OMAHA, Neb. — When the phone rings at Bob and Martha Sharp's home in Iowa, there is a good chance the caller ID will show an 801 area code.
And usually the caller has this question: "Where was my pioneer ancestor buried?"
Answers to that oft-asked question at the Pioneer Research Library in the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters in Omaha, Neb., will many times come through the research of the Historical Pioneer Research Group, which was organized to seek out and identify sacred burial sites as well as the history of the people and places of the Saints' trek west.
As the early Mormon pioneers headed west from Nauvoo, Ill., and before they started across the Great Plains, they faced brutal conditions as they briefly settled along the Missouri River near Winter Quarters and Council Bluffs.
There are some 120 cemeteries where LDS pioneers are thought to buried throughout the Middle Missouri Valley and 85 have been identified, said Bob Sharp, who along with his wife, Martha, are chairs of the nonprofit group's cemetery committee. They've used original government survey maps of 1851, surveyor's notes and 1870 plat maps, which used Federal Land Bank records and show original homeowners. Also, they've used modern quadrangle topographic maps to show locations of burial grounds and roads to the old graveyards. Detailed journals have also led to some of these final resting places.
Many times, a visit to the library leads to the location of these hallowed places. Other times, it takes a bit of sleuthing.
One such caller was looking for the burial location of a great-great-uncle.
"The only information they have is a journal entry that described the land their ancestor once farmed (or resided on) at Upper Keg Creek crossing," Bob Sharp said. "They have looked for the location for some 60 years.
"The upper crossing on Keg Creek has not been in existence for some 80 years. To find it you must first follow a dirt road through a farmer's field. Suddenly, you arrive at an overgrown barricade blocking the road. You cross over the barricade, looking toward the creek and you see the long forgotten timber supports of the original Upper Keg Crossing."
The journal has a few other clues: The boy became ill and passed away in the winter of 1846-47 and was buried some two miles from the family land.
"Looking south, you can see what would have been the cemetery," Sharp added. "Though the graves have long since lost their markers, the Spirit whispers to you this is the place."
There are many sites that are thought to be some of these final resting places for the pioneers, but need confirmation. One promising way to validate these locations is through ground penetrating radar, which ranges in cost from $24,000 to $30,000.
In 2009, a GPR machine was loaned to the group by John McBride of Brigham Young University. The ground must be dry when exploring with these machines, and during the group's field trip, the area had received several inches of rain, making the readings inconclusive. The group members hope to purchase a machine to use whenever the weather permits for more conclusive data.
To help raise funds for ground penetrating radar, members of the Historical Pioneer Research Group will take photographs of burial sites of pioneers interred in the Winter Quarters Cemetery or in cemetery sites throughout the Middle Missouri Valley for a donation of $20 or more. The photos would be sent via e-mail, or if preferred, members can personally escort pioneer descendants to visit these sites.
"This work has taken 21 years to compile. It is with great joy my wife and I can share it with others," Bob Sharp said.
The Historical Pioneer Research Group is a nonprofit organization in the state of Nebraska, and all donations are tax-deductible.
For more information about this service and the work of Historical Pioneer Research Group, contact the members at pioneer-research-group@cox.net.
Terry Latey is the librarian with the Pioneer Research Library in the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters in Omaha, Neb.