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 Hyde {248} and 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 was {249} aged 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 exchange {250} of 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 met {251}
Parley 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, {252} 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 expecting {253}
to 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 circumstances {254} was 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, and {255} that 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 unknown {256} wilderness. 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 to {257} them 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, especially {258} excessive 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 have {259} never 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. {260} 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 whom {261} he
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.
{262}