A circular of the high council.  To the members of the Church of Jesus Christ op [sic] Latter Day Saints, and to all whom it may concern: greeting.  Done in Council at the City of Nauvoo, on the 20th day of January, 1846. Samuel Bent, James Allred, George W. Harris, William Huntington, Henry G. Sherwood, Alpheus Cutler, Newel Knight, Lewis D. Wilson, Ezra T. Benson, David Fullmer, Thomas Grover, Aaron Johnson. [Nauvoo, 1846]
Broadside 31 x 24 cm.

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Circular of the High Council is the first public announcement of the Mormons’ intention to establish a settlement in the Great Basin.  Its first two paragraphs state that early in March  “a company of pioneers, consisting mostly of young, hardy men, with some families” and outfitted with farming and milling equipment, seeds and grain, and a printing press will proceed west “until they find a good place to make a crop, in some good valley in the neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains, where they will infringe upon no one, and be not likely to be infringed upon.  Here we will make a resting place, until we can determine a place for a permanent location.”

By the end of 1845 the Mormons had familiarized themselves with the reports of Benjamin Bonneville, John C. Frémont, Charles Wilkes, and Lansford W. Hastings.  During November and December the Times and Seasons (see this digital collection) spoke of the Pacific coast as the destination of the Saints, California, Oregon, or Vancouver.  But uncertainty persisted as late as December 26, when Brigham Young wrote to Sam Brannan that “we have not determined to what place we shall go.”  Circular of the High Council shows that by mid–January the Great Basin was being focused upon, at least as a temporary location.

The circular goes on to affirm the Mormons’ allegiance to the United States, and it declares that should hostilities break out over Oregon they would side with the United States.  Undoubtedly this was written in response to rumors that the U.S. government would move to prevent the Saints from going west for fear they would align themselves with the British.

Parley Pratt bore some responsibility for organizing the pioneer company, and during December he was engaged in forming a list of one thousand men to make up the party.  On January 11 and 13 the council of Fifty discussed an early start west, and on the 18th the Twelve met with the captains of emigrating companies in the attic of the temple to determine who could leave “should necessity compel our instant removal.”  At another meeting in the temple on January 24, four days after Circular of the High Council was issued, Brigham Young reiterated his intention “to start a company of young men and some few families perhaps within a few weeks.”

Then on January 29 two incidents occurred which altered those plans: during the day state troops moved about Nauvoo with the intent, it was reported, of arresting some of the Mormon leaders; and Brigham Young received a letter from Sam Brannan repeating the rumor that the federal government intended to intercept the Saints as they moved west and confiscate their arms.  Four days later a council of Church leaders agreed to begin the evacuation of Nauvoo immediately, and that afternoon Brigham Young informed the captains of hundreds and fifties of this decision.  On February 4 the first wagons were ferried across the Mississippi, and on the 15th Brigham Young, Willard Richards, and George A. Smith crossed into Iowa.

Excerpted and edited from Peter Crawley, A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church.  Volume One, 1830-1847. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, Religious Studies Center, [1997]).  Item 296, p. 335-37.

Used by permission of the author and the Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University