Kirtland Camp
In the spring and summer of 1838, the presidency of the Seventy in Kirtland organized Kirtland Camp to assist many of the poorer Church members living in Ohio to relocate to northern Missouri, some eight hundred miles away. Composed of over five hundred individuals, including families, Kirtland Camp was the first Latter-day Saint company organized to assist in the migration of the Saints in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[1] This pattern was employed again later when the Saints were evacuated from Missouri, and ultimately to Utah Territory.
Apostasy in Kirtland
Dissention, bitterness, and harassment grew as the Saints gathered to the Kirtland area. The collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society caused economic and spiritual hardships for the Saints and contributed to the turmoil.[2][3][4]
Approximately two years after the Prophet Joseph Smith dedicated the Kirtland Temple in Ohio, more than sixteen hundred Latter-day Saints were forced to abandon their homes, their property, and their temple due to mob persecution. A large part of the mobs were apostates—former members of the Church—who considered Joseph a fallen prophet. Joseph was forced to leave Kirtland in December 1837.
Kirtland Camp traveled from July 6, 1838, to October 4, 1838. They arrived in Far West, Missouri, on October 2, and reached Adam-ondi-Ahman by October 4. Some of the members of the Kirtland Camp were part of the victims of the Hawn’s Mill massacre on October 30, 1838.
As may be expected with a large company, there were a considerable amount of delays caused by illness, broke wagons and equipment, river crossings, poor traveling conditions, problems with animals, and food shortages. Groups of company members also occasionally stopped to find temporary work in order to obtain enough food and money to continue on the journey. Due to these conditions, company members gradually became strung out and dispersed along the path or left the company altogether.[5]
By February of the next year, the Saints were forced to leave Missouri due to the extermination order issued by Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs.
- For a thorough article on Kirtland Camp, see Religious Studies Center, “The Saints Flee from Ohio to Missouri,” by Marlene C. Kettley, Arnold K. Garr, and Craig K. Manscill
- See also "Kirtland Camp, 1838: Bringing the Poor to Missouri," by Alexander L. Baugh
