The Lesser-Loved Mormon Trail Through the Bluffs

Today, I climbed the huge, huge cliffs at Scotts Bluff National Monument near Gering, Nebraska. They were so tall, and it was so hot. It took me almost an hour – an this was after biking an hour in the sun just to get to it. But it was incredibly worth it, just for the amazing views.

Here are the bluffs from afar:

And here is a closer view, with “authentic” wagons placed in front so you can imagine settlers moving west:

I have to say that biking through western Nebraska has offered some of the most amazing sites ever. It has generally pleasant, rolling hills and very little traffic. Best yet, when biking at night, you can see thousands of stars. Last night was especially amazing, biking through a pitch-black world until I climbed a huge hill and saw Gering glittering in front of me. (Then I got a whiff of the factories in Gering – dog food? Gross.)

Also, there’s almost no roadkill. The only thing I’ve really seen in the past few days is a mangled Beanie Baby tossed onto parched, broken earth.

But the best part is the bluffs that appear out of nowhere. In the distance, they look like castles or cathedrals, more splendid that any mortal man could make. In fact, at first I would be just staring at them in disbelief, not really sure that they weren’t some kind of military installation built into the hills.

But Scotts Bluff is definitely some of the most magnificent, named after a fur trader named Hirum Scott, who was abandoned by his companions and died somewhere near here.

Thousands of years ago, Nebraska was plains, just as it is today, only about 500 feet higher. But eventually, the rain and rivers ate away at the plains, constantly lowering their height until where they are today. The bluffs exist because the sandstone base is covered with a hard rock cap that is keeping them safe.

But now for the religious history of the site. Scotts Bluff is best known for the Oregon Trail, which in the mid-1800s brought settlers to the West where land was cheap. For much of the trail’s life, settlers went through the center of the bluffs, after the US Army made the deep ravines manageable. You can see them in this view from the top of the bluffs:

In the museum below, there was tons of information about the Oregon Trail, but very little about the Mormon Trail, except for one little window full of small trinkets that the Mormons may have used. At the top, I looked for more, but there was little to be found, except for one little sign with very little information. Here’s what it said:

“On May 27, 1847, Brigham Young led the first of many Mormon Pioneers past Scotts Bluff to their new home in the Great Salt Lake Valley in Utah territory. The Mormons followed the north bank of the Platte from the Missouri River to Fort Laramie, 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of here, where the Oregon and Mormon Trails joined.”

It explains that the Mormons did not use the same trail as the other pioneers, but doesn’t say why, which is a huge omission. The Oregon Trail was easier than the Mormon Trail, with more manageable terrain and many more places to buy supplies. So why would Mormons choose a parallel route?

I discussed the Mormons’ being kicked out of Illinois here. Because of that, Mormons had to avoid “Gentiles,” or anyone who wasn’t Mormon, out of fear of persecution and violence.

Not mentioning this major issue at a monument to the westward migration of settlers is a blatant, and I have to think purposeful, omission. The Scotts Bluff National Monument likes to highlight the beautiful, peaceful side of the site, so that visitors can hike unbothered in the pristine wilderness. Disease, fights with American Indians, persecution of Mormons, and other inconveniences are glossed over, even though the movement west was marked with more hardship than happiness. After all, this was a trip where people were rumored to spend $100 for a drink of water because they were dying of thirst.

The Mormons had to travel almost 1,500 miles from Nauvoo to Salt Lake City, with those at the front planting crops and constructing shelters for those who followed. But there was a huge shortage of money, and about three thousand families were issued pushcarts instead of wagons, with each family physically pushing five hundred pounds of belongings and supplies across the western plains. These carts cost only about 1/10 of the cost of wagons. (To understand what a feat it was, it’s important to take into account that many others tried to make the voyage with wheelbarrows, but none but the Mormons were known to have made it on foot.)

The last groups of Mormons often found supply stations stripped and, as winter set in, many froze to death along the route. Upon arriving in Utah, they found the arid land could not support crops. Thus the swamp-draining technologies learned with in Nauvoo were reversed to provide water for irrigation. Entire herds of cattle froze to death in sudden blizzards. Insects devoured crops. None of this is mentioned in Scotts Bluff.

It’s really sad that all this is omitted, and I brooded over it as I trundled down the mountain. I heard a constant, piercing screeching above me. Looking up, I imagined a buzzard coming after my ill-hydrated body. Instead, it was probably just a hawk. But I think a buzzard is so much more appropriate.