History of the Saints

Season 1 Show 24 The Mormon Trail Part One

In 1847, Brigham Young led the first company of Latter-day Saints from the Missouri River to the Salt Lake Valley. They found the place of the gathering and began the work of bringing the Saints in from all over the world.

The DonnerReed party became stranded and snow-bound in the high Sierra's of California after taking the Hastings Cutoff through Utah. Many lives would be lost and terrible things would happen to them before they finally reached safety.

This podcast is the story of the West before the Mormons. It begins with the story of Spanish explorers exploring the West, followed then by the mountain men and trappers in search of furs. It was the mountain men who first opened and the overland trail through South Pass.

In 1846, the Donner Party left the Missouri River bound for California. They were better prepared than most emigrants and made decent time until they were persuaded by Lanceford Hastings to take an untried road through the Wasatch Mountains and across the great salt desert. This is the first part of that story from the Missouri River to Donner Hill in the Salt Lake Valley.

The Mormon Battalion had already marched from Fort Leavenworth into Arizona territory. They had endured much in getting that far and had lost a great number of their company. Now they would enter the Imperial desert of California and suffer almost to the limits of human endurance.

William Smith, James J. Strang, Sidney Rigdon--all were dissenters. Starting in 1844 they tried to lead the Saints away from those who rightly held the keys of authority in the Church. Some, like Sidney Rigdon were of miniscule impact, but others caused serious concern. Of all these dissenters, who was the most successful, and how much of a threat were they? This is that story.

In the winter of 1846-47 most of the Saints headed west were gathered at Winter Quarters on the banks of the Missouri River. However, there was a small group of some of the Church's most valuable men who were hunkered down elsewhere. They had been the Church's advance party. This is their story--it is one of hardship, courage, struggle, and ultimately--victory.

Because of illness, lack of proper food and shelter, life would be very hard for the Saints while camped on the banks of the Missouri River. More people would die there than in all our sufferings, mobbings, and drivings heretofore. Their temporary winter quarters on the banks of the Missouri River would prove to be the Valley Forge of Mormonism.

It was too late for Brigham Young and the Mormons to reach the Salt Lake Valley in the summer of 1846. Where were they to go and what were they to do? This is the story of the establishing of temporary winter quarters on the Missouri River.