A trip across southern Iowa in 1996 takes you through rolling countryside lush with farmsteads and forests.
In the spring of 1846, when the Mormon migration began, you would have slogged through mud and had your face washed almost daily by incessant rain. You would have crossed swollen rivers and streams along the way.Mother Nature was not smiling that year. It was one of the coldest, rainiest springs in Iowa's recorded history.
Fearing that Nauvoo would be taken over by the United States government and fleeing severe persecution, the saints left earlier than they had planned. The first wagons crossed the Mississippi from Nauvoo to Montrose, Iowa, on Feb. 4, establishing a camp at Sugar Creek.
On June 14, they rolled into the Missouri River Valley where present-day Council Bluffs is located, a distance of about 265 miles.
They left Sugar Creek on the cusp of spring. Prairie grass lay dormant, a poor source of food for their livestock.
Iowa was still a territory in the spring of 1846. The first group stayed close to the Missouri border so they could cross the state line to purchase grain and supplies. The route was so arduous that subsequent groups traveled further north where stream crossings were easier.
First there was rain, then there was mud.
"Iowa soil is rich and soft, and when the frost melts there is no bottom to the mud," says Jan Winslow, president of the Wayne County Historical Society.
The vanguard group under the direction of Brigham Young spent three weeks working their way through the mud of Wayne County.
From 1846, when approximately 10,000 saints crossed Iowa, to 1868, when the railroad was completed, the flow of Mormons heading West waxed and waned. They established numerous settlements and wagon trails in the state.
The Pioneer Trail had a northern and southern route. The first group, led by Brigham Young, followed the southern route.
There was also the Handcart Trail, the Mormon Battalion Trail and the Dragoon Trail.
Present-day Iowans are thankful for the role Mormons played in their state's history.
"As a Wayne County person I'm grateful they opened up the trails. I have ancestors on both sides who followed those trails and settled here," says Winslow. "I feel for the women who worked hard to keep the clothes and bedding dry and the children well and fed. It was an overwhelming task."
Beverly Brown, who with her husband, Bob, owns property where the Mormon way station of Mount Pisgah was, admires their determination. "They'd been forced out of every place they'd been, but they never seemed to lose their sense of fun. There was also that underlying spirit they had. I would have given up and gone home."
The Mormon Pioneer Trail is a National Historic Trail. By the end of this September, the first 12 of an eventual 24 National Park Service monuments will mark important trail sites in Iowa.
This story focuses on the southern route of the Pioneer Trail, which is also called the Brigham Young Trail.
Here are a few places where you, in the comfort of your air-conditioned car, with your stomach full of restaurant cuisine, can cross paths with Mormon pioneers:
Sugar Creek Camp: Located in Iowa approximately six miles west of Montrose, 500 wagons gathered there in February. The group known as "the Camp of Israel," led by Brigham Young, left Sugar Creek on March 1.
Bonaparte: Today it is one of Van Buren County's quaint villages. In 1846, it had "40 to 50 houses and a fine flour mill." Brigham Young crossed the Des Moines River near Bonaparte on a ferry on March 5. Today's travelers cross the river on a bridge. A sign near the bridge makes note of the crossing's historic significance.
Eliza R. Snow wrote about the crossing in her journal. "Sister Markham and I are nicely seated in an ox wagon on a chest with a brass kettle and the soap box for our footstools, thankful that we are so well off. The day is fine. We traveled two miles on the bank of the river and crossed at a little place called Bonaparte."
The Mormons had their grain processed at grist mills in Bonaparte. Today, Bonaparte Retreat, located in an 1878 grist and flour mill, is one of the region's best restaurants. It serves Iowa beef at its best.
Bentonsport: This is another of Van Buren County's charming villages. The town is tiny and the tourist industry is embryonic. A few arts and crafts shops occupy historic buildings. Mason House Inn was built in 1846 by Mormons who needed money for their westward trek. Look carefully for a simple block building almost lost in southern Iowa's prolific overgrowth. Constructed of hand-chiseled limestone, it reportedly was also built by Mormons.
Keosauqua: Pronounced Key-A-Sock-Wa, the town was founded in 1839 on the banks of the Des Moines River. It is the county seat. The Van Buren County Courthouse, now on the National Register, was completed in 1843. Today the town's population numbers about 1,000. The courtroom on the second floor is open to the public during business hours when court is not in session.
The courtroom is where Pitt's Brass Band played concerts to rave reviews. William Clayton, a member of the band, recorded the event in his journal. "At 7 o'clock the house was crowded and we commenced playing and singing till about 91/2. The audience seemed highly pleased and gave loud applause. About the close one of the citizens got up and said it was the wish of many that we should repeat the concert the following evening, and he took a vote of all who wished us to go again. The vote was unanimous."
The band received supplies and money as compensation.
Nearby, off Highway 2, is Lacy-Keosauqua State Park. In addition to campsites and cabins, the scenic park is the site of Ely Ford, where later parties of Mormons crossed the Des Moines River.
Chariton (pronounced Sheraton) River Crossing: This is one of the most interesting sites along the trail but you might feel a bit like a pioneer when you attempt to find it. The fact that the river has changed course since the pioneers crossed it adds to the confusion. "Ask the people in Moulton. They can help you," advises Karla Gunzenhauser, an Iowa resident who has taken an interest in the Mormon trail. "They still don't have paved roads down there. Iowa dirt roads are nowhere to be unless it's dry," she further cautions.
The road is gravel but it's not marked. If you don't ask directions from the locals, chances are you won't find it.
According to Gunzenhauser, if you proceed to where the Chariton River is now and look south, you'll see a "V" in the mountains where the Mormons crossed. They encountered some of the worst weather of the Iowa trek at the Chariton crossing.
Locust Creek Camp No. 2: Located across the road from Tharp Cemetery outside the town of Seymour, this is where William Clayton wrote the words to "Come, Come Ye Saints" on April 15, after receiving word from Nauvoo that his wife Diantha had given birth to a healthy boy. Clayton made note of it in his journal: "This morning I composed a new song, "All is well."
A monument near the cemetery, erected in 1990 by the Wayne County Historical Society and the LDS Church, pays homage to that event. A National Park Service marker is being installed there as we write.
D.E. Pidcock, a retired postal carrier who lives in Corydon, was the first to locate the site. He later contacted Dr. Stanley B. Kimball, a descendant of Heber C. Kimball and a professor of history at Southern Illinois University. He has done extensive research of the Nauvoo period and the westward migration. Together they confirmed where the camp had been. "We knew within a quarter of a mile where the camp was," says Pidcock.
When you read the monument, you're looking east toward the cemetery. The song site is to your back, across the road.
Pidcock has virtually walked the Brigham Young Trail in Wayne County. His first clue to the trail's location was an 1847 survey that made note of where it came into Wayne County from Apanoose County. Then he started looking for physical evidence. "What appeared to be ruts were in the exact location where the survey showed there was a trail," he says.
The pioneers stayed at Locust Creek Camp No. 1 for a week. "It rained constantly and they were mired down in mud. They moved a half-mile west. That got them out of one mudhole into another," Pidcock says.
Another event that many of the saints noted in their journals was a prairie fire they encountered near what is now Bob White State Park near Allerton. According to Pidcock, there are two versions of how they handled the emergency. They intentionally set a backfire, driving their wagons across the newly burned area, or they crossed a small stream and used it as a fire barrier.
The Wayne County Historical Museum in Corydon has an impressive diorama commemorating the Mormon trek. The exhibit was built and is maintained by the LDS Church. The museum, open daily from April 15-Oct. 15, 1 to 5 p.m., also has artifacts pertaining to rural Iowa life. It is open by appointment from Oct. 16-April 14. Call (515) 872-2211. Considered one of the best county museums in the state, it also has handouts that explain the Mormon trek through Wayne County, including directions to Tharp cemetery. Admission is $3 per adult; 50 cents per child.
Garden Grove: This was the first permanent way station the saints established. They arrived April 24. Within weeks they had cleared 300 acres of land, planted crops and built log houses. During the winter of 1846-47, about 600 Mormons lived there. By 1851, the year they packed their wagons and left for the Salt Lake Valley, the population had dropped to 23 families.
Paul and Karla Gunzenhauser are the present owners of the Garden Grove site. They made a parking lot and fenced the area where the settlement was. Rows of grass outline where cabins once stood.
"You can get a real good feeling for how close the cabins were, how large they were, how many rooms they had," says Karla.
A cemetery is west of the settlement site. The LDS Church erected a monument there in 1973.
Although the site is on private property, visitors are welcome. A handout briefly describing the area's Mormon history is available in the present-day town of Garden Grove at the post office, city hall and the store, where you can also ask for directions.
Mount Pisgah: Bob and Beverly Brown's farmhouse sits on a hill in southwest Iowa. She describes it as an area of rolling hills and sizable gullies.
Their property is where the way station of Mount Pisgah was. Some of the hills are too steep to farm. "That's why we still have ruts from the wagon trains," she says.
Parley Pratt established a settlement on top of the hill but moved it to the valley when they found out what an Iowa winter is like. "We had a 60 below wind chill here last winter and we can have up to a foot of snow at a time," she says.
The valley settlement was also near the spring. Now called Mormon Spring, it still flows."It runs a good source of water year-round, in wet or dry years," says Brown.
"We've always heard they planted crops and built crude shelters to make it through the first winter. They gathered enough supplies to move on. One group would come and plant the crops and the next group would harvest them."
At its peak, an estimated three thousand people lived at Mount Pisgah, she says. But the population constantly changed because people were arriving and leaving.
The settlement was founded May 18, 1846, and abandoned by Mormons in 1852.
The Browns welcome visitors who are interested in Mormon history but they would like you to knock on their door to let them know you're there. When they can, they drop what they're doing to show people around.
Nearby Mount Pisgah Park includes a monument to the Mormon pioneers. LDS stakes from Des Moines and Osceola are building a pioneer cabin that is scheduled to be completed by Labor Day.
Mount Pisgah is near the town of Thayer. Signs on S.R. 169 and U.S. 34 show the way.
Kanesville: Several significant events took place in the area that is now Council Bluffs. Named after Col. Thomas L. Kane, a diplomat who befriended the saints, the pioneers camped there when they reached the Missouri River. By the fall of 1846, more than 10,000 people inhabited the area in what came to be known as "the Grand Encampment."
The Mormon Battalion was formed there in 1846. Brigham Young was sustained as the prophet of the LDS Church in the Kanesville Tabernacle in 1847.
A replica of the tabernacle, where there is also a visitors center, is in downtown Council Bluffs. The tabernacle is open for tours.
Ferry sites used by the saints to cross the Missouri correspond to the present-day South Omaha Bridge, the Mormon Bridge and the Plattsmouth Bridge.
Winter Quarters: The Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters in Omaha commemorates the saints' stay on the west side of the Missouri.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Maps
- The Iowa Mormon Pioneer Trails brochure includes a map and anecdotes. Pick one up at welcome centers and museums in Iowa, or send your name and address to the Iowa Mormon Trails Association, 500 East Taylor, Creston, IA 50801. Nauvoo Restoration's LDS Visitors Center also has them.
- The National Park Service's Mormon Pioneer trail brochure traces the trail from Nauvoo to Salt Lake City. Call (801) 539-4095 to have one mailed to you, or pick one up at visitors centers along the trail.
- A county-by-county map called "The Map Guide Across the State" outlines the trails and shows in detail how to get to specific sites. You might find the map difficult to follow because it isn't color-coded, but its directions to obscure points are more detailed than other maps. Send your name and address and a check or money order for $5 to Karla Gunzenhauser, Route 1, Garden Grove, IA 50103.