"And it came to pass," Joseph Lee Robinson wrote, "that the devil was mad."1 The murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in the Carthage Jail June 27, 1844, had not satisfied the anti-Mormons living in western Illinois.

Now late in the year 1845 they continued their assaults on Latter-day Saints residing outside Nauvoo, burning stacks of straw, and even killing one Mormon, Edmund Durfee. Raiding, plundering and intimidation continued, in spite of Gov. Thomas Ford's assurances of protection. On Sept. 22, 1845, delegates from nine Illinois counties, excluding Hancock of which Nauvoo was a part, met, deliberated and adopted resolutions advocating that Latter-day Saints evacuate the state. In response to the counties' resolutions, Brigham Young promised to take his people west as soon as "grass might grow and water run."2Faithful Latter-day Saints were not surprised that their Church membership required that they turn their eyes westward. As early as 1830-31, historian Ronald Walker informs us, Indian agents reported that Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt and other missionaries to the Lamanites were talking of going even farther west than Missouri. The destiny of the restored Church would, as Isaiah predicted, be fulfilled in "the tops of the mountains." Now Joseph Smith's predictions that one day the Saints would remove to the Rocky Mountains seemed close to fulfillment. Still there was much that had to be done to prepare for this "sacred event," the Mormon Exodus.

Believing that the Nauvoo Temple must be completed or the Church and its dead would be rejected, Brigham Young purchased four New Orleans cannons and placed them in strategic defensive positions. Work on the temple increased dramatically. "Men as thick as blackbirds," Wandle Mace remembered, were "busily engaged upon the various portions, all intent upon its completion."

Before the Saints left Nauvoo they had performed more than 5,600 sacred ordinances in the attic of the Nauvoo Temple. Under the leadership of Orson Hyde and Wilford Woodruff, the temple was dedicated early in April 1846, even as many of the Saints took up residence in Winter Quarters. Through sacrifice and toil the Latter-day Saints fulfilled Joseph's prophecies concerning the temple in Nauvoo.

Captains of hundreds, fifties and tens were called as exodus leaders. Each hundred established one or more wagon shops. Wheelwrights, carpenters and cabinet makers worked far into the nights preparing timber and constructing wagons the fall and winter of 1845-46. Church teams were sent east to purchase iron, and blacksmiths then worked night and day "getting ready for departure to the West."3

Church leaders studied printed materials pertaining to the American West. Fremont's journal, giving an account of his "travels to California," was read by Franklin D. Richards to the entire Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.4 Hastings' "Account of California," was also read by Parley P. Pratt to the assembled apostles only a week later. Church leaders studied books and other published materials for information relative to the North American continent west of the Mississippi River.

While leaders charted the journey, families busily acquired needed goods and materials to successfully travel to and colonize a New Zion. Plows, shovels, hoes, augers, seed corn, wheat, buckwheat and a thousand pounds of flour filled wagons. Supplies of cayenne and black pepper, mustard, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, saleratus, salt, sugar and vinegar were also secured. Church leaders recommended taking one gallon of alcohol and 20 pounds of soap along with tents, mirrors, rope, rifles and muskets. Tea kettles, dishes, plates, forks, spoons, pans, tubs, barrels, baskets and crocks were also packed. Saints were encouraged to bring books, checkers, chess sets and even dolls for diversion. A few bulky, heavy pianos went west with their owners, as did other less-cumbersome musical instruments.

Brigham Young gave specific instructions that each family bring a medicine chest with them filled with remedies of the day. These included lobelia, African cayenne, mayberry bark, cloves, cinnamon, flower of slippery elm and poplar bark. There were also kerhana (Ohio golden seal), crude ammonia, coil of peppermint, ginger root, gum myrrh, witch hazel leaves, oily hemlock and cream of tartar. Those who followed the prophet's instructions were among the best prepared (medically) pioneers ever to make the trek west.

As October reached for November, Nauvoo "was alive with preparation."5 Irene Haskall recalled that "nearly every man was some kind of a mechanic to build wagons, and the whole mind of the people was engaged in the great work of immigrating west in the Spring." When the sun rose on a new year, 1846, more than 3,000 families had been organized with 2,000 wagons either completed or in the late stages of construction.6

Gov. Ford recalled that people from all parts of the country flocked to Nauvoo to purchase vacated houses and farms which were sold extremely low, lower than the prices at sheriff's sales. Many of the Saints had to dispose of surplus oxen, cattle and other articles of personal property even though they might be needed in the wilderness.7

H.H. Bancroft wrote, "The Mormons went up and down with their furniture, etc., and traded for anything that could travel, such as an animal or a wagon."8 While Latter-day Saints prepared for a spring exodus, rumors persisted, encouraged by Gov. Ford, that the federal government might prevent a Mormon move west.

Hancock County Sheriff Backenstos reported to Church authorities in January that Major Warren of the state militia, "is making calculations to prevent our going away."9 General J.J. Hardin, the militia commander, it was said, was developing a policy of suspending civil offices and placing Hancock County under martial law. Rumored arrests of Church leaders, as well as appeals for federal troops to confiscate the Saints' firearms, also circu-lated.

On Monday, Feb. 2, 1846, the Twelve, Nauvoo trustees and a few other leading citizens met in counsel and agreed that it was imperative that the Saints start west as soon as possible.10 Captains of hundreds and fifties were summoned to a four o'clock meeting at the home Alpheus Cutler. Following a unanimous agreement, those leaders resolved to carry into execution the relocation order.

Luckily, many Latter-day Saints carried with them pencils, pens, ink and paper. Somehow they knew the importance of recording not only their great adventure, but also their sacred mission as well. Thousands wrote of their participation in this latter-day exodus. From one such record we learn that Charles Shumway, a devout Latter-day Saint since 1841, left Nauvoo first on Feb. 6, 1846. Like the ancient Israelites fleeing Egypt, the Mormon errand into the wilderness had begun.

ENDNOTES

1 Quoted in John E. Hallwas and Roger D. Launius, Cultures In Conflict (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1995) 321.

2 Ibid., 304.

3 History of the Church 7:536.

4 Ibid., 548.

5 Richard E. Bennett, Mormons at the Missouri, 1846-1852 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987) 15.

6 Ibid.

7 Carter E. Grant, The Kingdom of God Restored (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1955) 334.

8 Quoted in Grant, 335.

9 History of the Church 7:577.

10 Ibid., 578.