1830, many the "First Nations" tribes escaped to Canada. However, a small band of Pottawatomie Indians moved west, and ”early treaties gave them land grants near Chicago Platte country Missouri”... Literally, the people who had the LEGAL title to the land of ZION were Pottawatomie Indians
April of 1836 - Joseph Smith saw Jesus Christ in the Kirtland Temple. He described the Lord as “standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, . . . and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying: I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:2–4).
March 1839 - Liberty Jail - Joseph pleads with the Lord, and is given "five more years"
January 1841 (Doctrine and Covenants 124:28) the Nauvoo Temple was to be built so the fullness of the priesthood could be restored,
“For there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you,
or which he hath taken away, even the fulness of the priesthood”
May 1842 - The Quorum of the Anointed, or the Holy Order, was a select body of men and women who Joseph Smith initiated into Temple ordinances at Nauvoo, Illinois. This group, which ultimately numbered over sixty persons, also recieved their washings, anointings and endowments in the upper floor of his Red Brick Store.
The US government broke their earlier treaties with the the Pottawatomie tribe,(~1,450 members remaining) and "traded" their lands in Missouri, for land in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
July 1843, Dunham made his way into Iowa Territory, his primary mission lay with the Pottawatomie, who provided him with a prearranged guide to their villages just south of present-day Omaha, Nebraska. The content of his mission is lost. His otherwise detailed journal says nothing of his negotiation with the tribe. But… one hundred Pottawatomie tribesmen reportedly moved east to the Des Moines River, out of which, a smaller delegation was chosen to go to the Mormon capital, this time bringing their own interpreter...
In the early months of 1844, the dissident movement of former Church members grew. The numbers are difficult to determine, but maybe as many as three to five hundred people may have attached themselves to a reformed church led by William Law
March 11 1844, Joseph Smith organized "the kingdom of God", with a leadership was composed of over fifty men and described as the Council of the Kingdom or the Council of Fifty. This body represented the legislative body of the government of God on earth.[17] - Joel H. Johnson’s oft-sung hymn: "High on the mountain top, A banner is unfurled,Ye nations, now look up, It waves to all the world." [51]
April 4, 1844 - William Clayton's Journal - " In Council of the Kingdom. Eleven Lamanites appeared and wanted council. We had a very pleasant and impressive interview."
April 5-6 - 12x Elders on the Stand... Sydney Rigdon delivers part 1 of 3, of his "secret meetings" sermon.... (published in the Times and Seasons, in May & July) - Notably, when he says "What I have said, is only to prepare the way" [at this point in the sermon, Five Pottawatomie Elders were escorted to the stand] - Immediately after he take a break "to refresh himself", The choir, "by request" sang 'the red man,' (The Songs of Zion: A Collection of Choice Songs, p.236 - 1918 ) after which the closing prayer was given by Elder J. P. Green, the meeting was adjourned for one hour.
Sunday, April 7, 1844 - Joseph Smith delivered his last general conference address in the east grove, often called the King Follett discourse (full texts) .[18] The death of King Follett on March 9, 1844, nearly a month earlier, influenced its subject matter—the eternity of man. This discourse may be correctly identified as an official eulogy.[20]
April 11, Thursday - Council of 50 - William Clayton Journal, "Afterwards in the Council. We had a glorious interview. Pres. J. was voted our P. P. & K. with loud Hosannas"
April 18, 1844, when Joseph Smith organized "the Council" of the Kingdom.[46] After attempts to prepare a constitution for this body failed, the Prophet asked and the Lord responded, “Ye are my Constitution and I am your God and ye are my spokesmen, therefore from henceforth keep my commandments.”[47] - William Clayton Journal -- "Thursday Council of 50, At 9 met in Council. This day Pres. J. introduced J. W. Coolidge and D. S. Hollister and added L. Wight's name, and then declared the council full. The names as they now stand" - 50 names given... President John Taylor said: “These words are pregnant with meaning and full of intelligence and point out our position in regard of these matters—it is expected of us that [we] can act right—that our interests [are] bound up in the K[ingdom] of God - Note: also April 18th - William Law, Smith's trusted counselor, and Robert Foster, a general of the Nauvoo Legion, disagreed with Smith about how to manage Nauvoo's economy. Both were excommunicated.
The council added several people... among Lewis Dana an Oneida Indian, who traveled several hundred miles to Illinois with his wife and daughter to visit the Mormons. The native styled himself as “an Interpreter of six tribes,” whom he confidently predicted would “receive the work.” He himself did, being “joyfully” baptized in May 1840. Mr. Dana is believed to have been the first Lamanite who has been ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood.
Wednesday, May 15, Josiah Quincy (future mayor of Boston), Charles Francis Adams (son of U.S. president John Quincy Adams and grandson of U.S. president John Adams), and Dr. William G. Goforth (death date? - campaign organizer for presidential candidate Henry Clay) visited Joseph Smith...
Friday, May 17, the Reform Party, a third-party ticket, officially nominated Joseph Smith as their presidential candidate at a state convention in Illinois.[23]
21 May 1844 - Clayton's Journal reports that "when Joseph had ridden outside of Nauvoo to keep away from an officer with a subpoena, he sent Clayton to find out how Emma felt about Joseph returning home. "I found her crying with rage and fury because he had gone away. She wanted him to go home. I came and told him & he returned home at 9 o clock." What Clayton did not report was that Emma was very ill at the time and Joseph was evidently worried about her. (See Smith, History of the Church, 6:398-99)
Wednesday, 22 - Joseph records that he spent the day "At home, watching, as the officers from Carthage were after me. At 10 a. m., about 40 Indians of the Sacs and Foxes came up in front of the Mansion, four or five of them being mounted , among whom was Black Hawk's brother, Kis-kish-kee, &c. I was obliged to send word I could not see them at present. They encamped in the Council Chamber afternoon and night. I was with the police on duty, and saw several individuals lurking around
Thursday, 23rd of May - Joseph meets with Sauk and Fox elders - "we are sons of big men and priests" - "we wanted to let you know we were a christian people" - JS responds "[I] fou[n]d a book. (pentig [presenting] the Book of Mormon) which told me about your fathers.— &. Great spi[r]it told me.— you must send [it] to all the tribes you can." - At 3 p. m., the Indians commenced a war dance in front of my old house. Our people commenced with music and firing cannon. After the dance, which lasted about two hours, the firing of cannon closed the exercise.
Sunday, 26.— At 10 a. m. [JS] preached at the Stand [of the Maid of Iowa] - "I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers."
Prior to his assassination, Smith reportedly prophesied to Brigham Young and other leaders, “You will yet be called upon to go the “strongholds of the Rocky Mountains,” Smith predicted. “You will gather the Red Man... from their scattered and dispersed situation to become the strong arm of Jehovah.” At that time, he continued, the Lamanite would become “a strong bulwark of protection from your foes.”
Friday, June 7, some of these dissident members published the first and only issue of the Nauvoo Expositor, an attempt to embarrass Church leaders and kindle animosity among non-Mormons in the region.[24] On Monday, June 10, the city council declared the Nauvoo Expositor a public nuisance because they thought it might incite additional acts of violence against the Saints.[25]
10 June 1844, Monday ... The City council passed a resolution declaring the Printing press on the hill a "nuisance" and ordered it destroyed if not moved in 3 hours notice. About sun down The police gathered at the Temple about sundown and after organizing proceeded to the office and demolished the press & scattered the Type.
June 16, 1844 - Joseph gave a sermon in the grove east of the Temple regarding the Godhead.[28] Each member of the Godhead is “a different or separate person,” the Prophet taught. “Separate persons, but they all agree in one or the self same thing.”
June 22, John and Patrick Calhoun, sons of presidential candidate John C. Calhoun, visited Joseph Smith in Nauvoo. That same day, Illinois governor Thomas Ford ordered Joseph and other Church leaders to appear in Carthage, the county seat, “submit yourself to be arrested.”[30] This conspiracy culminated in the murder of the Prophet and the Patriarch on Thursday, June 27.[31] - Later that afternoon, J. Smith and his closest associates passed over the Mississippi River. They thought they might find refuge from their troubles in the Rocky Mountains. However, at Emma’s insistence, they returned to Nauvoo...
Saturday June 22. - Joseph whispered and told me either to put the r. of K. into the hands of some faithful man and send them away, or burn them, or bury them. I concluded to bury them, which I did immediately on my return home. Temple History, p. 122 - On the following evening the governor sent in a posse of about thirty men, bearing a letter... On receiving this information the President and one or two others concluded to leave the city and go over to Iowa in the night.
23 June 1844, Sunday - During the day following some of the brethern, with Sister Emma Smith, despatched messengers to request the President and those with him to come and give themselves up, fearing that the city would be destroyed and the people massacred if they did not. - At About five o'clock, p.m., the little party returned and concluded to surrender, although it was contrary to the President's feelings to do so. William Clayton went to Joseph & got all the public & private records together and buried them.
24 June 1844, Monday - Joseph & Hyrum go to Carthage, are imprisoned, but Joseph returned to Nauvoo, with "Captain Dunn ", countersigned his order to surrender "state arms", and instructed the saints followers to obey it. Joseph left Nauvoo the second time, and Clayton sadly observed: "Pres Jos. rode down home to bid his family farewell. He appeared to feel solmn & though [t]ful and from expressions made to several individuals, he expects nothing but to be massacred. This he expressed before he returned from over the river but their appearing on alternative but he must either give himself up or the City be massacred by a lawless mob under the sanction of the Governor.
27 June 1844, Thursday - On the afternoon of the 27th, the governor disbanded his troops except his body-guard; and, leaving the brethern in jail under the charge of the Carthage Greys, some of their bitterest enemies, [the Govenor] came out to Nauvoo and made a harsh address to the people. - The painful news reached the city the following morning. On the 28th, at half past two, p.m., the bodies were brought to the city in two wagons and were taken to the mansion to be prepared for burial.
William Clayton's prayer - ""And now O God wilt thou not come out of thy hiding place and avenge the blood of thy servants.— that blood which thou hast so long watched over with a fatherly care— that blood so noble— so generous— so dignified, so heavenly you O Lord will thou not avenge it speedily and bring down vengeance upon the murderers of thy servants that they may be rid from off the earth and that the earth may be cleansed from these scenes, even so O Lord thy will be done. We look to thee for justice. Hear thy people O God of Jacob even so Amen."
4 July 1844, Thursday - Brother Taylor is at brother Mark's (of Marks, Cutler & Calhoon - retained by Emma regarding Joseph's property - oddly, against his mother who wanted Samuel to "come and fill the vacant office of Patriarch - 12 July 1844, Friday has a journal entry that seems to support JS saying as much...). I saw some of his wounds which are bad but he is recovering - "Liberty is fled," Taylor moaned, "and the flag stained with innocent blood, for the nation had rejected the gospel and the prophets. There was no public celebration in Nauvoo: "Instead of celebrating with splendor, with joy - we celebrate her [the nation's] down fall with grief and mourn for the loss of our prophet & Patriarch & pray to God to avenge their blood speedily"
5 July 1844, Friday - a large raft of pine lumber, containing 87,732 feet, was landed at the city for the temple. The brethern turned out liberally with their teams to haul it to the temple, where it was secured in a few days. In a few days afterwards another raft, of 67,952 feet was received and hauled to the temple.
Saturday 6th - Yesterday a raft of Pine Lumber arrived for the Trustee in Trust. Woodworm laid claim to it, but the bretheren say it is my duty as agent for the Trustee to take charge of it. I have accordingly done so and ordered Rockwood to Guard it till we can get it to the Temple. The greatest danger that no[w] threatens us is dissensions and strifes amongst the Church. There are already 4 or 5 men pointed out as succesors to the Trustee & President & there is danger of feelings being manifest. Phelps & Dr Richards have taken a private course & are carrying out many measures on their own responsibility without council. (see 12 July 1844, Friday & 14th entry also)
On the second Sabbath after the murder, the subject of the temple was brought into consideration, and the Church voted to commence work again and finish it as speedily as possible. On the 8th of July the laborers resumed their work, although the committee had not so much as a bushel of meal, nor a pound of flour, nor a pound of meat to feed the hands with; but all seemed determined to go to work and trust in God for the means. - Emma came up ... She also objected to the conclusion of the council last evening & says here must be a Trustee appointed this week on account of the situation of business.