A bright yellow ribbon was symbolically cut with a pair of oversized scissors, and a new city roadside park was opened April 19, beautifying the little-known site of the first organized community of the Mormon pioneers in Nebraska.
Although a monument had been placed in 1986, identifying the site of Cutler's Park, the area was largely unnoticed by motorists hurrying past the busy intersection of Young Street and Mormon Bridge Road in north Omaha, about three miles west of the Winter Quarters cemetery.But now the site, which includes a number of newly planted trees and flowers and a wooden bench near the monument where visitors can sit and enjoy the area, should attract more attention, said Ronald T. Dowse, president of the Douglas-Sarpy Counties Mormon Trails Association, which developed the park.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in connection with activities associated with the dedication of the Winter Quarters visitors center and the re-enactment of the pioneer trek. The park is scheduled to be dedicated June 22, said Brother Dowse, a member of the Cottonwood Ward, Papillion Nebraska Stake.
The county trails association is desirous of extending an invitation to the dedication to descendants of Cutler's Park residents, said Brother Dowse. Descendants may contact him at 7315 Edna Court, LaVista, Neb. 68128.
Yellow ribbons were also placed on the limbs of the new trees, identifying the name and ages, and in some cases the cause of death, of those who died in Cutler's Park and are buried in the cemetery at Winter Quarters. (See related article above.)
On Aug. 1, 1846, an advance company moved onto the west bank of the Missouri River into Indian Territory, which is now Nebraska. They first stayed at Cold Springs Camp, according to information from the Douglas-Sarpy Counties Mormon Trails Association. Behind this advance company, on the Iowa side of the Missouri, were large contingents of refugees strung out for miles. A few days later, the advance company abandoned the Cold Springs Camp and moved nine miles north to an area that became known as Cutler's Park.
Here, as the Middle Mormon Ferry worked long hours bringing the Saints across the Missouri, a tent community was founded. A public square was laid out and elections were held. Alpheus Cutler, for whom the community was named, was elected mayor, along with a city council of 12 persons. Police and fire guards were appointed. As many as 2,500 persons poured into the area.
But the community only lasted a little more than a month. Troubles brewed over the giving of benefits to two different Indian tribes for the use of the land. Rather than causing a war between the tribes, the Saints moved to a new location on a low plain between the river bluffs and the western banks of the Missouri. The new site was called Winter Quarters.
