Iowa and Winter Quarters Era
General Church History Research Guide
Online Resources:
Combined List of Florence, Nebraska, Cemetery Burials
This collection contains several lists of Latter-day Saints buried after 1848 in Cutler’s Park and Winter Quarters. It contains Saints’ age at death and death or burial date.
Pioneer Company List in the Church History Biographical Database
The Church History Biographical Database includes the most complete listing of individuals and companies that traveled west to Utah from 1847 through 1868. It lists approximately 60,000 of the estimated 70,000-75,000 individuals who crossed the plains. It contains biographical information, dates, and personal accounts when available, and new data is being added daily.
This interactive series follows the trail from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Salt Lake Valley with the estimated 70,000 pioneers who made the journey. It features infographics, timelines, personal accounts, maps of key locations, and original artwork. The website is hosted by the Church History Department.
An index of members of 23 branches of the Church in Iowa during the Nauvoo era and the trek west between 1839 and 1859.
This is a website dedicated to gathering information on the Saints who lived and died in Winter Quarters. It contains biographical information and details about cause of death, charts and graphs, and maps. The website is hosted by the Early Latter-day Saints database and includes information originally gathered by students and faculty of BYU.
Death and Marriage Notices from the Frontier Guardian, 1849–1852
This resource is a compilation of death, marriage, and birth notices published in the Frontier Guardian, a small newspaper edited by Orson Hyde while the Saints were in Iowa. The online version is available with login at FamilySearch, while a physical copy can be viewed at the Church History Library (M277.77 D285 1990).
Winter Quarter Wards: An Index to Membership Lists 1846-1848
This is an index to the wards in Winter Quarters during the exodus and westward movement. It lists basic information about household composition gleaned from bishop’s reports, high council meeting minutes, tithing records, and census reports.
Textual Resources (Available at the Library):
Mormons at the Missouri: Winter Quarters, 1846–1852
This book, written by Richard E. Bennett, focuses specifically on the time period between the Saints leaving Nauvoo and starting the trek west (M277.82 B472mo 2004).
Remembering Winter Quarters/Council Bluffs: Writings of the Mormon Pioneers at the Missouri River
This resource, updated from the 1998 edition, is a compilation of transcribed journals and firsthand accounts of life in Winter Quarters and Council Bluffs, Nebraska (M277.82 R386 2000).
Sacred Places: Iowa and Nebraska
This book provides information on historic sites in the states of Iowa and Nebraska relevant to Church history (M272 B533s v. 5 2006).