PRESIDENT LORIMER

Today capped off an amazing week here at Mormon Handcart Historic Sites!  

First we had a wonderful block of Sunday meetings with inspiring talks and lessons, and a delicious Pot Luck lunch.  Then we had the opportunity to return to the Trek Center and listen to President and Sister Lorimer speak about their personal experiences with President Hinckley.

He called them often, stayed in their home, ate with their family, and drove all over what is now known as Mormon Handcart Historic Sites.  President Lorimer, more than any other person, is responsible for the acquisition of all those sites, for which President Hinckley and all of us are truly grateful.  We were so glad to have been able to visit most of those sites this past week so that our missionaries were familiar with the places he talked about.

Everyone was spellbound as we listened to President Lorimer's personal experiences with not only President Hinckley, but with all of the First Presidency, many of the Apostles, and countless other general authorities who came to visit and stayed with his family.

After the fireside the Fetzer family repeated what they had done in Sacrament Meeting earlier today and sang Hark All Ye Nations to President Lorimer since he had served his first mission in Germany.

We took the opportunity to get a couple of pictures, first with the Lorimers and a beautiful set of marble bas reliefs they received when he was honored with the Junius F. Wells Award given by the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation . . .

  . . . and again by the handcart in the corner of the Trek Center.

President and Sister Lorimer have been called to serve a mission this coming October in Scotland and Ireland with the Young Single Adults of that area.  But before they leave they compiled many of the important documents and pictures into 2 large binders for us to keep here at the offices of MHHS so that we will always have that information.

Also included are many DVDs of the activities that occurred here as these sites were acquired and prepared.   We owe a debt of gratitude to the Lorimers and especially to members of the Riverton Stake who worked so hard to make these sites what they are today so that visitors and youth could come here to partake of the sweet spirit of the handcart pioneers. 

 The information he has given us is a priceless history of these sites.

We will guard it well!

ROCKY RIDGE

This year we decided to arrange for our missionaries to climb Rocky Ridge at the beginning of the trekking season so that it would give them greater understanding of that difficult experience.

We planned to drive to Sage Camp and then on to the Lower Monument and leave from there.  Those who did not feel they could walk the 2 1/2 miles up Rocky Ridge would be driven around to the back side where they would only need to walk about 1/2 mile up a gentle slope to meet us at the top.

However . . . the night before, a terrific rain and thunderstorm came through, and when we arrived at Sage Camp we discovered that the roads were so muddy and slippery we could not even get to the Lower Monument.  We feared that the road around to the back side was also too muddy to drive.

Like the handcart companies in Florence, Nebraska, we assessed our situation and made the decision to go on - to begin our journey at the bus parking area rather than at the Lower Monument that marks the beginning of the trail up Rocky Ridge.

That decision added more than 3 miles to our originally planned 5 mile climb.

In spite of that we unloaded the beautiful oak handcart made for us by Elder Madsen last year and headed out through the muddy trail.  It was NOT easy!

By our first little rest stop there were over 4 inches of mud on the handcart wheels and on the bottoms of our shoes - just like the pioneers!  Elder Young kindly got out his pocket knife and tried to get some of it off.

In spite of the smiles on our faces, we were exhausted!  Pulling that heavy oak handcart through those muddy trails was almost more than we could handle, and we were grateful to take a moment of rest by this trail marker.

 With the help of many others - just like the pioneers - we were able to get out handcart to the top of Rocky Ridge!

Elder and Sister Bearry did a reenactment of the Jens and Elsie Neilsen story where she pulled him in a handcart for miles after his feet became too frozen to walk.  

When Sister Bearry first started out she could not even move the heavy handcart, so she said a little prayer and somehow she found the strength to make a little forward progress.  As the story was being told to the rest of us on the top of the ridge, others headed down the hill to help her pull Elder Bearry to the top.  She was exhausted and now has a personal appreciation for what Elsie Nielsen did to save her husband during that trying time.

On top of Rocky Ridge a group picture was taken, but we missed those who were not able to make the trip because of the muddy roads.

Like the handcart pioneers, we were happy to leave our handcart behind - not for good - just for trucks from the back side of Rocky Ridge to load up and take home for us.

  Walking back down the trail we all had a new appreciation 
for the hardships endured on Rocky Ridge.

We returned to Sixth Crossing and stopped for a few minutes to show the missionaries from Martin's Cove the new visitors' center. 

 Inside our apartment there, Sister Petersen and I took a little break in the comfortable chairs.

Then we enjoyed a delicious but unique spaghetti dinner at the Sixth Crossing Trek Center.  

We were each given a western bandana with a little handcart slide. 

We were to remove the slide (and save it for future use) 
and then use the bandana to tie our hands together at the wrist.

Throughout the meal we had to cooperate with each other in order to 
pass the food, dish it up, and then eat it all. 

Having Lefties and Righties sit together with their hands tied 
provided a special challenge, but it was lots of fun!

 Many thanks to our wonderful cooks at Sixth Crossing!

We returned home to find a few challenges and a few changes.

It took an hour to clean the mud off our handcart and return in to the Barn . . .

. . . and we found that some of the windows in our apartment had been replaced by glass so clear we could see right through them for the very first time.  Note the difference between the old glass in the middle window and the new glass on each side!

Poor Sister Bushman came back to the office and was inundated with phone messages and emails to return . . .

. . . and we had a geyser where the drinking fountain should be!  

No matter, they had it fixed in minutes!

The week we just finished has been full of wonderful stories, information, testimonies, and bonding experiences for all of us.  How grateful we are to be able to serve here in this remarkable mission!

THE "TRAILS" AND THE "TRIALS" -- the 2014 CES TOUR

Each year we have the special privilege of having officials from the Church Education System (CES) come here to teach us all they can about the Mormon Trail.   This year Kyle Anderson and Clint Udy came to teach us, beginning with a wonderful fireside after our Sunday Pot Luck dinner.  

During the fireside they had missionaries hold up signs with the names of locations along the trail and arrange them in the proper geographical order from East to West, finishing with Salt Lake City.  Then other missionaries holding the names of the Willie, Martin, Hodgetts and Hunt Companies positioned themselves on the east, while missionaries holding the names of rescuers formed at the west.  Kyle then took us day by day of the rescue, and had the appropriate companies and rescuers move towards each other, passing key locations along the way until they met and all arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

My great, great grandfather, Reddick Newton Allred was the rescuer in charge of the supply wagons stationed at South Pass waiting for word of the missing handcart companies.  Elder Moench's great, great grandfather Joel Parrish was in that same group - they knew each other!

Some of those rescuers became fearful that they too would starve or freeze to death and turned back to Salt Lake.  But Reddick Allred stayed right there in the snowy blizzards and earned the nickname of "the Bulldog" for remaining true to his assignment.  He was able to bring supplies and give much needed help and support to both the Willie and the Martin Handcart Companies.

The following day almost all of our missionaries happily boarded two large buses and headed out on the trail.  In addition to having Kyle on one bus and Clint on the other, Jolene Allphin came clear from Utah to join us on our road trip.  Elder Moench and I didn't think there would be room for the two of us on the bus, but at the last minute, one couple didn't feel well and stayed home, so we got the last two seats in the back.

Our first stop was Deer Creek, about 80 miles east of Martin's Cove, where the Martin Handcart Company, realizing how very late they were, tried to lighten the load on their handcarts so they could make better time along the trail.  They discarded and burned many of their warm quilts, blankets, and winter clothing.  The weather had been warm, and they did not know it would begin snowing two days later on October 19, 1956.  Sadly, many of those items might have have saved lives.

We then went to Reshaw's Bridge, the Anglicized pronunciation of the last name of Frenchman John "Richard."  Had they been able to afford to cross the North Platte River on this bridge, members of the Martin Company might not have been so wet and frozen as they forded the river and were caught in the snowy blizzard that began that day and took the lives of 14 people.

It was a much nicer day this year when we visited it.

Lots of money was made for the owners of this and other bridges and ferries along the way, and as you can see by the last quote, they charged the Mormons as much as they could.

We all ate lunch together at Fort Caspar out in their lovely picnic area. 
(The city of "Casper" is actually a misspelling of that name.)

There were no tables left when we were finally ready for lunch, so we got to eat on the playground in the stagecoach.  The Freemans and the Ereksons also ate on the playground equipment.

Our next stop was Bessemer Bend where the Martin Company hunkered down close to the river for 5 days in the deep snows.  The storm raged, and they were on such severely reduced rations that 56 of them died here of starvation, exhaustion, and freezing temperatures.  

Today was a totally different story - sunny and warm with kayakers enjoying the North Platte River.

We were finally able to visit the Avenue of Rocks, a long line of jagged rocks and peaks that crosses the trail here.  Weeks ago we and a few others had passed this on our "Great Mud Adventure," but we were trying to maintain momentum up the hills and were not able to stop and see this unique formation.

Our last stop along the trail was at Greasewood Creek, named after a variety of sagebrush.  Here the first rescuers with supply wagons finally met up with the starving, freezing Martin Handcart Company.   When the beleaguered saints came into camp here, the rescuers already had large fires burning to give them some warmth and a little food.

We also returned to food and comfort after our long day's journey, and we were very appreciative of the delicious meal prepared by the Ames and the Thomases who have perfected the art of cooking for very large groups and serving us all in record time.

The following day we began the second leg of our training at the Sixth Crossing Trek Center where Kyle and Clint and Jolene taught us more of the Willie Handcart experience, Again, none of us can comprehend the unimaginable circumstances these pioneers were in when the rescuers found them hunkered down in the willows and out of food. 

We headed out in many trucks and other vehicles and first visited the meadow where the Willie Handcart Company took shelter from the wintry storms while their beloved Captain and Joseph Elder rode to find the rescuers.

Clint told us about the rescue from the viewpoint of Captain Willie as he returned with rescue wagons over this "eminence" and found that his beloved handcart pioneers were still there in the meadow below.  He must have shed tears of joy to see them still alive.

We then rode in about 30 trucks up to the Lower Monument honoring the pioneers who died in the valley below and marking the beginning of the "trail" and the "trial" up and over Rocky Ridge, a journey that took many of them until the early morning hours of the following day.  Jolene, Clint, and Kyle each spoke to us about the climb over this difficult part of the trail.

Finally the Willie Company reached their camp at Rock Creek, although 13 people died during that cold and snowy  climb.  They are buried here in a mass grave dug by two other men who died later the same day and are buried here also.  The trail coming down the hill and into camp is still visible.

Not one of us living today has ever been as hungry or as cold or as exhausted as these dear pioneers who gave their all to get their families to Zion!

We owe them such a debt of gratitude for their great and faithful example to all of us!

THE WILLIE ROOM AT THE RIVERTON STAKE CENTER

This week we went to Riverton with the missionaries from Sixth Crossing to visit the Willie Room at their stake center.  

This is the stake that was responsible for the Second Rescue, and after all these years they have collected enough memorabilia to fill an entire classroom with pioneer artifacts, pictures, and information about both the Martin and the Willie Handcart Companies.  Their efforts to ensure that all those handcart pioneers had their temple work done and recorded properly are documented in the book, "Remember."

On the table in the high council room is a beautiful bronze sculpture depicting Jens and Elsie Neilsen pulling their handcart with their little 6 year old son Neils and 10 year old Bodil Mortensen walking next to them in the snow, and then 11 year old James Kirkwood carrying his little 4 year old brother Joseph walking behind them.  Neils, Bodil, and James all perished as the Willie Company crossed Rocky Ridge in a blizzard, and they are buried in a mass grave at Rock Creek Hollow.

The second bronze stature represents the death of Bodil Mortensten who was found as she sat by the campfire, frozen to death after crossing Rocky Ridge.

Sister Amy Phister, wife of the current Riverton Stake President, was there to speak to us.  In addition to telling the story of how their stake took on this herculean task, she showed us a beautiful and meaningful quilt she had made at the time of the sesquicentennial celebration.  Each of the blocks represents a phase of the journey of the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies as they struggled through early winter snows to get their families to Zion.

Then she took us in small groups into the "Willie Room" where we could see the rows and rows of binders full of genealogical records and information for each of the handcart pioneers.

The room also included the original molds and other items used to make the bronze plaques on the monuments at Martin's Cove and Rocky Ridge.  We have heard the story from President Lorimer, so it was really great to be able to see the molds, the horn that the handcart motif was carved from, and even the pourings that failed. 

There were lots of other interesting items as well, including a picture of the little shoe from the Gadd twin who died along the trail, a photo of President Hinckley, who was so instrumental in acquiring this historic site, and an original "No Trespassing" sign that kept members of the church from visiting Martin's Cove for years until those lands were purchased from the Sun Family in 1996.

There were also two fascinating photos from 1942 showing the entire Homestead area of the Sun Ranch under water as the Sweetwater River overflowed its banks and flooded the Barn and even the Sun Family Home.  (I could only photograph it through a glass case, so there is a lot of reflection.)

The service rendered by the Riverton Stake not only in behalf of the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies, but for all of us in acquiring, maintaining, and preserving the lands now owned by the church cannot be measured.  We all own them an enormous debt of gratitude.  Without their efforts, there would be no Mormon Handcart Historic Sites!