Pioneer Courage - Nauvoo Pioneer Exodus - Available Framed

PIONEER COURAGE – by Matthew Kennedy

This piece is printed on high quality Museum Giclee Canvas and is offered framed or unframed,

• All sizes are available unframed

• Framed canvas is only available in the following sizes :

  8”x 12”, 12”x 18”, and 16”x 24”

Choose from 3 Frame Styles.

• Antique Gold 2”, Solid Wood

• Black Cove 2.75”, Laminate

• Brushed Mahogany & Gold 2.5”, Solid Wood

• Please note that framed artwork can take up to one week to ship due to our production time. If you have any question or concerns, feel free to reach out to us to discuss them.

This beautiful piece of art depicts the early departure of the Latter-day Saints from Nauvoo, Illinois. The first wagon to depart was that of Charles Shumway and his family. This piece honors the courage of all those early pioneers – and reminds us of their conviction, strength, and faith.

PLEASE SUPPORT NAUVOO: The item above and many other beautiful works found on this site create much-needed jobs for families living in Nauvoo. Please see our “MADE IN NAUVOO” page for more details CLICK HERE

SOME BACKGROUND REGARDING THIS WORK OF ART

After Church members were forced from Ohio and Missouri, they settled in Commerce, Illinois — a swampy bend of the Mississippi River. The city was renamed Nauvoo in October 1839. As Latter-day Saints gathered to their new haven, the city population swelled to an estimated 12,000 residents. Nauvoo quickly became a major commerce center, rivaling Chicago in size.

As Nauvoo grew, so did the opposition of mobs. Latter-day Saints built a temple in Nauvoo, but by the time it was dedicated, they were once again being forced from their homes. The Nauvoo Temple was abandoned, desecrated by mobs, and then gutted by an arsonist’s fire in 1848. A century and a half later, the Nauvoo Temple was rebuilt using original plans and dedicated by then Church President Gordon B. Hinckley in June 2002. Between February and September 1846, the majority of Church members were forced from their homes in Nauvoo. Most of them fled down Parley street which today is sometimes referred to as the “Trail of Hope.” During a sharp freeze, the broad Mississippi River froze solid, allowing several thousand Church members to cross on foot or in wagons. A number of diarists refer to this freezing as a miracle, though one quipped “it was a miracle that nearly froze a couple of thousand saints.”