What happened on the Mormon Trail?

Answer 1

People died, babies were born, they sang, slept, ate, went to the bathroom, basically they just lived their lives. Except...they did all this in severe blizzards, boiling heat, chill winds, and in harsh climate, too. But mostly people died.

Answer 2

When the Latter-day Saints were driven out of Nauvoo, the majority of them were forced to leave behind many of their possessions and many of them simply walked away from the homes they had built. Wagons could only carry so much, and that also meant that many comforts they had enjoyed were to be left behind or sold.

Because the Saints knew that enemies would possibly be travelling with groups headed for the Oregon Territory, they chose to blaze a different trail which paralleled, crossed, but rarely followed that which was used by the Oregon pioneers. Hence their travel was made more difficult by the act of creating a new trail. Once they reached the Rocky Mountains their task became even more difficult as they had to find ways to get their wagons through often unnavigable mountain passes.

Although the Saints generally stayed one or more winters in Winter Quarters and surrounding settlements in Nebraska and Iowa, providing enough food and clothing to make the trip across the plains was difficult, and many Saints subsisted on very little while making the crossing. Many who had provisions always tried to share with those who were less fortunate.

When the United States government asked the Saints to provide volunteers to serve in the army during the war with Mexico, many families had to make the trek west without their fathers and older sons. Help was organized by Brigham Young and the other apostles to assist those families whose men were serving in the Mormon Battalion.

Through it all, however, the Saints tried to maintain a positive attitude about their trials. They felt that they were following a prophet of God to a place of relative safety; a place where they had been promised that they would grow and flourish. They always rested on the Sabbath, which was good not only for their spirits, but helped rest their animals as well. They held frequent dances as a means of lifting their hearts. Those who lost loved ones on the trail believed that they would be reunited in heaven and were grateful for the testimonies they carried in their hearts.

Answer 3

The Mormon Trail was traveled by Mormon Pioneers from Illinois to Utah after they had been kicked out of Illinois. It was then traveled by Mormon converts from Europe and Canada as they immigrated to "Zion" (the Mormon settlements in Utah). The trail was mostly discontinued after the railroad reached Salt Lake City.