The Tragedy at Mt. Pisgah, Iowa
2010
There are so many tragedies related to the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. One such tragedy occured at a place called Mt. Pisgah, which is a name from the Old Testament. Here, the Saints were camped by the hundreds awaiting the time when they would move on to The Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Our ancestor Ithamer Thomas Sprague left the camp with other men in search of food. While they were gone, a mob attacked the women and children who were left behind. Many were killed and injured including, among the dead, Ithamer’s wife Betsy and his five children.
The resting place of those who died there is not accessible and is not formally marked. However, an original cabin has been restored and preserved and many markers tell the story of what happened there. Mt. Pisgah is a very high mountain for Iowa. It would have been difficult to climb in our ancestor’s time but is still a climb today. One can see why it was desirable to these pioneers because it gave them a view of all that was below. However, on that day, the mobbers met with little resistance.
When our ancestor Ithamer was ready to move on with the Saints, he left his wife and five children in the ground of Mt. Pisgah, Iowa. The woman he married next, Sarah Stedwell, is our direct ancestor. Their daughter Sarah Sprague married Nephi James Bates. Their son with the same name is our direct ancestor.