Reddit reviews Devil's Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy

There is a huge amount of mythology about the pioneers.

Most of the people that crossed the plains to Utah slept in a bunk car and ate in a dining car. Their train was not a train of wagons and the horse that drew their train ate wood and coal, not oats and grass.

But thousands did come in wagon trains, and 95% of those wagon trains didn't have difficulty. The reality is that most of the pioneers to cross the plains did so with relative ease and few casualties.

A large number of them traveled east, not west. They sailed to San Fransisco and then came across California and Nevada to Utah.

The ones that did have problems were mostly due to stupidity, and most of the stories you hear about those are exaggerated. In saying that, I don't want to minimize the hardship some of them faced, but the true story is significantly different from the myth, especially with regards to the Martin and Willey handcart companies.

Start here: http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=58216230&itype=cmsid

If you want to dig deeper then read this: https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Gate-Brigham-Handcart-Tragedy/dp/1416539891/

If you really want to go down a rabbit hole, google Brigham Young's steam engine, and you'll learn the so called "rescue" of 1856 was more about getting Briggy's engine and tobacco to SLC than it was about saving lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou47dupzoys

I read it in Tell it All (starting on p. 219)

But there's more here: http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Gate-Brigham-Handcart-Tragedy/dp/1416539891

http://www.historynet.com/mormon-handcart-horrors.htm

Presumably you read "Devils Gate" by Roberts. I thought it was a really good read, not as gruesome as expected.
https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Gate-Brigham-Handcart-Tragedy/dp/1416539891/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468531987&sr=8-1&keywords=devils+gate+david+roberts

Roberts is a never mo historian of the West, and very unbiased.

I always new BY was a pig, but not that big a pig.

Best book on the subject I've ever read, from a historian: http://smile.amazon.com/Devils-Gate-Brigham-Handcart-Tragedy/dp/1416539891/

No other source made me feel like I really understood the tragedy. And frankly, no other book every made me hate BY quite so much.

Absolutely! "Devil's Gate" by David Roberts. He is a nevermo historian of the American West. It is a thoroughly detailed, readable and entertaining book, and he is completely unbiased.

https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Gate-Brigham-Handcart-Tragedy/dp/1416539891

Yeah, it's known for being clannish. There's a book on the Mormon migration to Utah - "Devil's Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy". I read it a coupla years ago - it's really good but chilling and very sad. Such irresponsible leadership, only interested in its own concerns and so what if large proportions of the membership die en route??

Another fun topic to discuss with Mormons is the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

So they didn't make you wear the "garments"? ~snicker~