Brigham
Young and other leaders continued their exploration of the land to the north of
Cutler’s Park, seeking “Old Council Bluffs.”
They arose early, had breakfast and prayers, and then set off on their
journey. At 6 a.m., they started
heading back down the river. They built
two small bridges over streams and ascended back up the bluffs on an Indian
trail, heading south.
Wilford
Woodruff wrote: “We passed through a
flat about 2 miles across it with pea vines grass woods & cane from 5 to 10
feet high which we had to wallow through with our horses & waggons.”
The weary
explorers finally reached their destination near dusk. Brigham Young’s history records:
. . .
arrived at the magazine [ammunition
building] of the old Council Bluffs, the walls of which were standing, the
building was about eighteen by twenty‑four feet; this had been a military
post of the United States, some thirty years ago, established to counteract
British influence among the Indians.
Here, the creek forms an island, which is covered with poplars, on the
south is a ravine and the foundation of the arsenal twenty‑eight feet by
sixty‑eight or thereabouts, besides other excavations and underground
works.
Wilford
Woodruff added: “There was nothing
standing of the old barracks except the body of the Magazine with one gable end
composed of brick arched over. . . . We looked about the premises of the old
Council Bluffs about half an hour & seeing nothing inviting, we started home.”
The
brethren then traveled to the west and found a small spring about a half mile
away. Here, they established camp for
the night. They saw a couple of deer
and signs of elk nearby. It was a nice
camp but they were “much annoyed by mosquitoes.”
A
daughter, Emma Jane Dixon, was born to William and Sabra Dixon.1
Mormon men
in Nauvoo started to train in preparation to defend the city from the mob. Non-Mormon Lewis Bidamon (future husband of
Emma Smith) while traveling to Quincy, was intercepted by a leader of the mob
who threatened to take him to the anti‑Mormon camp. Bidamon was freed and in the evening left
for Springfield to take some dispatches to the governor.
The
battalion marched for fifteen miles over a flat prairie, seeing many
grasshoppers, and sun flowers three inches in diameter. The dust from the trail was very irritating
to the eyes of Azariah Smith, so he marched ahead of his company. They camped about a mile south of a location
called Lost Spring. It received this
name because “of its being in such a lonesome place and so far from the
timber.” They did their cooking by
digging a hole in the ground and burning weeds.2
The
Mississippi Saints continued to establish their settlement for the winter on
the Arkansas River, in present-day Colorado.
There were a number of brethren who had made this long journey without
their families. It was time for them to
return and retrieve them. Those staying
behind were organized into a branch and counseled to build cabins in the form
of a fort. They were instructed to stay
at Pueblo until they received word from Church headquarters as to where they
should go. “They were much disappointed
as they expected to get with the main body of the Church. We comforted them all we could and left our
blessing with them.”
Those who
left included, William Crosby, D.M. Thomas, John D. Holladay, William Lay,
James Smithson, George W. Bankhead, and a man by the name of Wales Bonny who
had been to Oregon.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 359‑60; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 159; Wilford Woodruff’s
Journal, 3:74; Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:428; Avery and Newell, BYU
Studies, 19:3:378; Kimball, Historic Sites and Markers along the Mormon
and Other Great Western Trail, 190; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket,
120‑21; Bigler, The Gold Discovery Journal of Azariah Smith, 23
After
breakfast and prayer, Brigham Young and his company of explorers took the
Indian trail back to Cutler’s Park, where they arrived at 10:30 a.m. after a
journey of about ten miles.
Letters
were received which informed the camp about the deaths of William Huntington
and Samuel Bent, the presidents of Mount Pisgah and Garden Grove settlements.
Patty
Sessions was feeling well enough to write in her diary. She recorded her experience during her
terrible illness:
When they
told me I was almost gone, I felt calm and composed. Told them where my
garments were and all things necessary for my burial and requested to have the
latitude and longitude taken where I was lain. Also to have cedar posts put
down in my grave with my name cut on them so that I could be found when called
for. Many thought I was dying and the news went out that I was dead, but the
Saints held on to me by faith and prayers and through their faith and the power
of the Priesthood, I was raised. I got so low that a teaspoon full of cold
water or rice water at a time was all I could take for two days. Brigham said
they must all hang on to me as long as I breathed and for five minutes after I
had done breathing. I had the best care taken of me, friends came from almost
every part of the camp to visit me and to sit up with me. I feel thankful to
God that I got in that camp for I think I must have died had I been anywhere
else but with the main body of the Church.
The
battalion traveled fifteen miles and camped at Cottonwood Creek, northwest of
present-day Durham. They had arrived on
land inhabited by the Comanches. Lt.
Smith detailed men to guard both the front and rear of the marching
battalion. They found some cottonwood,
walnut and elm trees along the creek.
Green wood was used to cook their rations.
Lt. Smith
wrote a letter to Adjutant General Roger Jones in Washington, D.C. He informed the General that he had taken
command of the Battalion at Council Grove and would lead it to General
Kearny. He reported, “we are getting
along very well so far & I am in hopes to reach Genl K in good
season.”
Over one
hundred miles to the west of Winter Quarters, Jacob Gates wrote a letter to
Brigham Young. He informed President
Young that the majority of George Miller’s company was gone to the Ponca
Village. Fourteen families had been
persuaded to stay behind. They had
moved into the houses at the mission and were doing well. The Pawnees had returned from their hunting
trip about a week after George Miller’s company left. So far they were friendly, although some were displeased because
much of their corn had been destroyed by George Miller’s group. Jacob Gates, and the brethren who stayed
behind, met with the Indians and promised to help them harvest the corn. This labor would be appreciated by the
Indians because the departed Protestant missionaries had promised to help. The Pawnee wanted the brethren to stay, but
some thievery took place which discouraged some of the Saints and made them
want to leave. Jacob Gates committed to
Brigham Young that he would stay until he was driven away or counseled by
President Young to leave.
Sidney
Rigdon, leader of The Church of Christ, issued a proclamation in his
periodical, Messenger and Advocate of the Church of Christ. He declared to the world:
The time is
at hand when all shall know, whether they believe us now or not, that what we
have here written, is the truth of heaven; ‑‑ for this generation
shall not pass till all is fulfilled.
Then as Noah did to the old world, so do we to the new world, and
proclaim to all the inhabitants thereof, that this world is drawing near its
close, the present order of things is shortly to pass away, and the Lord
himself is about to take to himself his great power, and get to himself a great
name.
William
Medill of the War Department wrote a letter to Major Thomas H. Harvey of the
Indian Bureau regarding the Mormon’s request to stay on Indian lands for
awhile. “If their continuance is really
to be temporary and for such length of time only as will enable them to supply
their wants and procure the necessary means for proceeding on their journey,
the Government will interpose no objections.”
He understood that winter was approaching and that the Mormons were in a
difficult situation. He was worried
that they might choose to stay longer.
If they did, it would delay the survey and sales of the lands, it would
bring difficulty between Iowa in their efforts with the federal government to
become a state, and it would interfere with the removal of the Indians.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 360‑61, 374; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:74; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861,
190; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
159; Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, 1:302; Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, 390;
Kimball, Historic Sites and Markers along the Mormon and Other Great Western
Trails, 190; A.J. Smith to Adjutant General Robert Jones, September 2,
1846; Patty Session diary in Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:62
Brigham
Young spent the morning traveling around the camp and visiting with the
sick. Willard Richards visited with
many of the sisters in camp who had husbands away in the Mormon Battalion. Elder Richards gave many of them money to
meet their immediate needs. Wilford
Woodruff traded his gun with Amasa Lyman for a rifle. They spent some time shooting their new guns.
At 5 p.m.,
the Twelve met with the High Council. A
report was given by Elder Orson Pratt regarding his negotiations with the Otoe
and Omaha Indian nations. (See
August 31, 1846.)
Brigham
Young reported on the trip to Old Council Bluffs. They concluded that site was not suitable for a settlement
because of a lack of timber in the area.
However, the ruins from the old fort, did contain plenty of brick and
stones that could be used to build houses.
The
council decided to appoint Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and others to find a
good location for a new ferry crossing which would be closer to their current
location at Cutler’s Park. Elder
Kimball recommended that the brethren cut hay down by the river, and that the
cattle that were not needed, would be herded to the north to feed among the pea
vines.
A letter
from the Nauvoo Trustees was read which reported some of the terrible events
taking place around Nauvoo. Because of
these activities, the Trustees felt that they could not send the men that
Brigham Young requested to be sent to the main camp to help make preparations
for the winter.
After
three days of very long marches, many of the men’s health failed. Private Samuel Hollister Rogers started the
day marching ahead of his company because he did not feel well enough to march
among the ranks. Soon he was not even
able to walk and spent the rest of the day riding in one of the baggage wagons.
The new
company surgeon, Dr. George Sanderson, became frustrated with the sick because
they would not take his medicine.
Brigham Young had counseled the men to stay away from taking medicine,
which was largely experimental at that time.
He had told them, “If you are sick, live by faith, and let surgeon’s
medicine alone if you want to live, using only such herbs and mild food as are
at your disposal.”
Lieutenant
Smith and Dr. Sanderson ordered all of the sick out of the wagons to be
examined. Sergeant Thomas S. Williams
had a few sick men in his wagon. When
Lt. Smith approached to pull the sick out, Brother Williams “ordered” him to
stop. Lt. Smith became furious and drew
his sword. He threatened to run
Williams through if he carried any more sick in his wagon without
permission. Brother Williams stood his
ground and defiantly told Lt. Smith that the team and wagon were his private
property and he would haul whom he pleased.
He said that these men were his brethren who did not believe in taking
drugs. He would never leave one lying
sick on the ground if there was room to put him in his wagon. Lt. Smith backed down and moved on.
Corporal
Thomas Dunn wrote:
They used
language that was truly heart rending, such that if we would not take their
medicine, we should go on foot and that if any was found to administer to the
sick medicine of any kind, they should have their throat cut. After some time, the sick placed themselves
in the wagons and were moved on. In the
course of the afternoon the doctor was heard to say that they would send all to
hell they could. They manifested a revengeful
spirit most of the time.
It was
also rumored that Dr. Sanderson was a former Missouri mobber “and had been
heard to say he did not care a damn whether he killed or cured, but Smith was
told plainly that before the men would take the doctor’s medicines they would
leave their bones to bleach on the prairies.”
Daniel
Tyler recorded that one of the men tried to explain that the battalion would
not take medicine because of religious reasons. When Lt. Smith asked Adjutant Dykes if this was true, Dykes
stated that there was no such religious belief.
The
battalion marched for twenty‑six miles over a large prairie without any
timber. They could not find wood or
water and had to camp on the open prairie for the night.
In the
evening, Lt. Smith sent orders that all the sick were to report to Dr. Sanderson
in the morning or they would be left on the prairie.
The
brethren who left the Mississippi Saints at Pueblo (see September 1, 1846)
reached Bent’s Fort. They learned about
the Mormon Battalion, who were on their way west. They also heard that a company of forty‑five men had left
the fort three days earlier, heading back for the states. The brethren decided that they would try to
overtake them, so that they could travel with
this company through hostile country.
Eliza
Graves Rich, a wife of Charles C. Rich, was still in Nauvoo. She had not been able to leave Nauvoo
because of a sick baby. She spent long
months being harassed by some of the new citizens of Nauvoo. As time passed, she heard nothing from her
husband. He had sent a friend with
money to bring her to Mount Pisgah but the man never arrived. The town gossiped that Eliza Rich and been
abandoned by her husband. On this day,
a messenger arrived to take Eliza Rich and her mother to Mount Pisgah.
An
agreement was reached about this time between Major Parker and Colonel
Singleton, the leader of the mob. The
Mormons would be given sixty days to get out of the city. In the meantime a force of twenty‑five
men from the mob would be stationed in the city. Half of their expenses would be covered by the citizens of
Nauvoo. The Mormons were to surrender
their arms which would be returned to them when they left the state. As soon as the arms were gathered, the mob
would disperse and all hostilities would cease. The two leaders signed this agreement, but the Nauvoo citizens
“unanimously rejected” it. This
agreement made no mention whatsoever of William Pickett. The mob had been claiming that they were
just a posse to arrest Pickett, but their true intentions were shown by this proposed agreement.
A
daughter, Mary Ann Collett, was born to Daniel and Esther Collett.3
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 361‑63; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 159; “Private Journal of
Thomas Dunn,” typescript, 7; Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon
Battalion, 144‑46; “Journal Extracts of Henry W. Bigler,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 5:2:38; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 122‑24;
Arrington, Charles C. Rich, 107; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:74‑75;
Rich, Ensign to the Nations, 41; Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:428;
Black, Membership of the Church 1830‑1848
Brigham
Young and Lorenzo Dow Young went south toward the ferry, hoping to meet up with
their brothers, John and Joseph Young.
Albert P. Rockwood traveled north to search for some good pastures and
found some excellent land. Willard
Richards continued to disperse funds to the wives of battalion members. Wilford Woodruff visited many that were sick
in camp. Efforts were made to cut hay,
but there were still so many who were sick and could not work.
Jonathan
H. Hale, a longtime church member, and member of the High Council at Council
Point, died of the fever. His wife was
also very sick and gave up her desire to live.
She was kneeling beside the bed of Jonathan when he died. Her son Aroet, led her to the wagon which
was in the rear of the tent. She called
for Sister Allred and Sister Morley and gave instructions for her husband’s
burial. She also told them that she
wanted her sister, Clarisa Harriman, to have her eight-day-old infant
child. Sister Harriman had crossed over
the river at Cutler’s Park.
Joseph
Hovey wrote:
We came
near the ferry on the [Missouri] River.
Brother Brigham and Lorenzo Young met us there. They crossed the river to meet us. I was pleased to see President Brigham Young
after not seeing him for seven months.
He looked very much like Brother Joseph, the Seer, so much so that at
first sight I thought he was the Prophet Joseph. President Brigham administered to my wife who was very sick. She felt some better.
William
Dally and Mandanda Hillman were married at Trader’s Point.4
It was
about this time that Emma Smith, the widow of the prophet Joseph, received an
anonymous threat that “if she did not move out of the house in three days, it
would be burned over her head.” On the
third day, Emma put her children to bed on the ground floor where they could
make a quick exit. They awoke the next
morning safe, but found a pile of charred sticks and leaves against the north
side of house. Flames had scorched the
siding but the fire had gone out before doing much damage.
Judge John
K. Kane wrote a letter to his son Thomas L. Kane. He was relieved to hear that his son was feeling better. He then reported the results of his visit to
President Polk. “I saw the President
last week, and talked over the whole subject.
He assured me definitely that the Mormon should not be disturbed.”
In the
morning, the sick reluctantly reported to Dr. Sanderson for their dose of
calomel medicine. Samuel Hollister
Rogers wrote, “The Colonel and surgeon are determined to kill us, first by
forced marches to make us sick, then by compelling us to take calomel5 or to walk to do duty.”
At first
the medicine was issued to each man on a piece of paper that some would take
back to camp and bury. Later, Dr.
Sanderson insisted that the medicine be taken in his presence from an old iron
spoon. Daniel Tyler wrote: “It was believed by many that this spoon had
been thrown away by some soldier at the garrison and picked up by the Doctor,
thinking a new one would be either too expensive or too good for the ‘Mormons’
to use in taking their medicine.” It
soon became routine for the sick to march each morning to the tune of “Jim
along Joe” to Dr. Sanderson’s quarters.
The men detested a rule stating that no one could administer herbs to
the sick, except for Dr. Sanderson.
William Coray wrote, “Hard time, now that the Tyrants are over us.”
The
battalion set off on their march early and travelled about twenty‑four
miles to a small creek which was thought to be a fork of the Arkansas River.6 They were told that they
were near buffalo country and looked forward to seeing thousands of buffalo
soon. They saw prickly pear cacti for
the first time on this day.
In an
evening about this time, Lt. Smith patrolled the camp to see if the guards were
doing their duty. He was halted by
Thomas Howell. Lt. Smith gave an
incorrect password so Brother Howell held him prisoner until the arrival of his
relief guard. Lt. Smith was furious,
but he had apparently given the password of the previous night. He was later shown the correct password in
his own handwriting by Adjutant George Dykes.
The news
of Colonel James Allen’s death reached Washington. Secretary of War, William L. Marcy immediately requested that a
replacement be named. Adjutant General
Roger Johns did not feel that Lt. Smith had sufficient rank and experience to
be appointed to this command. Jones
appointed Captain P.B. Thompson, stationed at Jefferson Barracks near St.
Louis, to take over the command of the Mormon Battalion.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 363‑66; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:75; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 14:147;
Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
159; Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion, 147‑48;
“Aroet Hale Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 11; Newell and Avery, Mormon
Enigma‑‑Emma Hale Smith, 236; Kimball, Historic Sites and
Markers along the Mormon and Other Great Western Trails, 194‑95;
Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 124‑26; “William Coray Journal”;
“Joseph Hovey Autobiography,” BYU, p.40
Heber C.
Kimball, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff and a few others went to search for a
location for a ferry crossing. They
started their search about five miles downriver. Using a leather boat, they crossed the river to meet Isaac Morley
and others from the east side who were also helping to find a good place to
establish the ferry. They observed
plenty of wildlife on their search:
deer, turkey, wolves, and about two hundred geese on the water. The elderberries and grapes were numerous
and they picked about two bushels. A
good location for a new ferry was found about twenty miles upriver from Council
Point. This site would eliminate the
long and hazardous journey up the steep bluffs across from the current ferry.
Thomas L.
Kane, feeling much better, was preparing to return to his home in Philadelphia.
In the
evening at 7 p.m., a meeting with the High Council was held at Albert P.
Rockwood’s tent. A report was presented
of the labor performed in Brigham Young’s company. They had thus far cut and hauled 657 tons of hay. Hosea Stout reported that there were 70
officers and 231 privates of the Nauvoo Legion in the camp. More help was needed to herd the camp’s
sheep. Charles Bird was authorized to
call upon the sheep owners for help. If
they did not provide help, the expense would be paid with sheep.
Joseph
Hovey crossed over the ferry in the morning and spent that day traveling toward
Cutler’s Park. He wrote:
About 11
o’clock, I took a severe attack of ague and fever. I shook from head to foot.
We tied our cattle to the side of the flat boat and swam them across the
river. Brother Brigham asked if he
should drive my team to camp and have my wife and Joseph and our little babe
ride in his buggy wagon and let Brother Lorenzo drive them. We had about 14 miles to go to reach
camp. We arrived at the camp of the
Saints about sundown. I had a very hot
fever and my wife Martha was so sick she could not sit up. My son Joseph was also very sick. Brother Young took us in his tent. Truly I felt to thank my Heavenly Father for
his kindness and mercy in sparing our lives and also that I had the opportunity
again of beholding my brethren and the grand spectacle of beholding the Camp of
Israel on a prairie far from her nativity.
I feel very thankful to Brother Brigham for his kindness in taking my
tent and in meeting us. Truly I shall
always remember it, for the prophet of the Lord to drive my tent was an example
of service to me. It reminded me of
what Jesus said, ‘Whosoever shall be great among you let him be your minister;
even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but minister.’ I hope
that I may always do likewise.
The
battalion marched on a barren prairie.
The grass was less then four inches high. Many of the tired men could not keep up and were scattered along
the trail.
After
traveling about twenty miles, they made their camp on Cow Creek, in Rice
County. The creek was bordered with
many of wild grapes. They met up with
thirty wagons of provisions -- a welcome relief. Some Indians were seen nearby so Lt. Smith posted an extra guard
during the night. Levi Hancock, David
Pettigrew, and William Hyde met together to pray for the sick.
John
Taylor and Orson Hyde were in New York City on their way to journey to England. On this day, John Taylor wrote a poem of
sorts, in the album of Abby Jane Hart of New York City. Included here is a portion:
Abby: Knowest thou whence thou camest? Thine
Origin? Who thou art? What? and whither Thou art bound? A chrysalis of yesterday: Today a gaudy fluttering butterfly‑‑A
moth; tomorrow crushed, and then an end Of thee. Is this so? And must thou perish Thus, and die ingloriously
without a Hope?
Ah, no;
thou’rt no such thing. Thou in the
Bosom of thy Father bask’d, and liv’d, and Mov’d thousands of years ago. Yes, e’er this Mundane sphere from chaos
sprung, or sun, or Moon, or stars, or world was fram’d: before the Sons of God for joy did shout, or
e’er the Morning stars together sung‑‑thou liv’dst.
Thou
liv’dst to live again. Ah, no! thou
liv’d But to continue life eternal‑‑to Live, and move, and act
eternally. Yes; Long as a spirit, God,
or world exists; From everlasting, eternal, without end. And whilst thou dwelt in thy paternal home,
And with thy brethren shar’d ecstatic bliss, All that a spirit could not
cloth’d in flesh, Thou through the vista of unnumbered years Saw’st through the
glimmering veil that thou would’st Dwell in flesh‑‑just as the
Gods. Tread in the Footsteps of thine
elder brother, Jesus‑‑The “Prince of Peace,” for whom a body was
Prepared.
Thou hop’d
for this. At length it came; and thou
Appear’d on this terraqueous ball, Body and spirit; a living soul, forth From
the hands of Elohim‑‑eternal As himself‑‑part of thy
God. A small spark Of Deity struck from
the fire of his Eternal blaze. Thou
came! thou came to live! Of life thou art A living monument; to it thou still
Dost cling eternal life. To thee all
else Are straw and chaff and bubbles, light as air; And will be all, until thou
gain once more Thy Father’s breast; rais’d, quicken’d, immortal; Body, spirit,
all: a God among the Gods forever
bles’t.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 366‑67; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 14:147 Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:75;
Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
159; Talbot, A Historical Guide to the Mormon Battalion and Butterfield
Trail, 25; Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion, 147‑48;
Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, 388‑89; Kimball, Historic Sites and
Markers along the Mormon and Other Great Western Trails, 195; Yurtinus,
A Ram in the Thicket, 126‑27; “Joseph Hovey Autobiography,” BYU, 40
A Sabbath
meeting was held in the morning at the grove.
Speakers included Joseph Young, Orson Spencer, and Brigham Young. Many of the sick could not attend, but those
who could received excellent counsel from the brethren.
In the
afternoon, the members of the Twelve met together with the High Council. Albert P. Rockwood reported that there were
plenty of nice pastures located several miles to the north. The council agreed that cattle should be
sent there under the direction of John Tanner.
Brigham Young recommended that a small settlement be established above
Old Council Bluffs for those guarding the cattle. President Young also suggested that the council find a way to
send teams back to Nauvoo to help the brethren there remove the poor.
Ira
Eldredge was appointed to employ nine men to make a road to the location
selected for the new ferry. The
marshal, Horace Eldredge, was instructed to collect money from each camp
division to purchase wheat.
Joseph
Hovey wrote:
To look
around upon the camp and see the tents in motion and hear the large herds of
cattle lowing, it caused me to meditate upon the Camp of Israel in the days of
Moses. Says I to myself, ‘Can it be
possible that we have been driven from the land of our fathers who did lay down
their lives for our liberty that we might worship God according to the dictates
of our conscience?’ But I feel to rejoice that we have a promise of a more sure
inheritance, even when this earth shall be celestialized. That inspires my heart to endure all things.
The
battalion marched on a very sandy prairie with very little grass and they
passed over a ridge which they named Plum Buttes. From this high point, they were able to see three large herbs of
buffalo grazing on the western plains.
They also came across four dead buffalo which they supposed had been
killed by the Missouri Volunteers ahead.
The only portion that was used, was the tongue. Robert S. Bliss wrote, “[We] are told ahead
they are so thick that it is dangerous traveling for they when frightened will
rush & break through even the ranks of soldiers.”
For the
most part, the landscape was very flat.
John Steele wrote, “The eye may wander many miles without resting on any
object save the great expanse‑like ocean.”
After
marching about fourteen miles, they established their camp for the night. Soon, a thunderstorm rolled through the camp
and a cow was killed by lightning.
There was also no wood and they had to use buffalo chips for fuel. Some buffalo meat was brought into the camp,
later in the evening. Henry Standage
commented, “It was really the best meat I ever ate.”
John D.
Lee and Howard Egan arrived at the fort on the way to meet up with the Mormon
Battalion. James Pace, a battalion
member, also had traveled with them from St. Joseph, Missouri. He had been back to Council Bluffs to share
the news regarding Colonel Allen’s death and then was given permission to visit
his family in Mount Pisgah. Now, he was
traveling back to join his company.
Brother Lee and Pace met with Colonel J. Wharton, the commander for the
fort. Colonel Wharton asked them to
deliver some mail to Santa Fe.
Elder
Addison Pratt administered the sacrament to the Saints on one of the
islands. A woman came to him asking
that her name be taken off the Church records.
“Said she was tired of trying to serve the lord. Said she wisht to go and serve the devil
with her whole heart.”
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 368‑69; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket,
111; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 75; Ellsworth, The Journals of
Addison Pratt, 287; Journal of
Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 160;
“Journal Extracts of Henry W. Bigler,” Utah Historical Quarterly 5:2:38;
Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 127‑28; “Diary of John Steele”;
“Joseph Hovey Autobiography,” BYU, 41
In the
morning, Bishop Newel K. Whitney and his companions tried to leave for St.
Louis, Missouri. They were taking
hundreds of dollars to purchase provisions for the camp. Orrin Porter Rockwell went along to provide
protection. They traveled to the ferry
landing but the boat they had hoped to take did not arrive, so they returned in
the evening.
Thomas L.
Kane was also preparing to leave. Even
though he was not a member of the Church, he desired to have a Patriarchal
Blessing. Elder Wilford Woodruff took
him to Patriarch John Smith’s tent. In
the blessing, Thomas L. Kane was told that
God is well
pleased with thine exertions, he hath given his angel’s charge over thee to
guard thee in times of danger, to deliver thee out of all they troubles and
defend thee from all thine enemies, not a hair of they head shall every fall by
the hand of an enemy, for thou art called to do a great work on the earth and
thou shalt be blest in all thine undertakings, they shall be had in honorable
remembrance among the saints to all generations.
Willard
Richards penned several letters, including one from Brigham Young to President
James K. Polk. He informed the
president about the recent negotiations with the Omaha Indians, who were
willing to let the Saints tarry on their lands. The Church would help the Indians by teaching them and assisting
them with their teams. It was
anticipated that goods would be traded with the Indians for much needed furs
and skins to replace worn out clothing and tents. The President was asked to approve of the agreement and to grant
a license to trade with the Indians.
A son,
Lorin Ezra Forbush, was born to Rufus and Sarah Forbush.7
The Saints
led by George Miller decided to relocate their camp upriver on the north side
of the Niobrara. A few did not want to
move. Asahel Lathrop and others moved
farther down the Missouri and established their own site.
The
battalion broke camp very early in order to reach water as soon as possible and
traveled twelve miles before breakfast.
During their march, they met a man and his family of six who were
returning to Missouri. The family had
been disenchanted with the Rocky Mountains.
They shared an account of a snow storm during the previous July.
Buffalo
were spotted during the entire day.
Sometimes over five hundred of the animals could be seen at one
time. Henry Standage wrote, “The
brethren now have great sport chasing and hunting the buffalo.” They camped at 10 a.m., at Walnut Creek, and rested the teams for
the remainder of the day. Two buffalo
almost came into the camp and one was shot which provided a nice meal for the
battalion. Later, another old bull
weighing almost eighteen hundred pounds had mingled within the cattle. It was shot by the guards. Robert Bliss described the ground in camp as
“stamped, worn, hoofed, & trod up by those old fellows.” There were buffalo bones scattered all over
the prairie.
At 5 p.m.,
the battalion had the military law read to them for the first time in order to
help them learn their duties. During
the evening they feasted on buffalo pot pie.
The
brethren from the Mississippi Company reached the Arapahoes’ village. They were trying to overtake another company
heading east
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 369‑72; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 160; Yurtinus, A Ram in
the Thicket, 129; “Journal of Robert S. Bliss,” Utah Historical
Quarterly, 4:71‑2; Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon
Battalion, 148; “Journal Extracts of Henry W. Bigler,” Utah Historical
Quarterly, 5:2:39; Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:429; Hartley, My Best
for the Kingdom, 217; Bigler, The Gold Discovery Journal of Azariah
Smith, 24
As Thomas
L. Kane was about to leave, Brigham Young and Willard Richards called on him to
express their warm thanks and good wishes.
Colonel Kane expressed a strong determination to continue to help the
Saints in any way that he could. He
left the camp at 9 a.m.
Many of
the cattle were herded towards the north.
Brigham Young’s brother, Phinehas, arrived from Nauvoo and no doubt
shared with the brethren tales of persecution by the mob including his many
days of imprisonment.
Willard
Richards wrote to his parents and other family members back in England. He told them that his family was well, doing
better than when they lived in Nauvoo.
We have
been detained and shall not pass over the mountains till spring, shall stay
where we are, now in a tent, shall soon be in a winter cabin. The little ones are lively, cheerful, and
happy, talk often of Mother, Grandpa, Ma, &c in England, a word or anything
from you is dear to them, and I endeavor to cherish your remembrance in their
hearts with the greatest pleasure, hoping the time will come when I can present
them to you as some of the choice gems of unfading love. . . . I must just say to you that on the first of
July last there were upwards of 2500 wagons loaded with our friends and their
provisions &c between this and Nauvoo going West. Many have come out since and many more will this fall and when we
shall have arrived over the mountains we shall leave this a great thoroughfare
such as hardly has been since the exit of Moses.
The
members of the Twelve met together as a council in the evening. The brethren decided to search for a new
location for Winter Quarters. A
committee was formed for the search including:
Alanson Eldredge, Alpheus Cutler, Albert P. Rockwood, Jedediah M. Grant,
and Ezra Chase.
They also
decided to assign John Pack to go to Savannah, Missouri to obtain a carding
machine purchased by the Church. They
decided to count all the teams in each camp division to determine how many
could be sent to Nauvoo to help the poor out of the city. It started to rain in the evening.
Olive Hale
died just a few days after her husband Jonathan Hale died.
A son,
Joseph Albert Murray, was born to John and Sarah Bates Murray.
During the
day’s march, hundreds of buffalo were seen by the battalion members along with
many prairie dog villages. Henry
Standage became ill after just one mile and rode the rest of the day in a
wagon. Samuel Hollister Rogers wrote
that the plains were “eaten off as close as any old pasture field and well
covered with buffalo dung for a distance of 25 miles.”
As they
passed Pawnee Rock, some of the men added their names to the register.8 Rain started to fall at about 2 p.m. After a long, weary, thirty-mile march, they camped by a small
creek in Pawnee Indian territory. They
had heard the Pawnees were very fierce and warlike. From their camp they could see five hundred buffalo gazing near
the junction of the Pawnee and Arkansas Rivers.
The
brethren from the Mississippi Company overtook and joined the company of
traders with whom they wished to travel.
As they continued east, they were amazed how many troops and baggage
waggons were heading to Santa Fe.
Elders
Orson Hyde and John Taylor set sail on the ship “Patrick Henry” bound for
Liverpool, England.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 372‑73; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 160‑1; “Diary of Samuel
Hollister Rogers”; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 129‑31; Our Pioneer Heritage, 3:141‑42;
Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:429; Taylor, The Kingdom or Nothing, 166‑17
It was a
very rainy day. Brigham Young received
a letter from Orson Pratt, while he had been in Saint Louis. He and Elder John Taylor were on their way
to England and were doing fine. Elder
Pratt reported that there were sixty‑four families in the branch there
who were ready to emigrate to the west.
There were eighty‑two other families who wished to go as soon as
they obtained provisions.
In the
evening, the Twelve met with the High Council.
It was reported that only twelve teams were found to send back to Nauvoo
to help the poor. President Young
proposed that brethren donate their teams to the cause. He set the example by offering three yoke of
his cattle. Marshal Horace Eldredge was
instructed to gather up the teams that could go right away and seek additional
teams that would not be needed by the hay operations.
Brigham
Young next shared some thoughts regarding the establishment of a winter
quarters.
I said my
feelings were at present to stay here and locate our families for a year or
two; meanwhile, fit out companies to go over the mountains with seed grain,
mills, etc., to sow, build and prepare for our families that we need not carry
provisions for them over the mountains, and wished the committee to have this
in view in settling this camp, and select healthy locations. There were teams enough in the Church to do
all that is needed in gathering Israel and establishing ourselves in the
mountains.
The letter
written by Jacob Gates at the Pawnee village on September 2, was read. The brethren felt that it would be dangerous
to leave such a small company of families with the Pawnee for the winter and
directed that a messenger be sent to have them return to the Missouri River.
Heber C.
Kimball reported that he had visited the third company at Cutler’s Park and
found many sick including Lucian Woodworth and family. Cornelius P. Lott offered to take care of
them.
Edson
Whipple and his family were camping on Pony Creek, about thirty miles down the
Missouri River. The place was very
unhealthy and everyone except two people were sick in the camp. On this day his mother, Basmoth Hutchins
Whipple died and a few days later he lost his wife. Before they left this location, they would bury entire families.
A mob of
seven hundred men organized to march on Nauvoo. Governor Ford had authorized Major Flood, the commander of the
militia in Adams County, to raise a force to preserve order in Hancock County,
but Major Flood feared angering the anti‑Mormons and disregarded the
governor’s request. In Hancock County,
Major Parker withdrew from service and Major William Clifford was put in
command in Nauvoo. The defenders of the
city started to take positions on the high ground about one mile east of the
temple, placing themselves between the mob camp and the city.
About this
day, Mary Fielding Smith, widow of Hyrum, crossed over the river. Her daughter, Martha Ann Smith wrote:
We left our
home just as it was, our furniture, and the fruit trees hanging full of rosy
peaches. We bid goodbye to the loved
home that reminded us of our beloved father everywhere we turned. I was five years old when we started from
Nauvoo. We crossed over the Mississippi
in the skiff in the dusk of the evening.
We bid goodbye to our dear old feeble grandmother [Lucy Mack
Smith]. I can never forget the bitter
tears she shed when she bid us goodbye for the last time in this life. She knew it would be the last time she would
see her son’s family.
Mary’s
seven-year-old son, and future prophet, Joseph F. Smith, later shared his
memories of this difficult day.
I can
remember the time when I was quite a little boy, when we were hurried very
unceremoniously across the river Mississippi from the city of Nauvoo just
previous to the bombardment of the town by the mob. I had a great anxiety then ‑‑ that is for a child ‑‑
to know where on earth we were going to.
I knew we had left home. We had
left it willingly ‑‑ because we were obliged to ‑‑ we
left it in a hurry, and we were not far away when we heard the cannonade on the
other side of the river; but I felt just as certain in my mind then ‑‑
as certain as a child could feel ‑‑ that all was right, that the
Lord's hand was in it, as I do to‑day.
The rain
throughout the night slowed down the progress of the battalion. They made a difficult crossing over the
Pawnee River. The wagons were eased
down the banks by ropes and hauled up the other side by twenty men. As they were traveling, they came across a
note dated, May 18, 1846, that read, “Look out for Indians for one of our men
was killed supposed by a Camanche.”
They only marched about five miles up the river, where they found better
grasses for the cattle. There, they
rested for the day. Several wagons of
“sutlers” followed the battalion to sell them goods. Henry Standage learned first‑hand what the over inflated
prices of these “sutlers” did to his pockets.
He bought a coat worth eight dollars for fifteen dollars.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 373‑76; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon
Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 1:192, 233; Rich, Ensign
to the Nations, 42; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of
the Mormon Battalion, 161; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 131‑32;
Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:583; Holzapfel, Women of Nauvoo, 163;
Corbett, Mary Fielding Smith, Daughter of Britain, 195; Journal of Discourses, 24:150
Brigham
Young and Heber C. Kimball rode out in the morning to search for a location for
Winter Quarters. They returned in the
afternoon, after which a severe storm hit the camp. It lasted for an hour and blew down several tents. Hosea Stout wrote, “The clouds rolled up
white & circling rising in all directions seemed to be strangely crazed
& swirling and at length a west storm of wind & rain which blew down my
tent and many others and exposed my things to the storm again.”
Sister
Eliza R. Snow was very sick during this time.
She wrote: “A heavy rain came on
& the bed where I lay was wet almost from head to foot, but the Lord
preserv’d my life & while I live I will speak of his goodness.”
In the
evening members of the Twelve met with the Cutler’s Park High Council and
selected a location for Winter Quarters.
They chose a site to the north on both sides of Willow Creek.
A letter
was written to Joseph L. Heywood, one of the Nauvoo Trustees, advising him to
come to the camp.
Thomas S.
Brockman was appointed by John Carlin to take over the leadership of the mob
forces. Governor Ford later described
Brockman as “a Campbellite preacher, nominally belonging to the Democratic
party, a large, awkward, uncouth, ignorant, semi‑barbarian, ambitious of
officer, and bent upon acquiring notoriety.”
The mob
advanced from Carthage to Nauvoo, under the leadership of Brockman, to what
used to be Hyrum Smith’s farm, and started to fire upon the city with three
cannons. Many of the women and children
fled the city and crossed over the Mississippi River into Iowa. The defenders were organized into three
companies under the overall leadership of Colonel Johnson. They met the mob resolutely and soon the mob
retreated.
The Saints
had been promised reinforcements from the governor’s troops, but none had
come. Governor Ford later downplayed
the serious nature of this battle by stating that they were more than a half
mile apart and “not near enough to do each other material injury.” He numbered the forces of the mob at 800
armed men, 600‑700 unarmed men and the Nauvoo force at 150 fighting
men. These brave men stepped forward to
defend a city that was mostly inhabited by the sick, widows, orphans, children,
and those too poor to leave.
The
defenders had to rely on their own forces and converted some steamboat shafts
into cannons. During the night there
was some skirmishing between the forces.
Each of the Nauvoo companies built a fort for defense on the north side
of Mulholland Street under the command of Andrew L. Lamoreaux. They were complete by 3 a.m. The defenders then began to fire a cannon at
the mob’s campfire which caused great confusion in the enemy’s camp. The mob moved their whole force about one
and a half miles further to the north, to New LaHarp road.
Thomas
Bullock later wrote:
. . . the
sharp cracking of the rifles kept us in an awful state of suspense and
anxiety. Our devoted city was defended
by about 150 poor, sickly persecuted Saints, while it was cannonaded by about
1500 to 2000 demoniacs, in the shape of men, who had sworn to raze our temple
to the ground, to burn the city, to ravish our wives and our daughters, and
drive the remainder into the river.
Leonard
Hill, age forty-six, died. He was the
father of nine children.
A
daughter, Sarah Marinda Smith, was born to Warren and Amanda Barnes Smith.9
A
daughter, Almira Snow, was born to Willard T. and Melvina Harvey Snow.10
As with
each morning, the sick came to the “black wagon” of Dr. Sanderson to take their
medicines. William Coray reported that
many of the sick were not able to walk to the wagon. Dr. Sanderson replied, “You bring them here, I know my duty.” Sergeant Coray went to appeal to Lt. Smith
who thought Sanderson should send his assistant to see those who couldn’t
walk. However, Dr. Sanderson made all
the sick be carried to his wagon that was located some distance from the rest
of the camp because the doctor “was afraid to camp near us for fear of his
life.”
Daniel
Tyler was very sick. He did not want to
take the poisonous drugs and begged his companions to just leave him behind and
report him dead. His company officers
directed that he be put in a wagon and that his name be entered on the sick
list.
At 10
a.m., while the battalion was preparing to march, an express of six men came
from Santa Fe on the way to Fort Leavenworth with news that General Kearny had
taken the town without firing a gun.
The battalion was advised to not travel to Bent’s Fort, be rather to go
directly to Santa Fe, taking what is known as the Cimarron cut-off of the Santa
Fe Trail. One of these six men was
Francis Parkman who wrote in his journal, “Rode on and as we ascended the
hollow where the water lay, saw the opposite swell covered with wagons and
footmen, and the water itself surrounded by white tents, cattle, and wagons
drawn up in order. These were . . . the
Mormon Battalion commanded by Col. Smith, and wagons of Mormon emigrants.”
They
traveled about twenty miles and camped on Coon Creek which had water but no
wood. They had to use Buffalo chips for
the fires.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 376‑77; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon
Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 1:192, 233; Journal of
Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 161;
Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 132‑33; “William Coray Journal”;
Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion, 148‑49;
“Alexander Neibaur Diary,” LDS Archives, 19; Nielson and Flack, The Dutson
Family History; Rich, Ensign to the Nations, 42; Our Pioneer
Heritage, 8:234; Whitney, History of Utah, 1:272; Wade, ed., The
Journals of Francis Parkman, 479;
Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church, 3:13; Beecher, ed.,
The Personal Writings of Eliza R. Snow, 144
In the
morning, Brigham Young and the other members of the Twelve at the camp at
Cutler’s Park walked a few miles to the north, officially selected a site for
Winter Quarters, and then returned to camp.
In the
afternoon, Brigham Young went again to Winter Quarters along with members of
the Cutler’s Park High Council. They
began to survey the new settlement and selected a location for Main Street.11
After
returning to Cutler’s Park, Brigham Young directed that a number of members be
asked to come to the camp including, Thomas Bullock, Addison Everett, Truman O.
Angell, Mary Fielding Smith, Joseph Knight Jr., Peter Maughn, John Rushton,
George Alley, Susannah Liptrot, A.C. Hodge, Stephen Longstroth, William Jones,
Agnes M. Smith, Edmond Bosley, John Stiles, Wilmer B. Benson, Edward Miller,
Daniel Thomas, Samuel Smith, Ann Broddock, Elvira L. Wheeler, Henry I. Young,
Stephen H. Goddard, and Conrad Staley.
Heber C.
Kimball visited Joseph Hovey’s family about this time and invited them to camp
with his division. The family was sick
and had been staying with Joseph Young’s family, who was also very sick. Elder Kimball felt that the Hovey family
could better be cared for by moving into his camp. Joseph Hovey wrote:
Accordingly,
Brother James Smith drove me over to Father Kimball’s division. I spread my tent beside my wagon and got a
bedstead and placed my wife on an ordinary bed once more. She was very weak, and we could hardly get
her out of the wagon. With much
difficulty we got her to bed. Father
Kimball got us a girl to help take care of our baby which was not well.
In a
letter to the Nauvoo Trustee, Brigham Young communicated the current plan.
Our present
design is to settle our families at this point in such a manner that we can
leave them one season, or more if necessity requires, and fit out a company of
able men with our best teams and seed, and at the earliest moment in the
ensuing spring, start for the Bear River Valley, find a location, plant seeds,
build homes, etc., and the next season be ready to receive our families into
comfortable habitation, filled with plenty of bread, etc. We design to build log cabins here and make
every possible exertion this winter for an abundant harvest her next summer.
President
Young asked for all those brethren who had comfortably settled their families
and young men without families, to come to Winter Quarters to prepare to go
over the mountains. Nauvoo should be
cleared, and wagons were on the way to help move the poor out the city. More teams would have been sent, but the
Nauvoo Trustees did not send men to help drive them. Most of the men could not leave the Missouri because the hay
needed to be cut. He concluded, “Send
us men to drive teams, soon if you can, but be sure to urge all spare men to be
here early in the spring.”
A son, Don
Carlos Smith, was born to George A. and Lucy Smith.12
In the
morning, shots continued to be fired from the mob and were returned from the
defenders. The mob had moved north
toward William Law’s field and fired thirty‑five cannon balls. One of the Nauvoo companies advanced in an
effort to prevent the enemy from entering the city. They laid a “powder plot” in the road and then hid themselves in
Daniel Well’s cornfield.13 The mob spotted them and opened fire. The shots split a fence, cut down corn, and
endangered the lives of the defenders.
Soon the defenders were ordered to retreat.
A small
band of thirty men commanded by William Anderson, who were called the “Spartan
Band,” were firing on the mob with their fifteen shooters and were forced to
retreat. Major William Clifford
recorded in his field notes:
They [the
mob] were coming in with flying colors apparently without any obstructions
except from the 30 men when suddenly, when only one & a quarter miles from
the Temple, our home-made cannon (of steam boat shafts) opened upon them under
the command of Captain Hiram Gates, manned by William I. Green & William
Summerville. The effect was
electric. They halted in their tracks
and after exchanging a few shots, retreated over the brow of a commanding
emenence, and camped for the night.
Non‑Mormon
Nauvoo citizen, Curtis Edwin Bolton wrote:
We
retreated into town as a last forlorn hope, threw ourselves into some log
houses, determined to do or die. [The
mob leader] Brockman, ordered his horses and men to move down and take
possession of this valuable point. The
men numbered 120. They charged
gallantly down the gentle slope and then charged ungallantly back again for we
were there with our repeating rifles, which would be fired 7 and 8 times
without reloading
William
Mace added: “The little band of brethren
and some of the new citizens made a brave stand against the mob. Sometimes the cannon balls from the mob
would be picked up and loaded into our steamboat shaft cannon and fired back at
them. Ammunition was scarce with us and
we were but a handful.”
Many of
the Saints started to flee to the cross the river. Joseph Fielding wrote:
They
hastened to the river but the citizens judged it not best to let men leave when
they were so much needed, but the sick, the women and children got over as fast
as they could. I went down to the bank
of the river and found many of the Saints in distress. Some had left their goods and were destitute
of food and clothing. Others had left
their husbands in the battle. The
cannons roared tremendously on both sides for several days.
On one of
these nights, Henry Grow, one of the Nauvoo defenders, heard a voice during the
night distinctly say: “Get up and get
out of here in the morning.” He arose
in the morning, hitched a yoke of cattle to his wagon, took only a few things
and loaded up his family into the wagon.
When they had moved about fifty yards from the house, a cannon ball was
fired through the house causing much destruction to it. He continued on and took his family across
the river.
A report
was circulating around the camp that the Missouri Volunteers ahead had been
surrounded by Comanche Indians. Some of
the Volunteers had angered them by killing a buffalo. While they were skinning it, three Indians fired arrows at them
from the bushes.
The
battalion marched across the prairie and reached the Arkansas River at about
noon where they set up camp after a twelve-mile march. Abner Blackburn wrote: “We then came to the
Arkansas River and were very much disappointed as we expected to see a large
stream of water with steamboats running on it as they passed through thickly
timbered country. But instead we were
compelled to dig in the bed for water.”
The river
was about 400‑500 yards across.
Henry Bigler wrote:
As I stood
on the bank and looked across, I could scarcely see there was any water and the
view to me was a beautiful bed of sand from bank to bank. I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants and
crossed over to get wood for our cooks.
There were 4 little channels of water clear as crystal and about one
foot deep we were enabled to get plenty of water, but where the river was not
dry and the water running, the boys caught fish, such as cat, white bass and
buffalo fish by spearing them with bayonets.
They also
found fish buried in the wet sand. Many
of the men and women took advantage of the water to do much needed washing of
clothes. The men were able to dig two
or three feet in the river bed to find water.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 377‑78;
Bennett, Mormons at the Missouri, 1846‑1852, 73; Clark,
Messages of the First Presidency, 1:305‑06; Nibley, Exodus to
Greatness, 236‑7; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March
of the Mormon Battalion, 161; “Journal Extracts of Henry W. Bigler,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 5:2:39; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 134;
Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion, 150; “Alexander
Neibaur Diary,” LDS Archives, 19;
Nielson and Flack, The Dutson Family
History; Joseph Fielding Diary in “Nauvoo Journal,” BYU Studies
19:165; “Wandle Mace Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 203; Brooks, ed., On
the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 234; Jenson, LDS Biographical
Encyclopedia, 3:94; William Clayton’s Journal, 63; “Joseph Hovey
Autobiography,” BYU, 41; Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma Emma Hale Smith,
237; Bagley, Frontiersman: Abner Blackburn’s Narrative, 40
An early
morning council meeting was held at 6 a.m. to meet with ten volunteers who
would go back to Nauvoo to help the poor Saints travel to Winter Quarters. Orville M. Allen was appointed to lead this
company.
A sad
assignment was given to Marshal Horace Eldredge. He was asked to see that there was enough lumber sawed to make
coffins. Assignments were also made to
repair some of the muddy roads.
At 7:30
a.m., Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball started for Daniel Spencer’s camp to
obtain money to pay for the shipping of a carding machine from Savannah,
Missouri. They obtained thirty dollars
and then headed back for Cutler’s Park.
On the way, they received a letter from the Indian agent, Robert B.
Mitchell. He asked the leaders to not
waste any timber. He also wrote,
“Please prevent any trading or intercourse with the Indians.” In addition, the brethren received a letter
from Thomas L. Kane who had met with Mitchell.
He also mentioned the need to be careful in cutting timber. Major Thomas Harvey, the Superintendent of
Indian Affairs in St. Louis, stated that the Mormons should stay no longer than
was necessary on Indian lands.
In the
evening, members of the Twelve and the Cutler’s Park High Council met
together. Several matters relating to
the conduct of camp members needed to be addressed. No dogs were to be killed except by order from the Council. No shooting would be allowed in, or near the
camp after sunset. Some young men had
recently been whipped by order of the marshal because of immoral behavior. President Young stressed that strict
discipline was needed in the community or anarchy would prevail in a few
years. Any stealing of property would
not be tolerated. Unruly cattle that
continued to break out of the fencing would be sent to the slaughter
house. Dogs must be kept in their own
yards. “No man has a right to keep a
dog to tip over his neighbor’s milk pans.”
Two brethren were appointed to superintend the cutting of timber and
Marshal Eldredge was asked to see that those cutting hay left the timber alone. If any timber was cut without permission, it
would be used by the Council for the poor.
The meeting was concluded about 10 p.m.
A
daughter, Martha Elmira Norton, was born to Alanson and Sarah Freeman Norton.14
In the
morning, river boat captain Grimes ignored the mob’s threats and docked at
Nauvoo to pick up passengers. Emma
Smith and her family were among those who left Nauvoo on this morning. Her children included, David, (almost 2), Julia
(15), Joseph III (13), and Frederick and Alexander (8). The Uncle Toby was filled with others
also leaving Nauvoo. Emma was heading
to Fulton, Illinois, about 150 miles upriver, where her friends William and
Rosannah Marks were residing.
Colonel
Johnson, leader of the Nauvoo defenders, became sick and William E. Cutler took
over for him with Daniel H. Wells at his side.
In the morning, the enemy was more determined after receiving a few
wagon loads of ammunition. They
attempted to advance on Nauvoo but were forced back several times by defenders
who fired upon them from behind houses.
Cannon balls were being fired constantly.
Major
William Clifford’s field notes read:
After
negotiations had passed at about 12 o’clock the mob commenced deploying to the
left taking advantage of cornfields to mask their movements, with 4 pieces of
artillery and about 800 men--and showed a determination to take the City by
storm at all hazzards. We had to oppose
them about 200 men, 130 whom were in line--the rest stationed elsewhere and 5
pieces of steam boat shafts--only 3 of which were in the action and one them
disabled after the third shot.
Wandle
Mace wrote, “The little band of brethren and some of the new citizens made a
brave stand against the mob. Sometimes
the cannon balls from the mob would be picked up and loaded into our steamboat
shaft cannon and fired back at them.
The defenders’ cannons would only shoot about a quarter mile. Ammunition was scarce with us and we were
but a handful.” Daniel Wells
agreed: “During the fight the boys
would watch the cannon ball strike & run & get it & bring it to us
& we would send it back.”
Even some
of the brave women helped to gather up these balls in their aprons. Sister Player came up to Captain Bolander,
who was shooting the steamboat cannon.
She presented him with a cannon ball that had fallen in her door
yard. She said, “Captain, please return
this ball to the anti-Mormons with my compliments.”
Other
sisters gathered on porches out of range of the cannons, listening to every
sound of the conflict. Mary Ann Stearns
Winters wrote, “The anguish and suspense of those dreadful hours can never be
told in words. And I will never forget
the unflinching faith and courage of that devoted group of women. They never thought of fleeing or turning
away.”
At 1 p.m.,
the mob advanced on the city. A fierce
battle soon ensued, which became known as “The Battle of Nauvoo.” It lasted about seventy‑five
minutes. The mob fired 42 cannon balls
and the defenders fired 32. Brother
Daniel H. Wells would ride on his white horse encouraging and directing the
men. His courage was looked upon as a
tower of strength for the men defending their homes and families. He directed a company of men who provided
critical support in repelling the advancing mob.
The battle
centered around Winchester Street near Boscow’s store. The two forces were separated by two blocks. The mob fired a number of times into
Barlow’s old barn, expecting many of the brethren to be hiding there. It was said that while Amos Davis was
running through a field, he stumbled and fell on his left arm which formed a
triangle with his head. As he fell, a
cannon ball was said to have passed through the angle of his arm.
Sadly,
there were three fatalities on the side of the defenders. The first two were Captain William Anderson15 and his fifteen‑year‑old
son Augustus. Captain Anderson was a
leader of the “Spartan Band,” a group of riflemen. His company was advancing toward the mob when he was hit by a
musketball that was shot by some members of the mob who were hiding in a house
nearby. Captain Anderson died
encouraging his men. About the same
time, his young son Augustus Anderson was killed by a cannon ball that passed
through the corner of a house and struck him down.
David
Norris and few other men were stationed in a house that was being battered with
cannon fire. They were ordered to march
double file to another house. As they
were marching, the mob started to fire upon them. David Norris was hit directly in the head by a cannon ball and
died instantly. He left behind a wife
and five children.16 About ten others were wounded in this
battle.
A few men
were said to be recuperating beneath the walls of the house of an old widow,
Mrs Naggle. They were surprised to see
the old lady come out of her house with a broom stick and call them “cowardly
dogs” for not fighting the mob. They
explained that they had been ordered to fall back, but she responded, “And I
order you to the front!” They soon
advanced forward “considering the cannon balls a less danger than that which
threatened them from the enraged and spunky old lady of the broom stick.”
Soon the mob retreated to the house of a Mr.
Carmichael, where they waited for wagons and returned to their camp. Apparently when the mob leader, General
Brockman discovered that the cannon balls had been used up, he did not have the
courage to continue the battle that day.
If was reported that about twelve of the mob were wounded and one of
them later died. However, the casualty
report may have been false. A nonmember
saw fifteen bodies of the mob in one wagon being handled as if they were
dead. There were other reports of many
wounded and plenty of blood was found on the battle ground.
The mayor
of Quincy watched the battle from the top of the temple and afterwards declared
that the defenders were the bravest little band of men that ever lived. William Cutler reflected back on this
battle, when such a small force repelled hundreds of the mob, “The hand of God
was so visible in that battle that many that were weak & faltering have
been much strengthened by it and will gather with the Saints. I did not expect that God would deliver [us]
into their hands, but expected that God would save [us] out of the hands of
[our] enemies and this he has done.”
During
this violence, a son, Joseph S. McArthur, was born to Duncan and Susan McKeen McArthur. Little Joseph died the same day.
The
battalion marched about twenty miles along the Arkansas river, passing hundreds
of white sand hills in drifts that looked like snow, some higher than treetops.17
Some of the men walked in the middle of the river. As they traveled, they met the brethren from
the Mississippi company who had left Pueblo on September 1. The Mississippi brethren were very happy to
meet up with the battalion and to hear news about the Camp of Israel. The battalion camped for the evening by the
Arkansas River across from an Island.
Many fish were caught by spearing them with swords and bayonets.
Henry
Standage felt much better and wrote, “I can thank God that I have been
preserved from the hands of the Dr and have not been compelled to take
Calomel. Lieu Smith and the Dr. seem to
wish to force every one to take medicine. . . . We seem to have fallen into the
hands of a tyrant. There are a great
many sick in the Battalion at present.”
Daniel Tyler was not as lucky to avoid the medicine. However, on this day his fever broke because
he disobeyed the doctor’s order and drank cool water from the river. The doctor had warned the sick that if they
drank cool water that they would die.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 378‑83; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 161; Yurtinus, A Ram in
the Thicket, 134‑35; Mormon Battalion Trail Guide, 14; “David
Pettigrew Journal”; Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion,
150; “Alexander Neibaur, Diary,” LDS Archives, 19; Our Pioneer Heritage,
11:526; Rich, Ensign to the Nation, 42‑3; Nielson and Flack, The
Dutson Family History; Whitney, History of Utah, 1:273; “Wandle Mace
Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 203; Mary Ann Stearns Winters, “The Nauvoo
Battle,” in The Relief Society Magazine, 4:78; Brooks, ed., On the
Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 234;
Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:87‑8; William Clayton’s
Journal, 65‑66; Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma Emma Hale Smith,
237‑38; Hallwas and Launius, Cultures in Conflict, 333
A Sabbath
meeting was held. Orson Pratt arose and
stated that he would like to preach a sermon that was somewhat beyond the first
principles of the gospel. He chose to
speak about truth. “Every truth should
be acknowledged as from God. . . . Men should be learned in order to convince
the learned. . . . Many truths come by reflection, thinking and not by seeing,
feeling, hearing, eating and drinking.”
Elder
Pratt expressed the belief that worlds existed before the earth was
formed. “Matter is eternal and this
earth was formed out of unorganized matter.”
He told the congregation that they could see unorganized matter for
themselves with a spyglass if they looked at the Orion Nebula where there was
enough unorganized matter to make millions of worlds as large as the sun. “Learning is a good thing, A blessing from
God. . . . There are many hours that both parents and children squander away
that might be spent in learning. . . . The Lord will not do a miracle to give
us learning when we can get it ourselves.”
Elder
Kimball next addressed the congregation.
“It is necessary for this people to be subject to counsel like clay in
the hands of the potter. . . . While on this journey many said they would do so
and so if the Presidency commanded them. . . . But we should do good without
being commanded to do it.”
President
Brigham Young testified:
Heaven and
all of God’s creations are governed by law. . . . And if Heaven was not
controlled by law, what [kind] of a place would it be? I would not wish to be there. . . . The
Celestial law is a perfect order of things, a perfect system of light, law,
intelligence, exhaltation and glory where every persons’ rights are sustained
to the fullest extent. . . . We must begin to be governed by law here before we
are prepared to receive those blessings.
The whole law has not been given and you cannot abide the whole law as
yet. If it had all been given, we
should have been smashed up and destroyed.
A people must become acquainted thoroughly with law before they can
abide it.
President
Young than discussed some hard feelings in the camp relating to some unruly
boys who had been disciplined by the marshal.
President Young spoke forcefully that wickedness should be put to a
stop. “Such conduct shall be stopped
and shall not be permitted in this camp. . . . This people have the law of
liberty and the gospel and the more the light and liberty and greater the
privileges, the stricter the law.” He
then referred to those who were striving to be obedient. “A woman that has the Spirit of God will go
with a good man who has been faithful and spent much of his time in saving
mankind and has the priesthood. Such
men if they continue faithful will be saved in eternal glory and those that are
with him.”
A Council
meeting was held in the afternoon.
Jedediah M. Grant reported that he had visited with an interpreter for
the Omaha Indians. He said that the
Omahas would be satisfied if the Saints would build their city two miles north
of Old Council Bluffs.18 John Tanner reported that the cattle were doing
well and getting fat.
The
brethren in the Council held a “singing school” during the evening. John Scott held a meeting to organize the
artillery. Orders were given to
organize at least eighty men into four companies during the week.
A son,
Thomas Callister, was born to Thomas and Caroline Callister.19 Also born was Heber C. Grant, son
of George and Margaret Grant.20 Silvy A. Pendleton, age twenty-nine, died of
canker. She was the wife of Calvin C.
Pendleton.
A
daughter, Ellen Maria Rice, was born to William K. and Lucy Gear Rice.21
The mob
was running short on ammunition and sent to Quincy for some more. No cannons were fired by the mob. The lull in the battle gave the men time to
attend to the burials of their brethren, who had fallen the day before in the
Battle of Nauvoo. William Pace wrote of
Brother William Anderson, “He was a noble man, a brave officer, a good
man. At the grave I bade farewell to
his almost heart‑broken wife.”
One of the
brethren put on a sheep bell and went near to the enemy camp as a spy. The mob was fooled and thought he was only a
sheep. This brother observed that many
in the mob camp had been wounded, including the man who had been captain of the
guard when the prophet, Joseph Smith was killed.
The
“Spartan Band” and some sharp shooters from Captain Gait’s company harassed the
mob’s wing companies and their watering places. In the evening, the defenders moved their four cannons,
approached the mob’s camp, and opened fired.
No shots were returned and the defenders soon returned to the city.
A
committee of citizens from Quincy stepped forward and started to negotiate a
settlement to end the hostilities.
Andrew Johnson was the chairman of the committee. They drafted letters to Thomas S. Brockman,
the commander of the posse (mob) and to Major William Clifford, the commanding
officer of the Illinois volunteers in Nauvoo.
The
battalion marched twenty‑one miles up the river road. Henry Standage noted that there was “nothing
but one eternal plain, no hills in sight.”
They did see many herds of antelope, buffalo, elk and other animals including
wolves and badgers. They camped for the
night just east of present‑day Dodge City.
The
brethren from the Mississippi company, heading east (who had met the battalion
the day before) met John D. Lee, Howard Egan, and James Pace who were on their
way to catch up with the battalion. The
brethren asked John D. Lee for advise and counsel. Brother Lee advised them to continue to pursue their journey to
Mississippi, to gather their families before going to Council Bluffs.
A
conference of the church was held in Sheffield with 404 members. The conference report indicated that
twenty-two people had been baptized in the conference during the previous three
months.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 383‑85; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:77‑82, 87, 89; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of
Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 193, 234; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder,
The March of the Mormon Battalion, 164; Yurtinus, A Ram in the
Thicket, 135, 260‑1; Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:429
In the
morning, five men started with teams for Nauvoo to help bring the poor to
Winter Quarters. Orrin Porter Rockwell
left on horseback for Mount Pisgah with a package of letters. Brigham Young and others of the brethren
continued to survey Winter Quarters.
Norton
Jacob was on the work detail to cut and gather hay. After arriving at the meadow, as he was getting out the wagon, an
ox kicked him very hard in his side.
This injury ended up disabling him for a week.
Wealthy
Lovisa Richards, two‑year‑old daughter of Franklin D. and Jane
Richards, died. Franklin D. Richards
was away on a mission so this is a very difficult time for Jane Richards to be
alone and to lose her only child.
Wealthy had been sick for some time and had received blessings from Brigham
Young and Heber C. Kimball. Two weeks
earlier she took a turn for the worse and her uncle, Willard Richards, would
visit her almost every day. Her
strength finally left her and she died of diarrhea and the black canker (caused
by poor nutrition).
Her aunt,
Mary Richards wrote:
Peaceful
her gentle Spirit fled,
The
Heavenly Courts to adorn.
Her body
slumbers with the death,
To wait the
resurrection morn.
Mary
Richards wrote to her husband, “Oh! my dear ‘twas a distressing sight to see
the affliction or sorrow that Jane endured at the death of her only Child. It would be impossible for me to describe
it.”
Genet
Gardner, age three years, also died.
She was the daughter of William and Genet Gardner. James Willard Cummings Jr. was born to James
W. Cummings and his wife.
The
battalion continued their march up the Arkansas River. Lieutenant
Smith cut the rations in half which prompted grumbling among the
ranks. As they marched, they passed by
large piles of lime which had looked as if it had been burned hundreds of years
ago. They were white, like chalk, and
looked like plaster of Paris. The
animals were becoming very weak because of the lack of grass in the area. They made their camp after traveling about
fifteen miles.
The mob
fired a cannon ball into the city to let the defenders know they had some
ammunition left. The Saints quickly
sent the ball back to the mob. The
“Spartan Band” continued to harass the mob.
Addison
Pratt sailed to Tukuhora. As he was
passing Otekofai, a signal was spotted which requested him to land. He did, and was asked to administer to a
sick woman. He set sail again and when
he came to Tukuhora, he saw a large ship in the bay that turned out to be a
French Ship. On board was a Mr.
Chapman, the American consul at Tahiti, and a Mr. Wilson, son of an English
missionary. In the evening he met with
these men and later wrote,
In the
evening they called on me, and in speaking of the mission in which I am
engaged, they said there had never seen a mission started in the Pacific Ocean
that had met with success that this had, and when our means and encouragement
from home were considered, it was a wonder.
And since our labours have been so favored of the Lord!! Why is it that we are so neglected by the
church at home? One letter is all we have received from them.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 385‑86; Rich, Ensign to the Nations,
42; Joseph Fielding Diary in “Nauvoo Journal,” BYU Studies 19:165;
“Wandle Mace Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 203; Bigler, The Gold
Discovery Journal of Azariah Smith, 26; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon
Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 193, 234
In the
morning, Brigham Young took his family and rode with Willard Richards to Winter
Quarters. They surveyed the Winter
Quarter’s cemetery, located on a hill to the west.22
This cemetery was immediately put to use. Wealthy Lovisa Richards was buried this day, the first to be
buried in the new cemetery. When they
returned to Cutler’s Park, they watched twelve wagons leave for Nauvoo with two
to five yoke of oxen each.
Wilford
Woodruff took his family for an outing into the country. They traveled four miles to the hay field,
crossed over to the bluff, and then rode two miles to a large lake which was
two miles across. “It was surrounded by
high grass, weeds, & peavine. The
surface of the lake was dotted over with a great variety of ducks & old
geese.” Elder Woodruff shot six ducks
and had to wade out into the lake to retrieve them. As he did, he lost one of his shoes and had to travel back bare
foot.
William
Clayton tried to take a letter to the camp headquarters. He wrote, “Before I got half way there, my
knees failed me and it was with great difficulty I got there and home
again.” He was still very weak from his
long illness.
In the
evening, a joint council meeting was held.
A letter was sent to Jacob Gates, asking him to bring his company back
from the Pawnee Village. Solomon Case
and John Kidding were appointed to take the letter to the village located about
115 miles to the west. Jedediah M.
Grant was asked to meet with Peter Sarpy regarding moving the Church’s ferry to
a new location near Cutler’s Park. They
had a previous agreement with Sarpy that he would be able to use the ferry when
it was not in use by the Church. The
Council decided to sow some rye and fall wheat near the river.
Vincent
Shurtleff and Jacob Houtz arrived in the afternoon from the Ponca Village where
George Miller’s company was located.
They had traveled for nine days and about 200 miles to reach Cutler’s
Park. They reported that the camp was
doing well and were getting along fine with the Poncas. There were 175 wagons in the company. The company was living according to a common
stock principle, having all things in common.
William
Thaddeus Kelley, age eight months, died.
He was the son of Alvey and Rosey Kelley. Caroline E. Gates, wife of Jacob Gates (away at Pawnee Village)
died.
A son,
Benjamin Martin Ivie, was born to James and Eliza Ivie. A son, Daniel Seavey Pendleton, was born to
Calvin and Salley Pendleton.23
A
daughter, Ann Karren, was born to Thomas and Ann Karren.24
The
battalion marched for twelve miles and then crossed over the Arkansas River
into what was then called Texas Territory, but was still in present-day
Kansas. Lt. Smith ordered that several
of the families stay on the north side of the river and to head to Pueblo [Colorado]
for the winter, where the Mississippi Saints were located.25
Most of
the Mormon officers strongly opposed this decision to split up the
battalion. Levi Hancock wrote, “I
wanted it distinkly understood that it did not agree with my feelings for it
was told to us that we must hold together not to devide but it must be
done.” Ten men were assigned to escort
the families to Pueblo. They were led
by Captain Nelson Higgins and Quartermaster Sebert Shelton who were instructed
to rejoin the battalion within thirty days.
The rest
of the battalion crossed over the river and overtook Colonel Sterling Price’s
company of five hundred members of the Missouri Cavalry. They camped for the night near present‑day
Ingalls, Kansas.
Historian
John Yurtinus pointed out that Francis Parkman, later a famous
American historian, was on the Santa Fe trail at that time and camped with the
battalion on this day. He left this
very interesting description:
The stream
glistened at the bottom, and long its banks were pitched a multitude of tents,
while hundreds of cattle were feeding over the meadows. Bodies of troops, both horse and foot, and
long trains of wagons, with men, women, and children, were moving over the opposite
ridge and descending the broad declivity before us. These were the Mormon Battalion in the service of the government,
together with a considerable number of Missouri volunteers.”
In the
morning, members of the Quincy Committee started to meet with both sides to
negotiate a treaty. Thomas Brockman,
leader of the mob, wrote an “ultimatum” to the commanding officer in Nauvoo and
the Nauvoo Trustees. He stated that if
the Mormons left the city in five days, all of the posse’s arrest warrants
would be discarded. All arms must be
surrendered. A committee of five and
their families would be allowed to remain in Nauvoo until May, 1847, to dispose
of property. If all these conditions were
met, the posse pledged to not destroy “person or property.”
Even
though these demands were unjust, Daniel H. Wells pled with the defenders to
accept a treaty and no longer try to defend the city which they would
eventually have to give up. Their lives
were in peril and it seemed foolish to hold out much longer. William Cutler later reflected:
It was
sensible [that] we must leave Nauvoo.
The time has come for us to depart.
God has called upon us to go and if we will not he will let the mob
loose upon us to drive us out. But they
will not get any glory for it but will have to suffer for their wrongs to the
[Saints]. I hope the day will come when
we shall not have to suffer from the Mobs as we have done.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 387‑8; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:82; William Clayton’s Journal, 63; Nibley, Exodus to Greatness,
238; Francis Parkman, The Oregon Trail:
Sketches of Prairie and Rocky‑Mountain Life, 348‑49; Yurtinus,
A Ram in the Thicket, 136‑37; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder,
The March of the Mormon Battalion, 164; “Journal Extracts of Henry W.
Bigler,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 5:2:39; Letter from Thomas S.
Brockman to Nauvoo Trustees, Lee Library, BYU; Rich, Ensign to the Nations,
43; Nielson and Flack, The Dutson Family History
It was a
rainy morning. A council meeting was
held at which Albert P. Rockwood reported that more than one thousand dollars
had been collected within the camp to buy goods in St. Louis. John S. Higbee was appointed as the ferryman
and was assigned to move his family to the location of the new ferry. Samuel Russell was selected to run a hotel,
a tent for strangers who came into the camp.
The
council discussed plans for Winter Quarters.
Some of the brethren were concerned that the site was too close to the
river. They believed this would pose a
health risk. Much of the sickness was
blamed on fumes coming from the river.
But Orson Pratt and Heber C. Kimball argued that any poisonous gases
would rise and be blown away by the winds.
The council decided that the brethren could begin moving to Winter
Quarters to start building homes on their assigned lots.
At about
11 a.m., Sister Martha A. Hovey, age thirty-two, died of “bilious fever.” Her husband Joseph wrote,
She was
laid out in her robes to come forth in the morning of the resurrection. She was full of faith and good works. She delighted in the blessings of the
Kingdom. It was her meat and drink to
hear them spoken of. She often spoke of
the Glory of God and what a blessing it would be to live and enjoy it. She did desire to live and gain more
knowledge of God and his plans. She
died without a struggle or groan. I
stopped beside her bed until she drew her last breath and closed her eyes. She showed in her countenance that she was
at rest. A number spoke of her pleasant
countenance and peaceful corpse. If I
am faithful, I anticipate meeting her and embracing her when she comes forth in
the morning of the resurrection. I will
behold her with a glorious body that cannot be diseased and afflicted, and all
tears will be wiped away. My daily
prayer is that I may hold out until the end and enjoy the glories of the
Celestial Kingdom with her, and reign with my brethren throughout all eternity.
Brigham
Young and others traveled to Winter Quarters and selected places for their
cabins. Wilford Woodruff picked out his
lot and then went at night to search for some cows. He became lost on the river bottoms and could not find the bridge
to cross the stream. Finally he
returned home at 10 p.m.
Agnes
Swap, age three months, died of chills and fever. She was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Swap.
Francis
Parkman, later a famous American historian who on the trail, observed the
Mormon Battalion on this day and wrote:
In the
morning the country was covered with mist.
We were always early risers, but before we were ready, the voices of men
driving in the cattle sounded all around us. As we passed above their camp, we saw through the obscurity that
the tents were falling, and the ranks rapidly forming; and mingled with cries
of women and children, the rolling of the Mormon drums and the clear blast of
their trumpets sounded through the mist.
As the men
were packing up, orders came to pitch their tents again. They would be staying at this location for
another day, washing clothes and cooking food for the long march ahead.
Lt. Smith
requested some provisions from Colonel Sterling Price of the Missouri
Volunteers. Colonel Price refused the fill the order, stating
that he did not haul provisions to be used by Mormons.26
Lt. Smith became very angry and sent word to Price that “if they did not
let him have some provisions, he would let loose the Mormons and come down upon
them with his artillery.” Price did
send the provisions.
The
families across the river started out for their journey to Pueblo for the
winter. Many of the rest of the
battalion members went fishing and caught more fish than they could personally
use.
Brother
Alva Phelps died in the evening. It was
believed that the Calomel medicine killed him.
Samuel Gully wrote: “We have
death with us & Hell immediately following after in the way of our 1st
surgeon.” Henry Standage recorded: “He was a faithful brother and had not been
sick but a little while. I help’d to
dig his grave by torch light.”
Christopher Layton wrote:
It is
understood that he begged Dr. Sanderson not to give him any medicine, as he
needed only a little rest and then would return to duty; but the doctor
prepared his dose and ordered him to take it, which he declined doing whereupon
the doctor, with some horrid oaths forced it down him with an old rusty
spoon. A few hours later he died, and
the general feeling was that the Doctor had killed him.
Later at
night, many of the battalion saw a curious star in the east that would move
north and south and up and down. Levi
Hancock wrote that the star was between two others as if dancing. He interpreted the event as a sign that
something was going to happen. Henry W.
Bigler wrote that he arose to see the spectacle, “At this I got up to see the
moving star but could not see anything of the sort, while others said it did
move up and down and sideways.”
In the
morning, Wandle Mace ascended the temple to look over to Iowa. He could no longer see his family’s wagon
and became very concerned. There had
been a great deal of excitement on the Iowa side, in Montrose, so he feared for
their safety. He was given permission
to cross over the river to find his family.
He wrote:
I crossed
the river to Montrose and walked along down the river to where I had left my
family in camp. I met my wife and son
John just about to step into a skiff to cross over to Nauvoo to see what had
become of me; the noise of battle, the booming of cannon had made them so
anxious, they concluded they must go over and learn if I was still alive. As I approached toward them, my son saw me
and joyfully exclaimed, “By George, there’s Father!” It was a great relief to
my anxious wife and children to see me once more safe.
Brother
Mace then went into Montrose and found crowds of people gathered, talking about
the fighting which was taking place in Nauvoo.
One man
standing upon a dry goods box was making a vehement speech, saying terrible
things of what the Mormons were doing.
He said a red flag was flying on the top of the temple, and that meant
blood. He told them the Mormons had
done awful things, he tried to tell all about our defenses we had made . . .
there was many present who knew me, had he mentioned my name I should have
stood a poor chance of escape for they were blinded by fury and
excitement. I was armed with a six
shooter and a bowie knife inside my buttoned up coat, had they molested me I
would have defended myself to the best of my ability. . . . One man standing
nearby spoke a little favorable of the Mormons was knocked down instantly. I concluded the best thing for me to do was
to move off quietly, and as speedily as possible.
There were
some hostilities in the morning. Major
William Clifford recorded:
The enemy
deployed as on the 12th and were met by the “Spartan Band” and 3rd Company of
infantry commanded by Captain Gaits & his two pieces of cannon. Rifles & Musket shots flew thick--and
the cannon shots were rapidly exchanged--and the mob retreated for the fourth
time; finding our fortifications, which we had been constantly throwing up,
were too strong for them.
Soon, both
sides agreed to sign a treaty. The
Saints would surrender to the mob forces.
Thomas S. Brockman, leader of the mob forces, would enter and take
possession of the city on the next day.
All arms would be delivered to the Quincy committee and later returned
after the Saints crossed the river. The
mob promised that there would be no violence or property damage. The sick and helpless would be protected and
treated well. The Saints would cross
the river immediately. Five men,
including the Nauvoo Trustees would be permitted to remain in the city to
dispose of property. Hostilities would
cease immediately.
In the
evening, in the Mormon camp west of Montrose, Iowa, William Pickett (the man
who the mob posse was trying to arrest) came into the camp in disguise. He had fled Nauvoo to bring the camp news of
the treaty that had been made with the mob.
Pickett remained in camp and talked late into the night about the tragic
events of the past several days.
Isaac
Chauncy Haight wrote:
Here we are
exiled from the United States and without a home, dwelling in tents and wagons
exposed to the inclemency of the weather.
We are even like the Saints of old having no abiding city but are
wanderers and pilgrims on the earth but we count the present suffering not
worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to his Saints.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 388‑89;
Bennett, Mormons at the Missouri, 1846‑1852, 73; Wilford
Woodruff’s Journal, 3:82‑3; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The
March of the Mormon Battalion, 164‑165; Yurtinus, A Ram in the
Thicket, 139‑40; “Joseph Hovey Autobiography,” BYU, 42; “Wandle Mace
Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 203‑05;
Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church, 3:15; Talbot, A
Historical Guide to the Mormon Battalion and Butterfield Trail, 25;
“Journal of Isaac Chauncey Haight”; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The
Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 234;
In the
morning, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, and Alpheus Cutler
went to look at land for farming near the new location for the ferry. Afterwards, they visited Brigham Young’s
brother, John, who was still quite sick.
In the
evening, a joint‑council meeting was held. A rule was put in place that no cattle should be taken from the
herdsmen without an order. Jedediah M.
Grant reported that Peter Sarpy had no objection with the plans to move the
ferry to the north, near Cutler’s Park.
He also relayed an alarming report from Mr. Sarpy that a United States
marshal from Missouri was on the way to Council Bluffs to arrest the
Twelve. Mr. Sarpy promised to send a
warning as soon has the marshal arrived.
Brother Grant also reported that the Secretary of War had instructed the
Indian agent, Robert Mitchell, to have all the Mormons removed from the
Pottawatomie lands (east side of the Missouri River) by April, 1847.
The
council meeting was adjourned, but another small private meeting was held to
discuss what actions should be taken if the marshal did try to arrest the
Twelve. It was decided to have Hosea
Stout send two spies over to the east side of the river to see what was going
on. Brigham Young also expressed his
wish to have the Nauvoo Legion put into operation as soon as possible.
In the
evening, Brigham Young and Willard Richards worked on drafts of the design plot
for Winter Quarters.
The Mormon
Battalion set off for a long ninety‑mile march across the Cimarron
Desert. As Levi Hancock looked back to
the east where the star had been seen the night before, he saw John D. Lee and
Howard Egan on the horizon overtaking with the battalion. They were on their mission to obtain the pay
from the battalion members.
Brother
Lee asked that the battalion stop their march so that letters could be read
from Brigham Young. He was astonished
to learn that Lt. Smith was commanding the battalion instead of Jefferson Hunt. Adjutant George P. Dykes told Brother Lee
that they did not have time to stop because they had to cross the desert.
John D.
Lee became outraged when he learned of the terrible treatment of the sick. He learned of Alva Phelps’ death the day
before that was blamed on the forced treatment of calomel only hours before his
death. He wrote: “When I came up with the Bat. & saw the
suffering & oppression of these Soldiers my blood boiled in my veins to
such an extent that I could scarce refrain from taking my Sword in hand &
ridding them of such Tyrants.”
Brother
Lee invited Lt. Smith and Jefferson Hunt to ride in his wagon and he proceeded
to verbally attack Lt. Smith. He
accused him of inhumane treatment and abuse that was comparable to the
persecution endured by the Saints in Missouri.
“I consider the oppression here as great as it was in Mo. They would say
if you don’t renounce Mormonism damn you I’ll kill you. You say to them, if you don’t take calomel,
I’ll cut your damned throats. I see no
difference at all.”
He accused
them of killing Alva Phelps. “Not
withstanding his entreaties, the Dr. poured an even spoonful of calomel down
him & about twice that amount of spirits of turpentine, which ended his
career.” Lt. Smith replied that he was
not responsible for what the doctor did.
Brother Lee was outraged and related reports that Lt. Smith had
threatened to cut men’s throats if they did not take the medicine. He knew that the doctor purposely had
administered double portions of calomel “through spite saying that he did not
care a dam whether it killed or cured and the more killed the better that the
dam rascals out to be sent to hell as fast as possible.”
Finally,
Brother Lee threatened mutiny, stating that the Mormons were “ready to revolt
& it is with much difficulty that they can be constrained from rising up
& bursting off the yoke of oppression.”
At the close of the tongue lashing, Brother Lee expected Lt. Smith to
challenge him for a duel, but instead the Lieutenant simply walked away.
The
enlisted men were on the side of John D. Lee.
Henry Standage wrote, “The star last night that was seen moving was an
omen of the arrival of the messengers in as much as the officers were
consenting to almost anything that Lieu Smith our Tyrant would propose. But we sill call upon the Lord to protect
us.”
The
battalion marched on across twenty‑six miles of desert. Christopher Layton noted that they kept
seeing mirages: “It had the appearance
of fog rising from water and then would look like a lake of clear water, but it
went on ahead of us and stopped when we did.”
Henry Standage added, “We traveled . . . across one of the most dreary
deserts that ever man saw, suffering much from the intense heat of the sun and
for want of water.”
Water was
extremely scarce and John D. Lee was appalled to watch men have to rush up to
filthy puddles and strain the water through their teeth to keep the insects and
mud from being swallowed. These puddles
even contained buffalo droppings. They
would fill their canteens with water standing in the tracks of oxen and
mules. Christopher Layton wrote, “We
put the water in a vessel and then sucked it through a silk handkerchief.” Men started to become sick and collapse on the
trail. Brother Lee loaded up his wagon
with three or four sick men who did not have the strength to walk.
A large
number of buffalo were seen during the day and two of them came running near
the line of men. Thirty or so muskets
were fired which stopped and killed them.
Throughout
the night and during the morning, the Saints were fleeing across the river
before the mob was to take possession of the city in the afternoon. Even many of the non‑Mormon citizens
left, especially those who participated in the battle. They had no confidence that the terms of the
treaty would be upheld by the mob.
Governor
Ford’s official observer, Mason Brayman, reported:
In every
part of the city scenes of destitution, misery and woe met the eye. Families were hurrying away from their
homes, without a shelter, without means of conveyance, without tents, money, or
a day's provision, with as much of their household stuff as they could carry in
their hands. Sick men and women were
carried upon their beds, weary mothers with helpless babes dying in their arms
hurried away ‑‑ all fleeing, they scarcely knew or cared whither,
so it was from their enemies, whom they feared more than the waves of the
Mississippi, or the heat and hunger and fingering life and dreaded death of the
prairies on which they were about to be cast.
The ferry boats were crowded, and the river bank was lined with anxious
fugitives, sadly awaiting their turn to pass over and take up their solitary
march to the wilderness.
The formal
treaty was signed during the morning and at about 3 p.m., the mob forces
numbering between 1500‑2000 marched into the city yelling, hooting, and
howling. Thomas Bullock arose from his
sickbed and watched them march along Mulholland Street. He recorded:
I never
heard [such howling] from men, or even the wild savages of the forest . . .
terror and dismay surely for once overcame the sick, the poor women and
children . . . such an awful and infuriated noise I never again heard. . . . We
expected that an indiscriminate massacre was commencing. I, with others who were sick, was carried
into the tall weeds and woods, while all who could, hid themselves; many
crossed the river, leaving everything behind.
Daniel H.
Wells reported: “As the mob came in, we left 2 blocks in advance. We met many of the Saints on this side of
the river in distress & it drew tears from the eyes of some of the
mob.” They proceeded to the temple,
received the keys from the leader of the Quincy Committee, marched around the
temple, and then camped on a field on Parley Street. Thomas Bullock wrote:
“When they encamped, some speeches were made and the men yelled and
screamed like Savages.”
The mob
ignored the terms of the treaty and soon sent a company to search the wagons
that were on the bank of the river waiting to cross. They took all the guns that they could find. An elderly Brother John Stiles was forced to
the river at the point of a bayonet and baptized face down in the name of Tom
Sharp, a leader of the mob and editor of the Warsaw Signal.
They
entered the homes of Nauvoo Trustees, John S. Fullmer and Joseph L. Heywood,
and seized anything that looked like arms or ammunition. As they made this search, they threatened
the families. They also defiled the
temple with drunkenness, gambling and filthy songs. Joseph Fielding wrote with sadness regarding the desecration of
the temple: “They rendezvoused in the
[Nauvoo] temple. We had guarded it by
night and day, a long time feeling unwilling to leave it in their hands, but
they now had it to themselves. They
even preached in it and cursed the Saints, but did no great damage to it,
thinking it would add to the value of their property.”
Benjamin
Ashby recalled: “At night we could hear the sound of the bell and the bass drum
from the tower of the temple where the mob were carousing after banishing from
their pleasant homes, innocent men, women and children to perish in the
wilderness among tribes of savage Indians.”
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 389‑90; Juanita Brooks, John Doyle Lee,
98-99; Juanita Brooks, Mormon Battalion Mission, 206; Yurtinus, A Ram
in the Thicket, 140‑44; Talbot, A Historical Guide to the Mormon
Battalion and Butterfield Trail, 26; “Journal Extracts of Henry W. Bigler,”
Utah Historical Quarterly, 5:2:40; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The
March of the Mormon Battalion, 165‑66; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon
Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 194; Roberts, Comprehensive History of the
Church, 3:16‑7; Nielson and Flack, The Dutson Family History; Our
Pioneer Heritage, 8:234; “Wandle Mace Autobiography,” typescript, BYU, 207;
Rich, Ensign to the Nations, 45; Joseph Fielding Diary in “Nauvoo
Journal,” BYU Studies 19:165‑66; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:88; “Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley ed., Pioneer Camp of the
Saints; “Benjamin Ashby Autobiography,” copy of holograph, BYU, 16
Members of
the Twelve and others went to Winter
Quarters to lay out the city. They
considered that it might be wiser to establish the settlement closer to the
Missouri River. The original layout was
on prairie ridges. After some
discussion they agreed to move the settlement to a table of land nearer to the
River. This land would be protected
better by high bluffs from the wind, Indians, and the mob.
Little
three‑week‑old Clarissa Martha Hale died. Both her parents died earlier in the month. George Corry, age three years, died of
chills and fever. He was the son of
George and Margaret Corry. David
Gouldsmith, age four years, died of chills and fever. He was the son of Gilbert D. and Abigail Gouldsmith.
Many of
the battalion members received letters from their families delivered by John D.
Lee. Philemon C. Merrill was very
disappointed that there was not a letter for him. He later wrote to his wife:
With the
mail from the Camp of Israel & most every brother in the army had a letter
from their dear wife & children and friends. But not a word from you and my friends which caused me to weep to
think that I had not heard a word from you since we parted at the Fort
[Leavenworth] which day I shall not forget while time shall last, to see you go
one way and I the other, not knowing that I shall every see you and my children
which was near to me than life. . . . I take courage, feeling that if we put
our trust in God that he will preserve our lives and that he will take care of
us and that we shall live to see each other again and enjoy each other’s
society again. Pray for me that I may
be preserved and fill my mission with honor to God and myself.
The
battalion broke camp at daylight and continued their long, hot journey across
the Cimarron Desert. No water was
found. Henry Standage wrote that there
was “nothing to look at but a large dreary desert and here and there a herd of
Buffaloes or antelopes. I suffered much
more than yesterday for want of water; found some rain water about 2 o’clock,
mixed with Buffalo dung and urine; drank some of it which seemed to be a
blessing.” Another soldier wrote: “but that we did not mind but drank freely
and many of us was greatly refreshed and thought it drank first rate.” Henry Bigler added, “but Oh gracious how
sick it made us.”
After a
journey of twenty‑six miles, they camped at a dry creek called Sand
Creek.27
In the
evening, John D. Lee tried to stir up the troops to remember the counsel from
Brigham Young. He read a letter from
Brigham Young stating that Jefferson Hunt should be at the command. (See August 27, 1846.) He then read his letter of instruction relating
to gathering the pay from the battalion.
News
arrived from Washington D.C. that Captain P.B. Thompson was to take over the
command of the Mormon Battalion because of Colonel James Allen’s death. (See September 4, 1846.) Captain Thompson immediately left for Fort
Leavenworth to start a journey to overtake the battalion.
Thomas
Brockman, leader of the mob, ordered the expulsion from the state of all the
non‑Mormons who had taken part in defending the city with the
Mormons. This was a clear violation of
the treaty. More than one half of the
new citizens were forced from their homes.
In the
morning, a band of thirty men armed with guns and bayonets marched by the house
where Thomas Bullock was staying. The
captain called the group to halt and he demanded that the owners of the wagons
come out of the house. Brother Bullock
and his family were very sick. He was
taken from his bed and led outside supported by his sister‑in‑law. The captain pointed a sword at his throat
and four others pointed their guns at his chest. The captain declared, “If you are not off from here in twenty
minutes, my orders are to shoot you.”
Thomas Bullock replied: “Shoot
away, for you will only send me to Heaven a few hours quicker, for you see I am
not for this world many hours longer.”
The captain then told him, “If you will renounce Mormonism you may stay
here and we will protect you.” To this
Brother Bullock replied, “This is not my house, yonder is my house (pointing to
it) which I built and paid for, with the gold that I earned in England. I never committed the least crime in
Illinois, but I am a Mormon, and if I live, I shall follow the twelve.” “Then,” said the captain, “I am sorry to see
you and your sick family, but if you are not gone when I return in half an
hour, my orders are to kill you and every Mormon in the place.”
Thomas
Bullock, with the help of his brother‑in‑law, George Wardle, drove
the wagon down to the ferry. They were
searched five times for firearms and took a gun which was never returned. While on the bank of the river, Brother
Bullock crawled over to bid good‑bye to a sister heading for St.
Louis. One of the mob cried out, “Look,
look, there’s a skeleton bidding Death good bye!”
John
William Dutson had concealed some bullets in a small chest that was
locked. He was ordered to unlock the
chest to be searched. Brother Dutson
threw them the key and said that he did not want to unlock it for them, but
they could help themselves. They
concluded that he had nothing to hide and moved on.
The mob
marched through the temple, up to the top of the tower. They rang the temple bell and shouted. Thomas Bullock wrote:
Other detached
bodies were roving thro the city, searching for arms, and driving the Saints
from their homes, bursting open trunks, chests, tearing up floors,
appropriating to themselves such things as they saw fit. A Mob preacher ascended to the top of the
Tower and standing outside proclaimed with a loud voice “Peace, Peace, Peace to
all the Inhabitants of the Earth, now the Mormons are driven.”
Emma Smith
and her family arrived in Fulton, about 150 miles upriver from Nauvoo. She found temporary lodging in the city.
Abbey Rice commented, “I like her appearance very well.”
Addison
Pratt was very excited to be reunited with his missionary companion Benjamin
Grouard. Elder Grouard had been away
doing missionary work on other islands.
He had visited nine islands and had baptized 114 people. Elder Pratt wrote: “The satisfaction that we enjoy at meeting each other on these
barren rocks and lonely isles is known only to those who experience it. . . .
All of those islands he visited are anxious to have a missionary from America
come and live among them.”
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 390; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah
Historical Quarterly, 4:148; Ellsworth, The Journals of Addison Pratt,
288; Letter from Philemon. C. Merrill to Cyrena Merrill, Church Archives; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:83;
Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
166; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 144‑46; Our Pioneer
Heritage, 8:235; Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma Emma Hale Smith,
239‑40; “Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer
Camp of the Saints
It was a
very windy day. Many tents were taken
down in order to protect them from harm.
Some of the wagon covers were blown off and several tents that remained
up were badly damaged.
Members of
the Twelve arose early and went to the new location for Winter Quarters where
they surveyed sixty lots, enough to settle about 150 families. Before leaving for home, they cast their
hooks into the river and caught some nice catfish.
In the
evening, the Twelve were still very concerned about the arrival of a marshal
from Missouri to issue arrest warrants.
Wilford Woodruff wrote, “O Missouri when will thou cease seeking for the
blood of the Twelve Apostles and the Saints of God?” Twelve United States army horses had been seen on an island near
the other side of the river, along with three men. The horses were fully equipped and the brethren were worried that
their purpose there was to kidnap some of the Twelve. Brigham Young asked that two men be sent down the river to find
any hiding places for troops and generally to explore all of the routes to the
camp. This information would help
prepare for any attack from those intent on persecuting the Church leaders.
Lydia
Owen, age thirty-five, died of fever.
She was the wife of Seeley Owen.
Sister
Ursulia Hascall wrote to her family in the east telling them about “black
walnuts in abundance and hundreds of bushels of grapes, orchards of mile
plumbs. Fifty bushels in a place. You never saw anything better [to] make pies
and preserves.”
The
battalion had camped near the Missouri Cavalry. It was decided to start the march very early before sunrise, at 4
a.m., in order to reach Cimarron Springs before the Missouri Volunteers. After a twelve‑mile march on the trail
known as the Cimarron Cutoff, the weary soldiers arrived at the springs at 9
a.m., well ahead of the Cavalry. They
found water by digging into the sand, but it tasted as if it were mixed with
mineral salts and they couldn’t stand drinking it.28
Captain
Jefferson Hunt requested the soldiers’ pay from the paymaster, who claimed that
he did not have small enough change to distribute the money nor could he make
the pay in checks larger than the amount due each individual. No pay would be issued until they arrived to
Santa Fe.
Lieutenant
Smith called on the sergeants of each company to ask why certain men not on the
sick list were not fulfilling their guard duties. William Coray reluctantly explained that the men dreaded taking
the doctor’s medicine and his insults.
On hearing this, Lt. Smith was very angry and threatened to put the
sergeants in irons for writing false reports.
After this exchange, the sick men would choose to stand guard rather
than go to the doctor.
In the
evening a number of the battalion officers met together in a private meeting to
discuss how they should handle John D. Lee’s continued hostile words towards
the officers. His words were also
stirring up many of the enlisted men towards mutiny.
The Quincy
Committee gave a report of their negotiations for the surrender of the city at
a public meeting in Quincy. The mob
held a court martial at the temple for some of the prominent new citizens of
Nauvoo. They were ordered to all cross
the river immediately.
A
correspondent for the Burlington Hawkeye, in Iowa, visited Nauvoo and
reported his experience in the newspaper.
“We proceeded to the Mansion House, where we met with a small detachment
of soldiers and a number of strangers.
From thence we went to the Temple.”
There he observed soldiers sleeping in the seats of the pulpits. “On every hand lay scattered about in
beautiful confusion, muskets, swords, cannon balls, and terrible missiles of
death. Verily thought I, how are the
holy places desecrated!”
He left
the temple and wandered through the city streets. “All was stilled and hushed as the charnel house. Not a human being was seen. Houses appeared suddenly deserted, as though
the inmates had precipitately fled from a pestilence or the burning of a
volcano. Some had windows open and the
flowers blooming on the casements.” As
he approached the Mansion House, he met a woman holding a baby who asked him if
he was a member of the Quincy Committee.
He replied that he was a stranger.
He asked her where her friends were.
She responded: “I have none‑‑not
one. The soldiers say I must leave in
two hours. The child is sick and my
other is a cripple.” She only had
enough flour for one dinner.
The
correspondent crossed the river over to Montrose. He wrote, “I stopped at the door of one tent, arrested by the
subdued sobs of a young mother, whose heart was broken with grief. By her side lay her infant, a corpse. She had neither friend or relative to bury
her child, nor a mouthful of food to eat.”
In the
evening, William Green and three others crossed back over to Nauvoo after
ferrying some of their possessions over to Montrose earlier during the
day. They were confronted by a company
of thirty men who asked if they were Mormons.
They replied, “Yes.” The men
advanced and were ordered to take aim with there muskets at the unarmed
men. The word, “Halt” was heard. William Green tried to explain why they were
there. The soldiers conferred amongst
themselves and one suggested that the Mormons be thrown in the river. They called the ferry operator over who
vouched for the men and chastised the soldiers for driving them out of the city
and also for treating them like dogs.
The brethren were taken prisoner and locked up in a room for the night.
The Saints
who arrived on the Brooklyn, struggled to find work and to obtain
food. Samuel Brannan had sent Daniel
Stark and others to the Marin Forest to get a load of redwood. They returned from this assignment on this
day.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 390; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:83;
Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861,
194; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
166; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 146‑48; “Journal Extracts of
Henry W. Bigler,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 5:2:40; Our Pioneer
Heritage, 3:498; Mormon Manuscripts to 1846: Guide to Lee Library, BYU; Nielson and Flack, The Dutson
Family History; Kimball, Historic sites and Markers along the Mormon and
other Great Western Trails, 200‑01; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters,
87, 302; Letter of Ursalia B. Hastings Hascall to Col. Wilson Andrews; Mulder & Mortensen, Among the Mormons, 193‑94;
“Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of the
Saints
The Saints
met at the stand at Cutler’s Park to hear Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young
speak. Elder Kimball announced plans to
build Winter Quarters at a better spot, a few miles away, near the river. Brigham Young stated that he did not feel
like preaching much because there were so many sick brethren that needed to be
administered to. He expressed sorrow
for the suffering that he had seen the Saints endure. He saw so many who were struggling to live and he had deep
feelings for those who were suffering for their religion. Wicked men were running to Missouri
reporting lies to stir up the people.
He wanted to leave Missouri alone.
Those who persecuted them would pay for it in the eternities.
At 5 p.m.,
a council meeting was held. Volunteers
were called to go up north of Old Council Bluffs to establish a small
settlement. Frederick Kester reported
that a good site for a mill had been found near the new location for Winter
Quarters. Assignments were made to
start building a mill.
Brigham
Young wrote a letter to Bishop George Miller, who was located with a large
company of Saints at the Ponca’s village, far up the Missouri River. He counseled the company to not hold “all
things in common.” He explained that
“until we are more perfect, all such attempts will end in poverty and
confusion.” President Young also
counseled George Miller to abandon the settlement and return to the main
camp. “If you want to locate your
families here you have only to build a boat and drop them down to this place
where you can become partakers of such like blessings as we enjoy.”
Across the
river at Council Point, Ira Oviatt was appointed to serve in the High Council,
replacing Jonathan H. Hale, who had recently died.
Molly
Marston Sweat, wife of John Sweat, died.
The Mormon
Battalion took down their tents early in the morning and traveled twelve miles
to the Cimarron River “if it can be called a river. No water, nothing but a bed of sand,” wrote Henry Standage. There was plenty of grass for the animals to
feed on and there were many buffalo, antelope and deer. They dug a deep well, but the water was
quite black. They had not found wood to
burn for ten days, but there were plenty of buffalo chips.
In the
evening, the battalion officers met with John D. Lee. Captain Jesse Hunter stated that Brother Lee had been out of
place in abusing Lt. Smith and Dr. Sanderson.
Levi Hancock and David Pettigrew supported Brother Lee’s position. Jefferson Hunt finally spoke, stated that
Brother Lee was stirring up the battalion to revolt, and did not have the right
to counsel the battalion. Captain Hunt
said that he alone had the authority to counsel the battalion. Brother Lee was told to cease stirring up
the battalion towards mutiny.
John D.
Lee responded that he did not want to command the battalion, but Captain Hunt
had not taken his rightful position as commander of the battalion. He was angry that the officers had given
their support to Lt. Smith.
Several
officers commented that they did not believe that Brother Lee intended to do
anything wrong. The meeting was
concluded with Howard Egan stating that he saw “that they [the officers] did
not want any council, so he thought in as much as they had burned their
backsides, they might sit on the blisters.”
Eventually,
good feelings were restored and Captain Hunt offered free board for Brothers
Lee and Egan while they traveled with the battalion until the pay could be
collected from the soldiers.
While
traveling up the Arkansas River with the battalion families, Private Norman
Sharp accidentally shot himself in the arm.
He was taken to a nearby Indian village to be treated. He would start to get better but gangrene
would later set in and he soon died.
In the
morning, John William Dutson and the other brethren were unlocked from their
room and were told they were free to go.
They had been held there overnight by the mob. As they descended the stairs, Brother Dutson was asked how he
slept. He replied, “I would not care if
they put me in that room again tonight for I have not slept for about three weeks
and it is quite a treat.”
The flat
boats were very busy as many Saints continued to cross over the river. About this time, Mary Field, a widow, packed
her wagon and took her six children down to the ferry. Her daughter wrote:
We hurried
to pack some food, cooking utensils, clothing and bedding, which was afterward
unpacked and strewn over the ground by the mob as they search for fire‑arms. A sympathetic member of the mob offered to
carry mother’s baby down to the ferry.
Mother had some bread already in the kettles to bake. Of course she did not have time to bake, so
she hung it on the reach of our wagon and cooked it after we crossed the
Mississippi River.
In the
evening, Thomas Bullock crossed over on the Trustee’s boat. The mob rang the temple bell for preaching
in the evening.
Bishop
Newel K. Whitney and Edwin Woolley arrived into the camp of the destitute
Saints. They were on their way to St.
Louis to purchase goods for the Saints on the Missouri River. On their way to Montrose, they met Brothers
Daniel Wells and William Cutler, who were heading towards the Missouri River to
make a report about the Battle of Nauvoo.
Bishop Whitney, realizing the terrible condition of the Saints,
purchased flour in Bonaparte which he gave to the Saints in the camp near
Montrose. He also gave them counsel and
advice. He observed that about fifty wagons
would be needed to help take the poor across Iowa.
In the
evening, Bishop Whitney and Brother Woolley crossed the river to Nauvoo where
they stayed at Joseph Heywood’s home.
During the night there were three discharges from a cannon stationed at
the temple between nine and ten o’clock.
The brethren worried that the war was beginning again, but it ceased.
Mary Field
wrote, “The suffering and sadness of that camp I shall never forget. It is impossible to describe the cries of
the hungry children, the sadness of others for the loss of their loved ones. What a terrible night of misery. We did not even have a light, except a
candle which flickered out in the wind and rain as it was carried from one
place to another.”
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 390‑91, 408; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 166; Juanita Brooks, John
Doyle Lee, 100; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:84; Yurtinus, A Ram
in the Thicket, 148‑50, 263; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier,
The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 195; Beecher, ed., The
Personal Writings of Eliza R. Snow, 144; Nielson and Flack, The Dutson
Family History; Hartley, My Best
for the Kingdom, 220; Bennett, Mormons
at the Missouri, 1846‑1852, 89; Arrington, From Quaker to Latter‑day
Saint, 167‑69; “Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer
Camp of the Saints; Holzapfel, Women of Nauvoo, 176; Mary Field
Garner Papers, BYU
Wilford
Woodruff and other members of the twelve spent a hard day working at Winter
Quarters staking out lots.
At 9 p.m.,
as the Camp of Israel was retiring for the night, an alarm was sounded. A message was spread throughout the camp
that the mob was on the way to camp.
All the brethren were instructed to quickly assemble in the square with
their guns. The scene was one of great
confusion as the men tried to calm their anxious families and went off to receive
instructions.
This
meeting was held at 10 p.m. President
Young informed the company about his letter from Peter Sarpy informing him that
U.S. marshals were on the way from Missouri to arrest the Twelve. It was reported that they were on their way to
camp with a large force, hoping to catch the camp by surprise. All the brethren were asked to clean their
guns and have ammunition ready. They
were to pray with their families and keep their dogs tied up at night. Two spies were sent to the north and two to
the south to collect information regarding this potential threat to the
camp. Two six‑pounder guns were
prepared for action. The meeting
concluded and the men were told to retire to bed with their guns in their
hands. The military would be organized
the following day.
The
battalion marched on another very warm day for eighteen miles in and along the
dry Cimarron River. They found some
water by digging four feet in the sand, but most of the men suffered greatly
from thirst. Jefferson Hunt told Lt.
Smith that if John D. Lee would not keep the peace, he would put him under
guard.
Zadoc Judd
wrote of activities during the evenings:
There were
several good fiddlers among us and some one had managed to get his fiddle
stowed away in a captain’s wagon and after a hard day’s march, the fiddle was
brought out and a lively dance would commence and would continue for the entire
evening. There were no girls but many
of the boys would take the girls side and do the dance all right. The boys did say it was the best way to rest
and they felt better than they would to sit down and sit still.
Bishop Newel
K. Whitney, in Nauvoo on business with the Trustees, was stopped by an anti‑Mormon
posse. They demanded to know his name,
and asked if he was Mormon or anti‑Mormon. He gave them his name and in order to continue his mission,
stated he was anti‑Mormon. They
wrote down his name and then left for the temple. Bishop Whitney believed some trouble was brewing and immediately
left for Iowa.
Edwin
Woolley wrote of Nauvoo:
The city is
now in possession of the Mob, who are ransacking every house in it except those
that are known to be not of the highest order.
The temple is their headquarters, they have a barrell of whiskey in it
and are drinking and carousing in mob style.
The eastern part of the city I am told presents a dreadful spectacle, as
that was the place of the engagement. . . . The log buildings of that part of
the town were torn down by the Mormons and hauled together to make forts and
breastwork for the defense of the city. . . .
Nauvoo is
now like Babylon of old, a sink of iniquity, a place of foul spirits, and a
gathering place for the damned. All
that beauty, all the grandeur and all the loveliness that once was there has
fled, it has gone and gone forever.
Desolation and the cries of the damned are the only sounds that you
hear, even in hours of the night that should be still and quiet.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 391‑92; William Clayton’s Journal,
63; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861,
195; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:85; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 166‑67; Yurtinus, A
Ram in the Thicket, 152; “Norton Jacob Autobiography,” BYU, 36 ‑
p.37; Our Pioneer Heritage, 8:236; Jakeman, Daughters of the Utah
Pioneers and Their Mothers, 68; “Zadoc Judd Autobiography,” BYU, 26;
Arrington, From Quaker to Latter‑day Saint, 167‑69
All of the
brethren in the camp met in the morning at the springs for a meeting to
organize the Nauvoo Legion. Brigham
Young explained the purpose of this organization was to “take care of ourselves
in this savage country and prepare for going over the mountains.” President Young again mentioned that Peter
Sarpy, of Trader’s Point, had informed him that two men from Missouri had told
him that the Missourians were assembling a company to attack the Saints and
intended to arrest the Twelve and others.
The
brethren voted to accept the old officers of the Legion. These officers were called out to lead 16
companies of 25 men, 400 in all.
Brigham Young was accepted as the commander‑in‑chief with
Albert P. Rockwood as his aid.
President Young discussed plans to move to the Winter Quarters site
which would provide better protection.
Four yoke
of oxen were asked for to take a cannon to George Miller’s company at the Ponca
village. Colonel Stephen Markham was
asked to raise a company of mounted men for an exploring party. President Young issued orders that all
discharging of firearms around the camp must cease unless special permission
was given. The firing of a gun would now
be a signal for an alarm.
At 2 p.m.,
the officers of the Nauvoo Legion met together at Colonel Stephen Markham’s
tent to establish regulations. Hosea
Stout also taught them drilling instructions including the “old Missouri Danite
drill” which was an entertaining, short and simple drill to maneuver a small
company.
In the
afternoon, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards rode to the
new site for Winter Quarters and selected the lots on which to build their
homes. A number of teams arrived from
Cutler’s Park.
In the
evening a council meeting was held to discuss plans for the mill at Winter
Quarters. They discussed whether the
mill should be powered by horses or water and chose to build a water‑powered
mill. It would be able to grind one barrel
of flour per hour. Brigham Young would
be the superintendent of the mill. The
council voted to have “back houses” dug at the rear of each lot, eight feet deep.
A son,
Appleton Harmon, was born to Appleton M. and Elmira Harmon. Little Appleton died the same day.29
Abigail Carpenter, age six, died of chills and fever. She was the daughter of Samuel Carpenter.
The
battalion continued their journey on the Cimarron River. Some of the mules were overcome with thirst
and exhaustion and had to be left behind.
At noon, they came to a large spring and passed some rocky bluffs in the
afternoon.30 After a fifteen-mile journey, they made
their camp for the night. In the
evening a thunder storm rolled in, the first one for many days.
The mob
took Colonel Johnson prisoner. He was,
for a time, a leader of the Nauvoo defenders.
Thomas Bullock wrote that they “led him to the Temple, held a Court
Martial on him, passed the sentence of death on him, squabbled about the manner
of his execution and finally ordered him to leave the City.”
Colonel
Thomas L. Kane, friend of the Mormons, arrived at Nauvoo. Four years later he told of his impressions
in dramatic form to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
I was
descending the last hill‑side upon my journey, when a landscape in
delightful contrast broke upon my view.
Half‑encircled by the bend of the river, a beautiful city lay
glittering in the fresh morning sun; its bright new dwellings, set in cool,
green gardens, ranging up around a stately dome‑shaped bill which was
crowned by a noble marble edifice whose high tapering spire was radiant with
white and gold. The city appeared to
cover several miles; and beyond it, in the back‑ground, there rolled off
a fair country, chequered by the careful lines of fruitful husbandry. The unmistakable marks of industry,
enterprise and educated wealth everywhere, made the scene one of singular and
most striking beauty. . . .
I procured
a skiff, and rowing across the river, landed at the chief wharf of the
city. No one met me there. I looked and saw no one. I could hear no one move, though the quiet
everywhere was such that I heard the flies buzz, and the water‑ripples
break against the shallow of the beach.
I walked through the solitary streets.
The town lay as in a dream, under some deadening spell of loneliness,
from which I almost feared to wake it; for plainly it had not slept long. There was no grass growing up in the paved
ways; rains had not entirely washed away the prints of dusty footsteps. . . .
Only two
portions of the city seemed to suggest the import of this mysterious
solitude. On the southern suburb, the
houses looking out upon the country showed, by their splintered woodwork, and
walls battered to the foundation, that they had lately been the mark of a
destructive cannonade. And in and
around the splendid temple which had been the chief object of my admiration,
armed men were barracked, surrounded by their stacks of musketry and pieces of
heavy ordnance. These challenged me to
render an account of myself, and why I had the temerity to cross the water
without a written permit from a leader of their band.
Though
these men were generally more or less under the influence of ardent spirits,
after I had explained myself as a passing stranger, they seemed anxious to gain
my good opinion. They told the story of
the dead city; that it had been a notable manufacturing and commercial mart,
sheltering over 20,000 persons; that they had waged war with its inhabitants
for several years, and been finally successful only a few days before my visit,
in an action brought in front of the ruined suburb, after which they had driven
them forth at the point of the sword. . . .
They also
conducted me inside the massive sculptured walls of the curious temple, in
which they said the banished inhabitants were accustomed to celebrate the
mystic rites of an unhallowed worship.
They particularly pointed out to me certain features of the building . .
. they led me to see a large and deep chiseled marble vase or basin, supported
by twelve oxen, also of marble, and of the size of life, of which they told
some romantic stories. They said the
deluded persons, most of whom were emigrants from a great distance, believed
their deity countenanced their reception here of a baptism of regeneration, as
proxies for whomsoever they held in warm affection in the countries from which
they had come. That here parents went
into the water for their spouses, and young persons for their lovers. That thus the great vase came to be for them
associated with all dear and distant memories, and was, therefore, the object
of all others in the building to which they attached the greatest degree of
idolatrous affection. On this account the
victors had so diligently desecrated it, as to render the apartment in which it
was contained too noisome to abide in.
They
permitted me also to ascend into the steeple to see where it had been lightning‑struck
on the Sabbath before, and to look out east and south, on wasted farms like
those I had seen near the city, extending till they were lost in the
distance. There, in the face of the
pure day, close by the scar of divine wrath left by the thunderbolt, were fragments
of food, cruises of liquor, and broken drinking vessels, with a brass drum and
a steamboat signal‑bell, of which I afterwards learned with pain.
It was
after nightfall when I was ready to cross the river on my return. The wind had freshened since the sunset, and
the water beating roughly into my little boat, I hedged higher up the stream
than the point I had left in the morning, and landed where a faint glimmering
light invited me to steer.
There,
among the dock and rushes, sheltered only by the darkness, without roof between
them and sky, I came upon a crowd of several hundred human creatures, whom my
movements roused from uneasy slumber upon the ground. Passing these on my way to the light, I found it came from a
tallow candle . . . shone flickeringly
on the emaciated features of a man in the last stage of a bilious remittent
fever. They had done their best for
him. Over his head was something like a
tent, made of a sheet or two, and he rested on a partially ripped open old
straw mattress, with a hair sofa cushion under his head for a pillow. . . .
Dreadful,
indeed, was the suffering of these forsaken beings, bowed and cramped by cold
and sunburn, alternating as each weary day and night dragged on. They were, almost all of them, the crippled
victims of disease. They were there
because they had no homes, nor hospital, nor poor house, nor friends to offer
them any. They could not satisfy the
feeble cravings of their sick; they had not bread to quiet the fractious hunger‑cries
of their children. Mothers and babes,
daughters and grandparents, all of them alike, were bivouacked in tatters,
wanting even covering to comfort those whom the sick shiver of fever was
searching to the marrow. . . .
There were,
all told, not more than six hundred and forty persons who were thus lying upon
the river flats. But the Mormons in
Nauvoo and its dependencies had been numbered the year before at over twenty
thousand. Where were they? They had
last been seen, carrying in mournful train their sick and wounded, halt and
blind, to disappear behind the western horizon, pursuing the phantom of another
home.
This scene
certainly left an impact on Thomas L. Kane.
He wrote this day a letter to Brigham Young in which he said, “I am
getting to believe, more and more every day, as my strength returns, that I am
spared by God for the labor of doing you justice.”
Bishop
Newel K. Whitney also wrote a letter to the Twelve:
We shall
leave here in about two hours for Keokuk where we expect to meet a boat (for
St. Louis) tonight. I have not been
able to do any business in Nauvoo, owing to the state of affairs there, and am
obliged to keep secluded even here. . . . Col.
Kane has been here today, but I have not had but a short interview with
him. He is now over the river and in
all probability I shall not see him before I leave.
Thomas
Gregg, a non-Mormon also visited Nauvoo on this day. He published a description in the Missouri Republican.
I took a
stroll through a portion of the now
deserted streets, and for miles, I may safely say, I passed nothing but
tenantless houses; some of them closed and barred, and others with doors wide
open, as if left in haste. All along
the city, for miles, wherever I went, might be seen on the doors, or on the
walls, some notice that the tenement was for sale, or for rent.
During my
stay I took several occasions to look at the city and surrounding country from
the top of the Temple. It is, indeed, a
grand and imposing scene, and presents the most magnificent view to be found
any where on the banks of the Mississippi. . . . I took occasion to ascertain
as near as possible the number of houses in the city. From my position on the Temple, I could count a large portion of
the city; and from actual count, and estimate based upon count, I think there
are at least two thousand houses in the city proper, and in the suburbs five
hundred more -- making two thousand five hundred houses. About one-half of these are mere shanties,
built some of logs, some of poles plastered over, and some framed. Of the remaining portion -- say twelve
hundred houses -- all are tolerably fit residences, and one-half are good brick
or frame houses. There are probably
five hundred brick houses in the city, most of which are good buildings, and
some are elegant and handsomely finished residences, such as would adorn any
city.
He further
estimated that only one in twelve houses still had tenants, some Mormons, some
new citizens, and some anti-Mormons. He
also mentioned “the ceremony of dipping” when Mormons were forced across the
river.
Parley P.
Pratt, Samuel W. Richards, Franklin D. Richards, and Moses Martin sailed for
Liverpool, England. Elder Pratt did not
have funds for the passage, but an Elder Badlam kindly helped him.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 392‑94; Jakeman, Daughters of the Utah
Pioneers and Their Mothers, 68; William Clayton’s Journal, 63‑4;
Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861,
195‑97; Whitney, History of Utah, Vol. 1, p.275‑78; Nibley, Exodus To Greatness, 239;
Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
166‑67; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 152‑53; Kimball, Historic
sites and Markers along the Mormon and other Great Western Trails, 201‑3;
Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, 346; Nibley, Exodus to Greatness,
248; “Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of the
Saints; Hallwas and Launius, Cultures in Conflict, 343-44
The camp
began to move to Winter Quarters. The
city had been laid out into blocks of 380 by 660 feet, consisting of 20 lots of
size 72 by 165 feet. Wilford Woodruff
was assigned one of these blocks for his company of forty families. He assigned two families to each lot. The city was situated on six to eight
hundred acres. Brigham Young assisted
the brethren to build a large yard, south of the city, big enough to hold all
the cows in his division. Others lost
many of their cattle during the night because they weren’t fenced in.
A son,
Oscar Marion Stewart, was born to Alvin and Camera Stewart.31
Nathaniel
Ashby, age forty-one, died. He was the
husband of Susan Hammond Ashbey and the father of twelve children.
The
battalion took up their march on very sandy roads along the Cimarron
River. They traveled fifteen miles and
probably crossed into the far southeastern corner of present‑day
Colorado. They dug into the sand to
find water and at times also found fish two or three inches long. The landscape looked desolate. Nathaniel Jones felt that the area was
cursed.
In the
evening there was again contention over the medicine issued by Doctor
Sanderson. The Sergeants told Lt. Smith
that the doctor was administering calomel for every kind of disease including
boils.
George
Wardle crossed back over the river and went into the city to try to sell his
three wagon works. Four men started to
pursue him. He ran and hid in a Brother
Robinson’s wagon, under their beds.
A
tremendous thunder storm poured on the desolate, sick Saints who had been
driven out of their city. Thomas
Bullock wrote:
Not a dry
thread left to us; the bed a pool of water, my wife and sister‑in‑law
lading it out by basins full, and I in a burning fever and insensible, with all
my hair shorn off to cure me of my disease.
Many had not a wagon or tent to shelter them from the pitiless
blast. One case I will mention. A poor woman stood among the bushes,
wrapping her cloak around her three little orphan children, to shield them from
the storm as well as she could through that terrible night, during which there
was one continued roar of thunder and blaze of lightning while the rain
descended in torrents.
He added
in his journal, “Seven or eight poor shaking creatures and others burning with
fever went to one tent and cramd themselves in, [while] others crept under
Wagons, and bushes, and a more doleful day and night was seldom if ever
equalled.”
A son,
Samuel Wadsworth, was born to William
C. and Ann Wadsworth.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 394‑95; Our Pioneer Heritage, 8:236; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:85; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
167; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 153‑54; Brooks, ed., On
the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 197; “Thomas
Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of the Saints
Companies
continued to arrive at Winter Quarters.
More lots were surveyed. Hosea
Stout described seeing the city for the first time:
The City
for so it was laid out, was situated on a level flat on the second bluff from
the river, and about 50 or 60 feet above the watter and was quite narrow at the
North End of the city. . . . The city is one mile from South to North &
bounded at each end by two brooks of good running water. The North brook is calculated to have a mill
built on it with some 20 feet or more fall. . . . This was a most beautiful and
delightful situation for a City & I was well pleased with this, my first
view of it.
Joseph
Hovey moved into Winter Quarters. He
wrote: “I was very sick as well as my
son Joseph and my little babe Martha Jane.
My tent was spread near the other tents. My little babe I boarded out to Sister Dunlap. I paid one dollar per week and furnished the
bed for the child. The little thing was
very sick, and I did not expect her to live from one day to the next.”
In the
evening, Daniel H. Wells and William Cutler arrived from Nauvoo on their one‑horse
buggy, with letters from the Trustees and letters from Mount Pisgah. They gave a sad report about the battle, the
death of three brethren, and surrender of Nauvoo.
Elizabeth
H. Brinton, age twenty-nine, died of chills and fever. She was the wife of David Brinton. John Proctor, age twenty-nine, died of
chills and fever.
In the
morning, at Cutler’s Park, a problem arose in the camp. Brigham Young had ordered that a cannon be
taken to George Miller’s company, far to the northwest at the Ponca
Village. Jacob Houtz went to receive
the gun from John Scott who was in charge of the artillery. As Brother Houtz was about to leave with the
gun, Brother Scott asked who was going to sign the receipt for the gun and take
responsibility for it. Stephen Markham
objected to this stating that the order from Brigham Young was sufficient. He told Brother Houtz to go ahead and drive
his teams with the gun out of the yard.
John Scott stood his ground and stated that the gun would not leave
until he had a receipt for it. Brother
Scott began unhitching the team when Brother Markham collared him and they
began fighting. Stephen Markham told
his assistant to gather an armed force to take the cannon. Men started to assemble with guns and
swords. Soon the two men separated but
still would not back down. Brother
Houtz offered to sign the receipt. Cooler
heads prevailed, the receipt was made out, and Jacob Houtz drove off with the
cannon while the armed force looked on.
Shortly,
Elder Heber C. Kimball arrived and spoke out against what had taken place. He told the brethren to not let their
passions govern them. Rather, they
should act with calmness and moderation.
Brothers Scott and Markham gave each other a hand of fellowship and the
contention seemed to be settled. Norton
Jacob, who witnessed this event wrote:
“Well, may the Lord reward them for their iniquitous practices, and
hasten the time when righteousness and the law of God shall prevail, and
tyranny and oppression be purged out from among the people of the Lord, yea and
driven from the face of the earth.”
Elizabeth
Garret Hoopes, wife of George Hoopes died.
John Proctor also died.
A son,
William Henry Mower, was born to Henry and Susan Mower.32
John
Bennion, age fifty-nine, died of “Bilious fever.” He was the husband of Elizabeth Roberts Bennion and the father of
six children. Emoline Wilson was born
to Henry H. and Frances Kelley Wilson.33
Thomas
Bullock reported that the mob was seizing every person they could find left in
Nauvoo, would lead them down to the river, and would throw them in. Charles Lambert was one of them. Brother Lambert was helping many of the poor
Saints cross the river. He was seized
by a member of the mob and before he was thrown in, the man said, “By the holy
saints, I baptize you by the order of the commanders of the temple.” He was then thrown in the river and held
under, pulled out and thrown in again, “The Commandments must be fulfilled and
God damn you ‑‑ you must have another dip.” He was pulled out and thrown in a third
time. He was then sent across the river
and told that if he returned to Nauvoo, they would shoot him.
Jane
Johnston was also threatened about this time.
Her husband was away in Canada.
She recalled that as she approached the river to cross, a mob surrounded
her wagon and demanded that she give them all her weapons. “I then had a pistol in my bosom which I
drew out and told them it was there, and that I would use it before I gave it
up.” The mob retreated, but threatened
to return at night and throw her into the river.
It had
rained very hard during the night.
Everything was wet, even some buffalo chips that the men had taken into
their tents to keep dry. They set off
on their march and traveled over an area where rocks had been thrown up by
volcanic eruptions. They passed the
bones of hundreds of mules which had died in a snow storm the previous
fall. After a march of about fifteen
miles, they camped at the Cimarron Crossing in the present‑day Oklahoma
panhandle. They could see “the Rabbit’s
Ears” off in the distance, two large mountains in today’s New Mexico. A large company of traders passed by who
were on the way to Mexican settlements (Chihuahua) south of Santa Fe.
Private Norman
Sharp of the battalion died of gangrene in his arm which he had accidentally
shot with a gun. (See September 20,
1846.)
A
conference of the Church was held at Putuahara under the direction of Elders
Addison Pratt and Benjamin Grouard. It
was reported that there were 852 members of the Church on nine islands.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 395; Ellsworth, The Journals of Addison Pratt,
288; “Norton Jacob Autobiography,” BYU, 37 ‑ 41; Brooks, ed., On the
Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 201‑02;
Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
167; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 155; “Joseph Hovey Autobiography,”
BYU, 42; “Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of
the Saints; Holzapfel, Women of Nauvoo, 176
Members of
the Twelve and others met with Daniel H. Wells and William Cutler to learn
details about the Battle of Nauvoo.
After hearing of the battle, William Clayton wrote, “Truly, the Lord fights
the battles of his saints.”
In the
afternoon, Brigham Young continued to survey the city of Winter Quarters. He asked Hosea Stout to raise a company of
rangers to explore the country. He
wanted the country to the south explored for a good crossing place over the
Elkhorn and Platte Rivers. He also
wished to find good places to winter the stock.
Samuel
Carpenter, age forty-three, died of chills and fever. His six-year-old daughter Abigail died three days earlier.
Harrison
Sperry wrote:
We were
living in a little shanty covered with bark.
I remember father telling me to go over to Brother Mansfield’s up the
river about 20 rods or more, and it was through brush and very dark. When I got there, and asked him to come he
said: I cannot, for we are all sick
too. When I hurried back my mother
[Mary Lamont Sperry] was just breathing her last breath. There we were; father was sick, my sister
Betsy was sick, and no neighbors anywhere.
My mother died on September 25, 1846.
She had to lay there until morning when I could get help. They brought a rude coffin and buried her in
Mt. Pisgah burying ground. None of us
were able to go and see where she was buried.
After
being “baptized” in the river by the mob on the previous day, Charles Lambert
again returned to the Nauvoo side of the river to help the Saints leave the
city. While there, he was detained for
the night and his anxious wife spent the night walking up and down the bank of
the river, watching and praying for his return.
A band of
the mob seized Brother William Jewell and unmercifully beat him on his head and
shoulder with clubs. Thomas Bullock
added: “He was then let go, and two
dogs turned loose on him. One seized
him by the arm, the other by the leg and tore him bad. The monsters again beat him with their clubs
on his head and body ‑‑ loosed him and again started the dogs on
him, which tore him again.”
The
battalion marched twenty miles through hilly, rocky, broken land. A few men climbed a rocky hill and on top
found a cave surrounded by a smooth stone with some writing carved into it that
looked like Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Thomas Dunn also explored the hills.
He wrote:
As I drew
near the foot of the mound, the surface was covered with huge rock full of
seams and crevices. In some places
there was piled one rock upon another weighing perhaps 50 tons. On the height of this curious scenery where
I succeeded in getting by climbing on the rocks, it was mostly level with
cracks and crevices. This mound covered
from three to six acres.
On the
trail, they met some teams returning to Fort Leavenworth from Santa Fe. They came in sight of the timber for the
first time in over nine days and camped at Cold Springs. There, they drank the first good water for
many days.
General
Stephen Kearny and his company left Santa Fe, heading for California.
A son,
William Francisco Glover, was born to William and Jane Glover, who had come to
California on the ship Brooklyn.34
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 395; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The
Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861, 202; Journal of Henry Standage in
Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 167; Yurtinus, A Ram in
the Thicket, 156; Tyler, A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion,
161; “Private Journal of Thomas Dunn,” typescript, 7; “Norton Jacob
Autobiography,” BYU, 40‑1; Our Pioneer Heritage, 16:421; “Thomas
Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of the Saints
Brigham
Young rode over to Turkey Creek with Willard Richards and Albert P. Rockwood to
examine it for a possible site for the mill.
Many of the Saints continued to roll into Winter Quarters and take their
assigned lots in the city.
John Scott
went to see Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball to determine a place to have the
artillery camp in Winter Quarters. He
was given a cool reception because of his recent altercation with Stephen
Markham. After Brother Scott explained
the details of his conduct, the leaders felt better about his actions in the
matter. They then chose the location
for the artillery camp, north of the city, on the other side of Turkey Creek.
Wilford
Woodruff rode up and down the river exploring and searching for cattle. He wrote:
“I also got wet feet to day hauling several cattle out of the mud to
save life. . . . In the evening a drove of wolves caught a calf that bauled at
a dreadful rate untill he was dead. It
was heard over the encampment.”
Great
sadness again struck Hosea Stout. He
had already lost two of his children to sickness and death since the beginning
of the journey. On this day, one of his
wives, Marinda, age twenty, delivered a stillborn child during the night and
Marinda later died in the afternoon of dropsy.
She had been very weak and sick for some time. He wrote:
She did not
seem to realize much pain all day although her looks had for some day indicated
her approaching end. She retained her
senses perfectly well as long as she could hear or see and only seemed to drop
to sleep with the exception of the death glare of her eyes. She died about two o’clock p.m. Her death came by the dropsy . . . she had
ever been true & faithful to me . . . . There is now only four of us left
and whose turn will be next God only knows.
Philena L.
Cox, age twenty-three months, died of worms.
She was the daughter of Andrew J. and Elizabeth Ann Cox. A daughter, Helen Mar Callister, was born to
Thomas and Hellen Callister.35 Also born was Luther Terry Tuttle, son of
Azariah and Ann Tuttle.36
The High
Council at Council Point (Council Bluffs) was reorganized because the senior
member, Isaac Morley moved on to Winter Quarters.
A son,
Michael David Yeamans, was born to Michael and Cynthia Stephens Yeamans.
Messengers
arrived from General Kearny stating that he intended to start for California,
from Santa Fe, without the Mormon Battalion.
Lt. Smith sent back a message urging the commander to wait until the
battalion arrived. He also asked
permission for a portion of the battalion to spend the winter at Bent’s
Fort. After a march of about fifteen
miles, the battalion camped on a ridge overlooking Cedar Springs. They were finally able to find wood for
their cooking for the first time in more than ten days.
The daily
routine was becoming difficult for the men.
Private James Scott recorded, “Nothing new. Just go ahead seems to be the only word, no rest. March, march is the daily task.” After the long march they would stack their
arms, pitch tents, and “run over all creation gathering buffalo chips or a
little brush & getting water, draw rations, cook supper, etc.; while this
is going on, roll call comes on again.
By the time the evening chores are finished, dark is at hand, attend to
evening duties, go to bed & sleep on the rough cold ground with only one
blanket & a thin tent to shelter from the cold.”
Elder
Addison Pratt was provided with a canoe to go to Nake. It turned out to be very leaky,
and as the
wind still continued ahead and blew very fresh, we had to tow it and as that
took most of the crew, I was obliged to bail boat. The wind was so strong I could keep my hat on my head only as I
held it there with my hand, and when I workt I laid it off to save it from
being blown away, and consequently got my face burnt by the sun till the skin
peelled off. Arrived there in safety.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 395; S. George Ellsworth, The Journals of Addison
Pratt, 289; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout
1844‑1861, 202; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:86; “James Scott
Diary”; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 156‑57; “Norton Jacob
Autobiography,” BYU, 41‑2
In the morning,
a cry of “fire” was heard on the prairie grass near the camp. Many ran to help and it was soon
extinguished.
William
Clayton arrived at Winter Quarters and camped on the same block as Heber C.
Kimball. Norton Jacob also
arrived. He wrote:
Some five
or six of our company together with Major Scott and myself took a two horse
wagon and went down to search out the spot for our encampment. About eighty rods north of the head of main
street in small valley well sheltered from the winds of winter by the
surrounding hills, we found one of the best springs of living water that has
been found in this part of the country and here we determined to fix our camp.
Hosea
Stout attended to the burial of his wife, Marinda.
The first
Sabbath meeting was held at Winter Quarters on a rise of land on the west side
of Main Street at 2 p.m. Elder Orson
Pratt opened the meeting with prayer and offered some remarks. “We [have] suffered by the gentiles a long
time; but [have] now gone out of their midst & hope we should rest for a
season from their grasp. . . . I have heard the prophet [Joseph Smith] say that
God could not control the wicked at all times and let them act upon their
agency without operating upon them as a machine.”
Daniel
Wells and William Cutler gave reports on the Battle of Nauvoo. They described scenes that melted many
hearts. They spoke of the aftermath
including the whipping of old men.
Brother Cutler stated, “I hope the day will come when we shall not have
to suffer from Mobs as we have done.”
Brigham
Young arose and expressed his joy that these two brethren had arrived
safely. He reintroduced the Saints to
Daniel H. Wells who had lived with the Saints for several years and only
recently had been baptized into the Church.
Next, he turned his remarks to the suffering of the Saints.
I have felt
sensible there was a good deal of suffering among the saints in Nauvoo, and
there has been amongst us, but the Lord God who has fed us all the day long,
has his care still over us and when the Saints are chastened enough it will
cease. I have never believed the Lord
would suffer a general massacre of this people by the mob. If ten thousand men were to come against us,
and no other way was open for our deliverance, the earth would swallow them up.
Volunteers
were asked to go across the river and prepare to go back to Montrose, to bring
the poor to Winter Quarters. A vote was
again taken to sell the temple and all Church property. The funds should be used to help the poor.
In the
evening, a council meeting was held.
Joseph Matthews reported that he and Daniel Russell had purchased $400
of wheat at Savannah, Missouri. The
Council wrote a letter to the brethren on the east side of the Mississippi, in
Iowa, about the conditions of the Saints who had been driven from Nauvoo. “The poor brethren and sisters, widows and
orphans, sick and destitute, are now lying on the west bank of the Mississippi,
waiting for teams and wagons, and means to remove them, which Brothers Cutler
and Wells have come to raise. Now is
the time for labor. Let the fire of the
covenant which you made in the House of the Lord burn in your hearts like fire
unquenchable.” They called for men to
be raised to bring the poor from Nauvoo.
“Let those who go be as fathers to the poor, whom they shall take up,
and not leave until they are comfortably situated.”
A letter
was also written to Trustees back at Nauvoo.
They were informed about the historic plans to send a company of
pioneers over the mountains. “We fully
contemplate sending a few hundred men and teams, without families, over the
mountains very early in the spring.”
The Saints who were left behind in Iowa and on the Missouri River would
be well off with shelter and employment.
They wrote
of the historic Nauvoo Bell which is presently hanging on Temple Square in Salt
Lake City: “As you will have no further
use for the Temple bell, we wish you to forward it to us by the first possible
chance, for we much need it at this place.”
The Trustees were also instructed to send two printing presses and the
stereotype plates for the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.
The
Trustees were asked to quickly sell the Church property. “The Lord wants every pure hearted soul to
get out of Nauvoo as speedily as possible and if any shall neglect the first
opportunity, it is quite possible he will let loose more effectual means to
help them out.”
A Council
meeting was held at the camp led by Bishop George Miller. James Emmett tried to convince the people
“to let all we have be in common, and all draw rations alike.” Newel Knight and Hyrum Clark argued against
this practice without the Twelve’s authorization. George Miller proclaimed that “the Lord had his eye upon him” and
told the brethren that God wanted them to enter into this united order.
A thick
frost fell during the night making everything white in the morning. A meeting was held to consider if the camp
should be moved away from the “sickly” spot near the Mississippi River to
another location. A committee was
chosen to search for better locations.
The
battalion traveled twelve miles over sand hills. The teams continued to become very weak and were failing because
of the lack of grass. They were left
behind one by one on the desert. The
companies camped by a muddy pond at McNees Creek. Their camp covered nearly six acres. They again had to use buffalo chips for fuel, but some of the men
traveled another two miles to gather wood.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 396‑97; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,
3:87‑89; Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout
1844‑1861, 202; William Clayton’s Journal, 67; Nibley, Exodus
to Greatness, 243‑46; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The
March of the Mormon Battalion, 168; “The Journal of Robert S. Bliss” in The
Utah Historical Quarterly, 4:73 Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 157;
Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 219‑20; “Norton Jacob
Autobiography,” BYU, 42; “Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer
Camp of the Saints
Letters of
counsel were sent to Charles C. Rich at Mount Pisgah and Brothers Aaron Johnson
and David Fullmer at Garden Grove. The
ferry at the new location was in operation.
Wilford Woodruff crossed over the river and spent the day digging out a
canoe. Lorenzo Dow Young and his wife
crossed over to gather grapes on the west side of the river. Men in John Scott’s artillery camp found work
available at Bellevue from the Presbyterian missionaries.
Horace
Datus Ensign Sr., age forty-nine, died.
He was the husband of Mary Brunson Ensign and the father of seven
children.
A
daughter, Emily Electa Noble, was born to Lucian and Emily Noble.
Fanny
Wardle, wife of George Wardle, delivered a boy, John Wardle, who died in the
afternoon.37 A meeting was held in the camp, at which a
committee reported finding three different places that would be healthier for
the camp.
In the
Strangite town of Voree, a son, Amos Botford Fuller Jr. was born to Amos B. and Esther Smith Fuller.38
After the
day’s march began, it was noticed that Elijah Allen was missing from one of the
wagons carrying the sick. Several men
went back on the trail to look for him.
They found him asleep at the last camp.
He felt that he had been holding up the company so he had climbed out of
the wagon during the night and hid in the sagebrush. After the wagons pulled out, he fell asleep by the campfire. They put him back in a wagon and by
nightfall he was feeling better.
The weary
men traveled fourteen miles as they approached the present‑day New Mexico
border. They could only find poor water
and very little wood. They saw bears,
turkeys, plenty of antelope, and passed
a pyramid‑shaped mound close to the road that many climbed to get a good
view of the surrounding landscape. They
camped in a small grass‑covered ravine.
Addison
Pratt was planning to return to America from his mission on the islands. At Nake, he was given many gifts from the members
of the Church. He was given mats,
shells, fish hooks, coconut string, pearls, fish nets, pigs, and chickens. He wrote, “Of these articles, I received
liberal contributions, besides they bestowed upon me their hearty thanks and
good wishes and urged me to return to them after I had visited America and
bring my family with me. Many of them
were anxious to go to America with me, but said they could not for lack of
means.”
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 400 Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:90;
“Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 14:148; Ellsworth, The Journals of Addison Pratt,
289; Journal of Henry Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion,
168; Yurtinus, A Ram in the Thicket, 158; “Norton Jacob Autobiography,”
BYU, 42; Ricketts, Melissa’s Journey
with the Mormon Battalion, 32; “Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in
Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of the Saints
Daniel H.
Wells and William Cutler left Winter Quarters to return to Nauvoo. They took with them twenty‑nine
letters for Nauvoo and eleven for Mount Pisgah.
Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards chose a site to build a bridge
across Turkey Creek at the head of Main Street. In the afternoon they accepted contracts for the mill which would
be constructed. Wilford Woodruff worked
very hard with others cutting one hundred house logs. Lorenzo Dow Young and his wife crossed over to gather grapes on
the west side of the river.
Louisa
Conlee Tanner, age thirty-five, died of fever.
She was the wife of Sidney Tanner.
A daughter,
Margaret Elizabeth Guymon, was born to Noah and Margaret Guymon.39
In the
afternoon, George Wardle buried his infant child on the banks of the
Mississippi. Later, Tommy Travis died
in the camp. A son, Royal Edwin Hatch,
was born to Josephus and Melinda Durfee Hatch.40
The Mormon
Battalion traveled into present‑day New Mexico and passed a landmark, two
peaks called the Rabbit Ears. A number
of men wandered to these mountains, several miles to the south of the trail, to
hunt antelope. They discovered a ring
of stones about fifty feet across with a pile of rocks shaped like a wing in
the center. Levi Hancock believed that
it was an old Nephite construction.
After about twelve miles they camped on a grass‑covered ravine
which they called Extra Valley.
Elder
Addison Pratt traveled to Otepipi. In
the evening, he was summoned to cast out an evil spirit from a woman. “As she was a small sized woman, some of the
stouter sisters were holding her down by main strength, and she was rageing
with all the fiendish words and actions of a maniac. At times she would flutter her hands as if she was trying to
fly. The natives said she was possesst
of a [flying devil].” Elder Pratt had
been badly frightened by a crazy man as a child and it took him some time to
gather the courage to lay his hands on the woman. He wrote: “When I did,
she raved worse than ever, but when I commanded in a strong firm voice, in the
name of Jesus Christ, those evil spirits that were troubling her to leave her,
she caught hold of the sheet with which she was covered, and drew it over her
face and lay completely passive.” He
called her by name and asked how she felt.
She stated that she was well, was cheerful, and acted as if nothing
happened.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 400; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:90;
“Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 14:148;
Ellsworth, The Journals of Addison Pratt, 289‑90 Journal of Henry
Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 168; Yurtinus, A
Ram in the Thicket, 158‑59;
“Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of
the Saints;
Brigham
Young started to dig a well and worked with others to continue surveying Winter
Quarters. Wilford Woodruff helped cut
more logs for houses. Hosea Stout
traveled down to the river bottoms. He
observed that “it was in a large thick bottom land and thick set with pea &
grape vines & good cottonwood timber.”
During this
time, Sister Eliza R. Snow was very ill, probably with malaria. She later wrote, “I realized that I was near
the gate of death; but in this suffering and exposed condition, I did not feel
that God had forsaken me ‑‑ my trust was in Him, and His power preserved
me. While passing through this trying
scene, I not only realized the goodness of God, but experienced many kindnesses
from my sisters.”
Mary
Richards started a letter to her husband on a mission in England. “I once more take my pen in hand to address
a few lines to you which I trust my dear will find you enjoying health, peace,
and the Spirit of God to comfort & strengthen you in the discharge of every
duty until you shall have completed your mission and returned in safety to your
home, although I know not where you will find it. But I trust it ‘twill be according to your prayers.”
A son,
John Alphonzo Saunders Graham, was born to Thomas and Sarah Graham.41
The Saints
were alarmed and surprised in the morning when the mob in Nauvoo fired their
cannon three times at the camp. All the
shots fell short. The last one struck
the water in a direct line with Thomas Bullock’s wagon. One of the cannon balls was sent to Governor
Ford as evidence that the mob was breaking the terms of the treaty. A heavy thunderstorm rolled through during
the evening and it rained all night.
J.W.
Brattle, a leader in the mob seized a man named Silas Condiff and brought him
to the river. Thomas Bullock
wrote:
When
Brattle marched in with Condiff and plunged him in the Water saying, “I baptize
you in the name of Jo Smith.” When Condiff arose he pulled Brattle to the
bottom of the River, both went out amidst the shouts and laughter of the
remainder of the crew. The mob also
passed resolutions that no Mormon should be allowed to recross the River, to
transact any business in the City.
The
traveling was very hard for the Mormon Battalion on this hot day. Near dusk, they stopped for supper for one
hour. Then they continued on another seven miles until about 11 p.m.
because no feed could be found for the animals. Their total journey of about twenty‑four miles took them
over a rolling sandy plain with stones and high mounds.
William
Hyde wrote, “Many a soldier’s coat is now worn through on the shoulder by the
constant rubbing of his musket, and many are now troubled with scalded or
blistered shoulders, which make it quite inconvenient to carry our muskets and
cartridge boxes.”
The end of
the month report showed that the Mormon Battalion consisted of 498 soldiers.
The Church
members prepared a farewell feast for Elder Addison Pratt that included three
roasted hogs and coconuts. After the
feast, he rowed to Tukuhora and found Elder Grouard who had just arrived from
Putuahora.
William
Crosby and other members of the Mississippi Company arrived in Independence on
their journey back home to get their families.
Watson, ed., Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 400; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:90;
Brooks, ed., On the Mormon Frontier, The Diary of Hosea Stout 1844‑1861,
203; Ellsworth, The Journals of Addison Pratt, 290; Journal of Henry
Standage in Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 168; Yurtinus, A
Ram in the Thicket, 159‑60; “William Hyde Journal”; Tyler, A
Concise History of the Mormon Battalion, 162; Ward, ed., Winter Quarters, 91; Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:429;
Beecher, ed., The Personal Writings of Eliza R. Snow, 23, 24;
“Thomas Bullock Poor Camp Journal” in Bagley, ed., Pioneer Camp of the
Saints
1The Dixon family
later settled in Ogden Utah.
2The spring is
located 2.3 miles west of the town of Lost Springs. It is identified by a sign north of the highway.
3The Collett family
later settle in Smithfield, Utah.
4The Dally family
would later make their home in Summit, Utah.
5Mercurous chloride.
6They crossed over
the Little Arkansas River, 18 miles west of McPherson, near U.S. 56.
7Lorin would settle
in Union, Utah.
8This rock was named
for a battle between the Pawnee and Osage Indians. The register had names of many travelers dating back to 1820.
9Warren Smith joined
the Church in 1830. He would later
settle in Carson, Nevada for twenty years and return to Utah in 1874.
10Willard Trowbridge Snow was
baptized in 1833 by Orson Pratt. He
served in Zion’s Camp. He later arrived
in Utah in 1847. He served a mission to
England in 1851-52 and in the Scandinavian Mission 1852-3, where he served as
the mission president. He died in 1853,
on his mission, on a ship enroute from Denmark to England.
11This first site for Winter
Quarters was located on some prairie ridges, away from the river. A week later, the brethren would decide to
move the planned settlement to a bench of flat land closer to the river,
located in present‑day Florence, Nebraska.
12Don Carlos would die July 21,
1847 in Winter Quarters.
13This “powder‑plot” was a
barrel of gun‑powder and old iron which was to be set off by a fuse. However, some traitors would later inform
the mob about the mines.
14Alanson Norton joined the
Church in 1843. He went to Utah in 1851
and was said to have operated the first woolen and carding mills in Utah. He later settled with his family in Brigham
City, Utah.
15William Anderson joined the
Church in 1841. He served missions to
Chicago, Illinois.
16David Norris joined the Church
in 1840. He was married to Sarah Louisa
Aser. He died at the age of forty-six.
17These sand hills are near
present‑day Kinsley, Kansas.
18Later, a “Summer Quarters”
would be established at this location.
19Thomas Callister (Sr.) would
later serve as the first stake president in Millard, Utah. Thomas (Jr.) would die in Winter Quarters in
May, 1847.
20Little Heber would die at
Winter Quarters in December, 1846.
21William Rice’s home, in Camp
Creek, Illinois, was burned by the mob in November, 1845. During the trek across Iowa, he had carried
some of Orson Pratt’s provisions for a time.
Later he would arrive in Utah, in 1847.
He settled with his family in Farmington, Utah.
22This was the first of two
cemeteries in Winter Quarters. The
second one, probably very close to this first one, was put into use in
November, and is the famous “Old Mormon Cemetery” at Florence, Nebraska. Located there is the beautiful statue by
Avard Fairbanks of a pioneer father and mother standing at the open grave of
their infant child.
23The Pendleton family would
later settle in Parowan, Utah
24Thomas was away in the Mormon
Battalion. The Karren Family would
later settle in Lehi, Utah. Little Ann
would live for only two days.
25Pueblo had been founded about
five years earlier as the headquarters for trappers in the area. “It was a square fort of adobe, with
circular bastions at the corners, no part of the walls being more than eight
feet high. Around the inside of the
plaza, or corral, were half a dozen small rooms inhabited by as many Indian
traders and mountain‑men.”
26Daniel Tyler wrote that
Col. Price had been the commander of a
portion of the mob. at Far West, Missouri in 1838. He had sat on a court martial that condemned Joseph Smith and
others to be shot.
27This was four or five miles
southeast of present‑day Ulyssess, Kansas.
28These springs are thirteen
miles south of Ulysses, Kansas. There
is a historical marker recognizing the Mormon Battalion at the springs.
29Appleton Milo Harmon was
baptized in 1833 by Orson Hyde. He was
later one of the original pioneers of 1847.
He helped to construct the roadometer used by the pioneer company. He settled with his family in Salt Lake
City, Spanish Fork, and Toquerville, Utah.
30This is probably the Middle
Springs and Point of Rocks, eight miles north of present‑day Elkhart,
Kansas.
31The Stewart family would later
settle in Richmond, Utah. After Oscar
grew up, he settled with his family in Mesa, Arizona.
32The Mower family would later
settle in Springville, Utah.
33The Wilson family later settled
in St. George, Utah.
34The Glovers would later settle
in Farmington, Utah. After William grew
up, he settled in Lewiston, Utah.
35The Callister family would
later settle in Fillmore, Utah.
36The Tuttle family would later
settle in Manti, Utah.
37The Wardle family would later
settle in Provo, and then Vernal, Utah.
38Amos B. Fuller Jr. would be
baptized at the age of ten, three years after the death of his father. He later went to Utah and settled in Salt
Lake City.
39The Guymon family would later
settle in Springville, Fairview, and Fountain Green, Utah.
40The Hatch family would later
settle in Ogden, Utah.
41Thomas Bedford Graham joined
the Church in 1842. The family would
settle in Salt Lake City and later in Mendon, Cache, Utah, where Thomas would
be killed by a bear in 1864.