Pioneer Trek

Glancing through some posts about Pioneer Day Singing Times, I ran across this one.  It reminded me that I HAD a trek map... handed down to me by the last chorister (I can't take the artistic credit)... that I had re-used last year.  Sure enough, it was neatly rolled up in the corner of my closet, begging to be used again.

It may be late to be sharing (although we didn't quite get to the valley-o in Singing Time  in Jr. Primary so we'll be continuing our journey this week), but I figured I would post it anyway as a reference for future years :-)  This will be the third year in a row that some of the kids in our Primary have seen this map, but it still works amazingly well (the best kind of visual!!).  I mixed the songs up this year to use some of the songs we've been working on (so easy to do, since there are so many great pioneer stories that can tie in to almost any song), and didn't really have time to write out a script, but the kids really liked it.  I ALSO took Big Voice Robby, as promised.  I still had notes from last year, so I will share BOTH Singing Time plans (bonus!).

Stops on the map:

Nauvoo (I Love to See the Temple) - we talked about the sacrifice the Saints made to build the temple, and then how they had to leave it to be destroyed.

Winter Quarters (this year we sang Nephi's Courage and talked about the courage to keep going, even when things were hard, last year we sang I Know My Father Lives)

Chimney Rock (this year we sang Pioneer Children Were Quick to Obey, last year we sang Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked - I told about how the pioneers could see Chimney Rock from a long way off, and then they would walk for several days before they actually reached it; the songwriter said, "We are all pioneers - none of us has been in this day before.  Earlier pioneers had no automobiles, railroads, airplanes, telephones, electricity, radios or television, but they sang as they walked and walked.  We can sing as we walk through today, or we can grouch every step of the way and be miserable.")

Sweetwater Crossing (this year we sang Dare to Do Right, last year we sang Love One Another - both times we reviewed the story of the three young men who carried the handcart company across the river in the freezing cold)

Martin's Cove (this year we sang To Be a Pioneer, last year we sang I Will Follow God's Plan for Me and I shared the story of Bodil Mortensen, a 10 year old girl - and cried.)


Rocky Ridge (This year we sang The Oxcart, last year we sang The Handcart Song - original words written in the missionary journal of John Daniel Thompson McAllister, who had written the song to motivate the Saints of Ireland to emigrate to Utah.  He later served as the president of the Manti Temple.)


"This is the Right Place" - Salt Lake Valley (Follow the Prophet)


This is our wagon that we move along the stops on the map:

A few other fun facts (more interesting to the Sr. Primary):

It took a handcart company only 85 days to go from Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley, while it took a covered wagon company 111 days to complete the same journey.  Those oxcarts were SLOW!

A total of 3,193 pioneers came across the plains pushing handcarts.  Each cart was limited to 100 pounds.