He arrived in Far West on the 3rd of July, and there he and his sons went to work. He paid up his debts, and had sufficient means on hand to meet the demands and exigences of life.
In the Autumn of 1838, he and his son Myron went to a mill about nine miles from the town, and when starting for home, the state militia in the form of a mob came upon them. He told Myron to run and take care of himself, which he did by crawling under a large pile of clearing brush, and was not discovered by the mob, which, however, came upon Elder Tanner. One of the mobbers, snapped his gun at this brave man, but it refused to go off. He then took hold of the muzzle and struck him over the head with the breach of the gun, cutting a large ugly gash. This blow would probably have killed him, had it not been for his heavy felt hat, the double thickness of which caught the blow first. This attempt at murder was made by Captain Myer Odell.
Elder Tanner was taken and held prisoner two or three days, wearing his bloody clothes, and stubbornly refusing to wash the blood from himself. He kept his team and wagon, and they let him go out upon his word of honor to take a wounded man to his family, after which, he returned to their custody and redeemed his word. At this time the Prophet Joseph was sentenced to be shot, but General Doniphan protested, and withdrew his men. On the day when the execution was to have taken place, the Saints laid down their arms, and some of the prisoners, among whom was Elder Tanner, were released.
During the militia raid just referred to, he lost very heavily as quite a number of his stock were stolen. As soon as he was set at liberty from mob custody, he went to work getting things together preparatory to leaving the state in obedience to the gubernatorial order, and on the third day of March, 1839, started with his family and his sons' families for Illinois. He arrived in New Liberty about the first of April, where he stopped one year to recruit, and was much prospered in his efforts.
About the middle of March, 1840, he again gathered his effects and moved within four miles of Montrose, Lee county, Iowa, where his daughter, Sariah, was born, July, 1840. Here he opened cultivated a large farm, plowing two hundred and fifty acres, and about two hundred acres he used for pasture. He enclosed all this by a good fence. In this place he lived and prospered six years.
At the April conference in 1844, he was called on a mission to the Eastern States. Before starting, he went to Nauvoo, where he saw the Prophet Joseph, and, meeting him on the street, gave him his note of hand for the two thousand dollars loaned in Kirtland, January, 1835, to redeem the temple land. The Prophet asked him what he wanted done with the note. Elder Tanner replied, "Brother Joseph, you are welcome to it." The Prophet then laid his right hand heavily on Elder Tanner's shoulder, saying, "God bless you, Father Tanner; your children shall never beg bread."
He aided very materially in the building of the Nauvoo Temple, from the commencement until its completion; and after it was dedicated he received therein his endowments, sealings and second anointing.
In the Spring of 1846, he sold his farm at a nominal price and journeyed to the Rocky Mountains with the Saints who were compelled to leave Nauvoo, the "City of Joseph." He started about the middle of May and joined the westward-bound stream of Latter-day Saints in their memorable exodus from Illinois. He also paid for the removal of two families besides his own, up to Council Bluffs. On the 16th of July, he fitted out two of his sons and sent them with the "Mormon Battalion" into Mexico to fight the battles of our country. On the herd-ground of the Saints, at a point north-west of Winter Quarters, he herded the stock for the whole camp of Israel, for three months.
After trials in journeyings—and in losses and hardships in various forms, he had to be tried by fire. About the middle of January 1847, his house and three wagon boxes with covers, used for sleeping rooms, supplies of provisions and groceries, and most of the wearing apparel, were destroyed by fire. Nothing was saved but beds and a portion of the bedding. But his noble mind and the persevering energies of his nature seemed superior to misfortune; and in the Spring he assisted in fitting out the Pioneers for their journey to the Rocky Mountains, opened up another farm and raised a good crop.
In the Summer of 1847, Elder Tanner had a thrilling adventure with Indians. The following account of the marvelous circumstance is from the journal of Jane Grover (afterwards Sister Stewart).