Joseph Smith's Dream of Fishing
Published October 4, 2026 at 8:21 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While in custody at the house of his brother Samuel Smith, Joseph Smith related a dream he had while sleeping on a buffalo skin with his secretary, Willard Richards. In the dream, Joseph found himself by a beautiful stream of water where he caught a 'noble handsome fish' and threw it out onto the bank. Shortly thereafter, he saw a multitude of other fish and threw out a great abundance of them. Feeling the need to preserve his catch, he sent for salt, salted them down, and successfully cured them. This account was recorded in Joseph's own journal by Willard Richards on December 28, 1842.
In Their Own Words
“Slept with sec on buffalo skin... Before starting Joseph related his dream. Was by a beautiful stream of water. Saw a noble handsome fish. Threw it out. Soon after saw more, threw them out and soon a great many and threw them out a great abundance, and sent for salt to salt them down and salted them. — An American Prophet's Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, ed. Scott H. Faulring (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1987)”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 24 April 1858 (Vol. 20, No. 17). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1858-04-24_20_17 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Scott H. Faulring, ed., An American Prophet's Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1987). https://archive.org/stream/AnAmericanProphetsRecordJosephSmith/An%20American%20Prophets%20Record-Joseph%20Smith_djvu.txt
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