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Carole Mikita ReportingIn a four year period, some three-thousand Latter-day Saints pushed or pulled handcarts across the plains.
Now their story is being told in a musical production that's come to Salt Lake. The show is titled simply '1856.'
This show opened in Arizona. The creator, musical producer and many cast members are descendants of pioneers who used that unique mode of transportation to get to the Salt Lake Valley.
Hundreds in handcarts are trapped along the trail. Brigham Young sends rescuers. For the man playing him in this musical, history became reality.
Joseph Paur/ 'Brigham Young', '1856 The Musical': "It's a very warm spot for me in my heart for these handcart company people. When you do this show, there are times when I'm watching the show when I literally almost break down crying."
Mark Rogers/ 'James Lee', '1856 The Musical': "It is personal. We have enjoyed being involved and learning about others, as well as those that we are related to."
Although it's a Latter-day Saint story, cast and crew say people of different faiths have been audience members because they're interested in this part of American history, the Western migration.
The most poignant tales are of the children.
Jamie Alston/ 'Sarah Parker', '1856 The Musical': "Unfortunately Sarah loses two of her little girls and to have that heart wrenching scene on the stage, that is such a beautiful moment for me to be able to be there to portray."
The show came to the creator when he was living in London, teaching teens.
Cory Ellsworth/ Creator, '1856 The Musical': "Studying church history, it became a real passion, and out of that passion came the ideas, the thoughts, the characters, the poems and eventually, the songs."
These stories belong to individuals, to families. But they also remain a unforgettable part of the American experience.
'1856' has performances at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake through July 26th. Some of the actors will sing selected songs at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square Saturday night at 7:30.
