Zion's Camp — Joseph Smith Digs Well and Miraculously Provides Water (June 1834)

During Zion's Camp in June 1834, after a long, wearisome day's march across a treeless, waterless prairie on one of the hottest days of June, the camp — about two hundred men and their teams — was parched and near collapse. Joseph Smith quietly sat at his tent, then called for a spade. He selected a convenient spot in the camp and dug a very shallow well (only a few feet deep). Immediately water began bubbling up and filled the hole until horses and mules could drink. The well remained full while the camp stayed there and supplied scores of animals and the men. Zera Cole, an eyewitness, later called it “one of the greatest miracles ever performed by man as an instrument in the hands of the Great Creator.” No formal announcement was made at the time, yet the spring that had not existed before satisfied the thirst of the entire camp.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

While traveling across the vast prairie, treeless and waterless, they camped at night after a long and wearisome day's march. They had been without water since early morning, and men and animals suffered greatly from thirst, for it had been one of the hottest days of June. Joseph sat at his tent looking out upon the scene. All at once he called for a spade. When it was brought, he looked about him and selected a spot, the most convenient in the Camp for men and teams to get water. Then he dug a shallow well, and immediately the water came bubbling up into it and filled it, so that the horses and mules could stand and drink from it. While the camp stayed there, the well remained full, despite the fact that about two hundred men and scores of horses and mules were supplied from it.