There were 18 Reid/Porter Mormon pioneer ancestors who crossed the plains between 1852 and 1868 Ð six families, each consisting of two parents and one child. Not a single pioneer ancestor wrote a journal.
The idea behind this book is to use the journals of others in their companies to re-create their pioneer journeys. This book has been aided significantly by two websites:
1) The Pioneer Overland Travel website operated by the LDS Church that contains all of the known journals for people in each pioneer company that crossed the plains.
2) The Mormon Migration website by BYU that contains all of the known journals for people in each Mormon Ship that crossed the ocean.
Much of this book contains excerpts from journals found on these websites. Also included stories about the lives of these pioneers before they migrated to Utah, and stories of their lives living in the Rocky Mountains.