President Young's Prophecy of the Invasion of Utah
Published October 4, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
On July 24, 1853, Brigham Young predicted that the community would see a heavy shower of trouble. Four years later, in 1857, armed hosts invaded Utah, fulfilling the prophecy.
Fuller account of this event (as retold in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 21, No. 36, September 3, 1859, p. 578):
On the 24th July, 1853, speaking upon the troubles incurred when against building forts, he used the following plain and prophetic language:— “Brother Brigham, do you really think we shall ever need them?” “Yes, I do. All the troubles that there are in the community this year is not a circumstance to the heavy shower that will come.” The Saints, however, were then enjoying a season of comparative peace, and the words of the Prophet were, by many, almost forgotten. But four years later, when the sound of armed hosts marching to invade them burst upon their ears, they recollected the words then pronounced and subsequently repeated, and testified to their literal verification.
In Their Own Words
“On the 24th July, 1853, speaking upon the troubles incurred when against building forts, he used the following plain and prophetic language:— “Brother Brigham, do you really think we shall ever need them?” “Yes, I do. All the troubles that there are in the community this year is not a circumstance to the heavy shower that will come.” ... But four years later, when the sound of armed hosts marching to invade them burst upon their ears, they recollected the words then pronounced and subsequently repeated, and testified to their literal verification. — Millennial Star 21:36”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 3 September 1859 (Vol. 21, No. 36). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1859-09-03_21_36 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Fuller account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 21, No. 36, September 3, 1859, p. 578 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1859-09-03_21_36
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