"My first attempt at washing my clothes took place at Salt River. My shirts being extremely dirty, I put them into a kettle of water and boiled them for about two hours, having observed that women who washed boiled their clothes, and I supposed by so doing they boiled out the dirt; I then took them and washed them, endeavoring to imitate a woman washing as near as I could. I rubbed the clothes with my knuckles instead of the palm of my hand, and rubbed the skin off so that my hands were very sore for several days. My attempts were vain in trying to get the dirt out of the clothes. I wondered at this considerably, and scolded and fretted because I could not get the dirt out, and finally gave it up, and wrung them and hung them out to dry. Having no flat-irons to iron them, I took them to Sisters Hollbrook and Ripley to get them ironed. When they saw them they said I had not washed my clothes. I told them I had done my best, and although I had boiled them two hours before washing, and had washed them so faithfully that I had taken the skin off my knuckles, still I had not been successful in getting the dirt out. They laughed heartily, and informed me that by boiling before washing I had boiled the dirt into them.
"On the 12th we again resumed our march; many of the inhabitants went with us several miles; they seemed to have much respect for us. We traveled about fourteen miles and camped on a large prairie.
"We tarried in the middle of this prairie, which was about twenty-eight miles across, on account of a rupture which took place in the camp. Here F. G. Williams and Roger Orton received a very severe chastisement from Brother Joseph for not obeying orders. In this place further regulations were made in regard to the organization of the camp.
"A day or two after this, Bishop Partridge met us, direct from Clay County, as we were camping on the bank of the Wacondah River, in the woods. We received much information from Brother Partridge concerning the hostile feelings and prejudices that existed against us in all quarters of Missouri. It gave us great satisfaction to receive intelligence from him, as we were in peril and threatened all the time. I will here mention one circumstance that transpired during our stay at this place, which was that of Brother Lyman Wight baptizing Dean Gould, as he was not previously a member of the Church, yet had accompanied us all the way from Kirtland.
"We pursued our journey, following the bank of the river, for several miles. As we left the river and came into a very beautiful prairie, Brother William Smith killed a very large deer, which made us some very nourishing soup, and added to our comfort considerably.
"On Wednesday, the 18th, at night, we camped one mile from the town of Richmond, Ray County. On Thursday, the 19th, we arose as soon as it was light and passed through the town before the inhabitants were up. As Luke Johnson and others were passing through before the teams came along, Brother Luke observed a black woman in a gentleman's garden near the road. She beckoned to him and said, 'come here massa.' She was evidently much agitated in her feelings. He went up to the fence and she said to him, 'there is a company of men lying in wait here who are calculating to kill you this morning as you pass through.' This was nothing new to us as we had been continually threatened through the whole journey, and death and destruction seemed to await us daily. This day we only traveled about fifteen miles. One wagon broke down and the wheels ran off from another, and there seemed to be many things to hinder our progress, although we strove with all diligence to speed our way forward. Our intentions were when we started to go through to Clay County that day; but all in vain.
"This night we camped on an elevated piece of land between two branches of the Fishing River. Just as we halted and were making preparations for the night, five men rode into the camp and told us we should see hell before morning, and such horrible oaths as came from their lips I never heard before. They told us that sixty men were coming from Richmond, who had sworn to destroy us, also seventy more were coming from Clay County, to assist in our destruction. These men were black with passion, and armed with guns, and the whole country was in a rage against us, and nothing but the power of God could save us. All this time the weather was pleasant. Soon after these men left us we discovered a small black cloud rising in the west, and not more than twenty minutes passed away before it began to rain and hail; but we had very little hail in our camp. All around us the hail was heavy; some of the hailstones, or rather lumps of ice, were as large as hens' eggs. The thunder rolled with awful majesty, and the red lightnings flashed through the horizon, making it so light that I could see to pick up a pin almost any time through the night. The earth quaked and trembled, and there being no cessation it seemed as though the Almighty had issued forth his mandate of vengeance. The wind was so terrible that many of our tents were blown down. We were not able to hold them up; but there being an old meeting house close at hand, many of us fled there to secure ourselves from the storm. Many trees were blown down, and others were twisted and wrung like a withe. The mob came to the river two miles from us, but the river had risen to that height that they were obliged to stop without crossing over. The hail fell so heavily upon them that it beat holes in their hats, and in some instances even broke the stocks off their guns; their horses, being frightened, fled, leaving the riders on the ground. Their powder was wet, and it was evident that the Almighty fought in our defense. This night the river raised forty feet.
"In the morning I went to the river in company with Brother Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young and others, as we had it in contemplation to proceed that morning to Liberty, Clay County; but we could not continue our journey as there was no way to cross the river. It was then overflowing its banks; and I have seen the river since and proved that it was fully forty feet from the top of its banks to the bottom. Previous to this rain falling, it was no more than ankle deep. Such a time never was known by us before; still we felt calm all night, and the Lord was with us. The water was ankle deep to us all night, even on that eminence, so we could not sleep.
"At this place W. W. Phelps, S. W. Denton, John Corrill and many others from Liberty joined us; from whom we received much information from the brethren who had been driven from Jackson County, and learned of the fixed determination of our enemies to drive or exterminate them from that county.
"The next day, when we moved into the country we saw that the hail had destroyed the crops, and we saw that it had come in some directions within a mile and in other directions within a half mile of our camp. After passing a short distance the ground was literally covered with branches of the trees which had been cut off by the hail. We went a distance of five miles on the prairie to get food for our horses and also to get some provisions for ourselves, and to get into some secure place where we could defend ourselves from the rage of the enemy. We stayed there three or four days, until the rage of the people was somewhat allayed.