Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860 (Second Edition): A Woman's Life on the Mormon Frontier [Paperback]

Mary Ann Hafen (Author), Donna Toland Smart (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004

In the summer of 1860 the author of these recollections, Mary Ann Stucki, then six years old, walked beside her parents’ handcart from Florence (Omaha), Nebraska, to Salt Lake City, Utah. The family, converts to Mormonism, had left their comfortable home near Bern, Switzerland, to make the long journey to the Mormon Zion. Nearly eighty years later, Mary Ann Hafen published this account of her life, giving us an unparalleled, candid, inside view of the Mormon woman’s world.

Called to go with the Swiss company to settle the “Dixieland” region of southern Utah —a hot, dry, inhospitable land—Mary Ann’s family lived in thatch, dugout, and adobe houses they built themselves. While still hardly more than a child, Mary Ann cut wheat with a sickle, gleaned cotton fields, made braided straw hats for barter, and spun and dyed cloth for her dresses. Always sustained by her faith in the church, she took part in a millenarian scheme that failed—a communal order—and entered a polygamous marriage, raising almost single-handedly a large family.

Mary Ann Hafen has left an authentic, matter-of-fact record of poverty, incredibly hard work, and loss of loved ones, but also of pleasures great and small. It is a unique document of a little-known way of life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book is a valuable firsthand look at life on the Western frontier by a straightforward, candid participant.”—Journal of the West

(Journal of the West )

About the Author

Donna Toland Smart is the editor of Mormon Midwife: The 1846–1888 Diaries of Patty Bartlett Sessions and Exemplary Elder: The Life and Missionary Diaries of Perrigrine Sessions, 1814–1893.

Product Details

• Paperback: 93 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books; 2 Revised edition (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803273401
• ISBN-13: 978-0803273405
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #414,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Americas > United States > 19th Century
  • #57 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Americas > General
  • #69 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Women's Studies > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing read..., October 23, 2006

By 

Teresa, avid reader (Ex-pat happily ensconced in the Deep South) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860 (Second Edition): A Woman's Life on the Mormon Frontier (Paperback)

A fascinating peep into the everyday life of one woman who, along with many others, braved the trail west. Her story is told simply and factually - it has the feel of sitting down with an old friend you haven't seen for a long time and catching up on the news. Whether you're of the Mormon faith or not (I'm not, but enjoyed the book for its historical content), you can't help but admire the hardy spirit of this pioneer woman in the face of death and hardship and rejoice with her in the simple delights that come along just often enough to make it all worthwhile. Though the title sounds like the book focuses mostly on the trail experience, it actually tells her story through the rest of her life.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book from a personal viewpoint, October 17, 1999

By 

Dell S. Stringham "Old Friend" (Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860: A Woman's Life on the Mormon Frontier (Paperback)

I must admit that I am a bit biased, since Mary was my wife's great grandmother. A touching book, and does not white wash the trials experienced.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for understanding Mormon Pioneer stuggles, and those beyond the Trail, January 24, 2009

By 

Open Your Eyes - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860 (Second Edition): A Woman's Life on the Mormon Frontier (Paperback)

Relatives of Mormon Handcart Pioneer Mary Ann Hafen asked her to pen the memoirs of her outstanding life, which is the premise for this book.

The first 1/4 of the book describes her experience as a member of the 10th and final Mormon Handcart Company which made its journey in 1860. Although not one of the two infamous Handcart experiences, Hafen's company certainly experienced its share of challenges including exposure, death, extreme hunger, fatigue, and others. Hafen does an excellent, albeit cursory, job of describing her crossing of the Nebraska and Wyoming plains.

The book then takes a turn and Pioneer life in southern Utah is described. It is unbelievable (not literally) how these people did what they did to survive by meeting the basics needs of shelter, food, recreation and of course, love and marriage.

That said, it should be understand that the epicenter of this work is not the experience of crossing the plains, but rather the aftermath which in aggregate was equally or even surpassing that of walking the Mormon Trail.

Although the book reads like a journal, there are shocking and heart wrenching moments that grab the reader like a well-written novel.

This is a tremendous labor of love and a must read for any student of the Mormon Trail.