START FOR NAUVOO—TAKEN SEVERELY ILL—THE LORD ANSWERS MY PRAYER
FOR RELIEF—PASS THROUGH CARTHAGE—IN NAUVOO "THE BEAUTIFUL,"
BUT ALMOST DESERTED CITY—SCENE ON THE IOWA SHORE—CROSS THE
MISSISSIPPI—CURIOUS MAKE-UP OF THE EXILES' TEAMS—THE BAD ROADS—STUCK
IN THE MUD—REPAIRING CAMPS—GOOD ORDER MAINTAINED—UNNECESSARY KILLING
OF GAME FORBIDDEN—REACH GRAND RIVER AND PUT IN A CROP—LEARN OF THE
CALL FOR THE MORMON BATTALION—APOSTLES AS RECRUITING OFFICERS—CALL
FOR VOLUNTEERS—RESPONSE BY THE CAMP—RECEIVED INTO THE CHURCH BY
BAPTISM—FILLED WITH THE LOVE OF THE GOSPEL—GET THE SPIRIT TO
ENLIST—CONSULT WITH MY RELATIVES AND EZRA T. BENSON—AN ELDER'S
PROMISE—JOIN THE MORMON BATTALION.
MAY 1st, 1846, was a pleasant day, and we made our start for Nauvoo,
passing through Versailles to a point some ten miles from home to the
first night's camp. I was encouraged to think I had kept so well, but
about ten o'clock the second day I began to shake, and my teeth fairly
to crack. I prayed earnestly to the Lord to heal me. I was quite weak,
and all thought me very sick. But that was the last "shake" I had, for
I began to get well from that time.
It was on May 4th, I believe, that we reached Nauvoo, having passed
through Mount Sterling, the county seat of Brown County, also through
Carthage, where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother the Patriarch
Hyrum Smith had been assassinated. We found the roads so muddy and such
hard traveling that we did not make more than fifteen miles a day. When
we came in sight of the Temple at Nauvoo our hearts were filled with
mingled joy and sorrow—joy that we had seen the Temple of the Lord,
and sorrow that the Saints had been so cruelly driven from it.
As we passed through the city we saw many houses which had been
abandoned—indeed, the city itself seemed almost deserted. At some of
the houses stood covered wagons, into which people were packing goods
preparatory to their flight into the wilderness, they knew not where.
Looking westward across the great Mississippi River, we saw long trains
of wagons strung out over the high rolling prairie. The country was
new, and the roads muddy, so we rested three or four days, visiting the
Temple and viewing the city that was beautiful for situation, but now
was left with few inhabitants. Everything in and about the city that
formerly hummed with industry and life was now lonely, saddened, and
forlorn, and silent but for the preparations for flight by the remnant
therein.
About the 8th of May we crossed the great "father of waters" and
joined the "rolling kingdom" on its westward journey. We found friends
and acquaintances, made up a company of our own, and passed and were
repassed on the trip. Climbing an eminence from which we looked east
and west, covered wagons could be seen as far as the eye could reach.
The teams were made up of oxen, milch cows, two-year-old steers and
heifers, and very few horses and mules. The teamsters were of both
sexes, and comprised young and old. The people who could walk did so,
and many were engaged in driving loose stock.
Hundreds of teams stuck in the mud, and we had to double-up and help
one another out. Many times we had to wade in mud half to our knees and
lift our wagons out of the mire. In this the women not infrequently
would join their husbands and sons, and the old adage came true in
numerous instances—women for a dead lift; when they plunged into the
mud and put their shoulders to the wheels the men were urged to do
double effort, and the wagon always rolled out and onward, at the rate
of twelve to fifteen miles per day.
At every creek we found campers, some repairing wagons, yokes, chains,
etc., doctoring sick cattle, washing clothes, or helping forward
friends whose teams were weak. In all this there was excellent order,
for the camps were organized in a general way by tens, fifties and
hundreds. Peace and harmony prevailed all along the line. Evening
prayers were attended to in each camp. There was much singing, mostly
of sacred hymns or sentimental songs; and from no quarter could coarse
songs be heard. Sometimes the camp would meet in a sociable dance in
the evenings, to drive dull care away; and then there always was good
order and the most perfect friendship and peace.
The camps were instructed not to kill game of any kind to waste its
flesh; they were not even to kill a snake on the road, for it was their
calling to establish peace on earth, and good will toward man and
beast. Thus all went on in peace and order.
At one of the headwaters of the Grand River, Iowa, we found some
hundreds of people putting in gardens and field crops (corn and
potatoes). A few cabins had been built, so father and our party decided
to stop there. We put in a few acres of corn and garden stuff, then
father returned to Illinois to bring up the rest of the family, leaving
my Uncle Alexander Stephens and myself to look after the crop and
stock, which we did faithfully.
About the 6th of July we heard that President Young and several of the
Twelve Apostles had returned from the most advanced companies, and
that there would be a meeting held at the white oak grove—the usual
place of meeting—the next day. There was also a rumor in camp that a
government recruiting officer had come to enlist volunteers, for the
United States had declared war against Mexico.
Of course this latter tidings was a great surprise, as the Mormons had
been denied protection against mob violence and had been forced beyond
the borders of civilization in the United States, and our camps were
stretched out in an Indian country, from the Mississippi River to the
Missouri. Surprised as we were at the government's demand, we were
still more so to think that our leaders would entertain for a moment
the idea of encouraging compliance therewith. Yet rumor said that
President Young and the prominent men with him had come as recruiting
officers as well.
All who could be spared from the tents went eagerly to the White Oak
grove, and there learned that the rumors were true. The United States
government demanded that a battalion of five hundred men be raised
by the Mormon Church, then fleeing from mob violence for the want of
protection by that government whose right and duty it was to protect
them. The men of the moving camp were required to leave their families
in the wilderness, almost unprotected, and go to a foreign land to
fight their country's battles.
But wonders never cease. The leading men among the Mormons—Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, and others of the Twelve
Apostles—stood before the people and called for volunteers to engage
in the Mexican war, saying that the five hundred men must be raised if
it took the whole strength of the camp to do it. If the young men would
not enlist, the middle-aged and old men would, said President Young;
the demand of our country should be met if it took the Twelve Apostles
and the High Priests.
At the close of the meeting there were many who were enthused, while
others appeared confused and did not seem to catch the spirit of
the matter. I was not yet a member of the Church, but all the old
stories of the war of the Revolution and that of 1812, with the later
Black Hawk Indian wars, brightened in my memory so that the spirit
of the patriots awoke within me, and although I was averse to war
and bloodshed, I had a desire to serve my country in any legitimate
way. Yet I felt that, as I was under age, and, as my Uncle Alexander
Stephens had decided to enlist, the responsibility of my father's
affairs now rested on me.
My uncle and I were standing by the roadside talking over the
situation, when along came Ezra T. Benson, who had been recently
selected as one of the Twelve Apostles; there also came Richmond
Louder, one of my associates from boyhood, and Matthew Caldwell.
Richmond Louder and I had talked previously of being baptized together.
He said they were going down to attend to that sacred ordinance, and
invited me to accompany them, which I did gladly. We went to the south
fork of the Grand River, and with Uncle A. Stephens as a witness were
baptized. This was on the 7th of July, 1846. Then we went to the house
of General Charles C. Rich, where we were confirmed, I think under the
hands of Elders Willard Richards and Ezra T. Benson, in the presence of
President Brigham Young and others of the Twelve Apostles.
This done, the happiest feeling of my life came over me. I thought I
would to God that all the inhabitants of the earth could experience
what I had done as a witness of the Gospel. It seemed to me that, if
they could see and feel as I did, the whole of humankind would join
with us in one grand brotherhood, and the universe would be prepared
for the great Millennial morn.
When we returned to camp, my aunts partook of the same feeling that
had filled me. Then I got the spirit to enlist, and after a short
consultation with those most concerned they advised me to lay the
matter before Ezra T. Benson. Accordingly, the next morning Uncle A.
Stephens and I went over to the grove. I told the Elder my feelings,
and the responsibilities left upon me by my father. Elder Benson said
the Spirit's promptings to me were right, and I had started right. He
told me to go on, saying I would be blessed, my father would find
no fault with me, his business would not suffer, and I would never be
sorry for the action I had taken or for my enlistment. Every word he
said to me has been fulfilled to the very letter.
Uncle Alexander Stephens and I then went to a tent where men were
giving in their names as volunteers. We handed in our names, and were
enrolled as members of the historic Mormon Battalion.
