Trekking in Honor of a Handcart Pioneer
To honor those who made the handcart journey, each youth
attending Trek is expected to walk in honor of a handcart pioneer. This
will be accomplished by the youth researching and selecting a handcart pioneer ancestor or a member from one
of the ten handcart companies that came across the plains in order to gather to
Zion. (Check the Relative Finder website below.) This could be a pioneer who may or may not have survived the journey. If you do not have a pioneer ancestor or have not found a pioneer on your own and would prefer the Stake to provide you with a pioneer to research, please indicate accordingly when you complete the ONLINE registration. Registration is due April 30. Pioneer assignments will be made shortly after. Remember, you don't have to walk for an ancestor. Many people will not have an actual ancestor, (especially those whose parents or grandparents are converts) but you can still choose your own pioneer if you'd like. Watch the stories that are posted on the HOME page of this blog each week, maybe you will want to walk for one of them.
We encourage you to choose a pioneer early on and gather
stories and information about them. As you are researching your pioneer, learn
about their background such as when and where were they born and how old they
where when they came across the plains. What experiences did they have on their
Trek journey? If they survived the journey, what happened to them when they
reached Zion?
The pioneer you select should be kept in your thoughts as
you prepare for and participate on the Trek. You will have the opportunity to
share this information with your Trek family while on the trail.
There are several resources where you can find information
about the handcart pioneers. Listed are
several recommended books, websites and articles to help you get started.
Books:
- Tell My Story, Too by Jolene S. Allphin
- The Price We Paid by Andrew D. Olsen
- Follow Me to Zion: Stories from the Willie Handcart Pioneers by Andrew D. Olsen
- Handcarts to Zion: The Story of a Unique Western Migration, 1856-1860 by LeRoy R. Hafen
Websites:
- https://www.relativefinder.org/ Relative Finder. (Click LOGIN on this page; if this link is down for testing--which it has been, click on the Beta Site link which is available on the same page and it should work. Use your LDS login and password to find who you are related to in history. When you login, join our Stake's group: Billings East Trek. Use password: trek2015. Once logged in and your family tree downloaded, you will be able to click on the "Relatives" tab and choose the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies and see to whom you are related. This is an easy way to find an actual pioneer ancestor to research and walk for during Trek! Yayyy! By joining our stake's group, you will be able to select people from within our stake and see how you are related to them. Crazy eh? This is EASY and so FUN!! We are all related if you go back far enough!
- https://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/ This website provides information about pioneer companies. You can search for companies chronologically or alphabetically. Please choose from one of the ten handcart companies- Ellsworth, 1856; McArthur, 1856; Bunker, 1856; Willie 1856; Martin, 1856; Evans, 1857; Christiansen, 1857; Rowley, 1859; Robinson, 1860; Stoddard, 1860.
- https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Handcart_Pioneers This site on familysearch.org also has links to the ten handcart company pioneers and other useful references.
- https://www.lds.org/ensign/1997/08/they-came-by-handcart?
- https://history.lds.org/place/pioneer-story-iowa-city?lang=eng
No comments:
Post a Comment