“Contents,” Ensign, Mar. 1974, 1
Ensign
March 1974
Volume 4 Number 3
On the cover: President Spencer W. Kimball: Twelfth President of the Church. “We believe that we have in this church the answers to all questions, for the Lord is the head of the Church, and He has given us the program. Our message is what it has always been, and our hope is that our people will live the commandments of the Lord. They have been revealed in the holy scriptures and by the living prophets throughout many years.”—President Spencer W. Kimball
Inside back cover: Westward the Wagons—Prior to the Prophet Joseph Smith’s martyrdom in 1844, he discussed colonization in the Rocky Mountains. But not until February 1846 did the departure for the West begin. Difficulties had continued to mount between the Saints and mob elements. By September 1845, the Council of the Twelve published the statement: “… we propose to leave this country next spring, for some point so remote that there will not need to be any difficulty with the people and ourselves. …” All that winter, Nauvoo was a beehive of labor in two spheres: preparation for departure and completion of the Nauvoo Temple so that the Saints could receive their endowments prior to departure.
All available manpower was kept busy day and night. By mid-February 1846, President Brigham Young and a large body of Saints had crossed the Mississippi River over the ice and had gone nine miles into Iowa to Sugar Creek, because “our only means of avoiding [further mob difficulty] was by starting in midwinter.” Although the Saints had been counseled to prepare for the journey for many months, still many came with only enough supplies for a few days. Great anxiety was felt by the Brethren. After the difficulties, however, President Young said that “he doubted if there had ever been a body of people, since the days of Enoch, who had done so little grumbling under such unpleasant and trying circumstances.”
Painted by Lynn Fausett; displayed at Pioneer Trails State Park, Salt Lake City.