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Going to Nauvoo & Independence...Any trip advice?

nimrod

By nimrod,
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its_Chet

its_Chet

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If you're going to Independence, there are other places worth seeing in that vicinity. Liberty Jail, Far West, Richmond, Haun's Mill, and Adam-ondi-Ahman, among others.

You can also see Hiram Page's grave, and there's a plaque in the Gallatin town square commemorating the election riot that took place there.

Richmond is your biggest "one stop" site to visit, with the most to see packed into the smallest area. In the town square there is a statue of Alexander Doniphan. Directly South of there is a Salvation Army store with a plaque at the corner of the parking lot commemorating the inprisonment of Joseph Smith and the others, after being arrested at Far West, and the incident in which he commanded the guards to be quiet. The Richmond jail (where the incident occurred) once stoood where the parking lot is. Some distance to the east and west of the town square are two separate cemeteries, where you'll find the graves of many of the Whitmers, including David, as well as Oliver Cowdery's grave, which also serves as a monument to the three witnesses. And if you're up for a brief moment of disgust, William McClellan's grave is also to be found there.

Haun's Mill isn't much to see. Soil erosion has obviously changed the landscape, so it's hard to get a fair idea of what the place looked like in 1838. The Community of Christ has done a lot of excavations at the site without finding much of anything (the mass grave remains undiscovered), but when I was there last year, I saw no signs of the excavations, which I believe had been done a couple years prior. There are no buildings remaining. In fact, the only thing that identifies the site in any way is a plaque that the Community of Christ put up at the site, which some hoodlums have used for target practice with their BB guns. If you're going to Haun's Mill, it is very important that you remember either not to go when it's been raining, or take a couple of 4x4's when you go, because the roads are in about the worst shape one could imagine. They're dirt roads with little gravel if any, and easily become quagmires. You can easily get stuck.

Liberty Jail, owned by the Church, is a much more moving experience in comparison to most of the other sites in the area. Tours are given, which start in a sort of museum room, which contains many pictures and artifacts from the 1830s and around that time. The old Liberty Jail exists just where it did in Joseph's day, though it is now enclosed within a building the Church built around it, and a significant portion of the old Liberty Jail has been cut away to allow you to see exactly how it was designed, and what kind of conditions Joseph and the others lived in during their stay there. You can see how the jail was very well designed to prevent prisoners from escaping. It was considered state of the art in maximum security in those days. There are wax models in the dungeon area, in a realistic environment, which helps you gain an appreciation for what it must have been like for the real prisoners. I felt the Spirit fairly strongly there.

There's not much to see at Far West, but The Church has made the most of it. There are restrooms (which you may very well be thankful for in the middle of a full day of driving around). There is a monument in the center of the temple site, commemorating Far West as the place where so many Saints gathered and made their last stand in Missouri, as well as the Temple that was never built. The corner stones for that Temple are still there, encased in glass boxes with plaques identifying their signficance, as each one was dedicated especially to one quorum of the Priesthood or another. Though there isn't a lot to see there, I did feel the Spirit there.

Independence is primarily a Community of Christ site. It's their headquarters and most of the religiously oriented real estate in the area is theirs. Their Temple is open to the public, and it contains a small museum with interesting artifacts from Church History. You may be surprised to find that the paintings of Joseph and Emma which we commonly think of as the most accurate are actually replicas of originals which they have. They have other items and documents that would be of interest to any LDS Church History buff. It's worth seeing, for that reason. We have a visitor's center at one corner of the intersection of the Community of Christ Temple, the Temple Lot, and the Community of Christ auditorium (where Harry S. Truman once spoke). I didn't have enough time to see our visitor's center when I was there. The Temple Lot is owned by a third party, known as the Church of Christ Temple Lot. They have a visitor's center/chappel located at the corner of the Temple Lot, and there are small corner stones marking out where it is believed that the Temple Site is. While the corner stones indicate a fairly large Temple, I'm doubtful that the Independence Temple is going to be as small as that. Knowing that the original corners stones were not all there when Church of Christ Temple Lot acquired the land, and that what was still there has been replaced with the small markers that they have there now, and that the Church doesn't own that land yet, I felt the Spirit a bit, but not as strongly as I did when visiting sites that the Church does own.

Save Adam-ondi-Ahman for last. Go in late May if you can, because that's when the Black Locust trees are blooming, and it's a sight to see. But anyway you can, go to Adam-ondi-Ahman. That's all I'm going to say other than that I and other people I've heard talk about it felt the Spirit stronger there than any other Church History site.

Needless to say, don't forget your camera. I would strongly recommend researching the sites on the internet or in books, so that you are as familiar with them as you can be before you get to them, which will enhance your appreciation for them. The Community of Christ has a fantastic website that covers a great deal of our mutual Church History, and it's definitely worth a look, for anyone with any interest in Church History whatsoever. The wealth of history there is incredible.

By the way, most of the Church History sites in Missouri fit somewhat neatly into a circuitous pattern, which makes seeing them all a bit easier. And getting a look at them using satellite view can be helpful. You can even get street view for Independence, which will make recognizing the Temple Lot easier.

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rameumptom

rameumptom

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In Nauvoo, see the missionaries' evening play at the Masonic Temple. Also, they have on some evenings musical performances by the river.

I suggest you spend sometime along the Mississippi, watching the herons, pelicans, and other birds. They have some places to stop and park.

If you have the time, you may want to drive about an hour south of Nauvoo to Hannibal, Missouri, which is Mark Twain's hometown. You can take a ride on a river boat and some interesting things to see there. I recommend going up Lover's Leap, as it is an awesome view of the river and town.

Of course, the best part of Nauvoo is to take in an endowment or baptismal session. It is definitely the Church's most beautiful temple in so many ways.

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Hemidakota

Hemidakota

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Save Adam-ondi-Ahman for last. Go in late May if you can, because that's when the Black Locust trees are blooming, and it's a sight to see. But anyway you can, go to Adam-ondi-Ahman. That's all I'm going to say other than that I and other people I've heard talk about it felt the Spirit stronger there than any other Church History site.

Adding here, stop by the old Nephite tower, which is part of rubble next to the main road [found close to the corner of the road] and old rock pile still there for handling under the tree. Then go to the site where Adam built the Altar. Look south-west into what was the Garden of Eden across the other side of the river. I do know, it was hard for me in not taking a piece of the remaining altar for my collection but witnessing it was an amazing experience I will never forget.

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Dravin

Dravin

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I've gotta second bring tissues, made the water works flow for me. I was watching it in the MTC, kinda embarrassing until I realized I wasn't the only one with wet cheeks.

And in case you are curious Ram, I inherited my mother's ball baby gene, The Cure made me ball like a baby for 20 minutes, we're talking sobbing hard enough to have to gulp for air like a landed fish between them. But then I was just reading Executive Orders (Tom Clancy) last night and the part where Katie gets attacked made some tears flow (though no balling), so that should let you know how dominate that particular gene is.

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