A Great and Marvelous Work—
Part Three: 1844–1898

Images of an Era:

Finding Peace

27 June 1844: Joseph and Hyrum Smith martyred in Carthage Jail.

8 Aug. 1844: At a Church meeting in Nauvoo, mantle of the Prophet fell upon senior Apostle, Brigham Young. Apostles sustained by members to lead Church.

4 Feb. 1846: Nauvoo Saints commenced crossing the Mississippi River to move to the Great Basin.

4 Feb. 1846: Ship Brooklyn sailed from New York for California with 238 Church members, with Samuel Brannan as leader.

30 April 1846: Nauvoo Temple dedicated.

30 June 1846: U.S. Army asked Church at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to raise 500 volunteers to fight in war with Mexico.

13 July 1846: Mormon Battalion mustered into U.S. service.

31 July 1846: Ship Brooklyn arrived in California at San Francisco.

10–17 Sept. 1846: Battle of Nauvoo fought between remaining members and Illinois mob.

14 Jan. 1847: President Young received revelation concerning organization of Saints for move west (see D&C 136).

5 Apr. 1847: First group of President Young’s pioneer company left Winter Quarters on the journey west.

21 July 1847: Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow made first LDS reconnaissance of Salt Lake Valley.

24 July 1847: President Young entered Salt Lake Valley.

28 July 1847: Salt Lake Temple site selected by President Young.

31 Oct. 1847: President Young and other members of the advance company arrived back at Winter Quarters.

5 Dec. 1847: President Young sustained as second President of the Church by Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Kanesville, Pottawattamie County, Iowa.

27 Dec. 1847: Conference of Church at Kanesville sustained Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards as First Presidency.

June 1848: Crickets came from mountains into Salt Lake Valley, devastating crops. Fields saved as flocks of seagulls devoured crickets.

Fall 1849: Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company established.

9 Dec. 1849: Sunday School organized by Richard Ballantyne.

15 June 1850: Deseret News began publication in Salt Lake City.

20 Sept. 1850: President Young appointed governor of Utah Territory.

11 July 1851: Pearl of Great Price first published, Liverpool, England.

11 Nov. 1851: University of Deseret (now University of Utah) opened, Salt Lake City.

29 Aug. 1852: Public announcement of plural marriage made, Salt Lake City.

5 May 1855: Endowment House dedicated at Salt Lake City.

1855: Fast day inaugurated as first Thursday of each month.

Oct. 1856: Handcart companies of Captain James G. Willie and Captain Edward Martin detained by early snowstorms. Found by rescue companies from Salt Lake Valley.

9 Nov. 1856: Willie handcart company arrived in Salt Lake City. Suffered about 68 deaths in a company of 500.

30 Nov. 1856: Martin handcart company arrived, Salt Lake City. Suffered between 135 and 150 deaths in a company of 576.

May 1858: Evacuation to the south of all northern Utah settlements in preparation for arrival of Johnston’s army and possible war with United States.

11 June 1858: Peaceful settlement to “Utah War” negotiated.

6 Oct. 1867: First general conference held in new tabernacle, Salt Lake City.

8 Dec. 1867: Relief Society reorganized by President Young, with Eliza R. Snow as president.

1 Mar. 1869: Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI), a cooperative business system, began in Salt Lake City.

10 May 1869: Railroad spanning the United States completed at Promontory Summit, Utah.

28 Nov. 1869: Young Ladies’ Retrenchment Association organized by President Young; later became modern Young Women organization.

June 1872: First issue of Woman’s Exponent published, Salt Lake City.

10 June 1875: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association organized; later became Young Men program.

16 Oct. 1875: Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University) organized, Provo, Utah; was first Church academy.

6 Apr. 1877: St. George Temple dedicated. President Young received revelation to set in order the Church priesthood organization and stakes.

29 Aug. 1877: President Brigham Young died.

25 Aug. 1878: Aurelia Spencer Rogers founded Primary organization, Farmington, Utah.

6 Apr. 1880: Fiftieth year since organization of Church; declared Year of Jubilee.

19 June 1880: Separate general presidencies called for Relief Society, Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association, and the Primary Association.

10 Oct. 1880: John Taylor sustained as third President of the Church. Pearl of Great Price accepted as Church scripture.

17 May 1884: Logan Temple dedicated.

25 July 1887: President John Taylor died.

17 May 1888: Manti Temple dedicated.

7 Apr. 1889: Wilford Woodruff sustained as fourth President of the Church.

24 Sept. 1890: President Woodruff received revelation discontinuing the practice of plural marriage.

6 Apr. 1893: Salt Lake Temple, 40 years in progress, dedicated by President Woodruff.

5 Apr. 1894: President Woodruff presented to his counselors and Quorum of the Twelve a revelation concerning temple and family history work.

13 Nov. 1894: Genealogical Society of Utah organized; was forerunner of Family History Department.

4 Jan. 1896: Utah became the 45th state of the United States.

6 Dec. 1896: Fast day changed from first Thursday of month to first Sunday.

Nov. 1897: First issue of Improvement Era published, forerunner of the Ensign magazine.

Spring 1898: First sister missionaries set apart.

2 Sept. 1898: President Wilford Woodruff died.

Oh, My Poor Dear Brother Hyrum, by Liz Lemon Swindle

Model of the Nauvoo Temple. (Photo by Don Thorpe.)

Above: President Brigham Young and the Saints trekked west in 1846. (Forging Onward Ever Onward, by Glen S. Hopkinson, courtesy of Lennon and Suzanne Ledbetter.) Right: When Elder Wilford Woodruff and President Brigham Young overlooked Salt Lake Valley in 1847, President Young declared, “This is the right place. Drive on.” (Brigham Young Enters the Salt Lake Valley, by Glen S. Hopkinson.)

Members of the Mormon Battalion who were at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 when gold was discovered. (Photo courtesy of LDS Church Archives.)

The Ship Brooklyn, by Arnold Friberg

Far left: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1853. (Photo courtesy of LDS Church Archives.)

Used by permission, Utah State Historical Society

Left: In 1848 seagulls ate ravenous crickets, thus saving crops in Salt Lake Valley. (Miracle of the Gulls, by Minerva Teichert.) Right: Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City cared for survivors of the 1856 handcart tragedy. (Zion at Last, by Larry C. Winborg.)

A handcart

Above right: Tabernacle on Temple Square soon after its completion in 1867. Right: At Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869, a golden spike joined two railroad lines, creating a continuous system of tracks across the United States. (Photos courtesy of LDS Church Archives.)

Painting by Louie Felt Keysor, courtesy of Museum of Church History and Art

St. George Temple. (Red Cliffs, by Al Rounds, courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Freeman.)

Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah. (Used by permission, Utah State Historical Society.) Below right: Temple Square, 6 April 1892, at the laying of the temple’s capstone. (Photo by Charles R. Savage.) Below: President John Taylor. (Photo courtesy of LDS Church Archives.)

Left: First issue of the Improvement Era, November 1897. (Photo courtesy of LDS Church Archives.) Above: Manti Temple. (Photo by George Edward Anderson.) Below, left to right: First Presidency—Presidents George Q. Cannon, Wilford Woodruff, and Joseph F. Smith—at the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple on 6 April 1893. (Photo by Sainsbury and Johnson.)