Winter Quarters, Kanesville, and Nauvoo

It has always been on my "bucket list" to visit Nauvoo.  This year I was finally able to accomplish that goal.  Sherwin settled in behind the wheel for the long journey with me.  Luckily we are great traveling companions.

As we traveled through Wyoming I was reminded of other visits through that state.  My first memory was traveling with my Grandpa and Grandma Rock to Denver to visit Aunt Joan and Uncle Gordon MacKay.  Grandpa was always a teaser.  I would start to doze off through the long miles of sagebrush.  When he caught me doing this in his rear view mirror he would say "Jill, look at that dear....(at that point I would be wide awake looking for a deer) then he would say, "dear little sage brush plant."  I looked forward to our stop at Little America, where I had fond memories of a large ice cream cone.  I was disappointed to see that they no longer had the state flags that used to adorn the outside of the truck stop.

I also had memories, not so fond, of when we lived in Colorado Springs and would travel through Wyoming on our way to Idaho for Christmas. The roads were slick and the ground blizzards made visibility difficult.  The only good part was the anticipation of Christmas with all our Idaho families.

Nebraska was a surprise.  I wasn't expecting the lush green landscape with prairie grasses and the beautiful well kept farms along the way.  It was beautiful.  One of the best aspects though was the gasoline prices.  When we left Idaho, the price of gas was $3.71 a gallon.  In Nebraska we found gas as low as $3.10 in one spot.

Winter Quarters Visitor's Center

We visited Winter Quarters Nebraska and Council Bluffs Iowa which is just across the Missouri River. At the LDS visitor's centers we were reminded of the hardships that faced the Mormons as they made their way west to escape the persecution of the mobs in Illinois.

A special treat was watching the video in the visitor's center about the Mormon Battalion.  The video featured one of my ancestors, Ezra Hela Allen and his wife, Sarah Beriah Fiske.   Here is an internet link  http://www.mrmother.com/ezra/index.htm  I have a better story of their lives in my genealogy.  Anyone who is interested can contact me for a copy.

 Sculpture depicting the handcarts and journey to Winter Quarters.

The Winter Quarters Temple.  Someone told me that at the time it was built, it had the most stained glass of any other LDS Temple.
http://winterquarters.com/temple.html

Another sculpture and the beautiful flowers in front of the Kaneville  Visitor's Center.

The tabernacle built at Kanesville with a sculpture of the First Presidency.  This was at the time that Brigham Young was set apart as the Prophet after Joseph Smith was Killed






We finally reached our destination in Nauvoo.  I was surprised that it was such a small country town.  Before the Mormons were driven out of Nauvoo, it was the largest city in the state of Illinois.  It was even larger than Chicago was at that time.

 After the Mormons left, many of the homes and the Temple were destroyed.  Vineyards were planted where houses and businesses once stood.  Then in the 1960's the church bought up some of the land again and rebuilt some of the ruins and built replicas using journal entries as their guide in an effort to honor those early pioneers. The church also re-built the Nauvoo Temple using some of the original plans but of course now days it has electricity and modern plumbing.

 There is also a restored section of land that is owned by the Church of Christ (which the Reorganized LDS Church merged with).  It is also the burial place of Joseph Smith, Emma Smith, Joseph Smith's parents and brother Hyrum Smith.

 We stayed in this Bed and Breakfast that was built in the early 1900's.  The people who run the B&B also own the only winery and bar that is in Nauvoo.

This barn and vineyard were behind the B&B.  We had some delicious meals served by our hostess.








My favorite part of our visit in Nauvoo was the Trail of Tears.  It was the trail that the Mormon saints walked down to cross the Mississippi River in February.  A presentation was staged by the missionaries at night.  Using lanterns we walked the trail as they read journal entries depicting the feelings of the Saints as they left their homes and crossed the frozen river in the middle of winter.

 The Nauvoo Temple http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/originalnauvoo/

The sun stone and the trumpets(above) stand for the heralding in the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

 Sherwin and I were able to attend a session in the Temple.  We were there early and one of the officiators showed us the baptistry and some of the historic artifacts.  We were also the witness couple for the session.  In the right hand corner of the temple is a cherry wood spiral staircase that is very beautiful.  It leads to all the rooms of the temple.

As with all the temples, the grounds were planted with beautiful flower gardens.

Another view of the Nauvoo Temple

The general store owned by the Smith family at one time.  Many historic events took place in the upstairs.  One thing was the organization of the Relief Society

This represents the ferries used to cross the Mississippi River.

Downtown Nauvoo

There were many musical programs presented by the missionaries.  Some were funny and some were serious.  Missionaries were at each historic building to tell the visitors the history and stories of the people who once resided there.

This represents one of the larger homes that was built in Nauvoo.

This is Joseph Smith's home.  It is owned by the Reorganized church.  Emma Smith lived here after Joseph was killed and it was also the home of Joseph Smith III.  The family cemetery is located on this property.

Joseph Smith's home.  The white part was an addition added by his son later. Joseph Smith III became the leader of the Reorganized church.  In the foreground is the headstone of Hyrum, Joseph and Emma Smith.

Another typical old home in Nauvoo.

The sun setting over the Mississippi River.