Mormon Battalion Historic Site

I know I have given bits and pieces, but I don’t think I have ever posted all of the rooms in our Mormon Battalion Historic Site presentation.  Our tour is about 40-45 minutes and we go from room to room.  We run tours about every 15 minutes.

The first room is the Intro room where the pictures on the wall come to life (this startles many people, just as it should) and it is quite fun.  A little background is given on the Battalion and we explain we will be going back in time.  We are only in this room for a few minutes.

The second room is Enlistment.  It takes place in the plains of Iowa back in 1846 and we sit on big logs in this room.  Here we get the background of what the Saints were doing and how they came to volunteer in the U.S. Army of the West.  The Mormon Battalion was the only religious based unit in United States Military history.  In this room there are three screens. It is pretty sophisticated technology.  Some of these rooms are dark so sorry about the funny colors.

We travel over 150 miles in the space of a doorway to get to our Outfitting room in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  This room is fun as we outfit a volunteer with the gear the Battalion soldiers were issued.  We learn about the families that came along with some Battalion members, over 80 women and children.

From here we have 2 months to march to Santa Fe, a little over 750 miles, or be discharged without pay.  For us, it only takes a minute to walk into the next room.  We make it to the Campfire room easily!  Here we see many of the hardships the Battalion endured.  It ends with an exciting battle!  The Battalion had been promised by the prophet that if they stayed true, they would have no fighting to do.  In the next room we find out what this battle was all about.

The next room is Courthouse.  We find out that the battle was with some long horn bulls.  It was called the “Battle of the Bulls”.  A couple of the men were injured.  The only casualties were some mules.  When the Battalion arrived in San Diego, they still had six months left in their enlistment.  They were very active in community improvement projects. They built the first brick kiln west of the Mississippi, they used the bricks to build the first courthouse, they dug numerous wells and lined them with bricks, and whitewashed various buildings. When their enlistment was over and it was time for them to leave, the citizens of San Diego signed a petition asking for the “Mormonitos” to stay.

Then we have the resource room with our many artifacts, and then outside we have the gold panning sluice, a replica of a brick kiln, a well, water pump, and washboards.

We have two theaters that can be opened up into one big theater.  We have people watch “More Precious than Gold”, a documentary about the Mormon Battalion, in the theaters while they are waiting for tours.

The building itself is really beautiful.  It also has a wonderful feeling about it.  We are lucky to spend a year here!

This week was transfers.  Six Sisters went out full pross and we miss them already, but six came home and we are so happy to have them back.

On Halloween night all missionaries were told to be in at 6.  Of course, the Battalion was still open so Sisters were there.  All of the other Battalion Sisters were invited over to join in a dinner of soup and bread.  Some of the Sisters were able to figure out costumes and still be in missionary dress.  We had Noah and some animals.  Cats, frogs, doves and a bear.  So fun!

Plus a beautiful fairy.

This week you get to meet fun Sister Calderon from North Carolina who serves Spanish speaking.  She just came back from full pross where she served English speaking.  She thought that was an incredible experience.  She loves desserts, the beach (which she does not get to visit while on her mission) and learning about other cultures.  She especially loves traveling.  She hopes to learn to water ski one day.

She loves giving the tour.  Her favorite part of the tour is seeing the narrator’s eyes when he first sees the ocean.  He talks about how God brought him so far.  Sister Calderon feels a parallel in her life.  She feels the Lord also blessed her in the way she least expected it.