The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used handcarts to transport their belongings. The Mormon handcart movement began in 1856 and continued until 1860.
Motivated to join their fellow church members in Utah, but lacking funds for full teams of oxen or horses, nearly 3,000 Mormon pioneers from England, Wales, Scotland and Scandinavia made the journey from Iowa or Nebraska to Utah in ten handcart companies. The trek was disastrous for two of the companies, the Willie and Martin companies. Both started their journey dangerously late in 1856 and were caught by heavy snow and severe temperatures in central Wyoming. Despite a dramatic rescue effort, more than 210 of the 980 pioneers in these two companies died along the way. John Chislett, a survivor, wrote, "Many a father pulled his cart, with his little children on it, until the day preceding his death."Hafen and Hafen (1981), p. 102.
Although only about five percent of the 1846–1868 Latter-day Saint emigrants made the journey west using handcarts, the handcart pioneers have become an important symbol in LDS culture, representing the faithfulness and sacrifice of the pioneer generation. They continue to be recognized and honored in events such as Pioneer Day, church pageants, and similar commemorations.
Background to the migration
The Latter Day Saints were first organized in 1830. Early members of the church often encountered hostility, primarily due to their practice of withdrawing from secular society and gathering in locales to practice their religious beliefs. Neighbors who were not Mormon felt threatened by the church's rapid growth in numbers, its tendency to vote as a bloc and acquire political power, its claims of divine favor, and the practice of polygamy.O'Dea (1957), pp. 41–49, 72–75. Violence against the church and its members caused most church members to move from Ohio to Missouri, then to Illinois. Despite the frequent moves, church members were unable to prevent opposition, culminating in the extermination order against all Mormons living in Missouri by the state's governor Lilburn Boggs in 1838 and the killing of their leader Joseph Smith in 1844. After Smith's death, Brigham Young said that he had received divine direction to organize the church members. In early 1846 he began leading them beyond the western frontier of the United States to settle in the Great Basin.O'Dea (1957), pp. 1–85Allen and Leonard (1976), pp. 103–256.
Need for handcart companies Soon after the first Mormon pioneers reached Utah in 1847, the church encouraged its converts in Europe to emigrate to Utah. On December 23, 1847, the church leadership sent an epistle to the members in the British Isles saying "Emigrate as speedily as possible to this vicinity."Moulton (2019), p. 6. Many British church members were disparaged and ridiculed due to the church's practice of polygamy.Moulton (2019), pp. 14–18. From 1849 to 1855, about 16,000 European Latter-day Saints traveled to the United States by ship, through the eastern states by rail, and to Utah by ox and wagon. Although most of these emigrants paid their own expenses, the church established the Perpetual Emigrating Fund to provide financial assistance for poor emigrants to trek west, which they would repay as they were able.Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 22–27.
When contributions and loan repayments decreased in 1855 after a poor harvest in Utah, Young began to use handcarts because the church members who remained in Europe were mostly poor. Young also believed it would speed the emigrants' journey.Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 28–31. Young proposed the plan in a letter to Franklin D. Richards, president of the European Mission, in September 1855. Young's letter and an editorial endorsing Young's plan by Richards was published in the Millennial Star, the church's England-based periodical, on December 22, 1855. The cost of the migration was expected to be reduced by one-third. Poor church members who wanted to emigrate responded enthusiastically to the new plan—in 1856 the Perpetual Emigration Fund supported the travel of 2,012 European emigrants, compared with 1,161 the year before.Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 29–34, 46.
Outfitting Emigrants departed from an English port (generally Liverpool) and travelled by ship to New York or Boston. The emigrants who arrived from 1855 to 1857 traveled by railroad to Iowa City, Iowa, the western terminus of the rail line, where they would be outfitted with handcarts and other supplies, while later emigrants traveled by rail and boat up the Missouri River to Florence, Nebraska (now part of Omaha).Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 40, 44, 91, 153, 157, 180; Moulton (2019), p. 42.
Built to Young's design, the handcarts resembled a large wheelbarrow, with two wheels. They were in diameter and a single axle wide, and weighing . Running along each side of the bed were seven-foot (2.1 m) pull shafts ending with a three-foot (0.9 m) crossbar at the front. The crossbar allowed the carts to be pushed or pulled. Cargo was carried in a box about three feet by four feet (0.9 m by 1.2 m), with walls. The handcarts generally carried up to of supplies and luggage, though they were capable of handling loads as heavy as . Carts used in the first year's migration were made entirely of wood; in later years a stronger design was substituted, which included metal elements.Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 53–55.Dekker (2006), p. 45
The handcart companies were organized using the handcarts and sleeping tents as the primary units. Five people were assigned per handcart, with each individual limited to of clothing and bedding. Each round tent, supported by a center pole, housed 20 occupants and was supervised by a tent captain. Five tents were supervised by the captain of a hundred (or "sub-captain"). Provisions for each group of one hundred emigrants were carried in an ox wagon, and were distributed by the tent captains.Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 58–59, 157Dekker (2006), p. 41.
1856: First three companies The first two ships departed England in late March and mid-April and sailed to Boston. John Taylor was the church's agent in New York, and he arranged train transportation for the emigrants to Iowa City. Unaware of how many emigrants to expect, Taylor ordered the construction of 100 handcarts, but that would be inadequate for the companies. The emigrants spent several weeks in Iowa City building additional handcarts and obtaining supplies before beginning their trek of about .Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 43–58; Moulton (2019), pp. 12–13, 44–46.
About 815 emigrants from the first two ships were organized into the first three handcart companies, headed by captains Edmund Ellsworth, Daniel D. McArthur, and Edward Bunker.Exact counts of the number of emigrants are not possible both because of incomplete records and because some emigrants dropped out along the way. For example, see Hafen and Hafen (1981), p. 199. The captains were missionaries returning to their homes in Utah and were familiar with the route. Most of the sub-captains were also returning missionaries.Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 53–59.
Across Iowa they followed an existing road about to Council Bluffs, following a route that is close to current U.S. Route 6. After crossing the Missouri River, they paused for a few days at a Mormon outpost in Omaha for repairs, before beginning the remaining journey along the Mormon Trail to Salt Lake City.Kimball (1979).
Initial problems with the carts occurred because the wood used to construct them was said to have been "green timber", or wood from trees that were recently chopped down and not given sufficient time to dry, causing an increase in breakdowns. When the first handcart company reached Winter Quarters, Ellsworth had a member of the company "tin" the wooden axles and also installed "thick hoop iron skeins" which enabled the handcart axles to turn more easily and resist breakage much better.
The companies made good time, and their trips were largely uneventful. The emigrant companies included many children and elderly individuals, and transporting handcarts was difficult. Journals and recollections describe periods of illness and hunger; the handcart companies were not able to carry enough food to sustain themselves without additional relief supplies sent from Utah. Hafen and Hafen's Handcarts to Zion lists 13 deaths from the first company, seven from the second, and fewer than seven from the third. The first two companies arrived in Salt Lake City on September 26 and the third followed less than a week later. The first three companies were regarded as having demonstrated the feasibility of emigrating using handcarts.Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 59–79; Moulton (2019), pp. 44–58.
Handcart company Captain Ship Arrived Iowa City Departed Iowa City Departed Omaha, Nebraska Arrived Salt Lake City Number of individuals Number died en route FirstSource for tables is Hafen and Hafen (1981), except for counts of emigrants and deaths for the Willie and Martin Companies. Edmund Ellsworth Enoch Train, sailed March 23, 1856, to Boston May 12 June 9 July 20 September 26 274 13 Second Daniel D. McArthur Enoch Train, sailed March 23, 1856, to Boston;S. Curling, sailed April 19 to Boston passengers from Enoch Train – May 12;passengers from S. Curling – early June June 11 July 24 September 26 221 7 Third (Welsh) Edward Bunker S. Curling, sailed April 19, 1856, to Boston early June June 23 July 30 October 2 320 < 7
1856: Willie and Martin handcart companies
The last two handcart companies of 1856 departed late from England. The ship Thornton, carrying the emigrants who became the Willie Company, left England on May 4. The leader of the Latter-day Saints on the ship was James G. Willie. Horizon departed eleven days later, carrying the emigrants who later formed the Martin Company. The late departures may have been the result of difficulties in procuring ships in response to the unexpected demand.Hafen and Hafen (1981), p. 91.
With slow communications in the era before the transatlantic telegraph, the church's agents in Iowa City were not expecting the additional emigrants and made frantic preparations for their arrival. When the emigrants arrived in Iowa City, no handcarts had been built, and three weeks were spent hastily assembling the carts and outfitting the companies. When the companies reached Omaha, additional time was lost making repairs to the poorly built carts.Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 92–94; Moulton (2019), p. 43. Emigrant John Chislett describes the problems with the carts:Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 99–100.
Prior to the Willie Company departing Omaha, the company met to debate if they should continue the journey immediately or wait for the spring. Because the emigrants were unfamiliar with the trail and the climate, they deferred to the returning missionaries and church agents. One of the returning missionaries, Levi Savage, urged them to spend the winter in Nebraska. He warned them that they could not travel "with a mixed company of aged people, women, and little children, so late in the season without much suffering, sickness, and death."Moulton (2019), p. 62. All of the other church elders argued that the trip should go forward, expressing optimism that the company would be protected by divine intervention. Some members of the company, perhaps as many as 100, decided to spend the winter in Omaha, Nebraska or in Iowa, but the majority, about 404 in number (including Savage) continued the journey west. The Willie Company left Omaha on August 17 and the Martin Company on August 27. Two ox-wagon trains, led by captains W.B. Hodgett and John A. Hunt, followed the Martin Company.Hafen and Hafen (1981), pp. 96–97.