180 years ago today - Jun 19, 1834

[Heber C. Kimball diary - Zion's Camp] "This night we camped on an elevated piece of land between two branches of the Fishing River. Just as we halted and were making preparations for the night, five men rode into the camp and told us we should see h—I before morning, and such horrible oaths as came from their lips I never heard before. They told us that sixty men were coming from Richmond who had sworn to destroy us; also seventy more were coming from Clay County, to assist in our destruction. These men were black with passion and armed with guns, and the whole country was in a rage against us, and nothing but the power of God could save us. All this time the weather was fine and pleasant. Soon after these men left us we discovered a small black cloud rising in the west, and not more than twenty minutes passed away before it began to rain and hail, but we had very little of the hail in our camp; all around us the hail was heavy. The thunders rolled with awful majesty, and the red lightnings flashed through the horizon, making it so light that I could see to pick up a pin almost at any time through the night; the earth quaked and trembled, there being no cessation; it seemed as though the Almighty had issued forth his mandate of vengeance. The wind was terrible. Many trees were blown down, and others twisted and wrung like a withe. The mob came to the river two miles from us, but the river had risen to that height that they were obliged to stop without crossing over. The hail fell so heavy upon them that it beat holes in their hats, and in some instances even broke the stocks off their guns. Their horses fled, leaving their riders on the ground; their powder was wet, and it was evident the Almighty fought in our defense; This night the river raised forty feet. In the morning I went to the river, in company with Brothers Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, and Brigham Young and others, as we had it in contemplation to proceed that morning to Liberty, Clay County; but we could not continue our journey as there was no way to cross the river, it was then overflowing its banks; previous to this rain falling it was no more than ankle deep; such a time was never experienced by us before. Still we felt calm all night and the Lord was with us. The water was ankle deep to us all night, even on that eminence, so we could not sleep. * * *

[Source: Whitney, Helen Mar, Jeni Broberg Holzapfel, and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, A Woman's View: Helen Mar Whitney's Reminiscences of Early Church History, Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997]