Most historians and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are familiar with various accounts of the westward movement from Nauvoo to Salt Lake City in the late nineteenth century. While they recognize that some Mormons returned east and missionaries traveled throughout the world, many focus on community building in the Intermountain West. That is why the history of Genoa, Nebraska, is unique. This article tells the story of missionaries that Brigham Young instructed Erastus Snow to call to cross the Missouri River and settle on Beaver Creek, one hundred miles west of Florence, Nebraska. The group gradually built up a community that continued even when Brigham Young called most Latter-day Saints back to the Great Basin during the so-called Utah War in the late 1850s. Genoa survived for two more years. Despite hardships, the settlers assisted thousands traveling east and west along the Mormon trail. After two and a half years of hard work and development, the Genoa population was forced to abandon their community and the residents moved any place they could to sustain themselves through the winter. Some settled in a nearby city and became leaders in that location and in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.I first learned about Genoa when I studied a group of missionaries who left Salt Lake in 1857 to serve throughout the world. Initially, they traveled by handcart in conjunction with settler missionaries who started to establish way stations in Wyoming. I was surprised though when the handcart missionaries recorded their joy in finding a Mormon settlement being developed at Beaver Creek in Nebraska Territory, one hundred miles before they reached their destination at Florence, Nebraska. I have spent years piecing together the story of Genoa. Fortunately, Henry Hudson, the mission's clerk and historian, kept a careful diary starting April 14, 1857, as the group travel to Genoa and continued for two years during the life of the community.1 In addition, the correspondence of church leaders and published articles give details about the development of the settlement. Other participants recorded their memories in autobiographies.The Mormons in the Intermountain West wanted to live apart from the rest of the country that had expelled them from their homes repeatedly during their early history. However, they desired to communicate with their friends, family, and other Latter-day Saints in the east. The United States gave some assistance by issuing a contract for mail service from Independence to Salt Lake City but two contractors failed to provide adequate service. So, Brigham Young and the church under the name of Hiram Kimball received the mail contract in 1856. To help speed up the mail and freight, as well as provide assistance to emigrants, Young planned that at designated locations along the trail “mile-square village settlements were to be laid out, grain and vegetables were to be planted, and each settlement was to be equipped with mills and shops, storehouses, corrals, and other requirements of village life.”2Missionaries from Utah were sent to build these settlements in Wyoming. But rather than sending all the building missionaries from Utah, Young asked Apostle Erastus Snow, the church president in the midwestern states with headquarters in St. Louis, for assistance in setting up a way station in the Midwest. Young wrote on October 31, 1856: We have long desired the accomplishment of this object of establishing a few posts and settlements, and now instruct you in relation thereto, availing yourself of the services of Bro. [Andrew] Cunningham [a missionary in the area] or some other good man . . . [to select] a location at or near Wood River, [Nebraska], gather up about one hundred men with sufficient teams and let them repair to that point with seed to sow and corn to plant, have them build a good substantial fort in which to live, ditch farmland in, make a good sod fence and raise a good crop. After their first harvest let them send for their families and then they can sell out their improvements and property to others of the Emigrating Saints, and be able to come on to this City, but keep up the posts by others taking their places.3In response to these instructions, Snow held conferences in St. Louis, Missouri, and Alton, Illinois, in early April where he selected twenty-five men from St. Louis and thirty from Alton to serve in the newly formed Nebraska Mission. Their assignment was to establish and build the first Nebraska settlement. He appointed William Martindale of St. Louis as mission president. He chose Henry J. Hudson of Alton as a member of the high council and clerk/historian for the newly formed mission and Charles Brindley as bishop for those called from Alton.4Snow met frequently with the missionaries to plan the settlement. He advised them to leave their families in their homes with other family members, friends, and church leaders to sustain and help them. He instructed them to raise funds and jointly purchased teams, tools, seeds, and supplies. Even the men who couldn't afford these items were asked to “take a spade on their shoulder and go along and all would be able to raise provisions and build habitations and send for their families in the Fall.”5While the missionaries were organizing, Andrew Cunningham and his appointed committee determined that Wood River was not the best settlement choice. Instead, they selected a site on the Mormon trail where Beaver Creek ran into the Loup Fork of the Platte River.6 Because of moving sandbars, a quicksand bottom, and the softness of the banks, this river was difficult to cross. Assistance there would be very helpful for all travelers.7 With this plan in mind, Cunningham and seventeen men laid out five hundred acres and began planting crops at the site they named Genoa. They returned to Florence at the same time that the missionaries from St. Louis and Alton arrived by steamboat.8When this group boarded the steamboat Hannibal in St. Louis, Henry Hudson started to function in his calling as the clerk and historian for the Nebraska Mission. His first journal began on April 14, 1857, with a detailed description of the eighteen-day trip that took a number of the missionaries to Florence, Nebraska, the closest steamboat landing to Genoa and the former location of Winter Quarters.Hudson listed the passengers on the Hannibal who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, it is impossible to determine exactly how many LDS travelers were onboard. The journal contains statements such as “Peter Murie settlement,” and “H Peck & family” with no indication of how many people were included. Contrary to the instructions from Erastus Snow to leave families behind until the settlement was established, there were more than seventeen husbands who brought their wives and children with them. Counting the names and numbers that can be determined, there were at least fifty-six adults and forty-one children, but undoubtedly many more.9Erastus Snow had exerted much effort to obtain passage for the saints at as low a rate as possible. The LDS Church members were transported to their destination for four dollars for an adult passenger while the ordinary passenger was paying eight dollars on the same boat.10 It was very difficult to obtain a place to sleep on the Hannibal as there were not enough berth accommodations, and the boat was laden to capacity with many tons of baggage and freight of every description.11“Brothers Turner, Hudson and Brindley met and organized the saints into companies for their regulation during the trip. . . . Almost immediately [they] determined that it would be prudent to assign ‘watchers’ at night as they had ‘a hard crowd on board.’” This proved to be a wise decision for there was some rowdiness and debauchery taking place during the nighttime.12 The saints held prayer meetings regularly at 10 a.m. each day.“The SB Hannibal proceeded at an average of 3 miles per hour. The weather was very cold and windy, rendering it extremely uncomfortable. The boat often stopped to ‘wood,’ taking on great quantities for fuel.”13 Food and other supplies needed to be purchased at the landings as the journey progressed, but not all landing or wooding areas had the necessary commodities for sale. It was a relief when the boat reached a location like Booneville on April 17 and all on board were able “to replenish their provision chests which in some cases had become exhausted. Provisions [there] were found plentifully and in some cases below St. Louis prices.”14 At each landing, freight and passengers were discharged and then received. Sometimes, to speed up the process, some of the LDS men would assist with loading and unloading the freight for twenty-five cents per hour. Conditions, prices, and time were of concern to the three leaders assigned to shepherd the LDS group and that concern was increased when it was discovered that a young woman on board had a case of measles,15 which eventually spread to others.From Hudson's account it is apparent that when the weather was clear, the boat was able to proceed during the nighttime. However, on the night of Saturday, April 18, and on other occasions, the boat stuck on a sand bar. These multiple incidents might seem to call into question the skill of the captain, but there were other factors involved. The Hannibal was heavily loaded with freight, much of it belonging to the mission and missionaries. On certain days, the water level in the river would be lower, making the sandbars more difficult to avoid. The boat could be liberated by a strong wind blowing in the right direction, ropes pulling from the nearest shore or by a passing steamboat rendering assistance.16The Hannibal landed in Florence, Nebraska Territory, on May 2. The leaders found a sheltered area on the west side of a storehouse in which to settle their group and the freight they had brought with them. A quantity of flour, cornmeal, and plows—transported to Omaha on another steamboat—had to be hauled to Florence, and additional food, tents, and seeds were gathered. The cattle that were being driven overland by William Martindale arrived several days before the missionaries left for the Genoa site. Henry Hudson, as clerk of the mission, was asked to remain in Florence for a few weeks to manage mission business, such as arranging to store excess supplies and tracking other shipments.17Finally, on May 11, 1857, the missionaries departed from Florence with wagons loaded with the necessary plows, seeds, and provisions. The cattle were not broken to pull wagons and most of the men had no experience with them as draft animals. Furthermore, the cattle were so weak because of cold weather and scant grass that they were almost unable to pull the heavy loads. As a result, it took nine days to travel the one hundred miles. Since Henry Hudson stayed in Florence to transact business, I turn to other accounts to learn about the trek to the designated site and Genoa's earliest days.Thomas McNeil, who had been asked to remain in St. Louis in 1856 rather than go west with a handcart company, was one of these missionaries. At the April conference he was called to go to Genoa instead. His daughter Margaret McNeil Ballard wrote: When we were all ready to start on our journey westward [from Florence] my father's team which consisted of unbroken, five-year-old oxen, ran away and our family was delayed. My father had never seen oxen before and the animals allotted to him had to be roped and tied to get the yoke on them and fastened to the wagon. As soon as they were released from the ropes they became unmanageable and ran away. The head company had already gone ahead and my mother was anxious to have me go with them so she strapped my little brother James on my back with a shawl. He was only four years old and was still quite sick with the measles.Mother had all she could do to care for the other children so I hurried on and caught up with the company. I traveled with them all day and that night a kind lady helped me take my brother off my back. I sat up and held him on my lap with a shawl wrapped around him, alone, all night. He was a little better in the morning. The people in the camp were very good to us and gave us a little fried bacon and some bread for breakfast. We traveled this way for about a week, my brother and I not seeing our mother during this time. Each morning one of the men would write a note and put it in a slit of a willow stuck into the ground, to tell how we were getting along. In this way mother knew that we were alright.18When the group from the steamboat arrived at Genoa, they increased the population to about one hundred. Martindale reported to the Deseret News on June 4: “The settlers had enclosed some 750 acres of land on Beaver Creek near the pioneer ford, and had already plowed and planted 200 acres. This new town is located on a slightly eminence ¾ of a mile north of the ford, and is laid out in blocks of ten acres from center to center of streets, with 8 lots, 18 by 9 rods to the block. There is timber sufficient for fuel and building purposes, and a steam saw mill was soon to be erected.”19Life was difficult in the new settlement. As eleven-year-old Peter Gottfredson remembered, his family ended up at Genoa after they had to leave the Christian Christiansen handcart company because his stepmother delivered a premature baby. There his father staked off a quarter acre, built a dugout and left his family to find work in Omaha. Since he could not send food for a while, the family lived on frosted corn and buckwheat that they ground in a coffee mill and mixed with wild plums and sour grapes. The neighbors were kind but none had much to eat. After a month, his father sent some flour and bacon. In November, his stepmother hired a man to take the family to Omaha for the winter. They did not return to Genoa.20Mary Sophia Foremaster Maudsley recalled the hardships in the early days: We landed at last to Mesurie [Missouri] river crosst over to Florence – then on to genoa Newbraska [Nebraska]. here Father baught a city lot – 10 ackers of Land – for wich he paid 2 – 2 Seamless Sacks of crackers – for we were provisiond for one Year – we had dry beef – rice Backon tee coffe dry fruit tallow lard – Father had killed an ox waid 1000 lbs and pigs[.] we were cronfortble first – Father build a 2 storey frame house fenced the lot and put all his land in the Next Summer and raised a nice crop of corn and Buckwheet – and the following Winter our Sister Isebell was Born – Mothers helth was poor and as I was the oldest of our family by 12 years (of the girls) the work fell mostly to me – and this winter we were preparing agin to continue our jurney to Utah. Geneva [Genoa] had no flower mill – we had to grind all we eat in a coffee mill – until Spring then they got a large corn mill it was run by a horse power – I had to sift every bit for our jerney – and was glad I did not have it to grind on the coffe mill – as I had to before.21Even as the new settlers struggled to establish homes, they assisted travelers. Members of the Israel Evans handcart company left Florence on May 22 and 23, 1857. Four days later they met men from Genoa at Looking Glass Creek who spent the night with the handcart emigrants, loaded some of the luggage on wagons, and hauled it to their settlement. The emigrants and settlers attended Sunday meetings together that day. The emigrants stayed for a month and left on June 30 when the settlers helped them cross the Loup Fork.22While the handcart company was still there, the east-bound handcart missionaries also arrived on June 5. The missionaries had exhausted their food supply and Genoa residents drove wagons to meet the handcarts with bread to sustain them until they could get to the camp. Even though by other accounts food was scarce, the handcart missionaries felt that the Genoa sisters prepared a feast for them. A few days later, Genoa's settlers provided a wagon to transport half a dozen of the missionaries who could not walk to Florence.23Joseph Watson Young, a handcart missionary, praised the beautiful farms and their assistance. “We soon learned that these brethren possessed the true spirit of Mormonism and that unity and brotherly love abounded in their midst. They had fenced all their farms in a big field and [combined] their cattle so that they worked as a united company, by which they were enabled to accomplish much more than they could have done had each party endeavored to seek his own personal interest.”24 Seymour Young added, “When all had been bounteously supplied . . . several of our company preached and encouraged their brethren, while at the same time they testified of God's mercy towards us.”25During the rest of 1857, the residents continued to improve their community. Although he had not resumed his daily record, Henry Hudson must have been in Genoa on July 1 because he wrote to the Millennial Star: We have a brick yard in full blast and expect soon to be able . . . to build a city not a whit behind any other in Nebraska. . . . We number ninety-seven men, twenty-five women, forty children, forty-two yoke of oxen, twenty cows, six horses, and some two dozen chickens, twenty hogs, two cats and dogs plenty. We are expecting plenty of sport in the fall for we are surrounded with all kinds of game. Our streams are teeming with fine fish, and we hope soon to have both time and inclination to indulge.26Residents were especially pleased when Apostle John Taylor stopped to visit as he was returning to Salt Lake City from the east, departing Florence on July 1. He was “met by and saluted by the citizens of Genoa in Military order, some on horseback and some on foot with their arms and was introduced to the citizens by William Martindale against the Liberty pole under the Stars and Stripes, after which he made an excellent speech as he stood in his carriage.”27Of his visit to the fledgling camp, Taylor wrote: “Genoa is a beautiful location, the land rich and fertile, and a sufficiency of timber with care for all necessary purposes. Although laboring under many disadvantages, they have made better progress than any other settlement within fifty miles. . . . We held a conference there . . . [and] organized a land company in accordance with the provisions made by the territorial statutes of Nebraska for the legal protection of the citizens and their claims.”28At that conference, “Br Snow [who was released from his presidency during the meeting], Father [John Taylor] & several others spoke at some length. Bro Martindale was released from his presidency and Bro Alburn Allen [one of the handcart missionaries] was appointed [as president of Genoa] in his stead. Br. Cunningham was also released and Br. Felshaw appointed Prest. of the Saints in Western Iowa & Nebraska. A land co. was organized for securing claims and other business transacted.”29It was during this same time period that President James Buchanan, being misled into thinking that the leadership and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah were in a state of rebellion against the federal government, canceled the LDS mail contract, decided to send an army to Utah to put down the alleged rebellion, and install a territorial governor to replace Brigham Young.30 As a result, Young recalled the outlying settlers. Troops assembled at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and began their long march toward Utah on July 19, 1857. Leonard J. Arrington reported that all of the settlements between Fort Laramie and the Missouri River were broken up in advance of the army.31 However, the army intersected the overland trail at Fort Kearney, which is about one hundred miles west of Genoa.32 Because of this, the Genoa settlement remained intact while the missionaries at the Wyoming settlements were advised by church leaders in August to take everything that was portable and return to Utah at a tremendous economic loss.33After arriving in Genoa in the fall, Henry Hudson resumed his journal on September 6, 1857. From then on, he faithfully writes an account of the daily events taking place, minutes of meetings, and business transactions, as well as daily weather conditions. From his account of Genoa's history we learn that the settlers organized a small congregation known as a branch of the LDS Church in September 1857 with Albern Allen as its president. Hudson reports who presided at each meeting, the speakers and their topics, the testimonies borne, and the issues addressed. He also records the blessings of infants, baptisms, rebaptisms, ordinations, and the problems within the congregation.34The Genoa Agricultural Association was organized to supervise the fencing of the fields, planting of crops, and the surveying and division of plots that were claimed by the residents. Allen and Hudson had the town plat, the description of the claim boundaries, and a copy of the Genoa Agricultural Association charter recorded in the county registrar's office in Monroe on October 29, 1857.35 The association regularly held meetings that were conducted with strict Parliamentary procedure.The initial wheat harvest was small, but the men gathered buckwheat and other crops during the first October. They began constructing a meeting/school house. The community had a scare and narrowly escaped being burnt up when someone caused a prairie fire by being careless when disposing of some hot ashes.36The frost commenced in the middle of October 1857, and Henry Hudson first reported snow on November 6. “A heavy fall of snow. Some buck wheat not yet thrashed, a gloomy prospect for many of us, quite a number continue to leave the settlement to winter [elsewhere] . . . and if all go that talk about it, we shall not have over 25 families to defend against foes that may visit us.”37Although it was now cold and snowing, many of the structures had not been finished and until the meetinghouse was completed, Sunday services had to be cancelled when it snowed. During the last two Sundays of December more enthusiasm was in evidence than had recently been apparent: “20th Sunday, a very decided improvement in the meetings of the saints. They appeared to be imbued with the spirit of their religion.” Allen agreed that a New Year's party could be held and many residents turned out to make sure that their meetinghouse was ready in time.38 The party was a notable success, with dancing and excellent food that the sisters managed to provide, despite their limited provisions. The next day the branch gave a children's party with toast and milk for refreshments.39The community established a school in February 1858, and appointed Hudson as the first schoolteacher. Parents paid his salary of twenty dollars per month in bushels of buckwheat, pounds of pork, and loads of wood. He appreciated these additional provisions because in February he had not finished his house. When the wind and snow drifted heavily, it “was . . . full of snow.”40In 1857, all LDS Church missionaries throughout the world had been called home to Utah because of the military threat from the U.S. Army. However, they had to wait for the next traveling season. So, although immigration to Utah had, for the most part, been stopped in May 1858, the returning missionaries began to pass through Genoa, taking time to stop and bear testimony in church meetings “to the satisfaction and encouragement of the saints,” before resuming their travel to Utah.41 Albern Allen, who was one of the handcart missionaries when they went east, was released as president of Genoa, and left for Utah also. Church leaders called Joel Hills Johnson who was living in Council Bluffs as the president of the Genoa settlement and branch.42 Johnson's initial reaction to the Genoa settlement was expressed in his journal on Sunday, June 13, 1858. “I spoke to the people about the building up of the Kingdom of God. . . . They possessed a good spirit, felt well and seemed highly pleased with the privilege of greeting me as their president.”43In a letter written to Brigham Young on August 14, 1858, Henry Hudson reports that Johnson had implemented changes that saved the crops, rebuilt the mill that would provide the lumber needed for some new construction, and built a store. Hudson said, “Our prospects so gloomy recently are now bright, and thankful are we in this place for so good a man as Bro. Johnson whose whole interest is our welfare and progress.” He also added, “The spirit of the gathering is among us as soon as we shall receive instructions so to do.”44Besides those innovations that Hudson mentions, Johnson set in motion other projects as soon as possible after his arrival. He had a forty-by-fifty-foot bowery built to hold meetings during the summer. He applied for a post office for Genoa and named Hudson as postmaster. He had a grist mill built and supervised it. He hired a watchman to watch over all the cattle that were kept together in a corral to protect the community and the animals.45Turning his attention to the spiritual well-being of the settlement, Johnson organized a Sunday School with classes on Sunday morning and a Wednesday afternoon meeting for the children. He set in place a prayer meeting for the women on Tuesday evenings. He reminded the members that “the first Thursday in the month [was] set apart by the authorities of the Church as a day of public fasting and prayer by the Church . . . I recommended the same to be observed.”46 As a result, on July 1, “The saints held their first general fast, it being the wish of our beloved President to carry out as much as possible the order of Zion.”47Fording the river continued to be a challenge and President Johnson established a ferry system to expedite the process of getting travelers across the river. He asked men to run the ferry and to deal with problems such as damage caused by flooding and sand bars shifting overnight.48Battling with the elements, the short growing season, either not enough or too much rain, and tremendous summer and winter storms, the saints in Genoa worked feverishly to grow and harvest as much food and grain necessary for the people and animals during the winter. Johnson stated, “I think this must be one of the countries that we read of where people are frozen stiff from October until May and then eaten up with flies and mosquitoes from May until September.”49In October, Johnson wrote a letter to Brigham Young stating that the people in Genoa were generally enjoying good health. Although the wheat crop was a failure, the corn, buckwheat, potatoes, and other crops were abundant. Johnson was anxious to keep the food harvested to provide sustenance for the settlement, instead of selling it to merchants outside the settlement to get money for purchasing the clothing and shoes and also the lumber needed to improve their housing situation. He devised a plan where people outside the settlement would assist by forwarding money for land to be claimed in the spring. Johnson indicates that there was financial pressure in the U.S. causing national economic stagnation and paralysis.50He sent Hudson east to promote this plan and to purchase the commodities needed, but there is no indication that outside assistance was forthcoming. In a meeting on December 19, 1858, Hudson reported that because of the political and economic situation, he had not succeeded in acquiring the funds or goods that they were hoping to get in order to help the settlers through the winter.51Johnson's health prior to his call to come to Genoa had often been poor and he intermittently felt unwell during his time in office. Nevertheless, he continued supervising the work of the community. He also made medicine, ink, and essences in his spare time.52 He preached often, exhorting members to do their duty and to be diligent in living their religion. There were some conflicts and difficulties in the settlement that resulted in the disfellowshipping of a few of the brethren.53 Someone robbed the gardens continually and Johnson proposed fines or corporal punishment for children or adults caught thieving.54At the same time, outside persecution and abuse grew, and apostates stirred up rebellion and strife.55 Johnson reported, “All manner of lies and falsehoods were in circulation against me at Florence, put afloat by my enemies in Genoa and the disaffected ones who have left and gone down, and that much injury was being done to me by their lies and falsehoods, forming prejudice against me in the minds of the authorities.”56 Gabriel Cotton “had been stirring up rebellion and strife, through an apostate spirit, among the Saints in Genoa for the last six or eight months, and my opposition to his course caused his enmity to me.” Cotton abused Henry Hudson and threatened the life of President Johnson repeatedly.57 By the end of December, Johnson established a police force to protect the community and particularly its leaders.58In spite of these difficulties, Johnson wrote on January 25, 1859: “The bishops and teachers met at my house . . . and reported the conditions of the several wards. All seemed to be flourishing except a few apostates and grumblers who are trying to deal all the mischief they possibly can,”59 such as jumping land or timber claims or pouring acid on the ferry ropes, thereby endangering the lives of the travelers who were crossing the river.60All this exacerbated Johnson's health difficulties and he wanted to return to his family in Utah.61 Horace Eldridge honorably released him from his position as president of Genoa on August 20, 1859, saying that he was satisfied that Johnson had done the best he could for the people in Genoa.62Johnson was replaced by William Poppleton. In spite of relative prosperity during that summer of 1859, there were signs that the settlement of Genoa was in jeopardy. This