Eyes Westward

Amid increased mobocracy, the first wagons left Nauvoo on February 4, 1846, as the Saints answered the cry, "To your tents O Israel" and prepared to follow their leaders west. Families, wagons, and livestock crowded to leave the city, and the hardships were severe, with gale-force winds, torrential rain, snow, subfreezing temperatures, and axle-deep mud. Many were city dwellers from the eastern United States and England, skilled in many crafts but unaccustomed to feeding and harnessing horses, oxen, and mules, driving wagons, and herding livestock. Through work, sacrifice, prayer, and the inspiration of Heaven and their leaders, these faithful Saints completed the journey west and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847.

Nauvoo, Illinois · United States