I am one of those who loves thinking about what might have been if JS had lived to a ripe old age. My thoughts on this subject begin with his escape from the Carthage jail just before the arrival of the mob.
It's easy to see on Google Maps the line of travel west to the Mississippi, but then one has to make stuff up... Would he have followed the river north, back to Nauvoo? Stayed where he was to see what developed; gone south on the river; gone further west?
There is a tiny chance that he would have admitted it was a BS and asked to be left in peace, but I doubt it, because then he'd have to work for a living.
It amuses me to think about all the ways he could have screwed things up sufficiently to NOT be taken seriously.
I was thinking about his possible escape routes and destinations a few days ago. There wasn't much in Iowa for him, and too close to Nauvoo. California had an Anglo community, but was accessible only by sea. I think Texas would have been the most likely place for him to settle.
He probably would have toned down the weirdness and become a more political preacher, spouting and embellishing Manifest Destiny doctrines. If the Mexican Army didn't shoot him first, he could have ridden the great wave of westward expansion for at least thirty more years. Maybe ended up in Colorado.
I usually wait till Friday, but what the hell, it is a great day in history , opening an ale from the lost abbey brewery, "witch's wit" hints of honey and coriander
here is to the carthage grays , the warsaw dragoons and all the fine people in the mob, that day ole joe went out guns blazing...... CHEERS..........................AHHHH, that's good tasting stuff