The “Mormon” Trace

The "Mormon" Trace By Edward H. Anderson

When, during the first half of the last century, the Latter- day Saints, under compulsion, left their possessions in Nauvoo, Illinois, and made their way across the trackless plains to Utah, it was farthest from the minds of those sturdy Pioneers ever to have the trail or the "trace" which they formed and traveled commemorated by monument. They were looking for liberty to serve God and not for memorials to be erected in honor of

East Side of Stone Monument marking the "Mormon" Trace through Iowa

their acts and achievements. They have received both, how- ever. They founded homes in these valleys of the mountains, where they were permitted to worship God in peace, and now the "way" which they trod is being called to remembrance by pillars of stone and the like! How men were sent out from their migrating companies to

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THE "MORMON" TRACE 133 j trace out the way from Montrose, on the Mississippi, through the unsettled plains of ten or eleven counties of southern Iowa, to Council Bluffs, on the Missouri, is not unknown history. What they and their followers individually endured will never be written, except as it is recorded in musty and imperfect scraps of biography, long since lost or pigeon-holed as of little import in the general story of the historic movement of the harassed hegira. Yet, no passage in our country's history, viewed in the light of the accruing spiritual and economic results now beheld in every quarter of western America, is more interesting to the stu- dent of history than this same flight. But that is another story. In 1912 some leading spirits in Utah connected with the M. I. A. Boy Scout movement became interested in the Pioneer Trail, from the eastern border of Utah to Salt Lake City. It is well known that an appropriation of $5,000 was made by the state Legislature some years ago to open and mark the "trace" which the "Mormon" Pioneers hewed over the mountains. Each year following, the M. I. A. scouts have taken a pleasant hike over the way, but so far the money appropriated has not been used. In this respect there is an organization in Iowa which we congratulate and commend and which is setting the pace, as seen from a copy of the Chariton, Lucas county, Leader, of Sep- tember 27, 1917, sent to the editors of the Era by Mrs. German E. Ellsworth, of the Northern States mission, who received it, and also the accompanying pictures, from missionaries laboring in the vicinity. A clipping from the Chariton Leader, which follows, will explain what commendable action the people of Iowa are taking to commemorate the Pioneer Trail, or Trace, as the editor of the Chariton Leader argues that it should be called: A few years since the Daughters of the American Revolution decided to make this trace memorable in history by erecting a monument at Chariton, through which it passed, though then the townsite was virgin prairie. One of the halting places was "Chariton Point" (at the Campbell farm), a mile and a half southeast of the present city, thence in a circle and to the southwest. It was decided that the most fitting monument possible would be a Lucas county boulder in which could be sunk a bronze inscription plate of perhaps 18x30 inches in dimension. The inscription plate ar- rived last Friday and is certainly a beauty. The boulder weighs several tons, and it is the intention to have it finished and placed in the southwest corner of the court house park. The title words on this tablet plate are "The Mormon Trail" And following this is a relief map, with a correct marking of the "trace" across the state and through the counties traversed. Then appears the fol- lowing inscription in beautifully carved, raised letters: "Determined and authorized by the Historical Department of Iowa, 1911." "This monument was erected by the Ioica Daughters of the American

134 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Revolution in Memory of the Pioneers who followed this trail and its trib- utaries" "We crossed the prairies as of old The Pilgrims crossed the sea, To make the West as they the East, The Homestead of the free." — Whittier. "Here upon the trail, Sept. 11, 1849, ivas located the town of Chariton." In the lower left hand corner is the insignia of the D. A. R., and in the lower right hand corner is the seal of the Historical Department of Iowa.

It is well to remember that there was no settlement at Char- iton, Lucas county, Iowa, at the time the migrating companies of Saints made their weary way westward through Iowa, on their journey into the valley of the Great Salt Lake. It was not until September 11, 1849, that the town of Chariton was located. The editor of the Leader insists that his grandfather was one of the first settlers in Lucas county, and lived upon the Trace, at the time of the later "Mormon" immigration, and that his family knew it by no other name than the " 'Mormon' Trace." It is not of vital importance. We out here have called it trail. However, for the sake of those who are interested in his- tory, and in seeing what the Iowa people think of this subject, and particularly what the editor has to say in regard to it, we quote his argument as to whether the path should be called "trace" or "trail." He says: The date of the founding of the county seat of Chariton is correct, but

R est Side of Monument. Missionaries: Above rock, Chas. M. Plumb, St.David, Ariz.; below, Hazel Knight, Salt Lake City; H. A. Jorgensen, Peoa; Roxey Robson, Plain City, Utah.

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that the word "trace" was not used instead of "trail" is a disappointment to what pioneers are left, and to their descendants, because the word "trace" was always used by the "Mormons" and the early settlers in referring to this historic route, and the name of "trail" not only robs the monument of this historic title, but detracts from the sentiment which made it distinctive- trace. The editor of the Leader wrote to Curator Edgar R. Harlan, of the State Historical Department on Friday, and received the following reply: Des Moines, Sept. 22, 1917. Mr. Dear Mr. Gittinger: In the study of the name and location of the travel way across the state, I have been governed almost exclusively by the notes and maps of the original land surveys. Many of the early maps make use of the term "Trace" and many of the term "Trail." I can not have ac- cess to the original notes this (Saturday) afternoon, and I shall not be able to do so before next Thursday or Friday. In the meantime I shall be in Chariton and confer with you. If the word mentioned is your only criti- cism, I shall be very glad, for otherwise I think the meaning of the monu- ment, erected after almost the last forty-niner is gone and few of the orig- inal surveys, if any, exist, extends to many interesting and instructive sub- jects. Sincerely, E. R. Harlan. We believe in preserving the sentiment of history as well as the fact of history and in this substituting theword "trail" for "trace" does violence to both. regretable that this was not thoroughly inquired into before, It is without waiting until after the mistake was made and the work done. If what modern surveyors have placed on records, if anything at all, it is the name given to it by the "Mormon" refugees themselves that is important, and the title by which it was known by the pioneers and that is "The Mor- mon Trace." It was not a matter at the time of documentary entry or of — engineering corps the "Mormons" did not send men forth with compass and chains, merely forerunners, to trace out the way and then followed the — trace thus it is the "Mormon" Trace, so known to them and to the pioneers, and no modern historical society has authority to set this aside either through intent or mistake. If it was a mistake then it should be corrected, for those who named it can not be called back from the spirit world to amend. To what pioneers are left, and their descendants, to designate it as the " 'Mormon' Trail" sounds like discord, just as it would strike upon the ears of Curator E. R. Harlan for some modern historian to speak of that old Ro- man road as the Appian pike, which has survived in sentiment throughout the centuries of time since as the Appian Way. It is correct to speak of the Oregon Trail and the Santa Fe Trail, but we of Southern Iowa do not propose that the distinctive feature of the " 'Mormon' Trace" shall be lost by obscuring it with the commonplace automobile trails going in every di- rection. We are not writing this article to stir up strife, but that history may be kept straight, and the ladies of the D. A. R. as well as the State His- torical Society should certainly be willing to rectify the error. And it is not arbitrary to say that it will be done. We have the right of a county Histor- ical Society, and will get the consent of the county board of supervisors to make the explanation so that future generations will understand, but it would be much better to have it stated correctly on the original monument, "The 'Mormon' Trace." Now, as to the evidence, the writer's grandfather was one of the first settlers in Lucas county, and lived upon the "trace" at the time of the later "Mormon" emigration, and they knew it by no other name. We asked as many as fifty people on Saturday, from various localities in both direc- tions and invariably they said, "Why, it was the 'Mormon' Trace." These were either pioneers or descendants of pioneers. We made inquiry in Decatur and Appanoose counties, and had previously interviewed pioneers in other counties— the "'Mormon' Trace." N. B. Branner, who came to