Table Of Content

Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 2011 funding from in witli Brigliam Young University-ldalio littp://www.archive.org/details/liistoricresourceOOkimb HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY MORMON PIONEER NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL Stanley B. Kimball, Ph.D. May 1991 JUL ^^^^ 1 5 d;.vio United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service 1 CONTENTS Preface/ INTRODUCTION/3 Chapter 1 - The Mormon Trail in Historic Perspective/3 Mormon Sketch of History: 1830-1846/5 Mormon BeUefs/7 Growing Interest in the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail/8 Name of the Trail/9 Mormon Motivation/9 The Perpetual Emigration Fund/10 Trail Experience in Mormon History/11 Reading, Interpreting and Protecting Trail Ruts/11 THE TRAIL EXPERIENCE/ Chapter 2 - 13 The Great Trek: General Comments/13 Points of Departure and Time Periods/14 Wagons, Draft Animals, Speed of Travel/15 Communication/16 Problems of Illness, Stress, Privacy, and Traveling/17 Routine, Rules, Discipline, Constitutions/18 Trail Larder/20 Women Emigrants/20 Little Emigrants, Children/23 Indian Relations/24 Blacks on the Trail/26 Foreign Mormon Emigrants/26 Non-Mormons on the Trail/27 Mormon Interest in the Far West to 1846/27 Western Travel Accounts Consulted by the Mormons/29 Western Maps Consulted by the Mormons/31 Western Travelers Consulted by the Mormons/32 Mormons and the Environment/33 ACROSS IOWA Chapter 3 - IN 1846/35 Leaving Nauvoo/35 Trek Commences/Difficulties/Skills Learned/36 Organization Improved/38 "Come, Come Ye Saints" Composed/39 Garden Grove Established/39 Mount Pisgah Established/39 Council Bluffs Reached/40 Chapter 4 - COUNCIL BLUFFS AND WINTER QUARTERS: 1846-1847/41 Council Bluffs General Area/41 Mormon Camps and Communities/41 Indian Relations/42 The Mormon Battalion/43 Camps West of Missouri River/43 Cold Spring and Cutler's Park/44 Winter Quarters/44 Mormons and Trail-Side Services/45 Winter Quarters Abandoned/46 THE PIONEER TREK OF Chapter 5 - 1847/47 Preparation/47 Organization/47 Scientific Instruments and Observations/49 Staging Ground/50 1847 Trek Begins/51 The Trail/Divisions and Topography/52 Part I, Winter Quarters to Kearney, Nebraska/54 Part II, Kearney to Fort Laramie/54 Part III, Fort Laramie to Fort Bridger/57 Part IV, Fort Bridger to Valley of the Great Salt Lake/59 Establishment of a Colony and Return to Winter Quarters/62 MORMON EMIGRANTS: Chapter 6 - 1848-1868/63 General Comments/63 Wagon Emigrants, 1848-1860/63 Canal Boats, Lake Boats, and Riverboats/64 The Handcart Emigrants, 1856-1860/65 The Brigham Young Express Company, 1856-1857/69 Church Team Emigrants, 1860-1868/70 "Rail and Trail" Pioneers: 1856-1868/72 Trail Preservation and Marking/74 Suggestions for Further Research on the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail/74 Chapter 7 - HISTORIC SITES ALONG THE MORMON PIONEER NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL/75 Recommendations to the National Register/75 Illinois/76 Iowa/76 Kanesville/Council Bluffs Area/81 ii Nebraska/81 Winter Quarters Area Historic Sites/82 Wyoming/88 Utah/96 APPENDIX A: Maps/103 New York Saints Trail, 1831/105 Camp Zion's Trail, 1834/107 The Fremont-Preuss Map, 1843/112 S.A. Mitchell's New Map of Texas, Oregon, and California, 1846/113 Major S.H. Long's 1823 Map of the Country Drained by the Mississippi/115 Mormon Trail Across Iowa, 1846/116 Mormon Trail Across Nebraska, 1847/117 Mormon Trail Across Wyoming, 1847/118 Mormon Trail In Utah, 1847/120 The Handcart Trail Across Iowa, 1855-1857/121 The Nebraska City Cutoff Trail, 1864-1866/122 The Overland-Bridger Pass Trail, 1862-1868/123 Map Sketch of Council Bluffs-Winter Quarters Area, 1846-1853/124 Sketch Map of Winter Quarters, 1846-1847/125 National Trails System, 1986/126 APPENDIX B: Documents/127 Bill of Particulars, 1845/129 Mormon Hymn, "Come, Come Ye Saints"/130 Roster of Pioneer Camp, 1847/131 "The Word and Will of the Lord" to Brigham Young, 1847/132 Andrew Jenson's Tabulation of the Number of Mormon Emigrants by Year/135 Pioneer Companies That Crossed the Plains, 1847-1868/136 APPENDIX C: Biographical Sketches/151 Eliza Roxcy Snow/153 Patty Bartlett Sessions/154 Brigham Young/155 Heber Chase Kimball/156 Parley Parker Pratt/157 Peter Haws/158 John Taylor/159 George Miller/160 William Clayton/161 Orson Pratt/162 Wilford Woodruff/163 111 APPENDIX D: Illustrations/165 Bone Mail/167 Eliza Roxcy Snow/168 Patty Bartlett Sessions/169 Brigham Young, 1853/170 1846 Exodus from Nauvoo/171 Heber C. Kimball, 1853/172 Parley Parker Pratt/173 John Taylor, 1853/174 William Clayton/175 Garden Grove, Iowa/176 Peter Hansen's Drawing of Mount Pisgah, Iowa, 1846/177 Mormon Trail Ruts, Adair County, Iowa/178 Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1853/179 Peter Hansen's Drawing of Cutler's Park, Nebraska, 1846/180 Winter Quarters' Cemetery, Nebraska/181 Orson Pratt/182 Loup River, 1853/183 Wm. Clayton's Emigrants' Guide, 1848/184 Sand Hill Trail Ruts, Nebraska/186 Ancient Ruins Bluffs, Nebraska/187 Rebecca Winter's Grave, Nebraska/188 Laramie's Peak, Wyoming/189 Mexican Hill, Wyoming/190 Guernsey Ruts, Wyoming/191 Devil's Gate, Wyoming/192 Martin's Cove Handcart Site, Wyoming/193 Split Rock Ruts, Wyoming/194 Willie's Handcart Site, Wyoming/195 Church Butte, Wyoming/196 Fort Bridge Wyoming/197 r, Cache Cave, Utah/198 Mormon Emigrants in Echo Canyon, Utah, 1860/199 Mormon Emigrant Company in Echo Canyon, Utah, 1867/200 Wilford Woodruff/201 Handcart Family/202 BIBLIOGRAPHY/203 IV PREFACE This historic resource study was prepared to identify and evaluate the historic events and resources related to the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail. The study will be distributed by the National Park Service to federal, state, local, and private entities along the trail to enable them to better interpret a common body of history to interested parties. The study focuses on the history of the trail from its official beginning in Nauvoo, Illinois, to its terminus in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the period 1846-1869. During that time, thousands of Mormon emigrants used many trails and trail variants to reach Utah. This study emphasizes the "Pioneer Route" or " Brigham Young Route" of 1846-1847. The document is divided into four parts. The first includes a discussion of Mormon history and behefs, reasons for going west, a background of the whole emigration, and the story of the trek across Iowa in 1846. The second provides a detailed account of the crossing of the plains during the years 1847 through 1868 by wagon emigrants, handcarters, church team emigrants, and "rail to trail" emigrants. The third part identifies and evaluates historic resources along the trail. And the fourth part consists of four appendices, keyed to the text, containing documents about the trail and the Mormons. Several of my ancestors "crossed the plains," and I have personally traveled every trail mentioned in this study many times since 1963, and have annotated more than 900 contemporary Mormon Trail accounts. I would like to acknowledge the help, advice, and support I have received in this work. Michael Snyder and Michael Duwe of the Rocky Mountain Regional Office of the National Park Service have been supportive from the inception of this project. I wish also to thank two outside readers, Charles S. Peterson and Thomas G. Alexander, who read the entire manuscript and offered many helpful suggestions. Especially must thank Jere Krakow I of the National Park Service's Denver Service Center, for critiquing and improving every draft of this work, and for guiding me in its preparation. Stanley B. Kimball Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville