CHAPTER XLII.

CHAPTER XLII.Miscellaneous Writings:—Mission to the East:—Impressions of the Spirit:—Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith:—Spirit of Exultation:—Return to Nauvoo:—Sidney Rigdon Disfellowshipped.

Miscellaneous Writings:—Mission to the East:—Impressions of the Spirit:—Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith:—Spirit of Exultation:—Return to Nauvoo:—Sidney Rigdon Disfellowshipped.

January 1, 1844.

In the opening of this year I completed a number of miscellaneous works, some of which were published in pamphlet form. Among these were"An Appeal to the State of New York,"—"Immortality of the Body,"—"Fountain of Knowledge,"—"Intelligence and Affection," and "The Angel of the Prairies."This last work was a curious and extraordinary composition, in the similitude of a dream. It was designed as a reproof of the corruptions and degeneracy of our government, in suffering mobs to murder, plunder, rob and drive their fellow citizens with impunity, etc. It also suggested some reforms. It was read in the presence of President Joseph Smith and a general council, and was highly applauded; but never appeared in print.

In the spring I went to Boston as a missionary, and on business. I proclaimed the gospel, as usual, while on this journey, on steamers on the lakes and rivers; in the cities of the Atlantic, and in whatever village or neighborhood I had opportunity. Visiting North Bridge, a short distance from Boston, and having a day's leisure, I wrote a dialogue entitled "Joe Smith and the Devil," which was afterwards published in theNew York Herald, and in various papers in America and Europe. It was finally published and republished in pamphlet form, and had a wide circulation; few persons knowing or mistrusting who was the author.

President B. Young, and most of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve, were then on a mission through the Eastern States, as well myself. While on this mission, on the 27th of June, 1844, a mob murdered the Prophet Joseph Smith, and his brother Hyrum, in a jail at Carthage, Illinois, while Governor Ford had pledged the faith of the State for their protection.

A day or two previous to this circumstance I had been constrained by the Spirit to start prematurely for home, without knowing why or wherefore; and on the same afternoon I was passing on a canal boat near Utica, New York, on my way to Nauvoo. My brother, William Pratt, being then on a mission in the same state (New York), happened, providentially, to take passage on the same boat. As we conversed together on the deck, a strange and solemn awe came over me, as if the powers of hell were let loose. I was so overwhelmed with sorrow I could hardly speak; and after pacing the deck for some time in silence, I turned to my brother William and exclaimed—"Brother William, this is a dark hour; the powers of darkness seem to triumph, and the spirit of murder is abroad in the land; and it controls the hearts of the American people, and a vast majority of them sanction the killing of the innocent. My brother, let us keep silence and not open our mouths. If you have any pamphlets or books on the fullness of the gospel lock them up; show them not, neither open your mouth to the people; let us observe an entire and solemn silence, for this is a dark day, and the hour of triumph for the powers of darkness. O, how sensible I am of the spirit of murder which seems to pervade the whole land." This was June 27, 1844, in the afternoon, and as near as I can judge, it was the same hour that the Carthage mob were shedding the blood of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and John Taylor, near one thousand miles distant. My brother bid me farewell somewhere in western New York, he being on his way to a conference in that quarter, and passing on to Buffalo I took steamer for Chicago, Illinois.

The steamer touched at a landing in Wisconsin, some fifty or sixty miles from Chicago, and here some new passengers came on board and brought the news of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Great excitement prevailed on board, there being a general spirit of exultation and triumph at this glorious news, as it was called, much the same as generally shown on the first receipt of the news of a great national victory in time of war.

Many passengers now gathered about me and tauntingly inquired what the Mormons would do now, seeing their prophet and leader killed.

To these taunts and questions I replied, that they would continue their mission and spread the work he had restored, in all the world. Observing that nearly all the prophets and apostles who were before had been killed, and also the Saviour of the world, and yet their death did not alter the truth nor hinder its final triumph.

At this reply many of them seemed astonished, and some inquired who would succeed him, and remarked to me: "Perhaps you will be the man who will now seek to be leader of the Mormons in his stead—who are you, sir?" I replied: "I am a MAN, sir; and a MAN never triumphs and exults in the ruin of his country and the murder of the innocent." This was said in the energy of my soul, and by constraint of the Spirit, and a powerful and peculiar accent was thrown upon the word MAN each time it occurred in the sentence. This served as a sufficient rebuke, and all were silent.

Landing in Chicago I found great excitement, and the press had issued extras announcing the triumph of the murderous mob in killing the Smiths.

I now hastened on to Peoria, and, staying over night, started next day on foot across the country to Nauvoo—distance 105 miles.

During the two or three days I spent in travelling between Chicago and Peoria I felt so weighed down with sorrow and the powers of darkness that it was painful for me to converse or speak to anyone or even to try to eat or sleep. I really felt that if it had been my own family who had died, and our beloved Prophet been spared alive, I could have borne it, and the blow would have fallen on me with far less weight. I had loved Joseph with a warmth of affection indescribable for about fourteen years. I had associated with him in private and in public, in travels and at home, in joy and sorrow, in honor and dishonor, in adversity of every kind. With him I had lain in dungeons and in chains; and with him I had triumphed over all our foes in Missouri, and found deliverance for ourselves and people in Nauvoo, where we had reared a great city. But now he was gone to the invisible world, and we and the Church of the Saints were left to mourn in sorrow and without the presence of our beloved founder and Prophet.

As I walked along over the plains of Illinois, lonely and solitary, I reflected as follows: I am now drawing near to the beloved city; in a day or two I shall be there. How shall I meet the sorrowing widows and orphans? How shall I meet the aged and widowed mother of these two martyrs? How shall I meet an entire community bowed down with grief and sorrow unutterable? What shall I say? or how console and advise twenty-five thousand people who will throng about me in tears, and in the absence of my President and the older members of the now presiding council, will ask counsel at my hands? Shall I tell them to fly to the wilderness and deserts? Or, shall I tell them to stay at home and take care of themselves, and continue to build the Temple? With these reflections and injuries I walked onward, weighed down as it were unto death. When I could endure it no longer, I cried out aloud, saying: O Lord! in the name of Jesus Christ I pray Thee, show me what these things mean, and what I shall say to Thy people? On a sudden the Spirit of God came upon me, and filled my heart with joy and gladness indescribable; and while the spirit of revelation glowed in my bosom with as visible a warmth and gladness as if it were fire. The Spirit said unto me: "Lift up your head and rejoice; for behold! it is well with my servants Joseph and Hyrum. My servant Joseph still holds the keys of my kingdom in this dispensation, and he shall stand in due time on the earth, in the flesh, and fulfil that to which he is appointed. Go and say unto my people in Nauvoo, that they shall continue to pursue their daily duties and take care of themselves, and make no movement in Church government to reorganize or alter anything until the return of the remainder of the Quorum of the Twelve. But exhort them that they continue to build the House of the Lord which I have commanded them to build in Nauvoo."

This information caused my bosom to burn with joy and gladness, and I was comforted above measure; all my sorrow seemed in a moment to be lifted as a burden from my back.

The change was so sudden I hardly dared to believe my senses; I, therefore, prayed the Lord to repeat to me the same things the second time; if, indeed, I might be sure of their truth, and might really tell the Saints to stay in Nauvoo, and continue to build the Temple.

As I prayed thus, the same spirit burned in my bosom, and the Spirit of the Lord repeated to me the same message again. I then went on my way rejoicing, and soon arrived in Nauvoo, and delivered this message both to the people and friends individually, and in the great congregation. In confirmation that the message was right, I found them already renewing their labors on the Temple, under the direction of John Taylor and Willard Richards, who were members of our quorum, and were in jail with the prophets when they were murdered Taylor being wounded with four bullets, and Richards escaping uninjured.

We then, being the only members of the quorum now present in Nauvoo, united in daily councils at Bro. Taylor's, who was confined by his wounds, and counseled for the good of the Church. We were enabled to baffle all the designs of aspiring men, such as Rigdon and others who strove to reorganize and lead the Church, or divide them, and to keep the Church in a measure of union, peace and quiet till the return of President Young and the other members of the Quorum. Elder Rigdon arrived from Pittsburgh soon after my arrival, and with the aid of Elder Marks, local President of the Nauvoo Stake, and others, attempted to worm himself in as President of the whole Church. A public meeting was actually called and appointed for that purpose, the call being made and the day appointed by President Marks on the public stand. President W. Richards was present when this appointment was announced.

On being informed of this untimely and underhanded attempt, I called upon Elder Rigdon to meet with us—that is, the three of the Twelve then in the city, at the house of Brother Taylor, who was still confined with his wounds, and there we expostulated with him, and showed our reasons for being opposed to such a course.

I finally told him that no such meeting should be held, nor any such business attempted in the absence of the general authorities of the Church. And that, if any such meeting was attempted, I should be there and oppose it, and show my reasons, and then dismiss the congregation and take my hat and walk away. He finally assured us that no business of the kind should be attempted, and that the meeting should only be the usual prayer meeting. We likewise forbade President Marks from attempting any general business till the return of the general authorities.

About this time, President Marks joined with the widow of the martyred Joseph and some others, in a council in the upper room of Brother Joseph's house, to try to nominate and appoint a trustee in trust for the whole Church. I entered this council and heard Mrs. Emma Smith plead in relation to this matter, the great importance and absolute necessity of immediate action on this subject, as delay would endanger much property of a public and private character, and perhaps cause a loss of scores of thousands. I arose and protested against any action of the kind, telling them plainly that the appointment of a trustee in trust was the business of the whole Church, through its general authorities, and not the business of the local authorities of any one stake of the Church, and that, therefore, it could not be done till the remainder of the quorum returned. To this it was replied that by this delay much property would be lost. I again repeated that dollars and cents were no consideration with me, when principle was at stake, and if thousands or even millions were lost, let them go. We could not and would not suffer the authorities and principles of the Church to be trampled under foot, for the sake of pecuniary interest. The council finally broke up without accomplishing anything.

At length the day for Mr. Rigdon's great meeting arrived, when the remainder of the quorum, or a majority, with President Young at their head, arrived in time to be present. Mr. Rigdon was frustrated in his ambitious schemes, and with his adherents, including President Marks, soon left the place, being disfellowshipped by the Church.

President Brigham Young was unanimously chosen and upheld in the Presidency of the whole Church; the keys of which he held by virtue of his apostleship, being the senior and President of the highest quorum of the Church then living in the flesh.

October 6th.—The half yearly Conference was held at Nauvoo, which I attended.

CHAPTER XLIII.Eastern Mission:—Return:—Mobocracy:—Labor in the Temple:—Expulsion from Nauvoo:—Cross the Mississippi:—Garden Grove:—Mount Pisga:—Council Bluffs:—Mormon Battalion:—Winter Quarters:—Mission to England with Elders Orson Hyde and John Taylor:—Conference at Manchester:—Tour through the Kingdom.

Eastern Mission:—Return:—Mobocracy:—Labor in the Temple:—Expulsion from Nauvoo:—Cross the Mississippi:—Garden Grove:—Mount Pisga:—Council Bluffs:—Mormon Battalion:—Winter Quarters:—Mission to England with Elders Orson Hyde and John Taylor:—Conference at Manchester:—Tour through the Kingdom.

December 2d.

Having been appointed by the President and others of the Twelve to go East, and take charge of churches in the Atlantic States, I this day bade farewell to home, family and the City of Saints and started on this journey. I rode to Quincy; stayed over night at Brother Haywood's, and next morning took boat and soon arrived in St. Louis. I was accompanied by Elders E. T. Benson and P. Brown, who were sent to assist me in this eastern mission. Nothing worthy of note transpired on the passage. We arrived in New York towards the close of the year. I appointed brother Benson to take charge of Boston and vicinity, and Brother Brown to the charge of Philadelphia and vicinity.

January 1st, 1845.—I sent forth a proclamation in a New York paper, called theProphet, edited and published by Samuel Brannan, and professedly devoted to the interests of the Church of the Saints.*

[Footnote] *SeeStar, No. 10, vol. 5, page 149.

As we gradually became acquainted with circumstances pertaining to the Church in these parts, we found that Elders William Smith, G. J. Adams, S. Brannan and others, had been corrupting the Saints by introducing among them all manner of false doctrine and immoral practices, by which many of them had stumbled and been seduced from virtue and truth. While many others, seeing their inquiry, had turned away from the Church and joined various dissenting parties. We, therefore, in accordance with the instructions of the Holy Spirit in President Young before he left home, directed William Smith and G. J. Adams to return to Nauvoo, where, in process of time, they were cut off from the Church. We also warned Brother Brannan and others to repent speedily of all such evil practices or we would withdraw fellowship from them. They promised faithfully to repent and lead a new life, and therefore we bore with them. We also taught the Church to beware of all impure and wicked doctrines and practices, and not to receive any elder or minister who sought to seduce them by any false teachings. With these exertions and the continual labors of Elders Benson, Brown, Grant and many others, with myself, we succeeded in setting in order the churches and reestablishing pure gospel principles. There were, however, many who would not believe us, nor hearken to our advice, but continued in their abominations and dissensions. Elder Brannan was at length disfellowshipped at Nauvoo, as appeared in the official organ of the Church there. On seeing this notice I called his attention to it, and urged him to repair immediately to the authorities there; acknowledge and frankly repent of his faults, and seek restoration to his standing. He did this, and returned in full fellowship. But, as it finally proved, this was only to disgrace himself and the cause still more in a wider and more responsible career in California, where he, under our instruction, soon after repaired with a colony of Saints in the ship "Brooklyn." He was a corrupt and wicked man, and had the Church and myself been less long suffering and merciful, it would have saved the Church much loss, and, perhaps, saved some souls which were corrupted in California, and led astray and plundered by him. I have always regretted having taken any measures to have him restored to fellowship after he was published in Nauvoo as cut off from the Church. However, if I erred, it was on the side of mercy.

I devoted the winter in the presidency of the eastern churches, to writing for theProphetand in visiting the churches in Boston, Lowell, Philadelphia, Long Island and various other places, and preaching the gospel among them.

The following pieces from my pen are found in the above periodical, under their appropriate dates and titles: "Materiality;" "New Proverbs."

I continued writing for this periodical in New York, which had, however, changed its name, and was now published as theNew York Messenger. From my numerous editorials and communications in that paper, I select the following as worthy of record: "Heaven."

July 20th, 1845, I published an address to those under my charge.

Soon after the publication of the foregoing, I took leave of the Saints and friends in the Eastern States, and returned to Nauvoo by way of the Erie Canal and the lakes, journeying from Chicago to Nauvoo by land, by private conveyance, accompanied by a few of the Saints from the East. We arrived in Nauvoo sometime in August. I found my family mostly in health, and was rejoiced to meet them.

From the time of my arrival home until the end of the year, I was engaged in the cares of my family, in finishing my house, and in my official duties.

In autumn the mobs recommenced their murders, robbings, house and grain burnings, and driving families away from their lands and homes in the borders of our county, and elsewhere.

The sheriff of the County called out severalpossesand dispersed them, killing some and arresting others.

This bold and energetic execution of the sworn duties of Sheriff Backinstafs did not seem to be quite congenial to the spirit of the government and citizens of the State of Illinois—they being to a great extent in favor of mob violence, murder, plunder and house burning. Therefore, Sheriff Backinstafs was arrested to answer to the charge of murder, and another sheriff was imposed on the county, unlawfully, entirely independent of the ballot box. Backinstafs, however, was afterwards discharged by the Court, who justified his killing some of the mob, pronouncing it an official act in perfect conformity with his duties as an officer. The Governor sent troops to our county, on pretence of aiding the law, but, in reality, to aid the mob to escape justice and carry out their expressed resolutions of driving every member of the Saints, and their families, from the State. General Hardin and Major Warren, who had the command of this expedition, joined their advice with Judge S. A. Douglass and others, some of them citizens of Quincy, and meeting with President Young and our other leaders in council, advised and urged us strongly to yield to the mob, and abandon our houses, forms, cities, villages and Temple to this wholesale banditti, who were engaged against us, and sell them for what we could get, and remove out of the country. But very little of the real estate was ever sold.

To these extravagant counsels we finally yielded assent, and agreed to move West in the spring, and to advise others of our society so to do, as fast as we could sell.

We continued, however, our work on the Temple, a portion of which was finished and dedicated.

"It was the first specimen of a new order of architecture, introduced by President Joseph Smith, and was the most beautiful building in the Western States, erected at a cost of a million dollars. The mob subsequently set fire to it, the light of which was visible for thirty miles."

As winter approached, President Young, myself, the quorum, and many others were daily engaged in the Temple, administering in the holy ordinances of Endowment, to many hundreds of people. Thus closed the year 1845.

January 1st, A.D. 1846, I continued to minister in the Temple night and day, with my President and the rest of the Twelve, until early in February.

Soon after these things the ministrations in the Temple ceased; and President Young, with the rest of the quorum and many others, bade farewell to their homes in the beloved city of Nauvoo, and crossed the Mississippi River, with their families and such teams and wagons as they could get. They formed an encampment on Sugar Creek, in the State of Iowa.

February 14th, I crossed the river with my family and teams, and encamped not far from the Sugar Creek encampment, taking possession of a vacant log house, on account of the extreme cold. This encampment was about seven miles from Nauvoo. In leaving home at this inclement season, I left a good house, lot and out buildings, worth about seven thousand dollars, and several lots and houses of less value, besides a farm in the country worth near two thousand. But I was much in debt. I, therefore, left Mr. Bickford as my agent, authorized to sell the property, settle up my business, and take care of such of my family or friends as might be left it his care, including my aged mother, and the father, mother and sister of my wife. I was intending, when things were settled, to place the surplus, if any, at the disposal of the Church or its agents, in aid of the removal of such as were not able to remove without assistance.

While we lay encamped, some one hundred and twenty miles west of Nauvoo, President Young coming up with the main body of the camps, formed an encampment a few miles in the rear, and sent for me and the members of the Twelve, who were with me, and George Miller, to meet with the council at his camp. His letter censured us on account of some of our moves, and as heavy rains had swollen the small streams which intervened between the two encampments (so that they could only be passed by swimming), and myself being sick on account of exposure in the storms, we did not immediately attend the council, as requested. However, we found means to cross after a little delay, and were proceeding to his camp when an express met us with another letter front the President, censuring us still more severely.

We hastened on and met in council. The President then reproved and chastened us severely for several things, among which was our drawing off from the council and main body of the camp and going ahead. He said there was manifestly a spirit of dissension and of insubordination manifested in our movements. I could not realize this at the time, and protested that in my own heart, so far as I was concerned, I had no such motive; that I had been actuated by the purest motives, merely seeking to sustain the teams and people, and to make what progress we could with that end in view. However, the sequel soon proved that it was the true Spirit which reproved and chastened us. For Bishop Miller, who was a leading and active member of our camp, has since left us and gone his own way, having refused to be led by the counsels of the Presidency, and removed to Texas. And here I would observe that, although my own motives were pure, so far as I could know my own heart, yet I thank God for his timely chastisement; I profited by it, and it caused me to be more watchful and careful ever after.

All things being harmonized and put in order, the camps moved on. Arriving at a place on a branch of Grand River we encamped for a while, having travelled much in the midst of great and continued rains, mud and mire. Here we enclosed and planted public farm of many hundred acres and commenced settlement, for the good of some who were to tarry and of those who should follow us from Nauvoo. We called the place "Garden Grove." It is in Iowa, perhaps one hundred and fifty miles from Nauvoo. After assisting to fence this farm and build some log houses, I was dispatched ahead by the Presidency with a small company to try to find another location. Crossing this branch of Grand River, I now steered through the vast and fertile prairies and groves without a track or anything but a compass to guide me—the country being entirely wild and without inhabitants. Our course was west, a little north. We crossed small streams daily, which, on account of deep beds and miry banks, as well as on account of their being swollen by the rains, we had to bridge. After journeying thus for several days, and while lying encamped on a small stream which we had bridged, I took my horse and rode ahead some three miles in search of one of the main forks of Grand River, which we had expected to find for some time. Riding about three or four miles through beautiful prairies, I came suddenly to some round and sloping hills, grassy and crowned with beautiful groves of timber; while alternate open groves and forests seemed blended in all the beauty and harmony of an English park. While beneath and beyond, on the west, rolled a main branch of Grand River, with its rich bottoms of alternate forest and prairie. As I approached this lovely scenery several deer and wolves, being startled at the sight of me, abandoned the place and bounded away till lost from my sight amid the groves.

Being pleased and excited at the varied beauty before me, I cried out, "this isMount Pisga." I returned to my camp, with the report of having found the long sought river, and we soon moved on and encamped under the shade of these beautiful groves. It was now late in May, and we halted here to await the arrival of the President and council. In a few days they arrived and formed a general encampment here, and finally formed a settlement, and surveyed and enclosed another farm of several thousand acres. This became a town and resting place for the Saints for years, and is now known on the map of Iowa as a village and post-office named "Pisga."

June 1. We crossed the river, and, travelling one mile, encamped; next day we travelled nine miles, and the third day twenty miles.

Passing on from day to day, we at length came to a large river which could not be forded, called the Nishnihotany. Here was the home of the Pottowatamie Indians who were very friendly and civil to us.

We tarried here some days and built a large bridge, over which the camps were enabled to cross.

In July we arrived at the Missouri River, near Council Bluffs. There we encamped for several weeks; opened a trade with upper Missouri, exchanging wagons, horses, harness and various articles of furniture, cash, etc., for provisions, oxen, cows, etc.

In the meantime we built a ferry boat, fixed landings, made dugways, etc., and commenced ferrying over the Missouri. The ferry ran night and day for a long time, and still could not complete the crossing of the camps till late in the season.

While we tarried here I returned on the road as far as Pisga—being sent on a mission to the camps and settlements in the rear—distance, in going and returning, two hundred miles. In this journey I came near drowning, in attempting to swim a branch of the Nishnihotany on horseback. My horse refused to swim, reared on his hind feet to try to touch bottom, and caused me to slide off behind him in the middle of a very strong current with all my clothes on, including hat, coat and boots, and a large parcel under my arm. The parcel contained letters and important documents. I, therefore, clung to it and to my hat also, and stemming the current with the other hand, swam to shore, a distance of several rods. Passing on a mile or two, I came to a camp of the Saints and dried my letters and clothing. As I returned from this mission I met President Young and others, who were going down to Pisga and to intermediate camps to try to raise five hundred men, who had just been called for by the United States as recruits for the Mexican war. These troops were soon raised by the united exertions of President Young and Council, and were mustered into service by Lieutenant-Colonel Allen, and called the Mormon Battalion.

This is that famous battalion which marched through more than two thousand miles of a trackless waste on foot, and helped to take and maintain California—some of the members of which first discovered the gold mines of that country, and thus turned the world the other side up.

The lateness of the season, the poverty of the people, and, above all, the taking away of five hundred of our best men, finally compelled us to abandon any further progress westward till the return of another spring. The camps, therefore, began to prepare for winter.

The place for winter quarters was finally selected on the west bank of the Missouri River, in what is since known as the territory of Nebraska. This was a beautiful town site. The land sloping up from the immediate banks of the river sufficiently high to be secure from high water, and then stretching away in an unbroken plain to the hills, which swelled up at less than half a mile distant in beautiful rounded grassy points, or in rising benches, one above another.

Vast quantities of hay was cut and secured, and some seven hundred log cabins and one hundred and fifty dugouts (cabins half under ground) were built in the course of the autumn and winter. Other large settlements were also formed on the other side of the river, and back into the country.

President Young also caused the erection of a good flouring mill on a small stream which here entered the river.

This city, which was known by the name of Winter Quarters, is Florence, and is becoming a thriving place in Nebraska.

While the camps lay in these parts, and soon after I had, with my teams and family, crossed the Missouri, Presidents Orson Hyde, John Taylor and myself were appointed a mission to England. The reason for this mission under the present distressing circumstances was this: Elder R. Hedlock, who was then presiding in England, was in transgression, and was engaged in a wild scheme of financing, by which he obtained vast sums of money from the Church in a kind of joint stock organization, which professedly had for its object the emigration of the Saints to America, while in reality the money was squandered by himself and others in any and every way but to do good. Our mission was for the purpose of breaking up this scheme of fraud, and displacing him and regulating all the affairs of the Church in the British Isles.

July 31.—I bid a solemn farewell to my family and friends, then dwelling in tents and wagons on the west side of the Missouri River, and started for England. I met Elders Hyde and Taylor as agreed upon, and we took passage down the river in an open scow, or flat boat, in company with a family of Presbyterian missionaries who had been residing on the Loupe fork of the Platte River, among the Pawnee Indians, and who were now bound for St. Joseph, Missouri. We floated or pulled the oars for some days, tying up and sleeping on shore at night. Arriving at St. Joseph, the missionaries landed and sold the boat to us. We then continued down the river to Leavenworth, where we found the Mormon Battalion, who were just receiving money for clothing, etc., preparatory to their long march thence to California.

We visited with them a day to two, and they contributed several hundred dollars to aid us on our mission to England.

They also made up a purse of between five and six thousand dollars for their families and friends at the Bluffs, and furnishing me a horse, it was finally agreed by my two brethren that I should return to the Bluffs with this money. Accordingly, I took leave of Elders Hyde and Taylor and the brethren of the battalion, and started on horseback for the camp of the Saints. I rode with all speed, and in less than three days reached home—distance one hundred and seventy miles. Unexpected as this visit was, a member of my family had been warned in a dream, and had predicted my arrival and the day, and my family were actually looking for me all that day.

I delivered the money to President Young and Council, with the list of subscribers, and of the persons for whom it was sent, and again prepared for my departure. Obtaining a light buggy, I harnessed my horse before it, and started for Chicago, Illinois, by land—distance five hundred and fifty miles. I performed this journey in safety in eleven days, averaging fifty miles per day. Arriving in Chicago towards evening, I immediately sold my horse and buggy, and then took steamer the same evening across Lake Michigan, thence by railroad to Boston; thence to New York, where I arrived a day or two sooner than the day agreed upon. I was hindered a little, being at a loss for funds to pay my passage; but one Elder Badlam kindly assisted me, and I soon embarked in the cabin of a splendid ship, and set sail for Liverpool. On this same ship was Franklin D. and Samuel Richards, and M. Martin, on a mission to the same country.

We had a long passage, and arrived in Liverpool October 14, in good health and spirits.

We found Elders Hyde and Taylor there all well, and were kindly received and entertained by the Saints.

A General Conference was convened in Manchester October 17; an account of which will be found in theStar, No. 7, Vol 8.

In this Conference it was agreed that President Hyde should edit theStar, and attend to all business in the publishing office at Liverpool, while President Taylor and myself should visit the different conferences in the British Isles. We, therefore, published our appointments beforehand in theStar, and so commenced our winter's mission. I will not detain the reader with a detail of our journeyings, visits and meetings in pursuance of this arrangement; but, suffice it to say, we travelled from conference to conference by railway, coaches, steamers, etc., visiting nearly all the principal towns in England and Scotland. We were everywhere received and treated with the utmost hospitality, and with demonstrations of joy and gladness not soon to be forgotten. The Saints and others convened from far and near at the sessions of our several conferences, and vast crowds of strangers, as well as Saints, listened to us. Public feasts, tea parties, public dinners and all kinds of demonstrations of joy and welcome greeted us as we visited from place to place. So that our sojourn was more like a triumphal procession than like a dreary pilgrimage. We preached the gospel, set in order the churches, directed the labors of the elders, comforted the Saints, and reproved and corrected the abuses introduced by President Hedlock and others in relation to the joint stock companies, etc.

Hedlock fled at our approach, leaving many debts unpaid and finally lived incog. in London with a vile woman—he being severed from the Church.

It was during my travels in England on this mission that I wrote the following letter in blank verse to my family, whom I had left at Council Bluffs, on the Missouri River. It was published in England at the time, on a beautiful sheet with a handsome border, and designed to be put in a frame as a household ornament; and is frequently seen to this day (1856) as a memorial in the parlors of the Saints on both sides of the Atlantic.

May it be handed down to posterity as a monument of suffering and self-denial of women and children for the gospel's sake.

CHAPTER XLIV.AN APOSTLE OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST,OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS,Was in the Island of Great Britain for the gospel's sake; and being in the Spirit on the 24th of November, 1846, addressed the following words of comfort to his dearly beloved wife and family, dwelling in tents, in the camp of Israel, at Council Bluffs, Missouri Territory, North America; where they and twenty thousand others were banished by the civilized Christians of the United States for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus:

AN APOSTLE OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST,

OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS,

Was in the Island of Great Britain for the gospel's sake; and being in the Spirit on the 24th of November, 1846, addressed the following words of comfort to his dearly beloved wife and family, dwelling in tents, in the camp of Israel, at Council Bluffs, Missouri Territory, North America; where they and twenty thousand others were banished by the civilized Christians of the United States for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus:

MY DEAREST WIFE,Thy kindly soul and allThine acts of love to him, thy chosen head,Are treasured deep in memory's archives.And when, amid the busy throng of towns,I pass unheeded, or wander lonelyIn some country lane, or graveled highway,Lined with hawthorn hedge—or turn asideFrom the busy walks of men in meadows green,Or wander 'mid the solitary groveAt twilight hour, where silence reins, and theFading tints of autumn tell of time's flight,And the low murmur of the whispering breezeSteals o'er the senses like a funeral dirge,—Or flying swift o'er country hedge and ditchIn flaming chariot; while hills and vales—And towns, and villas, farms, plains, and woodsAre swiftly whirled behind—or musing inThe midnight hour in lonely solitudeUpon my bed—'Tis then I think of thee.Sweet thoughts steal gently o'er the memory;And my spirit wanders o'er the wide seaAnd far away o'er Alleghany's heights,And down the broad Ohio, from its sourceTo where it mingles its limpid watersWith the dark waves of Missouri's current;And onward still, with lightning speed it flies,Till towns and cries all are left behind;And the last trace of Gentile dwelling fadesFrom view, and disappears in the far east.At length the long sought vision bursts to viewAnd stays my spirit in its onward flight.Towering bluffs; deep indented vales; wide spreadPrairies; boundless plains and beauteous grovesExpand to view; all clad in green, and deck'dIn summer's richest livery of flowers;Or with the grey tints of fading autumnCrown'd—emblem of Nature's dissolution.There one eternal silence seems to reign,And slumb'ring Nature rests in solitude.There peace prevails; the Sabbath rules the year;And, in its own primeval innocence,Uncursed by man's polluted touch, the earthSeems resting in sacred, sublime repose.No Gentile tyrant sways his sceptre there;No pris'ners groan in solitary cells.There freedom dwells; no superstitious creedEnslaves the mind of man; no Christian mobsTo drive him from his home or shed his blood.O sacred solitude, divinely blest—Zion's retreat; where dwell the great and good.There, with delight my spirit lingers still,And would prolong the heavenly vision.I love thee, for thyself, O land of Zion!The beauty of thy landscape, thy flowers,Thy boundless immensity of green fields,Mingling with the with expanse of Heaven'sBlue arch; thy star-bespangled firmamentHave charms for me.The mellow moonlightGently stealing o'er thy sacred forests;—The fading tints of twilight painted onYour evening sky;—the soft and plaintive voiceOf the autumnal cricket, as he singsThe funeral knell of expiring insects,Or sounds a requiem to the closing year—All these steal o'er my senses with delight,And wake the memory to scenes afar:They whisper to the lonely exile,And tell of youth, and friends, and native clime.Yet not for these charms alone I love thee;Nor yet for peace, or freedom sweet, or rest,Or sacred Sabbath of sublime repose.All these, though dear to me, are worthless toys,—Mere baubles,—compared to that precious gemWhich yet remains to beautify my verse,And swell the music of my joyous theme.There dwell my family,—my bosom friends,—The precious lambs of my Redeemer,—myBest of Heaven's gifts to man,—my germs ofLife and immortality,—my hope of Heaven,—My principality on earth began,—My kingdom in embryo, big with thronesOf endless power and wide dominion.Ye kindred spirits from worlds celestial!Offsprings of Deity;—Sons and daughtersOf eternity;—Ye nobles of HeavenWhose dwellings were of old among the GodsIn the everlasting mansions, and who stoodIn the councils of the High and loftyOne, ere chaos sprang to order, or theFoundations of the everlasting hillsWere laid: Why came ye to this world of woe?Why this disguise?—This painful sojourn inA land of death?—Why wander far from Heaven's eternal foldAnd from the bosom of your Father there?HadHeno love? No fond affection forHis own, that you are banished thus, and leftAs exiles wandering in some dreary waste?And if thus fallen, and forsaken quite,Like evil spirits thrust from Heaven, toReturn no more;—why that latent spark ofHeaven's pure love still glowing in your breast?Why does your bosom swell with hope and joy,And fire celestial kindle in your eye?O heavenly gift! The key of knowledgeRestored to man, the mystery unfoldsOf God's elect—their final destiny.You are here because your Father loved you;Because in Heaven ye kept your first estate,And firm remained when angels did rebel,And Lucifer drew a third of Heaven's hostFrom God; and with them sunk in dark despair.You are here for further proof and trial;—For a second estate; which if ye keepAs ye did the first, will purify your souls,And fit you for a Heaven celestial.You came to the earth to be born of flesh,To fashion and perfect your earthly house,—To live, to love, to suffer and to die,—To rise and reign in immortality.To form your kindred ties with kindred souls,—To blend your sympathies by mutual actsOf kindly charity:—To love and serveEach other in ten thousand nameless ways;And thus give exercise to mutual love,And qualify yourselves for union endlessIn that world of bliss.O ye beings of noble birth! ye lambsOf celestial origin, to Zion bound!I know ye now; and knowing, can but love.O my Father in heaven? Thine they were,And Thou gavest them to me:—Precious gifts!Endear'd by long acquaintance in the heavens,By the soul's best affections on the earth,By mutual love and sympathy of soul,By all the kindred ties which twine aroundThe heart in sacred, inexpressibleDelight—Made nigh by a Savior's blood:—Seal'd by the Holy Ghost, and secur'dBy the spirit and power of Elijah—By which the hearts of the fathers are turn'dTo the children: Enliven'd by the hopeOf endless union in that world of lifeWhere all is pure:—Thrones, principalities,Powers, majesty, might and dominion,As a mutual reward!Who can but love?O precious kindred! my loveliest, best!Are motives wanting still to prompt my love,And kindle my soul's affection to itsHighest, purest flame? sweet memory dwellsOn all the past—Your sufferings with me;Your sacrifices for the Gospel's sake.Formeand truth you gladly left your home,Your native clime, your father, mother, and friends,And kindred dear, and wandered far awayO'er mountain, seas, and continents. The wideExpanse of ocean—its waves and tempestsCould not quench your love, or cool your courage:—Towering mountains rose before you; riversIntervened to check you on your journey—Wide lakes, gloomy forests, and desert plainsForbid your further progress, but in vain.Truth was the prize you sought; and love impell'dYou onward. These overcome, a hostOf fiends assailed you next, with lying tonguesTo flatter, frown, to pity or deceive;To coax, or drive you from your chosen course.When slander, rage, and lies, and pity fail'd,Then came the deadly strife!—The fires consum'd;The sword devour'd;—Widows and orphans mourn'd;Hell's artillery bellow'd; Martyrs bled;The world exulted;—Devils hugely grinn'd;—Heaven wept; saints prayed; Justice stood aghast;—Mercy, retiring, dropped a tear of blood;—Angels startling, half drew their glittering swords;And the Gods, in solemn council decreed A just VENGEANCE!Amid these awful scenes ye firmly stoodFor truth, and him you loved; And leaving houseAnd home again behind, in povertyYe fled; and pitch'd your humble tent amidThe storms of winter: And wandering o'er theWide, unsheltered plain, ye braved the tempestMany a weary month without a murmur—Without amurmur! Nay more—Ye smilingStood, amid the awful storms, and hail'd theTempest welcome. The solitary wildsReverb'rated with freedom's joyful songs,While there you fondly pressed your infant toYour bosom,—smil'd on your lord,—receiv'd hisSmile in turn, and realized your freedom.Supremely blest with heaven's approving smile,With peace and friendship, liberty and love;And with the daily presence of your lord,—Whose best affection sweeten'd every care;Ye still were happy in your low estate,Nor sighed for more.One only sacrifice remained for usTo make, to further test our depth of loveFor God and truth; 'twas all that Heaven could ask.With you, my lambs, be leftalone, to spendAnother winter in this dreary wild,While himyou loveshall wander far awayBeyond the sea, for truth and Zion's sake?Your pulse beat quick; your bosom heav'd a sigh;Your heart swell'd with emotion; a big tearGush'd forth, and stole in silence down your check;While your spirit said: "If I must, I will!"The Recording Angel smil'd; Heaven approv'd,And said: "It is enough," record the same,And with it Our decree: They are Elect!Eternal life is theirs: They shall be ONE,WHILE ENDLESS AGES ROLL!

MY DEAREST WIFE,

Thy kindly soul and allThine acts of love to him, thy chosen head,Are treasured deep in memory's archives.

And when, amid the busy throng of towns,I pass unheeded, or wander lonelyIn some country lane, or graveled highway,Lined with hawthorn hedge—or turn asideFrom the busy walks of men in meadows green,Or wander 'mid the solitary groveAt twilight hour, where silence reins, and theFading tints of autumn tell of time's flight,And the low murmur of the whispering breezeSteals o'er the senses like a funeral dirge,—Or flying swift o'er country hedge and ditchIn flaming chariot; while hills and vales—And towns, and villas, farms, plains, and woodsAre swiftly whirled behind—or musing inThe midnight hour in lonely solitudeUpon my bed—'Tis then I think of thee.

Sweet thoughts steal gently o'er the memory;And my spirit wanders o'er the wide seaAnd far away o'er Alleghany's heights,And down the broad Ohio, from its sourceTo where it mingles its limpid watersWith the dark waves of Missouri's current;And onward still, with lightning speed it flies,Till towns and cries all are left behind;And the last trace of Gentile dwelling fadesFrom view, and disappears in the far east.

At length the long sought vision bursts to viewAnd stays my spirit in its onward flight.

Towering bluffs; deep indented vales; wide spreadPrairies; boundless plains and beauteous grovesExpand to view; all clad in green, and deck'dIn summer's richest livery of flowers;Or with the grey tints of fading autumnCrown'd—emblem of Nature's dissolution.

There one eternal silence seems to reign,And slumb'ring Nature rests in solitude.

There peace prevails; the Sabbath rules the year;And, in its own primeval innocence,Uncursed by man's polluted touch, the earthSeems resting in sacred, sublime repose.

No Gentile tyrant sways his sceptre there;No pris'ners groan in solitary cells.

There freedom dwells; no superstitious creedEnslaves the mind of man; no Christian mobsTo drive him from his home or shed his blood.

O sacred solitude, divinely blest—Zion's retreat; where dwell the great and good.

There, with delight my spirit lingers still,And would prolong the heavenly vision.

I love thee, for thyself, O land of Zion!The beauty of thy landscape, thy flowers,Thy boundless immensity of green fields,Mingling with the with expanse of Heaven'sBlue arch; thy star-bespangled firmamentHave charms for me.

The mellow moonlightGently stealing o'er thy sacred forests;—The fading tints of twilight painted onYour evening sky;—the soft and plaintive voiceOf the autumnal cricket, as he singsThe funeral knell of expiring insects,Or sounds a requiem to the closing year—

All these steal o'er my senses with delight,And wake the memory to scenes afar:

They whisper to the lonely exile,And tell of youth, and friends, and native clime.

Yet not for these charms alone I love thee;Nor yet for peace, or freedom sweet, or rest,Or sacred Sabbath of sublime repose.

All these, though dear to me, are worthless toys,—Mere baubles,—compared to that precious gemWhich yet remains to beautify my verse,And swell the music of my joyous theme.

There dwell my family,—my bosom friends,—The precious lambs of my Redeemer,—myBest of Heaven's gifts to man,—my germs ofLife and immortality,—my hope of Heaven,—My principality on earth began,—My kingdom in embryo, big with thronesOf endless power and wide dominion.

Ye kindred spirits from worlds celestial!Offsprings of Deity;—Sons and daughtersOf eternity;—Ye nobles of HeavenWhose dwellings were of old among the GodsIn the everlasting mansions, and who stoodIn the councils of the High and loftyOne, ere chaos sprang to order, or theFoundations of the everlasting hillsWere laid: Why came ye to this world of woe?Why this disguise?—This painful sojourn inA land of death?—

Why wander far from Heaven's eternal foldAnd from the bosom of your Father there?HadHeno love? No fond affection forHis own, that you are banished thus, and leftAs exiles wandering in some dreary waste?And if thus fallen, and forsaken quite,Like evil spirits thrust from Heaven, toReturn no more;—why that latent spark ofHeaven's pure love still glowing in your breast?Why does your bosom swell with hope and joy,And fire celestial kindle in your eye?

O heavenly gift! The key of knowledgeRestored to man, the mystery unfoldsOf God's elect—their final destiny.

You are here because your Father loved you;Because in Heaven ye kept your first estate,And firm remained when angels did rebel,And Lucifer drew a third of Heaven's hostFrom God; and with them sunk in dark despair.

You are here for further proof and trial;—For a second estate; which if ye keepAs ye did the first, will purify your souls,And fit you for a Heaven celestial.

You came to the earth to be born of flesh,To fashion and perfect your earthly house,—To live, to love, to suffer and to die,—To rise and reign in immortality.To form your kindred ties with kindred souls,—To blend your sympathies by mutual actsOf kindly charity:—

To love and serveEach other in ten thousand nameless ways;And thus give exercise to mutual love,And qualify yourselves for union endlessIn that world of bliss.O ye beings of noble birth! ye lambsOf celestial origin, to Zion bound!I know ye now; and knowing, can but love.

O my Father in heaven? Thine they were,And Thou gavest them to me:—Precious gifts!Endear'd by long acquaintance in the heavens,By the soul's best affections on the earth,By mutual love and sympathy of soul,By all the kindred ties which twine aroundThe heart in sacred, inexpressibleDelight—Made nigh by a Savior's blood:—Seal'd by the Holy Ghost, and secur'dBy the spirit and power of Elijah—By which the hearts of the fathers are turn'dTo the children: Enliven'd by the hopeOf endless union in that world of lifeWhere all is pure:—

Thrones, principalities,Powers, majesty, might and dominion,As a mutual reward!Who can but love?

O precious kindred! my loveliest, best!Are motives wanting still to prompt my love,And kindle my soul's affection to itsHighest, purest flame? sweet memory dwellsOn all the past—Your sufferings with me;Your sacrifices for the Gospel's sake.

Formeand truth you gladly left your home,Your native clime, your father, mother, and friends,And kindred dear, and wandered far awayO'er mountain, seas, and continents. The wideExpanse of ocean—its waves and tempestsCould not quench your love, or cool your courage:—

Towering mountains rose before you; riversIntervened to check you on your journey—

Wide lakes, gloomy forests, and desert plainsForbid your further progress, but in vain.

Truth was the prize you sought; and love impell'dYou onward. These overcome, a hostOf fiends assailed you next, with lying tonguesTo flatter, frown, to pity or deceive;To coax, or drive you from your chosen course.

When slander, rage, and lies, and pity fail'd,Then came the deadly strife!—The fires consum'd;The sword devour'd;—Widows and orphans mourn'd;Hell's artillery bellow'd; Martyrs bled;The world exulted;—Devils hugely grinn'd;—Heaven wept; saints prayed; Justice stood aghast;—Mercy, retiring, dropped a tear of blood;—Angels startling, half drew their glittering swords;And the Gods, in solemn council decreed A just VENGEANCE!

Amid these awful scenes ye firmly stoodFor truth, and him you loved; And leaving houseAnd home again behind, in povertyYe fled; and pitch'd your humble tent amidThe storms of winter: And wandering o'er theWide, unsheltered plain, ye braved the tempestMany a weary month without a murmur—

Without amurmur! Nay more—Ye smilingStood, amid the awful storms, and hail'd theTempest welcome. The solitary wildsReverb'rated with freedom's joyful songs,While there you fondly pressed your infant toYour bosom,—smil'd on your lord,—receiv'd hisSmile in turn, and realized your freedom.Supremely blest with heaven's approving smile,With peace and friendship, liberty and love;And with the daily presence of your lord,—Whose best affection sweeten'd every care;Ye still were happy in your low estate,Nor sighed for more.

One only sacrifice remained for usTo make, to further test our depth of loveFor God and truth; 'twas all that Heaven could ask.

With you, my lambs, be leftalone, to spendAnother winter in this dreary wild,While himyou loveshall wander far awayBeyond the sea, for truth and Zion's sake?

Your pulse beat quick; your bosom heav'd a sigh;Your heart swell'd with emotion; a big tearGush'd forth, and stole in silence down your check;While your spirit said: "If I must, I will!"

The Recording Angel smil'd; Heaven approv'd,And said: "It is enough," record the same,And with it Our decree: They are Elect!Eternal life is theirs: They shall be ONE,WHILE ENDLESS AGES ROLL!

PARLEY P. PRATT.

CHAPTER XLV.Return with Elder John Taylor to America:—Arrival at Winter Quarters:—Camp Starts for the Rocky Mountains:—Meet the Pioneers:—Arrival in Great Salt Lake Valley:—Visit to Utah and Great Salt Lakes.

Return with Elder John Taylor to America:—Arrival at Winter Quarters:—Camp Starts for the Rocky Mountains:—Meet the Pioneers:—Arrival in Great Salt Lake Valley:—Visit to Utah and Great Salt Lakes.

Early in January, 1847, having completed our mission in the British Isles, Brother John Taylor and myself went to Liverpool, preparatory to our return, with a few of the Saints, who were accompanying us as emigrants. Here we soon made arrangements for passage to New Orleans, chartering the second cabin of a large new ship, called "America."

We bid adieu to our warm hearted and affectionate friends in England, and embarked on this ship. Our company consisted of fourteen persons in all, composed of returning elders and a few families or individuals who were emigrating with us. We were very comfortable in our own little cabin, where we had our own provisions, and set our own table, hiring the ship's cook to do our cooking. We sailed January 19th, but we soon met a gale of wind, which was directly contrary to us. This gale continued for nine days, without any cessation or abatement, during which time we were beating in a land-locked channel between Ireland and England, without gaining fifty miles on our course, being in imminent danger of being cast away on a lee shore. During all this time our Captain lay sick in his berth with a fever on the brain, and much of the time in a state of mental derangement. We frequently watched with him, and in his rational moments he would converse a little. He said his family lived in America, and he much wished to get to them, but was very positive he should never see them more, having been for many days oppressed with a sure and certain presentiment that he should never reach America alive. We, in reply, allowed that presentiments of that kind were possible, and sometimes true, and to be depended on, but not always. And Brother Taylor and myself assured him, as men of God, that his present presentiment was false, and that both him and his vessel would reach America in safety. This we assured him over and over again, from day to day. After nine days of severe struggle with the wind and waves, the mate and supercargo becoming discouraged, and the men worn out, they counselled with us and concluded to put back into the port of Liverpool, which was accordingly done after some difficulty and delay. Here the Captain, who was still dangerously ill, went on shore, and under proper medical aid, recovered, and afterwards landed in America per steamer, where he reached his family in safety. Our mate was sworn in captain, and we again put to sea, after visiting our friends on shore, and recruiting our stock of provisions. On taking this second farewell of our friends in the British Isles I sent forth through the columns of theStarthe following farewell address:

TO THE SAINTS IN GREAT BRITAIN

Beloved Brethren:—Having been so crowded with business and care on my late departure from your shores for my home in the distant wilds of western America, I had no time to sayfarewell, or to leave my blessing with you in a formal manner as a whole, although expressed frequently in our farewell meetings. I have, therefore, providentially returned to your midst, after nine days of seafaring life, in order to take a fair start, and to say farewell through the medium of theStar.

I feel the most perfect satisfaction with the manner of our reception and entertainment among you as men of God. I also feel that we have, as far as time would permit, accomplished the work for which we came, and that the utmost success and prosperity has attended our labors. The Church universally has manifested a spirit of confidence and obedience to the instructions we had to impart, and the measures we were sent to purpose for their prosperity and deliverance, both temporally and spiritually.

We have also been received and entertained in the most kind and hospitable manner in every place we have been permitted to visit. We have been lodged, fed, comforted and cheered as if we had been angels of glad tidings, and we feel the utmost satisfaction in expressing our most grateful thanks for all the kindness and assistance rendered unto us while in your midst; and, in the name of Jesus Christ, and by authority of the Holy Priesthood and Apostleship vested in us, we bless the congregations of the Saints throughout this land, with all the officers and members thereof, with the blessings of time and eternity in all their fullness. We also bless the Queen, ministers, magistrates, and people of this realm, while they continue to administer equal justice for the protection of every subject, without respect of persons; and we pray that Heaven's choicest blessings may rest upon the Saints, and upon all that fear God and work righteousness in this land. Ye sons and daughters of Zion, be of good cheer; for God will deliver you in due time, and gather in one the children of God. Pray for us and for the camp of the Saints in the wilderness. Farewell.

P. P. PRATT.LIVERPOOL,January 29, 1847.

Elder Hyde did not sail with us, but stayed a few days longer to complete the business in the office. Soon after we set sail Elder Joseph Cain, returning missionary, was married on board to Miss Elizabeth Whittaker. It was a fine affair, and we had a good dinner on the occasion. The wind was now fair continually, and we were only thirty-five days in coming to anchor off the port of New Orleans—having sailed some seven or eight thousand miles. Here we were delayed a day or two by a dense fog, but as the weather cleared, a tug steamer soon got hold of us, and took us into port.

Here, as soon as we could get clear of the custom house, we took a steamer, and, in about six days, arrived in St. Louis.

Here I left Brother Taylor to pass up the Missouri River on a steamer, with the company and baggage, while I took a horse and rode through the northwestern portion of Missouri, and into Iowa, by land. I wentincog. for fear of my old enemies in that State.

I struck the wagon trail we had made the year before, near Garden Grove, and tarried there with the Saints one day. It was then quite a flourishing place the farms which I helped to open and enclose the previous year having yielded abundance of provisions, and other farms having been opened.

Being a little refreshed I passed on to "Mount Pisga," where I found another flourishing settlement of the Saints, and stayed over night. Thence I passed on to the Missouri River, finding Saints to entertain me every night. In making the journey from St. Louis to Missouri River, near Winter Quarters, I had probably travelled near four hundred and fifty miles on horseback. I crossed over the ferry at noon of a fine April day, and came suddenly upon my friends and family. This was April 8, 1847. I found my family all alive, and dwelling in a log cabin. They had, however, suffered much from cold, hunger and sickness. They had oftentimes lived for several days on a little corn meal, ground on a hand mill, with no other food. One of the family was then lying very sick with the scurvy—a disease which had been very prevalent in camp during the winter, and of which many had died. I found, on inquiry, that the winter had been very severe, the snow deep, and, consequently, that all my horses (four in number) were lost, and I afterwards ascertained that out of twelve cows I had but seven left, and out of some twelve or fourteen oxen only four or five were spared.

President Young and Council, with a company of pioneers, were then encamped on the Elk Horn River, twenty miles west, ready to start for the mountains. Some of them, however, returned to Winter Quarters on business, and I had an interview with them. I then gave a relation of our European mission, and delivered to them an account of our hundred and sixty-nine sovereigns in gold, collected in England as tithing, which had crossed the sea in my charge, and was then in charge of Elder Taylor on the Missouri River, and might be expected soon. This small sum proved a very acceptable and timely relief in aiding the Presidency to relieve some of the distress, and to fit out as pioneers for the mountains.

The President and Council seemed well pleased with our mission and management. They expressed an earnest wish for me to accompany them on the pioneer trip to the mountains; but my circumstances seemed to forbid, and they did not press the matter.

After a few days' rest I began to prepare for journeying to the mountains with my family. My wagons were overhauled and put in order, tires reset, chains repaired, yokes and bows arranged in order, wagon bows made or mended, etc., etc. This occupied most of my time till June.

Early in June I loaded my goods and family into my wagons, and, obtaining a few more cattle, started for the Rocky Mountains; or rather for the Elk Horn River, where we expected to form a rendezvous, and establish a ferry and wait the arrival of others, and the organization of companies for the purpose of mutual safety in travelling.

Arriving at Elk Horn River with a small company, we made a ferry of a raft of dry cotton-wood timber, and rafted over our own company of about fifty wagons. We then organized for herding and grazing purposes, continued to aid others in crossing and organizing until five hundred and sixty-six wagons were finally crossed and organized ready for a march. In the final organization of this vast company Father Isaac Morley and Bishop Whitney assisted, or rather took the oversight—being a committee appointed for that purpose by the Presidency before they left. As Brother Taylor and myself were present, we were appointed and invited to take a general superintendency of this emigration.

The organization consisted of companies of tens, fifties and hundreds, with a captain over each, and the whole presided over by a president and two counselors, a marshal, etc. President John Young was called to preside—having been nominated by the Presidency before their departure. John Van Cott was appointed marshal.

This organized, this large company moved on up the Platte about the Fourth of July. There were some difficulties and jealousies during the first few days, on account of some misunderstanding and insubordination in the order of travel. This at length became so far developed that it was found necessary to call a general halt on the Platte River, and hold a council of the principal officers, in which things were amicably adjusted and the camp moved on.

Arriving at the Loupe Fork of Platte River, we continued up it quite a distance above the trail the pioneers had made, as we could not ford the river in their track. We at length found a ford, and with some difficulty on account of quicksands, forded the river and made our way over to the Main Platte, re-entering the pioneer trail. As we passed up the Platte on this trail the companies in front had frequently to halt and build bridges, etc. On one occasion Peregrine Sessions, who was captain of our company of fifty, and myself found two horses which had probably strayed from some former travellers, and which, after several unsuccessful attempts by different parties, Brother Taylor succeeded in driving into camp, he and I captured them. We were at the time ahead of the company, following up a stream to try and find a ford. This was a very timely providence to me, as I had lost all my horses the previous winter, and was now pioneering for the company without any horse, and on foot.

After journeying for several hundred miles up the Platte, we at length met two messengers from the pioneers under President Young, from Salt Lake Valley. These were P. Rockwell and E. T. Benson; who had been sent out to try to find us and report our progress and circumstances. Having visited all the camps, they returned to the valley, or rather to where they met the President and pioneers, on their way back to Winter Quarters on the Missouri. I accompanied them back nearly one day's ride on the way, and then bid them God speed, and returned to my own camp. Soon after this our fifty met the President and company of pioneers and camped with them one day.

A council was called, in which I was highly censured and chastened by President Young and others. This arose in part from some defect in the organization under my superintendence at the Elk Horn, and in part from other misunderstandings on the road. I was charged with neglecting to observe the order of organization entered into under the superintendence of the President before he left the camps at Winter Quarters; and of variously interfering with previous arrangements. In short, I was severely reproved and chastened. I no doubt deserved this chastisement; and I humbled myself, acknowledged my faults and errors, and asked forgiveness. I was frankly forgiven, and, bidding each other farewell, each company passed on their way. This school of experience made me more humble and careful in future, and I think it was the means of making me a wiser and better man ever after.

After bidding farewell to the President and pioneers, and to my own brother, Orson Pratt, who was one of them, we continued our journey; and after many toils, vexations and trials, such as breaking wagons, losing cattle, upsetting, etc., we arrived in the Valley of Great Salt Lake late in September, 1847. Here we found a fort commenced and partly built by the pioneers, consisting of an enclosure of a block of ten acres with a wall, or in part of buildings of adobes or logs. We also found a city laid out and a public square dedicated for a Temple of God. We found also much ground planted in late crops, which, however, did not mature, being planted late in July; although there were obtained for seed a few small potatoes, from the size of a pea upward to that of half an inch in diameter. These being sound and planted another year produced some very fine potatoes, and, finally, contributed mainly in seeding the territory with that almost indispensable article of food.

After we had arrived on the ground of Great Salt Lake City we pitched our tents by the side of a spring of water; and, after resting a little, I devoted my time chiefly to building temporary houses, putting in crops, and obtaining fuel from the mountains.

Having repented of our sins and renewed our covenants, President John Taylor and myself administered the ordinances of baptism, etc., to each other and to our families, according to the example set by the President and pioneers who had done the same on entering the valley.

These solemnities took place with us and most of our families, November 28, 1847.

Some time in December, having finished sowing wheat and rye, I started, in company with a Brother Higby and others, for Utah Lake with a boat and fish net. We travelled some thirty miles with our boat, etc., on an ox wagon, while some of us rode on horseback. The distance brought us to the foot of Utah Lake, a beautiful sheet of fresh water, some thirty-six miles long by fifteen broad. Here we launched our boat and tried our net, being probably the first boat and net ever used on this sheet of water in modern times.

We sailed up and down the lake shore on its western side for many miles, but had only poor success in fishing. We, however, caught a few samples of mountain trout and other fish.

After exploring the lake and valley for a day or two the company returned home, and a Brother Summers and myself struck westward from the foot of the lake on horseback, on an exploring tour. On this tour we discovered and partly explored Cedar Valley, and there crossed over the west mountain range and discovered a valley beyond; passing through which we crossed a range of hills northward, and entered Tooele Valley. Passing still northward, we camped one night on a bold mountain stream, and the next day we came to the southern extreme of Great Salt Lake, and passing round between it and the west mountain we journeyed in an eastern course, and, crossing the Jordan, arrived in Salt Lake City—having devoted nearly one week to fishing, hunting and exploring expedition. During all this time we had fine weather and warm days; but the night we arrived home was a cold one, with a severe snow storm. And thus closed the year 1847.

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