Taking a Break on the Trail

We know that the Saints, after they stopped for the evening on the trail west, would sing and dance. According to the journal of Orley Dewight Bliss, what entertainment kept him and his friends preoccupied?

 

a.      Target hunting

b.      Playing ball

c.       Debating

d.      Collecting wild flowers

 

Yesterday’s answer:

 b.   The government as a penalty during the anti-polygamy years

 In 1849, the Church launched a revolving loan (1849) known as the Perpetual Emigrating Fund (PEF) to assist those who could not afford the high costs of traveling for months by land and sea to reach Zion. Once they were settled, they were expected to repay the loan to fund later immigrants; not everyone was able to repay, but enough did to keep the program running. In all, over 10,000 loans totaling over $1.2 million were made before the U.S. government shut it down in 1887 as part of their anti-polygamy laws.

 Plewe, Brandon S., et. at., Mapping Mormonism (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2012) 105.