City Beautiful!

Yesterday we trekked to one of my very favorite places on earth -- Nauvoo: City Beautiful.

It was such a fun day to visit the many shops and learn more about our pioneer heritage. This is the time of year that we most often remember the pioneers, as it is the 162nd anniversary of the arrival of the first Latter-day Saint pioneer company in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, as well as the 153rd anniversary of the first handcart company to enter the valley in 1856. In their honor, July 24th is celebrated as Pioneer Day.

We visited some of the gents' favorite spots in Nauvoo. Some of our stops included the brickyard, the family living center, the tin shop, and the blacksmith shop. They collected little treasures along the way... a small replica brick, a taste of freshly baked bread, hand dipped candles, rope they helped to make, and of course a prairie diamond (click on the link to the blacksmith shop to see what a prairie diamond looks like).

We also went to Carthage to see the jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred.

It had been quite some time since I had been to the jail. I still remember visiting the site with my brother and our parents when I was a child. The scent of the jail immediately brought me back to that day, about 30 years ago when I first visited Carthage.

The accounts of what happened there really pull at my heart. Below are some of the details that stand out in my mind. More detailed information can be found here.

The mob of about 100 men attacked the jail. Most had blackened their faces with mud and gunpowder to disguise their identities.

Some shot at the window while others entered the jail and went up the stairs to shoot into the room where the men were. (Note: the right hand stair rail is the original.)

Hyrum Smith was shot in the face by a bullet fired through the door. As he fell, he was assaulted by three more bullets and was fatally wounded.

John Taylor moved toward the open window and was struck in the leg by a bullet fired from inside the jail. He began to fall out the window when a second bullet from outside hit his pocket watch and pushed him back into the room, saving his life. He was hit with three more bullets while he was on the floor.

After Hyrum and John Taylor were shot, the Prophet Joseph Smith was hit by two bullets fired from the doorway of the room and a third bullet fired from outside the jail. He then fell out of the window and the mob ran outside to see the his body.

Willard Richards, the only one of them uninjured, hid John Taylor under a mattress, thinking the mob would return. (He wanted John Taylor to live to tell the story.) The weight of the mattress provided the needed pressure to John Taylor's wounds to ensure his survival. Willard Richards then left the jail as the mob members fled into the woods.

I am amazed when I consider the great sacrifice that these men gave. As we left the jail, I was struck with the thought that it will be a sacrifice for my gentlemen to leave home and serve missions for two years. But, it is such a small sacrifice in comparison.

We stayed to watch the pageant in Nauvoo that evening. I know that sharing the gospel message with others is one small way that I can honor the sacrifices of those early pioneers. I also feel that it is selfish to not share what I know with the people in my life, because the gospel plan is a plan of happiness.