Joseph Smith's Instruction to Spare Rattlesnakes during Zion's Camp (1834)

During the 1834 Zion's Camp march, Joseph Smith instructed the men not to kill rattlesnakes they encountered and to 'let them alone,' promising that if the men spared the animals the snakes would not harm them. Israel Barlow (who recorded an occasion when three rattlesnakes were found in camp), Solomon Humphrey, Wilford Woodruff (who described the incident as a lesson in divine protection and the restoration of the peaceable kingdom), and Brigham Young (who reported snakes found in the camp's path and even in sleeping quarters) all recorded that, despite frequently camping in snake-infested areas, no member of the camp was bitten. Observers attributed the preservation to obedience to Joseph Smith’s counsel.