Picturing history: Zion's Camp, New Portage, Ohio

The first members of Zion's Camp left Kirtland, Ohio, on May 1, 1834. They camped at New Portage, now Barberton, Ohio. Those participants, including Wilford Woodruff, stayed there several nights waiting for the Prophet Joseph Smith to meet them there. Brother Woodruff ascended a hill and thanked the Lord for the privilege of living to see some of the tents of Israel pitched and a company gathered by the commandment of God to go up and help to redeem Zion. Joseph joined that first group on May 6 and formally organized the camp which, at that time, had about 170 members. The average age of the group was 29, about the same as the Prophet.