The group sailed on January 3, 1854, from Liverpool, England, on the ship "Jessie Munn", a Canadian-built square rig. Smith and Maren Kirsten Mikelsen, who had been baptized eight months after him, were married at sea. In addition, Smith was appointed to take care of the German church members on board. The ship arrived in New Orleans on March 22, after which the group proceeded on to the future Kansas City area by riverboat in order to outfit for the trek across the Great Plains to Utah Territory. The group suffered several cholera deaths on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.