The Mormon Trail is the long route from Illinois to Utah that members of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
traveled for 3 months. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States
National Trails System
The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...
, known as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail.
The Mormon Trail extends from
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...
, which was the principal settlement of the
Latter Day Saints
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
from 1839 to 1846, to
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, which was settled by
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
and his followers beginning in 1847. From
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...
to
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger was originally a 19th-century fur trading outpost established in 1842, on Blacks Fork of the Green River, in what is now Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. It became a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, Ca ...
in Wyoming, the trail follows much the same route as the
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...
and the
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...
; these trails are collectively known as the
Emigrant Trail
In the history of the American frontier, overland trails were built by pioneers throughout the 19th century and especially between 1829 and 1870 as an alternative to sea and railroad transport. These immigrants began to settle much of North Ame ...
.
The
Mormon pioneer
The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...
run began in 1846, when Young and his followers were driven from Nauvoo. After leaving, they aimed to establish a new home for the church in the
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...
and crossed Iowa. Along their way, some were assigned to establish settlements and to plant and harvest crops for later emigrants. During the winter of 1846–47, the emigrants wintered in Iowa, other nearby states, and the unorganized territory that later became Nebraska, with the largest group residing in
Winter Quarters, Nebraska
Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary ten ...
. In the spring of 1847, Young led the vanguard company to the
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...
, which was then outside the boundaries of the United States and later became
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
.
During the first few years, the emigrants were mostly former occupants of Nauvoo who were following Young to Utah. Later, the emigrants increasingly included converts from the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
and Europe.
The trail was used for more than 20 years, until the completion of the
First transcontinental railroad
North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
in 1869. Among the emigrants were the
Mormon handcart pioneers
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used handcarts to transport their belongings. The Mormon handcart movement b ...
of 1856–60. Two of the handcart companies, led by
James G. Willie and Edward Martin, met disaster on the trail when they departed late and were caught by heavy snowstorms in Wyoming.
Background
Under the leadership of
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
, Latter Day Saints established several communities throughout the United States between 1830 and 1844, most notably in
Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and is the site of the movement's first t ...
;
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...
; and Nauvoo, Illinois. However, the Saints were driven out of each of them in turn, due to conflicts with other settlers (see
History of the Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a religious movement within Christianity that arose during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century and that led to the set of doctrines, practices, and cultures called ''Mormonism'', and to the exis ...
). This included the actions of Missouri Governor
Lilburn Boggs
Lilburn Williams Boggs (December 14, 1796March 14, 1860) was the sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, known b ...
, who issued
Missouri Executive Order 44
Missouri Executive Order 44, commonly known as the Mormon Extermination Order, was an executive order issued on October 27, 1838, by the then Governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs. The order was issued in the aftermath of the Battle of Crooked Riv ...
, which called for the "extermination" of all Mormons in Missouri. Latter-day Saints were finally forced to abandon Nauvoo in 1846.
Although the movement had split into several denominations after
Smith's death in 1844, most members aligned themselves with
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
. Under Young's leadership, about 14,000 Mormon citizens of Nauvoo set out to find a new home in the West.
The Trek West
Following the
succession crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a king dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession.
Examples include (see List of wars of succession):
*Multiple periods dur ...
, Young insisted the Mormons should settle in a place no one else wanted and felt the isolated
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...
would provide the Saints with many advantages.
Young reviewed information on the Great Salt Lake Valley and the Great Basin, consulted with
mountain men
A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...
and trappers, and met with Father
Pierre-Jean De Smet
Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ ( ; 30 January 1801 – 23 May 1873), also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Flemish Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for his widespread missionary work in the mid-19th ...
, a
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionary familiar with the region. Young also organized a vanguard company to break trail to the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
, evaluate trail conditions, find sources of water, and select a central gathering point in the Great Basin. A new route on the north side of the
Platte and
North Platte
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
rivers was chosen to avoid potential conflicts over grazing rights, water access, and campsites with travelers using the established
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...
on the river's south side.
The Quincy Convention of October 1845 passed resolutions demanding that the Latter-day Saints withdraw from Nauvoo by May 1846. A few days later, the Carthage Convention called for establishment of a militia that would force them out if they failed to meet the May deadline. To try to meet this deadline and to get an early start on the trek to the Great Basin, the Latter-day Saints began leaving Nauvoo in February 1846.
Trek of 1846
![Dateland-Mormon Battalion Trail-1846](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Dateland-Mormon_Battalion_Trail-1846.jpg)
The departure from Nauvoo began on February 4, 1846, under the leadership of Brigham Young. This early departure exposed them to the elements in the worst of winter. After crossing the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
, the journey across
Iowa Territory
The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remaind ...
followed primitive territorial roads and
Native American trails.
Young originally planned to lead an express company of about 300 men to the
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...
during the summer of 1846. He believed they could cross Iowa and reach the
Missouri River in approximately four to six weeks. However, the actual trip across Iowa was slowed by rain, mud, swollen rivers, and poor preparation, and it required 16 weeks – nearly three times longer than planned.
Heavy rains turned the rolling plains of southern Iowa into a quagmire of axle-deep mud. Furthermore, few people carried adequate provisions for the trip. The weather, general unpreparedness, and lack of experience in moving such a large group of people all contributed to the difficulties they endured.
The initial party reached the Missouri River on June 14. It was apparent that the Latter-day Saints could not make it to the Great Basin that season and would have to winter on the Missouri River.
Some of the emigrants established a settlement called
Kanesville (present-day Council Bluffs) on the Iowa side of the river. Others moved across the river into the area of present-day
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
, and built a camp called
Winter Quarters.
The Vanguard Company of 1847
![Wayside on Mormon Trail Nebraska](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Wayside_on_Mormon_Trail_Nebraska.JPG)
In April 1847, chosen members of the vanguard company gathered, final supplies were packed, and the group was organized into 14 military companies. A militia and night guard were formed. The company consisted of 143 men, including three black people and eight members of the
Quorum of the Twelve
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies or ( quorums) of the church hie ...
, three women, and two children. The train contained 73 wagons, draft animals, and livestock, and carried enough supplies to provision the group for one year. On April 5, the
wagon train
''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ...
moved west from Winter Quarters toward the Great Basin.
The journey from
Winter Quarters to
Fort Laramie
Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...
took six weeks; the company arrived at the fort on June 1. While at Fort Laramie, the vanguard company was joined by members of the
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July ...
, who had been excused due to illness and sent to winter in
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo County, Colorado ...
, and a group of Church members from Mississippi. At this point, the now larger company took the established Oregon Trail toward the trading post at
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger was originally a 19th-century fur trading outpost established in 1842, on Blacks Fork of the Green River, in what is now Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. It became a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, Ca ...
.
Young met
mountain man
A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...
Jim Bridger
James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...
on June 28. They discussed routes into the
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...
and the feasibility of viable settlements in the mountain valleys of the Great Basin. The company pushed on through South Pass, rafted across the
Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
, and arrived at Fort Bridger on July 7. About the same time, they were joined by 12 more members of the sick detachment of the Mormon Battalion.
Now facing a more rugged and hazardous trek, Young chose to follow the trail used by the
Donner–Reed party on their journey to California the previous year. As the vanguard company traveled through the rugged mountains, they divided into three sections. Young and several other members of the party suffered from a fever, generally accepted as a "mountain fever" induced by wood ticks. The small sick detachment lagged behind the larger group, and a scouting division was created to move farther ahead on the designated route.
Arrival and settlement
Scouts
Erastus Snow
Erastus Snow (November 9, 1818 – May 27, 1888) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1849 until his death. Snow was also a leading figure in Mormon colonizati ...
and
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt Sr. (September 19, 1811 – October 3, 1881) was an American mathematician and religious leader who was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints). He became a member of the ...
entered the
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...
on July 21. On July 23, Pratt offered a prayer dedicating the land to the Lord. Ground was broken, irrigation ditches were dug, and the first fields of potatoes and turnips were planted. On July 24, Young first saw the valley from a "sick" wagon driven by his friend
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff Sr. (March 1, 1807September 2, 1898) was an American religious leader who served as the fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1889 until his death. He ended the public practice of ...
. According to Woodruff, Young expressed his satisfaction in the appearance of the valley and declared, "This is the right place, drive on."
In August 1847, Young and selected members of the vanguard company returned to Winter Quarters to organize the companies scheduled for following years. By December 1847, more than 2,000 Mormons had completed the journey to the Salt Lake Valley, then in
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
territory.
Farming the uncultivated land was initially difficult, as the shares broke when they tried to plow the dry ground. Therefore, an
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
system was designed and the land was flooded before plowing, and the resulting system provided supplemental moisture during the year.
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
was laid out and designated as Church headquarters. Hard work produced a prosperous community. In their new settlement, entertainment was also important, and the first public building was a theater.
It did not take long, however, until the United States caught up with them, and in 1848, after the end of the
war with Mexico, the land in which they settled became part of the United States.
Ongoing migration
![1859 nebraska](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/1859_nebraska.jpg)
Each year during the Mormon migration, people continued to be organized into "companies", each company bearing the name of its leader and subdivided into groups of 10 and 50. The Saints traveled the trail broken by the vanguard company, splitting the journey into two sections. The first segment began in Nauvoo and ended in
Winter Quarters, near modern-day
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
. The second half of the journey took the Saints through the area that later became
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
and
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
, before finishing their journey in the Salt Lake Valley in present-day
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. The earlier groups used
covered wagon
The covered wagon or prairie wagon, historically also referred to as an ambulance or prairie schooner, was a vehicle usually made out of wood and canvas that was used for transportation, prominently in 19th-century America. With roots in the he ...
s pulled by oxen to carry their supplies across the country. Some later companies used handcarts and traveled by foot.
William Clayton, a member of the vanguard company, published the popular ''
The Latter-Day Saints' Emigrants' Guide
''Clayton's Guide'', ''Clayton's Emigrant Guide'', or as when published, ''The Latter-Day Saints' Emigrants' Guide,'' published by ''Missouri Republican Steam Power Press, Chambers & Knapp, 1848'' and written by William Clayton (Mormon), William Cl ...
'' to help guide travelers on the way.
By 1849, many of the Latter-day Saints who remained in Iowa or Missouri were poor and unable to afford the costs of the wagon, teams of oxen, and supplies that would be required for the trip. Therefore, the LDS Church established a revolving fund, known as the
Perpetual Emigration Fund
The Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company, commonly referred to as the Perpetual Emigration Fund (PEF), was a corporation established by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in 1849. The purpose of the corporation was to provid ...
, to enable the poor to emigrate. By 1852, most of the Latter-day Saints from Nauvoo who wished to emigrate had done so, and the church abandoned its settlements in Iowa. However, many church members from the eastern states and from Europe continued to emigrate to Utah, often assisted by the Perpetual Emigration Fund.
Handcarts: 1856–60
In 1856, the church inaugurated a system of
handcart companies in order to enable poor European emigrants to make the trek more cheaply. Handcarts, two-wheeled carts that were pulled by emigrants instead of draft animals, were sometimes used as an alternate means of transportation from 1856 to 1860. They were seen as a faster, easier, and cheaper way to bring European converts to Salt Lake City. Almost 3,000 Mormons, with 653 carts and 50 supply wagons, traveling in 10 different
companies
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
, made the trip over the trail to Salt Lake City. While not the first to use handcarts, they were the only group to use them extensively.
The handcarts were modeled after carts used by
street sweeper
A street sweeper or street cleaner may refer to a person's occupation or to a machine that cleans streets.
Street sweepers have been employed in cities as "sanitation workers" since sanitation and waste removal became a priority. A stre ...
s and were made almost entirely of wood. They were generally six to seven feet (183 to 213 cm) long, wide enough to span a narrow wagon track, and could be alternately pushed or pulled. The small boxes affixed to the carts were three to four feet (91 to 122 cm) long and eight inches (20 cm) high. They could carry about 500 pounds (227 kg), most of this weight consisting of trail provisions and a few personal possessions.
All but two of the handcart companies successfully completed the rugged journey, with relatively few problems and only a few deaths. However, the fourth and fifth companies, known as the
Willie and Martin Companies, respectively, had serious problems. The companies left
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...
, in July 1856, very late to begin the trip across the plains. They met severe winter weather west of present-day
Casper, Wyoming
Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nic ...
, and continued to cope with deep snow and storms for the remainder of the journey. Food supplies were soon exhausted. Young organized a rescue effort that brought the companies in, but more than 210 of the 980 emigrants in the two parties died.
The handcart companies continued with more success until 1860, and traditional ox-and-wagon companies also continued for those who could afford the higher cost. After 1860, the church began sending wagon companies east each spring, to return to Utah in the summer with the emigrating Latter-day Saints. Finally, with the completion of the
Transcontinental Railroad
A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
in 1869, future emigrants were able to travel by rail, and the era of the Mormon pioneer trail came to an end.
Sites along the trail
![TEMPLE DE NAUVOO](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/TEMPLE_DE_NAUVOO.jpg)
The following are major points along the trail at which the early Mormon pioneers stopped, established temporary camps, or used as landmarks and meeting places. The sites are categorized by their location in respect to modern-day US states.
Illinois
*
Nauvoo – Nauvoo was the starting point for the Mormon trail. Since 1839, it had been the headquarters for the church. During the 1840s, Nauvoo rivaled Chicago in size. Tensions rose between the Latter-day Saints and other locals culminating with the expulsion of the Saints. Brigham Young led his followers to Utah, not part of the United States at the time
Iowa
*Sugar Creek ( west of Nauvoo) – Beginning with their first ferry crossing of the Mississippi River on February 4, 1846, months before many of them were ready, the Latter-day Saints started gathering at the frozen banks of Sugar Creek. More refugees continued to cross into Iowa for a number of months many taking advantage of the freezing Mississippi River a few weeks later. The poorly prepared emigrants suffered from severe winter weather while camped there. Sugar Creek was the staging area for the westward trek across Iowa. Ultimately about 2,500 refugees and 500 wagons started west on March 1, 1846. Several thousand more would follow on later as they sold their property for what they could get and continued to leave
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...
.
*Richardson's Point ( west) – The emigrants made their way past Croton and
Farmington
Farmington may refer to:
Places Canada
*Farmington, British Columbia
* Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation)
United States
*Farmington, Arkansas
*Farmington, California
*Farmington, Connecticut
*Farmington, Delaware
* Farmington, Georgia
* ...
to ford the
Des Moines River
The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Na ...
at
Bonaparte. In early March 1846 the party was halted for 10 days by heavy rain at a wooded area known as Richardson's Point. Some of the first deaths of the pioneers occurred at this location.
*Chariton River Crossing ( west) – The trail continues past the modern towns of Troy,
Drakesville, and West Grove to reach the Chariton River. At this crossing, on March 27, Young organized the lead group of the migration, forming three camps of 100 families, each led by a captain. This military-style organization would be used for all subsequent Mormon emigrant companies.
*Locust Creek ( west) – The trail proceeds past
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
to Locust Creek. There on April 13
William Clayton, scribe for Brigham Young, composed "Come, Come Ye Saints," the most famous and enduring hymn from the Mormon Trail.
*
Garden Grove ( west) – On April 23 the emigrants arrived at the location of their first semi-permanent settlement, which they named Garden Grove. They enclosed and planted to supply food for later emigrants and established a village that is still in existence today. About 600 Latter-day Saints settled at Garden Grove. By 1852 they had moved on to Utah.
*
Mount Pisgah ( west) – As they entered
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...
territory, the emigrants established another semi-permanent settlement that they named Mount Pisgah. Several thousand acres were cultivated and a settlement of about 700 Latter-day Saints thrived there from 1846 to 1852. Now the site is marked by a park, which contains exhibits, historical markers, and a reconstructed log cabin. However, little remains from the 19th century except a cemetery memorializing the 300 to 800 emigrants who died there.
*
Nishnabotna River Crossing ( west) – From Mount Pisgah the trail proceeds past the modern towns of
Orient
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
,
Bridgewater,
Massena and
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
. Just west of Lewis, the 1846 emigrants passed a Potawatomi encampment on the Nishnabotna River. The Potawatomis were also refugees; 1846 was their last year in the area.
*Grand Encampment ( west) – From the Nishnabotna River, the trail proceeds past present-day
Macedonia to Mosquito Creek on the eastern outskirts of present-day
Council Bluffs
Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. It is lo ...
. The first emigrant company arrived on June 13, 1846. At this open area, where the
Iowa School for the Deaf
Iowa School for the Deaf is a pre-K to 12th grade school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students located in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It serves students who live in Iowa and Nebraska.
History
The founders of Iowa School for the Deaf were Edmund Booth ...
is now located, the LDS emigrant companies paused and camped, forming what was called the ''Grand Encampment.'' From this site on July 20, the
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July ...
departed for the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
.
*
Kanesville (later
Council Bluffs
Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. It is lo ...
) ( west) – The emigrants established an important settlement and outfitting point at this site on the
Missouri River, originally known as Miller's Hollow. The emigrants renamed the settlement as ''Kanesville,'' honoring
Thomas L. Kane, a non-LDS attorney who was politically well connected and used his influence to assist the Latter-day Saints. From 1846 to 1852, it was an important LDS settlement and the outfitting point for companies traveling to present-day Utah.
Orson Hyde
Orson Hyde (January 8, 1805 – November 28, 1878) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus ...
, an
Apostle
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...
and ecclesiastical leader of the settlement, published a newspaper called the ''Frontier Guardian.'' In 1852 the major LDS settlements at Kanesville, Mount Pisgah, and Garden Grove were closed as the settlers moved on to Utah. After 1852, however, the Church continued to outfit and supply emigrant companies (mostly LDS converts coming from the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
and mainland
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
) at this community, now renamed ''Council Bluffs,'' until the mid-1860s, when the terminus of the First Transcontinental Railroad was extended to the west.
Nebraska
*
Winter Quarters ( west) – Although Brigham Young had originally planned to travel all the way to the Salt Lake Valley in 1846, the emigrants' lack of preparation had become apparent during their difficult crossing of Iowa. Furthermore, the departure of the Mormon Battalion left the emigrants short on manpower. Young decided to settle for the winter along the Missouri River. The emigrants were located on both sides of the river, but their settlement at Winter Quarters on the west side was the largest. There they built 700 dwellings where an estimated 3,500 Latter-day Saints spent the winter of 1846–47; many would also reside there during the winter of 1847–48. Conditions such as scurvy, consumption, chills and fever were common; the settlement recorded 359 deaths between September 1846 and May 1848. However, while at Winter Quarters the LDS emigrants were able to save or trade for the equipment and supplies that they would need to continue the westward trek. The settlement was later renamed
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and is now located in
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
.
*
Elkhorn River
The Elkhorn River is a river in northeastern Nebraska, United States, that originates in the eastern Sandhills and is one of the largest tributaries of the Platte River, flowing and joining the Platte just southwest of Omaha, approximately s ...
( west)
*
Platte River
The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself ...
( west) – All emigrants leaving Missouri traveled along the
Great Platte River Road
The Great Platte River Road was a major overland travel corridor approximately following the course of the Platte River in present-day Nebraska and Wyoming that was shared by several popular emigrant trails during the 19th century, including the Tr ...
for hundreds of miles. There was a prevailing opinion that the North side of the river was healthier, so most Latter-day Saints generally stuck to that side, which also separated them from unpleasant encounters with potential former enemies, like emigrants from Missouri or Illinois. In 1849, 1850 and 1852, traffic was so heavy along the Platte that virtually all feed was stripped from both sides of the river. The lack of food and the threat of disease made the journey along the Platte a deadly gamble.
*
Loup Fork ( west) – Crossing the Loup Fork was, like the Elkhorn, one of the early and very difficult crossings during the trek west from Council Bluffs.
*
Fort Kearny
Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the western U.S. during the middle and late 19th century. The fort was named after Col. and later General Stephen Watts Kearny. The outpost was located along the Ore ...
( west) – This fort, named after
Stephen Watts Kearny
Stephen Watts Kearny (sometimes spelled Kearney) ( ) (August 30, 1794October 31, 1848) was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican–American Wa ...
, was established in June 1848. Another fort named after Kearny was established in May 1846, but was abandoned in May 1848. Due to this, the second Fort Kearny is sometimes called New Fort Kearny. The site for the fort was purchased from the Pawnee Indians for $2,000 in goods.
*Confluence Point ( west) – On May 11, 1847, north of the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers, a "roadometer" was attached to
Heber C. Kimball
Heber Chase Kimball (June 14, 1801 – June 22, 1868) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve apostles in the early Church of the Latter Day Saints, and as first counselor to Brigham Young ...
's wagon driven by Philo Johnson. Although they did not invent the device, the measurements of the version they used were accurate enough to be used by William Clayton in his famous ''Latter-day Saints' Emigrants' Guide''.
*Ash Hollow ( west) – Many passing diarists noted the beauty of Ash Hollow, although this was ruined by thousands of passing emigrants. The
Sioux Indians were often on location and were at the site and General
William S. Harney's troops won a battle over the Sioux there in September 1855 – the Battle of Ash Hollow. The site is also the burial ground of many who died of cholera during the gold rush years.
*
Chimney Rock ( west) – Chimney Rock is perhaps the most significant landmark on the Mormon Trail. Emigrants commented in their diaries that the landmark appeared closer than it actually was, and many sketched or painted it in their journals and carved their names into it.
*
Scotts Bluff
Scotts Bluff National Monument is located west of the City of Gering in western Nebraska, United States. This National Park Service site protects over 3,000 acres of historic overland trail remnants, mixed-grass prairie, rugged badlands, toweri ...
( west) – Hiram Scott was a Rocky Mountain Fur Company trapper abandoned on the bluff that now bears his name by his companions when he became ill. Accounts of his death are noted by almost all those who kept journals that traveled on the north side of the Platte. The grave of
Rebecca Winters
Rebecca Brown Burton (born February 14, 1940 in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States) is a popular United States writer of over 75 romance novels under her married name Rebecca Burton, under her complete name Rebecca Brown Burton, and as Rebecc ...
, a Latter-day Saint mother who fell victim to cholera in 1852, is also located near this site, although it has since been moved and rededicated.
Wyoming
![IndependenceRock2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/IndependenceRock2.jpg)
*
Fort Laramie
Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...
( west) – This old trading and military post served as a place for the emigrants to rest and restock provisions. The 1856
Willie Handcart Company
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used handcarts to transport their belongings. The Mormon handcart movement b ...
was unable to obtain provisions at Fort Laramie, contributing to their subsequent tragedy when they ran out of food while encountering blizzard conditions along the Sweetwater River.
*Upper Platte/Mormon Ferry ( west) – The last crossing of the Platte River took place near modern
Casper
Casper may refer to:
People
* Casper (given name)
* Casper (surname)
* Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque
* Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426
* David ...
. For several years the Latter-day Saints operated a commercial ferry at the site, earning revenue from the Oregon- and California-bound emigrants. The ferry was discontinued in 1853 after a competing toll bridge was constructed. On October 19, 1856, the
Martin Handcart Company
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the human migration, migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, who used Cart, handcarts to transport thei ...
forded the freezing river in mid-October, leading to exposure that would prove fatal to many members of the company.
*Red Butte ( west) – Red Butte was the most tragic site of the Mormon Trail. After crossing the Platte River, the Martin Handcart Company camped near Red Butte as heavy snow fell. Snow continued to fall for three days, and the company came to a halt as many emigrants died. For nine days the company remained there, while 56 persons died from cold or disease. Finally, on October 28, an advance team of three men from the Utah rescue party reached them. The rescuers encouraged them that help was on the way and urged the company to start moving on.
*
Sweetwater River ( west) – From the last crossing of the Platte, the trail heads directly southwest toward Independence Rock, where it meets and follows the Sweetwater River to
South Pass. To shorten the journey by avoiding the twists and turns of the river, the trail includes nine river crossings.
*
Independence Rock ( west) – Independence Rock was one of the trail's best known and most anticipated landmarks. Many emigrants carved their names on the rock; many of these carvings are still visible today. The emigrants sometimes also celebrated their arrival at this landmark with a dance.
![DevilsGate1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/DevilsGate1.JPG)
*
Devil's Gate ( west) – Devil's Gate was a narrow gorge cut through the rocks by the Sweetwater River. A small fort was located at Devil's Gate, which was unoccupied in 1856 when the Martin Handcart Company was rescued. The rescuers unloaded unnecessary equipment from the wagons so the weaker handcart emigrants could ride. A group of 19 men, led by
Daniel W. Jones, stayed at the fort over the winter to protect the property.
*
Martin's Cove
Martin's Cove is a historic site in Wyoming. The 933 acre (3.8 km²) cove is located 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Casper, Wyoming, in Natrona County. It is located on the Mormon Trail and is also part of the North Platte- Sweetwater ...
( west) – On November 4, 1856, the Martin Handcart Company set up camp in Martin's Cove as another blizzard halted their progress. They remained there for five days until the weather abated and they could proceed toward Salt Lake City. Today, a visitor center is located on the site.
*Rocky Ridge ( west) – Between the fifth and sixth crossings of the Sweetwater, on October 19, 1856, the Willie Handcart Company was halted by the same snowstorm that stopped the Martin Handcart Company near Red Butte. At the same time, the members of the Willie Company reached the end of their supplies of flour. A small advance team from the rescue party found their camp and gave them a small amount of flour, but then pushed on to the east to try to locate the Martin Company. Captain James Willie and Joseph Elder went ahead through the snow to find the main rescue party and inform them of the Willie Company's peril. On October 23, with the help of the rescue party, the Willie Company pushed ahead through the biting wind and snow up Rocky Ridge, a rough section of the trail that ascends to a ridge in order to bypass a section of the Sweetwater River valley that is impassable.
*Rock Creek ( west) – After their grueling 18-hour trek up Rocky Ridge, the Willie Handcart Company camped at the crossing of Rock Creek. That night 13 emigrants died; the next morning their bodies were buried in a shallow grave.
![DSCN6109 pacificspringsandsouthpass e 600](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/DSCN6109_pacificspringsandsouthpass_e_600.jpg)
*
South Pass (
Continental Divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
) ( west) – South Pass, a wide pass across the Continental Divide, is located between the modern towns of
Atlantic City
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
and
Farson. At an elevation of above sea level, it was one of the most important landmarks of the Mormon Trail. Near South Pass is
Pacific Springs, which received its name because its waters ran to the Pacific Ocean.
*
Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
/Lombard Ferry ( west) – The trail crosses the Green River between the modern towns of
Farson and
Granger
Granger may refer to:
People
*Granger (name)
*Hermione Granger, a fictional character in Harry Potter
United States
* Granger, Indiana
* Granger, Iowa
* Granger, Minnesota
* Granger, Missouri
* Granger, New York
* Granger, Ohio
* Granger, Texas ...
. The Latter-day Saints operated a ferry at this location to assist the church's emigrants and to earn money from other emigrants traveling to Oregon and California.
*
Ft. Bridger ( west) – Fort Bridger was established in 1842 by famous
mountain man
A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...
Jim Bridger
James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...
. This was the site where the paths of the Oregon Trail, the
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...
, and the Mormon Trail separated; the three trails ran in parallel from Missouri River to Fort Bridger. In 1855, the LDS Church bought the fort from Jim Bridger and Louis Vazquez for $8,000. During the
Utah War
The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US go ...
in 1857, the Utah militia burned down the fort so that it would not fall into the hands of the advancing U.S. Army under General
A.S. Johnston.
*
Bear River Crossing ( west) – At this, one of the last river crossings on the Mormon Trail,
Lansford Hastings
Lansford Warren Hastings (1819–1870) was an American explorer and Confederate soldier. He is best remembered as the developer of Hastings Cutoff, a claimed shortcut to California across what is now the state of Utah, a factor in the Donner Par ...
and his company turned north, while the
Reed–Donner Company turned south. Also at this site, the vanguard company met mountaineer Miles Goodyear on July 10, 1847, who attempted to persuade them to take the northern track toward his trading post.
*The Needles ( west) – Near this very prominent rock formation, close to the Utah–Wyoming border,
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
became ill with what was probably
Rocky Mountain spotted fever
Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a bacterial disease spread by ticks. It typically begins with a fever and headache, which is followed a few days later with the development of a rash. The rash is generally made up of small spots of bleedin ...
during the advance push into the Salt Lake Valley.
Utah
![Echo Canyon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Echo_Canyon.jpg)
*Echo Canyon ( west) – One of the last
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
s through which the emigrants descended, this deep and narrow canyon made it a veritable, and frequently noted, echo chamber.
*Big Mountain ( west) – Although dwarfed by the surrounding
Wasatch mountain peaks, this was the highest elevation of the entire Mormon trail at 8,400 feet (2560 m).
*Golden Pass Road ( west) – Although unsuccessful in a petition to Salt Lake City for funding,
Parley P. Pratt
Parley Parker Pratt Sr. (April 12, 1807 – May 13, 1857) was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement whose writings became a significant early nineteenth-century exposition of the Latter Day Saint faith. Named in 1835 as one of the first ...
obtained the deed to the canyon and began the construction of a road through Big Canyon Creek in the Wasatch Mountains just south of Emigration Canyon in July 1849. The canyon became known as Parley's Canyon and the road he built as the "Golden Pass Road," due to the large number of
gold miner
Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...
s who used it on their way to
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. A cutoff was constructed through Silver Creek Canyon by 1862, diverting much of the traffic on what is today the route of
I-80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
.
*
Emigration Canyon (Donner Hill) ( west) – About a year before the Latter-day Saint emigrants, the
Reed–Donner wagon train carved the first road through the final geographic obstacle between Big Mountain and the Salt Lake Valley. About halfway through, the group changed course and went up and around the final constriction near the valley's mouth. The resulting exhaustingly brutal climb over rock and sage most likely contributed to the historic tragedy that befell the travelers three months and to the west. When an advance team from the Latter-day Saint vanguard company came through, it chose to stick to the valley floor and hacked its way through to the bench overlooking the Great Salt Lake basin in less than four hours.
*
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...
( west) – Although the Salt Lake Valley had a special meaning to each emigrant, signifying the end of more than a year of crossing the plains, not all of the pioneering Saints settled in the Salt Lake Valley. Settlement outside the Salt Lake Valley began as early as 1848, with a number of communities planted in the Weber valley to the north. Additional townsites were carefully chosen, with settlements placed near canyon mouths with access to dependable streams and stands of timber. Latter-day Saints founded more than 600 communities from Canada down into Mexico. As historian
Wallace Stegner
Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book ...
stated, the Latter-day Saints "were one of the principal forces in the settlement of the West."
See also
*
Landmarks of the Nebraska Territory Landmarks of the Nebraska Territory were important to settlers on the Oregon, California and Mormon trails. While the majority of the landmarks were close to the Platte River, others were spread across the state.Mormon handcart pioneers
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used handcarts to transport their belongings. The Mormon handcart movement b ...
*
Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area
The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area (MPNHA) is a federally designated National Heritage Area that recognizes and commemorates the efforts of Mormon pioneers who made the Mormon Trail, trek westward, settling Utah and the American West. Spann ...
*
Mormon Trail (Canada)
*
Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters
The Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters is a museum and visitors' center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in the Florence neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The museum interprets the story of the Mormon Tra ...
*
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of t ...
*
National Historic Trails Interpretive Center
The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center (NHTIC) is an interpretive center about several of the National Historic Trails and is located northwest of Casper, Wyoming on Interstate 25. It is operated through a partnership between the Bur ...
*
Martin's Cove
Martin's Cove is a historic site in Wyoming. The 933 acre (3.8 km²) cove is located 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Casper, Wyoming, in Natrona County. It is located on the Mormon Trail and is also part of the North Platte- Sweetwater ...
*
Oregon-California Trails Association The Oregon-California Trails Association is an interdisciplinary organization based at Independence, Missouri, United States. OCTA is dedicated to the preservation and protection of overland emigrant trails and the emigrant experience.
OCTA Chapter ...
*
Pioneer Day
Pioneer Day is an official holiday celebrated on July 24 in the American state of Utah, with some celebrations taking place in regions of surrounding states originally settled by Mormon pioneers. It commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and ...
in
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
on July 24
*
This Is The Place Heritage Park
This is the Place Heritage Park is a Utah State Park that is located on the east side of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, at the foot of the Wasatch Range and near the mouth of Emigration Canyon. A non-profit foundation manages the park. ...
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
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External links
National Park Service site on the Mormon trailThe Mormon Pioneer StoryMormon Trails AssociationChurch History Libraryat FamilySearch Research Wiki for genealogists
LDS Emigration and Immigrationat FamilySearch Research Wiki for genealogists
Mormon Trailat FamilySearch Research Wiki for genealogists with strategies and records for finding pioneer ancestors
{{Good article
History of the Rocky Mountains
Mormon migration to Utah
National Historic Trails of the United States
Jefferson Territory
Protected areas established in 1978
Units of the National Landscape Conservation System
Politically motivated migrations