Pioneer Resources

Keep in mind: There are many pioneers in the church who didn’t cross the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. A pioneer is one who goes before, preparing the way for others to follow. Research and learn about your pioneer ancestors or those who came before you who converted to the gospel and made it possible for you to have the gospel in your life.

Videos

Reviewing the Lessons of the Past

Pioneers: Followers of Jesus Christ

Articles

• The Faith of the Pioneers by President Gordon B. Hinckley
• Go Bring Them in from the Plains by President James E. Faust
• They Came by Handcart by Paul H. Peterson
• Courage – the Unfailing Beacon by Susan Easton Black
• To Them of the Last Wagon by President J. Reuben Clark Jr.
• No Toil nor Labor Fear by Ronald O. Barney
• These Noble Pioneers by Gordon B. Hinckley
• They Came by Handcarts by Paul H. Peterson

Books

• Tell My Story Too by Jolene S. Allphin
• The Price We Paid: The Extraordinary Story of the Willie & Martin Handcart Pioneers by Andrew D. Olsen
• Fire of the Covenant: The Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies by Gerald N. Lund
• I Walked to Zion by Susan Arrington Madsen
• Handcarts to Zion by Leroy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen
• Journal of the Trail by Stewart E. Clark, Robert S. Glazier
• Rescue of the 1856 Handcart Companies by Rebecca Bartholomew and Leonard J. Arrington
• We’ll Find the Place: The Mormon Exodus, 1846-1848 by Richard E. Bennett
• 111 Days to Zion by Hal Knight
• Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860: A Woman’s Life on the Mormon Frontier by Mary Ann Hafen
• Against All Odds: Amazing Pioneer Stories of Courage and Survival by Shirley A. Bahlmann
• True Stories of Mormon Pioneer Courage by Lucy Parr
• The Story of the Mormon Pioneers by Mabel Harmer
• The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the Mormon Trail by Wallace Stegner
• Remember – The Willie and Martin Handcart Companies and Their Rescuers – Past and Present by Riverton Wyoming Stake

Church Magazines

The sesquicentennial (150^th anniversary) of the pioneers arriving in the Salt Lake Valley was in 1997. Throughout 1997 the church magazines hosted articles talking about pioneers in the church. Two magazines that were especially devoted to the pioneers are listed below.

• July 1997 New Era
• July 1997 Ensign

Websites

• The Pioneer Story – The Mormon Pioneer Trail is a great interactive website that takes you along the trail of the Mormon pioneers. Along the way you can stop and read personal accounts of pioneers who traveled west from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Great Salt Lake Valley.
• Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868 is the most complete listing of individuals and companies in which Mormon Pioneer emigrants traveled west to Utah.
• Trails of Hope – A Brief Overview of the Mormon Trail Experience – Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869 is the first digital publication jointly sponsored by Brigham Young University, the University of Utah and Utah State University and covers the period of time from the first pioneers to the joining of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads at Promontory, Utah, thus ending the era of overland pioneers.
• BYU Speeches
• YouTube – Pioneer Trek Search Results