Colonel Thomas L. Kane's recovery in the Camp of Israel

In 1846, while traveling west to the Latter-day Saint encampments along the Missouri River to assist in the recruitment of the Mormon Battalion, Colonel Thomas L. Kane became dangerously ill with bilious remittent fever while staying at the 'Camp of Israel' near present-day Council Bluffs. During his critical illness, Kane received medical attention from an army physician stationed at Fort Leavenworth, but he was also closely attended by Latter-day Saint leaders and members. Through their devoted nursing, as well as their faith and prayers, he was restored to health, though his constitution remained fragile and he suffered from poor health for the remainder of his life. During his recovery, the Saints comforted him with prophetic assurances that his days would be lengthened and that he had a specific destiny to fulfill, providing him with solace amidst his difficult, romantic surroundings in the frontier camp.