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Documentary Detailing
Mormon
Sea
Exodus
Wins at Film Festival
Film to be screened around the world
September
16, 2002
New York City
— a
new documentary film by History Channel veteran Scott Tiffany won
Best Documentary at the Salt Lake City Film Festival
August 24, 2002. “Forgotten Voyage”
details the little-known sea journey of the first American families
to travel from the East to the West Coast by sea.
Eleven of the
twenty films selected to compete in the Festival this year were
documentaries. More than
fifty films were submitted.
“Forgotten
Voyage” tells the dramatic story of a group of nearly 250 Mormon men, women
and children who fled persecution in 1846 by sailing from New York City
around the treacherous tip of
South America
to
California. They spent six months
at sea and sailed 20,000 miles.
The group settled San Francisco
for
America
and its leader, Samuel Brannan, launched the California Gold Rush of
1849.
“This is an amazing story that needed to be told,” said
writer-director Scott Tiffany. “Few people know that this little band of families had such
an enormous impact on American history.”
Tiffany has worked on more than 40 hours of programming for The
History Channel. He has
also produced programs for the Travel Channel and American Movie
Classics. He lives in
New York City.
The one-hour documentary features interviews with
California’s State Librarian/Historian, maritime experts and
Western-American historians. “Forgotten
Voyage” is available on video at the film’s web site www.ForgottenVoyage.com.
The World Congress of Families has announced it will screen winning
films of the Salt Lake City Film Festival around the world.
In 2003, “Forgotten Voyage” will be shown in such
countries as Uganda, Egypt, the Czech Republic, Brazil, the United Kingdom
and
Russia.
For more information, please e-mail Info@ForgottenVoyage.com
###
FACT
SHEET
Written
and Directed by: Scott Tiffany
Running Time: Approximately 55 minutes
Order and Information Website: www.ForgottenVoyage.com
Summary:
In 1846, a clan of families fleeing religious persecution left New
York City on an unprecedented sea journey—six months crammed
into a ship with just two square feet of space per person. Aboard
the ship Brooklyn, these Mormons survived horrific storms
and suffocating heat on the first civilian sea trek to the West.
At the time, only experienced seamen and merchants dared travel
the sea route from the East Coast around Cape Horn at the extreme
tip of South America. These passengers ran out of food, buried loved
ones at sea, and settled San Francisco for America. Under the controversial
leadership of newsman Samuel Brannan, these Mormons helped spark
the California Gold Rush of 1849.
Date of Departure:
February 4, 1846 (New York City)
Date of Arrival:
July 31, 1846 (San Francisco)
Number of Passengers: Approximately 238: 70 Men, 68 Women and
100 children – All but about 10 crew & half a dozen passengers
were Mormon
Duration of Journey:
Five months and 27 days; one stop at “Robinson Crusoe’s
island” and one stop in Hawaii
Voyage Supervised by:
Samuel Brannan, 26 years old, a controversial leader who was a personal
friend of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith; Brannan abandoned the
faith after the discovery of gold in 1848.
Summary Points & Highlights:
• 20,000 miles from New York City to present-day San Francisco
•
During the voyage, 10 passengers and one crewmember died from disease
and exhaustion
• These Mormons were fleeing America for Mexico to seek religious
freedom. As the Mexican-American war broke out during their voyage,
they were shocked to find themselves back on American soil when
they arrived in California.
• On January 24, 1848, James Marshall and a handful of Mormons
discovered gold in the American River. The Mormons’ leader,
Sam Brannan, sparked the California Gold Rush when he printed the
news in his newspaper printed on a press brought over on the Brooklyn.
BIOS
Scott
Tiffany
Director & Writer
Scott Tiffany is an historical documentary film writer, director
and producer. He has worked on more than 40 hours of television
programming for The History Channel, including the groundbreaking
series, History’s Lost & Found, the flagship series
This Week in History, several two-hour specials and the “historical
aftermath” mini-series What Happened After? In addition
to writing and producing Forgotten Voyage, he is also currently
supervising production of a business mini-series titled Big Deals
(wt) for The History Channel. Mr. Tiffany attended Brigham Young
University where he studied and worked in journalism and public
relations. He began work in non-fiction programming at Capstone
Entertainment in Salt Lake City in 1994. Three years later, he moved
with his wife, Mariah Proctor-Tiffany, to New York City. There,
he learned about the voyage of the Ship Brooklyn and began
researching and developing the story for a documentary film.
Sample Film Interviewees
Will Bagley
Historian
Mr. Bagley is the author of the award-winning historical biography,
Scoundrel’s Tale: The Samuel Brannan Papers. He is a
respected historian on Western America with an emphasis on Mormon
history. He is also a columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune
in Utah.
Dale
Goodwin
Passenger Descendant
Mr. Goodwin is a descendant of Isaac and Laura Goodwin. Laura Goodwin
was the last of 10 passengers to die on the trek. Pregnant with
her eighth child, she slipped on a stairwell and was buried on the
Juan Fernandez Island. Dale Goodwin has written more than a dozen
genealogical books tracing his family history.
Lorin
Hansen
Historian
Mr. Hansen has been nearly twenty years researching and writing
about the Brooklyn. His work is largely responsible for any
recognition the ship receives. He is currently preparing a book
about the voyage.
Richard
Bullock
President, Utah Ship Brooklyn Association
Mr. Bullock has spent nearly a decade researching and writing about
the ship Brooklyn. He and a small task force have located
more than 150 passenger gravesites. Mr. Bullock is preparing an
historical book on the voyage.
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