Bring Them to Zion: The 1856 Handcart Emigration Organization, Leadership, and Issues

By Don H Smith and Mark C. Austin

Bring Them to Zion: The 1856 Handcart Emigration Organization, Leadership, and Issues offers a deeply researched and meticulously documented account of one of the most ambitious and controversial episodes in Latter-day Saint pioneer history. Drawing on original sources and archival materials, the authors reconstruct the organizational challenges and decision-making processes that led to the infamous 1856 handcart migration. This emigration effort, driven by faith and constrained by logistics, sought to bring impoverished European converts across the American plains with minimal resources-relying on handcarts instead of ox-drawn wagons. The book details how unforeseen weather, financial limitations, logistical miscalculations, and divided leadership all coalesced into tragedy for many participants.

Going beyond recounting events, Bring Them to Zion examines the motivations, planning, and execution behind the handcart experiment; explores the differences and cooperation between Church leaders in Utah, Europe, and the eastern United States; and investigates the internal politics and systemic missteps that affected thousands of emigrants. The narrative sheds new light on Brigham Young's vision, the administrative roles of Franklin D. Richards and other key figures, and the broader context of mid-nineteenth-century transatlantic and frontier migration. This work is essential reading for anyone interested in Mormon history, American religious movements, or the broader story of westward expansion.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1589588061
• ISBN13: 9781589588066
• Release Date: July 2025
• Publisher: Greg Kofford Books, Inc.
• Length: 362 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent investigation of the subject

An absolute treasure--so readable, so immersive in its writing and presentation, and so impeccable in its scholarship. What impressed me the most about this book was the way it wove together broader context, published sources, and information from journals and diaries into a highly readable and compelling whole. For example, how 1855 was one of the coldest winters on record is presented through memorable details that are then shown to be so highly relevant for the struggles of launching the handcart companies. I also appreciated the even tone and nonjudgmental stance of the authors as they use their priceless historical research to debunk the received and widely repeated misinformation about these companies, such as the (mistaken) idea that they were poorly organized and set up for failure. The conflicts, concerns, and earnest efforts of the leaders involved are all generously and genuinely presented--and, again, in a way that is so accessible. I recommend this book not only for those who have a family history connection to the subject but also for anyone interested in a fuller picture of overland immigration and the Church's efforts to bring converts to Zion in the mid-1850s.