History of the Saints

Now that the holiday season is over we want to thank all of those who came out to our book signings. We really had a good time. We travelled to bookstores in Rexburg, Idaho Falls, Boise, and Meridian, Idaho and Logan, Salt Lake City, Sandy, West Jordan, Provo, and Orem, and other places in Utah, and we were treated very kindly wherever we went.

It was great fun talking to people about their own pioneer heritage. Many were able to find their ancestors listed on the roster in the back of The Remarkable Journey of the Mormon Battalion. We heard some wonderful stories of famous and not so well known pioneers alike that have been passed down from generation to generation. All in all, we were amazed at how connected all of us are. We’re glad these two books could be realized and we hope they bring great joy to everyone who got them as gifts—even if they gave them to themselves.

With History of the Saints entering its third season this November, we wanted to start off telling a story that we know is close to the hearts of many Latter-day Saints: The trek of the handcart companies. The information about them is abundant and we’ve interviewed many scholars on the subject, including Alexander Baugh; Andrew D. Olson, author of The Price We Paid: The Extraordinary Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Pioneers; Lyndia Carter; William G. Hartley; Jolene S. Allphin, Author of Tell My Story, Too-A Collection of Biographical Sketches of Pioneers and Rescuers of the Willie, Martin, Hodgett and Hunt Companies, 1856; Mel Bashore; Al Christy and others. It’s probably the greatest number of interviews we have done on one subject.

These episodes of History of the Saints will cover the entire handcart movement, as well as some of the wagon companies that went with them, not just the Martin and Willie Companies. There were ten companies of about 3000 people total. That’s only around ten percent of the Mormon Migration, yet those handcart pioneers seem to occupy a special place in the hearts of many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Glenn Rawson MC’d the Covenant Communications this morning. There are a lot of exciting products coming out this fall. We heard from Film Producer Lee Groberg, Speaker Hank Smith and others. Afterwards we visited the LDS Book Buyers Convention and got to see the new History of the Saints book and the Mormon Battalion Book on the shelf. We can hardly wait until they hit the stores.

The History of the Saints team has been very busy lately. It’s a little hard to believe that we’re already one third of the way through the second season. We have conducted new interviews with some great scholars like Alex Baugh, Thomas G. Alexander, and Carol Madsen on a number of topics including Kanesville, which once was the headquarters of the church, and Oliver Cowdery’s return to the Church. The interviews are fascinating and thought-provoking. We can’t wait for you to be able to hear them.