The Miraculous Crossing of the Frozen Mississippi River
Published September 2, 2026 at 5:49 AM
In February 1846, as the first groups of Saints were forced to leave Nauvoo in extreme cold, the Mississippi River froze over completely. This allowed hundreds of wagons to cross the ice safely into Iowa. This event was viewed by the pioneers as a divine intervention that facilitated their escape from mobs and allowed them to begin their westward journey when the ferry system would have been too slow and dangerous due to floating ice.
Fuller documented account (from William G. Hartley, "The Pioneer Trek: Nauvoo to Winter Quarters," Ensign, June 1997, as retold by Elder David A. Bednar, "As Long as the World Shall Stand," BYU devotional, 19 January 2021): On 11 October 1845 Brigham Young appointed captains for 25 companies of 100 wagons each, planning a 2,500-wagon spring departure; by 23 November 1845, 3,285 families were organized for the trek, 800 more families than wagons. When threats of attack on Nauvoo, arrests of the Twelve, and destruction of the temple mounted in January 1846, the Twelve decided to leave early, in the dead of winter. On February 4, 1846, Charles Shumway ferried across the Mississippi River, starting the winter exodus. For three weeks, while temperatures plummeted, wagons ferried across, often steering clear of large ice chunks; then, after Charles C. Rich walked across the Mississippi on solid ice on February 25, scores of additional refugees crossed the river the same way, camping at the ever-expanding campground along Sugar Creek seven miles inland, where campfires burned constantly against the cold. The winter phase of the exodus, directed by President Brigham Young as the Camp of Israel, involved approximately 3,000 Saints and nearly 500 wagons journeying 300 miles across southern Iowa, while the spring and fall phases carried more than 10,000 additional Saints out of Nauvoo.
In Their Own Words
“We have spent the past week waiting for crossing over the river. It has been hard frost and much snow. This morning I concluded to start over the river and began early to send my teams. About noon I crossed with my family and then rested the teams and soon after went on to the camp where we arrived a little before four o'clock. Bishop Whitney concluded to stay at the river until morning because some of his teams could not get over. When we got to the camp we were received with joy and formed in the company of the band. The weather is still very cold especially during the night. The distance from Nauvoo to this place is called seven and a half miles.”
— William Clayton, journal, 27 February 1846 (William Clayton's Journal, Clayton Family Association, 1921), the day he crossed the frozen Mississippi and left Nauvoo
Sources & References
LeGrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, Deseret Book; B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church (research confidence: high; source section: The exodus from Nauvoo and the westward trek) ORIGINAL PRIMARY SOURCES AND SCHOLARSHIP behind this account: - William G. Hartley, "The Pioneer Trek: Nauvoo to Winter Quarters," Ensign, June 1997, 31 - https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1997/06/the-pioneer-trek-nauvoo-to-winter-quarters?lang=eng — the documented account Elder David A. Bednar drew on: "On 4 February Nauvoo resident Charles Shumway ferried across the Mississippi River, starting the winter exodus. For three weeks, while temperatures plummeted, wagons ferried across, often dodging ice chunks, and then scores crossed on solid ice after Charles C. Rich walked across the Mississippi on 25 February." - David A. Bednar, "As Long as the World Shall Stand," BYU devotional address, 19 January 2021 - https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-a-bednar/world-shall-stand/ — the apostolic retelling of the frozen-river exodus (footnote 1 citing Hartley's Ensign article). - William G. Hartley, "The Nauvoo Exodus and Crossing the Ice Myths," Journal of Mormon History 43, no. 1 (2017): 30-58 - https://doi.org/10.5406/jmormhist.43.1.0030 — the definitive scholarly study of the ice crossings, built directly from the February 1846 diaries, which both documents the crossings on the solid ice and corrects later exaggerated retellings. - William Clayton, journal entries for 8-27 February 1846, in William Clayton's Journal: A Daily Record of the Journey of the Original Company of "Mormon" Pioneers (Salt Lake City: Clayton Family Association, 1921) - https://archive.org/details/WilliamClaytonJournal — the day-by-day record of the frozen crossing week, ending the day Clayton crossed the Mississippi and left Nauvoo. - Charles C. Rich diary, February 1846, Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ — the record of Elder Rich walking across the frozen Mississippi on 25 February 1846, which opened the way for scores of others to follow on the ice; online transcript in the Church History Biographical Database - https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/transcript?lang=eng&name=transcript-for-charles-c-rich-diary-1846-february-1847-october-7-16 - Hosea Stout, diary entries for 23-25 February 1846, in Juanita Brooks, ed., On the Frontier with Hosea Stout: Diary of a Utah Pioneer Statesman, 1844-1861, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1961) — a Nauvoo resident's and Mormon Battalion leader's record of the river freezing over and the crossings on the ice. - Thomas Bullock, Camp of Israel journal (the clerk's daily weather log of the exodus), February-June 1846, Church History Library — the temperature and weather record of the crossing week. - Willard Richards, journal, February 1846, Church History Library — crossing-week entries of President Young's clerk. - Patty Bartlett Sessions, diary, February 1846, Church History Library — the midwife's record of the frigid Sugar Creek camp ("The wind blows, one can hardly get to the fire for the smoke"), quoted in Hartley, Ensign, June 1997. - Sarah DeArmon Pea Rich, reminiscences, 1885-1893, Church History Library - https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/622a8107-7a9c-4e88-908d-b8be7e21adfd — her firsthand account of leaving Nauvoo with her husband Charles C. Rich in February 1846. - Brigham Young Office Files, Journal, 28 September 1844-3 February 1846, Church History Library - https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets?id=de233849-df29-4851-b79d-ba78721d1476&crate=0&index=2 — the online scan of President Young's journal through the departure weeks. - Susan Easton Black, "The Economic Sacrifice of the Nauvoo Exodus," in Fred E. Woods et al., eds., Go Ye into All the World: The Growth & Expansion of the Mormon Church (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, BYU, 2002) - https://rsc.byu.edu/far-away-west/economic-sacrifice-nauvoo-exodus — documents Shumway's first crossing and the economic sacrifice of the exodus. - Glen M. Leonard, Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Hope (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002), the exodus chapters.
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