Blacksmith and Wainwright Shop in Nauvoo

We heard that the blacksmith shop was a fun place to visit so we made sure to go. We were very glad we did, because I won a little horseshoe the blacksmith made in front of us and we all got "prairie diamond rings" which are nails bent into rings. The wainwrights were wagon builders and the blacksmiths made the wheels. 

Here is a picture of the blacksmith missionary making the horseshoe.

We learned about the different between shoeing horses and oxen. The horses are able to bend their leg back and be shoed. Oxen don't enjoy that, so they used this contraption to actually lift the oxen off the ground and shoe the oxen. After seeing how large the oxen are it's a funny sight to imagine them being lifted off the ground. 

Printing Press in Nauvoo

I've decided to blog each place we visited individually, I think it will help with keeping things in order.  The first stop is the Printing Press. Ja is holding a paper that is hot off the press.

We learned so much in the printing office. There were 2 newspapers that were printed here. The Nauvoo Neighbor and The Times and Seasons. The Nauvoo Neighbor was published once a week which took about 150 hours to make 600 copies. It was took so much tedious work to make one page of a newspaper! 

If you look on the right side in this picture, you will see upper and lower cases that hold the individual letters that are used to make words. The upper case holds the UPPER CASE letters and the lower case holds the lower case letters. Now you know where that wording comes from. The letters are at the end of a 2 inch wooden stick and they are very, very small. The missionary told us that the printer would memorize where each letter was in the case so he didn't have to search for the letter each time he needed it. The printer fits the letters into a wooden slot called a magazine. He would put the words in upside-down and backwards so they are the right way when things get printed. 

This is a picture of Ja pressing the stamped ink onto the newspaper. In the bottom-right corner you can see the layout of the newspaper. It looks like a really big rubber stamp with a lot of words. The printer would have inked the stamp them moved it over to the press, which Ja is doing. The press ensures the paper gets an even stamp of all the words. 

Browning Gun Shop

Jonathan Browning trained as a blacksmith and apprenticed as a gunsmith at the age of 19. His family was baptized in 1840 in Quincy, Illinois. They moved to Nauvoo in 1842.  Jonathan invented one of the first repeating rifles and his descendents invented automatic shotguns, rifles, and machine guns. 

Ja is talking to the missionary about making guns.

Here are some Browning guns on display.

Post Office

In this post office there is also a dry goods store. Mail arrived in Nauvoo at least three times a week. Because mail was sometimes lost or stolen, people would often sent two or three copies of important letters. Instead of stamping the letter before mailing it, the recipient would pay the postage. Someone told us that Joseph Smith would get so many letters in the mail he told people that they would have to pay the postage because it was getting to expensive for him to get all the letters. 

This picture has the mail-sorting box that was found in the Nauvoo area.

This is the dry goods part of the store. They sold all sorts of water pails, tools, and things of that nature. Ja is practicing retrieving water; he said it was comfortable on the shoulders, but that was without the water.

Riser Boot

We visit this boot shop that was owned by George Riser. He was born in Germany and owned a shoemaking business in Ohio. When he heard about the Church he sold his business and moved with his wife and son to Nauvoo to learn more about the religion. They were eventually baptized in the Mississippi in December where a hole was cut in the ice. 

In this shop we learned how shoes and boots are made. It's a long process so it's no wonder why they cost a lot and not everyone could afford them. A pair of shoes was $1.75 and boots cost $5.50. There wasn't a left or right shoe because they would change the shoe to different feet so the shoes wouldn't wear out as fast. 

Ox Wagon Ride

We were just in time to get the last ox wagon ride of the day. I really wanted to see the oxen in real life because I hadn't before. They are bigger than I even imagined. Their eyeballs are the size of oranges. We learned that they are trained to walk in a yoke when they are only 2 years old. No weight is pulled behind them, but they are able to learn to walk along side another ox. 

The wagon men allowed us to hold on to the horns for a picture.

Here is us in the wagon. 

I had to take another picture of the oxen and their hugeness.  

May 13- Carthage Jail

On the morning of May 13th we took the short drive from Nauvoo to Carthage to see the jail Joseph Smith was killed in. 

This is me with the jail and statues of Joseph and Hyrum.

A sister missionary gave us a short tour of the jail. I learned a lot about the time Joseph spent there. The jail owners lived in the house with the prisoners and were kind to Joseph. There were four prisoners ( Joseph, Hyrum, John Taylor, Willard Richards) but the first night at the jail there were 12 men in total. The other 8 were there to support Joseph. 

The prisoners were in the dungeon cell that in on the top floor of the house. Being at the top of the house, and with 12 men inside, the room got very hot so the jail owner let the men stay in a different room downstairs. 

As you can see it's just bare floors with nothing else so the men slept on the floor.

The next day the other 8 men left. The jail owner then let the 4 prisoners stay in his and his wife's bedroom. This is the room Joseph and Hyrum were killed in. A mob busted in the door downstairs and ran up the stairs shooting their guns as they went. Hyrum was tyring to hold the bedroom door shut and was shot in the face. The jail still has the original door with the bullet hole in it.  John Taylor was shot in the hip and in the chest. His pocket watch blocked that bullet so he didn't die. The shot did push him back so he rolled under the bed and was protected from further bullets. Willard Richards was never shot. Joseph was looking out the bedroom window when he was shot, he fell out the window and died. Willard Richards was able to carry John Taylor out of the bedroom and into the dungeon cell. The cell had a straw bed on the floor with a mattress. Willard put John Taylor on top of the straw and put the mattress on top of him. The straw was able to stop the bleeding in John's hip so he couldn't bleed to death. 

This is Ja outside the window Joseph fell from. 

May 12th- Nauvoo Temple at night

We drove into Nauvoo on May 12th just as the sun was setting. It was such a beautiful sight to see the Mississippi river and the Nauvoo temple during sunset. We took some great pictures.

This is a pictures of the statues of Joseph and Hyrum stopping in front of the temple as they continue their walk to Carthage Jail. The sunset behind them was amazing. 

This picture has the same statues but with the temple in the background.

I took this picture of the tulips on the temple grounds. I was so proud of this picture because it looks like it could be a desktop or screen saver picture.Here is the Nauvoo temple in all it's glory. It sits on the top of a hill and over looks the part of Nauvoo where the Saints lived. We were able to go to the temple and it's so beautiful inside. Even though it was recently rebuilt it looks like it was built a long time ago. The builders did a great job making it look authentic. Some of the windows inside are made with glass that is from France and made in the time period of the Saints. 

May 12- Visiting Winter Quarters & the Kanesville Tabernacle

We were planning on getting up early today so we could get to Nauvoo before dark. I guess we were really tired because we didn't wake up until 9 am. Oh well, it did feel good to sleep in.

We visited Winter Quarters first. The sister m

issionary there gave us our own little tour around the visitor's center. We were the only people there, another perk of going during off-season. It took the Saints about 130 days just to cross Iowa. It took them around 100 days to make the rest of the trip! The Saints left in the winter and weren't prepared for the weather and terrain they faced. They did forge the trail for the rest of the people moving west and made it easier for all to follow.   

Then we went around and took pictures outside. 

 Ja is standing next to a statue of the Saints pushing the handcart. This is a picture of me with the statue of a mother and father who just buried their child. The statue is in the cemetery next to the visitor's center and temple.

     

This is the Winter Quarters Temple. I wanted a better picture of it, but it was Monday so the temple was closed. 

Our next stop was at the Kanesville Tabernacle which is in Council Bluffs. Ja is discussing the tabernacle with Brigham Young.

The original building was made with cottonwood trees because they are very tall trees. Cottonwood trees shrink width wise over time, so in a few years the roof was connected to the walls anymore. When the church rebuilt the building they also used cottonwood  trees. With modern technology they build the roof on jacks so when the walls start to shrink the whole roof will lower too. Clever huh?

This is the inside of the building. The columns are on the jacks. The huge fire place in the back is made with dirt and sod. 

  

This is the stage where Brigham Young was sustained as the second president of the Church on December 27 1847. During the years 1847 and 1848 Kanesville was the headquarters of the church. 

Next Stop: Omaha, Nebraska

Today we saw Mount Rushmore then drove the Omaha, NE. The drive wasn't as exciting as yesterday's so luckily it was 2 hours shorter. Tomorrow we are visiting Winter Quarters then drive on to Nauvoo. I'll post more detailed info and pictures later on so you can look forward to that!

May 11th- Driving to Omaha, Nebraska

Our drive today was about 596 miles. After Keystone is the city of Rapid City. We tried to find the chapel so we could go to church, but we couldn't find it. The drive through did make us familiar with the little town. We saw this zoo on our drive and thought it was a funny statue. Then the goats started moving, it was real! We had to turn around to take a picture of the "goat bridge." 

As we were driving through South Dakota, and the middle of no where, Ja decided he wanted to see ho many miles we could go on one tank. It wasn't to our destination because our gas light came on. Of course it went one right after 

we passed the only gas station for a long time. He is a very lucky man because right when I was going to get really mad if we ran out of gas, an exit for Sinclair gas station came. Unfortunately the gas station was 3.8 miles from the freeway so we "saw more of the country." That became a often used phrase when we got lost. We didn't say we were lost, we were seeing more of the country.

The part of the state of Iowa we saw was your stereotypical mid

-west state. Flat and grassy. A lot of farms too. So far in our trip I have been amazed by the number of farmers and huge farms.

 While driving through the farms of Iowa we asked ourselves a few questions. Feel free to answer them if you know the answer.1. Are only the black and white cows milk cows? Or are the brown cows used for milk too?

2. Are the black and white cow named Jersey cows?

3. Why is super unleaded gas cheaper than unleaded? 

4. What makes the super gas super?

5. Why does Highway 90 have a red tint to it?

As we crossed over the Missouri River we entered Nebraska. Luckily we had 2 chances to enter Nebraska because I missed taking the picture of the sign the first time.   

This is just a picture to show how dirty our windshield was at this point. 

May 11th- Visiting Mount Rushmore

This morning we visited Mount Rushmore. It was a beautiful sunny, and cool morning. At first we didn't think the statues would be very cool, but when we got a better view they are amazing. There is a whole visitor center and big memorial site, and amphitheatre to walk around. 

We took the "strenuous trail" to see a closer up view. We went down a lot of stairs at first then we learned why they called it the strenuous trail becau

se you have to go up all the stairs at the end. We took some good pictures but they are mostly of one of us at a time. We realized when someone asks us if they want to take a picture of both of us we should take them up on their offer. That is the only way we both can be in a picture.

This is the overview of the mountain.

Facts about Rushmore:

The project started in 1927 and was finished in 1941. Even though it was 14 years, about 6 1/2 years were actually spent working. The winter weather would stop work each year. 

Gutzon Borglum sculpted the faces. 

The mountain was named after a New York City Lawyer named Rushmore. 

Most of the mountain was sculpted using dynamite.  

As we were driving out of the park, we saw this wooly goat. It as unsuccessfully trying to blend in with his surroundings. 

We made it to Mount Rushmore!

Since we don't get reception up here I figured I would write a post saying we made it safely. It was an 11 hour drive up here but it didn't seem long at all because we listened to "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" the whole drive up. The drive was also fun because neither of us had driven that way before so we were excited with the new landscapes. There are more cows in Wyoming than people, but it sure is beautiful. What we've seen of South Dakota is beautiful too. We will drive all the way across SD tomorrow so we'll see more then. The highlight of the day was having to slam on the brakes so we didn't hit the 5 deer that were standing in the road. Now I really understand the saying "deer in the headlights." We did take some pictures today but I will post them later because the camera cord is in the car and it's really cold outside so I don't want to go out. We are having a fun trip so far! 

May 10th- Drive through Wyoming & South Dakota

Today we drove safely from Provo, Utah to Keystone, South Dakota. We drove a total of 673.2 miles today. The drive through Wyoming was beautiful. 

The sky is bigger in Wyoming. Even though most of Wyoming was flat, there are different rock formations, prairies, and little canyons. 

Wyoming is ranked 50th out of the states for population. Now we understand why, there are more cows than people. We didn't see many people at all while we drove through. There is a town called Lost Springs that has a recorded population of 1. 

We did stop in Rawlins, Wyoming for some gas. On the map it looked like a bigger town, but we think this sign says it all about Rawlins:

As we crossed over to South Dakota the scenery changed a little bit. We actually saw a school bus sign which means people actually live there. The western part of South Dakota has a lot of evergreen trees and huge rock formations. It was no wonder to us why Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota. The eastern part of South Dakota was really flat and had few trees and rocks.

We almost hit 5 deer in South Dakota. We were looking around at the rocks and then all of the sudden we see 5 deer standing in the road. I saw them in time not to hit them, but it was a little scary, and fun. We also drove past a farm that had buffalo instead of cows. What do they do with the buffalo?

This was our hotel in Keystone. Washington Inn & Suites. The town of Keystone is very, very small. I would not like to be there during busy season, which is end of May to early September. One good thing about it being small is that every thing is within walking distance. We walked the downtown in about 5 minutes, that's how small it is. In case you stay here, be careful, they don't have shampoo or conditioner. 

Like I said on another post, the drive was great since we listened to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on CD. I really recommend books on cd for any long trip!

Tribute to a very smart man

I wanted to make a shout out for Ja. He got his grades 2 days ago and he got all A-'s. That means he got all A-'s for his entire Junior Core experience. Those are very good grades considering the type of workload and intensity those classes involve. He was so excited he started jumping up and down and yelling. Then he checked 2 more times to make sure those were in fact his scores and that he really could celebrate. They were his grades, so he jumped around some more, hugged me a lot, repeated how excited he was a million times, then made some phone calls. I am so proud of him  for working so hard and studying so much. Even though the junior core was as hard as everyone said, I think Ja had a really good time making new friends and having great recruiting experiences. I think I can say we are both very happy the junior core is over! Good job Ja!