There was an additional company in 1859 and two in 1860. These last three made their way west via Florence (Nebraska) rather than Iowa City. Their time on the trail was a month less than the earlier trips.

The Willie and the Martin Handcart Companies are well-known because they were late in joining the trail and were caught in blizzard conditions in the mountains, far from their destinations, with scant provisions. This book also includes comments written by the rescuers.

Of the eighty-nine diarists who contributed excerpts, forty-four had one excerpt included in the book, often a mere paragraph or two. One advantage I see to this set-up is it is easier to read. A book like Devil’s Gate gives minute details of the tragedies, exploring weather, terrain, and the severe hardships and calamities endured, making it painful to read. This book dilutes a lot of the pain and suffering.

Many of these travelers had begun their journey somewhere across the Atlantic, in England, Wales, or Scandinavian countries. Many of the emigrants did not speak English and had been factory workers and city dwellers all their lives. They knew nothing of the prairies and had never seen an Indian or a buffalo. Some were old and infirm when they began their journey. All professed to believe the end of time was near, the second coming was at hand, and the place the Lord had designated for this great event was in the mountains of the Great Salt Lake Basin. Brigham Young was the mouthpiece of the Lord. He spoke for God.

These were powerful beliefs and the images they produced enabled the emigrants to move forward one step at a time. It was this faith in the hand of the Almighty that prompted the people to continue their journey when common sense, and the men who knew the territory, told them to stay put for the winter. Many of these people were also motivated by what lay behind. Unemployment in England’s factories was high, wages were low, and most workers lived in poverty. The Mormon elders visited their cities and taught them a new belief system. The elders offered immediate employment upon reaching the Kingdom of God, a piece of land to farm or raise livestock, and passage, paid for out of the church’s Perpetual Immigration Fund. These immigrants had been fed the ‘milk of the gospel’ and would know nothing of the ‘meat of the gospel’ until after their arrival in the land encircled by mountains.

Additionally, there was an influx of skilled craftsmen, some who were wealthy. Jean Rio (whose story can be found in Faith and Betrayal: A Pioneer Woman’s Passage in the American West) was interested in the Latter-day Saint movement, but it wasn’t until she lost one child, and then her husband, that she decided to join the trek west. She lost another son somewhere over the Atlantic. She viewed this loss as a blessing and a release from extreme suffering. She would successfully complete the journey with her remaining three sons.

The book is set-up according to geography or location, starting with Iowa, going to Nebraska, then Wyoming and Utah. All ten companies are mixed with those leaving in June of 1856 and those departing in July, 1860. These various companies had different hardships. It does not present itself as a continuous story with known participants. One can better concentrate on the maps, drawings, and the early photographs. There are so many participants and diarists in each geographical section, it is easier to focus on the places rather than the people involved.

I find Ash Hollow of interest. The first paragraph explains its original beauty was ruined by thousands of passing emigrants. It was a place where the Sioux Indians often encamped. In September, 1855, approximately one year before these diarists passed through the area, General William S. Harney, along with six hundred soldiers, attacked an encampment of two hundred fifty Sioux. This battle, known as the Harney Massacre, took the lives of eighty-six men, women, and children. Seventy others were taken captive before the company looted the camp and burned the teepees. Presumably, the remaining tribal members escaped.

Chimney Rock is always of interest, both to me and the people who passed near it during the mid- to late eighteen hundreds. The peak at the top of Chimney Rock was sculpted by erosion, It appears visibly shorter when comparing photos of the mid-eighteen hundreds and those taken in more recent times. According to an article on Nebraska history, the rock is not rock at all, but merely sand and dirt. Wind and water continue to wear the spire away. Pieces have been broken off by lighting strikes. It is expected that the spire will one day disappear.

Following the trail, we pass Scotts Bluff and go forward to Fort Laramie. Originally a trading post, it also became a military outpost in 1849. It was a major resting and reprovisioning point for almost all emigrants on the trek west. The Willie Handcart Company was unable to get provisions when passing through the fort. These same people were quickly caught in early snows.

Farther along the trail, Independence Rock was noted for the countless names carved on it. Devil’s Gate, a narrow cut made by the Sweetwater River through an immense rock, was a place where members of the Martin Handcart Company suffered misery and starvation, until friendly Indians gave them some buffalo meat. Interestingly, many of the emigrants did not have the skills needed to hunt their own meat.

Fort Seminole had been a trading post but was abandoned in 1856 because of Indian troubles. There were only a few old buildings remaining when the Martin Company passed this way.

It was a fifty mile overland journey from the North Platte to the Sweetwater River. This body of water was followed by the emigrants on their way to South Pass. The serpentine path of the river caused the emigrants several crossings through frigid waters. Sometimes the snows were so deep there was no possibility of moving forward without assistance. The Willie company became snowbound at the sixth crossing of the Sweetwater, forcing their leaders to leave their train in search of the rescuers, who, unaware of the half-starved condition of the party they were sent to rescue, were found hunkered down waiting out the storm. More than seventy members of the Willie Handcart Company died along the trail.

Southpass is the threshold of the Continental Divide, a boundary separating the river systems. According to ‘Google’, it starts at the Straits of Magellan at the tip of South America, runs north along the spine of the Andes Mountains, continues through Central America to the Sierra Madres in Mexico. In the United States, it passes through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.

Green River, Wyoming is where the Latter-day Saints established a ferry in 1847. It was a commercial venture aimed at assisting emigrant Saints. Samuel Brannan (a New York Saint who led a group to San Bernardino, California) met with Brigham Young at this place. His purpose was to convince Young to continue to the coast, but Brigham had his sights set on the Great Basin.

Fort Bridger, and its owner, Jim Bridger, was often seen in Wyoming. Here, the Oregon Trail swung north while the Mormon Trail continued another one hundred miles west to the Salt Lake Valley.

Utah’s Echo Canyon was one of the last places the emigrants descended through before entering the Salt Lake Valley. The narrow profile and high rock walls made it an echo chamber, hence its name.

Further along in Utah, the emigrants found Big Mountain and Little Mountain. The emigrants weren’t always sure which mountain they were on. Big Mountain was no more than a hill among the surrounding Wasatch Mountains.

When Brigham’s vanguard company passed through Emigration Canyon, they stayed on the valley’s floor, preferring to battle the brush and boulders found there and avoid the earlier emigration tragedy at Donner’s Pass. It took four hours of battling with nature before they stepped out onto a stretch of flat land–a bench–overlooking the basin of the Great Salt Lake.

Arrival at Emigration Square brought the arduous journey to an end. Here, the emigrants met old friends and made new ones. It was a time to rest and recover, plan a new life, and take time to let the memories of the past year sort through their minds and find new meaning.

My report on Devil’s Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy should be posted soon. I read this book many years ago. As I recall, the author laid blame for the tragedies on Brigham Young. I’m not sure I will agree. Also, Brigham Young placed the blame for the Willie and Martin tragedies on a senior apostle who I also believe was not deserving. We shall see.