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The Mormon Trail By Michelle Ong The Mormons escaped persecution and animosity from their homes in Kirtland, Ohio, Independence, Missouri and Nauvoo, Illinois and sought sanctuary in the West to fearlessly practice their beliefs and find the Promised Land. With the gradual establishment of the Mormon Trail, the Mormons arduously traveled to Salt Lake Valley to establish Salt Lake City and claim the surrounding area as their own. Along their journey, they created camps and supply depots for those who later followed. Like other pioneers traveling to the West, the Mormons wanted to start anew. The angel Moroni visited 18-year-old Joseph Smith near Palmyra, New York, revealing to him the location of the golden tablets that contained the text of the Book of Mormon. Smith translated and compiled these texts and published the Book of Mormon in 1830. That same year, Smith established the Church of Jesus Christ, later known as the Church of Latter-Day Saints, with five other interested members in Fayette, New York. The Mormon Church traveled and preached the new gospel, inciting rancor from other Christians, which Mormons viewed as Gentiles. Headquarters were founded in several states, including Kirtland, Ohio and Nauvoo, Illinois. Mormons called themselves Latter-Day Saints to differentiate themselves from the Former-Day Saints in the New Testament. Society shunned the Mormons and feared their blossoming church. On October 27, 1838, the Governor of Missouri ordered his militia to expel or exterminate the Mormons. 17 Mormons were killed and more conflicts arose. Alleviation arrived in 1844, when Illinois granted the right for Mormons to establish the city of Nauvoo. By then the church consisted of 35,000 disciples with an armed militia of 4,000. Also in 1844, Smith's declaration of the validity of polygamy estranged a group of Mormons. The Church expelled these Mormons who then began a newspaper campaign against Smith. In response, Smith's militia destroyed the printing presses. Smith was arrested and held in Carthage, Illinois on June 27, 1844. A mob killed him and his brother. Brigham Young, intelligent and formidable, replaced Smith as the Mormons' new leader. On January 1845, Illinois responded to societal pressure and revoked the charter for Nauvoo. After preparations and much delay, over 3,000 Mormons left Nauvoo on November 23, 1845. They endured winter in Kanesville before continuing their journey in March 1846. Nearly 5,000 Mormons journeyed west through Iowa. On April 24, they reached Garden Grove, 155 miles west of Nauvoo, and constructed a large supply depot, leaving the injured and dying there. Rain, mud and disease plagued their journey. The Mormons built a camp on the western shore of the Missouri River, named Winter Quarters, and passed the winter there before recommencing their journey on April 6, 1847. Less than 150 men composed the pioneer party heading to the Salt Lake Valley. The party planned to follow the Platte River to Fort Laramie (Wyoming) and then proceed on the Oregon Trail. The party passed near modern-day Cozad, Nebraska on May 6th and finally reached Ft. Laramie on June 1. On June 19, the party left the Platte River and headed west to Independence Rock. On June 27, they arrived at South Pass and began encountering mountain men returning east. The party approached Ft. Bridger (Wyoming) on July 7, setting up camp outside the fort to rest and repaire the wagons for two days before traversing the Oregon Trail. An advanced party arrived at Emigration Canyon (Utah) on June 24, 1847. On July 19, Orson Pratt and John Brown caught the first view of the Salt Lake Valley from the summit of Big Mountain Pass. The Mormons had recognized the desert-like Salt Lake Valley as a place other American immigrants would avoid settling in. After the party's initial descent into the Salt Lake Valley on July 23, they immediately began constructing an irrigation system. The Mormons thoroughly planned the layout of the city, planting crops and building homes and a stockade. They also held negotiations with local Native Americans. Within three weeks they finished constructing a wall around the fort and twenty-nine log houses. Brigham Young began his journey back East on August 26. He returned the next year, on May 1848, leading the largest of three groups of Mormons. (The third, the Handcart Expedition, saw Mormon pioneers move their belongings across the Great Plains and the Continental Divide, pushing their life possessions on wooden-wheeled carts due to lack of funds for oxen.) Salt Lake City continued to thrive, with a population of 5,000 by the end of 1848. Young petitioned Congress for a state stretching from San Diego to South Pass, the Gila River to Oregon, named Deseret, meaning honeybee. Congress reduced its proposed size and named it Utah, after the Ute Indians. Utah was named a territory with Young as its governor. The Mormon territory flourished and Mormons forged new trails, publishing their knowledge of the surrounding countryside in guidebooks. The Mormon judicial system assisted other American emigrants by settling disputes and establishing law and order on the trails. Mormons operated ferry crossings of major rivers, like the Green and Colorado. Brigham Young established forts and settlements across the West and into Mexico. The Mormon forts rarely experienced conflict with Native Americans, while Mormon libraries were established in pioneer towns. Many Mormons enlisted in the Mormon Battalion and served on the side of the Union against Confederate interests in the West. After 1849, the amount of travelers on the Mormon Trail greatly increased with the expansion of the Church's missionary activities and establishment of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund. This Fund provided low-cost ocean passage from cities abroad to American ports, railroad and wagon passage. Presently, Mormons compose about 60 percent of the population of Utah, showing the fruitful results of an arduous journey from their homes in the Midwest. The successful establishment of a settlement in 1847 where they could freely practice their religious beliefs fulfilled their dream of finding a utopia. Mormon Pioneer Day is celebrated each year on July 24 in Utah and many towns across the West. Learn about Trails to the West.
Sources:McLynn, Frank. Wagons West: The Epic Story of America's Overland Trails. New York: Grove Press, 2002. Peters, Arthur King. Seven Trails West. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1996. Stegner, Page. Winning the Wild West: The Epic Saga of the American Frontier 1800-1899. New York: The Free Press, 2002. Ward, Geoffrey C. The West: An Illustrated History. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1996. |
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