North Fort Worth Teens Participate in Pioneer Trek Reenactment
Colton and Anessa Woolford“Did we just experience a miracle?”
Fort Worth North — “Did we just experience a miracle?” That’s what many of the youth from the Fort Worth North area were thinking and saying as they experienced what life was like for pioneers in the 1800s by reenacting a pioneer handcart trek at the LBJ National Grasslands just northwest of Decatur, Texas, on March 16th -18th, 2023. Sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the twenty-one-mile journey took the teens three days to complete.
Open to teens, ages 14 to 18, the trek is designed to provide a growing experience for all participating. Most handcart treks involve dressing in pioneer-style clothing, eating food prepared and cooked the old-fashioned way, and sleeping under the stars along the trail. The participants experience a small taste of pioneer life as they work hard to cook meals, push handcarts, encounter unexpected challenges, and camp without present-day conveniences.
Leaving the modern world behind, the teens traded in their cell phones for handcarts and supplies, joining a “Trek Family” with whom to share the joys and hardships of the journey. Then, just as pioneers of old did in the 1800s, they put their shoulders to the wheel to transport their gear from campsite to campsite.
I was personally struggling a little bit with just two and a half days, and [the pioneers] had to be out here for weeks trying to make it.
As we were pulling the handcart through the rain, I just thought about how hard it must have been for the pioneers that had to go through that […] they had to rely on the Lord to give them strength.
The journey can be long and difficult when pulling heavy handcarts, especially when the weather starts to turn. This year’s trek started out great, but within a few hours, the different handcart “families” were surrounded by rain, hail, tornadoes, and falling temperatures! The leaders of the activity were about to put their emergency backup plan into place, when, some say, the miracle happened. The clouds suddenly split into two sections over the Grasslands, leaving the trekkers pretty much unscathed! Although the rain and hail moved around the groups, the falling temperatures and high winds did not. Camping in wind gusts of 30 to 50mph and temperatures falling to near freezing at night would make most people load up the car and go home in defeat. The youth, however, were determined and stayed strong, chalking the experience up to a trial that many of the early pioneers went through for weeks and months at a time.
We were blessed. It was a miracle, really, because there were storms all around us, but they split apart to go around us so that we would not be affected by the storms.
Pioneer Trek is all about the experience. Hard times and good times are had by all of the participants. The goals of a Pioneer Handcart Trek usually include: inviting the spirit, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, increasing personal testimonies, and building on the love and unity among the youths that participate.
I was standing out in the freezing cold brushing my teeth when a thought just came to me, a quote: ‘I used to pray for times like these.’ And that quote sunk into my heart. It made me feel a lot of joy for just being there. Despite it being so cold and freezing, it made me happy to know that I was in the right place that the Lord wanted me to be in.
Despite the physical hardships, the youth of The Church of Jesus Christ in North Fort Worth finished with smiles on their faces, new friends, and many experiences that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.
If you would like to watch the short documentary on their experiences, please click on the link below:
All quotes for this story are by teen Pioneer Handcart Trek participants.
Photos and video are by Colton and Anessa Woolford.
Colton and Anessa Woolford are Fort Worth Media Specialists living in the Fort Worth Texas North Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
