Mormon Vanguard Brigade Of 1847: Norton Jacob's RecordThere are no historical events that have more iconic significance for the people of Utah than the trek of the vanguard company of Mormons west in 1847. Its meaning may vary, but overall, the march has a highly symbolic and seminal historical importance for virtually all Utahns. While the journey has been widely celebrated, memorialized, and even sanctified and various books have been written about it, there is more that can be said and understood about the migration's place in western history; about its context, including events preceding and following it; and about the real experiences of its participants. Particularly lacking in most published accounts are the stories of the rank and file members, the individuals who, in contrast to the well-known leadership, with Brigham Young at the top, might fittingly be called foot soldiers. The 1847 company had a military-like organization, which is captured by Ronald Barney's term brigade in the title. Norton Jacob was such a man of the ranks in 1847. He had no special status in the Mormon Church, and there was little to make him stand out in the historical record than that he left what is regarded by many trail historians as one of the best and most informative journals of the early Mormon emigration. While the heart of Jacob's record concerns the 1847 journey, there is much more to it. The diary published here begins in 1844, the year of church founder Joseph Smith's murder. It continues through the crisis events that followed: the Mormons' flight from Nauvoo, their trudging journey across Iowa to Winter Quarters, and the beginnings of mass migration to Utah. After the apex of 1847, the arc of the narrative moves through accounts of Jacob's return to Nauvoo late that year and of the much larger Mormon emigration in 1848. It reaches denouement in a short record of his first years in Salt Lake Valley. |
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Albert Carrington Antelope April August baptized a Mormon became a Mormon bishop Bluffs born brethren Bridger Brigham Young Buffalo council Creek crossed died in Salt emigrated to Utah endowed Erastus Snow feet ferry Fork Hancock County Heber Kimball Historian's Office Horace Whitney horses Howard Egan hunters Illinois Indians Iowa James John joined Joseph Smith Journal journey July June killed Laramie later Latter-day Saints Lewis Barney lived Lord Manuscript History Markum miles & camped mill missionary Missouri River Mormon Battalion morning mountain Nauvoo Legion Nauvoo Temple Norton Jacob oclock ordained a seventy Orson Pratt ox teams Pawnee pioneer vanguard Platte River President Brigham reported Ricks road Rockwood Salt Lake City Salt Lake Valley Satturday September 1847 settlement Smith Carrington South spring Sunday Thomas Bullock timber Trail Twelve Apostles Udney vanguard to Utah verry wagons Ward West Wilford Woodruff William Clayton Winter Quarters wrote