Text: HR00044 Text: HR00046 Text: HR00000 - HR00099 Text: HR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. ___
1 2 BY WATTS, HEATON, REASONER, WISE, DOLECHECK, BOGGESS,
1 3 WHITAKER, SWAIM, ARNOLD, JONES, GASKILL, B. HANSEN,
1 4 and STRUYK
1 5 A Resolution requesting the State Department of
1 6 Transportation to identify the Mormon Trail route
1 7 across Iowa on the official Iowa highway map.
1 8 WHEREAS, in 1846, the year that the State of Iowa
1 9 was officially admitted to the Union, a tragic series
1 10 of events forced nearly 20,000 citizens of Nauvoo,
1 11 Illinois, who were members of the Church of Jesus
1 12 Christ of Latter-Day Saints, to abandon their homes
1 13 and seek refuge on the western banks of the
1 14 Mississippi River; and
1 15 WHEREAS, in February 1846, severe winter weather
1 16 froze the river, allowing wagons to cross over into
1 17 Iowa, but claiming the lives of many who died of
1 18 extreme exposure; and
1 19 WHEREAS, parties were eventually organized to
1 20 transport families and their belongings to a new
1 21 settlement to be established in the West, and the
1 22 story of that journey is one of the most tragic, yet
1 23 triumphant, examples in American history of human
1 24 determination to survive against overwhelming odds;
1 25 and
1 26 WHEREAS, in addition to those who made the original
1 27 trek across Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming on their way
1 28 into Utah on the route that is now known as the Mormon
1 29 Trail, many thousands more followed in the years
1 30 afterward, and today the Mormon Trail is recognized to
2 1 be as significant historically as the Oregon Trail and
2 2 other trails used for westward expansion; and
2 3 WHEREAS, when the original residents of Nauvoo fled
2 4 their city, they left behind a temple which was
2 5 destroyed by mobs and vandals, and the Church of Jesus
2 6 Christ of Latter-Day Saints has now completed
2 7 reconstruction of that temple on the original site;
2 8 and
2 9 WHEREAS, the rebuilt temple in Nauvoo is an added
2 10 attraction for descendants of the original residents
2 11 of the city, who will be traveling to Nauvoo in future
2 12 years, along with others interested in the history of
2 13 those people, to visit the home of their ancestors;
2 14 and
2 15 WHEREAS, there are several significant Mormon Trail
2 16 sites along the U.S. Highway 34 corridor across
2 17 southern Iowa that may represent a tourism opportunity
2 18 for cities along that corridor; NOW THEREFORE,
2 19 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
2 20 That the State Department of Transportation is
2 21 requested to identify the Mormon Trail route across
2 22 Iowa on the official highway map issued periodically
2 23 by the Department and made available to the traveling
2 24 public in publications and at rest areas throughout
2 25 Iowa.
2 26 LSB 3073HH 80
2 27 dea/pj/5
Text: HR00044 Text: HR00046 Text: HR00000 - HR00099 Text: HR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
© 2003 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
Comments about this site or page?
webmaster@legis.iowa.gov.
Please remember that the person listed above does not vote on bills. Direct all comments concerning legislation to State Legislators.
Last update: Fri May 2 02:30:21 CDT 2003
URL: /DOCS/GA/80GA/Legislation/HR/00000/HR00045/030327.html
jhf