Monday, June 1, 1846

Mount Pisgah, Iowa:

It rained very hard during the night and continued until noon.  Patty Sessions wrote:  “I got wet to my skin last night milking.  I went to bed with my clothes wet.  12 oclock the sun came out dried my bed and clothes, but my tears will not dry up.”

This day was President Brigham Young's forty‑fifth birthday.  Helen Mar Whitney made mention of this event in her journal.  But President Young was probably too busy making preparations to leave Mount Pisgah to stop and celebrate this anniversary.

Hosea Stout finally arrived at Mount Pisgah.  He gave this description:

 

This place was called Mount Pisgah and the main settlement was situated on a long ridge running North & South.  To the west was a large deep valley or bottom land of good prairie and was now being plowed & planted while all the adjoining glades and groves were teeming with men & cattle engaged in the busy hum of improving and planting.  The whole woods & prairie seemed alive to business & a continue stream of emegration pouring in which looked like the entire country would be inhabited as a city in a short time.

 

George W. Hickerson1 left with eight letters to Nauvoo.  Ezra T. Benson paid 12 ½ cents for postage which impressed the postmaster, Willard Richards.  This was the first time anyone had offered to pay for postage.  Horace Rockwell2 arrived with twenty letters from Nauvoo.  Before leaving Mount Pisgah, Brigham Young wrote letters of authority for William Huntington, Ezra T. Benson, and Charles C. Rich.  They were given authority to regulate all matters in the branches, to gather the Saints, and to take charge of the guns and other public property.  President Young also read a letter from Edmund Ellsworth3 stating that people back in Nauvoo had stoned Dr. Richards’ buggy.


Sister Eliza R. Snow noted the chilly wet weather in her journal, “The month [of June] commences with a volley of natures tears quite cold.  D. Gleason & I are in the wagon with a kettle of coals.”  She was feeling somewhat sad that she would not be able to go on with the advance group of pioneers.

 

I do not know why some are called to more self denial than others‑‑I pray that I may live to see the time when patience & submission will be rewarded in righteousness. . . . I prefer stopping behind for the present that every possible means may be appropriated to liberate the Twelve from the oppression of selfish ones who never have made sacrifices for the truth's sake- ‑yet I find a trial to my feelings in being separated from those whom I have ever been associated in the church.

 

A baby was born at Mount Pisgah.  Hyrum D Buys Jr. was born to Hyrum and Elizabeth Buys.4

 

At 4 p.m., Brigham Young's fifty began to move across the river.  The company traveled three to four miles and camped for the night on another branch of Grand River.  It rained somewhat during the evening.

 

Council Bluffs region, in Iowa:

John Butler regulated the Emmett company and obtained some meal to last the camp for several days.  Camp members repaired wagons to get ready for the expected journey across the Missouri River, when the main Camp of Israel would arrive at Council Bluffs.

 

Bonaparte, Iowa:

Louisa Pratt’s company crossed over the Des Moines River at Bonaparte.  She wrote: “Across the Des Moines River the boat was drawn by pulleys. I was in great fear that the ropes would break. We got safely over.”  Her teamster, a young man stopped to see his mother.  He had been living with his father in Nauvoo.  His mother was very opposed to having her son drive Louisa Pratt’s wagon to the west, even though her the young man received permission from his father.  Sister Pratt pled with the mother and many tears were shed.  Finally the mother consented.  Sister Pratt concluded the day with:  “That night we camped where there were 40 wagons. It looked cheerful after traveling all day over a desolate country and intolerable roads, to salute a company of our brethren.”

 

Nauvoo, Illinois:

There were still hundreds of Saints in Nauvoo, preparing to leave.  Sister Sally Randall5 wrote in a letter:

 


We expect to start in a few days for the West.  Where we shall go I know not, but we are going into the wilderness.  We go as Abraham went, not knowing whither we go, but the Lord will go before us, and be our front and rearward.  The Saints have been going steady since last February and are still going by hundreds.  They cross the river in several places and cross day and night. . . .

You think there is no need of going from here, but the mob are threatening continually to come upon us.  We heard they were coming today but I have not seen anything in the least, for I believe there is faith enough in the city to keep them back until the Saints all get away.  We have to make a great sacrifice in order to get away.  The most of the Saints are selling out although at a very low price.  I expect the temple will be sold.  The Roman Catholics talk of buying it.

 

A non-Mormon Nauvoo resident wrote about this time to her fiance in Minnesota, commenting on the possible sale of property to the Catholics:

 

Now methinks were I an inhabitant of Hancock County, I would much rather the Mormons would have possession than the Catholics.  Doubtless they have deep designing well laid plans and when once they get a foothold, there is no telling what they may do connected as they are with a foreign power.

 

Thomas Bullock, who had served as a clerk for the Church, was still in Nauvoo preparing to leave.  He took his two oxen to the woods and hauled out a log to be made into a wagon tongue.  This was his first attempt to drive oxen and he thought he did very well.  A great wind storm arrived in the evening.

 

Washington D.C.:

Elder Jesse C. Little, the leader of the Church in the East, in Washington to appeal to the government for help, was frustrated with the slowness of the process.  He decided to write a dispatch directly to President James K. Polk.  He recited the injustices which the Saints had suffered because of religion and stated:

 

I come to you fully believing that you will not suffer me to depart without rendering me some pecuniary assistance, and be it large or small, you shall not lose your reward. . . . Our brethren in the west are compelled to go, and we in the eastern country are determined to go and live, and, if necessary, to suffer and die with them.  Our determinations are fixed and cannot be changed.

 

He testified of the Saints' loyalty to America and their desire to go west “under the outstretched wings of the American eagle.”  He appealed for assistance from the President.  He believed that the Saints would answer a call to defend the country.


Sources:

Watson, Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 175-77; “Patty Sessions Diary,” June 1, 1846; Brooks, John Doyle Lee, 87; Nibley, Exodus to Greatness, 173; Brooks, The Diary of Hosea Stout, 1:165; Sally Randall Letters in Godfrey et al.,Women's Voices: An Untold History of the Latter‑day Saints, 1830‑1900, 146; Beecher, The Personal Writings of Eliza R. Snow, 135; Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 205; Willard Richards’ Journal, June 1, 1846; Comprehensive History of the Church, 3:72‑3; “Thomas Bullock Journal,” 64; Black, Membership of the Church 1830‑1848; Our Pioneer Heritage, 12:366; Jenson, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, 4:699; Holzapfel, Women of Nauvoo, 159; Letter from Nancy Aiton to John Felix Aiton; “Louisa Pratt autobiography” in Heart Throbs 8:238

 

                          Tuesday, June 2, 1846

Mount Pisgah, Iowa:

The morning was cold and the day was windy.  At 10 a.m., Brigham Young rejoined his company across the river, but returned to Mount Pisgah in the afternoon to attend to some business, including signing the letters of authority for the presidency of Mount Pisgah.

A young Indian brave came into camp carrying a small spotted fawn in his arms.  Heber C. Kimball bought it from the Indian, paying him one dollar in silver.  Sadly, a day or two later the fawn died.

Charles C. Rich took his signed order to Hosea Stout to let Brother Rich take possession of the public arms.  He counseled Brother Stout to remain at Mount Pisgah because of his family sickness and released him from his public duty.  Brother Stout commented in his journal, “It released me from all public care and responsibility and I felt like a free man with nothing on my mind but to contrive how to take care of my family for the best.”  Brothers Stout and Hunter went and laid a foundation of a house on a beautiful location.

President Brigham Young came to them and expressed his desire to have them go on with the guns and leave their families for now.  They both pledged their support to obey him.  He found out that they were both destitute and gave them some money to buy provisions for their families.  Brother Stout, somewhat frustrated with this flip‑flop of plans commented:

 

Here again we were entirely disconcerted and now all together gave up the idea of raising a crop and it seemed that it was designed by some over ruling power that we should not 'sow nore reap' neither enjoy the peace and happiness of a private life anymore.  We saw nothing but a long train of public cares and responsibility hanging over us for we knew it would not end at the Bluffs.

 


President Young delivered all of the papers belonging to the settlement to President Huntington and then crossed back over the river at 6:45 p.m.  Others also left Mount Pisgah.  About five hundred wagons would move out over the next few days.  Sister Eliza Snow bid several of her friends good-bye.  Sister Kimball gave her a little present.  In the evening, a thunder shower started, but only a little rain fell.

 

Nauvoo, Illinois:

Thomas Bullock helped his father‑in‑law, Brother Clayton, hunt for his sheep in the Big Field.  He returned home after he found them.  He wrote in his journal, “Very tired having seen a country desolate, houses empty, and inhabitants gone.  Prairies deserted of cattle and people.  Such is the blasting effect of mob misrule.”  Nauvoo also experienced a severe wind storm during the night.

A son, Nathaniel Preston Felt, was born to Nathaniel and Eliza Felt.6

 

Washington D.C.:

At noon, Elder Jesse C. Little met with President Polk's adviser, Amos Kendall.  Mr. Kendall informed Elder Little that the president had received his communication written the day before and that the president desired to meet with Elder Little on the next day, at noon.

The Cabinet met together and discussed plans relating to conducting the war against Mexico.  They had settled on an expedition to Mexico.  A draft order was written to Colonel Kearny of the U.S. Army, to take possession of Santa Fe and then to go to California.

That night, President Polk wrote in his diary: “Col. Kearny was also authorized to receive into service as volunteers a few hundred of the Mormons who are now on their way to California, with a view to conciliate them, attach them to our country, & prevent them from taking part against us”

 

Sources:

Watson, Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 177; Willard Richards’ Journal, William Clayton’s Journal, 41; “Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young,” Utah Historical Quarterly, 14:140; The Diary of Hosea Stout June 2, 1846, 165; Beecher, The Personal Writings of Eliza R. Snow, 135; Comprehensive History of the Church, 3:73; Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.2, MORMON BATTALION; “Thomas Bullock Journal,” 64; Black, Membership of the Church 1830‑1848; Mormons at the Missouri, 44; Nibley, Exodus to Greatness, 174; Diary of James K. Polk, 1:443‑4;  Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 89‑90

 

                       Wednesday, June 3, 1846

West Fork of Grand River, Iowa:

Elder Willard Richards arrived at the main camp early in the morning, at 7 a.m.  He continued on and crossed over the west fork of Grand River at 9:00 a.m.


Brigham Young conducted some business, and met in council with members of the Twelve and others at 12 p.m.  They discussed a British “Joint Stock” scheme which had been created by Reuben Hedlock and Thomas Ward, who had been left in charge of the British Mission by Elder Wilford Woodruff.  Brigham Young was very worried about this scheme and remarked that if Elders Hedlock and Ward did not repent and turn about, they would destroy themselves.  The Twelve were very concerned that this “Joint Stock Company” was being associated with the Church.  Nevertheless, if investments were to be made, they felt it best that they purchase the Great Basin for the Church on long credit.

Brigham Young's company traveled seven miles and camped on the prairie.

 

Mount Pisgah, Iowa:

Hosea Stout traveled to the camp on the West Fork and counseled with Brigham Young before he left.  Brother Stout was advised to move on with his family.  This would be much easier than going alone and returning later to retrieve them.  President Young sent orders to Charles C. Rich, to provide what would be needed for the Stout family to move on.

William Clayton decided to move on.  His teams were scattered and disorganized, but he started with what he had.  He crossed the river at 3 p.m., still missing one yoke of oxen.  He sent men out to hunt for them, but they were not found.

Orson Pratt's wife, Louisa was very sick with a fever.  Doctor Sprague had been hired to attend to her and give her medicine.  She was diagnosed with Typhus fever.  Elder Pratt asked the Doctor's advise regarding taking her on the journey.  The doctor felt that the journey would not injure her and might even do her good.

Eliza R. Snow continued to bid farewell to her friends.  She recorded:  “Sister W[hitney] came to our wagon & sang me a beautiful song of Zion, which I rejoic'd in a parting blessing‑‑it is a season not to be forgotten.”  At about noon, Sister Snow's sister‑in‑law, Harriet, brought Eliza to her brother's bedside.  Lorenzo Snow was still very ill.  Eliza had sent medication which seemed to help a little, but he was still very sick.  She wrote:  “I pray the Lord to restore him to health‑‑I feel the worth of his unremitting kindness to myself & others.”  After her visit, she walked back to her “home.”

A daughter, Elizabeth Horne, was born  to Joseph and Mary Horne.7

 

Fox River, Iowa:

Far to the east, on his way to Mount Pisgah, Wilford Woodruff went into the town Bloomfield.  He bought two yoke of oxen for $50.


Between Richardson's Point and Mount Pisgah, Iowa:

The company that Mary Richards was traveling with, were following a new northern route that bypassed Garden Grove, heading directly to Mount Pisgah.  On this day, she started a letter to her husband Samuel W. Richards, still in Nauvoo, waiting to leave on his mission to England.  Mary first expressed her loneliness for him

 

Oh! would it had been my lot to have gone with you.  Me thinks I would gladly have past through the perils of the ocean & the trials through which I might have been called to pass could I only have been blest with your society.  But alass! for me Providance has provided it otherwise and I must submit to my lonely fate.  But forgive me, for why should I thus complain seeing I am among Friends who are always ready to administer to my wants & who are interested for my welfare.

 

She also wrote words of encouragement:

 

May the Lord bless & preserve you from the evils of temptation of this wicked world & from the power of the adversary of your soul, that he may not be able to afflict you but that you may be able to go forth and accomplish the work that is for you to accomplish.  Be a usefull instrument in the hand of God in doing a great work & may the time soon come when you shall return to the bosem of your anxious friends, is the sincere prayer of companion.

 

Nauvoo, Illinois:

Thomas Bullock bought a wagon cover, nails, a tongue bolt, and other items.  He took his oxen into the woods and brought back wood for “ox bows.”

 

Washington D.C.:

Jesse C. Little met with the president of the United States, President James K. Polk.  President Polk stated that he believed the Mormons were good citizens and he was willing to help them.  The Mormons should be protected and he was happy to meet with Elder Little.  President Polk wrote in his journal, “I told Mr. Little that by our constitution the Mormons would be treated as all other American citizens were, without regard to sect to which they belonged or the religious creed which they professed, and that I had no prejudices towards them which could induce a different course of treatment.”

President Polk asked Elder Little if he thought 500 or more of the Mormons would be willing to volunteer and enter the U.S. army.  Elder Little was certain they would.  Elder Little said he would personally go with speed to the camp and see that the volunteers were raised.


President Polk promised to do something for them but said he had not yet decided the details.  He said that he wished to talk with the secretary of the navy and would get word back to Elder Little on the next day.  Polk wrote in his journal,

 

I told him I would see him on to‑morrow on the subject.  I did not deem it prudent to tell him of the projected expedition into California under the command of Col. Kearney .  .  . the main object of taking them into service would be to conciliate them, and prevent them from assuming a hostile attitude towards the U.S. after their arrival in California.

 

President Polk did issue orders that day to Colonel Stephen W. Kearny, stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

 

It is known that a large body of Mormon emigrants are en route to California, for the purpose of settling in that country.  You are desired to use all proper means to have a good understanding with them, to the end that the United States may have their cooperation in taking possession of, and holding, that country.  It has been suggested here that many of these Mormons would willingly enter into the service of the United States, and aid us in our expedition against California.  You are hereby authorized to muster into service such as can be induced to volunteer; not, however, to a number exceeding one‑third of your entire force.  Should they enter the service they will be paid as other volunteers, and you can allow them to designate, so far as it can be properly done, the persons to act as officers thereof.

 

Sources:

Watson, Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 177‑78; Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 3:51; William Clayton’s Journal, 41; Watson, The Journals of Orson Pratt, 352; Brooks, The Diary of Hosea Stout, 1:165; Beecher, The Personal Writings of Eliza R. Snow, 135; “Thomas Bullock Journal,” 65; Comprehensive History of the Church, 3:73, 76‑7; Black, Membership of the Church 1830‑1848;  Bennett, Mormons at the Missouri, 1846‑1852; “Journal Extracts of Henry W. Bigler,” Utah Historical Quarterly 5:2:36; Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 10:106; Diary of James K. Polk, 1:445‑56; Golder, The March of the Mormon Battalion, 91‑2; Ward, The 1846-1848 Life Writings of Mary Haskin Parker Richards, 72

 

                         Thursday, June 4, 1846

West of Grand River to Broomberry Hill Camp, Iowa:

It was a cold and windy day.  The lead camp traveled twenty miles.  They passed through present‑day Orient, which is 28 miles northwest of Mount Pisgah.8


Mount Pisgah, Iowa:

An important meeting was held in the settlement.  Elder Orson Hyde and his company arrived into camp.  Elder Hyde and Elder Orson Pratt urged the congregation to sacrifice “for the general good” and asked for teams and men for the advance company.  Elder Pratt asked, “How many are there running off instead of fitting out the Twelve? You know [the Twelve] ought not to be divided on this important expedition.”  President Huntington spoke, “I have done my duty‑‑I had enough to fit myself out comfortable, but I gave it up to help off the Twelve.  The Widows and the Orphans have to be left with the poor of this place.  Is it not better to be left without the Twelve than to go ourselves?”

Charles C. Rich added, “You have heard the remarks that have been made and you know the duty you have to do and the sacrifices you will have to make.  We want several waggons.  Brothers Brigham & Kimball want some teams and the brethren here want help, not only teams and waggons, but money also.”

The donations were meager: Two yoke of cattle, 2 wagons, a blind mule, about twenty dollars, a bushel of meal, and fifty pounds of flour.

William Clayton again sent men to hunt for missing cattle.  They still could not find them.  Brother Clayton recorded:  “Towards the evening it rained and there was one of the most beautiful rainbows I ever saw in my life.  We could see its brilliant reflection within a few rods of us.”

Log houses continued to be built.  Sister Eliza R. Snow wrote:

 

Moved into a house built of logs some peeled and some with the bark on, laid up cob fashion from 3 to 8 inches apart‑‑the roof formed by stretching the tent cloth over the ridge pole and fastening at the bottom on the outside, which, carpetting, blankets &c.  fastened up at the north end to prevent the wind which is almost cold as winter.  We find ourselves very comfortably and commodiously situated.

 

Sister Snow also understood better, the wise decision of having many stop in Mount Pisgah.  Some brethren sent for a yoke of cattle belonging to Brother Markham.  She wrote:  “I not only feel reconciled, but rejoice that we stopped that others may have the means.  Brother M[arkham] having given up all his cattle and one wagon for the benefit of the cause.”

 

Garden Grove, Iowa:

A daughter, Mary Isabell Hales, was born to Charles and Julia Hales.9

 

Between Richardson's Point and Mount Pisgah, Iowa:


Mary Richards continued her letter to her husband Samuel W. Richards, back in Nauvoo.  She wrote that they traveled eight miles on very muddy roads.  “Very hard traveling, the weather cold, wore my shawl & cloak all day and have never felt warm til now.  We can see nothing but prairie for several miles.”  Samuel's brother Joseph, had spent the last two days up to his knees in the mud along the trail.  His father, Phinehas Richards was quite sick and confined to bed.

 

Nauvoo, Illinois:

It was a beautiful day.  Thomas Bullock cut out a new wagon cover and helped his wife to make it.  He hauled logs from the woods with his oxen which was very hard work.

 

Washington D.C.:

Elder Jesse C. Little went for his appointment with President Polk, but because of other pressing business, the meeting was postponed until the following day.

 

Sources:

Watson, Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 178; Kimball, Historic Sites and Markers along the Mormon and other Great Western Trails, 29; William Clayton’s Journal, 41‑2; Beecher, The Personal Writings of Eliza R. Snow, 136; “Thomas Bullock Journal,” 65; Comprehensive History of the Church, 3:73; Black, Membership of the Church 1830‑1848; Mount Pisgah Journal, June 4, 1846; Ward, The 1846-1848 Life Writings of Mary Haskin Parker Richards, 72-3

 

                            Friday, June 5, 1846

Broomberry Hill Camp to Shoal Creek, Iowa:

The weather was cold but fair.  The camp traveled fourteen miles and camped on the prairie near Shoal Creek.  They had forded what they supposed was another west branch of Grand River and found the Indian trail to Council Bluffs at about 10 a.m.  Horace Whitney recorded that they

 

passed through some very romantic spots and quite a diversity of scenery. . . . We saw the remains of a good many Indian Wigwams which had the appearance of being constructed some time since.  They were composed of boughs of trees curiously interwoven.  Just before reaching our place of encampment for the night we saw a large number of them which had fallen down and were dried, and as we intended going on a little farther before stopping, and there being nothing but prairie before us as far as the eye could extend, everyone gathered a bundle for firewood.10

 


Mount Pisgah, Iowa:

Hosea Stout was frustrated that Charles C. Rich didn't help him as much as he expected.  He had hoped that Brother Rich would help him to obtain the things necessary to move on and catch up with Brigham Young.

Near Mount Pisgah, William Clayton finally located his cattle.  He now had eleven wagons, sixteen yoke of oxen, six cows, five horses, and six teamsters.  At 2 p.m., his company moved out.  The men took two teams each and Brother Clayton drove the cows on foot.  They traveled about six miles and at about 6 p.m., camped on a hill beyond some nice timber.  Also located there was William Pitt and John Taylor's company.  Amos Fielding passed through the camp.  He was returning to Nauvoo to leave for a mission to England.  He stayed awhile and talked with Brother Clayton.

 

In Davis County, Iowa:

Wilford Woodruff traveled eight miles.  A tongue broke on one of his wagons and he stopped and put on another one.

 

Near Richardson’s Point:

Louisa Pratt was camping near a creek.  Her company was organized with others into a traveling camp.  The brethren met and chose a president without consulting the women.  Sister Pratt wrote: “This evening the sisters proposed to organize themselves into a distinct body to prove to the men that we are competent to govern ourselves. If they see the example of separate interests, we must help carry it out.”

 

Nauvoo, Illinois:

Thomas Bullock tried to obtain two more yoke of oxen that the Nauvoo Trustees had promised him, but they went back on their promise which frustrated him.  They instead told him that he could have two hundred pounds of flour and promised him some money to purchase other items.

 

Washington D.C.:

Elder Jesse C. Little recorded:

 

I visited President Polk; he informed me that we should be protected in California, and that five hundred or one thousand of our people should be taken into the service, officered by our own men; said that I should have letters from him, and from the secretary of the navy to the squadron.  I waived the president's proposal until evening, when I wrote a letter of acceptance.11