Trail of Hope: The Story of the Mormon Trail [Hardcover]

William W. Slaughter (Author), Michael Landon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997

Beginning with their expulsion from Nauvoo in 1846 and for the succeeding ­twenty-­two years, the migration of Mormon ­pioneers­some 70,000 of ­them­was a compelling saga of the settlement of the American West. Mostly poor, they traveled on ships, canal boats, trains, and riverboats, and then came on foot, in wagon trains and in handcart companies. Their story is told by two arhivists with the LDS Church History Department in this beautiful book, filled with fascinating photographs.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Shadow Mountain (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573452513
• ISBN-13: 978-1573452519
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A seemingly objective history of a nation-shaping exodus, October 5, 2005

By 

Mike Smith (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Trail of Hope: The Story of the Mormon Trail (Hardcover)

In the early-1800s, the Mormon Church--or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as it's formally called--was founded when a young man named Joseph Smith, not even twenty years old, produced a book he said had been translated with divine help from an ancient record found buried on a hill near his family's New York farm. The book, "The Book of Mormon," told the story of two cultures, the Nephites and the Lamanites, that lived in the Americas during the time of Christ, and claimed that Jesus had appeared to those cultures after his resurrection. (Many Mormons believe today's Native Americans are the descendants of those cultures.)
Joseph Smith said he received the book after he prayed to find out which church to join, and that God and Jesus Christ appeared to him themselves and told him not to join any of them. The Mormon Church grew quickly, with Joseph Smith as its leader, but as it grew, it gained enemies. People resented Joseph Smith's claims, covered him in tar and feathers, and violently tormented his followers. The Mormons moved from place to place: to Ohio, to Missouri, and to Illinois, building settlements and towns, and fleeing when enraged mobs burnt down the Mormons' homes and churches or massacred the Mormon men and boys. The Governor of Missouri went as far as issuing a military order for the complete extermination or deportation of every Mormon within his state. Eventually, Joseph Smith was assassinated by a mob, through the windows of an Illinois prison, where he was being held for ordering the destruction of the printing presses of an anti-Mormon newspaper.
Most people thought Joseph's Smith death would be the end of the Mormons, but it merely made him a martyr for his people. Brigham Young, a tough, fiery-tempered man, became the Mormons' second leader--their second prophet--and in the mid-1800s, led the Mormons westward, toward what was then Mexican territory, and is now the state of Utah. The Mormons traveled in covered wagons, or pulled wooden handcarts, and large numbers of them died from cold, hunger, sickness, and Indian attacks. Along the way they built towns and outposts, and gave English names to the mountains and rivers.
This book is the story of that journey, and it's a well told account of it. The book is full of beautiful and historic photos, as well as copies of letters and journal entries, and a good narrative that ties it all together and injects new and little known facts into a story familiar to many. This is a great book for any interested in the history of the West. It seems objective, though it comes from a Mormon-owned publishing company, and it's never boring. It's one of the best books on the Mormon pioneers I've ever read, and I recommend it highly.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest, December 23, 2008

By 

Open Your Eyes - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Trail of Hope: The Story of the Mormon Trail (Hardcover)

I have read many books related to the Vangard Company of 1847 and others, like those written about the handcart company tragedies of 1856, Wyoming forts, journals of Mormon pioneers, etc.

This is truly a stunning book. It is not a highly detailed history text, but rather a comprehensive summary of the Mormon Trail and its primary companies.

Perhaps the most outstanding freature is its collection of photographs. There are photographs in this book I have not seen in others of its class. Some [photographs]are what you may call rare, others are quite commonplace and find their way into practically every Mormon Trail piece of literature.

The PBS special to which this book accompanies, is also noteworthy and recommended.

For a fairly brief and photograph rich history of the Mormon Trail, "Trail of Hope" is well worth the time and nominal prices found on Amazon.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mormon Pioneers' Story, June 21, 2010

By 

D Hoffie "book club fanatic" (Roanoke VA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Trail of Hope: The Story of the Mormon Trail (Hardcover)

Bill Slaughter and Mike Landon did an excellent job researching and telling the story of Mormon pioneers' challeges as they moved to the west to develop a new area.