Information about Oliver Cowdery is found outside the Visitors Center. He had left the church but reunited in 1852 in Kanesville.
Kanesville Visitors Center
Oliver Cowdery Reunites with the Church of Jesus Christ
The First Presidency is Ordained
A Thriving Commerce, 1846-1853
The Mormon Battalion is Recruited
Wives of the Mormon Battalion are depicted
Starting in 1860 the Down and Backer wagon teams were used to facilitate the westward migration. No longer would immigrants need to supply wagon or handcart. There would be church sponsored teams sent out from Utah in the Spring. They would pick up the immigrants at the staging point for that year. (This changed based on where the terminus of the grain might be.). The teams and wagons were provided by the different wards. Usually young men would be called by the wards to drive the teams. When the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 there was no longer a need for wagon companies.
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy
With a merry little jig and a happy little song
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy
We trudge our way the whole day long
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy
Look at us now all covered with dust
It's better than staying home to rust
We'll make Salt Lake someday or bust
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy
There's a pretty little gal in the outfit ahead
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy
Wish she was by my side instead
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy
Look at her now with a pout on her lips
As daintily with her finger tips
She picks for the fire some buffalo chips
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy
Well we dance all night by the light of the moon
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy
To the fiddler's best and only tune
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry Boy
Holding her hand and stealing a kiss
Never a step to the dance we miss
Never did I know a love like this
Whoa Haw Buck and Jerry BoyStarting in 1856 and continuing through 1860, handcarts were used for the westward migration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lagtter-day Saints. There were ten handcart companies in all, five the first year. The last two in 1856, as well as two wagon companies, hit early snow. There was considerable suffering and loss of life as a result.
All those traveling from Europe had not only a boat trip, but also a train voyage. The train voyage did not involve taking one train from the east to Utah, or the end of the line. It involved several different trains, and several different ferry crossings of rivers. The extent you traveled by train increased every year. In 1856 this was Iowa City. In 1860 it was the Missouri. In 1869 the train went all the way to Ogden, Ut and there was no need for overland travel.
There was intense planning before the trek. And there would be several groups to travel the Mormon Trail. The first was in 1847 with Brigham Young.
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| Th Mormon Trail from Nebraska to Utah |
Mormon Hollow is in Bellevue, in the Fontanelle Forest. In 1846, after the Mormons were chased out of Nauvoo, they took most of the summer to cross Iowa. There was a lot of mud. They finally made it to the Missouri River. A group of Saints employed the Sarpy ferry initially; but eventually made their own. They consulted with Chief Big Elk about where to stay. They let him know they were only traveling through. Eventually is was determined a hollow close to the Fontanelle Trading Post. This later became known as Mormon Hollow. The lower end of the hollow reached where the Missouri River flowed at the time. It now flows further to the east. They stayed there about six weeks before the Saints living there were asked to move north by Brigham Young. They then established Cutler'ser's Park and Winter Quarters about ten miles north.
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| The valley would have provided protection against the wind. |
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| The Pony Express The Pony Express passed here 1860-1861. "Scott's Bluff Station" was located 2 1/2 miles northwest of Mitchell Pass, near the site of the later Fort Mitchell. There were other stations at Courthouse Rock, Chimney Rock, Ficklin's Springs and Horse Creek. U.S.l Department of the Interior, National Park Service. |
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| Founders, Owners, Operators Pony Express Russell, Majors, Waddell National Pony Express Centennial Association 1860-61 Trauil Marker 1960-61 |
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| Choices What route would your take? Wagon Trains that arrived at Scott's Bluff had a choice to make. Although they wanted to stay close to the North Platt River, the bluffs were in the way. Traveling through the badlands next to the river was impossible for wagons. Before 1851 the ravines on the west wide of the bluffs prevented wagons from going through the notch ahead of you. They could cross the river to the north side, which meant braving the currents and quicksand, or they could take Robidous Pass to the south and make a long detour. Robidous Pass received its name from two brothers who built a trading post on the trail. A nearby spring of good water, a blacksmith available for repairs and the chance to buy or trade for needed items made this a decent route to travel. In 1850 soldiers from Fort Laramie, or traders in competition with Robidoux, created a narrow trail through the ravines at Mitchell Pass. The new route brought them back to the river eight miles before the old one. Emigrants started to take advantage of the shorter route back to the river in the 1851 travel season. |
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| THE MORMON TRAIL From 1847 to the 1860s, the Mormon migration along the Great Platte River Roas marked a distinctive chapter in the history of westward expansion. In contrast to the random migrations of individual families or companies that charactgerized much of the activity to California or Oregon, the Mormon migration was the organized movement of an entire people in a new place of refuge in the mountains of the far west. Searching to escape religious persecution that had followed them in the east, the pioneer Mormon company traveled the Great Platte River Road in the spring and summer of 1847. The group purposefully stayed on the north side of the Platte instead of using the more heavily traveled Oregon Trail on the south side. On July 24, 1847, Brigham Young's pioneer party founded Salt Lake City, a magnet that drew an estimated 60,000 Latter-day Saints to Utah along the Platte River Road for the next 20 years. Pictures depict handcart pioneers, Brigham Young, statue at Winter Quarters in Omaha, and pioneers and the map of the Mormon Trail and a skull found that describes the trail as per Brigham Young. |
Followed the Mormon Trail in western Nebraska when we went t Salk Lake this last weekend.
