Zion's Camp — Joseph Smith Digs Well and Miraculously Provides Water (June 1834)

During Zion's Camp in June 1834, after a long, wearisome day's march across a treeless, waterless prairie on one of the hottest days of June, the camp — about two hundred men and their teams — was parched and near collapse. Joseph Smith quietly sat at his tent, then called for a spade. He selected a convenient spot in the camp and dug a very shallow well (only a few feet deep). Immediately water began bubbling up and filled the hole until horses and mules could drink. The well remained full while the camp stayed there and supplied scores of animals and the men. Zera Cole, an eyewitness, later called it “one of the greatest miracles ever performed by man as an instrument in the hands of the Great Creator.” No formal announcement was made at the time, yet the spring that had not existed before satisfied the thirst of the entire camp.