Wilford Woodruff's miraculous recovery from a falling tree accident
Published October 12, 2026 at 6:41 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While cutting timber on the west bank of the Missouri River, Wilford Woodruff was crushed by a falling tree, resulting in a broken breastbone, three broken ribs on the left side, and severe bruising and internal injuries. He was transported to his wagon where Brigham Young and his counselors administered to him. He recovered to the point of being able to walk in twenty days and return to work in thirty days.
In Their Own Words
“October 5, 1846. I spent the day in the woods with my team, cutting and hauling timber. While I was at work, a large tree fell upon me, which crushed my breast bone and three of my ribs on the left side, and badly bruised my left arm, hip, and thigh, and I was otherwise internally injured. I rode two and a half miles over a rough road, and was then carried to my wagon. President Brigham Young and his counselors came to see me and laid hands upon me and rebuked my pain. I had no physician, but I was able to walk in twenty days, and in thirty days from the time I was hurt I was able to work again.”
— Wilford Woodruff, Leaves from My Journal
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 22 September 1898 (Vol. 60, No. 38). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1898-09-22_60_38 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: Leaves from My Journal, Chapter 24 https://archive.org/details/leavesfrommyjour00wood/page/248/mode/2up
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