Pioneer Trail Historic Tour
Home at Last
by H. Dale Lowry, David L. Inned, Dennis A. Wright and Guy L. Dorius
This book is the most authoritative book regarding the first coming of the Mormon Pioneers into Cardston, Alberta, Canada. From 1997 to 1998 Dave and Dale spent extensive time scouring old maps and documents left over by early pioneer Latter-day Saints recorded in their journals and using the old Benton Trail markings to discover where the first settlers came into the Cardston area. The book includes gps readings as well for exact locations of the old trail. Today the trail is marked by over 100 markers from Emigration Gap to the Cardston Town site.
In 1997, H. Dale Lowry and David L. Innes set out to locate and map the trail that Charles Ora Card, and the early pioneers that were with him, used as they traveled from Emigrant Gap to Lee’s Creek. We (Lowry and Innes) spent months pouring over old maps, following old wagon trails, talking to local ranchers and farmers, reading old pioneer journals, and visiting with some of the oldest residents of the Cardston area. Step by step, and mile by mile, we gradually worked out the trail route used by those early pioneers. We then sat down to write our findings in a manner that could be published. We wrote and rewrote, and finally realized, that as skilled as we were at doing the research and mapping, neither of us had ever written an article that was worthy of publication; so we invited Dennis A. Wright and Guy L. Dorius (professors at Brigham Young University) to assist us with the writing. Subsequently, our research was published in the following two articles.
Dorius, Guy L., David L. Innes, and H. Dale Lowry. “The Canadian Mormon Trail.” Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint History: Western Canada. Ed. Dennis A. Wright, Robert C. Freeman, Andrew H. Hedges, and Matthew O. Richardson. Provo, Utah: Dept. of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 2000: 35-75.
Wright, Dennis A., H. Dale Lowry, David L. Innes, and Guy L. Dorius. “Mapping the Alberta Route of the 1887 Mormon Trek from Utah to Cardston.” Alberta History Summer 2003 (Vol. 51): 2-11.
Unfortunately, both of these of articles were published before we had finished working out the fine details of the trail, and so both contain minor mapping mistakes. With the encouragement of the Cardston Historical Society, we have now corrected those minor mapping mistakes, and made some changes to the text. We are confident that the information contained in this booklet is correct. We hope this information will be of value to those living in the Cardston area. We also wish to thank Dennis A. Wright and Guy L. Dorius for their contributions to this work.
Sincerely,
H. Dale Lowry
David L. Innes
Original wagon ruts and the trail used by the Mormon Pioneers through Immigration Gap, Montana.
A second set of wagon ruts - Emigration Gap, Montana - where the first Mormon settlers came through in 1887 on their way to Cardston, AB.
First set of Wagon Ruts - Emigration Gap, Montana - where the first Mormon settlers came through in 1887 on their way to Cardston, AB.
David Innes showing the wagon trail going into Emigration Gap, Montana looking north - where the first Mormon settlers came through in 1887 on their way to Cardston, AB.
