Table of Contents
Why did immigrants choose the Mormon Trail?
They chose to travel on the north side of the Platte River in order to avoid competition for forage and food with the emigrants on the Oregon Trail across the river. They met and talked with several mountain men along the trail who gave them varying opinions about the prospect of settling in the Salt Lake Valley.
Why did settlers choose the Mormon Trail?
How did the Mormons help immigrants move to the area?
Many of them got help from their church. If they could not pay their way across the ocean, or across the plains, the Church’s Perpetual Emigration Fund might loan them the money they needed. When they arrived, they could pay off the loan so the money could help another immigrant. People traveled in companies of wagons.
Why did the Mormon decide to move to Utah?
The Mormons, as they were commonly known, had moved west to escape religious discrimination. After the murder of founder and prophet Joseph Smith, they knew they had to leave their old settlement in Illinois. Many Mormons died in the cold, harsh winter months as they made their way over the Rocky Mountains to Utah.
What was important on the Mormon Trail?
The Mormon pioneer run began in 1846, when Young and his followers were driven from Nauvoo. After leaving, they aimed to establish a new home for the church in the Great Basin and crossed Iowa. Along their way, some were assigned to establish settlements and to plant and harvest crops for later emigrants.
When did the Mormon migration start?
The Mormon migration that began in 1847 has distinctly shaped Utah’s history. But how did LDS Church leaders choose this place as their ultimate destination? As early as 1832, church founder Joseph Smith predicted that Mormons would settle in the Rocky Mountains .
Why did the Mormons move to Utah?
The church of Mormons was created in New York, but after the death of their founder, all Mormons were persecuted because of extermination passed against them. They moved towards Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois, but later they were also asked to leave this territory, so they headed for the west to Utah and settled there.
Where did the Mormon migration trail end?
The Mormon Trail broke south just to the west of the Continental Divide, and it terminated to the southeast of the Great Salt Lake, in what is today Salt Lake City . The route was designated a national historic trail by the U.S. National Park Service.
Why did Mormons migrate westward?
Mormons Quest for Religious Freedom. Most Americans that traveled West were in search of land, a new life, or business opportunities. The purpose of the Mormons moving was to escape further persecution- they wanted the religious freedom that they were not getting in the East.