About the close of 1S37 or the beginning of 1838, the bank at Kirtland stopped pay meat, and proceedings were taken against the prophet and others for swindling. Luck ily, just at this moment, he received a "revelation" to depart into Missouri, which lie instantly obeyed, with all the more alacrity that internal disorders had painfully mani fested themselves in the new colony. These were at last healed ; but the conflict between the saints and the other Missourians became fiercer, more envenomed, more sanguinary than ever, assuming, in fact, almost the proportions of a civil war. The prophet and Rigdon were thrown into prison, and finally, towards the close of 1838, the whole body of saints, about 15,000, quitted Missouri, and took refuge in Illinois. Ilere they obtained a grant of land in the vicinity of the little town of Commerce, a name which the Mor mons, iu obedience to a " revelation" given to Smith, changed to Nauvoo, or the city of beauty. The country was a mere wilderness when the Mormons settled in it: it soon began to rejoice and blossom as the rose. Lieut. Gunnison (a most intelligent and impar tial writer) is forced by facts to be eloquent in praise of Mormon industry. and gives us a perfectly enchanting picture of the new colony. The legislature of Illinois granted a charter to Nauvoo; a body of Mormon militia was formed, under the name of the Nauvoo legion, of which the prophet was appointed commander; he was also appointed mayor of the city, and was thus supreme in all matters civil and military, as well as religious. But the doctrine of " sealing wives" once more roused the wrath of the neighborhood, and serious disturbances took place, the ultimate result of which was that the prophet and his brother Hyram were thrown into prison at Carthage. After a short time it began to be rumored that the governor of the state was desirous of letting the two Smiths escape, whereupon a band of "roughs," about 200 in number, broke into the jail, June, 27, 1844, and shot them. Disastrous as this termination of his career was to Smith him self, there cannot be the shadow of a doubt that it was a most fortunate thing for the system which he founded. " Trte blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." A halo of solemn and tender glory now encircles the memory of one who stood greatly in need of this spiritual transfiguration. It may here be stated that it cannot be shown that Smith was a polygamist, in our sense of the word. Years after his death, Brigham Young produced a paper which he said was a copy of a "revelation" made to Joseph at Nauvoo, commanding him to take as many wives as God should give him. But it was not till Aug. 29, 1832, at a public meeting held in the Salt Lake City, that the " revela tion" was formally received.
Smith's death created great agitation and confusion among his followers, Sidney Rigdon and others aspired to succeed him, but the council of the twelve apostles unani mously eldcted Brigham Young, and events have shown the wisdom of their choice. The legislature of Illinois having revoked in 1845 the charter given to the city of Nailvoo, and the hostility of their neighbors not having in the least abated, the saints resolved to emigrate far btyond the boundaries of civilization, and to seek a new home amid the solitudes of the Rocky mountains, where they might pass their lives in unmolested peace. Explorers were sent out to examine the country, and brought back a favorable report of the Great Salt Lake valley. See CHEAT SALT LAKE, SALT LAKE CITY, and In
Feb., 1840, the first emigrants crossed the ice-bound Mississippi, settled for a year in Iowa, and then inarched under the strictest discipline across the great wildernesses. AgrienItural operations were commenced almost the instant they arrived at the shores of the Salt lake. The cheerfulness, intelligence, and zeal exhibited on all sides, were truly admirable. The world has never seen swifter, more active, more glad hearted colonists than these singular "saints." It would be unfair to shut our eyes to such facts. In judging Mormonism, we must keep them constantly in view, to prevent us from forming mere abstract and theoretical decisions, which will not in the least affect the future of Mormonism. Brigham Young arrived in the valley July 24, 1847, and the main body of the 'Mormons in the autumn of 1848. The Salt Lake City was soon founded, an emigra tion fund established, and settlers poured in from all parts of Europe and America; and perhaps a greater amount of physical comfort was enjoyed here than in any other part of the world. In 1850 tire government of the United States admitted the region occupied by the Mormons into the union as a territory, under the name of UTArr, and Brigham Young was appointed governor by president Fillmore. District judges were also q5pointed by the federal government, but these were looked upon with great suspicion and mistrust by the saints, who finally drove them out of the country in 18.31. Brigham Young was now suspended from his office of governor, and col. Steptoe of the U. S. army was appointed lila successor.. He arris-ed in Utah in 1854, but found it prudent after some time to withdraw from the country. During tire next two years the collisions between the U. S. officers and the saints became more and more frequent. and in the spring of 1856 the whole of the former were forced to thee from the territory. A new governor, Alfred Cumming, was appointed by the authorities at Washington in 1857 and also a new superintendent of Indian affairs; besides a force of 2,500 men was sent to enforce obedience to the laws of the United States. The saints attacked their supply trains, and compelled the enemy to winter at some distance from the Salt lake. In the early part of next year negotiations were entered into between the contending parties; the Mormons submitted to the federal authority, and the. federal troops were allowed to encamp on the western side of lake Utah, about 40 in. from Salt Lake City, where they remained till 1860, when they withdrew. After the close of the civil war, the United States seemed determined to insist on its authority. A federal governor was again appointed, and polygamy was declared in 1871 to be a criminal practice contrary to the laws of the United States; Brigham Young was even arrested. One of the most notable events in the recent history of the Mormons took place in the year of Briolarn Young's death (1877). John D. Lee, a Mormon bishop, was brought to trial and executed for his sham in a crime till then uninvestigated. In 1857 a party of Mormons and Indians, under Lee's command, assaulted a train of 150 non-Mormon emigrants at Mountain Meadows. near Utah, and massacred every soul of them. The complicity of the leaders of the church was not proved, but Lee had been clearly the immediate instigator of the deed.