c. 1996 Religion News Service

NAUVOO, Ill. (RNS)-Clustered in a grassy field on the banks of the Mississippi River, a group of modern-day pioneers, traveling on foot, in covered wagons and on horseback, have embarked on a journey they hope will lead them to Salt Lake City.

“It’ll be a trip we won’t forget,” said grizzled Iowa farmer Archie Durham, 73, perhaps the oldest member of the group, which left this river town Monday (June 17). “My kids said, `Dad, you’re too old to go.’ I said, `Could be, but I’m going anyway.’ ”

Durham is driving the lead wagon in the procession, which during the next several weeks will re-enact the Mormon pioneers’ 1846 trek from Nauvoo across Iowa to a spot near Omaha, Neb., where the pioneers waited out the winter. The group plans to retrace the Iowa Mormon Trail this year, then resume the trip next spring in Nebraska and follow the Mormon Trail to Utah, arriving in Salt Lake City on July 24, 1997-the 150th anniversary of the historic journey’s conclusion.

As the group got under way, an estimated 200 participants loaded their wagons onto a barge and crossed the Mississippi to Montrose, Iowa. The procession is traveling 15 to 20 miles a day and was expected to include some 20 horse-drawn wagons, plus at least one handcart and four dozen more people walking and riding horseback. It is scheduled to arrive in Winter Quarters, near Omaha, July 3.

The group, which calls itself the JL2 Authentic Wagon Train, is one of two wagon-train re-enactments that will cross Iowa this year. A second procession, called the Iowa Pioneer Mormon Trail Wagon Train, will depart Montrose Monday (June 24) and reach the western Iowa border July 12. That group also plans to resume its trek next May and arrive in Salt Lake City in late July of 1997.

Why dueling wagon trains? It seems organizers, a mixture of Mormons and Iowa history buffs, originally planned one wagon-train procession but could not agree on guidelines governing the journey’s authenticity. The JL2 group, departed first, has stricter rules: Wagons cannot have inflatable tires, and participants are encouraged to wear period costumes. Several of JL2’s wagons were built by an Amish couple from Minnesota.

“It was a fairly peaceful parting of the ways-just a difference in philosophy,” said Leon Wilkinson, one of the leaders of the JL2 wagon train. “So we decided we’d do our thing our way and they’d do theirs. It was unfortunate, because we both had the same intent.” The other wagon train includes some 60 covered wagons and 20 handcarts, and about 250 people have signed up to come along.

“We don’t want to exclude anyone, so if they have a rubber-tire vehicle, we won’t stop them from coming,” said director Mike Foley. “This is a celebration of the pioneer spirit. This is not about how much authenticity we have.” As it turns out, both groups are making concessions to modern convenience. Both wagon trains are being accompanied by a convoy of trucks, trailers, motor homes and other support vehicles. A pickup truck hauling a 1,000-gallon water tank and four portable toilets is following the JL2 wagon train; Foley will command the Iowa Pioneer Mormon Trail Wagon Train with a cellular phone.

Each group has scores of Iowans plus participants from a dozen other states, including Utah. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not officially sanctioned either procession, although LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley will greet the second wagon train at a July 13 celebration in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Neither group is following the exact route taken across Iowa by Brigham Young’s pioneers in 1846. Since much of the original Mormon Trail crosses private land, both wagon trains will be forced to approximate the journey as closely as possible on public roads while avoiding busy highways. To dodge an interstate in western Iowa, the JL2 group is having to make a 10-mile detour.

None of this fazes the overalls-clad Durham or his girlfriend, Marie Durham (his late brother’s widow), who joined the expedition not for historical or religious reasons but because they love horses and miss the simpler way of life they remember from their youth.

“There are a few things I’d hate to give up now-electricity and stuff,” said Marie Durham, 74, displaying five full-length pioneer dresses and matching bonnets she plans to wear on the trip. “But people were happier back then. My daughter said, `Mom, you’re going to get wet.’ I said, `Well, they got wet 150 years ago, too.’ ”

MJP END GRIGGS