Excavating Nauvoo: The Mormons and the Rise of Historical Archaeology in America

by Benjamin C. Pykles, Robert Livingston Schuyler (Foreword)

This detailed study of the excavation and restoration of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, reveals the roots of historical archaeology. In the 1960s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sponsored an archaeology program to authentically restore the city of Nauvoo, which was founded along the Mississippi River in the 1840s by the Mormons as they moved west. Non-Mormon scholars were also interested in Nauvoo because it was representative of several western frontier towns in this era. As the archaeology and restoration of Nauvoo progressed, however, conflicts arose, particularly regarding control of the site and its interpretation for the public.

 

The field of historical archaeology was just coming into its own during this period, with myriad perspectives and doctrines being developed and tested. The Nauvoo site was one of the places where the discipline was forged. This well-researched account weaves together multiple viewpoints in examining the many contentious issues surrounding the archaeology and restoration of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, providing an illuminating picture of the early days of professional historical archaeology.

416 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Samuel]

Excavating Nauvoo tells the intriguing story of the mid-twentieth century efforts to use historical archaeology to restore certain buildings and areas of Nauvoo, Illinois to its period of significance: 1838-1844. Although Historic Nauvoo has yet to live up to the full vision of becoming the “Williamsburg of the West,” the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints invested an impressive amount of financial and institutional resources in the 1960s in an effort to use historical archaeology as a tool to develop acquired properties in a city that was second only to Chicago in population in 1840s Illinois. It might be surprising to learn that the National Park Service was exceptionally supportive of the initiative and help promote the site as a culturally significant place from which an important chapter in American History—westward expansion—took place. Although no extensive financial assistance came from federal coffers, certain advisors and other professional resources assisted the Nauvoo Restoration Incorporated (NRI)—a Corporation separate but supported by the Church—in pursuing a historically accurate restoration program at Nauvoo.

Pykles take care to set the stage for the main mid century focus of his work. This includes the distinction in interpretive strategies pursued by the LDS and RLDS churches. While both religious organizations sought to use historical archaeology to restore sites significant to early Mormon history, they each had distinctive focuses that supported their respective claims in the present day. Nevertheless, historic tensions between the denominations have improved over the years, including some significant advancements in relations regarding excavation projects in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

With respect to the LDS Church, changes in leadership at the Highest levels significantly altered the focus and commitment of resources to the project. Historical emphasis gave way to a more proselytizing focus of Nauvoo resources.

A major contention of the book is that Nauvoo excavations was extremely significant and concurrent with the professionalization of historical archaeology. Virginia and J.C. Harrington lent exceptional credibility to the project. In fact the Society of Archaeological Historians named their top academic award for Harrington and included a tribute to his work at Jamestown, Virginia as well as his sketch of the Nauvoo Temple floor plan on the medal.

It was enjoyable to read a clearly articulated and supported thesis that taught me about Historic restoration efforts at a site of such religious and historic significance to several faiths that trace their roots to Joseph Smith and his city-Building efforts in the nineteenth-century Midwest.

[Christopher Angulo]

Exciting and simultaneously boring history of the restoration of Nauvoo.

[Anson Cassel Mills]

Pykles’ book is less about excavating Nauvoo than about how the remains of this 1840s Mormon town on the Illinois side of the Mississippi have been interpreted for the last hundred years. Furthermore, the conflicts of interpretation—both between the two largest branches of Mormonism and between “secularist” and “proselytizing” approaches—could have been summarized to advantage in perhaps half the space that Pykles takes to tell the story. (Just because an author has done thorough research doesn’t mean he has to tip all his notes onto the reader.)

Pykles (pronounced PIKE-uhls) provides a helpful overview of how historical archaeology developed in the United States, but his exposition of the Nauvoo story suggests it is an outlier in the overall record, largely because virtually all the money for land purchases and excavations came from two religious organizations with ideological bees in their bonnets.

The author, an LDS Church member, seems intent on persuading his fellow religionists to treat historical archaeology more seriously; but he does not present evidence that when an anthropological and expensive (as opposed to a reconstruction-oriented and cheaper) approach to digging at Nauvoo was followed, significant information about the site was revealed. (By contrast, Ivor Noel Hume’s Martin’s Hundred (1983) and James Deetz’s Flowerdew Hundred (1993) are awash in details about their sites that could only have been provided with an anthropological approach.)

Pykles also argues that the decline and fall of historical archaeology at Nauvoo occurred because of a personality clash within the LDS hierarchy. I am skeptical. To my mind, the Church created a quasi-independent agency to sponsor the project—Nauvoo Restoration, Inc. (NRI)—with the thought that it might garner non-Mormon funding if the supervising agency was provided with a light gauze of non-sectarianism. When this notion proved a chimera, the Church brought the NRI more obviously under its control and legitimately gave no further thought to suppressing the Church’s instinct for proselytizing. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

Finally, a word must be said about the lack of site maps. I understand how expensive they are, but either the press or the author should have bitten the bullet and provided some.

[A.]

Overall, an interesting history of the archaeological digs at Nauvoo and the political push and pull behind the decisions that were made. Being fairly familiar with NRI, there wasn't much that surprised me in this, but it definitely fleshed out the background for me and gave me context for how NRI got where it is today. If you're interested in (especially present-day) Nauvoo, it's worth a read.

[Jenny]

Written primarily for fellow professional archaeologists, this book is written in a scholarly tone and may be difficult for the lay person to wade through. It is quite interesting and full of detail on the establishment of Nauvoo Restoration, Inc., though I was a bit uncomfortable with the treatment and discussion of some personal disagreements between NRI leadership and church leadership. I found the book as a whole very interesting and informative and hope to be able to read some of the actual site reports for the excavations done. For a more complete review, I agree heartily with Rich Talbot's review of this book, as published in BYU Studies: https://byustudies.byu.edu/PDFLibrary...