House Resolution 45 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