Exodus

February 4 marks the date that 178 years ago, the saints left Nauvoo. These pictures show the landscape of the Mississippi around this time of year. Between February 4 and March 1, 1846, about 400 wagons ferried around 2,000 Latter-day Saints across the Mississippi River into an encampment at Sugar Creek, Iowa. Another 12,000 Saints crossed into Iowa during the spring and summer, and the remaining hundreds joined the migration in September.

I take walks pretty regularly around these surroundings. Each time it seems that one of the homes, or names triggers a new curiosity about Nauvoo. It was here and across the plains that the real price was paid by the faithful to deliver the favorable circumstances we have today.