The forecast called for rain. MMFF had chosen October 11th for the show of fall colors in Mound Grove Cemetery. In case the weathermen were right, Mound Grove provided a tent. The day dawned bright and the sun shone on a beautiful ceremony commemorating those who died of cholera and were unceremoniously buried at Zion's Camp in Clay County, Missouri in June of 1834. The monument was draped with a Peace flag made by Anne Romig, reminiscent of the flag carried to Missouri by members of Zion's Camp. Ron Putz, President of MMFF, welcomed the assembled crowd. The Independence LDS First Ward Youth Choir added the needed beauty of song. William B. Bruch with Mound Grove Cemetery provided some background for the event. Representatives of several churches laid a wreath. Two descendants of the Zion's Camp cholera victims were in attendance. A special thanks to Kenneth Pittman of Johnson & Sons Monument Co. for the beautiful stone monument work. Bill Curtis warmly welcomed and introduced the speaker, Max H. Parkin, who has graciously furnished a copy of what he said and it is reproduced here.

Zion's Camp Cholera Victims Monument, Dedicatory Statement, by Max H. Parkin 
                                                                                    Historian Max H. Parkin delivered the commemorative talk.  Photo by Helen Inouye

The complex events that make up the story of Zion's Camp has received much attention because of its unique place in the history of the Latter-day Saints. Historians and religious leaders alike have extolled Zion's Camp for its acts of courage and faith, for its rigorous march as a factor in the training of men for high office and for identifying it as a contributor to internal problems and apostasy in the Church at Kirtland. The Camp went west to assist a suffering, displaced people and to return them to their homes in Jackson County, Missouri. As it met military failure and disease, it left behind a sometimes confusing but heroic legacy.

 In the unfolding of Zion's Camp three agents played dominant rolls in its organization and development. They were the God of heaven, the Prophet Joseph Smith, and Missouri's governor, Daniel Dunklin. The Lord's roll was to provide the revelations which gave a kind of sanctity to its existence and to its demise. Joseph Smith gave it enthusiastic leadership and support, and Governor Dunklin gave it a sense of endorsement as an approved military body.

 After the Saints were expelled from Jackson County in November 1833, a revelation informed Joseph Smith to seek redress from the courts, the governor, and from the President of the United Sates (D&C 101:86-88). Missouri's Attorney General, Robert W. Wells, acting for Governor Dunklin, informed the exiled church leaders in Clay County, Missouri, through their attorneys, Alexander W. Doniphan and David R. Atchison on November 21, 1833, of two things that could be done. (1) An "adequate force," meaning a "militia," can be provided by the state to escort the suffering Saints back to their homes in Jackson County. (2) The Mormons could organize into a militia of their own to assist the state in that return. Moreover, inasmuch as the Saints would need protection after they returned to their lands and the governor believed that he was not empowered to keep a military presence there to protect them, their own militia could provide that service. This was the rationale for Zion's Camp. After a council at Kirtland, Ohio, February 24, 1834, with Mormon leaders from Missouri, Joseph Smith was determined to do it "by power"; hence Zion's Camp came to be (D&C 103:15, 30-33).

 Recruiting Mormon volunteers in the East took place in the winter and spring of 1834. Eventually, a small force with contingents from Ohio and Michigan was organized, comprising a total of 205 men, ten women and about eight children, who would accompany their husbands and fathers on the journey.

 Several days after Jospeh Smith's departure from Kirtland, May 5, 1834, with Zion's Camp under his command, Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon, leaders who remained behind, published a circular to the Saints: "the Governor is bound to call out the [Missouri] Militia and take [the exiled Saints] back [to Jackson County], it said. The Prophet Joseph knew that he needed the support of the state for strength, for he was not satisfied with the poor showing of the numbers in Zion's Camp. He wrote to his wife Emma on the 4th of June enroute to Missouri, "...our numbers and means are altogether too small for the accomplishment of such a great enterprise." At the Salt River in eastern Missouri, the Mormon groups from Michigan and Ohio met and moved westward together toward Clay County.

 Meanwhile and before the recruits left Kirtland, an event occurred that played on the destiny of Zion's Camp. On April 29, 1834, the postmaster of Chagrin, Ohio, wrote to the postmaster of Independence, Missouri, to inform him about Zion's Camp. The postmaster gave an alarming report: "The Mormons in this region are organizing an army to restore Zion. That is, to take by force of arms their former possessions in Jackson Co. Missouri." While foreboding misfortune, it continued, "They are armed with every species of implements of destruction...." A letter by another Ohioan reported a similar message to the postmaster of Independence and printed with the previous letter in the Missouri Intelligencer, a Columbia, Missouri, newspaper, announcing that the size of the Mormon army would "consist of seven hundred men." This correspondence and exaggerated rumor reignited violence in western Missouri against the Mormons. First, citizens of Jackson County in large numbers returned to the vacant Mormon villages in Blue and Kaw townships and burned their empty houses and sheds, consuming nearly 170 buildings.

 The letters also fueled mounting rumors among the citizens of western Missouri of the expected slaughter by the Mormons. Local citizens began to prepare in their defense against the arrival and assumed attacks of the invaders. The Western Examiner, a St. Louis newspaper, reported of Zion's Camp, "They are generally able bodied and efficient men, well armed." As Zion's Camp advanced westward, a resident of Lafayette County wrote, "The whole country is in an uproar."

 George A. Smith, a member of the Camp, noted that large numbers of local citizens were organized against the Mormons in Ray, Lafayette, Clay and Jackson counties. A resident of nearby Lexington, Lafayette County, wrote to his family in Kentucky, "Volunteers are preparing to go to the scene of action," he said. "Should they [Zion's Camp] cross the river, there will be a battle, and probably much blood shed. Among others, I shall start on Saturday next, at 8 o'clock."

 While reflecting upon the pervading impression of his neighbors against the Mormons, the same Lexington resident later wrote, "I know we had neither law nor gospel on our side, but self-preservation urged us to pursue that course, for we knew that our county would be the next to suffer from their presence. If they [the Mormons] had crossed the river, I very much question if one would have been left to tell the tale," he continued. "No quarter would have been given. We could have killed most of them before they got across the river. Such was the state of mind in western Missouri as Zion's Camp pushed westward.

 In the meantime, Zion's Camp in the eastern part of Missouri sought the mind of the governor; Joseph Smith sent Parley P. Pratt and Orson Hyde to Jefferson City to inquire about assistance. Dunklin attempted to placate Pratt and Hyde with an appeal to arbitration, "for fear," said Elder Pratt, "of deluging the whole country in civil war and bloodshed." With the violent conditions awaiting the Mormons in the west, it is little wonder that Governor Dunklin preferred to meet the crisis with words instead of guns. (What prudent governor would not have done the same under similar circumstances.) Pratt and Hyde, however, viewed the governor's appeal for compromise as an act of cowardice and an abdication of his duty. When Pratt and Hyde reported to Joseph Smith, at least one of the Camp member, Lyman Wight, noted athat all was not lost. He wrote, "They [Pratt and Hyde] brought the intelligence that the Governor, would execute the law," he said, "whatever it might be."

 What exactly Governor Dunklin would have done if proposed negotiations failed, as indeed they later did, and if the Mormons then had petitioned him for a guard, is unknown. The governor seemed inclined more to avoid conflict than to help the Saints. Later, after the crisis ended and negotiations brought some tranquility to western Missouri—but never justice to the Saints—Church leaders in Clay County, Algernon Sidney Gilbert and William W. Phelps, in their desire to promote peace, in June 26 wrote the governor. "We think it wisdom to defer petitioning for a guard, while there exists a hope of a compromise," they said. A month later, August 1, Phelps again wrote the governor, "When our emigrating brethren arrived from the east, the prospect of blood shed or civil war was so apparent in Jackson County, that our people resolved to cease from the idea for a while, of returning to their land and possessions, notwithstanding your Excellency was ready, (agreeably to your communication to us) to guard us into Jackson, whenever we said we were prepared to go." While some Mormon leaders blamed Governor Dunklin for his failure to help, others apparently did not.

  Anne Romig and Henry Inouye display Anne's peace flag which drapped the monument.  Photo by Helen Inouye

 Meanwhile, Zion's Camp entered Clay County June 19, 1834, at the Fishing River just west of present-day Excelsior Springs and camped there near today's Highway H. The citizens of several counties were positioned in large numbers ready to attack the Camp. The first night that Zion's Camp was in Clay County a storm of marvelous proportions and some believed by providential direction prevented the battle. Three days later on Sunday, June 22, still at the Fishing River, but four miles north of their first encampment, Joseph Smith met with the Sheriff of Clay County, Cornelius Gillium, and expressed his willingness to negotiate for a peaceful end to the crisis. The emergency for the moment was over. The Prophet's decision to negotiate a solution to the Mormon suffering led to a postponement of any military use of the Camp. That same day, Joseph Smith received the "Fishing River Revelation" to disband Zion's Camp (D&C 105).

 Some of the more militant of the Camp members, however, were disappointed in the decision not to fight and vigorously complained. William Cahoon, a member of Zion's Camp, wrote, "The Word of the Lord came to the Prophet Joseph saying the time had not come to take the sword in hand to redeem Zion. Many in the camp murmured because we were not permitted at this time to restore our brethren and sisters to their homes and defend them there at all hazards."

 It was at this juncture of demonstrated disappointment that Joseph imposed a warning from heaven upon his men (or as some said, a curse). They could expect trouble to befall them, he said, because of the disorderly spirit of some. He had given a similar warning before in Illinois. On that same Sunday, June 22, three men of the Camp fell ill.

 The following day, Zion's Camp left the Fishing River and moved west to the homes and fields of exiled members George Burket and Algernon Sidney Gilbert at Rush Creek, two miles east of the Liberty courthouse. There, on the night of June 24, some of the men on guard and soon others were seized upon violently with cholera, a disease of the digestive tract often resulting from contaminated water or poor sanitation. Cholera was not an unknown disease in frontier Missouri and it was horribly feared. Within a day or two some men began to die of the disease and over the next several days twelve male members of Zion's Camp died, and a thirteenth one, a female, Betsy Parrish, died. She was traveling with her husband Warren. Additionally, two of the local Saints in whose house some of the sick were treated also died. These were the leader Sidney Gilbert himself and a six-year-old girl, Phoebe Murdock, who was living with the Gilberts. (She was an older sister of the Murdock twins, whom John Murdock gave to Joseph and Emma in 1831 at the death of their own twin babies.) Phoebe's father was present with Zion's Camp and cared for her in her sickness and buried her Sunday, July 6, the day she died.

 About 68 people were afflicted with cholera, including briefly Joseph Smith, Heber C. Kimball, severely, and Jesse Smith, the Prophet's cousin, who was one of the last to die. Wilford Woodruff might have become afflicted with the disease except for a job assignment which removed him from caring for the sick. He said that each tent group had to care for their own sick and that Seth Hitchcock, who was a member of his tent, was seriously afflicted. When Hitchcock was stricken, Brother Woodruff's duty to care for a team of horses removed him from the tent. Instead, Warren Ingles was assigned to care for Hitchcock, and both Hitchcock and Ingles, who also was soon afflicted, died.

 Heber C. Kimball informs us that the burial site for Hitchcock and others was "in a little bluff by the side of a small stream that emptied into Rush creek," located in the proximity of the house of Sidney Gilbert. He also tells us that five of the deceased were buried in the little bluff, starting with John S. Carter, the first to die, and Seth Hitchcock, both of whom had camped at George Burket's, and Eber Wilcox who died at Sidney Gilbert's house. Others, too, may have been buried at that site, apparently this included Betsy Parrish. Paradoxically, the victims of cholera seemed not to have been the overt complainers of the Camp.

     Zion's Camp Monument   Photo by Helen Inouye
     Two descendants of people who died of cholera at Zion's Camp where in attendance at the monument
dedication.  Picture are (left to right) John A. Davis and Don Johnson.  Photo by Annette Curtis 
 
 By now, it is well known that in June 1958 Boyd W. Park, a local farmer, found human skeletons kicked-up by his cattle in the feeder lot behind his barn near Rush Creek. Sheriff's deputies soon found other bones buried there; of the three skeletons found, each of caucasian extraction, one was a female. The site of Boyd Park's discovery (as he showed this speaker one day as they visited) was on the "little bluff" of a dry stream bed that once flowed into Rush Creek.

 The three skeletons were eventually recognized popularly as victims of Zion's Camp. At first, an immediate investigation by Clay County Sheriff Curtis F. Hay removed suspicious origins from the bones, and 10-years later in 1968 an affirming anatomical report was issued by F. G. Spiers, a member of the Archaeology Department of the University of Missouri at Columbia, where the bones had been kept and studied. Additionally, Vivian W. Graybill, a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and an inquisitive historian, linked the site of the skeleton find through early records to the victims of Zion's Camp.

 The three skeletons are buried here in the Mound Grove Cemetery, having been interred March 25, 1976. And it is their legacy and that of their comrades that we are honoring today October 11, 1997. The hope of crossing the river to Jackson County by these three Mormon travelers have to some measure now been fulfilled. To the degree we can, we honor them and their companions with this monument created by the Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation. And as best we can we honor all their associates who had an unfulfilled dream to cross the river and to live again in this beautiful county.

Donations for the Marker Fund in view of the Zion's Camp Monument ranged from $8 to $150 with a total of $786.50 received to date. This total does not include the sizeable discount received from Johnson & Son's Monument Company. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

 Alexander L Baugh
Elda Mae Billings
Harvey & Susan Black
Larry & Alice Drue Brown
William & Annette Curtis
John A. Davis
Scott Faulring
Diane Forsythe
Robert C. Freeman
Darla D. Hess
Richard P. Howard
Henry & Helen Inouye
Franklyn B. Matheson
Dale C. Mouritsen
Kenneth & Alta Short
Gregory Smith
President C. Kent Wood, Independence Stake
Bruce VanOrden
Nancy Walker
Jerry B. Wight
Mrs. Chyrl E.(Cose)Wimer
Maurine Carr Wood

The National Frontier Trails Center in Independence, Missouri was the setting on 7 October 1997 for an informal talk by Mary Bywater Cross about some Mormon women and quilts that they made. The author chose quilt makers who participated in the Missouri part of the early Mormon migrations. To be included in her book the quilt had to have a traceable history, reflect the experience of the population mainstream, and be honest in representing the free expression of the maker from her life experience. She illustrated her talk with slides of the quilts and women. A quilt made by Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Cowdrey between 1850 and 1870 was inspired by the 1844 election victory of James K. Polk. It passed from the Relief Society to the LDS Church. Mrs Charles C. Rich (Sarah P.) wrote diaries which provided much information about her life. This quilt was pieced by her when she was 82 years old and is a "work in progress" (unfinished). A Friendship Quilt was presented in 1872 to the president of the Relief Society, Margaret Thompson McMeane Shoup. She married Shoup at Far West, moved to Nauvoo and in 1846 left Nauvoo to go to Iowa on her way to Salt Lake City and in 1868 to Provo, Utah. Each of the 36 blocks was made and signed by a member of the Relief Society. A whole cloth quilt, 6 stitches to the inch was the next subject. Eliza Baker Lathrom made it for her sister, Zina Baker Huntington whose daughter took it to Utah. It was made before the migrations to Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Utah and traveled with the family. According to family tradition Amanda Barnes Smith used brown fabric from a man's overcoat in Johnston's Army during the Utah War from 1857 to 1860 to make a quilt. Elbow pattern quilting was used. She traveled 6 months then lived in a tent through a Missouri winter after her husband and son had been killed and while another son recovered from wounds from a massacre. The quilts in the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum were all folded so all could be on exhibit. For their preservation it is better if they can be rolled or laid flat. Most important is to keep the quilt away from contact with light and air. Attendees took the opportunity to purchase her books from the National Frontier Trails Center and/or have her autograph her books. If you want to know more than in this brief summary, you will have to get the book! Quilts & Women of the Mormon Migrations, Nashville TN: Rutledge Press, 1996. Also by Mary Bywater Cross — Treasures in the Trunk: Quilts of the Oregon Trail, 1993.

Work days have come to a close for this year. Paul DeBarthe and students from Shawnee Mission East High School, along with other volunteers made very exciting discoveries. Some objects that were found: porcelain; early American pottery; pieces of early glass; small bone buttons, with eyelets unbroken; a small child's shoe made of leather; a ladies' shoe and two small clock gears, the size of a half dollar. These were found under the south porch about six inches in depth. A very old door latch about 6 inches long was found with several bottles of various sizes under the north addition to the house. Inside the main structure, when the lathes were so very carefully removed, small pieces of newspaper print were found. One article was a death notice of a fireman which clearly gave the man's two initials, but with only part of his last name. Behind the house just to the north about 100 feet, others found a bone button in perfect condition, porcelain lined jar lids, one complete; a small jar, about 5" long, rectangular in shape, with a small amount of white liquid inside. Among these items many tools, parts of wagons, and other objects that are still a mystery were unearthed. Students took all items found back to school to analyze and to make reports at a latter date. Volunteers and students worked very hard. Many long hours of scrapping, sifting, and brushing thru the dirt in hopes of finding that one piece of history that they could say — "I found that." In ‘98 when the group again starts a weekly trek north, come out and join in a day in the country with nature and part of your American History. BUZZARD Update: [This summer and fall, preparatory to the beginning of school when the students would return to dig at the site, sounds were heard from within the house. It was inhabited.] The buzzards, reaching the age of flight, must have known we were ready to start digging. Late in September we did not have to serve eviction notices. Several times from that day, we have heard loud screeches in the distance. Approval or disapproval — Unknown. Reported by Diane Forsythe

   Close up of logs at a corner of the log house.  Photo by Ron Romig

Sunday, 19 October 1997, turned out to be a great work day at the log house in Caldwell County, Missouri. Getting the log structure covered for the winter was an important accomplishment. Thanks to all who helped. It turned out to be a three hour job and would have taken much longer if we had not all worked together as we did. Mike Riggs and Ron Romig plan to go back up and erect at least one more 12x24 tarp to cover the more exposed west facing wall before seasons' end. The support posts and cables should keep it safe but we still hope that we don't have any really heavy snows and strong winds. The search is still on for an incremental core borer at least 4 feet long with which to probe a nearby living tree. A comparison of its rings and the size and number in the logs used in the house construction can positively date the cutting of the logs used in the construction of the house. Northwest Chapter News About 6 months ago a Northwest Chapter of MMFF was organized. A number of people have become involved. Some have roots in the Mormon Church and many simply have an interest in history or archaeology and enjoy the work and the people.
A MMFF-NW Chapter meeting was held on Thursday evening 23 October 1997 at the Caldwell County Courthouse at 7:00 p.m. Lots of good ideas and continuing excitement about the successes of this past year were shared.

Historic Sites Signs
The Northwest Chapter voted to erect and maintain directional signs in the area. Erecting historic site signs in the Caldwell County area was suggested at the last full board meeting as a marker project. With cooperation like this much can be done! Donations for this marker project will be gladly accepted.

 Like the MMFF Board meeting in Independence, the group is small but active and enthusiastic. Work time will be scheduled for next summer. Interested students and adults are welcome to join in the digs. It is a unique opportunity to get hands-on experience in archeological research.

 The next meeting is scheduled for November 19, 1997, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Alternate date in case of bad weather is November 25. The time is 7:00 p.m. at the Caldwell County Courthouse. Contact Mike Riggs in Kansas or Charlene Ward at the Caldwell County Courthouse for confirmation of time and place.
[21 January 1998, 7:00 pm, Cladwell County Courthouse, Kingston, Missouri. - Webmaster]

 Joseph F. Smith was born near the cemetery location next to the schoolhouse lot on the north east edge of Far West. Alvin Dyer provided the following directions, "one will reach the school lot by going north a half mile from the Temple Lot at Far West by going north a half mile from the Temple Lot at Far West and then west one mile."

 Mormons who died at or near Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri in the 1830's are buried in unmarked graves. One burial ground is northwest of the Far West Temple site. The remains of a school used in modern times is all that is visible there. Mike Riggs has identified some of the estimated 200 Mormons who died near Far West in their 1830's stay there. Some are certainly buried in this cemetery, some probably were and others may have been buried there.

 This is an appeal to MMFF members and friends to add to or verify names for this list. MMFF would like to erect a monument to mark the burial ground and list those known or supposed to be buried there. It may not be feasible to include all the dates on the marker but include all the information that you know. This is envisioned as an ongoing process. The marker(s) will be designed to allow the addition of names as they are found.

 A list of individuals buried in Far West Cemetery, research by Mike Riggs and Leslie Brooks, is posted on the MMFF Web Site with dates of birth and death where known, age, place of death, where buried with probability and other comments.. For more information contact Mike or Leslie. You may E-Mail them at: . A few of the names are:
Barrows, Ethan Jr.
Calkins grandchild
Carey, William
Carter, Gideon
Carter (Smith), Lydia
Cole (Hulet), Charlotte
Galliher child
Harrington, Ezra
Hawkes (Alvord), Sophronia
Hunt, Jefferson
Kingsley, Eliza
Knight child
Lathrop, Cynthia (wife)
Lathrop children (3)
Marsh, James G.
McArthur, Annica
Mills (Hulet), Rhoda
O'Bannion, Patrick
Owen, husband of Sally
Pack, George
Page children (2)
Page (Stevens), Lorain
Patton, David
Rogers, Agnes
Rogers, Jennie
Rogers, Mary
Rgers, Lizzie
Sherman child
Sherman, Lyman R.
Thornton, Ezra
Turner, Thomas
Underwood, cousin
Woodland, Noah
Woodland, Elizabeth
Woodland, James

At an auction a number of years ago, MMFF NW Chapter members L. D. and Charlene Ward purchased some 1860's -1890's Jackson County, Missouri survey maps produced by early county surveyor T. C. Lee. They are in a little cloth book about 8 x 8 inches. The Wards have decided to donate the originals to the RLDS Library-Archives and copies of important maps will be made available for research at area repositories including Mid-Continent Public Library, North Independence Branch, Genealogy and Local History Department, and the Jackson County Historical Society Research Library and Archives. While providing a glimpse of early Jackson County, upon examination, the maps appear to be of most use to surveyors. T. C. Lee's notations focus almost exclusively on recording the point of beginning of land parcels around the county, while giving little note to other early landmarks. While reviewing these hand drawn materials, William J. Curtis noticed a fragment of a small printed map of Jackson County, dating to the 1860's glued to the back of one of Lee's hand drawn maps. William and Annette Curtis are both very familiar with early county maps They have never seen a detailed map of Jackson County dating prior to 1860. This one impressed Bill as being potentially one of the earliest printed maps of this nature he has ever seen. Its careful attention to the course of county roads may prove of value to researchers of that period. Unfortunately, years ago, someone tried to remove the map, and significant portions of its top left and right corners are now missing. But what remains of the map is quite legible. Some details help with the dating. The route of the Missouri Pacific Rail Road, built in the 1860's, is included on the map as printed, running southeast from Independence. But the route of the Chicago and Alton Railroad built in the 1870's, running east from Independence, was inked on later, perhaps by the land of Lee himself. MMFF is pleased to have the opportunity to reproduce this important map in the newsletter. Thanks to L. D. and Charlene Ward for helping preserve these materials and for making them available for researchers. Also thanks to Bill Curtis for recognizing this map's importance.
                             
                                                   Early printed map of Jackson County, Missouri, RLDS Archives
 

The MMFF 1997 Annual Meeting was held Tuesday 9 December 1997 at 7:00 p.m. at the LDS Visitors Center, 934 West Walnut, Independence, Missouri.
Business included:
Election of officers
Committee Reports
By-laws changes providing for the creation and function of the MMFF Northwest Chapter in the Caldwell County area and other such possible future chapters as follows:

Section 10, Committees
The board of directors may establish committees as it feels necessary and which are consistent with the by-laws. These committees may, or may not be, staffed by board members and may utilize the expertise of persons not members of this Foundation.

(Proposed paragraph for addition to Section 10 of the by-laws):
[The board of directors may establish remote committee organizations in the form of MMFF chapters. Such chapters shall function as local committees of MMFF and promote the purposes of the Foundation in their locale. Chapter members are members of MMFF with all the obligations, rights, and privileges of membership. Chapters have the right to select one of their members to serve as Chapter Chair for a two year term. Chapters may designate one of their members to serve on the MMFF Board, having representative voice and vote in the business of the Foundation. A Chapter Chair and designated Director may be the same person.]

Paul DeBarthe and his Shawnee Mission (KS) High School archaeology students reported on the findings of their reconnaissance of a log house in Caldwell County, Missouri, the past two years. These teenaged archaeologists displayed and explained artifacts found at a structure which members of the Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation believe to be the former home of LDS Apostle C. C. Rich.
Co-sponsored by Oak Hill RLDS Congregation and MMFF
The program began at 6:00 p.m. with pizza for dinner, cost $3.00 per adult. Lecture followed dinner. For more information contact Anne Romig, (816) 229-7981
For information about the log house project or to obtain a copy of MMFF's published report of last season's dig, please contact Michael Riggs at (785) 448-5425 or Ron Romig, RLDS Archives, (816) 833-1000 ext. 2449, tems03@rlds.org
Your contributions are invited. Donations may be earmarked for the Log House Project and forwarded to MMFF Treasurer, P.O. Box 3186, Independence MO 64055.

Shane Jackman magically transported his listeners to a time when a small band of Mormon colonists made frontier Jackson County, Missouri, their home in the 1830's. His performance invited listeners to "pull in the sails and drift" along with the music and stories he shared of his ancestors, the Levi Jackman family. Shane's songs and narratives touch the soul of his family's real life, poignant tales and memorable experiences, while a part of the Whitmer Settlement in Kaw Township. This unique performance proved of interest to all age groups. Song-poet Shane Jackman is noted for performing his own brand of modern western music.
"A wonderful story-teller.... Strong, clear, nicely done acoustic guitar playing.... His voice is a beautiful, controlled instrument that effortlessly brings the lyrics to life..." -Dirty Linen. "A pure delight...Jackman has no problem distinguishing himself as one of the better entries of the singer-songwriter world." -The Gavin Report.
Sponsored by Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation, www.sunflower.org/~ronromig/mmffhp.htm
Special thanks to the Independence LDS Visitors Center.

A feature article by Steve Fidel appeared in the Deseret News on September 30, 1997, titled "Zion's Camp Monument Recalls 15 Members Who Died of Cholera: Foundation Sponsors Missouri Marker for those Buried in 1834."
The Kansas City Star Metro - Kansas City and the Region Section, Friday 17 October 1997 carried an article by Roberta Johnson Schneider, staff writer, titled "In search of Mormon history: High school students comb ruins of cabin for clues to the past."
The Hamilton, Missouri newspaper carried an article on the log house.
The St. Joseph newspaper also picked up the log house story from the news wires.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
More Donors
Un-designated Gifts and Donations for the Caldwell County Log House Project

Two major donations have been earmarked for the Log House Project totaling about $800 plus the uncounted volunteer hours spent by many people.

Special MMFF thanks to:
George Bryant
Paul DeBarthe
Donna Mitchell
Nina W. Palmer
Robert H. & Colleen A. Parker
Mike Riggs
All the students and volunteers.

The Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation is a nonsectarian organization dedicated to collecting and preserving information related to the Mormon experience in western Missouri during the 1830's.

The purposes of MMFF are stated in the By-Laws as follows:
1. To promote the research, documentation, verification, renovation and restoration of events and sites associated with the Missouri Mormon Frontier.
2. To preserve documents, photographs, artifacts, sites and other historical memorabilia associated with that period.
3. To facilitate the gathering and preservation of genealogical information from the affected geographical area.

President — Ronald G. Putz
Vice President — Ronald E. Romig
Secretary — William J. Curtis
Treasurer — Helen Inouye
Board Members — Annette Curtis, Henry Inouye, Diane Forsythe, Mike Riggs, Richard Ross, Alta Short, Ken Short

Ex-Offico — Jesse E. Ehlers, Larry and Alice Drue Brown, Mark Scherer, Susan Easton Black

All meetings, including Board meetings, are open. You are invited to come and bring other interested people to any of our meetings.

Cumulative Index to MMFF Newsletters, Numbers 1--15, 1992-1997

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