Yesterday Brad and I went on a church history tour to Richmond, Far West, and Adam-Ondi-Ahman. Our tour guide was a CES employee who has been giving these tours to visiting general authorities for 11 years. Needless to say, he was very knowledgeable and I really learned a lot. So, today I am going to write some of the things I learned.
In 1833, the saints were forced to flee Jackson County to Clay County. The Lord had them organize Zion's Camp. The saints made their way towards Liberty and along the was Zion's Camp was disbanded. They eventually camped along Rush Creek (between Liberty and Richmond), where a cholera epidemic broke out. Even the prophet Joseph Smith came down with it just as he was calling upon the Lord to heal another person. Joseph realized that this epidemic was fulfillment of a revelation that he had earlier: The Lord would send a scourge upon the camp because of their "fractious and unruly spirity that appeared among them...." Fourteen people died and were buried on a bluff overlooking Rush Creek. Fast forward 150+ years and now there is a barn on top of that hill. The farmer was digging in his barn and uncovered human remains. He was pretty concerned so called in authorities, who removed the remains. Autopsies on the bones revealed that they died of cholera. It was determined that these bones belonged to those saints who died of the cholera epidemic and the bones were buried in the Independence City Cemetery. The comment made was that death comes from contention and fractious spirits. For these saints, it meant physical death. However, this threat is very real on a spiritual level.
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