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Show LDS Historical Site Surveyed As townspeople prepare to observe Pioneer Day, marking! the arrival of the first settlers settl-ers in the state, it is interesting interest-ing to read the following item submitted by the United States Chamber of Commerce, Washington, Wash-ington, D.C.: In 1888 a ten foot granite monument was erected on a low hill overlooking Thompson Thomp-son River in southern Iowa, to commemorate the struggling Mormons who died and were buried there in 1846-48. Recently Recent-ly the monument was "located" by a field party of the Coast and Geodedic Survey, U. S. Department De-partment of Commerce, and designated as a triangulation intersection station. Of course everybody in the ' area knows that the monument is located in Mt. Pisgah Cemetery, Union County, Iowa, but in surveying terminology "located" means that its position, in respect to latitude" and longitude, is now known. The survey has changed nothing no-thing at the monument which is still visited by followers throughout the country. There are no marks left behind to show that the Coast and Geodetic Geo-detic Survey has been there. The only evidence of their visit vi-sit is an entry in a ledger and a small white card, identical to thousands of other for similar points throughout the 48 states. There is a tragic history behind be-hind the monument that Commander Com-mander Moore saw fit to include in-clude in this country's survey network. Following the assassination assas-sination of their prophet, Joseph Jo-seph Smith, a band of 2,000 Mormons was forced to flee from Nauvoo, Illinois, under their new leader, Brigham Young. A small part of this group was attracted to a wooded wood-ed area overlooking the Thompson Thom-pson River later called Mt. Pisgah. It is believed that 160 died in the first six months of their stay. According to one account 800 more were buried before the colony finally moved mov-ed westward to seek a home beyond the Rocky Mountains. The date of the Mormon's arrival ar-rival in Utah, July 24, 1847, is marked by the celebration of Pioneer Day. The monument was "located" by observations from two higrh steel towers that were erected near the towns of Thayer and Afton, Iowa. One was a mile and one-half distant and the other over four miles away. This took place in May of this year, exactly 112 years after the Mormons arrived at Mt. Pisgah. The Mt. Pisgah monument is not the first such point to be "located." In 1943, a similar party located another Mormon monument near Palmyra, New York. A 25-foot marble shaft topped by a majestic figure of Angel Moroni stands on a hill which is the Mormon equivalent equiva-lent of Mount Sinai. |