A Study in Scarlet: Part 2, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

No longer narrated by John Watson, Part 2 shifts to the American desert stretching from the Sierra Nevada to Nebraska, between the Yellowstone and Colorado Rivers. Coated in alkali dust, this “land of despair” is hostile to all but the coyote, the buzzard, and the grizzly bear. If one were to look down from the Sierra Blanca, one would see a pathway on the desert created by caravan wheels and footprints, with human and oxen bones littered along the way. It is May 14, 1847, and a lone man is looking down on this scene. He is thin and haggard and must support himself with his rifle. Slowly dying of hunger and dehydration, he searches hopelessly for signs of water but cannot find any.

The man drops his rifle to the ground, as well as a gray parcel carrying a young child. The child, a five-year-old girl, is pale but healthy. Her mother, along with the rest of their town, had recently died of dehydration, so the man took the girl with him to find water. Now, however, the man tells her that they will probably die and that she will soon see her mother again in heaven. The man and the child get down on their knees and pray, after which they fall asleep.

While the man and the child sleep, a vast number of wagons, horses, and people approach from the other side of the plain. The narrator describes these people as “nomads” seeking a new home out of necessity rather than out of the pursuit of opportunity. Though the nomads’ caravans are loud, the man and the child are so exhausted that they don’t wake up. When the cries of buzzards wake the man and young girl up, they find themselves among a rescue party, which leads them down to the caravans.

The man introduces himself as John Ferrier and decides to adopt the child, Lucy, as his daughter. The travellers tell him that they believe in Joseph Smith’s teachings and “seek a refuge from the violent man and from the godless.” Ferrier correctly guesses that they are the Mormons, and the travellers take Ferrier and Lucy to their prophet, who will decide what to do with them. The Mormons’ leader is described as barely 30 years old, with a “massive head and resolute expression.” He tells Ferrier that if he does not join them as a true believer, they will let him die in the desert. Ferrier agrees to become a Mormon, and the leader leaves Ferrier and Lucy in the care of the Elder Stangerson, who tells them that the man they had been speaking to is Brigham Young, who speaks with the voice of Joseph Smith and thus the voice of God, and who has made them forever part of their religion.