Keywords

Joseph Smith, the Destroyer, Doctrine and Covenants 61

Document Type

Article

Abstract

As Joseph Smith and several elders traveled from Missouri to Ohio, a series of events occurred that led some of the early Saints to be wary of traveling by water. The journey of Joseph and the elders started uneventfully as they traveled by canoe up the Missouri River, but by the third day contention and hard feelings developed within the group. At a particularly difficult stretch of the river, one of the canoes reportedly hit a hazard in the water (an uprooted tree called a sawyer) and nearly capsized. The group was frightened and made camp on the bank of the river. William Wines Phelps saw a vision of “the Destroyer” on the water exercising power. But the contention within the group was resolved later that night, and then Joseph Smith dictated the revelation now contained in Doctrine and Covenants 61 the next day.