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Introduction

At a time when the Church has achieved international recognition as a keeper of historical and genealogical records, the Far West Record has special relevance. This pioneer effort in early Church record-keeping was faithfully performed in the spirit of D&C 21:1, wherein the Lord said: "Behold, there shall be a record kept among you."

Mindful of the unsophisticated nature of recording and preserving documents in the early nineteenth century as well as the difficult and extensive travels of the Saints from New York to Utah, it is undoubtedly providential that we have the Far West Record today. The secretaries or clerks who kept the minutes of meetings contained in this ledger did not have shorthand skills, and, except for some knowledge of orthography, were essentially untrained. Yet, while their reports are occasionally incomplete, they are largely lucid, conceptually well-rounded, and probably fairly accurate summaries of what actually transpired.

The Far West Record contains minutes of various kinds of Church-related meetings (general conferences, high council and priesthood quorum meetings, and special councils) for the period 1830-44. But while the record chronologically spans the entire Church career of Joseph Smith, it is not a continuous, unbroken history of events in Church history for that same period.

The Far West Record is a record book into which original, loose pages of minutes were copied. (Some had been around for at least eight years.) Although several different clerks had taken the minutes, it was undoubtedly John Whitmer who had preserved them. Whitmer had been ordained Church historian in April 1831. Except for good continuity in minute-keeping during the later Missouri period, the Far West Record turns out to be a potpourri of minutes taken at various meetings held in New York, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Nauvoo, Illinois. For this reason the title is somewhat of a misnomer. Nevertheless, a full 80 percent of the total entries are from the Missouri period.

The ledger was given to the high council at Far West, Missouri, for their own minutes in 1838. But at some point in time it was decided that many loose pages of minutes of earlier years would occupy the first pages. The modern title of the record book was attached to the document by association after the Saints had settled in Utah. It was from the title page of the book that the name "Far West Record" was derived. This title was used in Church inventory of historical documents in 1855.

A study of the Far West Record demonstrates that Joseph Smith was respected and revered by early Church members as an inspired prophet. A perusal of its pages amply shows that he was an astute and wise counselor as well as a dynamic and charismatic leader.

Although the Far West Record does not contain the text of any revelation received by Joseph Smith, at least thirty-four different sections of the Doctrine and Covenants are referred to in the minutes of meetings (see index). A study of the record book provides information about the background and setting of some revelations (for example, sections 1, 32, 38, 82, and 133), precise dating of revelations previously unidentified (for example, section 57), the degree of acceptance and implementation of the instructions found in the revelations by members and leaders, and important insights into the nature of revelation.