The Smith household joined a group of other church members from Mississippi to meet the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1847. The group traveled to Pueblo, Colorado, and joined up with the sick detachment from the Mormon Battalion. During the journey west, Biddy was valuable to the wagon company. She organized travelers, herded cattle, prepared meals, and midwifed while caring for her own children. They later joined the main body of Mormons crossing the plains, and settled in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah Territory.