Ok, now for the day by day details… Recorded in real time.
Day 1
We read chapter 1 of Wagon’s West: Brigham Young and the First Pioneers. This chapter was about Nauvoo.
I used this day as an introduction to our unit. I presented each of the kids with their binder that had information about the particular ancestor that they would be representing.
Day 2 : Packing the Wagon
A couple of days ago, when I told the kids that we would be packing our wagons (figuratively), Evelyn (my 4 year old) said “I have an idea! Let’s use our wagon!” I thought that was a great idea! So that’s what we did.
We turned our wagon into a covered wagon by cutting a hula hoop in half (which we already had) and covering it with some canvas material that I already had on hand. We finished it off with some cardboard wheels.
And then today, we gathered up some supplies from around the house – a small quilt, a lantern, some candles, a suitcase (that was my grandparents), a rope (that we made in Nauvoo last November), a metal pan, and some bags of flour and beans (that Evelyn and I made last night).
Too bad it’s not this cute and fun to go on a real 1300 mile wagon trek. 🙂
Tomorrow, we start our trek to the west!
Day 3 : Leaving Nauvoo
We left our homes in Nauvoo, and crossed the Mississippi into Iowa.
Nauvoo and Iowa are both special places to us, personally. Jershon and I were married in the Nauvoo temple (I grew up 2 hours away from Nauvoo, in Missouri). And then a couple years later, we moved from Utah to Iowa. We lived there for 5 years while Jershon went to graduate school.
Nauvoo was our temple so we crossed the Mississippi River twice (to and from the temple) every month to go to the temple. Kind of like the pioneers, only we were in a car, not a wagon (which makes a huge difference on multiple levels).
I know that river though. It is very wide. I can’t imagine what the pioneers had to go through, in the dead of winter, to get out of Nauvoo. It must have been really hard to leave behind their warm and comfortable homes and start a journey into the unknown.
Day 4: Cold and Rain and Mud and Music
We stopped to camp at Sugar Creek, Iowa. We set up our tent, built a fire, and the sang and danced all evening before bed.
“Conditions at the camp were far from ideal. Helen Mar Kimball Whitney wrote, “The snow had to be cleaned away to pitch the tents, and our beds were made upon the frozen ground.” Her family did not have a stove in their tent.
Even so, there was singing and dancing around the campfires among the pioneers. George Whitaker commented, “We felt as though we had been released from bondage and were free.” On several nights of the week, the Saints gathered to listen to the music of a brass band of sometimes dance to fiddle music. They performed reels, polkas, and jigs, as well as square dances.” (Wagons West: Brigham Young and the First Pioneers, pg. 30)
I told the kids a couple days ago that on Monday we were going to learn how to square dance. This morning, Evelyn excitedly said, “Today we are learning how to squirt ants!”
It took me a minute to figure out what she was talking about. … Me: “not squirt ants… square dance!” ??
Day 5: The Mormon Batallion
As the saints arrived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, members of the United States government asked for volunteers to join the war against Mexico. 500 men (and a few women and children) agreed to enlist in the Mormon Battalion. These saints left their families in Council Bluffs and marched 2000 miles to San Diego, California.
“Though having the men join the Battalion reduced the main pioneer group’s numbers, it proved a great blessing in the end. Not only did it provide a way for many men and some of their families to travel west but it also brought in much-needed money to supply other Saints and showed that members of the Church could be loyal to their country.” (Wagons West, pg. 46)
“When the battalion marched away, musicians played “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” a song popular at the time. (pg 42).
For quick reference, here are the links:
