CASTLE DALE, Utah -- Back in the days when settlers straggled over the mountain from Sanpete County in central Utah to start new lives in Castle Valley, Utah, horses were a way of life.
"It's those animals that brought the early settlers here," emphasized Sam Singleton, president of the annual Castle Valley Pageant, held this year July 29-31, Aug. 3-9. "The animals played a unique role in settling this area, and they play a unique role in the pageant."An estimated 25,000 people, some from around the world, attended the eight-day production.
The Castle Valley Pageant concluded its 21st year of production following the Aug. 9 performance. Live animals, believes Brother Singleton, distinguish the Castle Valley pageant from the Church's other seven pageants, and give the pageant a unique personality and sense of authenticity.
"Most of the animals in the pageant are horses," explained Brother Singleton. "There is a cow in one scene. It is tied to a wagon by a family after they have loaded their possessions and are leaving their home. That act of tying the cow to the wagon gives the scene something of a melancholy, forlorn feeling."
"There are so many animals," said Montell Seely, author of the script originally written in 1978. "Of the 22 scenes in the pageant, 14 have live animals. Some people keep a team of horses just for the pageant."
The Castle Valley Pageant is the story of a variety of settlers who are directed in the late 1870s to leave the comforts of their nice homes in Sanpete County and wend their way over the mountain to begin new lives in the desolate and arid valley.
"The pageant reminds us -- and keeps us aware -- of our heritage," Brother Singleton said. "We have great appreciation of our ancestors. Imagine coming here with nothing. Imagine giving birth to a baby and caring for it in a box, then having to bury it."
The pageant is performed in a natural amphitheater setting in the hills overlooking the city of Castle Dale. The pageant opens with covered wagons, pulled by large draft horses, creeping their way down the hillside, signifying their migration to new lives in Emery County.
The trials and tribulations of these families are then re-enacted in settings set around the mountainside.
One of the four sets of draft horses pulling the covered wagons is a pair of Belgian horses owned by Lee Jeffs. "Twenty years ago," said Brother Jeffs, "when the pageant first began, there were two teams. Now there are four teams. I got these Belgians three years ago to help ensure the success of the pageant.
"They weigh about one ton apiece, and have mellow temperaments," he said. "They sometimes pull a hay wagon during the year, but I don't have enough work for them to do. So I consider them my toys."
Harnessing horses is something of a fading art, believes Brother Jeffs, who has trained his four sons to harness and hitch horses. Each of his sons, including his youngest, who just built a new corral for the pageant as an Eagle Scout project, has participated in the pageant.
"Leon returned from his mission to Kentucky and fell right back into a responsible role of guiding a team of horses in the pageant," Brother Jeffs said.
"It's amazing how well the horses know their roles," he continued, explaining how animals must be trained just as other cast members.
"One team of horses has been in the pageant for 13 years and remembers its role from year to year. Some horses know their cue and begin walking several seconds early in anticipation."
The pageant strives for authenticity in the script, in the setting and in the artifacts -- such as the 100-year-old cabin. "We try to get a flavor of pioneer life," added Brother Jeffs. "There is nothing flashy about the horses. Just the rustic, historical flavor of 120 years ago."