This is a news release from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
From the stained-glass windows of the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, scenes of early pioneers etched in
pane overlook the resting place of hundreds of Latter-day Saint pioneers.
The Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, located in Florence, Nebraska, is a reverenced landmark that reminds Church members of their ancestors’ struggles and
heartaches. The cemetery is a historical marker of the perseverance and longing of a people who desired to worship God without persecution.
The Winter Quarters Temple, rising above this hallowed burial site, is located on the grounds of the 1846-48 Latter-day Saint encampment known as Winter
Quarters.
For many, the newly constructed temple symbolizes the American quest for religious freedom and reminds them of the trials endured by the men, women, and
children who believed in that quest.
"There are times and places in the life of every nation when great spiritual heights are reached, when courage becomes a living thing, when faith in God stands
as the granite mountain wall -- firm and immovable -- while hardships, want, sickness, sorrow, and death beat down and crush," said Heber J. Grant, seventh
president of the Church. "Winter Quarters was such a time and place for the Mormon people."
The Latter-day Saints’ exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Great Basin of the Rocky Mountains began in 1846, under the direction of Church leaders whose
followers revered them as men inspired by God to lead them to a place where they could worship freely.
They had faced the threats of angry mobs, the martyrdom of their first president, Joseph Smith, and the forced departure from their comfortable homes in
Nauvoo.
Crossing the frozen Mississippi River, these families were poorly prepared for such an all-consuming exodus. One pioneer wrote of the unimaginably harsh
weather, "The wind blew, the snow swirled, the temperature fell, the animals strayed, and the children cried."
But the Latter-day Saints pressed on.
The journey was long and trying. Their self-made trails were arduous. Their dream of finding a new home was fraught with frustration and sorrow.
Of the approximately 70,000 Latter-day Saints who migrated to the Salt Lake Valley before the 1869 completion of the transcontinental railroad, close to 6,000
died along the way. Many endured the pain of losing family members and loved ones. Many suffered from scurvy, cholera morbus, typhoid fever and
tuberculosis.
Shortly after the pioneers reached Iowa, many of the Church’s most able-bodied men responded to Church leaders’ encouragement to enlist in the Mormon
Battalion and assist the United States in its war with Mexico.
Despite the absence of 500 strong men, the pioneers looked after one another, trusting in a power stronger than the arm of flesh.
The majority of the Latter-day Saints who perished early in the migration died of hunger and exposure while at Winter Quarters in Nebraska territory and nearby
settlements in Iowa. Around 600 were buried in Winter Quarters’ Mormon Pioneer Cemetery.
The pioneer wagon trains that left Winter Quarters and Kanesville (now Council Bluffs) during the months and years that followed included many women, small
children and the elderly and disabled. They continued to battle against primitive transportation and their own inadequacies as frontiersmen.
Yet they forged trails and marked the way for others to follow.
The wooden wheels of their wagons and handcarts withstood mud, rocks, water, snow
and the pull of a beast, if one was available. Crossing the Great Plains with only what they could carry, these pioneers left behind or sold anything deemed
unnecessary, regardless of its personal value.
Expectant mothers gave birth in the snow. Others made great sacrifices to care for families divided by death.
Yet they continued on.
"There is no other pilgrimage certainly in the history of this nation to compare with it," said Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. "The miracle they accomplished is something I never quite get over."
Despite their adversities along the way, these early pioneers invested time and effort to fortify and beautify their surroundings. They left in their wake
communities where other weary travelers could settle or prepare to embark on their own journey along the "Mormon Trail."
In Winter Quarters they constructed and left behind a tax-free network of roads. They built bridges, saw mills, schools, ferries and church houses. They
established at least four county governments and two weekly newspapers. They created many businesses and developed thousands of acres of usable
farmland.
In Iowa, log cabins and brick buildings built by the Latter-day Saints still exist. The roads they developed aided migration and helped in the settlement of the
state years after their departure. Now, more than 150 years later, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is honoring the memory of these men, women
and children by opening its recently completed Winter Quarters Temple.
Some of the temple’s 18 scenic stained-glass windows depict historic Winter Quarters sites and events, reminding visitors of the pioneers who found refuge
there and paid the ultimate price for their faith.
"It is good to look to the past to gain appreciation for the present and perspective for the
future. It is good to look upon the virtues of those who have gone before, to gain strength for whatever lies ahead," President Hinckley said. "It is good to reflect
upon the work of those who labored so hard and gained so little in this world, but out of whose dreams and early plans, so well nurtured, has come a great
harvest of which we are the beneficiaries."
The Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple is the 104th temple constructed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, now a worldwide faith with 11 million
members in 165 countries.
