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| Mormon Exodus from Nauvoo | |
|---|---|
| Name | Nauvoo Exodus |
| Caption | Latter-day Saint pioneers departing Nauvoo |
| Date | 1846–1847 |
| Location | Nauvoo, Illinois; sites en route; Great Salt Lake Valley |
| Participants | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Hyrum Smith, William Smith, Emma Smith, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Joseph Smith III, Sidney Rigdon, John C. Bennett, Governor Thomas Ford, Illinois Militia, Missouri Militia |
Mormon Exodus from Nauvoo
The Mormon exodus from Nauvoo was the mass departure (1846–1847) of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Nauvoo, Illinois following escalating conflicts with Illinois residents, political leaders, and vigilante groups. Driven by the 1844 assassinations of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, legal pressures from Governor Thomas Ford, and the leadership of Brigham Young, the migration involved complex logistics, leadership disputes, and extensive interactions with United States Army supply networks, Great Basin explorers, and Native American tribes.
Nauvoo's founding involved Joseph Smith purchasing land on the Mississippi River and incorporating Nauvoo, Illinois with a city charter passed by the Illinois General Assembly that created the Nauvoo Legion, a militia led by Smith and later by John C. Bennett. Immigrants from Kirtland, Ohio, Independence, Missouri, New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, Ireland, and Germany settled farms, mills, and the Nauvoo Temple, while restored priesthood developments and publications like the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants shaped community life. Prominent figures such as Emma Smith, William Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, and John Taylor influenced civic institutions including the Nauvoo Relief Society and the Times and Seasons press, amid tensions with neighboring Commerce, Missouri settlers and the legacy of the Missouri Mormon War and the 1838 Extermination Order issued by Governor Lilburn Boggs.
Conflict escalated after the 1844 presidential campaign–era politics, the destruction of Nauvoo Expositor by city authorities including Joseph Smith, and the simultaneous arrest of Smith by Carroll County and Hancock County officials. The murders of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith at Carthage Jail by a mob prompted Brigham Young to assume temporal leadership amid schisms with William Smith and Sidney Rigdon. Illinois politicians, including Governor Thomas Ford, and groups such as anti-Mormon vigilantes, the Illinois militia, and local newspapers intensified legal prosecutions, property seizures, and violent raids. International converts from England and established members from Kirtland, Ohio and Independence, Missouri faced mob violence and economic reprisals, with broader national contexts including the Mexican–American War and debates in the United States Congress affecting migration options and federal protection.
Under the Council of the Twelve and Brigham Young, the exodus organized staged departures along trails including the Great Platte River Road, across Iowa Territory, past waypoints such as Mount Pisgah, Garden Grove, Iowa, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Winter Quarters. Logistics involved outfitting handcarts, wagons, and oxen teams; provisioning at Winter Quarters and Florence, Nebraska; negotiating overland with Fort Leavenworth and supply lines tied to St. Louis, Missouri merchants; coordinating with leaders like Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, George A. Smith, Daniel H. Wells, and Brigham Young Jr.. Internal disputes split adherents between followers of Brigham Young and factions loyal to Joseph Smith III and Emma Smith, while negotiating land sales with Illinois officials and transactions involving Nauvoo Charter assets. The exodus intertwined with contemporary movements such as Oregon Trail migrations and used river transport on the Mississippi River and Missouri River.
Encampments at Mount Pisgah, Garden Grove, Iowa, Winter Quarters on Council Bluffs, Iowa and Florence, Nebraska functioned as provisional towns under leaders like Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Orson Hyde. Humanitarian crises involved famine, scurvy, smallpox, cholera, and harsh winters; relief came from community-organized stores, the Nauvoo Relief Society, and assistance from merchants in St. Louis, Missouri, Keokuk, Iowa, and Fort Leavenworth. Interactions with Indigenous nations including the Omaha people, Otoe, Iowa, Winnebago (Ho-Chunk), Sioux bands, and negotiations influenced travel safety. Notable logistical innovations included handcart companies pioneered later by leaders like Edward Martin and coordination with Missouri River ferry operations.
In July 1847 Brigham Young led the vanguard company over the Great Salt Lake Desert and into the Great Salt Lake Valley, camping near Salt Lake, scouting a site later incorporated as Salt Lake City. The arrival established relationships with fur trade figures such as Jim Bridger and John C. Fremont, and involved treaties and encounters with Shoshone, Ute, Goshute, and Paiute groups. Subsequent colonization created settlements including Provo, Ogden, Parowan, and St. George, while integration into territorial governance involved the State of Deseret proposal and later the Utah Territory under President James K. Polk and President Zachary Taylor administrations. Pioneer leaders such as Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, and Orson Pratt directed colonization, irrigation works, and community institutions.
The exodus reshaped leadership structures within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and spurred schisms giving rise to movements led by Joseph Smith III forming the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (later Community of Christ), adherents of Emma Smith, and dissidents like William Smith and Sidney Rigdon. Illinois experienced demographic shifts, economic decline in Hancock County and Nauvoo, Illinois, and legal disputes over the Nauvoo Temple and property that involved courts in Sangamon County, Illinois and interactions with Illinois General Assembly inquiries. National reactions included coverage in New York Tribune, The New York Times, and other newspapers, debates in United States Congress, and policy considerations during the era of Manifest Destiny and the Mexican–American War.
Commemoration includes annual pioneer treks, reenactments by organizations such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and historical societies in Salt Lake City and Nauvoo, Illinois, preservation of sites like the Nauvoo Temple reconstruction, Carthage Jail as a historic site, and monuments at Winter Quarters Historic Site and Brigham Young Complex. The exodus influenced American westward expansion narratives, scholarly studies in works by historians of American West, and civic memorials in Hancock County and Davis County. Its memory informs denominational identity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Community of Christ, legal precedents concerning religious refuge, and cultural representations in museums, films, and literature about pioneers and the Great Plains migrations.
Category:Mormon pioneers Category:History of Illinois Category:History of Utah