A police escort led the procession north along Foothill Boulevard, past the University of Utah to the 10th Ward chapel at 800 East and 400 South, where the first handcart immigrants to the valley were welcomed. From there, a re-established Nauvoo Brass Band provided marching music for the rest of the trek along 300 South to State Street, then north to South Temple, west at Eagle Gate and past the Beehive House, Church Administration Building and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, past Temple Square and then north to the Conference Center.

Dozens of LDS missionaries old and young congregated near Eagle Gate to greet the group., who were waving white handkerchiefs in remembrance of the entry made by many of their forbears a century and a half ago. Workers peered out of windows at the administration building and came out of the Joseph Smith building to cheer on the passing carts. Construction workers lunching outside the Salt Lake Tabernacle came to watch the procession, some looking a little bewildered.

Janet Nielson and Rosalee Riddle kept their smiles on from start to finish, pulling a handcart purchased earlier this year in memory of their great-great-great-grandmother, Sara Emily Wall. The two sisters came to memorialize the life of that 16-year old member of the ill-fated Willie Company.

Wall made it to the valley after departing Liverpool earlier that year on the ship, "The Thornton," with money provided through the church's Perpetual Emigration Fund. After being rescued with the rest of her handcart company, she and her brother worked in Manti to repay their debt to the church. She later married one of her rescuers, William Michael Cowley. They settled in Sevier County and had 12 children.

"We wanted to honor grandma," they said, beaming as a wash pan and bucket swung from beneath their cart, which carried a sign, "Remember Sarah Emily Wall - Willie Company - 1856." They made it happily to the end of the trail, smiles intact.

Both Gov. Jon Huntsman and Mayor Rocky Anderson sent written greetings to the group, which were read at the Conference Center gathering.

Elder Marlin K. Jensen, LDS Church historian, addressed the crowd of several hundred trekkers and a variety of LDS missionaries and onlookers. He lauded the re-enactment and the organizers, saying those with pioneer ancestry can't claim any personal accomplishment for the heroics of their forebears, but must be inspired to do great things themselves because of the example they were given.

"The virtues and qualities these people possessed are not inheritable," he said. "They have to be conquered and won by each succeeding generation."

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