IN THE BRITISH MISSION, 1844-45-46.
Departure.—Route.—Visits Home of Solomon Mack.—A Peculiar Dream.—On the Ocean.—Copyright of Doctrine and Covenants.—Visit to Scotland.—Lemington.—Troubles in Nauvoo.—Condition of the Mission.—Preparation for His Return.
August 28th, 1844, was the day appointed for the departure of Wilford Woodruff and his companions to the British Mission. Those who were to accompany him were his wife and two children, Hyrum Clark and wife, and Captain Dan Jones and wife. He said good-by on the Temple Block at Nauvoo to his fellow members of the Twelve and started at once for Chicago whither he and his companions were conveyed by teams.
On the 8th of September, they left Chicago on the propellor, Oswego, and made their journey eastward on the Lakes. They stopped about three hours at Manatou Islands where he with others had been wrecked on the Chesapeake in September, 1841. While here they carved their names on some white stones, and also the events associated with the wreck. At midnight while on their way a fire alarm was sounded and the passengers were brought together by terror of the alarm. The flame, however, was soon extinguished and they all retired again to their rest. They continued their journey on Lake Erie, the Williams Canal, and Lake Ontario.
Elder Woodruff then went by rail to his birthplace in Farmington, Connecticut, where he paid his aged father another visit. While he was laboring among the Saints in and about Boston, his wife paid a visit to her home in Scarboro, Maine. The branches of the Church in Boston and Lowell were not in a healthy condition. He, therefore, worked zealously to bring about a reformation and to warn the Saints against some iniquities which had crept into the Church.
While in the Eastern States he visited the home of Lucy Smith's brother, Soloman Mack. The old homestead of Mother Smith awakened within him a feeling of reverence which he had for the Prophet, and for the scenes associated with his mother's home.
From Vermont he went to Scarboro, Maine, to join his wife and children there. Leaving his oldest child, Phoebe, at the home of Ezra Carter, his father-in-law, he left with his wife and youngest child, Susan, for New York. The scenes of his former missionary experiences in the Eastern States were both familiar and interesting to him. He knew the inroads that are often made upon the faith of the saints when left too long without a shepherd. He encouraged, admonished, and warned them to be faithful to the covenants they had made. He makes note in his journal during this visit of October 22, 1844, the last day set by the Millerites for the second coming of Christ.
Speaking of his visit to Maine he says: "While I was at the home of my father-in-law I had a peculiar dream. Much of it was unutterable and cannot be written; indeed, I do not comprehend it myself. Among other things I was called with the Twelve to hold the keys of the Kingdom in all the world. I traveled with them over much of the earth and I also traveled through many countries alone. When I finished my journey I saw many things which I cannot write, but in the end, Joseph, the Prophet, assisted me to come where he was and pointed out to me my place and work. I immediately entered into the duties of the new calling to which I was appointed.
"The same night I had another dream. I was in the presence of the Prophet, and was conversing with him about his death. I told him I felt bad over it, and that had I known he would have been taken so soon I should have conversed with him more while he lived. I would have asked him many questions. In reply he said that it was not his fault that I did not."
Whatever the significance of these dreams may have had, they clearly indicated the loving remembrance in which he held his great leader. Around the name and memory of the man there was to him a great halo. The influence of Joseph Smith upon the life of Wilford Woodruff never waned. There was something about this modern Prophet that invited the veneration of his devoted followers who proclaimed his name and mission from the housetops of every part of the world where their duties and missions might take them.
After reaching New York on the 29th of November, he paid a visit to Elder Jedediah M. Grant who was then performing amission in Philadelphia. On his return to the former city he made preparation for his voyage to Europe. He speaks of a letter he received in New York from President Young in which the latter gives him an account of the reckless and unwarranted course of William Smith and George J. Adams. On the 8th he and his party, together with Milton Holmes and Leonard Hardy, set sail for Liverpool on the packet ship, John R. Skiddy. On the 11th they encountered a severe storm at sea, a storm which greatly terrified the passengers. "We kneeled down," he said, "and unitedly prayed that the storm might cease and that the wind might change so that we could go forward and not backward. In a short time the wind suddenly ceased and finally changed to the southwest which gave us a fair wind."
Christmas day they passed upon the ocean. On the 28th they entered the Irish Channel where they were driven about for some days by foul winds. Finally on the 3rd of January, 1845, they landed in Liverpool with feelings of thanksgiving and prayer for their safe arrival. They were twenty-seven days at sea.
The day following their arrival they were met by Elders Hedlock and Ward. They inquired into the affairs of the mission and on January 5th he addressed the people in Music Hall. They made their headquarters with a Brother William Powell, who, Elder Woodruff observes, boarded the elders for a quarter of a century.
The new year witnessed the beginning of his active work in the missionary field. Arrangements had to be made for the emigration of the saints to Nauvoo. In those days they went to New Orleans, thence up the Mississippi to Nauvoo. Conferences had to be visited, business affairs of the mission transacted, and attention given to the opening of new fields for missionary activities.
The work in the British Mission, however, did not occupy wholly the thoughts and feelings of Elder Woodruff. He had left Nauvoo in an unsettled condition, the future of that city was full of uncertainty. The work on the Temple was all important, with the conviction he had long since formed that that sacred structure must be completed. Letters from home, however, brought him encouragement and assurances. President Youngwrote him encouraging letters informing him of the unity and prosperity of the Church in America. He also told him of the call of parley P. Pratt to the presidency of the Eastern States Mission. He explained the plan to publish a paper in New York City.
On the 16th of March special conference was held in Manchester. Elder Woodruff was there with his two counselors, Reuben Hedlock and Thomas Ward. He mentions the fact that there were present five other high priests, thirty elders, twenty-one teachers, and four deacons. The conference there was crowded with eager listeners, both members and non-members of the Church. "The spirit of the Lord," he said, "was with us. Love and union pervaded the congregation. It was a scene that made the heart glad when we beheld in a foreign land so many Saints assembled, Saints united in the everlasting covenant. I had often thought how much I would like to see the Prophet Joseph meet with a conference of Saints in England. It was not granted, however, to the British Nation to have the Prophet of God in that land. This was one of the most interesting conferences I had ever attended abroad. It fulfilled a prophecy I had made in the House of the Lord in Kirtland in 1837 to the effect that I should attend a conference with Elder Milton Holmes in the British Isles."
These old associates of Wilford Woodruff, men tried and true, were always held in loving remembrance by him. He loved those who loved God. The names of those old-time friends lingered in his memory throughout all the years of a long, busy life.
Since he could conveniently do so, immediately after the Manchester conference, he repaired to Idle, in Yorkshire, that he might visit the last resting place of the remains of Elder Lorenzo Barnes, the first elder in this dispensation who had laid down his life in a foreign land. It was not that fact alone which brought forth this respect. The memory of Lorenzo Barnes grew out of an old-time companionship in their early associations, and especially in the journey of Zion's Camp. Of this visit to the grave of his beloved friend he writes: "Before arriving we passed through a beautiful green valley which is located on the top of a hill. The fields of grass were as green as in May, although it was now February. This gave to the landscape a charm both picturesqueand inspiring. As we traveled the road, we reflected that we were covering the footsteps of a departed brother who had traversed the same roadway many a time in his mission to disseminate the teachings of Jesus Christ. I felt sorrowful, I was filled with meditation. We called upon Elder Thomas Cordingly and family who cared for Elder Barnes in his last sickness. They pointed out to us the room where he spent the last hours of his mortal life.
"After taking some refreshments we walked to the churchyard where we gazed upon the peaceful, silent grave of our departed brother. My feelings were sensitive and sad. While standing over his grave I offed up a prayer to Israel's God that I too might die the death of the righteous, that my end might be as peaceful and secure as that of our departed brother."
There is an illustration in that prayer, a marked characteristic in the life of Wilford Woodruff. The burden of his thoughts, the great object of his supplication was that he might endure to the end. What the end should be was with him the great concern of his life. He envied those, if he ever envied at all, who were valiant in every crisis and who were steadfast to the death. To him there was no triumph in life like the triumph in death. He was not so concerned about worldly greatness, about the race of the swift, nor the battle of the strong; what he sought above all else was endurance, that endurance which, after all, contains the greatest virtue, as it embodies the greatest strength. Yet often men underrate the supreme value of endurance in their ambition to be great and strong.
On the 23rd of September, Elder Woodruff attended a conference in Bradford. The meetings were attended by large numbers. Elder Elijah F. Sheets, long and honorably known throughout Utah as Bishop Sheets, was then presiding over that conference. Of that occasion he writes in his journal: "The congregation was as still as death." He spoke upon the mission and teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith whose recent martyrdom had still its mournful affects upon the Saints who were sorely disappointed that they had not the opportunity in life to hear the words that dropped from the lips of him whom God had called to open the great dispensation of the last days.
"On my birthday, March 1st, 1845, I received a letter froma friend. It contained a copy of a letter dated Pittsburg, January 30th, 1845, and was written by John Greenbow to his father in Kendall. The letter contained a statement to the effect that he was getting the Doctrine and Covenants stereotyped and that he would bring the plates to England for the purpose of printing, publishing, and copyrighting the book so that the Church could not print and publish it. This was a bold scheme by apostates to steal the book containing the revelations of God to the Church. There was in this proposed action, no doubt, an intention to change the wording and thus deceive the world. I regarded the receipt of the letter as nothing less than providential, an interposition of our Heavenly Father who knew the evil design of the wicked and therefore caused the letter to come into my hands. I spent the day examining the laws of England relative to copyrights."
This information aroused Elder Woodruff to immediate action, and as early as June 7, 1845, he secured the copyright of the book which was entered at Stationer's Hall, England.
On the 9th of March Elder Woodruff records the fact that he held conference in Preston where he visited the old cock-pit, where Elders Kimball and Hyde first openly declared the message of the gospel to the people of England, and where they were soon followed by Willard Richards. He with his companion also walked up and down the river where so many hundreds of the Saints had been baptized. At the Preston conference he mentions the fact that there were several branches represented with the total membership of five hundred souls. This was the first conference organized in the British Mission eight years before by Heber C. Kimball.
Throughout Elder Woodruff's journal of those times may be found minute descriptions of historical places and of public monuments. He was also deeply interested in the history of the countries which he visited, and his journal shows the special significance which historical monuments had to his mind. He further knew that his sympathy and interest in the people would be increased by knowledge of their national history and of those conditions which in the past had been foremost in shaping their character. Many an elder has, no doubt, realized the mistake of either falsely or imperfectly estimating the character of those whoseear he was seeking to gain. Elder Woodruff's journal shows, however, that he greatly appreciated the superior qualities of the English people and their great contributions to the system of free governments. From the history of the English people he often found it convenient to take his text; in short, he made himself at home among the English by his knowledge of them and their institutions.
On the 13th of March he left Liverpool, on the steamer Commodore, for Scotland, whither he went to attend a conference in Glasgow. He was accompanied by his counselors Hedlock and Ward, also by Elder Banks. They reached the mouth of the Clyde River at six o'clock in the morning. The highlands were covered with snow and a severe storm was raging in Glasgow. On the way they passed the famous rock known in Scottish history as Dumbarton on which was then stationed a regiment of soldiers to protect the river Clyde. He also mentions Bell's monument erected in memory of John Bell who was the first to run a steamer up the river Clyde to Glasgow.
On the evening of their arrival, a council was held with the officers of the Church in that city. Two days later a conference was held in Felon's Hall. There, fifteen branches of the Church were represented containing a total membership of 1,065 persons. There were present also thirty-five elders, fifty-one priests, thirty-seven teachers, and twenty-four deacons. Then, as now, Scotland was the home of a large number of the blood of Israel.
While here, he paid visits to Cots Bridge, Whifflett, and Sterling. He also visited manufacturing establishments and historical places. He found special interest in those places that were so full of the memories of Bruce and of Wallace and of John Knox. The company later went to Edinburgh where they visited the Saints and the chief historical places about that city. The conference there consisted of eleven branches with the membership of 409 souls. He was particularly interested in the high cliff known as Arthur's Seat. It was there that Elder Orson Pratt who first brought the gospel to Edinburgh was wont to go that he might engage himself in meditation and prayer. This elevation affords a most excellent view of the city and its surroundings.
Leaving Edinburgh the company returned to Liverpool where a conference was held on the 30th of March, 1845. At this conferencethere were present four high priests, eighteen elders, thirteen priests, and eight teachers. It consisted of twelve branches with a membership of 676 souls.
Liverpool was then, as it has ever since been, the headquarters of the Church in Great Britain. Preparations were made at the Liverpool conference for the general conference of the British Mission to be held April 6th in Manchester. The meetings there convened in Science Hall. It was the largest conference up to that time ever held in the British Mission. This mission at that time contained many of the finest characters ever known in the Church. The men who embraced the gospel, as a whole, in those days were strong characters whose endurance and whose will power peculiarly fitted them for the pioneer work they were soon to undertake in the development of this inter-mountain region.
Upon his return to Liverpool, Elder Woodruff sent the following epitaph to Elder E. F. Sheets to be placed upon the tombstone of Elder Lorenzo D. Barnes: "In memory of Lorenzo D. Barnes, who died on the 20th of December, 1842, aged thirty years. He was a native of the United States, an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a member of the high priests' quorum and also Zion's Camp in A. D. 1834, and the first gospel messenger from Nauvoo who has found a grave in a foreign land.
"Sleep on, Lorenzo, but ere long from thisThe conquered tomb shall yield her captured prey.Then with thy Quorum shalt thou reign in blissAs king and priest for an Eternal Day."
"Sleep on, Lorenzo, but ere long from thisThe conquered tomb shall yield her captured prey.Then with thy Quorum shalt thou reign in blissAs king and priest for an Eternal Day."
The latter part of April he paid a visit to Newton where he examined the great vitriol works which are among the largest in the world. He also went through the great engine factory at that place where a number of the brethren were working. They were men well qualified to carry on the work in all its branches. He relates the circumstances of a peculiar tradition of a church in the vicinity of the city: "From the Newton Engine Factory I walked several miles through very pleasant scenery consisting of green fields, hedges, trees, and gardens. I visited a churchon the side of which was the figure of a pig in stone, and a stone was hung around its neck. According to tradition the materials for this church were drawn to another place quite a distance from where the church now stands. The pig came along and took a stone in his mouth and carried it, squealing as he went. The pig finally dropped the stone on the spot where the church now stands. The circumstance the people regarded as an omen and erected their church on its present site."
In the beginning of May he visited the churches in Preston and Blackburn and then walked with Brother Speakman to Whaley where he visited the old Abbey, the largest he had ever seen. It covered several acres of ground and was then almost in total ruin. It was built as early as one thousand A. D.
The following day they visited the Jesuit College at Stoneyhurst. On Sunday May 11th they attended the Clithero conference. Of this conference the following is taken from his journal: "Elder Speakman was called to preside in the afternoon, the Sacrament was administered and the power of God rested so abundantly upon the congregation that many were moved to tears." (This is the conference of which Brother Kimball speaks in his journal.) "I was so overwhelmed by the spirit of God and the simplicity of the people that I could scarcely speak. They were like little children, as pure-minded and innocent as angels. Many of them bore their testimony to the work of God."
On the 15th of the same month, he took a steamer for Carlisle to attend a conference there. Of the steamship and voyage he wrote. "It was newly painted from stem to stern and we could not sit down without carrying away the paint. I accordingly paid two shillings for the use of a bunk among the sailors. I had no sooner gone below than I was enveloped in the most horrid stench rising from a cargo of guano. I lay down but became as sick as death and vomited at intervals for five hours. I was strained to such a degree that blood ran out of my nose. The sailors filled the place with tobacco smoke which was more intolerable than the other stench which I had to endure. This was the most horrible night I ever passed at sea. We reached port at two o'clock in the morning. I crossed the ferry and took a canal boat to Carlisle."
At the Carlisle conference six branches of the Church were represented and the membership of the conference was 165. He returned, at the close of the conference, to Liverpool by the same boat which on the return voyage, however, was loaded with sheep, horses, and cattle.
His journal at this time contains the following: "On the 24th of May, which was the seventh day of the week, at six o'clock in the morning, the last stone was laid on the Temple of the Lord at Nauvoo with shouts of joy and 'Glory to God in the Highest.' The Lord finished his work on the seventh day and rested."
On the 6th of June, 1845, President Woodruff left Liverpool for London by rail for the purpose of securing the copyright of the Doctrine and Covenants. He immediately employed a printer and published three thousand copies. This was the first edition of that book published in the British Mission.
As the 27th of June approached, President Woodruff appointed that day a day of prayer and fasting throughout all the churches of the British Isles. It was the day of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. On the 18th of the following month there was born to him in Liverpool a son whom he named Joseph, in honor of the Prophet.
On the 13th of September he attended a conference at Manchester. That conference then numbered 1,769 souls, including 44 elders, 99 priests, 57 teachers, and 27 deacons. During the three months preceding this conference, there had been baptized into the Church in that conference a hundred and fifteen souls.
On October 5th he paid a visit to the Lemington conference. There was much prejudice at that place against the Saints. Shortly before this visit there, mobs had assembled and broken up the bannisters, stairs, benches, and tables in the building where the Saints met for worship. Of Lemington he said: "This is one of the first aristocratic towns in England. Here the nobility come together for the select society of their own class, and because of the sulphur springs at this place. The streets and buildings of the town are rich and splendid in appearance."
Of Warwick Castle in that region he says: "It is considered the most splendid castle in England and is furnishedwith all the magnificence which art and the wealth of Earldom could bestow upon it. It is 333 feet long and is divided into a large number of rooms. The walls are hung with gorgeous tapestry, and the rooms furnished with the costliest furniture and the richest damask. Chairs, tables, and stands were inlaid with pearl, and other precious stones. Some of these articles of furniture cost seventy-five thousand dollars each. From the windows of the castle we looked out upon the stately cedars of Lebanon, upon oaks, firs, and a great variety of shrubbery. The castle is eight hundred years old. The tower is 150 feet high."
Elder Woodruff always availed himself of every opportunity to visit historic places which he describes at great length in detail.
From Warwick Castle Elder Woodruff went with his counselor, Hedlock, to Birmingham. Here they were received with great demonstration, and preparations were made for a joyous reception for the President of the Mission. Five hundred Saints awaited Elder Woodruff and his companions as they entered the door, and round after round of applause went up to greet them. There was such clapping of hands and stamping of feet that the room in which they were gathered trembled. All wished to shake the hand of their President and it was with great difficulty that he reached the stand upon entering the room. He talked to the people at some length. The manifestation of love for him, however, was not confined to Birmingham. He enjoyed the affection and enthusiasm of the Saints wherever he went.
While all this enthusiasm was manifested by the Saints in the British Mission, their brethren and sisters over the sea in the city of Nauvoo were filled with deep anxiety and fear. Mobs were gathering against the Saints and the enemy were pressing in upon them with the spirit of hatred that brought depression and sorrow to the hearts of the people in the beautiful city of Nauvoo, which was fast reaching its doom.
He called a meeting of his counselors and the leading men before whom he laid the spiritual and temporal conditions of the Church in England and gave them some idea of conditions at home. Soon thereafter he received word from President Young that the mob was growing in numbers and in violence,that the only terms of peace they would accept from the Saints was their exile from the state. This condition of affairs Elder Woodruff characterizes in his journal as unjust, tyrannical, and un-American. Such news naturally depressed his spirit greatly and made his continuance in the British Mission so uncertain that he looked forward for an early release. He at once called a special conference to be held in Manchester December 14, 1845. According to the statistics he gives, there were during the eight months previous 1573 baptized. The total membership of the Church in the British Isles had now reached 11,032 exclusive of those in the Staffordshire conference which were not reported at that time. There were reported in the priesthood one Apostle, eight high priests, 392 elders, 590 priests, 311 teachers, and 188 deacons. This would make, including those of the Staffordshire conference something like 1,500 men in the mission bearing the priesthood. Those were days of marvelous activity in proselyting. Within eight years the Church had grown in that land to large proportions, and the people were constantly emigrating to America.
On Christmas Evening of that year he attended with his wife St. John's Market where high mass was held in the Catholic Church. This was the first time in his life that he had attended such services. He desired to acquaint himself with the religious ceremonies as well as the religious beliefs of others, and took advantage of opportunities to learn all he could in view of his probable return in the near future to Nauvoo.
His release soon came and he began at once to put the Church financially as well as spiritually in a safe and prosperous condition. He reported property in excess of the debts to the amount of 574 pounds and 16 shillings. This was over $2800.00. Wherever a financial trust was put upon him he regarded his duties in the matter as both sacred and important. All his life long he guarded himself against the temptations that so frequently overtake men in administering the property of others. He fully realized that financial dishonor robs men not only of the confidence of their fellow-men but of the blessings of God. He was scrupulously careful to account for every farthing entrusted to him, and his presidency, therefore, of the British Mission wasmarked both by zeal in preaching the gospel, and by high-minded honesty in the administration of funds.
The year 1845 was now drawing to a close. During the entire year his work had been directed in a foreign land. He had personally baptized but few, had administered to something like a hundred persons, published three thousand copies of the Doctrine and Covenants, and twenty thousand copies of the Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles. He had collected three hundred pounds for the Nauvoo Temple and had been indefatigable in the management of the British Mission.
He was now released to return home. On the 3rd of January, 1846, he visited Preston. On the 10th he made a feast for a few of his brethren, and on the 15th took his family on board the ship Liverpool. He went with them 10 miles and then returned to the shore. It was planned that his wife should go with the Saints then emigrating to Nauvoo. As soon as the business of the mission could be attended to, he expected to leave, himself. He wrote a valedictory for the Millennial Star and on the 23rd of January he set sail for America and arrived in New York March 6th. The voyage was uneventful except that the second mate fell overboard and was lost at sea. He was performing some perilous duty that he did not require of his men. The voyage at that season of the year was attended by cold weather and the usual winter storms. They were forty-three days en route.
After reaching the United States, he paid a hasty visit to his old home in Connecticut where his father and step-mother were preparing to emigrate to Nauvoo. He also went to Maine where he found his daughter who had remained there during his absence. They reached Nauvoo in his father's party on the 13th of April. He says: "We stopped at Keokuk, and at two o'clock in the afternoon we began to ascend the rapids. I took my spy glass and enjoyed a view of the city and the Temple in the distance. They looked very beautiful to me."
He had been a zealous mission president. He kept a careful record. He attended with scrupulous care to all the details of the mission. He made himself familiar with the conditions in every conference. He promoted peace and good will among the Saints everywhere throughout Great Britain. He was humbleand unassuming. He was simply the instrumentality of God's purposes in promulgating the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was devoid of those ambitions that engender jealousy, misgivings, and hatreds. His own industrious life inspired those with whom he was associated with the same indefatigable spirit with which he was possessed. To this day the landmarks of his mission in Great Britain are pointed out to the elders who perform ministerial labors there. He is referred to as a model missionary and is a man with a record that others are happy to emulate.
ON THE BANKS OF THE MISSOURI, 1846.
Dedication of the Temple in Nauvoo.—The Exodus to Council Bluffs.—Accident to His Father.—Reaches Mt. Pisgah.—Meets Brigham Young.—Recruiting of the Mormon Battalion.—Colonel Kane.—Departure of the Battalion.—Organizations at Winter Quarters.—A Conference with the Chiefs of the Leading Indian Tribes.—Explorations.—Remarks by President Young.
Before Elder Woodruff reached his home in Nauvoo, President Young with a number of the Saints had already commenced their memorable exodus from that city. The Saints were in a state of active preparation for their departure westward. The mob was active, determined, and vindictive. The hatred against the Saints had become so intense among the anti-Mormon element in Western Illinois that it was a source of great disquietude among the people of Nauvoo. In the midst of the persecutions, however, there had been a faithful devotion to the work on the Temple which resulted in its completion and preparation for dedication.
Under date of April 30th, 1846, Elder Woodruff's journal contains the following: "In the evening of this day I repaired to the Temple with Elder Orson Hyde and about twenty other elders of Israel. There we were all clothed in our priestly robes and dedicated the Temple of the Lord, erected to His most holy name by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Notwithstanding the predictions of false prophets and the threat of mobs that the building should never be completed nor dedicated, their words had fallen to the ground. The Temple was now finished and dedicated to Him. After the dedication, we raised our voices in a united shout of 'Hosanna to God and the Lamb!' After offering our prayers we returned to our homes, thankful for the privilege enjoyed in our evening services."
On May 1st, 1846, a public dedication of the Temple took place at which Elder Woodruff opened the services by prayer. Elder Orson Hyde made appropriate remarks and then offered the dedicatory prayer. On Sunday the 3rd the assembly room of the Temple was filled and addresses were made by Elders Hydeand Woodruff. A point had been gained; under stress and strain the Temple had been completed and dedicated. More, however, than the completion of the Temple had been accomplished by the construction of that sacred edifice. Its rites and ceremonies had enlarged the vision of the Saints and broadened their conceptions of eternity. Their relations and obligations to the dead brought home to them greater responsibilities than they had ever heretofore imagined. Furthermore, they perceived the importance of a new gathering place wherein they might erect other Temples to the worship of their God. From that day to the present time, temple work has had a peculiar influence upon the lives of the Latter-day Saints. It has engendered brotherly love, a spirit of unity, and a steadfast devotion to God that perhaps nothing else in all their experience in the Church has given them. The work in Nauvoo was done; henceforth the city of the Saints was to be nothing more to them than a memory until God should determine otherwise. It brought its joys; but its history was also full of sad reminiscences, apostasy, murderous intent, and destruction.
"I was in Nauvoo," says Elder Woodruff, "on the 26th of May, 1846, for the last time, and left the city of the Saints feeling that most likely I was taking a final farewell of Nauvoo for this life. I looked back upon the Temple and City as they receded from view and asked the Lord to remember the sacrifices of His Saints."
Elder Woodruff had already left Nauvoo on the 16th and had preached his farewell sermon there on the previous Sunday. The farewell of which he now speaks followed his return to the City a few days later to obtain goods which he had left behind. There he met a company of Saints who had just arrived from Pennsylvania. Among them was Brother Sidwell who gave to Orson Hyde several hundred dollars for the Camp of Israel. He also gave a hundred dollars each for Elders Hyde and Woodruff.
The little company of which he had charge consisted of his wife and children, his father, and a few other members of the family. They had three baggage wagons, one family carriage, six yoke of oxen, six cows, four calves, one yearling, and a pair of mules, making in all twenty-five head of animals. The father wasaged and had no grown sons other than Wilford to assist him, so that the weight and responsibility fell upon the son.
There began now the tedious and distressing journey across the state of Iowa. The inconveniences of loaded wagons and the inclemency of the weather superseded the comforts and conveniences of well-appointed homes. On the first day out their wagon mired down in the mud; the wagon tongue and several chains were broken in the effort to extricate it. Similar accidents occurred at intervals, and on the twenty-seventh he says in his journal that while his father was trying to climb into the wagon fell to the ground. Both wheels of the wagon which was loaded with twenty-five hundred pounds ran over his legs. It was marvelous that no bones were broken.
At Farmington, Iowa, they bought a supply of flour consisting of four barrels. There they crossed the Des Moines River at the ferry. They were then twenty-five miles from Nauvoo on the 28th day of May. Several days later they overtook the Ramus Company consisting of about twenty-five wagons. On the evening of Sunday the 7th they traveled some distance when they came to a long swail which covered a distance of one and a half miles. It was wet and miry. He succeeded in getting his carriage across by dark, but in the center of the swamp his baggage wagons cut through the turf, and the wheels went down almost to the hubs. He worked most of that night in mud and water nearly knee deep and at the same time kept a watch upon the cattle. About daylight he rolled himself up in a buffalo robe and went to sleep. All day Monday they were obliged to rest and prepare for the journey the following day. His anxiety to overtake the main body of the pioneers led to this violation of his custom to refrain wholly from work on the Lord's day. Tuesday, the 9th, the company traveled twelve miles and camped with a body of Saints from Macedonia. The latter had thirty-one wagons. Here and there they were joined by scattered families of Saints who were wending their weary way westward. On the 15th of June they reached the Camp of Israel called Mt. Pisgah.
President Kimball and others of the Twelve were still ahead. Elder Charles C. Rich had been left in charge at Mt. Pisgah. There were many of his old-time friends there and the meeting brought with it reminiscences of earlier days. There was an exchangeof the experiences which they had undergone since Brother Woodruff had left them for his mission, more than a year before. "I encamped," he says, "on the east side of the creek near the Camp of Israel. Here I learned that Brother Noah Rogers recently from a mission to the South Sea Islands had died and was the first to find a resting place in the burial ground at Mt. Pisgah. Brother Turnbow, one of our company, lost a child today. I was present at its funeral." Lorenzo Snow was also in this company and was suffering from sickness, but found great relief in the administration of Elder Woodruff.
On the 21st he preached to a large congregation of Saints and was followed by Elders Rich, Benson, and Sherwood. That day a messenger arrived from President Young, who was at Council Bluffs. The messenger brought a call for one hundred mounted men who were to serve as dragoons and as buffalo hunters for the Camp of Israel. In response to the call, Elder Woodruff and sixty others stepped to the front. He reported the response to President Young.
On the 26th the camp was thrown into some excitement by the appearance of Captain Allen and three dragoons of the United States army. The object of their visit was to raise volunteers for the Mexican War. He was sent by Colonel Kearney who was acting under instructions from President James K. Polk. These messengers were shown every courtesy, but were asked to confer with President Young. The day following, Elder Woodruff wrote President Young a letter in advance of the messengers who were commissioned to make a call for volunteers.
When the 27th of June arrived, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, Elder Woodruff though in poor health at the time addressed the Saints in Pisgah. It was his farewell sermon at that place, for on the following day he took up his travels again for Council Bluffs.
"I stopped my carriage," he says, "on the top of a hill in the midst of a rolling prairie where I had an extended view of all about me. I beheld the Saints coming in all directions from hills and dales, groves and prairies with their wagons, flocks, and herds, by the thousands. It looked like the movement of a nation."
Traveling a few miles from this point of observation he metParley P. Pratt, who was returning from Council Bluffs with a message to raise a company of men to go in advance to the Rocky Mountains without their families. The Quorum of the Twelve had volunteered to go and in Elder Woodruff's breast there was a heart-felt desire to take up the proposed pioneer movement into the wilderness. He therefore hurried on with as much speed as the ox-teams could endure. They traveled more than twenty miles that day.
The day following they were overtaken by Parley P. Pratt who was returning to Council Bluffs after having delivered his message. He was accompanied by Ezra T. Benson who had recently been chosen to take the place in the Quorum of the Twelve formerly occupied by John E. Page. These brethren expressed a wish that Elder Woodruff accompany them to the Bluffs. The latter, in response, saddled his horse, and leaving his family and company, went on to join President Young and those with him at the front.
On the 4th of July they rode ten miles and breakfasted with some of the brethren whom they met. To their great surprise they were informed that President Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards were near by on their way to Pisgah to raise volunteers for the service of the United States army. "We immediately rode down to where they were located," he says in his journal. "It was truly a happy meeting. I rejoiced to strike hands once more with those noble men. It was the first time we had met since I left Nauvoo on my mission to England soon after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum."
This changed somewhat his plan of travel, and upon the invitation of President Young, Elders Woodruff and Benson returned with him until he met his family and company with whom he journeyed to Council Bluffs which he reached on the 7th of July, 1846.
Upon his arrival at the Missouri River, he set about the task of raising volunteers for the government service. It was about this time that the Saints there were visited by Thomas L. Kane from the City of Washington. His interest in the Latter-day Saints, his deep and unfeigned sympathy for them, naturally awakened feelings of gratitude toward one whose sympathies for them were so genuine. The Colonel's description of Nauvoo,and his defense generally of the Latter-day Saints, have always made his name with them a synonym of friendship. To what extent their faith and beliefs brought conviction to his soul, it will perhaps be impossible to say. It is certain, however, that the new religion awakened in him some belief that these unpopular people were perhaps after all the instrument of a divine providence in transforming the religious views of the modern world; for on the 7th of September he sought and received a patriarchal blessing under the hands of father John Smith, who at the time was living in a tent. Elder Woodruff wrote the blessing as it fell from the lips of the Patriarch and presented it to the Colonel.
It was Colonel Kane's belief, and it was so represented by him to the Saints, that President Polk was favorable to them and had really proposed the Mormon Battalion with the intention in his heart of helping them across the plains by government aid. There was, however, some skepticism, and a belief among some that the whole scheme was an anti-Mormon device, and intended to weaken the Saints in their exodus, and make them an easy prey to the Indians who might encompass the complete destruction of the Saints on the plains.
Brigham Young and other leaders were actively engaged in recruiting men for service in the Battalion. President Young had returned from Mt. Pisgah and met in council with the Twelve. Colonel Kane was present. Such tasks as these required just such enthusiasm and heart-felt conviction as men like Wilford Woodruff could give to them.
On July the 15th Elders Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, and John Taylor were appointed to a mission in Great Britain for the purpose of regulating the affairs of the Church there and of appointing a new presidency over that mission.
On the 16th of July Elder Woodruff writes: "It was a great day in the Camp of Israel. Four companies of volunteers were organized and ready for marching. They were brought together and formed in a hollow square by their captains. They were then addressed by several of the Quorum of the Twelve after which the Battalion began its march in double file over the Redemption Hill, seven miles across the Missouri River bottom to the ferry. The brethren who formed these companies left their families, teams, wagons, and cattle by the wayside not expectingto meet them again for one or two years. They left their wives and children to their brethren and to the tender mercies of God, before they went. With cheerful hearts they believed that they were doing the will of their Heavenly Father. As I viewed them I felt as though I was looking upon the first Battalion of the army of Israel, engaged in the service of the United States."
Upon the departure of the Battalion, the Twelve proceeded at once to ordain Ezra T. Benson who had been called to their Quorum. That evening Elder Woodruff entertained the Apostles as his guests at supper. That body of men felt some pride in the success that had attended their efforts to enlist the Battalion. They were full of joy and were rejoicing together over the satisfaction which they felt in accomplishing that which they hoped would be of lasting benefit and honor to the Latter-day Saints.
A few days later while the Battalion of five hundred were in camp at the ferry, they were addressed by President Young, who bestowed freely upon them his blessings and his promises of safety. After that a concert was given in honor of Colonel Allen, the commander of the men, who were now ready to begin their long and perilous march to the sea.
With the departure of the Battalion, another great move in the exodus had been made. The way across the plains, however, had to be blazed and a route established for the travel of the tens of thousands who should follow the first company in quest of a home far removed from the confines of civilization, a home where the saints of God might enjoy the freedom and the rest that had been denied them ever since the organization of the Church in April, 1830.
During that period of sixteen years the Saints had been constantly fleeing from mobs and from the tyranny of oppressors. They were in a state of constant uncertainty and could find comfort and consolation only in the divine assurance that they were a peculiar people, a chosen people, destined to open a new and marvelous dispensation among the children of men.
The primitive conditions in which the Saints now found themselves along the banks of the Missouri River naturally gave rise to misgivings, murmurings, discontent, and sometimes rebellious sentiment. To maintain peace and order under such circumstanceswas no easy task. The leaders labored early and late and urged constantly, peace, fraternity, and good will. A new burden had been imposed upon those who were left behind and who were required to provide for the welfare of the families of the soldiers. About ninety men were appointed among the Saints to act as bishops. One of their special duties was to look after the families of those who were left dependent upon the Church at large. On the 21st of the month a high council was appointed. Isaac Morley became senior member.
Preparatory to the march across the plains the coming summer, some explorations were begun. Elder Woodruff traveled along the country of the Big Pigeon River on which the camp of the Saints was established. On the 25th of July he crossed the river to the Nebraska side with his family, wagons, and household effects. On the 2nd of August the Twelve met in council and decided that Winter Quarters should be established on the site then occupied by the camp. On the evening of that day President Young and Elder Richards called at the tent of Wilford Woodruff where President Young gave him and his family some instructions on the subject of the priesthood and of the sealing power. That day was also marked by the arrival of a messenger from the Mormon Battalion that was now within thirty miles from Leavenworth.
After settling the question of a location for the winter, twelve men were selected to serve in the joint capacity of a High Council and City Council for the transaction of all business relating to the settlement of the Saints during the winter.
About this time there was a meeting of the Saints with Colonel Kane, and in it the adoption of certain resolutions of respect and gratitude to President Polk for the steps taken by him in arming five hundred men and of furnishing them an opportunity to reach the valleys of the Rocky Mountains. At this time they also urgently protested against the appointment of Lilburn W. Boggs, the former governor of Missouri, and a bitter enemy of the people, as governor of California and Oregon, a position he was anxious to occupy and one which his friends were helping him to secure.
At this time President Young informed Colonel Kane that it was the intention of the Saints to settle in the Great Basin, andthat as soon as they were located to apply for a territorial government. Thus their plans were early revealed to a tried and trusted friend.
The Sunday following, a meeting was held at a place prepared for worship, a place capable of seating about three hundred people. After the people were addressed by Apostle Woodruff, President Young declared that when the Latter-day Saints should finally reach their resting place, he would labor hard to build another temple. The erection of a temple whose blessings they so meagerly enjoyed in Nauvoo was constantly in the mind of the leaders who were inspired by a desire to enjoy the ordinances for the living and dead which belonged, peculiarly, to the temples of God.
In the management of the affairs at Winter Quarters, the Saints were divided into encampments and these again into subdivisions. President Young took charge of division 1. That allotted to Elder Woodruff was No 10. It consisted of thirty-six men, thirty-two wagons, nine horses, 129 oxen, 59 cows, four mules, and forty sheep. The whole of Winter Quarters consisted at this time of 549 men, 597 wagons, 229 horses, 2,110 oxen, 1,168 cows, 49 mules, and 660 sheep.
The entire population of those that located at Council Bluffs at that time is not stated in his journal.
On August 17 Orrin P. Rockwell arrived in camp and brought with him the mail from Nauvoo. The letters from home showed that the mob were still active, that some of the Saints had been whipped in a shameful manner and that there was no hope of any return to the city they loved so well. There was nothing in the information that reached them from Nauvoo to give the least encouragement to any of their number to turn back; their hope was now all directed westward.
There was naturally much suffering in the midst of all the exposure to which the Saints were subjected. Elder Woodruff records the fact that his wife suffered a great deal from sickness and it was with great difficulty that she was kept alive.
The Mormon Battalion constituted the advance-guard for the pioneer movement. It is true that they were taking a route different from that which the body of the Saints intended to follow, but the Battalion was penetrating the great and unknownwilderness. Its difficulties would be their difficulties, its hardships, their hardships. All news therefore brought back from the Battalion was discussed by the Saints on the banks of the Missouri with intense interest. They had reason to be proud of their representatives in blue. The soldiers were making a good record. They were spoken highly of because of their exemplary habits, their willing service, and their powers of endurance.
He writes in his journal of August 22nd that he, in company with other members of the Twelve, crossed the river to Council Point where they found many of the people sick. They went about administering to them, and after rebuking the diseases that were afflicting the Saints, they went on to what is called Redemption Hill. Upon their return to Council Point, they found, to their great pleasure and gratification, that the exercises of the healing power with which the Lord had clothed them was resulting in the restoration of those to whom they had administered.
The leaders here were planning an exodus for the coming year. Preparations of all kinds were therefore being made for a journey of a thousand miles through the wilderness, the country of the red man. The Book of Mormon taught them who the red man was and the promises of which some day he should be a happy recipient. Their sympathy for the Indian, therefore, rested upon religious convictions which they entertained for his future, a future in which he would find redemption from the slothful and slovenly conditions of life into which he had fallen.
On the 27th the Twelve and the high council met with the representatives of two great Indian tribes. The object of the meeting was to get the permission to remain upon their lands and use the wood, grass, and water as long as they wished to stay. "We first met with the Ottos between whom and the Omahas there was a dispute as to who owned the land. The Ottos said the land was theirs. The chief with five or six others was present. We talked to him, after which he returned home. We later met in council with the Omahas. The old chief's name was Big Elk and his son, a young chief, called Young Elk. There were also present with them about sixty old men and braves of the tribe. As it was late, the council adjourned until the morrow. On the 28th we met in the morning with the Omaha chiefs. We smoked the pipe of peace and President Young then spoke tothem through their interpreter. He told them it was our desire to winter there; and if they wished it we would do some work for them, make them a field, repair their guns.
Big Elk replied: "My son, thou hast spoken well. I have all thou hast said in my heart. I have much I want to say. We are poor, when we go to hunt game in one place we meet the enemy and so in another, and our enemies kill us. We do not kill them. I hope we shall be friends. You may stay on these lands two years or more. Our young men may watch your cattle. We would be glad to have you trade with us. We will warn you of danger from other Indians." Much more was said by Big Elk after which the council closed and the Indians, after being fed, returned to their homes.
On September 11, 1846, the leaders rode out in search of Old Council Bluffs. They built a bridge to cross a creek, and after traveling over flats and hills they came to the object of their search about sundown. They found that there was once on that place some old barracks. Nothing was left of it except the body of the magazine with one gable end. The object of this search was to make themselves familiar with the surrounding country and to gain information.
Orson Pratt had been on a visit to the Otto and Omaha Indians, and on his return reported that it was the wish of each of these tribes to perform a war dance before the people. The Omahas were then on their way to war with the Sioux.
It was necessary to secure a certain class and a certain amount of provisions for the journey of the coming season. Bishop Whitney and several others were delegated to proceed to Saint Louis and make the necessary purchases. There was a busy life in the camp. As winter approached, men were actively engaged in putting up log cabins, making dugouts, and taking what precautions they could, under the circumstances, against the inclemency of the winter season.
The situation was so full of anxiety and attended by so many fears, that it was necessary to keep up the spirits and cultivate the hopes of the people. Amusements, chiefly dancing, were provided. These amusements gave opportunity to unruly characters to demonstrate their unworthiness. Mirth, especiallyexcessive mirth, breaks down the natural reserve of man and discloses much of his motives and especially his follies and vices.
The Saints assembled at that time were gathered from all parts of the states and from Great Britain. That community consisted of men and women of all shades of thought, all traditions, beliefs, and customs. The grave and austere, and devoted Saints mingled with the light-minded, the indifferent, and the gay. There were those that constituted the drift wood of the community. They were found piled up where the current had taken them. Some in the camp had no faith, others made no pretensions to faith. There were young men who were wild and unruly. Such conditions naturally gave the leaders much anxiety and brought to them some discouragement. They realized that it would be easy to bring disorder and confusion into their midst. Recording the remarks of President Young to the people on Sunday, Sept. 13th, Elder Woodruff quotes as follows: "I wish to say a few words upon principle. There is one thing I want you to realize and that is that God, angels and saints—Heaven and all of God's creations—are governed by law. I want the Camp of Israel to understand that we must be so governed. If Heaven were not so controlled, what sort of a place would it be? Every man would be in danger of losing his rights and of having them trampled upon. All celestial beings are governed by law and order, for the celestial law is a perfect order of things, a perfect system of light, law, intelligence, exaltation, and glory. We do not arrive at this all at once. A prophet once declared that we should have precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little until we arrive at a fullness of knowledge and glory, even a fullness which reigns in the Heavens.
"We must begin to be governed by law here before we are prepared to receive the fullness that reigns in the Heavens. We must have law and order in our midst."
Some agitation was manifested at this time in consequence of certain favors received by those who then on the banks of the Missouri River were permitted to have more than one wife. Respecting this President Young is quoted as saying: "Some young men are jealous for fear I shall receive more blessings, more wives, or some other blessings than themselves. These men havenever preached the gospel in their lives. If they will travel the world over in poverty as I have done and on foot with blood in their shoes and spend years and years to save the world they will cease to be jealous of the blessings that I enjoy. A woman who has the spirit of God will join herself to a good man who honors and bears the Holy Priesthood. Such a man, if he continues faithful, will be saved in eternal glory and all who are with him.
"I am determined that my affections shall be with God. I will not allow them to be placed upon things that perish. When plagues and disease get hold of our bodies we become loathsome, our beauty fades away. Our affections should be placed upon things that are noble, exalted, lasting, and glorious. I love an exalted mind, it is eternal and cannot fade. I want all my affections to be subject to God and to the principles of glory and eternal life."
A pleasure loving camp in those days had many of the same temptations that beset the pleasure loving world now. Those, then, in whose minds every thing was associated with a pleasure loving spirit attributed self gratification to the motives of their leaders who were then inculcating faith by teaching and practicing the doctrine of plural marriage.
On the 23rd of September the Saints removed their encampment from the prairie ridge where they had been located to the tableland on the bank of the Missouri River. At the latter place a townsite was laid out into blocks, 120 by 40 rods. Each block was divided into lots four by ten.
Two days later Daniel H. Wells and Elder Cutler arrived from Nauvoo. At the meeting on Sunday afternoon of the 27th they gave an account of the Battle of Nauvoo, where the Saints were engaged in resisting the encroaching mob. Three of the Saints were killed and two wounded. It was never known how many of the mob lost their lives. The skirmish resulted in a treaty which required the Saints to leave the city within five days. The little remnant of those compelled to leave was composed chiefly of men and women whose circumstances did not permit them to leave with the main body of the Church. A few remained to protect the property rights of the people who had been driven from the city. There were a few who fostered some lingering thoughts of returning to Nauvoo, or of mercenary advantages in days to come.These property rights which the Saints sought to retain only excited the cupidity and murderous disposition of the mob. It was the property of the Saints they craved and bloodshed did not stand between them and the cravings of their own selfish dispositions. This lingering remnant was, therefore, inhumanely treated and driven into the wilderness without provisions and without shelter. Their distress was pitiful. The Battle of Nauvoo removed from the hearts of all the Saints the last lingering hope of any return to that city. All was gone, their property rights destroyed, and their homes passed to new ownerships. The destruction of all hope in their return to the city they loved made their undertaking in a new and perilous journey the only thing to be reckoned with.
The first Sunday in October, Orson Pratt, Amasa Lyman, and Wilford Woodruff began the organization of the new city of Winter Quarters. It was divided into 13 wards, with a bishop over each. Thus, responsibility was extended and order more firmly established throughout the Camp.
On the 15th Elder Woodruff met with one of those serious experiences recorded in his chapter of accidents. He was struck by a falling tree and disabled for a number of weeks. While he was recovering his little son Joseph was stricken with disease and died on the 12th of November.
On the 17th of that month Elder Woodruff took up again his manual labor. Writing in his journal of those times he says: "I had never seen the Latter-day Saints in any situation where they seemed to be passing through greater tribulations. After being exposed to the sufferings of a tedious journey of ten months in tents and wagons, they were obliged to build a city of log houses numbering more than one thousand. All this work had only a temporary enjoyment. We had to go a great distance for wood and timber, and it was difficult to secure from the deep ravines and hollows where we found it. The labor was hard to endure. I was endeavoring to build a log house for myself and one for my father."
Quite a number died during the winter of 1846-47, in Winter Quarters. Elder Woodruff records the death of Sister Benbow, the wife of his time-honored friend.
On the 8th of December there was born to him a son whomhe named Ezra who lived only a few days and was buried by the side of his brother Joseph. Thus afflictions and death visited the Saints while they were camping along the banks of the Missouri River. By the close of that year their numbers reached 3483. Christmas day was duly observed and such joy and such gratitude as were possible under the circumstances were manifested throughout the Camp.
On the 29th the Twelve met to consider the organization of a pioneer company whose duty it would be to set out for the valleys the following spring. From now on there was a feverish excitement in consequence of the preparation going on for the accomplishment of a journey whose vicissitudes they could not even imagine. Truly they had to walk in the light of faith. In turn it filled their hearts with hope and fond anticipations. Faith taught them to look on the bright side of life and anticipate the best, that they might endure cheerfully the worst that was to overtake them. Thus ended the year 1846 in the life of Wilford Woodruff.