The Brooklyn Saints were a group of some 220 Mormons residing in the eastern United States who traveled by sea to California. Following Brigham Young's advice to go west, they united under the leadership of Samuel Brannan and made a 17,000-mile voyage from New York City to California. Of the Latter-day Saints going westward in 1846--the Camp of Israel that went to the Great Salt Lake Valley, the Mormon Battalion, and the Mississippi Saints--the Brooklyn Saints alone traveled by sea.

Apostle Orson Pratt first issued the call to eastern Saints to join the general Exodus westward. Angered at 16 years of persecution and convinced that Latter-day Saints would not find contentment in the United States, Pratt urged congregations everywhere to "be determined to flee out of Babylon, either by land or by sea" (History of the Church 7:520-522). In accord with Brigham Young's instruction, Samuel Brannan, publisher of the Church newspaper in New York City, was appointed to head the expedition. The ambitious Brannan, anticipating the eventual establishment of a Mormon headquarters on the Pacific coast, viewed the journey as an opportunity to gain influence and wealth. Conversely, Brigham Young envisioned Mormon settlers establishing not a permanent settlement but a way station in California where arriving Saints could rest and resupply themselves before making the final journey to Salt Lake City.

Of the 230 who sailed, all but 12 were Latter-day Saints. There were 70 men, 60 women, and 100 children. Adults paid $75 and children $37.50. They brought books, a printing press, guns, 800 pounds of paying freight bound for the Sandwich Islands, and enough agricultural and mechanical tools to equip 800 laborers. All of the people and cargo were crammed onto the ship Brooklyn, which Brannan had leased at the inexpensive rate of $1200 per month plus expenses. An average-size ship for its day, Brooklyn was 125 feet long and 28 feet across the beam and weighed about 445 tons.

Brooklyn sailed from New York harbor on February 4, 1846. Four days out, the ship encountered a severe gale that its experienced captain, Abel Richardson, pronounced the worst he had ever seen. Surviving the storm with the loss of only two cows, they proceeded south through the Atlantic toward Cape Horn. After three weeks, the ship passed near the Cape Verde Islands, off the African coast. Given the winds and currents, this was the most efficient route to California. When passing the equator, they were becalmed for three days. Boredom soon gave way to apprehension as they approached the dreaded Cape Horn. Captain Richardson avoided difficulty by bearing directly south several miles in order to gain longitude west. The ship was soon sailing north along the coast of Chile.

The Brooklyn Saints had now been three months at sea and provisions had become scarce. A severe storm prevented a landing at Valparaiso, but on May 4 they landed at Juan Fernández Island. After five days of rest and replenishing, they set sail for the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands), arriving at Honolulu harbor on June 20, 1846. Here they learned that the United States was warring with Mexico and would likely seize California. Brooklyn left Hawaii on June 30 and sailed into Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) on July 31, where the U.S. flag flew over California. Their valorous voyage now complete, most of the Saints found work. Many helped build up the frontier village of Yerba Buena, while about 12 families founded the short-lived agricultural community of New Hope (1846-1848). Most, including Brannan, stayed in California, but some eventually moved to Utah.

The voyage of Brooklyn was both typical and eventful. The voyagers endured two severe storms, one in each ocean. Regular religious services were held, and, in general, the behavior of the Saints was laudable. There were two births; the infants were named, respectively, Atlantic and Pacific, after the oceans where they first saw life. Sadly, there were also twelve deaths: ten passengers and one crewman died at sea, and one small infant died of sickness at the Sandwich Islands.

The voyage of Brooklyn had significance for both western U.S. and Mormon history. On the one hand, the Brooklyn Saints served a largely symbolic role. They were too late to be included in that group of hardy pioneers who helped prepare California for eventual U.S. settlement. Further, despite the hopes of Brannan and others, they were never meant to serve as a vanguard for a permanent Mormon headquarters in California. On the other hand, like other contingents of Saints, whether encamped on the Great Plains or plodding through the desert with the Mormon Battalion, they were part of a courageous people who in 1846 opted to flee persecution and worldly allurement in order to establish a kingdom retreat in the Rocky Mountains.

Lewis Clark Christian, "A Study of the Mormon Westward Migration between February 1846 and July 1847 with Emphasis on the Evaluation of the Factors that Led to the Mormons' Choice of Salt Lake Valley as the Site of Their Initial Colony" (Ph.D. Diss., Brigham Young University, 1976), pp. 38-62; Lorin K. Hansen, "Voyage of the Brooklyn," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 21 (Autumn 1988): 47-72.