Iowa City was the gathering point for church immigrants to build handcarts and move west. We were given a tour of the city by a Brother Murdoch, who is a CES Coordinator and an Iowa City expert. We moved in a caravan of five cars. He gave each car a walkie-talkie, so we could hear his commentary as we went. He was also able to tell us where to turn. It was a wonderful day and we enjoyed it very much. The picture where he is pointing is the railroad terminus, where the immigrants came to the end of the railroad line (This was in the 1850s - not the Nauvoo expulsion). There were 3000 people in the camp. The population of Iowa City at the time was 1200, so the Mormons were nearly double the locals. The second picture is of a train crossing the river. It gives you an idea of where the train ended. They got off the train, regrouped, forded the river and went up the hill to the camp. The camp was laid out neatly in rows of tents, just like Nauvoo and Salt Lake City. We learned to admire and respect the territorial governor of the time, Robert Lucas. When asked about how he was going to treat the Mormons, he remarked that he remembered they lived in Ohio for a while (Ohio was part of the territory) and that he had not heard anything bad about them. He said that they were citizens of the United States and as such, had a right to practice their religion, own property, not be molested by anyone and he would see to it that they were not bothered while they were in Iowa.
