"These terms were not definitely signed until the morning of Thursday, the 17th, but, confident of their ratification, the Mormon population had been busy through the night in removing. So firmly had they been taught to believe that their lives, their city, and Temple, would fall a sacrifice to the vengeance of their enemies, if surrendered to them, that they fled in consternation, determined to be beyond their reach at all hazards. This scene of confusion, fright and distress was continued throughout the forenoon. In every part of the city scenes of destitution, misery and woe met the eye. Families were hurrying away from their homes, without a shelter,—without means of conveyance,—without tents, money, or a day's provision, with as much of their household stuff as they could carry in their hands. Sick men and women were carried upon their beds—weary mothers, with helpless babes dying in the arms, hurried away—all fleeing, they scarcely knew or cared whither, so it was from their enemies, whom they feared more than the waves of the Mississippi, or the heat, and hunger and lingering life and dreaded death of the prairies on which they were about to be cast. The ferry boats were crowded, and the river bank was lined with anxious fugitives, sadly awaiting their turn to pass over and take up their solitary march to the wilderness."
On the afternoon of the 17th, Brockman's force, with which the members of the Quincy committee had been assigned a place, marched into Nauvoo and through it, encamping near the river on the southern boundary. Curiosity to see the Mormon city had swelled the number who entered at the same time with the posse to nearly two thousand men, but there was no disorder. The streets were practically deserted, and the few Mormons who remained were busy with their preparations to cross the river. Brockman, to make his victory certain, ordered that all citizens of Nauvoo who had sided with the Mormons should leave the state, thus including many of the New Citizens. The order was enforced on September 18, "with many circumstances of the utmost cruelty and injustice," according to Brayman's report. "Bands of armed men," he said, "traversed the city, entering the houses of citizens, robbing them of arms, throwing their household goods out of doors, insulting them, and threatening their lives."
CHAPTER XXI. — NAUVOO AFTER THE EXODUS
Brockman's force was disbanded after its object had been accomplished, and all returned to their homes but about one hundred, who remained in Nauvoo to see that no Mormons came back. These men, whose number gradually decreased, provided what protection and government the place then enjoyed. Governor Ford received much censure from the state at large for the lawless doings of the recent months. A citizens' meeting at Springfield demanded that he call out a force sufficient "to restore the supremacy of the law, and bring the offenders to justice." He did call on Hancock County for volunteers to restore order, but a public meeting in Carthage practically defied him. He, however, secured a force of about two hundred men, with which he marched into Nauvoo, greatly to the indignation of the Hancock County people. His stay there was marked by incidents which showed how his erratic course in recent years had deprived him of public respect, and which explain some of the bitterness toward the county which characterizes his "History." One of these was the presentation to him of a petticoat as typical of his rule. When Ford was succeeded as governor by French, the latter withdrew the militia from the county, and, in an address to the citizens, said, "I confidently rely upon your assistance and influence to aid in preventing any act of a violent character in future." Matters in the county then quieted down. The Warsaw newspapers, in place of anti-Mormon literature, began to print appeals to new settlers, setting forth the advantages of the neighborhood. But a newspaper war soon followed between two factions in Nauvoo, one of which contended that the place was an assemblage of gamblers and saloon-keepers, while the other defended its reputation. This latter view, however, was not established, and most of the houses remained tenantless.
Amid all their troubles in Nauvoo the Mormon authorities never lost sight of one object, the completion of the Temple. To the non-Mormons, and even to many in the church, it seemed inexplicable why so much zeal and money should be expended in finishing a structure that was to be at once abandoned. Before the agreement to leave the state was made, a Warsaw newspaper predicted that the completion of the Temple would end the reign of the Mormon leaders, since their followers were held together by the expectation of some supernatural manifestation of power in their behalf at that time* Another outside newspaper suggested that they intended to use it as a fort.
* A man from the neighborhood who visited Nauvoo in 1843 to buy
calves called on a blind man, of whom he says: "He told me he had a nice
home in Massachusetts, which gave them a good support. But one of the
Mormon elders preaching in that country called on him and told him if he
would sell out and go to Nauvoo the Prophet would restore his sight. He
sold out and had come to the city and spent all his means, and was now
in great need. I asked why the Prophet did not open his eyes. He replied
that Joseph had informed him that he could not open his eyes till the
Temple was finished."—Gregg, "History of Hancock County," p. 375.
Orson Pratt, in a letter to the Saints in the Eastern states, written at the time of the agreement to depart, answering the query why the Lord commanded them to build a house out of which he would then suffer them to be driven at once, quoted a paragraph from the "revelation" of January 19, 1841, which commanded the building of the Temple "that you may prove yourselves unto me, that ye are faithful in all things whatsoever I command you, that I may bless you and cover you with honor, immortality, and eternal life."
The cap-stone of the Temple was laid in place early on the morning of May 24, 1845, amid shouts of "Hosannah to God and the Lamb," music by the band, and the singing of a hymn.
The first meeting was held in the Temple on October 5, 1845, and from that time the edifice was used almost constantly in administering the ordinances (baptism, endowment, etc.). Brigham Young says that on one occasion he continued this work from 5 P.M. to 3.30 A.M., and others of the Quorum assisted.