Cache replaced 8/7/2013.
Beginning in February of 1816, the vanguard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) struggled across southern Iowa on the way to their “New Zion” in the Rocky Mountains.
In the Bible, Mount Pisgah is the place from which Moses saw the Promised Land. As Parley P. Pratt approached the crest of the hill upon which you are standing, he saw the beautiful Grand River Valley below him and felt that he could see the Mormon “Zion”.
Pratt was sent by the Pioneer Party to find a location for the second semi–permanent camp in Iowa. Here, three thousand acres of land were cleared, log homes and other buildings appeared, and crops were planted. A natural, year-round spring and the Grand River provided excellent water sources for the Mormon Pioneers.
Perhaps Pratt was not actually viewing the Promised Land from this hilltop, as the name Mount Pisgah suggests. However, the beauty and abundance of this site provided a welcome respite for the Pioneers after 3½ months of struggling through the Iowa mud.
Between 300 and 800 Mormon pioneers perished here from 1846 to 1852. Having been driven from their homes by armed mobs, they stopped here on their westward trek, named it Mt. Pisgah after a Biblical mountain range, and established a way-station. Thousands of acres were cleared, buildings built, and caves dug for shelter until log cabins were constructed, but lack of food and adequate shelter took their toll. In spite of these hardships Mt. Pisgah became a stopping place for an almost endless train of westward-bound Mormon pioneers until 1852 when the last Latter-day Saints left and the site was bought by a Henry Peters and named Petersville.
The original community was located on the slope and flatlands east of this spot. The cemetery extended down the hill to the west, north and south beyond the railroad tracks. Headstones were long ago removed or destroyed by the elements, but the large monument was erected in 1888.
The trek from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Kanesville (Council Bluffs), Iowa tested the endurance of humans, animals, and equipment. The frozen landscape of an Iowa February soon turned into a thawing mixture of nearly impassable mud and muck. Their unshakable faith and determination sustained them, however, and thousands of men, women, and children arrived at the Missouri River, having completed this first portion of the journey west under extremely difficult conditions.
After wintering in the present-day Omaha/Council Bluffs district, the Saints continued across Nebraska and Wyoming to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Today a marked 1624 mile long auto tour route closely parallels this historic route.
If you enjoy doing benchmarks, the monument here is one.
3/28/12 - Original cache is still there - replaced container as old one was damp - be sure to replace everything in plastic bag to help keep dry. Did not have a more waterproof container with me.
Please do not log this cache as found unless you actually sign the log for the cache. The LETTERBOX is NOT the cache. The cache is hidden on the opposite side as the letterbox, and is hidden about like the letterbox. Don't make it harder than it is.
8-30-14 - Checked on cache - still there. I am changing the coordinates a little and added another hint, but it is a real spoiler.
If you have trouble finding this cache, call me - 515-577-9486.