I just dropped off my 16-year-old pioneer. Except for the burgundy tennis shoes, he looked like he might have stepped right out of the 19th century (including the haircut). I waved as he shouldered his burlap gunny sack and headed off to meet his "family" for the next three days of pulling a handcart through the Utah Rockies. I wonder what his 4th-great grandparents -- the ones who actually survived crossing half the US on foot -- would think.

It's trek season and Latter-day Saint youth around the world are re-enacting the remarkable experiences of the 1856 handcart pioneers.

Andrew D. Olsen, author of "The Price We Paid, the Extraordinary Story of the Willie & Martin Handcart Pioneers," shares the stories and people of these best-known handcart companies in the most in-depth and complete retelling of their incredible saga ever published.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...