Devil's Gate

The little-known story of a deadly 1,300-mile trek by Mormon converts in 1856: “This compelling account of a major frontier catastrophe is hard to put down.” —Booklist

In 1856, led by the church’s second Prophet and new leader, Brigham Young, the Mormon faithful headed west to escape persecution. They arrived in what is now Utah the following year and established a new Zion in the wilderness. Nine years later, fearing a federal invasion, Young and other Mormon leaders debated how to bring thousands of impoverished European converts, mostly British and Scandinavian, from the Old World to Zion. Young conceived of a plan in which the European Mormons would travel by ship to New York City and by train to Iowa City. From there, instead of crossing the plains by covered wagon, they would push and pull wooden handcarts all the way to Salt Lake.

But the plan was badly flawed and the food provisions were woefully inadequate as the travelers navigated the handcarts across plains and mountains for 1,300 miles. Five companies left Iowa that spring and summer, but the last two left late. As a consequence, some 900 Mormons were caught in early snowstorms in Wyoming. When the church leadership in Salt Lake became aware of the dire circumstances, Young launched a heroic rescue effort. But for more than 200 of the immigrants, the rescue came too late.

This story has never before been told in full despite its stunning human drama: At least five times as many people died in the Mormon handcart tragedy than in the more famous Donner Party disaster. David Roberts has researched this story in Mormon archives and elsewhere, and traveled along the route where the pioneers came to grief. Based on his research, he concludes that the tragedy was entirely preventable. Brigham Young and others in the Mormon leadership failed to heed the abundant signs of impending catastrophe, including warnings from other Mormon elders in the East and Midwest, where the journey began. Devil’s Gate is a powerful indictment and a gripping story of survival and suffering, superbly told.

“A gripping story of impoverished Europeans brought to the New World with a promise of hope, who died in the wilderness of the American West under the most appalling circumstances. . . . This book is proof that people who are serenely certain they know the mind of God are not only presumptuous, they are dangerous.” —Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God

“Vivid prose truly brings to life the dangers and deprivations these immigrants suffered along their perilous cross-country trek.” —Library Journal