Family Tries Education-By-Pioneering In Journey

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Area residents were presented with an uncommon site last week walking through the streets of Mesquite. A family passed through town that looked like they had come right off of the Historic Old Spanish Trail in its heydey. And that perception was actually not too far off.

The White family, consisting of dad Josh, mom Terra and brothers Levi (16) and Lucus (14) are in the midst of an epic pioneering adventure. They have been on the trail, living a frontier life for nearly six months now. And if their plans are fulfilled, they have at least a couple of years more to go.

The Whites; originally from Elko, Nevada; began their journey in Susanville, California in the western foothills of the Sierras. Since setting out, they have travelled east through the back country roads of Nevada. They passed by Fernley and Fallon, followed Highway 50 to Austin and on to Ely; eventually dropped south through Pioche, Panaca and Caliente; passed through Rainbow Canyon and Elgin and ended up in Mesquite.

They’ve spent most nights camping cowboy-style under the stars. They’ve purchased food and supplies from towns along the way; usually working odd jobs here and there for a time to earn the money needed to buy them.

But for the most part the Whites lived off the land. They have eaten brook trout, crawfish, wild mushrooms, cactus and even rattlesnake while out on the road.

After so long on the trail, the Smiths arrived in Mesquite looking like true 19th century pioneers. The family, and their animals, stuck out like a sore thumb passing through the community.
They brought with them five horses, a pony and two donkeys. And the whole procession walked right down some of the major streets of Mesquite, to the amazement of local folks.

In an interview with The Progress, eldest son Levi said that the family had originally planned to skirt around the town and end up at the Mesquite City Arena just west of the Palms Golf Course, where they could keep their horses. But it didn’t work out that way at all.
“We made a wrong turn through Mesquite,” Levi said. “We are not used to these plateaus that this area has got. So we ended up dead center of Mesquite.”

Levi admitted that the city streets were tough going for the animals who were not used to civilization. “We wrapped our donkeys around a street light,” he said. “We had sprinkler systems going off and the horses wouldn’t go near the sidewalks. We ended up going under a highway underpass. It was quite an experience.”

Eventually the family, with all their animals and gear, ended up at the Virgin River Hotel.
The novel sight caused quite a spectacle throughout town. “We had people honking to greet us, yelling out the windows and whistling,” Levi said. “And some folks would drive by, and turn around three or four times to video us the whole time. It was kind of cool.”

In addition to initial curiosity, the family also received quite a lot of help from local folks, Levi said. The Whites eventually got help in getting their animals to the arena, and got rides back to the grocery store and then to the Virgin River hotel where they stayed the night and were able to get cleaned up.
“Everyone has been real nice to us,” Levi said. “They’ve talked to us and come over and they wave and smile. It seems like a great community!”

Of course, Mesquite is only a short stop on the White’s longer journey. From here, the family plans to pick up the Old Spanish Trail. They will follow Highway 91 over Utah Hill to get on past St. George and then head east to Page, Arizona. Then they plan to continue following the Spanish Trail south toward New Mexico.

From there, the Whites plan to make their way east all the way to the Atlantic Ocean; hopefully somewhere near the state line between Georgia and Florida, Levi said. The family has given themselves four years to complete the trip.
“We know the bigger parts of our route, but the specifics are more flexible,” Levi said. “We kind of go town to town and follow information we get from the locals and old timers along the way.”

The family acknowledges that this plan works fine in the wide expanses of the western U.S. But it becomes more problematic as they go further east where there is less public land and most of the open land is privately owned.
“We are a little nervous about what we will find back there,” Levi said. “But God is good, and there’s a lot of good people that would love to help us, we hope. We just got to find them.”

Levi said that he and his brother came up with the idea for the trip. They planned it as a “home-school project.” And their parents are mainly along for the ride.

Brought up in a ranch setting and working mainly as ranch hands, the two boys have been home schooled since they finished fifth grade. “We are doing this now to go out and see the land,” Levi said. “There is a lot out there to see and experience still. We have found old homesteads, old wagons. caves, petroglyphs and all sorts of cool stuff out there.”
“But my dad says he is turning us into better men,” Levi added.

Josh White, agreed with his son on that. He said he has been amazed to see the growth in his sons over the past six months since the family has been on the trail together.
“I’ve got to watch these boys turn from soft little game-players into authentic men,” he said proudly. “I started off wanting to make better men out of them. But along the way they have kind of turned into my heroes.”

Josh said that he and Terra have been living a dream going along on this trip with their sons. It has taught them about what the most important things in life truly are, he said.
“I could make all the money in the world before, and I thought I was giving my kids everything they wanted, but it was nothing that they really needed,” Josh said. “Now I feel like I have everything I need. I have finally learned that, if you’re not careful, the things you own will end up owning you. This trip has helped me grow so much. It has saved our family!”

Terra admits that she had a hard time leaving some of the comforts of home initially. She said that she went through a couple of weeks of anxiety early on without having a regular cellphone signal. But now she has adapted to the much simpler life.

“I have never felt more free,” Terra said. “The only regret I have now is not doing it sooner. I think that I’m going to have a hard time coming back to the real world again.”
“There is so much of the worship of money in America nowadays and it has kind of caged us all in,” Terra added. “But there is just so much more out there for us than the pursuit of money. We don’t have to be caught up in that.”

As part of their homeschool project, the two boys are chronicling the family’s journey on a their own website at llmanquest.com. There are photos and narratives about their experiences on the trail.