From Friday, 29 July to Tuesday, 2 August, we joined 254 of my Bushman cousins for a fantastic reunion in Nauvoo and surrounding areas. We’ve been planning this reunion for the last year and dozens of cousins have been involved. We all had different responsibilities and it all came together beautifully this week. The next posts will highlight some of our reunion field trips and activities.
We started in St. Louis on Thursday morning, where we first visited the Gateway Arch Museum. I especially loved learning how this was a starting point for many who came west, including Mormon pioneers.
The Mississippi River provided a center for trade and travel.
At 630 feet, the Gateway Arch is the world’s tallest arch and tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, it is the centerpiece of Gateway Arch National Park.
Across the street from the museum and arch is the Old Courthouse. More than 500 slaves were sold on the courthouse steps, and it was here that the Dred Scot case was tried.
There are few things I’d rather do than be in the place where it happened. Being here and standing in these places moved me.
After leaving St Louis, we drove by bus to Quincy on our way to Nauvoo. I’ve always wanted to visit Quincy and hope to return to spend more time there someday. In 2005 I did a good amount of research, learning about life in Quincy in the 1860s, as I wrote this Immigrant Case Study on a family living there then.
IMMIGRANT CASE STUDY Peter Heinrich Bastert Family by Ann Laemmlen Lewis
This park was one of the places Abe Lincoln debated Douglas.
We went to the waterfront where the exiled Latter-day Saints crossed the Mississippi. This monument recognizes the kindness of the families in Quincy to took the Saints in and gave them aid.
After this stop, we traveled on to Nauvoo where we’d spend the next few days.
