Call to
raise Mormon Battalion‑‑1; Map of Council Bluffs Area‑‑4;
Map of Mount Pisgah to Council Bluffs--5; Thomas L. Kane arrives in
Council Bluffs--15; Recruiting at Mount Pisgah--16; Permission granted to stay
on Indian lands--20; Thomas L. Kane meets the leaders--21; Mob whips
harvesters--22; Brigham Young returns to Council Bluffs--23; Hostages taken by
the mob--24; Recruits raised at Council Bluffs--25; Mustering of the Mormon
Battalion-- 28; Battalion officially called into service--33; Ezra T. Benson
ordained an Apostle-- 34; Brigham Young instructs Battalion--38; Farewell
ball--38; Mormon Battalion begins march--44; First Battalion Death--49;
Hostages freed--53; Battalion marches through Weston, Missouri--66; Brooklyn
arrives in San Francisco Bay--66
Map of
Mormon Battalion March to Santa Fe--68; Battalion arrives
at Fort Leavenworth--70; Search for Winter Quarters--76; Apostles arrive at
Fort Leavenworth--77; Cutler's Park founded--81; Mississippi Company arrives in
Pueblo-- 83; Battalion funds to be used for provisions--95; Death of Samuel
Bent--101; Eliza R. Snow drives wagon--104; Death of William Huntington--107;
Battalion in "Hurricane"--108; Colonel Allen dies--118; Lt. A.J.
Smith assume leadership of the battalion--132; Twelve find Old Council Bluffs--137;
Battalion
sick forced to take medicine--141; New location for ferry selected--145; Thomas
L. Kane leaves camp-- 149; Battalion sees buffalo--149; Mob fires cannon on
Nauvoo--153; A site selected for Winter Quarters--155; Emma Smith leaves
Nauvoo--159; Battle of Nauvoo--160; First sick detachment--167; John D. Lee
visits battalion--172; Nauvoo falls to mob--173; A new location chosen for
Winter Quarters-- 174; Alarm sounded in Camp of Israel--181; Bishop Whitney
arrives at Poor Camp--181; Nauvoo Legion again organized--183; Camp of Israel
moves to Winter Quarters--187; Teams raised to rescue Poor Camp--195; Mormon
Battalion marched into New Mexico--198; Mob fires cannon on Poor Camp--199;
Battalion
divides into two divisions 204; Orville M. Allen arrives at Poor Camp--211;
Miracle of the quail--213; Battalion arrives at Santa Fe--215; Colonel Cooke
takes command of the battalion--221; Second sick detachment
organized--224;
Wilford Woodruff injured--225; Cattle sent to the north--233; Battalion leaves
Santa Fe--234; John D. Lee leaves Santa Fe--234; Battalion arrives in
Albuquerque--242; Teams sent for goods in Missouri--249; Governor Ford arrives
in Nauvoo--253
Map of
Mormon Battalion March to San Diego--258; Indian agents
visit Winter Quarters--259; Third sick detachment organized--275; Second sick
detachment arrives in Pueblo--287; Police guard organized--289; John D. Lee
returns to Winter Quarters--294; Winter Quarters wards to be divided--301
Pond
family deaths--314; Winter Quarters cemetery surveyed--314; First snow in
Winter Quarters--316; Kearny defeated at San Pascual--318; Attack on
Omahas--322; Omaha Indians slaughtered by Sioux--329; Battle of the Bulls--325;
Council House to be constructed--332; Second sick detachment leaves Santa
Fe--232; Battalion arrives in Tucson--338; Battalion arrives at Gila
River--350; Third sick detachment arrives in Pueblo--350; Foundation laid for
Council House--351; John Tippets and Thomas Woolsey head for Winter
Quarters--355; Map of Mormon Battalion march to San Diego--258; General Council
meeting held--359; Fire at Fort Ponca--361; Plans for a pioneer company--365;
First
meeting held in Council House--373; Bitter cold weather--377; Battalion reaches
Colorado River--381; Word and will of Lord received (D&C 136)--389; High
Council sustains revelation--393; Battalion arrives at Warner's Ranch--400;
First emigration company organized--408; Battalion arrives at Pacific
Ocean--414; Battalion arrives at San Diego--417
As this
second volume goes to print, a great celebration it taking place all over the
world to recognize the sesquicentennial anniversary (150 years) of the arrival
of the pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley of Utah. Communities both small and big are recognizing events the
occurred exactly 150 years ago.
In October
1995, I started to write daily articles that looked back 150 years ago from the
day. I shared these articles with
several friends on the computer internet.
I thought that I would only write these articles for a week or two, but
eighteen months later, I am still researching and writing.
In
February, 1996, I joined forces with David Kenison of Orem, Utah, to establish
an internet electronic mail (e-mail) distribution list which we named LDS-Gems. I continued to distribute these daily
articles to subscribers of this free service.
LDS-Gems started with about 100 subscribers, and has exploded to more
than 73,000 subscribers as of March, 2000.
During the
writing of this volume, I was asked by the Church News to write a
less-detailed weekly version, “Camp of Israel: on the Pioneer Trail.”
I thank the Church News staff, especially Sarah Jane Weaver for a
wonderful four-month experience working with them on this column.
Over the
months, I received frequent requests to compile the LDS-Gems articles into a
book that could be kept and shared with others. In December, 1996, I published the first volume of this LDS-Gems
Pioneer Trek Series, Saints in Exile: A Day-By-Day Pioneer Experience. And now, four months later, the second
volume, Saints in the Wilderness: A Day-By-Day Pioneer Experience is
ready for publication. A third volume, Saints
Find the Place: A Day-By-Day Pioneer Experience is underway, to complete
this historic journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley.
There are
many people to thank for making this second volume possible. First to thank again is my wife Linda, who
no doubt looks forward to “this journey’s end.” David Kenison’s encouragement kept me going. Will Bagley, of Salt Lake City, offered many
historical insights and corrections, and sent me invaluable sources of
information to help make this volume more interesting. Chris Grant, of the Brigham Young University
Math Department, made numerous trips for me to the Harold B. Lee Library on
campus, which houses a wonderful collection of pioneer sources. Bruce Van Orden, Associate Professor of
Church History and Doctrine at BYU, has been a great source of pioneer
inspiration and encouragement. I
appreciate the help from the Institute of Religion at the University of Arizona
for making their library facilities available for my research. I thank several individuals who volunteered
their time and effort to help proof and edit this volume: Karen B. Dupaix of Salt Lake City, Utah,
Scott & Kelly Peterson of Houston, Texas, Dave Edmonds of Calgary, Alberta,
Canada, Howard C. Bybee of Brigham Young University, and Scott McGee of
Farmington, Utah. Last, but not least,
I thank the many faithful readers on LDS-Gems who have sent letters and kind
notes of appreciation. You have all
made this publication possible. I hope you further enjoy walking in the daily
footsteps of the Mormon Pioneers by reading this book.
.
Volume
one, Saints In Exile, presented the tragic expulsion of the Saints from
their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois during the winter months of 1845-46. Thousands left behind their unsold homes,
the beautiful temple, and were exiled across the Mississippi River into
Iowa. Saints in Exile followed
the laborious trek of the main Camp of Israel across the Iowa prairies. Near the end of the first volume, the Camp
of Israel reached the Council Bluffs area at the Missouri River. As the weeks continued to pass, Brigham
Young was starting to realize that even a small pioneer company would have
difficulty crossing over the Rocky Mountains that season. Thousands of Saints were scattered across
Iowa, many still making their way to the Missouri River. Where should they spend the long winter
months? How would they be able to
obtain provisions to subsist on during the winter and to outfit a journey over
the mountains in the spring?
At the
close of Saints In Exile, the Lord opened up a way for the Saints to
better survive the winter months in the wilderness. Captain James Allen, of the U.S. Army, arrived at Council Bluffs
to enlist a Mormon Battalion of five hundred men. They would all receive pay for their service. Brigham Young quickly realized that raising
the battalion would provide desperately needed funds that could be used to buy
provisions, and that the enlistment would improve relations with the
government. As Saints in the
Wilderness opens, the Church
leaders are faced with the difficult task of convincing five hundred men to
enlist in the Army within two weeks.
Henry Bigler summarized the feeling of the men regarding this difficult
decision: “Here were the Saints with their wives and children in Indian
country, surrounded by savages, without a house, and a scanty supply of
provisions . . . to leave them thus to go at the call of our country, to say
the least, was rather trying.”
After the
battalion was raised, the Church leaders needed to quickly find a way to help
thousands of Saints survive the coming winter in the wilderness. As this volume opens, the Church was led by
Brigham Young and the other members of the Twelve consisting of Heber C.
Kimball, Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford
Woodruff, George A. Smith, Willard Richards, Lyman Wight (away in Texas), and
Amasa M. Lyman. There was one vacancy
which soon would be filled.
These
dedicated Latter-day Saints believed that they were living in a modern-day Camp
of Israel in the wilderness. Mary
Lightner, later that season reflected on this thought when she saw the Camp of
Israel near the Missouri River. “When the camp fires are lit at night it is a
beautiful sight. It makes me think how
the children of Israel's camp must have looked in the days of Moses when
journeying in the wilderness.”
Saints In
the Wilderness follows the day-by-day struggles of these Saints as
they built up Winter Quarters and passed through the trials of sickness and
death. John R. Young, nine years‑old
at the time, later recalled living in Winter Quarters: “Our home was near the burying ground; and I
can remember the small mournful‑looking trains that so often passed our
door.” Parley P. Pratt asked the Saints
in England to “Pray for us and for the camp of the Saints in the wilderness.”
Saints In
the Wilderness also describes the day-by-day march of the Mormon
Battalion from Council Bluffs to San Diego, California. These courageous men, full of faith,
departed from their families, and placed their trust in God that they would be
protected in the wilderness. Margaret
Phelps recalled the day when she last saw her husband Alva, who later died
early into the march:
I was very
ill at the time, my children all small, my babe also extremely sick; but the
call was pressing, there was no time for any provision to be made for wife or
children; no time for tear; regreat was unavailing. He started in the morning.
I watched him from my wagon-bed till his loved form was lost in the
distance; it was my lst sight of him.
Day after
day the soldiers of the Mormon Battalion marched, hoping for safety and longing
for the day when they could be reunited with their families. Private Robert S. Bliss wrote: “Suffering
much at times for the want of water, but still pressing forward with parched
lips, scalded shoulders, weary limbs, blistered feet, worn out shoes and ragged
clothes; but with me the prospect of the result of my present toils, cheers me
on."
Saints in
the Wilderness shares the tragic last days of Nauvoo. After defending the City of Joseph bravely
against the cannons of the mob, it was time for the remaining Saints to flee
their beloved city. William Cutler
shared his feelings on this difficult day.
“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. . . . I hope the day will come when we shall not
have to suffer from the Mobs as we have done.”
Nauvoo
fell to the mob. Edwin D. Woolley
recorded: “All that beauty, all the grandeur and all the loveliness that once
was there has fled. It has gone and
gone forever.” During the autumn
months, rescue efforts would be undertaken to bring the destitute, sick,
widowed, and fatherless from the shores of the Mississippi River to winter
settlements in western Iowa.
We’ve left
the City of Nauvoo
And our
beloved Temple too,
And to the
wilderness we’ll go
Amid the
winter frosts and snow.
-- Eliza
R. Snow