President Gordon B. Hinckley paid tribute to the courage of Christopher Columbus and to Mormon pioneers as he spoke at the Bountiful Handcart Days celebration Sunday, July 19, at the Bountiful/Woods Cross Regional Center.

The fireside was one of several events held in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of Bountiful on Dec. 14, 1892.President Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, also discussed the recent meeting of the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve with President George Bush. (Please see story on page 3.) "Our pioneer fathers were right when they said kings and emperors would come and the evil would envy us in our homes," President Hinckley said.

The voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World was among the most momentous voyages in history, affirmed President Hinckley.

Speaking of Columbus, he observed, "Few recognized the tremendous undertaking on which he embarked when he set sail on Sept. 8, 1492. The consequences of that voyage are truly amazing."

He noted that the "admiral of the open sea" encountered many problems as he tried to get support for his adventurous endeavor. The support he received was three small ships - the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. These three ships sailed to the Canary Islands where fresh supplies were loaded. Afterward, they sailed west into uncharted waters where the crew became frightened and mutinous.

President Hinckley quoted a poem by Joaquin Miller, entitled, Columbus.

"They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,

Until at last the blanched mate said:

"Why, now not even God would know

Should I and all my men fall dead.

These very winds forget their way,

For God from these dread seas is gone.

Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say" -

He said: Sail on! sail on! and on!"

"Columbus was a God-fearing man," continued President Hinckley. "He held prayer on his ship, and in his correspondence to the sovereigns of Spain, he made references to Deity."

President Hinckley quoted Nephi in the Book of Mormon, who wrote, "And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land." (1 Ne. 13:12.)

The man referred to in this scripture was Columbus, declared President Hinckley.

Modern adventurers also faced and overcame adversity. President Hinckley told accounts of handcart pioneers who suffered as they made their way west to answer a spiritual purpose.

He cited the example of Ellen Purcell Unthank, to whom a memorial was recently erected on the campus of Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah.

In 1856, she was a member of the Martin Handcart company. "They had been months on the way," he said. "Nellie's mother became sick, and her father put her in the cart and tried to pull her."

President Hinckley continued, "And while crossing a river, the father stumbled and fell and was soaked to the skin, and his clothing froze. He died not long after that from starvation and exposure, and she died five days later. What a place to die, in that bleak and desolate area. . . . I do not know how or where their frozen bodies were buried. . . . I do know that the two little girls were now orphans.

"Nellie and many others suffered. This girl herself witnessed the death of anywhere from 135 to 150 of that company. She knew something of the meaning of sacrifice and of the cost of fidelity to a cause and purpose.

"It was in these desperate and terrible circumstances - hungry, exhausted, their clothes thin and ragged - that they were found by the rescue party.

"When they reached the Sweetwater River on Nov. 3, chunks of ice were floating in the freezing water. It looked like stepping into death itself to move into the freezing stream."

Three of the rescuers were 18-year-old boys, he said. "To the astonishment of all who saw, they carried nearly every member of the ill-fated handcart company across the snowbound stream.

"The strain was so terrible, and the exposure so great that in later years all the boys died from the effects of it.

The handcart pioneers were carried hundreds of miles in 104 rescue wagons, and entered the valley on Nov. 30.

"The two orphan girls, Maggie and Ellen, were among those with frozen limbs," President Hinckley continued. Ellen's legs had to be amputated just below the knees. The wounds never completely healed, but without complaint, she married, reared six children and served her family and neighbors and the Church.

President Hinckley then quoted an account recorded by William R. Palmer about a Sunday School class which, years later, was discussing Sister Unthank and others in the ill-fated handcart companies. Members of the class were speaking critically of Church leaders for permitting the company of converts to start so late in the season. An old man, Frances Webster, listened in silence and then rose to speak.

"He said in substance, `I ask you to stop this criticism. You are discussing a matter you know nothing about. Cold, historic facts mean nothing here for they give no proper interpretation of the questions involved. A mistake to send the handcart company out so late in the season? Yes. But I was in that company and my wife was in it and Sister Nellie Unthank whom you have cited was there too. We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? Not one of that company ever apostatized or left the Church, because every one of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives, for we became acquainted with Him in our extremities.'

President Hinckley quoted Joshua, who exhorted the people, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Josh. 24:15.)