Cutler remains in Nauvoo Smith's death produced a profound
succession crisis in his movement, with members torn between competing claimants for Smith's prophetic mantle. These included the
Quorum of the Twelve, led by
Brigham Young;
James Strang, a newly baptized convert from
Wisconsin; and
Sidney Rigdon, who had served as Joseph Smith's First Counselor in the
First Presidency. At first, Cutler threw in his lot with the Twelve. He continued to work on the Nauvoo Temple, where he was reportedly "
sealed" to Lois on 14 February 1846.
LDS Church records indicate that Cutler was married to six other women during this timeframe, but the Cutlerite church adamantly denies this or any assertion that Cutler—or Joseph Smith, for that matter—approved of or practiced
plural marriage. Although the Nauvoo Temple would be dedicated on 1 May 1846 by
apostle Orson Hyde, Cutler would later insist that it had not been finished by the "sufficient time" given in the revelation authorizing its construction; this proved pivotal for his own claims to legitimacy when he decided to commence his own church organization in 1853. At this point, however, Cutler's loyalties were clearly with Brigham Young; he participated as a member of the High Council in the
excommunication trials of Rigdon and Strang, as well as Joseph Smith's own brother,
William, who had publicly endorsed Strang. During a discussion over the competing succession claims in the High Council, Cutler indicated that he "felt bound to sustain the Twelve, and all the Quorums of the Church with its present organization, for on that his salvation depended."
Winter Quarters , founded by Alpheus Cutler, in the late 1840s. , founded by Alpheus Cutler When Brigham Young decided to commence the Saints' trek to the
Salt Lake Valley, he appointed Cutler as Captain of "Emigrating Company No. 3," one of twenty-five such travelling units into which the Mormon pioneers were organized. Cutler established
Cutler's Park,
Nebraska, in 1846, and was appointed presiding member of the municipal High Council on 9 August of that year. Barely a month later, he was asked to find a new location for a settlement; on 11 September he selected the site that would become
Winter Quarters, Nebraska.
Trouble begins Sometime prior to 1849, Cutler made a decision to withdraw from the main church body under the Twelve, and to go his own way. In the fall of 1847, Brigham Young had sanctioned his request to conduct the mission work among the Indians to which Joseph Smith had assigned him, and Cutler had commenced his efforts with nearby tribes. All seemed well at first. However, the arrival of apostle
Orson Hyde at nearby
Kanesville, Iowa, in early 1848 changed the situation. Cutler soon became the subject of lurid rumors concerning his Indian mission, with spurious reports indicating that he had been elected as the "Generalissimo" of a union of "thirty-seven nations". Further allegations of disloyalty to the Twelve by Cutler among the "Lamanites" fueled the fire; a visit by
Ezra T. Benson,
George A. Smith and others to Cutler's mission only partially calmed the situation. Although Brigham Young wrote to Cutler, offering him aid to move west, a house in
Salt Lake City and a warm welcome once he arrived, the "Old Fox" (as Cutler was affectionately called) refused to go. According to Cutler biographer Danny Jorgensen, Cutler had been appointed to a committee of the Council of Fifty specializing in "Lamanite" affairs, and he might have seen his mission as ultimately being Council of Fifty business, rather than as church business; thus, his resistance to Hyde and the others' attempts to regulate his activities among the
Kansas tribes. However, since the role and place of the Fifty within Joseph Smith's overall scheme of things was not well known to many Latter Day Saints (due in part to its secret nature, and in part to Smith's untimely demise), many Latter Day Saints misunderstood Cutler's intentions and pronouncements on this subject, and this contributed to the eventual severing of his ties with Brigham Young's church.
Excommunication Hyde ultimately became convinced that Cutler considered himself to be a greater authority than the council over which he (Hyde) presided, and ordered his mission suspended. Insisting that Cutler had become an enemy to Young's organization, the Kanesville High Council
excommunicated him on 20 April 1851. Young labored to bring Cutler back into the fold, writing of an ardent desire to see his old friend and promising him protection against any enemies he might have in the church. Even as late as 1856, long after Cutler had founded his own organization, Young indicated to LDS Church
general authorities that he would forgive everything if Cutler would only come to
Utah Territory. ==Founding a new church==