Joseph’s Nauvoo

From left to right: Red Brick Store, Smith Homestead, Masonic hotel, home of Sidney Rigdon, Mansion House, Nauvoo Temple and foundation walls of the Nauvoo Inn.

The day before their fateful trip to Carthage, Joseph and Hyrum Smith returned to Nauvoo in a small rowboat. As they approached the Main Street Dock, Joseph looked out over the Mississippi River and observed the city he had built. He later famously remarked, “This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them.”