bigpigeon.us webpage Mormon History > Gallery 1 - Mormon Maps, updated by RAC 15 Feb '18.

Link to Mormon Places Interactive Map - http://mormonplaces.byu.edu/map.html
Mormon Trail Timeline:
  • 1846 - Mormons leave the Nauvoo area for the Council Bluffs area.
  • 1847 - First crossings from the Council Bluffs area to Utah.
  • 1853 - Official evacuation of the Council Bluffs area to Utah ends.
  • 1854-55 - Crossings from NW Kansas, to the trail in central Nebraska.
  • 1856 - Mississippi and Missouri Railroad reaches Iowa City - handcart crossings begin.
  • 1859 - Hannibal & St. Joseph RR reaches St. Joseph, Missouri. Immigrants then travel upstream via steamboat before crossing.
  • 1865 - Civil War ends and railroad building resumes.
  • 1869 - Union Pacific Railroad reaches Utah; Mormon Trail no longer needed.
Picture
The Mormon Trail - 1846 to 1869 (courtesy of lds.org)

​This map shows the 1846 Momon presence along the Missouri River in what is now Omaha and Council Bluffs and their immediate surroundings. Today's highways and the Missouri River channel are superimposed.

The residential use of Winter Quarters was abandoned after one or two winters and Mormons who had not yet crossed relocated to camps across the river in Iowa.

Map by Robert Raymond, found at http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/map/map-RLDS-WinterQuarters-1846.htm, used with permission of the Winter Quarters Project.
1846 LDS Presence in the Council Bluffs Area
1846 LDS Presence in the Council Bluffs Area
This map shows the known Mormon camps in 1847-1853 in what became the western part of Pottawattamie County. Some observations:
  • Winter Quarters is the extreme left middle of the map.
  • Some camps spread out for several miles.
  • Although the maps of the Mormon camps along the Missouri are becoming more accurate, this map still has some errors. I noted that Benson's Mill should be shown along Pigeon Creek, and Bybee's Camp was south of Honey Creek along North Pigeon Creek. Cooley's Camp may also be mislocated.
  • The 1852-1853 Government Land Office survey maps of the area can help to locate camps.

Map found at ​http://winterquarters.byu.edu/Settlements
1847-53 LDS Presence in the Council Bluffs Area
1847-1853 LDS Presence in the Council Bluffs Area
This index map locates Utah relative to neighboring states, as well as major Utah cities and some of the Utah towns most-significant in Mormon history.
  • Note the Sevier River in the southwest flowing northwards before making a giant loop and dead-ending in Sevier Lake.
  • Many of the Mormon families in my database settled in towns along or near the Sevier River.
The Green River flows south entering the Colorado Riber below Moab. The Colorado River flows southwesterly through Glen Canyon (now flooded), Marble Canyon, and the Grand Canyon.
Picture
courtesy of maps.com

  • In this map, note Manti, Ephraim and Moroni in San Pete County, south of Provo. Numerous Danish Mormon immigrants settled in San Pete County.
  • Many of the 16 cousins discussed in Kirsten Pedersen's Relatives and related articles lived in or near these towns.
Utah Today Map
Utah Today (courtesy of geology.com)
Links to my Mormon History materials:
  • Gallery 1 - Mormon Maps (this webpage) - several maps related to the Mormon migration to Utah. 
  • Mormons in the Big Pigeon Area (report)- a collection of Mormon-related items. (21 pp., added 21 Dec '17).
  • Kirsten Pedersen (webpage) - Kirsten's second husband was John Erik Forsgren, a figure from early Mormon history; the family of Kirsten's daughter, Karen, were prominent in the Blair Branch of the Danish Lutheran church.
  • Kirsten's Descendants (webpage) - descendants of Kirsten Pedersen
  • Kirsten's Other Relatives (webpage) - selected nieces of Kirsten Pedersen