Mt. Pisgah - Mormon Pioneer Way Station - near Talmage, Iowa - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

Text of the front of the State Marker:

Text of the front side of the marker:
Mt. Pisgah - Mormon Pioneer Way Station
Between 300 and 400 Mormon pioneers perished here from 1846 to 1852. Having been driven from their homes by armed mobs, they stopped here on their westward trek, named it Mt. Pisgah after a Biblical mountain range, and established a way-station. Thousands of acres were cleared, buildings built, and caves dug for shelter until log cabins were constructed, but lack of food and adequate shelter took their toll. In spite of these hardships Mt. Pisgah became a stopping place for an almost endless train of westward-bound Mormon pioneers until 1852 when the last Latter-day Saints left and the site was bought by a Henry Peters and named Petersville.

The original community was located on the slope and flatlands east of this spot. The cemetery extended down the hill to the west, north and south beyond the railroad tracks. Headstones were long ago removed or destroyed by the elements, but the large monument was erected in 1888.
(over)

Reverse of the State Marker

Chief Pied Riche Tells the Spirit of Mt. Pisgah

Soon after the Mormons arrived here the renowned Indian Chief Pied Riche came to bid them welcome and to tell them how the Pottawattamie Indians had likewise been driven from their homeland in what is now Michigan. “We must help one another, and the Great Spirit will help us both. Because one suffers and does not deserve it is no reason he shall suffer always. We may live to see it right yet. If we do not, our children will."


Text of the left side of the NPS tablet:

The Mormon Pioneer Trail
Beginning in February 1846, the vanguard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) struggled across southern Iowa on the way to their "New Zion" in the Rocky Mountains.

The trek from Nauvoo, Illinois to Kanesville (Council Bluffs), Iowa tested the endurance of humans, animals and equipment. The frozen landscape of an Iowa February soon turned a thawing mixture of mud and muck. Their unshakeable faith and determination sustained them, however, and thousands of men, women, and children arrived at the Missouri River having completed this first portion of the journey west under extremely difficult conditions.

After wintering in the present-day Omaha/Council Bluffs district; the Saints continued across Nebraska and Wyoming to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Today, a marked 1,624 mile long auto tour route closely parallels this historic route.

The Mormon Pioneers struggled across the Iowa prairies, traversed the Great Plains of Nebraska, climbed the backbone of the continent at South Pass Wyoming, and descended the Pacific slope of the Rocky Mountains to the Great Salt Lake Valley of Utah.

(map of the Mormon National Historic Trail)

Center of the NPS Tablet

What's in a Name?
In the Bible, Mount Pisgah is the place from which Moses saw the promised land. As Parley P. Pratt approached the crest of the hill upon which you are standing, he saw the beautiful Grand River Valley below him and felt he could see the Mormon "Zion".

Pratt was sent by the Pioneer party to find a location for the second semi-permanent camp in Iowa. Here, three thousand acres of land were cleared, log homes and other buildings appeared, and crops were planted. A natural year-round spring and the Grand River provided excellent water sources for the Mormon Pioneers.

Perhaps Pratt was not actually viewing the promised land from this hilltop, as the name Mount Pisgah suggests. However, the beauty and abundance of this site provided a welcome respite for the Pioneers after three and a half months of struggling through the Iowa mud.

The arrow indicates your present location and the dots mark the sites of other panels across the state. For a brochure with more detailed route information, contact the nearest tourist information office.

(map of the Mormon Historical Trail through Iowa)

Right Side of the NPS Marker

Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography
"Riding about three or four miles through beautiful prairies, I came suddenly to some round and sloping hills, grassy and crowned with beautiful groves of timber; while alternate open groves and forests seemed blended in all beauty and harmony of an English park. While beneath and beyond, on the West, rolled a main branch of grand River, with its rich bottoms of alternate forest and prairie. As I approached this lovely scenery, several deer and wolves, being startled at the sight of me... bounded away... Being pleased and excited at the varied beauty before me, I cried out, "this is Mount Pisga.""

Eliza R.Snow, June 4, 1846
"Mov'd into a house built of logs,some peal'd & some with bark on... the roof form'd by stretching the tent cloth over the ridge pole & fastening at the bottom of the outside..."

Orson Pratt
May 19, 1846
"We concluded to form another settlement here, for the benefit of the poor, and such as were unable, for the want of teams, to proceed further. Accordingly, the camp commenced building houses, ploughing, planting, and fencing in farms..."

These excerpts, selected from thousands of faded Pioneer journals, tell us how it was on the trail for the Mormon Pioneers, who in spite of daily toil, hardships, and death, left us a thousand windows into the past.

(illustration of a cave dugout and two men building split log fencing)

(metal tag on case)
Exhibits funded in part by the AMCA Humanities Board and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Text of the Cemetery Marker

This Monument Erected A.D 1888 In memory of those members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who died in 1840, 1847,
And 1848, Denying their ex-odus to seek a home beyond the Rocky Mountains. Interred here is William Huntington The first Presiding
Elder of the temporary Settlement called PISGAH. Lenora Charlotte
Snow Daughter of Elder Lorenzo & Charlotte Squires Snow Isaac Phinehas Richards Son of Elder Franklin D and Jane Snyder Richards

Road of Trail Name: Mormon Trail State: Iowa County: Union County Historical Significance: From the Wikipedia Entry for the Mormon Trail: The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 miles (2,092 km) 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, as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail. The Mormon Trail extends from Nauvoo, Illinois, which was the principal settlement of the Latter Day Saints from 1839 to 1846, to Salt Lake City, Utah, which was 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; these trails are collectively known as the Emigrant Trail. The Mormon pioneer movement began in 1846 when, in the face of conflicts with neighbors, Young decided to abandon Nauvoo and to establish a new home for the church in the Great Basin. That year Young's followers crossed Iowa. Along their way, some were assigned to establish settlements and to plant and harvest crops for later emigrants. During the winter of 1846–47, the emigrants wintered in Nebraska, Iowa, and other nearby states, with the largest group residing in Winter Quarters, Nebraska. In the spring of 1847, Young led the vanguard company to the Salt Lake Valley. During the first few years, the emigrants were mostly former occupants of Nauvoo who were following Young to Utah. Later, the emigrants increasingly comprised converts from the British Isles and Europe. The trail was used for more the 20 years, until the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Among the emigrants were the Mormon handcart pioneers of 1856–1860. 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. Years in use: 1846 to 1869 How you discovered it: I found out about this purely by accident - there is a geocache at this location and I was able to learn a lot from the information provided at the site. Book on Wagon Road or Trial: unknown at this time. Website Explination: The National Park Service Maintains a Websiteon several locations on the trail and keeps information on the Auto Tour Route. http://www.nps.gov/mopi/ Why?: From The NPS Site: http://www.nps.gov/mopi Led by Brigham Young, roughly 70,000 Mormons traveled along the Mormon Trail from 1846 to 1869 in order to escape religious persecution. The Pioneer Company of 1846-1847 established a route from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Salt Lake City, Utah, covering about 1,300 miles that would include construction of new ferries and bridges, and the placement of markers for others to follow. Directions: From the Junction of US34 and US169, Go North on US 169 and turn left on CR H29. Turn Left on Mt Pisgah Road. The signage to the site is excellent.

Visit Instructions:
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