PATTERNS OF TOURISM IN NAUVOO, ILLINOIS:
1992-1995

Patty Anthony, Douglas Bradley, Mary Ann Kurke,
Joan M. Longmire, Glen Weatherwax, Fred Willman

Preview of Main Ideas

Students acquire, sort, map, and analyze tourist visitation data from Nauvoo, Illinois. They try to determine the reasons for the patterns of where visitors came from. In the process of doing so, students learn about the historical geography of this unique place.

Connection with the Curriculum

This activity can be taught in social studies, geography, or history classes. It could also be taught in conjunction with math classes.

Teaching level: Grades 5-8 (particularly grade 7 or 8)

Objectives Classification Outline (Also see objectives classification matrix below.)

Objective #1: The student will demonstrate understanding of map construction techniques by constructing a choropleth quartile map using historic and geographic data on Nauvoo, Illinois.

Essential Element: The World in Spatial terms.

Standard #1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

Knowledge Statement #2: The relative advantages and disadvantages of using maps, globes, aerial and other photographs, satellite-produced images, and models to solve geographic problems.

Skill Set #3: Organizing geographic information.

Skill #1: Prepare various forms of maps as a means of organizing geographic information.

Theme: Regions.

Objective #2: The student will analyze tourist visitation data to determine reasons for the patterns of visitation.

Essential Element: The Uses of Geography.

Standard #17: How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

Knowledge Statement #2: How people’s differing perceptions of places, peoples, and resources have affected events and conditions in the past.

Skill Set #4: Analyzing geographic information.

Skill #1: Interpret information obtained from maps, aerial photographs, satellite-produced images, and geographic information systems.

Theme: Movement.

Materials

1. Tourist visitation data sheets from Nauvoo, Illinois (provided with lesson).

2. A brief historic overview of the history of Nauvoo (provided with lesson).

3. A United States outline map showing state boundaries.

4. Colored Pencils

Suggestions for Teaching the Lesson

Opening the Lesson

Students examine records of people who visited the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Visitor Center and the Chamber of Commerce in Nauvoo, Illinois, for seven different months over three years. They use this information to make a United States choropleth quartile map, which combines the statistics from these sample months, some from each season of the year. To make maps, students will use the following categories: 0 to 99 visitors = white or no color on white paper; 100-199 visitors = yellow; 200 to 499 = orange; 500 or more = red.

Developing the Lesson

Students speculate why visitors came in large numbers from certain places and small numbers from others. They can also speculate why there were seasonal variations in the places from which people came.

Concluding the Lesson

To verify their observations, students will be told by the teacher about the historic and religious significance of Nauvoo.

Extending the Lesson

1. The student will observe similarities and differences between visitation patterns in Nauvoo, Illinois, and their home town. They will try to explain the reasons for these similarities and differences.

2. The student will decide which places to target for tourist advertisements, what will be said to attract tourists, and why.

Assessing the Lesson

Students can be asked to make a choropleth map on their own using statistical information supplied by the teacher. They can be given a series of conclusions, some of which are logical and some which are not, to consider while using their map to help them. Students must choose the logical statements and explain why they are logical.

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Rosalyn Seaver who works in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Visitor Center in Nauvoo, Illinois, for supplying visitor data for this lesson. We also wish to thank the Nauvoo Chamber of Commerce for supplying us with additional visitor data.

 

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS CLASSIFICATION MATRIX – GRADES   5-8 

Title:  Patterns of Tourism in Nauvoo, Illinois:  1992-1995      Author:  Patty Anthony, et.al.

Note:  See also Objectives Classification Outline in the lesson.

Handouts

Handout A

CHOROPLETH MAPPING

The following procedure is recommended for constructing a choropleth map.  It can be used with any data that ranges in value and can be associated with geographic regions, e.g. counties, states, countries.

1. Determine class intervals by first finding the range of the data.  Select the number of classes to be used for your map and calculate the interval of each class.  Here is one method for determining class intervals.
   a.    Inspect your data sheet to identify extreme values, such as the number of tornadoes in Texas.
   b.    Eliminate extreme values for purposes of calculating range in the data.
   c.    To calculate range, determine the highest and lowest values in the data.
   d.    Subtract these two numbers in order to calculate the range for the data.  Be sure to exclude data for Texas
          before calculating ranges, but include it in the highest group for mapping.
   e.    Divide the range by the number of classes planned for your map.  Three to seven mapping classes will be
          adequate for most data sets.  Experiment with three and four intervals for the tornado data to determine which
          one provides the most useful mapped patterns.  The number produced by the division will be the range for each
          class.  (Note:  The best number of classes to use is the one that gives you the most useful information.  Generally,
          between three and seven works best.  If too few classes are used, important details may be lost.  Too many
          classes mean that the map gets cluttered with too much detail.)
          Example of class intervals:

                  The map maker may choose to adjust the classes if there are outliers or clusters of information that become
                   hidden in the process outlined above.
            f.    Often the highest and lowest classes will contain a larger interval because the range does not divide evenly.
                  Construct classes so that the numbers in one class do not overlap those in adjacent classes.

2. Arrange a color code or shading pattern for each class.  Colors or patterns should increase from light to dark, from lowest to highest class.

3. Identify the proper class interval for each country or region and color or shade the state on an outline map.  Title the map, place a legend on the page, and include the source for the data displayed.

4. If other data sets (e.g., precipitation amounts) are mapped to find relationships, students should consider the following as they complete their analysis.
   a.    Describe the patterns observed on the maps.
   b.    What accounts for the variation?
   c.    Discuss the factors that could lead to the range of outcomes within the distribution.
   d.    Discuss the relationships between the regional patterns.  Is the relationship positive or negative?  (Are the states
          with the highest rate of one variable the same states with the highest rate of the other variable?  If so, there is a
          positive correlation.  if the states that are highest in one variable are lowest in another, the correlation is
          negative.)
   e.    Discuss whether or not the factors that contribute to the patterns in one variable affect the patterns of another.

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Handout B

Places of Origin of Visitors to Nauvoo during seven selected months from 1992-1995

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Handout C

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Handout D & E

HISTORY IS RECREATED IN NAUVOO

Situated on the horseshoe bend of the Mississippi, Nauvoo is nearly surrounded by the river.  The Sac and Fox Indians settled in the are first.  Later Captain James White traded two hundred sacks of corn for the Indians' vast acreage.  Captain White established a fur-trading village on the banks of the river.

in 1839, Joseph Smith and his followers, the Mormons, settled in this area after they were forced out of Missouri by religious persecution.  The Mormons were granted a very liberal charter for their city, which they named Nauvoo.  Within three years, Nauvoo was one of the largest cities in Illinois and the tenth largest in the United States.  Nauvoo was famous for its beautiful homes, its many fine shops; and its magnificent Temple on the bluff, overlooking the city and the river.  Soon internal dissention, religious antagonism, and the fear of the political power of the Mormons, exploded into a fury.  In 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother were assassinated and the Mormons were forced to evacuate the city in 1846.  The burning of the Temple in 1846 was the last recorded act of anti-Mormonism.

In 1849, Etienne Cabet and his Icarian comrades came to Nauvoo from France.  The Icarians bought Temple Square and began their short-lived experiment in communal living.  For the first few years the commune prospered.  Then, minor disagreements grew into open rebellion.  When the commune fell apart, some of the Icarians left Nauvoo.  Many of the Icarians who remained in Nauvoo realized that the soil and climate of Nauvoo was much like that of their native France.  With their Germ and Swiss neighbors, they began the cultivation of grapes.  Soon there were over 600 acres of grapes, the hills of Nauvoo were honey-combed with stone-arched wine cellars, and Nauvoo was noted for her fine wines.  The Prohibition years doomed the wine industry.  Though many of these wine cellars no longer serve the purpose for which they were built, many still exist today.

In the late 1930s, a new industry came to Nauvoo.  It was discovered that the cool moist wine cellars were ideal for aging cheese and the Nauvoo Blue Cheese industry was born.  About the same time, Cecil J. Baxter, whose father had planted grapes and operated a winery in 1857, obtained a license to manufacture wine.  Today the winery is operated by the fifthe generation of the same family.

Nauvoo stands on two levels:  the Hill and the Flats.  Since 1880s, the Hill has housed the business district and the major residential area.  Visitors may browse through unique shops that offer gourmet foods.  Specialty shops give demonstrations of various crafts.  Excellent restaurants offer dining at its best.  Antique shops are truly antique shops and craft shops feature locally hand-crafted gifts and collectibles.  Illinois' oldest winery offers daily tours and samples of Old Nauvoo wines.  The Icarian Living History Museum contains artifacts from the Icarian era.

The Flats tell the tragic story of the Mormons in Illinois.  There stand the impressive homes and shops built by the Mormons.  Visitors may visit the Joseph Smith Historical Center, view a slide presentation on Nauvoo, browse through a gift shop, take a walking tour of the Homestead, grave site, and the Mansion House.  At the L.D.S. Visitors Center, one may view a movie about early Nauvoo, filmed here in 1990, and walk through the Monument to Women Gardens, with its thirteen life-sized statues dedicated to women.  In the area are over twenty restored homes and shops.  Several old-time crafts have been revitalized and offer daily demonstrations by skilled artisans.  Take a carriage ride and listen to the story the driver spins about old Nauvoo.  An added attraction:  There is no admission charge!

Nauvoo has several special events:  The Mississippi River Scenic Drive is held the last weekend in June.  This sixty mile drive takes the tourist on a tour of the Illinois cities of Dallas City, Biota, Nauvoo, Hamilton, and Warsaw and crosses the river to drive through Keokuk, Montrose, and Fort Madison.  As you "loop the loop" you will find historical tours, arts and crafts, flea markets, food booths, and special events in each town.   In August, the Mormons present the CITY OF JOSEPH.  This outdoor musical tells the story of Nauvoo in song and dance and is rated as one of the best outdoor pageants in the nation.  On Labor Day weekend, the good people of Nauvoo celebrate the harvest of grapes with its annual Grape Festival.  Highlights of the celebration include parades, a custom auto show, a Grape Stomp, mud volleyball, antique show, arts and crafts, flea market, buckskinners and a pageant:  FROM QUASHQUEMA TO NAUVOO climaxing with THE WEDDING OF THE WINE AND CHEESE.

During the tourist season the L.D.S. Center offers live musical productions:  On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings, entertainers from Salt Lake present NAUVOO ADVENTURE in the Visitors Center and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, they present NAUVOO RENDEZVOUS in the Cultural Hall.

Nauvoo offers several overnight accommodations:  Nauvoo Family Motel, Village Inn Motel, Motel Nauvoo, and Hotel Nauvoo--built as a residence in 1840 and now restored much like a colonial inn.  Bed and breakfast homes include the Ancient Pines Bed and Breakfast--a historic turn of the century home, Mississippi Memories Bed and Breakfast--a spacious home on the banks of the Mississippi, Parley Lane Bed and Breakfast--a restored mid-1800s farm house, and Ed-harrie-mere Bed and Breakfast--a picturesque turn of the century home.

Come and spend a few days at one of the largest and finest historic sites in mid-America.

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Handout F

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