Detractors and Apostates

The Mormons were forced yet again to abandon their safe haven, their "City Beautiful." Nauvoo had risen from the swamps in the bend of the Mississippi River at what was then Commerce, Illinois. Converts from the United States, Canada, and Europe had poured into the city in such numbers that by 1845 the population was estimated to be fifteen thousand. To other residents of the states where they lived, Mormon doctrines were strange, their numbers were threatening, and their influence was frightening. The Nauvoo Legion, the Mormon militia with Joseph Smith at its head, was intimidating. Detractors and apostates spread rumors, particularly about polygamy. They established a new press to print the Nauvoo Expositor, a paper that denounced Smith and the church.

In retaliation the Nauvoo city council authorized its destruction; an event that precipitated the arrest and assassination of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum and the eventual flight of the saints from Nauvoo.

Replicated Sessions Nauvoo Home

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