CASPER, Wyo. — Contrary to common historical accounts among Latter-day Saints, a failure of leadership among top LDS Church officials was the catalyst for the tragedy that befell the Willie and Martin handcart companies in October 1856.

That's according to a panel of researchers, who discussed culpability for the tragedy before a crowd of about 600 during the opening session of the 41st annual Mormon History Association conference here. Scores of pioneer emigrants from Britain died of starvation and hypothermia on the high plains of Wyoming after their companies took a major risk in leaving Iowa City, Iowa, several weeks later than church leaders knew they should, panelists said.

Lyndia Carter, a trails historian from Springville who is writing a book on the tragedy, said Franklin D. Richards — who was then serving as the church's mission president in Britain — "was responsible, in my mind, for the late departure" because "he started the snowball down the slope" that eventually "added up to disaster."

Richards and other church agents were so eager to help new converts make their way to Salt Lake City via the handcart plan laid out by President Brigham Young that they put human lives at risk, she said. "Faith blinded him to reason and zealousness replaced common sense."

Timing for the emigrants was bad from the beginning. Records show Richards sent too many of them to America at once and the ship was delayed in arriving, she said. Church agents in Iowa and Nebraska weren't prepared for the number of people that arrived. Additional handcarts had to be hurriedly built, and agents had no money, jobs or housing to allow the emigrants to stay put for the winter.

In addition to leaving weeks later than was prudent, she said, the emigrants were poorly clothed and without sufficient provisions. Though they were warned by some about the timing of the journey, most felt they had few options and voted to simply put their faith in God to protect them from the weather.

"To blame (the disaster) on a late start is a vast oversimplification," she said, adding Brigham Young was upset not only about the late start for the emigrants but about the energy and expense of the rescue that followed. After the episode, he warned those responsible for emigrants that they would be "severed from the church" if they failed to make adequate arrangements for their safety.

Howard Christy, professor emeritus at Brigham Young University, agreed with Carter. He said when it came to decisions about emigration timetables — both from Great Britain and from Iowa City — "leadership from the top, from the outset, was seriously short of the mark.

"In my opinion, responsible leadership at the outset could have completely averted the disaster." Several recorded comments by church agents that they supposed God would intervene to protect the emigrants "shows their knowledge of the dangers of starting late. They were throwing all sense to the wind that all would be well."