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A Beautiful and Delightful Situation

#%%#In September of 1846, the word Nebraska was but an ill-understood expression of the Omaha and Otoe Indians, perhaps derived from their name for the Platte River. Early explorers believed it was the name the Indians used to refer to the territory across the Missouri River westward from the bluffs on the Iowa side, where councils had been held among the various tribes and the westering Americans. It popularly bore the name of Council Bluffs.

During this time, many explorers crossed the wide Missouri near Council Bluffs. Peter Sarpy was holding together the promising community of Bellevue, down the river a few miles, by ferrying passengers to and from the bluffs, and by regaling Indians, trappers, military men, and explorers with his tales of adventure, triumph, and tragedy.

But the community that formally came into being on September 23, 1846, was much more than a trading post or a casual location. It was the winter quarters of the Camp of Israel, and came to be named Winter Quarters. For the next two years, it would serve as the headquarters of one of the most significant migrations in American history. Then, after a brief hiatus that saw it sink into ruins, it would blossom again, under a new name, as that massive migration continued.

The founding of the city is signaled in the September 23 journal entry of Brigham Young, generally recognized as the leader of the Camp of Israel. He came to this uncertain position through his ordination as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, already popularly known as the Mormon church. Since the death of the Prophet and President, Joseph Smith, it had been Brigham's position that the Presidency was dissolved and that the authority of leading the Church was vested in the Quorum of the Twelve. As the quorum's leader, he wrote in his journal: "The Camp of Israel began to move to the new location for Winter Quarters. The city was laid out in blocks of twenty rods by forty, each lot four rods by ten."

Choosing the site was no hurried decision. Brigham Young knew full well that his authority to lead was challenged, within and without the Church, and he was careful to seek counsel before major decisions were made. Under the date of September 8, his journal recorded that a meeting of the High Council had named Alanson Eldredge, Alpheus Cutler, A. P. Rockwood, J. M. Grant, and Ezra Chase as the committee to locate Winter Quarters. It was planned early that it would be a place of some substance. On September 9, Brigham recorded that twelve teams were ready to leave for Nauvoo to bring the poor and others still remaining in and around that beleaguered city to the new settlement on the Missouri. Elder Orson Hyde reported that sixty-four families in St. Louis were ready to emigrate westward if teams could be sent to them, and eighty-two others intended to emigrate as soon as they could obtain the necessary means. The proper location of a winter quarters was gaining importance, and Brigham Young summarized the situation for the High Council. He said: