eBook Mormons at the Missouri, Winter Quarters, 1846-1852 download

Those of us who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) cherish our doctrine and our history. Most of us know a great deal about the life of Joseph Smith, the history of the church in New York, Kirtland Ohio, Missouri, and Nauvoo Illinois. We then know there was a difficult period of pioneering where the Church trekked from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters, which we vaguely know was quite awful, and then they get over the Rockies and founded Salt Lake City and colonize what later becomes Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona. But the actual details of why, how, and when we left Nauvoo, why we were at Winter Quarters, and what we did there are all quite vague for most of us.

I was watching a show called "The History of the Saints" on BYU-TV and saw a few episodes on this period between the martyrdom of Joseph Smith in 1844 until the arrival in the Great Basin in 1847, and one of the scholars I really enjoyed was Richard E. Bennett. I looked up his books and bought this book and its sequel , "We'll Find the Place". While I am still reading the second book, reading this book was a revelation. While I am delighted to know so much more about leaving Nauvoo and why the Saints ended up having to hunker down out on both sides of the Missouri River until they could finally head for the Valley in the spring of 1847, it was an education of a very sad period in our history. More than a thousand men, women, and children died there because of disease, exposure, and exhaustion. This was about one in twelve of the people who had left Nauvoo. But it could have been far worse.

Bennett shows us how resourceful they were in building what amounted to the first city in what became Nebraska, and how the Saints were scattered all over Iowa and lived in small camps and communities. They were creative in doing work to create goods they could trade for food and supplies and in hiring out their labor to farms in the region and even sending five hundred of their best and strongest men off in the Mormon Battalion on a long march to help secure the Southwest for the United States. The enlistment provided needed hard money the Saints could use to buy necessities for all and care for the families of the soldiers. They even build a grist mill that still stands today that was kept busy around the clock making flour to feed the thousands who faced starvation without the bread made from that flour.

Bennett provides us with rich detail on the politics of the Saints being in Indian territory and the concerns the U.S. had about keeping the Mormons from aligning with the British over Oregon or the Mexicans in the Southwest. How Brigham Young managed these negotiations to get what he had to have to get permission (sort of) to create Winter Quarters on the WEST side of the Missouri so they would not have to cross so many people and thousands of head of cattle in the spring flood.

This book shows the Saints as real people and does not sugar coat them in any way. He is open and frank about the need for police in Winter Quarters, about those who left the Church, about the threat posed by challengers to Brigham Young such as James Strang who convinced more than 2,000 members to follow him instead of Young. Bennett is also quite clear that Brigham was not at all frank about where he was leading the Saints to and may not have settled on the final destination for some time. But he certainly got lots of advice from challengers and managed their threats while staying on his own course. The material on how Brigham managed the re-organization of the First Presidency and the log tabernacle is fascinating.

For me, the most inspiring aspects of this often heartbreaking story is the way they strove to work together as a community and to make this difficult exodus together or not at all. This was no haphazard operation. They companies were as organized as the people themselves would follow. Still, many suffered tremendously despite their faith, loyalty, prayers, and earnest devotion. The Lord does try and test His people. And these Saints, to my mind, passed the test.

This book briefly notes the 90 day trek from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake, but does not really discuss it in detail. The focus of this book is the journey from Nauvoo to the creation and use of Winter Quarters and the camps on the east of the Missouri River, as well. The sequel, which I am reading now and will review soon, deals with the journey to Salt Lake in more detail. Both are full of wonderful illustrations and reproductions of art (made later) of the events. Some are contemporary sketches from journals.

For anyone who wants to know real Mormon History, I think this book is an essential and marvelous resource. I have it on a privileged spot on my bookshelf. I hope you get a copy and put it in your own library.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI

Excellent review of events

Lots of great information, some put downs of church leaders too.

This is a fine work. Probably the best available overview of the period.

Excellent scholarly, well-researched book that is worth a very careful reading to understand the Mormon experience at Winter Quarters. The footnotes are a vital part of the book. Highly recommended.