University Exhibit Spotlights Pioneer Heritage

“The Mormon Trail to Wyoming,” an exhibition featuring artifacts from the LDS pioneer trek through Wyoming, is part of the University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center in Laramie.

The exhibit includes artifacts, books, a wall map that traces the journey of Church members from Palmyra, New York, to Salt Lake City, and a separate map that shows Wyoming and its Mormon settlements.

“We try to show the early life and accomplishment of Mormons in Wyoming and their contributions to the settlement and development of the state,” explains Tom Wilsted, associate director of the center.

Items in the exhibit include some already in the university’s possession, as well as items from private collections of Church members from the state’s Big Horn Basin and Star Valley.

Visitors can see a copy of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon; an early LDS hymnal; the first volume of the Times and Seasons published in Nauvoo, Illinois; a copy of the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants published in Kirtland, Ohio; and a number of lithograph illustrations showing scenes along the Mormon trail.