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Home of the Saints

This map and related illustrations portray the city of Nauvoo, Illinois in the 1840s. Built by the Church of Latter-Day Saints (or Mormons) after their arrival in Illinois in 1832, Nauvoo quickly became the largest city in the state. The bloc-voting sect quickly amassed considerable political power in the state, and fielded their own armed force, the Nauvoo Legion. The Mormons soon came into conflict with their Illinois neighbors, and a mob murdered their leader Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum in 1844. A two-year period of armed hostilities ensued. In 1846 the Mormons abandoned Nauvoo and began their trek to Deseret, the modern Salt Lake Valley of Utah.