This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utahns Joseph and Shalisse Johnstun were young Mormon singles — he a history buff, she an English major — when they carpooled back to Omaha, Neb., for the 1997 wagon train re-enactment.
They pulled handcarts side by side until Shalisse realized how "stupid that was," she recalls, so she hopped on the Utah Centennial Wagon, eventually driving the team for much of the way.
The two spent the next three months "geeking out together," Joseph says, got married shortly afterward and today live in Madison, Iowa, in a "gorgeous" 1887 home with their three children.
Lessons from the wagon train linger, Shalisse says. "At one point in Nowhere, Wyoming, a grumpy guy's wagon wheel broke. Despite their feelings about the guy, everyone jumped down to help him get to camp."
Most people have the same "end goal — to be happy or to get to Zion — whatever that is," she says. "And even though we are different, it is essential to help each other out."
Yuuup, Joseph affirms.