nauuvoo il

In this spring of 1847, James Davenport was recruited as a blacksmith for the first company to leave with Brigham Young for the Great Basin of the West. They would generally follow the Oregon/California Trail along the Platte River. But they deliberately chose the opposite side of the river from the well-traveled side. Part of the mission of that first company was to identify the best route for the trail and the best sources for feed for the livestock, and to improve the road for the thousands that would follow. There were worrisome encounters with Indians, whose intentions were not well-know at the time, but no serious troubles occurred.