In the Kanesville Tabernacle, built by 200 pioneers in just two-and-a-half weeks, Brigham Young was sustained as the second prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The present log tabernacle is an authentic replica.
After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1844, the Church had been led for three-and-a-half years by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, under the direction of Brigham Young. Brigham Young and the other Apostles had the difficult task of leading a scattered people to safety in what is now Utah. Because many of the Latter-day Saints needed time to prepare themselves for the trek, they settled in towns such as Winter Quarters and Kanesville in the Middle Missouri Valley.
In December 1847, Brigham met with eight of the other Apostles. At that meeting they were inspired to reorganize the First Presidency with Brigham Young as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his counselors. In order to present the new First Presidency to the general Church membership, Henry W. Miller was asked to build a tabernacle in Kanesville that could hold a large number of people. In two-and-a-half weeks, Miller and 200 men built a log tabernacle that could accommodate about 1,000 people.
On the clear, cold morning of Monday, 27 December 1847, over a 1,000 men and women crowded into the tabernacle to participate in one of the most significant days in the history of the Church. For the first time since the Church was organized, its members sustained a new First Presidency.
The tabernacle also serves as a visitors' center, where you can learn more about the epic history of the Latter-day Saints migration westward. Between 1846 and 1890, over 100,000 saints outfitted for the West in Kanesville and neighboring Florence, Nebraska (previously Winter Quarters) and were a vital part of this nation's westward development.
Additional information is available in the Mormon Trail Center.
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