Illustration of 1856 handcart pioneers pulling wooden handcarts across the Wyoming plains as snow begins to fall, with mountains in the distance

1856 · Liverpool to the Salt Lake Valley

The Willie & Martin Handcart Journey

Two companies, nearly a thousand people, and a 1,300-mile walk from Iowa City that ran into one of the harshest early winters on the plains. Thirty-three major stops are plotted below, in the order they reached them.

~1,300 miIowa City to Salt Lake City, pulling handcarts
~980continued west from Florence: 404 Willie + 576 Martin
213+died on the trail: 68 Willie, at least 145 Martin
250relief wagons sent out from Salt Lake City

In the spring of 1856, British converts sailed from Liverpool in two groups. James G. Willie's company crossed on the Thornton to New York; Edward Martin's company followed on the Horizon to Boston. Both rode the rails to Iowa City, where they were fitted out with handcarts, two-wheeled carts each family pulled by hand, carrying about 500 pounds of food and belongings.

They started late. Willie left Iowa City on July 15 and Martin on July 28, weeks behind the safe window for crossing the plains before winter. At Florence, on the Missouri River, Levi Savage warned the Willie Company to winter in Nebraska rather than face the mountains in autumn. The company voted to press on, and Savage went with them anyway. The Martin Company, coming behind, faced the same calendar and the same choice. It was the decision the whole story turns on.

The map below follows the Mormon Trail along the north bank of the Platte and up the Sweetwater: Fort Kearny, Chimney Rock, Fort Laramie, Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, South Pass, Fort Bridger, and down Emigration Canyon into the Salt Lake Valley. Tap any numbered pin or card to read what happened at that stop.

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Willie Company Martin Company Shared trail Sea & rail Handcart trail route

The two companies

They traveled the same road about two weeks apart, which is why the October blizzard caught them in different places: Willie near Rocky Ridge, Martin strung out between the Platte and Martin's Cove.

Willie Company

Ship Thornton · New York · rail to Iowa City · about 500 people

  • Sailed Liverpool May 4, 1856; arrived New York June 14; reached Iowa City June 26.
  • Left Iowa City July 15. At Florence, about 100 people wintered near Omaha and Council Bluffs; 404 continued on August 17.
  • Near Wood River, Nebraska, a bison herd stampeded their cattle and about 30 head were lost, so every handcart took on an extra 100 pounds of flour.
  • Reached Fort Laramie September 30 to find no provisions for sale. Rations were cut to 12 ounces of flour a day.
  • Halted by the October 19 blizzard near Rocky Ridge. Thirteen people died the night of October 23 and were buried at Rock Creek.
  • Arrived in Salt Lake City November 9, 1856. 68 died on the journey.

Martin Company

Ship Horizon · Boston · Albany & Buffalo by rail · 576 people

  • Sailed Liverpool May 25, 1856; arrived Boston June 30; reached Iowa City July 8. Their train crossed the Hudson at Albany and passed Buffalo on July 4.
  • Left Iowa City July 28, the last handcart company of the season, with the Hodgetts and Hunt wagon companies traveling behind them.
  • Left Florence August 27, the last company on the road that season, weeks behind the Willie Company on the same trail.
  • Crossed the North Platte for the last time on October 19, the day the blizzard hit, and camped snowbound at Red Butte for nine days. Fifty-six people died there.
  • Sheltered five days at Martin's Cove from November 4, then struggled on half rations behind the rescue wagons.
  • Arrived in Salt Lake City November 30, 1856. At least 145 died; many survivors lost fingers, toes, or limbs to frostbite.

The rescue

Word reached Salt Lake City on October 4, when Franklin D. Richards, who had passed both companies on the trail weeks earlier, rode in ahead of them. The response went out the next morning.

Richards reaches Salt Lake City

Franklin D. Richards's fast party, which had passed the handcart companies near Fort Kearny in mid-September, arrived in the valley and reported both companies still on the plains, short on food, with winter coming.

The call and the first wagons

At general conference on October 5, Brigham Young called for wagons, teams, and teamsters. The first rescue party, 16 wagons, left on October 7. By the end of October, 250 relief wagons had been sent out.

The blizzard

A severe early storm halted both handcart companies and the rescue party itself. The Willies were stopped on the Sweetwater near Rocky Ridge; the Martins were crossing the North Platte the same day.

Scouts break through

Captain Willie went ahead on foot on October 20 to find the rescuers. Advance scouts reached the Willie company first, then pushed on and found the snowbound Martins at Red Butte on October 28.

Seventy-seven more wagons

A backup relief party of 77 wagons met the Martin Company on the trail, loading the weakest onto wagons for the final stretch over the mountains.

Arrival

The Willie Company reached Salt Lake City on November 9 and the Martin Company on November 30, closing the last and costliest handcart season. More than 210 of the roughly 980 pioneers who continued west from Florence had died.

Trail mileposts

Miles west of Nauvoo, Illinois, along the Mormon Trail, the standard measuring line used by trail guides. Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley accounts for just over a thousand of them.

LandmarkMiles from Nauvoo
Winter Quarters (Florence, Omaha)266
Fort Kearny469
Chimney Rock718
Fort Laramie788
Last crossing of the North Platte (near Casper)914
Red Butte940
Devil's Gate970
Martin's Cove993
Rocky Ridge1,038
South Pass1,065
Fort Bridger1,183
Salt Lake Valley1,297

Sources

Willie and Martin Handcart Companies, 1856. Prepared from published trail histories. Map pins are selectable; each stop in the list corresponds to a numbered pin on the map.