The Swiss Company — Miraculous Preservation in the 1862 Flood

In January 1862, just months after the Swiss Company of converts arrived in Santa Clara to support the Cotton Mission, a catastrophic flood struck the Virgin River basin. The floodwaters completely demolished the Santa Clara fort and the pioneers' newly built homes. Andrew Karl Larson records that despite the sudden and violent nature of the flood, which occurred in the middle of the night and swept away the very ground the fort stood on, every member of the Swiss Company was miraculously preserved from death. The settlers interpreted their survival as a divine sign of protection, allowing them to continue their mission in Dixie despite the total loss of their material possessions.