Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private, non-profit research university in Provo, United States owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and run under the auspices of its Church Educational System. 99 percent of the students are members of the LDS Church and one-third of its U. S. students are from Utah. The university's primary focus is on undergraduate education, but it has 68 master's and 25 doctoral degree programs. Students attending BYU agree to follow an honor code, which mandates behavior in line with LDS teachings such as academic honesty, adherence to dress and grooming standards, abstinence from extramarital sex and from the consumption of drugs and alcohol; the university curriculum includes religious education, with required courses in, the Bible, LDS scripture and history, the university sponsors weekly devotional assemblies with most speakers addressing religious topics. Many students either delay enrollment or take a hiatus from their studies to serve as LDS missionaries.
An education at BYU is less expensive than at similar private universities, since "a significant portion" of the cost of operating the university is subsidized by the church's tithing funds. BYU offers a variety of academic programs, including liberal arts, agriculture, management and mathematical sciences and law; the university is broadly organized into 11 colleges or schools at its main Provo campus, with certain colleges and divisions defining their own admission standards. The university administers two satellite campuses, one in Jerusalem and one in Salt Lake City, while its parent organization, the Church Educational System, sponsors sister schools in Hawaii and Idaho. BYU's athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are collectively known as the BYU Cougars, their college football team is an NCAA Division I Independent, while their other sports teams compete in either the West Coast Conference or Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. BYU's sports teams have won a total of fourteen national championships.
Brigham Young University's origin can be traced back to 1862 when a man named Warren Dusenberry started a Provo school in Cluff Hall, a prominent adobe building in the northeast corner of 200 East and 200 North. After some financial difficulties the school was recreated in the Kinsey and Lewis buildings on Center street in Provo, after gaining some recognition for its quality, was adopted to become the Timpanogos branch of the University of Deseret; when financial difficulty forced another closure, on October 16, 1875, Brigham Young president of the LDS Church, deeded the property to trustees to create Brigham Young Academy after earlier hinting a school would be built in Draper, Utah, in 1867. Hence, October 16, 1875, is held as BYU's founding date. Brigham Young had been envisioning for several years the concept of a church university. Said Young about his vision: "I hope to see an Academy established in Provo... at which the children of the Latter-day Saints can receive a good education unmixed with the pernicious atheistic influences that are found in so many of the higher schools of the country."
Brigham Young Academy classes commenced on January 3, 1876. Warren Dusenberry served as interim principal for several months until April 1876 when Brigham Young's choice for principal arrived—a German immigrant named Karl Maeser. Under Maeser's direction, the school educated many luminaries including future U. S. Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland and future U. S. Senator Reed Smoot; the school, did not become a university until the end of Benjamin Cluff's term at the helm of the institution. At that time, the school was still supported by members of the community and was not absorbed and sponsored by the LDS Church until July 18, 1896. A series of odd managerial decisions by Cluff led to his demotion; the suggestion received a large amount of opposition, with many members of the Board saying the school wasn't large enough to be a university, but the decision passed. One opponent to the decision, Anthon H. Lund said, "I hope their head will grow big enough for their hat."In 1903 Brigham Young Academy was dissolved, was replaced by two institutions: Brigham Young High School, Brigham Young University.
The BY High School class of 1907 was responsible for the famous giant "Y", to this day embedded on a mountain near campus. The Board elected George H. Brimhall as the new President of BYU, he had not received a high school education. He was an excellent orator and organizer. Under his tenure in 1904 the new Brigham Young University bought 17 acres of land from Provo called "Temple Hill". After some controversy among locals over BYU's purchase of this property, construction began in 1909 on the first building on the current campus, the Karl G. Maeser Memorial. Brimhall presided over the University during a brief crisis involving the theory of evolution; the religious nature of the school seemed at the time to collide with this scientific theory. Joseph F. Smith, LDS Church president, settled the question for a time by asking that evolution not be taught at the school. A few have described the school at this time as nothing more than a "religious seminary". However, many of its graduates at this time would go on to great success and become well renowned in their fields.
Franklin S. Harris was appointed the university's president in 1921, he was the first BYU president to have a doctoral degree. Harris made several
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, their respective tributaries. Legislation creating the park was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 12, 1964; the park is divided into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, the combined rivers—the Green and Colorado—which carved two large canyons into the Colorado Plateau. While these areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character. Author Edward Abbey, a frequent visitor, described the Canyonlands as "the most weird, magical place on earth—there is nothing else like it anywhere." In the early 1950s, Bates Wilson superintendent of Arches National Monument, began exploring the area to the south and west of Moab, Utah. After seeing what is now known as the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Wilson began advocating for the establishment of a new national park that would include the Needles.
Additional explorations by Wilson and others expanded the areas proposed for inclusion into the new national park to include the confluence of Green and Colorado rivers, the Maze District, Horseshoe Canyon. In 1961, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall was scheduled to address a conference at Grand Canyon National Park. On his flight to the conference, he flew over the Confluence; the view sparked Udall's interest in Wilson's proposal for a new national park in that area and Udall began promoting the establishment of Canyonlands National Park. In September 1964, after several years of debate, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Pub. L. 88–590, which established Canyonlands National Park as a new national park. Bates Wilson became the first superintendent of the new park, he is referred to as the "Father of Canyonlands." Canyonlands is a popular recreational destination. Since 2007, more than 400,000 people have visited the park each year with a record of 776,218 visitors in 2016, representing a 22 percent increase from the prior year.
The geography of the park is well suited to a number of different recreational uses. Hikers, mountain bikers and four-wheelers all enjoy traveling the rugged, remote trails within the Park; the White Rim Road traverses the White Rim Sandstone level of the park between the rivers and the Island in the Sky. Since 2015, day-use permits must be obtained before travelling on the White Rim Road due to the increasing popularity of driving and bicycling along it; the park service's intent is to provide a better wilderness experience for all visitors while minimizing impacts on the natural surroundings. As of 2016, the Island in the Sky district, with its proximity to the Moab, Utah area, attracts 76.7 percent of total park visitors. The Needles district is the second most; the remote Maze district accounts for only about 1.5 percent of visitors, while river rafters and other river users account for the remaining 1.1 percent of total park visitation. Rafters and kayakers float the calm stretches of the Green River and Colorado River above the Confluence.
Below the Confluence, Cataract Canyon contains powerful whitewater rapids, similar to those found in the Grand Canyon. However, since there is no large impoundment on the Colorado River above Canyonlands National Park, river flow through the Confluence is determined by snowmelt, not management; as a result, in combination with Cataract Canyon's unique graben geology, this stretch of river offers the largest whitewater in North America in heavy snow years. Political compromise at the time of the park's creation limited the protected area to an arbitrary portion of the Canyonlands basin. Conservationists hope to complete the park by bringing the boundaries up to the high sandstone rims that form the natural border of the Canyonlands landscape; the Colorado River and Green River combine within the park dividing it into three districts called the Island in the Sky, the Needles and the Maze. The Colorado River flows through Cataract Canyon below its confluence with the Green River; the Island in the Sky district is a broad and level mesa to the north of the park between Colorado and Green river with many overlooks from the White Rim, a sandstone bench 1,200 feet below the Island, the rivers, which are another 1,000 feet below the White Rim.
The Needles district is located east of the Colorado River and is named after the red and white banded rock pinnacles which dominate it, but various other forms of sculptured rock such as canyons, potholes, a number of arches similar to the ones of the nearby Arches National Park can be found as well. Unlike Arches National Park, where many arches are accessible by short to moderate hikes or by car, most of the arches in the Needles district lie in back country canyons and require long hikes or four-wheel-drive trips to reach them; the area was once home of the Ancestral Puebloans. Although the items and tools they used have been taken away by looters, some of their stone and mud dwellings are well-preserved; the Ancestral Puebloans left traces in the form of petroglyphs, most notably on the so-called Newspaper Rock near the Visitor Center at the entrance of this district. The Maze district is located west of the Colorado and Green rivers, is the least accessible section of the park, one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States.
A geographically detached section of the park located west-northwest of the main unit, Horseshoe Canyon Unit, contains panels of rock art made by hunter-gatherers from the Late Archaic Pe
Pioneer Village (Utah)
Pioneer Village is located inside of the Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah. Meant to be a “living museum", Pioneer Village is intended to make the history of Utah come alive, it was founded in 1938 near Salt Lake City by Ethel Sorensen. In April 1975, Lagoon bought the collection from the Sons of Utah Pioneers, it opened at the amusement park in 1976. Pioneer Village is dedicated to the pioneers of the 19th century who pushed their way westward in the spirit of religious freedom, their day did not end until sundown when all tasks were complete. It was said that they could plow with equal dexterity. Pioneer Village reminds us of a time long ago. There are over two dozen buildings in Pioneer Village; the Mormon furniture exhibit contains furniture on loan from the Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most of the furniture pieces are made of pine, since hardwoods were scarce in the time of the pioneers. However, special coats of paint were used to give the pine furniture the appearance of oak, mahogany, birds eye, maple and other hard woods.
Most of the furniture was based on patterns from the East such as Empire and Gothic Revival. However, Utah furniture was simpler and heavier than the styles it imitated; some of the pieces in the exhibit include: The octagon top table: Carved with elaborate flowers and foliage and made out of pine, this table was made by William Bell in 1860. William Bell was an expert cabinet maker from England; the Double Lounge: This couch was made in Utah in 1860. It could be pulled out to form a double bed. Pieces similar to this one were used by passengers on sailing ships; the Rocking Chair: Also carved in 1860 and made out of pine, this rocking chair was built to be large and sturdy, resembles the “Boston Rocker.” The presses in the Pioneer Village Print shop are from Intermountain Stamp, Patterson’s Print, Ogden Standard Examiner, the Salt Lake Stamp Company. Since communication was limited in those days, newspapers were a popular commodity and were printed in many communities throughout the state; this building contains the repair tools and leather working machines of Charles T. Baxter, a cobbler in American Fork, Utah around the start of the 20th century.
Up until 1900, the primary mode of transportation in the Western states was walking. For a nation of walkers, the cobbler was vital; this structure was the official Coop store of Rockport in Summit County, Utah. It functioned all the way up until the 1930s; this store has a false front, typical of the period. This china shop contains pieces made from 1830 to 1910. Many of the pieces were carried across the plains by pioneers who knew that there would only be enough room in their covered wagons for a few of their most precious possessions; the Hardware Museum is the home of the Sovereign Jewel. The Sovereign Jewel is a stove, an excellent example of how early Americans would create works of art out of ordinary household items; the bronze dome of the Sovereign Jewel is covered in gems and its doors are illuminated mica. The drapery is carved from nickel. Many years of research have gone into studying the history of the Sovereign Jewel, as far as it can be determined, it is unique, it sold for $36.00, but its replacement value today would be $12,500.
The Post office was built in Charleston, Wasatch County, Utah in 1905 and operated until 1955. Today it contains the original postmaster's desk and dozens of postal boxes, each with their own combination lock. Like most rural towns in Utah, Charleston did not have mail delivery until so residents would have to come to the post office to pick up their letters; the bakery in Pioneer Village sells many baked goods and is the home of the first soda fountain in Utah. The soda fountain came across the plains by wagon, no easy feat, since the fountain consists of a large marble slab, it was housed in the store of William S. Godbe, built in 1855. Customers at the store could choose between strawberry, raspberry and cream soda. In those days, a glass of soda cost 10 cents; the David E. Sperry Model Train Museum contains dozens of model trains, most of which are from the collection of David E. Sperry. Sperry's fascination with trains began in 1928. From 1930 to 1934 he went through many catalogs and store displays in an effort to increase his collection.
In 1935 he was hired by ZCMI as a model train salesman. Over the next sixteen years, he helped customers build their own train layouts both in the store and in their homes, he joined the local and national train collectors clubs where he received the title, "The Repairman’s Repair Man." The train museum is home to "The Lagoon Miniature Railroad." Built in 1925 in Ogden, the engine was powered by coal and steam. The train ran two routes: one around the northeast of the Carousel and north of the White Roller Coaster, one through the midway and the picnic boweries. For many years the train was on display next to the Lagoon Lake and in 1974 it was rebuilt and ran again until 1986 when it was retired. Just outside the museum is the Union Pacific Semaphore. Built in 1920 in Swissvale, this style B lower quadrant semaphore was located in Nephi, Utah along the Union Pacific Railroad line, it was used to signal trains to either pick up orders, or proceed to the next signal. It is said; this blacksmith shop was built in 1858 and was used to mee
Cedar City, Utah
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, United States. It is located 250 miles south of Salt Lake City, 170 miles north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15, it is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Games, the Neil Simon Theatre Festival, other events. As of the 2010 census the city had a population of 28,857, up from 20,257 in 2000; as of 2016 the estimated population was 31,223. The presence of prehistoric people in the Cedar City area is revealed by rock art found in Parowan Gap to the north and Fremont sites dated to A. D. 1000 and 1300. Ancestors of the present-day Southern Paiute people met the Dominguez–Escalante expedition in this area in 1776. Fifty years in 1826, mountain man and fur trader Jedediah Smith traveled through the area exploring a route from Utah to California. Cedar City was settled in late 1851 by Mormon pioneers originating from Parowan, who were sent to build an iron works; the site, known as "Fort Cedar" or "Cedar City", was equidistant from vast iron deposits 10 miles west and coal resources 10 miles east up Cedar Canyon, but was named after the abundant local trees.
Two companies of men led by Henry Lunt reached the fort site in a blizzard on November 11, 1851, making that date the official founding. In 1855, a new site, closer to the iron works and out of the flood plain of Coal Creek, was established at the suggestion of Brigham Young. Cedar City was incorporated on February 18, 1868; the iron works closed in 1858. The completion of a railroad connection to Cedar City in 1923 established the area as a tourism gateway to nearby Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument. Cedar City continues to be a center of tourism, commercial development and the arts in southwestern Utah; the city has shared in the rapid growth of much of southwestern Utah since the late 1980s. Cedar City is located in the southeast Great Basin, is about 20 miles north of the northeastern edge of the Mojave Desert, its elevation of 5,846 feet gives it a cooler and less arid climate compared to the nearby Dixie region, but it retains its cultural ties to St. George—the two cities, for example, share a daily newspaper.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.1 square miles, none of, covered with water. The city is located on the western edge of the Markagunt Plateau, in a high desert valley, Cedar Valley, with no ocean drainage; the climate is the typical cool semi-arid climate of the Mountain West, though snowfall can be quite heavy, reaching a historical maximum of 36.9 inches in January 1949. Interstate 15 connects the city with St. George and Las Vegas to the southwest, to Interstate 70 and Salt Lake City to the north. State roads connect Cedar City with Panaca, near US 93. Similar to St. George, the city enjoys an excellent location on the West's regional transportation network. Los Angeles is 439 miles southwest and San Diego is 500 miles southwest on Interstate 15, Phoenix is 465 miles south via Interstate 15 and US-93, Denver is 580 miles northeast via Interstates 15 and 70. A branch line of the Union Pacific Railroad serves customers on the western outskirts of the city.
The branch connects to the railway's main line at Lund. Cedar City Regional Airport offers flights via Delta Connection; as of the census of 2000, there were 20,527 people, 6,486 households, 4,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,021.8 people per square mile. There were 7,109 housing units at an average density of 353.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 92.06% White, 2.53% African American, 1.11% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.33% Pacific Islander, 1.65% from other races, 1.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.14% of the population. There were 6,486 households out of which 39.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 27.8% were non-families. 16.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.8% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.07 and the average family size was 3.37.
In the city, the population was spread out with 28.2% under the age of 18, 27.4% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 14.0% from 45 to 64, 7.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.. The median income for a household in the city was $32,403, the median income for a family was $37,509. Males had a median income of $31,192 versus $19,601 for females; the per capita income for the city was $14,057. About 14.5% of the families and 22.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under the age of 18 and 4.2% of those 65 and older. Cedar City is served by the Iron County School District. Cedar City is home to Southern Utah University The economy is centered on a small manufacturing hub, Southern Utah University, home construction. Christine Cavanaugh, voice actress in Dexter's Laboratory and Rugrats Ally Condie, author of the best-selling Matched series and the book Atlantia.
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion, the only religion-based unit in United States military history, served from July 1846 – July 1847 during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saint men, led by Mormon company officers commanded by regular U. S. Army officers. During its service, the battalion made a grueling march of nearly 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California; the battalion’s march and service supported the eventual cession of much of the American Southwest from Mexico to the United States the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 of southern Arizona and New Mexico. The march opened a southern wagon route to California. Veterans of the battalion played significant roles in America's westward expansion in California, Utah and other parts of the West. At the time they enlisted, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were seeking U. S. government aid for their migration west to the Rocky Mountains and Salt Lake Valley, despite having their previous petitions for redress of grievances denied.
Under continued religious persecution, they had fled Nauvoo, Illinois, on February 4, 1846 across the Mississippi River. They camped among the Potawatomi Indians near present-day Council Iowa. Brigham Young, the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, sent Elder Jesse C. Little to Washington, D. C. to seek assistance from the federal government for the Mormon Pioneers fleeing from the Illinois mobs. Little arrived in Washington D. C. on May 21, 1846, only eight days after Congress had declared war on Mexico. Pennsylvania Army officer and attorney Thomas L. Kane offered the Mormons his advice and assistance. Politically well connected through his jurist father, Kane provided letters of recommendation and joined Little in Washington, D. C; the two called on the secretary of state, secretary of war, President James K. Polk. After several interviews in early June 1846, President Polk agreed to Little's offer if "a few hundred" men enlisted. On June 2, 1846, President Polk wrote in his diary: "Col. Kearny was... authorized to receive into service as volunteers a few hundred of the Mormons who are now on their way to California, with a view to conciliate them, attach them to our country, prevent them from taking part against us."On July 1, 1846 Captain James Allen, dispatched by Colonel Stephen W. Kearny, arrived at the Mormons' Mosquito Creek camp.
He carried President Polk's request for a battalion of 500 volunteers to fight in the Mexican War. Most members of the Church were suspicious of the request, as the Federal government had ignored the persecutions they suffered, they were concerned about facing discrimination by the government, as they had from both the state and federal government in the past. Kane obtained U. S. government permission for the refugee Mormons to occupy Pottawattamie and Omaha Indian lands along the Missouri River. After carrying dispatches relating to the land agreements and battalion criteria to Fort Leavenworth, Kane sought out Little in the Mormon encampments on the Missouri. On July 17, 1846, he held a meeting with Captain Allen. Brigham Young had planned on moving the Mormons west that summer, but circumstances were against his plan, he saw several possible advantages to the Saints in the proposed federal service. Their enlistment would be a public relations victory for the church, demonstrating additional evidence of its loyalty to the United States.
As the men were given a uniform allowance at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. of US$42 each, paid in advance, for their one-year enlistment and as they were allowed to wear their civilian clothing for the march, the bulk of those funds were donated to a general Church fund. These funds were used to purchase wagons and other necessities for the American exodus. Having been forced to leave farms and homes in Nauvoo, the Latter-day Saints were going to spend the winter on the banks of the Missouri River. Raising a group of able-bodied men would be difficult. Many men had scattered to outlying areas where they sought jobs with wages to help support the group. Young wrote a letter to the Saints living in Garden Grove, in which he justified the call-up and asked for their help: The President wants to do us good and secure our confidence; the outfit of this five hundred men costs us nothing, their pay will be sufficient to take their families over the mountains. There is war between Mexico and the United States, to whom California must fall a prey, if we are the first settlers the old citizens cannot have a Hancock or Missouri pretext to mob the Saints.
The thing is from above for our own good. The public approval of Brigham Young and other members of the Twelve were critical to gain men's enlistment. While some men volunteered, Young had to persuade reluctant enlistees, it took three weeks to raise the five companies of men. Allen's instructions were to recruit five companies of men who were to receive the "pay and other allowances given to other infantry volunteers." Each company was authorized four women as laundresses, "receiving rations and other allowances given to the laundresses of our army." Thirty-three women, twenty of whom served as laundresses, fifty-one children accompanied the men. Four women would complete the cross-continental trek; the Mormon Battalion was mustered into volunteer service on July 16, 1846 as part of the Army of the West under General Kearny, a seasoned veteran. His units included two regiments of Missouri volunteers, a regiment of New York volunteers who traveled by ships to California to meet him there and infantry battalions, Kearny's own 1
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail is the 1,300-mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868. 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, the principal settlement of the Latter Day Saints from 1839 to 1846, to Salt Lake City, 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; the Mormon pioneer run began in 1846, when 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 emigrants. During the winter of 1846–47, the emigrants wintered in Iowa, other nearby states, the unorganized territory that 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, outside the boundaries of the United States and became Utah. During the first few years, the emigrants were former occupants of Nauvoo who were following Young to Utah; the emigrants comprised 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. Under the leadership of Joseph Smith, Latter Day Saints established several communities throughout the United States between 1830 and 1844, most notably in Kirtland, Ohio. However, the Saints were driven out of each of them in turn, due to conflicts with other settlers; this included the actions of Governor Lilburn Boggs, who issued Missouri Executive Order 44, which called for the "extermination" of all Mormons in Missouri.
Latter-day Saints were forced to abandon Nauvoo in 1846. Although the movement had split into several denominations after Smith's death in 1844, most members aligned themselves with Brigham Young and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Under Young's leadership, about 14,000 Mormon citizens of Nauvoo set out to find a new home in the West; as the senior apostle of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles after Joseph Smith's death, Brigham Young assumed responsibility of the leadership of the church. He would be sustained as President of the Church and prophet. Young now had to lead the Saints into the far west, without knowing where to go or where they would end up, he insisted the Mormons should settle in a place no one else wanted and felt the isolated Great Basin would provide the Saints with many advantages. Young reviewed information on the Great Salt Lake Valley and the Great Basin, consulted with mountain men and trappers, met with Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Jesuit missionary familiar with the region.
Young organized a vanguard company to break trail to the Rocky Mountains, evaluate trail conditions, find sources of water, select a central gathering point in the Great Basin. A new route on the north side of the Platte and North Platte rivers was chosen to avoid potential conflicts over grazing rights, water access, campsites with travelers using the established Oregon Trail on the river's south side; the Quincy Convention of October 1845 passed resolutions demanding that the Latter-day Saints withdraw from Nauvoo by May 1846. A few days the Carthage Convention called for establishment of a militia that would force them out if they failed to meet the May deadline. To try to meet this deadline and to get an early start on the trek to the Great Basin, the Latter-day Saints began leaving Nauvoo in February 1846; the departure from Nauvoo began on February 1846, under the leadership of Brigham Young. This early departure exposed them to the elements in the worst of winter. After crossing the Mississippi River, the journey across Iowa Territory followed primitive territorial roads and Native American trails.
Young planned to lead an express company of about 300 men to the Great Basin during the summer of 1846. He believed they could reach the Missouri River in four to six weeks. However, the actual trip across Iowa was slowed by rain, swollen rivers, poor preparation, it required 16 weeks – nearly three times longer than planned. Heavy rains turned the rolling plains of southern Iowa into a quagmire of axle-deep mud. Furthermore, few people carried adequate provisions for the trip; the weather, general unpreparedness, lack of experience in moving such a large group of people all contributed to the difficulties they endured. The initial party reached the Missouri River on June 14, it was apparent that the Latter-day Saints could not make it to the Great Basin that season and would have to winter on the Missouri River. Some of the emigrants established. Others moved across the river into the area of present-day Omaha and built a camp called Winter Quarters. In April 1847, chosen members of the vanguard company gathered, final supplies were packed, the group was organized into 14 military companies.
A militia and night guard were formed. The company consisted of 143 men, including three black people and eight members of th
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff Sr. was an American religious leader who served as the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death. Woodruff's large collection of diaries provides an important record of Latter Day Saint history, his decision to formally end the practice of plural marriage among the members of the LDS Church in 1890 brought to a close one of the most controversial periods of church history. Woodruff was known as a conservative religious man, but was enthusiastically involved in the social and economic life of his community, he was an avid outdoorsman, enjoying fishing and hunting. Woodruff learned to fly fish in England, his 1847 journal account of his fishing in the East Fork River is the earliest known account of fly fishing west of the Mississippi River; as an adult, Woodruff was a farmer and stockman by trade and wrote extensively for church periodicals. Woodruff was one of nine children born to Bulah Thompson and Aphek Woodruff, a miller working in Farmington, Connecticut.
Wilford's mother Bulah Thompson died of "spotted fever" in 1808 at the age of 26, when Wilford was fifteen months old. He was raised by his step-mother Azubah Hart; as a young man, Woodruff worked at a sawmill and a flour mill owned by his father. Woodruff joined the Latter Day Saint church on December 31, 1833. At that time, the church numbered only a few thousand believers clustered around Kirtland, Ohio. On January 13, 1835, Woodruff left Kirtland on his first full-time mission, preaching without "purse or scrip" in Arkansas and Tennessee. Like many early Latter Day Saints, Woodruff practiced plural marriage, he was married to nine women. His wives: Phoebe Whittemore Carter, m. April 13, 1837 Mary Ann Jackson, m. Aug 2, 1846 Sarah Elinor Brown, m. Aug 2, 1846 Mary Caroline Barton, m. Aug 2, 1846 Mary Meek Giles Webster m. March 28, 1852 Emma Smith m. March 13, 1853 Sarah Brown, m. March 13, 1853 Sarah Delight Stocking m. July 31, 1857 Eudora Young Dunford m. March 10, 1877 Woodruff's wives bore him a total of 34 children, with 14 preceding him in death.
Woodruff met his first wife, Phoebe Carter, in Kirtland shortly after his return from his first mission through Southern Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky. Woodruff came to Kirtland on November 25, 1836, along with Abraham O. Smoot, he was introduced to Phoebe by Milton Holmes on January 28, 1837. She was a native of Maine and had become a Latter Day Saint in 1834. Woodruff and Phoebe were married on April 13, 1837, with the ceremony performed by Frederick G. Williams, their marriage was sealed in Nauvoo by Hyrum Smith. Phoebe accopanied her husband on his 1837-1838 mission to the Fox Islands in Maine. During some of this time she resided with her parents in their house in Maine, her decision to head west again with her husband shortly after the birth of their daughter was compared by her to the commitment of Ruth to follow the Lord and leave her people. In the Teachings of Presidents of the Church series, Woodruff shared an experience from December 3, 1838, where Phoebe was ill, lying before him as one who had died.
He stated that following a priesthood blessing, she was raised from this illness and was made whole. During this experience Phebe conversed with two angels who gave her the choice to live or die, she chose to live and persever with the faithful; this was while Woodruff was leading a group of Saints he had converted on the Fox Islands of Maine to join with the body of the Saints. Phoebe was among the members of the Relief Society in Nauvoo. In the late 1840s, Phoebe was set apart as a missionary and served with Woodruff as he presided over the Eastern States Mission. Phoebe was numbered among the "leading ladies" who helped organize the Relief Society in Utah Territory in the 1860s through the 1880s. During Woodruff's time as president of the LDS Church, his wife, Emma Smith Woodruff, accompanied him to public functions, she was the only wife he lived with after Phoebe's death in 1885, she was a niece of Abraham O. Smoot. Although she married Woodruff age 46, when she was 15, she did not have the first of her eight children until she was 20.
Emma was involved in the Relief Society, serving as both a ward and stake president for that organization. She served as a member of the Relief Society General Board from 1892 to 1910. Among Woodruff's children was the LDS Church apostle Abraham O. Woodruff. Woodruff's daughter, was a wife of Lorenzo Snow, Snow succeeded Woodruff as president of the LDS Church. Woodruff operated a farm and orchards in Salt Lake City, he had extensive livestock herds. On multiple occasions, his products won prizes at the Utah Territorial Fair. Woodruff served for 14 years as head of the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society. In 1855 he became president of the Utah Territorial Horticultural Society. Woodruff served multiple terms in the Utah territorial legislature, he was a member of the legislative house from its formation in 1851 until 1854, served in the legislative council from 1854 until 1876. Woodruff served as a member of the 1862 Utah Constitutional Convention and as a member of the committee that drafted the appeal to the U.
S. Congress to approve the constitution and grant statehood for Utah; this attempt to join the Union failed. Woodruff served as a member of the Provo City Council in 1868 and 1869. Woodruff and his brother, A
