Under
the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, 2003, Excerpts
It had become clear
to Brigham that there was no future for the Saints anywhere near Hancock
County. On September 24 he sent a letter to Governor Ford’s blue ribbon
committee saying that in return for a cease-fire from the Gentiles, the Mormons
would promise to vacate not only Illinois but the whole of the United States.
For the Saints’ next
homeland, Brigham Young wanted to find a place that was both a long way from
civilization and would seem repugnant to Gentile settlers, so that his people
might live free from persecution. The overwhelming majority loaded up whatever
possessions would fit into their wagons, abandoned the rest to their enemies,
and followed Brigham into the wilderness. By May of that year more than six
thousand Saints were plodding westward through the axle-deep mud, drawn by the
promise of Zion.
The
thirteen-hundred-mile emigration from Nauvoo was a grueling trial. On the
journey west they were plagued with frostbite, diphtheria, scurvy, starvation,
stillborn babies, tick fever, hostile Gentiles, and an epidemic of whooping
cough that killed dozens of young children. More than six hundred Saints
perished during that first grim winter.
No comments:
Post a Comment