Mount Pisgah Cemetery State Preserve

Mount Pisgah Cemetery State Preserve is a small portion of a historic cemetery associated with a way station established by the Mormons as they migrated westward across Iowa during the mid-1800s. 

About the Land

This 1-acre preserve is located in Mount Pisgah Park, twelve miles east of Creston in Union County. The 300 to 800 wooden markers that once marked the graves scattered on the hillside have long since disappeared but a monument now honors all who died here. Named for a biblical mountain, this area was dedicated as a historical state preserve in 1971. 

Directions

1. From the intersection of Highway 34 and Highway 169 east of Cres­ton, take Highway 169 north 2 miles (watch for sign) to 167th Street. 
2. Go west (left) 1.5 miles to Tulip Avenue. 
3. Go south (left) 0.5 mile to the preserve on the west side of the road (sign: Mount Pisgah Cemetery State Preserve).

History

In the mid-1840s, social turmoil forced Mormons to leave Nauvoo, Illinois. On February‑5, 1846, a mass exodus began. The travelers battled weather, fatigue, starvation, and disease on their trip across the tallgrass prairie of Iowa en route to Salt Lake City. They were not prepared for the hardships that they encountered on their journey and many died along the way. The springlike weather they first experienced changed quickly as snow fell and temperatures plummeted. 

The Mormons averaged only three miles per day during the first month as they struggled against the cold and snow. By the end of March, spring rains and thawing replaced the snow and cold, but the prairie became a sea of mud. Many of the horses could not pull the heavy wagons through the mud. 

Mount Pisgah

More than 2,000 Mormons pitched their tents at Mount Pisgah in 1846, the first pioneer settlement in Union County. Temporary shelters were dug in the hillsides until log cabins could be built and blacksmith shops constructed to repair the wagons. 

The settlers found it impossible to break the tough prairie sod, and hundreds of acres of trees were girdled and cleared before crops could be planted. The lack of food and inadequate shelter took its toll on the new settlement, and more than 160 people died during the first six months. 

Visitor Information

Other historical areas in the vicinity include the Madison County Historical Complex and historic covered bridges.