Down the Great River; Embracing an Account of the Discovery of the True Source of the Mississippi - Together with Views, Descriptive and Pictorial, of (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1889 edition. Excerpt: ...attacked the city. The Legion held it at bay whilethe Temple was completed and dedicated. The baptistery was festooned with flowers; the walls decorated with symbolic ornaments; lamps and torches glittered; prayers were uttered and chants were sung, and thus the dedication was completed. In an hour afterwards the portal was closed and an inscription placed upon it: "The House of the Lord Built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Holiness to the Lord " and the Saints were already making their way across the Mississippi. The last of the Mormons were, in September of the same year, driven from their homes at the point of the bayonet. Thirty months after its consecration the Temple was destroyed by fire at midnight. It was afterwards partially restored, hut in May, 1850, was cast into a heap of ruins hy a tornado, which also laid the town low. The place fell into the hands of a colony of Icarian Socialists from Paris, under M. Cabet, who practised a sort of community life, hut failed to attain that temporal prosperity which is not infrequently the result of such a system. Thus concludes all that is of interest in the history of Nauvoo, though it is hut the beginning of the history of the Mormons, who, driven from place to place, at last established themselves in the lap of the Rocky Mountains; a history full of romance and literally stranger than fiction, which has become interwoven with that of the Nation. So much of absorbing interest had been observed and commented upon at Dallas, Nauvoo and other points along the route from Burlington that we did not reach our evening destination until nearly eight. o'clock. We were glad indeed to get out of the canoe and get into our hotel, where, after supper, I wrote tip my log for the...