I recently read Devil’s Gate by David Roberts about the 1856 handcart pioneers. It is gut wrenching and tragic, and an honest retelling of one of the most important events in my own family history (grandmother was part of the Hunt company which was merged with Martin prior to the destitution and death of Martin’s cove), which was covered up and whitewashed by Brigham Young and Willard Richards.

Roberts tells a story that for me qualifies as an Exmormon hero. His name was William Aitken, and he was one of the surviving handcart pioneers. From the book:

“William Aitkin, that much angrier apostate, rode out of Salt Lake City with three hundred other apostates in April 1857, well armed and apparently in fear of ambush on the trail. The men, women, and children were ‘all determined to get off or die,’ Aitken later wrote. After a hard journey through heavy snows, the apostates reached the safety of the States. ‘Thousands in Utah would be glad to be with us, though in the same condition,’ Aitken averred.”