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Mormon Trail
According to the teachings of the Mormon Church, in the late 1820s the angel Moroni directed Joseph Smith to a number of engraved golden plates buried deep in the mountains of western New York. Smith translated the plates into what became the Book of Mormon, which in turn became the foundation for the Church of Latter Day Saints. From the beginning the Mormon Church grew rapidly, but it also attracted hostility from non-believers threatened by some of the ideas contained in the Book of Mormon that contradicted Christian tradition. The practice of polygamy also drew criticism and distrust. For these reasons, the early Mormons were driven from New York to Ohio and Missouri and finally to Nauvoo, Illinois. Here the church grew to more than 10,000 followers and the community flourished for a number of years, but by the mid-1840s, tensions were high again and in 1844, Joseph Smith was killed by an angry mob. His death and the continued persecution of his followers led to the massive migration of Mormons west in search of a sanctuary free from religious intolerance. Take a virtual tour of the Mormon Trail.
This Mormon exodus coincided with the migration of hundreds of thousands of emigrants heading to Oregon or the California gold fields. Between 1850 and 1870, more than 500,000 men, women and children traversed the country in search of a better life in the West. The emigrant experience was similar for all: they suffered long, arduous days of walking or riding in rough wagons; they were forced to breath thick dust raised by the passage of hundreds of wagons and great herds of livestock; forage was limited and hard to find; sickness ran through the wagon trains killing many; temperature extremes and variable weather made the travel uncomfortable; and the trail was rugged and dangerous. But the Mormon experience was unique in some ways. Driven by religious fervor and the desire to find a home where they would be free to live the way they pleased, the Mormons were unified and coordinated in a way the other pioneers were not.
Mormon emigrants were organized into companies and led by a captain. They were strictly limited to 17 pounds of personal gear—all other baggage consisted of food and critical supplies. By the 1850s, the emigrants were largely using handcarts, which they pulled or pushed in teams of ten. These handcart companies were made up of men, women and children—many of whom were from Europe where they’d converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints and then crossed the Atlantic and walked for more than a thousand miles to join their brethren in the promised land of Utah.
The path they followed through Wyoming—up the North Platte River to the Sweetwater River and over Wind River Country’s South Pass—had been a crucial corridor for human migrants for thousands of years. All the pioneer trails merged into one here and today some of the ruts left behind by their wagons can still be seen. South Pass only lost its critical importance as the primary travel path west with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.
For the most part, the well-organized Mormon migration was completed with few problems. However, in 1856, two companies—the Willie and Martin Companies—were delayed in their departure and did not set out from the winter quarters in Missouri until late August. West of present-day Casper, Wyoming both companies ran into severe winter weather. The Willie Company was trapped in Wind River Country along the Sweetwater River near the Continental Divide, while the Martin Company was further east near what is now called Martin’s Cove. Both groups encountered great hardship and suffering and many of the emigrants died. Rescue parties, sent from Salt Lake City to bring supplies and help the travelers continue to safety in Utah, reached the beleaguered companies in mid-October.
One of these rescuers, George Grant, wrote, “You can imagine between five and six hundred men, women and children worn down by drawing handcarts through snow and mud, fainting by the wayside, falling, chilled by cold; children crying, their limbs stiffened by cold, their feet bleeding and some of them bare to snow and frost.”
Today the Willie Handcart Site—one of the company’s campsites during their long ordeal—can be still be visited in Wind River Country near Rock Creek. Interpretive signs tell the story of these brave men, women and children. Modern-day Mormons often participate in reenactments of the handcart brigades, traveling for days across the sagebrush steppe of Wind River Country and South Pass living and dressing as their predecessors did before them. Rocky Ridge, a rugged section of trail on South Pass, is another fascinating historical site and a monument bears tribute to the hardy souls who traversed this country so many years ago.
This Mormon exodus coincided with the migration of hundreds of thousands of emigrants heading to Oregon or the California gold fields. Between 1850 and 1870, more than 500,000 men, women and children traversed the country in search of a better life in the West. The emigrant experience was similar for all: they suffered long, arduous days of walking or riding in rough wagons; they were forced to breath thick dust raised by the passage of hundreds of wagons and great herds of livestock; forage was limited and hard to find; sickness ran through the wagon trains killing many; temperature extremes and variable weather made the travel uncomfortable; and the trail was rugged and dangerous. But the Mormon experience was unique in some ways. Driven by religious fervor and the desire to find a home where they would be free to live the way they pleased, the Mormons were unified and coordinated in a way the other pioneers were not.
Mormon emigrants were organized into companies and led by a captain. They were strictly limited to 17 pounds of personal gear—all other baggage consisted of food and critical supplies. By the 1850s, the emigrants were largely using handcarts, which they pulled or pushed in teams of ten. These handcart companies were made up of men, women and children—many of whom were from Europe where they’d converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints and then crossed the Atlantic and walked for more than a thousand miles to join their brethren in the promised land of Utah.
The path they followed through Wyoming—up the North Platte River to the Sweetwater River and over Wind River Country’s South Pass—had been a crucial corridor for human migrants for thousands of years. All the pioneer trails merged into one here and today some of the ruts left behind by their wagons can still be seen. South Pass only lost its critical importance as the primary travel path west with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.
For the most part, the well-organized Mormon migration was completed with few problems. However, in 1856, two companies—the Willie and Martin Companies—were delayed in their departure and did not set out from the winter quarters in Missouri until late August. West of present-day Casper, Wyoming both companies ran into severe winter weather. The Willie Company was trapped in Wind River Country along the Sweetwater River near the Continental Divide, while the Martin Company was further east near what is now called Martin’s Cove. Both groups encountered great hardship and suffering and many of the emigrants died. Rescue parties, sent from Salt Lake City to bring supplies and help the travelers continue to safety in Utah, reached the beleaguered companies in mid-October.
One of these rescuers, George Grant, wrote, “You can imagine between five and six hundred men, women and children worn down by drawing handcarts through snow and mud, fainting by the wayside, falling, chilled by cold; children crying, their limbs stiffened by cold, their feet bleeding and some of them bare to snow and frost.”
Today the Willie Handcart Site—one of the company’s campsites during their long ordeal—can be still be visited in Wind River Country near Rock Creek. Interpretive signs tell the story of these brave men, women and children. Modern-day Mormons often participate in reenactments of the handcart brigades, traveling for days across the sagebrush steppe of Wind River Country and South Pass living and dressing as their predecessors did before them. Rocky Ridge, a rugged section of trail on South Pass, is another fascinating historical site and a monument bears tribute to the hardy souls who traversed this country so many years ago.
