After the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, the Saints who decided to follow Brigham Young to Salt Lake City began to cross the Mississippi River and travel west. A vanguard group led the trek
When the vanguard group reached the Missouri River on the Iowa side, facing difficult travel conditions, the Twelve decided it would be good to establish a winter encampment
Encampments were made at Spring Camp, Cutler’s Park, then finally Winter Quarters, where a major encampment stood from September 1846 to June 1848. The city was about 1/3 mile wide and 1 mile long
In the spring of 1847 the vanguard company left Winter Quarters and traveled to the Salt Lake Valley, where they established a settlement
After a community was established near the Great Salt Lake, Brigham Young and half the company returned to Winter Quarters. The settlement was closed the next year, in 1848, after the winter was over
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Many Saints who came to Winter Quarters finished their journey to Utah, while others formed and stayed in settlements near Winter Quarters, like Kanesville
Kanesville would serve as church headquarters until 1852, and it was later renamed Council Bluffs
The first tabernacle built in church history was built in Kanesville in December 1847. It was dedicated and served as the site of a church conference December 23-27, and about 1,000 saints were in attendance
At the conference the First Presidency was officially reconstituted for the first time since Joseph Smith's death: On December 27 Brigham Young was sustained as president, and Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards sustained as his counselors
The tabernacle was built of cottonwood logs, measured about 40 feet by 60 feet, and took three weeks to build. When the green logs it was made of began to shrink and cause leaks, it was dismantled in 1849
A replica tabernacle was built a block or two southeast of the original tabernacle and was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley 13 July 1996. It became a visitor's center in 1999. That tabernacle still stands today
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The Pioneer Cemetery houses the graves of 365 saints, 304 from Winter Quarters and 56 from nearby Cutler's Park who died between September 1846 and May 1848. Some estimate that 600 saints died in the area from 1846 to 1848
Also at the cemetery is a sculpture titled Tragedy of Winter Quarters, sculpted by Avard Fairbanks. It depicts two parents standing over an infant's grave
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