The Mormon Trail
Mormon Saints traveling on the Mormon trail
In 1838, after being threatened to be executed by the Missouri governor, the Saints fled the state and settled in Nauvoo. The city grew and prospered and became one of the most thriving cities in Illinois. The peace and prosperity did not last long. Nauvoo was soon seen as a political and economic threat to other neighboring cities and tension grew. Soon a local newspaper was printing articles calling for mob action against the Saints. Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum Smith, and other leaders of the church were arrested unfairly and shortly after an angry mob stormed the jail and murdered Joseph and Hyrum. According to Rachel Bruner from about.com, the persecution didn’t stop there and on February 4, 1846 the Saints were driven from their homes and were forced to move west.
Fleeing West
The Mormon trail is a trek that the Saints traveled as they fled west searching for freedom from persecution. The trail is 1,300 miles long and crossed the great plains, rugged lands, and the Rocky Mountains. Most traveled by foot as they pushed handcarts or drove wagons pulled by oxen. The saints traveled in groups called companies. One company was known as the Christian A. Madsen’s Ox Train Company. This company was made up of 264 people, 40 wagons, 14 horses, 174 oxen, 99 cows, 7 calves, 6 dogs, 10 chickens, 22 tents, 32 cooking stoves, 5 revolvers and 37 rifles (Compilation). The trail was a very long and difficult journey and the Saints were forced to pack only what they could fit in their wagon or handcart. Thousands died along the way and many people faced unimaginably hardships. According to Rachel Bruner from about.com, of the 60,000 to 70,000 Saints who emigrated to the Salt Lake Valley in the late 1800s, more than 98 percent were from Europe, 75 percent from Britain.
Winter Quarters
The first 300 miles of the Mormon trail was said to be the most difficult and treacherous of the entire trek. It tried the Saints courage, strength, and their equipment as well. After weeks of traveling through mud, sleet, and hail their leader, Brigham Young, decided it would be impossible for the Saints to reach and cross the Rocky Mountains before winter. So the Saints stopped in what became known as Winter Quarters for the spring. Over 12,000 Saints were scattered across Iowa as they postponed the crossing of the Rocky Mountains.
Chimney Rock
Chimney Rock
Chimney Rock, located in Nebraska, near the border of Wyoming, was an exciting place for the Saints. Chimney Rock was a landmark that was located at about the halfway point of the Mormon trail. It was always an excitement for the Saints to have Chimney Rock come into view. It gave the Saints hope that their journey was almost complete. It was said to be, “Perhaps the most significant landmark on the overland trail, Chimney Rock is a finger of Brule clay jutting nearly 500 feet into the western Nebraska sky” (The Pioneer, Chimney Rock). Some Saints would even carve their names and the date into the soft stone as they journeyed past. Chimney Rock was designated a National Historic Site on August 9, 1956.
Sweetwater River
The Sweetwater River crossing
Another major spot on the Mormon trail is the Sweetwater River. This river is located in Wyoming and is where one of the most heroic and tragic stories about a handcart company took place. On July 28, 1856 the Martin Handcart Company left Iowa City, Iowa and started the journey to the Salt Lake Valley. By October the cold weather and snow kept them in the mountains of Wyoming. They were running low on food and supplies and many were suffering from starvation or were so cold they were dying. When Brigham Young learned of these saints who were stranded in Wyoming he sent a rescue team with food and supplies to help the Martin Handcart Company. When the rescue team arrived they helped all that they could and then helped them continue their journey to the Salt Lake Valley. On November 4, they reached the Sweetwater River. The river was 100 feet wide and almost waist deep in some places (Helping). Because of the freezing temperatures, giant chunks of ice were floating down the river, making crossing the river impossible for the sick and exhausted Saints. Many fell to their knees and cried because the task seemed too impossible. That was when three remarkable eighteen year old boys stepped forward and carried almost every single person across the river. These young men showed great courage and strength and were able to help the Saints overcome this great danger on the trail. Below is a video showing the story of the Martin Handcart Company crossing the river.
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger is the location where the Mormon trail splits into two parts. One turns into the Oregon Trail and goes north while the other continues another 100 miles west to the Salt Lake Valley. Fort Bridger is a famous fort that was first owned by Jim Bridger and his partner Louis Vasquez (Fort). The Mormons then bought the fort from Bridger and gained full control of the fort.
Arriving in the Salt Lake Valley
While the Saints waited out the winter in Winter Quarters, an advance company was sent to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley as early as possible to plant crops to feed the large amount of Saints that would follow. The company was led by Brigham Young and consisted of 143 men, three women and two children (Brigham). Near the Bear River, Brigham Young became ill. Orson Pratt and forty-two men, and twenty-three wagons was sent ahead to locate the Donnor-Reed Trail. They did find it and a few days later the advance company returned to the group. On July 22 the company decided not to follow the trail over Donnor Hill, and instead built a road at the base of the hill to the north. The mile and a half road took four hours to cut out of the hill. As the first party then followed Emigration Creek in the direction of the valley the company got its first glance of the Salt Lake Valley.
On July 22, 1847 the first party arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Plowing began immediately over the next two days. A dedicatory prayer was also said over the land as a place for the future homes of the Saints. On July 24, 1847 Brigham Young and the rest of the company of exhausted Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. When Brigham Young “emerged from the mouth of Emigration Canyon he lifted himself up in his bed and peered out of his wagon which overlooked the valley, the cottonwoods on the creek and the camp on the east side of the creek in fair view,” President Young said “that this was the place I had seen long since in vision; it was here I had seen the tent settling down from heaven and resting, and a voice said unto me, ‘Here is the place where my people Israel shall pitch their tents’” (Brigham). The location where he made this famous statement is now the spot where This is the Place Monument now stands.
“The Lord has done his share of the work. He has surrounded us with the elements containing wheat, mean, flax, wool, silk, fruit, and everything with which to build up, beautify, and glorify the Zion of the last days, and it is our business to mould these elements to our wants and necessities, according to the knowledge we now have and the wisdom we can obtain from the Heavens through our faithfulness” (The Pioneer, Salt Lake). The Saints then went to work. They plowed land for crops, laid out a temple site, made housing blocks with streets, built canals, homes and quarries. By 1900, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had founded more than 600 communities extending from Canada to Mexico.
The Mormon trail let to thousands of Saints crossing the plains to come to the Salt Lake Valley. It became one of the most traveled trails in the country and the population in the valley increased drastically. Although thousands lost their lives on the Mormon trail, thousands were successful which led to the growth of the church and the settlement of the state of Utah in later years.
On July 22, 1847 the first party arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Plowing began immediately over the next two days. A dedicatory prayer was also said over the land as a place for the future homes of the Saints. On July 24, 1847 Brigham Young and the rest of the company of exhausted Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. When Brigham Young “emerged from the mouth of Emigration Canyon he lifted himself up in his bed and peered out of his wagon which overlooked the valley, the cottonwoods on the creek and the camp on the east side of the creek in fair view,” President Young said “that this was the place I had seen long since in vision; it was here I had seen the tent settling down from heaven and resting, and a voice said unto me, ‘Here is the place where my people Israel shall pitch their tents’” (Brigham). The location where he made this famous statement is now the spot where This is the Place Monument now stands.
“The Lord has done his share of the work. He has surrounded us with the elements containing wheat, mean, flax, wool, silk, fruit, and everything with which to build up, beautify, and glorify the Zion of the last days, and it is our business to mould these elements to our wants and necessities, according to the knowledge we now have and the wisdom we can obtain from the Heavens through our faithfulness” (The Pioneer, Salt Lake). The Saints then went to work. They plowed land for crops, laid out a temple site, made housing blocks with streets, built canals, homes and quarries. By 1900, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had founded more than 600 communities extending from Canada to Mexico.
The Mormon trail let to thousands of Saints crossing the plains to come to the Salt Lake Valley. It became one of the most traveled trails in the country and the population in the valley increased drastically. Although thousands lost their lives on the Mormon trail, thousands were successful which led to the growth of the church and the settlement of the state of Utah in later years.