As Wide as the River by Dean Hughes

Author:Dean Hughes [Hughes, Dean T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction, Religion
Publisher: Deseret Book Company
Published: 1980-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

After the tension of the impending war and the intense emotion brought on by the cholera epidemic, things calmed rather quickly for the Mormons in Clay County. The cholera stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Fourteen had died: twelve of the men from Zion’s Camp; Sidney Gilbert; and Betsey Parrish, who had traveled in the camp with her husband. Joseph Smith released the men of the army, and in smaller groups they set out on the long march back to Ohio. The Prophet had made one attempt to negotiate the purchase of lands in Jackson County by offering to buy the lands of only those old settlers who felt they could not live in the same county with the Saints. But the old settlers were not interested, especially since Joseph Smith demanded compensation for property damage to Mormon homes and buildings.

The Saints were disappointed. They had been apprehensive about the possible war, but they had imagined the glory and joy of the triumphant return to Zion, led by their prophet. Now they had little hope of returning, at least in the near future. Joseph Smith stayed in the county for a few more days and directed the Clay County Saints in organizing their leadership into a high council and a presidency. David Whitmer was chosen to preside over the Church in Missouri. Soon after establishing the new leadership, the Prophet returned to Ohio, and the Saints began the process of establishing themselves more firmly in Clay County. They had to build better homes before winter, and they had to make arrangements to rent or buy land. Zion would still be established, they believed, but for now they had to think simply of survival.

The summer continued very hot and humid and the grasshoppers were plentiful, but the crops were not bad that year. Many of the Mormons continued to struggle with their health, however. The towns along the river seemed to be plagued by one fever after another, and many of the Saints had never really recovered from the ordeal they had gone through the fall and winter before. In September Sally Knight, Newel’s wife, gave birth to a baby boy who soon died. A few days later Sally died as well. She had struggled to survive for almost a year, but she was a frail woman, and her health had been broken by exposure to the cold and wet during the time of the expulsion. A few weeks after his wife’s death, Newel was called to Ohio to preach the gospel along the way and then to work on the temple that was being built in Kirtland. Others of the Missouri leaders— David Whitmer, Parley Pratt, Lyman Wight, William Phelps, Edward Partridge— were similarly called to such missions. For the Missouri Saints, it seemed that the center of their church was returning to Ohio, that the Missouri Mormons were now only hanging on for the future. So these were days of difficulty and of disappointment.

Joseph’s life, however, was not much influenced by the general movement of the Church.

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