TODAY IN CHURCH HISTORY: 16 July

[Hemidakota]

1831 - The first significant group of Latter-day Saints, the Colesville Branch, arrives in Jackson County, Missouri and settles in the Kaw Township, now part of Kansas City, Missouri.

1838 - On their way to Far West, Missouri, several brethren in the Kirtland Camp were arrested on a warrant based on the Kirtland Safety Society failure and were taken to jail to await trial.

1842 - The Prophet Joseph "Rode on the prairie with my clerk, to show some land to Brother Russell from New York; dined with my farmer, Brother Cornelius P. Lott [who maintained Joseph's farm outside of Nauvoo], and hoed potatoes" (History of the Church, 5:66).

1843 - The Prophet preached a Sunday sermon in the morning and evening at the Grove near the west of the Temple in Nauvoo. He spoke concerning the apostates living among the Saints in Nauvoo who have "the same spirit that crucified Jesus," "proposed Hyrum to hold the office of prophet to the Church, as it was his birthright," and "touched upon the subject of the everlasting covenant" of marriage. (History of the Church, 5:510).

1846 - The first four companies of the Mormon Battalion begin service at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and began their march to Fort Leavenworth, Missouri, where they would be outfitted and equipped for the march to California.

1847 - The Mormon Battalion is formally discharged at Los Angeles, California, after the longest infantry march in U.S. Military history of over 2,000 miles. Also, the main body of pioneers traveled slowly through Echo Canyon with President Brigham Young still very ill. The advanced party led by Orson Pratt worked to clear the trail ahead for the rest of the pioneer camp.

1852 - The first branch of the Church in Norway is organized at Osterrisor.

1946 - Elder Ezra Taft Benson dedicates Finland for the preaching of the Gospel.

1988 - A monument commemorating the Mormon Battalion is dedicated near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Also, a monument honoring the Latter-day Saint pioneers who established Nebraska's first community is dedicated in Florence, Nebraska.

1995 - The International Olympic Committee votes to hold the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1999 - After the passage of the Religious Liberty Protection Act in the U. S. House of Representatives, the Church issued a formal statement, saying the passage of the act was "an important step in restoring freedom of religion to the protected First Amendment status it enjoyed for over 200 years."

2000 - The Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple is dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley.