Mormon handcart pioneers
Neighbors who were not Mormon felt threatened by the church's rapid growth in numbers, its tendency to vote as a bloc and acquire political power, its claims of divine favor, and the practice of polygamy.
Despite the frequent moves, church members were unable to prevent opposition, culminating in the extermination order against all Mormons living in Missouri by the state's governor Lilburn Boggs in 1838 and the murder of their leader Joseph Smith in 1844.
John Taylor was the church's agent in New York, and he arranged train transportation for the emigrants to Iowa City.
The emigrants spent several weeks in Iowa City building additional handcarts and obtaining supplies before beginning their trek of about 1,300 miles (2,100 km).
[19] 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.
Journals and recollections describe periods of illness and hunger; the handcart companies were not able to carry enough food to sustain themselves without additional relief supplies sent from Utah.
[26] With slow communications in the era before the transatlantic telegraph, the church's agents in Iowa City were not expecting the additional emigrants and made frantic preparations for their arrival.
When the emigrants arrived in Iowa City, no handcarts had been built, and three weeks were spent hastily assembling the carts and outfitting the companies.
He warned them that they could not travel "with a mixed company of aged people, women, and little children, so late in the season without much suffering, sickness, and death.
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.
[31] In early September, Richards, returning from Europe where he had served as the church's mission president, passed the emigrant companies.
"[32] 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.
The companies cut back food rations down to 12 oz (340 g) per person, hoping that their supplies would last until help arrived from Utah.
To lighten their loads, on October 17 the Martin Company cut the luggage allowance to 10 pounds (4.5 kg) per person, discarding clothing and blankets.
[35][36][37] On October 4, the Richards party reached Salt Lake City and conferred with Brigham Young and other church leaders.
On the morning of October 7, the first rescue party left Salt Lake City with 16 wagon-loads of food and supplies, pulled by four-mule teams with 27 young men serving as teamsters and rescuers.
[41] The members of the Willie Company had reached the end of their flour supplies and slaughtered the handful of broken-down cattle that still remained.
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.
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.
[42][43][44] On October 19, the Martin Company was about 110 miles (180 km) further east, making its last crossing of the North Platte River near present-day Casper, Wyoming.
[46][47][48] George D. Grant, who headed the rescue party, reported to Young:[49] It is not of much use for me to attempt to give a description of the situation of these people, for this you will learn from [others]; but you can imagine between five and six hundred men, women and children, worn down by drawing hand carts through snow and mud; fainting by the wayside; falling, chilled by the cold; children crying, their limbs stiffened by cold, their feet bleeding and some of them bare to snow and frost.
[54][55] 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.
"[65] American West historian, Wallace Stegner, described the inadequate planning and improvident decisions of leadership caused the struggles of the companies.
The emigrants could 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 low, so they cut back on rations.
[76] The outbreak of the American Civil War likely hastened the handcart system's demise by disrupting immigration from Europe and placing severe restrictions on rail travel from the East Coast.
[80] The first known modern-era reenactment took place in 1966 from Henefer, Utah, to the mouth of Emigration Canyon by young men from Phoenix, Arizona, using handcarts between metal wheels repurposed from old farm wagons.
Beginning in 1977, similar treks were offered as part of Ricks College's outdoor recreation program, on connected jeep trails from Rexburg, Idaho and into Montana.
[83][84] Filmmaker Lee Groberg and historian Heidi Swinton created a documentary for PBS called Sweetwater Rescue: The Willie & Martin Handcart Story and first broadcast on December 18, 2006.
