Devil's Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy

by David Roberts

The Mormon handcart tragedy of 1856 is the worst disaster in the history of the Western migrations, and yet it remains virtually unknown today outside Mormon circles.

Following the death of Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, its second Prophet and new leader, Brigham Young, determined to move the faithful out of the Midwest, where they had been constantly persecuted by their neighbors, to found a new Zion in the wilderness. In 1846-47, the Mormons made their way west, generally following the Oregon Trail, arriving in July 1847 in what is today Utah, where they established Salt Lake City. Nine years later, fearing a federal invasion, Young and other Mormon leaders wrestled with the question of how to bring thousands of impoverished European converts, mostly British and Scandinavian, from the Old World to Zion. Young conceived of a plan in which the European Mormons would travel by ship to New York City and by train to Iowa City. From there, instead of crossing the plains by covered wagon, they would push and pull wooden handcarts all the way to Salt Lake.

But the handcart plan was badly flawed. The carts, made of green wood, constantly broke down; the baggage allowance of seventeen pounds per adult was far too small; and the food provisions were woefully inadequate, especially considering the demanding physical labor of pushing and pulling the handcarts 1,300 miles across plains and mountains. Five companies of handcart pioneers left Iowa for Zion that spring and summer, but the last two of them left late. As a consequence, some 900 Mormons in these two companies were caught in early snowstorms in Wyoming. When the church leadership in Salt Lake became aware of the dire circumstances of these pioneers, Younglaunched a heroic rescue effort. But for more than 200 of the immigrants, the rescue came too late.

The story of the Mormon handcart tragedy has never before been told in full despite its stunning human drama: At least five times as many people died in the Mormon tragedy as died in the more famous Donner Party disaster.

David Roberts has researched this story in Mormon archives and elsewhere, and has traveled along the route where the handcart pioneers came to grief. Based on his research, he concludes that the tragedy was entirely preventable. Brigham Young and others in the Mormon leadership failed to heed the abundant signs of impending catastrophe, including warnings from other Mormon elders in the East and Midwest, where the journey began. Devil's Gate is a powerful indictment of the Mormon leadership and a gripping story of survival and suffering that is superbly told by one of our finest writers of Western history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion, Mormonism, American History, Westerns, Lds

402 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
See this thread for more information.

David Roberts is the award-winning author of twenty-nine books about mountaineering, exploration, and anthropology. His most recent publication, Alone on the Wall, was written with world-class rock climber Alex Honnold, whose historic feats were featured in the film Free Solo.

Reviews

[Bridget · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made me so mad I didn't just want to stop reading it. I wanted to throw it across the room.

It's not even because the author seems to patently disrespect Mormonism and Mormons. (Which I don't have a problem with on its own, but dude, if you hate Mormons, HOW ABOUT YOU DON'T WRITE A BOOK ABOUT THEM.) It's because he disrespects us (Mormons) lazily and uninformed-ly and disingenuously that I got so angry at this book.

Look, there are a lot of bad things you could say about my religion that are true. I'm adult enough to admit that. So why do people (including Jon Krakauer, whose books I adore and love and worship except for the aberration that is Under the Banner of Heaven) insist on saying bad things about Mormons that are untrue and based on sloppy research? It drives me crazy in general, and it drove me crazy in this book.

Chapter 1 was OK. I was prepared for some skepticism about the church because it's par for the course in any book even remotely related to Mormonism written by an unbeliever. And there was a bit of a snide tone in Chapter 1. But I was willing to wade through it because I really wanted to get to the story of the Martin-Willie Handcart Company.

The problem was, to get to that story, I had to read Chapter 2. Chapter 2 is filled with helpful little tidbits about Joseph Smith and Mormons. For example, Roberts goes on for a few pages about what a rogue Joseph Smith was and how all his neighbors submitted affidavits calling him a scoundrel and blah blah blah and then one sentence later on says, "Some of these retrospective slurs were solicited by anti-Mormon polemicists, and are thus perhaps no more to be credited than the hagiographers' rosy portraits." Well then. What are they doing in your book, presented as fact?

He quotes Fawn Brodie's No Man Knows My History at length, which bothered me. I thought that was discounted, at least in part, by serious historians years ago!

He quotes Krakauer saying, "Mormons the world over have committed [the exact time and date of Joseph Smith's death] to memory." Raise your hand if you're Mormon and you cannot name the hour and minute or even general time of day of Joseph Smith's death. FYI, my hand is raised and I bet yours is, too.

Roberts asserts that "another Mormon legend has it that the Donner Party was made up of the very men who had persecuted the Saints in Missouri and Illinois. Their terrible end was God's punishment for their sins." I have never heard this insinuated or even hinted at in my entire life. In fact, I believe there was at least one Mormon [i]in[/i] the Donner Party. Ridiculous.

He ascribes the basest motives to the Mormons choosing the Salt Lake Valley in which to settle and he does it so disingenuously that it makes me want to spit.

Are you Mormon? If so, PIONEER DAY IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN CHRISTMAS. According to Mr. Roberts. And it is "the occasion for gala celebrations not only in Salt Lake City but in every Mormon community." Please tell that to my younger self, ages 0 - 13, during which time I had never even heard of Pioneer Day. Or tell it to the dozens of Filipino Mormons in my ward here and listen to them tell you that if they know about Pioneer Day, IF, they maybe don't really care about it.

Anyway, at first I thought maybe I could just skip to the handcart part, but then I realized that anything I read beyond Chapter 2 would be tainted. If he got so much about basic Mormonism wrong, how could I believe anything else he told me, any other research he presented? So I quit the book about 100 pages in.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to re-read Fire of the Covenant: The Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies by Gerald Lund.

Just kidding...or am I?

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Footnote: 4/23/09 I just found out that my great-great grandmother was a member of the Martin Handcart company. What a terrible ordeal she had to suffer.

On page 255, the author states, "...the Mormon catastrophe of 1856 remains far and away the most deadly in the history of westward migration in the United States." The real tragedy is that this catastrophe mostly goes unacknowledged. Even at the time, the Desert News glossed over the situation. On Nov 19, after 2 members of the resuce party had ridden back to SL for reimforcements, the paper states, "...the condition of the immigration to be very favorable." !!! Multiple people dying each day from starvation and cold is favorable??? Temperatures were recorded at -9 degrees Fahrenheit!

We all hear about the Donner party, but in contrast, they only lost 1/6 of their members in comparison. So many mistakes and bad decisions were made. What makes it even more tragic is how preventable it all was.

Oh, but my favorite: The people who actually survived the handcart journey, 20 + years later, were still paying off their accrued debts. They had been charged for the 'provisions' (flour, salt, coffee) provided to them during the trek! In order to lighten their loads, a lot of their belongs also got left at the ruins of Fort Seminoe, which was bravely guarded during the winter by 20 volunteers from the handcart companies. But in order to get their goods back the next spring, they had to pay a "freight bill". Unbelievable.

But, concerning those who did die on the journey, Brigham Young stated, "I should be pleased, when the time comes, if we could all depart from this life as easily as did those our brethren and sisters. I repeat, it will be a happy circumstance, when death overtakes me, if I am privileged to die without a groan or struggle, while yet retaining a good appetite for food."

A great historical read. The author did enormous research. I enjoyed the abundance of primary sources. Have patience. It took me a hundred pages or so to get into the book, but by the last 1/2, I couldn't put it down.

I could go on and on, but I will conclude with the same quote the author concludes with. John Chislett, in 1870, says, "Whether Brigham was influenced in his desire to get the poor of Europe more rapidly to Utah by his sympathy with their condition, by his well-known love of power, his glory in numbers, or his love of wealth, which an increased amount of subservient labour would enable him to aquire, is best known to himself. But the sad results of his Hand-Cart scheme will call for a day of reckoning in the future which he cannot evade."

[Katherine Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

So in 1856, as part of an immigration scheme, Brigham Young decided that Mormon converts coming from Europe should come to Salt Lake City by handcart, pulling their 17 lbs of personal possessions per person across the middle of the continent, from Iowa City to the Great Salt Lake.

The scheme was a disaster from the start, with poor communication, slipshod management, and a criminal failure of leadership from Brigham Young and his Apostles, who exhorted the immigrants to come to Zion without following through to be sure they wouldn't starve to death on the way. When disaster happened, as disaster was bound to, they pretended they hadn't known the parties were leaving so late in the season and, throwing Apostle Franklin Richards under the bus, Brigham Young--the master of spin and retcon, as we also see with the Mountain Meadows Massacre--pretended he HAD said they shouldn't try to make the journey so late.

This is an excellent book, tracing the set-up and the course of the disaster, and following the aftermath as far as possible given the Mormon church's general reaction to disaster, which is to smother the whole thing in silence, and given the way that the sincere faith of the survivors turned their experience from "Brigham Young hung us out to dry" to "It was God's will that we made it to Salt Lake City alive." Roberts (a non-Mormon) is respectful and thoughtful about the faith of the people involved, even while condemning the leadership of the church.

(There is a Mormon Handcart Historic Site, where you can go and try pulling a handcart for yourself. From Roberts' experience of trying to do it solo, I advise you take some friends.)

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores the great trek West by the original Mormons, and it is an amazing read. Forget wagons and horses and the relatively easy migration experienced by other frontier go-getters. These immigrants had nothing, mostly coming from Europe where they bought the not-quite-true message sold to them about the paradise at the end of the road.

Both the elderly and the young drop as they walk along the way. I mean imagine that...literally walking your way through wilderness and desert and mountains to get to a goal. Simply amazing.

David Roberts focuses his story, so the reader never loses perspective. I saw this book at an independent bookstore, perhaps another reason for keeping such stores alive, as it would have been ignored otherwise. I ended up reading this while on a desert retreat, and I certainly felt as though I lived through these pioneers' heartaches and travails. A very good read.

Book Season = Winter

[Derek Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is well researched history, written in very captivating way.

I grew up in a Mormon family, descended from ancestors who came “came across the plains,” so I had heard the purified and mythologized accounts of the pioneer emigrations. However, not being attached to those accounts, I found this book absolutely fascinating. It read like a drama while driving through the purified stories to realistic accounts and causes of what happened. Roberts achieves this mix by drawing from journals and inserting details from specific families and individuals, giving the reader someone to “live with” through the history.

Roberts isn’t a believer (Mormon), but he doesn’t write in an antagonistic way. He necessarily exposes some clear myths and whitewashings, but without heavy criticism. Unlike the Donner party story, where it’s difficult to pinpoint the cause of failure, there are clear causes of disastrous failure in the handcart plan; and I thought Roberts went easy (too easy) on the authorities who designed and executed the plan.

For me, this definitely is not one of those “read it and leave it” books. This is a book for the library — for reading, keeping, and lending.

Notes:

If you are familiar with the early history of the Mormons (creation through migration to Utah), and have read about it a number of times from both insider and outsider sources, you may find the chapter or two on this material a bit slow. But the material is valuable if you aren’t familiar with the Mormon startup story, or know it mostly from the insider’s view.

Reference citations are done in an unusual way. There are no reference superscripts in the text. At the back of the book you will find references by chapter and page number. I found this quite easy to use even though the references weren’t tied back to an exact spot in the text. In each place I wanted to see a reference, they were easy to find by page number in the back. (I don’t know how easy this would be in an electronic version of the book.)

I would have appreciated the inclusion of more maps, as there were references to places that I found difficult to identify on route.

[madsenmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

So well-researched that you can't really argue the conclusions, even if they differ from the accepted party line. Not your typical faith-promoting, overly sentimental story, but gritty, realistic, and often hard to read. The author, although not LDS, obviously cares about his subject and put much thought and effort into this book. Should be required reading for everyone who has ever told the "old man from the Willie Handcart Company in Sunday School" story about how the angels pushed him across the plains, or the story of the three brave rescuers who carried everyone across the river and then later died from their exertions.

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great one from David Roberts.

Roberts, displaying a charitable attitude throughout the book, nonetheless can come to no other conclusion — the correct one — that Mormon patriarch and autocrat Brigham Young willfully supported a stupid venture that led to 300 or more people dying on the prairies and in the Rockies.

Yes, this is indeed America's worst tragedy of transcontinental trek and travel, far worse than the Donner Party. Why haven't more people heard about it?

Probably because of mendacity of Young, then later Mormon leadership, quite similar to that associated with an event two years later — the Mountain Meadows Massacre, to which Roberts refers more than once.

But why?

Roberts discusses this, too. As Will Bagley does in his book on the Mountain Meadows Massacre, to which Roberts refers more than once, he shows how Young was more than just an autocrat over the Saints. He was trying to make "Deseret" into an autarky (and running it into the ground by so doing) with an eye on a possible secession threat if Congress didn't grant statehood. (This is even though Utah was well short of constitutionally required population.)

So, the handcart-pushers, almost all from English and Danish converts, brought over in steerage, were needed by Young to ramp up the population of Utah Territory for that autarky and in the case of possible federal interaction, which indeed happened in 1857-58, when President Buchanan ordered federal troops to Utah.

Today, though, many Mormons who know the basics of the five handcart treks of 1856 refuse to blame Young. Trekers are blamed, if anybody, in what they in general hold up as a trial of faith and a reward of redemption for those who died.

Roberts wraps with talking about the Mormon doctrine of baptism for the dead, its importance, its details, and its relationship to the treker deaths.

I will end there so as to not give spoiler alerts. I will note that in summertime, I have traveled a fair amount of the Oregon/Mormon Trail. On that trip, I saw a replica handcart at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Caspar, Wyoming. The effort involved with this trek would have been incredible, further stressing how woefully Young himself, along with other top Mormon leadership had his whole religious organization for this trip.

I'll end there to avoid spoiler alerts as to details of the treks and other things.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of many researchers trying to uncover the "real" story behind the tragedy of the Martin and Willie Handcart companies crossing the plains to Salt Lake City in 1856.

The first half of the book retells the journey- the politics, finances and motivations behind the handcart movement. Roberts admits he is a doubting agnostic, but his descriptions of Mormons and Mormonism is very condescending and often offensive. Rather than taking the approach of detached historian, he throws about insults anytime he describes the basic workings of a faith based people.

The second half of the book is much better-it becomes personal as Roberts travels the route of the handcarts, and tries to find every single place that has a memorial attached to it, or not. His research seems solid, and his experience with 3.3 miles pulling a modern handcart during a cool August day makes an interesting few chapters to contrast the freezing almost sub Arctic weather the pioneers had to endure day after day on less than a pound of flour a day for food.

Roberts' main problem as a researcher is that he wanted to find the person behind the mismanagement of the Martin and Willie handcarts, and seemed to find that villain quickly, rather than let the facts speak for themselves. Is there any one person to blame? From the decades of research, and many historians sited in his research-both Mormon and anti Mormon alike- no on has ever found the smoking gun than proves any one person (Brigham Young) willingly chose to sacrifice those hundreds of pioneers for the cause.

Roberts does come clean and admit this in the book, but in the end, like so many others, he personally puts the blame on Brigham Young, simply because he dislikes the man.

[Geoff Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating m, unvarnished historical pioneer handcart research from a non apologetic LDS historian.

Well written, heartbreaking accounts of the immense suffering of new converts from Europe being encouraged to go to "Zion" using a new form (and much cheaper) mode of transportation (handcarts) to cross the plains and mountains.

There was simply no valid reason to start off the trek so late in the season, which ultimately culminated in the deaths of hundreds.

Excellent work. I highly recommend this book.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

The handcart events, and in particular the Martin and Willie tragedies, have become so mythologized and romanticized in the LDS community that it is challenging to ferret out the truth. Any researcher, LDS or not, would find it difficult to get at the truth because of the lack of contemporaneous documentation (many, if not most, of the accounts were written decades after the fact) and the preponderance of hearsay in the those accounts. My own triple great-grandmother, who pulled/pushed a handcart in the 1859 company, did not leave anything of substance regarding her experience.

For whatever reason, Mormons take delight in both believing in and passing on urban legends. I fear that many of the stories revolving around the handcarts are just that -- stories. Even when contemporary historians "prove" that events didn't happen quite the way they have been passed down to us, church members are still hesitant to make corrections in their retellings.

Once in a while it's good to read a book that doesn't spout the party line regarding those historical events. I am familiar with David Roberts as an author and believe he tried to be as impartial as he could be in presenting this particular episode in western history. He is hampered in his objectivity by his self-described agnosticism, which makes it difficult for him to understand the Mormon concept of faith and religious motivation.

Roberts does have an axe to grind, though it is small and dull, and he seems determined to blame someone, anyone really, but especially Brigham Young for what, in many respects, was a debacle. I wish that he had used Richard Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling as his "definitive" source for information on Joseph Smith and the founding of the church rather than the Fawn Brodie biography. And I was slightly bothered, but not too surprised, by other doctrinal inaccuracies and portrayals of members.

All this being said, I really loved the book. I feel like I have a better grasp now of the logistics of both handcart companies and their rescuers, which is why I picked up the book in the first place.

[Marian Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully researched narrative of the seemingly unknown handcart tragedy for Mormon migration to Salt Lake City. While religion has a special knack for the supernatural beginnings that "outsiders" easily go "uh huh", the Mormon beginnings goes to the top of the class for an unbelievable and unrealistic start. However, not being one to wish judging a religion (everybody to his own), my issue lay with the political and financial motivations of Mormon leadership. Reading the immigrants journal excerpts are heartbreaking both in their horrible experiences and in many of their utter belief in a leadership that simply wanted more numbers to establish their own 'nation'. These immigrants had no idea what lay ahead of them, particularly the last two handcart trains that started the 1000 mile trek to Salt Lake in August that pushed them into the dead of winter without nearly sufficient clothing, foot covering, or food. When they were warned by experienced Westerners, God's will and blessing was used as a club to pressure the immigrants forward to their deaths. In a gesture of complete sanctimoniousness, the leaders noted that "quitters" and those who died were not fit for the Lord's work. Although appalling, the essential tragedy is that this effort was the single most death filled immigration westward, due only to the fact that Brigham had such an absurd need for power and money.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, because it is bugging me, the name of this book is "Devils Gate." The ISBN number brought up the title of "Should we Die" instead. Stupid Goodreads. Second, wow. What a great book. This spectacular retelling about the Mormon tragedy of the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies makes for a great Historical read. The tragedy, often told to Mormon congregations as an example of exemplary faith, is given an honest, non-LDS reassessment for what it really was: the single greatest American Disaster in the whole history of Western Migration. Roberts’s conclusion is simple: that Brigham Young was responsible for the disaster. And the evidence he presents to justify this claim, all culled from the LDS archives in Salt Lake City, is compelling. That this was an unprecedented disaster and an entirely avoidable one and that the fault lay with Young are important aspects of this story all absent in LDS versions. Exciting and moving, this is highly recommended.

[Florence Buchholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most American pioneers headed west travelled in wagons pulled by oxen. It was Brigham Young, the second prophet of the Latter Day Saints, who decided that a wheeled cart loaded with seventeen pounds of household effects per person was sufficient to make the trip. Human pilgrims took the place of oxen. Apparently they were just as expendable as animals to Brigham Young and his apostles. The hapless travelers were allowed only enough food to just keep them from starving as they travelled across the great plains. These folks were poor in material goods, but rich in spirit. It wasn't enough to save them. Caught by early winter blizzards in Wyoming, they died in droves. Many of those who survived were maimed by frostbite. The tragedy has been scrubbed clean by official Mormon history and is presented as a glorious pilgrimage devoid of death and suffering.

[Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very engaging book. Does a great job of telling the story and giving some of the context for what was happening in Utah at the time of the handcart migration. Gives life to the story by sharing from the migrants journals and memoirs.
Two minor criticisms: The author doesn't always provide support for his conclusions. His conclusions, for example, about the higher death rate for men than women on the handcart journeys didn't seem well supported. He may have some cultural blindspots when it comes to native peoples as well. He, for example, finds a way to work the Gunnison and Mountain Meadows massacres into the narrative but doesn't spend much time on atrocities perpetrated by euro-americans against native people in that time period.

Overall a great read on a fascinating topic.

[Evalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Roberts' book about the Handcart tragedies is very compelling and the author deserves high marks for his research and thoroughness. But where he fails is in his inability to grasp the reason for the gathering of the church members which was the entire motivation for the arduous trek in the first place. That and his twenty-first century morality that prompted his incessant need to assess blame are the two big distractions from what otherwise would be a real accomplishment.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book. I am fascinated by the fact that a man can convince that many people to take on such a dangerous, wreckless journey. But somehow he did with his lies, charm and snake oil. What they experience is beyond the imagination of human suffering. And I believe, even today the church, or should we say the cult continues to cover up. This book reveals I believe as much as the non mormon sector is going to ever know.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done. I learned things that I didn't know concerning the Handcart companies and what they went through. This book was very difficult to get through, because of the brutality of the suffering those people went through. Great read for those interested in the history of the Handcart companies.

I thought the author was fairly objective.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. Amazing to see what people can endure and how "government" lets them down. Also interesting that this story is not as well known as that of the Donner Party.

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating story, generally well told, by an accomplished author. Overall, then, my hopes for the experience were high and, for the most part, have been realized. This being said, I have to admit to feeling a tad disappointed, as the book was good but not great (and, truth be told, I was hooked by the excellent marketing blurb on the cover).

David Roberts is an oft-published author whose previous work has included many stories of the outdoors, nature, etc. For example, I had read two of his earlier collaborations on mountaineering, one about George Mallory and the attempted initial conquest of Everest and one with Ed Vestiurs that is effectively the latter's climbing autobiography, hence my high hopes. Again, I enjoyed the book but didn't love it ... and am left to wonder if the author on his own is not as compelling a writer as he is in collaboration or if something within the story just didn't translate for/to me.

The strengths of this work are the fascinating subject matter - an investigation of the tragic and underappreciated Mormon handcart expeditions of 1856 - and the abundance of research presented in an evenhanded and fully disclaimed way. In fact, when he's writing about the actual expeditions, the book is quite gripping at points. The liberal and consistent use of original sources is as impactful as it is impressive and the reader really comes away with so strong an impression as to feel he or she is there with the hardy and hard-put emigrants. The tragedy of the situation - and the mystifying failure of leadership that gratuitously created, deepened and prolonged it - is brought to life movingly. Roberts does a real honor and service in telling the oft-doomed travelers' stories. Also, he is quite fair and open in identifying and comparing and contrasting his opinions with those of other authors (and especially relative to the doctrine, dogma and myth of the Mormon Church). Although it's clear that the author believes that the church hierachy is responsible for the gratuitous suffering that occurred, he is also consistent in presenting alternative viewpoints and acknowledging others' differing frames of reference.

The major weakness of the book, in my view, is when he leaves this historical focus. In the course of his research for the book, he actually retraces a significant part of the trail that his subjects traversed a century and a half before. When writing about his own experiences, however, he is not as compelling. It's a little weird in the sense that when his is the primary source material on which the text is based it translates less impactfully. Overall the section in which he recounts his own direct experience with the trail is still good, but it's just so much less moving than the rest of the well-told historical narrative that it lessens the book's overall impact a bit.

So, on the whole, this is a well-told, fascinating story that I recommend highly to others. It's about one of those little-known but significant and meaningful historical events that will leave the reader gratified by the experience. It is also a morality tale about the realities of power, especially when exercised in the context of institutional religion.

[Jeff Jellets · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conclusion is inescapable: the Mormon catastrophe of 1856 remains far and away the most deadly in the history of westward migration in the United States.

Author David Roberts delivers a gripping history of the great Mormon handcart tragedy of 1856, recounting the tragic tale of five waves of settlers who emigrated from western Europe to Bringham Young’s theocratic Utah territory not by wagon train or mule, but by pushing and pulling hastily constructed wooden carts … across more than 1,300 miles of empty plains, icy rivers and rocky mountains. Caught in an early winter snow, the exhausted and famished men, women and children of the final two waves of handcart pioneers become trapped amid cold and ice, facing slow starvation and death.

This is simply a GREAT history book as Roberts digs deep into both the journals of these early settlers (whose reminisces are both riveting and poignant) and later histories – quite a few of which were whitewashed. The narrative is pretty damning of early Mormon church leaders (whose handcart emigration plan was inherently flawed) and Roberts dissects inter-church politics with amazing finesse. There’s also no better executive summary of the roots and travails of the early Mormon church than Roberts’ 'Chapter Two: Finding Zion', which provides a wonderfully rich introduction to the genesis of the Church of Latter Day Saints, its founders, and its early westward exodus.

Perhaps the book’s only flaw is that by the final chapter or so of the book, Roberts may be just a bit too zealous in prosecuting his case against the Mormon leadership. Make no mistake ... Roberts's aim is a deadly bullseye as he stacks the evidence against Young and his bishops as bearing the blame for the tragedy that unfolded on the plains. Just a bit more attention on their part could have spared many people a lot of terrible suffering and death. It's more a construction issue as I felt this this leg of the narrative might have gone ten to twenty pages too long -- a minor point in otherwise compelling narrative.

Final Verdict: What a great way to start the year! A first rate history book that recounts a largely forgotten historical incident of magnitude and consequence, masterfully told, deep in scholarship, but free from dull pedantry. Armchair history buffs of America’s westward expansion should give this one a look.

P.S. I seldom salivate over an author's bibliography, but Roberts has a good one: The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drive the Spaniards Out of the Southwest; Four Against the Arctic: Shipwrecked for Six Years at the Top of the World; True Summit: What Really Happened on the Legendary Ascent of Annapurna and Great Exploration Hoaxes are all going on my 'to read' list!

[Sarah B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can be an emotional read and it made me cry. Truthfully I don't know if it was a happy cry or a sad cry, but it was on page 212. And then I cried again some pages later.

This book is about the Mormon handcart tragedy that happened back in 1856. I had never heard about this incident so I started to read this book with no knowledge about it at all. I had never heard of devil's pass either. I didn't even know what it was: a pass between tall rocks carved by a river. And I had no idea that people had traveled west by pulling hand carts across the Great Plains. I thought they had always used wagons (although I knew the Donner party had walked instead of riding their wagons or animals). The idea that anyone could pull such heavy handcarts such a distance over uncertain terrain is insane. But people were determined and they did it. It doesn't mean it was safe or effective though. If anything it was the opposite.

Well these expeditions to Salt Lake City were badly planned and supplied. That's basically what the book is about and the author also looks into who was at fault, because many people have died. Imagine walking fifteen miles a day (or more) while pulling a cart that weighed over two hundred pounds and then you only get fed twelve ounces of flour (plus a few other bits once a week). And all together you have to walk 1300 miles..then add in snow. Crossing freezing rivers.

The tragedy is a lot worse than that yet. There's other complications.

The book is well researched and interesting. I did find some of the passages in it a bit dull in places but it wasn't too bad. There is also the complete story of the Mormon religion (the history) and I found some of it shocking! And very surprising! Before I read this I knew very little about the Mormon religion.

The book has some maps and photographs in the center.

[Ruthie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredibly well written and researched. As someone who grew up in the Brighamite Mormon tradition, I heard a lot of faith-promoting tales of handcart migration, especially concerning the tragic Martin and Willie handcart companies. I even did a 24 mile trek in period garb with fellow church members.

I was not privy, however, to much of the truth surrounding handcart/westward migration. This book does an excellent job of couching the tragedy of the Willie and Martin handcart companies within Mormonism, Brigham Young's presidency, and the time period. The author goes into great detail about why things happened the way they did, and then is brave enough to lay the blame at Brigham's feet (which no Mormon is brave enough to do).

Though I have left Mormonism, this book helped me sympathize with those poor members of the companies. It helped me understand, like nothing I was taught growing up did, the true tragedy and scope of the disaster. For the first time in my life, it seems real, and it's absolutely devastating. My ancestors (Mormons in general) were incredible people. They were determined in their faith of their religion and put up with so much hardship and trauma. I have immense admiration and pity for them.

I think we should hold the church leaders fully accountable for the things they do. They are in charge and influence lives (and even deaths). This tragedy should not have happened. Shame on Brigham Young.

I'd highly recommend this book if you're interested in Mormon history and handcart migration.

[John E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent study of the failure of Mormon leadership (Brigham Young) and the mismanagment of the attempt to use handcarts to make emigration to Utah cheaper for the Church. While the concept of using handcarts would have worked for the very poorest of the European emigrants to the Mormon Zion, it forced tremendous economic and social hardships on those who wanted to bring anyting at all with them to the West. This book, however, is the story of the failure of management by the Church leaders all along the way from Liverpool to Salt Lake City to anticipate the large number of emigrants and their poverty and the needs they would require to assist them on the journey, especially the last two caravans of 1856. These two "companies" started too late upon the advice of the Church leaders and many died in the snows of Wyoming as they struggled toward Utah. The Church now pats itself on the back for rescuing as many as were saved.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Groups of people love to tell about their success stories; feel pride in their accomplishments and the Mormon Church doesn't slack off one iota in this arena. Devil's Gate exposes the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy which could have been avoided if only...
The book reveals some of the reasons why the 'ifs' were not followed and tells the awful truth about the suffering of the handcart pioneers. This is well written, coherent and informative. I found information within the pages of this book of which I was totally unaware - did Brigham Young actually say, "This is the Place"? Read the book and discover the facts about this enormous undertaking and the faith and/or gullibility of those who undertook it. A tragedy indeed.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating and I loved the deep dive into what really happened with the Willie and Martin companies. My 4th great grandmother and her daughter were survivors of the Martin company, and my 3rd great grandfather was one of the rescuers. The true history of this story, what led up to it, what happened, and how it has been remembered in the years since, is similar to what I’m finding out about many historical accounts with regard to the LDS church. That is that the story I’ve always been taught just doesn’t line up with what really happened. Very good book for anyone who wants to know the real story.

[AnneKristine Norris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what my fascination with historic Mormonism is but this is the second book I've read that "exposes" history that hasn't been whitewashed by the church. This book is the story of the handcart pioneers that came west to Salt Lake City in 1856. I've taught about the Oregon Trail for years and many of the kids have been interested in the Mormon Trail. I thought I knew the basic history but I was mistaken. I've bought the party line all this time. This book laid out a very different reality. It's brutal and holds harsh criticism for Brigham Young and his policies. It was interesting.

[Dacky2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an infamous episode that is well known within the LDS church, little known from without until now. Why the Donner Party gets so much attention and this tragedy so little is a mystery. It can't be attributed just to the lack of cannibalism by the saints, there must be more. Roberts not only tells the story, as only he can, he also tries to answer the question of why this story is not in the canon of the American Pioneer Epic. The conclusions he draws are just as disturbing as the narrative.

[Chad]

Brilliant. Open, honest, transparent, and extensively sourced. the narrative history is both engaging and appalling. Contrary to several other reviews on this site, apparently written by Mormons, Roberts shows no bias against their religion. He simply examines the facts behind a myth that is a cornerstone of their faith, and reaches conclusions that must make them feel uncomfortable. Trust me. I've been there.

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, about Brigham Young's 'divine plan' to bring poor Mormon converts from Western Europe to the U.S., and then across the plains via handcart, was meticulously researched and thoroughly informative. Although the author sometimes jumped around a bit or got slightly sidetracked, it was a really interesting read, especially if you're interested at all in Mormons and the early years of the church.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The combination of spiritual abuse ("do this bad thing which will make you spiritually stronger") and economic penny-pinching caused the worst tragedy of the westward migration - yes, even worse than the Donner Party.

The author strives to be balanced in his writing, choosing to save the majority of his personal commentary to a chapter about his own process for writing the book.