Perpetual Emigration Fund
In September 1850, based on proposals made in the church's general conference, the provisional government of the State of Deseret formally incorporated the fund as the Perpetual Emigrating Company.
[2] While proselyting efforts in Europe led to increasing numbers of new converts drawing on the PEF, the company only sometimes paid for a recipient's ship passage; more often it assisted with overland travel costs for those already residing or newly arrived in the US.
[4] The earlier growth of the LDS Church in Britain meant that a higher percentage of British members received PEF assistance than emigrants coming from elsewhere (primarily Scandinavia).
At first, church leadership believed that members in Europe should be advised to wait until a potential canal was built through Panama or Nicaragua, so they could land in California and avoid the difficult overland journey from the Atlantic seaboard.
Beginning in 1856, instead of supplying covered wagons with oxen to cross the plains from the western railroad terminus, church leaders organized many emigrants into handcart companies provided with two-wheeled carts that they would pull themselves, like a very large wheelbarrow.
This led to two companies starting the handcart stage of their journey too late in the year, with significant loss of life when they were caught in an October blizzard before reaching Salt Lake City.
By drawing on available resources, it would reduce the challenges and costs of outfitting each group separately, and the wagons could carry the necessary gear and supplies while the majority of travelers walked alongside.
[8] These teams became known as "down-and-back companies" based on their journey "down" to the Missouri River gathering point and back to Utah, and contributed significantly in facilitating the larger emigrant groups organized through the PEF over the course of the decade.
By this time, the majority of overseas immigration to the US had already shifted to steamships, and the church followed suit in developing a relationship with the Guion Line to carry its emigrants as steerage passengers.
