Holy Ghost / Guidance and Direction
Spiritual Witness of the Prophet Joseph Smith
1830s · 1834
En route to Missouri (joining the main camp)
Jacob Gates, Mary Snow Gates, Zerubbabel Snow, Willard Snow, Joseph Smith
Contributed by
Zion's Camp Participant Research
After traveling from Vermont with his wife and her brothers, Jacob Gates joined the main body of Zion's Camp. He recorded a profound spiritual experience upon first meeting the leader of the expedition, stating that he saw 'the face of our beloved Prophet Joseph Smith.' This spiritual confirmation of Smith's prophetic calling was a defining moment for Gates, which he continued to recount and record nearly sixty years later.
Sources & References
Jacob Gates, 'Items of History of the Life and Labors of Jacob Gates,' holograph, Church History Library; Andrea G. Radke, 'We Also Marched: The Women and Children of Zion’s Camp, 1834,' BYU Studies 39, no. 4 (2000): 150. (research confidence: high)
