what trail did the mormon trail follow to the west?
The Mormon Trail
Image of Trail Map
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or the Mormon Church was founded past a immature man named Joseph Smith, Jr. in April 1830. Church members were severely persecuted and driven from New York, Ohio, Missouri, and ultimately Illinois. After Joseph Smith'due south murder in 1844, the Latter Solar day Saints or Mormons abandoned their homes in Nauvoo, IL in fear that mobs would soon come to destroy them.
The Mormons fled from Nauvoo on Feb four, 1846 for fear of attack. The journey was bitter cold and miserable. It took them approximately four months to cross Iowa, due to severe weather condition and axle-deep mud. Ultimately, they crossed the Missouri River and settled an area on the Nebraska side, which they called Winter Quarters. Some of the pioneers stayed in that location for the winter of 1846, while others stopped at temporary camps outside of Winter Quarters. By the spring of 1847, almost 400 lives had been lost, largely due to inadequate provisions and exposure.
While crossing Iowa, the Mormons were entreated past the United states authorities to render help in the Mexican American War (1846–48). Following the council of Brigham Young, v hundred men assembled near Council Bluffs, Iowa and marched to San Diego, California. The Mormon Battalion left their loved ones on the plains and embarked on one of the longest war machine marches in American History. Every bit Young predicted, the company was non involved in any battles, merely rather helped develop cities in the west, like San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Some quondam battalion members were involved in the Sutter's Mill gold discovery. http://omaha.org/trails/main.htm
Having learned many lessons from the previous years hardships, Brigham Young led a vanguard group west from Winter Quarters on April v, 1847. The first group numbered 148. However, 16,000 Mormons were to follow that year. After traversing over 1,000 miles across Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah the get-go group arrived in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on July 24, 1847.
The Mormon migration w is unique for several reasons. First of all, unlike many other pioneers, the Mormons moved en masse in a highly organized mode. Brigham Immature compiled a document called "The Word and Will of the Lord." It outlined appropriate beliefs for the journey and contained instructions about how the pioneers were to be organized into companies. (Colina 1996: 8) Mormons also made a betoken to build mode stations and plant crops along the trail to assist those that would cross in the hereafter. Another distinct feature of the Mormon migration was that virtually of the companies were largely comprised of women and children. (Hill 1996: 2)
Mormon pioneers contributed much to future w travel. They congenital several ferries along the Platte, Elk Horn, and Loup rivers. In addition, William Clayton, part of the vanguard group of 1847, was responsible for developing a detailed guidebook to assist those wishing to travel to Utah in the future. (Loma 1996: 52) Also, while crossing Nebraska, William Clayton, Orson Pratt, and Appleton Harmon developed a mechanical device that counted wheel revolutions to make up one's mind distances. As i of Clayton'southward responsibilities was to keep track of mileage, this was a welcomed invention. (Loma 1996:56)
The Mormon Trail more often than not followed the north side of the Platte River approximately 425 miles to Fort Laramie, where the pioneers crossed the river and joined the Oregon Trail. They mostly traveled on the north side of the Platte River in order to avoid conflicts with their erstwhile Missourian enemies. They followed the Oregon Trail 397 miles to Fort Bridger, at which betoken they picked up the trail of the Donner-Reed party. They followed this faint trail into the Bang-up Common salt Lake Valley. These terminal 116 miles were the most treacherous thanks to steep mountains climbs and rocky ridges. (The first group arrived on July 24, 1847) (Kimball 1988:49) While many think that the Mormon migration occurred in one swoop across the plains in 1847, in actuality, Mormons crossed the plains from various points over a twenty-iii year span. The Mormon Trail from Ft. Kearney to Salt Lake Urban center generally remained the same throughout its employ. Nevertheless, many variant routes existed for getting the Latter-Day Saints to Fort Kearney.
Of all of the westward pioneer movements, the Mormon handcart companies were one of the nearly unique. The entire carts were constructed almost exclusively of wood, making them less expensive to build and more simple to repair than wagons. In improver, the carts, being pulled by the pioneers, did not require costly oxen. The handcarts also maneuvered on the trail more than readily than wagons. From 1856 to 1860, approximately 3,000 Mormons traveled in the handcart companies to Common salt Lake Metropolis.
All but two of the ten handcart companies successfully arrived in the Valley of the Great Table salt Lake. Ignoring warnings given past Brigham Young, the eager members of the Martin and Willie companies departed from Winter Quarters late in the summer of 1856 and were caught in a snow storm most Casper, Wyoming. Over two hundred died from exposure and famine before rescuers arrived from Salt Lake Metropolis. Despite such loss, hundreds of handcarts rolled across the plains in the following years. (nps brochure of the Mormon Trail)
The jumping off point for heading to the valley of the Great Salt Lake moved from Winter Quarter's (Florence) to Wyoming, Nebraska from 1864 to 1867. This was the final alteration for starting for the Mormon Trail head to the westward. The change was made presumably due to native uprisings on the Oregon Trail and an outbreak of cholera at Florence. Wyoming was a small port boondocks simply a few miles north of Nebraska City. The Mormons ready a way station and settlement on a hill exterior of Wyoming. Most immigrants took a railroad train from New York City to St. Joseph, MO, at which point they would take a gunkhole up stream to Wyoming, NE. The immigrant companies consisted of Danish, Swiss, German language, Dutch, French, Norwegian, Swedish, and English families. Wagons arrived each spring from Common salt Lake City to pick up immigrant Saints and supplies. Between 1864 and 1867, approximately, 6500 immigrants departed from Wyoming destined for Table salt Lake City, Utah. The trail from Wyoming by and large followed the Nebraska City-Ft. Kearney Cut-off until reaching Fort Kearney, at which indicate the visitor rejoined the Mormon Trail on the n side of the Platte River. The Mormon outfitting station at Wyoming, NE vicious into decay after 1867, when railroad expansion immune immigrants to travel further west by train. Past 1869, the entire journey from New York City to Salt Lake City could be taken by rail, bringing an end to the large scale wagon migration beyond the plains. (Nebraska History Mag, Old Wyoming, Helen R. Williams.)
Source: https://cdrhsites.unl.edu/diggingin/trailsummaries/di.sum.0006.html
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