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John Hollenhorst reporting A wagon train is heading out on the Mormon Trail for the first time since the trek that captured enormous public attention in 1997. This year's smaller scale version left Nauvoo, Ill., this weekend with Salt Lake City as the ultimate destination.
Remember the spectacle in 1997 when a similar wagon train was greeted by hundreds of thousands of people at the mouth of Emigration Canyon? This year's version has a lot fewer wagons and a lot fewer people, and there's likely to be a lot less fanfare. But the idea is much the same: to recapture the spirit of 1847.
About a dozen wagons and about 50 people launched their expedition from Nauvoo. They're following the original trail that brought the first Mormons to Utah in 1847.
California resident Sharon Bogh, said, "There is a spirit that goes with the wagon train that you can feel in no other way than getting in your pioneer clothes and getting in your wagon and going along the trail. And I truly think the pioneers are here with us when we do this."
They'll complete the route in stages over the next three or four years. This summer the goal is just to make it across the state of Iowa. Trekkers are from as far away as Florida. About 20 are from Utah, mostly the Spanish Fork area.
Utah resident Brenda Christensen said, "Say your prayers every day, hope the weather pans out. Yesterday it was storming, now look at what a beautiful day it is. So, somebody is looking out for us."
The trek was organized by Illinois horse breeder and trainer Danny Van Fleet. He said, "I don't know how Brigham Young stood the pressure of moving a whole city of 12,000 people and heading them west. I don't know how he possibly stood the pressure, because they didn't know where they were going or have the trail laid out."
Van Fleet was part of that wildly successful trek in 1997. He knew little about Mormons when it started and signed up just for the horse experience. But it changed his life. He said, "I, uh, joined the church after the wagon train 10 years ago, and got baptized out in Kaysville, Utah. There was a spirit out on that trail and it kind grabs a hold of people. I just decided it was right for me. I'd been a Catholic all my life, but I traveled the trail and the spirit got me."
Van Fleet is hoping to sign up more people up for upcoming stages of Trail West 2008. He outfits people who need horses or equipment. It's potentially a profit-making venture, but Van Fleet told us he'll be lucky to break even.
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
