CD 1856 - Original Cast 2004

(Cory Ellsworth, Mildred West Wiseman Packard) Jamie Kay Alston, Joseph Paur, Judd Maher, Robert Noble, Aubrea Gibbons.

Label-Information:
About 3,000 Mormon pioneers in 10 handcart companies moved West in the years 1856-1860. In 1856, five handcart companies, comprised mostly of European converts to the Church, made their way from Iowa City to the Salt Lake Valley. The first three completed the 1,300 miles of pulling from Iowa City to the Salt Lake Valley in about four months and were relatively from serious danger. The latter two companies (Willie and Martin), which started late, were caught in the fall storms and suffered much loss (around 250 of the 1000 people in these two companies perished). If not for the heroic, rapid response of rescue teams sent by Brigham Young from the Church’s hub in Salt Lake City, there would have been much greater loss.