Charles H. Wilcken’s Divine Experience at the Mouth of Emigration Canyon
Published October 18, 2026 at 3:09 PM
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Young Woman's Journal Research
Upon arriving at the mouth of Emigration Canyon in 1857, Charles H. Wilcken, a recent convert, experienced a profound sense of peace and divine presence that compelled him to retire and kneel in reverence to God. He noted that he only had a similar experience again in 1873, and stated that a different atmosphere hangs over the land of Utah.
In Their Own Words
“A little incident happened to me as we came to the mouth of Emigration Canyon, when the valley was spread out to my view. An indescribable feeling came over me, a feeling of peace, of gratitude and of contentment such as I had never before experienced. It forced me to retire behind a rock and kneel down in humble reverence to my Maker. I have only once again, had the same experience, and that was when I returned from my mission in 1873, on reaching the shores of this our blessed America. It seems to me that a different atmosphere hangs over this land, and that the presence of our Father is felt closer here than in any other country.”
— Charles H. Wilcken, The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 18 no. 9
Sources & References
The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 18 no. 9 (September 1907). L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University digital collections. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/15254 (account extracted verbatim from the collection's page-level OCR; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 18 no. 9 (September 1907), p. 403 https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/15254
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