Day 6- Wagon Rides, Carthage, and the British Pageant

In two groups, we went on a wagon ride all around historic old Nauvoo. We saw many original buildings and homes that still stand from the 1840’s. Some places are not open to the public, but are still marked as historic sites. Some of these are now private residences. (How cool would that be to live in an original Nauvoo home?) On the wagon tour, we also rode down Parley Street, where the Saints walked down to the Mississippi River to escape persecution yet again. Along the trail, there are signs that have quotes from various people about what it was like to have to leave their beautiful city.

After the wagon ride, we had some lunch at Grandpa John’s- yum! Then, we went on to Carthage, where Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were martyred. We began by singing some hymns while we waited our turn for the tour. Rachael and Brooke did a great job accompanying us. Being there was very humbling as we thought about the sacrifices Joseph and Hyrum made for the Gospel’s sake. Our tour guide, Sister Butler from Pleasant Grove, Utah, shared many interesting and testimony-building stories of what happened here.

After Carthage, we had dinner at the Hotel Nauvoo—yum, again!

Before the pageant, some chose to go back to the Country Fair, while others bought souvenirs or relaxed for a while.

After last night’s performance of the Nauvoo Pageant, I didn’t think it could get much better, but it sure did. The British Pageant was amazing!

Pictures:

Meeting in the morning to go on the wagon ride

Visitor's Center- wonderful diplays and information about the Nauvoo area during the 1840's

Some of the first group waiting to get on the wagon

On the wagon

Tickets for the second group's wagon ride-- the first group boarded at 10:50

Sorry for the blurriness- they were on a tight schedule and I had to hurry to get the picture- 2nd group for wagon ride (if you don't see your child, some of the youth chose not to go)

This is the back of the pageant stage. Performers were already at rehearsals for the day.

See the tall prairie grass? They let an acre of it grow in the same spot every year to show how much an acre of land is. In the fall, they burn it to show how quickly prairie fires spread. Then, it grows again, year after year.


In the next several pictures, you can see the blue plaques that tell what the building was used for or who the home belonged to. Some of these places are open to the public, while others are now private residences. Most of these buildings are not the originals, but replicas of those that once stood here in Nauvoo.

In the next few pictures is what is called "The Trail of Hope," which they knew as Parley Street. The Saints walked down this street towards the Mississippi River and away from their beloved city after the death of the prophet Joseph Smith when they had to leave their homes and their temple once more because of persecution. Along the trail now are signs with quotes about the journey west from those who wrote about it in their journals.

This was the spot where many of the Saints would take one last look at the temple before leaving it forever. Can you see it under the canopy just above the tour guide's head?

At the end of Parley Street is a statue of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young looking westward over the Mississippi River

Looking over the Mississippi River towards Iowa

The red buoy in the river marks the Illinois side of the river. Green buoys mark Iowa's claim to the river. In the 1840's, the river was not as wide as it is now, and the Saints would have still been on the land out to about the red buoy.

Lunch at Grandpa John's Cafe, across the street from our hotel

Front views of the two buildings we stayed in

On to Carthage

Pardon the blurriness, but I wanted to include this because Rachael did a great job playing piano for us as we sang hymns while waiting for our tour of Carthage to begin

This is the original flooring

This is the dungeon room where Willard Richards hid a seriously wounded John Taylor 

This is the room where Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were martyred

The window that Joseph Smith fell through, and the bed under which John Taylor landed after being wounded

The original door and bullet holes

The original railing on the stairs leading up to the bedroom

The jail also had a kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms, where the jailer and his wife and children lived and provided meals for the prisoners. The prisoners were required to pay for any meals and supplies they used. The cells were generally dark and dirty, but after a little while, the jailer moved Joseph and his friends to the upper bedroom, because he knew they were good and innocent men. He also invited them to eat meals with his family, which also shows how honorable he believed the men to be.

The area outside the jail where Joseph Smith landed after he fell from the upper window.

Dinner buffet at the Hotel Nauvoo

Stick pulling and square dancing at the Country Fair

The British Pageant

Bishop and Sister Frandsen had a bunch of pictures they took printed, and then we all got to pick out some for our journals, and then we had some hanging out time before bed.