Rebecca Winters, daughter of Gideon Burdick, a drummer boy in Washington’s army, was born in New York State in 1802. She became a pioneer in the Church of Latter Day Saints when she and her husband Hiram were baptized 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. The trip across Iowa through June was pleasant, but cholera struck in the Platte Valley. After seeing many friends die of the illness, Rebecca also died on August 15 at age 50. She was buried on the prairie near here with a simple ceremony, and family friend William Reynolds chiseled the words “Rebecca Winters, age 50” on an iron wagon tire to mark the grave. Her family continued with the wagon train and settled in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Burlington Railroad surveyors later found the crude marker and changed the right-of-way to save and protect the grave. In 1902, Rebecca’s descendants erected a monument. Rebecca Winters became a symbol of the pioneer mother who endured great hardships in the westward movement.