Mormon Trail

Celebrating the centennial of Brigham Young’s Mormon pioneers.

“Opened and charted as a wagon road in 1846-47, from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah, by pioneer vanguard under Brigham Young. Followed by thousands of Mormon pioneers to their new homeland in the ‘Valley of the Mountains.” This trail – traced first by wild animals, used by Indians, fur hunters, later blazed as a wagon way over the Wasatch Range by the Donner Party – became a highway for not only covered wagon pioneers, but also the Pony Express, the overland stage, the first transcontinental telegraph – and to some extent the route of pioneer railroads of the West.” – Text, lower right.

This fun and attractive representation of the American West was designed in 1947 by J. Rulon Hales and published by the American Pioneer Trail Association of Manchester, New Hampshire.

The route of the Mormon Trail is highlighted in orange, but many other famous thoroughfares are also shown – the Oregon Trail, the route of Lewis & Clark, and the Old Spanish Trail to name a few. Illustrated vignettes offer a nice Western aesthetic, while scattered annotations add historical context.