National Trails Day 2024 is on Friday, June 7, 2024: What were the 6 states that the Mormons got kicked out of (Mormon Trail?

Friday, June 7, 2024 is National Trails Day 2024. Holding a National Trails Day Event on Your Local Rail-Trail? Tell ... on National Trails Day!

Sponsored Deals

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846-1857. Today the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail. Under the leadership of Joseph Smith, Jr., Latter Day Saints (LDS) established several communities throughout the United States between 1830 and 1844, most notably in Kirtland, Ohio, Independence, Missouri, and Nauvoo, Illinois. However, the Saints were driven out of each of them in turn due to internal disagreements and conflicts with other settlers (see History of the Latter Day Saint movement). They were finally forced to abandon Nauvoo in 1846. Although the movement had schismed 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 later be sustained as President of the Church and prophet. Young now had to lead the Saints into the far west, without knowing exactly 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 and met with Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Jesuit missionary familiar with the region. He organized a vanguard company to break trail to the Rocky Mountains, evaluate trail conditions, find sources of water, and 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 and 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 later, the Carthage Convention called for establishment of a militia that would force them out if they failed to meet the May deadline.[2] 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. Young originally planned to lead an express company of about 300 men to the Great Basin during the summer of 1846. He believed they could cross Iowa Territory and reach the Missouri River in four to six weeks. The actual trip across Iowa, however, was slowed by rain, mud, swollen rivers, and poor preparation, and required sixteen weeks—nearly three times longer than planned. 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. In April 1847, chosen members of the Vanguard Company gathered, final supplies were packed, and the group was organized into 14 military companies. A militia and night guard was formed. The company consisted of 143 men, including three black slaves and eight members of the Council of the Twelve, three women, and two children. The train contained 73 wagons, draft animals, and livestock and carried enough supplies to provision the group for one year. On April 5th, the wagon train moved west from Winter Quarters toward the Great Basin. The journey from Winter Quarters to Fort Laramie took six weeks, with the company arriving at the fort on June 1st. While at Fort Laramie, the vanguard company was joined by members of the Mormon Battalion who had been excused due to illness and sent to winter in Pueblo, Colorado and a group of Church members from Mississippi. At this point, the now larger company took the established Oregon Trail toward the trading post at Fort Bridger. Young met mountain man Jim Bridger on June 28th. They discussed routes into the Salt Lake Valley, and the feasibility of viable settlements in the mountain valleys of the Great Basin. The company pushed on through South Pass, rafted across the Green River and arrived at Fort Bridger on July 7th. About the same time, they were joined by thirteen more members of the sick detachment of the Mormon Battalion. Now facing a more rugged and hazardous journey, Young chose to follow the trail used by the Donner-Reed party on their journey to California the previous year. As the vanguard company traveled through the rugged mountains, they divided into three sections. Young and several other members of the party suffered from a fever, generally accepted as a “mountain fever” induced by wood ticks. The small sick detachment lagged behind the larger group, and a scouting division was created to move farther ahead on the designated route. Scouts Erastus Snow and Orson Pratt entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 21st. On July 23rd, Pratt offered a prayer dedicating the land to the Lord. Ground was broken, irrigation ditches were dug, and the first fields of potatoes and turnips were planted. On July 24th, Young first saw the valley from a “sick” wagon driven by his friend Wilford Woodruff. According to Woodruff, Young expressed his satisfaction in the appearance of the valley and declared This is the right place, drive on. In August 1847, Young and selected members of the vanguard company returned to Winter Quarters to organize the companies scheduled for following years. By December 1847, more than two thousand Mormons had completed the journey to the Salt Lake Valley. Each year during the Mormon migration, people continued to be organized into "companies", each company bearing the name of its leader and subdivided into groups of 10 and 50. The Saints travelled the trail broken by the Vanguard company, splitting the journey into two sections. The first segment began in Nauvoo and ended in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, near modern-day Omaha. The second half of the journey took the Saints through Nebraska and Wyoming before finishing their journey in the Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah. The earlier groups used covered wagons pulled by oxen to carry their supplies across the country. Later companies used handcarts and traveled by foot. By 1849 many of the Latter-day Saints who remained in Iowa or Missouri were poor and unable to afford the costs of the wagon, teams of oxen, and supplies that would be required for the trip. The LDS Church established a revolving fund known as the Perpetual Emigration Fund to enable the poor to emigrate. By 1852, most of the Latter-day Saints from Nauvoo who wished to emigrate had done so, and the church abandoned its settlements in Iowa. However, many church members from the eastern states and from Europe continued to emigrate to Utah, often assisted by the Perpetual Emigration Fund. In 1856, the church inaugurated a system of handcart companies in order to enable poor European emigrants to make the trek more cheaply. The emigrants would carry their goods and provisions on small handcarts, which they pushed or pulled along the trail. Five companies made the trek in 1856, and the last two—the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies met disaster when they left very late and encountered heavy snow and freezing weather in Wyoming. Young organized a rescue effort that brought the companies in, but more than 210 of the 980 emigrants in the two parties died. The handcart companies continued with more success until 1860, and traditional ox-and-wagon companies also continued for those who could afford the higher cost. After 1860 the church began sending wagon companies east each spring, to return to Utah in the summer with the emigrating Latter-day Saints. Finally, with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, future emigrants were able to travel by rail, and the era of the Mormon pioneer trail came to an end. At the shore of the Great Salt Lake, then in Mexican territory, they finally settled down. Farming the land was initially difficult, as the shares broke when they tried to plough the dry ground. An irrigation system was designed and the land flooded before plowing, with the system providing supplemental moisture during the year. Salt Lake City was laid out and designated as Church headquarters. Hard work produced a prosperous community. In their new settlement, entertainment was also important, and the first public building was a theater. It did not take long, however, until the United States caught up with them, and in 1848, after the end of the war with Mexico, the land in which they settled became part of the United States.

a good backpacking trail?

The Florida Trail.

Florida Trail Companion Guide for Long Distance Hikers, $12.

Ocala National Forest, 65 miles of the Florida Trail.

Ranger Districts of the National Forests in Florida

Apalachicola National Forest

Apalachicola Ranger District

11152 NW State Route 20

Bristol, Florida 32321

(850) 643-2282

Wakulla Ranger District

57 Taff Drive

Crawfordville, FL 32327

850-926-3561

Ocala National Forest

Lake George Ranger District

17147 E. State Road 40

Silver Springs, FL 34488

(352) 625-2520

Seminole Ranger District

40929 State Road

Umatilla, FL 32784

(352) 669-3153

Osceola National Forest

Osceola Ranger District

24874 US Highway 90

Olustee, FL 32072

(386) 752-2577

Big Cypress National Preserve, 51 miles of the Florida Trail.

Highway 41 to Interstate 75 - approximately 28 miles one way.

Trailheads are located on highway 41 near Big Cypress Visitor Center and on Interstate 75 (Alligator Alley) at the rest area at mile marker 63.

The trail passes through a variety of habitat types including hardwood hammocks, pinelands, prairies and cypress. Some high ground is available for camping at 13-mile camp. DURING THE DRY SEASON, THERE IS NO WATER AVAILABLE ON THIS ENTIRE ROUTE! YOU MUST CARRY ALL WATER! This walk is not for the casual hiker. It is not heavily marked and vegetation grows over it during the rainy season when there is little foot traffic.

Has anyone visited the yosemite national park? How is it?

Yosemite is one of the crown jewels of the US national park system (along with Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon), and Yosemite Valley is one of the most spectacular spots on earth (with a popularity to match).

There is beautiful scenery throughout the park, including the trails through the backcountry. You can spend endless days on the trails, but here are four highway-accessible highlights that you shouldn't miss:

1) Yosemite Valley -- a small area with spectacular rock formations and waterfalls. (Last winter was very dry, however, so some of the waterfalls will be drying up during the summer.)

2) Glacier Point. This offers a truly amazing view of Yosemite Valley and the high country.

3) Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. This is located in the southern part of the park. The Sierra Nevada is dotted with groves of giant sequoias, and this is one of the finest.

4) Highway 120 from Crane Flat to Lee Vining via Tioga Pass. This is the most scenic highway across the Sierra Nevada, with many spectacular views. Highlights include Olmsted Point, Tenaya Lake, the Tuolumne Meadows area, and Mono Lake (east of the park). Of all the highway passes in the Sierra, Tioga Pass is the highest (at an elevation of 9943 feet), and you might find yourself somewhat out of breath if you take a walk shortly after you first arrive.

Regarding wildlife: I've seen many bears in Yosemite, although they're less common now than they used to be, because the Park Service has been requiring visitors to be more careful about food storage. It's not unusual to see a coyote by the side of the road. Marmots (cute large rodents) are common in the high country, particularly at Olmsted Point. Deer, squirrels, and chipmunks are commonplace. There are many other species present, but they're less commonly seen. (If you want to see large wildlife, Yellowstone National Park is much better.)

Note: The bears in Yosemite are all black bears (Ursus americanus). Black bears are smaller than grizzly bears and come in different colors -- black, brown, or even cream-colored. Attacks against human beings by black bears are extremely rare (although you always want to exercise caution, particularly if you see cubs).

---

to correct misinformation in another answer:

Yosemite was not the first national park in the US; that honor goes to Yellowstone (1872). Before Yellowstone was a national park, the federal government gave parts of Yosemite (the valley and the Mariposa Grove) to California, but that was managed as a state park, not a national park. Yosemite National Park was not created until 1890. In 1906, the valley and Mariposa Grove were added to the national park. In short, Yosemite was the third national park, after Yellowstone and Sequoia.

Also, there are no moose in Yosemite. Here's a complete list of mammals of Yosemite, but you're not going to see most of them:

Unlike Yellowstone, there are no elk, moose, bison, or grizzly bears.