|
|
Location:
Nauvoo, Illinois: 1839-1846
As the Latter-day Saints fled Missouri during the winter of 1838–1839,
having been threatened by the governor of that state with extermination,
they crossed into Illinois and settled in a swampy area along the
Mississippi River that they named Nauvoo. Over the next few years,
an estimated 16,000 Latter-day Saints took up residence in the city
and its surrounding communities. It became one of the largest cities
in Illinois at the time and an important commercial center on the
upper Mississippi.
Many in the surrounding communities continued to harass the Latter-day
Saints, and on 27 June 1844, a painted mob shot to death the Latter-day
prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum. Despite the rapidly
escalating tension in the area, the Latter-day Saints continued at great
sacrifice to complete a temple in the city, even while they prepared for a
mass exodus to the West. Between February and September 1846, most of the
Latter-day Saints took up their march to the West, leaving their homes,
their city, and their temple to the hands of those who had not built and
the hearts of those who did not care.
Today Nauvoo is a significant historic district, with many of the
buildings in the original townsite rebuilt or restored and open for the
public to visit.
Cities Abandoned
In all of United States history, few people have suffered for their
religious convictions as did the early Latter-day Saints. Because of the
rapid growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and what
many contemporary religionists viewed as the heretical doctrine of living
prophets and modern revelation, many outsiders viewed Latter-day Saints
with suspicion and contempt. During the first two decades of the Church's
existence, Latter-day Saints repeatedly experienced the cycle of migration,
settlement (including purchasing the lands they settled in), and expulsion.
Within the span of 17 years, the fast-growing body of Latter-day Saints
moved en masse from the Finger Lakes region of western New York state
(1830-1831), to Kirtland, Ohio (1831-1838), Jackson County, Missouri
(1831-1839) and Commerce/Nauvoo, Illinois (1839-1848), where their prophet,
Joseph Smith, was murdered by a mob. In the dead of winter 1846, the
Latter-day Saints once again abandoned their homes and began the long, hard
trek to the Rocky Mountains, where they would at last find welcome refuge.
Extermination Order
Following eight years of convergence and settlement by thousands
of Latter-day Saint converts in northern Missouri, tensions with
neighboring communities reached a climax. On 27 October 1838,
Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs signed one of the most heinous
documents in American history, his Mormon "extermination
order," declaring, "The Mormons must be treated as enemies,
and must be exterminated, or driven from the State, if necessary
for the public peace" (quoted in History of the Church,
3:175). This military directive called for the forced mid-winter
exodus from Missouri of approximately 10,000 men, women and children
from their own farms, homes, and lands.
On 25 June 1976, Missouri Governor Christopher S. Bond issued an
executive order rescinding the Extermination Order, noting its legal
invalidity and formally apologizing in behalf of the state of Missouri for
the suffering it had caused the Latter-day Saints.
Nauvoo, Illinois: From Ecstasy to Exodus
In all of Church history, perhaps nothing symbolizes the pragmatic nature
of Latter-day Saint religion as does the city of Nauvoo. On the very hem of
the western frontier, the Latter-day Saints drained the swamps, wrote an
ambitious city charter, established a university, mounted a city militia,
and built a temple.
To Nauvoo and its vicinity came the great majority of all Latter-day
Saint converts for the next seven years, swelling the population to about
20,000 by 1846. At its height it rivaled Chicago as the largest city in the
state. A vibrant, culturally eclectic place, it came to be known as
"Nauvoo, the Beautiful."
Death of Joseph Smith
The relative peace and prosperity of the Nauvoo period was short-lived.
Political maneuvering for the "Mormon vote" at the state
level had granted the municipality perhaps the most liberal city
charter in the state, and Nauvoo was seen as both a political
and economic threat by many in the older, neighboring communities.
At the height of tensions, a local opposition newspaper called
for mob action against the Saints, to which the city council responded
by destroying the offending printing press. Amidst growing regional
clamor for, once again, the Saints' extermination, Joseph Smith
and his brother Hyrum were jailed. On 27 June 1844, a mob stormed
Carthage jail and shot the brothers to death in their prison cell.
The American Exodus
Following the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, ire against the
Saints rose rapidly. In 1845, the repeal of the Nauvoo City charter,
which among other things granted the Latter-day Saints the right
to keep a standing militia for their own protection, signaled
the effective end of their sojourn in Illinois. These events,
however, merely catalyzed a move contemplated by Church leaders
for a number of years. As early as 1840 Joseph Smith had taught
there was "a place of safety preparing for [the Saints]
away towards the Rocky Mountains" (quoted in Ronald K. Esplin,
"'A Place Prepared': Joseph, Brigham and the Quest for Promised
Refuge in the West," Journal of Mormon History vol.9
[1982], 90). By the fall of 1845, preparations for the exodus
were well under way; the proposed departure date would be, in
the words of Brigham Young, "as soon as the grass grows"
(quoted in Wallace Stegner, The Gathering of Zion: The Story
of the Mormon Trail, [1964], 38) in the following spring.
But the mobs wouldn't rest. On 4 February 1846, in the heart of
a Midwestern winter so cold and bitter the Mississippi River froze
over, the Latter-day Saints were driven from their homes and lands
down a street which came to be known as the "Street of Tears"
and into the unknown mystery of the western frontier.
Religious Freedom
Although the body of Latter-day Saints grew rapidly, swelling the population
of a number of frontier communities, the Saints were no theocratic
usurpers: "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God
according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men
the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may"
(Articles of Faith 1:11). But as they gathered converts, they gathered
enemies, leaving themselves, ultimately, no choice but departure.
In a letter addressed to U.S. President James K. Polk in 1846, Brigham
Young gave notice of the farewell:
"We would esteem a territorial government of our own as
one of the richest boons of earth, and while we appreciate the
Constitution of the United States as the most precious among the
nations, we feel that we had rather retreat to the deserts, islands
or mountain caves than consent to be ruled by governors and judges
whose hands are drenched in the blood of innocence and virtue,
who delight in injustice and oppression." Thus, they walked
(quoted in B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church,
3:89-90).
Value of the Exodus
"For Brigham Young and his associates, the 1846 exodus from
Nauvoo, far from being a disaster imposed by enemies, was foretold
and foreordained—a key to understanding LDS history and
a necessary prelude for greater things to come. From a later perspective
too, scholars of the Mormon experience have come to see the exodus
and colonization of the Great Basin as the single most important
influence in molding the Latter-day Saints into a distinctive
people" (Reed C. Durham Jr., "Westward Migration, Planning
and Prophecy," in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia
of Mormonism, 5 vols. [1992], 4:1563).
Mississippi River Crossing
From February through September of 1846, thousands of Latter-day
Saints abandoned Nauvoo, fleeing to the West in barges and ferries
across the Mississippi River. Some of those who crossed in late
February did so on ice, as the wide river froze solid in sub-zero
temperatures. A number of diarists refer to the freezing as a
miracle, even though, notes one commentator, "it was a miracle
that nearly froze a couple of thousand Saints" (Wallace Stegner,
The Gathering of Zion, 44). The majority, some 7,000 or
more, left between March and May. By September only six or seven
hundred remained in Nauvoo. Known as the "poor Saints,"
they were either physically or financially incapable of traveling
west by themselves to join the main body of the Saints now near
the western edge of Iowa. Mobs forced this last group from the
city in mid-September, 1846, in what came to be known as "the
battle of Nauvoo."
Iowa: Bitter Beginning
Of the entire trek to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, it was the
first 300 miles across Iowa that most tried the stamina and courage of the
Latter-day Saint pioneers. Mere weeks into the journey—through sleet, blizzard,
and mud—it became apparent to Brigham Young that his people would never
reach the Rocky Mountains in the time or in the manner that most had hoped
for. So throughout the spring of 1846, thousands of refugees trudged across
the windswept Iowa prairies, preparing the way for those yet to come:
building bridges, erecting cabins, planting and fencing crops. By mid-June,
nearly 12,000 Saints were still scattered across Iowa. The Rocky Mountain
entry would be postponed.
Joseph Smith
 "The
place was literally a wilderness. The land was mostly covered with trees
and bushes, and much of it was so wet that it was with the utmost difficulty
that a footman could get through, and totally impossible for teams.
Commerce was unhealthy, very few could live there; but believing that it
might become a healthy place by the blessing of heaven to the saints, and
no more eligible place presenting itself, I considered it wisdom to make an
attempt to build up a city" (Joseph Smith quoted in B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the
Church, 2:9).
Brigham Young
1846
In a letter addressed to U.S. President James K. Polk, Brigham
Young gave notice of the Latter-day Saints' farewell:
"We would esteem a territorial government of our own as
one of the richest boons of earth, and while we appreciate the
Constitution of the United States as the most precious among the
nations, we feel that we had rather retreat to the deserts, islands
or mountain caves than consent to be ruled by governors and judges
whose hands are drenched in the blood of innocence and virtue,
who delight in injustice and oppression" (B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of
the Church, 3:89–90.)
Thomas Bullock
 September
1846
"Dear Father,
"I have been shaking every day for the last month and can scarce
write any—I received yours of Aug. 14 while shaking at ten or twelve knots
an hour—and as you told me not to perform any impossibilities—I have
hitherto found it an impossibility to sell my house and lot—but the very
next morning I wrought [a] miracle, in giving it away for one hundred
dollars. The only obstacle in the successful termination of my miracle is,
I have not yet got the hay—you may rest assured I have done, and will do my
best to come I have a very kind neighbor, who, as quick as he heard I had
bargained for the disposal of my place, began to run it down, and has
caused Mr. Bolander to waver about completing his purchase. May the Lord
reward him for it, and a few other vagaries.
"I have also received yours of the 24th Aug—brought from the
Trustees Office to the Temple &c &c &c with the seal broken
open—in order to find out the nature of our communications—I have written
about seven letters to you—which I verily believe have been waylaid—and I
was getting much disappointed in not receiving one reply—but I am very
thankful for these two.
"Even my little boy says 'dadda I wish we were out of this country,
for when I've done shaking I can get nothing to eat—we have all been
'shake, shake, shaking' more or less for the last five weeks. A fortnight
ago, I, Henrietta, & Thomas Henry were not expected to live thro the
day—I sent to the Trustees for something to cure us or we might be dead before
the morrow—Heywood & Fulmer ordered Whitehead to come up & see us,
& learn what I needed—but he has never been yet—and if it had not been
for a little Charity—and Henrietta selling her clothes we should all have
died of starvation—it will almost be a miracle if you see little Willard
alive for he has fallen away dreadful this week—and if you was to see me
and my family at this moment, you would say we had either been whitewashed
or had risen out of our graves—we have not the least idea where our next meal
is to come from. I do not write these things to harass your mind—but to
tell you my situation, and to shew you that I am really desirous to come to
you and again go at the history. At this moment my two eldest boys are
shaking.
"Yesterday I exerted all my strength to go & see Benson, &
Lucy. She went home about a fortnight ago sick. She is also confined to her
bed with fever—Benson looks a skeleton—they subsist by selling their
clothes for food—when he gets better, he talks of selling his cow and going
down to New Orleans to obtain employment—he says it is impossible for him
to get teams or food for his journey to the West—Ann is nearly dead, she is
almost reduced to shadow—she first commenced with chills and fever, and is
now afflicted with canker in her inside.
"John Rushton is Steam boating and I understand is very well his
wife & child were well the last time we heard—Jane Hall is down at St.
Louis—and I have just heard that Susannah Lippot started for St. Louis
& expect she is there.
"Before I was taken sick—while hunting the oxen—I accendentally
found out brother Longstrath's house. I called. Sister Nanny was very well.
bro & sis Longstrath were down at St. Louis. I understood that you had
written three letters to him and which were sent down to him—but there had
been no reply.
"There have been a many Saints who were preparing as fast as they
could to go to the west—who have gone to the grave. Many literally dying
for want—whole families are sick—and not one to help the other—two or three
dying in a house—great difficulty in getting coffins and then to be buried
by strangers—there is not one house in this neighborhood, but there has
been sickness in it—there appears to me to be more sick now than when
Nauvoo was crowded with Saints.
"In addition to all this, the Mob is within five miles—close to
Wilcox house—about 5 or 600 Strong & with 8 cannon—those Saints who are
well are in the woods this side of Joseph's farm—the Cannon were roaring
about 5 P.M. yesterday but I have not yet heard of any casualties on our
side.
"We should have crossed the River this day, sick as we are—to
secure your Cattle & Waggon & my few cloths but cannot pay the
Ferryman, the Mob threaten if they get in the city to kill man woman &
child & they have invited men from all the counties to join
them—promising them that they shall share in the plunder of the city. Rest
assured I keep as strict a look out after your cattle as if they were my
own—they cost 125.00 & Waggon 80. I have spent scores of days looking
after them and shall bring all safe to you, if possible.
"I am in hopes that I shall cross the river in a few days and shall
move on to Bonaparte where I shall have to stay for the flour that Mr.
Bolander has promised me.
"There is another utter impossibility—and that is, to expect the
Trustees to let me have two more yoke of oxen, or a fit out, (altho' both
have been promised me) and that is the reason why I contracted to let Mr.
Bolander have my property so very cheap.
"The South West Pillar of the Belfry was struck with the Lightning
last Su[nday] [paper torn off] was done—some persons seem to be scared
about it.
"Hyrum Smith's Widow &c &c crossed the River last Tuesday.
& I have [paper torn off] has exchanged the Mansion for a Farm in
Burlington—to which place she is [paper torn off]
"Henrietta joins me in love to you and yours—and we
pray that [paper torn off]
"I remain Dear Father
"Your very affectionately
"Thomas Bullock
"Please tell William Cook Mitchell that his mother died
last Tuesday morning 10 September 184[6]" (Thomas Bullock
to Willard Richards, Sept. 1846, Brigham Young office files, Family
and Church History Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.)
Thomas L. Kane, Nauvoo
"Here, among the docks and rushes, sheltered only by the darkness,
without roof between them and the sky, I came upon a crowd of several
hundred human creatures, whom my movements roused from uneasy slumber
upon the ground. . . .
"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.
"These were Mormons, famishing, in Lee county, Iowa, in
the fourth week of the month of September, in the year of our
Lord 1846. . . .
"They were, all told, not more than six hundred and forty persons
who were thus lying on 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 trains their sick and wounded, halt and blind, to
disappear behind the western horizon, pursuing the phantom of
another home" (Thomas L. Kane, The Mormons: A Discourse
Delivered Before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, March
26, 1850 [Family and Church History jDepartment Library,
The Church of Jesus Christ or Latter-day Saints, 1850], microfilm,
8–11).
Gilbert Belnap
"The western shore of the Mississippi was covered with the
canvass of the Saints, drawn over a wagon and well formed tent
or the thread bare sheet stretched over a few poles covering the
invalid form of the more unfortunate.
"Many is the time while keeping the watchmans post in the
darkness of night when the rains descended as if the windows of
heaven were open, have I wept over the distressed situation of
the Saints. Towards the dim light of many and flickering lamps
has directed my eyes to the crying of children, the restless movements
of the aged and infirm, the mournfull groan of many a fevered
brain, had made an impression on my mind that can never be forgotten"
(Gilbert Belnap, Centennial Issue in Honor of Utah Poineer Gilbert
Belnap, 1850–1950, comp. Della A. Belnap, Historical Department
Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, n.d.,
32).
Juliet Courier
Correspondent to the Juliet Courier describing Nauvoo (ca. June
1841)
"I have been at Nauvoo, on the Mississippi, in Hancock county,
Illinois, and have seen the manner in which things are conducted
among the Mormons. In the first place, I cannot help noticing
the plain hospitality of the Prophet Smith, to all strangers visiting
the town, aided as he is, in making the stranger comfortable by
his excellent wife, a woman of superior ability. The people of
the town appear to be honest and industrious, engaged in their
usual vocations of building up a town, and making all things around
them comfortable. On Sunday I attended one of their meetings,
in front of the temple [they are] now building, and one of
the largest buildings in the state. There could not have been
less than 2,500 people present, and as well appearing as any number
that could be found in this or any state. Mr. Smith preached in
the morning, and one could have readily learned, then, the magic
by which he had built up this society, because, as we say in Illinois,
'they believe in him,' and in his honesty. It has been a matter
of astonishment to me, after seeing the Prophet, as he is called,
Elder Rigdon, and many other gentlemanly men any one may see at
Nauvoo, who will visit there—why it is, that so many professing
christianity, and so many professing to reverence the sacred principles
of our Constitution (which gives free religious toleration to
all), have slandered and persecuted this sect of Christians"
(Unknown correspondent for the Juliet Courier [ca.
June 1841], as quoted in B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History
of the Church, 2:82).
The Odd Fellow newspaper (31 December 1845)
"One of the most interesting, and it may be, remarkable
events of our day, is the proposed removal of the Mormons from
their city of Nauvoo, across the continent, to the Pacific. They
will go, not as ordinary emigrants, but as a distinct people. . . . [Mormonism]
has grown as no other sect has in the history of the world, and,
so far from dying out, as it was predicted it would, with the
death of the Smiths, it has grown more vigorously. . . . Next
spring will witness their flitting. The Mormons propose going
in bodies as large as can find sustenance, and the broad prairies
of the West will be covered with their long processions of men,
women, and children, their flocks, [and] their herds"
("The Mormon Heritage," Odd Fellow, 31 Dec. 1845,
108).
Times and Seasons
"To see such a large body of men, women and children, compelled
by the inefficiency of the law, and potency of mobocracy, to leave
a great city in the month of February, for the sake of the enjoyment
of pure religion, fills the soul with astonishment, and
gives the world a sample of fidelity and faith, brilliant as the
sun, and forcible as a tempest, and as enduring as eternity.
May God continue the spirit of fleeing from false freedom, and
false dignity, till every Saint is removed to where he 'can sit
under his own vine and fig tree' without having any to molest
or make afraid. Let us go—let us go" ("February,"
Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1846, 1114).
Journal photographs
courtesy of Infobases, Inc.
Print: Crossing the
Mississippi on Ice by C.C.A. Christensen
© Courtesy Museum of Art, Brigham Young University. All rights reserved
|
