Samuel H. Smith's Prophetic Vision of Safety and Provision

While fleeing from Missouri under the threat of a company of well-armed men sent to capture them, Samuel H. Smith and his companions experienced a severe winter storm that hid their tracks and saved them. Later, facing starvation while on the run, Samuel Smith was appointed president of the group and they prayed for guidance. Samuel, filled with the Holy Ghost, prophesied that Joseph Smith and his brethren would be delivered and that God would provide food. The next morning, Samuel and C. C. Rich followed a prompt to find an Indian camp, where they were provided with bread and dried meat to sustain the party.

Following the division into three parties, the group fled north into Iowa before traveling east to Illinois. According to the account found in the Parkinson Family History Archive, during their trek, the group was forced to survive on slippery elm bark, which caused some of the men to fall ill. They eventually crossed the Mississippi River at Warsaw on November 14 and successfully reached Quincy on November 15, 1838.