Brigham Young was inspired to finish the temple before they left, so work was increased on that while families prepared themselves to move west. As soon as the upper room was finished, furnished with trees, murals, and furniture, they did as many endowments as they could until they had to leave.
The first wave of saints started the trek west. They had planned to wait until spring so they would have more food and weather and travel conditions would be better, but the persecution was such that they needed to get out of there. Everyone leaving had to leave their brand new houses, their gardens that were about to produce, their fruit trees that had been in long enough to begin to produce, their furniture, and almost every other possession, and they got nothing for them. They had to just walk away.
These first saints to leave had covered wagons. The trail had been well scouted by men Brigham Young had sent out, so they knew where to go, but it was still unknown to them. The local newspaper, the Nauvoo Neighbor, had printed a list of supplies that saints should take. For a family of 5 it listed: blankets, 3 oxen, seeds, farm tools, 1,000 lbs of flour, guns, ammunition, 2 milk cows, cooking pans, fishing gear, dried fruit, spices, tent, nails, and ropes. The covered wagons were approximately the size of a Toyota Highlander - 18x11x4. With that many provisions, there wasn't much room for anyone to ride unless they really needed it like the elderly, pregnant, or small children. The covered wagons traveled about 18 miles a day.
From Nauvoo, they traveled north instead of west because they didn't dare try to go through Missouri. In the first attempt to cross the Mississippi river, they had a wagon and oxen on a raft, but the ox kicked a hole in the raft and everything sank. People jumped in to save everyone, and were successful, but realized that wasn't going to work. Then the first miracle of the trip happened. The weather dropped to a record low and the river froze so solid that they could cross with their wagons and oxen and everything. Several babies were born while crossing the river.
2,000 saints gathered at the first way station, Sugar Creek. They camped in 8" of snow. But even worse was when it warmed up a little, then they were in so much mud the wagons would get stuck. There was no way to wash so everyone was very, very dirty, especially the children.
People hadn't packed all the supplies that were on the list, and there wasn't much food on the list anyway, so by the time they got to Sugar Creek, they were already running out of food. The leaders had packed extra so they shared, but soon that ran out. Brigham Young said he lost so much weight that the coat, that barely buttoned before, now wrapped around by 12"!
William Pitt and some others had taken instruments and had a brass band. In the evenings they would play while the saints gathered and danced. They played all the popular songs of the day. The dancing lifted spirits, was good aerobic exercise, and helped keep them warm. One favorite song was Upper California. At that time, all of California, Nevada, and Utah belonged was part of the Mexico Territory. That's where they were headed, so they liked that song a lot.
Brigham Young said the saints bore their trials without murmuring. He said they were the best people on earth since Enoch's city. He called them Camp of Israel.
They stayed in Sugar Creek until March. .By then the food had run out. The brass band would go into neighboring cities and play and earn money to take back to the saints for food. That was one of the things that saved them.
The longest part of their journey was through Iowa. The wagons got stuck constantly. They spent more time getting through Iowa than the whole rest of the trip to Utah.
William Clayton had gone with Brigham Young on this trip without his wife because she was expecting a baby. He was so worried about her and that all would be well, and finally he got a message that his wife had her baby and that both were fine. That inspired him to write the hymn, "All is Well". It quickly became everyone's favorite hymn, and it was an unwritten rule that if someone started singing it, all had to join in. He was also asked to be the camp clerk and keep track of their miles. In doing this, he invented the odometer!
In April they reached the next way station, Garden Grove. While there they plowed 700 acres, built log cabins, and planted crops for those who followed.
About that time, Texas was annexed into the Union and Congress declared war on Mexico. Someone was sent to recruit the Mormons to help fight but nobody wanted to enlist. First of all, they were pretty involved in what was going on in their lives, and 2nd, the government had consistently turned its back on them. But Brigham received a revelation that if they joined, it would be well, it would bring good will with the Church and the government, it would finance their trip west, and they would never have to fight.
So 541 enlisted. Brigham Young handpicked the officers. He promised them that if they kept the commandments they would never have to fight. Among other things they were told to never take God's name in vain if they wanted His help. (George Washington also demanded that). If they were married, they could take their wives.
There was a huge sendoff in July 1846. 31 women went to cook and do laundry. There were also some children. They marched 200 miles to Leavenworth. They were given $42 for clothing/year, which is the equivalent of $1200 today, and uniforms were optional. So they gave part of the money to Parley P Pratt to take back to the saints.
When they signed up with the Army, the recruiters were very surprised because all of the 541 men knew how to write. The Mormon Battalion was assigned to blaze a trail to Santa Fe and from there to California. They were good workers and did a great job, but never fought.
At one point on the trip there was a stampede of bulls, called the Battle of Bulls. A few were injured, but none were killed.
When they got to Tucson, AZ, the Mexicans ran from them. They had heard of this huge army of Mormons. So they were able to take over the city without fighting. They went to San Diego as occupation troops. They were admired because they knew how to build houses and other buildings. They built a courthouse, dug wells, and greatly contributed to establish San Diego.
Most men were discharged after a year but Brigham Young told them to stay in San Diego to earn money. In Sutter's Fort gold was discovered so they got a lot of money and the next summer they left the gold mines to go to join their families in Utah.
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