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"Like the army of Israel of old, they had their cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. Out of the travail of Iowa came the hymn that echoes down the generations, “Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear; but with joy wend your way."
Thomas S. Monson

Veil Crossing Monument

Pioneer Stories

What did they experience?

Nauvoo and the surrounding communities were home to an estimated 16,000 members of the Church. Most of these made the journey west, in addition to a growing number of immigrants from other countries. How did they make this journey? What did they feel? What did they eat? Why did they feel so strongly about making this "trek" at all?

Thankfully, many of these pioneers followed the council of their leaders and kept journals of their experiences. From these we can learn the answers to the above questions, and more. As we prepare for trek, reading a few of these stories each week is an excellent way to prepare.

The stories below are just a few examples of pioneer experiences.

Bodil Mortensen - Willie Handcart Company

Cyrus Wheelock - "Ye Elders of Israel"

James_Kirkwood - Willie Handcart Company

Mary Hereford & Ephramine Wickland

Susannah Stone - "... we murmured not..."

Mrs Evens - "..a rider on a horse came back looking for us..."

Thomas D. Giles - "Elder Pratt gave him a remarkable blessing."

Ellenor Roberts - "...walked the rest of the journey barefoot."

Josiah Rogerson Sr - "Let us oft speak kind words to each other."

To read about the entire trek from Nauvoo to Salt Lake City, or to read about specific sites or journal entries along the way click here.

(Click links along the trail map for more journal entries and stories.)

Martin's Cove Story (LDS.org)

Mormon Handcart Companies