What Are The Hardships Of Mormons In The 1800's

Mormons and their hardships of the 1800’s
Mormons had a hard time finding their “home”. they had moved very many places with people viewing their religion as a cult.
From militias attacking them without the Mormons having any protection (not even the town marshals) to being imprisoned for their beliefs, Mormons had an awful time finding somewhere to call their home. Until they moved West, to Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Mormon people knew that if they moved West to Salt Lake that nobody could chase them out of their town for their beliefs because they would be starting their own town based on everyone having the same beliefs. It wasn’t the easiest trek to get to the Great Salt Lake though, it would take many months due to having to cross the treacherous
Rocky Mountains. In 1846 the Mormons left Nauvoo, Illinois ending in Winter Quarters, Nebraska. April 5, 1847 an advance company led by Bringham Young set off on their trek to a new home atop the Rocky Mountains with one hundred forty three men, three women, and two children. They had wanted to get to Salt Lake early so they could get crops in the ground. They traveled on the North side of the Platte River to avoid competition for food with Oregon Trail settlers. It was a hard expedition, but they pulled through with some help from the mountain men.
Nothing that was set in the way of these brave men and women would stop them from getting the place they were going to call home. Following the traditional trail proved to be too hard on their wagons, therefore, they decided to pave their own way, just like they were doing with their religion.
July 22nd, the first wagons move downstream toward Emigration Canyon. The traditional trail (Donner Hill Trail) was too hard to travel on, it was rough on the wagons and would take longer to get across the mountain. So what did Bringham Young and his people do? They decided to cut their own road at the base of mountain on the North end. The end of the Mormon pioneer trail is generally considered to be at the mouth of Emigration Canyon, where “This Is The Place” monument is located.
The first look at the Great Salt Lake.
July 21st, 1847 Orson Pratt and Eratus Snow were the scouts for the first group, they were the first to arrive, on July 21st, and they explored major portions of the valley, however it was not easy.
The thicket they had to go through for miles and miles ended up being so thick that at some points they had to crawl on their hands and knees for extended periods of time.
But once they finally got where they wanted it was all they imagined and more, they pictured their lives in the valley and found where they could plant crops and build houses. The only downfall was that the valley didn’t have much timber but they decided they could build houses out of stone they would cut out of the mountains. Bringham Young and his men found the great Salt Lake, but not without their share of adversity.
The first wagons moved downstream toward Emigration camp on the mile and a half road they had cut in mountain.
The road proved sufficient as the wagons had moved on it with zero trouble and mad it to the North end of Donner Hill. They had cut the road around the North end of Donner Hill and met the “donners” tracks on the south bank of Emigration Creek. As they came around the bend, Salt Lake came into view for everybody. But the group had to backtrack about a mile to avoid marshes and very tall grass at the intersection of parleys, Emigration, and Red Butte Creeks.
Bringham young had come down with a fever a week before these spectacular moments and on july 24th, 1847, he arose in the back of his wagon overlooking the valley he saw exactly what he
invisioned.
“The history of the Mormon Trail cannot be understood without an awareness of the Mormon religion itself.
The great Mormon migration of 1846-1847 was but one step in the Mormons' quest for religious freedom and growth.
The Mormon religion, later known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830 in Fayette, New York. Smith experienced visions as a teenager and would later be regarded as a prophet by the Mormons. In 1827, he claimed that an angel showed him buried gold plates which he then transcribed into The Book of Mormon.
All who subscribed to the beliefs of this text became known as Mormons. Membership grew rapidly, but not all were enthused about Smith's new religion. Persecution of the Mormons led to subsequent moves westward for the church, first to Ohio, then to Missouri and then to Nauvoo, Illinois. Smith envisioned a permanent settlement in Nauvoo. But both the Mormons' time in Nauvoo and Smith's life were to be short-lived.
From 1839 until 1846, the Mormon church was headquartered in Nauvoo where church members were able to prosper and practice their religion peacefully. But before long, tensions arose when many citizens began to view the Mormons with
contempt.
Mormon practices such as polygamy, in combination with the quick growth of the church, contributed to a growing intolerance among some Illinois citizens. Hostilities broke out and on June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by an angry mob while jailed in Carthage, Illinois.
Brigham Young stepped in as Smith's successor and immediately began furthering Smith's plans for a move to the Far West. By now, the Mormon population of Nauvoo neared 11,000, making it one of the largest cities in Illinois. Yet the persecution of Mormons continued. In one month alone in 1845, more than 200 Mormon homes and farm buildings were burned around Nauvoo in an attempt by foes to force out the Mormons.
Possible locations for a new home for the Mormons included Oregon, California and Texas. But with Smith's acquisition of John Fremont's map and report of the West in 1844, the Salt Lake region of Utah was chosen as the Mormons' destination. Young and his devotees made plans for an exodus to this new land. By 1846 the Mormon migration had begun.” –www.nps.gov/mopi/historyculture/index.htm