Last updated: January 13, 2023
Place
Grand Encampment
Quick Facts
Location:
Iowa School for the Deaf, 3501 Harry Langdon Blvd, Council Bluffs, IA 51503
Significance:
This broad, open area became the stopping place for pioneer companies as they approached the Missouri River. At this site, the current location of the Iowa School for the Deaf, more than 500 volunteers of the Mormon Battalion officially mustered into the U.S. Army for service in the war with Mexico.
MANAGED BY:
Iowa School for the Deaf
Amenities
4 listed
Benches/Seating, Cellular Signal, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto
When the first company of Mormon pioneers reached the banks of the Missouri River, they discovered the river was too deep for their wagons to ford and the only crossing was by a single ferry company with one raft. As this ferry could not meet the high demand, Brigham Young tasked a crew of 100 men to build a new boat and improve three river landings. Despite their best efforts, it eventually became too late to continue any further west for the year. Continuing into the mountains beyond was too risky as few European American emigrants had gone this far before, leaving the Mormon Pioneers uncertain as to what lay ahead. This, a section of land stretching for 12 miles east of Council Bluffs, is where the Saints would spend the winter of 1846. Hundreds of wagons and thousands of emigrants formed 33 temporary settlements. Low on food and supplies, exhausted, and with disease running rampant, these temporary settlements became the permanent, final resting place for hundreds of emigrants.
The Center's website is www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/historic-sites/nebraska/mormon-trail-center-at-historic-winter-quarters?lang=eng
Site Information
Location (Iowa School for the Deaf, 3501 Harry Langdon Blvd, Council Bluffs, IA 51503)
Available Facilities
Today the site of the Grand Encampment is part of the Iowa School for the Deaf's campus. The school's grounds are open to the public and contain several miles of paved multipurpose (walk, run, bike) pathway. Markers and wayside exhibits about the Mormon Pioneers are found primarily along these pathways. For information and exhibits about the temporary settlements created by the Mormon Pioneers in 1846 and the hardships they endured during that winter, as well as for a staffed visitor center, visit the Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters. It is located approximately 25 miles northwest of the Grand Encampment site.
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