Zion's Camp

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Zion's Camp is the name given to an important group of early Latter Day Saints or Mormons.

Shortly after founding the Latter Day Saint movement, church founder and prophet, Joseph Smith Jr., revealed that the City of Zion would be built in Jackson County just west of the town of Independence, Missouri. Many Latter Day Saints began to gather to that area and made preparations to build the city. Local non-Mormons in Jackson County became alarmed at the movement's rapid growth. Forming vigilante groups, the "old settlers" as they were called, burned Latter Day Saint homes and destroyed the church print shop. Many Latter Day Saints were threatened and abused and by 1833, nearly all had fled from the county for their safety. The Mormon refugees then settled temporarily in neighboring counties, including Clay County in particular.

At the time, the headquarters of the Latter Day Saint church was in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1834, Joseph Smith said he received a revelation from God, calling for a militia to be raised in Kirtland which would then march to Missouri and "redeem Zion." About 200 men and a number of women and children volunteered to join this militia which became known as "Zion's Camp."

Smith and his volunteers left Kirtland on May 4, 1834. By June 4, they had marched across Indiana and Illinois, reaching the Mississippi River, which they crossed, entering Missouri. They crossed most of the state by the end of June and news of their approach caused some alarm among non-Mormons in Jackson and Clay Counties. Attempts to negotiate a return of the Latter Day Saints to Jackson County proved fruitless, but Smith decided to disband Zion's Camp, rather than attempt to "redeem Zion" by force. Many members of the camp subsequently became ill with cholera.

Although the march failed in its primary objective, many of its participants became committed loyalists in the movement. When Smith returned to Kirtland, he organized the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the First Quorum of the Seventy, choosing primarily men who had served in Zion's Camp.

Although the Latter Day Saints failed to achieve their goal of returning to Jackson County, Missouri's legislature later approved a compromise which set aside the new county of Caldwell, specifically for their settlement in 1836.

Long after Smith's death, members of what is now known as the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) became the first members of the Latter Day Saint movement to return to Jackson County, to redeem Zion.

The purpose of Zion's Camp has often been misunderstood, even by friendly historians. This "camp," which was not military, except in the sense that not all western immigrations of the day were made in such orderly fashion, was not for the purpose of seizing and holding the possessions of the Saints in Jackson County. The facts were that the attorneys for the Saints had been advised by State authorities, notably the attorney general, that it would be useless to restore these lands to their owners unless some steps were taken to secure the safety of both settlers and property. He suggested, emphatically seconded by Alexander Doniphan, attorney, that if enough of the Saints were concentrated in Missouri to form a regiment of militia, to be known as "Jackson Guards," and given state arms and an arsenal, they would not be molested. Complying with this suggestion, Zion's Camp was organized, but it soon became apparent to the originators of the plan, that more trouble, and not less, would result. Convinced of the futility of the plan, they made known their fears to the church representatives, who promptly disbanded the camp.