The Mormon Trail is a 1,300-mile (2,092 km) route that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did from 1846 to 1868. Today, the Mormon Trail is part of the National Pathway System of the United States , known as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail .
The Mormon trail extends from Nauvoo, Illinois, which is the major settlement of the Latter-day Saints from 1839 to 1846, to Salt Lake City, Utah, completed by Brigham Young and his followers beginning in 1847. From Council Bluffs, Iowa to Fort Bridger in Wyoming, the trail follows the same route as the Oregon Trail and California Trail; this path is collectively known as the Emigrant Trace.
The Mormon Pioneers began in 1846, when Young and his followers were expelled from Nauvoo. After leaving, they aim to build a new home for the church in Great Basin and across Iowa. Along their way, some are assigned to build settlements and plant and harvest crops for emigrants later on. During the winter of 1846-47, winter emigrants in Iowa, other nearby states, and an unorganized territory that later became Nebraska, with the largest group living in Winter Quarters, Nebraska. In the spring of 1847, Young led the pioneering company to the Salt Lake Valley, which then lies outside the US border and later became Utah.
During the first few years, most emigrants are former Nauvoo residents who follow Young to Utah. Later, more and more emigrants repent from the British Isles and Europe.
The trail was used for more than 20 years, until the completion of the First Transcontinental Railway in 1869. Among the emigrants was the pioneer of the Mormon wagon in 1856-60. Two wagon companies, led by James G. Willie and Edward Martin, met the disaster on the road as they departed late and were caught by a snowstorm in Wyoming.
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Under the leadership of Joseph Smith, Latter-day Saints established communities throughout the United States between 1830 and 1844, mainly in Kirtland, Ohio; Independence, Missouri; and Nauvoo. However, the Saints were expelled from each of them in turn, due to conflict with other settlers (see History of the Latter-day Saint movement). This included the actions of Governor Lilburn Boggs, who issued Missouri Executive Order 44, which called for the "annihilation" of all Mormons in Missouri. Latter-day Saints were eventually forced to leave Nauvoo in 1846.
Although the movement has been divided into denominations after Smith's death in 1844, most members align themselves with Brigham Young and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Under Young's leadership, some 14,000 Mormons from Nauvoo set out to find new homes in the West.
Maps Mormon Trail
Western Tracks
As the senior apostle of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles after the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young assumed the responsibility of church leadership. He will then be supported as President of the Church and Prophet.
Young people now have to lead the Saints to the far west, without knowing exactly where to go or where they will end. He insisted that Mormons should settle in places other people do not want and feel that the isolated Great Valley would provide many benefits to the Saints.
Newly reviewed information in the Great Salt Lake Valley and Great Valley, consulted with mountain men and trappers, and met with Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Jesuit missionary familiar with the area. Young also organized a pioneering company to break the trail into the Rocky Mountains, evaluate road conditions, find water sources, and choose a central gathering point in the Great Basin. A new route on the north side of the Platte and North Platte Rivers was chosen to avoid potential conflicts over grazing rights, water access, and campsites with travelers using the Oregon Trail established on the south side of the river.
The Quincy Convention of October 1845 passed a resolution calling for Latter-day Saints to withdraw from Nauvoo in May 1846. A few days later, the Carthagin Convention called for the formation of militia that would force them out if they failed to meet the May deadline. To try to meet this deadline and to start early on the way to the Great Basin, the Latter-day Saints began to leave Nauvoo in February 1846.
Track 1846
The departure of Nauvoo began on 4 February 1846, under the leadership of Brigham Young. This early departure revealed them to the elements in the worst winter. After crossing the Mississippi River, the journey across the Iowa Territory follows primitive territorial streets and native American streets.
Young originally planned to lead an express company of about 300 people to the Great Basin during the summer of 1846. He believed they could cross Iowa and reach the Missouri River in four to six weeks. However, the actual journey in Iowa is slowed by rain, mud, swollen river, and poor preparation, and it takes 16 weeks - almost three times longer than planned.
Heavy rains turned the southern Iowa rolling terrain into a deep mud swamp. Furthermore, few people bring enough supplies for the trip. Weather, general unpreparedness, and lack of experience in moving large groups of people all contribute to the difficulties they experience.
The first group reached the Missouri River on 14 June. It is very clear that Latter-day Saints can not reach the Great Valley that season and should winter in the Missouri River..
Some emigrants set up a settlement called Kanesville on the Iowa side of the river. Others move across the river to the Omaha, Nebraska area, and build a camp called Winter Quarters.
Company Vanguard in 1847
In April 1847, elected members of the vanguard gathered, the final stock was filled, and the group was organized into 14 military companies. A militia and night guard were formed. The company consists of 143 people, including three blacks and eight members of the Quorum of the Twelve, three women, and two children. The train contains 73 carts, animal experiments, and livestock, and carries enough supplies to provide groups for a year. On April 5, the wagon train moved west from Winter Quarters to the Great Basin.
The journey from Winter Quarters to Fort Laramie takes six weeks; the company arrived at the castle on June 1st. While at Fort Laramie, the pioneer company joined members of the Mormon Battalion, who had been released for illness and sent to winter in Pueblo, Colorado, and a group of Church members from Mississippi. At this point, the now larger company picked up the Oregon Trail that was set up towards the trading post at Fort Bridger.
Young met the mountain man Jim Bridger on 28 June. They discussed the route to the Salt Lake Valley and the feasibility of a decent settlement in the mountain valley of Great Basin. The company pushed through the South Pass, waded the Green River, and arrived at Fort Bridger on July 7th. Around the same time, they joined 12 more members of the sick Mormon detachment.
Now facing a tougher and dangerous journey, Young chose to follow the trail used by the Donner-Reed party on their way to California the year before. When the pioneering companies cross the steep mountains, they are divided into three parts. Young and some other members of the party suffer from fever, generally accepted as "mountain fever" caused by wood lice. A small sick release lags behind the larger group, and the scouting division is created to move further ahead on a specified route.
Spies Erastus Snow and Orson Pratt entered the Salt Lake Valley on 21 July. On July 23, Pratt offered a prayer that dedicated the land to God. The soil was damaged, irrigation ditches were dug, and the first potato and horseradish fields were planted. On July 24, Young first saw the valley of a "sick" cart driven by his friend, Wilford Woodruff. According to Woodruff, Young expressed his satisfaction in the appearance of the valley and stated, "It's the right place, go ahead."
In August 1847, young and elected members of the pioneer company returned to Winter Quarters to organize the company scheduled for subsequent years. In December 1847, more than 2,000 Mormons had completed the journey to the Salt Lake Valley, then in the territory of Mexico.
Cultivating unplanted land was initially difficult, as stocks broke out as they tried to plow the dry land. Therefore, the irrigation system is designed and the land is flooded before it is hijacked, and the resulting system provides additional moisture throughout the year.
Salt Lake City is laid out and designated as the headquarters of the Church. Hard work produces a prosperous community. In their new settlement, entertainment is also important, and the first public building is a theater.
However, it did not take long, until the United States succeeded in overtaking them, and in 1848, after the end of the war with Mexico, the land where they settled became part of the United States.
Ongoing migration
Every year during the Mormon migration, people continue to be organized into "companies", each company bearing the name of its leader and subdivided into groups of 10 and 50. The Saints pass through the path violated by the pioneer company, dividing the journey into two parts. The first segment begins in Nauvoo and ends at Winter Quarters, near modern Omaha, Nebraska. The second part of the journey takes the Saints through the area that later became Nebraska and Wyoming, before completing their journey in the Salt Lake Valley in Utah today. The earlier groups used bullock-drawn carriages to carry their supplies across the country. Some companies then use handcarts and travel by foot.
In 1849, many Latter-day Saints living in Iowa or Missouri were poor and unable to afford the train fares, cattle teams, and supplies needed for the trip. Therefore, the LDS Church established a revolving fund, known as the Eternal Emigration Fund, to enable the poor to emigrate. In 1852, most of the Latter-day Saints of Nauvoo who wanted to emigrate had done so, and the church left its settlement in Iowa. However, many church members from the eastern states and from Europe continue to emigrate to Utah, often assisted by the Perpetual Emigration Fund.
Handcarts: 1856-60
In 1856, the church inaugurated the company's cart system to allow poor European emigrants to travel more cheaply. The push carts, the two-wheeled carts drawn by emigrants are not common animals, are sometimes used as alternative means of transportation from 1856 to 1860. They are seen as a faster, easier, and cheaper way to bring converts to Salt Lake City. Nearly 3,000 Mormons, with 653 wagons and 50 supply carts, traveled in 10 different companies, traveling across the trail to Salt Lake City. Although not the first to use handcarts, they are the only group that uses it extensively.
The cart was modeled after the cart used by street sweepers and made almost entirely of wood. They generally have a length of six to seven feet (183 to 213 cm), wide enough to reach narrow rail lines, and can be pushed or pulled in turns. Small boxes are attached to carts of three to four feet (91 to 122 cm) long and eight inches (20 cm) tall. They can carry around  £ 500 (227 kg), most of this weight consisting of trail conditions and some personal items.
All but two wagon companies managed to complete a rough journey, with relatively few problems and only a few deaths. However, the fourth and fifth companies, known as the Willie and Martin Companies, respectively, have serious problems. The companies left Iowa City, Iowa, in July 1856, very late to start the journey across the plains. They meet severe winter weather in western Casper at this time, Wyoming, and continue to cope with deep snow and storms for the rest of the trip. The food supply is running out. Young organized a rescue effort that brought the company in, but more than 210 of 980 emigrants on both sides died.
The cart companies continued successfully until 1860, and traditional cattle cart companies also continued for those who could afford the higher costs. After 1860, the church began sending wagon companies east each spring, to return to Utah in the summer with the emigrating Saints of the Latter-day Saints. Finally, with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, future emigrants can travel by train, and the era of the Mormon pioneer trail ends.
Sites along the way
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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