How did the Mormon pioneers travel to Utah?

By 1869, perhaps 70,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, had walked or traveled in wagons across 1,300 miles of wilderness to Salt Lake City, Utah. The place was the great valley of the Salt Lake, in what would become the state of Utah.

Why did the Mormon pioneers come 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.

How many Mormon pioneers died coming to Utah?

Bashore and Tolley analyzed 56,000 records of pioneers who traveled to Salt Lake City between 1847 and 1868. The researchers found 1,900 deaths during the journey or within the calendar year of arrival in Salt Lake, making the overall mortality rate 3.5 percent.

How many Mormon pioneers came to Utah?

An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 pioneers traveled to Utah during those years. Hundreds of thousands of other emigrants traveled to other points in the West, primarily California and Oregon.

What was the worst thing that happened to the Mormon pioneers?

Four pioneers were killed by Native Americans; two died from snakebites or scorpion stings; one was murdered, and two were — yikes — eaten by wolves. Taken alone, the Willie and Martin companies had a 16.5 percent mortality rate, and handcart travel in general was more perilous than journeying by wagon.

Why did Mormon pioneers migrate to Utah?

What year did the Mormon pioneers come to Utah?

1847
Completing a treacherous thousand-mile exodus, an ill and exhausted Brigham Young and fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints arrived in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. The Mormon pioneers viewed their arrival as the founding of a Mormon homeland, hence Pioneer Day.

Why did Mormon pioneers use handcarts?

To save money and time, church leaders in 1856 urged emigrants use handcarts. The carts were far cheaper than wagons and ox teams, and people pulling handcarts could move more quickly when they didn’t have to wait daily for their livestock to graze.

Where did the Mormons go on their way to Utah?

In April 1847 the pioneer company of Mormons was on its way from Winter Quarters, Nebraska, to Utah. The reports of Fremont and conversations with Father De Smet, a Jesuit missionary to the Indians, helped to influence their choice to head for the Great Basin.

What did the Mormon pioneers take with them?

Each of these companies had accompanying supply wagons to carry the heaviest items, such as tents, food, and other supplies. One wagon was provided for every 100 people. Emigration methods evolved between 1847 and 1868. During the entire period, emigrants traveled in organized wagon trains and in independent companies.

When did the Mormons go to the Great Basin?

The reports of Fremont and conversations with Father De Smet, a Jesuit missionary to the Indians, helped to influence their choice to head for the Great Basin. An advance party, including three African-Americans, entered Salt Lake Valley July 22, 1847, and the rest of the company on July 24.

When did the Latter day Saints come to Utah?

After the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, Latter-day Saint emigrants who traveled to Utah generally came by train. It is difficult to identify an exact number of individuals who came to Utah from 1847 through 1868 because not all the company rosters were turned in to the Church.