The Nauvoo City and High Council Minutes
Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2011. First Edition. 616pp. Octavo [23.5 cm] Brown boards with the title gilt stamped on the front board and backstrip. Fine/Fine. Item #7841
The city council dealt with all sorts of problems, large and small. In 1841 it threatened to kill free-roaming dogs and pigs, but two years later it had a change of heart. Now it specified that “cows, calves, sheep, goats, and harmless and inoffensive dogs shall be suffered to run at large as free commoners” without fear of harm. The reason for this was that Joseph Smith had decided “God withdrew his spirit from the earth . . . because the people were so ready to take the life of animals.”
The only thing more dramatic than the city’s response to everyday matters was its failings in local and national diplomacy. In 1843, when it had grown tired of negotiating with public officials from neighboring counties, the city council petitioned the US Congress to see if Nauvoo could break away from the State of Illinois and become a free, independent city, also to ask if Joseph Smith might be given authority over US troops. Despite a polite no from Washington, the city advised its lobbyists to be persistent, the mayor, Joseph Smith, advising them on how to persuade Senators by offering them drinks and entertainment.
Price: $40.00