In Their Footsteps of Faith:The Story of the Willie and Martin Handcarts

The Willie and Martin Handcart tragedy is explained in this award winning production. The full length version of the special broadcasted on KSL-TV & KSL radio Oct 1 2006.

It has been and will be broadcast on several PBS stations across the nation as well.

Using actual diary exerts and interviews from leading handcart authorities we learn how over 200 handcart pioneers suffered a slow and painful death from starvation, exposure, and exhaustion. This is their story, one of faith, hope, and endurance. Most of the survivors viewed their experience on the trail, not as a curse, but as a blessing. What brought them to this tragedy? Who was to blame? How did it happen?

In Their Footsteps of Faith takes us with the handcart pioneers along their difficult journey toward the Salt Lake valley. We hear of their challenges, visit the sites of their greatest obstacles, learn about their resolve, and discover how their faith in God pulled them through. Today, nearly 80,000 people annually visit the locations where these immigrants suffered most; they come to honor those who died and lived, walking away with lessons as valuable today as they were in 1856.

Bonus Features include:

• The monuments' locations: Are we at the right place?
• Levi Savage, Patience Loader, and James Bleak — Their biographies
• Lessons for our time — Discussions from handcart historians