Ephraim Hanks

Temperatures dropped below zero, food was running out, people were suffering from frostbite and exposure, and people were dying.

Rescue parties were sent from Salt Lake City, and that's where a man by the name of Ephraim Hanks comes into the story.

Hanks was 29 years old, a frontiersman who knew this country extremely well.

He had spent years carrying U.S. mail across the plains between Fort Laramie and Salt Lake City.

A lot of those pioneers didn't make it.

Historians estimate that roughly 135 to 150 died during the journey, but many others did.

And that's why I wanted to tell you about Ephraim Hanks.

Because courage isn't always some dramatic moment when someone runs toward gunfire.