Mormon Battalion Historical Site (San Diego, CA)

On Memorial Day we visited the Mormon Battalion Historical Site. The Mormon Battalion was formed by Mormon men who were crossing the plains heading for Utah. The US Army enlisted them to create a wagon trail from the old Santa Fe trail out to San Diego, California in 1846. They were to fight any Spanish troops they were to encounter. They fought no battles but did walk some 2000 miles. The money they earned was desperately needed to help pay their way to the Rocky Mountains. My 2nd great granduncle, Richard H Carter, was one of the 500 recruits. He took sick in New Mexico and died on the way back to the main Mormon encampment on the trail to Utah. He was 26 and left a wife (who died of smallpox a few weeks later) and three small children.
The current building was remodeled in the past year or so and has a much improved experience for tourists who visit it. It is located in Old Town San Diego - right downtown.
Here are Hannah and Topher directing the firing of the cannon. The Battalion was a true military group and pulled cannon with them all the way to California.Here are Barbara and I standing with a Battalion soldier in front of the visitor center.The visitors go through 5 rooms learning about the Battalion experience. It is very high tech. You start in an assembly room where you sit in front of some pictures of real people (well almost) from the Battalion. The pictures actually come to life and begin to tell you their story. They guide you to the next room (not pictured) where the story of the recruitment of the troops is told by movies shown on the sides of pretend camp tents with the characters from the pictures playing key roles.
You eventually get to this room where the troops are outfitted. Hannah and Topher became honorary Battalion members and got to wear some of the garb the troops wore. In this room the characters would come to the window and talk to us.This room represented a camp along the way. The sky became the screen and we learned about being "attacked" by a herd of long-horn cattle, the sickness and trials of the troops, and their final arrival in San Diego.
After the presentations we were taken into a room (not pictured) where you could get your picture taken and you could explore people who served in the Battalion. Then you could go into the patio and mine for gold and do other hands on things.
Why pan for gold? After the Battalion was mustered out some of them traveled home through the San Joaquin Valley and then worked briefly for a Mr. Sutter at his saw mill and became the people who actually discovered the first gold of the gold rush.
All in all this was a very well planned and organized visitor center.