Jacket by Stephen J. Voorhies
Mormon wagon train started westward
from Illinois. It was the beginning of a
two-thousand-mile journey across the
wilderness toward Salt Lake Valley-a
desert which no one else wanted. By
late spring some twenty thousand peo-
ple were on the way in one of the most
remarkable migrations in history.
For these were not adventurers seek-
ing their fortune in the wilderness. Those
were earnest members of the so-called
Mormon Church, seeking freedom to
worship as they pleased and a peaceful
spot for their way of life.
In their wagons they carried the mak-
ings of their civilization-seed to plant
in the barren land which they would
transform into gardens, fine china and
silver for the homes they would build
in their new city, books and a printing
press for their new world.
Today Salt Lake City is shining evi-
dence of the Mormons' wisdom and
foresight, for here the Mormon train set
up its new world and its new way of life.
Skillfully Jim Kjelgaard has recounted
the mighty migration of the Mormons.
To read their story is to feel new pride
in the vision and determination of these
early Americans.
