A Nine-Year-Old Girl Triumphed over the Handcart Tragedy

W. Paul Reeve History Blazer, August 1995 The heavy morning frost on the Wyoming Plains west of Fort Laramie made walking unpleasant for those who were barefoot or in tattered shoes among the ill-fated 1856 Mormon handcart companies destined for Salt Lake City. Both the Willie and Martin companies, replete with Mormon faithful eager to join fellow Saints in the …

This Is the Place

The Mormon Trail: A Photographic Exhibit Stan Layton After leaving Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1846, the Mormons headed west. They spent the winter of 1846–47 in Winter Quarters near Omaha and at various places in Iowa, resuming their journey in the spring. First to leave Winter Quarters that spring was the advance party under the personal direction of church president Brigham …