170 years ago today - Feb 4, 1846

The first companies of Mormons leave Nauvoo and cross the Mississippi River. Thomas L. Kane recalls, "The people of Iowa have told me that from morning to night they passed westward like an endless procession. They did not seem greatly out of heart, they said; but at the top of every hill, before they disappeared they were to be seen looking back, like banished Moors, on their abandoned homes and far-seen temple and its glittering spires." The first companies had to ford the river until Feb 24 when it froze and they were able to cross over the ice. Brigham Young remains in Nauvoo until Feb 15.