By SPENCER WARD
The sesquicentennial commemorative trek ended Tuesday as the Mormon Trail Wagon Train, 150 years, Inc. passed through Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City.
Don LeFevre, spokesman for the public affairs department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the entire sesquicentennial commemoration celebration is to pay tribute to the memory of the original pioneers who crossed the plains to Utah.
'That's the idea of the commemoration, to pay tribute to our pioneer heritage and the great sacrifices that they made to come west and settle the valley,' LeFevre said. 'We are all beneficiaries of their efforts.'
The re-enactment of the Mormon Trail, by members of the LDS Church as well as other emigrants, had widespread participation.
'There have been about 7,000 people from 46 states, and several other countries participating in the commemorative wagon train,' LeFevre said.
'About 200 of those traveled all the way from Omaha to Salt Lake; that is about 1,000 miles,' LeFevre said.
LeFevre said a core group consisting of 35 wagons and 18 carts, the 'all-the-way bunch,' has made the journey from Omaha, and more wagons have been added on and off throughout the train.
Members of the wagon train said they were looking forward to the Salt Lake City reception.
I hope that every soul that can possibly be there will, so that they can share the feeling that those pioneers must have felt of coming into the valley, said Shauna Dicken of Plymouth, Wash. Dicken and her four daughters have traveled with the group since the beginning.
Now that they are at the end of the trail, the pioneers reflected on this experience that they shared with their ancestors.
The LDS Church was not sponsoring the event, but was cooperating in working with the news media LeFevre said. The LDS Church's Public Affairs Department worked closely with scores of media representatives that have spent time on the trail.
Tom and Sandy VanLeeuwen, as media specialists for the public affairs of the LDS Church, facilitated with the major national and international media starting at 6 a.m. each day.
But the media coverage was not the reason modern pioneers were involved in the re-enactment.
'So many were thankful for the suffering they went through because they learned to know God. ... I think about my ancestors who did come across with the original company. I think about them and what it must have been like,' Sandy VanLeeuwen said.
'Our main goal in this wagon train is to share love and this experience everywhere we go,' Dicken said.
Dicken got involved with the trek to better understand her ancestors who made their journey in the second company in 1847. She wanted to be a part of their heritage, and 'we certainly have,' she said.
Aaron, a 15 year old from Peoria, Ill., and reenactment pioneer, recorded a journal entry in the Heritage Organizations online project. Aaron is on the trail with a 15-year-old friend. They are even making most of their own food.
Aaron wrote, 'So far we have had an enjoyable experience. I am going in place of my two great-great-grandfathers (Christian Hanson and Joseph Wallwork). I can feel them every day.'
The Mormon Trail Wagon Train organization began eight years ago. They have a board of directors and a board of trustees, Sandy VanLeeuwen said.
'It was a culmination of several people that had these dreams of putting a train together,' she said.
'Several people started up at different times and for different reasons,' Sandy VanLeeuwen said.
From there they grew into three groups that wanted to make the trek, she said. Those groups decided to unite to one to be more successful.
'You wouldn't expect these communities to take care of three trains, but only one. So they came to an agreement and then pulled the trains together, formed an organization and made it more of a business-like thing,' Sandy VanLeeuwan said.
The modern pioneers have been praised for their dedication.
'These are people who have committed three months to do something significant,' said Coke Newell, media spokesperson for the LDS Church.
'I'm glad I went and I'm a stronger person for it,' Dicken said. 'My testimony of Jesus Christ is a hundred times stronger.'
Although the majority of the modern pioneers were members of the LDS Church, Sandy VanLeeuwen said about 30 percent of the participants were not.
'We have some baptisms coming up. There has been one from the train, and we have a couple more potentials,' she said.
Frequent prayer was characteristic of these re-enactment pioneers.
Sandy VanLeeuwen said that they would have a nightly fireside with a devotional or prayer. Each morning the company would not leave until they had a prayer. Several LDS Church members participated in firesides and were speakers in sacrament meetings.
There have also been some great families relationships built, especially those pulling handcarts. They have a family bond between each other because they more than anybody, have suffered a lot of what our pioneers did in their struggles, Sandy VanLeeuwen said.
Some of the difficulties the pioneers suffered daily included struggling up hills, weather problems, heat, cold, wind, sand and dust VanLeeuwen said.
The Dicken family suffered health problems, too.
'One of my daughters got blood poisoning and had to be taken off the train and to a hospital, and if it had been a hundred years ago, I wouldn't have her anymore. My testimony has really grown,' Dicken said.
Despite their struggles, the pioneers were saddened as they approached the end of their trail.
'There were emotions coming into Utah, because we knew the end was close,' Sandy VanLeeuwen said.
The wagon train choir performed Thursday with the Utah Symphony in Henefer, Summit County. Sandy VanLeeuwen said the choir was honored to accompany the Utah Symphony, and there were some pretty high emotions over that.
'When we got through, there were a lot of tears because we knew that was the end of our choir,' Sandy VanLeeuwen said.
Tuesday signaled the end of the re-enactment trail, but gratitude to the pioneers and their sacrifice continues for most.
'You really look at your own life. I've got it really good, and I'm so grateful for the sacrifice they made in behalf of the church, and their faith and their belief. You don't get a lot of that anymore. I just marvel at it,' Sandy VanLeeuwen said.