Mormon Youth Time Travel to the 1850’s

Over two hundred North Texas youth from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent their Spring break as time travelers, recreating the challenges pioneers experienced crossing the plains in the mid-1800’s.

Girls in bonnets and ankle length calico dresses and boys with suspenders, long-sleeved cotton shirts and wide-brimmed hats covered nearly 15 miles in two days, pulling handcarts across the rugged terrain of the Lyndon B Johnson National Grasslands.

Every four years the youth are provided with a “Pioneer Trek” to help them better understand and appreciate the sacrifices the pioneers made in their journey west. Many of the teens are descendants of the very pioneers they are emulating. Divided into twenty-three “families,” the youth worked together to overcome eight challenges or disasters common to pioneers of 160 years ago, such as rattlesnake bites, cholera, lack of water and even death. Each of the trials came with a lesson learned—the importance of obedience, sharing one another’s burdens, how to deal with disappointment in life, being prepared, relying on faith, and enduring to the end.

In one scenario based on an actual experience from what is historically termed “The Mormon Exodus”, a traveler posted a sign at a tainted watering hole warning those who came after him “Don’t drink the water.”  Some livestock died because the pioneers—who were Dutch immigrants—did not understand the language of the sign.

In their parallel experience the teens were confronted with a sign in Dutch and the story of their pioneer counterparts was related, bringing home the very real danger of not knowing how to read signs, both physical and spiritual.

At another point the boys and girls were separated, leaving the young women to pull the heavy carts and make their own way, simulating a common experience of their 1850’s sisters who, through the death of husbands and fathers along the trail, were forced to make the perilous journey alone.

The teens demonstrated the strength and compassion of today’s youth in confronting unplanned trials, also.

“My ‘family’ didn’t want to leave me behind,” said Kenna Connel of Keller, who faced some physical challenges on the trail. “They told me if I could walk at the start, they would carry me in the handcart when I got tired so I would have the stamina to participate in the Silent Pull at the end.”

The last leg of the journey was called “The Silent Pull” which many agreed was their favorite part. It was a time for them to reflect on what they learned and how the pioneers’ experience applies to modern life. Thomas S Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, provided this counsel:

“We honor those who endured incredible hardships. We praise their names and reflect on their sacrifices.

“What about our time? Are there pioneering experiences for us? Will future generations reflect with gratitude on our efforts, our examples? You young [people] can indeed be pioneers in courage, in faith, in charity, in determination.

“You can strengthen one another; you have the capacity to notice the unnoticed. When you have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to feel, you can reach out and rescue others of your age” (“Pioneers All,” Ensign, May 1997, 93).

As the time travelers drew closer to the base camp, the strains of “Faith in Every Footstep” and “Come, Come Ye Saints” floated across the prairie, accompanying them home, back to the modern world and their waiting families. Unlike the families pioneers left behind long ago—who often never learned the fate of their loved ones— the teens’ families  had been following their progress via Twitter.

This event was sponsored by the Colleyville Texas Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Photographs were provided by Gina Adams.