A new nonprofit wants to give the LDS Church outright ownership of Martin's Cove — brokered by a man who sold the ranch bordering it during the same window he pitched the deal.
Jess and Hannah trace the 1856 Willie and Martin handcart disaster, Franklin D. Richards' decision to call a vote instead of halting departure, and Brigham Young's public rebuke that followed. Then they dig into the current push by Wyoming Friends for Martin's Cove to finally secure outright Church ownership of the site — a deal brokered by Ryan Lance, whose own ranch sale to the Ensign Group closed in January 2026, and whose land controls one of the only two routes into the "public" acreage being offered in exchange.
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