I have been reading the Emigrants' Guide book. I think this book will be most useful in a classroom setting for the photographs it contains. The text seems a bit scattered now, but hopefully it will mean more when we get "on site." We recently studied the Transcontinental Railroad in my Westward Expansion unit, so I was rather interested in the railroad stuff on pages 57-60. I knew that some Mormons worked on the railroad, but didn't know that this particular work crew was replaced by the Irish, and then reinstated to complete the job. I have passed the sign on I-80 for Wasatch near Evanston many times, but didn't realize that it was the site of an old railroad town. I don't think I've ever gone through Echo Canyon and up the road to Evanston without seeing trains, so all of the railroad stuff is interesting. I will look at that route with more appreciation from now on. I also was unaware that there were many "registers of the desert" where the emigrants recorded their names. I know that Independence Rock is famous for names. Apparently the Cache Cave also is.
If anyone wants an additional book recommendation, I've been reading Trail of Hope by Slaughter and Landon. This is the book that was published to accompany the PBS documentary about the Mormon Trail. The photos of trail artifacts are worth the (free) price of checking out the book from the library. The book is fascinating, and has a lot of specific trail information. My next search will be to see if the documentary is still available. It dates back to about 1997, the time of the 150th anniversary of the vanguard company. It would also be interesting to see William Clayton's journal. He is quoted extensively in most other books about the trail.
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I am going to start this guide as soon as school is out. I need to study and get my cdl right now. Summer work for us that aren't 2 income earners. How have you liked the book.
ReplyDeleteAlso on the railroad, I was watching a documentary on this time period a couple of years ago. This documentary claimed that the railroad companies originally agreed to pay the mormon workers so that they could finsih on time. When they were finished the went back on their word. Brigham YOung was expectedly upset and tried to negotiate with them. In the end the workers recieved nothing and the company agreed to give the church a portion of its stock. There was a big closed door meeting in the Tabernacle where Brigham Young explained the situation to the workers.