The Undaunted: The Miracle of the Hole-in-the-Rock Pioneers

LISTEN to an interview with Gerald N. Lund from The Cricket and Seagull Fireside Chat Podcast.

To find out more about this book, including a Traveler's Guide for the trail today, VISIT undaunted-thenovel.com

The journey was impossible.

But they had no other choice.

At the call of their prophet, they left well-established farms and businesses to strike out yet again into the untamed wilderness. A small band of men, women, and children formed the 1879 pioneer company.

Their mission: stand as a buffer between lawlessness and civilization.

Their road: only what they created themselves, blasting out a perilous trail over slick rock and through desolate cliffs.

Their hearts: UNDAUNTED

When it comes to creating spellbinding historical fiction, nobody does it quite like Gerald N. Lund. In The Undaunted, he transports readers first to the coal mines of Yorkshire, then across the ocean and the plains to the territory of Utah, where, even in 1879, there is pioneering to be done.

A little-known and perhaps even less-appreciated chapter in the Church’s history comes to life in this gripping story of a stalwart group of Saints called to create a settlement to serve as a buffer between the established communities of Utah and the lawless frontier of the Four Corners area. Their challenge will be enormous — but the biggest part of it just may be getting there in the first place.

Skillfully interweaving historical figures and events with fictional characters, Gerald Lund takes us through the Hole in the Rock and over miles of uncharted country that even today is impassable without all-terrain vehicles. His account of the adventure, romance, and sacrifices of these undaunted pioneers will resonate with readers who love a good story as well as those who want to better understand the incomparable legacy and unconquerable faith of those valiant Saints.

Book on CD
Length: Approximately 25 hours and 15 minutes

Number of discs: 20

Read by Simon Vance

Editor's Review

The Undaunted, by Gerald N. Lund

One of the greatest things about my job is that I often get to read and work on some of our most anticipated books long in advance of their release dates. And one of my most exciting projects of the year has just gone to press and will be out the first week of August.

Gerald N. Lund is one of those amazing authors who can interweave true historical events with fictional characters to create a spellbinding story that actually teaches something at the same time. Thousands of people said The Work and the Glory got them fascinated with Church history for the first time. For me, Fire of the Covenant had that same effect: I knew the story of the handcart pioneers (or thought I did), but it became REAL to me when I experienced it through the eyes of Lund’s characters. And now, after a seven-year hiatus, he’s done it again in The Undaunted.

The subject this time is even less familiar, but in some ways that makes the story even more compelling. Before I read this book, I knew a tiny bit about the Hole-in-the-Rock pioneer expedition. I didn’t know it was a projected six-week trip that turned into a six-month saga of determination and sacrifice, with a good handful of miracles sprinkled in. I didn’t stop to consider that people who had already given up everything, some of them multiple times, were asked to do it again, leaving comfortable homes and businesses to travel to a desolate corner of the territory and stand as a buffer between civilization and lawlessness. I didn’t understand that our pioneer heritage extends far beyond the trek across the plains; it has been carried out again and again in the lives of people who have laid everything they have and are on the altar of the Lord so that His kingdom can go forward.

This is what The Undaunted is to me: so much more than a good story, although it is that. It is so much more than an engaging and heart-clenching read, although it’s that, too. It is a testimony to me of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the courageous Saints who laid its foundations. It is our story.

Emily Watts, editor, Deseret Book Company

Some of the characters travels weren't complete after Fire of the Covenant. Jens and Elsie Nielson arrived in Utah with the Willie Handcart Company and were sent to help settle Parowan. The Nielson's then subsequently lived in Panguitch, Circleville, back in Parowan, and finally in Cedar City. Jens was living in Cedar City, in his 60's, when the call came from the pulpit to the San Juan Mission. Years earlier, at Rock Creek Hollow, after crossing Rocky Ridge, losing their only son and Bodil Mortensen, who they were bringing with them for another family, Jens prayed that if the Lord would let him live to reach Salt Lake City, then all the rest of his days would be spent trying to be of use to the Lord under the direction of the priesthood. Jens feet had been so badly frostbitten during that journey they never healed properly, and the move to San Juan, would be their sixth in twenty years.

As a reminder, if you would like to find out more about this book, including a Traveler's Guide for the trail today, VISIT undaunted-thenovel.com