INTERPRETIVE PLAN Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail U.S Department of the Interior National Park Service Rocky Mountain Regional Office Harpers Ferry Center Approved by Associate Regional Director Planning and Assistance Rocky Mountain Region by memorandum dated April 27 1992 TECHNICAL INFORJTION CENTER DENVER SERVICE CENTER NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail Interpretive Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS PURPOSE OF THE PLAN PLANNING HISTORY HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND SIGNIFICANCE INTERPRETIVE THEMES INTERPRETIVE OBJECTIVES SPECIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS THE PLAN Publications 11 Signs and Outdoor Exhibits 13 Trail Markers 13 Wayside Exhibits 14 Audiovisual Programs 15 Video Program 15 Audio Cassette Recording 15 Indoor Exhibits 15 Media Levels 16 Level 16 Level II 16 Level III 17 Level IV 17 Level 17 Special Media Applications 17 Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail Interpretive Plan Criteria For Choice of Level of Interpretive Treatment 17 Significance 17 Integrity 17 Accessibility 17 Traffic 18 Application of Criteria 18 Implementation Costs and Responsibilities 18 Site Inventory and Recommendations 19 Illinois Sites 19 Iowa Sites 20 Council Bluffs Kanesville and Omaha Winter Quarters Sites 22 Nebraska Sites 23 Wyoming Sites 25 Utah Sites 28 APPENDIX Maps 31 APPENDIX Graphics 37 APPENDIX Cost Estimates 51 GENERAL VICINITY MAP Iyorntig_ Lincolu L__._._.._... e.. Original Mormon Pioneer Troll Designated Highway Route Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail Interpretive Plan PURPOSE OF THE PLAN This plan recommends strategies and media for providing interpretation of the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail trail stretching from Nauvoo Illinois on the Mississippi River to Salt Lake City Utah see map The plan is intended to be used by the National Park Service NPS as overall trail administrator and by the various trail cooperators whether they are other federal agencies state and local agencies trail groups or interested individuals As employed by the NPS the term interpretation embodies two major components intimately related but not identical The first component is information names dates locations distances etc The other component is interpretation in the sense of supplying context and meaning The proportion of these components is major determinant in the choice of media and of the character of the media chosen Interpretation is dispensed in two broad categories personal and non- personal The former includes talks guided trips demonstrations and attended information stations Non-personal services are publications outdoor signs and exhibits museum exhibits and audiovisual products This plan deals almost exclusively with non-personal interpretation PLANNING HISTORY The National Trails System Act of October 1968 P.L 90-543 established policies and procedures for nationwide system of national scenic and recreational trails and was amended November 10 1978 P.L 95-625 to include category of national historic trails That amendment also established the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail This action by the Congress was the result of The Mormon Trail--A Study Report completed by the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service HCRS in June 1978 That study had the active assistance of number of federal state and local agencies the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints the Mormon Pioneer Trail Foundation historical societies and interested individuals The study was conducted for scenic trail feasibility and found that continuous hiking trail along the original Mormon emigration route would be neither desirable nor practical because subsequent uses have preempted extensive segments of the route Accordingly although the Congress designated the entire original route as national historic trail the Act established only federally-owned lands having significant potential for public use combined with historic interest established Initial interpretation and appreciation to be as Protection Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail Interpretive Plan Segments of the trail Six Initial Protection Segments in Wyoming were automatically certified as official components of the trail The Act also provided that other sites and segments could later become official of the trail parts when they were certified as such Certification is process whereby trail sites and segments that meet basic preservation interpretation and/or recreation criteria are designated by the NPS as official components and then become eligible for assistance and inclusion in official trail programs The Act directed that the trail be administered by the Secretary of the and the NPS Interior was designated the lead agency responsible for preparing comprehensive plan for the management and use of the trail Accordingly the Comprehensive Plan and Finding of No Significant Impact Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail was released in September 1981 In accordance with the establishing Act the plan places priority on the six Initial Protection Segments Under the heading Objectives and Practices the comprehensive plan states The primary use is and will continue to be reenactment of the pioneer trek and travel of the route Furthermore the policy is To manage the trail in manner to protect the quality of cultural natural and historic values and protect certain lands in their natural condition so as to provide for outdoor recreation and public use In line with this emphasis on recreation and the long range character of the plan the comprehensive plan recommends facilities for some sites for their recreational potential which are of lesser significance to the story and which in some cases are presently difficult of access This of interpretive plan being shorter range character deals with sites that currently lend themselves to interpretive media Criteria for these determinations will be found in the Plan section under Media Levels Following the approval of the comprehensive plan many markers with the standardized logo were placed along the designated highway route in the 1980s remarkable early percentage of these are still in place primarily in Iowa and Nebraska HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND SIGNIFICANCE The Mormon emigration was an important part of the settlement of the West The Mormons had in mind traveling to what was then Mexican tecritory establish seeking place to their religious community History has recorded their vast contribution to the development of the Nation and the West in Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail Interpretive Plan large number of historical publications In February 1846 Brigham Young and group of Mormons departed Nauvoo Illinois crossing the Mississippi River by boat to Iowa shore From there they pioneered an overland route with way stations across Iowa and wintered on the Missouri River near present-day Omaha Nebraska Others followed and by the end of 1846 over 3700 Mormons were settled at Winter Quarters Nebraska and in Kanesville present-day Council Bluffs Iowa In the spring of 1847 President Brigham Young and pioneer company of 149 men women and children continued westward They followed the north side of the Platte River through modern-day Nebraska to Fort Laramie in what is now Wyoming From there they generally followed the path of the Oregon Trail and other routes to Fort Bridger The pioneers then veered southerly following the Hastings cutoff route into Utah and the Great Salt Lake Basin The pioneer Mormon migration one of the dramatic events in the history of American westward expansion was unique in comparison to other migrations because of its purpose organization and cultural impact Its purpose was to maintain the cohesiveness of the Mormon community and thus became permanent movement of whole people Unlike the sometimes loose discipline of other wagon trains the Mormon pioneer company was organized in semi-military fashion into tens fifties and hundreds led by Brigham Young as general and with others serving as company captains hunters and scouts Also unlike many other emigrant companies the first thoughts of Brigham Youngs pioneers were to improve the route for the Mormons who would follow They measured distances and set up mileposts noted good locations for camping wood water and forage and generally became the guide for the thousands of emigrants who later followed this trail In their later secondary efforts the Mormons established semi-permanent communities of and ferry crossings major importance They graded down steep approaches to fords cleared boulders out of the trail and made the route easier These efforts identified two-way wagon road as continuous route eastward to pick up supplies and new converts at the Missouri River or to meet faltering companies and help them on to Salt Lake City In southern 4owa particularly they established some of the first communities roads and bridges They made Winter Quarters Omaha and Kanesville Council Bluffs into outfitting points that rivaled the Missouri towns of Independence Westport and St Louis The path they followed became major Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail Interpretive Plan transportation route The culmination of this migratory effort was primarily the centralization of religious community and the settlement and industrial development of Utah There are tertiary aspects of significance for the route of this trail It crosses the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail at the Missouri River and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail at South Pass Wyoming In places it parallels or has connections with several other Old West routes such as the Oregon National Historic