"He was the president of the Twelve Apostles, the quorum next in authority to the First Presidency, upon whom naturally rested the keys of the kingdom, upon whom, in fact, was conferred the power or authority that the prophet had received from on high. Sidney Rigdon and others sought the honor of leading the Church, but the Lord, through the manifestations of His Spirit, chose Brigham Young for the place, as president of the Twelve Apostles, the people sustaining him by their vote, at a meeting held in the grove near the temple at Nauvoo, on the 8th of August, 1844. He was afterwards, December, 1847, chosen president of the whole Church. He felt the power of his calling, and made preparations for the great exodus of the people to the West, which had been considered during the lifetime of the prophet, but which was now made absolutely necessary by the persecution of the enemies of the Church. In 1845, anti-Mormon delegates from nine counties of Illinois met, at Carthage, and demanded the removal of the Saints. The Council of Apostles agreed to their demands, knowing full well that there was no alternative between exodus or extermination by massacre. In February, 1846, the exodus began by the Saints crossing the Mississippi River, the remnant following on September 17th of the same year, and the movement triumphantly continued, with interruptions, under severest difficulties and hardships, until the pioneers, on July 24th, 1847, entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Something of the hardships which they endured, and of the magnitude of their undertaking, the historians have graphically pictured. Tullidge says:
"'The Mormons were setting out under their leader from the borders of civilization, with their wives and their children, in broad daylight, before the very eyes of ten thousand of their enemies, who would have preferred their utter destruction to their 'flight,' notwithstanding they had enforced it by treaties outrageous beyond description, inasmuch as the exiles were nearly all American born, many of them tracing their ancestors to the very founders of the nation. They had to make a journey of fifteen hundred miles over trackless prairies, sandy deserts and rocky mountains, through bands of war-like Indians, who had been driven, exasperated, towards the West; and at last, to seek out and build up their Zion in valleys then unfruitful, in a solitary region where the foot of the white man had scarcely trodden. These, too, were to be followed by the aged, the halt, the sick and the blind, the poor, who were to be helped by their little less destitute brethren, and the delicate young mother with her newborn babe at her breast, and still worse, for they were not only threatened with the extermination of the poor remnant at Nauvoo, but news had arrived that the parent government designed to pursue their pioneers with troops, take from them their arms, and scatter them, that they might perish by the way, and leave their bones bleaching in the wilderness. * * * In the centuries hence, when the passing events of this age shall have taken their proper place, the historian will point back to that exodus in the New World of the West, as one quite worthy to rank with the immortal exodus of the children of Israel.'
"Bancroft says:
"'Of their long journey many painful incidents are recorded. Weakened by fever or crippled by rheumatism, and with sluggish circulation, many were severely frostbitten. Women were compelled to drive the nearly worn-out teams, while tending on their knees, perhaps, their sick children. The strength of the beasts was failing, as there were intervals when they could be kept from starving only by the browse or tender buds and branches of the cottonwood, felled for the purpose.
"'At one time no less than two thousand wagons could be counted, it was said, along the three hundred miles of road that separated Nauvoo from the Mormon encampments. Many families possessed no wagons, and in the long processions might be seen vehicles of all descriptions, from the lumbering cart, under whose awning lay stretched its fever-stricken driver, to the veriest makeshifts of poverty, the wheel-barrow or the two-wheeled trundle, in which was dragged along a bundle of clothing and a sack of meal all of this world's goods that the owner possessed.
"'On arriving at the banks of the Missouri, the wagons were drawn up in double lines and in the form of squares. Between the lines, tents were pitched at intervals, space being left between each row for a passage way, which was shaded with awnings or a latticework of branches, and served as a promenade for convalescents and a playground for children.'
"But it would be too long a story, to follow the exiles in their vicissitudes through the whole of their weary march across the uninhabited wilderness that lay between them and their future home, in the then wild valleys of the mountains, and to speak of their struggles for existence after they arrived there. They passed through many severe afflictions in building up the country and in settling the territory. The crops were often destroyed by grass-hoppers, crickets, untimely frosts, and drought, but in each difficulty, the Lord overruled circumstances for good and prospered the people, providing the necessaries of life. Settlements were established at various points north and south of Salt Lake City, and the thrift of the people, seasoned with the blessings of God, soon caused cities and villages to spring up in all directions. President Young, himself, often went to seek locations for these sites, and was very frequently present when a city or town was founded."
"Truly, a wonderful people with a strange and fascinating history. I am more enthusiastic than ever in my determination to see them and their gathering place," said Mr. Brown.
The evening was far spent, and the company prepared to retire, after the usual leave-taking on such occasions. They all wished the missionary and Mr. Brown a pleasant journey. The parting was affecting, for the people had learned to love the Elder, and he, in turn, had a strong and living interest in them. Many missionaries can testify of the binding influence such friends have upon their affections, and people who have learned to love the Elders are frequently as loth to part with them as with members of their own families. This case was no exception. Durant thanked them all for their kindness to him, and blessed them for their hospitality, expressing a desire to see them gathered with the Saints, if God should open their hearts to an adoption of the gospel truths.
Early on the following morning, the Elder and Mr. Brown set their faces to the West, and with the present facilities for travel, expected soon to be in the land of the Mormons. As they passed over the vast plains, large rivers, rolling and rugged hills, and pleasant valleys, their conversation was often directed to the great difference between travel as the pioneers endured it, and as it is now enjoyed in the trains of palace coaches.