The Mormon Pioneer Trail

From Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah.

On April 5, 1847 Mormon Church or Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, leader Brigham Young headed a train of wagons west. There were 72 wagons and 148 brave followers to leave on The Mormon Pioneer Trail.

Present day Omaha, Nebraska, was their winter quarters, they were heading west towards the Great Salt Lake Valley, and an uncertain future.

The Mormons followed the Oregon Trail that so many pioneers had traveled. At the end they would make use of the Hastings Cutoff into the Salt Lake Valley. Their journey across the huge, sprawling desert, now Nebraska and Wyoming, was a tribute to the determination and organization of the Mormons. The Later Day Saints were also the first group of emigrants who settled in Utah. Ultimately, some 70,000 Latter Day Saints would come to the Great Salt Lake Valley.

The main route of The Mormon Trial was 1297 miles long.

The Mormon journey was made in two stages, the first 265 miles was across Iowa to winter quarters, and then 1032 miles across Nebraska, Wyoming, and into Utah.

• The Dominguez-Escalante Expeditions Journal:

Through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico in 1776

• I Walked to Zion:
- Young Pioneers on the Mormon Trail

• The Gathering of Zion:
- The Story of the Mormon Trail

• National Geographic's Guide to:
- Lewis and Clark Trail

• Hiking Historic Trails
- Utah's Favorite Hiking Trails

• Scenic Driving - Travel guides
- Scenic Driving in Utah

• Historical reading
- The Old Spanish Trail

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