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MORMON HANDCARTS
Total Articles:
10
The Mormon Handcart Companies.
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|
 | Pioneer Children Died As They Walked And Walked
Wednesday, Sep 8, 2004, at 06:33 AM
Original Author(s): Anonymous
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | I was thinking about that primary song that our kids are taught, where they sing "Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked...". I got to thinking about those innocent little souls - and comparing them to my own four children. They didn't have a whole lot of choices to make - they had to go with their families because they depend on their parents for their very lives.
Then I picture Brigham Young - that fool - teaching these people the big lies and filling them also with guilt and fear. I think of the pioneer people walking, pulling those carts, driving their animals, starving, blistering their feet, pulling muscles, breaking bones, freezing to death. All for this stinking cult. This stinking, stinking, rotten to the core, lying money-mongering cult.
And then I look into the eyes of my precious children - my innocent children that I love more than life itself. And I put them into the place of those poor pioneer children for a moment.... those children that trusted their mommas and daddies and hoped for happiness and peace in their lives. But instead they watch their moms and dads die, their grandparents die, their animals die, or siblings die. Or they die themselves. I can see them reaching out with split mouths from dehydration, and tears in their eyes. They only want their moms and dads to help them, but their parents are powerless. There is no magic bandaid for this kind of pain.
When I think of how much I love my children, and then pretend they are a pioneer child and I'm watching them die of starvation and hypothermia, and then having to lay them in a blanket on top of the snow - KNOWING that animals are going to rip them apart and EAT them ~~ My GOD....the horror I feel is indescribable.
And now...in this day and age, the mormons brag about their pioneer ancestors and the suffering they went through for "the truth". As if it's something to be proud of. I feel nothing but compassion and pity for them. All that suffering for this church, and now in our day the church is still overworking people, pushing them to their very limits, tearing families apart limb by limb like ravenous wolves on an empty prairie, and robbing people of their wages to build up this meaningless mass of confusion and lies and fear. Damn.
| | | Some Important Facts About The Handcart Companies
Tuesday, Oct 3, 2006, at 07:03 AM
Original Author(s): Uncle Mo
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | The morg had already set up a very standardized way of getting the new converts across the plains, and these immigrants were crossing the plains as a part of that official program. They were mostly English converts and had no concept of western travel so they wouldn't have a clue to do it on their own, so TSCC was the official outfitter here. However BY, notorious cheapskate that he was, was looking for less expensive means to cross (teams and wagons were pricey). So he dreamed up the handcart scheme (oh wait, God did and revealed it to BY. Sorry).
BY also surrounded himself with "yes men" who feared the consequences of failing in their mission. So when they were running behind schedule they slapped together the handcarts with greenwood (not cured) and other poor materials and sent them out very late in the spring. Some of the more knowledgeable morg leaders knew they were exposing them to considerable risk but their voiced concerns fell on deaf ears.
They lost more time when the carts kept breaking down.
At one point Apostle Richards and his well outfitted entourage passed the Willie Company in their wagons. He stopped for a day or two for some preaching, publicly rebuked a dissenter who had encouraged them to winter before getting into the Rockys, and prophecied that they would reach the SL valley without even a hair on their head being lost. He then requested some beef and they gave him their best cow. He said they'd be resupplied at Fort Laramie.
When they got to Fort Laramie there was nothing for them and they had to cut rations more deeply. When the snowstorms hit that's when death set in in a major way. 1/4 of the Martin and 1/6 of the Willie Company perished.
Read Mary Burton's account in the book "Tell It All" by Fanny Stenhouse or Ann Eliza Young's account in "Wife No. 19". Nee Webb, her father was a wagon builder who was in Florence (the point of departure) and in the Richards party that passed them by.
Once again TSCC and its huge infallibility complex prevent the truth from being told. However, the faith the handcart companies showed is the exact kind of faith that GBH wants. It's the bury-your-head-in-the-sand variety. To which I say, No thanks.
| | | They Hijacked A Beautiful Part Of Wyoming
Thursday, Nov 30, 2006, at 06:47 AM
Original Author(s): Hermes
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | Every year I drive through Wyoming. The stretch between Rawlins and Casper has some beautiful natural lanmarks, including Independence Rock and the Devil's Gate.
Now?...the Mormon church has hijacked the area with signs, visitor's centers and white shirted missionaries, all exploiting the Willie and Martin tragedy.
You would think it was the only thing that ever happened in the area.
Fact is, it is at the crossroads of the Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail and the Pony Express.
But the Mormons want you to think the their "history" is more important. I doubt that you will get the numbers that Cr@ig has listed, the proportions of handcart v. wagon train.
It's just more fodder for the Mormon Mythology Machine.
They were a drop in the bucket.
The area is too beautiful to focus on the dire results of an "inspired" prophet's decisions...unless they want to say the people died becasue Brigham was a cheap bastard...well then, I'd be less averse to the whole thing. But no...Brigham was a Godling, and these folks are all martyrs.
| | | Less Than 3% Of Mormon Pioneers Traveled By Handcart
Monday, Dec 11, 2006, at 06:30 AM
Original Author(s): Mummylus
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | Approximately 70,000 Mormons migrated to the Salt Lake Valley before the completion of the railroad in 1869. Brigham Young started use of handcarts in 1856 to cut the cost of travel for all the poor European converts. There were ten handcart companies that crossed the plains between 1856 and 1860. Even after 222 people from the Willie and Martin Companies died from exposure, they kept using the handcarts till 1860.
Of the 70,000 immigrants that migrated before 1869, only 3000, or less than 5% traveled by handcart. Few Mormons actually went west solely by wagon as well. Before 1869 approximately 34,000, or 49% traveled much of the way by train. After the completion of the railroad the remaining 30,000-40,000 traveled from the east coast all the way to Ogden, UT by train. The total number of migrants eventually exceeded 100,000 so less than 3% came by handcart.
Most of the hype and reenactments started during the church's Sesquicentennial celebrations in 1998. They wanted to do some major PR stuff and thus the Willie and Martin Handcart memorial in Wyoming and all the stake youth conferences started doing the reenactments. I went on one myself. That's a long story I should share sometime. It was discovered at this time that for these past 150 years, no one had thought to do the temple work for those that died on the trail. So, of course there was much testimony bearing about it. All of this focus on these very poor, neglected pioneers fits right in with the, we have it so hard/we are so persecuted/aren't we wonderful", complex of the church.
All of my mormon ancestors, as well as my husband's family, came across the plains and many died. Through their biographies and journals we have come to realize that they accomplished an amazing feat. I don't know if I could, or even would, make the effort. I am saddened because of the sacrifices they made and the suffering they endured.
| | | From "Wife Number 19"
Monday, Jan 29, 2007, at 08:33 AM
Original Author(s): Wine Country Girl
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | I remember hearing about this so-called "anti-mormon" book when I was in seminary, so naturally never read it. An interesting thread jogged my memory, and with some quick Googling, I found some of it online. The part I am posting was always billed as "faith-promoting," when I was tbm. Now, I'm overcome by the suffering this cult has caused.
The first Hand-Cart Companies, which had left Iowa City early in the season, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley the last of September. They were very much fatigued, and were greatly rejoiced when their journey was ended.
The entire company had waded every river on the route to Salt Lake, and, as a consequence, the health of almost every man and woman was completely broken. The married women suffered the least, as they only had to assist their husbands in pulling the hand-carts. The young girls had to pull theirs unassisted, and they were literally worn out with the exertion. The children were placed on the carts when they became tired, and so added weight to already overburdened wagons. It was when the second of these companies came in that Brigham Young was heard to say, as he rubbed his hands and smiled with overflowing complacency, "This experiment is a success."
Alas for Brother Brigham, this remark was overheard by some of the emigrants, and it is needless to say that their faith in "inspiration," and "revelation," was very much weakened; and the subsequent adventures of their friends and companions, whose arrival had been delayed, by no means tended to reassure them, or restore their waning belief. It was enough to be the victims of a heartless and mercenary experiment; but to be deluded into the belief that it was by the direct revelation of the will of the Lord made it harder to bear, and there was much bitterness of spirit expressed when the people who had endured so much, and gloried in the endurance, because in so doing they were obeying the commands of God, learned that their sufferings were borne merely to help fill the purses of a false prophet and his corrupt followers.
When the relief train reached Captain Willie's company, they were camped on the Sweetwater, near the Rocky Ridges. They had eaten their last provisions, and death was staring them pitilessly in the face. The camp was filled with dead and dying. There was no help for the latter, and the poor souls had lost all desire to live. They were waiting, with almost apathetic indifference, for release, while those dearest to them were doubly agonized because they must see the loved ones perish, and they were helpless - even to bring comforts to them, or make life easier while it lasted. Those who were strong enough, dug one large grave in which all the dead were laid together. - It was the best they could do; but their hands were no less tender and loving, their hearts no less sore, than if the last rites had been as imposing as those of royalty itself. The only thing they could do to prepare their dear ones for the grave was to close the eyes, the loving eyes that, to the very last, had turned longingly Zion-ward; to fold the pulseless hands over the silent hearts that, through all the hardships and toil, had kept their trust firm and their faith bright; to straighten out the tired feet that, bleeding and sore, had yet toiled joyfully along the rugged path that led to the fair Canaan of their dreams; to smooth the tangled hair away from haggard faces, where the lines of care lay heavily, and yet through which the light of peace divine shone serene and pure; to arrange as decently as possible the tattered garments, which were their only clothing for the tomb, and to lay them, coffinless, in their cold bed in the Rocky Mountains, in their last, long sleep; then to go away and leave them there, with the relentless winter storms beating upon them, and no stone to mark their resting-place. The road from Winter-Quarters to Salt Lake was a via dolorosa indeed.
Thirteen had died in Willie's camp the day that succor reached them; two more died the next day; and all were buried in one grave. The men succumbed to death before the women. The cause, no doubt, was the greater weariness on account of their more arduous exertions, and their wonderful self-denial for the sake of their wives and children. They would work just so long as they could, then fall dead in front of their carts, their hands still holding them tight in the tenacious grasp of death. There was no time for mourning or delay. Hurried graves were dug, and the bodies placed therein, hastily covered, - then the survivors must press on again. Wives left their husbands, husbands their wives, parents their children, and children their parents, under the frozen earth of the desert and mountain ridges.
When the poor Saints knew that assistance had really reached them, that starvation was beaten away and death held at bay, their joy knew no bounds. They cried like children, men as well as women, and burst forth into prayer and songs of praise. They attacked the food like famished animals, and ate it with a wolfish greed. The scene is one that can never be adequately described. It was full of a terrible pathos. It told of a suffering that never can be comprehended except by those who endured it. The clothing and bedding were then divided between them, and they were made comfortable as they could be under the circumstances. That night, for the first time for many weeks, the sounds of rejoicing were heard through the camp. They were not forgotten of the Lord, nor deserted by his people; and again they found heart to sing their hand-cart hymns which had been written for them by some enthusiastic members of the train.
After seeing Captain Willie's company made comfortable, the relief train started east again in search of Captain Martin's company. This they found in camp at Grease Wood Creek, twenty miles from Willie's camp. The suffering in this company was quite equal to that of the company just relieved, and precisely the same scenes were enacted. They were wild with joy, and men and women fell on the necks of their deliverers with sobs and kisses, calling them their saviours, and invoking blessings of all kinds on their heads.
The camp was filled with dead and dying, and many had been left behind that day, having fallen exhausted in the way. The storm had been blinding, and their companions could not stop for them; they could only hasten on while daylight lasted, making their slow, painful progress towards the haven of their rest. My father and his comrades spent the night in searching for those that were left behind, and bringing them into camp. where they were tenderly cared for. Many of them died very soon after being brought in others lived, but they were maimed for life, feet and hands, in many cases. having been literally frozen off. This was the people, "the chosen people of God, for whose benefit the Indians, the seasons. nay, the very elements themselves, should be controlled." Their belief in "prophecy" must have been severely tried by this shock.
Everything had happened to them to make their journey hard. Their carts had broken down repeatedly, as my father had prophesied they would, and a great deal of delay had been caused by the frequent stopping for repairs; their cattle had stampeded, so that their supply of milk and fresh beef was cut off, and only oxen enough left to allow one yoke to a team; some of the men who dropped behind the others, wearied with the journey, were eaten by wolves; very many had died, and others were hopelessly crippled; the winter had set in earlier, and with severer Storms than have ever been known in all the Utah experience. It seemed as if the Lord were punishing priest and people, the one for the audacious assumption of power, the other for blind belief in, and dependence on, earthly promises, even when purporting to come from Him. Blasphemous presumption and foolish ignorance were alike hateful in His sight.
Richards had promised the people that they should find supplies at Laramie, but he was unable to reach there with them, and on their arrival the Saints found only a message telling them that the supplies would be at South Pass. It was with heavy hearts that they went on their toilsome way, more discouraged than ever they had been before. The swift-falling winter storms made matters worse, and it is only a wonder that so many survived as did, - that every one did not perish before aid could reach them.
The day after reaching Martin's camp. the party from Salt Lake pushed on about thirty miles farther east, walking most of the way, through a blinding snow, to meet Captain Hunt's wagon train. They found the people connected with this but very little better off than the Hand-Cart companies; they were suffering severely from the intense cold, and many had their limbs frozen. Captain Hunt might have hastened and reached Salt Lake City earlier, but he had been expressly forbidden to pass the hand-carts, which shows conclusively enough that those very persons who sent the emigrants off at that unfavorable season feared for the results. This was the last company that was to be relieved, and so my father and his companions remained with the train until it overtook the hand-carts at Devil's Gate.
At this point the train was unloaded, and all the goods which were going to Salt Lake City, that could actually be spared, were left there for the winter, and the wagons were filled with the sick and feeble emigrants, who could never have reached the Valley but for this aid. The progress was necessarily slow, but the people were so much more comfortable that the time did not drag so heavily. There were very few deaths after the mountains were well crossed, and a milder climate reached, and those who were ill grew better, although the majority of them have never been well since.
At Fort Bridger, one hundred and thirty miles from Salt Lake City, the emigrants were met by an order from Brigham Young to winter there and at Fort Supply. A general feeling of dismay spread over the camp, in spite of the joy with which the Saints received the added supplies of food and clothing. To be so near their destination, and yet to be kept from it, seemed doubly hard, after all the sorrow and hardships they had met and endured on their way. It did indeed seem as though the way to the land of promise was closed, instead of being opened to them. Were they, like Moses of old, to die in sight of their Canaan? Had they been brought all this way only to perish just outside the walls of their Zion?
The places designated by Brigham were totally unfit to winter in. Should the poor Saints, in their feeble and emaciated condition, attempt it, it was more than likely that they would perish before spring. Seeing the utter impracticability of the plan, and touched by the distress of the poor people, who were again to be made the victims of a prophetic blunder, two or three of the relieving party, among them my father, came at once to the city, travelling day and night, to have arrangements made to bring them to the Valley.
They were successful in their mission, and an express was at once despatched to bring the waiting Saints home. When at length they arrived, they were met with gladness, and given the warmest welcome. The people in Salt Lake City opened their houses to them, and took them gladly in, giving them the best and the kindest care. Those of the Hand-Cart companies, who had come in first, crowded round them, and met them with tears of rejoicing, in which sorrow mingled. It was then that they began to realize their loss. As one after another of their old companions came up. and missing some familiar face, inquired for the friend so dearly beloved, always the same sad answer came - "Died on the Plains." Sixty-seven were left on the way from the Missouri River to the Valley, which was about one sixth of the number which started.
I remember distinctly when these companies came in; their wretched condition impressed me at the time, and I have seen many of them since, poor crippled creatures, stumping about the city, trying to do enough work to keep soul and body together; more than that, they were not able to do I have heard, too, from some of them, the most harrowing stories of their journey, that terrible, fatal journey; which was one of the very worst blunders that the Prince of Blunderers, Brigham Young, ever made.
This book is online at: http://www.antimormon.8m.com/youngindex.html
| | | Handcarts And Manufactured Testimonies
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007, at 08:01 AM
Original Author(s): Stripping Warrior
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | The local stake is putting on a summer handcart trek for the youth. I never quite understood these activities for several reasons, but I'll leave them out for now. What peaked my interest was the secrecy of the itinerary for the multiple day outing. The few leaders who have been given a schedule outline have their paperwork watermarked with large type "CONFIDENTIAL" across the documents. I was told that the details were tightly under wraps, because if the youth found out what was in store, they would not attend.
All youth belongings will be searched. No cell phones, mp3 players, etc. The girls will not be allowed to carry or wear makeup(ok, whatever). The bags are also being searched for food...the leaders may asked to search other leaders bags for snacks as well. The first day will comprise an 8 hour trek. The youth can eat the lunch they packed, but at the completion of the days journey they will fed a bowl of broth, nothing else. This is the reason for the food confiscation that will take place at the start of the day.
Understand too, that the parents of the youth are uninformed on the trips specifics. Not only does this trip pose a good chance of incurring liability issues, but may very well backfire the inspirational intent of those who masterminded the excursion. Todays youth are a bit like domesticated pets, not all of them are on the track team and prepared for this type of exposure and calorie restriction on an arduous march. All it takes is a bit of sunstroke out there, or a young person who has blood sugar level issues, and an elephant could fit through the legal door that has been kicked wide open.
Despite the fact that the planning has been well under way for many months, I told my wife that someone with sense will pull the plug before the scheduled event.
I'm wondering too, if there is any effort to put the handcart excursions in an accurate light? From a PBS documentary, it seems like over 20% of the participants suffered incredibly only to be met with death. It goes without saying that most had to endure the elements as well as watch their husbands and children die.
The reenactment idea seems a bit fanciful without the sobriety of the actual facts being presented to the youth, so that they can judge for themselves the gravity of the circumstances at hand, as well as the merits of the decision of pioneers/leadership to embark on such an ill fated journey. I heard somewhere that a group called "The Daughters of Zion" did a pretty good job of sanitizing pioneer journals so that a faithful remembrance of these events would emerge. Anybody have further light and knowledge here? The PBS special was only able to acquire "faithful" journal quotes from church public relations. It was odd to hear these optimistic journal entries during the television presentation, as the death toll was mounting! Not a harsh word to be retold! It just seems wrong to spin the mistakes of men into a testimony experience for the youth
| | | On Reenacting The Mormon Handcart Trek
Monday, May 30, 2011, at 07:03 AM
Original Author(s): Anonymous
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | It has become fashionable for LDS stakes to participate in reenactments of the migration of its handcart pioneers, who in the mid 19th Century trudged from Iowa to Salt Lake City, pulling behind them two-wheeled wooden carts piled high with their belongings and supplies. Two such companies departed Florence, Nebraska after August 17, which was dangerously late, for it placed them in awful snowstorms in the mountains of Wyoming. Many died. Those who lived suffered horribly. When they arrived in the Salt Lake valley, their emaciated, tortured bodies presented a harrowing sight to the crowds who had assembled to cheer them.
The alleged purpose of the reenactments is to give participants an admittedly tiny shred of appreciation for what the pioneers suffered. It troubles me for three reasons:
1. The so-called “reenactment” is nothing of the sort. What modern trekkers endure is a few days of hot sun and achy limbs. Their experience does not bear the least resemblance to what their heroes of yore went through. Modern pioneer trekkers wear expensive athletic shoes, special no-blister socks and lightweight fashions. There is no starving; plenty of food and water is provided. Medical assistance is ever near. They don’t walk from Iowa; they are bused in air-conditioned vehicles to Wyoming, where they arrive fresh. They spend a few days only. Their handcarts are well-made, not flimsy, constantly breaking-down carts made hurriedly from green wood. And trekkers are not stuck in the middle of nowhere in high winds and deep snow with no communication from the outside world.
2. Totally absent is the psychological torture the real pioneers endured. Modern trekkers endure no uncertainty as to who will live and who will die. There is no fear of being called a heretic, a doubter or faithless for speaking up and saying, “Prophet shmophet, this is insanity. Let’s wait and cross in springtime, and with better-made carts.” And they don’t have to worry about arriving in Utah emaciated, with chronic health problems resulting from the trek, penniless, in need of a job, without a warm home to recuperate in.
3. The reenactments promote an Orwellian rewrite of Mormon history. Today’s Mormons celebrate the handcart pioneers as heroes. Perhaps they were. But certainly they were victims of abuse, too. Sometimes there is a fuzzy line between the two.
The glamorized, Orwellian version of the story portrays the handcart pioneers as humble, faithful followers who trusted in their God. And it portrays their leaders as prophets who obtained and passed along direction from God himself. If the direction seemed not to make sense, well, they didn’t question God. They trusted him. That meant that when hardship and death happened, it was part of the plan. When it didn’t, it was a miracle. How convenient when no matter what the outcome, the conclusion remains unchanged.
But that’s the glamorized, Orwellian version. In truth, Brigham Young and his lieutenants were despots. They bullied followers into doing as they were told. When they ordered a hasty departure on a journey too late in the year for any sane person to undertake, they brooked no dissent. Those who suggested waiting for better weather were shamed as apostates, which was about the worst thing you could call them. Today if you saw children on a playground behaving like these so-called “leaders,” you would call them bullies, brutes or brats in need of a spanking. But this was no playground. “Unconscionable, criminal con men who should have been thrown in jail” is more apt.
In my book, the handcart pioneer experience is not something to celebrate. It was a needless, perfectly avoidable tragedy – to be remembered and mourned.
I’ll allow that the modern trek reenactments may make for a great camping trip. I bet that bonding and a spirit of cooperation result. Indeed, these benefits are often presented in the form of testimonials when returning trekkers are asked to speak about their experience in church and, sometimes, on video. I have no quarrel with that.
I’ll even allow that more than a few trekkers may pause, mid-experience, and try to fathom what their forbears endured, and marvel, and even utter a word of gratitude. All good.
But when returning trekkers claim some form of first-hand experience akin to what the original handcart companies endured, it is an insult to the memory of those pioneers. For those of us who have to listen to them express it, it is an insult to our intelligence. And, to celebrate as prophets, rather than hold accountable, the despots who drove the pioneers to the act of insanity that the handcart migration was is an insult to human decency.
| | | Okay. Let's Put Some Heavy Sprinklings Of Historical Reality... Handcart Reminiscence
Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011, at 09:33 AM
Original Author(s): Sl Cabbie
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | On that Sunday School sundae the faithful have tried to serve up...
In Steve's RFM thread linked above, I noted I didn't have access to the history textbook an entire generation of Utah youths were assigned to read in the required seventh grade history curriculum. This volume, "The Utah Story," was written by Milton R. Hunter, an LDS General Authority and historian who taught at Utah State University.
Since making that post, I picked up a copy from a used bookstore, and the faith-promoting nonsense in it would've done Soviet-era Russian propaganda authors proud. I note there is zero mention of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and the only reference to John D. Lee describes his settling of Harmony (p. 138). There's also a picture of Parley P. Pratt, but no mention of the circumstances of his death.
Okay, for the newer sorts, the usual bullchip advisory/protocol warnings are operative. I've long advocated purchasing the apparatus and filters, etc. in bulk from Costco and staying away from cheap Asian knock-offs. Buy American if you want to avoid brain strain...
The chapter on the Handcart disaster begins on p.149 and is titled "Story of Handcart Migration to Utah" (The Utah Story; Hunter, Milton R. (1960) Wheelwright Lithographing; SLC, Ut). Here are a few extractions along with some "rest of the story" introjects involving some suspiciously overlooked factual material.
"A combination of several causes was responsible for the pioneer leaders devising that method of travel [the teacher said], and so I shall explain some of them.
"Hundreds of people were migrating to America from Europe, especially from England, in 1855 and 1856. One of the main causes of this migration was the high cost of food brought about by the Crimean War. Amont the emigrants were many who had joined the Mormon Church and desired to come to Utah. Also, the cost of transporting each person from Europe to the Salt Lake Valley rose so rapidly during the early fifties [1850's] that the handcart experiment was tried to cut down the cost.
"The decision to use handcarts was reached by the pioneer leaders only after the most careful studay and experience in directing the immigration of the converts to the Great Basin during the preceeding nine years. They believed that travel by handcart could be made equal, if not superior, to that of ox teams, if everything was supervised carefully.
"They crossed the plains with less difficulty and more speed than the ox-team immigrants."
Oh, man, I'm sorry I need a break...Going to have to take a bath after typing that one... Wiki reports 13 deaths in the first company, seven in the second, and "less than seven" in the third...
As Will Bagley detailed (and I concluded independently a few years later before reading his work on the subject), the Perpetual Emigration Fund "went broke" because wealthy English donors ceased giving funds after the practice of polygamy was "exposed" in 1852. The church announcement on this one at the 1852 Conference followed on the heels of Captain Gunnison's best-seller about the year he spent among the Mormons in the Salt Lake Valley.
And that's not even really good history; many Scottish converts were motivated by the "Clearances" where people were evicted from farms they'd worked for generations in order for land owners to raise sheep for wool during the early part of the Industrial Revolution. And Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia had no part in the Crimean War; they had their own troubles with the German Prussians. It was a field day for Mormon missionaries, selling a dream of opportunities on the American frontier to these impoverished and disaffected sorts...
Well, here's something approaching the truth...
"Unfortunately...the journey of the Willie and Martin handcart companies resulted in disaster, making it one of the saddest pages of Utah history.
How about the largest human disaster in the entire Overland Migration, circa 1842-1869?
Aaarggh!! Grab your flak helmets... Incoming highspeed you-know-whats...
Many members of the group... were in a hurry to come to Utah, and so unfortunately, they overruled those who suggested Governor Young's instructions be followed."
Remember boys and girls, follow the prophet...
"Brigham Young immediately called for volunteers to take food, clothing, and bedding to the emigrants and to bring them back to Salt Lake. Before October had passed, about 250 teams and wagons had been sent to assist the sufferers.
No mention of the ones diverted to bring the cache of liquor back to Salt Lake... Okay, that wasn't something to teach in junior high... Particularly in Utah...
| | | Trek Just Boils My Blood
Friday, May 25, 2012, at 09:55 AM
Original Author(s): Rodolfo
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | Trek just boils my blood.
The fact TSCC holds up the handcart as an iconic symbol of commitment and faith to innocent youth makes me want to burn something.
The death and suffering of naive immigrant converts was completely avoidable and a result of church leaders wanting to save money by making human beings pull a cart that up till that time, would have only been pulled by a draft animal. 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."
If you want to read about this monumental human atrocity you can go here, and download the Journal of Mormon History, with this article:
“One Long Funeral March”: A Revisionist’s View of the Mormon Handcart Disasters, by Will Bagley, 50
http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonh...
| | | "Handcart Trek" Recreations A Mockery Of The Suffering Of The Pioneers?
Wednesday, Dec 5, 2012, at 01:09 PM
Original Author(s): Lazarusreborn
Topic: MORMON HANDCARTS -Guid- | ↑ | I've been reading Wife No. 19 and came to the parts about the handcart fiasco. Her descriptions of the ordeal and the blame she placed do not surprise me, but prompted me to do some more research.
Growing up in the church I was subjected to two mock(and I do mean MOCK) handcart treks/recreations, where we walked maybe 3 miles per day and were rewarded at the end of the day with Dutch Oven feasts with as much food as we could eat and reasonably comfortable sleeping arrangements. Perhaps I tend too much towards cynicism, but even as a TBM youth in the church, the whole affair struck me as irreverent if not a complete sacrilege of the suffering that those poor people went through. Rather than being inspired by the faith and perseverance as I was supposed to be, I was left feeling empty and questioning how something so horrific had happened to the "Lord's chosen people".
At the time I was still brainwashed enough that I had difficulty considering that the fault could have been that of the church leaders. The other alternative to me was to question the wisdom of the pioneers themselves. I figured that they must have had SOME idea of the dangers and risks that they would face, especially the Willie and Martin companies. I couldn't help thinking how irresponsible those people must have been to bring their families and small children across the plains in such a manner. The more stories of suffering and hardship I heard in church and on the "treks" themselves the more disgusted I was by what I perceived to be the stupidity of the pioneers. I was horrified by the stories of starvation and death, but perhaps because of the graphic nature of the acts, I was especially struck by the stories where mothers amputated their little ones' fingers, toes or feet. How could I admire those people, let alone draw faith from their tales of suffering?
Being able to change my opinion of these poor people is just another wonderful benefit of waking up from my brainwashing. I can now see that these people really were victims. Victims of the early missionaries, of Brigham's lust for power and his greed and tight-fistedness. I can now truly pity the handcart pioneers, and I feel like doing so gives them some of the justice they deserved. As it is, I still think that the handcart treks that the church has propagated as "faith-building" exercises do a very large disservice to the memory of those tragedies.
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