Few events in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have had the impact of the last months in Missouri. One of the best contemporary Mormon records of the last weeks in Missouri is that of Albert Perry Rockwood. With other faithful members of the Church, Rockwood gathered his family to Nauvoo, where they assisted in the building of a new city. When the Nauvoo Legion was first organized in 1841, he was elected captain of one of the companies in addition to being drill officer. In December 1845 he was set apart as one of the first Presidents of the First Quorum of Seventies, thus making him one of the General Authorities of the Church. As a cousin of Brigham Young as well as a father-in-law, Rockwood remained close to him all of his life. He traveled west with President Young in 1847, even sharing the same illness that struck in July 1847 just before they entered the Salt Lake Valley.
