Description

The winter of 1848-49 in Salt Lake City was one of the worst on record. Rationing was instituted for their survival. It was estimated that about ten percent of the Saints left for California. President Heber C. Kimball prophesied of imminent prosperity for the Saints who remained in the Valley. The prophecy was fulfilled in the spring of 1849 when the ’49ers came through the Salt Lake Valley eager to resupply. July 24, 1849 was set apart as a day of feasting and celebration that the Saints had survived the winter and the crisis. Some ’49ers stay in Salt Lake which created some difficulty for the residents, but also converts to the Church. The Church needed gold for currency and called men to serve as gold mining missionaries in California. They went but returned with very little.