The Mormon Trail extends from Nauvoo, Illinois, which was the principal settlement of the Latter Day Saints from 1839 to 1846, to Salt Lake City, Utah, which was settled by Brigham Young and his followers beginning in 1847.

In the spring of 1847, Young led the vanguard company to the Salt Lake Valley, which was then outside the boundaries of the United States and later became Utah.

Two of the handcart companies, led by James G. Willie and Edward Martin, met disaster on the trail when they departed late and were caught by heavy snowstorms in Wyoming.

Under the leadership of Joseph Smith, Latter Day Saints established several communities throughout the United States between 1830 and 1844, most notably in Kirtland, Ohio; Independence, Missouri; and Nauvoo, Illinois.

[2] Following the succession crisis, Young insisted the Mormons should settle in a place no one else wanted and felt the isolated Great Basin would provide the Saints with many advantages.

[citation needed] The Quincy Convention of October 1845 passed resolutions demanding that the Latter-day Saints withdraw from Nauvoo by May 1846.

[4] To try to meet this deadline and to get an early start on the trek to the Great Basin, the Latter-day Saints began leaving Nauvoo in February 1846.

[citation needed] Young originally planned to lead an express company of about 300 men to the Great Basin during the summer of 1846.

However, the actual trip across Iowa was slowed by rain, mud, swollen rivers, and poor preparation, and it required 16 weeks – nearly three times longer than planned.

The weather, general unpreparedness, lack of experience in moving such a large group of people, and the much longer duration of the trip than anticipated earlier all contributed to the difficulties they endured.

[2][8] Now facing a more rugged and hazardous trek, Young chose to follow the trail used by the Donner–Reed party on their journey to California the previous year.

The small sick detachment lagged behind the larger group, and a scouting division was created to move farther ahead on the designated route.

[14]: 226, 245 By 1849, many of the Latter-day Saints who remained in Iowa or Missouri were poor and unable to afford the costs of the wagon, teams of oxen, and supplies that would be required for the trip.

[15] In 1856, the church inaugurated a system of handcart companies in order to enable poor European emigrants to make the trek more cheaply.

Almost 3,000 Mormons, with 653 carts and 50 supply wagons, traveling in 10 different companies, made the trip over the trail to Salt Lake City.

They were generally six to seven feet (183 to 213 cm) long, wide enough to span a narrow wagon track, and could be alternately pushed or pulled.

They met severe winter weather west of present-day Casper, Wyoming, and continued to cope with deep snow and storms for the remainder of the journey.

After 1860, the church began sending wagon companies east each spring, to return to Utah in the summer with the emigrating Latter-day Saints.

Finally, with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, future emigrants were able to travel by rail, and the era of the Mormon pioneer trail came to an end.

[19] The following are major points along the trail at which the early Mormon pioneers stopped, established temporary camps, or used as landmarks and meeting places.