Mormon Pioneers Rescued 60 People With Just 75 Cents
In 1846, Luman Andros Shurtliff joined a rescue effort to help Latter-day Saints who had been driven from Nauvoo and were sick and destitute along the Mississippi River.
These Mormons set out to rescue 60 people with only 75 cents. In the fall of 1846, hundreds of Latter-day Saints were still stranded near Nauvoo. Many were desperately poor, sick, and dying. After being driven from Nauvoo, families were living across the Mississippi River in makeshift shelters. Brigham Young sent an urgent appeal asking church members to go back and rescue them.
Lumen Andrews Shirtliff was living 170 mi away at Garden Grove, Iowa. The saints there were struggling themselves, but they gathered 18 yolk of oxen wagons and teamsters. And when it was time to leave, they had managed to raise exactly 75 cents. That was all the money they had for a 340 m round trip. When they reached the Mississippi River, other rescue companies had already taken many of the saints who were healthy enough to travel.
So Lumen decided his company would take the poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick. Nearly 60 people, most of them sick, would make the journey back to Garden Grove. But how were they going to feed them? God was taking care of that. One of their teamsters accidentally shot one of his own oxen. But just as the men were trying to decide what to do, a steamboat arrived. They sold most of the beef to its passengers and used the money to buy another ox.
They even sold the hide and bought a barrel so they could salt and preserve the remaining meat. Then church trustees asked Lumen to take two sick widows and their children. In return, they provided another wagon and two barrels of flour. Then a young husband and wife approached the company. They offered the rescuers their last $10 if they would carry their belongings. Lumen accepted.
On November 1st, the company started west, and if you combined all the food they had left, it wouldn't have made even one good meal. But only a few miles into the journey, a man living nearby offered them white beans. Then, farther down the trail, they encountered another Latter-day Saint who had planted several acres of corn. He wanted to continue west and was willing to sell the crop.
And suddenly that young couple's last $10 had a purpose. The rescue company bought the corn. One need after another was met. On November 15th, they finally reached Garden Grove. And after beginning the entire 340 mi rescue with only 75, Lumen returned with twice as much money as he had started with. Looking back at their journey, there wasn't one big miracle that saved them. Instead, help seemed to come just when they needed it.
And I think that's one of the beautiful ways God works. Jesus Christ taught us to care for the poor, the sick, and those in need. So when someone crosses your path who needs help, maybe stop and ask yourself, could God have put me here for them?
