It’s probably no secret that Brigham Young and Emma Smith never much cared for each other after Joseph’s death. Their personal distaste for each other eventually transformed into a quiet cold war between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that only really died out in the 1960s and 70s. Brigham Young possibly dissolved the Nauvoo General Relief Society, of which Emma was the elected President, because of this battle of wills between two very stubborn people, and didn’t bother re-forming the society for nearly twenty years, at which point he chose Eliza R. Snow to be President (and the RS Presidents have been called by the President of the Church ever since).
However, just because their organization was at this time absent did not mean that the women crossing the plains were content to simply let that be. Early Mormon women were strong characters and have always continued to be. The founding of the Nauvoo Relief Society corresponded with the fledgling Women’s Suffrage movement (which died during the Civil War only to rise again a generation later but that’s another topic entirely), nowadays viewed as the first wave of American feminism. This feminist strength continued throughout the history of Utah, a territory and state which saw women involved in many levels of organization and politics nearly since the beginning of the territory.
Some interesting tidbits from the journal of Louisa Barnes Pratt, wife of Apostle Addison Pratt (Louisa led her family herself across the plains because he was on a mission in the South Seas at the time). On June 7, 1846 while on the trek through Iowa she records:
“Last evening the ladies met to organize. Mrs. Isaac Chase [Pheobe Chase] was called to the chair! She was also appointed President by unanimous vote. Mrs. L. B. Pratt [Lousia Barnes Pratt] Counsellor and scribe. Several resolutions were adopted. 1st Resolved, that when the brethren call on us to attend prayers, get engaged in conversation and forget what they called us for, that the sisters retire to some convenient place, pray by themselves and go about their business. 2nd if the men wish to hold control over the women let them be on the alert. We believe in equal rights. Meeting adjourned sin ni die [sine die - meeting adjourned with no resumption date set].” (Louisa Barnes Pratt, The History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, pg. 82)
Taken from a post at ByCommonConsent.com.