In the fall of 1838, the city of Far West, inhabited by the Saints, fell into the hands of the mob forces of Missouri, and Joseph Smith and a number of his brethren, _viz.,_ his brother Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Lyman Wight, George W. Robinson and Amasa Lyman were betrayed into their hands. These men were torn from their families in the most brutal manner. They were tried off hand by a court-martial of the mob officers, and condemned to be shot on the public square of Far West in the presence of their families and the Saints; but one of the officers of the mob-militia--General Doniphan--refused to sanction the murder and declared he would not allow his men to witness it. The other officers were afraid to assume the responsibility of executing the court-martial decision, and the prisoners escaped the fate designed for them. Charges of the most serious nature, including murder, arson, and robbery were then trumped up against them, intending to encompass their execution under civil procedure. Amidst the proud boasts of their captors, who brutally told their heart-broken families and the Saints that they had seen the last of their prophet, a start was made with the prisoners for Independence, Jackson County. The prospects of the betrayed men were most desperate. They were in the hands of a reckless mob whose hatred of them was intense. There was little respect at the time for law in the state. In the language of General Clark (Commander-in-Chief of the mob-militia of the state, then assembled at Far West) addressed to the Saints, their fate seemed fixed, their die cast, their doom sealed. [6] The start for Independence was made on the 2nd of November; the following morning, after spending a most wretched night, encamped on the banks of Crooked River, Joseph Smith spoke to his fellow-prisoners in low but cheerful and confident tones, and uttered this prophecy: _"Be of good cheer, brethren, the word of the Lord came to me last night that our lives should be given us, and that whatever we may suffer during this captivity, not one of our lives should be taken."_ "Of this prophecy," says Elder Parley P. Pratt, "I testify in the name of the Lord, and though spoken in secret, its public fulfillment and the miraculous escape of each of us is too notorious to need my testimony." [7]