Yet they have incalculable historical value, Baker said. After talking with Berge, Baker decided to seek funding to recover and organize the collection and went to Nauvoo in the summer of 2002 to complete the first phase of the project. He examined the items, looked in local archives for documentation and tried to piece together what went where.

It was like piecing together a big jigsaw puzzle, and he knew he needed more time. So, he and a team returned last August under the auspices of BYU's Department of Public Archaeology.

Kim Wilson with the foundation accompanied the team and had an "interesting personal experience — to hold the artifacts from the old temple in the morning and go through a session in the new temple later that day was unique to say the least."

That trip set the stage for further work, with the goal of making some of the collection available for exhibition at some point, Baker said. Details are pending.

"There are tremendous stories that these things tell. It's really a history written in stones and bones."

For more information or to get involved with the project, e-mail Baker at sbaker@idahopower.com.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com