The people of Richmond, Missouri, declared the Camp should not pass through that city; but on the morning of the 19th, before the people were up, the brethren passed through unmolested. "We intended to enter Clay County that day, but the Lord knew best what was for our good," says Wilford, "and so began to hinder our progress. One wheel broke down, another ran off, and one thing after another hindered us so that we had to camp between two forks of Fishing River. Five armed men soon rode up, and told us that large companies of men from Jackson and Clay Counties, and other parts, would be upon us before morning, and were sworn to encompass our destruction.
"Shortly after these five men left us, a small cloud arose, and spread with great rapidity, until the whole heavens gathered blackness, and a mighty storm burst forth with fury upon our enemies. If the Camp had not been hindered, they would have crossed into Clay County, and would have been at the mercy of the mob. Thus the Lord, in a marvelous manner, preserved the lives of His servants. Colonel Sconce, who came into the Camp the next day, with several leading men, said that surely Jehovah fought the battles of Joseph and his followers."
The Prophet addressed the visitors at some length, and recounted the wrongs heaped upon the Saints in Missouri. His address touched the hearts of the visitors, bringing tears to their eyes. They promised to do all they could to allay the prejudice of the people. It appears from Wilford Woodruff's journal that they kept their word, and rode through the country endeavoring to allay the excitement.
"Previous to this event," says Wilford, "Elders Hyrum Smith and Lyman Wight had joined the Camp with a company of volunteers from Michigan. The Camp now consisted of two hundred and five men and twenty-five baggage wagons. Lyman Wight was made commander-in-chief. Joseph appointed twenty men to be his body-guard; Hyrum Smith was captain, and George A. Smith armor-bearer.
"The Camp of Zion arrived at Brother Burk's, in Clay County, Missouri on the 24th of June, 1834. We pitched our tents on his premises. He told some of the brethren of my company that he had a spare room which some of us might occupy if we would clean it. Our company accepted the offer; and, fearing that some other company would get it first, we left all other business and went to work, cleaned out the room, and immediately spread down our blankets, so as to hold a right to the room. It was but a short time afterwards that our brethren who were attacked by cholera were brought in and laid upon our beds. None of us ever used those blankets again, for they were buried with the dead; so we gained nothing but experience by our selfishness, and we lost our bedding.
"When the cholera broke out in Camp, Joseph attempted to rebuke it, but was shown by the Lord that when He sends a judgment man must not attempt to stay it. (Joseph returned to me the sword which I had given him, and it still remains in my family as a relic of that expedition.) Those who died in Zion's Camp were A. S. Gilbert, John S. Carter, Eber Wilcox, Seth Hitchcock, Erastus Rudd, Alfred Frisk, Edward Jones, Noah Johnson, Jesse B. Lawson, Robert McCord, Eliel Strong, Jesse Smith, Betsey Parrish, and Warren Ingles.
"The Prophet called the brethren together at Lyman Wight's and told them the cholera had been sent in fulfillment of his prediction. Nearly all had suffered from it, and fourteen had died. Joseph said that if we would now humble ourselves, the cholera would be stayed. We covenanted with uplifted hands to keep the commandments of God, and the cholera was stayed from that hour; not another case appeared among the Saints.
"The journey of Zion's Camp to Missouri was necessarily one of trial and hardship. Several of the brethren murmured, and found fault. Joseph prophesied that a scourge would come upon the Camp, and it came in the form of cholera, thirteen of the brethren being stricken in death. During the journey, when brethren would have killed the serpents which at times came into the tents and coiled up near the beds, the Prophet taught his brethren the beautiful principle that men themselves must become harmless before they can expect the brute creation to be so. When man shall lose his own vicious disposition and cease to destroy the inferior animals, the lion and the lamb may dwell together, and the suckling child play with the serpent in safety."
In all the trials incident to the journey, Wilford Woodruff never murmured. He was a staunch supporter of the Prophet Joseph in all the latter's counsels and desires, and was so wrapt in the spirit of his calling and labor that it is doubtful if a thought of trial or hardship ever entered his mind. This was characteristic of his entire life. He never undertook a labor assigned him by the Lord and wished he had not undertaken it. When he put his hand to the plough, he never turned back.
After the disbanding of Zion's Camp a great trial came to him. He was a devoted lover of his parents, brothers, and sisters, and had a deep interest in their salvation. Since he left New York, his brother Azmon had become disaffected, and wrote a long letter finding fault with the proceedings of the Church, endeavoring to turn Wilford from his course. The effect upon Wilford, however, was a deep sorrow for his brother, and a stronger determination on his own part to live the life of a Latter-day Saint. He answered his brother's letter, explained the fallacy of the latter's arguments and complaints, warned him against opposing the Church, exhorted him to repent, and bore a solemn and unswerving testimony to the divinity of the calling and the upright, honorable course of life of the Prophet Joseph Smith.