A church dictionary

by Walter Farquhar Hook

Upon the prophet’s death there were two competitors for the vacant supremacy—Sidney Rigdon and Brigham Young. The former was the earliest associate of Smith, and professed to be acquainted with “all his secrets;” but, as the prominent advocate of the “Spiritual Wife” doctrine, he was looked upon with disfavour as the virtual author of much of the suspicion and hostility with which the Mormons were regarded. Brigham Young succeeded therefore to the post of “prophet,” (which he still retains,) and Rigdon was expelled from the community. An interval of scarcely interrupted progress followed, during which the temple was completed; but in 1845 the troubles were renewed: perpetual conflicts, in which blood was shed, occurred, and the city of Nauvoo itself was regularly besieged. At length the Mormons, conscious of their inability alone to cope with their antagonists, and seeing that no confidence could be reposed upon the law for their protection, undertook (since nothing less would satisfy their enemies) that they would altogether quit the State—commencing their departure in the spring of 1846.

This time it was no mere temporary, neighbouring refuge which the Mormons sought. The elders of the church, aware of the hostility to which it would be constantly exposed in any portion of the populated States, resolved, with equal policy and daring, to escape entirely from the settled territory, and to seek far off, beyond the Rocky Mountains, some secluded and unoccupied retreat in which they could, secure from molestation, build their earthly “Zion,” and, by gathering thither from all quarters of the world the converts to their faith, become a thriving and a powerful community, too potent to be further interfered with. This remarkable pilgrimage, involving the removal of some thousands of men, women, children, cattle, and stores, over thousands of untrodden miles—across wide unbridged rivers—by the difficult passes of snow-capped mountains—and through deserts, prairies, and tribes of predatory Indians—was at once commenced. A party of pioneers set out from Nauvoo in February, 1846, when it was still winter—the waggons crossing the Mississippi on the ice. These were to prepare the way for the main body of the citizens, who, according to stipulation, might remain in Nauvoo till these preparations were completed. Their departure was, however, hastened by the fresh hostility of their opponents, who—concluding from the progress still continued in the decorations of the temple that the Mormons secretly intended to elude their promise and return—attacked the town in September, 1846, and expelled the whole of its remaining population. These then followed and overtook the pioneering party, which, after dreadful sufferings from cold and heat, from hunger and disease, had, finding it impossible to reach their destination till the following year, encamped upon the banks of the Missouri, on the lands of the Omahas and Pottawatamies. Here they had sown the land to some extent with grain, the crops of which were to be reaped by their successors. After a dreary winter, spent in this location, they began their march towards their final settlement. In April, 1847, the first detachment of 143, with 70 waggons, crossed the Rocky Mountains; arriving at the basin of the Great Salt Lake, in the latter portion of July, in time to sow the land for an autumn crop. The second party started in the summer with 566 waggons and a great supply of grain. The others followed in the course of 1848—their passage much alleviated by the tracks prepared by their predecessors, and the harvests left for them to gather.

The valley of the Great Salt Lake is a territory of considerable extent, enclosed on all sides by high rocky mountains. The Lake itself is nearly 300 miles in circumference, with islands rising from its surface to an elevation of some thousand feet: its shores are covered in some places with the finest salt, and its water is as buoyant as the waves of the Dead Sea. Portions of the land are desert; but a vast expanse is wonderfully fertile, and abounds in all facilities for pasturage and cultivation. Here the Mormons have now firmly fixed themselves, and made, since 1848, continual progress. Further settlements have been established, and several cities founded: that of the Great Salt Lake itself has a plot of several acres, destined to support a temple whose magnificence shall far exceed the splendour of the former Nauvoo edifice. Relying on the inexhaustible resources of the region to sustain innumerable inhabitants, the principal endeavour of the rulers is to gather there as many immigrants as possible, professing the same faith. They calculate that thus, established in an almost inaccessible retreat, with numbers continually augmenting, they will soon be able to defy external enmity, and rear upon a lasting basis their ecclesiastical republic. Missionary agents are despatched to almost every portion of the world to make fresh converts and facilitate their transit to America. In England these endeavours have been followed by no slight success: it is computed that at least as many as 30,000 persons in this country belong to the community, and nearly 20,000 have already, it is said, departed for the Great Salt Lake. This settlement itself has now, by the name of “Utah,” been admitted to the United States’ Confederacy; but it seems, from a report of the judges sent there by the recent President, that the authority of the federal government is virtually set at nought; the laws and their administration being always found accordant with the pleasure of the Mormon rulers.

A printed “Creed” presents the following summary of their opinions, but omits some rather material points:—

“We believe in God the eternal Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

“We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgressions.

“We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

“We believe that these ordinances are: 1st, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2d, Repentance. 3d, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. 4th, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Spirit. 5th, The Lord’s supper.

“We believe that men must be called of God by inspiration, and by laying on of hands by those who are duly commissioned to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

“We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, viz. apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, &c.