Sweetwater Rescue Impressions

By Lee Groberg

This project has been one of the greater challenges I’ve tackled. The intricacies of telling a story with so many “trails” have been a challenge; not only do we have two handcart companies traveling west  to the Salt Lake Valley, but we also have two wagon trains behind them, and then rescue wagons approaching them from the west. All four different emigrant companies are rescued and arrive in the valley at different times.  Keeping everyone straight as to location and chronology has been a challenge, but I think we did it.

I personally traveled this trail a dozen times or more in the telling of the story. I hoped for miserable weather, and we got it. Blowing snow, like these emigrants would have experienced, was particularly difficult to deal with. We were forced to abandon filming at times because of the drifting snow, which furthered my respect for what the handcart emigrants experienced for weeks. 

At minus 40 degrees in blowing snow, on Rocky Ridge I further realized what an amazing feat it was for the rescuers and the rescued to come through this ordeal. And I continue to marvel that any of them survived at all. There were times that I was so cold that I thought my head would split. I marvel that they kept going in such adversity.

This story has been somewhat overlooked in America’s history books. It is one of the great tales of courage and heroism—a vibrant piece of the fabric of America. I have been humbled in the attempt to tell it, and pray that we got it right.

The film crew was amazing. All of us were cold, yet there was a consecrated effort to capture the essence of the story. I think every one of us tried to lend dignity to those whose story we told, giving our all in the execution of our crafts. All the details were considered regarding props, wardrobe, art direction, casting, voices, and locations. We each felt that we had to do our very best so as to not detract from this incredible legacy of grit and determination.

We had amazing cooperation and dedication from many people in the telling of this story. The trail experts who I interviewed were incredible. I thought I was passionate in telling this story, but those who have studied it longer, are really passionate about these courageous emigrants.  Some of the greatest commitment came from the extras from Riverton and Lander, Wyoming. These hearty Wyomians grew beards for three months and brought along their young children for the privilege of being cold and miserable. The elements were so adverse that the “look” of the film is very believable. Our extras realistically re-created what might have happened.  I felt badly for the little ones who, at times, were crying from the cold. I apologized to their parents, but they waved me off as if it was nothing. I think they truly valued the experience of feeling what these hearty emigrants had endured 150 years earlier.

If I were to sum up my experiences over the past 18 months, it would be in one word: RESPECT.  What the rescuers did and what the emigrants experienced was nothing short of inspiring and heroic. I wonder if I could have been as valiant.  Their story inspires me.