CASPER, Wyoming — In the latter half of the 1800s, those migrating west across the United States usually traveled through Wyoming, passing through or close to what is now the city of Casper.
The new Casper Wyoming Temple — set to be dedicated tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 24, by Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — stands not far from the North Platte River and a spot where pioneers and travelers ferried across the water. The temple district stretches from parts of South Dakota and Nebraska to Central Wyoming and Lakota Nation territory — all places that played a role in the historic settling of the American West.
Some 60,000 plus members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled west on the trail within a mile from the temple. Some of them were in the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies, who were trapped by an early and devastating snowstorm in 1856.
Martin’s Cove, where the Martin handcart pioneers sought refuge, is about 60 miles southwest of Casper. Those of the Willie company were trapped further west in a part of Central Wyoming that is also in the Casper temple district.
Bishop Nicholai C. Linford of the Glenrock Ward in the Casper Wyoming East Stake is a descendant of members of the Willie company.
“I would think that was the last thing on their mind as they were struggling, was, ‘There will be a temple right over there some day,’” Bishop Linford said.
His ancestors, John and Maria Linford, joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England in the 1840s and wanted to be with the Saints in the West. John Linford died the day that rescuers reached the Willie company on Oct. 21, 1856, at Sixth Crossing. Maria and their son, Amasa Linford, made it to Salt Lake City and settled there.
“It’s been a neat family story for us that they passed right through here and struggled but made it to the Salt Lake Valley and stayed faithful and so here we are,” Bishop Linford said. “We talk a lot about it with my children so they know the story.”
In a history of the Church called “The Rock, the Hollow and the Cove” the following account is given:
“Shortly before John Linford took his last breath, his wife asked him if he regretted making the journey. ‘No, Maria,’ he replied. ‘I am glad we came. I shall not live to reach Salt Lake, but you and the boys will, and I do not regret all we have gone through if our boys can grow up and raise their families in Zion.’”
The surviving members of the Willie company reached the Salt Lake Valley by Nov. 9, 1856. After their rescue, survivors in the Martin company arrived in Salt Lake City on Nov. 30. The Hodgetts and Hunt companies arrived about two weeks later.
‘A tradition of faith and service’
Casper Wyoming Stake President Brandon V. Smith has ancestors named the Ormes who were in the Martin Handcart Company. Their names are at Martin’s Cove and on the wall of the handcart visitors’ center. He shows his children the names every time they go and talks often about others in their family tree who followed the prophet.
“These are really good people, and we are so blessed. They left a great tradition of faith and service,” he said. “I talk about the family name and what these people have done and [how] we are a product of these amazing people. We should remember them and what they have done and their faithfulness in doing whatever was asked of them.”
President Smith, Bishop Linford and many other residents of this part of the American West have seen temples dot the area around them — temples in Nauvoo, Illinois, and Winter Quarters, Nebraska, mark the beginning of the westward trail. Now a house of the Lord in Casper “is in the middle of it,” President Smith said.
There are nearly 70,000 members of the Church in Wyoming, with 19 stakes and 172 congregations. Besides the Casper temple, the Star Valley Wyoming Temple is in Afton, Wyoming, and a temple is under construction in Cody.
Even those in the temple district who do not live in Wyoming claim Martin’s Cove and the pioneer sites as their own, said Rapid City South Dakota Stake President M. Troy Nesbit, especially as the youth of his stake have traveled to those sites for pioneer trek reenactments.
“All of our members have a very strong sense of belonging to that area from a Church history standpoint,” President Nesbit said. “It is a very tender spot for us.”
When the youth walk into one of the meadows around the site, they realize they are on sacred ground and become completely reverent, he said. They feel the power of place, and the legacy of those who went before them so they could worship freely and build a temple.
President Nesbit’s stake also includes two units that encompass the Rosebud Indian Reservation and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, both home to members of the Lakota tribe. As he has learned more about the Lakota heritage, he sees many gospel truths and parallels in their traditions, he said.
Preparing for a house of the Lord in Casper
Steve and Diana Gleason of the Casper Wyoming Stake were asked to be the co-coordinators of the open house and dedication committee. At first they felt intimidated, but as they took their first step, the other steps became easier.
A lot of work was done in their home or in meetings at the stake center with their committees. But when they were on the temple grounds, said Diana Gleason, “then it became real and it became ‘this is important and this is our temple.’”
The Gleasons said they had about 27,000 people attend the two-week open house from Aug. 29 to Sept. 14, which is a lot of guests for a small community. The work sometimes felt busy or challenging, but Steve Gleason said things came together as they focused on the Savior and on preparing a house of the Lord.
“Once you get that focus back, you go, ‘It’s OK. We can find the solutions, and we do. The Lord’s hand is in it,” he said.
At night, as the colorful sunsets painted a beautiful sky around the temple, a feeling of peace and reverence filled Diana Gleason as she left the grounds for the day.
“You put in the work, but then you give it all to the Lord and He picks it up,” she said. “Things would happen that just let us know He was right there with us the whole time.”
Church members from throughout the temple district volunteered for the open house. Some drove six and a half hours from parts of South Dakota to serve for four or five hours, then turned around to drive home. Others who lived closer would drop everything and be at the temple in minutes if needed.
“It was humbling,” Diana Gleason said, “really humbling to see the dedication of this covenant group of people.”
Those efforts made Steve Gleason think again of the pioneers.
“They came West for a place to worship and to get those covenants that they needed in the temple … and they came right through here,” he said. “And here we are, we have people sacrificing to make covenants with the Savior and to help our ancestors have that ability to make those covenants as well.”
Diana Gleason said the spirit of the pioneers can be felt inside the Casper temple, “not just with the artwork, but you really know that they are there just shouting those hosannas. They are a part of the work.”
A blessing for youth and young adults
When William Clayton, the clerk of the first company of pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley, traveled through Wyoming in 1847, he described stopping to fish a stream running out of the Laramie Mountain range.
The entry is a favorite for his great-great grandson, Craig Clayton, a member of the Casper 6th Ward in the Casper Wyoming East Stake.
“William described the peace and greenery of the place that made him homesick for his native Lancashire, England,” Craig Clayton said.
Craig Clayton grew up being proud of his ancestor William Clayton, who wrote the hymn, “Come, Come, Ye Saints.”
It wasn’t until after Craig Clayton moved to Casper with his wife, Jo Lynn Clayton, in 1980 that he discovered the Casper area was one of the more important sites on the trail, as the place “where the trailing haven of the North Platte River had been finally crossed and then abandoned for the more difficult trek onward,” he said.
For years, the youth of these stakes in Wyoming would work and save money and make long trips to temples in other states. The Claytons are now temple preparation teachers in their ward and can see how having a house of the Lord close by will bless the youth and young adults in particular as they attend often.
“I strongly feel that ‘sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven,’” Craig Clayton said, quoting the hymn “Praise to the Man.”
“It will be wonderful to have a temple in Casper, but the youth may miss the sacrifice of traveling to get to the temple,” he said. “The wonderful thing about it is that they will be able to do it more often. That’s the good part.”
The Church in Casper, Wyoming
The Church’s first branch in Casper was organized as part of the Western States mission in December 1920, with Latter-day Saints meeting in homes and rented buildings until the first chapel was built in 1939.
Two stakes in the region were created on Oct. 14, 1962, by Elder Spencer W. Kimball and Elder Howard W. Hunter — two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who later became presidents of the Church. The Wind River stake included congregations in Lander and Riverton, and the Casper stake included those in the namesake city; the stakes are now known as the Riverton Wyoming and Casper Wyoming stakes.
Beginning in the late 1800s, the closest operating houses of the Lord for Latter-day Saints in the Casper area were the Logan Utah and Salt Lake temples, with members traveling in later decades to the Idaho Falls Idaho and Ogden Utah temples. Currently, the two stakes based in Casper and the one in Riverton are assigned to the Fort Collins Colorado Temple district, which is a three-hour drive from Casper, some 225 miles away. Other Latter-day Saints in the new Casper temple district have also driven to the Billings Montana Temple and the Bismarck North Dakota Temple to worship.
