The Handcart Pioneer monument is a tribute to the thousands of hardy Mormon pioneers who, because they could not afford the larger ox-drawn wagons, walked across the rugged plains in the 1850’s, pulling and pushing all of their possessions in handmade, all-wood handcarts. Some 250 died on the journey, but nearly 3,000, mostly British converts, completed the 1,350-mile trek from Iowa City, Iowa, to Salt Lake Valley. Many latter-day saints today proudly recount the trials and the triumphs of their ancestors who were among the Mormon handcart pioneers.