Everything about The Mormon Handcart Pioneers totally explained
The
Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the
migration of members of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the LDS Church) to
Salt Lake City,
Utah, who used
handcarts to transport their belongings. The Mormon handcart movement began in 1856 and lasted until 1860.
Motivated to join their fellow Church members but lacking funds for full
ox or
horse teams, nearly 3,000
Mormon pioneers from
England,
Wales,
Scotland and
Scandinavia made the journey from
Iowa or
Nebraska to Utah in ten handcart companies. The trek was disastrous for two of the companies, which started their journey dangerously late and were caught by heavy snow and severe temperatures in central
Wyoming. Despite a dramatic rescue effort, more than 210 of the 980 pioneers in these two companies died along the way. John Chislett, a survivor, wrote, "Many a father pulled his cart, with his little children on it, until the day preceding his death."
Although less than 10 percent of the 1847–68
Latter-day Saint emigrants made the journey west using handcarts, the handcart pioneers have become an important symbol in LDS culture, representing the faithfulness and sacrifice of the pioneer generation. They continue to be recognized and honored in events such as
Pioneer Day, Church pageants, and similar commemorations. The handcart treks were a familiar theme in 19th century
Mormon folk music and have been a theme in LDS fiction, such as
Gerald Lund's historical novel,
Fire of the Covenant, and
Orson Scott Card's science-fiction short story, "
West."
Background to the migration
The
Latter Day Saints were first organized as the
Church of Christ in 1830. Early members of the Church often encountered hostility, primarily due to their practice of withdrawing from secular society and gathering in locales to practice their distinct religious beliefs. Their neighbors felt threatened by the Church's rapid growth in numbers, by its tendency to vote as a
bloc and acquire political power, by its claims of divine favor, and by the practice of
polygamy. Violence directed against the Church and its members caused the body of the Church to move from
Ohio to
Missouri, then to
Illinois. Despite the frequent moves, Church members were unable to escape opposition, which culminated in the
extermination order against all Mormons living in the state by Missouri Governor
Lilburn Boggs and the murder of its leader
Joseph Smith in 1844.
Brigham Young, Smith's successor as
Church leader, said that he'd received divine direction to organize the church members and head beyond the western frontier of the
United States.
Need for handcart companies
Soon after the first Mormon pioneers reached Utah in 1847, the Church began encouraging its converts in the
British Isles and elsewhere in
Europe to
emigrate to Utah. From 1849 to 1855, about 16,000 European Latter-day Saints traveled to Utah by ship, rail and then ox and wagon. Although most of these emigrants paid their own expenses, the Church established the
Perpetual Emigration Fund to provide financial assistance for poor emigrants to trek west, which they'd repay as they were able. Contributions to expand the fund were encouraged.
When contributions and loan repayments dropped off in 1855 after a poor harvest in Utah, President Young decided to begin using handcarts because the Latter-day Saints who remained in Europe were mostly poor. Young also believed it would speed the journey.
Young proposed the plan in a letter to
Franklin D. Richards,
President of the European Mission, in September 1855. His letter was published in the
Millennial Star, the Church's England-based periodical, on
December 22 1855, along with an editorial by Richards endorsing the project. The cost of the migration was expected to be reduced by one-third. The response was overwhelming — in 1856 the Perpetual Emigration Fund supported the travel of 2,012 European emigrants, compared with 1,161 the year before.
Outfitting
Emigrants departed from an English port (generally
Liverpool) and travelled by ship to
New York or
Boston, then by railroad to
Iowa City,
Iowa, the western terminus of the rail line, where they'd be outfitted with handcarts and other supplies.
Built to Young's design, the handcarts resembled a large
wheelbarrow, with two wheels five feet (1.5 m) in diameter and a single axle four and 1/2 feet (1.4 m) wide, and weighing 60 pounds (27 kg). Running along each side of the bed were seven-foot (2.1 m) pull shafts ending with a three-foot (0.9 m) crossbar at the front. The crossbar allowed the carts to be pushed or pulled. Cargo was carried in a box about three feet by four feet (0.9 m by 1.2 m), with 8 inch (0.2 m) walls. The handcarts generally carried up to 250 pounds (110 kg) of supplies and luggage, though they were capable of handling loads as heavy as 500 pounds (230 kg). Carts used in the first year's migration were made entirely of wood ("Iowa hickory or oak"); in later years a stronger design was substituted, which included metal elements.
The handcart companies were organized using the handcarts and sleeping tents as the primary units. Five persons were assigned per handcart, with each individual limited to 17 pounds (7.7 kg) of clothing and bedding. Each round tent, supported by a center pole, housed 20 occupants and was supervised by a tent captain. Five tents were supervised by the captain of a hundred (or "sub-captain"). Provisions for each group of one hundred emigrants were carried in an ox wagon, and were distributed by the tent captains.
1856: First three companies
The first two ships departed England in late March and mid-April and sailed to Boston. The emigrants spent several weeks in Iowa City, where they constructed their handcarts and were outfitted with supplies before beginning their trek of about 1,300 miles (2,093 km).
About 815 emigrants from the first two ships were organized into the first three handcart companies, headed by captains Edmund Ellsworth, Daniel D. McArthur, and
Edward Bunker. The captains were
missionaries returning to their homes in Utah and were familiar with the route. Most of the sub-captains were also returning missionaries.
Across Iowa they followed an existing road about 275 miles (443 km) to
Council Bluffs, following a route that's close to current
U.S. Route 6. After crossing the
Missouri River, they paused for a few days at a Mormon outpost in
Florence, Nebraska (modern-day
Omaha) for repairs, before beginning the remaining 1,030-mile (1,658 km) journey along the
Mormon Trail to
Salt Lake City.
The companies made good time, and their trips were largely uneventful. The emigrant companies included many children and elderly individuals, and pushing and pulling handcarts was difficult work. Journals and recollections describe periods of illness and hunger. Like other companies traveling on the
Emigrant Trail, deaths occurred along the way. Hafen and Hafen's
Handcarts to Zion lists 13 deaths from the first company, seven from the second, and fewer than seven from the third. Journal entries reflect the optimism of the handcart pioneers, even amid their hardships:
The first two companies arrived in Salt Lake City on
September 26 and the third followed less than a week later. The first three companies were regarded as having demonstrated the feasibility of emigrating using handcarts.
1856: Willie and Martin handcart companies
The last two handcart companies of 1856 departed late from England. The ship
Thornton, carrying the emigrants who became the Willie Company, didn't leave England until
May 4. The leader of the Latter-day Saints on the
Thornton was
James G. Willie. Another three weeks passed before the
Horizon, carrying the emigrants who formed the Martin Company, departed. The late departures may have been the result of difficulties in procuring ships in response to the unexpected demand, but the results would be tragic.
With slow communications in the era before the transatlantic telegraph, the Church agents in Iowa City were not expecting the additional emigrants and had to make frantic preparations for their arrival. Critical weeks were spent hastily assembling the carts and outfitting the companies. When the companies reached Florence, additional time was lost making repairs to the poorly built carts. Emigrant John Chislett describes the problems with the carts:
Prior to the Willie Company departing Florence, the company met to debate the wisdom of such a late departure. Because the emigrants were unfamiliar with the trail and the climate, they deferred to the returning missionaries and Church agents. One of the returning missionaries,
Levi Savage, urged them to spend the winter in Nebraska. He argued that such a late departure with a company consisting of the elderly, women and young children would lead to suffering, sickness and even death. All of the other Church
elders argued that the trip should go forward, expressing optimism that the company would be protected by
divine intervention. Some members of the company, perhaps as many as 100, decided to spend the winter in Florence or in Iowa, but the majority, about 404 in number (including Savage) continued the journey west. The Willie Company left Florence on
August 17 and the Martin Company on
August 27. Two ox-wagon trains, led by captains W.B. Hodgett and John A. Hunt, followed the Martin Company.
Near
Wood River,
Nebraska, a herd of
bison caused the Willie Company's cattle to
stampede, and nearly 30 cattle were lost. Left without enough cattle to pull all of the wagons, each handcart was required to take on an additional 100 pounds (45 kg) of flour.
In early September, Franklin D. Richards, returning from Europe where he'd served as the Church's
mission president, passed the emigrant companies. Richards and the 12 returning missionaries who accompanied him, traveling in carriages and light wagons pulled by horses and mules, pressed on to Utah to obtain assistance for the emigrants.
Disaster and rescue
In early October the two companies reached
Fort Laramie, Wyoming, where they expected to be restocked with provisions, but no provisions were there for them. The companies had to cut back food rations, hoping that their supplies would last until help could be sent from Utah. To lighten their loads, the Martin Company cut the luggage allowance to 10 pounds (4.5 kg) per person, discarding clothing and blankets that soon would be desperately needed.
On
October 4 the Richards party reached Salt Lake City and conferred with president Brigham Young and other Church leaders. The next morning the Church was meeting in a
general conference, where Young and the other speakers called on the Church members to provide wagons,
mules, supplies, and
teamsters for a rescue mission. On the morning of
October 7 the first rescue party left Salt Lake City with 16 wagonloads of food and supplies, pulled by four-mule teams with 27 young men serving as teamsters and rescuers. The party elected George D. Grant as their captain. Throughout October more wagon trains were assembled, and by the end of the month 250 relief wagons were on the road.
Meanwhile, the Willie and Martin companies were running out of food and encountering bitterly cold temperatures. On
October 19 a blizzard struck the region, halting the two companies and the relief party. The Willie Company was along the
Sweetwater River approaching the
Continental Divide. A scouting party sent ahead by the main rescue party found and greeted the emigrants, gave them a small amount of flour, encouraged them that rescue was near, and then rushed onward to try to locate the Martin Company. The members of the Willie Company had just reached the end of their flour supplies. They began slaughtering the handful of broken-down cattle that still remained while their death toll mounted. On
October 20 Captain Willie and Joseph Elder went ahead by mule through the snow to locate the supply train and inform them of the company's desperate situation. They arrived at the rescue party's campsite near
South Pass that evening, and by the next evening the rescue party reached the Willie Company and provided them with food and assistance. Half of the rescue party remained to assist the Willie Company while the other half pressed forward to assist the Martin Company. The difficulties of the Willie Company were not yet over. On
October 23, the second day after the main rescue party had arrived, the Willie Company faced the most difficult section of the trail—the ascent up Rocky Ridge. The climb took place during a howling snowstorm through knee-deep snow. That night 13 emigrants died.
On
October 19, the Martin Company was about 110 miles (177 km) further east, making its last crossing of the
North Platte River near present-day
Casper, Wyoming. Shortly after completing the crossing, the blizzard struck. Many members of the company suffered from
hypothermia or
frostbite after wading through the frigid river. They set up camp at Red Bluffs, unable to continue forward through the snow. Meanwhile the original scouting party continued eastward until it reached a small vacant fort at
Devil's Gate, where they'd been instructed to wait for the rest of the rescue party if they hadn't found the Martin Company. When the main rescue party rejoined them, another scouting party consisting of
Joseph Young, Abel Garr, and
Daniel Webster Jones was sent forward. The Martin company remained in their camp at Red Bluffs for nine days until the three scouts finally arrived on
October 28. By the time the scouts arrived, 56 members of the company had died. The scouts urged the emigrants to begin moving again. Three days later the main rescue party met the Martin Company and the Hodgett and Hunt wagon companies and helped them on to Devil's Gate.
George D. Grant, who headed the rescue party, reported to President Young:
At Devil's Gate the rescue party unloaded the baggage carried in the wagons of the Hodgett and Hunt wagon companies that had been following the Martin Company so the wagons could be used to transport the weakest emigrants. A small group remained at Devil's Gate over the winter to protect the property. On
November 4 the company had to cross the Sweetwater River, which was about 2 feet (0.6 m) deep and 90 to 120 feet (27 to 37 m) wide. The stream was clogged with floating ice. The young men of the rescue party (accounts mention George W. Grant, C. Allen Huntington, David P. Kimball, and Stephen W. Taylor) spent much of the day pulling the carts and carrying many of the emigrants across the river. Andrew Jensen later stated that some of the young rescuers died from the effects of the exposure. The severe weather forced the Martin Company to halt for another five days at
Martin's Cove, a few miles west of Devil's Gate.
The rescue parties escorted the emigrants from both companies to Utah through more snow and severe weather while their members continued to suffer death from disease and exposure. The Willie Company arrived in Salt Lake City on
November 9; 68 members of the company had lost their lives.
Meanwhile, a backup relief party of 77 teams and wagons was making its way east to provide additional assistance to the Martin Company. After passing Fort Bridger the leaders of the backup party concluded that the Martin Company must have wintered east of the Rockies, so they turned back. When word of the returning backup relief party was communicated to Young, he ordered the courier to return and tell them to turn back east and continue until they found the handcart company, but several days had been lost. On
November 18 the backup party met the Martin Company with the greatly needed supplies. At last all the members of the handcart party were now able to ride in wagons. The 104 wagons carrying the Martin Company arrived in Salt Lake City on
November 30; at least 145 members of the company had lost their lives. Many of the survivors had to have fingers, toes, or limbs amputated due to severe frostbite.
After the companies arrived in Utah, the residents generously opened their homes to the arriving emigrants, feeding and caring for them over the winter. The emigrants would eventually go on to Latter-day Saint settlements throughout Utah and the West.
Responsibility for the tragedy
American West historian,
Wallace Stegner, described the inadequate planning and improvident decisions leading to the tragedy when he wrote,
As early as
November 2 1856, while the Willie and Martin companies were still making their way to safety, Brigham Young responded to criticism of his own leadership by rebuking Franklin Richards and Daniel Spencer for allowing the companies to leave so late. However, many authors argued that Young, as author of the plan, was responsible.
Ann Eliza Young, daughter of one of the men in charge of building the carts and a former plural wife of Brigham Young, described her ex-husband's plan as a "cold-blooded, scheming, blasphemous policy." Stegner described Richards as a
scapegoat for Young's fundamental errors in planning, though Howard Christy, professor emeritus at
Brigham Young University, noted that Richards, as the highest ranking official in Florence, Nebraska area, was, in fact, the official who would have had the authority and capability to have averted the tragedy by halting their late departure.
Many survivors of the tragedy refused to blame anyone. Survivor John Jacques wrote, "I blame nobody. I'm not anxious to blame anybody... I've no doubt that those who had to do with its management meant well and tried to do the best they could under the circumstances." Another survivor, Francis Webster, was quoted as having said, "Was I sorry that I chose to come by hand cart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay and I'm thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Hand Cart Company." On the other hand, survivor John Chislett, who later left the Church, wrote bitterly of Richards promising them that "we should get to Zion in safety."
In May 2006, a panel of researchers at the annual conference of the
Mormon History Association blamed the tragedy on a failure of leadership. Lyndia Carter, a
trails historian, said Franklin D. Richards "was responsible, in my mind, for the late departure" because "he started the snowball down the slope" that eventually "added up to disaster." Christy agreed that "leadership from the top, from the outset, was seriously short of the mark." Robert Briggs, an attorney, said "It's almost a foregone conclusion . . . there's evidence of negligence. With leaders all the way up to Brigham Young, there was mismanagement." On the other hand, Rebecca Bartholomew and
Leonard J. Arrington wrote, "Memories of what was perhaps the worst disaster in the history of western migration have been palliated by what could also be regarded as the most heroic rescue of the Mormon frontier."
| Handcart company |
Captain |
Ship |
Arrived Iowa City |
Departed Iowa City |
Departed Florence |
Number of individuals |
Number died en route |
Arrived Salt Lake City |
| Fourth or Willie Company | James G. Willie |
Thornton, sailed May 4 1856 to New York |
June 26 |
July 15 |
August 17 |
~500 left Iowa City; 404 left Florence |
68 |
November 9
|
| Fifth or Martin Company | Edward Martin |
Horizon, sailed May 25 1856 to Boston |
July 8 |
July 28 |
August 27 |
576 |
>145 |
November 30
|
1857–60: Last five companies
A number of lessons had been learned from the 1856 disaster that allowed the Church to continue the handcart system while avoiding another disaster. Never again would a handcart company depart Florence later than
July 7. The construction of the handcarts was modified to strengthen them and reduce repairs. The handcarts would now be regularly greased. Arrangements were made to replenish supplies along the route.
By 1857 the Perpetual Emigration Fund was exhausted; almost all of the handcart emigrants that year and in subsequent years had to pay their own way. With the increased cost, the number of handcart emigrants dropped from nearly 2,000 in 1856 to about 480 in 1857. Nevertheless, in 1857 two companies made the trek. Both companies arrived in Salt Lake City by
September 13. Perhaps the most notable incident was when a captain of the U.S. Army's
Utah Expedition, on its way to Utah to confront Young and the Mormons, donated an ox to the hungry emigrants.
With the uncertainty caused by the
Utah War, the Church called off all European emigration for 1858. In 1859 one handcart company crossed the plains. The emigrants were now able to travel by rail to
Saint Joseph, Missouri, after which they went by riverboat to Florence where they were outfitted with handcarts and supplies. When the 1859 company reached Fort Laramie, they discovered their food was running dangerously short, so they cut back on rations. When they reached Devil's Gate the last flour was distributed. Emigrant Ebeneezer B. Beesley recalled an incident in which a group of rough
mountain men fed the hungry emigrants. One of the mountain men then asked a young woman from the company to stay with him, which the tired woman agreed to do. (William Atkin recalled another version of the story in which two young women married two mountain men.) The hunger worsened when expected supplies were not available when they reached the
Green River. Three days later wagons from Utah carrying provisions finally rescued the famished emigrants.
The last two handcart companies made the journey in 1860, again following the route through St. Joseph. Although the journey continued to be difficult for the emigrants, these companies had relatively uneventful trips and experienced little loss of life.
After 1860 handcarts were no longer used. The Church implemented a new system of emigration, in which wagon trains travelled east from Salt Lake City in the spring and returned with emigrants in the summer. The
transcontinental railroad was being constructed, and the railroad terminus gradually moved westward, shortening the trip.
Legacy
Handcart pioneers and the handcart movement are important parts of
LDS culture,
music and
fiction. Arthur King Peters described the importance of this part of Mormon history in
Seven Trails West:
Wallace Stegner praised the examples of those of the handcart companies, particularly in comparison to other pioneer parties:
Reenactments
Reenactments, in which a group dressed in 19th century garb travels for one or more days pushing and pulling handcarts, have become a popular activity among LDS
wards, youth groups, and families. The reenactments have been lauded by LDS leaders; for example,
M. Russell Ballard of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, "Through music, drama, and stirring reenactments, we'll be reminded of incredible pioneer journeys, both temporal and spiritual." The reenactments have become so popular that the
Bureau of Land Management is studying the impact on the trail and its environment, especially in the area around Rocky Ridge, Wyoming. According to the
Casper Star-Tribune, the BLM has had to impose a fee to offset the costs of monitoring the impacts of reenactors and other campers on the trail.
A re-creation of the 1856 handcart disaster was featured on the
History Channel show,
Wild West Tech.
150th anniversary
A number of events were held during 2006 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1856 handcart companies:
- The 2006 conference of the Mormon History Association was held in Casper, Wyoming from May 25–May 28 and featured a specially commissioned concert opera by Harriet Petherick Bushman, "1856: Long Walk Home," as well as several research papers on the handcart trek.
- From June 9–June 11, a symposium and festival were held in Iowa City on the anniversary of the departure of the first company. Gordon B. Hinckley, the then-current President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke at the closing ceremony fireside.
- A musical called 1856, produced by Cory Ellsworth, a descendant of Edmund Ellsworth, was performed in Mesa, Arizona and Salt Lake City in July 2006.
- Filmmaker Lee Groberg and writer/historian Heidi Swinton created a documentary for PBS, Sweetwater Rescue: The Willie & Martin Handcart Story, which features reenactments of the rescue. The one-hour film was shown nationally in the United States on December 18 2006. A companion book was also published.
- Brigham Young University created a daily journal of the Willie Handcart Company on its Web site.
Further Information
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