Zion's Camp

This post on one of the more dramatic prophecies of the Prophet Joseph Smith will be the last one for awhile. My next few posts will address putting prophets and prophecy in context and then next week I'll start the promised series of posts addressing some of the claims of failed prophecies made by our critics.

The Encyclopedia of Mormonism states that Zion's Camp was "a Latter-day Saint expedition from Kirtland, Ohio, to Clay County, Missouri, during May and June 1834. The Mormon settlers in adjacent Jackson County, Missouri, had been driven out in the fall of 1833 by hostile non-Mormon elements, and the initial objective of Zion's Camp was to protect those settlers after the Missouri militia escorted them back to their homes."

In our primary manual we read the following:

Early in the march Joseph Smith gave Zion’s Camp a prophetic warning. He told the people in the camp that if they quarreled and complained and did not keep the Lord’s commandments, a scourge (a great affliction or illness) would come upon the camp. The Prophet even prophesied that some people would die because of the scourge. But he also said that if the people would humble themselves and repent, most of the scourge would be turned away.

About three weeks later this prophecy came to pass when a violent illness called cholera hit the camp. The illness attacked those who had been obedient as well as those who had quarreled and complained. Even the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum became sick. ...

After eight days of illness in the camp, Joseph met with many of the group and said that if they would humble themselves before the Lord and covenant to keep his commandments, the cholera would leave immediately. The men raised their hands and covenanted with the Lord, and the illness stopped. About sixty-eight people of Zion’s Camp had suffered from the disease, and fourteen people had died.

Some journals from that time quote Joseph as saying that many would die horrible deaths. A death by cholera in those days was definitely a horrible death. Although it took 3 weeks, the words of the prophet were fulfilled to the letter both when he prophecied the curse, and later when he prophecied the lifting of the curse.