Fort Laramie National Historic Site

We cannot afford to purchase wagons and teams as in times past. I am consequently thrown back upon my old plan - to make hand-carts, and let the emigration foot it . . .       Brigham Young, 1855 Between 1856 and 1860, nearly 3,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, pulled their earthly possessions in two-wheeled handcarts from Iowa to Utah. Most "Handcart Pioneers" were poor immigrant converts from northern Europe.A typical fully loaded handcart weighed between 300 and 500 pounds. Costing as little as $10 apiece to build, the handcart was considerably cheaper than the $300 to $500 for a wagon and ox team. Only the better-made handcarts had iron-rimmed wheels, causing at least one elder to question their sturdiness. Church President Brigham Young, however, expressed confidence in the venture's success, observing that the emigrants "can come just as quick, if not quicker and much cheaper - can start earlier and escape the prevailing sickness which annually lays so many of our brethren in the dust."Tragedy on the PlainsOf the 10 handcart companies attempting the journey, all but two completed the trip successfully. Plagued by a late departure, a shortage of provisions, and an early severe winter storm, the Martin and Willie companies were destined for tragedy. In October 1856, near present-day Casper, Wyoming, over 200 members of these ill-fated companies died. One survivor poignantly described the scene, "Death had taken a heavy toll and the Ravine was like an overcrowded tomb. No mortal tongue could describe the suffering." The handcart era ended after 1860, when church leaders decided to use only wagons and ox teams to haul emigrants and freight west.

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Show me all markers in:  Fort Laramie, WY  |  Goshen County  |  82212  |  Wyoming  |  United States of America

Post Quartermaster's Area
Crossroads of a Nation Moving West
Embassy on the Northern Plains
The Post Bakeries
Commissary Storehouse
Site of Army Bridge
The Queens of Soap Suds Row
Guardhouse
General Sink (Latrine)
The "New" Guardhouse and Adjacent Barracks

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