Witnessing the Cholera Epidemic and Divine Deliverance

During the final days of the march in late June 1834, Zion's Camp was struck by a devastating cholera epidemic near Rush Creek. Lorenzo D. Barnes was a witness to the sudden illness that affected about 68 members of the camp. In his journal, he recorded the attempts to heal the sick through the laying on of hands and the subsequent deaths of 14 individuals, including John S. Carter. Barnes noted the miraculous cessation of the plague following the formal disbandment of the camp and the participants' efforts to humble themselves before God, viewing their survival and the end of the plague as a result of divine intervention.