Lesson 35 - "A Mission of Saving"

Doctrine and Covenants 4:3-7; 18:101-6; 52:40; 81:5-6; 138:58 and 3 Nephi 18:31-32, Moroni 7:45-48.

The Martin and Willie Handcart Companies are the stuff of legend. The two (separate) handcart companies both left late in the season in 1856. An early winter made this disastrous. The two companies required rescue by their fellow Saints in Salt Lake City, as did the Hunt and Hodgetts wagon companies.

Brigham Young got up at the beginning of General Conference on Sunday 5 October 1856. After an attempt to make the Saints a little more quiet, he said: "I will now give this people the subject and the text for the Elders who may speak to-day and during the conference, it is this, on the 5th day of October, 1856, many of our brethren and sisters are on the plains with hand-carts, and probably many are now 700 miles from this place, and they must be brought here, we must send assistance to them. The text will be, 'to get them here.' I want the brethren who may speak to understand that their text is the people on the plains, and the subject matter for this community is to send for them and bring them in before the winter sets in.

That is my religion; that is the dictation of the Holy Ghost that I possess, it is to save the people. We must bring them in from the plains, and when we get them here we will try to keep the same spirit that we have had, and teach them the way of life and salvation; tell them how they can be saved, and how they can save their friends. This is the salvation I am now seeking for, to save our brethren that would be apt to perish, or suffer extremely, if we do not send them assistance.

I shall call upon the Bishops this day, I shall not wait until to-morrow, not until the next day..." He continued with specific pleas for men, equipment, blankets, and food. He continued, "I will tell you all that your faith, religion, and profession of religion, will never save one soul of you in the celestial kingdom of our God, unless you carry out just such principles as I am now teaching you. Go and bring in those people now on the plains, and attend strictly to those things which we call temporal, or temporal duties, otherwise your faith will have been in vain; the preaching you have heard will be in preaching you have heard will be in vain to you, and you will sink to hell, unless you attend to the things we tell you....The Gospel has already been preached to those brethren and sisters now on the Plains; they have believed and obeyed it, and are willing to do anything for salvation; they are doing all they can do, and the Lord has done all that is required of Him to do, and has given us power to bring them in from the Plains....First and foremost is to secure our own salvation and do right pertaining to ourselves, and then extend the hand of right to save others." Read the whole thing (including grouchy Brigham with all the noise) here. (Deseret News 15 October 1856) Or from the Journal of Discourses here.

There are a few elements of the story that many have heard again and again. The amount that a story is repeated unfortunately does not necessarily indicate accuracy. Many a well intentioned individual has repeated a historically problematic story, not knowing the problems with the story. One of the oft-repeated elements involving these ill-fated handcarts is the rescue at the Sweetwater River near what is today called Martin's Cove. As the narrative follows three young supermen carried the whole of the Martin Company across the frozen river and later gave their lives in the sacrifice. Brigham Young then declared that that single act would guarantee their exaltation (think about potential theological problems). Please read Chad Orton's article on the "Martin Handcart Company at the Sweetwater" here. Rather than a nearly fictional account of three supermen (which the manual regrettably continues to repeat), I think the real story is much more powerful. Instead of three supermen with whom I cannot compare, we have concentric circles of people helping their brothers and sisters (those in Salt Lake offering their clothing and blankets and food, those who headed out to bring the handcart company back, the members of the company who likewise served amidst their own distress). This becomes a much more accessible and historically accurate narrative of people helping with the means and skills that they possessed. I find the real story all the more inspiring.

The second historically problematic and overly simplified example often attached to handcart discussions is the story of a sunday school class discussion the disaster that was the Martin Handcart company, when an older brother stood up and interrupted saying something along the lines of--stop saying bad things, none of us apostatized, we learned to know God in our extremity. While I will not discount the last sentiment, in this second article Orton analyses the account and gives us more context to know Francis Webster--thought to be the old man--and his wife as people dedicated to the Restoration and serving their brothers and sisters.

The chosen scriptures all rotate around our responsibility to care for our sisters and brothers, both spiritually and temporally. While the oft-repeated bits of the Martin and Willie handcart stories can evoke emotion, the larger narratives are ultimately more powerful. As we become focused outside ourselves to temporally and spiritually aid our sisters and brothers, we begin to become "saviours on Mt. Zion" (Obadiah 1:21).