Item Detail
-
26845
-
0
-
0
-
English
-
The 1851 Mormon Trail Emigration and Captain Morris Phelps
-
Not Identified
-
Not Identified
-
212
-
Following the martyrdom in 1844 of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his Brother, Hyrum, Brigham Young became the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known as the Mormons. In 1846, due to increasing hostilities against the Mormons, Young led a migration of epic proportions from the city they had built, Nauvoo, Illinois, to a city they would build, Salt Lake City, Utah. They called their new home Zion, reflecting their belief in being called of God to gather. Tens of thousands made this migration prior to the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. They moved mostly by oxen train, herding their cattle along with them. Due to difficult traveling conditions and complex logistics the migration could not be completed in a single year. The vanguard pioneers reached Salt Lake City in 1847, but many would not arrive until years later. A large and continuing number of new converts from the eastern United States and from Europe added to the stream of Mormon emigrants. Most of the Nauvoo refugees completed the trip by 1852 with converts continuing thereafter. [Author]