Tuesday August 18, 2009

THE FAMILY LAKE POWELL VACATION WAS GREAT. I was able to explore Park City, hike, stay at the cabin, build big camp fires, go to Church, swim, water ski, jump off cliffs, eat good food and boat around Lake Powell with an outstanding group of people – my family. I have one son and four daughters. Each of them married really neat people. They have currently produced 13 of the cutest and funnest grandkids in the world.
THE RIDE IS BACK ON AGAIN. Monday I flew back to Omaha, Nebraska to continue the Bicycle Trip.
Tuesday I spent the whole day at Winter Quarters Nebraska (Florence or North Omaha to everyone but the Mormons). There is a lot to see and a lot to learn at the Mormon Trail Center, the Cemetery, and the old town site. However the highlight was that I was able to attend a temple session in the new Winter Quarters Temple. It was built in 2001 and is one of the small format temples. Although they do not rent temple clothes (I did not bring mine), they do have some extra for missionaries that they let me use.
Interesting information about the Council Bluffs Iowa / Omaha Nebraska area: The two are sister cities and are actually one big metropolitan area. They are basically separated by the Missouri River. However over the last hundred and fifty years the river has changed channels so part of Iowa is on the west side of the current river and is in Nebraska territory. There are many bicycle paths in the Council Bluffs / Omaha area and there is a beautiful suspended pedestrian bridge across the Missouri River so you can walk, run, bicycle or rollerblade between the two cities without fighting cars.
Brigham Young’s Pioneer Company left Nauvoo in February 1846 and originally intended to reach Deseret (Utah) before winter in 1846 but they had so much trouble with the mud and hills of southern Iowa that they did not reach the Missouri river until the fall of 1846. They decided to establish a camp for the winter and then proceed to Deseret the following spring. The decision was made to cross over the Missouri river in the late fall while the water was low so that they would not have to cross it with the high water “spring run off” next year. Brigham received permission to create “Winter Quarters” in the Indian Territory of Nebraska. He had to get approval from both the Indians and the U.S. Government. Negotiations over the 500 man enlistment in the Mormon Battalion played a part in the government’s approval. At that time there were 16,000 saints spread across Iowa and into Nebraska. They created a major settlement at Winter Quarters with over 500 log cabins and dug outs. They were laid out in organized wards with blocks for living and blocks for farming. Utah natives will be familiar with the street grid pattern used at Winter Quarters. Mormons migrating to Utah used Winter Quarters until at least 1852 and it may have been used until 1854.
A couple of the Apostles received a revelation that it was time for Brigham Young to be sustained as Prophet, Seer and Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He had been leading the Church as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the two and one half years since the Prophet Joseph Smith was killed. After organizing the initial building and farming initiatives in Utah Brigham left and came back across the plains to Kanesville Iowa (Council Bluffs) and was sustained and set apart as the second President of the Church at a special Church conference on December 27, 1847. The big conference building has been reconstructed and there is a visitors center there now. It is in old town Council Bluffs.
In the future I will continue to blog about the trip across Nebraska and Wyoming and the fast descent into Utah.