Winter Quarters
Florence area of Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska

   
     About This Settlement:

Brief Historical Overview

• Established: September 23, 1846

• Discontinued: June 1848, as those who were not sufficiently supplied to join the trek west to the Rockies crossed back into Iowa, abandoning Winter Quarters.

• Founder: Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve.

• Industry: Flour Mill, Basket  - Washboards Factory, Brickyard.

• Ferries: North Mormon Ferry between Ferryville, and Winter Quarters. Only one in the area, and it remained long after the pioneers left.  Purchased in 1850 and operated by Peter Sarpy and associates.

• Schools: Dancing classes were held at the new Council House.

• Cemetery: Winter Quarter (Mormon Pioneer) Cemetery

Map

by Gail Geo. Holmes

Leaders Taught Spiritual Growth in Two Nebraska Winter Quarters

Defining the 1846-1848 Mormon (LDS) Winter Quarters of Nebraska is complicated.  There were three winter quarters platted, two occupied, but only one so-named.  That is not to say two of them are of no consequence.  The first was called Cutler’s Park, to honor Alpheus Cutler who found that favorable wintering location.  The second was chosen hastily to head off a war between the local Oto and Omaha Indian Tribes.  Finally, the community named Winter Quarters was chosen to avoid – the prevailing northwest wind.

Cutler’s Park, the intended winter quarters for about 2,500 LDS refugees from west central Illinois and southeastern Iowa, was three great squares or rectangles of covered wagons and tents.  They were parked on either side of what now is Mormon Bridge Road south of Young Street in northeast Omaha.  Cutler’s Park was occupied, officially, from August 7 to September 23, 1846.  Stragglers remained there as late as December 1846.  Great stacks of hay had been put up there, before Indian problems, to feed livestock through the winter.

INDIAN WAR PREVENTED The second platted but never occupied winter quarters was north and south of Willow or Turkey or Mill Creek, northeast of Cutler’s Park.  It was worked on for many days until strong northwest winds taught the surveyors the plateau overlooking the Missouri River half a mile to the southeast – southeast of the loess hills called bluffs -- would be somewhat sheltered from winter storms.  If for no other reason, this second and ultimately unused winter quarters was useful in stopping an Oto Indian war threat against the Omaha Indians.

The Omaha offended the Oto by receiving an offer from the LDS equal to that offered the Oto for use of the Mormon town site which the Oto claimed was exclusively their land.  The Oto had hunted this area since about 1700 A.D.  The Omaha had fled to this district in 1845, one year before arrival of the LDS, to escape attacks by Dakota Sioux.  The Dakota came down from what today is South Dakota to attack the Omaha along the Elkhorn River.

When the LDS moved from Cutler’s Park toward the river, all talk by the Oto about war against the Omaha stopped.  Apparently, the Oto recognized the Missouri River was a highway for all travelers.  All travelers had the right to stop and camp near the river.  No rent could be claimed or collected there by any tribe.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH TAUGHT  But the great Winter Quarters story is about how its LDS leaders taught spiritual growth.  Heber J. Grant, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said it best in his 1936 dedication of the Avard Fairbanks Mormon Pioneer Cemetery monument on the second line of bluffs west of Winter Quarters.  He said:

“It has been referred to as the tragedy of Winter Quarters, but there was no tragedy here, for tragedy spells defeat and disaster.  This was the victory of Winter Quarters, for here was faith and hope and charity raised to their loftiest pinnacles, while greed and selfishness were brought low.  There are times and places in the life of every nation when great spiritual heights are reached, when courage becomes a living thing, when faith in God stands as the granite mountain wall, firm and immovable, while hardships, want, hunger, sickness, sorrow and death beat down to crush.  Winter Quarters was such a time and place for the Mormon people.”

We all have read attacks on Brigham Young by his contemporaries, painting him as a man hard to get along with.  We have read, also, claims of some Christian leaders, who avoid certain parts of the Old Testament, that Brigham Young introduced polygamy on the American scene.  Others say Brigham Young’s followers were dumb sheep, too simple minded to do anything but follow.  Journals, letters, and diaries written in Cutler’s Park, Winter Quarters, and nearly 90 other short-term Mormon communities in the Middle Missouri Valley are readily available to anyone honorable enough to test such claims.

In a short Sunday sermon at the stand in Cutler’s Park September 20, Heber C. Kimball of the Twelve announced a new location for Winter Quarters, overlooking the Missouri River. It was a fine plateau high above the river and sheltered on the north and west by bluffs.  He was followed by Brigham Young who said he didn’t feel like preaching much because there were so many sick who needed to be administered to.

MISSOURI MOB REPORTED  The Twelve surveyed and staked out much of the new Winter Quarters the next day.  After sundown an alarm was sounded that a mob was on its way to Cutler’s Park.  Men were asked to assemble at the stand.  In a 10 p.m. meeting Brigham Young said a letter from American Fur Company factor Peter Sarpy informed him United States marshals with a large force from Missouri were on their way hoping to catch the town by surprise and arrest the Twelve. 

Two sentinels were sent north and two south, along the Missouri River.  Two six-pound cannons were readied for action. The men were sent home to pray with their families and to prepare their guns for use at a moment’s notice.  The next morning all healthy men met at the springs.  Sixteen companies of 25 men each were organized under the direction of their old Nauvoo Legion officers.  Col. Stephen Markham was asked to raise a company of mounted scouts to search the surrounding area.  Brigham Young was elected commander-in-chief, with Albert P. Rockwood as aide.

Strict instructions were given not to fire any gun without permission.  A gunshot would be used to signal an alarm. 

The officers met at Colonel Markham’s tent to draft regulations for the Legion – now, no longer part of the Illinois militia.  Hosea Stout taught drill instructions on maneuvering a small company of soldiers.  Nothing was found.  Finally, it became apparent the warning by Peter Sarpy was another of his fabrications to attract attention to himself.  No mob ever appeared.

Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards, followed by a number of other refugees in wagons, went to the new Winter Quarters and selected lots on which to build. 

That night it was decided to build a water-powered mill at the north end of Winter Quarters, although more than one horse-powered mill also would be used.  Brigham Young, a master carpenter and boat builder, was chosen to superintend construction of the mill.  The Municipal Council also decided backhouse toilets would be built at the rear of each lot, eight feet deep, far from rock-lined and clay-cemented wells where each four lots met.

See enlarged map

CITY BEGUN SEPTEMBER 23  General movement from Cutler’s Park to Winter Quarters commenced September 23.  City blocks were 380’ x 660’, with streets wide enough to turn a covered wagon around without running up onto public or private property.  Each building lot was 72’ x 165’. Brigham Young helped build a corral south of the city for some livestock.  Later, most of the livestock would be sent north with hired herdsmen to winter in rushes by the Missouri River.  They were to be sent north because both the Omaha and the Oto/Missouri Tribes lived only 12 to 15 miles to the south

Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards selected a site September 29 to bridge Turkey Creek, near the site of the proposed mill.  That very afternoon contracts for the mill were signed.  Brigham helped the next day with additional surveying of the city – and started to dig his own well.

Deaths at Winter Quarters in the end of September totaled 16, diagnosed as caused by fever, bilious fever, chill fever, and one case of worms.

Brigham, Heber, and Willard went on the morning of October 2 to see a carding machine purchased by the church and brought up to Winter Quarters by John Pack.  Then they went to see the new brickyard set up to make chimney bricks.  They were pleased to see nearby a good source of rock and clay which could be used for the lining of wells in the city.

The Twelve and the Municipal Council, moved in from Cutler’s Park, appointed Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt, and Amasa Lyman to divide the Winter Quarters into wards of the church.  That was accomplished October 4  with the creation of 13 wards of the church.  Benjamin L. Clapp was called to build a house for the carding machine.

Brigham Young advised a Sunday audience to send some families north 70 miles to winter their cattle with that of John Hill and Asahel Lathrop.  Hill and Lathrop had broken off from the Niobrara Camp near South Dakota.  Brigham said he was going to send his cattle to the Hill/Lathrop camp by the Missouri River.

Brigham visited and administered to the sick October 5.  That day he finished digging his well – 32’ deep.

Winter Quarters Mill (Still stands as the Florence Mill, click HERE for map)

MILL DAM STARTED OCTOBER 6  Work began October 6 on a dam of Turkey/Mill Creek for the flouring mill.  Almon W. Babbitt, a Nauvoo trustee, arrived at Winter Quarters with 44 letters and a hundred newspapers.  He said the mob had entered Nauvoo, plundered homes, had driven out both LDS and other property owners, and defaced the temple inside and out.  One of the letters Babbitt brought was from Bishop Newel K. Whitney.  Some of the Nauvoo refugees had been dumped on the Iowa side of the river without food, transportation, or adequate clothing.  Bishop Whitney said about 50 wagons were needed to rescue those refugees.  He was on his way to St. Louis where other Nauvoo refugees had fled.

Some rescue wagons had been sent back as early as September 12 to the Mississippi River from Cutler’s Park under the direction of Orville M. Allen.  More wagons were needed.

2,000 CATTLE IN CITY  Brigham, Heber, and Willard administered October 10 to Eliza Ann Pierson who was very ill.  Then most men swept through grazing areas around the city.  They were gathering cattle to send north for the winter.  Many owners couldn’t find their own cattle.  They had wandered off the beaten track, or had been driven off and killed by Indians.  The next day some 2,000 cattle were driven into Winter Quarters during a drenching rain. Owners had to sort out their own cattle before corralling, so they might know which were to be sent north to winter.  Wilford Woodruff said, “…the rain poured down in torrents…I was quite unwell with the auge (ague)¹ but … laboured hard in the rain through the day.”

Though October 14 was damp and rainy and very late in the season, Brigham laid the foundation of his log home.  Heber finished the walls of his house, and Wilford Woodruff’s group worked on a bridge over Turkey Creek.  Hosea Stout used the new North Mormon Ferry to visit his mother-in-law’s camp near Miller’s Hollow, Iowa.

1. Ague: a·gue n. 1. A febrile condition in which there are alternating periods of chills, fever, and sweating. Used chiefly in reference to the fevers associated with malaria. The American Heritage Dictionary

You see by the date of this letter that I am one nitch further West.  We arrived in Winter Quarters about the middle of November.  We have bought a comfortable little cabin near Sister Pratts.

Nathan, after making necessary arrangements for us to live through the winter, went down to St. Jo’s to earn money to prepare us to go on in the spring, or as soon as it is convenient.

My health is better than is common for me to have.  I can endure more than I could when I lived in Nauvoo.  I can stand it to go out evenings in cold weather without having it affect me as it did formerly, so I feel encouraged and in good spirits.

The last letter I received from you was dated January 25^th.  The general tenor of the letter is to have us return, but I have not the most distant idea, neither has Nathan, of ever turning back.  Our course is and must be onward.  Think of the words of our Savior “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of Heaven”.  I did not embrace this work hastily, I came into it understandingly, I weighed the subject, I counted the cost.  I know the consequences of every step I took.  I have not been disappointed in the least.  I compared this gospel with that which the Savior and the Apostles preached, and I saw what it cost them, I was convinced that the same doctrine must be preached at the same expense.  It never did cost anything to support error, men can propagate error and be popular: but the truth always cost the best blood on earth, not excepting the Son of God and if I set my standard so high as to aspire to be a joint heir with Jesus Christ, of course I must not shrink from drinking the bitter cup.

If I would be among the numberless throng that John saw, whose robes were washed white in the blood of the lamb, I must like them, come up through great tribulations and instead of thinking it hard that I have these difficulties to pass through I count it all joy that I am counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.  The world hated the Savior before it hated us.  That it does hate us is evident.  Our enemies are not willing we should get a foothold on earth.  We have not found a place where we can rest for a while till the Lord commands us to move again.

The twelve have been to the West and found a place in the mountains, which shown to the Prophet Joseph in a vision years ago and which they knew by the description that had been given them.  A Valley between the two ranges of mountains, the California and Rocky Mountains with only a narrow pass each way, which will be easily defended from our enemies. It is represented by all who have been there and returned as being a most beautiful place, 20 miles from the Salt Lake.  The city is laid out, the Temple lot selected, consecrated and dedicated to the name of the Most High God.  And now we are all engaged to see who will get ready to go first, though we don’t mean to go in haste or by flight but the sooner we can go the better, where the mountains of the Lord’s House will be established, the ensign for the Nation will be lifted up, the standard reared and the Nations of the Earth will be invited to come.  Thousands of the Elders will be sent from that place to hunt up the lost sheep of the House of Israel.  Nathan will undoubtedly have to go and leave his family, but I borrow no trouble about that. I am willing to endure anything my Sisters of the Church have to endure to help build up this great and last Kingdom that the way may be prepared for the judgments of God upon the earth.  There we shall have an abiding place while the indignation of the Lord passes by.

Now these things I can assure you are realities, and not to be trifled with.  God has set his hand to gather Israel and do his last work on the earth.  Nothing can stay his hand.

If indeed you are looking for this work to fail, you will look in vain.  It is as described in the Scripture, “A marvelous work and a wonder.”  It is not, nor will it ever be understood by all no more than the great work in the redemption of the world was.  I bless and praise God that I have been made acquainted with the light and have been willing to walk in it.

I feel the deepest interest in you all.  My heart’s desire and prayer to God is that you may be willing to receive our testimony concerning these things.  We declare unto you before God and Angels that the things we have embraced are Truths from Heaven, and now this [once] more after all we have said, we testify unto you that we know by the power of the Priesthood that God has revealed Himself in this age of the world unto man, for the gathering of His people, to prepare for (not legible) what is coming on the earth. And those who have tried to hinder the work of the Lord by stigmatizing those to whom the authority was committed, will be ere long ashamed and confounded.

I know the virtues of this people.  If there is true genuine virtue on the earth it is among this people.  No people were ever more belied.  There is not a principle taught and understood that the most chaste and virtuous mind could disapprove.  Those who have not the Spirit of God do not understand them, neither is it given them to know.  “No man knoweth the things of God but by the Spirit of God”, and let the ignorant beware how they judge.

If you understood the principles of this Gospel you would never urge me to turn back.  It would be strictly against your own interests.  If you knew what I know you would encourage me to go forward, to do my work, that all things may be prepared when Christ comes to awaken the dead.  I want you should believe what I should tell you and help me with a willing heart and you shall forever have my prayers and blessing and I shall do a work for you that you shall never be ashamed of, but you shall rejoice over me through the endless ages of eternity that you had a child that was firm enough to remain unshaken, notwithstanding all your entreaties.  Think not though the judgment of God linger that they will not come:  read the parable “The Lord delays His coming” but God is long suffering not willing that any should perish.  Then Elders are now preparing, many of them, to go out into the Nations to gather up the scattered Brethren and hasten them out as soon as possible.

We see everything moving on in fulfillment of prophesy, and blessed are they who are children of light and whom that day will not overtake unawares.  If you feel disposed to assist me, and can do it without injury to yourselves, you can write me and I will send by some trusty person as there will be many going forth next spring, and I will send some person whom I know can be trusted.

Tell Charles if he has not found a wife yet, he had better come out here and get a Mormon girl, if he wants a smart one.  Come now and make us a visit before we go.  If Charlie is not disposed to come, you come Darius.  We have first rate times here.  You might enjoy yourself the best you ever did in all your life.  Everything is lively and cheerful, no long faces at all.  We have good meetings and good music, and we are all as brisk as larks.  We are not afraid of hardships of fatigue.  We have peace in view and the idea of getting beyond the reach of mobs keeps up our spirits.  Oh if you would only come and go with me, and feel as cheerful and willing to suffer a little as I do, how great would be my joy.  But I mean to live faithful and continue to pray that you may sometime come to the knowledge of these things, which you must know for yourselves or you could not stand. “My Kingdom come, come go with me, all friends of Truth where ere you be”.

Now I must bid you farewell, asking God my Heavenly Father to bless you and if you will pray for the few saints in exile you shall be blessed, and I say it in the name of the Lord.  I am as ever your affectionate daughter and sister,

                                                                                    Eliza A. Cheney.

Source: Eliza Cheney to Parents, Brothers, and Sisters, January 1848, in Historical Letters and Sketches, 1841 - 1919, Eliza Jane Rawson Collection, LDS Church Archives.  Copy also available at Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters, Pioneer Research Library.

Winter Quarters, Church Headquarters, 1846-1848 by  Richard E. Bennett, Ensign 1997, September >

Cemetery

by Gail Geo. Holmes

 (Mormon Pioneer) Cemetery was opened in November of 1846 on the top of the 2nd level of bluffs west of Winter Quarters.  It was laid out northwest/southeast with each grave carefully placed in 3ft. 4in. by 7ft. 6in space, although infants sometimes were buried with mothers.  Having surveyed the entire cemetery grounds with infra-red, we now know exactly were each sexton-recorded burial was interred.  More>