INTRODUCTION
By Marian Albright Schenk
FOREWORD
By Dean Knudsen
SECTION 1
Primary Themes of Jackson's Art
SECTION 2
Paintings of the Oregon Trail
SECTION 3
Historic Scenes From the West
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| In 1895 William Henry Jackson embarked on a trip around the world on behalf of the World Trade Commission. Here Jackson is testing the fortitude of a Manchurian pony during a stopover in Korea. (SCBL 3117) |
Section 2: Paintings of the Oregon Trail
THE MORMON TRAIL
The Mormon exodus to the Far West was a unique facet of America's westward expansion. From 1846 until 1869, approximately 70,000 Mormon faithful made their way west in hopes of settling a new homeland where they could live and Church is filled with incidents of intolerance and violent persecution. In fact, Joseph Smith and his followers had been forced to relocate several times after first settling in New York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois.
The violence reached a climax in 1844 when Joseph Smith was murdered by an angry mob. Hoping to avoid any further confrontations, the Mormon leaders began planning for another move—this time into the sparsely populated Rocky Mountains. After several months of preparation, the trek began an February of 1846 when the first group of Mormon citizens of Nauvoo, Illinois, crossed the frozen Mississippi River into Iowa, and slowly made their way west.
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| On the back of the painting, a note by the artist reads, "An imaginary conception of the Mormon handcart immigration of 1856. Landscape from sketches made near Fort Bridger in 1866." (SCBL 40) |
The Mormons gathered at Winter Quarters, near present-day Omaha, Nebraska, and organized themselves before venturing out onto the Plains. The Pioneer group of 120 Mormons, led by Brigham Young, set out across Nebraska in April 1847. Following the route of the old fur traders and early explorers such as John Fremont, the Mormons made their way along the north bank of the Platte River, then crossed to the south bank near Fort Laramie before heading out into central Wyoming. After four exhausting months on the trail, the Mormons finally arrived at the steep-walled Echo Canyon in eastern Utah.
The Mormon experience on the overland trail was quite different from that of other emigrants. First, the Mormons were much more organized. Each Mormon wagon train had clearly defined leaders and each individual was assigned particular duties and responsibilities. Second, rather than simply moving individuals or single families, the Mormons were literally relocating entire communities. For this reason, the Mormons were much more concerned about making improvements along the trail, such as establishing ferries across rivers, as this would make the trip easier for those who would follow them.
One well-known chapter in the history of the Mormon Trail was the handcart experiment. Due to the efforts of Mormon missionaries, hundreds of poor European converts began arriving in America in the mid-1850s all of them hoping to make the trek to Utah. Unfortunately, their lack of money made the purchase of wagons and draft animals impossible. Beginning in 1856, the Mormon Church began organizing companies of emigrants in Iowa City, Iowa, who would make the journey west using two-wheeled handcarts.
Over the next four years a total of ten handcart companies made the journey across Nebraska and Wyoming. In 1856 two companies were caught in an early blizzard and several hundred people died before rescue parties arrived. The last handcarts made the journey in 1860, and completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 signaled an end to the overland route known as the Mormon Trail.
1. Kimball, Mormon Pioneer Trail, 134-135.
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| Echo Canyon. Signed and dated 1934. 25.4 x 38.1 cm. (SCBL 165) |
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scbl/knudsen/sec2r.htm Last Updated: 14-Apr-2006 |
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