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!