Casper in Natrona County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)
The Road to Zion
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, September 17, 2015
1. The Road to Zion Marker
Captions: (top, right) Many Mormon emigrants wrote diaries to describe their experiences. Appleton Harmon wrote his journal in 1847.; (central illustration) After arriving, the Mormon pioneers set up communities and ferry crossings along the trail to assist later wagon trains going to and from Utah.; (bottom, right) From 1856-60, many European converts walked more than 1,200 miles to Salt Lake City pushing and pulling handcarts loaded with 500 pounds of supplies. After 1860, the Mormon church sponsored oxen-drawn wagons to bring emigrants to the “New Zion.”; (Map of the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail on the bottom, left.)
Inscription.
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 led an advance party of 143 men and 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 closely parallels their historic trek.
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 led an advance party of 143 men and 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 closely parallels their historic trek.
Erected by U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
Location. 42° 50.26′ N, 106° 22.291′ W. Marker is in Casper, Wyoming, in Natrona County. Marker can be reached from Fort Caspar Road near Southwest Wyoming Boulevard (Wyoming Highway 258), on the right when traveling west. Touch for map.
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Marker is at or near this postal address: 4001 Fort Caspar Road, Casper WY 82604, United States of America. Touch for directions.
More about this marker. This marker is located near the reconstructions of Fort Caspar and Platte Bridge.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, September 17, 2015
2. The Road to Zion Marker
Ferry reconstruction by members of the
Casper Stake
of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on December 19, 2015, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 312 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on December 19, 2015, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.