In 1846, early Latter-day Saints fled persecution in Nauvoo, Illinois, and gathered in parts of Iowa and Nebraska, where they faced tough conditions and muddy terrain before pushing on to the Rocky Mountains.
For the next six years, many Church members remained in Iowa and Nebraska, building temporary homes, farms, businesses and meetinghouses to support the steady flow of Latter-day Saints as they traveled west.
One of the largest settlements was in present-day Council Bluffs, Iowa, which served as headquarters for Church members in the area between 1847 and 1852. In 1848, Latter-day Saints named the settlement Kanesville, after Col. Thomas L. Kane, a friend of the Church and an advocate on their behalf with the United States government.
Nearly 180 years later, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced that Elder Kyle S. McKay, a General Authority Seventy who serves as Church historian and recorder, will dedicate a newly completed Kanesville Memorial Historic Site on Saturday, Sept. 28.
The Kanesville Memorial will be among 30 historic sites operated by the Church across the United States.
“The purposes of these sites are to highlight the heritage of the Latter-day Saints and to help visitors understand significant events in the Church’s history, their connection to teachings of the Church and their ties to local history,” a news release said.
The new Kanesville Memorial is located on East Broadway Street in downtown Council Bluffs. It replaces a log building that was created in 1996. That log structure — a reconstruction of a place of worship that the Latter-day Saints built in 1847 — was removed in April 2022 after 25 years of service to the Church and community.
The new memorial features native landscaping, historical waysides, bronze sculptures and new monuments created by Omaha, Nebraska, artist Matthew Placzek. The monument is designed to highlight the faith in Jesus Christ exhibited by early Latter-day Saints and commemorate three events that occurred in the area:
- The mustering of the Mormon Battalion, a group of over 500 volunteers requested by the United States government for the Mexican-American War in 1846. The new memorial recognizes the courage and faith of those who stayed behind when the battalion marched from the Iowa Territory to San Diego, California.
- The reorganization of the First Presidency, the highest governing body in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in 1847. At that reorganization, Brigham Young became the President of the Church.
- The return of Oliver Cowdery, one of the first leaders of the Church. After being separated from the faith and its members for 10 years, Cowdery traveled to Kanesville and rejoined the Church in 1848.
Tours at the new Kanesville Memorial are free and self-guided. The historic site features a welcome center with restrooms, drinking water, exhibits and films that share additional stories and history. Learn more about the Kanesville Memorial at ChurchofJesusChrist.org/visitkanesvillememorial.
