Before my kids leave home, I had the hope and goal to take them on a church history trip. I feel like it's important to see and experience these important places before the kids go on missions and so they can gain a testimony of our gospel. So we made it happen this past summer! We visited church sites in the Midwest and along the Mormon pioneer trail. It was a really memorable trip and we learned a lot! We were in the car for 40+ hours and thanks to having plenty of snacks and the kids having electronics, it was a really smooth drive. Aiden and Brennan binge watched 24 in the back seat. Callie and Graham were entertained from the Switch and iPad. We hardly ever heard a peep from them! Our kids were the perfect ages for a trip like this!
In the weeks before the trip, I did a ton of family history and compiled stories and biographies of some of our ancestors that were involved in the early church. It was humbling to learn about their experiences and feel connected to them. We'd take breaks from what we were doing in the car to read about their experiences and learn about what took place at each of these sites. We definitely left this trip feeling a sense of appreciation and awe at what the pioneers and early Saints went through. It's pretty amazing that both Nate and I have pioneer ancestors that played an important role in the early church.
Our first day, we woke up early and started on our journey. We drove nearly 6 hours to Martin's Cove. We ate a picnic lunch and then visited that historic site. We have a few ancestors on my side that were in the Martin Handcart Company so we found their names on the plaques in the museum. We learned more about what they experienced and the horrible conditions of being stuck in a snow storm. It was very sobering to learn about. We pulled handcarts around the small loop near the visitor's center and saw sculptures and monuments recognizing what these handcart companies experienced. We also walked to Devil's Gate. Before we left we took a tour of the Fort Seminoe which was fascinating to learn about how that played a role in helping the handcart companies.
After Martin's Cove, we drove another six hours and stayed in Gothenburg, Nebraska which is a tiny town along 1-80. The next morning we drove another few hours to get to Winter Quarters. We ate lunch at a nearby park and then went to the Visitors Center. We walked through the Pioneer Cemetery afterwards and tried to find the plots of land that some of our ancestors were buried in. We also saw the Tragedy of Winter Quarters Monument. There was a somber feeling in the cemetery. The early saints had to leave Nauvoo after Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed. Because of supply troubles, disease, and bad weather, the Saints weren't ready to head west into unknown territory. They made a deal with the government to temporarily camp in Nebraska before they could move further west. Many Saints died due to harsh weather conditions, poor sanitation, and a lack of resources during the winter of 1846-47.
After Winter Quarters, we drove to Iowa to visit the Kanesville Memorial in modern day Council Bluffs, Iowa. Winter Quarters was a temporary encampment established on the west side of the river and Kanesville was established on the east side of the river. The Saints built a prosperous community here while they waited to cross the plains. They built homes and businesses and meetinghouses. Some important things happened in Kanesville - the Mormon Battalion was created and Brigham Young became the next prophet of the church. Oliver Cowdrey also repented and was rebaptized while the Saints were here.
After visiting both of those places, we drove to Burlington, Iowa and got settled into our hotel. Burlington is about a 30 minute drive to Nauvoo so we decided to stay at this hotel to have a pool and continental breakfast while we spent some time exploring Nauvoo. More of Nauvoo up next...
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