Comments about ‘MormonTimes.com: Some myths accompany stories of pioneers' arrival’

You make it sound as if these myths are more common than my life experience can agree with. (One branch of my family tree was in the middle of the arrival and settlement of SL Valley.)

I've been an active reader and participant in Utah history for over 60 years and have never even heard about 2/3 of what you term "popular" beliefs.

"Historians" and journalists seem to think their agendas and biases are the norm.

I agree that there are many myths associated with the Mormon trek westward, but must take exception to the following statement:

"It was actually a great adventure," the NPS report continued. "Over the decades, Mormons have emphasized the tragedies of the trail, and tragedies there were, but generally after 1847. Between 1847 and the building of the railroad in 1869, at least 6,000 died along the trail from exhaustion, exposure, disease and lack of food. Few were killed by Indians. To the vast majority, however, the experience was positive -- a difficult and rewarding struggle. Nobody knows how many Mormons migrated west during those years, but 70,000 people in 10,000 vehicles is a close estimate.

"To the 143 men, three women and two children who left Winter Quarters, the 111-day pioneer trek of 1847 was mostly a great adventure, with a dramatic ending."

The NPS report and the article mention that thousands of people died on the way--but I am not sure it is accurate to say that it was a "great adventure" to be threatened by marauding mobs and forced to leave one's property by people threatening to kill you and your family.

Who's to say that this "new" history is correct? The truth of the matter is that these early Saints were driven out of the U.S. Not to dwell on the negative, but surely these people were a bit weary from all of the persecutions and the martyrdom of their prophet. I'm just grateful that they went West and established a place where they could finally find peace.

I'm a docent at the Church Museum of History and Art. We've been apprised of many of the myths spoken here. But I don't totally agree that the trip west was super fun all the time--it wasn't like a vacation. If you read the accounts from journals that Susan Arrington Madsen compiled or co-compiled, "I Walked to Zion," "Growing up in Zion" and "I Sailed to Zion," you will get some perspective of the trek west.

Imagine being on a 3-month camping trip where you had to walk instead of drive to your destination in a Fifth wheel, many times forging your own roads. Imagine coming to the United States from England where you lived in a crowded city and had never cooked over a campfire. Imagine coming to a locale with MINIMAL (I did not say "one") trees, alkaline soil, and harsh winters, without a railhead or a store where you could buy supplies. Imagine coming to a place where no one else in the country chose to settle during the great expansion west. Imagine creating an economy in an isolated situation. The pioneers WERE remarkable.

From the accounts I've read, their faith was that they were heading to Zion, and that was the primary source of good spirits.

They knew they would have to put in the labor and sweat to build Zion, but it would be a place of peace and surrounded by friends, in contrast to the places they had left, which hadn't quite made the switch to "diversity", "civil rights", "voting rights", "equal housing" and such ideas, yet. :)

During my docent training (four months' worth, once a week for four hours) we heard regularly from historians at the Church Museum, and we were and continually are educated as to the duties of the historians and the museum staff.

Historians there don't seek to invent new versions of history. Yet, they are scrupulous in their constant investigation of first-hand (from pioneers themselves) as well as historical evidence (newspapers of the times, other views not necessarily of the Church) of the early pioneer times and the early times of the church. All artifacts are thoroughly investigated for accurate provenance. While new findings don't reinvent history, they do corroborate it or bring events and people to our understanding in expanded or corrected ways. It is helpful to learn of more than one witness to an event.

We are strictly instructed to present history that is accurate and backed up with historical evidence, and to never perpetuate the ever evolving Mormon myths. Yes, we have them too.

I am grateful to Larry H. Miller and his wife who are funding the Joseph Smith papers project, which is evidence again, of the thoroughness of the Church's historical department.

I am a descendant of third company 1847 pioneers and of the Martin Handcart Company.

Many of the stories I have heard and read may have an element of exageration in them, but not as much as many historians would like to believe. For some reason these finders of fault take the faith and Devine intervention out of the stories.

Elder Lund says it well in his fiction book on the Martin and Willie companies, that some of the stories told if not entirely accurate should be told.

My great grandmother was 8 when she and her 12 year old sister pushed one of the two family carts. Three of her family of 9 died. Then in her 50's she and her husband pioneered the Mormon area in southern Alberta. She died in her 90th year a few months from her sister. So far as I have been able to tell they were that last survivors.

Who wrote that for the Park Service? They do not sound credible nor informed! That's too "revisionist" against the FACTS.
Why was it repeated in this publication?

I'm sure that we promulgate too many of the myths we hear but putting down the difficulty of the trek is not the way to clear anything up. If you have ever tried a re-enactment or have lived (even for a few days) as they had to live, you would change your mind.

They had to leave all they knew and often with much less than they needed, trek hard, take care of one another (often without husbands if theirs were in the Mormon Battalion or dead), and fight the elements to escape severe persecution.
What fun!

It did get easier after the Continental Railroad came through but the first 20 years of the Mormon Trail were not easy.

How many of us could make that same trip today?

Take a look at what we (LDS) buy and sell today. It's fiction, especially historical fiction. Tall tales. Truth just isn't exciting enough anymore, but should be.

The pioneer stories might seem simplistic, but are much more interesting than a lot of the garbage being peddled.

I searched for the famous "this is the place" statement among the contemporaneous records of the day and actually found two places where that statement was made. Both were during the first ten days in the valley.

One was when several people wanted to explore beyond the Salt Lake Valley for a better location. Brigham was quoted as saying that they could explore all the wanted but in the end would find that "this is the place". He also made a similar statement when he indicated that "this is the place" where the temple would be built.

Wilford Woodruff's diary does not record the famous statement when Brigham Young looked out over the valley on July 24th however. He merely states that Brigham Young "expressed his entire satisfaction with the location". Perhaps that is why Wilford Woodruff in 1880 account possible combined these events together. Certainly looking over the valley and solemnly declaring "This is the Place" has a better ring to it that solemnly declaring "I am Entirely Satisfied with this Location". :)

Happy Pioneer day everyone.

"Some myths" is an understatement. It's an odd situation when you see someone bearing a testimony and crying about a story that you know to be a myth. Do you tell them?

Excellent article. I hope more people will read it. My great-grandfather was in the second company into the valley so I have grown up with all the stories.
It is a proud story and of great inspiration. We however view it from our time and place. The fact is that was the way people travelled at that time. To understand what hardsip meant to them and what it means to us we need to know more about their time.
It is true, however, that this was a forced march and relocation of a whole people who would have rather have stayed where they were.

The whole LDS church based on one big myth. Why should we be surprised?

The biggest myth is that these were "brave" Mormon pioneers. In fact, they were running for their lives after getting their butts kicked across the country for marrying other people's daughters to old men who already had wives.

This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

"Myth busters" -- Yes, I see a lot of that. Makes you wonder whether what people identify as "the Spirit" is as unmistakable a guide to truth as they make it out to be.

Myths abound about the westward trek of the mormon settlers .. what is true and not true is hard to distinguish but my family's favorite story regards my ancestor, Hilda. She was one of the original settlers of the Salt Lake valley and was apparently a wonderful cook .. the early Mormon settlers were very resourceful .. On the freezing trek over the mountains they had ran in to hard times and clothing was at a premium .. they had no hats at all and were freezing, literally. Hilda had a great idea and she took to cooking very small, hot pies. She would take the pies and put one at each end of a strip and make something along the shape of the headphones of today .. the heat from the pies kept the settlers toasty and warm and enables them to make it across the Wasatch and to "the place" .. this brilliant but simple idea of Hilda's inadvertently earned the settlers the name that has stuck with them to this day .. they were then and they still are, the orginal Pioneers.

Many may have a distorted view of the tragedy or sufferings, since they are dwelt upon a lot.

However, as previously stated, this was NOT a vacation for anybody involved. Most of the participants, many of whom had emigrated from Europe, were NOT outdoors-people, but rather "city slickers." There weren't McDonalds and Taco Bells along the route, or nice showers and king mattresses at the end of a long, dusty day. It was their faith that motivated them, and buoyed their spirits. (Some folks don't understand that concept, to be sure.)

In the late 1850s, my great-great grandmother, at the age of 13, walked every step of the way from Genoa, Nebraska to Ogden, herding the family cow. Nowadays most 13-year-olds are yappin' on their cell phones and hanging out at the mall. Different times.

History, real history, is well usually a little different than the Gerald Lund type stories. In our case key pieces of our history are usually not discussed, with the result being that we don't know some pretty important things. But times are changing. The internet makes books written by pretty good historians (inside and outside the church) available for reading. Comptons's "In Sacred Lonliness", Bushman's "Rough Stone Rolling, Fawn Brodie's "No Man Knows my History", Quinn's "Origins of Power", Juanita Brooks book on the Mountain Meadows Murders, etc. The result is alot more skepticism about the history we hear in seminary, gospel doctrine classes, etc. Alot of people still only know the official versions of key historical events, but it is changing. The new knowledge will eventually require a more forthright discussion of doctrines and historical events. This will undoubtedly lead to many people feeling uneasy, perhaps shake their faith. It has mine. Weirdness I can deal with. Lying is harder for me. I hope we all become more informed. Knowing what really happened ultimately will be a good thing, at first it may hurt, but the truth is better than believing a lie.

As some stated above, we often look at the hardships the pioneers faced without realizing that even the "city slickers" lives were fraught with what we would term to be overwhelming hardships. Still, even the pioneers that came after the original pioneers did not have an easy trip. Even today, the idea of leaving everything known behind is a terrifying concept. Throw in the idea that you may not have much to eat and that you cannot bring many things with you, and many today would probably refuse. Even if not that many died, even one would be a lot if it was your own child/father/mother.

"Utahns today often skew our perception and understanding of the entire history of what happened on the Mormon Trail by dwelling on the sufferings of a few."

Is it just me, or has this been a recent thing? As I was growing up, I seldom heard about the Martin-Wiley handcart tragedy.

If anyone is "skewing" it's either the church, or the media, or both.