Tracing one family's settler generations to the American West, an epic narrative spans decades and continents. From the establishment of Kirtland, Ohio, to the mass wagon and handcart migration over the Mormon Trail, to the formidable challenges of settling the Utah Territory, Alan and Janet Clark's ancestral stories fill in the landscape between the founding years of Church history through the early settlement of the Mountain West. This book gathers stories and traces these family lineages over time, in an amazing tapestry of family lines which sometimes overlap in surprising ways, with ancestors from different families sharing friends, settlements, and pivotal historical experiences. Highlights include: Ancestral conversion stories of Alan Clark and Janet Ruppe Clark's lineages. Stories from Nauvoo. Ancestral experiences relating to Joseph Smith's Martyrdom and Brigham Young's transfiguration. John Lowe Butler, the beginnings of the Mormon War, and an unusual mission to the Emmett Expedition. Family pioneer stories from Winter Quarters and the Mormon Trail. Polygamy Pathways (seven of Alan and Janet's ancestral families practiced polygamy, and each family ran differently. Their stories, context, and challenges play out here.) Johnson's Army and the migration south.Western settlement and homesteading stories. Stories of noted settler Ebenezer Bryce. Stories of ancestral support for temples at Nauvoo, St. George, Salt Lake, and more. The organization of the Primary. Missions served by Alan and Janet Clark's ancestors. Ancestral families with stories included in this book include: The Clarks (Timothy Baldwin Clark and Polly Keeler Clark, Ezra T. Clark and family, Edward B. Clark and family). The Stevensons (Elizabeth Stevens Stevenson and her children). The Randalls (Alfred Randall and family). The Christensens (Karen Hansen Christensen, Mads Christensen and family, Jens and Trene Christensen and family, Joseph and Emma Christensen and family). Leven Simmons and family. The Butlers (John Lowe Butler and family, Kenion Taylor Butler and family). The Durfeys (Royal Durfey and Lydia Able Durfey). The Parks (David Park and Ann Brooks Park).The Bryces (Ebenezer Bryce and Mary Ann Park Bryce, William Bryce and Rosanna Goulding Bryce).The Gouldings (Daniel Goulding and family).The stories of three generations of Alan and Janet Clark's ancestors unfurl through this book, illuminating the pathway the families followed through distance and time, building th