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Sam Penrod Reporting This year marks the 150th anniversary of the ill-fated Martin and Willie Mormon handcart companies' trek to Utah.
The story is being re-told this week in the Mormon Handcart Pageant.
The cast of the Mormon Handcart Pageant is rehearsing this week in Nephi, getting ready for four nights of performances.
Brent Boswell, Director: "It's the 150th anniversary of the Martin and Willie handcart people, and we felt like this would be a great way to come and honor them and pay tribute to them, through a theatrical re-enactment."
The story tells the hardships of the handcart pioneers as they got caught in early winter storms on the plains of Wyoming. Two hundred of the pioneers died from the harsh conditions, while others made it to the Salt Lake Valley.
Brent Boswell, Director: "We've had a lot of people who are the posterity of these handcart people who come every year. They do the family reunions."
Some of the most important actors in the handcart pageant are the live animals, including an ox that weighs 2,500 pounds.
Brent Boswell, Director: "We learned a long time ago that anywhere we can put an ox or horse in the pageant, it is something the people like to see. But it's always a little bit of a challenge. Animals have a mind of their own."
This is the fifth season the pageant has been presented in Nephi, re-telling one of the most tragic stories in early LDS history.
Brent Boswell, Director: "The pageant is sad in places. But as you sit through and watch the final scenes, the overwhelming feeling at the end is one of reverence and respect and humility. And maybe people want to look at their lives and learn something from our heritage."
The Handcart Pageant begins this Wednesday and runs through Saturday night. Showtime is at 9 pm at the Juab County Fairgrounds in Nephi.
