In the summer of
1831, a little more
than a year after the
Church was organized,
Joseph Smith traveled
from Kirtland, Ohio,
to Independence, Missouri, and
there dictated a revelation
designating Missouri
as the land of Zion.
Church members soon began
migrating to Independence,
which was in Jackson County.
When they were driven
from Jackson County,
they settled in Clay County
and later in Caldwell County.
Meanwhile, Joseph Smith and
the Latter-day Saints living
in Kirtland continued building
up the community of Saints
there.
As the Church in Kirtland
continued to grow,
Joseph Smith and other leaders
conceived expansive plans
for the community,
including a bank,
which would help provide
capital for development.
But the bank's failure
and other problems
led to dissent against
Joseph Smith in the Church.
By January 1838,
Joseph Smith faced
threats of physical violence.
Fearing for his life,
he fled Kirtland
and traveled hundreds
of miles to Far West
in Caldwell County, where most
of the Missouri Saints lived.
Joseph Smith soon
dictated a revelation
directing the Latter-day
Saints to continue
gathering to Missouri
and to develop
Far West as a holy place
and a city of Zion.
This revelation also
commanded the Saints
to build a temple there.
For most of 1838,
Joseph Smith was
focused on building up Far
West as the central gathering
point of the Church.
The revelation also
stated that Joseph Smith
would be guided to designate new
locations for Mormon settlement
in Missouri.
Shortly thereafter, he
identified a picturesque bluff
rising above the Grand
River as Adam-ondi-Ahman.
Joseph Smith had
previously taught
that a place called
Adam-ondi-Ahman
was where Father
Adam had blessed
his posterity after
leaving the Garden of Eden.
Joseph Smith spent several
weeks surveying the town,
supervising the
construction of new homes,
and organizing a
stake of Zion there.
It was also during this time
that he and other Church
leaders were directing
Mormon migration
to the small town of DeWitt,
strategically situated where
the Grand River runs
into the Missouri River.
Through the remainder
of the summer of 1838,
Joseph Smith was
engaged in directing
the further settlement and
development of Far West,
Adam-ondi-Ahman, and DeWitt.
Joseph Smith's
efforts to strengthen
the Church in Missouri,
the Latter-day Saints'
land of Zion, can be found
in the various letters,
revelations, and
other documents found
in volume 6 of the Documents
series of The Joseph Smith
Papers.
