This story was originally posted on the Church Newsroom. Read the full article here.
Church Historian and Recorder Elder Kyle S. McKay and his wife, Jennifer, recently joined about 150 youth from the Hooper Utah Pioneer Trail Stake on the Wyoming Mormon Trail July 7-9, 2025, to relive a mid-1800s pioneer experience known today as “trek” by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Between the 1840s and 1860s, some 70,000 Latter-day Saint pioneers seeking religious freedom crossed the central United States to settle in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ten companies of pioneers traveled by handcart, but two of them — the Willie and Martin handcart companies — experienced great hardship on their journey.
The trail these youth walked, near Lander, Wyoming, follows the difficult path that about 400 pioneers trekked in the fall of 1856. It was on this trail that the pioneers of the Willie and Martin companies faced extreme weather conditions and dwindling resources and encountered the first rescue wagons sent from Salt Lake City.
“This is the first time we’ve opened up this trek in a decade or so,” Elder McKay said. “This trail has meant so much to me over the years, and I know the potential that this place has for providing an amazing experience. And so, when we were finally able to open the trail back up, I wanted to be here.”
Read the full story here.
