The Latter-Day Prophet: History of Joseph Smith Written for Young People

by George Q. Cannon

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.