The Miracle of the Quail — Exhausted Quail Fall into the Starving Pioneer Camps

In October 1846, as the Mormon pioneers were camped in Iowa Territory along the Mississippi River during their forced exodus from Nauvoo, many families were destitute, sick, and near starvation. The so-called 'Poor Camp' on the banks of the Mississippi held those who had been too poor or too ill to travel with the main pioneer companies.

On October 9, 1846, to the astonishment of the camp, enormous flocks of exhausted quail began flying in from across the Mississippi River. The birds were so tired they could barely fly, and they literally fell into the wagons and tents, landing in the laps and arms of the pioneers. The people could simply pick them up by hand.

Thomas Bullock, the official camp clerk and meticulous diarist of the pioneer exodus, recorded in his journal: 'Every man, woman and child had quails to eat for their dinner.' He noted that after the camp ate, 'not a gun was afterwards fired and the quails flew round the camp.' The people recognized this as a direct parallel to the biblical account of God sending quail to feed Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 16; Numbers 11).

The miracle fed hundreds of starving Saints at a critical moment of the exodus. It became one of the most cherished pioneer miracle accounts in Latter-day Saint history and is sometimes called the 'Miracle of the Quail' or 'Iowa Quail Miracle.'