“Let all things be done in order and let all Saints who can, gather up for Zion and come while the
way is open before them; let the poor also come, whether they receive aid or not from the Fund,
let them come on foot, with handcarts or wheel barrows; let them gird up their loins and walk
through, and nothing shall stay or hinder them.”
~Passage taken from the 13th General Epistle of October 29th, 1855
“It seemed that the Lord fitted the back for burden. Every day we realized the hand of God was
over us and that He made good on his promises unto us day by day…We know that his promises
never fail and this was proved to us day by day. We knew that we had not the strength of our
own to perform such hardships if our Heavenly Father had not helped us.”
~Passage taken from the novel, ‘The Gathering of Zion’ by Wallace Stegner
The Mormon pioneers were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Latter-day Saints, who migrated across the United States from the Midwest to the Salt Lake Valley in what is today the U.S. state of Utah. The journey was taken by about 70,000 people beginning in April 1847, and ended with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.
According to Pulitzer Prize winning author Wallace Stegner, upon arriving in Utah, sojourners fell to their knees and gave thanks for having reached their promised land. Gazing out over this remarkable horizon more than 150 years later, it’s easy to see why.
Castle Valley, Emery County, Utah
Leave a note.