1834.
ZION'S CAMP ON THE WAY--MIRACLE OF BRINGING FORTH WATER--ZELPH, THE
WHITE LAMANITE--REBELLION IN THE CAMP--STOP FOR THE NIGHT ON FISHING
RIVER--CAMPBELL'S THREAT--THE MOB AROUSED.
On the evening of the 8th of May, 1834, Zion's Camp slowly made its
way into a beautiful grove at the end of its first day's journey. Each
captain chose a camping spot for his company, the firemen builded
up crackling fires, the cooks began to prepare food, the horsemen
unhitched the horses and tended them, the watermen brought pure water
from the brook, the tentmakers pitched the tents and the runners went
on errands or carried messages. You see that each man had his own work
and all was orderly.
After supper was over and darkness had come, the Camp gathered about
the fires--for the spring air was chilly--and talked of the great work
before them. They may have looked up at the glorious stars and thought
of the splendor and the power of the One who made these great bodies
and set them in their place, and rejoiced that they were giving up much
to do His work.
Suddenly a trumpet sounded, the hour of prayer and sleep had come. In
a moment each man was on his knees thanking God for the blessings of
the day, asking Him for the blessings of the night, praying Him for the
suffering Saints of Zion, for His work everywhere, and for the loved
ones at home. Then they lay down to rest and the Camp of Zion was still.
When the spring morning dawned, before the sun rose over the Ohio
hills, the men were again astir, each busy at his own work. Again the
trumpet sounded and again each kneeled and offered prayer. Breakfast
was prepared and eaten, the horses were hitched to the wagons and at a
given signal the Camp moved forward on its way.
And thus they went, filled for the most part with zeal and brotherly
love, and willing to endure all things. Sometimes they walked in the
heat of the day until their feet bled. Often their enemies were thick
about them, and guards had to be set at night to keep the Camp from
those who would fall upon it in the darkness. But angels traveled with
them, as the Lord had promised, and they saw them. Their enemies were
often frightened and at one place counted five hundred, although at the
time the Camp numbered less than two hundred men.
The blessings of the Lord were shown in many other ways. Once, at the
end of a hot June day, they pitched their tents on a broad, treeless
prairie, over which they had traveled all day long. They were very
thirsty, for the plain had no water upon it and the supply they carried
had been gone since morning. When Joseph saw the suffering about him
he called for a spade, and picking out a place which all could easily
reach, he dug a shallow well. Water at once flowed into it and the two
hundred men and fifty or more horses and mules drank from it. Plenty of
water was in the well as long as the Camp stayed there.
Perhaps you have read about the children of Israel thirsting in the
wilderness and grumbling sorely at Moses. At the Lord's command he
struck a rock with his rod and water poured forth and all Israel drank
of it. But Moses committed sin here, for he spoke as if he and Aaron
had done this instead of giving God the glory.
This miracle was more showy than the one in Zion's Camp but it was in
one sense no greater. The brethren were not complaining and they did
not need to be startled by some sudden sign. But the Lord made the
water flow in both cases to give His children drink, and I believe the
men of Zion's Camp were more truly thankful than were the Israelites.
Just before the Camp passed from Illinois across the Mississippi river
into Missouri, Joseph with Brigham Young and others went up on one of
the mounds in the neighborhood to obtain a view of the great river,
called the Father of Waters. Here they found an altar built according
to the ancient style, and from its foot they dug up the skeleton of a
man. They were surprised to find an arrow-head between the ribs. It was
revealed to the Prophet that this was the remains of Zelph, a white
Lamanite and a mighty man of God, who had fought as a chieftain under
the Prophet Omandagus. He was killed in battle during the last great
struggle of the Lamanites and Nephites. Of course we know it was not in
the last battle of the struggle because that was fought around the Hill
Cumorah. What a glorious gift is the inspiration of God!
It was not until the Camp had crossed the Mississippi that any trouble
arose. Of course enemies had often been near, rivers were often deep,
roads were often long and rough, but these were all from without--God
would protect and care for His servants in such conditions and they
could not, therefore, be called troubles. But now real trouble came; it
was sin within the Camp, and God would not protect them from that. Only
their union and faith had secured their safety in the past. Sylvester
Smith openly rebelled against Joseph and the order of the Camp and
others joined with him. The Prophet warned them that the Lord would
punish with a heavy scourge, and He did.
As soon as they reached Missouri, Hyrum Smith and Lyman Wight came with
volunteers to join them, and the Camp now numbered two hundred and
five men, with twenty-five heavily laden wagons. For a few days they
remained at Salt river to rest, and here Lyman Wight was made their
general. Twenty men were also picked out, with Hyrum as captain, to
be a body-guard to the Prophet, for they were now in a country where
different men had sworn they would murder him.
After this little rest the Camp traveled on until July 18th, when they
stopped for the night one mile from Richmond, Ray county. They expected
here to meet an army of their enemies, as the mob had threatened to lie
in wait for them at this place. But at daylight the next morning the
Camp passed quietly through the town before the people were awake.
They had not gone far on the prairie before a wagon broke down. They
stopped and repaired it, but had hardly started again when a wheel
ran off another wagon. And so it went all day long. At night, instead
of being over in Clay county, as they had hoped to be, they were only
on the Fishing river in Ray. This was a small stream flowing into the
Missouri and at this point was divided into seven branches. Between two
of these, on a high piece of ground, they halted and prepared to spend
the night.
Soon after they stopped, five armed men rode up and said, with many an
oath, that the Camp should see hell before morning. Sixty men, they
said, were coming from Richmond and seventy from Clay county, and they
had sworn utterly to destroy the Camp. With this warning they rode
away. The afternoon had been very fair, but as night came on black
clouds rose from the west and covered the whole sky.
You ought now to know what was going on outside of Zion's Camp. No
doubt you remember the meeting between the Jackson county Saints and
the Jackson county mob that was held in Clay county, June 16, 1834.
Governor Dunklin and other men wished the Saints to give way and sell
their land, but this they would not do, and the meeting was broken up
by a stabbing affair in the mob.
James Campbell and Samuel C. Owens, with ten other angry men, left the
meeting, jumped into a boat and began to row across the Missouri. They
wished to reach Jackson county in order to raise an army to lead out
against Zion's Camp. James Campbell, while strapping on his pistols
before starting, said, with a bold swagger, "The eagles and turkey
buzzards shall eat my flesh if I do not fix Joe Smith and his army so
that their skins will not hold shucks, before two days are passed."
How little this man thought of his fate when he spoke these terrible
words! That night the angel of death overturned the boat in the middle
of the river. James Campbell and six others were drowned and the rest
barely escaped with their lives. Samuel Owens floated four miles down
stream and landed on an island. Early in the morning he stripped off
his clothes and swam to the Jackson shore where he borrowed a garment
to cover his nakedness and, as Joseph says, "slipped home rather shy of
the vengeance of God." James Campbell's skeleton was found on a pile of
drift-wood in the river three weeks later and the birds of prey had in
reality torn off and eaten his flesh.
But there were plenty of men left in Jackson county to call the mob to
arms. This misfortune was no lesson to them. They rode over the county
telling the men that the "Mormon" army had come and they would have to
turn out to meet it. This was a welcome message, for these were the
wild, lawless spirits always found on the frontier. They were used to
spilling blood, and they thought themselves very bold and brave. And so
they gathered at the appointed time on the bank of the Missouri, armed
with dirks and pistols and guns, hoping to kill Joseph Smith and his
followers and secure the plunder.