Nauvoo Day 6

We left St. Louis and headed through Tom Sawyer country along the Mississippi to the town of Nauvoo, Illinois on the which is located on the western border of Illinois along the Mississippi.  Many of you have probably never heard of the town, but it is important in Mormon history as it was once a town where the church grew and flourished until they were forced out and moved westward to Salt Lake City.  At that time, Nauvoo was the 2nd largest city in Illinois.  I won't get into the politics of it, but today it would be almost unbelievable the acts of violence that occurred against this religious group.  Today it acts as a historical park and you can tour the little town and experience life of the 1840s.  The children had a blast going in and out of the buildings learning about the life of the pioneers.  While you will learn the history of those who lived there at that time you can feel comfortable that the church will not be handing you a Book of Mormon if that makes you uncomfortable.  There are many plays and find things to do while you visit Nauvoo.  We first stopped in the neighboring town of Carthage where Joseph Smith was killed while waiting for trial.  It just so happened that the day we visited was the 175 anniversary of his death. We ran into our friend Evan who is working there for the summer.  It was fun to see him.  More pictures to come in the following post.