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Show THE DEAD PROPHET. 601 the earth; he would lead a party to rebuild Jerusalem, " and stop at London on the way home to pull the nose of Little Vic ! " He was brought to trial as an impostor and disturber, Brigham acting as principal accuser; was " cut off, condemned, and delivered to the buf-fetings of Satan for a thousand years." About a hundred voted " not guilty." These were at once brought to trial and " cut off." It was then moved, and unanimously carried, that all who should hereafter ad-here to Rigdon should be " cut off." The church led off by Rigdon has long since gone to pieces, and he died not long ago near Pittsburgh. All the other factions have broken up, and the remnants reorganized as " Josephites," under the lead of young Joe Smith ; except that a small branch exists at Independence, Mo., and in that vicinity. The main body who followed the Twelve Brigham being then merely President of the Twelve were called " Twelveites ; " but are now considered the Mormon Church proper. It was not long till Brigham was exercising all the power of the apostolic quorum, the other eleven soon sinking into mere lieutenants. He finished the Temple, hurried the people through their " endow-ments," in which they were bound to the Church by the most terrible oaths, and hastened the preparations for departure. In January, 1846, he and eight of the apostles started westward, afld with them 2,000 of the people. Others went as fast as they could ; by May, 16,000 Mormons had left, and not more than 2,000 remained in Nauvoo. But an irregular war with their neighbors went on; and in Septem-ber, 1846, a body of 1,000 or 1,500 militia besieged the city for three days, and finally expelled the remaining Mormons at the point of the bayonet. The Saints spent the fall of 1846 and ensuing winter and spring in a line of camps in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska ; and as soon as possible Brigham started with one hundred and forty- three men to hunt a location " in some valley in the Rocky Mountains." Before leaving Illinois he had received a copy of Fremont's Report from Governor Thomas L. Ford, who suggested one of the large val-leys of the Wasatch as their best location. The pioneer party entered Salt Lake Valley the 23d of July, but Brigham had remained in the caflon and did not come in till the next day. Reaching the present site of the city he exclaimed : " This is the place," and ordered a halt at once. Prayer was offered, a plow was lifted from the wagon, and a considerable garden- spot plowed before night. A heavy thunder-shower came on that day a very rare occurrence at that time in the Great Basin in summer, and a good omen to the Saints. They put in a crop, from which those who stayed gathered potatoes about the size |