(By 1845, it had nearly 40,000 believers; by 1870, 120,000. 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Mormon Trail, in U.S. history, the route taken by Mormons from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Great Salt Lake in what would become the state of Utah.After Mormon leader Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob in 1844, church members realized that their settlement at Nauvoo was becoming increasingly untenable.Smith’s successor, Brigham Young, proposed a 1,300-mile (2,100-km) exodus to the west. Mormon settlers began a westward exodus, escaping persecution, in the 1830s. Upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormons publicly announced the practice of plural marriage, which Smith had instituted in secret some years earlier. "Under Sail to Zion," Ensign 21 (July 1991):6-14. Appropriately, Young named the collective the Camp of Israel. Index of pioneer immigrants with image links to journals, autobiographies, letters, and other narratives. There was also much sickness. Mormon Migration Geographic mobility had been a necessity for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints almost since the Church’s founding in 1830. Mormon Historical Studies … You can also suggest a primary source set topic or view resources for National History Day. With time, the life on board emigrant ships was made more secure, and the experience was used to fellowship converts into a new way of life and discipline them for survival in the Great Salt Lake Valley.” download complete article (PDF) Pratt, David H., and Paul F. Smart. About 90,000 Latter-day Saint converts crossed the oceans during the 19th century, heeding a call to come to Zion. Compare your own findings with the actual choices made and challenges faced by Mormon pioneers. Using maps, documents, and resources that would have been available to you in the 1840s, design a favorable route and destination and represent it either visually or in writing. Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. Wagons collapsed, people died from exposure, and it took 131 days for the Mormon convoy to travel 310 miles to relative safety on the banks of the Missouri, where the river divided Nebraska and Iowa. Mormon Migration by Harold B. Lee Library of BYU; History [edit | edit source] Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were the pioneer settlers of Utah and have always accounted for a high percentage of the population. Esquire James Weston Woods: Legal Counsel to Joseph Smith. Park suggests that the Mormons’ migration to Utah was a preview of the sorts of secessionist tendencies that would play out two decades later, … Driven out of Missouri in 1838, the Mormons finally settled along a … Many died along the way, and the survivors found the country they sought to escape would soon expand its borders to encompass them. Local Native Americans were friendly, and Young decided they would remain in what became known as "Winter Quarters" until the following spring. Sonne, Conway B. {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? Find your ancestor's voyage. They settled near the Great Salt Lake, which is now Utah. etc. The Mormonism and Migration Project is so named for two reasons. Of what significance is the migration along the Mormon Trail from Illinois to Utah? In April 1847, an advance party of 25 wagons led by Young left the Winter Quarters and headed towards the Rocky Mountains. Explore resources and ideas for Using DPLA's Primary Source Sets in your classroom. When they arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake, outside the boundaries of the United States, in 1847, they finally found a home. Led by Brigham Young, the Mormons moved to the western states such as Nebraska, Wyoming, across the Rockies, and to the SW. on a project to create an inventory of historical, archaeological and natural resources related to the Mormon migration through … googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; They were a people who felt called by God, chosen to create a New Jerusalem. In the bitter midwest chill of February, 1846, however, none of that end story was known. Then children would slip little shoe protectors over your feet. The Mormons, U.S. citizens, were driven from their homes and forced to march thousands of miles from Nauvoo, Illinois, located on the Mississippi River, to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah. You have your mass movements of members of … William Clayton, who had been ordered to travel ahead of his pregnant wife, was so overjoyed to learn of his son's birth that he wrote a hymn, "Come, Come, Ye Saints," that has become a Mormon standard. download complete article (PDF) Baker, Shane A. During the churches first 12 months of the Church being re-established, they managed to gain 1,000 members. Brigham Young . "Illness and Mortality in Nineteenth-Century Mormon Immigration." Mormons dedicate significant time and resources to serving in their churches. What place in American history do they hold, these 68,000 pioneers who during a 22-year period made their way - by wagon train or in handcart companies - across the plains and through the mountains to the Salt Lake Valley? Founder of a uniquely American religion, Joseph Smith was a poor farm boy who became a charismatic prophet, much criticized polygamist, town and temple builder, and finally a martyr for the faith he had established. With good nature and strength they overcame obstacles to become a religion with over 12 million followers. The Homestead Act was relatively successful. Westward Migration: The Mormon pioneers and the settlement of Utah (1846–1857) The Mormons scatter throughout Iowa and the surrounding territory, though most follow Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve, who lead them to Winter Quarters in Nebraska. Having driven by its clearly identifying state highway sign many times, exactly where that was didn’t come to mind. Young, himself sick in February 1847, had been plagued by self-doubt, but a vision of Joseph Smith helped him become the strong leader his followers needed for the second, thousand-mile portion of their journey. 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