The Crossing at Council Bluffs

Leaf 01

In the summer of 1871, Eliza Ann left her childhood home in Nauvoo and set her face westward. She was nineteen years old, and the journey ahead would take six months.

Leaf 02

The wagon train gathered at Council Bluffs on a morning of thin clouds. Eliza counted forty-three other families, each carrying what could not be left behind.

Leaf 03

She wrote in her journal every night, by the light of a single tallow candle. The entries were brief — the weather, the miles, who had taken ill, who had recovered.

Leaf 04

By the time they reached the valley, the candle was gone and the journal was full. Eliza pressed a sprig of sagebrush between the last two pages.