Brigham Young's miraculous command of the winds on Lake Erie
Published October 4, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While traveling on the steamboat Columbus on Lake Erie, Brigham Young felt impressed in spirit to pray for forgiveness of his sins and then felt empowered to command the winds to cease, which they immediately did, allowing the boat to travel safely.
Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):
The lake was so rough that no boat came into port until the 26th, when we went on board the steamboat Columbus, at one o'clock, and arrived in Buffalo next morning. The wind rose about one o'clock in the morning. I went upon deck and felt impressed in spirit to pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus, for a forgiveness of all my sins; and then I felt to command the winds to cease, and let us go safe on our journey. The winds abated, and I felt to give the glory and honor and praise to that God who rules all things.
In Their Own Words
“The wind rose about one o’clock in the morning. I went upon deck and felt impressed in spirit to pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus, for a forgiveness of all my sins; and then I felt to command the winds to cease, and let us go safe on our journey. The winds abated, and I felt to give the glory and honor and praise to that God who rules all things. — Millennial Star 25:42”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 17 October 1863 (Vol. 25, No. 42). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1863-10-17_25_42 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Fuller account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 25, No. 42 (17 October 1863), p. 663 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1863-10-17_25_42
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