John Tanner and his family

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64 John Tanner and His A number of the brethren were Family called on "recruiting missions" with instructions to raise both men and the means for the coming which expedition. The prophet, himself, went on a recruiting mission the met he took him as far as Albany, New York, where probably Tanner boys and possibly their father." Portage, Ohio, about fifty miles from Kirtland, was selected staging grounds for the proposed army, and approximately 150 assembled there by early May 1834, together with twenty bag­ New as the gage wagons. Nathan tells us that he and John Joshua joined Zion's at New Portage, and he adds, "Here we furnished three teams, save one horse put in by H. G. [Henry G.] Sherwood. We put in very near half the money that paid the expenses of the camp." Probably because of the generous support given the camp by the Tanner family, Nathan was chosen to assist Zerubbabel Snow as Camp 7 commissary general. This little army, known in Mormon history as Zion's Camp have been one of the strangest military organizations in history. Recruited by a prophet and his chief assistants, it was marched and Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Mis­ transported across four states must - souri - with the avowed intention of elements in Jackson County, Missouri, dispossessed Latter-day giving battle to the lawless to force them to allow the Saints to return to their homes. The army was made up of farmers, storekeepers, and others of like status with no previous military training, and was led by the prophet himself whom the revelation called "Baurak Ale." Because of the religious nature of the undertaking, a biographer of Amasa M. Lyman Army.?" - one of the camp members - called it the "Lord's On the long trek a distance of about eight hundred miles as the crow flies, but usually spoken of as a thousand miles the camp tried to remain as low key as possible and to refrain from causing undue excitement. But a body of men this size was bound - - to attract attention in tions were asked by spite of all efforts at secrecy, and many ques­ people along the way. curious Small numbers of men joined the camp from time to time, as it moved towards its objective, so that by the time it was in the vicinity of Jackson County its numbers had swelled to 205, well over the minimum of 100 stated in the revelation, but far below the de­ sired 500.