Mormon Pioneer Trek through Camden brings the past alive
Sun, 06/28/2015 - 4:00pm
Eliza Crowley and Courtney Harrington pull a loaded handcart through the Camden Hills. (Photo credit: Jeff Thomas)
(Photo credit: Jeff Thomas)
Photo credit: Jeff Thomas)
(Photo credit: Jeff Thomas)
From left to right: Brianna Perry, Courtney Harrington, Taylor Steuer, Eliza Crowley, Aaron Thomas, Tyler Williams, Jon Messer, Simeon Willey, Benjamin Bradshaw. (Photo by Sarah Thompson)
Handcarts were pushed and pulled up Cameron Mountain. (Photo by Sarah Thompson)
Campsite in the Beveridge Farm field, where handcarts and tin plates met water coolers and Frisbees. (Photo by Sarah Thompson)
Eliza Crowley and Courtney Harrington pull a loaded handcart through the Camden Hills. (Photo credit: Jeff Thomas)
(Photo credit: Jeff Thomas)
Photo credit: Jeff Thomas)
(Photo credit: Jeff Thomas)
From left to right: Brianna Perry, Courtney Harrington, Taylor Steuer, Eliza Crowley, Aaron Thomas, Tyler Williams, Jon Messer, Simeon Willey, Benjamin Bradshaw. (Photo by Sarah Thompson)
Handcarts were pushed and pulled up Cameron Mountain. (Photo by Sarah Thompson)
Campsite in the Beveridge Farm field, where handcarts and tin plates met water coolers and Frisbees. (Photo by Sarah Thompson)
CAMDEN — More than 100 Mormon youth group members from mid and southern Maine gained new appreciation for the arduous journey endured by early pioneers of the 1800s through a uniquely-crafted camping experience in the Camden area.
Maine teenagers from the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints donned period dress, took a two-hour schooner ride as a way of sensing the Mormon's voyage from Europe, registered at a mock immigration site, pulled handcarts seven miles through the Camden Hills, and camped first by the ocean and then a few miles inland at the Beveridge Farm in Camden.
Three thousand Mormons made the trek from New York to Salt Lake City, Utah, in the mid 1800s, walking every step of the journey while pushing handcarts. One in 10 of those pioneers passed away during the trek that exposed travelers to brutal weather conditions, starvation and illness, according to Jeff Thomas, president of the Augusta, Maine stake.
Despite the comfort of knowing that modern conveniences were never far away, this three-day activity still made an impression on the teens. In a group discussion, the girls spoke of hauling their cart of belongings — clothes, toiletries, insect repellant — up hill, while wearing dresses. This nuisance was further aggravated by the separation of the boys from the girls, a deliberate act by youth group organizers to simulate that time in history when male pioneers were turning away to fight in the Mexican War.
One of the teens said: “It’s definitely hard pushing a handcart around.” The pioneers walked “like 30 miles a day. Just walking two up that hill was hard.”
They all agreed, however, that the consorted effort to transport all of their belongings up a big hill in the Camden Hills brought them closer to their fore fathers.
“This is really starting to be like what they went through,” they agreed. “This is the pain that they felt. This is the unity that they also felt, and they were working together to achieve the goal of getting to where they want to go.”
There are 16 million Latter-day Saints in the Church globally and 8,000 in Maine, according to Thomas. The Mormons are a branch of the Latter Day Saint movement, with their roots getting established in upstate New York during the 1820s.
Latter Day Saints represent a movement founded on the belief that Christianity should follow a purer, more ancient form of the religion.
Website for those wanting to participate in a trek visit handcart-trek.org/.
Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com.
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