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4 unusual facts about Mormon Trail


Mormon Trail

While at Fort Laramie, the vanguard company was joined by members of the Mormon Battalion, who had been excused due to illness and sent to winter in Pueblo, Colorado, and a group of Church members from Mississippi.

Young reviewed information on the Great Salt Lake Valley and the Great Basin, consulted with mountain men and trappers, and met with Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Jesuit missionary familiar with the region.

At this open area, where the Iowa School for the Deaf is now located, the LDS emigrant companies paused and camped, forming what was called the Grand Encampment. From this site on July 20, the Mormon Battalion departed for the Mexican-American War.

Stanley B. Kimball

He was an expert on eastern European history but also wrote on Latter-day Saint history, specifically his ancestor Heber C. Kimball and the Mormon Trail.


Fort Laramie, Wyoming

The town is named after historic Fort Laramie, an important stop on the Oregon, California and Mormon trails as well as a staging point for various military excursions.

Laramie Peak

Laramie Peak was an important landmark for the settlers on the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail.


see also

Merrill Jenson

Jenson collaborated with award-winning composer Sam Cardon to compose the music for three PBS documentaries by producer and director Lee Groberg: Trail of Hope: The Story of the Mormon Trail, American Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith, and Sacred Stone: Temple on the Mississippi.