Migrant route from Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah
Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail
Echo Canyon, Utah on Mormon Trail
Location
Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, US
Nearest city
Nauvoo, Illinois; Salt Lake City, Utah
Established
November 10, 1846
Website
www.nps.gov/mopi
The Mormon Trail is the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) long route from Illinois to Utah on which Mormon pioneers (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) traveled from 1846–47. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail.
The Mormon Trail extends from Nauvoo, Illinois, which was the principal settlement of the Latter Day Saints from 1839 to 1846, to Salt Lake City, Utah, which was settled by Brigham Young and his followers beginning in 1847. From Council Bluffs, Iowa to Fort Bridger in Wyoming, the trail follows much the same route as the Oregon Trail and the California Trail; these trails are collectively known as the Emigrant Trail.
The Mormon pioneer run began in 1846, when Young and his followers were driven from Nauvoo. After leaving, they aimed to establish a new home for the church in the Great Basin and crossed Iowa. Along their way, some were assigned to establish settlements and to plant and harvest crops for later emigrants. During the winter of 1846–47, the emigrants wintered in Iowa, other nearby states, and the unorganized territory that later became Nebraska, with the largest group residing in Winter Quarters, Nebraska. In the spring of 1847, Young led the vanguard company to the Salt Lake Valley, which was then outside the boundaries of the United States and later became Utah.
During the first few years, the emigrants were mostly former occupants of Nauvoo who were following Young to Utah. Later, the emigrants increasingly included converts from the British Isles and Europe.
The trail was used for more than 20 years, until the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869. Among the emigrants were the Mormon handcart pioneers of 1856–60. Two of the handcart companies, led by James G. Willie and Edward Martin, met disaster on the trail when they departed late and were caught by heavy snowstorms in Wyoming.
The MormonTrail is the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) long route from Illinois to Utah on which Mormon pioneers (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day...
eastern half of the trail was also used by travelers on the California Trail (from 1843), MormonTrail (from 1847), and Bozeman Trail (from 1863) before...
half of the California Trail followed the same corridor of networked river valley trails as the Oregon Trail and the MormonTrail, namely the valleys of...
The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter-day Saints, who migrated beginning...
and MormonTrails—were collectively known as the Emigrant Trails. Historians have estimated at least 500,000 emigrants used these three trails between...
called "Mormons". In academic literature, the area is also commonly called the Mormon culture region. It has also been referred to as the Book of Mormon belt...
The MormonTrail Monument was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.577). The Monument is to remember the 500 Mormon pioneers came to the San Bernardino...
Numerous other trails followed the Oregon Trail for much of its length, including the MormonTrail from Illinois to Utah; the California Trail to the gold...
Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion, was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the...
The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having...
Fe Trail, the Chisholm Trail, the California Trail (which split southwestward from the Oregon Trail), the MormonTrail, and the Old Spanish Trail. Although...
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to Salt Lake...
Historic Trails California Trail Lewis and Clark National Historic TrailMormon Pioneer Trail Nez Perce Trail Old Spanish Trail Oregon Trail Pony Express...
The Bartram Trail follows the approximate route of 18th-century naturalist William Bartram’s southern journey from March 1773 to January 1777. Bartram...
The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost 2,200 miles (3,540 km) between Springer Mountain...
-93.499848 MormonTrail Community School District is a rural public school district headquartered in Humeston, Iowa. It operates MormonTrail Elementary...
emigration trails established along the north and south banks of the North Platte River were the Oregon (1843–1869), California (1843–1869), Mormon (1847–1869)...
the famous Oregon Trail. To the west, the common trail leaving Fort John-Laramie later spins off to the Mormon and California trails further west along...
County Mississippi, was one of the few African Americans to cross the MormonTrail as a pioneer with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day...
were American, particularly Mormons fleeing marginalization and persecution from the United States via the MormonTrail. Following the Mexican–American...
The MormonTrail Center at Winter Quarters is a museum and visitors' center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in the Florence...
The Emigrant Trail in Wyoming, which is the path followed by Western pioneers using the Oregon, California, and MormonTrails (collectively referred to...
a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail, and MormonTrail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during...
National Historic Trail and Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route; westward migrations on the Oregon, California, and MormonTrails, which traverse...
important landmark on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Pony Express Trail, and was visible at a distance from the MormonTrail. Over 250,000 westward emigrants...
the Mexican Cession. With the opening of the Oregon Trail, the MormonTrail, and the California Trail, vast numbers of pioneers travelled through parts...
Global Information