The Perpetual Emigration Fund
The Perpetual Emigration Fund (PEF) was a 19th-century scheme of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to provide financial assistance to emigrants seeking to join the main church community in the Salt Lake Valley and surrounding areas. The plan began in 1849, two years after the first pioneers arrived in Utah. In September 1850 the provisional government of the State of Deseret (Utah) formally organised the fund into the Perpetual Emigrating Company. Eventually the fund and corporation operated under the name Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company (PEFC).
The aid provided to emigrants took the form of loans which these members would repay constantly replenishing the fund once they were established in their new homes. Recipients would sign a promissory note upon receiving funds and were often permitted to repay with commodities or labor in addition to cash. Over the life of the program, nearly 30,000 individuals received assistance, primarily with travel arrangements and supplying with carts or wagons for the journey.
Beginning in 1856, instead of supplying covered wagons with oxen to cross the plains from the western railroad terminus, church leaders organized many emigrants into handcart companies provided with two-wheeled carts that they would pull themselves, like a very large wheelbarrow. The new approach allowed the PEF to support nearly twice as many individuals as it had in 1855.
Subsequently President Brigham Young began to promote the idea of sending teams from Utah with cattle and wagons to meet the emigrants crossing the plains. By drawing on available resources, this would reduce the challenges and costs of fully outfitting each group at the beginning of their journey. The wagons could carry the additional supplies while the majority of travelers could walk alongside. Young also suggested that with Utah still having few merchants, existing residents might arrange to have team leaders obtain goods for them back East and bring those items back more cheaply than they could otherwise be obtained.
These teams became known as "down-and-back companies" based on their journey "down" to the Missouri River gathering point and back to Utah, and contributed significantly in facilitating the larger emigrant groups organized through the PEF over the course of the decade.
John R Murdock is often referred to as the leader of the most down-and-back companies in Latter-day Saint history, as he led numerous ox-drawn wagon trains from Utah to bring back both merchandise and emigrating church members. He also served several missions in the eastern United States.
John R. Murdock