The Handcart Companies: A Unique Chapter in Westward Migration

Exploring the challenging and innovative method used by thousands of Latter-day Saints to journey across the American plains.

By Garret Merkley · Explainer · Jun 3, 2026

Branched from The Westward Migration of the Latter-day Saints to Utah

Quick take

Thousands of Latter-day Saints migrated west using handcarts due to poverty and a desire for a quicker journey.
Pioneers pulled carts loaded with essentials, enduring extreme hardship, especially for the 1856 companies.
The handcart method demonstrated remarkable faith, resilience, and a community-driven approach to migration.
It highlights a distinct, often tragic, but ultimately successful chapter in American westward expansion.

Handcart companies were groups of Latter-day Saint pioneers who migrated across the American plains to Salt Lake City, Utah, primarily between 1856 and 1860, by pulling two-wheeled handcarts laden with their belongings. This method offered a cheaper, though significantly more arduous, alternative to traditional wagon trains, allowing thousands of impoverished converts to join the main body of the church in the West.

The Vision and the Journey

The concept of handcart travel was championed by Brigham Young, then president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He sought a way for more European converts, many of whom lacked funds for wagons and oxen, to make the journey. The idea was simple: instead of costly draft animals and large wagons, pioneers would pull smaller, two-wheeled carts designed to carry around 100-150 pounds of their personal effects, food, and supplies.

The journey typically began from Iowa City, Iowa, or Florence, Nebraska (near modern-day Omaha), covering over 1,000 miles to the Salt Lake Valley. Companies consisted of several hundred individuals, organized into smaller groups, each assigned a certain number of handcarts. Daily life involved waking early, walking 10-15 miles, then setting up camp, cooking communal meals, and holding evening prayers. Despite the rigorous schedule, pioneers often found strength in shared purpose and faith.

The Tragedies of 1856

While most handcart companies successfully completed their journey, the experience of the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies in 1856 stands as a stark reminder of the method's inherent risks. These companies departed late in the season, facing severe blizzards and extreme cold across Wyoming. Their limited provisions quickly dwindled, leading to widespread starvation, hypothermia, and hundreds of deaths. Dramatic rescue efforts were launched from Salt Lake City, saving many, but the tragedy became a defining, somber moment in the history of westward migration.

What Was in a Handcart?

Approximately 100-150 pounds of supplies per person.
Flour, sugar, salt, coffee, and other basic food staples.
A tent, bedding, and cooking utensils.
A limited change of clothing and personal items.
No furniture or heavy equipment; only essentials.

Why Handcarts Mattered

The handcart migration represents a unique and poignant chapter in American westward expansion. It showcases an extraordinary blend of innovation, desperation, faith, and human endurance. For the Latter-day Saints, it became a powerful symbol of their commitment to their beliefs and their willingness to sacrifice for a new life. Historically, it demonstrates an alternative, albeit exceptionally difficult, strategy for large-scale migration during a period of rapid national expansion, highlighting both the ingenuity and the immense challenges faced by pioneers seeking new homes in the American West.

How many people traveled by handcart?

Between 1856 and 1860, nearly 3,000 Latter-day Saints migrated to Utah using handcarts across ten different companies.

Why did they choose handcarts instead of wagons?

The primary reason was cost. Handcarts were significantly cheaper, allowing impoverished converts, many from Europe, to afford the journey who otherwise could not have come. They were also theoretically faster than ox-drawn wagons.

What were the biggest challenges faced by handcart pioneers?

The most significant challenges included harsh weather (especially early winter storms), limited food supplies leading to starvation, exhaustion from pulling heavy carts for hundreds of miles, and widespread illness like cholera and scurvy.

Did all handcart companies experience the same hardships?

No. While all faced difficulties, the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies of 1856 suffered disproportionately due to their late departure and severe early winter storms, leading to hundreds of deaths. Other companies generally had less severe experiences.

When did the handcart migrations stop?

The last official handcart company migrated in 1860. By then, improved financial conditions and the establishment of the Perpetual Emigration Fund allowed for more widespread use of traditional wagon trains.