Jacob Gates and the Vision of the Nauvoo Exodus and Western Migration

In 1840, Jacob Gates experienced a night vision where he saw the Saints begin to leave Nauvoo, cross the Mississippi River into Iowa, and move west. A personage appeared to him to explain that the Saints would find a place to dwell, eventually becoming numerous and strong, after which they would return to Jackson County, Missouri. The vision specifically named 'Council Bluffs' as the place where they would cross the Missouri River. Gates saw the track the company took, and later, in 1846, witnessed the fulfillment of these details as he moved with the Saints across the Mississippi.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

In the year 1840 I saw the people begin to leave Nauvoo and cross the river into Iowa, and prepare to move west. A personage seemed to stand by my side and explain the object of the move. He said the people were going to seek a place in which to dwell, and that when they found it they would remain there until they became numerous and strong; and when this time came they would rise like a host and go down to Jackson County, Missouri. I saw the very course they took five years later, and the personage beside me told me the name of the place where the Saints would cross the Missouri River, namely, Council Bluffs. I saw the track they took after crossing the river, and they went out of my sight about half way between the Missouri River and Salt Lake Valley, remaining out of sight to represent the time it might take to become numerous. The vision continued until they came in sight again, and then I followed them in the vision as they passed down the southwest side of the Missouri River, until they landed in Jackson County, Missouri. When they arrived they took possession of the land.