Between 1847 and 1869, 68,000 Saints made the trek to Zion. Mary Ann and Eliza Jane Pulsipher, ages 16 and 7, walked the 1030 miles to the Salt Lake Valley during the summer of 1848, arriving on September 23. The handcart was devised as an inexpensive means of transportation for those who could not afford animal-drawn wagons, and 650 handcarts made the long trek. Some of the most tragic and difficult experiences of the Mormon pioneers were recorded by the Willie and Martin handcart companies in 1857, when they left Winter Quarters late in the season and were caught by early winter storms in Wyoming. Their supplies ran out, and people were dying from hunger and exposure. William Pulsipher, a brother of Mary Ann and Eliza Jane, volunteered to join the parties sent out by Brigham Young to rescue these two handcart companies, and his health suffered for many years as a result of his effort.