Sunday morning we packed up our trailer and hit the road again. Leaving Independence, MO, we headed to our next destination, Council Bluffs, IA. It was only a couple hours drive until we crossed into Iowa.
Council Bluffs or Kanesville is where the Saints went after leaving Nauvoo. The trek across Iowa was very difficult and took 4 months. The reason it took so long was because the weather and travelling conditions were bad. First was the deep snow that slowed them down then in the spring, the snow turned to mud and the wagons just sank and were stuck. Finally they made it to Council Bluffs and across the Missouri River to Winter Quarters, NE.
While at Council Bluffs, we visited the Kanesville Tabernacle.
Here we learned all about the lives of the Saints while they lived here. There were multiple settlements around this area, probably about 80, because there were so many Saints coming from Nauvoo. They named this place Kanesville after their ally Thomas L. Kane. While they were there, they made friends with the Indians, built and operated ferries, and prepared to move west. The Saints could only stay here and Winter Quarters for two years as per a contract with the government and the Indians.
We also learned a lot about the Mormon Battalion because it was here that they were called and left from for their trek to San Francisco. As hard as it was to accept the call to the Battalion, it was a blessing for the Saints because it brought in much needed money. The Mormon Battalion did a lot for the US. They basically built San Francisco and other California towns, they were at Sutter's Mill when gold was discovered and they fulfilled every commitment they made before returning to their families. It is reported that they were to only ones to complete their contracts when everyone else had gold fever.
As we toured the Tabernacle, we learned a little more about the Spiritual things that happened here as well.
The missionary that led us was really great. I was in tears after hearing some of the stories he told. The reason the Kanesville Tabernacle was built was to have a place for a momentous event. Brigham Young had the tabernacle built so they would have a place to reorganize the First presidency of the church. Here Brigham Young was sustained as the new prophet of the church and his counselors were also sustained. The crazy thing about it was that this building was built in 3 weeks just for this occasion.
Here we are standing in front of a statue of the new first presidency of the church. The kids are standing in front of a statue of a family crossing the plains.
This is a statue of Henry Miller. He was one of the ones that led the effort in building the tabernacle. Council Bluffs or Kanesville used to be called Miller's Hollow after this man too.
After seeing the Tabernacle, we headed across the Missouri River to Omaha, NE.
We crossed this cool bridge to get there.
Our next stop was Winter Quarters Nebraska. Here we stopped at the Mormon Trail Center.
While we were here, the awesome Sister missionaries took us on a tour around the Center. It was a great recap of our entire trip because they told of the entire migration of Saints from Independence to Nauvoo to Winter Quarters and on to Salt Lake. It was cool to hear the kids interact with the sister missionary as she told the stories. They would pipe in every now and then and say things like "We've been there." or "Remember the story about this person" or answer questions on why the pioneers had to move and how they travelled. I was glad they were excited and learning at the same time.
We learned about all of the ways that pioneers travelled to Salt Lake. Some came in covered wagons, some came by boat, and some pulled handcarts. Here the kids got to try out what it was like to pull a handcart. We also got to see how the pioneers lived and helped each other. One exciting story we learned was about the song "Come Come Ye Saints." William Clayton wrote this song while he was travelling to Winter Quarters. He had left his wife back in Nauvoo because she was about to have a baby. When he got word that she had delivered a baby boy and all was well, he sat down and wrote this awesome song and the Saints sang it throughout their travels as a source of hope and faith. We really enjoyed the Mormon Trails Center.
Across the street from the Mormon Trails Center is the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple.
This temple, like all temples, is very beautiful. It is one of the smaller temples but still amazing.
We had a good time walking around the temple grounds and enjoying the beauty. It was also cool to realize that a temple now stands in a place that the early Saints lived for two years as a refuge from the persecution. Just like the temple is a safe place for us to go, Winter Quarters was a safer place to live for a couple of years.
On the temple grounds is a Pioneer Cemetery.
This cemetery contains the graves of many pioneers that died while on the westward trek or while living in Winter Quarters. There is also a giant plaque listing over 6,000 names of the pioneers that died during the pioneer migration to Salt Lake. It was very overwhelming thinking of all of the people that died travelling to Salt Lake. They really had to sacrifice a lot (sometimes their lives) in order to live the gospel and bring it to where it is now.
This amazing statue memorial is a tribute to all of the Mormon Pioneers. The sculpture, that depicts a man and woman burying their baby along the trail, is called "New Frontiers, A Tragedy at Winter Quarters." It is very sad but very powerful.
We really liked stopping at Winter Quarters and learning more about the pioneers. This was our last planned stop of our trip so it was now time to head home. We were so grateful that we were driving there in our Truck rather than in a wagon or pulling a handcart. Now that we have been to the actual places the early Saints lived in, we have a greater appreciation for their strength and faith. This has been a trip we will not forget.
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