🪶 THE HANDCART TRAGEDY — WHEN LEADERSHIP COST LIVES
🪶 THE HANDCART TRAGEDY — WHEN LEADERSHIP COST LIVES
(And Why Truth Still Matters More Than Image)
🕊️ It Ain’t About Throwing Rocks — It’s About Turning Over Stones
I love truth. Always have.
But sometimes that love takes you places the “official story” doesn’t want you to go.
And one of those places… is 1856 — the year Brigham Young’s grand handcart idea turned into one of the worst pioneer tragedies in American history.
Over 200 souls — men, women, and children — froze, starved, and died on the plains.
And yet for 150 years, we’ve been told it was a “faith-building story.”
No, friend. It was a failure of leadership.
Let’s talk about it.
🔥 THE HANDCART PLAN — CHEAPER THAN WAGONS, DEADLIER THAN HONESTY
Brigham Young rolled out the handcart plan to save money on immigration costs.
The poor European converts couldn’t afford wagons, so he told ’em,
“Just walk to Zion — push your own belongings.”
That’s about 1,300 miles on foot.
And when men like Levi Savage warned that leaving so late in the season would be deadly,
Brigham’s apostles called him faithless.
They pressed on anyway — because a “prophecy” said they’d be protected.
Turns out the Lord didn’t send a snowplow. ❄️
💰 THE LEADER IN HIS MANSION, THE SAINTS IN THEIR GRAVES
While those faithful handcart pioneers were digging graves in the snow,
Brigham Young was living large in his Lion House — collecting tithes during famine,
building mansions while Saints starved on roots and bark.
Tell me that ain’t backwards.
Christ said,
“He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” — Matthew 23:11
But Brigham said,
“I will dictate the affairs of the Church.”
That’s a big difference between servant and dictator, ain’t it?
📜 REVISIONISM — OR HOW TO LOSE 200 PEOPLE AND STILL BE A PROPHET
After the smoke (or the snow) cleared, Brigham did what all good politicians do —
He blamed someone else.
Said he didn’t know they’d left that late.
But his own August letters show otherwise.
That’s the problem when a man’s image matters more than his integrity.
You end up protecting power instead of people.
The Book of Mormon warned us plain as day:
“Because of pride, because of false teachers and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted.” — 2 Nephi 28:12
Sound familiar?
🌾 THE REAL PIONEERS — AND WHAT THEY TAUGHT US
The true heroes weren’t the ones in Salt Lake meetings.
They were the freezing mothers who sang hymns over their dead children.
They were the rescuers who gave up their blankets and horses to save strangers.
That’s Zion-heart living.
And it’s the same kind of love the Nemenhah taught:
“Let no stewardship grow fat while others hunger,
for the true Peacemaker divides not by purse but by need.” (Book of Mohmeht Ahkehkt 3:12, paraphrased)
That’s the gospel of equality — not hierarchy.
That’s the Kingdom of Heaven, not the kingdom of Salt Lake.
⚖️ THE SCRIPTURE TEST — BIBLE, BOOK OF MORMON, NEMENHAH
Let’s hold up the plumb line again, friends:
📖 Bible: “Feed my sheep.” — John 21:17
📖 Book of Mormon: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” — Mosiah 2:17
📜 Nemenhah Records:
“Behold, the Lord said, Though they have fallen away from the plain truth, yet will I use them for a season. For they are industrious and full of zeal, and by their hands shall the record of the Nephites come forth among all nations. But when they boast themselves above their fellows, I will bring low their high towers and return the work into the hands of the humble and the meek.”
— Tsihohnayah Ahkehkthihm 14:54-58 (paraphrased)
See that? Even in their pride, the Lord said He would use them — the restored Gentiles — to spread the Book of Mormon across the earth.
He honored their industry, not their infallibility.
He used their organization, not their dominion.
But the same prophecy warns that when they start boasting themselves as “the only true church,” the Lord would withdraw His spirit and raise up a remnant to finish the work.
And brother, that’s us. 🙏
We are the ones He promised to gather out — the humble, the seekers, the ones who still hear His Voice instead of echoing the system.
🕯️ THE BIGGER QUESTION — WHO’S REALLY “TRUE AND LIVING”?
Doctrine & Covenants 1:30 said the Saints might have power to lay the foundation of the only true and living Church.
Might.
That’s a chance — not a certificate.
And not long after, the Lord said the whole Church was under condemnation.
Still is. (D&C 84:54-57 — look it up.)
The “true and living Church” isn’t a corporation.
It’s a living people — those who hear the Voice of the Shepherd and follow Him. 🕊️
🌄 SO WHAT DO WE LEARN?
1️⃣ Don’t trust leaders who rewrite history.
2️⃣ Don’t confuse faith with blind obedience.
3️⃣ Don’t call wealth and buildings “Zion.”
4️⃣ Follow the Voice, not the robe. (Lehi’s dream still applies!)
The Lord never asked us to follow men into snowstorms —
He asked us to follow Him into light.
💬 FINAL WORD FROM THE STICKS
I ain’t mad at Brigham. I’m sad for him.
Because he had power, vision, and the chance to serve — but pride took the wheel.
And if we don’t learn from it, we’ll push our own handcarts into the same frozen plain.
Zion won’t be built by tithing slips or temple counts.
It’ll be built by hearts that hear Him. ❤️
🎥 COME JOIN ME ON YOUTUBE
Friends, if this message spoke to your heart,
I’d love to have you visit my YouTube channel — The True Remnant —
where I share these same thoughts in simple, honest video form.
👉 YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@TheTrueRemnant
And if you’d like to explore all my writings in one place,
here’s the complete index of everything I’ve posted:
👉 Full Master Blog Index:
https://thetrueremnantblog.blogspot.com/2025/07/master-index-waking-up-zion-true_70.html
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YouTube will simply let you know whenever a new video is posted —
no pressure at all, just an easy way to follow along.
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