Driving eastbound toward Martin鈥檚 Cove, Lloyd Larsen tried to hammer home the profound cultural significance of the place he was headed.
His destination, about an hour鈥檚 drive southwest of Casper, is holy ground for nearly 18 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e a member of the church and you鈥檙e growing up in Moscow, you鈥檝e heard of it,鈥� Larsen said July 6 from the cab of his Ford F-150.
To the LDS member and longtime state representative for Lander, Martin鈥檚 Cove is more than a place. It鈥檚 also a good story.
鈥淭he efforts of the rescuers, it鈥檚 kind of the best of humanity,鈥� Larsen said.
Martin鈥檚 Cove is a nook in the Granite Mountains that, from afar, doesn鈥檛 look like much.
But in 1856, a party of hundreds of famished, battered and dying handcart-pulling Mormon emigrants rendezvoused around this spot with a rescue team dispatched by then-LDS President Brigham Young. Taking shelter for five days from the frigid winds of an October blizzard, many who would have died survived.
Now, the tragedy and Mormon settlers鈥� efforts to save emigrating strangers is an integral part of LDS church lore. It is such a central part of the Mormon story that the church has sought to acquire Martin鈥檚 Cove. Those efforts, and the church鈥檚 management of the site, have historically , and , mainly because the cove is located on public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Larsen is part of a new effort and whose sole purpose is to facilitate a land deal that would turn over 933 BLM acres surrounding Martin鈥檚 Cove to the LDS church. In exchange, the public would gain an equal number of LDS-owned acres split between two tracts: a 358-acre parcel along the Sweetwater River near Independence Rock and 575 acres that鈥檚 hugged between the mountainous Miller Springs and Savage Peak wilderness study areas.
The idea is to bring the public on board, and then do the same for Congress, which would be asked to execute the land trade. It鈥檚 a plan that鈥檚 attracting considerable support: 鈥渇riends鈥� include three former Wyoming governors 鈥� Matt Mead, Dave Freudenthal and Mike Sullivan 鈥� and Rob Wallace, a who played a during the first Trump administration.
鈥淢y sense is this is going to be a very high-quality effort that is going to benefit Wyoming,鈥� Wallace told WyoFile on Friday. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to think about this so everybody wins.鈥�
Deep and more recent history
Although the Martin鈥檚 Cove story is now known for heroics and saved lives, it was also a tragedy and one of the deadliest episodes of overland emigration in the western United States. Recordkeeping was poor and the precise death count is unknown, but more than 200 of the 1,100 people led by handcart company captains James Willie and Edward Martin perished while crossing Wyoming on the way to Salt Lake City.
鈥淚t was by far the worst non-military disaster on the emigrant trails,鈥� writer Annette Hein wrote about the Martin鈥檚 Cove rescue on .
It took 74 years before LDS leaders tried to locate the site where the Martin Company handcart party took refuge. They pinpointed the site as a cove in the rocks about two miles up the Sweetwater River from Devil鈥檚 Gate, even though its 鈥渨hereabouts were sketchy,鈥� according to , and no survivors of the 1856 event ever returned to verify where they sheltered. In 1933, the Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association established a monument and named the spot Martin鈥檚 Cove. By 1977, the cove was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1996, the LDS church , which runs along the Sweetwater River and abuts Martin鈥檚 Cove. Around that time the church acquired a five-year lease from the BLM. During that era, U.S. Rep. Jim Hansen, a LDS member and congressman for Utah, introduced that would have enabled an outright sale to the church.
The legislation met stiff resistance, recalled founder Tom Rea, who presides over the of the Oregon-California Trails Association.
鈥淭here was quite an uproar opposed to the idea of the LDS church being able to buy federal land,鈥� Rea said. 鈥淧eople were pointing to Devil鈥檚 Tower, saying, 鈥楾he tribes could come back and say this is holy ground for us.鈥欌��
In the aftermath, the LDS church and BLM worked out a 25-year lease for Martin鈥檚 Cove, which spans from 2004 to 2029. Early on, however, the , arguing that non-LDS visitors were being improperly proselytized while passing through the Sun Ranch and on signage in the cove. The church agreed to .
鈥淲e believe that we鈥檝e filled that obligation,鈥� Larsen said, 鈥渁nd not imposed our religious beliefs.鈥�
The proposed land swap is Larsen鈥檚 wish for the next chapter in the Martin鈥檚 Cove saga. He鈥檚 not a fan of the land remaining in the federal domain because of changes in 鈥減ublic land policies from administration to administration.鈥�
鈥淥ur hope is that the past 25 years have resolved the concerns that existed,鈥� Larsen said.
The deal
On July 6, Larsen led a tour of Martin鈥檚 Cove and the LDS property proposed for the land swap. LDS church spokeswoman Beth Worthen joined him, as did State Sen. Dan Dockstader, Wyoming Friends for Martin鈥檚 Cove board member Travis McNiven and Bralli Clifford, a Wild Sheep Foundation board member.
The idea of a land swap, Larsen said, came from outside the LDS church. In a meeting while doing due diligence in anticipation of another attempted purchase, a conservationist suggested a trade.
鈥淲e said we agree,鈥� Larsen said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to just go out and say, 鈥楾his is our grand idea, it鈥檚 better than anything, don鈥檛 you agree?鈥欌��
The parcels that the LDS church would give up in the exchange were selected strategically to entice different stakeholders.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a great argument,鈥� Larsen said. 鈥淭he public comes out ahead.鈥�
The Lander resident鈥檚 contention came while en route to 鈥淏eef Gap,鈥� which is a sagebrush-strewn opening in the Sweetwater Rocks between the Savage Peak and Miller Springs wilderness study areas.
Nearly a square mile of LDS land in the beef-filled gap 鈥� cattle actually grazed nearby 鈥� would turn over to the BLM under the proposed deal. Standing atop a knoll overlooking the tract, Dockstader, a state senator from Afton, argued that the public would be acquiring 鈥渜uality pieces.鈥�
鈥淥ne鈥檚 centered on wildlife,鈥� he said, 鈥渙ne centered on historic values.鈥�
According to a , the Beef Gap parcel contains 鈥渃rucial year-round range鈥� for mule deer and pronghorn. The acquisition would also link federal land in an area that鈥檚 long been for bighorn sheep.
The parcel is not accessible to the public, however. Access would require permission from either the LDS church to cross the Sun Ranch or an OK to trespass across the Pathfinder Ranch. At this time, a permanent easement isn鈥檛 in the plans, Larsen said.
The 358-acre tract near Independence Rock does offer easy public access. It borders state land and is bisected by nearly 2 miles of the Sweetwater River. And there are a trove of historically significant cultural resources.
Visiting the site, Larsen nabbed an old rusted square nail from the soil. Soon, the party found a metal chunk of an old buckle and shortly after that they hiked up to the site of a now long-gone pioneer bridge across the Sweetwater River.
鈥淵ou can see the abutment on the other side,鈥� Larsen said.
A marker the trade advocates also walked by denoted where a once stood.
Rea, at the Oregon-California Trails Association鈥檚 Wyoming chapter, remarked that the historic resources on the Independence Rock site are 鈥渞eally, really cool.鈥�
鈥淭he church is offering a really nice deal,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his sounds like a good idea. Especially if the church will continue doing the good job it鈥檚 been doing with (Martin鈥檚 Cove) and guaranteeing public access.鈥�
Rea would like to see the land swap happen in tandem with a broader initiative to make the relics of the Oregon-California-Mormon pioneer trails and Pony Express more publicly accessible and meaningful. Before COVID derailed , there was a push for a multi-agency interpretive plan for the historically rich stretch of Highway 220 that stretches from Rattlesnake Pass to Martin鈥檚 Cove.
Any naysayers?
Larsen and his fellow land trade advocates have been leading tours and pitching the Martin鈥檚 Cove proposal to the media partly because they鈥檙e trying to understand the scrutiny that lies ahead and address those concerns before introducing a single-subject bill. Partly that鈥檚 so blowback doesn鈥檛 catch Wyoming鈥檚 congressional delegation off guard, he said.
鈥淵ou can step in it pretty easy,鈥� Larsen said.
McNiven, who鈥檚 on the Wyoming Friends for Martin鈥檚 Cove board, said the nonprofit has been working 鈥渧ery hard鈥� to vet the plan with 鈥渁ll the parties.鈥�
It鈥檚 an approach that Wallace, the former Trump administration appointee, says is wise.
鈥淚f the Friends group and the board are successful in their outreach,鈥� he said, 鈥渋t鈥檒l give the delegation comfort in knowing that their constituents are behind it.鈥�
So far, no staunch opponents have emerged 鈥� at least vocally.
Julia Stuble, the Wyoming director for The Wilderness Society, said that from her view the land exchange proponents are using a 鈥渟ound process鈥� that 鈥渁ppears to be prioritizing the public interest.鈥�
鈥淭hey鈥檙e looking to create a solution that prioritizes access, conservation of wildlife habitat, and preservation of the historic sites,鈥� Stuble said. 鈥淚n particular, we applaud them for taking feedback seriously and seeking consultation with affected tribes.鈥�
Because the preferred approach to the land trade is a Congressional mandate, it would forgo the customary administrative steps and be forced down upon the Bureau of Land Management. Still, Larsen 鈥渇elt like we owed them鈥� and ran the plans by interim BLM-Wyoming Director Kris Kirby.
鈥淎s you would suspect, (the BLM) said, 鈥極K, we鈥檒l do whatever Congress tells us to do,鈥欌�� Larsen said.
In his ideal world, Congress will be giving BLM that direction very shortly. Although the land exchange proposal was just recently publicized, its LDS advocates and fellow gentile supporters are moving fast.
鈥淲e鈥檙e working on the draft language of a bill,鈥� Larsen said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 like to have a bill introduced this summer.鈥�
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