Marker Text
Rebecca Winters, daughter of Gideon Burdick, a drummer boy in Washington’s army, was born in New York State in 1802. She was a pioneer in the Church of the Latter Day Saints, being baptized with her husband Hiram in June 1833. Membership in the Church brought persecution in Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa. In June 1852 the family joined others of their faith in the great journey to Utah. It was a pleasant trip across Iowa through June, but in the Platte Valley the dread cholera struck. Rebecca saw many of her friends taken by the illness, and on August 15 she was another of its victims. She was buried on the prairie near here with a simple ceremony. A close friend of the family, William Reynolds, chiseled the words, “Rebecca Winters, Age 50” on an iron wagon tire to mark the grave. The family continued on with the wagon train and settled in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Burlington Railroad surveyors found the crude marker and changed the right-of-way to save and protect the grave. In 1902 a monument was erected by Rebecca’s descendants. Rebecca Winters is a symbol of the pioneer mother who endured great hardships in the westward movement.
Location
Along U.S. 26, 2 miles east of Scottsbluff
View this marker’s location HERE.
This shows Rebecca Winters’s grave near Scottsbluff, Nebraska. There are several people gathered around the stone for an unveiling of a tablet on May 26, 1929. The woman closest to the stone is Mrs. Booth, the oldest granddaughter of Rebecca Winters. A train is stopped alongside the gravesite.
More distant view of Rebecca Winters’ grave.
