Thomas E. Ricks Grave (Founder of Ricks College)

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  Rexburg, Idaho
• Rexburg cemetery
• GPS Coord: ?
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  A group of young Mormon men from Cache Valley, Utah, was organized to form a settlement in the area. Among these men was Thomas E. Ricks, founder of both Rexburg, and Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho). In February 1883, they cut logs for building a community in the spring. In March the men met at the present town site of Rexburg and constructed the first log house. The settlers first decided to call their town Ricksburg after their settlement leader, Thomas E. Ricks. However, since the German ancestral name of Ricks is Rex the town's name was changed to Rexburg.
  While the settlers worked on their log houses most of them lived out of dugouts or tents pitched on the banks of the Teton River. Many settlers called it "Mosquito Flats" because of the hordes of mosquitoes from the nearby sloughs.Thomas E. Ricks began the first mercantile located just across the street from the courthouse and in 1884 Thomas E. Ricks and Company Flour Mill began operations just four months after he publicly stated they needed one. The original mill burned down and another was built to replace it.
  
  This is the grave of Thomas E. Ricks who was the founder of Ricks College. Now known as BYU-Idaho.

Brigham Young's resting place

Salt Lake City, UT
Brigham Youngs Grave
GPS Coord: N 40° 46.221 W 111° 53.136


Brigham Young died in Salt Lake City on 29 August 1877 at the age of 76. His grave rests near First Avenue in Salt Lake City.

The Nauvoo Bell

Salt Lake City, UT
Nauvoo Bell
GPS Coords: ?

The Nauvoo Bell, weighing over 1,500 pounds, was originally donated by the British Saints for the Nauvoo Temple and brought to the United States by Wilford Woodruff. When pressure from mobs forced the Saints to evacuate the city, the bell was left behind and placed in a local Protestant church. It was recovered by members of the Lamoreaux family before they left Nauvoo to head west.

"One stormy night the men gathered in secret and without horses pulled the wagon to the Church and lowered the Bell, pushed and pulled the wagon by hand to the edge of the Mississippi River and carefully concealed it in the water. Andrew Lamoreaux and his brother, David, were chosen to bring the Bell to Utah with their families, concealing the Bell in their wagon with their provisions."

On the journey to Salt Lake City the bell was used to "awaken the herdsmen at dawn, to signal morning prayer, to start the day’s march, and to sound during the night watches to let the Indians know that the sentry was at his post." Once in Salt Lake City the bell was used in several locations such as the first old bowery, Brigham Young's schoolhouse, a Church business building and the Bureau of Information on Temple Square. It didn't find it's present day location and permanent home until 1942 when the Relief Society placed it in a bell tower on Temple Square to celebrate their centennial.

Placing the bell on Temple Square fulfilled a 1862 prophecy by Brigham Young: "Right west of the temple we shall build a tower and put a bell on it.... This plan was shown to me in a vision when I first came onto the ground." (B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church, 5:136).

In 1961 President David O. McKay, presiding at a ceremony at KSL-TV, said: "In its own way, the Nauvoo bell is a symbol of religious freedom in our land. . . . When we hear, henceforth, the sound of the Nauvoo bell, let it remind us anew that our nation and our community owes its existence to our trust in God." ("As We See It," Church News, July 29, 1961).
Today the bell rings at the beginning of each hour. The ring of the bell on the hour has been featured for years on KSL radio as well to mark the "top of the hour". It is also interesting to note that the ringing of the Nauvoo Bell can be controlled by a panel on the Mormon Tabernacle organ. The bell is also rung on special occassions such as the recent memorial services held on September 14, 2001 for those who died in the terrorist attacks on the United States of America.

Wilford Woodruff Home

Randolph, UT
Wilford Woodruff Home
GPS Coord: ?

This house is in Randolph, Utah on main street. I don't really know when or for how long Wilford Woodruff lived there, but he did live there for a time. If you know anymore information let me know.