Saints and Raging Seas: A Trial of Faith

One of the most perilous, and often overlooked sagas of the Mormon Exodus from Nauvoo to their new home in the Rocky Mountains, is that of the Brooklyn Company. Their story is told through the eyes of a young single mother who embarked on the journey.
Crowded into two between deck holds of the converted whaling ship "Brooklyn", this group of courageous Saints, numbering about 250 men, women and children, endured six months of peril at the mercy of raging storms that lasted for days, during which the passenger were engulfed in total darkness. They endured tumultuous wind, currents and waves around the tip of South America, and faced starvation when the ship could not reach Valparaiso for supplies due to storms. They also suffered 10 days of searing heat while becalmed at the equator in the Pacific Ocean.
Even after reaching San Francisco Bay, the weary travelers faced hard times. They again suffered near starvation, and lost nearly all their investment in improvements in California at the hands of Sam Brannan. But they were survivors. After participating in the gold rush with little monetary rewards, they endured a hazardous journey to the Salt Lake Valley before rejoining the main body of the Church who had migrated overland from Nauvoo.