The Road to Zion

The Road to Zion. . From the late 1840s through the 1860s, an exodus of more than 70,000 Mormons passed by here on their way to their "New Zion" in Utah. Starting from Nauvoo, Illinois in February 1846, the first group of at least 13,000 Mormons crossed into Iowa to escape religious persecution, then spent the next winter in the area of present-day Council Bluffs, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska., In 1847, Brigham Young let an advance party of 143 men, 2 women, and 3 children along the Platte River. At Fort Bridger, Wyoming they departed from the Oregon Trail to head southwest to the Great Salt Lake. Thousands of other Mormons soon followed. Today, a marked 1,624-mile auto tour route closely parallels their historic trek., During their exodus of 1846-47 (below), Mormon pioneers set up several communities and ferry crossings along the trail to assist later emigrants going to and from their new home in Utah., From 1856-60, most Mormon converts coming from Europe traveled by rail to Iowa City, Iowa, then walked more than 1,200 miles to Salt Lake City pushing and pulling handcarts (left) loaded with 500 pounds of supplies. After 1860, the Mormon church sent oxen-drawn wagon trains from Salt Lake City to bring emigrants west to the "New Zion.", Diary pages (below) by Mormon emigrant Appleton Harmon relate his experiences near Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff in 1847. Many Mormons kept diaries relating their ordeals and adventures.