James Lewis Thompson — Divine Preservation from Thirst during the Battalion March

While marching with Company C of the Mormon Battalion across the southwestern deserts, James Lewis Thompson and his fellow soldiers faced extreme life-threatening dehydration. In an account preserved in his DUP biographical sketch, James and a small group of men were prompted to move away from the main trail during a period of intense suffering. Following what they felt was divine guidance or an 'impression of the Spirit,' they discovered a hidden source of water (a seep or natural tank) in a rocky area where no water was known to exist. This discovery provided enough water to sustain them and their animals, which James attributed to the Lord's watchcare over the Battalion members.