M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Pulling Handcarts in Virginia
by Mark W. Cannon, Page Johnson, and Jim Croft

After pushing handcarts for10 miles over rough terrain, 98 youth from the McLean, Virginia Stake held a testimony meeting and pondered the stark realities of pioneer life.  Several wondered whether they could have done this for over 100 days as did the 3000 handcart pioneers  from 1856 to 1860.  Some 40 adult leaders on the trek had no doubts that these modern, but determined, teenagers would have indeed made it.

Stake President Kent Colton, who woke the youth each morning with rousing tunes on his harmonica, urged them to be modern pioneers, showing the same  resourcefulness, resilience and motivation for living Church standards and for serving in the Lord's Kingdom as the original pioneers.  At the fireside before the trek, President Colton, dressed as his ancestor, illustrated what the pioneers went through by detailing the 3,500 miles he walked with the Mormon Battalion to California and then back to the mid-west to bring his family to Utah.   

Many of the youth made their own calico skirts and mutton-sleeved shirts, but they conceded to the safety and style of this century by wearing athletic shoes, sunscreen and bug repellant.  The trek took place at the 4200-acre Marriott Ranch in Hume, Virginia.  Though the lush backdrop of rolling Virginia hills is unlike the rugged plains and mountains of the Midwest and West, the sometimes forested terrain, occasional steep grades, streams and rocks provide challenge enough. Using only muscle power and trudging in water-laden skirts made the experience memorable.

Constructing Handcarts
For a similar trek four years ago, used handcarts were located in a multi-state region and then leased.  For this trek, a master LDS wood worker, John Clark, took wood in its early stages and cured it in his basement, then planed it and worked with others, such as Jim Johnson of McLean I Ward, to build 15 sturdy carts that can be stored and reused.  Members of the Centreville, Suitland and McLean Stakes - all planning their own treks -- spent hundreds of hours building the frames and cart  beds, fashioning hoops and sewing the canvas covers.  The wheels were crafted by a Quaker carriage wheelwright.  Each completed cart weighs 300 pounds , and on the first morning of the trek, the teenagers themselves assembled ten of these carts and piled on their necessities.

During the journey, cobbled together family units of 10 "children" and a "Ma" and "Pa", usually a married couple, functioned together as a real family.  They planned together, prayed together, ate together, and took turns pushing their unwieldy handcarts.  

Poignant pioneer stories record that children's chores were often difficult and dangerous, and consequently they suffered disproportionately from illness and accidents.

Connecting with Another World
Jim Croft, who spent much of his spare time for six months to plan and organize the event said: "It was a chance for today's youth to connect with that world - with their ancestors, with teenagers of another time, and most of all, with themselves as they discover what they personally are made of, physically, mentally, and spiritually.  They experienced first hand what it was like to work as a team, pull a heavy wagon up a hill, slug through mud, contend with heat, insects and each other - all while trying to maintain a cheerful and willing attitude."

But it was not all work.  Conwey Casillas of Arlington Ward planned some 19^th-Century fun for the trekkers.  They shot black powder guns,  had tugs of war, and maneuvered two-person saws. One young man, David Goodsell, even discovered a new talent.  His first three tosses of the Tomahawk buried the blade in the target log.

During their second evening the trekkers prepared and ate their first delectable meal, after killing, plucking and cooking chickens, the trekkers ate chicken appetizers.  They cut up vegetables and cooked them with beef in 18 Dutch ovens, under the supervision of Laird and Vicki Walker of Great Falls Ward.  Then the ovens were cleaned and apple crisp was cooked.

Leadership Skills
The trek was an example of Church programs that develop leadership skills, and many of these youth were already leaders in non-LDS settings.  One trekker, David Richards, is the new student body president at Langley High School.  He is the sixth Latter-day Saint to have been student body president of that sophisticated high school.  Another trekker, Ben Griffin, kicked the winning goals in the state high school quarter-final and championship soccer matches and currently plans to play soccer at LDS-oriented Southern Virginia University.  Enthusiastic Jordan Johnson plays football, baseball and runs track at McLean High School.  There were young Eagle Scouts such as Oliver Johnson and Austin Goodnight.

A special benefit of the trek, according to the youth, was the chance to meet other young people and forge new friendships.  One fifteen-year-old, who had never gone to stake dances surprised her parents by attending the stake dance the night the trek ended, saying she was anxious to be with her new friends again.

The novelty of teenagers voluntarily undertaking such hardships attracted media attention including a half-page story in the Washington Post which circulated to 1.4 million subscribers. Local Northern Virginia newspapers are publishing stories with the excellent photos of Bill Matthews.  They may have been enticed partly by the widespread interest of citizens in dealing with catastrophe since 9/11.  The original 15,000 pioneers that crossed the plains from Nauvoo were an extraordinary example of a response to catastrophe -- when mobs took over the community they had worked so hard to build.  

Historical Context
Historically, the handcart companies were created because so many European converts wanted to be part of establishing and enjoying the Kingdom of God on earth.  New converts, particularly British and Scandinavian, were gathering to travel to Zion faster than resources could provide them with covered wagons and animals to do so.  A simple handcart, which did not require a team of horses or oxen became the alternative.  

Soon, many of the immigrants who disembarked the railroad at the end of the line in Iowa City found themselves choosing only 20 pounds of their belongings and heaving them onto the handcart.  And then they began the long journey on foot.  There were some ironic simplicities. Because human power substituted for animal power, maintenance was not required for many animals and daily harnessing and unharnessing was not needed for the handcarts. For every 20 handcarts, one wagon would typically carry heavier items and food supplies.    

Such activity and excitement attracted the notice of non-LDS contemporaries.  For example,   Charles Dickens came to a wharf to observe a boatload of Mormon emigrants.  There he interviewed George Q. Cannon, the European Mission President in charge of emigration, and talked with the Saints about their lives and organizing themselves on the boat.  Overcoming his prior skepticism, Dickens called them "the pick and flower of England."  (The Uncommercial Traveler, Boston: Dana Estes & Co., 1964, p. 303.)  

In later years, economic Historian Katherine Coman concluded: "It was , taken all in all, the most successful example of regulated immigration in United States History."  (Katherine Coman, Economic Beginnings of the Far West, New York: Macmillan, 1912, p.184.)   In addition, the eminent organizational thinker Peter Drucker concluded: "The Mormons are the only Utopia that ever worked."  Letter of Peter Drucker to Mark W. Cannon, July 1, 1989)

The adult leaders in the trek, such as Tammy Freeman, Stake Young Women's President, and Gene Goodsell, Stake Young Men's President, also grew in appreciation for the arduous tasks of organizing and leading the original handcart families. Sister Freeman noted her responsibility for insuring the physical well being of young women.  Trek nurse Annie Bridges helped those with blisters, fatigue, ticks and spider bites.  Steve Richards, the "trail boss", observed that "it was challenging to keep everyone on the same pace.  Each family was unique in the ability to manage and move the handcarts and if you did not work with the families and take breaks at the appropriate time people would be too spread out or get behind in the schedule."

What makes today's youth exchange their TV remote for the handle of a handcart?  Croft's wife, Bette Jo, believes that this trek is a unique "survivor challenge" that truly tests the participants as they literally and figuratively learn to pull together.  "We were a Ma and Pa couple four years ago," she said.  "Within the first hour, each kid learned that the rest of the family was depending on him or her.  Everyone else suffered if one of them slacked off.  No one who made the journey in 1998 will ever forget the experience."  

Neither will their 2002 compatriots.

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