Voice of the Lord Heard by Solomon Chamberlain in the California Mountains
Published March 24, 2026 at 11:20 PM
Contributed by
Todd Morgan
Beaumont, CA, 92223
Around 1850, Solomon Chamberlain traveled to California during the Gold Rush, hoping to improve the financial circumstances of his struggling family. He settled near Sacramento on Weber Creek and began panning for gold, but the wages barely covered his board costs — he was earning a dollar a day while each meal cost a dollar.
After weeks of hardship, isolated in the wilderness with only a mule, insufficient provisions, and the realization that continuing would require selling his mule to survive, Chamberlain turned to prayer. He knelt alone in the woods and asked the Lord what he should do.
He wrote in his autobiography: 'The voice of the Lord came unto me as plain as though a man spake and said, "If you will go home to your family you shall go in peace, and nothing shall harm you."'
Taking the Lord at His word, Chamberlain immediately rose, left all his belongings — a chest of clothes and his rifle — in a store without telling anyone his plans, and set off across the California mountains with nothing but a pocket knife. He traveled safely home without harm, fulfilling the promise he had received. He described this as one of the clearest divine communications of his life.
In Their Own Words
“Somewhere about the year 1850, I thought I would go to California, as gold digging was cried up very much, and get gold to make myself and family comfortable, as I was in poor circumstances. I accordingly went, the North route, and made my stand this side of Sacramento, on Weber Creek. I went up this creek about 5 miles, and began to dig for gold. I worked there for some time and could not make my board. I was earning a dollar a day and my board cost me a dollar a day. I had a mule and I had a chest of clothes and a rifle. I was in a bad fix. I did not know what to do. I went into the woods and knelt down and asked the Lord in faith what I should do, and the voice of the Lord came unto me as plain as though a man spake, and said, if you will go home to your family, you shall go in peace, and nothing shall harm you. I rose up and started with my one mule, and left all that I had, a chest of clothes, and my rifle, in a store and said nothing to no man where I was going. I took the Lord at his word and put myself over the California mountains with no weapon but my pocket knife. This year the Indians were more troublesome than ever they were before or since. They were killing and being killed every night. I put my trust in God, and in the power of the priesthood, which carried me safe through, although I came all the way alone, me and my one mule. So the Lord was as good as his word in bringing me safe through.”
— Solomon Chamberlain, A Short Sketch of the Life of Solomon Chamberlin
Sources & References
Solomon Chamberlain, Autobiography (written July 11, 1858), holograph, HBLL; full text: http://earlymormonism.com/solomon-chamberlain-1788-1862/ Full first-person account: Larry C. Porter, “Solomon Chamberlain—Early Missionary,” BYU Studies 12, no. 3 (Spring 1972): 314–318. https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/solomon-chamberlins-missing-pamphlet-dreams-visions-and-angelic-ministrants Full first-person account: Larry C. Porter, “Solomon Chamberlain—Early Missionary,” BYU Studies 12, no. 3 (Spring 1972): 314–318. https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/solomon-chamberlins-missing-pamphlet-dreams-visions-and-angelic-ministrants
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