Iowa

The Prairie Trails Museum features an excellent Mormon Trail exhibit about William Clayton and the Mormon Anthem "Come, Come, Ye Saints." In addition, it provides numerous other exhibits, including an intact, rescued log cabin built in 1853; horse-drawn farm artifacts, early settler’s tools, and farm machines (some are over 100 years old); and exhibits about Corydon's history.

Drakesville, Iowa is a city along the Mormon Pioneer trail that is full of trail history. The city is at the beginning of the route used by the vast majority of Mormon Pioneers to cross Iowa. The use of the trail near Drakesville started in 1846, immediately after the vanguard, Brigham Young-led companies had started their treks. This route avoided a lot of the hardships such as the thick mud, rattlesnakes, and lack of roads that the vanguard companies had to endure.

The Brigham Young-led Vanguard group of 500 wagons camped in this area from March 7-19. Richardson's Point contains the burial sites of the first two of three deaths on the Mormon Trail. This site was used as a stopping point for Mormons traveling for an additional 7 years.

Crossing the frozen Mississippi River here at Montrose Landing was the first hurdle the Mormon Pioneers faced during their exodus from Nauvoo.

The Mormon pioneer Vanguard Company arrived here in mid-May 1846 and left over 200 Latter-day Saints to establish a temporary settlement, farm the land, and welcome later travelers. By the summer, 700 people lived here. While Mt. Pisgah provided comfort, it was also sorrowful. During the 1846-1847 winter, scores of its inhabitants died from exposure, malnutrition, and disease.

Locust Creek Campsite is where "Come, Come, Ye Saints" was written in 1846. The campsite is now on private land, but its location can be viewed by visiting next-door Tharp Cemetery. This requires travel on unpaved and unsigned roads. If you do journey to Tharp Cemetery, the campsite is located along the ridge west of the cemetery and south of Locust Creek. No signs or remnants of the camp remain.

This broad, open area became the stopping place for pioneer companies as they approached the Missouri River. At this site, the current location of the Iowa School for the Deaf, more than 500 volunteers of the Mormon Battalion officially mustered into the U.S. Army for service in the war with Mexico.

The vanguard wagon train of Mormon Pioneers stopped on April 19, 1846 as weather conditions and axle deep mud prevented them from going any further. While waiting for things to change, the emigrants built a temporary way station called Garden Grove. Almost overnight, the Mormon pioneers dug wells, built houses, bridges, and fences, plowed and planted. Several hundred of them settled in to rest, heal, and prepare for the final push to the Rockies. If their crops were successfu

On March 5, 1846, the Mormon Pioneers forded the Des Moines River and visited the village of Bonaparte. The Saints visited the village several more times in the following days. They purchased needed supplies, performed musical concerts for its residents, and some even began to establish homes, staying behind when the Vanguard Company left to continue the journey to Utah.