More than Handcarts

Illustration in History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century of Mormon handcart pioneers. A depiction of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints en-route to Salt Lake City.

The terrible tragedy of the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies in crossing the Plains to Salt Lake City has become iconic but it is hardly representative of the pioneer experience. As I have written previously, all of my 16 great-great-grandparents and one of my great-great-great grandparents were pioneers. Not all of them crossed the Plains, some came to Utah from Australia by way of the West Coast but none of them came by handcart. My wife's ancestor, Edwin Pettit, walked the entire way with bare feet. See Madsen, Susan Arrington. 2008. I walked to Zion: true stories of young pioneers on the Mormon Trail. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.

Presently, in the popularly available media, almost every video and most of the images of Mormon pioneers show them walking with handcarts. As a genealogist and a historian, I am somewhat disturbed by this narrow focus on only one aspect of the pioneer experience. Estimates are that there were about 70,000 people who immigrated to Utah and who are classified as pioneers. Technically, a pioneer is someone who traveled to Utah between 1847 and the completion of the Intercontinental Railroad in 1869, although some use 1868 as the cutoff date. Of those 70,000 pioneers, only 10 companies of about 3,000 people came by handcarts and only two of these companies ran into the difficulties usually associated with handcarts. By the way, according to the Church History website, "The Trek" it took an average of 75 days to cross the country by handcart and 95 days by wagon.

Tragedy on the trail was not limited to handcart companies. My Great-great-great-grandfather, John Tanner, was a pioneer to Missouri and seriously injured when hit in the head by one of the mobbers who drove them into Missouri. He later crossed the Plains and died in Cottonwood, Utah. My Great-great-grandfather, Sidney Tanner, lost his wife, Louisa, and a newly born infant son in Winter Quarters. After his loss and because he had small children, Sidney married my Great-great-great-grandmother, Julia Ann Shepherd while preparing to go west. Julia carried in her arms her newly born daughter Julia Ann Tanner all the way to Utah. On July 27, 1848, Sidney's six-year-old namesake, Sidney Tanner, Jr., was killed by being run over by a wagon while he was driving the team and fell backwards under the wagon.

Sidney's pioneering days were not over when he reached Utah. He and his family were called to settle in San Bernardino, California. After establishing a farm and a becoming settled, they were then called to return to Utah because of the Utah War. They settled in Beaver, Utah. However, my family's pioneering days were not over, my Great-grandfather, Henry Martin Tanner, was called by Brigham Young to pioneer the settlement of the Little Colorado Colony in Arizona. They settled in what is now called Joseph City, Arizona. The Tanner's pioneering activities extended over three generations and several moves.

Nearly everyone who as a pioneer heritage can tell similar stories. But being a pioneer is not limited to those who crossed the Plains before the railroad. Everyone who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is either a "pioneer" or descended from one. We all have stories about our own conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ or have an ancestor who was converted. Many of these more modern pioneers have stories of courage and sacrifice that matches anything suffered by the pioneers who crossed the Plains.

Handcarts are a convenient iconic representation of pioneers, but perhaps we are doing a disservice to our children and grandchildren by giving them the impression that "real" pioneers walked across the country pulling handcarts. One of my ancestors, my Great-great-great-grandfather George Jarvis, was converted in England and came to America and spent about four years in Boston, Massachusetts before he made enough money to take his family to Utah in 1860. When he arrived in Utah and got settled, he and his family were called to settle in St. George and help build the Temple. They spent years of poverty and privation in St. George before they were finally settled and able to support themselves. One tragedy that occurred was that their son, seven-year-old Thomas William Jarvis was killed by lightning while sitting on the steps of the St. George Tabernacle.

Pioneers had and still have a difficult life. But I think it is unfair to repeatedly refer to one group of pioneers as the "epitome of suffering" while neglecting to include the larger picture of those who suffered and incurred losses in different ways. It is convenient, in a way, to show handcart pioneers struggling through the snow, but perhaps those who died else on the Plains like my Great-great-great-grandfather, Jens Christensen, who died in 1866 in Nebraska while crossing the Plains or even those who lived and died in places like St. George and Joseph City should also be remembered for their own sacrifices. When I hear or sing the hymn "They, the Builders of the Nation," I am thinking about the wind in Joseph City and the heat of the desert in St. George and a hundred other places where my ancestors lived and raised families.

We should never forget the tremendous sacrifice of the Willie and Martin Companies, but likewise, we should try to expand our memories to include all those others who through the years braved rejection, persecution, and scorn for accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and joining His Church.

I am reminded of the words of the hymn:

They, the builders of the nation,
Blazing trails along the way;
Stepping-stones for generations
Were their deeds of ev'ry day.
Building new and firm foundations,
Pushing on the wild frontier,
Forging onward, ever onward,
Blessed, honored Pioneer!

All pioneers in the Church should be blessed and honored.