A large display of fragrant gingerbread, twinkling lights and a missionary choir singing hymns were added bonuses for local community members who previewed the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters in Omaha Dec. 7.
Scheduled to be dedicated April 19, 1997, the center was opened for a preview to help observe the sesquicentennial of Iowa statehood. Iowa became the 29th state of the union on Dec. 28, 1846. That was the year of the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, Ill., the crossing of Iowa and the settlement of Winter Quarters on both sides of the Missouri River bordering Nebraska.The large new building is an interpretive center for the Mormon Trail from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley. The display is titled "Zion in the Wilderness - from Temple City to Temple City." Through the use of a variety of media - exhibits, displays, maps and artifacts - it tells the story of the trail. A 15-foot model of the Nauvoo Temple, (an 18-inch-deep facade) greets the eyes of visitors as they enter the building. The exhibit area consists of three phases.
The first, "An American Exodus," tells the story of the exodus from Nauvoo, the trek across Iowa, the origin of "Come, Come, Ye Saints," and the recruitment of the Mormon Battalion.
The next area focuses on the temporary settlement in what is known locally as the Middle Missouri Valley - the area in Iowa and Nebraska on either side of the Missouri River. Nearly 100 settlements were founded there with a population of 4,000 Saints gathering to survive the winter and prepare for the final leg of the journey. Many lost their lives through disease and exposure. A glassed garden room tells of their sorrows at death but the certain hope of a resurrection through the atonement of Jesus Christ. The room offers a view of the pioneer cemetery across the street.
Nearby, a full-sized replica of a typical Winter Quarters log cabin allows visitors to enter and get a feel of everyday life in these havens of safety and peace.
The last phase of the exhibit, "Gathering to Zion," depicts the final movement to the Salt Lake Valley, displaying a Conestoga wagon and oxen. Other displays represent travel by handcart, ship and train. An antique desk illustrates the business of an orderly emigration through the perpetual emigration fund. Nearly 57,000 Saints journeyed through to Zion in well-organized wagon trains, practicing the principles of obedience and cooperation.
Many guests viewed the new exhibit, including Dick Graeme and his wife, Lucy Beall Graeme. He serves on the committee of the Pottawattamie (County) Sesquicentennial of Iowa Statehood.
"I enjoyed it very much," he said of the exhibit. "I am very impressed with what you are doing here and the ingenuity of the display. It is very educational and well done."
A Nebraska state senator, Dan Lynch, also attended. He enthusiastically offered any help he could give to the center, and commented: "This is great. You can read about this in books, but when you see these visual displays, you are more able to understand what they went through."
The new center, built of red brick, has a main floor area of 11,000 square feet and a large, presently unfinished, lower level. It replaces the small, white house that was used for years as the visitor's center at the site. Solid-maple, decorative wood trim, subtle paint and fabric wall covering combine tastefully in the inside structure.
More displays will be added beginning in March. To be included are a three-dimensional layout of the 1846 town of Winter Quarters, an exhibit showing the industry in 1846-47 Winter Quarters, more paintings, a model of the Salt Lake Temple, a global map showing where all the immigrants came from, another ox, a 10-12-foot model of the steamship "Wyoming" that carried some 10,000 Mormon immigrants from England to America, a replica of bunks from that steamship, and a 10-minute video made exclusively for this vistors center.
The popular Gingerbread on Parade display, now in its 11th year, occupies the foyer area and classrooms near the entrance to the center. The display is open to the public during the holiday season. The gingerbread creations will be distributed to hospitals, retirement homes and shut-ins a few days before Christmas. Thousands of people from the local community annually view the display. Beginning this year, visitors are now also invited to view the exhibit of the Mormon Trail.
Next April's dedication of the trail center will be part of the sesquicentennial celebration of the first wagon trains that left Winter Quarters for the Rocky Mountains in April 1847.