Trail of Hope

At the west end of Parley Street, the early Saints waited with their loaded wagons to cross the river in very cold February weather in 1846.  Only one wagon could cross at a time because the barge was very small.  Later, the river froze so wagons could cross more quickly.

 

This street from the Seventies Hall to the river used to be called the "Trail of Tears" for very good reasons.  President Hinckley asked that the name be changed to "Trail of Hope".  Of course, there were tears when the Saints were forced to leave, but they left with faith and courage and HOPE!

 

 

 

There are 29 reader boards but here are just a few:

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the summer, the Young Performing Missionaries do a "Trail of Hope" performance several nights a week, where they take groups of guests along the trail after dark and tell other stories (as if they were the person in the journal) and sing songs by lantern light.  It is VERY powerful.  Again, here are just a few.

 

 

 

 



At the end of the trail there is a kiosk with the names of all the people who began the journey west but died along the way.

 

 



 

There is also a statue of Joseph and Brigham looking out across the Mississippi River toward the west.

 

 







 

 



As we load our wagon (car) and prepare to leave Nauvoo, I am once again awed by those faithful, courageous Saints who suffered and sacrificed to make the blessings of the restored gospel a reality for us.  We are not required to suffer as they did, but we have our own sacrifices to make.  I pray that we will all be willing to stand up for what we believe and when we meet those wonderful people again - maybe they will be proud of us too.

 

As we take a final look back at Nauvoo we say, "Farewell Nauvoo - you are etched into our hearts forever".          

 

                                                              FAREWELL NAUVOO!!!!!

 





 



 





 

 







Miscellaneous

Our time is almost over and there are so many more things I wanted to share with you. 

The brickyard.  This is actually a pottery kiln out front.

Jonathan Browning's home and gun shop.

 

Lyon Drug.

 

 

Wilford Woodruff''s home.  Eight rooms and eight fireplaces.

 

 

Willard Richard's home.

 

 

Temple missionary housing.  There are 24 buildings providing 60 apartments.  They were built of Nauvoo brick, in the Federalist style, to fit into the Nauvoo landscape.

 

 

 



 The ruins of Thomas Sharp's printing office in Warsaw.

 

 

 

I'm not sure who this little guy is but we found him down by the Mississippi in Warsaw.

 

 

Elder Knudsen was quite excited to find this statue in a park in Warsaw.  Does she look familiar?  She's just like the one we have in Washington Park at home.  



 

Our tornado shelter (in our basement).  Some of our new missionaries saw tornado watches on their phones (we're supposed to wait for the tornado sirens to go off but they didn't know that.)  We came home from our site that day and found 18 people in our house.  It was quite exciting until we found out there was no danger.

 

 

The original road to Carthage.











 

David's Chamber - Joseph's youngest son was born after his father was martyred.  He used to go to this beautiful place to write music and poetry.

 

 

The old Cyprus tree - planted in 1857 - it is the oldest tree in Nauvoo. 

 

 

It's roots grow above ground.

 

 

The old stone bridge.







 

The "red door".  It is located in Webster which used to be known as Ramus.  This is all that is left of the first LDS church meetinghouse in Illinois.  Ramus is where Joseph received the 130 & 131 sections of the Doctrine & Covenants.

 



 

The barges on the Mississippi.

 

 

The American Lotus.  It covers the Mississippi with lily pads in the spring.

 

 

In the summer they turn into a mass of beautiful white flowers.

 

 

In the fall they turn into these really cool seed pods that make really pretty Christmas decorations.

 

 

 

There are hundreds of different kinds of flowers and trees in Nauvoo.  I took tons of pictures but here are just a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

And sooooooo many more.  You will just have to come to Nauvoo in person and see for yourself what an amazing place this is.





 

 











Joseph Smith properties

We live on Parley Street.  If you continue down Parley Street about two miles to the east, you will come to this stuccoed farmhouse.  It is privately owned now, but it was once owned by Joseph Smith.

 

Before the stucco was put on, the house was made of stone, like this little shed out back.

 

 

This was part of Joseph Smith's farm.  We have read that on that last ride to Carthage, Joseph stopped for quite awhile just looking over his land one last time.

 

 

The Joseph Smith properties in Nauvoo are owned by the Community of Christ Church (formerly the Reorganized LDS Church).  They have their own visitor's center and conduct their own tours.  They allow pictures outside but not inside.

 

This is the mansion house.



 

 

Here are a couple of views of the homestead.

 

 

 

This is the Bidamon home and stables.  Emma married Lewis Bidamon after Joseph's death.

 

 

This is Joseph's Red Brick Store.  It is now a gift shop and you can go inside without taking a tour.  Last March we were permitted to have our "Relief Society Re-enactment" in the upstairs room where the first Relief Society meeting took place.  It was awesome!!!

 

 

You can also visit the family cemetery without a tour.  This is the monument over the graves of Joseph, Hyrum & Emma.

 

 

Joseph is in the middle

 

 

with Hyrum on the left



 

 

and Emma on the right.  There are several other family members in this cemetery also.

 

 

When we first came here, I was really disappointed that our church does not own these properties, but we have a very good relationship with the Community of Christ Church and I've come to realize - that is a very important thing.