Essentials in Church History / A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"

by Joseph Fielding Smith

As soon as the apostles arrived at Winter Quarters they held council meetings almost daily, which continued during the months of November and December, for there was much to be done. The Saints had been greatly blessed in their crops and a good and abundant harvest had been gathered. Instructions were given that all the Church records should be gathered and prepared for removal to the Salt Lake Valley. The poor among the Saints were also to be gathered, and instructions were given to the people at Garden Grove to move to Winter Quarters in the spring. Elder Jesse C. Little was called again to preside in the Eastern States and Elder John Brown, who had led the Mississippi Saints to Pueblo, and later was one of the pioneers, was called to take charge of the work in the Southern States. November 8, it was decided to vacate Winter Quarters and move to the east bank of the Missouri, and there make a settlement for the members of the Church who were not able to continue to the west. All who could leave in the spring for the west would be called upon to do so. Elder Hyde, who had been presiding at Winter Quarters, reported that action had been taken against Bishop George Miller and James Emmett, who, contrary to counsel, had moved to Texas instead of continuing on to the Rocky Mountains. This action was approved by the council of the twelve. Elder Orson Pratt was chosen to go to England and preside in the British Mission and Elder Wilford Woodruff to Canada. Some twenty-seven elders were called to various mission fields. November 22, the brethren wrote a letter to Oliver Cowdery, whose heart had softened, exhorting him to be baptized.

Organization of the First Presidency

From the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph and Patriarch Hyrum Smith in 1844, until December, 1847, the Twelve Apostles, with President Brigham Young at their head, were sustained as the presiding council of the Church. On the return journey to Winter Quarters from the Salt Lake Valley, the apostles conversed on the subject of reorganizing the First Presidency. December 5, 1847, they met in council at the home of Orson Hyde, on the east bank of the Missouri River, when this and other important matters were considered. There were present at this meeting: President Brigham Young, and Elders Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Amasa M. Lyman and Ezra T. Benson. Elders Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor were in the Salt Lake Valley, and Lyman Wight, who had failed to accompany the Church to the West, was in Texas. Elders Lyman and Benson had been called into the council of the twelve to succeed William Smith and John E. Page, who had been excommunicated because of insubordination and rebellion against authority. Each of the brethren present expressed his views in turn in relation to the matter of the First Presidency, after which, on motion of Elder Orson Hyde, Brigham Young was unanimously sustained as President of the Church “with authority to nominate” his two counselors. He chose Elder Heber C. Kimball, as his first and Willard Richards, as his second counselor. The choosing of Heber C. Kimball, was the fulfilment of a prediction by the Patriarch Hyrum Smith. In a patriarchal blessing given to Elder Kimball March 9, 1842, Hyrum Smith said: “You shall be blessed with a fulness and shall be not one whit behind the chiefest; as an apostle you shall stand in the presence of God to judge the people; and as a prophet you shall attain to the honor of the three.” The following day they selected “Uncle” John Smith to be “the Patriarch over the whole Church.” Elders Orson Hyde and Ezra T. Benson were appointed to go east and Amasa M. Lyman to the north to procure means to help the Saints to emigrate the next season. The apostles also ordained Luke S. Johnson an elder.

The Sustaining Vote of the Saints

A general conference of the Church on the Missouri was held December 24 to 27, 1847, on the Iowa side of the Missouri River. A large log tabernacle had been constructed which would seat nearly one thousand persons. On the last day of this conference the First Presidency, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, chosen by the apostles on the 4th of the month, were unanimously sustained by the vote of the Saints. John Smith was also sustained as the “Patriarch over all the Church.” The action of this conference was subsequently ratified by the members of the Church in Iowa and in the Salt Lake Valley, at conferences held in April, 1848; and in the British Isles at a conference held in Manchester, August 14, 1848.

The day before the conference convened (Dec. 23), a general epistle was issued by the apostles to all the members of the Church, “dispersed throughout the earth.” This was a very important epistle portraying the movements of the Church since the exodus from Nauvoo, and declaring the intentions and prospects of the people for the immediate future. All the members of the Church who had been driven from their homes were instructed to gather to the site selected for their settlement in the Great Basin. Others in the United States, Canada and Great Britain, were likewise counseled to gather, as circumstances would permit. They were to bring with them seeds of every kind—“everything that grows upon the face of the whole earth that will please the eye, gladden the heart, or cheer the soul of man.” They were also to bring “the best stock of beasts, birds and fowl,” and tools of every kind. Advice in relation to the building of Zion; the preaching of the Gospel; the duties of parents; the building of the temple, and other matters of grave concern to the members of the Church, were also set forth, for their comfort and guidance, during those days of reconstruction and great trial.

Kanesville—Pottawattamie County

Following the advice of President Young, the Saints residing at Winter Quarters moved across the Missouri River to the Bluffs on the Iowa side. This country was called the “Pottawattamie country,” because it was inhabited by a tribe of Indians by that name. These Indians had been removed by the government, a few months before, to another part, leaving the Saints in sole occupancy of the land. There were no settlements within many miles of the Latter-day Saints. President Young deemed it wise that the Saints should hold these lands for some time, in the interests of immigration, and therefore many who were not prepared to go west, and some who preferred to remain, made this place their home.

The settlement established by them was in what was called “Miller’s Hollow.” They named it “Kanesville,” in honor of Colonel Thomas L. Kane, who had been instrumental in securing for them privileges from the government, and who had shown his friendship on many occasions. Elder Orson Hyde, who was left in charge after the departure of President Young and the majority of the Saints, published a paper, the Frontier Guardian, which continued under his editorship for three years. When the Saints residing there were instructed to join the main body of the Latter-day Saints in the West, the paper was sold and the members of the Church left their holdings for other people.

The Iowa Legislature in 1847, provided for the creation of counties in the Pottawattamie country, whenever the judge of that district “should decree that the public good required it.” The Saints petitioned for a county organization, and learned that the judge had already taken steps in that direction. The County of Pottawattamie was therefore organized, and was officered by members of the Church. Other settlers began to arrive, after the Saints had made of the place a pleasant habitation. When the call came for the members of the Church to “arise and come home” in 1852, they deserted Kanesville and the name was soon changed to Council Bluffs, by which name it has since been known.