History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

THE FIRST MISSIONS. 399
their post until ordered home; and when recalled, they
were often forced to earn by their own labor the
means of crossing seas and deserts. Restored at
length to their families, they were ready to set forth
at a day's notice to new fields of labor; and for all
this self-denial they sought no earthly reward, esteeming
it as their greatest privilege thus to give
proof of their unfailing devotion to the church.
One of the first Mormon missions of which we have
any record was sent forth in October 1830, in which
year, as will be remembered, it was ordered that
Pratt, Cowdery, Whitmer, and Peterson should go
and preach the gospel to the Lamanites. During
their progress they labored for a season among the
Wyandots in western Ohio. Thence they journeyed
to Cincinnati, but meeting there with little success,
proceeded to St Louis, preaching at several points
on their way to large congregations. Starting forth
westward early in the spring, they travelled for
300 miles through the snow, sometimes knee-deep,
their food being corn bread and raw frozen pork.
After a journey of 1,500 miles, occupying about four
months, they reached Independence, having preached
the gospel to thousands of the gentiles, baptizing and
confirming many hundreds, and establishing several
churches. 3
3 The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, one of the Twelve Apostles of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, embracing his Life, Ministry,
and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from his Miscellaneous Writings,
Edited by his son Parley P. Pratt, New York, 1874, is one of the most
valuable works extant on the subject of Mormon missions. The author relates
in simple phrase the hardships, persecutions, and adventures which he
and other missionaries encountered in various parts of the United States, and
though probably he makes the most of them, there can be little doubt that so
far his narrative is in the main reliable. Chosen a member of the first quorum
in 1835, he was on terms of intimacy with Joseph and Hyrum Smith,
Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and others of the church dignitaries, and
as the editor remarks, ' his history, therefore, was so interwoven with that of
the church, that many of the most interesting sketches of church history will
be found therein. ' In the autobiography, which covers a period of twenty
years, from his early boyhood to his betrayal into the hands of his enemies, of
which more hereafter, is an account of his life and travels, his missionary
labors, and the labors of those with whom he was associated, together with
some of his miscellaneous writings in prose and verse. Other works of this
author are: An Appeal to the Inhabitants of the State of New York, a pamphlet