What has been called the longest infantry march in history--approximately 1,850 miles--began July 20, 1846 on the Little Pony River in Council Bluffs, in what is now known as Pottawattamie County, Iowa. During the Mexican War of 1846 James K. Polk president of the United States, requested five hundred Mormon men to help in the war effort.
Mormon leaders agreed: In addition to demonstrating their basic loyalty to the United States, Mormons would benefit from the military pay, the arms which some men received, the allotment for uniforms (since the Mormons were allowed to wear their own clothes the allowance was sent to the pioneer camp), and being transported west at government expense.
On July 20th the battalion commenced the 180 mile trek down to the left bank of the Missouri, toward Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. While no Mormon was killed in the venture, some died enroute. The first, Samuel Boly, expired only twenty-eight miles from Council Bluffs.
The first part of this trail hugged the river banks. (It is interesting that all of the roads the Mormons used along the Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers followed the bluff line closely, for in those days of frequent flooding, roads were never built on the flood plain. Today, the closer to the bluffs, the closer to the old roads. These bluff roads still exist (1979), but one can get a good view on Interstate 29 as far as Mound City, Missouri.
Sources:
PAF - Archer files = Captain James Brown + (7) Phebe Abbott > Orson Pratt Brown > Descendants
Photos and information from
Maps found in "The Mormon Battalion March, 1846-1847", The Ensign, July 1979, pages 57-61.
http://wesclark.com/jw/mormon_battalion.html - Mormon Battalion March maps
Additions, bold, [bracketed], some photos, etc., added by Lucy Brown Archer
http://www.kued.org/battalion/map/map.html
