We then went to the brick house to learn how the pioneers turned Mississippi mud, sand, and heat to make bricks needed for houses (30,000 bricks per house).
We also learned about "hacking bricks", the daily turning of all those freshly made bricks to make sure they dried evenly before firing in the kiln. The guide explained that if kids got in trouble at home, hacking bricks was a good punishment. We also learned that people who were unable to keep up with the demanding work of making and firing bricks "couldn't hack it."
Our last stop in Nauvoo was at Brigham Young's home. Our guide was Sister Cook from St. George, whom we met yesterday when she guided us through a different house and commented a couple times on all the kids Red Sox gear. As we walked through the front door today, Sister Cook exclaimed, "Oh, it's my friends from Las Vegas who think they're from Boston."
Touring Young's home, Jason was impressed by the home's craftsmanship, and especially all the hardwood doors and door frames. Sister Cook explained that Brigham Young was experienced in working with hardwoods in his native New York, but only had pine, which he didn't like, to work with in Nauvoo. So he built the doors and door frames out of pine, painted them light brown, and added a faux hardwood grain using darker paint and a feather. It looked like real oak.
We took a short drive to Carthage, Illinois, to visit Carthage Jail, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered in 1844. After watching a short film on Joseph's life featuring words written about him by people who knew him well (Brigham Young, Lorenzo Snow, the Catholic priest for Nauvoo, a Methodist minister in New York, Emma Smith, and others), we took a tour of the jail. It was powerful to see the conditions Joseph, Hyrum, and others had to endure because of their faith.
Our tour guide led us to the room where Joseph and Hyrum became martyrs, and where John Taylor and Willard Richards escaped with their lives. We each touched the hole in the door created by the bullet that killed Hyrum, and we pondered the last moments of Joseph's life as he saw his brother and best friend dead and two of his friends trying desperately to protect him. We were able to spend extra time there and really explore the space. It was, awesome.
From our condo in the country outside Nauvoo, we drove to a new (to us) hotel in downtown St. Louis. Our room on the 27th floor has a wide view of the city, the Mississippi River, and the Arch. (The photo at the end of this post is from our hotel room.)
We're seeing the symbolism of the Arch in reverse...these are our last days in the West. On Tuesday we'll pass over the river and will officially be in the East. Wow.
We're a week into the trip. Still seven of us. The Suburban looks like we've been living in it (because we have), but it's running strong. Nerves are a bit frayed -- we've been living on top of each other for two weeks after our house sold, spending 35+ hours in the car together, jumping from hotel to hotel across the U.S., and remaining a family of seven -- but we're doing ok, all things considered.
Tomorrow: all day in St. Louis (i.e. no driving!) to see a baseball game (and El Hombre himself, Albert Pujols) and more.
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