Martin's Cove is a place that changes lives.
It did in 1856, and it does today, says Bryce Christensen, director of the Mormon Handcart Historic Sites in Wyoming.
The heart-wrenching tale of the struggles and sacrifices of the handcart pioneers trapped there by snow and ice has been well-documented, as has the heroic effort of rescuers from Salt Lake City.
But those who visit the place now are also touched. Youth groups, families, tourists who stop by seem to find help with crucial decisions they are facing, with resolve to be better people, Christensen says. "There's a spirit here that seems to answer questions people are fighting with, that helps them reach deep in their souls. Even those who are not members of the church find a calmness and peace here that they comment on."
That feeling is reflected in the words of Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which are inscribed on a plaque near the cove: "We hope that a spirit of peace and reverence and sacred remembrance will hover over this whole area, as a beneficent cloud on a hot summer day, and that those who here perished will not have died in vain. . . . I make a plea, go in a spirit of reverence and respect, and know that you are walking on hallowed ground."
Between the early 1840s and the late 1860s at least 300,000 — maybe as many as 500,000 — immigrants passed this lonely stretch of what is now Wyoming (about 55 miles west of Casper). Not only the Mormon pioneers but also those bound for Oregon and California rejoiced when they came upon such well-known landmarks as Independence Rock and Devil's Gate.
Most of them passed by without incident. Even among the 10 LDS handcart companies, it was only the fourth and fifth that ran into trouble. But, even though it involved a small percentage of travelers, the story of the Willie and Martin companies continues to grip our imagination, says Elizabeth Christensen. "You wonder how could anyone live through what happened to them. Why didn't they all die? The fact that any survived was a miracle." Their story continues to inspire people to this day, she says.
The story behind the Mormon Handcart Historic Site is also interesting.
In 1872, a man named Tom DeBeau Soliel, who later changed his name to Sun, started a cattle ranch in the area around Devil's Gate. Tom's descendants continued to ranch in the area until the mid-1990s, when the original property was divided in two parts, with 88 percent of the land going to one side of the family and 12 percent (including all the buildings) going to the other.
"It just happened that the family with the smaller section was disposed to sell it to the LDS Church," says Christensen. The church bought what was then called the Spoke and Rim Ranch (some 12,000 acres) late in 1996 and in 1997 opened a visitors center in the original ranch house.
The church runs a cattle ranch with 1,000 head of cattle, explains Max Brough, of the church's agriculture department, which oversees the operation. "But we also wanted to give the public access to Martin's Cove."
The cove, which abuts the farmland on the north, is owned by the Bureau of Land Management. The church holds grazing rights on the land and has worked with the BLM to make improvements, such as paths and trails, in the cove that make it accessible.
"We have a good relationship with them (the BLM)," says Bryce Christensen. But the church has also proposed purchasing the Martin's Cove land outright, so it could ensure access and continue to make improvements.
That proposal met with resistance from some in the community, but as people see what the church is doing here, he says, support is growing. At present, negotiations are continuing to find a way for the church to lease or own the land.
In the meantime, on the ranch property, the church has restored and renovated the original buildings to tell both the pioneer and the ranching story.
The visitors center details the story of the Martin Company. Visitors can see what the 17 pounds of goods each company member was allotted looks like, and see how the dominoes fell into place to cause the tragedy. In the old fireplace, people can even see bits of broken handcart hubs and spokes cemented among the rocks; after the company was rescued by wagon teams, they abandoned most of their carts at the cove.
A museum in one of the buildings has artifacts donated by the Sun family. One of the barns has been converted into a chapel, another into a meeting center. Most of the original corrals from the 1890s are still in place.
The most recent project has been the rebuilding of the nearby Seminoe Fort. It was too small to provide much shelter for the Martin Company, so the rescuers started to tear it down for use as firewood, until they decided they would need to leave all non-essential materials from the handcarts and wagon trains there as the Saints were transported on to Salt Lake City.
A skeleton crew was left behind to guard the supplies. They, too, ran low on food and had a harrowing experience, existing for the rest of the winter on only 20 days' worth of food. The fort was burned down during the Utah War in 1857. It has been rebuilt near the original location; the original foundation was uncovered and is being excavated.
Some 70,000 youths are expected to visit Martin's Cove this summer, as part of trek experiences organized by wards and stakes throughout the church. In addition, a lot of families will hold reunions. But anyone can stop by, check out a handcart and get a taste of pioneer life, at no charge.
A lot of California and Oregon trail buffs, on their way to the interpretive Trails Center in Casper, stop in Martin's Cove.
It's like a faucet is turned on, says Elizabeth Christensen. "Almost overnight, we go from 200 visitors a day to 1,000 a day. That keeps up throughout the summer, and at the end of August, the faucet is turned off again."
Youth treks are scheduled in advance, and the visitors center tries to balance them as much as possible. A trek leaders' seminar in the fall helps prepare for the next summer's experience. They suggest trekkers come in period costume, for example. And arrangements can be made for the Pony Express to deliver mail.
But during their peak season, "we sometimes get 200-300 people a day that just come off the highway. We expect about 20,000 drop-in visitors this year," she says. Those visitors can do a half-day trek, a full-day trek and even camp overnight.
The visitors center maintains two campsites at the Sun Ranch and another at the Sixth Crossing, which is where the Willie Company was rescued, where the church also has a visitors center, so they can accommodate a lot of visitors, she says. Youth groups generally do a two- or three-day trek that involves hauling handcarts to their campsites (a distance of between three and six miles) and back, as well as spending some time for reflection in Martin's Cove.
During the summer, the church brings in 61 couples to help with the treks. Eleven couples remain year-round. In the winter, visitor numbers drop, and time is spent repairing handcarts, building new ones and working around the ranch. There's a humanitarian cabin, where the women make quilts and crochet hats and scarves. And they put on a barbecue for area ranchers. "We have a good relationship with all our neighbors," says Bryce Christensen. "And with members of the Sun family, too. They are staunch Catholics, but they have a good feel for the history."
The couples are all housed at a trailer village that is not visible from the road. But during the summer, it becomes the largest "city" between Lander and Casper.
A lot of what is known about the Martin Company comes from journals written after — sometimes long after — the experience. But enough was written to capture the horror of the 1856 events. Those stories are gripping and poignant (don't expect to leave the visitors center without using a tissue or two) even now.
During the summer, couples are also stationed at various stops along the trail to tell more of the experience.
"If you look around this area, it looks similar to what it was like in 1856," says Leland Martin, one of the year-round workers at the center. "Because the Sun family were ranchers, not farmers, they didn't plow the lands. And there are places were the ruts of the original trail are still visible."
The Martin Company met up with the rescuers — they called them the "valley boys" — on Oct. 26, he explains. But bad weather hampered their progress. After it was determined that Seminoe Fort could not hold them, they looked for a more sheltered spot.
"They found this cove. But to reach it, they had to cross the Sweetwater River one more time. It was simply too much for many. Grown men sat down and wept." That was when four of the young men among the rescuers spent the day carrying people across the river. Sometimes you hear that those men died. But they all lived long lives, says Martin, although they did suffer effects from the exposure.
They arrived at the cove, which is located about two miles off the main trail, on Nov. 2. The people from the Hunt and Hodgett wagon companies were also sheltered here, so there may have been between 700-800 people hunkered down in the snow, he says.
The rescue was too late for some; some 60-70 died during the week spent in the cove. The ground was too frozen to dig graves, so the bodies were simply covered by snow, where wolves and coyotes would soon get to them.
Martin tells of Sarah Franks and George Padley, sweethearts from England, who had wanted to wait to be married in Salt Lake City. "George got pneumonia and died here, and Sarah couldn't bear to leave his body for the coyotes. She took a shawl she had brought with her and asked the men to wrap his body in the shawl and hang it from the tree."
And there was Isaac Wardell, who got to the cove, ready to give up. "He was going to lie down and die right there," says Martin. "But one of the rescuers saw what was happening, and came over and told him to get up and help. He ordered Wardell to chop down three trees. Wardell obediently did what he was told, and later said the heat from the exertion and the anger he felt at being told to get to work saved his life." If you look just over a little hill, says Martin, you can find three tree stumps. Are they the ones left by Wardell? "We had an archaeologist come and look, and he said they were consistent with the story."
Everywhere you look at Martin's Cove, he says, there are similar reminders. "It truly is hallowed ground. We like to think the spirits of those who died here linger to touch the hearts of the people who come now."
And that's what visiting the cove is all about, says Bryce Christensen. "We want people to get a flavor of what it was like to pull a handcart — to know that it took more than just physical effort. It helps them understand the sacrifices our forefathers made."
He wants people to appreciate the Martin Company. "Most of them were from Europe, used to civilization. To end up in a cold grave in Wyoming was not what they had in mind. But they developed an understanding of their relationship with their Heavenly Father they would not have had if they had not gone through what they did."
That insight is life-changing, he says, then — and now.
E-mail: carma@desnews.com