The Price We Paid: The Extraordinary Story of the Willie & Martin Handcart Pioneers (Hard Cover Book) by Andrew D. Olsen
Item #1-59038-624-8
The story of the Willie and Martin handcart pioneers is among the most compelling in the history of America's western migration. Though tragic, it is also a story of triumph that has scarcely an equal. It is one of history's great witnesses of the power of faith and sacrifice.

Ironically, the Willie and Martin handcart story may be the most frequently told but least understood of all Mormon pioneer accounts. Many of us know episodes from that dramatic saga, but in this landmark book, author Andrew D. Olsen provides the most comprehensive and accessible account of these pioneers' epic 1856 journey -- all the way from Liverpool to the Salt Lake Valley.

He paints a broad perspective of the trek that helps us understand the challenges of the journey undertaken by some 1,000 emigrants who yearned to help build latter-day Zion.

Even more compelling are the dozens of personal stories written by the pioneers themselves. We meet real people here, and we see them before, during, and after the trek. Their individual stories, skillfully woven into the larger story of the journey west, reveal how these faithful Saints were able to endure so much travail.

Nor does the author flinch from difficult questions about the late migration of 1856. Why did the emigrants not remain in their homelands to wait until the next year to emigrate? Or, once they had crossed the ocean, why did they not stay in the Midwest until the next year? Why was help not sent sooner from Salt Lake City?

How could the tragedy have been averted? Based on thorough research into the diaries and other contemporaneous accounts of the handcart emigrants, the author's thoughtful examination of these and other questions provides important insights as it builds faith.

The Price We Paid will inspire those needing hope and strength during adversity, those struggling with personal difficulties, and those striving for greater commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

$32.99