Mt. Pisgah
Like Garden Grove, Mount Pisgah was a campsite and temporary settlement in southern Iowa for members of the LDS Church traveling west to Winter Quarters from Nauvoo. Mount Pisgah was established in southern Iowa as a temporary way station for Mormon emigrants who crossed the Plains from 1846-1852.
The picturesque setting was a welcome sight to many of the expelled Saints. Ezra T. Benson described Mount Pisgah as “the first place that I felt willing in my heart to stay since I left Nauvoo.” Shortly after arriving, Indian Chief Pied Riche welcomed the Saints to the area and described how their people had also been driven from their home in Michigan and felt that they “must help one another, and the Great Spirit will help us both. Because one suffers and does not deserve it is no reason he shall suffer always. We may live to see it right yet. If we do not our children will.”
However, despite the scenic beauty of the area, the Saints who lived at Mount Pisgah endured many hardships. Within the first six months of settling the area, at least 150 people died. Among those who died there was Joseph Knight, Sr., who had joined the Church early in Colesville, New York. Also, the call to fulfill positions in the Mormon Battalion came to Mount Pisgah, and approximately 65 of the able-bodied men left in the service of the military.
In 1852 the Mount Pisgah stakes were instructed to dismantle their settlement and emigrate to the Salt Lake Valley. In 1888, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased the pioneer cemetery and the surrounding one acre. Also, a monument was erected listing the names of many people who lost their lives at Mount Pisgah.