Last updated: July 28, 2023
Place
Montrose Landing
Photo by Kenneth Mays
Quick Facts
Location:
Montrose in Lee Co. Iowa, on the west shore of the Mississippi River.
Significance:
Temporary settlement and first river crossing for the Latter Day Saints during their exodus west.
Designation:
Certified Site
Amenities
4 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Picnic Shelter/Pavilion, Picnic Table, Playground
Montrose was the site of the first Fort Des Moines, established in 1835 to control and protect the Sauk and Meskawi (Fox) Indians, who lived in villages nearby. The modern town of Montrose developed around the original Fort. The Fort Des Moines was abandoned in 1837 but was not empty for long. Two years later, Mormons fleeing Missouri arrived and took shelter in the old barracks while building houses across the river in Nauvoo. According to one witness, on Aug. 6, 1842, it was at Montrose that Joseph Smith prophesied that the Latter-day Saints would be "driven to the Rocky Mountains" by their enemies, and that they would go on to build settlements and cities and "see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains." Latter Day Saints regard this as a prediction of their emigration to the Great Salt Lake Valley.
The Saints fled Nauvoo in February 1846, some crossing the Mississippi River by ferry and others walking or driving across the ice after the river froze. They landed at Montrose and along the nearby riverbanks before proceeding to the Sugar Creek campground, about 6 miles west of Montrose. Some of the poor and ill people who had no means to follow Brigham Young west ended up camping about 1.5 miles north of Montrose along "Potter's Slough." Young later sent back wagons to retrieve them and bring them west.
The pioneers landed in Montrose, on the west shore of the Mississippi River, during their exodus from Nauvoo in 1846. The first wagon, belonging to Charles Shumway, was ferried across the river on February 4.
Orson Pratt recorded his crossing on February 14: "The falling of the snow and the cold northwest wind have made the weather very disagreeable... We found the ferryman and his man standing in the open air around a small fire. We prevailed upon them to venture across and in a short time we found ourself safely landed on the West bank of the great Mississippi."
The Mormons continued their exodus from Nauvoo through September, when the last members of the church were run out of town by hostile mobs.
Site Information
Location (Montrose Landing, Lee County, Iowa)
Safety Considerations