In 1847, Brigham Young led 143 men, 2 women, and 3 children west along the Platte River, then southwest into Utah. By the 1860s, more than 70,000 other Mormons had followed this trail to their “New Zion.” Today, a marked 1,624-mile auto tour route closely parallels their historic trek from the Midwest to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Mormon pioneers established communities and ferry crossings along the trail to assist later wagon trains going to and from Utah. From 1856-60, European converts pushed and pulled handcarts loaded with 500 pounds of supplies to Salt Lake City. After 1860, the Mormon church sponsored oxen-drawn wagons.