Winter Quarters

On the way to Salt Lake, the pioneers stopped for a time in the middle of a Missouri valley. They established settlements on both sides of the Missouri River in and around present-day Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Here was a major outfitting point for the pioneers and countless others on the way west. They first named this outfitting point (originally known as Miller's Hollow), Kanesville in honor of Thomas L. Kane, an influential ally during their darkest years in Nauvoo. Following the departure of the Saints, it was renamed Council Bluffs in 1853.

It was from this location that the Mormon Battalion began their long march to San Diego in July 1846.

The Mormon Trail was used for 23 years, from 1846 to 1869. The Mormons did not travel west for gold, land, or adventure. They went west in search of religious freedom and to maintain a cultural identity.

Nauvoo to Winter Quarters = 265 miles
Winter Quarters to Salt Lake City = 1,032 miles

Scriptures to read: Search your scriptures on the following topics: Death, Preparation, Trials, epic journeys such as the Camp of Israel and Lehi's family.

Winter Quarters (Continued)

Religious freedom, an American ideal, has on occasion been denied to certain sects because of prejudice. Mormons were once persecuted and forced from their homes. The north bank of the Platte River served as the exodus route for thousands of members of the Church and a roadway to a new life. Driven from Nauvoo, Illinois, Brigham Young led the first migration up the Platte River Valley in 1847 to found the proposed state of Desert, now the state of Utah. The north bank of the Platte was chosen to avoid contact with the travelers on the heavily used Oregon Trail that followed the south bank of the river from near Kearney westward.

During the following two decades, thousands more gathered at Winter Quarters on the west bank of Missouri River near Florence (now part of northeast Omaha) before beginning the trek across the plains and mountains to their land of "Milk and Honey."

Winter Quarters was established under the direction of Brigham Young to shelter the saints during the winter of 1846-47. It was a haven in the wilderness for people who were fleeing from vengeful mobs. Unfortunately, they were housed in log cabins, sod houses, and dugouts that lacked adequate provisions. Tragically, more than 700 people died that first winter, many from insufficient food and shelter. Not to be deterred, a band of about five hundred pioneers left Winter Quarters to cross the Plains to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Thousands of others would eventually follow this trail.

The journey called for strength and courage, as well as faith, for tragedy often stalked their wagons and handcarts, turning the valley into a Mormon "trail of tears." Hundreds of Mormon pioneers were buried along the trail, most in unmarked graves.

Approximately 4,000 early members of the Church made camp in Nebraska's Native American country at Winter Quarters. Here, Church headquarters was temporarily established until better weather and preparation allowed the trek westward to continue. Most Church members at this time were scattered throughout several encampments in Nebraska, Missouri, and Illinois. In April 1847, the camp began their 1,000-mile trek to the Great Basin, mainly following the north bank of the Platte River in Nebraska. A total of 10 wagon trains traveled that year.

Those Church members who lived in Winter Quarters abandoned the encampment in the spring of 1848. A prairie fire burned the deserted settlement in the 1850s. In 1854, the area was occupied by the Florence Land Company and became a preparation stop for pioneer companies. Today, only the pioneer cemetery and a gristmill remain from the Winter Quarters era. Members in Nebraska continue to educate their community about significant Church historical sites.

Click here to return to "Church History."