Mormon Trail

Background

Between 1830 and 1844, Latter Day Saints under Joseph Smith established communities in Kirtland, Ohio; Independence, Missouri; and Nauvoo, Illinois, but were driven from each due to conflicts. Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued Executive Order 44 calling for the extermination of Mormons in Missouri. After Smith's death in 1844, most members followed Brigham Young, and about 14,000 Mormon citizens of Nauvoo set out to find a new home in the West.

The Trek West

Young insisted the Mormons settle in a place no one else wanted, choosing the isolated Great Basin after consulting mountain men, trappers, and Father Pierre-Jean De Smet. A new route on the north side of the Platte and North Platte rivers was selected to avoid conflicts with Oregon Trail travelers. The Quincy Convention of October 1845 demanded the Saints leave Nauvoo by May 1846, and the Carthage Convention called for a militia to force them out if they failed.

Departure began on February 4, 1846, under Young's leadership, exposing the emigrants to winter weather. The journey across Iowa Territory followed primitive roads and Native American trails. Young planned to reach the Missouri River in four to six weeks with about 300 men, but heavy rains, mud, swollen rivers, and poor preparation stretched the crossing to 16 weeks. The initial party reached the Missouri River on June 14, too late to continue to the Great Basin that season, so they wintered on the Missouri River.

Sites along the trail

Nauvoo, the starting point, had been church headquarters since 1839 and rivaled Chicago in size during the 1840s. Tensions led to the Saints' expulsion, and Young led them to Utah, then outside U.S. boundaries. Sugar Creek, seven miles west of Nauvoo, served as the staging area; about 2,500 refugees and 500 wagons began the westward trek on March 1, 1846, after crossing the frozen Mississippi River.

Richardson's Point, 35 miles west, halted the party for ten days due to heavy rain in early March 1846, and some of the first deaths occurred there. At the Chariton River Crossing, 80 miles west, Young organized the migration into three camps of 100 families each on March 27, a military-style structure used for all subsequent companies. Locust Creek, 103 miles west, is where William Clayton composed the hymn 'Come, Come Ye Saints' on April 13.