"I Walked to Zion"

I read this book last week "I Walked to Zion" by Susan Arrington Madsen. It is a collection of short true stories of pioneers' first hand experiences crossing the plains to migrate to Utah in the 1840s, '50s, and '60s.

I think my favorite line from this book was on page 138: Alma Elizabeth Mineer was crossing the sea with her parents when she was 6 years old in 1861. They left Liverpool England on the ship The Monarch of the Sea which was a very old ship and she said was entirely unseaworthhy. The sea was rough and stormy on their trip and the waves washed over the top of the deck. When the people were frightened, the captain would tell them "We'll land in New York all right. We've got Mormons on board, and we always get through when we have Mormons." I thought that was really funny. Go Mormons! :) The ship was loaded with cargo, and sank on it's return voyage, but the captain and crew were saved.