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Carole Mikita Reporting President Gordon B. Hinckley will travel to Northern California this weekend to dedicate a new temple and meet with thousands of church members.
The new temple outside Sacramento sits in an area rich in Latter-day Saint history. On the same day, a pioneer wagon train left Winter Quarters for the Salt Lake Valley, a ship named 'Brooklyn', carrying hundreds of Latter-day Saints, left New York City and sailed around South America to what would be San Francisco. Their leader was Samuel Brannan.
Northern California's hills were rich in gold. The Sacramento Temple is located close to two of the most famous gold mining sites in American history, mined by Latter-day Saints. They were veterans of the Mormon Battalion. Five companies totaling 500 soldiers were created in 1846 to help the U.S. Army fight Mexico. They walked 2,000 miles to Southern California. When they were discharged a year and a half later, some went north and became some of the first gold miners.
Michael Landon, LDS Family Church History Dept., archivist: "The battalion veterans were there, they were involved in it and they didn't stay, most of them didn't stay. They had an opportunity to be in on it, on the ground floor and they basically said, 'We wanna go back to our families.'"
One of the more significant contributions members of the Mormon Battalion made was blazing a trail back to the Great Salt Lake valley. Thousands involved in the gold rush used that trail to get back to California.
Most Latter-day Saints left Northern California by 1858, returning to Utah to build up their faith. This new temple in Sacramento, today's members say, is a reminder of those trails and now a symbol of hope for future growth.
