“The loveliest place and the best people”

Last updated on: September 21, 2015 at 9:37 pm by Dan Peterson

Joseph and Hyrum, one last time — This statue of Joseph and Hyrum on horseback stands in front of the rebuilt Nauvoo Temple, just north of the spot where they paused one last time to look over their beloved city.
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“This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them.”

So spoke the Prophet Joseph Smith as he surveyed the residential area of the Nauvoo Flats, as well as the Nauvoo Temple (still under construction), from the bluff on Mulholland Street. It was about 6:30 AM on 24 June 1844, perhaps a hundred yards from where I write now.

“I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me—he was murdered in cold blood.”

Then, he and his brother Hyrum resumed their journey, on horseback, eastward along Mulholland Street toward Carthage.

Three days later, they were dead.

Posted from Mulholland Street, Nauvoo, Illinois