weaving, and putting up fruit, both fresh and dried. By this time she had born them other children, her family consisted of six sons and five daughters. Two sons and a baby daughter died in Infancy. One of the very saddest things of her life occurred at Mojave Crossing, California. Her daughter Alzada Sophia (Palmer) was born January 5, 1858, and the next day, James Peter, just past two years of age, died. Not wishing to bury him In the desert, so far from human habitation, the little body was placed in a metal churn, the lid soldered on, and it was hauled to Parowan, Utah where it was buried.

 In the spring of 1877, William D. Kartchner, sons and sons-in-law with their families were called to help in the colonization of the Little Colorado River settlements. Several months were spent in gathering provisions and stock and teams, wagons and supplies for two years, and on November 15, 1877 they made a start to Arizona.

 The journey to Sunset covered two months and three days, and Margaret Kartchner was sick most of the way. The Kartchners settled eighteen miles above Sunset, and called their settlement Taylor. But during seven months no dam was proof against the floods, which swept them away as if there was nothing there. After five dams had gone out, the entire settlement of Taylor was abandoned and the Kartchner family moved to the new settlement of Snowflake, on the Silver Creek, a tributary of the Little Colorado, in August 1878.

 Margaret Kartchner had spent thirty-four years of her life in helping to colonize four of the western states. She had walked many weary miles and had journeyed many thousands of miles over mountains and desert, where no roads eased the rocky way, behind snow plodding oxen, months at a time having only a wagon box for her home. Now at last she had reached a haven of rest, for Snowflake was to be her permanent home. A rather fine log house was built and life seemed now to have settled into a peaceful and less strenuous pattern of living.  She took part in the activities of the new settlement especially in the religious affairs.

On the 12th day of July 1880 The Relief Society of Snowflake was organized with Mary J. West as president, Lucy H. Flake and Margaret Jane Kartchner as her counselors.  Sister Kartchner was faithful and punctual to meetings whenever her health would permit during the thirteen months she served as second counselor and several times edified and blessed the sisters by the glorious gift of tongues.  She died August 11, 1881 to the sorrow of the whole community, for she was a noble good woman whose example was worthy of imitation by all.

Hard years had taken several tolls, and she lived only three years, almost to the day, after she began her life in Snowflake.  On the morning of August 1881 she was taken with a very bad cough and severe pain in her head.  Everything possible was done for her relief, but she grew worse every day until the morning of August 11, when she passed peacefully away with a pleasant smile on her countenance.  Speakers at her funeral dwelt the upright character and virtuous integrity of this good woman.  She had lived only fifty-six years, but her life had been lived to a rich fullness in deeds if not in years.