Existing comment:
3. Winter Quarters:
Several dozen settlements were established by the Latter-day Saints on both sides of the Missouri River near today's cities of Omaha, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa. The largest camp was called Winter Quarters, which also became the general name for the whole area. For the nearly 10,000 people who gathered in the area or were scattered along the trail through Iowa, 1846 and 1847 were years of struggle for survival. Brigham Young had originally intended to push on to the Rocky Mountains in 1846 with an exploring party, but he postponed that plan because of the lateness of the season. The people and their leaders then turned their energy to organizing and preparing for the journey west to begin the next year. |