The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah
who used handcarts to transport their belongings. The Mormon handcart
movement began in 1856 and lasted until 1860. Motivated to join their
fellow Church members but lacking funds for full ox or horse teams,
nearly 3,000 Mormon pioneers from England, Wales, and Scandinavia made
the journey to Utah in 10 handcart companies. Although fewer than ten
percent of the 1847–68 Latter-day Saint emigrants made the journey
west using handcarts, the handcart pioneers have become an important
symbol in LDS culture, representing the faithfulness and sacrifice of
the pioneer generation. The handcart pioneers continue to be
recognized and honored in events such as Pioneer Day, Church pageants,
and similar commemorations. The handcart treks were a familiar theme
in 19th century Mormon folk music and have been a theme in LDS
fiction, such as Gerald Lund's historical novel, Fire of the Covenant,
and Orson Scott Card's science-fiction short story, "West."
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_handcart_pioneers
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1545:
Counter-Reformation: The Council of Trent, an ecumenical council
convoked by Pope Paul III in response to the growth of Protestantism,
opened in Trento, Italy.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Trent)
1862:
American Civil War: Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside were
decisively defeated in the Battle of Fredericksburg.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fredericksburg)
1981:
Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland,
suspended Solidarity and imprisoned many union leaders.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojciech_Jaruzelski)
2003:
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a spider
hole during Operation Red Dawn and captured.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Red_Dawn)
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Wikiquote of the day:
My deepest impulses are optimistic; an attitude that seems to me as
spiritually necessary and proper as it is intellectually suspect. --
Ellen Willis
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ellen_Willis)