Where have all the pioneers gone!

Being a transplant to the Salt Lake City valley, I must admit that I do not hail from pioneer stock. My ancestors did not struggle to cross the plains in order to join the saints in Utah. None of my forefather's suffered or died in the Willie and Martin Handcart companies and none of my ancestors helped to settle the Salt Lake valley or any of the surrounding establishments.

This doesn't mean, however, that my forefather's were lacking in courage or mettle. Some fought bravely to gain and preserve the freedoms that we have inherited. On my mother's side, Captain Benjamin Birdsall fought in the battle of Long Island during the Revolutionary War. After the battle, he volunteered to lead a small band of hand-picked men to free an American ship that was carrying flour for the American forces. He successfully completed the mission, freeing the vessel which provided badly needed supplies to the soldiers. Before getting back to friendly lines, however, along with his men, he was captured by the British soldiers. While in captivity, he was peirced through the shoulder with a sword by one of his captors and spent several months in a cell, wounded and without medical attention. Benjamin was later commissioned to the rank of Colonel and was reassigned to Dover where he was a signer of the Beakman Patent in March, 1777. Benjamin Birdsall later represented the citizenry of New York by serving in the legislatures of 1792, 1796 and 1804. He was also a member of the New York Constitutional Convention held in 1802.

Lieutenant Colonel Wilfred Cutshaw is honored to this day by civil war reenactments for the bravery that he showed on the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Virginia, during the civil war. Wilfred led what has come to be known as "Cutshaw's Battalion", which was a light, mobile artillery battery. He sacrificed so much to end the practice of slavery in America. While other forces were retreating and abandoning their posts due to the intensity of the battles that raged all around and with sparse provisions and many wounded soldiers, Cutshaw's battalion stood firmly and bravely in the face of unbelievable odds.

"The men's faces were black with powder. They had bitten cartridges until there was a deep black circle around their mouths. The burnt powder from the ramrods had blackened their hands, and in their efforts to remove the perspiration from their faces they had completed the coloring from the roots of the hair to the chin. Here was no place for rest, however, as the enemy's battery behind the creek on the opposite hills, having gotten the range, was pouring in a lively fire." (Detailed Minutiae Of Soldier Life In The Army Of Northern Virginia (Part 5), by Carlton McCarthy).

During the course of this battle Lieutenant Colonel Cutshaw, who refused to retreat, incurred a very serious leg injury that necessitated amputation. After this battle, he was transferred to the rear and left in an empty home, where he was eventually captured by enemy forces.

I have often wondered why men like these would give so much, including everything that they possessed, even their very lives and limbs, for a cause for which they so strongly believed.

I have also wondered why the Mormon pioneers would risk so much to join their fellow church members in the deserts of Utah. We know that both the Willie and Martin hand cart companies were short on funds and provisions. We know that they started their treks late in the season and got caught in the harsh winter storms of central Wyoming. We know that so many fathers and mothers pulled their carts filled with few provisions and with their sick, cold children day after day, step-by-step, right until that last step which would claim so many of their lives.

Even though the early Saints had been chased from their homes, multiple times and while in the most difficult of circumstances while crossing this country, 500 of these pioneers left their families unprotected in the wilderness to come to the aid of this country in what would be called the Mormon Battalion. The battalion's march and service was significant in helping to secure new lands in several Western states, including the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 as well as large portions of southern Arizona.

Why did these great pioneers endure and sacrifice so much, even their very lives and limbs? I would argue that no one would have sacrificed so much if not for a cause for which they dearly believed -- even for the cause of freedom.

A pioneer is someone who paves the way for others. When others see obstacles, pioneers find passageways. When others see doom, pioneers are filled with hope. When others abandon their post, pioneers hold the line. To be a pioneer means that you are filled with courage, faith and hope for the future.

At this time of great peril for our Country, we desparately need a new generation of pioneers today. We need principled men and women who are willing to stand up for the cause of liberty and freedom. We need men and women who are filled with hope and courage for a brighter tomorrow. We need men and women who will stand up and help find passageways through the bands of socialism and tyranny which are so craftily being wrapped around our freedoms. We need men and women who will demand a higher standard of moral character from our elected officials and who will hold them accountable when they fall short. We need men and women who understand that we cannot continue to borrow and borrow and spend and spend without destroying the very foundations upon which this great nation was built.

We need men and women "pioneers" to stand up as leaders of our Republic, who are committed to the cause of freedom at all cost and who will do the people's business rather than working to advance their own personal wealth, power and fame.

Where have all the pioneers in this great nation gone?

--Donald Cutshaw (July 24, 2009 - Pioneer Day)