In the book of Revelations, John describes 4 horses (white, red, black, and
pale) in association with the first four seals marking the end of the
world:
AND I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard,
as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and
see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had
a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and
to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast
say, Come and see. And there went out another horse [that was] red:
and [power] was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth,
and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great
sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say,
Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat
on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst
of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures
of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And
when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast
say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his
name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was
given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and
with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. (Revelation
6:1-8)
In the mid-1850's, a fellow named Edwin Rushton wrote what he claimed
was a prophecy given by the Prophet Joseph Smith in May 1843 to him (Rushton)
and another fellow named Theodore Turley. (Turley, by the way, was a fairly
close associate with the Prophet Joseph.) Joseph is attributed as having
said he would use John's four colored horses to as a metaphor in this prophecy.
Because the white horse figures so prominently in this alleged prophecy,
the work itself came to be known as the White Horse Prophecy.
[Follow this link for the full text of the
prophecy.] In this work--which is about events leading up to the second
coming of the Savior--the White Horse represents the the Mormon people living
in the Rocky Mountains; the Red Horse is not distinctly identified, but could
refer to either the American Indians or to the British (Red Coats); The Black
Horse refers to African Slaves, and the Pale Horse to the American People.
The work was circulated rather widely at the time and achieved somewhat of
a following. It clearly picks up on various points of Mormon doctrine, which
gives it a somewhat authentic feel. The prophecy, however, appeals to mid-19th
century biases and prejudices that are offensive to the late 20th-century
reader. It has a very Anglo-Saxon centric view of the world, evincing what
Kipling later sarcastically called the "White Man's Burden." It makes a number
of predictions--the outcomes of which were unknown in 1843, but had come
to pass by the mid-1850's. It also makes a number of other predictions that
have proven false with time. Some of the predictions would be still in our
future.
Church leaders were in possession of the alleged prophecy as soon as it was
published but did not recognize it as having any authenticity. It did not
really fade away as most forgeries do, so the Church came out with an official
denunciation. Joseph Fielding Smith gave a talk in the
October 1918 General Conference about false prophecy. He refers to the the
White Horse Prophecy.
I have discovered that people have copies of a purported vision
by the Prophet Joseph Smith given in Nauvoo, and some people are circulating
this supposed vision, or revelation, or conversation which the prophet is
reported to have held with a number of individuals in the city of Nauvoo.
I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that if you understand the
Church articles and covenants, if you will read the scriptures and become
familiar with those things which are recorded in the revelations from the
Lord, it will not be necessary for you to ask any questions in regard to
the authenticity or otherwise of any purported revelation, vision, or
manifestation that proceeds out of darkness, concocted in some corner,
surreptitiously presented, and not coming through the proper channels of
the Church. Let me add that when a revelation comes for the guidance of this
people, you may be sure that it will not be presented in some mysterious
manner contrary to the order of the Church. It will go forth in such form
that the people will understand that it comes from those who are in authority,
for it will be sent either to the presidents of stakes and the bishops of
the wards over the signatures of the presiding authorities, Or it will be
published in some of the regular papers or magazines under the control and
direction of the Church or it will be presented before such a gathering as
this, at a general conference. It will not spring up in some distant part
of the Church and be in the hands of some obscure individual without authority,
and thus be circulated among the Latter-day Saints. Now, you may remember
this. (Joseph F. Smith, Jr., Conference Report, October 1918,
p.55.)
At the conclusion of Elder Smith's talk, his father and President of the
Church--Joseph F. Smith--added a short four-paragraph addendum in which he
makes reference to the falsity of the White Horse Prophesy.
The ridiculous story about the "red horse," and "the
black horse," and "the white horse," and a lot of trash that has been circulated
about and printed and sent around as a great revelation given by the Prophet
Joseph Smith, is a matter that was gotten up, I understand, some ten years
after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, by two of our brethren who put
together some broken sentences from the Prophet that they may have-heard
him utter from time to time, and formulated this so called revelation out
of it, and it was never spoken by the prophet in the manner in which they
have out it forth. It is simply false: that is all there is to it. (Joseph
F. Smith, Conference Report, October 1918, p.58.)
With this the White Horse Prophecy seems to have lost its appeal.
In the early 1960's the Prophecy made somewhat of a revival with the publication
of Duane S. Crowther's
Prophecy - Key
to the Future (Salt Lake City, Utah, Bookcraft: 1962). He does a thorough
analysis of the text in Appendix II, showing correlations with other "accepted"
writings and concludes that the Prophecy is authentic. Some 35 years later,
however, the prophecy seems to have faded into obscurity.