​this series. There were the Pah Utes, or Pyutes, the Pi Edes, the Gosh Utes, or Ooshutes, the Uinta Utes, the Yam Pah Utes, and many others. Pah signifies water; pah guampe, salt water, or salt lake; Pah Utex, Indians that live about the water. The early orthography of the word Utah is varied. Escalante, prior to his journey to Utah Lake, Carta de 2S Oct. 1775, MS., finds the ' Yutas ' inhabiting the region north of the Moquis. This was a common spelling by the early Spaniards, and might be called the proper one. Later we have ' Youta,' ' Eutaw,' ' Utaw,' and ' Utah.' ​

CHAPTER III.

THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

1820-1830.

A Glance Eastward — The Middle States Sixty Years Ago — Birth and Parentage of Joseph Smith — Spiritual Manifestations — Joseph Tells his Vision— And is Reviled— Moroni Appears— Persecutions — Copying the Plates — Martin Harris— Oliver Cowdery — Transla- tion — The Book of Mormon — Aaronic Priesthood Conferred— Con- versions — The Whitmer Family — The Witnesses — Spaulding Theory — Printing of the Book— Melchisedec Priesthood Con- ferred—Duties OF Elders and Others— Church of Latter-day Saints Organized — First Miracle — First Conference — Oliver Cow- dery Ordered to the West.

Let us turn now to the east, where have been evolv- ing these several years a new phase of society and a new religion, destined presently to enter in and take possession of this far-away primeval wilderness. For it is not alone by the power of things material that the land of the Yutas is to be subdued; that mysteri- ous agency, working under pressure of high enthusi- asm in the souls of men, defying exposure, cold, and hunger, defying ignominy, death, and the destruction of all corporeal things in the hope of heaven's favors and a happy immortality, a puissance whose very breath of life is persecution, and whose highest glory is martyrdom — it is through this subtile and incom- prehensible spiritual instrumentality, rather than from a desire for riches or any tangible advantage that the new Israel is to arise, the new exodus to be conducted, the new Canaan to be attained.

Sixty years ago western New York was essentially a now country, Ohio and Illinois were for the most

(36) ​

QUALITY OF MATERIAL. 37

part a wilderness, and Missouri was the United States limit, the lands beyond being held by the aborigines. There were some settlements between Lake Erie and the Mississippi River, but they were recent and rude, and the region was less civilized than savage. The people, though practically shrewd and of bright intel- lect, were ignorant; though having within them the elements of wealth, they were poor. There was among them much true religion, whatever that may be, yet they were all superstitious — baptists, methodists, and presbyterians; there was little to choose between them. Each sect was an abomination to the others; the others were of the devil, doomed to eternal tor- ments, and deservedly so. The bible was accepted literally by all, every word of it, prophecies, miracles, and revelations; the same God and the same Christ satisfied all; an infidel was a thing woful and unclean. All the people reasoned. How they racked their brains in secret, and poured forth loud logic in public, not over problems involving intellectual liberty, human rights and reason, and other like insignificant matters appertaining to this world, but concerning the world to come, and more particularly such momentous ques- tions as election, justification, baptism, and infant damnation. Then of signs and seasons, God's ways and Satan's ways; likewise concerning promises and prayer, and all the rest, there was a credulit}^ most re- freshing. In the old time there were prophets and apostles, there were visions and miracles; w4iy should it not be so during these latter da3^s? It was time for Christ to come again, time for the millennial season, and should the power of the almighty be limited? There was the arch-fanatic Miller, and his followers, predicting the end and planning accordingly. "The idea that revelation from God was unattainable in this age, or that the ancient gifts of the gospel had ceased forever, never entered my head," writes a young quaker; and a methodist of that epoch says: "Wo be- lieved in the gathering of Israel, and in tlie restoration ​

38 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

of the ten tribes ; we believed that Jesus would come to reign personally on the earth; we believed that there ought to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pas- tors, and teachers, as in former days, and that the gifts of healing and the power of God ought to be as- sociated with the church." These ideas, of course, were not held by all; in many respects the strictly orthodox evangelical churches taught the contrary; but there was enough of this literal interpretation and license of thought among the people to enable them to accept in all honesty and sincerity any doctrine in harmony with these views.

Such were the people and the place, such the at- mosphere and conditions under which was to spring up the germ of a new theocracy, destined in its develop- ment to accomplish the first settlement of Utah — a people and an atmosphere already sufficiently charged, one would think, with doctrines and dogmas, with vul- gar folly and stupid fanaticism, with unchristian hate and disputation over the commands of God and the charity of Christ. All this must be taken into ac- count in estimating character, and in passing judg- ment on credulity; men of one time and place cannot with justice be measured by the standard of other times and places.

Before entering upon the history of Mormonism, I would here remark, as I have before said in the pref- ace to this volume, that it is my purpose to treat the subject historically, not as a social, political, or relig- ious partisan, but historically to deal with the sect organized under the name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as I would deal with any other bod}^ of people, thus carrying over Utah the same quality of work which I have applied to my entire field, whether in Alaska, California, or Central America. Whatever they may be, howsoever right- eous or wicked, they are entitled at the hand of those desirous of knowing the truth to a dispassionate and ​

METHOD OF TREATMENT. 39

respectful hearing, wliich they have never had. As a matter of course, where there is such warmth of feeling, such bitterness and animosity as is here dis- played on both sides, we must expect to encounter in our evidence much exaggeration, and many untruth- ful statements. Most that has been written on either^ side is partisan — bitterly so; many of the books that have been published are full of vile and licentious abuse — disgustingly so. Some of the more palpable lies, some of the grosser scurrility and more blas- phemous vulgarity, I shall omit altogether.

Again, the history of the Mormons, which is the early history of Utah, is entitled in its treatment to this consideration, as differing from that of other sec- tions of my work, and to this only — that whereas in speaking of other and older sects, as of the catholics in Mexico and California, and of the methodists and presbyterians in Oregon, whose tenets having long been established, are well known, and have no imme- diate bearing aside from the general influence of re- ligion upon the subjugation of the country, any anal- ysis of doctrines would be out of place, such analysis in the present instance is of primary importance. Or- dinarily, I say, as I have said before, that with the religious beliefs of the settlers on new lands, or of the builders of empire in any of its several phases, social and political, the historian has nothing to do, except in so far as belief influences actions and events. As to attempting to determine the truth or falsity of any creed, it is wholly outside of his province.

Since the settlement of Utah grew immediately out of the persecution of the Mormons, and since their persecutions grew out of the doctrines which the}' pro- mulG^ated, it seems to me essential that the oriq-in and nature of their religion should be given. And as they are supposed to know better than others what they believe and how they came so to believe, I shall let them tell their own story of the rise and progress of their religion, carrying along with it the commenta​ries of their opponents; that is, giving in the text the narrative proper, and in the notes further information, elucidation, and counter-statements, according to my custom. All this by no means implies, here or elsewhere in my work, that when a Mormon elder, a catholic priest, or a baptist preacher says he had a vision, felt within him some supernatural influence, or said a prayer which produced a certain result, it is proper or relevant for me to stop and dispute with him whether he* really did see, feel, or experience as alleged.

As to the material facts connected with the story of Mormonism, there is but little difference between the Mormons and their opposers; but in the reception and interpretation of acts and incidents, particularly in the acceptation of miraculous assertions and spiritual manifestations, they are as widely apart as the two poles, as my text and notes clearly demonstrate. And finally, I would have it clearly understood that it is my purpose, here as elsewhere in all my historical efforts, to impart information rather than attempt to solve problems.

In Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont, on the 23d of December, 1805, was born Joseph Smith junior, presently to be called translator, revelator, seer, prophet, and founder of a latter-day dispensation. When the boy was ten years old, his father, who was a farmer, moved with his family to Palmyra, Wayne county. New York, and four years afterward took up his abode some six miles south, at Manchester, Ontario county. Six sons and three daughters comprised the family of Joseph and Lucy Smith, namely, Alvin, Hyrum, Joseph junior, Samuel Harrison, William, Don Carlos, Sophronia, Catharine, and Lucy.^[1] ​

THE VISION. 41

There was much excitement over the subject of re- ligion in this section at the time, with no small dis- cussion of doctrines, methodist, baptist, and the rest; and about a year later, the mother and four of the children joined the presbyterians.

But young Joseph was not satisfied with any of the current theologies, and he was greatly troubled what to do. Reading his bible one day, he came upon the passage, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God." He retired to the woods and threw himself upon his knees. It was his first attempt at prayer.

While thus engaged a vision fell upon him. Sud- denly he was seized by some supernatural power of evil import, which bound him body and soul. He could not think; he could not speak; thick darkness gathered round. Presently there appeared above his head a pillar of light, which slowly descended and enveloped him. Immediately he was delivered from the enemy; and in the sky he saw two bright person- ages, one of whom said, pointing to the other, " This is my beloved son; hear him." Then he asked what he should do; to which sect he should unite himself.

stitious, having a firm belief in ghosts and witches; the telling of fortunes; pretending to believe that the earth was filled with hidden treasures, buried there by Kid or the Spaniards. Being miserably poor, and not much dis- posed to obtain an honest livelihood by labor, the energies of their minds seemed to be mostly directed toward finding where these treasures wero con- cealed, and the best modj of acquiring their possession.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 11. In the towns of Palmyra and Manchester, in 1833, documents defamatory to the family were circulated for signature, one receiving 1 1 and another 51 names. Given with signatures in Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 2G1-2, and in Kidder's Mormonism, 20-1. See also Ohhausmi, Gesch. d. Morm., 9-14, 103-10, 200-1; Gazette of Utah, 1874, 1"; Tucker's Orif/in and Prog. Mor., il-20. In one of these documents, signed and sworn to by Peter IngersoU, he said that the Smith family employed most of their time in gold- digging. At one time Joseph Smith senior told IngersoU to hold a mineral rod in his hand, a piece of witch-hazel, and selected a place to stand where he was to whisper directions to the rod; Smith stood apart, tlirowing himself into various shapes, but was unable to produce the desired effect. Again he took a stone that IngersoU had picked up and exclaimed that it was invalu- able; looking at it earnestly, he said it revealed to him chests of gold and silver at the back of his house; and putting it into his hat, threw himself into various attitudes, and .soon appeared exhausted; then in a faint voice, said, 'If you only knew what I had seen you would believe.' Some time be- fore Joseph's discovery of the gold plates, the elder Smith told IngersoU that a book had been found in Canada iu a hoUow tree which treated of the discovery of this continent ​

42 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

And he was told to join none of them, that all were corrupt, all were abomination in the eyes of the Lord. When he came to himself he was still gazing earnestly up into heaven. This was in the spring of 1820, and Joseph was yet scarcely fifteen.

When the young prophet began to proclaim his vision, the wise men and preachers of the several sects laughed at him; called him a silly boy, and told hira that if his mind had really been disturbed, it was the devil's doing. " Signs and revelations," said they, "are of by-gone times; it ill befits one so young to lie before God and in the presence of his people." "Nevertheless," replied Joseph, "I have had a vision." Then they reviled him, and the boy became disheart- ened and was entangled again in the vanities of the world, under the heavy hand of their oppression.

But the spirit of the Lord could not thus be quenched. The young man repented, and sought and found forgiveness. Retiring to his bed, midst prayer and supplication, on the night of September 21, 1823, presently the room grew light, and a figure robed in exceeding whiteness stood by the bedside, the feet not touching the floor. And a voice was heard, say- ing, " I am Moroni, and am come to you, Joseph, as a messenger from God." Then the angel told the youth that the Lord had for him a great work to do, that his name should be known to all people, and of him should be spoken both good and evil. He told him of a book written on plates of gold, and containing an account of the early inhabitants of this continent, and the gospel as delivered to them by Christ. He said that deposited with those plates were two stones in silver bows, which, fastened to a breastiDlate, constituted the Urim and Thummim; and that now as in ancient times the possession and use of the stones constituted a seer, and that through them the book might be translated. After oifering many scriptural quotations from both the old and the new^estament, and charging the young man that when the bock and the breastplate were de​

THE TLATES. 43

livered to bim he should show them to no one, under pain of death and destruction — the place where the plates were deposited meanwhile being clearly re- vealed to his mental vision — the light in the room grew dim, as Moroni ascended along a pathway of glory into heaven, and finally darkness was there as before. The visit was made three times, the last ending with the dawn, when Joseph arose greatly ex- hausted and went into the field to work.

His father, observing his condition, sent him home; but on the way Joseph fell in a state of unconscious- ness to the ground. Soon, however, the voice of Moroni was heard, commanding him to return to his father, and tell him all that he had seen and heard. The young man obeyed. The father answered that it was of God; the son should do as the messenger had said. Then Joseph, knowing from the vision where the plates were hidden, went to the west side of a hill, called the hill Cumorah, near the town of Manchester, and beneath a large stone, part of Avhose top appeared above the ground, in a stone box,^ he found the plates,^ the urim and thum-

- Oliver Cowdery stated that he visited the spot, and that 'at the bottom of this [hole] lay a stone of suitable size, the upper surface being smooth. At each edge was placed a large quantity of cement, and into this cement at the four edges of this stone were placed erect four others, their lower edges resting in the cement at the outer edges of the first stone. The four last named when placed erect formed a box, the corners, or where the edges of the four came in contact, were also cemented so firmly that the moisture from without was prevented from entering. It is to be observed also that the inner surfaces of the four erect or side stones were smooth. The box was sufficiently large to admit a breastplate. From the bottom of the box or from the breastplate arose three small pillars, composed of the same de- scription of cement as that used on the edges; and upon these three pillars were placed the records. The box containing the records was covered with another stone, the lower surface being flat and the upper crowning.' MacJcay's The Mormons, 20.

• Orson Pratt thus describes the plates, Visions, 14: 'These records were

eugi-aved on plates, which had the appearance of gold. Each plate was not far from seven by eight inches in width and length, being not quite as thick as common tin. They were filled on both sides with engravings in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, and fast- ened at one edge with three rings running through the whole. This volume was about six inches in thickness, and a part of it was sealed. The char- acters or letters upon the unsealed part were small and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many mra-ks of antiquity in its construction, as well ​

44 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

mim,^ and the breastplate.^ But when he was about to take them out Moroni stood beside him and said, "Not yet; meet me here at this time eacli year for four years, and I will tell you what to do." Joseph obeyed.

The elder Smith was poor, and the boys were some- times obliged to hire themselves out as laborers. It was on the 22d of September, 1823, that the plates were found. The following year Alvin died, and in October 1825 Joseph went to work for Josiah Stoal, in Chenango county. This man had what he sup- posed to be a silver mine at Harmon}^, Pennsylvania, said to have been once worked by Spaniards. Thither Joseph went with the other men to dig for silver,^

as much skill in the art of engraving.' In the introduction to the Booh of Mor- mon (New York ed.), viii., is given essentially the same description. See also Bouwlck's Mormons and Silver Mines, 61; Bertrand, Mem. d'un Mor., 25; Olshausen, Geach. d. Morm., 12-29; Stenhouse, Le-'i Mormons, i.-vii. ; Ferris^ Utah and The Mormons, 58; MncJcay's The Mormons, 15-22; Smucker's Hist. Mormons, 18-2S. For fac-simile of writing on golden plates, see Beadle's Life in Utah, 25. For illustrations of the hill, linding the plates, etc., see Mackcy's The Mormons, 15; Smucker's Hint. Mormons, 24; Tucker's Urifjin and Proij. Mor., frontispiece. When sceptics ask. Why are not the plates forthcoming? believers ask in turn. Why are not forthcoming the stone tables of Moses? And yet the ten commandments are to-day accepted.

• 'With the book were found the urim and thumniim, two transparent

crystals set in the rims of a bow. These pebbles were the seer's instru- ment whereby the mystery of hidden things was to be revealed!' Intro- duction to Booh of Mormon (New York ed.), viii. 'The best attainable defi- nition of the ancient urim and thummim is quite vague and indistinct. An accepted biblical lexicographer gives the meaning as "light and perfection," or the "shining and the perfect." The following is quoted from Butterivorth's Co)icordance: "There are various conjectures about the urim and thummim, whether they wei'e the stones in the high-priest's breastplate, or something distinct from them; which it is not worth our while to inquire into, since God has left it a secret. It is evident that the urim and thummim were appointed to inquire of God bj', on momentous occasions, and continued in use, as some think, only till the building of Solomon's temple, and all con- clude that this was never i-estored after its destruction.'" Tucker's Oritjiu and Frog. Mor., 32.

^ ' A breastplate such as was used by the ancients to defend the chest from the arrows and weapons of their enemy.' Machay's The Mormons, '20.

^ ' Hence ai-ose the very prevalent story of my having been a money digger. ' Hist. Joseph Smith, in Times and Seasons, May 2, 1842. It seems from this, or some other cause, tliat the followers of Smith liave never regarded mining with favor, although some of them at times have engaged in that occupation. Upon the discovery of gold in California, the Mormons were among tlie first in the field, at Coloma, at Mormon liar, and elsew here. Left there a little longer, they would soon have gathered barnils of the precious dust; but promptly upon the call they dropped their tools, ab;mdoned their brilliant prospects, and crossing the Sierra, began to build homes among their people in the untenanted desert. ​

JOSEPH'S MARRIAGE. 45

boarding at the house of Isaac Hale. After a month's fruitless efifort Steal was induced by Joseph to aban- don the undertaking; but meanwhile the youth had fallen in love with Hale's pretty daughter, Emma, and wished to marry her. Hale objected, owing to his continued assertions that he had seen visions, and the resulting persecutions; so Joseph took Emma to the house of Squire Tarbill, at South Bainbridge, where they were married the 18th of January, 1827, and thence returned to his father's farm, where he worked during the following season.^

Every year went Joseph to the hill Cumorah to hold communion with the heavenly messenger, and on the 22d of September, 1827, Moroni delivered to him the plates,® and the urim and thummim with which to translate them, charging him on pain of dire dis-

^ Among the many cliarges of wrong-doing ascribed to Smith from first to last, was that of having stolen Hale's daughter. In answer it is said that the young woman was of age, and had the right to marry whom and as she chose.

^ ' When the appointed hour came, the prophet, assuming his practised air of mystery, took in hand his money-digging spade and a large napkin, and went off in silence and alone in the solitude of the forest, and after an absence of some three hours, returned, apparently with his sacred charge con- cealed within the folds of the napkin. Reminding the (Smith) family of the original "command" as revealed to him, strict injunction of non-intervention and non-inspection was given to them, under the same terrible penalty as be- fore denounced for its violation. Conflicting stories were afterwards told in regard to the manner of keeping the book in concealment and safety, which are not worth repeating, further than to mention that the first place of secre- tion was said to be under a heavy hearthstone in the Smith family mansion. Smith told a frightful story of the display of celestial pyrotechnics on the ex- posure to his view of the sacred book — the angel who had led him to the dis- covery again appeai'ing as his guide and protector, and confronting ten thou- sand devils gathered there, with their menacing sulphurous flame and smoke, to deter him from his purpose ! This story was I'epeated and magnified by the believers, and no doubt aided the experiment upon superstitious minds which eventuated so successfully.' Tuckei'^s Orig. and Prog. Mor., .30-31. 'A great variety of contradictory stories were related by the Smith family before they had any fixed plan of operation, respecting the finding of the plates from which their book was translated. One is, that after the plates were taken from their hiding-place by Jo, he again laid them down, looked into the hole, where he saw a toad, which immediately transformed itself into a spirit and gave him a tremendous blow. Another is, that after he had got the plates, a spirit assaulted him with the intention of getting them from his possession, and actually jerked them out of his hands. Jo, nothing daunted, seized them again, and started to run, when his Satanic majesty, or the spirit, applied his foot to the prophet's seat of honor which raised three or four feet from the ground.' Howe's Mormonlwi Unveiled, 275-G. The excavation was at the time said to be IGO feet in extent, though that is probably an ex​

46 THE STORY OF MORMOXISxM.

aster to guard them well until he should call for them. Persecutions increased when it was known that Joseph had in his possession the plates of gold, and every art that Satan could devise or put in force through the agency of wicked men was employed to

aggeration. It had a substantial door of two-inch plank, and a secure lock. Lapse of time and other causes have almost effaced its existence. Tucker's Uriiiin and Frog. 3Ior., 48. 'In 1843, near Kinderhook, Illinois, in exca- vating a lai-ge mound, six brass plates were discovered of a bell-shape four inches in length and covered with ancient characters. They were fastened together with two iron wires almost entirely corroded, and were found along with charcoal, ashes, and human bones, more than twelve feet below the surface of a mound of the sugar-loaf form, common in the Mississippi Valley. Large trees growing upon these artificial mounds attest their great antiquity. . .No kej'^ has yet been discovered for the interpretation of the engravings upon these brass plates, or of the strange gylplis upon the ruins of Otolum in Mexico.' Daniel Wedderburn, in Popular Science Monfhli/, Dec. 1876; see also Times and Seasons, iv. 186-7, and engraved cuts in 1'ay- lor's Discussions, and in Mackay's The Mormons, 26-7. On the authority of Kidder, Mormonism, 23-6, Willard Chase, a carpenter, said: 'In the fore part of September (I believe) 1827, the prophet requested me to make him a chest, informing me that he designed to move back to Pennsylvania, and ex- pecting soon to get his gold book, he wanted a cliest to lock it up, giving me to understand, at the same time, that if I would make the chest he would give me a share in the book. I told him my business was such that I could not make it; but if lie would bring the book to me, I would lock it up for him. He said that would not do, as he was commanded to keep it two years without letting it come to the eye of any one but himself. Tliis command- ment, however, he did not keep, for in less than two years twelve men said they had seen it. I told him to get it and convince me of its existence, and I would make him a chest; but he said that would not do; as he must have a chest to lock the book in as soon as he took it out of the ground. I saw him a fews days after, when he told me I must make tlie chest. I told him plainly that I could not, upon which he told me that I could have no share in the book. A few weeks after this conversation he came to my house and related the following story: That on the 22d of September he arose early in the morning and took a one-horse wagon of some one that had stayed over night at their house, without leave or license; and, together with his wife, repaired to the hill which contained the book. He left his wife in the wagon, by the road, and went alone to the hill, a distance of thirty or forty rods from the road; he said he then took the book out of the ground and hid it in a tree-top and returned home. He then went to the town of Macedon to work. After about ten days, it having been suggested that some one had got his book, his wife went after him; he hired a horse, and went home in the afternoon, stayed long enough to drink one cup of tea, and then went for his book, found it safe, took off his frock, wrapt it round it, put it under his arm, and ran all the way home, a distance of about two miles. He said he should think it would weigh sixty pounds, and was sure it would weigh forty. On his return home he said he was attacked by two men in the woods, and knocked them both down and made his escajie, arrived safe, and secured his treasure. He then observed that if it had not been for that stone (which he acknowledged belonged to me) he would not have obtained the book. A few days after- ward he told one of my neighbors that he had not got any such book, and never had; but that he told the story to deceive the damned fool (meaning me), to get him to make a chest.' Others give other accounts, but it seema to me not worth while to follow them further. ​

MARTIN HARRIS. 47

wrest them from him. But almighty power and wis- dom prevailed, and the sacred rehcs were safely kept till the day the messenger called for them, when they were delivered into his hands, Joseph meanwhile hav- ing accomplished by them all that was required of him.

And now so fierce becomes the fiery malevolence of the enemy that Joseph is obliged to fly." He is very poor, having absolutely nothing, until a farmer named Martin Harris has pity on him and gives him fifty dollars, ^° with which he is enabled to go with his wife to her old home in Pennsylvania.^^ Immediately after his arrival there in December, he begins copying the

' ' Soon the news of his discoveries spread abroad throughout all those parts. . .The house was frequently beset by mobs and evil-designiug persons. Several times he was shot at, and very narrowly escaped. Every device was used to get the plates away from him. And being continually in danger of liis life fi'om a gang of abandoned wretches, he at length concluded to leave the place, and go to Pennsylvania; and accordingly packed up his goods, jnitting the plates into a barrel of beans, and proceeded upon his jouniey. He had not gone far before he was overtaken by an officer with a search-war- rant, who flattered himself with tlu; idea that he should surely obtain the plates; after seai'ching very diligently, he was sadly disappointed at not find- ing them. Mr Smith then drove on, but before he got to his journey's end he was again overtaken by an ofiicer on the same business, and after ransack- ing the wagon very carefully, he went his way as much chagrined as the first at not being able to discover the object of his research. Without any fur- ther molestation, he pursued his journey until he came to the northern part of Pennsylvania, near the Susquehanna River, in which part his father-in- law resided.' Pratt's Visions, 15.

'" ' In the neighborhood (of Smith's old home) there lived a farmer possessed of some money and more credulity. Every wind of doctrine aff'ected him. He had been in turn a quaker, a Wesleyan, a baptist, a presbyterian. His heterogeneous and unsettled views admirably qualified him for discipleship where novelty was paramount, and concrete things were invested with the enchantment of mystery. He was enraptured with the young prophet, and offered him fifty dollars to aid in the publication of his new bible.' Taylder's Mormons, xxviii.-ix.

•' 'Soon after Smith's arri%^al at Harmony, Isaac Hale (Smith's father-in- law) heard he had brought a wonderful box of plates with him. Hale "was shown a box in which it is said they were contained, which had to all ap- pearances been used as a glass box of the common window-glass. I was allowed to feel the weight of the box, and they gave me to understand that the book of plates was then in the box— into which, however, I was not al- lowed to look. I inquired of Joseph Smith, Jr., who was to be the first who would be allowed to see the book of plates. He said it was a young child. After this I became dissatisfied, and informed him that if thei-e was any- thing in my house of that description, which I could not be allowed to see, he nmsftakc it away; if he did not, I was determined to see it. After that the plates were said to be hid in the woods.'" Hoice's Mormonism Vnveiled, 2G4. ​

48 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

characters on the plates, Martin Harris coming to his assistance, and by means of the urim and thummim manages to translate some of them, which work is continued till February 1828. Harris' wife is ex- ceedingly curious about the matter, and finally obtains possession through her husband of a portion of the manuscript/^ About this time Harris takes a copy

^^Mai'tin Harris 'says he wrote a considerable part of the book as Smith dictated; and at one time the presence of the Lord was so great that a screen v/r.s hung up between him and the prophet; at other times the prophet would sit in a different room, or up stairs, while the Lord was communicating to him the contents of the plates. He does not pretend that he ever saw tiic won- derful plates but once, although he and Smith were engaged for months in deciphermg their contents. ' Mormoniam Unveiled, 14. ' Harris rendered Smith valuable assistance by transcribing for him, since he could not wiite himself. Poor Martin was unfortunately gifted with a troublesome wife. Her inquisitive and domineering nature made him dread unpleasant results from his present engagement. His manuscript had readied IIG pages, and he therefore begged permission to read it to her "with the hope that it might have a salutary effect upon her feelings. " His request was at length granted; but through carelessness or perfidy, while in his house, the precious docu- ment was irrecoverably lost. Joseph suffered greatly in consequence of this liindei'ance, but moi'e from the anger of heaven which was manifested against him. As soon as possible, he resumed his task, having secured the services of another scribe, Oliver Cowdery, a school-master in the neighborhood. Martin Harris, earnest as he was, had never yet been favored with a sight of the golden plates. He had not attained to sufScient purity of mind; but a copy of a small portion of their contents was placed in his hands, and this he was told he might show to any scholar in the world, if he wished to be sat- isfied. Accordingly he started for New York, sought Professor Anthon (Charles Anthon, LL.D., then adjunct professor of ancient languages in Colum- bia College), and requested his opinion.' Tai/lder's Mormons, xxxviii.-ix. 'She (Harris's wife) contrived in her husband's sleep to steal from him the particular source of her disturbance, and burned the manuscript to ashes. For years she kept this incendiarism a profound secret to herself, even until after the book was published. Smith and Harris held her accountable for the theft, but supposed she had handed the manuscript to some " evil-designing persons," to be used somehow in injuring their cause. A feiid was thus pro- duced between husband and wife which was never reconciled. Great con- sternation now pervaded the Mormon circles. The reappearance of the myste- rious stranger (who had before visited tlie Smiths) was again the subject of inquiry and conjecture by observers, from whom was withheld all explanation of his identity or purpose. It was not at first an easy task to convince the l^rophct of the entire innocency of his trusted friend Harris in the matter of this calamitous event, though mutual confidence and friendship were ultimately restored.' Tucker's Orig. and Prog. Mar., 4G. Of this lost manuscript SmiLh afterward wrote: ' Some time after Mr Harris had begun to write for me he began to tease me to give him liberty to carry the writings home and show them, and desired of me that I would inquire of the Lord through the urim and thummim if he might not do so.' To two inquiries the reply was no, but a third application resulted in pei'mission being granted under certain re- strictions, which were, that Harris might show the papers to his brother, his wife, her sister, his father and mother, and to no one else. Accordingly Smith required Harris to bind himself in a covenant to him in the most solemn maimer that he would not do otherwise than had been directed. 'He ​

WORK OF TRANSLATION. 49

of some of the characters to New York city, where he submits them to the examination of Professor Anthon and Dr Mitchell, who pronounce them to be Egyptian, Syriac, Chaldaic, and Arabic.^^ Then

did so,' says Smith. 'He bound himself as I required of him, took the writings, aud went his way. Notwithstanding ... he did show them to others, and by stratagem they got them away from him. ' Smith, in l^mes and Sea- sons, iii. 785-G.

^^ In a letter to E. D. Howe, printed in his book, and in the introduction to the New York edition of the Book of Mormon, Prof. Anthon, among other Btatements, denies that he ever gave a certificate. The letter reads as follows:

' New York, February 17, 18.34.

• Dear Sir: I received your letter of the 9th, and lose no time in making

a reply. The whole story about my pronouncing the Mormon inscription to be reformed Egyptian hierogylphics is perfectly false. Some years ago, a plain, apparently simple-hearted farmer called on me with a note from Dr Mitchell, of our city, now dead, requesting me to decipher, if possible, the paper which the farmer would hand me. Upon examining the paper in ques- tion, I soon came to the conclusion that it was all a trick — perhaps a hoax. When I asked the person who brought it how he obtained the writing, he gave me the following account: A gold book consisting of a number of plates, fast- ened together by wires of the same material, had been dug up in the northern part of the state of New York, and along with it an enormous pair of specta- cles. These spectacles were so large that if any person attempted to look through them, his two eyes would look through one glass only, the spectacles in question being altogether too large for the human face. " Whoever," he said, " examined the plates through the glasses was enabled not only to read them, but fully to understand their meaning." All this knowledge, however, was confined to a young man, who had the trunk containing the book and specta- cles in his sole possession. This young man was placed behind a curtain in a garret in a farm-house, and being thus concealed from view, he put on the spectacles occasionally, or rather looked through one of the glasses, deciphered the characters in the book, and having committed some of them to paper, handed copies from behind the curtain to those who stood outside. Not a word was said about their being deciphered by the gift of God. Everything in this way was eflFected by the large pair of spectacled. The farmer added that he had been requested to contribute a sum of money toward the publica- tion of the golden book, the contents of which would, as he was told, produce an entire change in the world, and save it from ruin. So urgent had been these solicitations, that he intended selling his farm and giving the amount to those who wished to publish the plates. As a last precautionary step, he had resolved to come to New York, and obtain the opinion of the learned about the meaning of the paper which he brought with him, and which had been given him as part of the contents of the book, although no translation had at that time been made by the young man with spectacles. On hearing this odd story, I changed my opinion about the paper, and instead of viewing it any longer as a hoax, I began to regard it as part of a scheme to cheat the farmer of his money, and I communicated my suspicions to him, warning him to be- ware of rogues. He requested an opinion from me in writing, which, of course, I declined to give, and he then took his leave, taking his paper with him. This paper in question was, in fact, a singular scroll. It consisted of all kinds of singular characters disposed in columns, and had evidently been prepared by some person who had before him at the time a book containing various alphabets, Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses and flourishes; Roman letters inverted or placed sideways were arranged and placed in perpendicular columns, and the whole ended iu a rude delineation of a circle,. divided into ■ Hist. Uxah. i ​

50 THE STORY OP MORMONISM.

Joseph buys of his wife's father a small farm and goes to work on it. In February 1829 he receives a visit from his own father, at which time a revelation comes to Joseph Smith senior, through the son, calling him to faith and good works. The month following Mar- tin Harris asks for and receives a revelation, by the mouth of the latter, regarding the plates, wherein the said Harris is told that Joseph has in his possession the plates which he claims to have, that they were delivered to him by the Lord God, who likewise gave him power to translate them, and that he, Harris, should bear witness of the same. Three months later, Harris having meanwhile acted as his scribe, Joseph is commanded to rest for a season in his work of translating until directed to take it up again.

various compartments, arched with various strange marks, and evidently copied after the Mexican calendar given by Humboldt, but copied in such a way as not to betray the source whence it was derived. I am thus particular as to the contents of the paper, inasmuch as I have frequently conversed with friends on the subject since the Mormon excitement began, and well i-emem- ber that the paper contained anything else but Egyptian hieroglyphics. Some time after, the farmer paid me a second visit. He brought with him the gold book in print, and offered it to me for sale. I declined i^urchasing. He then asked permission to leave the book with me for examination. I declined re- ceiving it, although his manner was strangely urgent. I adverted once more to the roguery which, in my opinion, had been practised upon him, and asked him what had become of the gold plates. He informed me they were in a trunk with the spectacles. I advised him to go to a magistrate and have the trunk examined. He said the curse of God would come upon him if he did. On my pressing him, however, to go to a magistrate, he told me he would open the trunk if I would take the curse of God upon myself. I replied I would do so with the gi'eatest willingness, and would incur every risk of that nature, provided I could only extricate him from the grasp of the rogues. He then left me. I have given you a full statement of all that I know respecting the origin of Mormonism, and must beg of you, as a personal favor, to publish this letter immediately, should you find my name mentioned again by these wretched fanatics. Yours respectfully, 'Charles Anthon.'

It is but fair to state that Smith never claimed that the characters were the ordinary Greek or Hebrew, but were what he called Reformed Egyptian. Harris says: ' He gave me a certificate which I took and put into my pocket, and was just leaving the house when Mr Anthon called me back, and asked me how the young man found out that there were gold plates in the place where he found them. I answered that an angel of God had revealed it unto him. He then said unto me, Let me see that certificate. I accordingly took

it out of my pocket and gave it to him, when he took it and tore it to pieces, saying that there was no such thing now as ministering of angels, aud that if I would bring the plates to him he would translate them. I informed him

that part of the plates were sealed, and that I was forbidden to bring them; he replied, " I cannot read a sealed book." I left him and went to l)r INIit- chell, who sanctioned what Professor Anthon had said respecting bcth the characters aud the translation. ' Pca7i of Great Price, xiii. 54. ​

BOOK OF MORMON. 51

The tenor of the book of Mormon^* is in this wise: Following the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel, the peoples of the earth were scattered abroad, one colony being led by the Lord across the ocean to America. Fifteen hundred years after, or six hundred years before Christ, they were destroyed for their wickedness. Of the original number was Jared, among whose descendants was the prophet Ether, who was their historian. Ether lived to witness the extinction of his nation, and under divine direction he deposited his history in a locality where it was found by a second colony, Israelites of the tribe of Joseph, who came from Jerusalem about the time of the de- struction of the first colony, namely, six hundred years before Christ. Thus was America repeopled; the second colony occupied the site of the first, mul- tiplied and became rich, and in time divided into two nations, the Nephites and the Lamanites, so called from their respective founders, Nephi and Laman. The former advanced in civilization, but the Laman- ites lapsed into barbarism, and were the immediate progenitors of the American aboriginals.

The Nephites were the beloved of the Lord. To them were given visions and angels' visits; to them the Christ appeared with gifts of gospel and prophecy. It was, indeed, the golden age of a favored people; but in a time of temptation, some three or four cen- turies after Christ, they fell, and were destroyed by

'* ' The word " Mormon," the name given to his book, is the English termi- nation of the Greek word mormoo, which we find defined in an old, obsolete dictionary to mean bugbear, hobgoblin, raw head, and bloody bones.' Howe's Mo7-monism Unveiled, 21. 'The word "Mormon " is neither Greek nor de- rived from the Greek, but from the "reformed Egyptian."' BeWs Reply to 7^hcobald, 2. In Times and Scasojis, Mr Smith writes as follows with regard to the meaning of the word ' Mormon : ' ' We say from the Saxon, fjood; the Dane, god; the Goth, goda; the German, gut; the Dutch, goed; the Latin, bonus; the G-eek, kalos; the Hebrew, fob; and the Egyptian, mon. Hence, with the addition of more, or the contraction mor, we have the word ' ' Mor- mon," which means, literally 7nore good.' 'Joseph Smith, annoyed at the profane wit which could derive the word "Mormon " from the Greek mormo, a bugbear, wrote an epistle on the subject, concluding with an elaborate display of his philological talent, such as he was accustomed to make on every pos- sible occasion.' Taylder's Mormon's Own Book, xxxiv., xxxv. ​

52 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

the wicked Lamanites. The greatest prophet of ths Nephites, in the period of their declension, was Mor- mon, their historian, who after having completed his abridgment of the records of his nation, committed it to his son Moroni, and he, that they might not fall into the hands of the Lamanites, deposited them in the hill of Cumorah, where they were found bv Joseph Smith.

On the 5th of April, 1829, there comes to Joseph Smith a school-teacher, Oliver Cowdery by name, to whom the Lord had- revealed himself at the house of the elder Smith, where the teacher had been boarding. Inquiring of the Lord, Joseph is told that to Oliver shall be given the same power to translate the book of Mormon,^^ by which term the writing on

^* The Booh of Mormon; an account written hy The Hand of Mormon, upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi. Wherefore it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile; written by way of command- ment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation. Written and sealed vp, and hid up unto the Lord, that they mif/ht not be destroyed; to come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof; sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in diie time by the way of Gentile; the interpretation thereof by the gift of God. An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also; which is a record of the people ofJared; who were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people when they were building a tower to get to heaven; ivhich is to shew unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may knoxo the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever; and also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations. And now if there are faidts, they are the mistakes of men; wherefore condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ. By Joseph Smith, Jun.', Author and Proprietor. (Printed by E. B. Grandin, for the author, Palmyra, New York, 1830.) Several editions followed. This first edition has 588 pages, and is prefaced among other things by an account of 117 pages, which Mrs Harris burned. This preface is omitted in subsequent editions. The testimony of three witnesses, and also of eight witnesses which in subsequent editions is placed at the beginning, is here at the end. The testimony of witnesses affirms that the signers saw the plates and the engravings thereon, having been shown them by an angel from heaven; they knew of the translation, that it had been done by the gift and power of God, and was therefore true. The book was reprinted at Nauvoo, at New York, at Salt Lake City, and in Europe. An edition printed by Jas 0. Wright & Co., evidently by way of speculation, contains eight pages of introduction, and an advertisement asserting that it is a reprint from the third American edition, and that the work was originally published at Nauvoo, which latter statement is incorrect. The publishers further claim that at the time of this printing, 1848, the book was out of print, notwithstanding the several pre​

BOOK OF MORMON. 53

ceding editions. The edition at present in common use was printed at Salt Lake City, at the Deseret News otiice, and entered according to act of con- gress in 1879, by Joseph F. Smith. It is divided into chapters and verses, with references by Orson Pratt, senior. The arrangement is as follows:

The first book of Nephi, his reign and ministry, 22 chapters; the second book of Nephi, 33 chapters; the book of Jacob, the brother of Nephi, 7 chap- ters; the book of Euos, 1 chapter; the book of Jarom, 1 chapter; the book of Omni, 1 chapter; the words of Mormon, 1 chapter; the book of Mosiah, 29 chapters; the book of Alma, the son of Alma, 63 chapters; the book of Helaman, 16 chapters; the book of Nephi, the son of Nephi, who was the son of Helaman, 30 chapters; the book of Nephi, who is the son of Nephi, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, 1 chapter; book of Mormon, 9 chapters; book of Ether, 15 chapters; the book of Moroni, 10 chapters. In all 239 chapters.

I give herewith the contents of the several books. The style, like that of the revelations, is biblical.

'First Book of Nephi. Language of the record; Nephi's abridgment; Lehi's dream; Lehi departs into the wilderness; Nephi slay eth Laban; Sariah complains of Lehi's vision; contents of the brass plates; Ishmael goes with Neplii; Nephi's brethren rebel, and bind him; Lehi's dream of the tree, rod, etc.; Messiah and John prophesied of; olive branches broken off; Nephi's vision of Mary; of the crucifixion of Christ; of darkness and earthquake; great abominable church; discovery of the promised land; bible spoken of ; book of Monnon and holy ghost promised; other books come forth; bible and book of Mormon one; promises to the gentiles; two churches; the work of the Father to commence; a man in white robes (John); Nephites come to knowledge; rod of iron; the sons of Lehi take wives; director found (ball); Nephi breaks his bow; directors work by faith; Ishmael died; Lehi and Nephi threatened; Nephi commanded to build a ship; Nephi about-to be worshipped by his brethren; ship finished and entered; dancing in the ship; Nephi bound; ship driven back; aiTived on the promised land; plates of ore made; Zenos, Neum, and Zenock; Isaiah's writing; holy one of Israel.

'Second Book of Nephi. Lehi to his sons; opposition in all things; Adam fell that man might be; Joseph saw our day; a choice seer; writings grow to- gether; prophet promised to the Lamanites; Joseph's prophecy on brass plates; Lehi buried; Nephi's life sought; Nephi separated from Laman; tem- ple built; skin of blackness; priests, etc., consecrated; make other plates; Isaiah's words by Jacob; angels to a devil; spirits and bodies reunited; bap- tism; no kings upon this land; Isaiah prophesieth; rod of the stem of Jesse; seed of Joseph perisheth not; law of Moses kept; Christ shall shew himself; signs of Christ, birth and death; whisper from the dust; book sealed up; priestcraft forbidden; sealed book to be brought forth ; three witnesses behold the book; the words (read tliis, I pray thee); seal up the book again; their priests shall contend; teach with their learning, and deny the holy ghost; rob the poor; a bible, a bible; men judged of the books; white and a delightsome people; work commences among all people; lamb of God baptized; baptism by water and holy ghost.

'Book of Jacob. Nephi anointeth a king; Nephi dies; Nephites and Lamanites; a righteous branch from Joseph; Lamanites shall scourge you; more than one wife forbidden; trees, waves, and mountains obey us; Jews look beyond the mark; tame olive tree; nethermost part of the vineyard; fruit laid up against the season; another branch; wild fi'uit had overcome; lord of the vineyard weeps; branches overcome the roots; wild branches plucked off; Sherem, the anti-Christ; a sign, Sherem smitten; Enos takes the plates from his father.

'The Book of Enos. Enos, thy sins are forgiven; records threatened by Lamanites; Lamanites eat raw meat.

'The Book of Jarom. Nephites wax strong; Lamanites drink blood; fortify cities; plates delivered to Omni.

• The Book of Omni. Plates given to Amaron; plates given to Chemish; ​

54 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

Mosiah warned to flee; Zarahemia discovered; engravings on a stone; Cori- antumr discovered; bis parents come from the tower; plates delivered to King Benjamin.

' The words of Mormon. False Christs and prophets.

' Book of Mosiah. Mosiah made king; the plates of brass, sword, and director; King Benjamin teacheth the people; their tent doors toward the temple; coming of Christ foretold; beggars not denied; sons and daughters; Mosiah began to reign; Ammon, etc. , bound and imprisoned; Limhi's procla- mation; twenty-four plates of gold; seer and translator.

' Record of Zeniff. A battle fought; King Laman died; Noah made king; Abinadi the prophet; resurrection; Alma believed Abinadi; Abinadi cast into prison and scourged with fagots; waters of Mormon; the daughters of the Lamanites stolen by King Noah's priests; records on plates of ore; last trib- ute of wine; Lamanites' deep sleep; King Limhi baptized; priests and teach- ers labor; Alma saw an angel; Alma fell (dumb); King Mosiah's sons preach to the Lamanites; translation of records; plates delivered by Limhi; trans- lated by two stones; people back to the Tower; recoi'ds given to Alma; judge3 appointed; King Mosiah died; Alma died; Kings of Nephi ended.

'The Book of Alma. Nehor slew Gideon; Amlici made king; Amlici slain in battle; Amlicites painted red; Alma baptized in Sidon; Alma's preaching; Alma oi'dained elders; commanded to meet often; Alma saw an angel; Amulek saw an angel; lawyers questioning Amulek; coins named; Zeesrom the lawyer; Zeesrom trembles; election spoken of; Melchizedek priesthood; Zeesrom stoned; records burned; prison rent; Zeesrom healed and baptized; Nehor's desolation; Lamanites converted; flocks scattered at Sebus; Ammon smote off arms; Ammon and King Lamoni; King Lamoni fell; Amnion and the queen; king and queen prostrate; Aaron, etc., deliv- ered; Jerusalem built; preaching in Jerusalem; Lamoni's father converted; land desolation and bountiful; anti-Nephi-Lehies; general council; swords buried; 1,005 massacred; Lamanites perish by fire; slavery forbidden; anti- Nephi-Lehies removed to Jershon, called Ammonites; tremendous battle; anti-Christ, Korihor; Korihor struck dumb; the devil in the form of an angel; Korihor trodden down; Alma's mission to Zoramites; Rameumptom (holy stand); Alma on hill Onidah; Alma on faith; prophecy of Zenos; prophecy of Zenock; Amulek's knowledge of Christ; charity recommended; same spirit possess your body; believers cast out; Alma to Helaman; plates given to Helaman; twenty-four plates; Gazelem, a stone (secret); Liahona, or com- pass; Alma to Shiblon; Alma to Corianton; unpardonable sin; resurrection; restoration; justice in punishment; if, Adam, took, tree, life; mercy rob jus- tice; Moroni's stratagem; slaughter of Lamanites; Moroni's speech to Zera- hemnah; prophecy of a soldier; Lamanites' covenant of peace; Alma's proph- ecy 400 years after Christ; dwindle in unbelief; Alma's strange departure; Amalickiah leadeth away the people, destroyeth the church; standard of Moroni; Joseph's coat rent; Jacob's prophecy of Joseph's seed; fevers in the land, plants and roots for diseases; Amalickiah's plot; the king stabbed; Amalickiah marries the queen, and is acknowledged king; fortifications by Moroni; ditches filled witii dead bodies; Amalickiah's oath; Pahoran ap- pointed judge; army against king-men; Amalickiah slain; Ammoron made king; Bountiful fortified; dissensions; 2,000 young men; Moroni's epistle to Ammoron; Ammoron 's answer; Lamanites made drunk; Moroni's stratagem; Helaman's epistle to Moroni; Helaman's stratagem; mothers taught faith; Lamanites surrendered; city of Antiparah taken; city of Cumeni taken; 200 of the 2,000 fainted; prisoners rebel, slain; Manti taken by stratagem; Moroni to the governor; governor's answer; King Pachus slain; cords and ladders prepared; Nephihah taken; Teancum's stratagem, slain; peace established; Moronihah made commander; Helaman died; sacred things, Shiblon; Moroni died; 5,400 emigrated north; ships built by Hagoth; sacred things committed to Helaman; Shiblon died.

'The Book of Helaman. Pahoran died; Pahoran appointed judge; Kish- kuraen slays Pahoran; Pacumeni appointed judge; Zaraliamia taken; Pacu​

BOOK OF MORMON. 55

meni killed; Coriantumr slain; Lamanites surrendered; Helaman appointed judge; secret signs discovered and Kisiikumen stabbed; Gadianton fled; em- igration northward; cement houses; many books and records; Helaman died; Nephi made judge; Nephites become wicked; Nephi gave the judgment-seat to Cezoram; Nephi and Lehi preaclied to the Lamanites; 8,000 baptized; Al- ma and Nephi surrounded with fire; angels administer; Cezoram and son murdered; Gadianton robbers; Gadianton robbers destroyed; Nephi's proph- ecy; Gadianton robbers are judges; chief judge slain; Seantum detected; keys of the kingdom; Nephi taken away by the spirit; famine in the land; Gla- dian ton band destroyed; famine removed; Samuel's prophecy; tools lost; two days and a night, light; sign of the crucifixion; Samuel stoned, etc.; angels appeared.

'Third Book of Nephi. Lachoneus chief judge; Nephi receives the records; Nephi's strange departure; no darkness at night; Lamanites become white; Giddianhi to Lachoneus; Gidgiddoni chief judge; Giddianhi slain; Zemua- rihah hanged; robbers surrendered; Mormon abridges the records; church begins to be broken up; government of the land destroyed; chief judge mur- dered; divided into tribes; Nephi raises the dead; sign of the crucifixion; cities destroyed, earthquakes, darkness, etc.; law of Moses fulfilled; Christ appeai-3 to Nephites; print of the nails; Nephi and others called; baptism commanded; doctrine of Christ; Christ the end of the law; other sheep spoken of; blessed are the Gentiles; Gentile wickedness on the land of Joseph; Isaiah's words fulfilled; Jesus heals the sick; Christ blesses children; little ones encircled with fire; Christ administers the sacrament; Christ teaches his disciples; names of the twelve; the twelve teach the multitude; baptism, holy ghost, and fire; disciples made white; faith great; Christ breaks bread again; miracle, bread and wine; Gentiles destroyed (Isaiah); Zion established; from Gentiles, to your seed; sign, Father's work commenced; he shall be marred; Gentiles destroyed (Isaiah); New Jerusalem built; work commence among all the tribes; Isaiah's words; saints did arise; Malachi's prophecy; faith tried by the book of Mormon; children's tongues loosed; the dead raised; baptism and holy ghost; all things common; Christ appears again; INIoses, church; three Nephites tarry; the twelve caught up; change upon their bodies.

' Book of Nephi, son of Nephi. Disciples raise the dead; Zarahemia re- built; other disciples are ordained in their stead; Nephi dies; Amos keeps the records in his stead; Amos dies, and his son Amos keeps the records; prisons rent by the thi'ce; secret combinations; Ammaron hides the records.

'Book of Mormon. Three disciples taken away; Mormon forbidden to preach; Mormon appointed leader; Samuel's prophecy fulfilled; Mormon makes a record; lands divided; the twelve shall judge; desolation taken; women and cliildren sacrificed; Mormon takes the records hidden in Shim; Mor- mon repents of his oath and takes command; coming forth of records; records hid in Cumorah; 230,000 Nephites slain; shall not get gain by the plates; these things shall come forth out of the earth; the state of the world; miracles cease, unbelief; disciples go into all the world and preach; language of the book.

'Book of Ether. Twenty-four plates found; Jared cries unto the Lord; Jared goes down to the valley of Nimrod; Deseret, honey-bee; barges built; decree of God, choice land; free from bondage; four years in tents at Morian- cumer; Lord talks three hours; barges like a dish; eight vessels, sixteen stones; Lord touches the stones; finger of the Lord seen; Jared's brother sees the Lord; two stones given; stones sealed up; goes aboard of vessels; furious wind blows; 344 days' passage; Oriliah anointed king; King Shule taken cap- tive; Shule's sons slay Noah; Jared carries his father away captive; the daughters of Jared dance; Jared anointed king by the hand of wickedness; Jared murdered and Akish reigns in his stead; names of animals; poisonous serpents; Riplakish's cruel reign; Morianton anointed king; poisonous ser- pents destroyed; many wicked kings; Moroni on faith; miracles by faith; Moroni sees Jesus; New Jeruaalen spoken of; Ether cast out; records liuished ​

56 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

in the cavity of a rock; secret combinations; war in all the land; King Gilead murdered by his high priest; the high priest murdered by Lib; Lib slain by Coriantumr; dead bodies cover the land and none to bury them; 2,000,000 men slain; hill Ramah; cries rend the air; sleep on their swords; Corian- tumr slays Shiz; Shiz falls to the earth; records hidden by Ether.

'Book of Moroni. Christ's words to the twelve; manner of ordination; order of sacrament; order of baptism; faith, hope and charity; baptism «f lit- tle children; women fed on their husbands' flesh; daughters murdered and eaten; sufferings of women and children; cannot recommend them to God; Moroni to the Lamanites; 420 years since the sign; records sealed up (Moroni); gifts of the spirits; God's word shall hiss forth.'

From a manuscript furnished at my request by Franklin D. Richards, en- titled The Book of Mormon, I epitomize as follows: Several families retain- ing similar forms of speech were directed by God to America, where they became numerous and prosperous. They lived righteously at first, but after- ward became sinful, and about 600 b. c. broke up as a nation, leaving records by their most eminent historian Ether. During the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, two men, Lehi and Mulek, were warned of God of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, and were directed how they and their families could make their escape, and were led to this land where they found the records of the former people. Lehi landed at Chili. His people spread to North America, became numerous and wealthy, lived under the law of Moses which they had brought with them, and had their judges, kings, prophets, and temples. Looking coufidently for the coming of Christ in the flesh, in due time he came, and after his crucifixion organized the church in America as he had done in Judea, an account of which, together with their general history, was preserved on metallic plates in the language of the times. An abridgment was made on gold plates about A. D. 400 by a prophet named Mormon, from all the historical plates that had come down to him. Thus were given not only the histories of the Nephites and Lamanites— his own people— but of the Jai-edites, who had occupied the land before them, and his book was called the Book of Mormon. Destruction coming upon the people. Mormon's son, Moroni, was directed of God where to deposit the plates, the ixrim and thummim being deposited with them so that the finder might be able to read them. And as Moroni had left them so were they found by Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon was translated in 1851 into Italian, under the auspices of Lorenzo Snow, and into Danish under the direction of Erastus Snow; in 1852 John Taylor directed its translation into French and German, and Franklin D. Richards into Welsh. In 1855 George Q. Cannon brought out an edition in the Hawaiian language at San Francisco; in 1878 N. C. Flygare supervised its publication in the Swedish, and Moses Thatcher in 1884 in the Spanish language.

In December 1874, Orson Pratt, at that time church historian, prepared an article for insertion in the Universal Cyclopedia, a portion of which is aa follows: 'The first edition of this wonderful book was published early in 1830. It has since been translated and published in the Welsh, Danish, German, French, and Italian languages of the east, and in the language of the Sandwich Islands of the west. It is a volume about one third as large as the bible, consisting of sixteen sacred books . . . One of the founders of the Jaredite nation, a great prophet, saw in vision all thiags from the foundation of the world to the end thereof, which were written, a copy of which was en- graved by Moroni on the plates of Mormon, and then sealed up. It was this portion which the prophet, Joseph Smith, was forbidden to translate or to unloose the seal. In due time this also will be revealed, together with all the sacred records kept by the ancient nations of this continent, preparatory to the time when the knowledge of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep.' Deseret News, Sept. 27, 1876. Orson Pratt afterward stated that the book of Mormon had been translated into ten difi'erent lan- guages. Deseret News, Oct. 9, 1878. See also Taylder's Mormons, 10. For further criticisms on the book of Mormon, see Millennial Star, xix., index v.; ​

OLIVER COWDERY. 57

the golden plates is hereafter known, and that he also shall bear witness to the truth.

Two days after the arrival of Oliver/^ Joseph and he begin the work systematically, the former translating while the latter writes ;" for Oliver has a vision, mean-

Times and Seasons, ii. 305-6; Pratt's Pamphlets, i. to vi. 1-96; Hyde's Mor- monism, 210-83; Olshausen Oesch. der Mormen, 15-29; Howe's Morraonism Unveiled, 17-123; Salt Lake City I'ribune, Apr. 11, June 5 and 6, and Nov. 5, 1879; Juvenile Instructor, xiv. 2-3; Reynolds' Myth of the Manuscript Found, passim; Lee's Mormonism, 119-26; Clements' Roughing It, 127-35; Pop. Science Monthly, Ivi. 165-73; Bennett's Mormonism Exposed, 103-40. See letter from Thurlow Weed, also statement by Mrs Matilda Spaulding McKinstry in Scribner's Mag., Aug. 1880, 613-16.

^"Oliver Cowdery 'is a blacksmith by trade, and sustained a fair reputa- tion until his intimacy commenced with the money digger. He was one of the many in the world who always find time to study out ways and means to live without work. He accordingly quit the blacksmithing business, and is now the editor of a small monthly publication issued under the directions of the prophet, and principally filled with accounts of the spread of Mormonism, their persecutions, and the fabled visions and commands of Smith.' He was 'chief scribe to the prophet, while transcribing, after Martin had lost 116 pages of the precious document by interference of the devil. An angel also has shown him the plates from which the book of Mormon proceeded, as he says.' II oive's Mormonism Unveiled, 15, 265; see also Pearl of Great Price, xiii. 54; Smucker's Hist. Mor., 28; Taylder's Mormons, xxxii.

'" ' Instead of looking at the characters inscribed upon the jjlates, the prophet was obliged to resort to the old peep-stone which ho formerly used in money digging. This he placed in a hat, or box, into which he also thrust his face. . .Another account they give of the transaction is, that it was per- formed with the big spectacles,' which enabled 'Smith to translate the plates without looking at them.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 17-18. ' These were days never to be forgotten,' Oliver remarks, 'to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated with the urim and thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, "interpreters," the history or record called the "Book of Mor- mon,"' Pearl of Great Price, 55. See also Mackay's The Mormons, 30-31; Millennial Star, iii. 148; Smucker's Hist. Mormons, 35; Pratt's Pamphlets, iv. 58-9; Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 61-2. In relation to the peep-stone al- luded to, Williard Chase says in his sworn testimony that he discovered a singular stone while digging a well in the year 1822. Joseph Smith was as- sisting him, and borrowed the stone from him, alleging that he could see into it. After he obtained the stone Smith published abroad the wonders that he could see in the stone, and made much disturbance among the credulous members of the community. See Howe's 3Ior monism Unveiled, 241. 'This stone attracted particular notice on account of its peculiar shape, resembling that of a child's foot. It was of a whitish, glassy appearance, though opaque, resembling quartz . . .He (Joseph Jr) manifested a special fancy for this geo- logical curiosity; and he carried it home with him, though this act of plunder was against the strenuous protestations of Mr Chase's children, who claimed to be its rightful owners. Joseph kept this stone, and ever afterward refused its restoration to the claimants. Very soon the pretension transpired that he could see wonderful things by its aid. The idea was rapidly enlarged upon from day to day, and in a short time his spiritual endowment was so devel- oped that he asserted the gift and power (with the stone at his eyes) of re- vealing both things existing and things to come.' Tucker's Mormonism, 19-20. ​

58 THE STORY OF MORMONISM,

while, telling him not to exercise his gift of translating at present, but simply to write at Joseph's dictation. Continuing thus, on the 15th of May the two men go into the woods to ask God concerning baptism, found mentioned in the plates. Presently a messenger de- scends from heaven in a cloud of light. It is John the Baptist. And he ordains them, saying, "Upon you, my fellow-servants, in the name of messiah, I confer the priesthood of Aaron." Baptism by immersion is directed; the power of laying-on of hands for the gift of the holy ghost is promised, but not now bestowed; then they are commanded to be baptized, each one baptizing the other, which is done, each in turn lay- ing his hands upon the head of the other, and ordain- ing him to the Aaronic priesthood. As they come up out of the water the holy ghost falls upon them, and they prophesy.

Persecutions continue ; brethren of Christ threaten to mob them, but Joseph's wife's father promises protection. Samuel Smith comes, and is converted, receiving baptism and obtaining revelations ; and later Joseph's father and mother, Martin Harris, and others. Food is several times charitably brought to the translators by Joseph Knight, senior, of Coles- ville, New York, concerning whom is given a revela- tion. In June comes David Whitmer with a request from his father, Peter Whitmer, of Fayette, New York, that the translators should occupy his house thenceforth until the completion of their work, and brings with him a two-horse wagon to carry them and their effects. Not only is their board to be free, but one of the brothers Whitmer, of whom there are David, John, and Peter junior, will assist in the writ- ing. Thither they go, and find all as promised; David and Peter Whitmer and Hyrum Smith are baptized, and receive revelations through Joseph, who inquires of the Lord for them by means of the urim and thum- mim. The people thereabout being friendly, meetings are held, and the new revelation taught, many believ​

THE ELEVEN WITNESSES. r>9

ing, certain priests and others disputing. Three special witnesses are provided by Christ, namely, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris/^ to whom the plates are shown by an angel after much prayer and meditation in the woods. These are the three witnesses. And there are further eight wit- nesses, namely, Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer junior, John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith senior, Hyrum Smith, and Samuel H. Smith, who testify that the plates were shown to them by Joseph Smith junior, that they handled them with their hands, and saw the characters engraven thereon. ^^

'*The objections raised against this testimony are, first, there is no date nor place; second, there are not three separate affidavits, but one testimony- signed by three men; third, compare with Smith's revelation Doctrine and Covenants, p. 173, and it appears that this testimony is drawn up by Smith himself. But who are these witnesses ? Sidney Rigdon, at Independence, Missouri, in 1838, charged Cowdery and Whitmer with 'being connected with a gang of counterfeiters, thieves, liars, blacklegs of the deepest dye, to de- ceive and defraud the saints.' Joseph Smith [Times and Seasons, vol. i. pp. 81, 8.3-4) charges Cowdery and Whitmer with being busy in stirring up strife and turmoil among the brethren in 1838 in Missouri; and he demands, 'Are they not murderers then at the heart ? Are not their consciences seared as with a hot iron?' These men were consequently cut oflf from the church. In 1837 Smith prints this language about his coadjutor and witness: 'There are negroes who have white skins as well as black ones — Granny Parish and others, who acted as lackeys, such as Martin Harris ! But they are so far beneath my contempt that to notice any of them would be too great a sacrifice for a gentleman to make.' Hyde's Mormonism, 252-5. Of David Whitmer, Mr Howe says: 'He is one of five of the same name and family who have been used as witnesses to establish the imposition, and who are now head men and leaders in the Mormonite camp. They were noted in their neighborhood for credulity and a general belief in witches, and perhaps were fit subjects for the juggling arts of Smith. David relates that he was led by Smith into an open held, on his father's farm, where they found the book of plates lying upon the ground. Smith took it up and requested him to examine it, which he did for the space of half an hour or more, when he returned it to Smith, who placed it in its former position, alleging that it was in the custody of an angel. He describes the plates as being about eight inches square, the leaves being metal of a whitish yellow color, and of the thickness of tin plates.' Mormonism Unveiled, 16. See also Kidder's Mor- mons, 49-51; Tucker's Orirjin and Prog. Mor., 69-71; Smucker's Hist. Mor., 29-30; Bertrand's Mimoires d'un Mormon, 29-31.

'"It will be seen that the witnesses of this truth were principally of the two families of Whitmer and Smith. The Smiths were the father and broth- ers of Joseph. Who the Whitmers were is not clear, and all clew to their character and proceedings since this date, though probably known to the Mormons themselves, is undiscoverable by the profane vulgar. ' Mackay's The Mormons, 23.

The theory commonly accepted at present by those not of the Mormon faith, in regard to the origin of the book of Mormon, is thus given in the in​

60 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

troduction to the New York edition of the Book of Mormon, essentially the same as that advanced previously by E. D. Howe, and subsequently elabo- rated by others: 'About the year 1809, the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, a clergy- man who had graduated from Dartmouth college, and settled in the town of CheiTy Valley, in the State of New York, removed from that place to New Salem (Conneaut), Ashtabula county, Ohio. Mr Spaulding was an enthu- siastic archaeologist. The region to which he removed was rich in American antiquities. The mounds and fortifications which have puzzled the brains of many patient explorers attracted his attention, and he accepted the theory that the American continent was peopled by a colony of the ancient Israelites. The ample material by which he was surrounded, full of mythical interest and legendary suggestiveness, led him to the conception of a curious literary pro- ject. He set himself tlie task of writing a fictitious history of the race which had built the mounds. The work was commenced and progressed slowly for some time. Portions of it were read by Mr Spaulding's friends, as its dif- ferent sections were completed, and after three years' labor, the volume was sent to the jiress, bearing the title of llie 3Ianuficrtpt Found. Mr Spaulding had removed to Pittsburgh, Pa., before his book received the final revision, and it was in the hands of a printer named Patterson, in that city, that the manuscript was placed with a view to publication. This was in the year 1812. The printing, however, was delayed in consequence of a difficulty about the contract, until Mr Spaulding left Pittsburgh, and went to Amity, Washington county, New York, where in 181 G he died. The manuscript seems to have lain unused during this interval. But in the employ of the printer Patterson was a versatile genius, one Sidney Rigdon, to whom no trade came amiss, and who happened at the time to be a journeyman at work with Patterson. Disputations on questions of theology were the peculiar de- light of Rigdon, and the probable solution of the mystery of the book of Mor- mon is found in the fact that, by this man's agency, information of the exist- ence of the fictitious record was first communicated to Joseph Smith. Smith's family settled in Palmyra, New York, about the year 1815, and re- moved subsequently to Ontario county, where Joseph became noted for su- preme cunning and general shiftlessness. Chance threw him in the company of Rigdon soon after Spaulding's manuscript fell under the eye of the erratic journeyman, and it is probable that the plan of founding a new system of re- ligious imposture was concocted by these two shrewd and unscrupulous par- ties. The fact that the style of the book of Mormon so closely imitates that of the received version of the bible — a point which seems to have been con- stantly kept in view by Mr Spaulding, probably in order to invest the fiction with a stronger character of reality — answered admirably for the purposes of Rigdon and Smith.' Mr Howe testifies that 'an opinion has prevailed to a considerable extent that Rigdon has been the lago, the prime mover of the whole conspiracy. Of this, however, we have no positive proof.' Mor- monium Unveiled, 100.

To prove the foregoing, witnesses are brought forward. John Spaulding, brother of Solomon, testifies: 'He then told me that he had been writing a book, which he intended to have printed, the avails of which he thought would enable him to pay all his debts. The book was entitled The Manusa-ipt Found, of which he read to me many passages. It was an historical romance of the first settlers of America,' etc. He goes on to speak of Nephi and Lehi as names familiar, as does also Martha Spaulding, John's wife. Henry Lake, formerly Solomon's partner, testifies to the same effect; also John N. Miller, who worked for Lake and Spaulding in building their forge; also Aaron "Wright, Oliver Smith, and Nahum Howard, neighbors; also Artemas Cunning- ham, to whom Spaulding owed money. To these men Solomon Spaulding used to talk about and i-ead from his Manuscript Found, which was an ac- count of the ten lost tribes in America, which he wanted to publish and with the profits pay his debts. After the book of Mormon was printed, and they saw it, or heard it read, they were sure it was the same as Spaulding's Manu- script Found. Id., 278-87. ​

THE SPAULDING THEORY. 61

Who Wrote the Booh of Morrron? is the title of a 4to pamphlet of 16 pages by Robert Patterson of Pittsburgh. Reprinted from the illustrated history of Washington county, Philadelphia, 1882. This Patterson is the son of printer Patterson, to whose office the Spaulding MS. is said to have been sent. Little new information is brought out by this inquisition. First he extracts passages from Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, quoting at second- hand from Kidder's Mormonism aid the Mormons, in the absence of the orig- inal, stating erroneously that Howe's book was first printed in 1835. I give elsewhere an epitome of the contents of Howe's work. Ballantyne in his Reply to a Tract, by T. Richards, What is Mormonism? wherein is advanced the Spaulding theory, asserts in answer that Spaulding's manuscript was not known to Smith or Rigdon until after the publication of the Book of Mor- mon, and that the two were not the same, the latter being about thi-ee times larger than the former. 'Dr Hurlburt,' he says, 'and certain other noted enemies of this cause, having heard that such a manuscript existed, deter- mined to publish it to the world in order to destroy the book of Mormon, but after examining it, found that it did not read as they expected, consequently declined its publication.' The Spaulding theory is advanced and supported by the following, in addition to the eight witnesses whose testimony was given by Howe in his Mormonism Unveiled. Mrs Matilda Spaulding Davidson, once wife of Solomon Spaulding, said to Rev. D. R. Austin, who had the statement printed in the Boston Recorder, May 1839, that Spaulding was in the habit of reading portions of his romance to his friends and neighbors. When John Spaulding heard read for the first time passages from the book of Mormon he 'recognized perfectly the work of his brother. He was amazed and af- flicted that it should have been perverted to so wicked a purpose. His grief found vent in a flood of tears, and he arose on the spot and expressed to the meeting his sorrow and regret that the writings of his deceased brother should be used for a purpose so vile and shocking.' Statements to the same effect are given as coming from Mrs McKinstry, daughter of Spaulding, printed in Scribner's Monthly, August 1880; W. H. Sabine, brother of Mrs Spaulding; Joseph Miller, whose statements were printed in the Pittsburgh Telegraph, Feb. 6, 1879; Redick McKee in the Washington Reporter, April 21, 1869; Rev. Abner Jackson in a communication to the Washington County Histori- cal Society, printed in the Washington Reporter, Jan. 7, 1881, and others. See also Kidder's Mormonism, 37-49; California— Its Past History, 198-9; Ferris' Utah and Mormons, 50-1; Gunnison's Mormons, 93-7; Bertrand's Memoires d'un Mormon, 33-44; Hist, of Mormons, 41-50; Bennett's Mormon- ism, 115-24; Howe's Mormonism, 289-90.

Robert Patterson, in his pamphlet entitled Who Wrote the Booh of Mor- mon? thus discusses the case of Sidney Rigdon: 'It was satisfactorily proven that Spaulding was the author of the book of Mormon; but how did Joseph Smith obtain a copy of it ? The theory hitherto most widely published,' says Patterson, 'and perhaps generally accepted, hdlfe been that Rigdon was a printer in Patterson's printing-office when the Spaulding manuscript was brought there in 1812-14, and that he either copied or purloined it. Having it thus in his possession, the use made of it was an after thought suggested by circumstances many years later. More recently another theory has been advanced, that Rigdon obtained possession cf the Spaulding manuscript dur- ing his pastorate of the first baptist church or soon thereafter, 1822-4, with- out any necessary impropriety on his part, but rather through the courtesy of some friend, in whose possession it remained unclaimed, and who regarded it as a literary curiosity. The friends of Rigdon, in response to the first charge, deny that he ever resided in Pittsburgh pre\aous to 1822, or that he ever was a printer, and in general answer to both charges affirm that he never at any time had access to Spaulding's manuscript.' Rigdon denies em- phatically that he ever worked in Patterson's printing-office or knew of such an establishment; and the testimony, produced by Patterson, of Carvil Rig- don, Sidney's brother, Peter Boyer, his brother-in-law, Isaac King, Samuel Cooper, Robert Dubois, and Mrs Lambdin points in the same direction. Oa ​

62 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

the other hand, INIrs Davidson, Joseph Miller, Redick McKee, Rev. Cephas Dodd, and Mrs Eichbaum are quite positive that either Rigdon worked in the printing-office, or had access to the manuscript. 'These witnesses,' continues Patterson, 'are all whom we can find, after inquirie.s extending through some tliree years, who can testify at all to Rigdon's residence in Pittsburgh before 1816, and to his possible employment in Patterson's printing-office or bindery. Of this employment none of them speak from personal knowledge. In mak- ing inquiries among two or three score of the oldest residents of Pittsburgh and vicinity, those who had any opinion on the subject invariably, so far as now remembered, repeated the story of Rigdon's employment in Patterson's office as if it were a well known and admitted fact; they could tell all about it, but when pressed as to their personal knowledge of it or their authority for the conviction, they had none.' Nevertheless he concludes, 'after an im- partial consideration of the preceding testimony, that Rigdon as early as 1823 certainly had possession of Spaulding's manuscript; how he obtained it is unimportant for the present purpose; that during his career as a minister of the Disciples church in Ohio, he carefully preserved under lock and key this document, and devoted an absorbed attention to it; that he was aware of the forthcoming book of Mormon and of its contents long before its appearance; that the said contents were largely Spaulding's romance, and partly such modifications as Rigdon had introduced; and that, during the preparation of the book of Mormon, Rigdon had repeated and long interviews with Smith, thus easily supplying him with fresh instalments of the pretended revelation.' In a letter to the editors of the Boston Journal, dated May 27, 1839, Rigdon says: ' There was no man by the name of Patterson during my residence at Pittsburgh who had a printing-office; what might have been before I lived there I know not. Mr Robert Patterson, I was told, had owned a printing- office before I lived in that city, but had been unfortunate in business, and failed before my residence there. This Mr Patterson, who was a presbyteriau preacher, I had a very slight acquaintance with during my residence in Pitts- burgh. He was then acting under an agency in the book and stationery business, and was the owner of no property of any kind, printmg-office or anything else, during the time I resided in the city. ' Smucker's Mormons, 45-8,

In Philadelphia, in 1840, was published The Origin of the Spauldimj Story, concerning the Mmiuscript Found; loith a short biography of Dr P. Hul- bert, the originator of the same; and some testimony adduced, showing it to be a sheer fabrication so far as its connection with the Book of Mormon is concerned. By B. Winchester, minister of the Gospel. The author goes on to say that Hulbert, a methodist preacher at Jamestown, N. Y., joined the Mormons in 1833, and was expelled for immoral conduct, whereupon he swore vengeance and concocted the Spaulding story. Hearing of a work written by Solomon Spaulding entitled The Manuscript Found, he sought to prove to those about him that the book of Mormon was derived from it, ' not that any of these persons had the most distant idea that this novel had ever been converted into the book of Mormon, or that there was any connection between them. Indeed, Mr Jackson, who had read both the book of Mormon and Spaulding's manuscript, told Mr H. when he came to get his signature to a writing testi- fying to the probability that Mr S.'s manuscript had been converted into the book of Mormon, that there was no agreement between them; for, said he, Mr S.'s manuscript was a very small work, in the form of a novel, saying not one word about the children of Israel, but professed to give an account of a race of people who originated from the Romans, which Mr S. said he had translated from a Latin parchment that he had found. ' Winchester states fur- ther that Hurlburt, or Hulbert, wrote 3Iormonism Unveiled and sold it to Howe for $500.

The Myth of the Manuscript Found; or the absurdities of the Spaulding story; By Elder George Reynolds, was published at Salt Lake City in 1883. It is a 12mo vol. of 104 pages, and gives first the history of the Spaulding man- uscript, and names Hurlburt as the originator of the story. Chap. iii. is en- titled ' the bogus affidavit,' referring to the alleged sworn statement of Mrs ​

PRINTING THE BOOK. 63

The translation of the book of Mormon being fin- ished, Smith and Cowdery go to Pahnyra, secure the cop3^right, and agree with Egbert B. Grandin to print five thousand copies for three thousand dollars. Meanwhile, a revelation comes to Martin Harris, at Manchester, in March, commanding him to pay for the printing of the book of Mormon, under penalty of destruction of himself and property.^ The title-

Davison, the widow of Spaulding, published by Storrs, but denied by Mrs Davison. Rigdon's connection, or rather lack of connection with the manu- script is next discussed. Then is answered an article in Scribner^s Magazine by Mrs Dickenson, grand niece of Mr Spaulding, and probably the most shal- low treatment of the subject yet presented on either side. Further discus- sions on the book are followed by an analysis of the life of Joseph, and finally internal evidences and prophecies are considered. 'It is evident,' Mr Rey- nolds concludes, ' that if Mr Spaulding's story was what its friends claim, then it never could have formed the ground-work of the book of Mormon; for the whole historical narrative is different from beginning to end. And further, the story that certain old inhabitants of New Salem, who, it is said, recognized the book of Mormon, either never made such a statement, or they let their imagination run away with their memory into the endorsement of a falsehood and an impossibility.'

^"Speaking of Martin Harris, E. D. Howe says: 'Before his acquaintance with the Smith family he was considered an honest, industrious citizen by his neighbors. His residence was in the town of Palmyra, where he had accumulated a handsome property. He was naturally of a very visionary turn of mind on the subject of religion, holding one sentiment but a short time.' Mortgaged his farm for $3,000, and printed the Book of Mormon, as he said, to make money. The price first was $1.75, then $1.25, afterward whatever they could get. ' Since that time the frequent demands on Mar- tin's purse have reduced it to a very low state. He seems to have been the soul and body of the whole imposition, and now carries the most incon- testable proofs of a religious maniac . . . Martin is an exceedingly fast talker. He frequently gathers a crowd around in bar-rooms and in the streets. Here he appears to be in his element, answering and explaining all manner of dark and abstruse theological questions ... He is the source of much trouble aud perplexity to the honest portion of his brethren, and would un- doubtedly long since have been cast off by Smith were it not for his money, and the fact that he is one of the main pillars of the Mormon fabric. ' Mormoiiism Unveiled, 13-15. 'The wife of Martin Harris instituted a lawsuit against him [Joseph Smith, Jr], and stated in her affidavit that she believed the chief object he had in view was to defraud her husband of all his property. The trial took place at New York, and the facts, as related even by the mother of the prophet, are strongly condemnatory of his conduct . . . Harris denied in solemn terms that Smith had ever, in any manner, attempted to get pos- session of his money, and ended by assuring the gentlemen of the court that, if they did not believe in the existence of the plates, and continued to I'esist the truth, it would one day be the means of damning their souls.' Tayldcr's Mormons, xxxi.-ii. 'In the beginning of the printing the Mormons pro- fessed to hold their manuscripts as sacred, and insisted upon maintaining con- stant vigilance for their safety during the progress of the work, each morn- ing carrying to the printing-office the instalment required for the day, and withdrawing the same at evening. No alteration from copy in any manner was to be noade. These things were "strictly commanded," as they said. Mr ​

64 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

page is not a modern production, but a literal trans- lation from the last leaf of the plates, on the left-hand side, and running like all Hebrew writing.

And now in a chamber of Whitmer's house Smith, Cowdery, and David Whitmer meet, and earnestly ask God to make good his promise, and confer on them the Melchisedec priesthood, which authorizes the lay- ing-on of hands for the gift of the holy ghost. Their prayer is answered; for presently the word of the Lord comes to them, commanding that Joseph Smith should ordain Oliver Cowdery to be an elder in the church of Jesus Christ, and Oliver in like manner should so ordain Joseph, and the two should ordain others as from time to time the will of the Lord should be made known to them.^^ But this ordination must not take place until the baptized brethren assemble and give to this act their sanction, and accept the ordained as spiritual teachers, and then only after the blessing and partaking of bread and wine. It is next revealed that twelve shall be called to be the disciples of Christ, the twelve apostles of these last days, who shall go into all the world preaching and baptizing.

John H. Gilbert, as printer, had the chief operative trust of the type-setting and press-work of the job. After the first day's trial he found the manu- scripts in so very imperfect a condition, especially in regard to gramnrar, that he became unwilling further to obey the "command," and so announced to Smith and his party; when finally, upon much fi-ieudly expostulation, he was given a limited discretion in correcting, which was exercised in the par- ticulars of syntax, orthography, punctuation, capitalizing, paragraphing, etc. Many errors under these heads, nevertheless, escaped correction, as appear in the first edition of the printed book. Very soon, too — after some ten days — the constant vigilance by the Mormons over the manuscripts was re- laxed by reason of the confidence they came to repose in the printers. Mr Gilbert has now (1867) in liis possession a complete copy of the book in the original sheets, as laid off by him from the press in working. . .Meanwhile, Harris and his wife had separated by mutual arrangement, on account of her persistent unbelief in Mormonism and refusal to be a party to the mort- gage. The family estate was divided, Harris giving her about eighty acres of the farm, with a comfortable house and other property, as her share of the assets; and she occupied this property until the time of her death.' Tucker's Ori(]in and Prog. Mor., 50-7.

^' Speaking of the manner in which Smith delivered these revelations, Howe says: 'In this operation he abandoned his spectacles, or peep-stone, and merely delivered it with his eyes shut. In this manner he governs his follow- ers, by asking the Lord, as he says, from day to day.* Mormonism Unveiled, 102. ​

CHURCH ORGANIZED. 65

By the spirit of prophecy and revelation it is done. The rise of the church of Jesus Christ in these last days is on the Gth of April, 1830, at which date the church was organized under the provisions of the statutes of the state of New York by Joseph Smith junior, Hyrura Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whit- mer, Samuel H. Smith, and Peter Whitmer. Joseph Smith, ordained an apostle of Jesus Christ, is made by the commandment of God the first elder of this church, and Oliver Cowdery, likewise an apostle, is made the second elder. Again the first elder falls into worldly entanglements, but upon repentance and self-humbling he is delivered by an angel.

The duties of elders, priests, teachers, deacons, and members are as follow : All who desire it, with hon- esty and humility, may be baptized into the church; old covenants are at an end, all must be baptized anew. An apostle is an elder; he shall baptize, ordain other elders, priests, teachers, and deacons, administer bread and wine, emblems of the flesh and blood of Christ; he shall confirm, teach, expound, exhort, taking the lead at meetings, and conducting them as he is taught by the holy ghost. The priest's duty is to preach, teach, expound, exhort, baptize, administer the sacrament, and visit and pray w^th members; he may also ordain other priests, teachers, and deacons, giving a certifi- cate of ordination, and lead in meetings when no elder is present. The teacher's duty is to watch over and strengthen the members, preventing evil speak- ing and all iniquity, to see that the meetings are regu- larly held, and to take the lead in them in the absence of elder or priest. The deacon's duty is to assist the teacher; teacher and deacon may warn, expound, ex- liort, but neither of them shall baptize, administer the sacrament, or lay on hands. The elders are to meet in council for the transaction of church business every three months, or oftener should meetings be called. Subordinate officers will receive from the elders a license defining their authority; elders will

Hist. Utah. 5 ​

66 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

receive their license from other elders by vote of church or conference. There shall be presidents, bishops, high counsellors, and high priests; the pre- siding elder shall be president of the high priesthood, and he, as well as bishops, high counsellors, and high priests, will be ordained by high council or general conference. The duty of members is to walk in holi- ness before the Lord according to the scriptures, to bring their children to the elders, who will lay their hands on them and bless them in the name of Jesus Christ. The bible, that is to say, the scriptures of the old and new testaments, is accepted wholly, save such corruptions as have crept in through the great and abominable church; the book of Mormon is a later revelation, supplementary thereto. Thus is or- ganized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,^^ in accordance with special revelations and commandments, and after the manner set forth in the new testament.

The first public discourse, following the meetings held in Whitmer's house, was preached on Sunday, the 11th of April, 1830, by Oliver Cowdery, who the

- The church was not at that time so called, nor indeed until after the 4th of May, 1834. See chap, iv., note 50; also Millennial Sta7; iv. 115; Bur- ton's City of the Saints, 671-2. Kidder, Mormonism, 68, affirms that this name was not adopted till some years later. Mather is only a year and a day astray when he says, 'The conference of elders on May 3, 1833, repudiated the name of "Mormons" and adopted that of "Latter-Day Saints."' Lipjmi- cott's Mag. , Aug. 1880. The term ' Mormons, ' as first applied by their enemies to members of the church of Latter-Day Saints, was quite offensive to them, thougli later they became somewhat more reconciled to it. As at present popu- larly employed, it is by no means a term of reproach, though among themselves tliey still adhere to the appellation 'Saints,' just as quakers speak of them- selves as the 'Society of Friends.' The term 'Mormon' seems to me quite fit- ting for general use, fully as much so as presbyterian, reformed Dutch, uni- versalist, and others, few of which were of their own choosing. 'Mormon was the name of a certain man, and also of a particular locality upon the Ameri- can continent; but was never intended to signify a body of people. The name by wliich we desire to be known and to walk worthy of is "Saints."' BeWs lie-ply to Theobald, 2. At the time of the riots in Missouri, in addressing com- munications to the governor, and in many other instances, they designate themselves as 'members of the church of Christ, vulgarly called Mormons. ' See also De Smet's Westet-n Missions, 393; Mackay's The Mormons, 41-2. The term 'gentile' was generally applied to unbelievers of the white race. The Indians, originally, were denominated 'of the house of Israel,' 'of the house of Joseph,' or 'of the house of Jacob,' also the Lamanites. ​

THE FIRST MIRACLE. 67

same day baptized in Seneca Lake several persons, among whom were Hyrum and Katherine Page, some of the Whitmers, and the Jolly family. The first miracle likewise occurred during the same month, Joseph Smith casting out a devil from Newel Knight, son of Joseph Knight, who with his family had been universalists. Newel had been a constant attendant at the meetings, and was much interested; but when he attempted to pray the devil prevented him, writhing his limbs into divers distortions, and hurling him about the room. **I know that you can deliver me from this evil spirit," cried Newel. Whereupon Joseph rebuked the devil in the name of Jesus Christ, and the evil spirit departed from the young man. Seeing this, others came forward and expressed their belief in the new faith, and a church was established at Coles- ville.

On the 1st of June the first conference as an or- ganized church was held, there being thirty members. The meeting was opened by singing and prayer, after which they partook of the sacrament, which was fol- lowed by confirmations and further ordinations to the several offices of the priesthood. The exercises were attended by the outpouring of the holy ghost, and many prophesied, to the infinite joy and gratification of the elders. Some time after, on a Saturday previous to an appointed sabbath on which baptism was to be performed, the brethren constructed, across a stream of water, a dam, which was torn away by a mob during the night. The meeting was held, however, though amid the sneers and insults of the rabble, Oliver preach- ing. Present among others was Emily Coburn, Newel Knight's wife's sister, formerly a presbyterian. Her pastor, the Pev. Mr Shearer, arrived, and tried to persuade her to return to her father. Failing in this, he obtained from her father a power of attorney, and bore her off by force; but Emily returned. The dam was repaired, and baptism administered to some thir- teen persons the following morning; whereupon fifty ​

68 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

men surrounded Mr Knight's house, threatening vio- lence. The same night Joseph was arrested by a constable on a charge of disorderly conduct, and for preaching the book of Mormon. It was the purpose of the populace to capture Joseph from the constable and use him roughly, ]3ut by hard driving he escaped. At the trial which followed, an attempt was made to prove certain charges, namely, that he obtained a horse from Josiali Steal, and a yoke of oxen from Jonathan Thompson, by saying that in a revelation he was told that he was to have them; also as touching his conduct toward two daughters of Mr Steal; but all testified in his favor, and he was acquitted. As he was leaving the court-room, he was again arrested on a warrant from Broome county, and taken midst insults and bufFetings to Colesville for trial. The old charges were renewed, and new ones preferred. Newel Knight was made to testify regarding the miracle wrought in his behalf, and a story that the prisoner had been a money digger was advanced by the prosecu- tion. Again he was acquitted, and again escaped from the crowd outside the court-house, whose purpose it was to tar and feather him, and ride him on a rail. These persecutions were instigated, it was said, chiefly by presbyterians.

While Joseph rested at h'm home at IJarmony fur- ther stories were circulated, damaging to his character, this time by the methodists. One went to his father- in-law with falsehoods, and so turned him and his family against Joseph and his friends that he would no longer afford them protection or receive their doc- trine. This was a heavy blow; but proceeding in August to Colesville, Joseph and Hyrum Smith and John and David Whitmer continued the work of prayer and confirmation. Fearing their old enemies, who lay in wait to attack them on their way back, they prayed that their eyes might be blinded; and so it came to pass. Then they held service and returned safely, although five dollars reward had been offered ​

T'IRST MISSION ORDERED. 09

for notification of their arrival. Removing bis fanjily to Fayette, Joseph encountered further persecutions, to which was added a fresh grief. Hiram Page was going astray over a stone which he had found, and by means of which he had obtained revelations at va- riance with Joseph's revelations and the rules of the new testament. It w^as thought best not to agitate the subject unnecessarily, before the meeting of the conference to be held on the 1st of September; but the Whitmer family and Oliver Cowdery seeming to be too greatly impressed over the things set forth by the rival stone, it was resolved to inquire of the Lord concerning the matter; whereupon a revelation came to Oliver Cowdery, forbidding such practice; and he was to say privately to Hiram Page that Satan had deceived him, and that the things which he had written from the stone were not of God. Oliver was further commanded to go and preach the gospel to the Lamanites,^"^ the remnants of the house of Joseph living in the west,^* where he was to estab-

23 'Tlie Lamanites originally were a remnant of Joseph, and in the first 3'ear of the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah, were led in a miraculous man- ner from Jerusalem to the eastern borders of the Red >Sea, thence for smiie time along its borders in a nearly south-east direction, after which they altered their course nearly eastward, until they came to the great waters, where by the command of God they Jjuilt a vessel in which they were safely brought across the great Pacific Ocean, and landed upon the western coast of South America. The original party included also the Nephites, their leader being a prophet called'i'^ephi; but soon after landing they separated, because the Lamanites, whose leader was a wicked man called Laman, persecuted the others. After the partition the Nephites, who had brought with them the old testament down to the time of Jeremiah, engraved on plates of )>rass, in the Egyptain language, prospered and built large cities. But the bold, bad Lamanites, originally white, became dark and dirty, though still retaining a national existence. They became wild, savage, and ferocious, seeking by every means the destruction of the prosperous Nephites, against whom they many times arrayed their hosts in battle; but were repulsed and driven back to their own territories, generally with great loss to both sides. The slain, frequently amounting to tens of thousands, were piled together in great heaps and overspread with a thin covering of earth, which will satisfactorily account for those ancient mounds filled with human bones, so numerous at the pres- ent day, both in North and South America.' Pratt (Orson), Series of Pamph- lets, vi. 7-8; Pratt (P. P.), Voice of Warn'tnq, 81-117.

"'The attention of the little band was directed, from the very commence- ment of their organization, to the policy and expediency of fixing their head- quarters in the far west, in the thinly settled and but partially explored territories belonging to the United States, where they might squat upon or purchase good lands at a cheap rate, and clear the primeval wilderness. ​

70 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

lish a church and build a city/^ at a point to be desig- nated later.

"Behold, I say unto thee, Oliver, that it shall be given unto thee that thou shalt be heard by the church in all things whatsoever thou shalt teach them by the comforter concerning the revelations and com- mandments which I have given. But behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church, excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jr, for he re- ceiveth them even as Moses; and thou shalt be obe- dient unto the things which I shall give unto him, even as Aaron, to declare faithfully the command- ments and the revelations with power and authority unto the church. And if thou art led at any time by the comforter to speak or teach, or at all times by the way of commandment unto the church, thou mayest do it. But thou shalt not write by way of command- ment, but by wisdom; and thou shalt not command him who is at thy head and at the head of the church; for I have given him the keys of the mysteries and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead."

They required elbow-room, and rightly judged that a rural population would be more favorable than an urban one to the reception of their doctrine. ' Mack- ay's The Mor., G3.

^* The most ancient pi'ophecy which the saints are now in possession of relating to the New Jerusalem was one delivered by Enoch, the seventh from Adam. This was revealed anew to Joseph Smith in December 18.30. In it the Lord i.s represented as purposing 'to gather out mine own elect from the four quarters of the earth unto a place which I sliall prepare. . .But this revelation does not tell in what part of the earth the New Jerusalem sliould be located. The book of Mormon, which the Lord has brought out of the earth, informs us that this holy city is to be built upon the continent of America, but it does not inform us upon what part of that vas't country it should be built.' Pratt's Series of Pamphlets, vii. 4; Pratt's Interesting Ac- count, 16-25j First Book of Nephi in Book of Mormon. ​

CHAPTER TV.

THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

1830-1835.

Parley Pratt's Conversion — Mission to the Lamanites— The Mission- aries AT KiRTLAND — CONVERSION OF SiDNEV RiGDON — MORMON SpO- CESS at KiRTLAND — ThE MISSIONARIES IN MISSOURI — RiGDON ViSITS

Smith— Edward Partridge— The Melchisedeg Priesthood Given- Smith AND RiGDON Journey to Missouri — Bible Translation — Smith's Second Visit to Missouri— Unexampled Prosperity- Causes OF Persecutions — Mobocracy— The Saints are Driven from Jackson County — Treachery of Boggs — Military Organization at Kirtland — The Name Latter-day Saints — March to Missouri.

One evening as Hyrum Smith was driving cows along the road toward his father's house, he was overtaken by a stranger, who inquired for Joseph Smith, translator of the book of Mormon. "He is now residing in Pennsylvania, a hundred miles away," was the reply.

"And the father of Joseph?"

"He also is absent on a journey. That is his house yonder, and I am his son."

The stranger then said that he was a preacher of the word; that he had just seen for the first time a copy of the wonderful book; that once it was in his hands he could not lay it down until he had devoured it, for the spirit of the Lord was upon him as he read, and he knew that it was true; the spirit of the Lord had directed him thither, and his heart was full of joy.

Hyrum gazed at him in amazement; for converts of this quality, and after this fashion, were not com- mon in those days of poverty and sore trial. He was little more than a boy, being but twenty-three^. ​

72 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

and of that fresh, fair- innocence which sits only on a youthful face beaming with high enthusiasm. But it was more than a boy's soul that was seen through those eyes of deep and solemn earnestness; it was more than a boy's strength of endurance that was in- dicated by the broad chest and comely, compact limbs; and more than a boy's intelligence and powers of reasoning that the massive brow betokened.

Hyrum took the stranger to the house, and they passed the night in discourse, sleeping little. The convert's name was Parley P. Pratt. He was a na- tive of Burlington, New York, and born April 12, 1807. His father was a farmer of limited means and education, and though not a member of any religious society, had a respect for all. The boy had a passion for books; the bible especially he read over and over again with deep interest and enthusiasm. He early manifested strong religious feeling; mind and soul seemed all on fire as he read of the patriarchs and kings of the old testament, and of Christ and his apostles of the new. In winter at school, and in summer at work, his life passed until he was sixteen, when he went west with his father William, some two hundred miles on foot, to Oswego, two miles from which town they bargained for a thickly wooded tract of seventy acres, at four dollars an acre, paying some seventy dollars in cash. After a summer's work for wages back near the old home, and a winter's work clearing the forest farm, the place was lost through failure to meet the remaining payments. Another attempt to make a forest home, this time in Ohio, thirty miles west of Cleveland, was more suc- cessful; and after much toil and many hardships, he found himself, in 1827, comfortably established there, with Thankful Halsey as his wife.

Meanwhile relio^ion ran riot throuixh his brain. His mmd, however, was of a reasoning, logical caste. "Why this difference," he argued, "between the an- cient and modern Christians, their doctrines and their ​

PARLEY PRATT. 73

practice? Had I lived and believed in the days of the apostles, and had so desired, they would have said, 'Kepent, be baptized, and receive the holy ghost.' The scriptures are the same now as then; why should not results be the same?" In the absence of anything better, he joined the baptists, and was immersed; but he was not satisfied. In 1829 Sidney Rigdon, of whom more hereafter, preached in his neighborhood; he heard him and was refreshed. It was the ancient gospel revived — repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost. And yet there was something lacking — • the authority to minister; the power which should accompany the form of apostleship. At length he and others, who had heard Rigdon, organized a societ}^ on the basis of his teachings, and Parley began to preach. The spirit working in him finally compelled him to abandon his farm and go forth to meet his destiny, he knew not whither. In this frame of mind he wan- dered eastward, and w^hile his family were visiting friends, he came upon the book of Mormon and H}^- rum Smith. Now did his soul find rest. Here was inspiration and revelation as of old; here was a new dispensation with attendant signs and miracles.

As he left Smith's house the following morning, having an appointment to preach some thirty miles distant, Hyrum gave him a copy of the sacred book. Travelling on foot, and stopping now and then to rest, he read at intervals, and found to his great joy that soon after his ascension Christ had appeared in his glorified body to the remnant of the tribe of Joseph in America, that he had administered in person to the ten lost tribes, that the gospel had been revealed and written among nations unknown to the apostles, and that thus preserved it had escaped the corruptions of the great and abominable church.

Returning to Smith's house. Parley demanded of Hyrum baptism. They went to Whitmer's, where they were warmly welcomed b}^ a little branch of the church there assembled. The new convert was bap​

74 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

tized by Cowdery, and was ordained an elder. He continued to preach in those parts with great power. Congregations were moved to tears, and many heads of families came forward and accepted the faith. Then he went to his old home. His father, mother, and some of the neighbors believed only in part ; but liis brother Orson, nineteen years of age, embraced with eagerness the new religion, and preached it from that time forth. Keturning to Manchester, Parley for the first time met Joseph Smith, who received him warmly, and asked him to preach on Sunday, which he did, Joseph following with a discourse.

Revelations continued, now in the way of command, and now in the spirit of prophecy. In Harmony, to the first elder it was spoken: "Magnify thine office; and after thou hast sowed thy fields and secured them, go speedily unto the churches which are in Colesville, Fayette, and Manchester, and they shall support thee; and I will bless them, both spiritually and temporally; but if they receive thee not, I will send on them a cursing instead of a blessing, and thou shalt shake the dust off thy feet against them as a testimony, and wipe thy feet by the wayside." And to Cowdery, thus: "Oliver shall continue in bearing my name before the world, and also to the church; and he shall take neither purse nor scrip, neither staves nor even two coats." To Emma, wife of Jo- seph: "Thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called; and thou shalt com- fort thy husband, my servant Joseph, and shalt go with him, and be unto him as a scribe in the absence of my servant Oliver, and he shall support thee." Emma was also further directed to make a selection of hymns to be used in church.^

^ The hymn-book of Emma Smith does not appear to have been published, but a little book containing hymns selected by Brigham Young passed through eight editions up to lS4t), the eighth being published in Liverpool in that year. Hmucker's Hist. ofMor., 57-61; Milknitial Star, iv. loO-l. The preface to the first edition was signed by Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, and John ​

SIDNEY RIG DON. 75

In the presence of six elders, at Fayette, in Septem- ber 1830, came the voice of Jesus Christ, promising them every blessing, while the wicked should be de- stroyed. The millennium should come; but first dire destruction should fall upon the earth, and the great and abominable church should be cast down. Hiram Page renounced his stone. David Whitmer was or- dered to his father's house, there to await further in- structions. Peter Whitmer junior. Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson were directed to go with Oliver and assist him in preaching the gospel to the Laman- ites, that is to say, to the Indians in the west, the remnant of the tribe of Joseph. Thomas B. Marsh was promised that he should begin to preach. Miracles were limited to casting out devils and healing the sick. Wine for sacramental purposes must not be bought, but made at home.^

Taking with them a copy of the revelation assign- ing to them this work, these first appointed mission- aries set out, and continued their journey, preaching in the villages through which they passed, and stop- ping at Buflalo to instruct the Indians as to their an- cestry, until they came to Kirtland, Ohio. There they remained some time, as many came forward and embraced their faith, among others Sidney Pigdon, a preaching elder in the reformed baptist church, who presided over a congregation there, a large portion of whom likewise became interested in the latter-day church.^

Taylor. The preface to the ninth edition, published at Liverpool and Lon- don in 18.31, is by Franklin D. Richards, who states that .'34,000 copies of the several editions have been sold in the European missions alone within cloven years. Several editions have since been published in Europe and America.

■■^ Smith says: 'In order to prepare for this (coniirmation) I set out to go to procure some wine for the occasion, but had gone only a short distance when I was met by a heavenly messenger, and received the revelation.' Jilil- lennial Star, iv. 151; 7'hnes and Seasons, iv. 117-18.

^At the town of Kirtland, two miles from Rigdon's residence, was a num- ber of the members of his cliurch who lived together, and had all things in common, from which circumstance, Smith says, the idea arose tliat tliis Avas the case with the Mormon believers. To these people the missionaries re- paired and preached with some success, gathering in seventeen on the first occasion. Rigdon after spending some time iu the study of the book of Mor​

76 TIJE STORY OF MORMONISM.

Kigdon was a native of Pennsylvania, and was now thirty-seven years of age. He worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-six, when he went to live with the Rev. Andrew Clark, and the same year, 1819, was licensed to preach. Thence he went to Warren, Ohio, and married; and after preaching for a time he vv'as called to take charge of a church at Pittsburgh, where he met w^ith success, and soon became very popular. But his mind was perplexed over the doc- trines he was required to promulgate, and in 1824 he retired from, his ministry. There were two friends who had likewise withdrawn from their respective churches, and with whom he conferred freely, Alex- ander Campbell, of his own congregation, and one Walter Scott, of the Scandinavian church of that city. Campbell had formerly lived at Bethany, Virginia, where was issued under his auspices a monthly jour- nal called the Christian Baptist. Out of this friend- ship and association arose a new church, called the Campbellites, its doctrines having been published by Campbell in his paper. During the next two years Kigdon was obliged to work in a tannery to support his family; then he removed to Bainbridge, Ohio, where he again began to preach, confining him- self to no creed, but leaning toward that of the Camp- bellites. Crowds flocked to hear him, and a church was established in a neighboring town through his in- strumentality. After a year of this work he accepted a call to Mentor, thirty miles distant. Slanderous reports followed him, and a storm of persecution set in against him; but by his surpassing eloquence and deep reasoning it was not only soon alla3^ed, but greater multitudes than ever waited on his ministra- tions.

mon concluded to accept its doctrines, and together with his wife was bap- tized into the church, which now numbered about twenty in tliis section. Millennial Star, iv. 181-4; v. 4-7, 17; Tiine^ and Season-^, iv. 177, 193-4. Rigdon had for nearly three years already taught the literal interpretation oi scripture prophecies, the gathering of the Israelites to receive the second com- ing, the literal reign of the saints on earth, and the use of miraculous gifts in the church. Gannisoii' a Mormons, 101. ​

FORCE OF EXAMPLE. 77

Rigdon was a cogent speaker of imposing mien and impassioned address. As a man, however, his charac- ter seems to have had a tinge of insincerity. He was fickle, now and then petulant, irascible, and sometimes domineering. Later, Joseph Smith took occasion more than once to rebuke him sharply, fearing that he might assume the supremacy.

Upon hearing the arguments of Pratt and Cow- dery, and investigating the book of Mormon, Rigdon was convinced that he had not been legally ordained, and that his present ministry was without the divine authority. In regard to the revival of the old dis- pensation, he argued thus: "If we have not familiar- ity enough with our creator to ask of him a sign, we are no Christians; if God will not give his creatures one, he is no better than Juggernaut." The result was, that he and others accepted the book and its teach- ings,* received baptism and the gift of the holy ghost, and were ordained to preach.

On one occasion Cowdery preached, followed by Rigdon. After service they went to the Chagrin River to baptize. Rigdon stood in the stream and poured forth his exhortations with eloquent fervor. One after another stepped forward until thirty had been baptized. Present upon the bank was a hard- headed lawyer, Varnem J. Card, who as he listened grew pale with emotion. Suddenly he seized the arm of a friend and whispered, "Quick, take me away, or in a moment more I shall be in that water!" One hundred and twenty-seven converts at once, the num-

• Howe intimates that Rigdon knew more of the book and the people than

he pretended. Of the proselytes made in his church he says: ' Near the res- idence of Rigdon, in Kirtlaud, thei-e had been for some time previous a few families belonging to his congregation, who had formed themselves into a common stock society, and had become considerably fanatical, and were daily looking for some wonderful event to take place in the world. Their minds had become fully prepared to embrace Mormonism, or any other mysterious ism that should first present itself. Seventeen in number of these persons readily believed the whole story of Cowdery about the finding of tlie golden plates and the spectacles. They were all reimmersed in one night by Cowdery. ' Mormonism Unveiled, 103. ​

78 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

ber afterward increasing to a thousand, were here gathered into the fold.^

After adding to their number one Frederic G. Will- iams, the missionaries continued on their way, arriving fiist at Sandusky, where they gave instructions to the Indians in regard to their forefathers, as they had done at Buffalo, and thence proceeded to Cincinnati and St Louis. In passing by his old forest home, Pratt was arrested on some trivial charge, but made his escape. The winter was very severe, and it was some time before they could continue their journey. At length they set out again, wading in snow knee- deep, carrying their few eflPects on their backs, and having to eat corn bread and frozen raw pork; and after travelling in all fifteen hundred miles, most of the way on foot, preaching to tens of thousands by the way, and organizing hundreds into churches, they reached Independence, Missouri, in the early part of 1831. There Whitmer and Peterson went to work as tailors, while Pratt and Cowdery passed over the

^ Speaking of the doings at Kirtland after the departure of the Lamanite mission, Mr Howe says: 'Scenes of the most wild, frantic, and horrible fanat- icism ensued. They pretended that the power of miracles was about to be given to all those who embraced the new faith, and commenced communicat- ing the holy spirit by laying their hands upon the heads of the converts, which operation at first produced an instantaneous prostration of body and mind. Many would fall upon the floor, where they would lie for a long time apparently lifeless. They thus continued these enthusiastic exhibitions for several weeks. The fits usually came on during or after their prayer meetings, which were held nearly every evening. The young men and wo- men were more particularly subject to this delirium. They would exhibit all the apish actions imaginable, making the most ridiculous grimaces, creeping ■upon their hands and feet, rolling upon the frozen ground, go through with all the Indian modes of warfare, such as knocking down, scalping, ripping open and tearing out the bowels. At other times they would run through the fields, get upon stumps, preach to imaginary congregations, enter the water and perform all the ceremony of baptizing, etc. Many would have fits of speaking all the different Indian dialects, which none could understand. Again, at the dead hour of night the young men might be seen running over the fields and hills in pursuit, as they said, of the balls of fire, light, etc., which they saw moving through the atmosphere. . .On the arrival of Smith in Kirtland he appeared astonished at the wild enthusiasm and scalping per- formances of his proselytes there. He told them that he had inquired of the Lord concerning the matter, and had been informed that it was all the work of the devil, as heretofore related. The disturbance therefore ceased.' Mor^ monism Unveiled, 104, 116. ​

A PERIOD OF PROSPERITY. 79

border, crossed the Kansas River, and began their work among the Lamanites, or Indians, thereabout. The chief of the Delawares was sachem of ten tribes. He received the missionaries with courtesy, and set food before them. When they asked him to call a council before which they might expound their doctrines, he at first declined, then assented ; where- upon Cowdery gave them an account of their ances- tors, as contained in the wonderful book, a copy of which he left with the chief on taking his depart- ure, which soon occurred; for when it was known upon the border settlements what the missionaries were doing, they were ordered out of the Indian coun- try as disturbers of the peace.^ After preaching a short time in Missouri, the five brethren thought it best that one of their number should return east and report. The choice fell on Pratt. Starting out on foot, he reached St Louis, three hundred miles dis- tant, in nine days. Thence he proceeded by steamer to Cincinnati, and from that point journeyed on foot to Strongville, forty miles from Kirtland. Overcome by fatigue and illness, he was forced to remain at this place some ten days, when he continued his journey on horseback. He was w^elcomed at Kirtland by hundreds of the saints, Joseph Smith himself being present.

In December 1830 comes Sidney Rigdon to Jo- seph Smith at Manchester, and with him Edward Partridge, to inquire of the Lord ; and they are told what they shall do; they shall preach thereabout, and also on the Ohio.^

^ ' One of their leading articles of faith is, that the Indians of North Amer- ica, in a very few years, will be converted to Mormonism, and through rivers of blood will again take possession of their ancient inheritance.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 145.

' ' We before had Moses and Aaron in the persons of Smith and Cowdery, and we now have John the Baptist, in the person of Sidney Rigdon. Their plans of deception appear to have been more fully matured and developed after the meeting of iSmith and Rigdon. The latter being found very inti- mate with the scriptures, a close reasoner, and as fully competent to make ​

80 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

The 3^ear 1831 opens with flattering prospects. On the 2d of January a conference is held at Fayette, attended by revelations and prophecy. James Col- ville, a baptist minister, accepts the faith, but shortly recants, being tempted of Satan, and in fear of per- secution.^ Smith and his wife go with Rigdon and

white appear black and black white as any other man; and at all times pre- pared to establish, to tlie satisfaction of great numbers of people, the negative or affirmative of any and every question from scripture, he was forthwith appointed to promulgate all the absurdities and ridiculous pretensions of Mormonism, and call on the holy prophets to prove all the words of Smith. But the miraculous powers conferred upon him we do not learn have yet been put in requisition. It seems that the spii'it had not, before the arrival of Rigdon, told Smith anything about the promised land, or his removal to Ohio. It is therefore very questionable what manner of spirit it was which dic- tated most of tlie after movements of the prophet. The spirit of Rigdon, it must be presumed, however, generally held sway; for a revelation was soon had that ivirtlaud, the residence of Rigdon and his brethren, was to be the eastern border of the promised land, and from thence to the Pacific Ocean. On this land the New Jerusalem, the city of refuge, was to be built. Upon it all true Mormons were to assemble, to escape the destruction of the world which was so soon to take place.' Iloive'n Mormonism Unveiled, 109-10. Tucker, Origin and Prog. Mor., 7G-8, thus speaks of the first appearance of this first regular jNIormon preacher before a Palmyra congregation: 'Rigdon introduced himself as the messenger of God, declaring that he was commanded from above to proclaim the Mormon revelation. After going through with a ceremonious form of prayer, in which he expressed his grateful sense of the blessings of the glorious gospel dispensation now opening to the world, and the miraculous light from heaven to be displayed through the instrumentality of the chosen revelator, Joseph Smith Jr, . . .he announced his text as fol- lows: First book of Nephi, chapter iv. — "And the angel spake unto mc, .say- ing. These last records which thou hast seen among the gentiles shall estab- lish the truth of the first, which is of the twelve apostles of the lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and j^eoplo that the lamb of God is the son of the eternal father and saviour of the world; and that all men must come unto him or they cannot be saved. " The preacher assumed to establish the theory that the book of Mormon and the old bible were one in inspiration and importance, and that the precious things now re- vealed had for wise purposes been withheld from the book first promulgated to the world, and were necessary to establish its truth. In the course of his argument he applied various quotations from the two books to prove his posi- tion. Holding the book of Mormon in his right hand, and the bible in his left hand, ]ie brought them together in a manner corresponding to tlic em- phatic declaration made by him, that they were both equally the word of God; that neither was perfect without the other; and that they were inseparably necessary to complete the everlasting gospel of the saviour Jesus Clirist. ' It is said that Rigdon, after his return to Kirtland from liis visit to Smith, in one of his eloquent discourses on the new faith, 'gave a challenge to the world to disprove the new bible, and the pretensions of its authors.' Rigdon 's old friend, Thomas Campbell, hearing of it, wrote him from Mentor accept- ing, at the same time enclosing an outline of what his line of argument would be. There tlie matter dropjjed.

^See MilleMnial Star, v. 33-5; Times and Seasons, iv. 352-4. Mather, in LippincoWs Mag., Aug. 1880, states that to escape persecution sixty believ​

FIRST MIGRATIOX. 81

Partridge to Kirtland, arriving there early in Feb- ruary, and taking up their residence witii N. K. Whit- ney, who shows them great kindness. Among the hundred behevers there at the time, certain false doc- trines have crept in; these are quickly overcome, and a plan for community of goods which the family of saints had adopted is abolished. Commandment comes by revelation that a house shall be built for Joseph ; that Sidney shall live as seems to him good, for his heart is pure; that Edward Partridge shall be ordained a bishop;^ that all but Joseph and Sidney shall go forth, two by two, into the regions westward and preach the gospel.^"

"And now, behold, I speak unto the church: thou shalt not kill ; thou shalt not steal ; thou shalt not lie ; thou shalt love thy wife, cleaving unto her and to none else; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not speak evil of thy neighbor, nor do him any harm. Thou knowest my laws, given in my scriptures; he that sinneth and repenteth not shall be cast out. And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support, laying the same before the bishop of my church, the residue not to be taken back, but to be used by the church in buying lands and building houses of worship, for I will conse- crate of the riches of those who embrace my gospel among the gentiles unto the poor of my people who are of the house of Israel. Let him that o^oeth to

ers abandoned their homes in the Susquehanna valley and moved westward. 'Some of the followers,' he says, 'were moved by a spirit of adventure, while others placed their property in the common lot and determined to accompany the prophet to his earthly as well as to his heavenly kingdom. Smith Baker was one of the teamsters, and reports that the train consisted of three bag- gage and eleven passenger wagons. The exodus was along the old state road, north of Binghamton, to Ithaca, and thence across Cayuga Lake to Palmyra.'

"Smith had appointed as his bishop one Edward Partridge, a very hon- est and industrious hatter of Painesville, Ohio, who had withal a comfortable stock of the good things of the world. He was stationed at Independence, and had the sole control of all the temporal and spiritual afiFairs of the colony, always obedient, however, to the revelations promulgated by Smith.'

'" ' Some of the members pretended to receive parchment commissions miraculously, which vanished from their sight as soon as they had been cop- ied.' For a copy of one of these, with seal attached, see Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 107; Kidder's Mormonism, 73. HiBT. Utah. 6 ​

82 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

the east tell them that shall be converted to flee to the west. And again, thou shalt not be proud; let thy garments be plain, the work of thine own hand, and cleanly. Thou shalt not be idle. And whosoever among you is sick, and has faith, shall be healed; and if he has not faith to be healed, but believe, he shall be nourished with all tenderness. If thou wilt ask, thou shalt receive revelation and knowledge. Whosoever hath faith sufficient shall never taste death. Ye shall live together in love; that whether ye live ye may live in me, or if ye die ye may die in me. So saith the Lord."

Edward Partridge was born at Pittsfield, Massachu- setts, August 27, 1793. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a hatter. His was an earnest, thoughtful nature, and his mind much troubled about religion. In 1828 he entered Sidney Rigdon's Camp- bellite church, and in that faith remained until met by the missionaries Pratt, Cowdery, and the others, when he accepted the new revelation, and was subse- quently baptized by Joseph in the Seneca Piver. He had a profitable business at the time; but when it was revealed that he should leave his merchandise and de- vote his whole time to the church, he obeyed without a murmur.

Joseph and Sidney were much together now in their revelations and rulings. A woman attempted prophe- sying and was rebuked. Sarcasm was employed, and scurrilous stories were printed in the newspapers ; an ac- count of a great Asiatic earthquake was headed "Mor- monism in China." Revelations during March were frequent. In one of them John Whitmer was ap- pointed church historian; and it was revealed that he should keep the church records, write and keep a regu- lar history, and act as secretary to Joseph, as had Oliver Cowdery formerly. ^^ Lands might be bought

" ' Since the organization of the church on the sixth clay of April, 1830, there has been a record kept in our church of its general transactions, of its ​

CHURCH RECORDS, 83

for Immediate necessity; but remember the city to be presently built, and be prudent.^^ And now from the shaking quakers came one Lemon Copley and accepted the gospel, though not in its fullness, as he retained

persecutions and general history. The one in charge of this duty is called by us "the historian and general church recorder." The first who occupied this position was John Whitmer, until 1838, when he was excommunicated from the church for transgression, and took portions of the church records with him.' likhards' Bihliography of Utah, MS., 2. 'The earliest clerk service rendered the prophet Joseph, of which there is any account, was by Martin Harris; Joseph's wife, Emma, then Oliver Cowdery, who, as is claimed, wrote the greater portion of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, as he translated it from the gold plates by the urim and thummira which he obtained with the plates. In March 1831 John Whitmer was appointed to keep the church record and history continually, Oliver having been appointed to other labors. Whitmer was assisted, temporarily, on occasions of absence or illness by Warren Parrish. At a meeting of high council at Kirtland, Sept. 14, 1835, it was decided that "Oliver Cowdery be appointed, and that he act hereafter as recorder for the church," Whitmer having just been called to he editor of the MeAsenger and Advocate. At a general conference held in Far West April 6, 1838, John Corrill and Elias Higbee M'ere appointed historians, and George W. Robinson "general church recorder and clerk for the tirst presidency." On the death of Elder Robert B. Thompson, which occurred at Nauvoo on the twenty-seventh of August, 1841, in his obituary it is stated: " Nearly two years past he had officiated as scribe to President Joseph Smith and clerk for the church, which important stations he filled with tliat dignity and honor befitting a man of God." During the expulsion from Missouri, and the early settlement of Nauvoo, James MiilhoUand, William Clayton, and perhaps others rendered temporary service in this line until the 13th of December, 1841, when Willai'd Richards was appointed recorder, general clerk, and private secretary to the prophet, which offices he occupied until his death, in March 1854, when he was succeeded by George A. Smith, who held it until his death on the first of September, 1875, with Wiltord Wood- ruff as his assistant. Soon after, Orson Pi-att succeeded to the office, retain- ing Woodruff as his assistant, until his demise on the third of October, ISSl. Directly after President Woodruff was appointed to the office, and in January 1884, Apostle Franklin D. Richards was appointed his assistant.' See Timea and Seasons, v. 401; Milknvial Star, v. 82; Richards' Narrative, MS., 94-8. ^^ Of the future of this city there were many revelations and many con- jectures. ' It was said that it would in a few years exceed in splendor every- thing known in ancient times. Its streets were to be paved with gold; all that escapetl the general destruction which was soon to take place would there assemble with all their wealth; the ten lost tribes of Israel had been discovered in their retreat, in the vicinity of the north pole, where they had for ages been secluded by immense barriers of ice, anil became vastly rich; the ice in a few years was to be melted away, when those tribes, with St John and some of the Nephites, which the book of Mormon had innnortalized, would be seen making their appearance in the new city, loaded with immense quantities of gold and silver. Whether the prophet himself ever declared that these things liad been revealed to him, or that he had seen them through his magic stone or silver spectacles, we will not say; but that such stories and hundreds of others equally absui-d were told by those who were in daily intercourse with him, as being events which would probably take place, are susceptible of proof.' Jloive's Morinonism Unveiled, 127-8. 'Kirtland was never intended to be the metropolis of Mormonism; it was selected as a tem- porary abiding place, to make money m reference to a removal farther west.' Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 72. ​

84 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

somewhat of his former faith ; whereupon a revelation ordered him to go with Parley P. Pratt and preach to the shakers, not according to his old ideas, but as Parley should direct.

"And again, I say unto you that whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is or- dained of God unto man; wherefore it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. Beware of false spirits. Given May 1831."

The saints from New York began to come in num- bers, and Bishop Partridge was ordered to look after them and attend to their requirements. It was or- dered that if any had more than they required, let them give to the church; if any had less, let the church relieve their necessities. The 6th of June a confer- ence of elders was held at Kirtland, and several re- ceived the authority of the Melchisedec priesthood. The next conference should be held in Missouri, whither Joseph and Sidney should proceed at once, and there it would be told them what to do. And to the same place others should go, two by two, each couple taking different routes and preaching by the way. Among those who went forth were Lyman Wight and John Corrill, John Murdock and Hyrum Smith by the way of Detroit, Thomas B. Marsh and Selah J. Griffin, Isaac Morley and Ezra Booth, David Whitmer and Harvey Whitlock, Parley P. Pratt and Orson Pratt, Solomon Hancock and Simeon Carter, Edson Fuller and Jacob Scott, Levi Hancock and Zebedee Coltrin, Reynolds Gaboon and Samuel H. Smith, Wheeler Baldwin and William Carter, Joseph Wakefield and Solomon Humphrey. With Joseph and Sidney were to go Martin Harris and Edward Partridge, taking with them a letter of recommenda- tion from the church.^^ "And thus, even as I have

' From this point in the history of this delusion,' says Howe, 'it began to spread with considerable rapidity. Nearly all of their male converts, however ignorant and worthless, were forthwith transformed into elders, and sent forth to proclaim, with all their wild enthusiasm, the wonders and mys teries of Mormonism. All those having a taste for the marvellous and de​

MOVE TO MISSOURI. 85

said, if ye are faithful, ye shall assemble yourselves together to rejoice upon the land of Missouri, which is the land of your inheritance, which is now the land of your enemies. Behold, I the Lord will hasten the city in its time, and will crown the faithful with joy and with rejoicing. Behold I am Jesus Christ the son of God, and I will lift them up at the last day. Amen."

While preparing for the journey to Missouri, a let- ter was received from Oliver Cowdery, reporting on his missionary work, and speaking of another tribe of Lamanites, living three hundred miles west of Santa Fe, called the Navarhoes (Navajoes), who had large flocks of sheep and cattle, and who made blankets. W. W. Phelps," with his family joining the society, was commissioned to assist Oliver Cowdery in select- ing, writing, and printing books for schools. Thus the move from Ohio to Missouri was begun, Joseph and his party starting from Kirtland the 19th of June, going by wagon, canal-boat, and stage to Cincinnati, by steamer to St Louis, and thence on foot to Inde- pendence, arriving about the middle of July.

lighting in novelties flocked to hear them. Many travelled fifty and a hundred miles to the throne of the prophet in Kirtland, to hear from his own mouth the certainty of his excavating a bible and spectacles. Many, even in the New England states, after hearing the frantic story of some of these elders, would forthwith place their all into a wagon, and wend their way to the promised land, in order, as they supposed, to escape the judgments of heaven, which were soon to be poured out upon the land. The state of New York, they were privately told, would most probably be sunk, unless the people thereof believed in the pretensions of Smith, ' Mormonism Unveiled, 115-16.

'* Howe writes thus of Phelps: 'Before the rise of Mormonism he was an avowed iufidel; having a remarkable propensity for fame and eminence, he was supercilious, hauglity, and egotistical. His great ambition was to em- bark in some speculation where he could shine preeminent. He took an active part for several years in the political contests of New York, and made no little display as an editor of a partisan newspaper, and after being foiled in his desires to become a candidate for lieutenant-governor of that state, his attention was suddenly diverted by the prospects which were held out to him in the gold-bible speculation. In this he was sure of becoming a great man, and made the dupes believe he was master of fourteen dif- ferent languages, of which they frequently boasted. But he soon found that the prophet would suiTer no growing rivalships, whose sagacity he had not well calculated, until he was met by a revelation which informed him that he could rise no higher than a printer. ' Mormonism Unveiled, 274. ​

86 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

Harken, O ye elders of ray churca, saith the Lord your God, who have assembled yourselves together, according to my commandments, in this land, which is the land of Missouri, which is the land which 1 have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the saints; wherefore this is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion. And thus saith the Lord your God, if you will receive wisdom here is wisdom. Behold the place which is now called Inde- pendence is the centre place, and the spot for the temple is lying westward upon a lot which is not far from the court-house: wherefore it is wisdom that the land should be purchased by the saints; and also every tract lying westward, even unto the line run- ning directly between jew and gentile; and also every tract bordering by the prairies, inasmuch as my disci- ples are enabled to bay lands."

Further, Sidney Gilbert was made church agent, to receive money and buy lands; he was also directed to establish a store. Partridge was to partition the lands purchased among the people; Phelps was made church printer. But the last two becoming a little headstrong on entering upon their new duties, Joseph found it necessary to reprimand and warn them. Harris was held up as an example to emulate, for he had given much to the church. It was or- dered that an agent be appointed to raise money in Ohio to buy lands in Missouri, and Bigdon was com- missioned to write a description of the new land of Zion for the same purpose. Ziba Peterson was dis- possessed of his lands, and made to work for others, in punishment for his misdemeanors.

Thus the latter-day saints had come to the border line of civilization, and looking over it into the west they thought here to establish themselves forever. Here was to be the temple of God; here the city of refuge ; here the second advent of the savior. Mean- while their headquarters were to be at the town of Independence. ​

CITY OF ZION. 87

In Kaw township, twelve miles west of Indepen- dence, the Colesville branch of the church built a log house; the visible head of the church, on the 2d of August, laying the first log, brought thither by twelve men, in honor of the twelve tribes of Israel. Next day the ground for the temple, situated a little west of Independence,^^ was dedicated, and the day fol- lowing was held the first conference in the land of Zion.^^

It was now commanded that Smith, Rigdon, Cow- dery, and others should return east, and make more proselytes, money for the purpose to be furnished them out of the general fund." Accordingly on the

^* Of Independence one of them says: 'It is a new town, containing a court- house built of brick, two or three merchants' stores, and 15 or 20 dwelling- houses built mostly of logs hewed on both sides; and is situated on a handsome rise of ground about three miles south of Missouri River, and about 12 miles east of the dividing line between the United States and the Indian reserve, and is the county seat of Jackson county. ' Booth's letter in Iloive's Mormonism Unveiled, 196. On the south side of the Missouri, Parley Pratt says, Auto- biography, 78, 'some families were entirely dressed in skins, withoiit any otlier clothing, including ladies young and old. Buildings were generally without glass windows, and the door open in winter for a light.'

^ Booth, in Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 196-9, says: 'The designation of the site where the city of Zion was to begin was attended with considerable parade and an ostentatious display of talents, both by Rigdon and Cowdery. And the next day the ground for the temple was consecrated. Smith claiming the honor of laying the corner-stone himself. The location of the stone was marked by a sapling from which the bark was removed on the north and east sides: on the south side a letter T was cut, which stood for temple, and on the east side Zom., for Zomas; which Smith said is the original woixl for Zion. This stone was placed near the foot of the sapling and covered with bushes cut for the purpose; the spot being on an elevation half a mile from Inde- pendence.' 'The Colesville branch was among the first organized by Joseph Smith, and constituted the first settlers of the members of the church in Missouri. They had arrived late in the summer and cut some hay for their cattle, sowed a little grain, prepared some ground for cultivation, and were engaged during the fall and winter in building log cabins, etc. The winter was cold, and for some time about 10 families lived in one cabin, which was open and unfinished, while the frozen ground served for a floor. Our food consisted of beef, and a little bread made of corn which had been grated into coarse meal by rubbing the ears on a tin grater.' Pratfs Autohiogra- phy, 76. See also Millennial Star, v. 131. It was revealed through Joseph the seer that the property of the Colesville branch should be held in com- mon, and that Partridge (its bishop) have charge and distribute from the com- munity storehouse according to the needs of each. Smith's Doctrine and Covenants (1876), 187-8. Smith in the beginning of the church attempted to establish communism, each giving their all to the bishop, and only drawing out of the otfice sufficient to live upon. This was found to be impracticable, and it was silently permitted to glide into the payment of tithing. Hyde's Mormonism, 37.

^' 'This year, 1831, passed off with a gradual increase, and considerable wealth was drawn in, so that they began to boast of a capital stock of ten or ​

88 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

9th Joseph and ten elders started down the river in sixteen canoes, the leaders arriving at Kirtland the 27th, ^^ after having suffered hardship and mortifi- cation through disaffection among the elders. Titus Billings, who had charge of the church property there, was ordered to dispose of the lands, and prepare to remove to Missouri in the following spring, together with part of the people, and such money as could be raised. It was provided that those wishing to buy land in Zion could do so by forwarding the purchase- money. The account of the new country written by Sidney Rigdon did not please Joseph, and he was or- dered to write another; if that should not prove satis- factory, he was to be deprived of office,^^

On the 12th of September Joseph removed to the town of Hiram, thirty miles away, and prepared to begin again the translation of the bible, with Rigdon as scribe. The farm of Isaac Morley was ordered sold, while Frederic G. Williams should retain his, for it was desirable to keep a footing at Kirtland yet for

fifteen thousand dollars. Their common-stock principles appear to be some- what similar to those of the shakers.' Howe's Mormonum Unveiled, 128-9.

'^ Booth intimates that Smith and Pdgdon preferred living in Ohio to en- during the hardships of Missouri. ' Before they went to Missouri their lan- guage was, "We shall winter in Ohio but one winter more;" and when in Slissouri, "It will be many years before we come here, for the lord has a great work for us to do in Ohio." And the great work is to make a thorough al- teration of the bible, and invent new revelations, and these are to be sent to Missouri in order to be printed.' Letter in Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 199.

• ^ 'Some dispute, of which the nature is not clearly known, appears to have

arisen between Joseph and his friend Sidney Rigdon before their return. It is probable, from the course of subsequent events, that Sidney, even at this time, aspired to greater power in the church than suited the prophet, . . . who saw fit to rebuke him by a revelation accusing him of "being exalted in his heart, and despising the counsel of the lord. They afterward became reconciled."' Smucker's Mormons, 75-6, confirmed by Millennial Star, v. 149; 7%mes and Seasons, v. 467. From this time till January 1832, Joseph con- tinued preaching in various parts of the United States, making converts with great rapidity. He found it necessary, however, further to check the pre- sumption of some new and indiscreet converts who also had i-evelations from the Lord, which they endeavored to palm off upon the public. Among others, one W. E. McLellan was rebuked for endeavoring to 'write a commandment like unto one of the least of the Lord's. ' Mackaij's Mormons, 07-8. See anecdote of 'The Swamp Angel;' also account of raising the dead by Smith, about this time. Ward's Mormon Wife, 10-11, 15-24. For text of rebuke, where the name of the offender is given William E. M'Lelliu, see Millennial Slar, v. 185- 6; Times and Seasons, v. 496. ​

PROGRESS AND APOSTASY. 89

five years. The store kept by Newel K. Whitney and Sidney Gilbert should likewise be continued. A system of tithes should be established. Ezra Booth apostatized, and wrote letters against the church.^^ Orson Hyde, clerk in Gilbert and Whitney's store, was baptized, and later make an elder. Phelps was told to buy at Cincinnati a printing-press and type, and start a monthly paper at Independence, to be called the Evening and Morning Star, which was done. Oliver Cowdery was instructed in November to return to Missouri, and with him John Whitmer, the latier to visit the several stations, and gather further materials for church history. Newel K. Whitney

"Booth's letters were first printed at Ravenna, in the Ohio Star, and after- ward by E. D. Howe in his book, Mormonism Unveiled, 175-221. They are nine in number, and are full of general denunciation and sorrow over his past blindness, and an account of the hardships and disappointments attending his journey to and from Missouri. I quote the more pertinent points. 'When I embraced Mormonism I conscientiously believed it to be of God.' ' The relation in which Smith stands to the church is that of a prophet, seer, revealer, and translator; and when he speaks by the spii'it, or says he knows a thing by the communication of the spirit, it is received as coming directly from the mouth of the Lord.' 'This system, to some, carries the force of plausibility, and appears under an imposing form. It claims the bible for its patron, and proifers the restoration of the apostolic church, with all the gifts and graces with which the primitive saints were endowed.' 'Many of them have been ordained to the high priesthood, or the order of Melchisedec, and profess to be endowed with the same power as the ancient apostles were. But they have been hitherto unsuccessful in finding the lame, the halt, and the blind who had the faith sufficient to become the subjects of their miracles, and it is now concluded that this work must be postponed until they get to Missouri; for the Lord will not show those signs to this wicked and adulterous generation. In the commandment given to the churches in the state of New York to remove to the state of Ohio, they were assured that these miracles should be wrought in the state of Ohio; but now they must be deferred until they are settled in Missouri.' 'Everything in the church is done by com- mandment; and yet it is said to be done by the voice of the church. For instance, Smith gets a commandment that he shall be the head of the church, or that he shall rule the conference, or that the church shall build him an elegant house and give him 1,000 dollars. For this the members of the church must vote, or they will be cast off for rebelling against the commandments of the Lord.' 'Smith describes an angel as having the appearance of a tall, slim, well built, handsome man, with a bright pillar upon his head.' The bishop's 'business is to superintend the secular concerns of the church. He holds a deed of the lands; and the members receive a writing from him signifying that they are to possess the land as their own so long as they are obedient to Smith's commandments.' 'The Lord's storehouse is to be furnished with goods suited to the Indian trade, and persons are to obtain license from the government to dispose of them to the Indians in their own territory; at the same time they are to disseminate the principles of Mormonism among them. ' ​

90 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

was appointed 'bishop, to receive and account for church funds collected by the various elders. Many of the elders who went to Missouri were by this time at work in different parts of the east and the west.^^

On the 16th of February, 1832, while Smith and Rigdon were translating the gospel of St John, they were favored by a glorious vision from the Lord,^^ which gave them great comfort and encouragement. The revelations about this time were frequent and lengthy, their purport being in great part to direct the move- ments of missionaries. Simonds Kider and Eli, Ed- ward, and John Johnson now apostatized.

On the night of the 25th of March, Smith and Rigdon were seized by a mob, composed partly of the Campbellites, methodists, and baptists of Hiram, twelve or fifteen being apostate Mormons. The cap- tives were roughly treated, and expected to be killed; but after they had been stripped, beaten, and well covered with tar and feathers, they were released. Smith preached and baptized as usual the next day, Sunday, but Rigdon was delirious for some time after- ward.^^ This broke up for the present the translation

^^ ' Thirty or forty elders were sent off in various directions in pursuit of proselytes, and the year passed off with a gradual increase.' Howe's Mormon- ism Uiivdlcd, 128-9. The men, after baptism, are elders, and are empowered to perform the ceremony upon others. Carvalho's Incidents of Travel, 148. For names of apostates at this time, see Hmucker's Hist. 3Ior., 11. For in- stances of young women induced to unite with the sect about this time, see Ward's Moi-mon Wife, 42-81. Mackay erroneously states that the number of saints in Kirtland at this time, including women and children, was but 150. The Mormons, 71-2.

2^In January it was revealed that the work of translating should be pro- ceeded with by Smith and Rigdon until finished; and that several of the elders, among whom was Orson Hyde, a recent convert, should go forth in various directions in pairs as before, and preach. Smith and some of the elders attended a conference at Amherst, Loraine Co., after returning from which both himself and Rigdon were shown the devil in a vision, and had the revelation of St John explained to them. In March it was revealed that steps should be taken to regulate and establish storehouses for the benefit of the poor, both at Kii'tland and at Zion. More missionaries were sent out, and word was received that the emigrants had safely reached Missouri. Times and Seasons, v. 576-7, 592-6, 608-9.

'^'^ Times and Seaso7is, v. 611-12. Mackay, Mormons, 68-71, erroneously dates the outrage Jan. 25th. One account says aqua-foi-tis was poured into Smith's mouth. Deseret News, Aug. 6, 1862. Smith says 'they tried to force a vial into my mouth, and broke it in my teeth.' One reason assigned for this treatment was that they were attempting to establish communism and ​

BOOK OF DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS. 91

of the bible; Rigdou went to Kirtland, and on the 2d of April, in obedience to a revelation, Smith started for Missouri, having for his companions Whitney, Peter Whitmer, and Gause. The spirit of mobocracy was aroused throughout the entire country. Joseph even feared to go to Kirtland, and escaped by way of Warren, where he was joined by Rigdon, whence the two proceeded to Cincinnati and St Louis by way of Wheeling, Virginia, a mob following them a good part of the way. The brethren at Independence and vicin- ity welcomed their leaders warmly, but the unbeliev- ers there as elsewhere hourly threatened violence.^* In May the first edition of the Book of Command- ments'^^ was ordered printed; the following month, pub-

dishouorable dealing, forgery, and swindling. Burton's City of the Saints, 672. Smith merely says that Rigdon was mad; but his mother asserts that he counterfeited the madness in order to mislead the saints into the belief that the keys of the kingdom had been taken from the church, and would not be restored, as he said, until they had built him a new house. This, she says, gave rise to great scandal, which Joseph however succeeded in silencing. Rigdon repented and was forgiven. He stated that as a punishment for his fault, the devil had three times thrown him out of his bed in one night. litnvfs Journey to Great Salt Lake, i. 283 (note).

^*The 26th of April Smith called a general council, which acknowledged him as president of the high priesthood, to which he had been ordained at the Amherst conference in January, and Bishop Parti-idge and Rigdon, who had quarrelled, were reconciled, probably by Smith, as Rigdon was supposed to be at Kirtland at the time. This greatly rejoiced Smith; and he immediately received a revelation, in which it was announced that the stakes must be strengthened, and all property was to be held in common. Times and Seasons, V. 624-5; Mackay's The Mormons, 71.

^ The first edition of Doctrine and Covewam^s presents the following title page: A Book of Commandments for the Government of the Church of Christ organized according to law on the 6th of April, 1S30. Zion: Published by W. W. Phelps <L- Co., 1S33. This edition contains the revelations given up to September, 1831. There were 3,000 copies printed of this edition. Then there was The Book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; Selected from the Pevelations of God. By Joseph Smith, President. First European Edition, Live7-pool, no date. The preface, how- ever, by Thomas Ward, is dated Liverpool, June 14, 1845. There are two l^rincipal divisions and an appendix. The first consists of sev^eu lectures on faith, delivered by Sidney Rigdon before a class of elders at Kirtland; the second is called Covenants and Commandments, and consists chiefly of revela- tions given 1830-42, to Joseph iSmith, the same for the most part tliat are also printed in Times and Seasons, under title of History of Joseph Smith. There are also rules, minutes of council, visions, and expositions. The appendix contains rules on marriage, a dissertation on government and laws, and a brief account of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. 'The book of Mormon, although most known, is not the chief book of tlie sect. The Book of Teachings and Cove- nants, containing some of the revelations which Smith pretended to have re ceived from heaven, is regarded by his disciples as a book of the law which God ​

92 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

lished in connection with the Upper Missiouri Adver^ tiser, appeared the first number of the Evening and Morning Star, under the auspices of W. W. Phelps, whose printing-press was the only one within a hun- dred and twenty miles of Independence. On the 6th of May Smith, Rigdon, and Whitney again set out on their return to Kirtland.^^ On the way Whitney broke his leg. Smith was poisoned, and that so badly that he dislocated his jaw in vomiting, and the hair upon his head became loosened; Whitney, however, laid his hands on him, and administered in the name of the Lord, and he was healed in an instant.'-^^

Some three or four hundred saints being now gath- ered in Missouri, most of them settled on their own inheritances in this land of Zion, besides many others scattered abroad throughout the land, who were yet to come hither, it was deemed best to give the matter of schools some attention. Parley P. Pratt was labor- ing in Illinois. Newel K. Whitney was directed in September to leave his business in other hands, visit

has given this generation. Smith also published other revelations, which are contained in a little book called The Pearl of Great Price.' De SmeVs Western Missions, 393. 'This book abounds in grammatical inaccuracies, even to a greater extent than the book of Mormon.' Mackay's The Mormons, 43. A bungling statement is made by Mather, LippincoU's Mag., Aug. 1880, to the effect that in 1835 'Rigdon's Book of Doctrine and Covenants and his Lectures on, Faith were adopted.'

^" Arrangements were early made for the establishment of a store. Ferris' Utah and Mormons, 75. When the printing press was bought— see Deseret News, June 30, 1869 — a supply of goods was purchased; and arrangements were made at the May council to keep up the supply, which, with few excep- tions, were considered satisfactory. On April 27th considerable business was transacted 'for the salvation of the saints who were settling among a fero- cious set of mobbers, like lambs among wolves.' On the 28th and 29th Smith visited the settlement above Big Blue River in Kaw township, 12 miles west of Independence, including the Colesville branch, and returned on the 30th, when it was revealed that all minors should be supported by their parents, but after becoming of age 'they had claims upon the church, or in other words, the Lord's storehouse,' as was also the case with widows left destitute. Times and Seasons, v. 625-6.

^'On May 6th, leaving affairs as he supposed in a flourishing condition, Smith started for Kirtland to look after the mill, store, and farm in that neighborhood, but owmg to an accident which resulted in the breaking of Whitney's leg. Smith was delayed 4 weeks en route. Rigdon, who was also of the party, proceeded through without stopping, and the other two arrived some time in June. The season was passed by Smitli in his work of translat- ing the scriptures, and in attending to business affairs. Times and Seasons, V. 626. ​

FIRST PRESIDENCY. 9S

the churches, collect money, and administer to the wants of the poor. The new translation of the bible was again taken up and continued through the winter, the new testament being completed and sealed up, not to be opened till it reached Zion.^^

On January 23, 1833, the ceremony of washing feet is instituted after John's gospel. Each elder washes his own feet first, after which Joseph girds himself with a towel and washes the feet of them all. "Be- hold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, in conse- quence of evils and designs, which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarned you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation, that inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, nor meet in the sight of your father. And again, tobacco is not for the body, nei- ther for the belly, and it is not good for man. And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly."

^ Hardly had President Smith turned his back upon Zion, when dissensions broke out among the saints there. He corresponded regularly with the Star, giving advice and warning, but matters apparently grew worse, for in Janu- ary 1S33 a conference of twelve high priests was held at Kirtland, or Kirt- land Mills, as they now called their settlement, at which Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith were appointed to write an epistle to the brotherhood of Zion. The document was dated Jan. 14th, and began: 'From a conference of 12 high priests to the bishop, his council, and the inhabitants of Zion.' After pre- mising that Smith and certain others had written on this all-important sub- ject, and that the replies received had not given satisfactory assurances of confession and repentance, charges were made that old grievances, supposed to be settled, had been again brought up in a censorious spirit, and that they had accused Brother Smith of seeking after monarchical power and authority. This complaint was made by Carroll in a letter dated June 2d. Again, Brother Gilbert, on Dec. 10th, wrote a letter which contained ' low, dark, and blind insinuations, which they declined to entertain, though the writer's claims and pretensions to holiness were great.' Brother Phelps, Dec. loth, wrote a letter betraying 'a lightness of spirit that ill becomes a man placed in the important and responsible station that he is placed in.' To a request that Smith should come to Zion, made by Phelps in a previous letter, it was answered that ' Brother Smith will not settle in Zion until she repent and purify herself. . .and remember the commandments that have been given her to do them as well as say them.' Finally, it was threatened that unless these disturbances should cease, they should all be cutoff, and the Lord would seek another place. Brother Ziba Peterson was delivered 'over to the buffetinga of Satan, in the name of the Lord, that he may learn not to transgress the com- mandments of God.' Times and Seasons, v. 801. ​

U THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

The first presidency is organized on the 8th of March, Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Wilhams being Smith's councillors. Money flows in, and a council of high priests, March 23d, orders the purchasing for $11,100 of three farms at Kirtland, upon which the saints may build a stake, or support, in Zion,^^ and the foundations of the temple are laid, for here they will remain for five years and make money until the west- ern Zion shall be made ready and a temple built there also. On the land is a valuable quarry of stone, and good clay for bricks; they also buy a tannery. In April the school of the prophets closes, to reopen in the autumn. Shederlaomach is made by revelation a member of the united firm. It is not the will of the Lord to print any of the new translation in the Star; but when it is published, it will all go to the world together, in a volume by itself, and the new testament and the book of Mormon will be printed together. Those preparing to go to Zion should organize.

Commandment comes to lay at Kirtland the foun- dation of the city of the stake in Zion, with a house of the Lord, a school-house for the instruction of elders, a house for the presidency, a house of wor- ship and for the school of the prophets, an endow- ment house with a room for the school of apostles, and a house in which to print the translation of the scriptures. A church is established in Medina county,

^^ ' The church that was to be established in Jackson county was called Zion, the centre of gathering, and those established by revelation in other places were called stakes of Zion, or stakes; hence the stake at Kirtland, the stake at Far West, etc. Each stake was to have a presidency, consisting of three high priests, chosen and set apart for that purpose, whose jurisdiction was confined to the limits of the stake over which they took the watch care. ' Kiddcr^s Mormonism, 121-2. A stake of Zion is an organization comprising a presi- dency, high priests, and its council of 12 high priests. The latter is a tribu- nal for the trial of brethren. It is a court of appeal from the bishops, and has also jurisdiction in spiritual matters. Richards' Narrative, MS., 55. For origin of name, see Doctrine and Convenants (1876), 263. 'The next year, 1833, commenced with something like a change of operations. In- stead of selling their possessions in Ohio, they again began to buy up im- j)roved land, mills, and water privileges. It would seem that the Missouri country began to look rather dreary to the prophet and his head men, sup- posing that they could not enjoy their power there as well as in Ohio. ' Hoive's Mormonism Unveiled, 130. ​

TEMPLES PLANNED. 95

Ohio, by Sidney Rigdon, M^ho sometimes proves him- self unruly. Dr Hurlbut is tried before the bishop's council of high priests on a charge of unchristian- like conduct with the female sex, and condemned, but on confession is pardoned.^

Temples are ordered built in the city of Zion, in Missouri, as follow: a house of the Lord for the pres- idency of the high and most holy priesthood after the order of Melchisedec ; the sacred apostolic repository,

'" Four years after the first printing of the Booh of Mormon, at Palmyra, New York, was issued in Ohio the following work: Mormonism Unveiled: or, A faithful account of that singular Imposition and Delusion, from its rise to the present time. With sketches of the characters of its Propagators, and a full detail of the manner in ivhich the famous Golden Bible was brought before the World. To which are added inquiries into the probability that the historical part of the said bible luas written by one Solomon Spaulding, more than twenty years ago, and by him intended to have been published as a romance. By E. D. Howe. Painesville, Printed and Published by the Author, 1S3^. r2mo, '290 pages. Painesville is situated but a short distance from Kirtland, then the headquarters of Mormonism, where about that time was ordained the first quorum of the twelve apostles, and Sidney Rigdon was deliv^ei'ing Joseph Smith's famous lectures on faith, subsequently printed in Doctrine and Cove- nants, already noticed. Here also, shortly afterward, the first Mormon temple was dedicated. Great excitement prevailed throughout that section regarding religion, and the book was widely circulated. It was a powerful weapon, and promptly and skillfully handled ; yet it seems to have been no serious bar- rier to the dissemination of the new doctrines. The work is well written; and while not vehement in its denunciations, it brings forward a large mass of evidence to prove, as he says, 'the depths of folly, degradation, and super- stition to which human nature can be carried.' He observes that 'the diffi- culty of procuring, or arriving at the whole truth, in relation to a religious imposition which has from its birth been so studiously veiled in secrecy, and generally under a belief that the judgments of God would follow any dis- closures of what its votaries had seen or heard, will be readily discovered.' The author begins with some account of the Smith family. Their thoughts turned greatly toward gaining possession of hidden treasures. Young Joseph 'had become very expert in the arts of necromancy, juggling, the use of the divining rod, and looking into what they termed a peep-stone, by which means he soon collected about him a gang of idle, credulous young men, to perform the labor of digging into the hills and mountains, and other lonely places in that vicinity in search of gold.' After comments on Cowdery, Har- ris, and Whitmer, Mr Howe gives a commentary on the golden bible. Some 63 pages are devoted to this, and to observations on the credibility of the three and the eight witnesses. Sarcasm is the weapon employed, and gen- erally with efi'ect; the exposition in regard to contradictions and historical inaccuries might apply with equal force to the bible, the koran, or any other sacred book. Mention is next made of Pratt's conversion, which, he intimates, was not accidental, followed by an account of the expedition to the Lam- anites. Thus the line of events is followed by Mr Howe to the time of the publication of his book, at the end of which are given letters and testimonials to disprove the statements and doctrines of the Mormons, and also to prove that the book of Mormon was the work of Spaulding. On the whole, besides being the first book published in opposition to the Mormons, it is also one of the most ably written, the most original, and the most respectable. ​

06 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

for the use of the bishop; the holy evangehcal house, for the high priesthood of the holy order of God; house of the Lord for the elders of Zion ; house of the Lord for the presidency of the high priesthood; house of the Lord for the high priesthood after the order of Aaron; house of the Lord for the teachers in Zion; house of the Lord for the deacons in Zion; and others. There are also to be farms, barns, and dwellings. The ground secured for the purpose is a mile square, and will accommodate fifteen or twenty thousand people. ^^

Affairs in Missouri were very prosperous. "Immi- gration had poured into the county of Jackson in great numbers," says Parley P. Pratt, "and the church

'1 A plan and specifications for the new city of Zion were sent out from Kirtland. The plot was one mile square, drawn to a scale of 600 feet to one inch. Each square was to contain ten acres, or 660 feet fronts. Lots were to be laid out alternately in the squares; in one, fronting north or south; in the next east or west; each lot extending to the centre line of its square, with a frontage of 66 feet and a depth of 330 feet, or half an acre. By this ar- rangement in one square the houses would stand on one street, and in the square opposite on another street. Through the middle of the plot ran a range of blocks 660 feet by 990 feet set apart for the public buildings, and in these the lots were all laid off north and south, the greatest length of the blocks being from east to west: thus making all the lots equal in size. The whole plot was supposed to be sufficient for the accommodation of from 15,000 to 20,000 people. All stables, barns, etc., were to be built north or south of the plot, none being permitted in the city among the houses. Sufficient ad- joining ground on all sides was to be reserved for supplying the city with vegetables, etc. All streets were to be 132 feet (8 perches) wide, and a like width was to be laid off between the temple and its surrounding streets. But one house was to be built on a lot, and that must front on a line 25 feet from tlie street, the space in front to be set out with trees, shrubs, etc., according to the builder's taste. All houses to be of either brick or stone. The house of the Lord for the presidency was to be 01 feet by 87 feet, 10 feet of the length for a stairway. The interior was so arranged as to permit its division into 4 parts by curtains. At the east and west ends were to be pulpits arranged for the several grades of president and council, bishop and council, high priests and ciders, at the west; and the lesser priesthood, comprising presidency, priests, teacliers, and deacons, at the east. Provision was also made to seat visiting olficers according to their grades. The pews were fitted with sliding seats, so that the audience could face either pulpit as required. There was to be no gallery, but the house was to be divided into 2 stories of 14 feet each. A bell of very large size was also ordered. Finally, on each public building must be written. Holiness to the Lord. When this plot was settled, another was to be laid out, and so on. Ti)ne>i and Seasons, vi. 785-7, 800. Zion City — its prototype in Enoch's City. Young's History of the Seventies, d-\o, no. 10, in Mormon Pamphlets. It was revealed to Smith that the waters of the gulf of Mexico covered the site of a prehistoric city, built by and named for Enoch; and that it was translated because its inhabitants had become so far advanced that further earthly residence wae unnecessary. Zion, Smith's ideal city, was finally to reach a like state of perfection. ​

ENLARGED PRETENSIONS. 97

in that county now numbered upward of one thou- sand souls. These had all purchased lands and paid for them, and most of them were improving in build- ings and in cultivation. Peace and plenty had crowned their labors, and the wilderness became a fruitful field, and the solitary place began to bud and blossom as the rose. They lived in peace and quiet, no lawsuits with each other or with the world ; few or no debts were con- tracted, few promises broken; there were no thieves, robbers, or murderers; few or no idlers; all seemed to worship God with a ready heart. On Sundays the people assembled to preach, pray, sing, and receivo the ordinances of God. Other days all seemed busy in the various pursuits of industry. In short, there has seldom, if ever, been a happier people upon the earth than the church of the saints now were." They were for the most part small farmers, tradesmen, and mechanics, and were not without shrewdness in the management of their secular affairs.

But all this must now be changed. The saints ot God must be tried as by fire. Persecutions such as never before were witnessed in these latter days, and the coming of which were foretold by Joseph, are upon them; they shall be buffeted for five years, and the end is not yet. " Political demagogues were afraid we should rule the country," says Parley, and re- ligious priests and bigots felt that we were powerful rivals. "^^ Moreover, there is no doubt that they were indiscreet; they were blinded by their prosperity; already the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world had come unto them; now let the gentiles tremble !^^

^'^ Autobiographj, 103.

^^ ' Their prophet had declared that Zion should be established, and should put down her enemies under her feet. Why, then, should they hesitate to pro- claim their anticipations? They boasted openly that they should soon jxjsscss the whole countrj% and that the unbelievers should be rooted out from the land.' Edinburgh Review, April 1854. 'We have been credibly informed that Rigdon has given it as his opinion that the Mormons will be able to elect a member of congress in five years, and that in three years they would take the offices in the town of Kirtlaud. They say that when they get the Hist. Utah. 7 ​

98 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

And the gentiles did tremble, as they saw so rapidly increasing their unwelcome neighbors, whose compact organization gave them a strength disproportionate to their numbers. Since there was no law to stop their coming, they determined to face the issue without law.^*

In April the people held consultations as to the best way of disposing of the Mormons; and again about the middle of July three hundred persons met at Independence to form a plan for driving them out. A declaration, in substance as follows, was drawn up and signed by nearly all present. The citizens of Jack- son county fear the effect upon society of a pretended religious sect, fanatics or knaves, settling among them, and mean to get rid of them at any hazard, and for the following reasons: They blasphemously pretend to personal intercourse with the deity, to revelations, miracles, healins^ the sick, casting: out devils, and other delusions ; they are the dregs of society, held together by the acts of designing leaders, and are idle and vicious. They are poor. They tamper with the slaves and free negroes. They declare the Indian re- gion to be theirs by heavenly inheritance.

In answer. Parley P. Pratt asks if their supernatural pretensions are more extravagant than those of the old and new testament; if it is anywhere written that there shall be no more spiritual manifestations as of old ; does the word of God or the law of man make poverty a crime? and have they not paid for all the land they occupy? They are no more dregs than their neighbors, and the charge of fraternizing with the blacks is not true ; neither is that of vice or crime, as

secular power into their hands, everything will be performed by immediate revelations from God. We shall then have Pope Joseph the Fii'st and his hierarchy.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 145.

^^ 'So early as April 1832, the saints were made to feel thejnselves nnwel- come sojourners in Jackson co. Stones and brickbats were thrown through the windows of their houses, and they were otherwise annoyed and insulted. Meetings were held during that year and the early part of 1833, at which resolutions were sometimes passed, and sometimes the assembly indulged in a fight among its members; but nothing more serious resulted. Stoning houses, however, was resumed in the early summer of the last-mentioned year. ' Timea and Seasons, i. 17; vi. 851. ​

PERSECUTIONS. 99

the county records will show. In regard to the landrt of the Indians, no violence or injustice is contemplated ; and if it were, what record of robbery, murder, and treacherous betrayal could excel that already made by the people of Missouri and others in the United States for our example ?^'^

On the 20th the people again met according to ap- pointment. The old charges were reiterated, and the old resolutions renewed, with some additions.^^ To put them into action the men of Jackson county

3^ Persecution of the Saints, 21-8. Mackay, The 3Iormons, 72-4, says 'the manner in which the Mormons behaved in their Zion was not calculated to make friends. The superiority they assumed gave offense, and the rumors that were spread by some false friends, who had been turned out of the church for misconduct, excited against them an intense feeling of alarm and hatred. They were accused of communism, and not simply a community of goods and chattels, but of wives.. .Joined to the odium unjustly cast upon them for these reasons, they talked so imprudently of their determination to possess the whole state of Missouri, and to suffer no one to live in it who would not conform to their faith, that a party was secretly formed against them, of which the object was nothing less than their total and immediate expulsion from their promised Zion... The anti-Mormon press contained at the same time an article entitled "Beware of false prophets," written by a person whom Joseph called a black rod in the hand of Satan. This article was distributed from house to house in Independence and its neighbor- hood, and contained many false charges against Smith and his associates, reiterating the calumny about the community of goods and wives.' Smith calls this man 'one Pixley,' and says he was sent by the missionary society, to civilize and christianize the heathen of the west, and that he was not only a black rod, but 'a poisoned shaft in the power of our foes, to spread lies and falsehoods '... It is also probable that the more indolent Missourians gazed with jealous eyes as the new-comers exhibited that agricultural thrift which has always characterized them as a people; for we find the twelve high priests, througii Hyde and Hyrum Smith, reprimanding Brother Phelps as follows: "If you have fat beef and potatoes, eat them in singleness of heart, and boast not yourselves in these things. " ' Times and Seasons, v. 721; vi. 816. 'It was conjectured by the inhabitants of Jackson county that the Mormonites as a body are wealthy, and many of them entertain fears that next Decem- ber, when the list of land is exposed for sale, they will outbid others, and establish themselves as the most powerful body in the county.' Booth, in Hoice's Mormonism Unveiled, 195.

2" It was further declared: '1st, That no Mormon shall in future move and settle in this county. 2d, That those now here, who shall give a defi- nite pledge of their intention, within a reasonable time, to remove out of the county, shall be allowed to remain unmolested until they shall have sufficient time to sell their property and close their business without any sacrifice. 3d, That the editor of the Star be required forthwith to close his office, and discontinue the business of printing in this county; and as to all other stores and shops belonging to the sect, their owners must in every case comply with the terms strictly, agreeably to the 2d article of this declaration; and upon failure, prompt and efficient measures will be taken to close tlie same. 4th, That the Mormon leaders here are required to use their influence in prevent- ing any further emigration of their distant brethren to this county, and ​

100 THE STORY OF MORMONTSM.

sallied forth for the office of the Star,^"^ and de- manded that the publication be discontinued. Com- pliance being refused, Phelps' house, containing the printing-office, was torn down, materials and paper destroyed/^ and Bishop Partridge and Elder Allen were tarred and feathered. ^^ Meanwhile, clergymen of other denominations, and officers of the state and county, looked on, saying, "Mormons are the common enemies of mankind, and ought to be destroyed," and You now know what our Jackson boys can do, and you must leave the country." ^°

Again the mob appeared on the morning of the 23d, bearing a red flag, and demanding the departure of the Mormons. Seeing no way of escape, the elders entered into treaty with the assailants, and promised to leave the county within a certain time.^^ Cowdery

counsel and advise their brethren to comply with the above requisitions. 6th, That those who fail to comply with the above requisitions be referred to those of their brethren who have the gift of tongues, to inform them of the lot that awaits them.' IIowes Mormonism Unveiled, 141.

^' 'Six of the principal elders met the mob's committee. The latter de- manded that the printing-office, the shops, and the store, be closed forth- with, and that the society leave the county immediately. The elders asked for three months' delay, which was refused; then for ten days, which was also refused; the latter refusal being accompanied with a notilication that fifteen minutes was the longest time that could be granted. Each elder liaving de- clined to accede to the terms, one of the mob remarked on leaving that he was sorry, for, said he, "the work of destruction will commence immediate- ly."' Times and Seasons, i. 18. Phelps, the editor, Partridge, the bishop, and Gilbert, the store-keeper, are mentioned. Smacker's Hist. Mor., 89.

"^ 'In a short time time hundreds of the mob gathered around the print- ing-office (a two-story brick building), which they soon threw down. The press was thrown from the upper story, and all the books, stock, and material scattered through the streets. After destroying the printing house, they proceeded to Gilbert and Whitney's store for the same purpose, but Gilbert agreeing to shut it, and box the goods soon, they concluded to let it alone.' Times and Seasons, i. 18; Pratt's Persecution of the Saints, 29.

"^ 'A iburaber more were taken, but succeeded in escaping through the over- anxiety of their keepers, who crowded forward to enjoy the sport.' Times and Seasons, i. 18. Phelps the editor was one. Smucker's Hist. Mor., 89. Par- tridge says the mob was led by George Simpson. Times and Seasons, vi. 819.

^^ Spoken by Lilburn W. Boggs, lieutenant-governor, a man who thence- forward appears to have persecuted the Mormo*is with unrelenting hostility. He 'was in the immediate neighborhood of the riot, but declined to take any part in preserving the peace.' Smucker's Hist. Mor., 89-90; Times and Sea- sons, vi. 819.

• ' Six persons signed the agreement that one half of the Mormons should

leave in January and one half in April 1834, the publication of the paper to be discontinued. Mackay's The Mormons, 76; Pratt's Persecution, 30. ​

THE COUNTRY IN ARMS. 101

was despatched to Kirtland to consult as to what was best to be done. Meanwhile, incendiary articles ap- peared in the Western Monito7\ printed at Fayette, Mis- souri, Two years ago," said that journal, " some two or three of this people made their appearance on the upper Missouri, and they now number some twelve hundred souls in this county." They look at the land as theirs to inherit, by either fair means or foul; and when the officers of law and government shall be Mormon, we must go. *'One of the means resorted to by them, in order to drive us to emigrate, is an in- direct invitation to the free brethren of color in Illi- nois to come up like the rest to the land of Zion." True, they deny this, but that is only subterfuge. So it is resolved that no more Mormons shall be per- mitted to come; that those here must go within a reasonable time; and that the Star printing-office shall be declared confiscated.

An appeal was made to the governor, Daniel Dunk- lin, for redress, and while awaiting the answer mat- ters were continued much in the usual way. The brethren were instructed by their elders not to retal- iate, but to bear all with meekness and patience. At length a letter came from the governor, assuring them of his protection, and advising them to resort to the courts for damages. The church leaders ordered that none should leave Independence except those who had signed an agreement to that effect. Four law- yers were engaged for one thousand dollars to carry the matter into the courts. No sooner was this known than the whole country rose in arms and made war upon the Mormons. On the nights of October 30th, 31st, and November 1st, armed men attacked branches of the church west of Big Blue, and at the prairie unroofed the houses and beat the men. Al- most simultaneously attacks were made at other points. Stones flew freely in Independence, and houses were destroyed and the inmates wounded. Gilbert's store was broken open, and the goods scat​

102 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

tered in the streets. On November 2cl thirty saints retired with their famihes and effects to a point half a mile from town. Next day four of the brethren went to Lexington for a peace warrant, but the circuit judge refused to issue one through fear of the mob. "You had better fight it out and kill the outlaws if they come upon you," said the judge.*^ The saints then armed, and on the 4th there was a fight, in which two gentiles and one Mormon were killed, and several on both sides wounded. One of the store-breakers was brought before the court, and during the trial the populace became so furious that Gilbert, Morley, and Corrill were thrust into jail for protection. The morn- ing of the 5th broke with signs of yet more bloody determination on both sides. The militia were called out to preserve the peace, but this only made matters worse. The lieutenant-governor, Boggs, pretending friendship, got possession of the Mormons' arms, and seized a number to be tried for murder.^^ Further and yet more violent attacks were made; hope was abandoned; the now defenceless saints were forced to fly in ever'y direction, some out into the open prairie, some up and some down the river. " The struggle was over," writes Pratt, "our liberties were gone!" On the 7th both banks were lined with men, women, and children, with wagons, provisions, and personal effects. Cold weather came on with wind and rain, to which most of the fugitives were exposed, few of them having tents. Some took refuge in Clay county, some in Lafayette county, and elsewhere.**

Throughout all these trying scenes. Governor

^"^ Pratt s Autobiography, 105; Mackai/s The Mormons, 77-S; Pratt's Persecution, 31-6.

• ^In a memorial to the legislature of Missouri, dated Far West, Dec. 10,

1S38, and signed by nine prominent Mormons, is this statement: 'A battle took place in which some two or tiiree of the mob and one of our people were killed. This raised, as it were, the whole county in arms, and nothing could satisfy them but an immediate surrender of the arms of our people, and they forthwith had to leave the county. Fifty-one guns were given up, which Lave never been returned or paid for to this day.'

■'^ 'About 1,500 people wen; expelled from Jackson co. in Nov. 1833, and about 300 of their houses burned. ' Geo. A. Smith, in Deseret News, June 30, ​

ATTITUDE OF OFFICIALS. 103

Dunklin endeavored to uphold the law, but Boggs, lieutenant-governor, was with the assailants. Welis, attorney-general, wrote to the council for the church, the 2 1st, saying that if they wished to replace their houses in Jackson county the governor would send them an adequate force, and if they would organize themselves into companies, he would supply them with arms. Application was made accordingly. "It is a disgrace to the state," writes Judge Ryland, "for such acts to happen within its limits, and the disgrace will attach to our official characters if we neglect to take proper means to insure the punish- ment due such offenders." In view of this advice from the state authorities, the saints resolved to return to their homes as soon as protection should be afforded them, and it was ordered by revelation that they should do so, but with circumspection and not in haste. *^

All this time President Joseph Smith was at Kirt- land, harassed with anxiety over affairs in Missouri, still pursuing the usual tenor of his way, and not knowino^ wha.t moment like evils miorht befall him and his fold there.*^ It was resolved by the first presi- dency that the Star should be published at Kirtland

1869, 247. 'Several women thus driven from their homes gave birth to chil- dren in the woods and on the prairies.' Greene's Facts, 18. Pratt says 203 ho--.ses were b^irned, according to the estimate of the enemy.

• On Doc. 15th, Phelps writes to Smith from Clay co. : 'The situation of the

saints, as scattered, is dubious, and affords a gloomy prospect. . . Wc are iu Clay, Ray, Lafayette, Jackson, Van Buren, etc. [counties], and cannot hear from each other of tener than we do from you . . . The governor is willing to re- store us, but as the constitution gives him no power to guard us when back, we are not willing to go. The mob swear if we come we shall die! Our peo- ple fare very well, and when they are discreet, little or no persecution is felt. The militia in the upper counties is in readiness at a moment's warning, having been ordered out by the governor, to guard a court-martial and court of inquiry, etc., but we cannot attend a court of inquiry on account of the expense, until we are restored and protected.' Times and Seasons, vi. 944.

^"^ Smith wrote to the saints about this time that he liad heard they had surrendered their arms and fled across the river. If this report Mas true, he advised tliem not to recommence hostilities; but if tliey were still in posses- sion, they should 'maintain the ground as long as there is a man left.' They were also advised to prosecute to the extent of the law; but must not look for pecuniary assistance from Kirtland, for matters there were by no means in a flourishing condition. It was recommended that a tract of land be pur- chased in Clay co. for present necessaries. Times unci Seasons, vi. 914-15. ​

104 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

until It could be reinstated in Missouri; another jour- nal, the Laiter-day Saints Messenger and Advocate, was also established at Kirtland, and a mission or- ganized for Canada/'^

The work of proselyting continued east and west without abatement through the year 1834. Two by two and singly the elders went forth: Lyman John- son and Milton Holmes to Canada, also Zebedee Col- trin and Henry Harriman; John S. Carter and Jesse Smith should go eastward together, also James Dur- fee and Edward Marvin. Elders Oliver Granger, Martin Harris, and Brigham Young preferred to travel alone. To redeem the farm on which stood the house of the Lord, elders Orson Hyde and Orson Pratt were sent east to solicit funds. The movements of many others of the brethren are given. Parley Pratt and Lyman Wight were instructed not to return to Missouri until men were organized into companies of

" ' Concerning our means of dififiising the principles we profess, -we have used the art of printing ahnost from the beginning of our work. At Inde- pendence, Missouri, in 1832-3-4, two volumes of the Evening and Morning Star were issued by WilHam W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery. This was a monthly octavo of 16 pages, devoted to the faith and doctrines of the church, and was continued from Independence from June 1832 until July 1833, when its publication was transferred to Kirtland, Ohio, from whence it was con- tinued until September 1834, when it gave place to the Latter-day Sainis' Mes- senger and Advocate, which continued to cheer the persecuted saints until August 1837, when there appeared in its columns a prospectus for a new- paper to bo published at Kirtland, called the E/derti' Journal of the Church of Latter-day Saints, also a monthly, the first number of which bore date October 1837. The gathering of the people from Kirtland to Far West in Missouri transferred the publication of the journal also to that place, from whence it issued until stopped by the persecution and extermination of the saints in the fall and winter of 183S from the state of Missouri. The first number of the Millennial Star was issued at Liverpool in May 1840, at first a monthly, then fortnightly, and for many years a weekly, with at one time a circulation of 22,000 copies, edited and published vai'iously by elders appointed and sent to edit the paper, manage the emigration, and preside over the work generally in the European countries. This work is still issued weekly, and greatly aids the cause in Eui-ope. The Skandinaviens' Sfjcrne has been published in Copenhagen nearly thirty years in the Danish language, edited by those who have from time to time presided over the Scandinavian missions. Tlie first number was issued in 1851, and is well supported, being a great aid in the missionary service in northern Europe. For several years a periodical entitled the Udgorn Seion was published at Merthyr Tydfil, and was contin- ued until the number of saints in the Welsh mission was so reduced by emi- gration as to render its farther publication impracticable.' liichards' Bibli- ograjihy of Utah, MS., 7-9. ​

MILITARY ORGANIZATION. 105

ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred. Thereupon these and others went out in various directions to raise men and means for a rchgio-mihtary expedition to Missouri. There were churches now in every direc- tion, and the brethren were scattered over a broad area.

Several appeals for redress were made by the saints at Independence to the governor of Missouri, and to the president of the United States. The president said it was a matter for the governor to regulate, and the governor did not see what could be done except through the courts. A court of inquiry was instituted, which decided, but to little pur'pose, that there was no insurrection on the 5th of Novem- ber, 1833, and therefore the arms taken by the militia from the Mormons on that occasion must be restored to them.^^ "And now a commandment I give unto you concerning Zion, that you shall no longer be bound as an united order to j^our brethren of Zion, only in this wise; after you are organized you shall be called the united order of this stake of Zion, the city of Shinehah,^^ and your brethren, after they are or- ganized, shall be called the united order of the city of Zion."

On the 7th of May, 1834, a military company was organized at Kirtland under the name of Zion's camp, consisting of one hundred and fifty brethren, mostly young men, elders, priests, teachers, and deacons, with

^* 'About this time a court of inquiry held at Liberty for the purpose of investigating the action of Col Pitcher, in connection with the expulsion of the saints from Jackson co. , found sufficient evidence against that oUicer to result in his being placed in arrest for trial by court-martial. The plant of the printing-office was given by the citizens to Davis & Kelly, who removed it to Liberty, wliere they commenced the publication of a weekly paper called the Missoitii Enquirer. ' ' The citizens also paid $300 on the §1,001) note given by the elders to their lawyers, thus acknowledging their action had been wrong.' Times and Seasons, vi. 9G1. ' The governor also ordered them to re- store our arms which they had taken from us, but they never were rest'^red.' Pratt's Persecution, 52. See also Tayl 'ei-'s Mormons, xliii.-xlvi. ; Deseret Newa, Dec. 27, ISjl.and June 30, 18G0; Utah Tracts, no. 4, uG-G4; Millennial Star, XXV. 535-G, 550-2; Gunnison's Mormons, 104-14; Ferris' Utah and Mormons, 87-8.

■"* They 'called their Kirtland colony Shinahar.' Gunnison's Mormons, 1G7. ​

106 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

F. G. Williams paymaster and Zerubbabel Snow com- missary general. They had twenty wagons loaded with arms and effects, and next day set out for Mis- souri, President Smith joining them, leaving Rigdon and Cowdery to look after matters in Ohio. They passed through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, reaching Missouri ^° in June, Pratt and others still continuing

^° ' They were trying times, requiring the combined wisdom of the prophet and his head men . . . Cut the prophet more readily discovered the new advan- tages that would ultimately accrue to his cause by a little perseverance. He well knew that the laws could not continue to be violated in our country for any length of time, and that he and his followers would, in the end, bo the greatest gainers Ijy the cry of pei'secution which they could raise. . .A revela- tion was printed in the form of a handbill. It was taken up by all their priests and carried to all their congregations, some of which were actually sold for one dollar per copy. Preparations immediately began to be made for a crusade to their holy land to drive out the infidels . .Old muskets, rifles, pis- tols, rusty swords, and butcher knives were soon ])ut in a state of repair and scoured up. Some were borrowed and some were bought, on a credit if possi- ble, and others were manufactured by their own mechanics. . .About the first of May the grand array of fanatics commenced its march in small dctaclmients from the different places of concentration. On the 3d the prophet, with a life guard of r.bout 80 men, the elite of his army, left his quarters in Kirtland with a few baggage wagons, containing their arms, ammunition, stores, etc. . . .On arriving at Salt Creek, Illinois, they were joined by Lyman Wight and Hyrum Smith, brother of the propliet, with a reenforcement of twenty men, which tliey had picked up on the way. Here the grand army, v/hich being fully completed, encamped for the space of three days. The whole number was now estimated at '220, rank and file. During their stay here the troops were kept under a constant drill of manual exercise with gu-.is and swords, and their arms put in a state of repair; the prophet became very ex- Y>cvi, wiLh a sword, and felt himself equal to his prototype Coriantumr. He had the best sword in the army; probably a true model of Laban's, if not the identical one itself, an elegant brace of pistols, which were purchased on a credit of six months, a rifle, and four hoi'scs. Wight was appointed second in command, or fighting general, who, together with the prophet, had an ar- mor-bearer appointed, selected from among the most expert tacticians, whose duty it was to be in constant attendance upon their masters with their arms.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 117-39. 'Cholera broke out in his camp on the 24tli of June, and Joseph attempted to cure it by laying on of hands and prayer. . .Joseph lost thirteen of his Ijand liy the ravages of the disease. . . He arrived in Clay co. on the '2d, and started back for Kirtland on the 9th. . . Short as was the time he stayed, he did not depart without organizing and encouraging the main body. . .and establishing the community in Clay co. on a better tooting than when he arrived.' MacJca-j's The i\lormon>^, 85. Churches were visited in New York, Pennsylvania, and the New England States, about 100 recruits obtained, and 50 more in the vicinity of Kirtland. The first de- tachment, about 100 strong, left Kirtland May 5th, and by ihe next Sunday about GO more had joined, part from Ohio and part from the east. The body was organized in companies of tens, each being furnished with camp equipage. Messes for cooking purposes were formed, and guards mounted at night. Deseret Hews, Oct. 19, 1800. These men were well armed. A detacliment of twenty men had preceded them as an advanced guard. liemy's Journey, i. 297. They were divided into companies of 12, consisting of 2 cooks, 2 lire- men, 2 tent-makers, 2 watermen, one runner or scout, one commissary, and 2 ​

NAME ADOPTED, 107

their efforts en route as recruiting officers. It was an army of the Lord; they would not be known as Mormons, which was a name they hated; moreover, they would be incognito; and the better to accom- plish all these purposes, three days before they started, Sidney E-igdon proposed in conference that the name by which hereafter they would call themselves should be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which proposal was adopted.^^ On the way the breth-

wagoners. 20 wagons accompanied them, and they had fire-arms and all sorts of munitions of war of the most portable kind for self-defence. Smucker's Hist. Mor., 95; Times and Seasons, vi. 1074. On June 3d, when in camp on the Illinois Pdver, Smith had a mound opened and took out a skeleton, between whose ribs an arrow was sticking. A revelation followed, in which the prophet was informed that the bones were those of a white Lamanite, a warrior named Zclph, who serveti under the great prophet Omandagus. Times and Seasons, vi. 107G; Smucker's Hist. Mor., 95-6; Bemy's Journey, i. 297; Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 83-4. June 4th to 6th was occupied in crossing the Mis- sissippi, there being but one boat. The company now consisted of 205 men and 25 wagons, with 2 or 3 horses each. The company camped on Piush Creek, Clay co., on June 23d, and on the night of the '24th the cholera broke out among them, causing several deaths. On the 25th Smith broke iip his command, and the men were scattered among their neighbors. Times and Seasons, vi. 1076, 1088, 1 105-6; Deseret News, Oct. 19, 1864. Up to June 22d, Smith had travelled incognito, apparently fearing assassination. Times and Seaso7u^, vi. 1 104. A list of the members of Zion's camp will be found in Deseret Neivs, Oct. 19, 1864, and those living in 1876 in Id., Apr. 26, 1876. Smith disbanded his forces in obedience to a revelation. Doctrine and Covenants, 345-9. As the prophet approached Missouri he selected a body-guard of 20 men, appointing his brother Hyrum as theii captain, and another brother, George, his armor-bearer. He also appointed a general, who daily inspected the army and drilled them. Smuckcr's Hist. Mor. , 99. On April 10, 1834, the presi- dent was again petitioned from Liberty, Mo. (a petition had been sent on in October 1833) ; the persecutions were recounted, it was related that an unavail- ing appeal had been made to the state executive, and it was asked that they be restored to the lands in Jackson co. they had purchased from the U. S. For text of con-espondcnce, etc., see Times and Seasons, vi. 1041-2, 1056-9, 1071-8, 1088-92, 1103, 1107-9, 1120-4. On the march Pratt still acted as recruiting officer, and visited the churches in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, obtaining men and money which he forwarded to the main body from time to time. Pratt's Autobiog., 122-3. The band finally numbered 205 in all. Utah Pioneers, 33d Annirersary, 17. The march to Clay co.. Mo., occupied 46 days, 9 of Avhich were spent in camp. During the existence of the body 2 deserted because they could not fight the mob, and one left with- out a discharge; the rest remained faithful. Deseret News, Oct. 19, 1864. Further details of the march will be found iu Mackay's Mormons, 80-5; Kidder's Mormonism, 111-10; Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 156-03. Camji- bell and others who threatened to attack Smith were drowned by the up- setting of a boat whilst attempting to cross the Missouri. Campbell's vow, and what became of it. Smncker's Hist. Mor., 100. When the prophet re- turned to Kirtland, in August, the council met and proceeded to investigate charges against Smith and others on this march. Deseret News, Nov. 15 and 29, 1851.

•'^ The society never styled themselves Mormons; it is a name popularly at- tached to them. The true name is Latter-day Saints. Pratt's Persecution, 2L ​

108 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

ren learned of the outrages which had again occurred in Jackson county.

Just before his arrival in Clay county, Missouri, a committee of citizens waited on President Smith and proposed the purchase of the lands in Jackson county from which the Mormons had been driven. The offer was declined, the president and council making the following proposal in return: Let each side choose six men, and let the twelve determine the amount of damages due to the Mormons, and also the value of the possessions of all those who do not wish to live near them in peace, and the money shall be paid with- m a year. The offer was not accepted.^-

On the 3d of July a high council of twelve was or- ganized by the head of the church, with David Whit- mer as president and W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer as assistant presidents. The twelve were: Simeon Carter, Parley P. Pratt, Wm E. McLellan, Calvin Beebe, Levi Jackman, Solomon Hancock, Christian Whitmer, Newel Knight, Orson Pratt, Lyman Wight, Thomas B. Marsh, and John Murdoch. Later Phelps became president of the church in Missouri. In com- pany with his brother Hyrum, F. G. Williams, and W. E. McLellan, President Joseph returned to Kirt- land, arriving about the 1st of August.

" Now, that the world may know that our faith in the work and word of the Lord is firm and unshaken, and to shew all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples that our object is good, for the good of all, we come before the great family of mankind for peace, and ask their hospitality and assurance for our comfort, and the pres-

Hyde, Ilormonism, 202, states that the sect was first called The Church of Jesu3 Christ of Latter-day Saints by (Sidney Rigdon at a convention at Ivirt- laud May 4, 1834. See chap, iii., note 22.

^^ When tlie camp arrived near Salt River, Orson Hyde and Parley P. Pratt were despatched to Jefferson City to rcqi;est military aid from Gov. Dunk- lin, iu rejiossessing tlie saints of tlieir lands in Jackson co., which aid was refused. Pratt's Autobinr/., 12.3-4. Upon the approach of Smith and his party the people of Jackson co. held a meeting and sent a committee to Smith with proposals to buy all the Mormon property in the county. The oU'er was de- clined, and the Mormons in turn offered to buy out the Missourians. See correspondence in Howe a Mormonism, 1G4-7G. ​

HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH. 109

ervation of our persons and property, and solicit their charity for the great cause of God. We are well aware that many slanderous reports and ridiculous stories are in circulation against our religion and society ; but as wise men will hear both sides and then judge, we sincerely hope and trust that the still small voice of truth will be heard, and our great revelations read and candidly compared with the prophecies of the bible, that the great cause of our redeemer may be supported by a liberal share of public opinion, as well as the un- seen power of God. The faith and religion of the latter-day saints are founded upon the old scriptures, the book of Mormon, and direct revelation from God." Thus far have I given the History of Joseph Smith, in substance as written by himself in his journal, '^^ and

^^ The most complete history of the early Mormon church is the Journal of Joseph Smith, extracts from which were made by himself, so as to form a consecutive narrative, under title of History of Joseph Smith, and published in Times and Seasons, beginning with vol. iii. no. 10, March 15, 1S4'2, and ending Fel). 15, 1846, after the prophet's death. The narrative would fill a good-sized 12mo volume. It is composed largely of revelations, which, save in the one point of commandment which it was tlie purpose specially to give, are all quite similar. Publication of the Times and Seasons was begun at Commerce, afterward called Nauvoo, Illinois, Nov. 1839, and issued monthly. The number for May 1840 was dated Nauvoo. Later it was published semi- monthly, and was so continued till Feb. 184(3. It is filled with church pro- ceedings, movements of officers, correspondence of missionaries, history, and general information, with some poetry. To write a complete history of the Mormons down to 1S4G without these volumes would not be possil)lc. The names of E. Ilobinson and D. C. Smith first appear as publishers, then Robin- son alone, then D. C. Smith, then E. Robinson and G. Hills, next Joseph Smith, and finally John Taylor. The organ of that branch of the church which re- mained in Iowa was the Frontier Guardian, published by Orson Hyde at Potawatamie, or Kanesville, 1849-52, and of the church in Utah the Deseret Neivs, which was first issued at Salt Lake City in June 1850.

'At the organization of this church, the Lord commanded Joseph the prophet to keep a record of liis domgs in the great and important work that he was comnn-ncing to perform. It thus became a duty imperative. After John Whitmer and others had purloined the records in 1838, the persecution and expulsion from Missouri soon followed. When again located, now in Nauvoo, Illinois, and steamboat loads of emigrants were arriving from Eng- land via New Orleans, the sound tliereof awakened an interest in the coun- try that led Hon. John "Wentworth, of Chicago, to write to the prophet, Joseph Smith, making inquiries about the rise, progress, persecution, and faith of the Latter-day Saints, the origin of this work, the Book of Mormon, the plates from which the record was translated, etc. ; and it is the answer to this letter contained in 'Times and Sensons, March 1, 1842, that precedes or prefaces the present history of Joseph Smith, which is the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This request of Mr Went- worth's seemed to forcibly remind the prophet of the importance of having the history of his wonderful work restored to such a condition that correct ​

110 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

printed in the Times mid Seasons, which ends here. It is taken up in the Millennial Star, in diary form, beginning with volume xv. and continuing to the day of his death.

information could be given to editors, authors, publishers, and any or all classes of inquirers that might apply, and he undertook with his clerks, re- corder, and all available aid from private journals, correspondence, and his own indelible memory, and made it a labor to get his own history, which was indeed that of the church in all the stages of its growth, while he remained

with his people, compiled and written up to date, which with his own cur- rent journal enabled the historian to complete the history to the time of his assassination, with the utmost fidelity to facts as they occurred. Our method of verification, after compilation and rough draft, was to read the same be- fore a session of the council, composed of the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles, and there scan everything under consideration.' Richards' Bibliog- raphy of Utah, MS., 2-6. ​

CHAPTER V.

THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

1835-1840.

Pbesident Smith at Kirtland— First Quorum op Twelve Apostles— The KiRTLAND Temple Completed— Kirtland Safety Society Bank— In ZiON Again — The Saints in Missouri— Apostasy— Zeal and Indis- cretion—Military Organization — The War Opens — Depredations ON Both Sides — Movements of Atchison, Parks, and Doniphan — Attitude of Boggs — Wight and Gilliam — Death of Patten — Danite Organization— Order Lodge— Haun Mill Tragedy— Mobs and Militia — The Tables Turned — Boggs' Exterminating Order— Lucas and Clark at Far West— Surrender of the Mormons — Prisoners- Petitions AND Memorials— Expulsion— Gathering at Quincy — Opinions.

Meanwhile, although the frontier of Zlon was re- ceiving such large accessions, the main body of the church was still at Kirtland, where President Smith remained for some time.

On the 14th of February, 1835, twelve apostles were chosen at Kirtland, Brigham Young, Orson Hyde, and Heber C. Kimball being of the number; likewise a little later Parley P. Pratt. Thence, the following summer, they took their departure for the east, holding conferences and ordaining and instruct- inor elders in the churches throuMiout New York and 'New England, and the organization of the first quorum of seventies was begun. Classes for instruction, and a school of prophets were commenced, and Sidney Rigdon delivered six lectures on faith, of which Joseph Smith was author.^ Preaching on the steps of a

'They were printed and bound in Doctrine and Covenants. See Hyde's Mormonism, 202; Eemy's Journey, 504; Pratt's Autobiography, 139. Mather, in Lippincott's Mag., Aug. 1880, states that the twelve apostles started in May.

(Ill) ​

112 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

Campbellite church at Mentor, Parley P. Pratt-was mobbed midst music and rotten eggs.

The temple at Kirtland being finished, was dedicated on the 27th of March, 1836, and on the 3d of April Joseph and Oliver had interviews with the messiah, Moses, Elias, and Elijah, and received from them the several keys of priesthood, which insured to their possessors power unlimited in things temporal and spiritual for the accomplishment of the labors assigned by them for him to perform.^ The building of this structure by a few hundred persons, who, during the period between 1832 and 1836, contributed voluntarily of their money, material, or labor, the women knitting and spinning and making garments for the men who worked on the temple, was regarded with wonder throughout all northern Ohio. It was 60 by 80 feet, occupied a commanding position, and cost $40,000.

During its erection the saints incurred heavy debts for material and labor. They bought forms at high prices, making part payments, and afterward forfeit- ing them. They engaged in mercantile pursuits,

■^ 'A square mile was laid out in half-acre lots, and a number of farms were bought, the chui'ch farm being half a mile down one of tlie most beauti- ful valleys which it is possible to conceive in a range of country so uniformly level.' Rlather, in LippincoWs Mag., Aug. 1880. In May 1833 it was revealed that Ijuilding should begin. Two houses 55 by G5 feet each were ordered, one for the jiresidency, the other for printing. Hyrum Smith and two others i»ere presented with lots, and directions wei-e sent to the faithful to subscribe money to aid in building a temple at Kirtland. Times and Seasons, vi. 709-70. Before its completion, private assemblies were held at the houses of the faith- ful, fre(iuently at Smith's. When partly finished, schools were opened in several of the apartments. It was begun in June 1833, and dedicated March 27, 183G. A brief description of the building, arrangement of interior, etc., and a full account of the dedication and ordinary services are given in Tul- Iklge'n Wo7nen, 76, 80-1)5, 99-101. Daniel Tyler, in Juvenile Instructor, xiv. 283; Busch, Gesch. der Morm., 14:-, Kidder's Mormonism, 124-6. Probably but little work was done on it in 1833, for about the front entrances the gilded inscription, 'Built by the church of Jesus Christ, 1834,' still shines bright as ever. Salt Lake Herald, June 6, 1877. See also Smith's account in Times and Seasons, vi. 708-11, 723-6, and lienufs Journe;/, i. 302-4. For cuts of building, see Young's Hist, of the Seventies, 8; Juvenile Instructor, xiv. 283; Pratt's A utobing. , 140. When nearly finished there was a debt on the building of from $15,000 to §20,000. Kidder's Mormonism, 124-6. Most of the work- men were dependent upon their labor for tlieir daily food, which often con- sisted of corn meal alone, and that had been donated. Juvenile Instructor, 283. Writing in 1880, Mather says: 'The residences of Smith and Rig Ion are al- most under the eaves of the temj^le, and the theological sem nary is now occu- pied by the methodists for a church.' Lippincotfs Mag., Aug. 1880. ​

AFFAIRS AT KIRTLAND. 113

buying merchandise in New York and elsewhere in excess of their abihty to pay. They built a steam- mill, which proved a source of loss, and started a bank, but were unable to obtain a charter; they is- sued bills without a charter, however, in consequence of which they could not collect the money loaned, and after a brief struggle, and during a period of great apostasy, the bank failed. It was called the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, of which Rigdon was president and Smith cashier. All this time, writes Corrill, "they suffered pride to arise in their hearts, and became desirous of fine houses and fine clothes, and indulged too much in these things, supposing for a few months that they were very rich." Upon the failure of the bank in 1838, Smith and Rigdon went to Missouri, leaving the business in the hands of others to wind up.^

' * They also suffered jealousies to arise among them, and several persona dissented from the church, and accused the leaders of the church with bad management, selfishness, etc. . . . On the other hand, the leaders of the church accused the dissenters with dishonesty, want of faith and righteousness, . . . and this strife or opposition arose to a great height, . . . until Smith and llig- don were obliged to leave Kirtland.' Corrill, in Kidder's Mormonism, l'2G-7. 'Subsequently they had a revelation,' another says, 'commanding them to establish a bank, which should swallow up all other banks. This was soon got into operation on a pretended capital of four millions of dollars, made up of real estate round about the temple.' John Hyde, Mormonism, 201, says that the bank, a store, and mill were started in Aug. 1831. Before me is one of their bills, dated Jan. 17, 1837, payable to C. Scott, or Ijearer. Mather says, Lipjnncott's Mag., Aug. 1880: 'Pdchard Hilliard, a leading merchant of Cleveland, received their bills for a few days, and then took possession of all their available assets. They were also in debt for their farms, and for goods bought in New York. The bubble burst, and many in the vicinity of Kirtland were among the sufferers. Smith and Rigdon fled to Far West, after having been tarred and feathered for their peculiar the- ories of finance.' 'Chauncey G. Webb (father of Ann Eliza Young) assisted in founding this bank, giving Smith all he possessed outside of his house and shoi^ toward completing the amount necessary for a capital on which to start the new enterprise. Witli the failure of the bank Webb lost everything.' Yoxiiiffs Wife No. 19, 33, 40-41; see account of formation of bank in /je«- neit's Mormonism, 135-6. 'Smith had a sort of bank issue on what was tlien called the wild-cat principle. His circulating medium had no redeeming basis, and was worthless in the hands of the people.' Tucl:er's Mormonism, 154-5. 'Smith had a revelation from the Lord, to the effect that his bank would be a pattern of all the banks in the United States, that it would speedily break, and that all the rest would follow the example. The bank was closed the same day.' Hall's Mormoni.wi, 19. The bank failed in Nov. 1837. liemifs Journey, i. 504; Busrh, Gcsch. der Morm., 84. 'By means of great activity and an actual capital of about §5,000, they succeeded in set- ting afloat from $50,000 to §100,000. The concern was closed up after Hist. Utah. 8 ​

114 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

An endowment meeting, or solemn assembly, held in 183G in the temple at Kirtland, is thus described by William Harris: "It was given out that those who were in attendance at that meeting should receive an endowment, or blessing, similar to that experienced by the disciples of Christ on the day of pentecost.

flourishing 3 or 4 weeks.' Kidder's Mormonism, 128. The building is now occupied by a private family. Salt Lake S. W. Herald, June G, 1877. •In order to pay the debt on the temple, they concluded to try mercantile business, and ran in debt in New York and elsewhere some $30,000 for goods, and shortly after, $50,000 or $60,000 more. In consequence of their ignorance of business and extravagance, the scheme proved a failure. ' Kid- der'A Mormonism, 12G, 128; Srmieker's Hist. Mor., 76. 'Gilbert and Whit- ney's store is still used for original purposes. ' Salt Lake Herald, June 6, 1877. 'A poorly furnished country store, where commerce looks starvation in the face.' Id., Nov. 17, 1877. 'Smith's store was seized and goods sold in Nov. 1839.' Hijde's Mormonism, 203; Bennett's Mormonism, 135. They also spent some thousands of dollars in building a steam-mill, which never profited them anything. Kidder's Mormonism, 126. 'The skeleton of a superannu- ated engine and its contrivances half buried in a heap of ashes — the shed that covered it having recently burned to the ground — marks the spot where stood the ashery and its successor, the Mormon saw-mill, at the foot of Temple hill.' Salt Lake Herald, Nov. 17, 1877. Heber C. Kimball, who went to Nauvoo in 1839, built a pottery at Kirtland, the ruins of which were to be seen in 1877. Ihid. 'After the temple was dedicated, the Kirtland high school was taught in the attic story by H. M. Hawes, prof, of Greek and Latin. There were from 130 to 140 students, divided into three depart- ments — the classic, where only languages were taught; the English, where matliematics, common arithmetic, geography, English grammar, and read- ing and writing were taught; and the juvenile department. The last two departments were under assistant instructors. The school was begun in Nov. 1830.' Tidlldge's Women, 99. 'On the 3d floor are a succession of small rooms containing crippled benches, blackboards, ruined walls, and other paraphernalia, which indicated that at some period of the temple's history this part had been used as a primary school.' Salt Lake S. W. Herald, June 6, 1877. A Hebrew professorship is also mentioned. Uemy's Journey, i. 504. 'Immediately after the closing of the bank, and before the news of its fail- ure had time to spread. Smith with some 4 or 5 terriers (understrappers in the priesthood) went to Toronto, Canada, where he preached, whilst his fol- lowers circulated the worthless notes of the defunct bank. Brigham Young also succeeded in spreading about $10,000 of the paper through several states.' Hall's Mormonism, 19-20. 'In January 1838 Smith and Rigdon, being at Kirtland together, were both arrested on charges of swindling in connec- tion vvith their worthless paper bank,' etc. 'The prisoners, however, es- caped from the sheriff in the night and made their way on horseback to Mis- souri. ' Tucker's Mormonism, 155-6. Smith and Rigdon I'an away on the night of Jan. 12, 1838. Hyde's Mormonism, 20^. 'A new year dawned upon the church at Kirtland,' writes Smith, 'in all the bitterness of the spirit of apostate mobocracy, which continued to rage and grow hotter and hotter, until Elder Rigdon and myself were obliged to flee from its deadly influence, as did the apostles and prophets of old, and as Jesus said, "When they per- secute you in one city, flee ye to another;" and on the evening of the 12th of January, about ten o'clock, we left Kirtland on horseback to escape mob violence, which was about to burst upon us, under the color of legal process to cover their hellish designs and save themselves from the just judgment of the law.' ​

AFFAIRS IN MISSOURI. 115

When tlie day arrived great numbers convened from the different churches in the country. They spent the day in fasting and prayer, and in washing and perfuming their bodies; they also washed their feet, and anointed their heads with what they called holy oil, and pronounced blessings. In the evening they met for the endowment. The fast was then broken." Midsummer of 1837 saw Parley P. Pratt in New York city, where he printed the first edition of his Voice of Warning,^ and where he labored wuth great earnest- ness, at first under many discouragements, later with sio-nal success. After that he went once more to Missouri. Others were going in the same direction from Kirtland and elsewhere during the entire period between 1831 andl838. The Messenger and Advocate having been discontinued, the Eldei^'s Journal was started by Joseph Smith in Kirtland in October 1837.

After the emeutes which occurred in Jackson county in the autumn of 1833, as before related, the saints escaped as best they were able to Clay county, where they were kindly received. Some took up their abode in Lafayette and Van Buren counties, and a few in Ray and Clinton counties.^ For their lands, stock, furniture, buildings, and other property destroyed in Jackson county, they received little or no compensa- tion ; on the contrary, some who went back for their effects were caught and beaten.^ Nevertheless, there

• It consisted of 4,000 copies. The author states that ' it has since been

published and republished in America and Europe, till some 40,000 or 50,000 copies have not been sufficient to supply the demand.' Pratt's Autobiojraphy^ 184.

^Most of these fled into Clay co., where they were received with some degree of kindness, and encamped on the banks of the Missouri. Those who went into Van Buren and Lafayette counties were soon expelled, and had to move. Pratt's Persecution, 51; Machaij's Mormons, 78; Times and Seasons, vi. 91.3. The Missouri River bends to the east as it enters the state, and rung in a generally east direction through the western counties. Jackson co. is immediately south of Clay — the river being the dividing line — and Van Buren lies next south of Jackson. All west of the state line was Indian ter- ritoiy, as I have said. See map, p. 121 this vol.

® The Jackson co. exiles being in a destitute condition, a conference was ​

H6 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

were three years of comparative rest for the people of God, the effect of which soon appeared in Zion's wilderness.

The men of Missouri were quite proud of what they had done; they were satisfied on the whole with the results, and though their influence was still felt, no further violence was offered till the summer of 1836. Then the spirit of mobocracy again appeared. The Jackson-county boys had served themselves well; why should they not help their neighbors? So they crossed the river, in small squads at first, and began to stir up enmity, often insulting and plundering their victims, until the people of Clay county, fearing actions yet worse, held a meeting, and advised the saints to seek another home.^

For their unrelenting hostility toward the latter- day saints, for the services rendered to their country in defying its laws and encouraging the outrages upon citizens at Independence and elsewhere during the first Mormon troubles in Missouri, Boggs was made governor of that state, Lucas major-general, and Wilson brigadier-general.^ After his election, as be- fore, Boafsrs did not hesitate to let it be known that

held at P. P. Pratt's house in Clay co. (some time during the winter of 1833- 4 — date not given), at which it was resolved to ap))eal to Smith, at Kirtland, for aid and counsel; and P. P. Pratt and Lyman Wight, having volunteered their services, were despatched with the message. Starting from Liberty on Feb. 1, 1834, on horseback, but penniless, on a journey of from 1,000 to 1,500 miles, through a country but partially settled, they arrived at their destina- tion early in the spring with plenty of money received from friends along their route. FrcUl's Antobiog., 114-lG; tltah Pioneers, 33d Aniversary, 17; Home's MirjralioiiH, MS., 3; Yoiunfs Woman s Experiences, MS., 2.

' 'From threats, public meetings were called, resolutions were passed, ven- geance and destruction were threatened, and affairs again assumed a fearful atti:;ude.' Cor. Joseph Smith, etc., 5. See also Greene's Facts, 1"2. 'A meet- ing of the citizens was held at Liberty on the 29th of June, 183G, in which these matters were taken into consideration. The Mormons were reminded of the circumstances under which they were received, and requested to leave, time being given them to harvest their crops and dispose of their property. Fortunately for all concerned, the saints. . .agreed to leave on the terms pro- posed, denying strenuously that they had ever tampered with the slaves, or had any idea of exciting an Indian war.' Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 82-3.

• These officers 'all very readily received their commissions from their ac-

complice, Gov. Boggs; and thus corruption, rebellion, and conspiracy had spread oil every side, being fostered and encouraged by a large majority of the state; and thus treason became general. ' Pratfs Persecution, 55-6. ​

TOWN BUILDING. 117

any reports of misconduct, however exaggerated, won Id, if possible, be accepted as reliable. Such reports wer j accordingly circulated, and without much regard to truth. Right or wrong, law or no law, and whether in accord with the letter or spirit of the constitution or government of the United States or not, the peo- ple of Missouri had determined that they would go any length before they would allow the saints to obtain political ascendency in that quarter. It was well understood that war on the Mormons, war on their civil, political, and religious rights, nay, on their presence as members of the commonwealth, or if need be on their lives, was part of the policy of the admin- istration.

Thereupon the Mormons petitioned the legislature to assign them a place of residence, and the thinly populated region afterward known as Caldwell county was designated. Moving there, they bought the claims of most of the inhabitants, and entered several sections of government lands. Almost every member of the society thus became a landholder, some having eighty acres, and some forty. A town was laid out, called Far West, which was made the county seat; they were allowed to organize the government of the county, and to appoint from among their own people the officers.' Again they found peace for a season, during which their numbers increased, while settlements were made in Daviess county and elsewhere.^" Those in Daviess county were on terms of amity with their gentile neigh- bors. Wight was there, and when Smith and Rigdon arrived from the east they laid out a town named Diah- man," which soon rivalled Gallatin, and gradually the

^Jolm Hyde, Mormonism, 203, says tliat on their arrival in Missouri, Smith and Eigdon began 'to scatter the saints in order to obtain political ascendency in other counties. '

'"Of the officers then appointed, two of the judges, thirteen magistrates, all the military officers, and the county clerk were Mormons. 'These steps were taken, bo it carefully observed, by the advice of the state legislature, and the officers were appointed in the manner directed by law.' Greene's Farts, IS. The gentiles murmur because of their being under Mormon rule. Hyde's Mormonism, 203.

^' 'Smith gave it the name of Adamondiamou, which he said was fonnerly ​

118 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

people of Daviess, like the rest, began to war upon the Mormons.^^

To add to the ever-thickening troubles of the prophet, a schism broke out in the church about this time, and there were apostates and deserters, some because of disappointed ambition, and some from shame of what they now regarded as a delusion, but all carry- ing away with them vindictive feelings toward their former associates, whom they did not hesitate to de- nounce as liars, thieves, counterfeiters, and everything that is vile. Among these were Joseph's old friends Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, the three witnesses to the book of Mormon; Orson Hyde, Thomas B. Marsh, and W. W. Phelps also seceding.^^

given to a certain valley where Adam, previous to his death, called his chil- dren together and blessed them. ' CorriU's Brief History, in Kidder's Mormon- inm, 131. 'The earth was divided,' says Mr Richards, 'all the land being together and all the water. Adam dwelt there with his people for some time previous to his death. Adam constructed an altar there, and it was there that he bestowed his final blessings upon his descendants. ' The place was also called Adam-On-Diahman, Adam-on-di-ahman, and again Diahman. The second of these names appears to have been the one in use among the saints. After the foundations of the temple at Far West were relaid, between mid- night of the 2jth and dawn of the 26th of April, 1839, the quorum sang the song which they called Adam-on-di-ahman. Tullidcje's Life of Brigham Youuf].

'^ They were afraid the Mormons would 'rule the county, and they did not like to live under the laws and administration of Jo Smith.' Ibid.

^^The first three were themselves accused of counterfeiting coin, and de- faming Smith's character; and others charged Smith with 'being accessory to several murders and many thefts, and of designing to rule tliat part of the state of Missouri, and eventually the whole republic' Hyde's Mormonism, 204; Macliufs The Mormons, 86. 'At Independence, Rigdon publicly charged Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer with being connected with a gang of countei'fciters, etc. Cowdery was afterward arraigned before the cliurch, and found giailty of "disgracing the church by being connected with the bogus business, as common report says.'" Tucker's Origin and Prog. Mor., 158-9. 'Brother Turley could not be surpassed at "bogus." A press was prepared, and the money, composed of zinc, glass, etc., coated with sil- ver, was executed in the best style. Imitations both of gold and silver were in general circulation and very difficult to detect. In fact, for a time, scarcely any other circulating medium was to be found among them.' When leaving Illinois for Council Bluffs, Hall carried in his wagon for some distance on the way a bogus pres^s, which was afterwards sold on credit in Missouri, but the seller never got his money, being afraid to go for it. flail's Mor., 20-1. Hall, v.'ho was a Mormon from 1840 to 1847, mentions this counterfeiting in connection with the Kirtland bank swindle, but does not state when the work was begun. It may have originated in Kirtland, but probably was not car- ried on to any great extent before the migration to Illinois. These rambling and general charges should be received with every allowance. 'From some ​

NATURE SPEAKS. 119

At Far West on the 4th of July, 1838, assemble from the surrounding districts thousands of the saints, to lay the corner-stone of a temple of God, and to de- clare their rights as citizens of the commonwealth to safety and protection, as promised by the constitution. They are hated and despised, though they break not the laws of God; they are hunted down and killed, though they break not the laws of the land. To others their faith is odious, their words are odious, their persons and their actions are altogether detest- able. They are not idlers, or drunkards, or thieves, or murderers; they are diligent in business as well as fervent in spirit, yet they are devils; they worship what they choose and in their own way, like the dis- senters in Germany, the quakers in Pennsylvania, and the pilgrims from England, yet their spiritual father is Satan. And now, though thus marked for painful oppression by their fellow-citizens, they come together on the birthday of the nation to raise the banner of the nation, and under it to declare their solemn pre- rogative to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to the maintai nance of which they stand ready to pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. This they do. They raise the pole of liberty; they unfold the banner of liberty; they register their vows. Is it all in irony? Is it all a mocker}'^? Or is it the displeasure of omnipotence, which is now displayed because of the rank injustice wrought by the sons of bclial under this sacred em- blem? God knoweth. We know only that out of heaven comes fire, blasting the offering of the saints !^*

distant bank,' continued Hall, 'thej would buy quantities of its unsigned bank notes, which they took home, and after having them signed by com- petent artists, placed iu circulation. In procuring these bills, no persons met. The package would Jje left by a window of the bank, with a pane out, and the package taken and its price left ijy the purchaser.'

'"In a day or two after these transactions, the thunder rolled in awful majesty over the city <'f Far West, and the arrows of lightning fell from the. clouds, and shivered the liberty jDole from top to bottom; thus manifesting to many that there was an end to liberty and law in that state, and that our little city strove in vain to maintain the liberties of a country which was ruled by wickedness and rel)ellion.' Pratt' is Persecution, 57. ​

120 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

Sidney Rigdon delivered the oration on this occa- sion; and being an American citizen, and one of the founders of an American religion, it was perhaps nat- ural for him to indulge in a little Fourth-of-July ora- tory; it was natural, but under the circumstances it was exceedingly impolitic. "We take God to wit- ness," cries Sidney, " and the holy angels to witness this day, that we warn all men, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come on us no more forever. The man or the set of men who attempt it, do it at the expense of their lives; and that mob that comes on us to disturb us, there shall be between us and them a war of ex- termination, for we will follow them till the last drop of their blood is spilled, or else they will have to exter- minate us; for we will carry the war to their own houses, and their own families, and one party or the other shall be utterly destroyed."

On the 8th of July there was a revelation on tithing. Early in August a conference was held at Diahman, and a military company, called the Host of Israel, was organized after the manner of the priesthood, in- cluding all males of eighteen years and over. There were captains of ten, of fifty, and of a hundred; the organization included the entire military force of the church, as had the Kirtland army previously a part of it.^^

At length the storm burst. The state election of 1838 was held in Daviess county at the town of Gal- latin on the 6th of August. Soon after the polls were opened, William Peniston, cantlidate for the leg- islature, mounted a barrel and began to speak, attack- ing the Mormons with degrading epithets, calling them horse-thieves and robbers, and swearing they should not vote in that county. Samuel Brown, a Mormon, who stood by, pronounced the charges un- true, and said that for one he should vote. Im- mediately Brown was struck by one Weldin, whose arm, in attempting to repeat the blow, was caught by

^^ 'Every mau obeyed the call.' Leu's Mormonism, 57. ​

WAR BEGUN-.

121

another Mormon, named Durfee. Thereupon eight or tea men, with chibs and stones, fell upon Durfee, \diose friends rallied to his assistance, and the fight became general, but with indecisive results. The Mormons voted, however, and the rest of the day passed quietly.

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On the next day two or three of Peniston's party, in order it was said to stir up the saints to violence, rode over to Far West, one after another, and re​

122 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

ported a battle as having been fought at Gallatin, in which several of the fraternity were killed. Consider- able excitement followed the announcement, and sev- eral parties went to Diahman to learn the truth of the matter. Ascertaining the facts, and being desir- ous of preventing further trouble, one of the brethren Vv'ent to the magistrate, Adam Black, and proposed bonds on both sides to keep the peace. The proposition was accepted, Joseph Smith and Lyman Wight sign- ing for the Mormons, and Black for the gentiles. The Mormons then returned to Far West; but the people of Daviess county, not approving the ac- tion of the magistrate, disputed Black's right to bind them; whereupon, to appease them. Black went to the circuit judge and obtained a writ for the arrest of Smith and Wight on a charge of having forced him, by threats of violence, to sign the agreement. Brought before Judge King at Gallatin, Smith and Wight were released on their own recognizances.

Nevertheless the excitement increased. In Daviess and adjacent counties, three hundred gentiles met and armed. The Mormons say that the gentiles made prisoners, and shot and stole cattle, and the gentiles say that the Mormons did the same.-^^ Finally affairs becanie so alarming that Major-General Atchison con- cluded to call out the militia of Ray and Clay coun- ties, under command of generals Doniphan and Parks, the latter being stationed in Daviess county.^' Their purposes in that quarter being thus defeated, the men of Missouri threw themselves on a small settlement of saints at Dewitt, where they were joined by a party with a six-pounder from Jackson county. Setting iire

^In Daviess county the saints killed between 100 and 200 hogs and a number of cattle, took at least forty or fifty stands of honey, and r.t the same time destroyed several fields of corn. The word was out that the Lord had consecrated through the bishop the spoils unto his host, llarru^ Mormonism Portrayed, 30-1.

'"(Jnc thousand men were then ordered into service under the command of Major-General Atcliison and brigadier-generals Pai'ks and Doniphan. These marched to Daviess co., and remained in service thirty days. But jud'^'ing from the result, they had no intention of coming in contact with the mob, but oidy to make a show of defending one neigliborhood while the mob was allowed to attack another.' Pratt's Autobiography, 191. ​

MOVEMENTS OF FORCES. 123

to the houses, they drove off the inmates and destroyed their property. General Parks then moved his troops to Dewitt, but found the mob too many for him. They openly defied him, would make no compromise, and swore "they would drive the Mormons from Daviess to Caldwell, and from Caldwell to hell." General Atchison then went to Dewitt and told the Mormons that his men were so disaffected^^ that they had better apply for protection to Governor Boggs. This official returned answer that, as they had brought the war upon themselves, they must fight their own battles, and not look to him for help. Thereupon they aban- doned the place, and fled to Far West.

In order to intercept the mob General Doniphan entered Daviess county with two hundred men, and thence proceeded to Far West, where he camped for the night. In consultation with the civil and military officers of the place, who, though Mormons, were nevertheless commissioned by the state, Doniphan advised them to arm and march to Daviess county and defend their brethren there. Acting on this ad- vice, all armed, some going to Daviess county and some remaining at Far West.^^ The former were met by Parks, who inquired of them all particulars. Shortly afterward some families came in from beyond Grand River, who stated that they had been driven away and their houses burned by a party under C. Gilliam. 2" Parks then ordered Colonel Wight, who held a commission under him as commander of the

i^'At length the general (Atchison) informed the citizens that his forces were so small, and many of them so much in favor of the insurrectionists, that it was useless to look any longer to them for i^rotection. . .After the evacuation of Dewitt, when our citizens were officially notified that they must protect themselves, .. .they assembled in Far West to the number of one thousand men, or thei'eabout, and resolved to defend their rights to the last.' Pratt's Autobiography, 192-3.

" 'The Mormons in Caldwell were the regular state militia for that count}', and were at the time acting under the legal authorities of the county. ' Greene's Facts, 20.

• • "A noted company of banditti, under the command of Cornelius Gilliam,

who had long infested our borders and been notorious for their murders and daring roblieries, and who painted themselves as Indian warriors, came pouring in from the west to strengthen the camp of the enemy.' Pratfs Au- tobiography, 202. ​

124 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

Mormon militia, to disperse the party, which was done, and the cannon in their possession seized, with- out firing a shot. Spreading into other counties, Gil- liam's men raised everywhere the cry that the Mor- mons were killing people and burning property.

Soon afterward the Mormon militia returned from Daviess county to Far West, where they learned that a large force under Samuel Bogart, a methodist clergy- man, was plundering and burning houses south of that point, in Ray county, and had taken three men prisoners, one only of whom was a Mormon. Elias Higbee, county judge, ordered the Mormon militia under Captain Patten'^ to retake the prisoners. In passing through a wood Patten came without know- ing it upon the encampment of Bogart, whose guard fired without warning, killing one of Patten's men. Patten then attacked, routing Bogart's force, but not preventing the shooting of the Mormon prisoner, though he afterward recovered. In the charge one man was killed, and Patten and one other were mor- tally wounded. The company captured forty wagons.^^

About this time arose the mysterious and much dreaded band that finally took the name of Danites, or sons of Dan, concerning which so much has been said while so little is known, some of the Mormons even denying its existence. But of this there is no question. Says Burton: "The Danite band, a name of fear in the Mississippi Valley, is said by anti- Mormons to consist of men between the ages of sev- enteen and forty-nine. They were originally termed Daughters of Gideon, Destroying Angels — the gentiles say devils — and, finally. Sons of Dan, or Danites, from one of whom was prophesied he should be a serpent in the path. They were organized about 1837 under D.

I Pratt, Persecution, G8, says that the detachment was under the com- mand of Captain Diirphcy, aided by Patten.

^- ' The enemy had left their liorses, caddies, camp, and baggage in the con- fusion of their fliglit, which fell into our hands. ' Pratt'.s Pcmccution, T2. ' We delivered the horses and spoils of the enemy to Col. llincicle, the command- ing ollicer of the regiment.' Id., 74. ​

THE DANITES. 125

W. Patten, popularly called Captain Fearnot, for the purpose of dealing as avengers of blood with gentiles; in fact, they formed a kind of death society, despera- does, thugs, hashshashiyun — in plain English, assas- sins in the name of the Lord. The Mormons declare categorically the whole and every particular to be the calumnious invention of the impostor and arch apos- tate, Mr John C. Bennett."

John Hyde, a seceder, states that the Danite band, or the United Brothers of Gideon, was organized on the 4th of July, 1838, and was placed under the com- mand of the apostle David Patten, who for the pur- pose assumed the name of Captain Fearnot."*

^' John Corrill says that some time in June a secret society was formed of a few individuals who should be agreed in all things, and stand by each other, right or wrong, under all circumstances. Next to God was tlie tirst presi- dency; and they bound themselves by the most solemn covenants before the almighty that the presidency should be obeyed. 'Who started this society I know not,' writes Corrill; 'but Doctor Samson Arvard was the most promi- nent leader and instructor, and was assisted by others. The first presidency did not seem to have much to do with it, . . .but I thought they stood as v.ire- workers behind the curtain.' 'Arvard was very forward and indefatigable in accomplishing their purposes, for he devoted his whole talents to it, and spared no pains; and, I thought, was as grand a villain as his wit and ability v/ould ad- mit of. . .They ran into awful extremes,' seeming to think that they were called upon toexecute the judgmentsof Godon all their enemies. 'Dr Aivardrcccived orders from Smith, liigdon, and company to destroy the paper containing the constitution of the Danite society, as, if it should be discovered, it would be considered treasonable. He did not, however, obey the orders, bat after he was made prisoner he handed it to General Clark.' Kklders Mormonism, 143. The constitution is published in Bennett's Mormonism Exposed, 2G5. 'The oath by which the Danites were bound in Missouri was altered in a secret council of the inquisition at Nauvoo so as to read: "In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I do solemnly obligate myself ever to regard the propiiet and first presidency of the church of .Jesus Christ of Latfcer-Day Saints, as the supreme head of the church on earth, and to obey them in all things the same as the supreme God; that I will stand by my brethren in danger or difficultj', and will uphold the presidency, right or wrong; and that I will ever conceal, and never reveal, the secret purposes of this society, called the Daughter of Zion. Should I ever do the same, I hold my life as the forfeiture, in a caldi'on of boiling oil."' Id., 267. The origin of the name Dauglitcr of Zion may be found in JNIicah iv. 1,3.

'-' Hyde's Mormonism, lO-i. In Id., 104-5, Hyde writesas follows: 'When the citizens of Carroll and Daviess counties, Mo. , began to threaten the Mormons with expulsion in 1S38, a death society was organized under the direction of Sidney liigdon, and with the sanction of Smith. Its first captain M'as Captain Fearnot, alias David Patten, an apostle. Its object was the punishment of the obnoxious. Some time elapsed before finding a suitable name. They desii-ed one tliat shoukl seem to combine spiritual authority with a suitable sound. Micah iv. 1 3, furnished the first name. ' 'Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion 1 for 1 will make thy horn iron, and thy hoofs brass; and thou shall beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain iinto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth." This furnished them with ​

126 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

It is the opinion of some that the Danito band, or Destroying Angels as again they are called, was or- ganized at the recommendation of the governor of Mis- souri as a means of self-defence against persecutions in that state.^^ Thomas B. Marsh, late president of the twelve apostles, and president of the church at Far West, but now a dissenter, having "abandoned the faith of the Mormons from a conviction of their immorality and impiety," testifies that in October, 1838, they "had a meeting at Far West, at which they appointed a company of twelve, by the name of the Destruction Company, for the purpose of burning and destroying." '^^

The apostate Bennett gives a number of names by which the same society, or divisions of it, were known, such as Daughter of Zion, Big Fan,-^ "inasmuch as it fanned out the chaff from the wheat," Brother of Gideon, Destructive, Flying Angel. The explana- tion of Joseph, the prophet, was that one Doctor Sampson Arvard, who after being a short time in the church, in order to add to his importance and influence secretly initiated the order of Danites, and held meet-

a pretext; it accurately described their intentions, and they called themselves the Daughters of Zion. Some ridicule was made at these bearded and bloody daughters, and the name did not sit easily. Destroying Angels came next; the Big Fan of the thresher that should thoroughly purge the floor was tried and dropped. Genesis, xlix. 17, furnished the name that they finally assumed. The verse is quite significant: " Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider shall fall backward." The sous of Dan was the style they adopted; and many have been the times that they have been adders in the path, and many a man has fallen backward, and has been seen no more.'

2^ See Smucker's Hist. Mor., 108.

^* ' The members of this order were placed under the most sacred obliga- tions that language could invent. . .to stand by each other unto death, . . .to sustain, protect, defend, and obey the leaders of the church under any and all circumstances unto death.' To divulge a Danite secret was deatli. There were signs and tokens, the refusal to respect which was death. 'This sign or token of distress is made by placmg the right hand on the right side of the face, with the points of the fingers upwards, shoving the hand upwards until the ear is snug up between the thumb and forefinger.' ice's Mormonism, 57-8.

^' 'The society was instituted for the purpose of driving out from the holy land, their earthly paradise, in Missouri, all apostates or dissenters . . . They make no scruple whatever to commit perjury, when deemed requisite for the welfare of their church. . .The number of Danites is now, 1S42, about 2,000 or 2,500. From the elite of the Danites, or Daughters of Zion, twelve men are selected, who are called Destructives, or Destroying Angels, or Fly- ing Angels.' Mormonism Exposed, 265-9. ​

HAUN'S MILL TRAGEDY. 127

ings organizing his men into companies of tens and fifties, with captains. Then he called the officers together and told them that they were to go Ibrth and spoil the gentiles; but the}^ rejected the proposal, and Arvard was cut off from the church. All the present leaders of the Mormon church deny emphat- ically the existence of any such band or society as a part of or having anything to do with their organiza- tion."^

=^'It was intended to enable him,' Smith, 'more effectually to execute his clandestine purposes.' '"Milking the gentiles" is a kind of vernacular tci-in of the ]\Iormons, and signifies the obtaining of money or property from those who are not members of the Mormon church.' Id., 272-S. 'In an ex- amination before Judge King, Samuel (Samson?) Arvard testified that the first object of the Danite band was to drive from the county of Caldwell all those who dissented from the Mormon church, in which they succeeded admir- ably . . . The prophet Joseph Smith, Jr, together with his two counsellors Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdou, were considered the supreme head of the church, and the Danite baud felt themselves as much bound to obey them as to obey the supreme God.' John Corrill swore: '1 think the original object of the Danite band was to operate on the dissenters; but afterwards it grew into a system to carry out the designs of the presidency, and if it was neces- sary, to use physical force to uphold the kingdom of God.' John Cleminson said: 'Whoever opposed the presidency in what they said or desired done should be expelled the county or have their lives taken.' Wm W. Phelps, for a season an apostate, testified: 'If any pei'son spoke against the j^resi- dency they would hand him over to the hands of the Brothers of Gideon.' 'The object of the meeting seemed to be to make persons confess and repent of their sms to God and the presidency.' ' Wight asked Smith, Jr, twice if it had come to the point now to resist tlie laws. Smith replied the time had come when he should resist all law.' Ferris' Utah and the 3formou.<<, 92-3. Arvard 'swore false concerning a constitution, as he said, that was introduced among the Danites, and made many other lying statements in connection therewith.' il/em. to Leg., in Greene's Facts, 32-3. Says John Corrill in his Brief History, 'A company, called the Fur Company, was raised for the pur- pose of procuring provisions, for pressing teams, and even men sometimes, into the army in Caldwell.' Reed Peck testified that small companies were sent out on various plundering expeditions; that he 'saw one of these com- panies on its return. It was called a fur company. Some had one thing, some another; one liad a featherbed; another some spun yam, etc. This fur they were to take to the bishop's store, where it was to be deposited, and if they failed to do this it would be considered stealing.' Kidder's Mormonism, 147-8. Affidavit of the city council, Nauvoo: 'We do further testify that there is no such thing as a Danite society in this city, nor any combination other than the Masonic of which we have any knowledge. ' Signed by Wil- son Law, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and 10 others. Millennial Star, xix. 614. References to authorities speaking of the Danites: Maekaifs The Mor- mons, 89-90, IIG; Lees Mormonism, 57-8, 156-GO; Olshausen, Gesch. d. Morm., 48; Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 89; Beadle's Life in Utah, 389-90; Burton's Citi/ of the Saints, 359; Smacker's Hist. Mor., 108-9; Youncfs Wife No. 19, 47-^, 268; Busch, Gesch. der Morm., 87; MarsMl's Through Am., 215-16; Hyde's Mormonism, 104-5; Bennett's Mormonism Exposed, 2G3-72; Miller's First Families, G4-5; Hichnnn's Brhjham's Destroyincj Angel; Hall's Mormon- ism, 9i-5; E. M. Webb, in Utah County Sketches, MS., 49-50, the last named referring to the rules and principles of the order of Enoch. ​

128 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

Meanwhile was being matured the bloodj tragedy which occurred on the 30th of October near Haun's^' mill, on Shoal creek, about twenty miles below Far West. Besides the Mormons living there, were a num- ber of emigrants awaiting the cessation of hostilities before proceeding on their journey. It had been agreed between the Mormons and Missourians of that locality that they would not molest each other, but live togetlier in peace. But the men of Caldwell and Daviess counties would not have it so. Suddenly and without warning, on the day above mentioned, mounted and to the number of two hundred and forty, they fell upon the fated settlement. While the men were at their work out of doors, the women in the house, and the children playing about the yards, the crack of a hundred rifles was heard, and before the firing ceased, eighteen of these unoffending people were stretched dead upon the ground, while many more were wounded. I will not enter upon the sick- ening details, which are copious and fully proven; suffice it to say, that never in savage or other w^ar- fare was there' perpetrated an act more dastardly and brutal.^^ Indeed, it was openly avowed by the men of Missouri that it was no worse to shoot a Mormon than to shoot an Indian, and killing Indians was no worse than killing wild beasts.

A somewhat singular turn affairs take at this junc- ture. It appears that Boggs, governor, and sworn enemy of the saints, does not like the way the war is going on. Here are his own soldiers fighting his own voters, the state forces killing the men who have put

^^ Spelled also Hahn, Holm, Hawn.

3"' immediately after this, there came into the city a messenger from Hauu's mill, bringing the intelligence of an awful massacre of the people who were residing in that place, and that a force of two or three hundred, detached from the main body of the army, under the superior command of Cul. Ashley, but under the immediate command of Capt. Nchemiah Compstock, who, the day previous, had promised them peace and protection, but on re- ceiving a copy of the governor's order to exterminate or to expel, from the hands of Col. Ashley, he returned upon them the following day, and surprised and massacred the whole population, and then came on to the town of Far West, and entered into conjunction with the main body of the army.' Mackay's The Mormons, 88-9. ​

BOGGS' TACTICS. 129

him in office ! This will not do. There is bad blun- dering somewhere. It is the Mormons only that are to be killed and driven off, and not the free and loyal American Boggs voters. Ho, there! Let the state arms be turned against these damned saints! On what pretext? Any. Say that they are robbing, and burning, and killing right and left, and that they swear they will never stop until they have the country. Easy enough. No doubt they do kill and burn; the men of Missouri are killing them and burning; why should they not retaliate? No doubt there are thieves and bad men among them, who take advan- tage of the time to practise their vile calling. No doubt there are violent men among them, who swear roundly at those who are hunting them to death, who swear that they will drive them off their lands and kill them if they can. But this does not make insur- rectionists and traitors of the whole society. No matter; down with the Mormons! And so Boggs, the governor, seats himself and coolly writes off to his generals to drive out or exterminate the vermin. ^^

•*' Several of them write to Boggs: 'There is no crime, from treason down to petit larceny, but these people, or a majority of them, have been guilty of; all, too, under the counsel of Joseph Smith, Jr, the prophet. They have com- mitted ti'easou, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny, and perjury. They have societies formed under the most binding covenants in form, and the most horrid oaths, to circumvent the laws and put them at defiance; and to plunder and burn and murder, and divide the spoils for the use of the church.' Tucker's Mormonism, 1G4.

And thus Boggs makes answer, Oct. 27th: 'Since the order of the morn- ing to you directing you to cause four hundred mounted men to be raised within your division, I have received by Amos Rees, Esq., and Wiley E. Will- iams, Esq., one of my aids, information of the most appalling character, which changes entii'cly the face of things, and places the Mormons in the attitude of an open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made open war upon the people of this state. Your orders are therefore to hasten your operations, and endeavor to reach Richmond in Ray county, with all possible speed. The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driv^en from the state if necessary, for the public good. Their outrages are beyond all description. If you can increase your force, you are authorized to do so to any extent you may think necessary. I have just issued orders to Maj.- Gen. WoUock of Marion county to raise 500 men, and to march them to tlie northern part of Daviess, and there unite with Gen. Doniphan of Claj^ who has been ordered with 500 men to proceed to the same point for the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the Mormons to the north. They Iiave been directed to communicate with you by express. You can also communicate ■with tliem if you find it necessary. Instead, therefore, of proceeding as at first directed, to reinstate the citizens of Daviess in their homes, you will pro- Hi8T. Utah. 9 ​

130 THE) STORY OF MORMONISM.

Thus it appears that the Missouri state militia, called out in the first instance to assist the Mormon state militia in quelling a Missouri mob, finally joins the mob against the Mormon militia. In none of their acts had the saints placed themselves in an attitude of un- lawful opposition to the state authorities ; on the other hand, they were doing all in their power to defend themselves and support law and order, save in the matter of retaliation.

The first the saints of Caldwell county know of the new tactics is the appearance, within half a mile of Far West/^ of three thousand armed men, under Gen- eral Lucas, generals Wilson and Doniphan being pres- ent, and General Clark with another army being a few days' march distant. General Lucas states that the main business there is to obtain possession of three in- dividuals, whom he names, two of them not Mormons; and for the rest he has only to inform the saints that it is his painful duty either wholly to drive them from the state or to exterminate them.^^ Gilliam and his comrades, who as disguised Indians and white men had been fighting the Mormons, now that the state es- pouses their cause, join Lucas.^* General Atchison was at Richmond, in Ray county, when the gover- nor's exterminating order was issued. "I will have nothing to do with so infamous a proceeding," he said, and immediately resigned.

ceed immediately to Richmond and there operate against the Mormons. Brig. - Gen. Parks of Ray has been ordered to have 400 men of his brigade in readi- ness to join you at Richmond. The whole force will be placed under your command.'

^^ 'The governor's orders and these military movements were kept an entire secret from the citizens of Caldwell and Daviess . . . even the mail was with- held from Far West.' Pratt's Autobiography, 200.

^^ ' This letter of the governor's was extremely unguarded, and seems to have been too literally construed. . .Making all due allowance for the exas- perated state of the public mind, these threats of extermination sound a lit- tle too savage in Anglo-Saxon ears. . .But they were impolitic, because they gave plausibility to the idea that the saints were the victims of a cruel and unrelenting religious persecution, and furnished them with one of the surest means of future success.' Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 90-1.

^* 'About the time that Lucas came out to Far West, Smith assembled the Mormon troops, and said that for every one they lacked in number of those ^vho came out among them, the Lord would send angels, who would figlit for them, and they should be victorious.' Kidder's Mormouism, 143. ​

IMPOLITIC MEASURES. 131

The day following his arrival General Lucas orders George M. Hinckle, colonel commanding the Mormon militia, to bring before him Joseph Smith, junior, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Caleb Baldwin, and Alexander McRae, which is done, though not without charge of fraud and treachery on the part of Hinckle. A court-martial is immediately held; the prisoners are all condemned, and sentenced to be shot next morning at eight o'clock. "In the name of humanity I protest against any such cold-blooded murder," says General Doniphan who further threatens to withdraw his men if such a course is persisted in; whereupon the sentence i? not executed. All the Mormon troops in Far West, however, are required to give up their arms and con sider themselves prisoners of war.^^ They are furthei required to execute a deed of trust pledging all Mormon property to the payment of the entire cost of the war, and to give a promise to leave the stato before the coming spring.

Thus in the name of law and justice the Mormon soldiery, whose chief crime it would seem was that, in common with the rest of the militia, they had assisted

3^ They were ' confined to the limits of the town for about a week.' During this time much property was destroyed, and women abused. The number ot arms taken was G3U, besides swords and pistols, worth between $12,000 and $15,000. Hem. to Ler/., in Greene's Facts, 15. 'General Lucas demanded the Caldwell militia to give up their arms, which was done to the number of up- ward of 500, the rest of the troops having; fled during the night. After the troops had surrendered, the city of Far West was surrounded by the robbers, and all the men detained as prisoners, none being permitted to pass out ot the city, although their families were starving for want of sustenance.' Pratt's Persecution, 84. 'We determined not to resist anything in the shape of authority, however tyrannical or unconstitutional irught be the proceed- ings against us. With this request (to surrender ourselves as prisoners), we readily complied as soon as we were assured by the pledge of the honor of the principal officers that our liv^es should be safe. . .We were marched into camp, surrounded by thousands of savage-looking beings, many of whom were painted like Indian warriors. These all set up a constant yell, like so many blood-hounds let loose on their prey. . .A hint was given us tliat the general officers held a secret council. . .in whicli we were all sentenced to be shot.' Pratt's Persecution, SO-2. 'If the vision of the infernal regions could suddenly open to the mind, with thousands of malicious iiends, all clamoring, exulting, deriding, blaspheming, mocking, railing, raging, and foaming like a troubled sea, then could some idea be formed of the hell which we had en- tered.' Pratt's Autohiorjraphy, 204. See Yoiuuj's Woman's Experience, MS.; Home's Migrations, j\IS. ​

132 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

the state in putting down a mob, were forced at the point of the bayonet to sign an obligation, binding not only themselves but the civilians within their settlements to defray the entire expense of the war. This proceeding was sufficiently peculiar; but, as a climax to their conduct, some of the officers and men laid hands on the Mormons' property wherever they could find it, taking no thought of payment.

General Clark ^'^ now comes forward, and entering the town of Far West, collects the saints in the pub- lic square, reads them a lecture,^^ and selecting fifty of their number, thrusts them into prison. Next day forty-six of the fifty are taken to Richmond,^^ and after a fortnight's confinement half are liberated, ^^

'^'^ Pratt says that Clark has been commended by some writers for his heroic, merciful, and prudent conduct toward the Mormons, but that the truth is that he openly avowed his approval of all the proceedings of Gen. Lucas, and said that he should not alter his decrees. Autobwjraphi/, 227-8. 3 It runs as follows: 'Gentlemen, You whose names are not attached to this list of names will now have the privilege of going to your fields to ob- tain corn for your families, wood, etc. Those that are now taken will go from thence to prison, to be tried, and receive the due demerit of their crimes, but you are now at liberty, all but such as charges may be hereafter preferred against. It now devolves upon you to fulfil the treaty that you have entered into, the leading items of which I now lay before you. The first of these you have already complied with, which is, that you deliver up your leading men to be tried accorduig to law. Second, that you deliver up your arms; this has been attended to. The third is, that you sign over your property to de- fray the expenses of the war; this you have also done. Another thing yet re- mains for you to comply with, that is, that you leave this state forthwith, and whatever your feelings concerning this affair, whatever your innocence, it is nothing to me. Gen. Lucas, who is equal in authority with me, has made this treaty with you. I am determined to see it executed. The orders of the governor to me were, that you should be exterminated, and not al- lowed to continue in the state, and had your leaders not been given up and the treaty complied with before this, you and your families would have been destroyed, and your houses in ashes.'

^8 Pratt says in his Autobiography, p. 210, that a revelation to Joseph Smith buoyed up their spirits continually during their captivity. 'As we arose and commenced our march on the morning of the 3d of November, Joseph Smitli spoke to me and the other prisoners in a low but cheerful and confidential tone; said he, "Be of good cheer, brethren; the word of the Lord came to me last night that our lives should be given us, and that whatever we may suffer during this captivity, not one of our lives should be taken.'" 'When we ar- rived in Richmond as prisoners there were some fifty others, mostly heads of families, who had been marched from Caldwell on foot, distance thirty miles, and were now penned up in a cold, open, unfinished court-house, in which situation they remained for some weeks, while their families were suffering severe privations.' Id., 227.

A court of inquiry was instituted at Richmond before Judge Austin A. King, lasting from the 11th to 2Sth of November. Pratt says: 'The judga coukl not be prevailed on to examine the conduct of the murderers and rob​

THE SAINTS MUST GO. 133

most of the remainder being set free a week later on giving bail. Lucas ^'^ then retires with his troops, leaving the country to be ravaged by armed squads that burn houses, insult women, and drive off stock ad libitum^^ The faint pretext of justice on the part of the state, attending forced sales and forced settle- ments, might as well have been dispensed with, as it was but a cloak to cover official iniquity.*'^

bers who had desolated our society, nor would he receive testimony except against us. . .The judge in open court, while addressing a witness, proclaimed that if the members of the church remained on their lauds to put in another crop thoy should be destroyed indiscriminately, and their bones be left to bleach on the plains without a burial... Mr Doniphan, attorney for the defence, and since famed as a general in the Mexican war, finally advised the prisoners to offer no defence; "for," said he, "though a legion of angels from the opening heavens should declare your innocence, the court and populace have decreed your destruction.". . .Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rig- don, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, and Alexander McRay were committed to the jail of Clay co. on charge of treason; and Morris Phelps, Lyman Gibbs, Darwin Chase, Norman Shearer, and myself were committed to the jail of Richmond, Ray co. , for the alleged crime of murder, said to be committed in the act of dispersing the bandit Bogart and his gang. ' Id. , 230-3.

^ Ingloriously conspicuous iu the Missouri persecutions were generals Clark, Wilson, and Lucas, Colonel Price, Captain Bogart, and Cornelius Gil- liam, 'whose zeal in the cause of oppression and injustice, ' says Smith, 'was unequalled, and whose delight has been to rob, murder, and spread devasta- tion among the saints, . .All the threats, murders, and robberies which these officers have been guilty of are entirely ignored by the executive of the state, who to hide his own iniquity must of course shield and protect those whom he employed to carry into effect his murderous purposes.' Times and Sea- sons, i. 7.

• ' Pages of evidence, both Mormon and anti-Mormon, might be given, and

can indeed at any time be produced, to prove the commission of innumerable wrongs and revolting atrocities on the part of the people of Missouri, while abetted therein by state forces, commanded by state officers, and all under guidance of the state governor.

• '^ There is abundance of testimony from disinterested sources, even from

the opposers of Mormonism themselves, to prove the persecution on the part of the people of Missouri unjust and outrageous. I will quote only three from many similar comments that have been made on this subject, and all, be it re- membered, emanating from the open and avowed enemies of this religion.

Says Prof. Turner of Illinois college: 'Who began the quarrel? Was it the Mormons? Is it not notorious, on the contrary, that they were hunted like wild beasts, from county to county, before they made any desperate re- sistance? Did they ever, as a body, refuse obedience to the laws, when called upon to do so, until driven to desperation by repeated threats and assaults from the mob? Did the state ever make one decent effort to defend them as fellow-citizens in their rights, or to redress their wrongs? Let the conduct of its governors, attorneys, and the fate of their final petitions an- swer. Have any who plundered and openly massacred the Mormons ever been brouglit to the punishment due to their crimes? Let the boasting mur- derers of begging and helpless infancy answer. Has the state ever remuner- ated even those known to be innocent, for the loss of either their property or their arms? Did either the pulpit or the press through the state raise a note of remonstrance or alarm? Let the clergymen who abetted and the editors ​

134 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

It did not seem possible to a community convicted of no crime, and living in the nineteenth century, under the flag of the world's foremost republic, that such fla- grant wrongs as the Boggs exterminating order, and the enforced treaty under which they were deprived of their property, could be carried into eflect. They ap- pealed, therefore, to the legislature,^^ demanding jus- tice. But that body was too much with the peo- ple and with Boggs to think of justice. To make a show of decency, a committee was appointed and sent to Caldwell and Daviess counties, to look into the matter, but of course did nothing. Another was appointed with like result. Debates continued with more or less show of interest through the month of December. In January, 1839, the Mormons were plainly told that they need expect no redress at the hand of the legislature or other body of Missouri.

who encouraged the mob answer.' Correspondence Joseph Smith, 2. On the 16th of March, 1839, the editor of the Quincy Argus wrote as follows: 'We have no language sufficiently strong for the expression of our indignation and shame at the recent transaction in a sister state, and that state Missouri, a stn^e of which we had long been proud, alike for her men and history, but now so fallen that we could wish her star stricken out from the bright con- stellation of the Union. We say we know of no language sufficiently strong for the expression of our shame and abhorrence of her recent conduct. She has wi-itten her own character in letters of blood, and stained it by acts of merciless cruelty and brutality that the waters of ages cannot efface. It will be observed that an organized mob, aided by many of the civil and military officers of Missouri, with Gov. Boggs at their head, have been the prominent actoi's in this business, incited, too, it appears, against the Mormons by polit- ical hatred, and by the additional motives of plunder and revenge. They have but too well put in execution tlieir threats of extermination and expul- sion, and fully wrealied their vengeance on a body of industrious and enter- prising men who had never wronged nor wished to wrong them, but on the contrary had ever comported themselves as good and honest citizens, living under the same laws, and having the same right with themselves to the sacred immunities of life, liberty, and property.' 'By enlightened people the Mor- mons were regarded as the victims of misguided vengeance in Missouri. The ruffianly violence they encountered at the hands of lawless mobs, in several instances eventuating in deliberate murder, finds no extenuation in any alleged provocation. The due process of law might have afforded adequate redress for the criminalities of which they should be found guilty on legal trial. Such was the view of the subject rightly taken by the people of Illinois and of the world, though it may have been wrongfully applied in favor of the cause of the persecuted.' Tucher^s Mormonism, 166.

• ^ A memorial was sent to the legislature of Missouri, dated Far West,

Dec. 10, 1838, setting forth these facts, and praying that the governor's novel, unlawful, tyrannical, and oppressive order be rescinded. It was signed by Edward Partridge, Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor, Theodore Turley, Brigham Young, Isaac Morley, George W. Harris, John Murdock, John M. Burk. ​

GLORIOUS PERSECUTION. 133

There was no help for them; they must leave the state or be killed; of this they were assured on all sides, publicly and privately.

And now iDegins another painful march — painful in the thought of it, painful in the telling of it. It is midwinter; whither can they go, and how? They have homes, but they may not enjoy them; land which they have bought, houses which they have built, and barns and cattle and food, but hereabout they are hunted to death. Is it Russia or Tar- tary or Hindostan, that people are thus forced to fly for opinion's sake? True, the people of the United States do not like such opinions; they do not like a religious sect that votes solid, or a class of men whom they look upon as fools and fanatics talking about taking the country, claimed as theirs by divine right; but in any event this was no way to settle the diffi- culty. Here are men who have been stripped in a moment of the results of years of toil — all that they have in the world gone; here are women weighed down with work and care, some whose husbands are in prison, and who are thus left to bear the heavy burden of this infliction alone; here are little chil- dren, some comfortably clad, others obliged to en- counter the wind and frozen ground with bare heads and bleeding feet.

Whither can they go? There is a small following of the prophet at Quincy, Illinois; some propose to go there, some start for other places. But what if they are not welcome at Quincy, and what can they do with such a multitude? There is no help for it, however, no other spot where the outcasts can hope for refuge at the moment. Some have horses and cattle and wagons; some have none. Some have tents and bedding; some have none. But the start is made, and the march is slowly to the eastward. In the months of February and March**

• • 'On the 20th of April, 1839, the last of the society departed from Far

West. Thus had a whole people, variously estimated at from ten to fifteen ​

13d

THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

over one hundred and thirty families are on the west bank of the Mississippi unable to cross the river, which is full of floating ice. There they wait and suffer; they scour the country for food and clothing for the destitute; many sicken and die.

Finally they reach Quincy, and are kindly received. Not only the saints but others are there who have human hearts and human sympathies. Indeed, upon the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri the

Settlements in Illinois.

people of Illinois took a stand in their favor. The citizens of Quincy, in particular, offered their warmest sympathy and aid, on the ground of humanity. A select committee, appointed to ascertain the facts in the case, reported, on the 27th of February, 1839, "that the

thousand souls, been driven from houses and lands and reduced to poverty, and had removed to another state, during one short veinter and part of a spring. The sacrifice of property was immense.' Pratt's Autobiography, 245. ​

ATTITUDE OF ILLINOIS AND IOWA. 137

strangers recently arrived here from the state of Mis- souri, known by the name of latter-day saints, are entitled to our sympathy and kindest regard." The working-men of the town should be informed "that these people have no design to lower the wages of the laboring class, but to procure something to save them from starving." Finally it was resolved: "That we recommend to all the citizens of Quincy, in all their intercourse with the strangers, that they use and observe a becoming decorum and delicacy, and be particularly careful not to indulge in any conver- sation or expressions calculated to wound their feel- ings, or in any way to reflect upon those who, by every law of humanity, are entitled to our sympathy and commiseration."*^

How in regard to neighboring states'? In case the people of Illinois soon tire of them, what will they then do? From Commerce, Isaac Galland writes to Robert Lucas, governor of Iowa, asking about it. The answer is such as one would expect from the average American citizen — neither better nor worse. It is such, how^ever, as to condemn throughout all time the conduct of the people of Missouri.*^

• ^ Pratt's Persecution of the Saints, 185.

• ^ 'On my return to this city,' writes Lucas from the executive office at

Burlington, Iowa, 'after a few weeks' absence in the interior of the terri- tory, I received your letter of the 25th ult. [Feb. 1839], in which you give a short account of the sufferings of the people called Mormons, and ask whether they could be permitted to purchase lands and settle upon them in the terri- tory of Iowa, and there worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, secure from oppression, etc. In answer to your inquiry, I would say that I know of no authority that can constitutionally deprive them of this right. They are citizens of the United States, and are all entitled to all the rights and privileges of other citizens. The 2d section of the 4th article of the constitution of the United States (which all are solemnly bound to support) declares that "the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states;" this privilege extends in full force to the territories of the United States. The first amendment to the constitution of the United States declares that "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of re- ligion or pi-ohibiting the free exercise thereof. " The ordinances of congress of the 13th July, 1787, for tlie government of the territory nortli-west of the river Ohio, secures to the citizens of said territory and the citizens of the states thereafter to be formed therein, certain privileges which were by the late act of congress organizing the territory of Iowa extended to the citizens of this territory. The first fundamental article in that ordinance, which is ​

138 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

During these trying times the prophet was moving about among his people, doing everything in his power to protect and encourage them. Late in Septem- ber he was in the southern part of Caldwell county, whence in October he passed into Carroll county, where he soon found himself hemmed in by an en- raged populace. He appealed to the people, he ap- plied to the governor, but all to no purpose. After- ward he went to Daviess county, and then back to Far West, where he was arrested and incarcerated with the others. Shortly afterward the prisoners, now

declared to be forever unalterable except by common consent, reads as fol- lows, to wit : No person demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly man- ner shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments in said territory. These principles I trust will ever be adhered to in the territory of Iowa. They make no distinction between religious sects. They extend equal privileges and protection to all; each must rest u^jon its own merits and will prosper in proportion to the purity of its prin- ciples, and the fruit of holiness and piety produced thereby. With regard to the peculiar people mentioned in your letter, I know but little. They had a community in the northern part of Ohio for several years, and I have no rec- ollection of ever having heard in that state of any complaint against them of violating the laws of the country. Their religious opinions I conceive have nothing to do with our political transactions. They aro citizens of the United States, and are entitled to the same political rights and legal protection that other citizens are entitled to. The foregoing are briefly my views on the sub- ject of your inquiries.'

In a memorial sent to Washington in the autumn of 1839, it was claimed by the Mormons that their property destroyed in Jackson co. was worth $120,000; that 12,000 souls were banished; that they purchased and improved lands in Clay co. , and in three years were obliged to leave there with heavy loss; that they then purchased and improved lands in Daviess and Carroll counties; that for the most part these counties were wild and uncultivated; that they had converted them into large and well improved farms, well stocked, which were rapidly advancing in cultivation and wealth; and that they were finally compelled to fly from these counties. In a petition pre- sented by Sidney Pagdou to the state of Pennsylvania, it is stated that 'Lil- burn Boggs, governor of the state, used his executive influence to have us all massacred or driven into exile; and all this because we were not lawless and disobedient. For if the laws had given them a sufiicient guaranty against the evils complained of. . .then would they have had recourse to the laws. If we had been transgressors of laws, our houses would not have been rifled, our women ravished, our farms desolated, and our goods and chattels destroyed, our men killed, our wives and children driven into the prairies, and made to suS'er all the indignities that the most brutal barbarity could inflict; but would only have had to suff"er that which the laws would inflict, which were founded in justice, framed in righteousness, and administered in humanity. . . Why, then, all this cruelty ? Answer : because the people had violated no law; and they could not be restrained by law, nor prevented from exercising the rights according to the laws, enjoyed, and had a right to be protected in, in any state of the Union. ' Mr Corrill remarks : ' My opinion is, that if the Mormons had been let alone by the citizens, they would have divided and subdivided, so as to have completely destroyed themselves and their power as a people in a short time. ' ​

IN" PRISON. 139

consisting of the prophet Joseph Smith, with Sid- ney Kigdon, Hyruui Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Lyman Wight, Amasa Lyman, and George W. Pobinson, were removed to Independence; why they did not know, but because it was the hot-bed of mobocracy, they said, and peradventure they might hickily be shot or hanged. A few days later they were taken to Pichmond and put in irons, and later to Liberty jail in Clay county, where they were kept confined for four months. Habeas corpus was tried, and many petitions were forwarded to the authorities on their be- half, but all to no purpose. At length they obtained a hearing in the courts, with a change of venue to Boone county where they were still to be incarcerated. Pigdon had been previously released on habeas corpus, and one night, when the guard was asleep. Smith and the others escaped and made their way to Quincy.

"I was in their hands as a prisoner," says Smith, "about six months; but notwithstanding their deter- nnnation to destroy me, with the rest of my brethren who were with me, and although at three different times we were sentenced to be shot without the least shadow of law, and had the time and place appointed for that purpose, yet through the mercy of God, in answer to the prayers of the saints, I have been preserved, and delivered out of their hands."^^

• In 1S39 Carlin was governor of Illinois, and on him the governor of

Missouri made a formal demand for the surrender to the authorities of Smith and Rigdon, but little attention was paid to it. One of the most complete documents extant covering this period is, Facts Relative to the Expulsion oj the Mormons, or Latter-day Saints, from the State of Missouri under the Ex- terminating Order. By John P. Greene, an authorized representative of the Mormons (Cincinnati, 1S39). The work consists of 43 Svo pages, and was written for the purpose of showing to what wrongs the Mormons had been subjected at the hands of the people and politicians of Missouri, and also to obtain contributions for the destitute. The contents are laigely documen- tary, and if we allow for some intensity of feeling, bear the impi'ess of truth.

Pointing in the same direction but less pretentious and less important is Correspondence between Joseph Smith, the prophet, and Col. John Wentworth, editor of the ' Chicago Democrat, ' and member of congress from Illinois; General James Arlington Bennett, of Arlington House, Long Island; and the Honor- able John C. Calhoun, Senator from South Carolina, in which is given a sketch of the life of Joseph Smith, Rise and Progress of the Church of Latter-day and their perseciition by the state of Missouri; with the pecidiar views

leph Smith in relation to Political and Religious matters generally; to

.a is added a concise account of the present state and prospects of the city of ​

140 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

Notwithstanding their enormous losses, and the ex- treme indigence of many, the saints were not all as destitute of credit as they were of ready means, if we may judge by their business transacted during the year 1839. Bishop Knight bought for the church part of the town of Keokuk, Iowa, situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, forty miles above Quincy, Illinois. He also purchased the whole of another town-site called Nashville, six miles above Keokuk. Four miles above Nashville was a settlement called Montrose, part of which Knight bought, together with thirty thousand acres of land.*^

Opposite Montrose, on the east bank of the Mis- sissippi where was a good landing, stood a village

Nauvoo. (New York, 1844). With a title-page from which so much infor- mation is to be derived, we must not expect too much from the book itself. A portion of this correspondence was published in the Times and Seasons.

Late Persecution of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ten thousand American citizens robbed, plundered, and banished; others impris- oned, and others martyred for their Religion. With a sketch of their Rise, Prog- ress, and Doctrine. By P. P. Pratt, Minister of the Gospel. Written in prison (New York, 1840). This is a 16mo vol. of 215 pages, most of which is devoted to the Missouri persecutions, with but little other history, except what is thrown in incidentally. An appendix of 37 pages is made up mostly from Greene's Facts. Eratt gives a graphic account of his life in piison, and of tlie means whereby, with the cooperation of his wife, he rescued from jail the manuscript of this book, which was written there. After mentioning them, he says: 'Thus, kind reader, was this little book providentially, and I may say mirac- ulously, preserved, and by this means you have it to read.' The first edition was published at Detroit, Michigan, the book consisting then of 84 pages.

Full reference for the persecutions of the Mormons in Missouri, 1831-39. Memorial to Legislature Mass. in 1844, against such conduct, in Times and Seasons, i. 17-20, 33-6, 49-56, 65-6, 81-6,94, 97-104, 113-16, 128-34, 145-50, 161-7, 177; v. 514-19; Pratt's Persecution of the Saints, 21-215; Utah Tracts, no. 4, 56-64; Pratt's Autobiography, 190-237, 311-22, 336-40; Smucker's Hist. Mor., 80; Deseret News, Dec. 27, 1851, Nov. 29 and Dec. 27, 1851, June 30, 1809; Mackay's The Mormons, 106-14; Tucker's Origin and Prog. Mor., 100-6; Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 138-76; Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 87-8, 90; White's Ten Years in Or., 144; Taylder's Mormon's Own Book, xliii.- xlvi.; Gunnison's Mormons, 104-14; Millennial Star, xx v., 535-6, 550-2, 599- 600, 014-16, 031; Burnett's Rec, 56; Beadle's Life in Utah, 60; Lee's Mor- monism, 55-90; Tullidge's Women, 116-74; Richards' Narrative, MS., 6-9; Young's Wife No. 19, 43-53; Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1869; Stenhouse, Les Mormons, 154-71; Liberty T'ribune; Margaret Smoot's Experiences of a Mor- mon Wife, MS., 2-3: Farnham's Travels Rocky Mts., 6; Bertrand's Mem. Mor., 51; Busch, Gesch. der Mor., 85-7, 90-7; Juvenile Instructor, xv. 78; Kidder's Mormonism, 133-5; Iowa Frontier Guardian, March 21, 1849; Rabbi- son's Growth of Towns, MS, 2-5.

^® ' Since their expulsion from Missouri a portion of them, about one hun- dred families, have settled in Lee county, Iowa Territory, and are generally considered industrious, inoffensive, and worthy citizens.' Letter from Robert Lucas, governor of Iowa, to A. Ripley, dated Jan. 4, 1840. ​

FOUNDING OF NAUVOO. 141

called Commerce, where were some twenty liotises. This was purchased by the saints, with the lands sur- rounding, and a town laid out which was named Nauvoo, "from the Hebrew, which signifies fair, very beautiful, and it actually fills the definition of the word; for nature has not formed a parallel on the banks of the Mississippi from New Orleans to Ga- lena." The post-oflfice there was first called Com- merce, after the Mormons had purchased the village, but the name was changed to that of Nauvoo in May, 1840.*^ The place was started by a company from New York, but it was so sickly that when the agent for the Mormons came they were glad to sell. The Mormons drained it and made the place comparatively healthy. On his escape from prison. Smith visited Commerce among other places, and seeing at once the advan- tages of its site, determined to establish there the headquarters of the church. For so great had his power now become, so extensive his following, that he might choose any spot whereon to call into existence a city, had but to point his finger and say the word to transform a wilderness into a garden. During the winter of 1840 the church leaders applied to the leg- islature of Illinois for several charters, one for the city of Nauvoo, one for agricultural and manufactur- ing purposes, one for a university, and one for a mili- tary body called the Nauvoo Legion. The privileges asked were very extensive, but were readily granted; for the two great political parties were pretty equal in numbers in Illinois at this time, and the leaders of the party in office, perceiving what a political power these people were, determined to secure them.

• ^ ' Nauvoo was one of the names of one of the numerous petty chiefs in

British India.' Ferris' The Mor., 97. 'Nauvoo is a Hebrew word, and sig- nifies a beautiful habitation for man, carrying with it the idea of rest; it is not, however, considered by the Mormons their final home, but a resting place only; for they only intend to remain there until they have gathered force sufficient to enable them to conquer Independence in Jackson co., Mis- souri, which is one of the most fertile, pleasant, and desirable countries on the face of the earth, possessing a soil unsurpassed in any region. Indepen- dence they consider their Zion, and there they intend to rear their great tem- ple, the comer-stone of which is already laid. There is to be the great gath​

142 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

There were now saints everywhere, all over the United States, particularly throughout the western portion; there were isolated believers, and small clus- ters, and small and great congregations. There were also many travelling preachers, men full of the holy ghost, or believing themselves so, who travelled without purse or scrip, whom no bufFetings, insults, hunger, or blows could daunt, who feared nothing that man could do, heaven's door being always open to them. See now the effects of these persecutions in Missouri. Twelve thousand were driven from their homes and set moving by Boggs and his gen- erals; three fourths of them found new homes at Quincy, Nauvoo, and elsewhere; but three thousand, who, but for the persecutions, would have remained at home and tilled their lands, were preaching and proselyting, making new converts and establishing new churches wherever they went. One of their number, William Smith, was a member of the Illi- nois legislature. In the very midst of the war they were preaching in Jackson county, among their old enemies and spoilers, striving with all their souls to win back their Zion, their New Jerusalem. From New York, February 19, 1840, Brigham Young, H. C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, and Parley P. Pratt indited a letter to the saints at Commerce, speaking of the wonderful progress of the faith, and of their own in- tended departure for England.^*'

Thus, despite persecution, the saints increased in number year by year. Before the end of 1840 there were fifteen thousand souls at Nauvoo, men, women, and children, not all of them exiles from Missouri, but from every quarter, old believers and new con- verts from different parts of the United States, from Canada, and from Europe; hither came they to the city of their God, to the mountain of his holiness.

ering place for all the saints, and in that delightful country they expect to find their Eden, and build the New Jerusalem. ' Bennett's Mormonlsm Exp. , 192-3. ^"See J. D. Hunter's letter of Dec. 26, 1839, from Jackson county, 111., in Times and Seasons, i. 59. ​

CHAPTER VI.

THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

1840-1844.

The City of Nattvoo— Its Temple and University — The Nauvoo Le- gion—The Mormons in Illinois— Evil Eepoets— Revelation on Polygamy— Its Reception and Practice— The Prophet a Candi- date FOR THE Presidency — The ' Nauvoo Expositor ' — Joseph Ar- rested — Governor Ford and his Measures — Joseph and Hyrum Proceed to Carthage — Their Imprisonment— The Governor's Pledge— Assassination of the Prophet and his Brother — Char- acter OF Joseph Smith — A Panic at Carthage— Addresses of Rich- ards AND Taylor — Peaceful Attitude of the Mormons

To the saints it is indeed a place of refuge, the city of Nauvoo, the Holy City, the City of Joseph.^ It stands on rolling land, covering a bed of limestone yielding excellent building material, and bordered on three sides by the river which here makes a majestic curve, and is nearly two miles in width. The abo- rigines w^ere not indifferent to the advantages of the spot, as the presence of their mounds testifies. In area it is three miles by four. The city is regularly laid out in streets at right angles, of convenient width, along which are scattered neat, whitewashed log cabins, also frame, brick, and stone houses, with grounds and gardens. It is incorporated by charter,^ and contains the best institutions of the latest civilization; in the

^ 'Among the more zealous Mormons, it became the fashion at thts time (1845) to disuse the word Nauvoo, and to call the place the holy city, or the city of Joseph.' Mackay's The Mormons, 191.

^ The charter granted by the legislature was signed by Gov. Carlin Sept. 16, 1S40, to take effect Feb. 1, 1S4I. ' So artfully framed that it was found that the state government was practically superseded within the Mormon cor- poration. Under the judicial clause its courts were supreme.' McBride in International Review, Feb. 1882. Charters were also granted to the university and the Nauvoo legion. Times and Seasons, ii. 281.

(143 J ​

144 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

country are hundreds of tributary farms and planta- tions. The population is from seven to fifteen thou- sand, varying with the ebb and flow of new converts and new colonizations.^

Conspicuous among the buildings, and chief archi- tectural feature of the holy city, is the temple, glisten- ing in white limestone upon the hill-top, a shrine in the western wilderness whereat all the nations of the earth may w^orship, whereat all the people may in- quire of God and receive his holy oracles.* Next in

' The blocks contain ' four lots of eleven by twelve rods each, making all comer lots. . .For three or four miles upon the river, and about the same dis- tance back in the country, Nauvoo presents a city of gardens, ornamented with the dwellings of those who have made a covenant by sacrifice. . .It will be no more than probably correct, if we allow the city to contain between 700 and 800 houses, with a population of 14,000 or 15,000.' Times and Sea- sons, iii. 936. A correspondent of the New York Herald is a little wild when he writes about this time: 'The Mormons number in Europe and America about 150,000, and are constantly pouring into Nauvoo and the neighboring country. There are probably in and about this city and adjacent territories not far from 30,000.' Fifteen thousand in 1840 is the number given in Mackay's The Mormons, 115, as I mentioned in the last chapter. A con-e- spondent's estimate in the Times and Seasons, in 1842, was for tlie city 7,000, and for the immediate surroundings 3,000. Phelps, in The Prophet, estimates the population during the height of the city's prosperity in 1844 at 14,000, of whom nine tenths were Mormons. Some 2000 houses were built the first year. Joseph Smith in Times and Seasons, March 1842, says: 'We number from six to eight thousand here, besides vast numbers in the county around, and in almost every county in the state.'

• The structure was 83 by 128 feet, and 60 feet high. The stone was quar-

ried within city limits. There was an upper story and basement; and in the latter a baptismal font wrought after the manner of King Solomon's brazen sea. A huge tank, upon whose panels were painted various scenes, and ascent to which was made by stairs, was upborne by twelve oxen, beautifully carved, and overlaid with gold. ' The two great stories, ' says a Mormon eye- witness, 'each have two pulpits, one at each end, to accommodate the Mel- chizedek and Aaronic priesthoods, graded into four rising seats, the first for the president of the elders and his two counsellors, the second for the president of the high priesthood and his two counsellors, and the third for the Melchizedek president and his two counsellors, and the fourth for tlie presi- dent of the whole church and his two counsellors. There are thirty hewn stone pilasters which cost about $3,000 apiece. The base is a crescent new moon; the capitals, near 50 feet high; the sun, with a human face in bold re- lief, about two and a half feet broad, ornamented with rays of light and waves, surmounted by two hands holding two trumpets.' All was crowned by a high steeple surmounted with angel and trumpet. The cost was nearly $1,000,000, and was met by tithes contributed by some in money or produce, and by others in labor. The four corner-stones of tlie temple were laid with much ceremony on the 6th of April, 1841, on the celebration of the anniver- sary of the church. Sidney Rigdon delivered the address, and upon the placing of the first stone, said: ' May the persons employed in the erection of this house be preserved from all hann while engaged in its construction, till the wliole is completed — in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ​

NAUVOO. 145

the City of Joseph in prominence and importance is the house of Joseph, hotel and residence, called the Nauvoo House,^ which is to the material man as the

ghost; even so, amen.' Times and Seasona, ii. 376. A revelation vs^as published in Jan. 1841. ' Let all my saints come from afar, and send ye swift messen- gers, yea, chosen messengers, and say unto them: " Come ye with all your gold and your silver and your precious stones, and with all your antiquities, and v.ith all who have knowledge of antiquities, that will come, may come; and bring the box-tree and the fir-tree and the pine-tree, together with all the precious trees of the earth, and with iron and with copper and with brass and with zinc and with all your precious things of the earth, and build a house to my name for the most high to dwell therein.'" Smucker's Hi>^t. Mor., 132. For reference notes on temple: minutes of conference, relating to building a church, etc. , see Times and Seasons, i. 185-7. Laying the foundation stone, Id. , ii. 375-7, 3S0-2; Mackay's The Mormons, 118-20; Smuckers Hist. Mor., 133. Laying of the capstone, Times and Seasons, vi. 926. Progress of its building, /(/., iii. 775-6; iv. 10-11; The Prophet, in Mackay's The Mormons, 189-91. Description of the temple with cut, Smncker's Mormons, 129; Ferris' The Mor- mons, 137-9; Pratt's Autobiography, 378; without cut, Smucker's Mormons, 202-A; Bertrand Mem. Morm., 61; Cincinnati Times; Deseret News, March 22, 1876; church claims. Times and Seasons, iii. 735-8; 767-9; v. 618-20; Kim- ball, in Times and Seasons, vi. 972-3; misappropriation of funds, ITaWs Mor- monism Exposed, 7-8. 'One of the most powerful levers which he had in- vented for moving his disciples in temple buikling was the doctrine of baptism for the dead... which baptism must be performed in the temple; no other place would give it the requisite efficacy.' Ferris' The Mormons, 97-8. 'An- other mode of making the dimes was that of giving the blessing, as it was said, from heaven. This was the sole province of the patriarch, which office, till his death, was exercised by Hiram. Smith. No blessing could be obtained for less than one dollar; but he frequently received for this service twenty, thirty, and even forty dollars.' Hall's Mormonism, 22.

^It was ordered by revelation given to Joseph Smith, Jan. 19, 1841, that a hotel should be built and called the Nauvoo House; that it should be erected under the supervision of George Miller, Lyman Wight, John Snider, and Peter Haws, one of whom should be president of a joint-stock company to be formed for the pui-pose, and that stock subscriptions should be for not less than lifty dollars nor more than fifteen thousand dollars by any one man, and that only by a believer in the book of Mormon. Vinson Knight, Hyrum Smith, Isaac Galland, William Marks, Henry G. Sherwood, and Will- iam Law were dii-ected by name to take stock. 'And now I say unto you, as pertaining to my boarding-house, which I have commanded you to build for the boarding of strangers, let it be built unto my name, and let my name be named upon it, and let my servant Joseph and his house have place therein from generation to generation.' The Nauvoo House Associaton was incor- porated Feb. 23, 1841, by George Miller, L5'man Wight, John Snider, and Peter Haws, and associates. Copy of act in Bennett's Hist. Saints, 204^5. Plan of city, with cuts of temple, baptismal font, and Nauvoo Legion, with description, in Bennett's Hist. Saints, 188-91, which is quite erroneous, the building being then not completed. I have taken this account chiefly from Phelps' description in The Prophet. The Nauvoo House, says Bennett, 'though intended chiefly for thei reception and entertaimnent of strangers and travellers, contains, or rather when completed is to contain, a splendid suite of apartments for the special accommodation of the prophet Joe Smith, and heirs and descendants forever.' Cut of temple, and best description of Nauvoo institutions, in Mackay's The Mormons, 115, 190-1. The Nauvoo House, in form of an L, had a frontage on two streets of 120 feet each, by a depth of 40 feet; the estimated cost was §100,000. Times and Seasons, ii. 369. Another building opened in Nov. 1843 was the Nauvoo mansion. Hist. Utah. 10 ​

146 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

temple to the spiritual man. Unfortunately both the one and the other are destined to an occupancy and enjoyment all too brief in view of the vast labor be- stowed upon them. Besides these buildings are the Hall of Seventies, in which is a library, the Masonic Hall, and Concert Hall; also there a university and other institutions are established, though having as yet no separate edifices.

The president of the university and professor of mathematics and English literature is James Kelly, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and a ripe scholar; Orson Pratt, a man of pure mind and high or- der of ability, who without early education and amidst great difficulties had to achieve learning as best he could, and in truth has achieved it; professor of lan- guages, Orson Spencer, graduate of Union Colkge and the Baptist Theological Seminary, New York; professor of church history, Sidney Rigdon, versed in history, belles-lettres, and oratory. In the board of recjents we find the leadino^ men of the church;® connected v/ith the university were four common- school wards, with three wardens to each.

In 1840 all the male members of the church be- tween the ages of sixteen and fifty were enrolled in a military organization known as the Nauvoo Legion, which eventually numbered some four thousand men, and constituted part of the state militia. It was di- vided into two cohorts, and then into regiments, bat- talions, and companies. Lieutenant-general Joseph Smith being commander-in-chief.^ The organization

^Chancellor, John C. Bennett; registrar, William Law; regents, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, William Marks, Samuel H. Smith, Daniel H. Wells, N. K. Whitney, Charles C. Rich, John T. Barnett, Wilson Law, John P. Greene, Vinson Knight, Isaac Galland, Elias Higbee, Robert D. Foster, James Adams, Samuel Bennett, Ebenezer Robinson, John Snider, George Miller, Lenos M. Knight, John Taylor, Heber C. Kimball. The tuition fees were five dollars per quarter, payable twice each quarter in ad- vance.

'Among his generals were Robert D. Foster, George W. Robinson, Charles C. Rich, W. P. Lyon, Davison Hibbard, Hirum Kimball, A. P. Rockwood; majors, Willard Richards, Ilosea Stout; colonels, John F. Weld, Orson Pratt, Francis M. Higbee, Carlos Gove, C. L. Higbee, James Sloan, George Schindle, Amasa Lyman, D, B, Smith, George Coulson, Alexander McRea, J, R, Back​

PROSPERITY AGAIN. 147

was modelled after the Roman legion. The men were well disciplined, brave, and eflicient. These troops carried their name to Utah, where they were reor- ganized in May 1857.

Though all are soldiers, there are no dandy warriors in their midst. Each one returns after drill to his occupation — to his farm, factory, or merchandise. Among other workshops are a porcelain factory es- tablished by a Staffordshire company, two steam saw- mills, a steam flouring-mill, a foundry, and a tool- factory. A joint-stock company is organized under the style of the Nauvoo Agricultural and Manufactur- ing Association. Just outside the city is a commu- nity farm, worked by the poor for their own benefit; to each family in the city is allotted one acre of ground; the system of community of property does not obtain.

Most of the people in and about Nauvoo are Mormons, but not all. The population is made up chiefly from the farming districts of the United States and the manufacturing districts of England; though uneducated, unpolished, and superstitious, they are for the most part intelligent, industrious, competent, honest, and sincere.^ With a shrewd head to direct,

enstos, L. Wood worth; captains, D. B. Huntington, Samuel Hicks, Amos Da- vis, Marcellus Bates, Charles Allen, L. N". Scovil, W. M. AUred, Justus Morse, John F. OIney, Darwiu Chase, C. M. Kreymyer, and others. 'Col. A. P. Rock- wood was drill-master. Rockwood was then a captain, but was afterward pro- moted to colonel of the militia, or host of Israel. I was then fourth corporal of a company. The people were regularly drilled and taught military tactics, BO that they would be ready to act when the time came for returning to .Jackson county, the promised land of our inheritance.' Lee's Mormonism, 112. 'Re- views were held from time to time, and flags presented, and Joseph appeared on all those occasions with a splendid staff, in all the pomp and circumstance of a full-blown military commander.' Ferris' Utah and the Mormonst, 100-1. 'At the last dress parade of the legion, he was accompanied in the field by a display of ten of his spiritual wishes or concubines, dressed in a line uniform, and mounted on elegant white horses.' Turlrr's Mormonism, 170. After the force reached Utah it was 'regularly drilled by competent officers, many of whom served in Mexico with the Mormon battalion under Gen. W. Scott. They are well armed, and perfectly fearless.' Hyde's Mormonism, 1S3. See further Times and Seasons, ii. 321-2, 417-18, 435, 517; iii. 054, 700-1, 718, 733-4, 921; Stenhouse's Tell It All, 30G; Deseret News, April 15 and July 1, 1857, July G, 1859; Gunnison's Mormons, 133; Smucker'a Hist. Mor., 149; Kidder's Mormonism, 182-9.

• Say3 the St Louis Atlas of September 1841: The people of Nauvoo 'hava ​

148 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

like that of the prophet, a wisdom like his to concen- trate, a power like his to say to ten thousand men, do this, and it is done, with plenty of cheap, virgin land, with a collective knowledge of all arts, and with hab- its of economy and industry, it were a wonder if they did not rapidly accumulate property, and some of them acquire wealth. This they do, though tithed by the church, and detested by the gentiles, and they prosper in a remarkable degree. Of course, in po- litical, as in spiritual and pecuniary affairs, the proph- et's word is law.

"Nauvoo is the best place in the world!" exclaims an enthusiastic saint. Nauvoo, the beautiful indeed! And as to the facilities, tranquillities, and virtues of the city, they are not equalled on the globe." Here the saints find rest. "No vice is meant to be toler- ated; no grog-shops allowed; nor would we have any trouble, if it were not for our lenity in suffering the world,^ as I shall call them, to come in and trade, and

been grossly misunderstood and shamefully libelled . . . The present population is between eight and nine thousand, and of course it is the largest town iu Illinois. The people are very enterprising, industrious, and thrifty. They are at least quite as honest as the rest of us in this part of the world, and probably in any other. Some peculiarities they have, no doubt. Their relig- ion is a peculiar one; that is, neither Buddhism, nor Mahometanism, nor Judaism, nor Christianity, but it is a faith which they say encourages no vice nor immorality, nor departure from established laws and xisages; neither polygamy, nor promiscuous intercourse, nor community of property ... Ar- dent spirits as a drmk are not in use among them. . .Tobacco, also, is a weed which they seem almost universally to despise. We don't know but that the Mormons ought to be expatriated for refusing to drink whiskey and chew tobacco; but vv"e hope the question will not be decided hastilj', nor until their judges have slept off the fumes of their own liquor and cigars.' 'They have enclosed large farms on the prairie ground, on Avhich they liave raised corn, wheat, hemp, etc., and all this they liave accomplished within the short space of four years. I do not believe there is another people in existence who could have made such improvements in the same length of time under the same circumstances. And here allow me to remark, that there are some here who have lately emigrated to this place, who have built themselves large and convenient homes in the town; others on their farms on the pi-airie, who, if they had remained at home, might have continued to live in rented houses all their days, and never once have entertained the idea of building one for themselves at their own expense.' Smacker's Mormoniinn, 159.

®( Jcntilcs were not excluded from the holy city. In Bennett's Hist. Saints, 158, is given an ordinance, dated March 1, 1841, running as follows: 'Be it ordained by the city council of the city of Nauvoo, that the catholics, pres- byterians, methodists, baptists, latter-day saints, quakers, episcopalians, universal ists, unitarians, mohammedans, and all other religious sects and de- nominations whatever, shall have toleration and equal privileges in this city; ​

THEY CATCH AN EEL. 149

enjoy our society, as they say." "They are a wonder- fully enterprising people," writes a gentile. "Peace and harmony reign in the city. The drunkard is scarcely ever seen, as in other cities, neither does the awful imprecation or profane oath strike upon your ear; but while all is storm and tempest and confusion abroad respecting the Mormons, all is peace and har- mony at home."^*^

About this time there comes to Joseph Smith a somewhat singular individual making somewhat singu- lar advances. He is a yankee huckster of the first class, only for his merchandise, instead of patent clocks and wooden nutmegs, he offers for sale theol- ogy, medicine, and a general assortment of political and military wares. The thing is a fraud, and be- fore long he openly announces himself as such. As his manhood is far inferior to his duplicity, so his name — the Reverend General John C. Bennett, M. D., U. S. A., president, chancellor, and master in chancery — as we may observe, is subordinate to his titles. He has ability, he has brains and fingers ; but

and should any person be guilty of ridiculing, abusing, or otherwise depre- ciating another in consequence of his religion, etc., he shall be fined and imprisoned.' On the 17th of March, 1842, the Female Relief Society of Nau- voo was organized.

'" In the Salem Advertiser was published an account of the visit to Nauvoo in 1843 of one Newhall, a lecturer, who says: 'I sought in vain for anything that bore the marks of immorality, but was both astonished and highly j^leased at my ill success. I could see no loungers about the streets nor any drunk- ards about the taverns. I did not meet with those distorted features of ruf- fians, or Avith the ill-bred and impudent. I heard not an oath in the place, I saw not a gloomy countenance; all were cheerful, i^olite, and industrious.' Smuch€r\i Mormons, 154-5. 'The mayor of Nauvoo deserves praise for the stand he has taken in favor of temperance. The retailing of anient spu-its is not permitted within the bounds of the corporation.' Kidder's ^lormoiis, 189. For city ordinance prohiljiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in less quantity than a quart except as a physician's prescription, see Bennett's Hist. Saints, 27. On the 12th of Nov. 1841, B. 'Winchester writes from Nauvoo: 'You would be astonished, if you were here, at the vast improvement made in so short a space of time. . .You will see nothing like idleness, but will hear the hum of industry, nay, may I not say more, the voice of merriment. . .Now as to the morality of the people here: . . .you know if you should throw cold water into melted iron the scene would be temfic, because the contrast would be so great; so it is with the saints: if a small portion of wickedness happens among them, the contrast between the spirit of Cluist and that of darkness is so great that it makes a great upstir and tremendous e?;citemeut; this is the ease here; but in other communities the same amount of crime would hardly be noticed. ' ​

160 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

he has no soul. He comes to Joseph and says, "Hail, master!" and worships him. He professes all that the Mormons profess, and more; he does all that the Mormons do, and more. So the prophet makes him general of his legion, mayor of the city, cliancellor of the university, not to mention his func- tions as attorney, doctor, and privy counsellor. All this is done with quick despatch; and the result is that the great man soon tires of his greatness, or thinks to become yet greater by turning rene- gade, and writing a book against his late friends and associates."

'1 Representative of a class of anti-Mormon literature, not altogether creditable to either its authors or supporters, are the following:

The History of the Saints; or, An Expose of Joe Smith and Ilormonisin. By John C. Bennett. (Boston, 1842.)

The Abominations of 3Iormo7iis7n Exposed; containing many Fads and Doctrines concerning that singular people d/irin/ seven years membership with them, from 1840 to 1S47. By William Hall. (Cincinnati, 1832.)

Mormonism: Its Leaders and Designs. By John Hyde, Jim., formerly a Mormon elder and resident of Salt Lake City. (New York, 1857.)

Mormonism Unveiled; or. The Life and Confessions of the late Mormon bishop, John D. Lee; Written by Himself; Embracing a history of Mormonism from its inception down to the present time, luith an exposition of the secret his- tory, signs, symbols, and crimes of the Mormon Church; cdso the true history of the horrible butchery known as the Mountain Meadow Massacre. (St Louis, 1877.)

The role of traitor is not one which in any wise brings credit to the performer, either from one side or the other. However great the service he may render us, we cannot but feel that he is false-hearted and vile. JNIany of the apostates, though they may not have written books, declare that tacy joined the sect only to learn tlieir secrets and then expose them. These are the most contemptible of all. There may be cases where a young or inex- perienced person, through ignorance or susceptibility, has been carried away for a time contrary to the dictates of cooler judgment; but the statements of such persons are justly regarded with more or less suspicion. Far better is it, far more honest and praiseworthy, for him who, having unwittingly made a mistake, seeks to rectify it, to go his way and say nothing about it; for if lie talks of writing a book for tlie good of others, as a warning, and that they may avoid his errors, few will believe him. ' If he has proved traitor once,' they say, 'he will deceive again; and if he is sincere, we cannot more tlian half believe him, for such an individual is never sure of himself.' John C. Bennett, general, doctor, methodist preacher, and quack, is from his own fallowing a bad man. He devotes some liity pages to the vindication of his character, which would not be necessary were he honest; other ilfty are given to defaming his late worshipful patron Joseph .Sn:iith, which would never have been written were he true. When a man tlirus;.s in your face three-score certificates of his good character, each signed by from one to a dozen persons, you may know tliat he is a very great rascal. Nor are we disappointed here. This author is a charlatan, pure and shnplc; suc'.i was lie wlicn he joined the IMormous, and before and after. AVe may credit him fully v/hen he says, 'I never believed in them or their doctrines;' although in a letter to Dr Dyer, dated Nauvoo, Jan. 23, 1842, he declares: ' My heart ia ​

SPECIMENS OP LITERATURE. 151

There is another individual of similar name, and yet more similar character, James Arlington Ben-

filled with indignation, and my blood boils within me, when I contemplate the vast injustice and cruelty which Missouri has meted out to the great philautliropist and devout Cliristian, General Joseph Smith, and his honest and faithful adherents. ' When, however, he affects patriotism and lofty devo- tion to the welfare of his fellow-men, pretending,' to have joined the society in order to frustrate 'a daring and colossal scheme of rebellion and usurpa- tion throughout the north-western states, . . .a despotic military and religious empire, the head of which, as emperor and pope, was to be Joseph Smith,' we know that the writer is well aware that it is all nonsense. Nor do we be- lieve that he was induced to print his book ' by a desire to expose the enor- mous iniquities which have been perpetrated by one of the grossest and most infamous impostors that ever appeai'ed upon the face of the earth.' Wc have heard and are still hearing so much of that kind of talk from some of the worst men in the community that it is becoming somewhat stale, and if the general really does not know better than this why he wrote his book, perhaps he will excuse mo for telling him that it was, first, for notoriety; sec- ond, for money; and third, in order to make people think him a better and greater man than he is. When a man's ambition is pitched so low, it is a pity that he should not have the gratification of success. Bravely, then, the general proceeded to offer himself on the altar of his country, 'to overthrow the impostor and expose his iniquity ' by ' professing himself a convert to his doctrines;' for 'the fruition of his hopeful project would, of course, have been preceded by plunder, devastation, and bloodshed, and by all the count- less horrors which invariably accompany civil war.' We are still more im- pressed when we read: 'Iw'as quite aware of the danger I ran' — that of being kicked out of some back door — 'but none of these things deterred me.' Without wasting more time and space upon the man, we are well enough pre- pared to place a proper estimate upon his statements, particularly when we take into account that, in May of tlie very year in which his book was pub- lished, he went before Alderman Wells and made affidavit that Joseph Smith was an honest, virtuous, sincere, high-minded, and patriotic man. He says himself that he solemnly swore to be true to the Mormons and not reveal their secrets, and now in breaking that oath he has the audacitj' to ask us to regard him as an honest and truthful man! In some measure, at least, the statements of such men as this, taken i^p by the press and people, and reiter- ated throughout the land, have given the latter-day saints a worse name than they deserve. Some of his charges are too coarse and filthy for repe- tition. I will cite a few specimens, however, to show how far mendacity is sometimes carried in this direction.

Joseph Smith is a 'monster who is using the power he possesses to gratify a brutal lust;' 'a Giovanni of some dozens of mistresses;' 'must be branded as a consummate knave;' one 'of the most heaven-daring liars the world ever saw;' 'notoriously profane;' 'gets most gloriously drunk,' etc. In the most vulgar and licentious language, he goes on to describe what he calls the 'Mor- mon seraglio,' 'the female inquisition,' 'Joe's cloistered, chambered, and cy- priau maids.' He revels in all the wickedness of this kind during past ages which he can make up, rolling it as a sweet morsel under his tongue, finally- affirming that ' the holy Joe outdoes them all !' He says that any woman be- longing to the society who lapses from virtue is condemned to a life of se- ci-et pi-ostitution, the most trustworthy members of the church having knowl- edge of it; another clas:j indulge in illicit intercourse by special permission of the prophet; another class are the spiritual wives. All this is said, be it re- membered, M'ithin two or three monlhs of the time he made oath that Smith was one of the best and purest of men. Next comes an exposii of several se- cret societies, the Danites, Destroying Angel, etc., and finally a list of mur- ders and robberies perpetrated ia that section during a certain time,, all of ​

152 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

nett, also called general, whom Mackay, Smucker, a reviewer in the Edinburgh, and others have mis-

which are cliarged to these agencies. Sidney Rigdon is praised by Bennett; so much the worse for Sidney. Doubtless this book played its part in bring- ing about the assassination of Joseph Smith. Says John Taylor of John C. Bennett: 'At one time he was a good man, but fell into adultery, and was cut off from the church for his iniquity;. . .lie was also expelled from the mu- nicipal court, of which he was a member. ' Public Di.icussioii, 5-G.

William Hall was an old gentleman of simple mind and manners when he wrote liis book; he appears to be earnest and truthful. As he says of the saints, so I should say of him: he meant well, but he should beware of bad leaders. Hall was not a great man in the church, like Bennett; nevertheless, like Bennett he wrote a book, but unlike Bennett's, his book reads like that of an honest man, although it is full of bitter accusations against the Mor- mons. AH such works should be taken with some degrees of allowance; for when a person begins to rail against any people or individual, he is apt to be carried away and misrepresent, intentionally or unintentionally. The period that Hall's experiences cover is quite an important one, including as it does the Illinois expulsion and the exodus to Great Salt Lake.

Quite different from any of his brother apostates is John Hyde, Jr, who cannot by right be placed in the category of vulgar ranter or hypocritical re- former. I regard him as an able and honest man, sober and sincere. He does not denounce the sect as hypocrites. 'I know your sincerity; I know also your delusion,' he writes. He does not even denounce all the leaders; even to Brigham Young, whom he mercilessly scourges, he gives credit for ability and sincerity. 'That you are sincere in your conlidence in Joseph Smith, and in your own piretensions, ' he writes to him, 'I believe and ac- knowledge; but at the same time, that you are leading confiding thousands to misery and ruin is evident ... I admire your genius, but I deplore its exercise. ... I admire the industry of your people, their notable labors, and their general sincerity; but I dejilore their delusion, and I denounce their deceivers.' Hi? book is dedicated 'To the honest believers in Mormonism,' and he says to them: 'In writing the following work I was not actuated by the base design of helping to malign an unpopular people, nor by the unworthy one of ad- ministering to a mere idle curiosity. ' John Hyde was born in England, in 1833, and joined the Mormons there when fifteen years of age. He was al- most immediately ordained a priest and began to preach. In 1851 he was ordained one of the seventies, an oiEce of equal power but inferior jurisdic- tion to that ol one of the twelve, and joined John Taylor in France. With about 400 Mormon converts he sailed from Liverpool in Feb. 1853, visited Nau- voo, and thence crossed the plains in company Avitli 2,500 brethren to Salt Lake City, where he married and began teaching school. In Feb. 1854 ho was 'in- itiated into the mysteries of the Mormon endowment,' became shaken in the faith, and the following year, having accepted a mission to the Hawaiian Isl- ands, he threw off' Mormonism and preached and wrote against it instead of for it. In his book he gives a description of Salt Lake City in 1853-4, a chap- ter entitled 'Practical Polygamy,' and others on Mormon Mysteries, Educa- tion, Brigham Young, Book of Mormon, Theoretical Polygamy, and Sup- pression of Mormonism. Hyde's book would be quite useful were lie not so loose about his dates; it would appear from the way he throws statements together that in the absence of a date he guessed at it.

Still another style of book is that of John D. Lee, purporting to have been written by him, but as a matter of fact written for the most part by W. W. Bishop while Lee was in prison condemned to death. The work, there- fore, though the story of a Mormon, and of one who under the circumstances could not be expected to be very friendly, is not by a Mormon. The book is not essentially different from the matter published in the newspapers about the time of Lee's execution, under the tii:ie of 'Confessions.' Lee gives the ​

SOCIAL CONDITIONS. 153

taken for the original. The quahty of impudence appears as fully in the second Bennett as in the first. ^^

As I have before observed, the misfortunes of the saints by no means dampened their ardor, or impov- erished them as a society. Some lost their all; in that case the others helped them. Old scores were

story of his life, simply and honestly enough; to this is added an account of the Mountain Meadow massacre, and of the arrest, trial, and execution of Lee. He was a native of Illinois, born in 181'2, worked hard and with suc- cess while a young man, became an enthusiastic Mormon in 1837, and went to Missouri. With everything there he was highly delighted; he attended devoutly all the services of the church, and was duly i^romoted. He was with his people at Nauvoo, migrated with them to Utah, and was adopted by Brigham Young. In 1877 he was executed for participation in the Moun- tain Meadow massacre, excusing himself while cui'sing others.

Mormonism and the Mormons.; A Historical Vieiu of the rise and progress of the sect seff-.sti/led Latter-day Saints; by Daniel P. Kidder, is the title of a IGmo vol. of 342 pages, published in New York, and bearing no date, though entered for copyright in the year 1842. Mr Kidder certainly wrote a book on short acquaintance with the subject; as he says up to Nov. 1840, he knew little about it. On the 13th of that month he found himself on board a Mormon steamboat called the Fulton Cit;/, on the Mississippi River, bound for Nauvoo. Nearly all the passengers and crew were Mormons. Desirous of knowing more of them, and holding to the maxim that by teach- ing most is to be learned, he procured copies of the Book of Mormm, Doc- trine and Covenants, Iloivc's Mormonism Unveiled, and CorrilVs Brief His- tory, and seating himself before them made his book, which consists chiefly of extracts from the above sources tied together with occasional remarks neither startling nor original. In Nauvoo, without date, but probably about 1841, were published two chapters of nonsense about women and their relations and duties to men, entitled. An Extract from a Manuscript entitled The Peace-maker, or the Doctrines of the Millennium, being a Treatise on Religion and Jurisprudence, or a New System of Religion and Politics. For God, my Country, and my Rights. By Adney Hay Jacob, an Israelite, and a Sheplierd of Israel. Nauvoo, III. J. Smith, Printer. In a preface the reader is told: 'The author of this work is not a Mormon, although it is printed by their pi-css.'

I'^In a letter to the prophet dated October 24, 1843, which has become quite famous, James A. Bennett pretends to have been baptized by Brigham Young, a ceremony that he alludes to as 'a glorious frolic in the clear blue ocean' with 'your most excellent and worthy friend. President B. Young.' 'Nothing of this kind,' he goes on to say, 'would in the least attach me to your person or cause. I am capable of being a most undcviating friend, without being governed by the smallest religious influence . . .Isay, therefore, go ahead, you have my good wishes. You know Mahomet had his right-hand man,' etc. Smith replied at length in a rcligio-philosophic strain. INIore lias been made of this correspondence than it deserves. It was printed in Times and Seasons, iv. 371-3, in Cor. between Joseph Smith. . .Wentworth. . .and . . .Calhoun, as well as in 3IacJ:a'/'s The Mormons, and Smucher's Hist. Mor. See also Edinburgh Review, April 1854, 334. Mackay observes: ' Joscpli's re- ply to this singular and too candid epistle was quite as singular and inflnitely more amusing. Joseph was too cunning a man to accept, in plain terms, the rude but serviceable offer; and he rebuked the vanity and presumption of Mr Bennett, while dexterously retaining him for future use.' All this would have some signidcancc if Smith had been in the least deceived, or had the writer of this letter and tlie original rascal been one. ​

154 THE STORY OP MORMONISM.

cancelled, old debts forgiven." There were no great riches among them; yet he who had nothing could not be called jDoor amid such surroundings. Head over all, temporal and spiritual, was Joseph Smith, not only prophet and president, but general and mayor." He had now approached the summit of his career, and for a brief space was permitted to enjoy his fame, wealth, and power in some degree of quiet. They were salutary lessons that the prophet and his people had received in Missouri, and for a time their speech and manner were less arrogant than of old. But soon prosperit}^ was far greater here than ever before, and as with Israel of old the chastise- ments of the Lord were soon forgotten. From the moment they crossed the river from Missouri into Illinois their position as men and members of the commonwealth was changed. In the one state they were regarded as fanatics, dangerous to the govern- ment and to the people, having associated assassins to do their bidding, and holding to a doctrine of divine inheritance with regard to all that country; in the

" 'At the conference in April 1840, the prophet delivered a lengthy ad- dress upon the history and condition of the saints. He reminded the breth- ren that all had suCFered alike for the sake of the gospel. The rich and the poor had been brought to a common level by persecution; that many of the brethren were owing debts that they had been forced to contract in order to get out of jNlissouri alive. Ho considered it was unchristian-like for the bi'ethren to demand the payment of such debts; that he did not wish to screen any one from the just ))aymcnt of Iiis debts, but he did think that it would be for the glory of the kingdom if the people would, of their own will, freely forgive each other for all their existing indebtedness, one to the other, then renew their covenants with almiiihty God and with each other; refrain from evil, and live their religion; by this means, God's holy spirit would sup- port and bless the people. The people were then asked if they were in favor of thus bringing about the year of jubilee. All that felt so incline 1 were asked to make it known by raising their hands; every hand in the audience was raised.' The prophet then declared all debts of the saints, to and from each other, forgiven and cancelled. He then gave the following words of advice to the people: 'I wisii you all to know that because you were justified in taking property from j'our enemies while engaged in war in Missouri, which was needed to support you, there is now a dilfercnt condition of things existing. We are no longer at war, and you must stop stealing. When the right time comes we will go in force and take the whole state of Missouri. It belongs to us as an inherit:.;iice: but I want no more petty stealing.' Lee's Mormoiihm, 110-11.

^'Smiih was first mayor. Feb. 1, 1841, Bennett was elected mayor and 80 continued till May 10, 1842, when Smith again assumed the office. ​

BACKSLIDING. 155

other they were esteemed as hard-working and thrifty American citizens, whose votes, to the party in power, were worth as much as those of the baptist or the methodist.

Such was their past and present status in the com- munity. They were now treated, pohtically and socially, with consideration, especially by politicians. Thomas Carlin, governor of Illinois, was their friend, and granted them all the privileges they asked; Rob- ert Lucas, governor of Iowa, was their friend, and 2:)romised them the protection due to every citizen of the United States, of whatsoever religion, creed, superstition, fanaticism, craze, or whatever people might choose to call "it.

But soon there came a governor, named Thomas Ford, who knew not Joseph. He was a well meaning man enough, not blood-thirsty like Boggs, nor strong and cool-headed like Carlin, nor yet a man of positive action and opinion hke Lucas; still. Ford was not a bad man, and if the saints had conducted themselves according to the wisdom of the world, they might in time, perhaps, have overcome the prejudices of the people. But prosperity seemed as fatal to them as adversity was profitable. All the best of heaven and earth was now theirs, and again Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked, revelations becoming less frequent as the cares of this world, the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life crept in among the people.

The city charter of Nauvoo^^ allowed the enact- ment of any laws not in conflict with those of the state or of the United States, and particularly that a writ of habeas corpus might be issued in all cases aris- ing under city ordinance. In the interpretation of this

'■^ Describing Nauvoo at this period, Linforth remarks: 'Before the close of 1S42 a vast improvement had taken place. The city, which then extended 3 or 4 miles on the river, and about tlie same distance back, had been regu- larly laitl oiriiito blocks, containing 4 lots of 11 by 12 rods each, between 700 and 800 houses had been erected, and the population numbered about l.">,000. Two steam-mills and 2 printing-presses existed, and buildings for various manufactures we^'C rapidly going up. In the mean time the temple and Nauvoo House were progressing.' Route from Liverpool to G. S. L. Valletj, 02. ​

156 THE STORY OF MOEMONISM.

provision the saints allowed themselves rather a wide latitude, even assuming authority opposed to superior powers, and sometimes questioning the validity of state documents not countersigned by the mayor ofNauvoo. The counties surrounding Hancock, in which was Nau- voo, were fearful of the prosperity of the saints, and of their political influence; there were angry words and bickerings between the opposing societies, and then blows. The old Missouri feud was kept alive by suits instituted against Smith and others/^ An attempt made to assassinate Governor Boggs was, of course, charged to the Mormons, and probably with truth. In fact, if we may believe their enemies, they did not deny it. Boggs had unlawfully ordered all the Mor- mons in Missouri killed if they did not leave the state: why had not they the same right, they argued, to break the law and kill him V^

Among the reports circulated, besides those of assassination and attempted assassination, the follow- ing will serve as specimens: That the plan of Smith

^^ When on his return from Quincy, to which place he had accompanied Hyriun Smith and William Law, who were on a mission to the east, Joseph was arrested tlie 5th of June, 1S41, on a warrant from Gov. Carlin to deliver huu to the Missouri state authorities. In return, Joseph Smith brought suit against J. II. Reynolds and II. G. Wilson for false imprisonment. This as well as other affairs of the kind kept up a bitter excitement.

^'On the Cth of May, 1S42, Gov. Boggs was fired at through a window, and narrowly escaped being killed. The crime was charged to 0. P. IJock- well, ' with the connivance and under the instructions of Joseph Smith. ' Hyde's Mormoimm, 105, 206. Boggs swore he believed Smith a party to the at- tempted assassination, and instituted legal proceedings. Maclcay's The j\[or- mons, 1.30. Bennett, Hist. Saints, 2SI-2, labors hard to prove that Smith wanted Boggs killed, and said as mucli, which it seems to me few would deny. Bennett states that in 1S41 Smith prophesied that Boggs would die by violent hands within a year. ' In the spring of the year 1842 Smith offered a reward of $500 to any man who would secretly assassinate Gov. Boggs. ' Joseph O. Boggs, brother of the governor, writes Bennett, Sept. 12, 1842, 'We have now no doubt of the guilt of Smith and Rockwell.' Id., 286. Rockwell was arrested, discharged, and went to Utah. ' Brigham has had him into the pulpit,' says Hyde, 'to address the meetings.' Wcread: ' Grin Porter Rockwell, the Mor- mon confmcd in our county jail some time since for the attempted assassination of ex-governor Boggs, was indicted by our last grand jury for escaping from the county jail some weeks since, and sent to Clay county for trial. Owing, how- ever, to some informality in the proceedings, he was remanded to this county again for trial. There was not sufficient proof adduced against iiim to justify an indictment for shooting at ex-governor Boggs; and the grand jr.ry, there- fore, did not indict him for that oli'ence.' I adependent Expositor ; Nihs' llecjis- ter, Sept. 30, 1843, ​

LIMITLESS PRETENSIONS. 157

was to take the county, then the state, after that the United States, and finally the whole world; that any section making a move against the saints should be destroyed by the Danites; that Smith declared his prophecies superior to law, and threatened that if not let alone he would prove a second Mahomet, and send streams of blood from the Rocky Mountains to the sea.

In an address to the saints at Nauvoo, September 1, 1842, Joseph stated that on account of the enemies in pursuit of him, both in Missouri and in Illinois, he deemed it best to retire for a time, and seek safety.^ He ordered his debts paid as they fell due, his prop- ert}'" to be sold if necessary to meet requirements, and exhorted all officers to be faithful to their trust. "When the storm is past I will return," he said; "and as for perils, they seem small things to me, for the envy and wrath of man have been my common lot all the days of my life." And again: "Verily thus saith the Lord, let the work of my temple, and all the works which I have appointed unto you, be continued and not cease. Let all the records be had in order, that they may be put in the archives of my holy temple. I will write the word of the Lord from time to time and send it to you by mail. I now close my letter for the present, for the want of more time, for the enemy is on the alert; and as the savior said, the prince of this world cometh, but he hath nothing in me."

Five days later the prophet sent an address to the saints, mainly touching the baptism for the dead, of which more hereafter. "Now what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth, glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and dead ; glad tidings of great joy. And again what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, de- claring the fulfilment of the prophets — the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness ​

158 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three wit- nesses to bear record of the book. The voice of Mi- chael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light. The voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness be- tween Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Boone county, on the Susquehanna River, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times. And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, and at sundry times and in divers places, through all the travels and tribulations of this church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

We come now to a most momentous epoch in the history of the church, to the most important act of the prophet during the entire course of his wonderful life, to the act of all others pregnant with mighty results, if we except the primary proceedings relative to the sacred book and its translation.

Twenty years had passed since the plates of Mor- mon had been revealed to Joseph, during which time he had suffered divers and continued persecution. He and his followers had been reviled and spit upon from the beginning; some of them had been robbed, and beaten, hunted down, imprisoned, and slain. Yet they had prospered; the church had rapidly increased, and its members were blessed with plenty. Their neighbors spoke much evil of them and com- mitted many violent acts. The saints were exceed- ingly annoying; they voted solid and claimed the whole world as theirs, including Jackson county, Missouri; they were wild in their thoughts, extrava- gant in their pretensions, and by no means temperate in the use of their tongues; they were not always prudent; they were not always without reproach.

Just how far certain members or leaders erred, bringing evil on all, it is impossible at this day to ​

ADVENT OF POLYGAiMY. 159

determine. The evidence comes to us in the form of rumors, general assertions, and bold statements from the mouths of men filled with deadly hate, and cannot be altogether trusted. Some of these have said that the leaders of the church, finding their power over the minds and bodies of their female associ- ates so greatly increased, so rapidly becoming abso- lute, could not resist temptation, but fell into grievous sins like Jeroboam and David, and were thereby obliged to adopt some plan either to cover or niake right their conduct.

It was easy for the gentiles to make such a charge appear plausible, in view of the fact that about this time the doctrine of plurality of wives as prac- tised and promulgated in the scriptures attracted much attention. Most of the other acts, customs, and ordinances of the old and new testaments had been adopted in common with those contained in the book of Mormon by the latter-day church; why should not this? Wives and C(mcubines without re- striction had been permitted to the worthy men of old; the holy scriptures had nowhere condemned the custom; God had at no time ordered otherwise. On the contrary, it seemed in the line of example and duty; it seemed necessary to make the holy fabric symmetrical and complete. True, it was not now in vogue with either Jews or Christians; but neither were miracles nor special revelations. Surely, if God disapproved, he would have so declared; his com- mands he makes clear; particularly acts heinous in his sight he denounces loudly and with many repetitions.

Thus argued the elders. They did not consider, nor indeed care for, the fact that, viewed from the stand- point of intellectual progress, the revival of polygamy, or concubinage, in common with other practices of the half-savaq-e Hebrews, was a retros^ression, a turn- ing back toward savagism. They found it sanctioned in the holy book in use by the most civilized nations of the earth, and they felt themselves able to make ​

160 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

it appear plausible. If any had the right to adopt part of the bible as their rule of conduct, accepting it all as true, they claimed the right to adopt the whole of it for their rule of conduct if they chose. It was civil- ization, and not the holy scriptures, that forbade? polygamy, and they cared very little comparatively for civilization.

Finall}^ on the 12th of July, 1843, while the chief men of the church were thinking the matter over, though saying little even among themselves, it is stated that there came to Joseph a revelation, the last of the prophet's revelations of which there is any record.

Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; as also Moses, David, and Solomon, my servants, as touch- ing the principles and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines: Behold! and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee, as touching this matter.

"Abraham received concubines, and they bare him. children, and it was accounted unto him for righteous- ness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also, and Jacob, did none other things than that which they were commanded. David also received many wives and concubines, as also Solomon, and Moses, my servant, as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of creation until this time, and in nothing did they sin, save in those things which they received not of me.

"David's wives and concubines were given unto him of me by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these thino^s did he sin as^ainst me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife : and, therefore, he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord. ​

EMMA EXHORTED. 161

"Verily, I say unto you, a commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself, and par- take not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offer- ing at 3^our hand, by convenant and sacrifice; and let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me.

"And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. And again, verily, I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses, and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she hath trespassed against me; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her and multiply her, and make her heart to re- joice.

"And again, as pertaining to the law of the priest- hood: if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then he is justified; he can- not commit adultery, for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that belonging unto him, and to none else; and if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him ; therefore he is justified."

It is said that as early as 1831 the will of the Lord in this respect had been revealed to Joseph. In translating the bible he had come upon the passages relating to plural wives and concubines, and had in- quired of the Lord what he should do. He w^as told to wait, and not make the matter public then, the peo- ple not yet having faith to receive it. It was one of the severest trials the church had yet been called upon to undergo, and the wisest circumspection was neces- sary lest Joseph should be repudiated by his followers

Hist. Utah. 11 ​

162 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

as a false prophet. So he approached persons singly, first the man of the family and then the woman. In 1841 Joseph began to take to himself plural wives, and his example was followed by some of the others. Finally, in order that all might know that he was not acting on his own responsibility alone, the revelation came, sanctioning and enforcing the system. This, as I have given it, is the orthodox and authorized ex- planation of the matter.

Thus came to the saints the doctrine of polygamy, first to the leaders and for a time kept secret, and finally to the whole church, as one of its most prom- inent tenets." For years it was known only to a few, and it was not formall}^ promulgated until after the great exodus, when the church had become well es- tablished in the valleys of the Yutas.^^

There were several reasons for adopting this course. First, the hate and obloquy which would be engendered by its publication, and the wide-spread and bitter oppo- sition it would meet. The work of missionaries in the field would greatly suffer. Many in the church would oppose it; women would rebel, while their sisters throughout Christendom would hold them in derision. It was all so new and strange. Even in theory it was startling enough; but put it in practice, and who could foretell the result? The very foundations of

'* John Hyde mentions a previous revelation. He says that about the year 1838 'Smith pretended to obtain a revelation from God authorizing him to practise polygamy, and began to practise it accordingly.' MormonUm, 203. See also Slater's Mormonism, 84, and Beseret News, Oct. 22, 1879. There is no truth whatever in this assertion. And yet John Hyde is regarded as pretty good authority; but in this loose way thousands of false statements have been made regarding the secrets of the saints.

^'This revelation was first published in the Deseret News in 1852, and next in the Millennial Star at Liverpool, England, in 1853. It is given entire elsewhere in this volume. The Edinburgh Review of April 1854, 335, says, 'Not many months have yet passed since the Mormon leaders have decided on a bolder policy and have publicly avowed this portion of the system,' M'hich shows that the fact of publication was not generally known to the gentilo Euro- pean world until two years after the official notice in Salt Lake City appeared. Copies of it will also be found in Doc. and Gov., 423-32; Yomufs Wife No. 19, 77-86; Ferris Utah and the Mormons, app.; Burton's City of the. Saints, 451-7; Tucker's Mormonism, 172-82; Smith's Rise, Prog, and Travels, 42-8; Pearl of Great Price, G4-70; Stenhouse's Tell It All, 135-8; and Stenhoust's Exposi of Polyijamy, 207-15. ​

POLYGAMY AT FIRST SECRET. 163

the church miglit thereby be broken up. If it must needs be, then let discretion be used. Let the mat- ter be broken to the church as it is able to receive it; let the system be introduced gradually, and practised secretly; by the chief men at first, and later by all/^^ It was indeed a heavy load that the .saints thus took upon themselves, wilhngly or unwillingly, in the ser- vice of God or in the service of Satan. Up to this

'^'^ It is denied by some that polygamy was practised by the Mormons at this date. In the Di'seret News of Oct. 22, 1879, are several statements under oath to the effect that between 1840 and 1843 Joseph taught the doctrine of celestial or plural marriage, that several women were sealed to him according to this doctrine, and this with the consent of Joseph's wife, Emma Smith. On the other hand, it is stated in the Salt Lake GUi) Tribune, Oct. 3, 1879, that Emma denied that her husband was ever married to another, or that, so far as she knew, he ever had improper relations with any woman. Elder Pratt reported at Piano, 111., in the summer of 1878, several instances of Joseph's having had wives sealed to him, one at least as early as April 5, 1841. 'Smith introduced (at Naiivoo) the system of spiritual wifeism, and had largely in- crease. 1 his household by celestial ensealment. This was the preliminary step of polygamy, or its practical adoption, though it had not yet been revealed as a tenet iu the Mormon creed.' Tucker'.i Mormonism, 170. The revelation was written after he had taken other wives. Stenhouse's Expos6 of Polnfiamij, 70. Jos. Smith adopts it and is sealed to Eliza Snow. TuUidge's Life of Yonu'j, Suppl. 22. In a letter to the Deseret News, Oct. 22, 1879, Eliza II. Snov/ signs her name as 'a wife of Joseph Smith the prophet.' 'Brigham Young delivered over to Jo Smith all his wives except one, and soon after Smith had a revelation that Young should be his successor as head of the church.' Slater's Mormonism, 84. John D. Lee says: 'I understood that Brig. Young's wife was sealed to Joseph. After his death Brig. Young told me that Joseph's time on earth was short, and that the Lord allowed him privileges that we could not have.' Mormonisjn, 147. Jos. Smith had taken some more wives, but the revelation required that he should do it without publicity (for fear of the mob). Richards Reminiscences, MS., 18. 'Joseph Smith lost his life entirely through attempting to persuade a Mrs Dr Foster, at Nauvoo, that it was the will of God she should become his spiritual wife; not to the exclusion of her husband, Dr Foster, but only to become his in time for eternity. This nefarious offer she confessed to her husband. Some others of a siuular nature were discovered, and Dr Foster, William Law, and others began to expose Smith. Their i)aper was burned, type and press de- molished, for which Smith was arrested, and afterward shot by Missourians, at Carthage, 111.' Hyde's Mormonism, 85.

' Smith and Noble repaired by night to the banks of the Mississippi, where Noble's sister was sealed to Smith by Noble, and the latter to another woman by Smith. These were the first plural marriages, and a son born to Noble the first child born in polygamy.' Young's Wife No. 19, 72-3. 'That polyg- amy existed at Nauvoo, and is now a matter scarcely attempted to be con- cealed among the Mormons, is certain.' Gunnison's Mormons, 120. On the other side, in Times and Seasons, iv. 143 (March 15, 1843), we read, 'The charge of advocating a plurality of wives is as false as the many other ridicu- lous charges brought against us.' In Id., v. 474 (March 15, 1844), Hyium Smith declares that no such doctrine is taught or pi-actised; and on p. 715 it is declared that 'the law of the land and the rules of the church do not allow one man to have more than one wife alive at once.' For additional denials by Parley Pratt, John Taylor, and others, see S. L. Tribune, Nov. 11, 1879. ​

164 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

time, though citizens of the commonwealth, they had not been in sympathy with other citizens; though rehgionists, they were in deadly opposition to all other religions; as a fraternity, bound by friendly compact, not alone spiritually but in temporal matters, in buying and selling, in town-building, farming, and stock-rais- ing, in all trades and manufactures, they stood on vant- age-ground. They were stronger than their immediate neighbors — stronger socially, politically, and indus- trially ; and the people about them felt this, and while hating, feared them.

It is true, that on their first arrival in Zion they were not wealthy ; neither were their neighbors. They were not highly educated or refined or cultured; neither were their neighbors. They were sometimes loud and vulgar of speech ; so were their neighbors. Immorality cropped out in certain quarters; so it did among the ancient Corinthians and the men of mod- ern Missouri; there was some thieving among them; but they w^ere no more immoral or dishonest than their persecutors who made war on them, and as they thought without a shadow of right.

There is no doubt that among the Mormons as among the gentiles, perhaps among the Mormon leaders as among the gentile leaders, fornication and adultery were practised. It has been so in other ages and nations, in every age and nation; it is so now, and is likely to be so till the end of the world. But when the testimony on both sides is carefully weighed, it must be admitted that the Mormons in Missouri and Illinois were, as a class, a more moral, honest, temperate, hard-working, self-denying, and thrifty people than the gentiles by whom they were sur- rounded. Says John D. Lee on entering the Mis- souri fraternity and, at the time of this remarking, by no means friendly to the saints, "The motives of the people who composed my neighborhood were pure; they were all sincere in their devotions, and tried to square their actions through life by the golden rule. . . ​

POLYCxAMY A BURDEN AND A BOND. 165

The word of a Mormon was then good for all it was pledged to or for. I was proud to be an associate with such honorable people." And thus Colonel Kane, a disinterested observer, and not a Mormon: As compared with the other border inhabitants of Missouri, the vile scum which our society, hke the great ocean, washes upon its frontier shores," the saints were "persons of refined and cleanly habits and decent language."

Nevertheless the sins of the entire section must be visited on them. Were there any robberies for miles around, they were charged by their enemies upon the Mormons; were there any house-burnings or assas- sinations anywhere among the gentiles, it was the Danites who did it. Of all that has been laid at their door I find little proved against them. The charges are general, and preferred for the most part by irre- sponsible men; in answer to them they refer us to the records. On the other hand, the outrages of their enemies are easily followed; for they are not denied, but are rather gloried in by the perpetrators. To shoot a Mormon was indeed a distinction coveted by the average gentile citizen of Illinois and Missouri, and was no more regarded as a crime than the shoot- ' ing of a Blackfoot or Pawnee. Of course the Mor- mons retaliated.

Polygamy was a heavy load in one sense; in another sense it was a bond of strength. While in the eyes of the world its open avowal placed the saints outside the pale of respectability, and made them amenable to the law, among themselves as law-breakers, openly defying the law, and placing themselves and their religion above all law, the very fact of being thus legal offenders, subject to the penalties and punish- ments of the law, brought the members of the society so acting into closer relationship, cementing them as a sect, and making them more dependent on each other and on their leaders. It is plain that while thus bringing upon themselves ignominy and reproach, ​

166 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

while laying themselves open to the charge of being law-breakers, and assun:iing an attitude of defiance toward the laws and institutions of the country in which they lived, this bond of sympathy, of crim- inality if you will, particularly when made a mat- ter of conscience, when recognized as a mandate from the almighty, higher than any human law, and in whose obedience God himself was best pleased, and would surely afford protection, could but prove in the end a bond of strength, particularly if permitted to attain age and respectability among themselves, and assume the form of a concrete principle and of sacred obligation.

If instead of falling back upon the teachings of the old testament, and adopting the questionable practices of the half-civilized Jews; if instead of taking for their models Abraham, David, and Solomon, the saints at Nauvoo had followed the advice of Paul to the saints at Ephesus, putting away fornication and all unclean- ness, and walking worthy of their vocation, in all lowliness and meekness, as children of light, they would probably have remained in their beautiful city, and come into the inheritance of their Missouri Zion as had been prophesied. Had they consulted more closely the signs of the times, had they been less orthodoK in their creed, less patriarchal in their prac- tices, less biblical in their tenets, less devoted in their doctrines — in a word, had they followed more closely the path of worldly wisdom, and, like opposing chris- tian sects, tempered religion with civilization, giving up the worst parts of religion for the better parts of civilization, I should not now be writing their history, as one with the history of Utah.

But now was brought upon them this overwhelming issue, which howsoever it accorded with ancient scrip- ture teachings, and as they thought with the rights of man, was opposed to public sentiment, and to the conscience of all civilized nations. Forever after they must have this mighty obstacle to contend with; for​

POLYGAMY DENIED. 167

ever after they must live under the ban of the chris- tian world; though, with unshaken faith in their prophet and his doctrine of spiritual wedlock, they might scorn the world's opinion, and in all sincerity and singleness of heart thank God that they were accounted worthy to have all manner of evil spoken of them falsely.

During this period of probation the church deemed it advisable to deny the charge, notably by Elder Pratt in a public sermon, and also by Joseph Smith. "Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been re- proached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again." ^^ In the Times and Seasons of February 1, 1844, we have a notice signed by Joseph and Hyrum Smith: "As we have lately been credibly informed that an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, by the name of Hiram Brown, has been preaching polygamy and other false and corrupt doc- trines in the county of Lapeer, state of Michigan, this is to notify him and the church in general that he has been cut of from the church for his iniquity."

Notwithstanding these solemn denials and denun- ciations in high places, the revelation and the prac- tices which it sanctioned were not easily concealed.^'^ As yet, however, the calumny of the gentiles and the bickering of the saints vexed not the soul of Jo- seph. He was now in the zenith of his fame and power; his followers in Europe and America numbered

^^ Doctrine and Covenants, app. 331.

^^ 'It is believed,' writes Governor Ford not long afterward to the Illinois legislature, 'tliat Joseph Smith had announced a revelation from heaven sanctioning polygamy, by some kind of spiritual-wife system, which I never could well understand; but at any rate, whereby a man was allowed one wife in pursuance of the laws of the country, and an indefinite number of others, to be enjoyed in some mystical and spiritual mode; and that he him- self, and many of his followers, had practised upon the precepts of this revelation, by seducing a large number of women.' Messtuje to III. Sen., 14th Ass. 1st Ses3., 6. A copy of Ford's message will be found iu Utah Tracts, no. 11. ​

168 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

more than a huridred thousand; his fortune was es- timated at a milhon dollars; he was commander- in-chief of the Nauvoo Legion, a body of troops which," remarks an artillery officer, from his own observation, "would do honor to any body of armed militia in any of the states, and approximates very closely to our regular forces;" he was mayor of the city; and now, as the crowning point of his earthly glory, he was announced in Februar}^ 1844 as a candi- date for the presidency of the United States, while Sid- ney Rigdon was named for vice-president. Whether this was done for effect or in earnest is somewhat doubtful, for it appears that the prophet's head was a little turned about this time; but it is certain that the people of Illinois and Missouri believed him to be in earnest. Addressing letters to Clay and Calhoun, near the close of 1843, he asked each of them what would be his rule of action toward the Mormons as a people should he be elected to the presidency. The reply in both cases was non-com- mittal and unsatisfactory;^^ whereupon Joseph issues an address setting forth his views on the government and policy of the United States, and foreshadows his own policy, in which we find many excellent features and many absurdities. "No honest man can doubt for a moment," he says, "but the glory of American liberty is on the wane; and that calamity and con- fusion will sooner or later destroy the peace of the people. Speculators will urge a national bank as a savior of credit and comfort. A hireling pseudo- priesthood will plausibly push abolition doctrines and doings and 'human rights' into congress, and into every other place where conquest smells of fame or opposition swells to popularity.""*

^^ Copies of the correspondence may be found in Times and Seaaons, v. 393-6, 544-8; Markay's The Mormons, 151-62; Okhausen, Geschichte der Mormon fn, 202-19.

'•'* 'Now, oh people !' he continues, 'turn unto the Lord and live; and re- form this nation. Frustrate the designs of wicked men. Reduce congress at least one half. Two senators from a state and two members to a million of population will do more l)usiuess than the army that now occupy the halLs ​

FATAL ASPIRATIONS. 169

The aspirations of the prophet, pretended or other- wise, to the highest office iu the repubhc, together with renewed, and at this juncture exceedingly dan- gerous, claims, pointing toward almost universal em- pire,^^ brought upon him afresh the rage of the surrounding gentile populace, and resulted in an awful tragedy, the circumstances of which I am now about to relate. "The great cause of popular fury," writes Governor Ford shorth'^ after the occurrence, " was that the Mormons at several preceding elections had cast their vote as a unit; thereby making the fact apparent that no one could aspire to the honors or offices of the country, within the sphere of their influence, without their approbation and votes."

Indeed, a myriad of evils about this time befell the church, all portending bloody destruction. There were

of the uational legislature. Pay them two dollars and their board per diem, except Sundays; that is more than the farmer gets, and he lives hon- estly. Curtail the offices of government in pay, number, and power, for tlie philistine lords have shorn our nation of its goodly locks in the lap of Delilah. Petition your state legislature to pardon every convict in their several i^enitentiaries, blessing them as they go, and saying to them in the name of the Lord, Go thy way and sin no more. . .Petition also, ye goodly in- habitants of the slave states, your legislators to abolish slavery by the year 18.50, or now, and save the abolitionist from reproach and ruin, infamy and shame. Pray congress to pay every man a reasonable price for his slaves out of the surplus revenue arising from the sale of public lands, and from the deduction of pay from the members of congress. . .Give every man his con- stitioual freedom, and the president full power to send an army to suppress mobs; and the states authority to repeal and impugn that relic of folly which makes it necessary for tlie governor of a state to make the demand of the president for troops in cases of invasion or rebellion. The governor him- self may be a mobber, and instead of being punished as he should be for murder and treason, he may destroy the very lives, rights, and property he should protect. Like the good Samaritan, send every lawyer as soon as ho repents and obeys the ordinances of heaven, to preacli the gospel to the des- titute, without pui'se or scrip, pouring in the oil and the wine ... Were I the president of the United States, by the voice of a virtuous people, I would honor the old paths of the venerated fathers of freedom; I would walk in the tracks of the illustrious patriots, who carried the ark of the gov- ernment upon their shoulders with an eye single to the glory of the people. . . When a neighboring realm petitioned to join the union of the sons of liberty, my voice would be, Come; yea, come Texas; come Mexico; come Canada; and come all the world — let us be brethren; let us be one great family; and let thei-e be imiversal peace. ' A full copy of the address is given in Times and Sea-wns, v. 5"2S-533; Mackays The Mormons, 141-51; liemy^s Jour, to O. S. L. City, 353-71.

• ^Two months after announcing himself a cardidate for the presidency,

Joseph again publicly declared that all America, from north to south, consti- tuted the Zion of the saints, theirs by right of heavenly inheritance. ​

170 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

suits and counter-suits at law; arrests and rearrests; schisms, apostasies, and expulsions; charges one against another of vice and immorality, Joseph himself being implicated. Here was one elder unlawfully trying his hand at revelations, and another preaching polyg- amy. Many there were whom it was necessarj^ not only to cut off from the church, but to eradicate with their evil influences from society. Among the proph- et's most inveterate enemies were William Law, who sought to betray Smith into the hands of the Mis- sourians, and almost succeeded — Doctor Foster and Francis M. Higbee, who dealt in scandal, charging Joseph, Hyrum, Sidney, and others with seducing women, and having more wives than one. Suits of this kind brought by the brethren against each other, but more particularly by the leaders against high oflicials, were pending in the Nauvoo municipal court for over two years.

Early in June 1844 was issued the first number of the Nauvoo Exposito7\ the publishers being apostate Mormons and gentiles. ^^ The primary object of the publication was to stir up strife in the church, and aid its enemies in their work of attempted extermina- tion. Its columns were at once filled with foul abuse of the prophet and certain elders of the church, assailing their character by means of affidavits, and charging them with all manner of public and private crimes, and abusing and misrepresenting the people. The city council met, and pronouncing the journal a nuisance, ordered its abatement. Joseph Smith being mayor, it devolved on him to see the order executed, and he issued instruction to the city mar- shal and the policemen accordingly. The officers of the law forthwith entered the premises, and de-

^^ In Remt/s Jour, to G. S. Lnhe City, i. 388, it is stated that, among others, a renegade catholic priest, J. H. Jackson by name, ' conceived the idea of starting at Nauvoo a newspaper called the ExjJositor, with the avowed object of opposing the Mormons.' I find no confirmation of this statement. The first number of the Nanvoo Neighbor had been issued May 3, 1843, in place of the Wat>2J, suspended. ​

THE COUNTRY IN ARMS. 171

stroyed the establisliuicnt, tearing clown the presses and throwing the type into the street.^^ For this act the proprietors obtained from the authorities of the town of Carthage, some twenty miles distant, a war- rant for the arrest of Joseph Smith, which was placed in the hands of the Carthage constable to be served.

It was a proceeding not at all to the taste of the Mormons that their mayor should be summoned for misdemeanor before the magistrate of another town, and Smith refused to go. He was willing to be tried before a state tribunal. Meanwhile the offenders were brought before the municipal court of Nauvoo, on a Avrit of habeas corpus, and after examination were discharged. The cry was then raised through- out the country that Joseph Smith and associates, pub- lic offenders, ensconced among their troops in the stronghold of Nauvoo, defied the law, refusing to re- spond to the call of justice; whereupon the men of Illinois, to the number of two or three thousand, some coming even from Missouri, rallied to the support of the Carthage constable, and stood ready, as the}' said, not only to arrest Joe Smith, but to burn his town and kill every man, woman, and child in it.

As the forces of the enemy enlarged and grew yet more and more demonstrative in their wrath, the town prepared for defence, the Nauvoo Legion being called out and placed under arms, by instructions from Gov- ernor Ford to Joseph Smith, as general in command. This gave rise to a report that they were about to make a raid on the neighboring gentile settlements.^^

^'Letter of John S. Fullmer to the New York HeraM, dated Nauvoo, Oct. 30, 1844 (but not published until several years later). A copy of it will be found in Utah Tracts, ix. p. 7. Smith had been elected mayor on the resignation of JobnC. Bennett April 19, 1842. Mackay, The Mormons, 168, says: 'A body of the prophet's adherents, to the number of two hundred and upward, sallied forth in obedience to this order, and proceeding to the office of the Expositor, speedily razed it to the ground. ' Reiny states that ' an order to destroy the journal signed by Joseph was immediately put into execution by a police officer, w ho pro- ceeded the same day to break uj) the presses.' Journey, i. 389. Furd declares that the marshal aided by a portion of the legion executed his warrant by de- stroying the press and scattering the type and other materials of the office. Message to lU. Sen., 14th Ass. 1st Sess., 4.

^* 'At a meeting of the citizens of Hancock co. held at Carthage, on the ​

172 THE STORY OF MORINIONISM.

In consequence of these rumors and counter-ruinors the governor went to Carthage. Previous to this, frequent communications were sent to him at Spring- field by Joseph Smith, informing him of the position of affairs in and around Nauvoo. The governor in his History of Illinois, referring to these times, writes: "These also were the active men in blowing up the fury of the people, in hopes that a popular movement might be set on foot, which would result in the expul- sion or extermination of the Mormon voters. For this purpose public meetings had been called, inflammatory speeches had been made, exaggerated reports had been extensively circulated, committees had been appointed, who rode night and day to spread the reports and solicit the aid of neighboring counties, and at a public meeting at Warsaw resolutions were passed to expel or exterminate the Mormon population. This was not, however, a movement which was unanimously concurred in. The county contained a goodly num- ber of inhabitants in favor of peace, or who at least desired to be neutral in such a contest. These were stigmatized by the name of Jack Mormons, and there were not a few of the more furious exciters of the people who openly expressed their intention to involve them in the common expulsion or extermination."

Thomas Ford, governor of Illinois, was as a man rather above the average politician usually chosen among these American states to fill that position. Not specially clear-headed, and having no brain power to spare, he was quite respectable and had some con- science, as is frequently the case with mediocre men. He had a good heart, too, was in no wise vindictive, and though he was in no sense a strong man, his sense of right and equity could be quite stubborn upon oc-

6th inst, it was resolved to call in the people of the surrounding counties and states, to assist them in delivering up Joe Smith, if the governor of Illinois refused to comply with the requisition of the governor of Missouri. The meet- ing determined to avenge with blood any assaults made upon citizens by the Mormons. It was also resolved to refuse to obey ofhcers elected by tlie Mor- mons, M'lio have complete control of the country, being a numerical majority.' Missouri lieporter, in Nile^ liegisttr, Ixv. 70, Sept. 30, 1843. ​

GOVERNOR FORD. 173

casioii. Small in body, he was like-^vise small in mind ; indeed, there was a song current at the time that there was no room in his diminutive organism for such a thing as a soul. Nevertheless, though bitterly cen- sured by some of the Mormons, I do not think Ford intended to do them wrong. That he did not believe all the rumors to their discredit is clearly shown in his statement of what was told him during the days he was at Carthage. He says: "A system of excite- ment and agitation was artfully planned and executed with tact. It consisted in speading reports and rumors of the most fearful character. As examples: On the morning before my arrival at Carthage, I was awakened at an early hour by the frightful report, which was asserted with confidence and apparent con- sternation, that the Mormons had already commenced the work of burning, destruction, and murder, and that every man capable of bearing arms was instantly wanted at Carthage for the protection of the county. We lost no time in starting; but when we arrived at Carthage we could hear no more concerning this story. Again, during the few days that the militia were encamped at Carthage, frequent applications were made to me to send a force here, and a force there, and a force all about the country, to prevent murders, robberies, and larcenies which, it was said, were threatened by the Mormons. No such forces were sent, nor were any such offences committed at that time, except the stealing of some provisions, and there was never the least proof that this was done by a Mormon."

On the morning to which he refers, the report was brought to him with the usual alarming accompani- ments of fears being expressed of frightful carnage, and the like. Hastily dressing, he assured the crowd collected outside of the house in which he had lodged that they need have no uneasiness respecting the mat- ter, for he was very sure he could settle the difficulty peaceably. The Mormon prophet knew him well, ​

174 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

and would trust him. What he purposed doing was to demand the surrender of Joseph Smith and others. He wished them to promise him that they would lend their assistance to protect the prisoners from violence, which they agreed to do.

After his arrival at Carthas^e the orovernor sent two men to Nauvoo as a committee to wait on Joseph Smith, informing him of his arrival, with a request that Smith would inform him in relation to the diffi- culties that then existed in the county. Dr J. M. Bernhisel and Elder John Taylor were appointed as a committee by Smith, and furnished with affidavits and documents in relation both to the proceedings of the Mormons and those of the mob; in addition to the general history of the transaction they took with them a duplicate of those documents which had previously been forwarded by Bishop Hunter, Elder James, and others. This committee waited on the governor, who expressed an opinion that Joseph Smith and all par- ties concerned in passing or executing the city law in relation to the press had better come to Carthage; however repugnant it might be to their feelings, he thought it would have a tendency to allay public ex- citement, and prove to the people what they professed, that they wished to be governed by law. The next day the constable and a force of ten men were de- spatched to Nauvoo to make the arrests. The accused were told that if they surrendered they would be pro- tected; otherwise the whole force of the state would be called out, if necessary, to take them.

Upon the arrival of the constable and his posse, the mayor and the members of the city council declared that they were willing to surrender. Eight o'clock was the hour appointed, but the accused failed to make their appearance; whereupon the constable returned, and reported that they had fled. The governor was of opin- ion that the constable's action was part of a plot to get the troops into Nauvoo and exterminate the Mor- mons. He called a council of officers and proposed to ​

TREASON OR NO TREASON. 175

march on the town witli the small force under his command, but was dissuaded. He hesitated to make a further call on the militia, as the harvest was nigh and the men were needed to gather it. Meanwhile, ascer- taining that the Mormons had three pieces of cannon and two hundred and fifty stand of arms belonging to the state, the possession of which gave offence to the gentiles, he demanded a surrender of the state arms, again promising protection.

On the 24th of June'^^ Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the members of the council, and all others demanded, proceeded to Carthage, gave themselves up, and were charged with riot. All entered into recognizances before the justice of the peace to appear for trial, and were released from custody. Joseph and Hyrum, however, were rearrested, and, saj^s Ford, were charged with overt treason, having ordered out the legion to resist the posse comitatus, though, as he states, the degree of their crime would depend on circum- stances. The governor's views on this matter are worthy of note. "The overt act of treason charged against them," he remarks, "consisted in the alleged levying of war against the state by declaring martial law in Nauvoo, and in ordering out the legion to resist the posse comitatus. Their actual guiltiness of the charge would depend upon circumstances. If their opponents had been seeking to put the law in force in good faith, and nothing more, then an array of a military force in open resistance to the posse comitatus and the militia of the state most probably would have amounted to treason. But if those opponents merely intended to use the process of the law, the militia of the state, and the posse comitatus as cat's- paws to compass the possession of their persons for the purpose of murdering them afterward, as the

• ' Report, ut supra, 10-1 1 . In Times and Seasons, v. 560, it is stated that ' on

Monday, June 24th, after Ford had sent word that eighteen persons demanded on a warrant, among whom were Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, should be protected by the militia of the state, they in company with ten or twelve others start for Carthage. ' ​

17G THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

sequel demonstrated the fact to be, it might well be doubted whether they were guilt}^ of treason."

With the Nauvoo Legion at their back, the two brothers voluntarily placed themselves in the power of the governor who, demanding and accepting their surrender, though doubting their guilt, nevertheless declared that they were not his prisoners, but the pris- oners of the constable and jailer. Leaving two com- panies to guard the jail, he disbanded the main body of his troops, and proceeding to Nauvoo, addressed the people, beseeching them to abide by the law. "They claimed," he says, "to be a law-abiding people; and insisted that as they looked to the law alone for their protection, so were they careful themselves to observe its provisions. Upon the conclusion of my address, I proposed to take a vote on the question, whether they would strictly observe the laws, even in opposition to their prophet and leaders. The vote was unanimous in favor of this proposition." The governor then set forth for Carthage, and such in substance is his report when viewed in the most favorable light. ^'^

It is related that as Joseph set forth to deliver himself up to the authorities he exclaimed: "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offence toward God and toward all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me. He was murdered in cold blood. "^^ Nevertheless, for a moment he hesitated. Should he offer himself a willing sacrifice, or should he endeavor to escape out of their hands? Thus meditating, he crossed the river thinking

'" Message, ut supra. The above appear to be the facts of the case, so far as they can be sifted from a lengthy report, which consists mainly of apology or explanation of what the governor did or left undone.

'■'^Smith's Doc. and C'ov., app. 335. The same morning he read in the fifth chapter of Ether, 'And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me, If they have not charity it mattercth not unto you, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy garments are clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansiona of my fatlier.' ​

AT CARTHAGE. 177

to depart. On reaching the opposite bank he turned and gazed upon the beautiful city, the holy city, his own hallowed creation, the city of Joseph, with its shining temple, its busy hum of industry, and its thousand happy homes. And they were his people who were there, his very own, given to him of God ; and he loved them! Were he to leave them now, to abandon them in this time of danger, they would be indeed as sheep without a shepherd, stricken, and scattered, and robbed, and butchered by the destroyer. No, he could not do it. Better, die than to abandon them thus ! So he recrossed the river, saying to his brother Hyrum, Come, let us go together, and let God determine what we shall do or suffer."

Bidding their families and friends adieu, the two brothers set out for Carthage. Their hearts were very heavy. There was dire evil abroad; the air was oppressive, and the sun shot forth malignant rays. Once more they returned to their people; once more they embraced their wives and kissed their children, as if they knew, alas! that they should never see them again.

The party reached Carthage about midnight, and on the following day the troops were formed in line, and Joseph and Hyrum passed up and down in company with the governor, who showed them every respect—either as guests or victims — introducing them as military oflficers under the title of general. Pres- ent were the Carthage Greys, who showed signs of mutiny, hooting at and insulting the prisoners— for such in fact they were, being committed to jail the same afternoon until discharged by due course of law.

A few hours later Joseph asked to see the governor, and next morning Ford went to the prison. "All this is illegal," said the former. " It is a purely civil matter, not a question to be settled by force of arms." "I know it," said the governor, "but it is better so; I did not call out this force, but found it assembled; I pledge you my honor, however, and the faith and honor of

Hist. Utah. 12 ​

178 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

the state, that no harm shall come to you while un- dergoing this imprisonment." The governor took his departure on the morning of the 27th of June. Scarcely was he well out of the way when measures were taken for the consummation of a most damning deed. The prison was guarded by eight men detailed from the Carthage Greys, their company being in camp on the public square a quarter of a mile dis- tant, while another company under Williams, also the sworn enemies of the Mormons, was encamped eight miles away, there awaiting the development of events.

It was a little after five o'clock in the evening. Jo- seph and Hyrum Smith were confined in an upper room. With the prisoners were John Taylor and Wil- lard Richards, other friends having withdrawn a few moments before. At this juncture a band of a hun- dred and fifty armed men with painted faces appeared before the jail, and presently surrounded it. The guard shouted vociferously and fired their guns over the heads of the assailants, who paid not the slightest attention to them.^^ I give what followed from Burton's City of the Saints, being the statement of President John Taylor, who was present and wounded on the occasion.

"I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail, when I saw a number of men, with painted faces, coming around the corner of the jail, and aiming toward the stairs. The other brethren had seen the same, for, as I went to the door, I found Brother Hyrum Smith and Dr Richards already leaning against it. They both pressed against the door with their shoulders to prevent its being opened, as the lock and latch were comparatively useless. While in this position, the mob, who had come up stairs, and tried to open the door, probably thought it was

'* Littlefield says the Carthage Greys were marched in a body, ' within about eight rods of the jail, where they halted, in plain view of the whole transac- tion, until the deed was executed. ' NarrcUive, 9. ​

DEATH OF HYRUM. 179

locked, and fired a ball through the keyhole; at this Dr Richards and Brother Hyrum leaped back from the door, with their faces toward it; almost instantly another ball passed through the panel of the door, and struck Brother Hyrum on the left side of the nose, entering his face and head. At the same instant, another ball from the outside entered his back, passing through his body and striking his watch. The ball came from the back, through the jail window, opposite the door, and must, from its range, have been fired from the Carthage Greys, who were placed there ostensibly for our protection, as the balls from the fire-arms, shot close by the jail, would have entered the ceiling, we being in the second story, and there never was a time after that wdien Hyrum could have received the latter wound. Immediately, when the balls struck him, he fell flat on his back, crying as he fell, *I am a dead man!' He never moved after- ward.

'* I shall never forget the deep feeling of sympathy and regard manifested in the countenance of Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him, exclaimed, ' Oh ! my poor, dear brother Hyrum ! ' He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, ap- proached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly, and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterward understood that two or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom, I am in- formed, died.^^ I had in my hands a large, strong hickory stick, brought there by Brother Markham, and left by him, which I had seized as soon as I saw the mob approach; and while Brother Joseph was firing the pistol, I stood close behind him. As soon

" * He wounded three of them, two mortally, one of whom, as he rushed down out of the door, was asked if he was badly hurt. He replied, "Yes; my arm is shot all to pieces by old Joe; but I don't care, I've got re- venge; I shot Hyrum !" ' Id., 11. ​

180 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

as he had discharged it he stepped back, and I im- mediately took his place next to the door, while he occupied the one I had done while he was shooting. Brother Richards, at this time, had a knotty walking- stick in his hands belonging to me, and stood next to Brother Joseph, a little farther from the door, in an oblique direction, apparently to avoid the rake of the fire from the door. The firing of Brother Joseph made our assailants pause for a moment; very soon after, however, they pushed the door some distance open, and protruded and discharged their guns into the room, when I parried them off with my stick, giving another direction to the balls.

It certainly was a terrible scene: streams of fire as thick as my arm passed by me as these men fired, and, unarmed as we were, it looked like certain death. I remember feeling as though my time had come, but I do not know when, in any critical position, I was more calm, unruffled, energetic, and acted with more promptness and decision. It certainly was far from pleasant to be so near the muzzles of those fire-arms as they belched forth their liquid flames and deadly balls. While I was engaged in parrying the guns. Brother Joseph said, 'That's right. Brother Taylor, parry them off as well as you can.' These were the last words I ever heard him speak on earth.

"Every moment the crowd at the door became more dense, as they were unquestionably pressed on by those in the rear ascending the stairs, until the whole entrance at the door was literally crowded with muskets and rifles, which, with the swearing, shout- ing, and demoniacal expressions of those outside the door and on the stairs, and the firing of the guns, mingled with their horrid oaths and execrations, made it look like pandemonium let loose, and was, indeed, a fit representation of the horrid deed in which they were engaged.

"After parrying the guns for some time, which now protruded thicker and farther into the room, and ​

TAYLOR BADLY WOUNDED. 181

seeing no hope of escape or protection there, as we were now unarmed, it occurred to me that we might have some friends outside, and that there might be some chance to escape in that direction, but here there seemed to be none. As I expected them every moment to rush into the room — nothing but extreme cowardice having thus far kept them out — as the tumult and pressure increased, without any other hope, I made a spring for the window which was right in front of the jail door, where the mob was standing, and also exposed to the fire of the Carthage Greys, who were stationed some ten or twelve rods off. The weather was hot, we had our coats off, and the window was raised to admit air. As I reached the window, and was on the point of leaping out, I was struck by a ball from the door about midway of my thigh, which struck the bone and flattened out almost to the size of a quarter of a dollar, and then passed on through the fleshy part to within about half an inch of the outside. I think some prominent nerve must have been severed or injured, for, as soon as the ball struck me, I fell like a bird when shot, or an ox when struck by a butcher, and lost entirely and instantaneously all power of action or locomotion. I fell upon the window-sill, and cried out, 'I am shot!' Not possessing any power to move, I felt myself fall- ing outside of the window, but immediately I fell inside, from some, at that time, unknown cause. When I struck the floor my animation seemed re- stored, as I have seen it sometimes in squirrels and birds after being shot. As soon as I felt the power of motion I crawled under the bed, which was in a corner of the room, not far from the window where I received my wound. While on my way and under the bed I was wounded in three other places; one ball entered a little below the left knee, and never was extracted; another entered the forepart of my left arm, a little above the wrist, and passing down by the joint, lodged in the fleshy part of my hand, about ​

182 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

midway, a little above the upper joint of my little finger; another struck me on the fleshy part of my left hip, and tore away the flesh as large as my hand, dashing the mangled fragments of flesh and blood against the wall.

"It would seem that immediately after my attempt to leap out of the window, Joseph also did the same thing, of which circumstance I have no knowledge only from information. The first thing that I noticed was a cry that he had leaped out of the window. A cessation of firing followed, the mob rushed down stairs, and Dr. Kichards went to the window. Im- mediately afterward I saw the doctor going toward the jail door, and as there was an iron door at the head of the stairs adjoining our door which led into the cells for criminals, it struck me that the doctor was going in there, and I said to him, 'Stop, doctor, and take me along.' He proceeded to the door and opened it, and then returned and dragged me along to a small cell prepared for criminals.

"Brother Richards was very much troubled, and exclaimed, *0h! Brother Taylor, is it possible that they have killed both Brothers Hyrum and Joseph? it cannot surely be, and yet I saw them shoot them ; ' and, elevating his hands two or three times, he ex- claimed, 'Oh Lord, my God, spare thy servants!' He then said, 'Brother Taylor, this is a terrible event ; ' and he dragged me farther into the cell, saying, 'I am sorry I can not do better for you;' and, taking an old filthy mattress, he covered me with it, and said, 'That may hide you, and you may yet live to tell the tale, but I expect they will kill me in a few moments.' While lying in this position I suflered the most excruciating pain. Soon afterward Dr. Kichards came to me, informed me that the mob had precipitately fled, and at the same time confirmed my worst fears that Joseph was assuredly dead." It ap- pears that Joseph, thus murderously beset and in dire extremity, rushed to the window and threw himself ​

DEATH OF JOSEPH. 183

out, receiving in the act several shots, and with the cry, "O Lord, my God!" fell dead to the ground.'* The fiends were not yet satiated; but setting up the lifeless body of the slain prophet against the well- curb, riddled it with bullets.^^

Where now is the God of Joseph and of Hyrum, that he should permit this most iniquitous butchery? Where are Moroni and Ether and Christ? What mean these latter-day manifestations, their truth and efficacy, if the great high priest and patriarch of the new dispensation can thus be cruelly cut off by wicked men ? Practical piety is the doctrine ! Prayer

^* Joseph dropped his pistol, and sprang into the window; but just as he was preparing to descend, he saw such an array of bayonets below, that he caught by the window casing, where he hung by his hands and feet, with his head to the north, feet to the south, and his body swinging downward. He hung in t*ia+ position three or four minutes, during which time he exclaimed two or thxc- . .Jies, '0 Lord, my God !' and fell to the ground. While he was hanging in that situation. Col. Williams halloed, 'Shoot him! God damn him ! shoot the damned rascal ! ' However, none fired at him. He seemed to faU easy. He struck partly on his right shoulder and back, his neck and head reaching the ground a little before his feet. He rolled instantly on his face. From this position he was taken by a young man who sprung to him from the other side of the fence, who held a pewter fife in his hand, was barefooted and bareheaded, having on no coat, with his pants rolled above his knees, and shirt-sleeves above his elbows. He set President Smith against the south side of the well-curb that was situated a few feet from the jail. While doing this the savage muttered aloud, 'This is old Jo; I know him. I know you, old Jo. Damn you ; you are the man that had my daddy shot' — intimating that he was a son of Boggs, and that it was the Missourians who were doing this murder. Littlefield's Narrative, 13.

'* After President Taylor's account in Burton's City of the Saints, the best authorities on this catastrophe are: Assasslnatio?i of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Prophet and the Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints; also a Condensed History of the Expulsion of the Saints from Nauvoo, by Elder John S. Fullmer (of Utah, U. S. A.J, Pastor of the Man- chester, Liverpool, and Preston Conferences. Liverpool and London, 1855; Message of the Governor of the State of Illinois, i)i relation to the disturbances in Hancock County, December 23, I844. Springfield, 1844; Awful assassina- tion of Joseph and Hyrum Smith; the pledged faith of the State of Illinois stained icith innocent blood by a mob, in Times and Seasons, v. 560-75; A Narrative of the Massacre of Joseph and Hyrum Smith by an Outsider and an Eye-witness, in Utah Tracts, i. ; and I'he Martyrdom of Joseph Smith, by Apos- tle John Taylor, a copy of which is contained in Burton's City of the Saints, 625-67. Brief accounts will be found in Utah Pamphlets, '23; Lee's Mormonism, 152-5; liemy's Jour, to G. S. L. Cit>/, 388-96; Hall's Mormonism Exposed, 15-16; Green's Alormonism, ZQ-1; Tullidge's Women, 297-300; Ols- hausen, Gesch. der Mor., 100-3; Tucker's Mormonism, 189-92; Mackay's The Mormons, 169-72; Smucker's Hist. Mor., 177-9; Ferris' Utah a7id Mormons, 120-5, and in other works on Monnonism. In the Atlantic Monthly for Dec. 1869 is an article entitled ' The Mormon Prophet's Tragedy,' which, however justly it may lay claim to Boston ' smart ' writing, so far as the facts are con- cerned is simply a tissue of falsehoods. ​

184 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

and faith must cease not though prayer be unan- swered ; and they ask where was the father when the son called in Gethsemane? It was foreordained that Joseph and Hyrum should die for the people; and the more of murder and extermination on the part of their enemies, the more praying and believing on the part of saints, and the more praise and exultation in the heavenly inheritance.

The further the credulity of a credulous people is taxed the stronger will be their faith. Many of the saints believed in Joseph; with their whole mind and soul they worshipped him. He was to them as God; he was their deity present upon earth, their savior from evil, and their guide to heaven. What- ever he did, that to his people was right; he could do no wrong, no more than king or pope "• o more than Christ or Mahomet. Accordingly taoy obeyed him without question; and it was this belief and obedience that caused the gentiles to fear and hate. There are still open in the world easier fields than this for new religions, which might recommend themselves as a career to young men laboring under a fancied in- exorable necessity.

Whatever else may be said of Joseph Smith, it must be admitted that he was a remarkable man. His course in life was by no means along a flowery path; his death was like that which too often comes to the founder of a religion. What a commentary on the human mind and the human heart, the deeds of those who live for the love of God and man, who die for the love of God and man, who severally and col- lectively profess the highest holiness, the highest charity, justice, and humanity, higher far than any held by other sect or nation, now or since the world began — how lovely to behold, to write and meditate upon their disputings and disruj^tions, their cruelties and injustice, their persecutions for opinion's sake, their ravenous hate and bloody butcheries! ​

RELIGION AS A VOCATION. 185

The founder of Mormonism displayed a singular genius for the work he gave himself to do. He made thousands believe in him and in his doctrines, howsoever good or evil his life, howsoever true or false his teachings. The less that can be proved the more may be asserted. Any one possessing the proper abilities ma}^ found a religion and make pros- elytes. His success will depend not on the truth or falsity of his statements, nor on their gross absurdity or philosophic refinement, but on the power and skill with which his propositions are promulgated. If he has not the natural and inherited genius for this work, though his be otherwise the greatest mind that ever existed, he is sure to fail. If he has the mental and physical adaptation for the work, he will succeed, whatever may be his abilities in other directions.

There was more in this instance than any consid- eration short of careful study makes appear: things spiritual and things temporal; the outside world and the inside workings. The prophet's days were full of trouble. His people were often petulant, his elders quarrelsome, his most able followers cautious and captious. While the world scoffed and the neighbors used violence, his high priests were continually ask- ing him for prophecies, and if they were not fulfilled at once and to the letter, they stood ready to apostatize. Many did apostatize ; many behaved disgracefully, and brought reproach and enmity upon the cause. More- over, Joseph was constantly in fear for his life, and though by no means desirous of death, in moments of excitement he often faced danger with apparent indifference as to the results. But without occupy- ing further space with my own remarks, I will give the views of others, who loved or hated him and knew him personally and well.

Of his physique and character, Parley P. Pratt re- marks: President Joseph Smith was in person tall and well built, strong and active; of a light complex- ion, light hair, blue eyes, very little beard, and of an ​

186 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

expression peculiar to himself, on which the eye natu- rally rested with interest, and was never weary of be- holding. His countenance was ever mild, affable, and beaming with intelligence and benevolence, min- gled with a look of interest and an unconscious smile of cheerfulness, and entirely free from all restraint, or affectation of gravity; and there was something con- nected with the serene and steady, penetrating glance of his eye, as if he would penetrate the deepest abyss of the human heart, gaze into eternity, penetrate the heavens, and comprehend all worlds. He possessed a noble boldness and independence of character; his manner was easy and familiar, his rebuke terrible as the lion, his benevolence unbounded as the ocean, his intelligence universal, and his language abounding in original eloquence peculiar to himself."

And thus a female convert who arrived at Nauvoo a year or two before the prophet's death: "The first time I ever saw Joseph Smith I recognized him from a vision that once appeared to me in a dream. His coun- tenance was like that of an angel, and such as I had never beheld before. He was then thirty-seven years of age, of ordinary appearance in dress and manner, but with a child-like innocence of expression. His hair was of a light brown, his eyes blue, and his complex- ion light. His natural demeanor was quiet; his char- acter and disposition were formed by his life-work; he was kind and considerate, taking a personal interest in all his people, and considering every one his equal. "^^

On the other hand, the author of Mormonism Un- veiled says: "The extreme ignorance and apparent stupidity of this modern prophet were by his early followers looked upon as his greatest merit, and as furnishing the most incontestable proof of his divine mission . . . His followers have told us that he could not at the time he was chosen of the Lord even write his own name. But it is obvious that all these defi-

^* Another account says that at 36 he weighed 212 lbs, stood 6 feet in his pumps, was robust, corpulent, and jovial, but when roused to anger his ex pression was very severe. ​CHAEACTERISTICS OF JOSEPH. 187

ciencies are fully supplied by a natural genius, strong inventive powers of mind, a deep study, and an unusu- ally correct estimate of the human passions and feel- ings. In short, he is now endowed with all the re- quisite traits of character to pursue most successfully the humbug which he has introduced. His address is easy, rather fascinating and winning, of a mild and sober deportment when not irritated. But he fre- quently becomes boisterous by the impertinence or curiosity of the skeptical, and assumes the bravado, instead of adhering to the meekness which he pro- fesses. His followers, of course, can discover in his very countenance all the certain indications of a di- vine mission."

One more quotation will serve to show the impres- sion that Joseph Smith's doctrines and discourse made not only on his own followers but on the gentiles, and even on gentile divines. In 1843 a methodist minis- ter, named Prior, visited Nauvoo and was present during a sermon preached by the prophet in the tem- ple. "I took my seat," he remarks, "in a conspicu- ous place in the congregation, who were waiting in breathless silence for his appearance. While he tar- ried, I had plenty of time to revolve in my mind the character and common report of that truly singular personage. I fancied that I should behold a counte- nance sad and sorrowful, yet containing the fiery marks of rage and exasperation. I supposed that I should be enabled to discover in him some of those thought- ful and reserved features, those mystic and sarcastic glances, which I had fancied the ancient sages to pos- sess. I expected to see that fearful faltering look of conscious shame which from what I had heard of him he might be expected to evince. He appeared at last; but how was I disappointed when, instead of the head and horns of the beast and false prophet, I beheld only the appearance of a common man, of tolerably large proportions.

"I was sadly disappointed, and thought that, al​

188 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

though his appearanco could not be wrested to indi- cate anything against him, yet he would manifest all I had heard of him when he began to preach. I sat uneasily and watched him closely. He commenced preaching, not from the book of Mormon, however, but from the bible; the first chapter of the first of Peter was his text. He commenced calmly, and con- tinued dispassionately to pursue his subject, while I sat in breathless silence, waiting to hear that foul aspersion of the other sects, that diabolical disposi- tion of revenge, and to hear that rancorous denuncia- tion of every individual but a Mormon. I waited in vain; I listened with surprise; I sat uneasy in my seat, and could hardly persuade myself but that he had been apprised of my presence, and so ordered his discourse on my account, that I might not be able to find fault with it; for instead of a jumbled jargon of half-connected sentences, and a volley of imprecations, and diabolical and malignant denuncia- tions heaped upon the heads of all who differed from him, and the dreadful twisting and wresting of the scriptures to suit his own peculiar views, and attempt to weave a web of dark and mystic sophistry around the gospel truths, which I had anticipated, he glided along through a very interesting and elaborate dis- course, with all the care and happy facility of one who was well aware of his important station and his duty to God and man."^^

No event, probably, that had occurred thus far in the history of the saints gave to the cause of Mor- monism so much of stability as the assassination of Jo- seph Smith. Not all the militia mobs in Illinois, in Missouri, or in the United States could destroy this cause, any more than could the roundheads in the

^' Machay^s The Mormons, 131-3. Of course views as to Joseph Smith's character are expressed in nearly all the works published on Mormonism. With the exception, perhaps, of Maliomet, no one has been so much bespat- tered with praise by his followers and with abuse by his ad\'ersaries as the founder of this faith. ​

AFTER THE MASSACRE. 189

seventeenth century destroy the cause of monarchy. The deed but reacted on those who committed it.

When two miles on his way from Nauvoo, the gov- ernor was met by messengers who informed him of the assassination, and, as he relates, he was " struck with a kind of dumbness." At daybreak the next morning all the bells in Carthage were ringing. It was noised abroad throughout Hancock county, he says, that the Mormons had attempted the rescue of Joseph and Hy- rum ; that they had been killed in order to prevent their escape, and that the governor was closely besieged at Nauvoo by the Nauvoo Legion, and could hold out only for two days. Ford was convinced that " those whoever they were who assassinated the Smiths meditated in turn his assassination by the Mormons," thinking that they would thus rid themselves of the Smiths and the governor, and that the result would be the expulsion of the saints, for Ford had shown a determination to defend Nauvoo, so far as lay in his power, from the threatened violence. Arriving at Carthage at ten o'clock at night, he found the citi- zens in flight with their families and efl"ects, one of his companies broken up, and the Carthage Greys also disbanding, the citizens that remained being in instant fear of attack. At length he met with John Taylor and Willard Richards, who, notwithstanding the ill- usage they had received, came to the relief of the panic-stricken magistrate, and addressed a letter to their brethren at Nauvoo, exhorting them to preserve the peace, the latter stating that he had pledged his word that no violence would be used.

The letter of Richards and Taylor, signed also by Samuel H. Smith, a brother of the deceased, who a few weeks afterward died, as the Mormons relate, of a broken heart, prevented a threatened uprising of the saints.^ On the 29th of June, the day after the news was received, the legion was called out, the letter read,

'^To the letter was appended a postscript from the governor, bidding the Mormons defend themselves until protection could be furnished, and one from ​

190 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

and the fury of the citizens allayed by addresses from Judge Phelps, Colonel Buckmaster, the governor's aid, and others. In the afternoon the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum arrived in wagons guarded by three men. They were met by the city council, the prophet's staff, the officers of the legion, and a vast procession of citizens, crying out amid the most solemn lamentations and wailings that ever ascended into the ears of the Lord of hosts to be avenged of their enemies." Arriving at the Nauvoo House, the assemblage, numbering ten thousand persons, was again addressed, and " with one united voice resolved to trust to the law for a remedy of such a high-handed assassination, and when that failed, to call upon God to avenge them of their wrongs. Oh! widows and orphans! Oh Americans! weep, for the glory of free- dom has departed!"

Meanwhile the governor, fearing that the Mormons would rise in a body to execute vengeance, issued an address to the people of Illinois, in which he attempted to explain his conduct,^^ and again called out the militia. Two officers were despatched to Nauvoo, with orders to ascertain the disposition of the citizens, and to proceed thence to Warsaw, where were the headquarters of the anti-Mormon militia, and forbid violent measures in the name of the state. On arriv- ing at the former place they laid their instructions before the members of the municipality. A meeting of the council was summoned, and it was resolved that the saints rigidly sustain the laws and the governor, so long as they are themselves sustained in their constitutional rights; that they discountenance ven- geance on the assassins of Joseph and Hyrum Smith; that instead of an appeal to arms, they appeal to the majesty of the law, and, should the law fail, they

General Deming, telling them to remain quiet, that the assassination would be condenmed by three fourths of the people of Illinois, but that they were in danger of attack from Missouri, and 'prudence might obviate material destruction.' Times and Seasons, v. 561.

3* Copies of it will be found in /(/., v. 564-5; Mackay's The Mormom, 178- 9; and ISmucker's Hist. Mor., 186-7. ​

VENGEANCE BELONGS TO GOD. 191

leave the matter with God; that the council pledges itself that no aggressions shall be made by the citizens of_ Nauvoo, approves the course taken by the gov- ernor, and will uphold him by all honorable means. A meeting of citizens was then held in the public square; the people were addressed, the resolutions read, and all responded with a hearty amen.

The two officers then returned to Carthage and reported to the governor, who was so greatly pleased with the forbearance of the saints that he officially declared them "human beings and citizens of the state." He caused writs to be issued for the arrest of three of the murderers — after they had taken refuge in Missouri.'^ The assassins escaped punishment, however; and now that order was restored, the chief magistrate disbanded the militia, after what he termed "a campaign of about thirteen days."

On the afternoon of July 1st a letter was addressed by Kichards, Taylor, and Phelps to the citizens of Nau- voo, and a fortnight later, an epistle signed by the same persons and also by Parley P. Pratt was despatched to all the saints throughout the world. Be peace- able, quiet citizens, doing the works of righteousness; and as soon as the twelve and other authorities can assemble, or a majority of them, the onward course to the great gathering of Israel, and the final con- summation of the dispensation of the fulness of times, will be pointed out, so that the murder of Abel, the assassination of hundreds, the righteous blood of all the holy prophets, from Abel to Joseph, sprinkled with the best blood of the son of God, as the crim- son sign of remission, only carries conviction to the business and bosoms of all flesh, that the cause is just and will continue; and blessed are they that hold out faithful to the end, while apostates, consenting to the shedding of innocent blood, have no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come . . . Let no vain

<° In Message to III. Legis., 20, it is stated that some of the murderers after- ward surrendered on the understanding that they should be admitted to bail. There was not sufficient proof to convict them. ​

192 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.

and foolish plans or imaginations scatter us abroad and divide us asunder as a people, to seek to save our lives at the expense of truth and principle, but rather let us live or die together and in the enjoyment of society and union. "^^

At this time the saints needed such words of ad- vice and consolation. Some were already making preparations to return to the gentiles; some feared that their organization as a sect would soon come to an end. To reassure them, one more address was issued on August 15th, in the name of the twelve apostles,*^ and signed by Brigham Young, the presi- dent of the apostles. The saints were told that though they were now without a prophet present in the flesh, the twelve would administer and regulate the affairs of the church ; and that even if they should be taken away, there were still others who would insure the triumph of their cause throughout the world.

In 1830, as will be remembered, the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in a chamber by a few humble men; in 1844 the prophet's followers mustered scores of thousands. Speedy dis- solution was now predicted by some, while others argued that as all his faults would lie buried in the tomb, while on his virtues martyrdom would shed its lustre, the progress of the sect would be yet more remarkable. The latter prediction was verified, and after the Mormons had suffered another period of per- secution, Joseph Smith the martyr became a greater power in the land than Joseph Smith the prophet.

• ^ The full text of both letters is given in Times and Seasons, v. 568, 586-

7; Mackay's The Mormons, 180-2; Smucker^s Hist. Mormons, 189-92.

^■■^ Who are thus described in a letter addressed by Phelps to the editor of the New York Prophet, a small journal established to promulgate the vie\\s of the sect: ' Brigham Young, the lion of the Lord; Heber C. Kimball, the her- ald of grace; Parley P. Pratt, the archer of paradise; Orson Hyde, the olive branch of Israel; Willard Richards, the keeper of the rolls; John Taylor, the champion of right; William Smith, the patriarchal staff of Jacob; Wilford Woodruff, the banner of the gospel; George A. Smith, the entablature of truth; Orson Pratt, the gauge of philosophy; Jolm E. Page, the sun-dial; and Lyman Wight, the wild ram of the mountains. They are good men; the best the Lord can find.' See Mackai/s The Mormons, 186. ​

CHAPTER YII.

BRIGHAM YOUNG SUCCEEDS JOSEPH.

1844-1845.

The QiTEsnoK of Succession — Biogkaphy op Beigham Young — His Early Life — Conversion— Missionary Work — Made President op the Twelve — His Devotion to the Prophet— Sidney Rigdon and Brig- ham Young Rival Aspirants for the Presidency — Rigdon's Claims — Public Meetings — Brigham Elected President of the Church — His Character— Temple-building— Fresh Disasters — The Affair at Morley — The Men of Quincy and the Men of Carthage— The Mor- mons Consent to Abandon their City.

Upon the death of Joseph Smith, one of the ques- tions claiming immediate attention was, Who shall be his successor? It was the first time the question had arisen in a manner to demand immediate solution, and the matter of succession was not so well deter- mined then as now, it being at present well established that upon the death of the president of the church the apostle eldest in ordination and service takes his place.

Personal qualifications would have much to do with it; rules could be established later. The first consid- eration now was to keep the church from falling in pieces. None realized the situation better than Brig- ham Young, who soon made up his mind that he him- self was the man for the emergency. Then to make it appear plain to the brethren that God would have him take Joseph's place, his mind thus works: "The first thing that I thought of," he says, "was Avhether Joseph had taken the keys of the kingdom with him

Hist. Utah. 13 ( 193 ) ​

194 BRIGHAM YOUNG SUCCEEDS JOSEPH.

from the earth. Brother Orson Pratt sat on my left; we were both leaning back on our chairs. Bring- ing my hand down on my knee, I said, 'The keys of the kingdom are right here with the church.'" But who held the keys of the kingdom ? This was the all- absorbing question that was being discussed at Nauvoo when Brigham and the other members of the quorum arrived at that city on the 6th of August, 1844.

Brigham Young was born at Whitingham, Wind- ham county, Vermont, on the 1st of June, 1801. His father, John, a Massachusetts farmer, served as a pri- vate soldier in the revolutionary war, and his grand- father as surgeon in the French and Indian war.^ In 1804 his family, which included nine children,^ of whom he was then the youngest, removed to Sherburn, Chenango county, New York, where for a time hard- ship and poverty were their lot. Concerning Brig- ham's youth there is little worthy of record. Lack of means compelled him, almost without education, to earn his own livelihood, ab did his brothers, finding employment as best they could. Thus, at the age of twenty-three, when he married he had learned how to work as farmer, carpenter, joiner, painter, and glazier, in the last of which occupations he was an ex- pert craftsman.

In 1829 he removed to Mendon, Monroe count}'", where his father then resided; and here, for the first time, he saw the book of Mormon at the house of his brother Phineas, who had been a pastor in the re- formed methodist church, but was now a convert to Mormonism.^

^ Waiters The Mormon Prophet and his Harem. Linforth, Boute from Liverpool, 112, note, states that his grandfather was an officer in the revolu- tionary war; this is not confirmed by Mrs Waite, who quotes from Brigham's autobiography. Again, Nabby Howe was the maiden name of Brigham's mother, as given in his autobiography; while Linforth reads Nancy Howe; and Remy, Jour, to G. S. L. City, i. 413, Naleby Howe.

^Born as follow: Nancy, Aug. 6, 1786, Fanny, Nov. 8, 1787, Rhoda, Sept. 10, 1789, John, May 22, 1791, Nabby, Apr. 23, 1793, Susannah, June 7, 1795, Joseph, Apr. 7, 1797, Phineas, Feb. 16, 1799, and Brigham, June 1, 1801. Two others were born later: Louisa, Sept. 25, 1804, and Lorenzo Dow, Oct. 19, 1807.

'In Ibid., it is mentioned that before tha organization of the latter-day ​

THE GIFT OF TONGUES. 195

About two years later he himself was converted* by the preaching of Elder Samuel H. Smith, brother of the prophet; on the 14th of April, 1832, he was bap- tized, and on the same night ordained an elder, his father^ and all his brothers afterward becoming pros- elytes. During the same month he set forth to meet the prophet at Kirtland, where he found him and several of his brethren chopping wood. " Here," says Brigham, "my joy was full at the privilege of shak- ing the hand of the prophet of God . . . He was happy to see us and bid us welcome. In the evening a few of the brethren came in, and we conversed together upon the things of the kingdom. He called upon me to pray. In my prayer I spoke in tongues. As soon as we rose from our knees, the brethren flocked around him, and asked his opinion. . .He told them it was the pure Adamic language; . . .it is of God, and the time will come when Brother Brigham Young will preside over this church." In 1835 he was chosen, as will be remembered, one of the quorum of the twelve, and the following spring set forth on a mis- sionary tour to the eastern states. Returning early in the winter, he saved the life of the prophet, and otherwise rendered good service during the great apostasy of 1836, when the church passed through its darkest hour.^

Brigham was ever a devoted follower of the prophet, and at the risk of his own life, shielded him against the persecutions of apostates. At the close of 1837 he was driven by their machinations from Kirtland,^

church, Phineas had wrought a miracle, 'whereby a young girl on the point of death had been restored to life. ' Remy does not give his authority.

• At a branch of the church at Columbia, Penn. Txdiidge's Life of Young, 78.

^ John Young was made first patriarch of the church. He died at Quincy,

111., Oct. 12, 1839. Waiters The Mormon Prophet, 2.

• TulUdge's Life of Brigham Young, 83. In a speech delivered after he

became president, Brigham says: 'Ascertaining that a plot was laid to waylay Joseph for the purpose of taking his life, on his return from Monroe, Michi- gan, to Kirtland, I procured a horse and buggy, and took brother William Smith along to meet Joseph, whom we met returning in the stage-coach. Joseph requested William to take his sent in the stage, and he rode with me in the buggy "We arrived at Kirtland ia safety.'

^ 'On the morning of Dec. 22d I left Kirtland in consequence of the fury ​

196 BRIGHAM YOUNG SUCCEEDS JOSEPH.

and took refuge at Dublin, Indiana, where he was soon afterward joined by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, Thence, in company with the former, he went to Mis- souri, arriving at Far West a short time before the massacre at Haun's Mill. Once more Brigham was compelled to flee for his life, and now betook himself to Quincy, where he raised means to aid the destitute brethren in leaving Missouri,^ and directed the first settlement of the saints in Illinois, the prophet Joseph, Parley P. Pratt, and others being then in prison.

By revelation of July 8, 1838,*' it was ordered that eleven of the quorum should " depart to go over the great waters, and there promulgate my gospel, the fulness thereof, and bear record of my name. Let them take leave of my saints in the cit}^ Far West, on the 26th day of April next; on the building spot of my house, saith the Lord." As the twelve had been ban- ished from Missouri and could not return with safety, many of the church dignitaries urged that the latter part of this revelation should not be fulfilled. '^But," says Brigham, " I felt differently, and so did those of the quorum who were with me." The affairs of the church were now in the hands of the twelve, and their president was not the man to shrink from danger. " The Lord had spoken, and it was their duty to obey."

The quorum started forth, and reaching Far West toward the end of April, hid themselves in a grove. Between midnight of the 25th and dawn of the 26th

of the mob, and the spirit that prevailed in the apostates, who threatened to destroy me because 1 would proclaim publicly and privately that I knew, by the power of the holy ghost, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the most high God, and had not transgressed and fallen, as apostates declared.' Id. , 84.

^ ' I held a meeting with the brethren of the twelve and the members of the church in Quincy, on the 17th of March, when a letter was read to the people from the committee, on behalf of the saints at Far West, who were left destitute of the means to move. Though the brethren were poor and stripped of almost everything, yet they manifested a spirit of willingness to do their utmost, offering to sell their hats, coats, and shoes to accomplish the object. At the close of the meeting $50 was collected in money and several teams were subscribed to go and bring the brethren. ' Id. , 89-90.

^This is the date given in Doctrine and Covenants, 381 (ed. S. L. City, 1876). See also Linforths Route from Liverpool, 112, note. TuUidge givea July 8, 183G. Life of Brigham Young, 90. ​

MISSIONARY LABORS. 197

they held a conference, relaid the foundation of the house of the Lord,^° and ordained Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith as apostles in place of those who had fallen from grace. "Thus," says Brigham, "was this revelation fulfilled, concerning which our enemies said, if all the other revelations of Joseph Smith came to pass, that one should not be fulfilled."

Upon the excommunication of Thomas B. Marsh, in 1839, the office of president of the twelve devolved by right on Brigham by reason of his seniority of membership. On the 14th of April, 1840, he was publicly accepted by the council as their head, and at the reorganization of the church councils at Nauvoo he was appointed by revelation on the 19th of Janu- ary, 1843, president of the twelve travelling council.

After the founding of Nauvoo, the president, to- gether with three others of the quorum,^^ sailed for Liverpool, where they arrived on the 6th of April, 1840, the tenth anniversary of the organization of the church. Here he was engaged for about a year in missionary work, of which more hereafter. Taking ship for 'New York on the 20th of April, 1841, he reached Nauvoo on the 1st of July, and was warmly welcomed by the prophet, who a few days afterward ^^ received the following revelation: "Dear and well- beloved brother Brigham Young, verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Brigham, it is no more required at your hand to leave your family as in times past, for your ofiering is acceptable to me; I have seen your labor and toil in journey ings for my name. I therefore command you to send my word abroad, and take special care of your family from this time henceforth and forever. Amen."

Already the mantle of the prophet was falling upon the president of the twelve; already the former had

^° ' Elder Cutler, the master workman of the house, recommenced laying the foundation by rolling up a large stone near the south-east corner.' Id., 92.

" Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, and Parley P. Pratt. Reuben Hedlock also accompanied them.

'^On July 9th. Doctrine and Covenants, 409. ​

198 BRIGHAM YOUNG SUCCEEDS JOSEPH.

foretold his own death; but notwithstanding the rev- elation, Brigham was sent as a missionary to the eastern states, and at Peterborough, New Hampshire, received news of the tragedy at Carthage jail.

When Governor Ford and his militia were prepar- ing to march on Nauvoo for the purpose of forestall- ing civil war, the only course open to the prophet and his followers was a removal from Illinois. In 1842 an expedition had been planned to explore the coun- try toward or beyond the Rocky Mountains; but when Joseph Smith put himself forward as a candi- date for the presidency of the United States, all other matters were for the time forgotten. Brigham claimed that had he been present the assassination would never have occurred; he would not have per- mitted the prophet's departure for Carthage : rather would he have sent him to the mountains under a guard of elders. But Brigham had no reason to complain of the dispensation of providence which was now to bring his clear, strong judgment and resolute will to the front.

Prominent among the aspirants for the presidency of the church was Sidney Bigdon, one of the first and ablest to espouse the cause, and not altogether without grounds for his pretensions. He had performed much labor, had encountered many trials, and had received scanty honors, being at present nothing more than preacher, and professor of history, belles-lettres, and oratory. By revelation of January 19, 1841, he had been offered the position of counsellor to the prophet,^^

^^ Doctrine and Covenants, 406. In this same revelation the officers of the priesthood were likewise named: Hyrum Smith, patriarch; Joseph Smith, presiding elder over the whole church, also translator, revelator, seer, and prophet, with Sidney Rigdon and William Law as councillors, the three to constitute a quorum and first presidency. Brigham Young, president over the twelve travelling council, who were Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, William Smith, John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards, George A. Smith, and some one to be appointed in place of David Patten; a high council, Samuel Bent, H. G. Sherwood, George W. Harris, Charles C. Rich, Thomas Grover, Newel Knight, David Dort, Dunbar Wilson, Aaron Johnson, David Fulmer, Alpheus Cutler, Will ​

SIDNEY RIGDON. 199

if he would consent to humble himself. But Sidney- would not humble himself Soon after Joseph's death, at which he was not present, he had a revela- tion of his own, bidding him conduct the saints to Pittsburgh.^* Visiting that city, he found the time not yet ripe for this measure; and meanwhile return- ing to Nauvoo, the 3d of August, he offered himself on the following day as a candidate for the presidency, aided by Elder Marks.

Sidney now put forth all his strength to gain influ- ence and secure retainers. He must have Joseph's mantle ; he must have the succession, or henceforth he would be nothing. It was a momentous question, not to be disposed of in a day. To substantiate his claim, Sidney could now have visions with the best of them ; on various occasions he told how the Lord had through him counselled the people to appoint him as their guar- dian. He requested that a meeting should be held on the following sabbath, the 8th of August, for the further consideration of the matter. But prior to this meeting Parley Pratt and two others of the twelve bade the candidate go with them to the house of John Taylor, who yet lay prostrate with his wounds. Tay- lor expostulated with him, but to no purpose. Sidney continued to press his claims, even assuming the sacred office, prophesying and ordaining. On the sabbath named, according to appointment, Sidney and his sup- porters met in the grove near the temple ; but were confronted by the apostles, with Brigham at their head. Standing before them, Sidney addressed the

iam Huntington; president over a quorum of high priests, Don Carlos Smith, with Amasa Lyman and Noah Packard for counsellors; a priesthood to pre- eide over the quorum of elders, John A. Hicks, Samuel Williams, and Jesse Baker; to preside over the quorum of seventies, Joseph Young, Josiah But- terfield, Daniel Miles, Henry Herriman, Zera Pulsipher, Levi Hancock, James Foster — this for elders constantly travelling, while the quorum of elders was to preside over the churches from time to time; to preside over the bighopric, Vinson Knight, Samuel H. Smith, and Shadrach Eoundy, and others.

^* See his memorial to the Pennsylvania legislature, in Times and Seasonx, V. 418-23. Remy says that he was also instructed to pay a visit to Queen Victoria, and overthrow her if she refused to accept the gospel. Jour, to O. S. L. City, i. 411; a statement for which I find no authority.

​brethren for nearly two hours. Yet he seemed to make no impression. "The Lord has not chosen him," said one to another. The assembly then ad- journed to two o'clock, when the saints in and about Nauvoo gathered in great numbers. After singing and prayer, through the vast assemblage was heard a voice, strikingly clear, distinct, and penetrating.^^ It was the voice of Brigham, who said: "Attention, all! For the first time in my life I am called to act as chief of the twelve ; for the first time in your lives you are called to walk by faith, your prophet being no longer present in the flesh. I desire that every one present shall exercise the fullest liberty. I now ask you, and each of you, if you want to choose a guardian, a prophet, evangelist, or something else as your head to lead you. All who wish to draw away from the church, let them do it, but they will not prosper. If any want Sidney Rigdon to lead them, let them have him; but I say unto you that the keys of the kingdom are with the twelve."^'

It was then put to vote, Brigham meanwhile say- ing, "All those who are for Joseph and Hyrum, the book of Mormon, book of Doctrine and Covenants, the temple, and Joseph's measures, they being one party, will be called upon to manifest their principles boldly, the opposite party to enjoy the same liberty."" The result was ten votes for Sidney, the quorum with Brigham at their head getting all the rest. Elder Philips then motioned that all "who have voted for Sidney Rigdon be suspended until the} can have a trial before the high council. "^^

The truth is, Sidney was no match for Brigham. It was a battle of the lion and the lamb; only Brig-

'^ ' He [Brigham] said, as he stood on the stand, he would rather sit in sack- cloth and ashes for a month than appear before the people, but he pitied their loneliness, and was constrained to step forward, and we knew he was, because he had the voice and manner of Joseph, as hundreds can testify. ' Reminiscences of Mrs F. D. Richards, MS., p. 14.

i« Woodruffs Journal, MS., Aug. 8, 1844.

^^ Hist. Brigham Young, 1844, MS., 25.

'^Wilford Woodruff states that Rigdon did not receive a single vote. Reminiscences, MS., 2. ​

ham did not know before that he was a lion, while Sidney received the truth with reluctance that he was indeed a lamb. Something more than oratory was nec- essary to win in this instance; and of that something, with great joy in his heart, Brigham found himself in possession. It was the combination of qualities which we find present primarily in all great men, in all leaders of men — intellectual force, mental superiority, united with personal magnetism, and physique enough to give weight to will and opinion ; for Brigham Young was assuredly a great man, if by greatness we mean one who is superior to others in strength and skill, moral, intellectual, or physical. The secret of this man's power — a power that within a few years made itself felt throughout the world — was this : he was a sincere man, or if an impostor, he was one who first imposed upon himself He was not a hypocrite; knave, in the ordinary sense of the term, he was not; though he has been a thousand times called both. If he was a bad man, he was still a great man, and the evil that he did was done with honest purpose. He possessed great ad- ministrative ability ; he was far-seeing, with a keen in- sight into human nature, and a thorough knowledge of the good and evil qualities of men, of their virtues and frailties. His superiority was native to him, and he was daily and hourly growing more powerful, develop- ing a strength which surprised himself, and gaining con- stantly more and more confidence in himself, gaining constantly more and more the respect, fear, and obe- dience of those about him, until he was able to con- sign Sidney to the buffetings of Satan for a thousand years, while Brigham remained president and supreme ruler of the church. ^^

^' Sidney had a trial, and was convicted and condemned. Sidney Rigdon was a native of Saint Clair, Penn. , where he was bom in 1793. Until his 26th year he worked on his father's farm, but in 1819 received a license to preach, from the society known as the regular baptists, being appointed in 1822 to the charge of the first baptist church in Pittsburgh, where he became very popu- lar. In 1824 he resigned his position, from conscientious motives, and joined the Campbellites, supporting himself by working as a journeyman tanner. Two years later he accepted a call as a Campbellite preacher at Bainbridge, 0., ​

Thus Brigham Young succeeded Joseph Smith. The work of the latter was done. It was a singular work, to which he was singularly adapted; the work yet to be done is no less remarkable, and a no less remark- able agent is raised up at the right moment. Mat- ters assume now a more material turn, and a more material nature is required to master them — if coarser- grained, more practical, rougher, more dogmatical, dealing less in revelations from heaven and more in self-protection and self-advancement here on earth, so much the better for the saints. Strike, but hear me!" Joseph with Themistocles used to cry; "I will strike, and you shall hear me," Brigham would say.

No wonder the American Israel received Brigham as the gift of God, the Lion of the Lord," though the explanation of the new ruler himself would have been nearer that of the modern evolutionist, who would account for Brigham's success as the survival of the fittest. It was fortunate for the saints at this juncture that their leader should be less prophet than priest and king, less idealist than business manager, political economist, and philosopher. Brigham holds communion with spiritual powers but distantly, per- haps distrustfully; at all events, he commands the spirits rather than let them command him; and the older he grows the less he has to do with them; and the less he has to do with heavenly affairs, the more his mind dwells on earthly matters. His prophecies are eminently practical; his people must have piety that will pay. And later, and all through his life, his posi- tion IS a strange one. If the people about Nauvoo are troublesome, God orders him west; and then he tells

and afterward built up churches at Mantua and Mentor in that state. In 1830 he joined the Mormon church, being converted by the preaching of Par- OA^" irT "^<^'^er particulars will be found in Times andSe.asons, iv. 177-8, 193-4 f>J-10- Cobb s Mormon Problem, MS., 12; Tucker's Mormonism, 123-7; Pitts- burgh Gaz., m S. F. Bulletin, Aug. 4, 1876. Returning to Pittsburgh after his excommunication, Sidney led a life of utter obscurity, and finally died Au 1880 ^"^Sliany County, N. Y., July 14, 1876. Lippincott's Mag.,

^^"See note 41, p. 192, this vol. ​

BRIGHAM'S POWER.

him if roads are opened and canals constructed it will please him. From these practical visions come ac- tions, and on a Sunday the great high-priest rises in the tabernacle and says: "God has spoken. He has said unto his prophet, ' Get thee up, Brigham, and build me a city in the fertile valley to the south, where there is water, where there are fish, where the sun is strong enough to ripen the cotton plants, and give raiment as well as food to my saints on earth. Brethren willing to aid God's work should come to me before the bishop's meeting.'" "As the prophet takes his seat again," says an eye-witness, "and puts on his broad-brimmed hat, a hum of applause runs around the bowery, and teams and barrows are freely promised."

To whatsoever Brigham applied himself he directed his whole strength, provided his whole strength was necessary to the accomplishment of his purpose. There were others in the field against him, aspirants for the late prophet's place, besides Sidney ; but direct- ing his efibrts only against the most powerful of them, the president of the twelve summoned the quorum and the people, as we have seen, crushed Rigdon and his adherents by one of the master-strokes which he was now learning, declared the revelations of Rigdon to be of the devil, cut him off, cursed him, and was himself elected almost without a dissenting voice, giving all ostensibly the fullest liberty to act, yet permitting none of them to do so, and even causing ten to be tried for dissenting. Henceforth none dared to gainsay his authority ; he became not only the leader of the Mor- mons, but their dictator ; holding authority for a time as president of the twelve apostles, and finally in the capacity of the first presidency, being made president of the whole church in December 1847.

Brigham Young was now in his forty-third year, in the prime of a hale and vigorous manhood, with ex- uberant vitality, with marvelous energy, and with un- swervingf faith in his cause and in himse ​lf. In stat-

ure he was a little above medium height; in frame well-knit and compact, though in later years rotund and portly; in carriage somewhat stately; presence imposing, even at that time, and later much more so; face clean shaven now, but afterward lengthened by full beard except about the mouth; features all good, regular, well formed, sharp, and smiling, and wearing an expression of self-sufficiency, bordering on the su- percilious, which later in life changed to a look of sub- dued sagacity which he could not conceal; deep-set, gray eyes, cold, stern, and of uncertain expression, lips thin and compressed, and a forehead broad and massive — his appearance was that of a self-reliant and strong-willed man, of one born to be master of him- self and many others. In manner and address he was easy and void of affectation, deliberate in speech, con- veying his original and suggestive ideas in apt though homely phrase. ^^ When in council he was cool and imperturbable, slow to decide, and in no haste to act; but when the time for action came he worked with an energy that was satisfied only with success.

Like his predecessor, he was under all circumstances naturally a brave man, possessing great physical strength, and with nerves unshaken by much excess or sickness. That he was given to strong drink has often been asserted by his enemies, but never by his friends, and rarely by impartial observers. He was always in full possession of himself, being far too wise a man to destroy himself through any indiscre- tion.

He was undoubtedly the man for the occasion, however, for no other could, at this juncture, save the Mormons from dissolution as a sect and as a people. If the saints had selected as their leader a man less resolute, less confident, less devoted to his cause and to his people, a man like Sidney Rigdon,

^^ Bowles, Across the Continent, 86, says that even at 64 he spoke ungram- matically. This criticism is a fair commentary on the diflference between a Bowles and a B ​righam.

for example, Mormonism would have split into half a dozen petty factions, the strongest of which would hardly be worthy of notice.

Discussing the great Mormon leaders, Hyde, who though an apostate was one of the most impartial of writers, says: Brigham Young is far superior to Smith in everything that constitutes a great leader. Smith was not a man of genius; his forte was tact. He only embraced opportunities that presented them- selves. He used circumstances, but did not create them. The compiling genius of Mormonism was Sidney Kigdon. Smith had boisterous impetuosity, but no foresight. Polygamy was not the result of his policy, but of his passions. Sidney gave point, direc- tion, and apparent consistency to the Mormon system of theology. He invented its forms and many of its arguments. He and Parley Pratt were its leading orators and polemics. Had it not been for the acces- sion of these two men. Smith would have been lost, and his schemes frustrated and abandoned. That Brighara was superior not only to Smith but also to Bigdon is evident."

Burton says: "His manner is at once affable and impressive, simple and courteous, . . . shows no sign of dogmatism, ... impresses a stranger with a certain sense of power; his followers are, of course, wholly fascinated by his superior strength of brain." Temper even and placid, manner cold, but he is neither morose nor methodistic. Often reproves in violent language ; powers of observation acute; has an excellent mem- ory, and is a keen judge of character. "If he dis- likes a stranger at the first interview, he never sees him again. Of his temperance and sobriety there is but one opinion. His life is ascetic; his favorite food is baked potatoes with a little buttermilk, and his drink water." ^^

" City of the Saints, 292-3; Mormonism, 170. Hyde is by no means one of Brigham's flatterers, but appears to speak from conviction. On the same page he remarks: ' Brigham maybe a great man, greatly deceived, but he ​

Further: though he made his people obey him, he shared their privations. Soon we shall find him rousing his followers from the lethargy of despair, when their very hearts had died within them, and when all cheeks blanched but his; speaking words of cheer to the men, and with his own sick child in his arms, sharing his scant rations with women and children who held out their hands for bread.

For a brief space after the election of Brigham the saints had rest. The city of Nauvoo continued to thrive ;^^ a portion of the temple was finished and dedicated,^* the building of the Nauvoo house and council-house was progressing rapidly.

Their buildings were erected with great sacrifice of time, and amidst difficulties and discouragement in consequence of poverty. Money was exceedingly scarce.^^ The revelation requiring tithing, made in 1838, was first practically applied in Nauvoo; the tenth day was regularly given to work on the temple ; the penny subscriptions of the sisters are mentioned, which was a weekly contribution, and was intended for the purchase of glass and nails. Every effort was made to encourage manufacture, and to utilize their water-power. At a meeting of the trades delegates

is not a hypocrite;' and on the next page: 'Brigham, however deceived, is still a bad man, and a dangerous man; and as much more dangerous, being sincere in thinking he is doing God's work, as a madman is than an impostor.' In Id., 136-40, we have a short and succinct narrative of Brigham's career up to the assassination of Joseph Smith, probably the best that has yet been written in such brief space.

^* 'Almost every stranger that enters our city is excited with astonish- ment that so much has been done in so short a time.' Likewise there was always work enough for them among the gentiles, who ' did not know liow to make a short johnny-cake until our girls taught tliem.' Speech of Elder Kimball, April 8, 1845, in Id., vi. 973. Says John Taylor: 'When we first settled in Nauvoo, . . .farming lands out of the city were worth from $1.25 to $5 per acre; when we left they were worth from $5 to $50 per acre. We turned the desert into a city, and the wilderness into a fruitful field or fields and gardens. ' Millennial Star, vi\\. 115. Bennett mentions a community farm near Nauvoo, which was cultivated in common by the poorer classes, ihstory of tha Saints, 191.

^*It was dedicated May 1, 1846, by Wilford Woodruff and Orson Hyde. Two days later they held their last meeting there. Woodruff's Rem., MS., 3.

• " 'When corn was brought to my door at ten cents a bushel, and sadly

needed, the money could not be raised.' Utah Notes, MS., p. 6. ​

there was intelligent discussion as to the place becom- ing a great manufacturing centre.^^

In January 1845 it was proposed that a building for the high-priests should be erected, to cost $15,000, and the work was cheerfully undertaken. There were frequent entertainments given in the way of dances and public dinners in the Nauvoo mansion and in the bowery six miles out of the city,^^ At their confer- ence in April, thousands gathered. The temple was pushed forward, as the people were counselled to re- ceive their endowments there as early as possible. On the 24th of May the walls were finished, and the event was duly celebrated. ^^ On the 5th of October their first meeting in the temple was held.^^ From mites and tithings it was estimated that a million dol- lars had been raised. Brigham, Parley, and others of the quorum administered in the temples to hun- dreds of people, the services often continuing all day and night.^*^ At the end of December one thousand of the people had received the ordinances. And all this was done midst renewed persecutions, and while the people were making preparations to evacuate the city.

The masons withdrew the dispensation previously granted to Nauvoo, and to this day they refuse to admit Mormons into their order.

^^ There was $500 or $600 already collected from the penny subscriptions, which was drawn by order of Brigham to meet a debt on land which must be immediately paid. Hist. B. Yoimg, MS., Dec. 5, 1844. John Taylor says it was intended to establish manufactures at Nauvoo on a large scale, for which the services of English emigrants were to be secured. At the head of the rapids, near Nauvoo, stood an island, to which it was proposed to build a dam, leaving spaces for water-wheels, and thus securing power for mills. Rem., MS., 19-20.

'" In Hist. B. Young, MS., July 9, 1845, is a description of a public dinner for the benefit of the church, where Young, Kimball, Taylor, and others offi- ciated at the table. •

'^ At six o'clock in the morning the people assembled. The ' Cap-stone March,' composed for the occasion, was played by Pitt's band; Brigham laid on the last stone, and pronounced the benediction, and the whole congregation shouted, ' Hosanna ! hosanna to God and the lamb ! amen, amen, and amen !' Hist. B. Young, MS., 83.

" The first stone was laid April 6, 1841.

'" ' I commenced administering the ordinances of endowment at five o'clock and continued until half -past three in the morning.' Id., MS., Dec. 10 ​, 1845.

Fresh disaster now approached Nauvoo. Th ■ whigs and the democrats of IlUnois had both sought to secure the Mormon vote, until finally they began to declare that Mormonism signified a government not in accord with that of the United States. The city charter had been repealed in January 1845, and Dan- iel Spencer, who had been elected to fill the remain- der of the term of the murdered mayor, was deposed, as were all the other city officers; a new charter was before the legislature, but never granted. These and like measures, followed as they were by the discharge of Joseph Smith's assassins, imparted to the gentiles renewed courage. The crimes of the whole country were laid at the door of the saints. Nauvoo was de- nounced as a den of counterfeiters, cattle-thieves, and assassins,^^ the leaders of the gang being men who in the name of religion outraged all sense of decency. The saints retaliated in kind; and shortly it came about that in sections settled by Mormons gentiles feared to travel, and in sections settled by gentiles Mormons feared to travel. In view of this state of affairs, which was more like old-time feudalism than latter-day repub- licanism. Governor Ford made an inspection of the city, and declared that fewer thefts were committed in Nauvoo in proportion to population than in any other town in the state. The cause of this, however, may have lain in the fact that the population of Nau- voo was chiefly Mormon, and whatever might be their depredations upon the gentiles, the saints were not accustomed to steal from each other.

At a place called the Morley settlement, in Han- cock county, in September 1845, the people held a meeting to devise means for the prevention of thievery. Though few definite charges were advanced, there was much said derogatory to Mormon honesty. Presently the discharge of a gun was heard, once or twice, perhaps more. It was said the shots were fired

'^ For specimens of the accusations brought against them, see Hcdl's Mot' monism Exposed, 24-34. ​

by Mormons, and that they took aim at the house in which the meeting was held. Soon the cry went abroad that the Mormons were in arms, and there were quickly volunteers at hand to help the men of Morley. A. meeting was held, and it was resolved to expel the saints. At the time appointed, armed bands appeared and burned some twenty Mormon dwellings, driving the inmates into the bushes.^^ The people of Illinois were evidently now determined to adopt the previous policy of the men of Missouri. This was not all. Word had come that forces from Nauvoo were moving to the aid of the Mormons at Morley, where- upon the gentiles throughout all that region banded, threatening to burn and drive out the saints until not one should remain. As a beginning, Buel's flouring mill and carding machine, near Lima, the property of a Mormon, was reduced to ashes.^^

And now the men of Quincy, their old friends and benefactors, turned against them; and though not manifesting the deadly hate displayed in some quar- ters, were nevertheless resolved that the Mormons should depart from the state. On the 22d the citi- zens met and agreed that further efforts to live in peace with the Mormons were useless.^*

Indeed, the saints themselves had reached the

'2 Says the Qtiincy Whig: ' If the Mormons have been guilty of crime, why, punish them; but do not visit their sins on defenceless women and children, This is as bad as the savages. ' Sheriff Backenstos thus testifies: ' It is proper to state that the Mormon community have acted with more than ordinary for- bearance, remaining perfectly quiet, and offering no resistance when their dwellings, other biiildings, stacks of grain, etc., were set on fire in theu' presence, and they have forborne until forlDearance is no longer a virtue." Fullmer'.-^ Expulsion, 19.

^ ' Mobs commenced driving out the Mormons in the lower part of Han cock CO. , and burning their houses and property . . . The burning was con tinned from settlement to settlement for ten or eleven days without any re- sistance whatever. The people at Nauvoo sent out wagons and teams to bring those people in whom the mob had driven out of their homes. ' Wells' Narrative, MS. , 35-6. ' The mob said they would drive all into Nauvoo, and all Nauvoo into the Mississippi.' Richards, Rftn., MS., 16.

^* 'It is a settled thing that the pulilic sentiment of the state is agamst the Mormons, and it will be in vain for them to contend against it; and to prevent bloodshed and the sacrifice of so many lives on both sides it is their duty to obey the public will, and leave the state as speedily as possible. That they will do this, we have a confident hope, and that, too, before the last extreme is resorted to, that of force.' FuUmer's Expulsion, 20. Hist. Utah. 14 ​

same conclusion. It was no new idea to them, seek- ing a home elsewhere. It was a rough element, that by which they were surrounded, an element which brought upon them more of evil than of good. Compara- tively few additions were made to their number from the bold border men of Missouri and Illinois, most of their proselytes coming from other parts of the United States and from Europe. The whole great west was open to them; even during the days of Joseph there had been talk of some happy Arca- dian retreat far away from every adverse influence;^" and in the fertile brain of Brigham the idea assumed proportions yet broader and of more intensified form, significant of western empire and isolation somewhere in California or the Pacific isles, with himself as leader, and followers drawn from every quarter of the globe,

A general council was held on the 9th of Septem- ber, at which it was resolved that a company of fifteen hundred men be selected to go to Salt Lake Valley, and a committee of five was appointed to gather in- formation relative to the subject.^ There were fre- quent meetings of the authorities and consultations in regard to emigrating to California.^

The saints would go, they said, but they must have a reasonable time in which to dispose of their prop-

^^On the 20th of Feb., 1844, according to the Millennial Star, xxii. 819, Joseph counselled the twelve to send out a delegation and ' investigate the locations of California and Oregon, and hunt out a good location where we can remove to after the temple is completed, where we can build a city in a diiy and have a government of our own.' In Taylor's Reminiscences, MS., 19, is tlic following: 'A favorite song in Nauvoo, and of my own composi- tion, was entitled "The Upjier California, that's the land for me!" what is now Utah being known by that name. Joseph Smith was the first who talked of the latter-day saints coming to this region. As early as August 1842 he prophesied tliat the saints would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, and there become a mighty people.'

sfiSee Hist. B. Young, 184.5, MS., 19.

^' F. D. Richards read Freinonfs Journal to the twelve, and later Hastings' account of California was read. IHst. B. Young, MS., 308-16. A letter was also read to the authorities from Brother Sam Brannan, stating that the secre- tary of war and others of the cabinet were planning to prevent their moving west — alleging that it was against the law for an armed body to go from the U. S. to any other government; that it would not do to let them go to Cali- fornia or Oregon, but that they must be obliterated. Hist. B. Young, MS., 305. ​

erty and leave the country.^^ The meeting at Quincy, notice of which with a copy of the resolutions was sent to Nauvoo, named six months as the time within which the Mormons must depart. In answer, the council of the church replied, on the 24th of Septem- ber, that they could not set forth so early in the spring, when there would be neither food for man or beast, nor even running water, but that it was their full in- tention to depart as soon as possible, and that they would go far enough, God helping them, forever there- after to be free from their enemies. Meanwhile all they asked was that they should not be further mo- lested by armed bands or suits at law, but rather assisted in selling their property and collecting their effects.2^

To this the men of Quincy gave assent; at the same time pledging themselves to prompt action in case of failure on the part of the saints to keep their promise, and taking measures to secure a military organization of the people of Adams county.^

It was not to be expected that Carthage would remain idle while other towns were acting. A con- vention of delegates from nine surrounding counties was held there about the end of September, and four commissioners, among whom were Hardin, com- mander of the state militia, and Douglas, senator,*^ were sent to Nauvoo to demand the departure of the Mormons. The deputation was met by the council of the twelve with the president at their head, and answer was promptly made that *the removal would

'^One thousand families, including 5,000 or 6,000 souls, would remove in the spring. Jlist. B. Yoking, MS., 184.3, 134. Hundreds of farms and some 2,000 houses were offered for sale in Nauvoo city and county. 'There was grain enough growing within 10 miles of Nauvoo, raised hy the Mormons, to feed the whole population for two years, if they were to do nothing but gather it in and feast upon it.' Id., MS., 35.

• ^ A lengthy communication to this effect was drawn up and signed by Brig-

ham Young, president, and Willard Richards, clerk. Printed in full in Full- mer^ s Expulsion, 20-1.

• " Answer in full in /(/., 22.

" The other two were W. B. Warren and J.. A. McDougal. TuUidge^$ Life of Young, 8. ​

take place as speedily as possible. " What guarantee will you give us?" asked Hardin. "You have our all as guarantee," answered Brigham. "Young is right," said Douglas. But this reply would not sat- isfy all the commissioners, and the twelve were re- quested to submit their intentions in writing, in order that they might be laid before the governor and people of the state. This was done.*^

The commissioners then returned home; but not even yet were the men of Carthage content. To the resolutions passed at Quincy were added others of similar nature, and the whole adopted. A plan of organization was agreed upon, and arrangements were made for calling meetings and securing volunteers, who were to select their own ofiScers and report to the Quincy military committee. The judge of Hancock county was requested by this convention not to hold

" In answer to the letter of the commissioners, the saints on the same day said, after referring to their communication of the 24th to the Quincy committee : ' In addition to this, we would say that we had commenced making arrangements to remove from the country previous to the recent dis- turbances; that we have four companies of 100 families each, and six more companies now organizing, of the same number each, preparatory to a removal. That 1,000 families, including the twelve, the high council, the trustees, and general authorities of the church, are fully determined to remove in the spring, independent of the contingencies of selling our property; and this company will comprise from 5,000 to 6,000 souls. That the church, as a body, desire to remove with us, and will if sales can be effected so as to raise the necessary means. That the organization of the church we represent is such that there never can exist but one head or presidency at any one time. And all good members wish to be with the organization; and all are determined to remove to some distant point, where we shall neither infringe nor be infringed upon, so soon as time and means will permit. That we have some hundreds of farms and some 2,000 houses for sale in this city and county, and we request all good citizens to assist in the disposal of our property. That we do not expect to find purchasers for our temple and other public buildings; but we are willing to rent them to a respectable community who may inhabit the city. That we wish it distinctly understood that although we may not find purchasers for our property, we will not sacrifice it, nor give it away, or suff"er it illegally to be wrested from us. That we do not intend to sow any wheat this fall, and should we all sell, we shall not put in any more ci'ops of any description. That as soon as practicable we will appoint committees from the city. La Harpe, Macedonia, Bear Creek, and all necessary places in the country, to give information to purchasers. That if these testimonies are not sufficient to satisfy any people that we are in earnest, we will soon give them a sign that cannot be mistaken — we will leave them.' In Hist. B. Young, MS., Nov. 1845, it is stated that there were families organized 3,285: wagons on hand 1,508; wagons commenced 1.892. ​

court during that autumn, for fear of collision between saints and gentiles, and the governor was recommended to station in that vicinity a small military force to keep peace during the winter.

During the height of the troubles at Nauvoo, Orson Pratt was in New York, where on the 8th of No- vember, 1845, he addressed a farewell message to the brethren in the east, calling upon such of them as had means to sell their property, buy teams, and join the overland emigration, and those who had none to take passage in the ship Brooklyn, chartered for the purpose by Elder Samuel Brannan, and which was to sail round Cape Horn, via the Hawaiian Islands, for California. Shortly after, the Brooklyn sailed with 238 emigrants, the price of passage being $50 for adults, with $25 additional for subsistence. The de- tails of this expedition, with names of the emigrants, their doings in California, and the departure for the Great Salt Lake of a large portion of them, is given in volume V. chapter XX. of my History of California. Upon his return to Nauvoo, Pratt brought $400 worth of Allen's six-shooting pistols. ​

CHAPTER VIII.

EXPXJLSION FROM NAUVOa

1845-1846.

A Busy City — Meeting in the Temple — Sacrlpioe of Pkopekty — ^Detach- ments Move Forwabd — A Singular Exodus — The First Encampment — Cool Proposal from Brother Brannan— The Journey— Courage AND Good Cheer — Swelling of their Numbers — The Remnant of the Saints in Nauvoo — Attitude of the Gentiles — The Mormons Attacked — Continued Hostilities — The Final Departures — The Poor Camp — A Deserted City.

The holy city now presented an exciting scene. Men were making ready their merchandise, and fami- lies preparing to vacate their homes. Hundreds were making tents and wagon covers out of cloth bought with anything they happened to have; companies were organized and numbered, each of which had its own wagon-shop, wheelwrights, carpenters, and cabinet- makers, who were all busily employed.^ Green timber was prepared for spokes and felloes, some kiln-dried, and some boiled in salt and water. At the Nauvoo house shops were established as well as at the mason's hall and arsenal. Iron was brought from difi'erent parts of the country, and blacksmiths were at work night and day.^

Some three years previous, the prophet Joseph had ordered that there should not be another general con-

^ Parley Pratt's calculation for an outfit of every family of 5 persons was 1 good wagon, 3 yoke cattle, 2 cows, 2 beef cattle, 3 sheep, 1,000 lbs flour, 20 lbs sugar, i rille and ammunition, a tent and tent-poles, from 10 to 20 lbs seed to a family, from 2o to 100 lbs tools for farming, and a few other items, the cost being about §250, provided they had nothing else but bedding and cooking utensils. IIM. B. Young, MS., 125.

'■^ In December the drying-house of emigrating company no. 18 was burned to the ground, consuming $300 worth of wagon timber. Id., MS., Dec. 1845. ​

(2U)

ference until it could be held in the temple. And now, on the 5th of October, 1 845, five thousand per- sons assembled, and on the following day began the great conference, which lasted three days. The saints, however, were permitted but short enjoyment of their beautiful structure, a meagre reward for all the toil and money expended. Holiness to the Lord was the motto of it; and there was little else they could now carry hence ; the hewn stone, the wood-work, and the brass they must leave behind. This building was to them as a temple "where the children of the last kingdom could come together to praise the Lord." As they cast one last gaze on their homes and the monuments reared to their faith, they asked, "Who is the God of the gentiles ? Can he be our God ?"^

In the same number of the Times and Seasons in which appeared a notice of this meeting was pub- lished a circular signed by Brigham Young, and ad- dressed to the brethren scattered abroad throughout America, informing them of the impending change. " The exodus of the nations of the only true Israel from these United States to a far distant region of the west, where bigotry, intolerance, and insatiable oppression will have lost its power over them, forms a new epoch, not only in the history of the church, but of this nation."*

• Kane, with the carelessness usual in his statements, says that the temple

was completed and consecrated in May, and that the day after its consecration its ornaments were carried away. ' For that one day the temple shone re- splendent in all its typical glories of sun, moon, and stars, and other abound- ing figured and lettered signs, hieroglyphs, and symbols; but that day only. The sacred rites of consecration ended, the work of removing the sacrasancta proceeded with the rapidity of magic. It went on through the night; and when the morning of the next day dawned, all the ornaments and furniture, everything that could provoke a sneer, had been carried off; and except some fixtures that would not bear removal, the building was dismantled to the bare walls. It was this day saw the departure of the last elders, and the largest band that moved in one company together. The people of Iowa have told me that from morning to night they passed westward like an endless procession. They did not seem greatly out of heart, they said; but at the top of every hill, before they disappeared, were to be see_- looking back, like banished Moors, on their aoandoned homes and the far-seen temple and its glittering spire.' The Mormons, 21.

• Times and Seasons, vi. 1018. In this number is a notice, signed by Willard

Richards, cutting off William Smith, the prophet's brother, for apostasy. ​

The arbitrary acts of the people of IlHnois in forc- ing the departure of the saints, lays them open to the grave charge, among others, of a desire to possess their property for less than its value. Houses and lots, farms and merchandise, could not be turned into money, or even into wagons and live-stock, in a moment, except at a ruinous sacrifice. Granted that the hier- archy was opposed to American institutions, that the Mormons wished to gain possession of the United States and rule the world : no one feared the immediate consummation of their pretentious hopes. Granted that among them were adulterers, thieves, and mur- derers: the gentiles were the stronger, and had laws by which to punish the guilty. It was not a noble sentiment which had actuated the people of Missouri; it was not a noble sentiment which now actuated the people of Illinois, thus to continue their persecutions during the preparations for departure, and drive a whole cityful from their homes out upon the bleak prairie in the dead of winter.

In January 1846 the council ordered that a de- tachment should set forth at once, and that the re- mainder of the saints should follow as soon as possi- ble. "Beloved brethren," said their leader, it now remains to be proven whether those of our family and friends who are necessarily left behind for a season, to obtain an outfit through the sale of prop- erty, shall be mobbed, burned, and driven away by force. Does any American want the honor of doing it? or will any Americans suffer such acts to be done, and the disgrace of them to remain on their char- acter, under existing circumstances. If they will, let the world know it."

The world was soon to know it. Driven almost at the point of the sword, a large number of the saints, soon afterward followed by the president, the twelve, the high council, and other companies, gathered on the eastern bank of the Mississippi early in February.

There was but little money in circulation through​

out the west at this time. Over vast wild sections skins were the only currency, and at the settlements traflfic for the most part assumed the form of barter or exchange of labor. It was, therefore, exceedingly difficult, as I have said, for the saints to get their property into portable form, even after selling their lands at half or quarter their value. The gentiles, of course, (X)uld pay what they pleased, being the only buyers, and the saints being forced to sell. More- over, there was more property thrown upon the market than could be taken at once, and the depart- ure of so large and thrifty a portion of the popula- tion was of itself sufficient to depreciate property. The best they could do was to exchange their lands for wagons and horses and cattle, and this they did to as large an extent as possible, scouring the coun- try for a hundred miles around in search of live-stock.'^

And now, putting upon their animals and vehicles such of their household effects as they could carry, in small detachments the migratory saints began to leave Nauvoo.^ Before them was the ice-bound river, and beyond that the wilderness.

There is no parallel in the world's history to this migration from Nauvoo. The exodus from Egypt was from a heathen land, a land of idolaters, to a fer- tile region designated by the Lord for his chosen peo- ple, the land of Canaan. The pilgrim fathers in flying to America came from a bigoted and despotic people —

• ' The Mormons went up and down with their furniture, etc., and traded

for anything that could travel, such as an animal or a wagon . . . Another company went out in May, but they did not sell their property, leaving it in the hands of trustees to sell.' Wells' Xarraiive, MS., 37. Their two- story brick house, which they had occupied but three months, and which they had denied themselves in every way to build, Mrs Richards says was sold for ' two yoke of half -broken cattle and an old wagon. ' Reminiscences, MS., 20.

® ' When we were to leave Mo. , the saints entered into a covenant not to cease their exertions imtil every saint who wished to go was removed, which was done. . .We are better off now than we were then;. . .he [B. Y.] wants to see this influence extend from the west to the east sea.' Brigham moved:

• That we take all the saints with us, to the extent of our ability, that is, our

influence and property; seconded by Elder Kimball, and carried unanimously. ' This covenant was entered into Oct. 6, 1S45. Times and Seasons, vi. 1011. ​

a people making few pretensions to civil or religious liberty. It was from these same people who had fled from old-world persecutions that they might enjoy liberty of conscience in the wilds of America, from their descendants and associates, that other of their descendants, who claimed the right to differ from them in opinion and practice, were now fleeing. True, the Mormons in various ways had rendered themselves abominable to their neighbors: so had the puritan fathers to their neighbors. Before this the Mormons had been driven to the outskirts of civilization, where they had built themselves a city; this they must now abandon, and throw themselves upon the mercy of savages.

The first teams crossed about the 10th, in flat boats, which were rowed over, and which plied forth and back from early dawn until late into the night, skiffs and other river craft being also used for passengers and baggage. The cold increased. On the 16th snow fell heavily; and the river was frozen over, so that the remainder of the emigration crossed on the ice. Their first camp, the camp of the congre- gation, was on Sugar Creek, a few miles from Nauvoo and almost within sight of the city. All their move- ments were directed by Brigham, who with his family and a quorum of the twelve, John Taylor, George A. Smith, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Bichards, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Parley P. Pratt, and Amasa Lyman, joined the brethren on Sugar Creek on the 15th. Wilford Woodruff, who had been sent to pre- side over the mission to England, joined the emigra- tion later at Mount Pisgah.

On the morning of the 17th, all the saints in camp being assembled near the bridge to receive their lead- er's instructions, the president stood upright in his wagon, and cried with a loud voice, ** Attention! the

' ' We encamped at Sugar Creek, in the snow, while two of my children were very ill. We slept in our wagons^ which were placed close to our tents.* Homers Migrations ​, MS., 16.

whole camp of Israel."^ He then went on to say that as the Lord had been with them in times past, how- soever singular had been his method of proving his presence, so would he be with them in the future. His empire, the empire of his people, was established, and the powers of hell should not prevail against it.®

After this, with comparatively light hearts, they broke camp, and slowly wending their way westward, disappeared at length beyond the horizon, in pursuit once more of the ever-mocking phantom of home. Whither they journeyed they were as yet uncertain. They knew only that they were to search out, prob- ably beyond the Rocky Mountains, if not indeed among them, some isolated spot, where, far away from the land of boasted freedom, the soil, the skies, and mind and manners were free. If they were offensive to the laws, if the laws of the land were offensive to them, they would go where they might have land and laws of their own.

Considering their situation, and what they had been lately called to undergo — ignominy, insult, the loss of property, the abandonment of home — there was little complaint. It was among their opponents, and in the midst of a general recital of their wrongs, that the saints were accustomed to put on a long face and strike into a doleful strain. Among themselves there were

^ The camp of Israel was wherever the president and apostles were.

®It has been stated that after dismissing his congregation on the 17th the president led several of the twelve aside to a valley east of the camp, and held a council. A letter was then read from Samuel Brannan, a Mormon elder then in New York, together with a copy of an agreement between him and one A. G. Benson. Brannan was at that time in charge of a company of saints bound for the Pacific coast by way of Cape Horn, and the agreement which he forwarded for Brigham's signature required the pioneers to transfer to A. G. Benson and company the odd numbers of all the town lots that they might acquire in the country where they settled. 'I shall select,' writes Brannan, ' the most suitable spot on the bay of San Francisco for the location of a commer- cial city.' The council refused to take any action in the matter. In case they refused to sign the agreement, Tullidge soberly relates, Life of Brighom- Young, 19-23, the president, it was said, would issue a proclamation, setting forth that it was the intention of the Mormons to take sides with either Mex- ico or Great Britain against tlie United States, and order them to be disarmed or dispersed! Further mention of this matter is made in History of Califor- nia, vol. v. cap. XX., this series. ​

few people more free from care, or more light-hearted and happy.

In the present instance, though all were poor and some destitute, and though man and beast were ex- posed to driving rain and hail, and the chill blasts of a western winter often sweeping down upon them un- checked from the limitless prairie, they made the best of it, and instead of wasting time in useless repining, set themselves at work to make the most of their joys and the least of their sorrows. On the night of March 1st, when the first camp was pitched beyond Sugar Creek, after prayer they held a dance, and as the men of Iowa looked on they wondered how these homeless outcasts from Christian civilization could thus praise and make merry in view of their near abandoning of themselves to the mercies of sav- ages and wild beasts.^" Food and raiment were pro- vided for all; for shelter they had their tents and wagons, and after the weather had spent somewhat of its ruggedness, no extreme hardships were suffered. Without attempting long distances in a single day, they made camp rather early, and after the usual manner of emigrants, the wagons in a circle or semi- circle round the camp-fire, placed so as best to shield them from the wind and wild beasts and Indians, with the animals at a convenient distance, some staked, and some, running loose, but all carefully guarded. The country through which they passed was much of it well wooded ; the land was fertile and afforded abun- dant pastures, the grass in summer being from one to ten feet high. Provisions were cheap: corn twelve cents and wheat twenty-five to thirty cents a bushel,

^^ ' In the latter part of March we started for Council Bluffs, 400 miles dis- tant, and were three months on the way. Crossing a long prairie in a fearful storm, the mud became so soft that we could not travel, and we were obliged to encamp; the water was several inches deep all over our camping-ground; we had no wood for a lire, and no means of drying our soaked clothing. In the morning everything was frozen fast; and a squirrel was found frozen. . Frequently boughs were laid on the ground before the teams could pass. . . We had to camp in mud until the roads were dry enough to travel.' Hornets Migrations, MS., 18-19. ​

beef two cents a pound, and all payable in labor at what was then considered good wages, say forty or fifty cents a day.

Into the wilderness they went, journeying day after day on toward the setting sun, their hearts buoyant, their sinews strengthened by a power not of this world. Forever fades the real before the imag- inary. There is nothing tougher than fanaticism. What cared they for wind and rain, for comfortless couches or aching limbs? — the kingdom of the Lord was with them. vVhat cared they for insults and in- justice when the worst this world could do was to hasten heaven to them ? So on toward the west their long train of wagons rolled, leaving each day farther and farther behind the old, cold, fanatical east, with its hard, senseless dogmas, and its merciless civilization, without murmurings, without discord, the man above any other on earth they most loved and feared riding at their head, or standing with uplifted and extended hands as his people passed by, blessing and comforting them. We were happy and contented," says John Taylor, " and the songs of Zion resounded from wagon to wagon, reverberating through the woods, while the echo was returned from the distant hills, "^^

There were brass or stringed instruments in every company, and night and morning all were called to prayers ^^ at the sound of the bugle. Camp-fires drew around them the saints when their day's work was finished, and singing, dancing, and story-telling enlivened the hour.

As they went on their way their ranks were swelled by fresh bands, until there were brought together 3,000 wagons, 30,000 head of cattle, a great number of mules and horses, and immense flocks of sheep.

^' ' It is true,' he writes, ' that in our sojourning we do not possess all the luxuries and delicacies of old-established countries and cities, but we have abundance of the staple commodities, such as flour, meal, beef, mutton, pork, milk, butter, and in some instances cheese, sugar, coflfee, tea, etc' Letter in Millennial Star, viii. 1 14.

"Each family had prayers separately. Taylor's Rem., MS., 9. ​

Richardson Point ^^ they made their second stationary camp, the third at Chariton River, the fourth at Locust Creek, where a considerable time was spent. Then there were — so named by the saints — Garden Grove,^* a large timbered tract which had been burned over. Mount Pisgah/^ and finally Winter Quarters, in Nebraska, on the west side of the Missouri, a little above the modern Omaha, on the site of the present town of Florence. ^^ At Garden Grove and Mount Pisgah were established farming settlements for the benefit of those who were to follow. In July the main body reached the Missouri at the spot now known as Council Bluffs, and soon afterward many crossed the river in a ferry-boat of their own construction, and pitched their tents at Winter Quarters. Other large encampments

Between the Mississippi and Missouri.

^' In Lee County, Iowa, three weeks from their starting-point.

• • About 150 miles from Nauvoo, on the east fork of the Grand River.

' Many located there, ploughing and sowing, and preparing homes for their poor brethren for a longer period.' Home's Mir/rations, MS., 19. 'On the morning of the 27th of April the bugle sounded at Garden Grove, and all the men assembled to organize for labor. Immediately hundreds of men were at work, cutting trees, splitting rails, making fences, cutting logs for houses, building bridges, making ploughs, and herding cattle. Quite a num- ber were sent into the Missouri settlements to exchange horses for oxen, val- uable feather-beds and the like for provisions and articles most needed in the camp, and the remainder engaged in ploughing and planting. Messengers were also despatched to call in the bands of pioneers scattered over the coun- try seeking work, with instructions to hasten them up to help form the new settlements before the season had passed; so that, in a scarcely conceivable space of time, at Garden Grove and Mount Pisgali, industrious settlements sprung up almost as if by magic' TnUidge's Life of Brvjham Yotmg, 41.

^' This site was discovered by Pai'ley, who was sent forward to reconnoitre by Bi-igham. It was situated on a branch of Grand River, and for years was the resting-place for the saints on their way to Utah. Autobiog. P. Pratt, 381.

'^Here 700 log cabins and 150 dugouts (cabins half under ground) were built. A large quantity of hay was cut, and a flouring mill erected. Id., 383. ​

were formed on both banks of the river, or at points near by, where grass was plentiful. In early autumn about 12,000 Mormons were assembled in this neigh- borhood, or were on their way across the plains.

Leaving here the advance portion of the emigra- tion, let us return to Nauvoo and see how it fared with those who were still engaged in preparations for their pilgrimage. It had been stipulated, the reader will remember, that the Mormons should remove from the state in the spring, or as soon afterward as they could sell their property, and that meanwhile they should not be molested. Long before spring, thou- sands had crossed the Mississippi, among whom were all the more obnoxious members of the sect. Mean- while, how had the gentiles kept their faith ?

But passing the cause, what a picture was now presented by the deserted city and its exiled inhabi- tants! — the former, as Colonel Kane viewed it — but which view must be regarded as ideal rather than strictly historical — with "its bright new dwellings set in cool green gardens, ranging up around a stately dome-shaped hill, which was crowned by a noble marble edifice, whose high tapering spire was radiant with white and gold. The city appeared to cover several miles; and beyond it, in the background, there rolled off a fair country, checkered by the careful lines of fruitful husbandry."

To the Nauvoo Eagle Major Warren sent notice from Carthage, on the 16th of April, that he had been directed by the governor to disband on the 1st of May the force which had been kept there ostensibly for the protection of the saints, as the time appointed for their departure would expire on that day.^' The day arrived, and there were yet many Mormons remaining, many who had found it impossible to remove on ac-

" 'The removal of the entire population,' the major adds, 'has been looked forward to as an event that could alone restore peace and quiet to this por- tion of our state. ' Fidlmer's Expulsion, 24. ​

count of sickness, failure to dispose of their property, or other adverse fortune; whereat the men of IlHnois began to bluster and threaten annihilation. Warren, who had disbanded his troops on the 1st, received an order from the governor on the following day to mus- ter them into service again. This he did; for he would, if possible, see the treaty between the Mor- mons and the governor faithfully carried out, and while urging the saints to haste, he endeavored to stand between them and the mob which now threat- ened their lives and the destruction of their prop- erty. ^^

Major Warren appears to have performed his duty firmly and well, and to have done all that lay in his power to protect the Mormons. In a letter to the Quincy Whig, dated May 20th, he writes: "The Mor- mons are leaving the city with all possible despatch. During the week four hundred teams have crossed at three points, or about 1,350 souls. The demonstra- tions made by the Mormon people are unequivocal. They are leaving the state, and preparing to leave, with every means God and nature have placed in their hands." It was but the lower class of people that clamored for the immediate expulsion of the remnant of the saints — the ignorant, the bigoted, the brutal, the vicious, the lawless, and profligate, those who hated their religion and coveted their lands.

18 <Xhus while with one hand he pushed the saints from their possessions across the river to save their lives, with the other he kept at bay the savage fiends who thirsted for blood, and who would fain have washed their hands in the blood of innocence, and feasted their eyes on the smoking ruins of their martyred victims.' Id., 24-5. From Nauvoo, May 11, 1846, Warren writes: 'To the Mormons I would say, Go on with your preparations, and leave as fast as you can. Leave the fighting to be done by my detachment. If we are overpowered, then recross the river and defend yourselves and property. The neighboring counties, under the circumstances, cannot and will not lend their aid to an unprovoked and unnecessary attack upon the Mormons at this time; and without such aid the few desperadoes in the county can do but little mis- chief, and can be made amenable to the law for that little. The force under my command is numerically small ; but backed as I am by the moral force of the law, and possessing as I do the confidence of nine tenths of the respect- able portion of the old citizens, my force is able to meet successfully any mob which can be assembled in the county, and if any such force does assem- ble, they or I will leave the field in double-qu ​ick time.'

On the 6th of June the people of Hancock county met at Carthage to arrange for celebrating the 4th of July. One of the citizens rose and said that since the Mormons were not all removed they could not rejoice as freemen. Mormon affairs then took prece- dence, and another meeting was appointed for the 12th, an invitation being sent to the gentiles at Nauvoo who had occupied the deserted dwellings of the saints. It happened that this was the day appointed for the assembling of the militia, with a view to raise volun- teers for the Mexican war; and now, it was thought, was a good opportunity to show the Mormons the military strength of the county. The officers con- ferred, and without authority from the governor, marched their troops, some three or four hundred in number, to a place called Golden Point, five miles from Nauvoo, where they encamped, and opened com- munication with the city. It happened, however, at this juncture, that Colonel Markham and others had returned with teams from Council Bluffs for some of the church property, and arming a force of six or eight hundred, prepared to sally forth; the name of Colonel Markham was a terror to evil-doers, and the militia fled, no one pursuing them.

There were yet remaining, as late as August, cer- tain sturdy saints who, having committed no crime, would not consent to be driven from their homes or barred from their occupations. Among these was a party engaged in harvesting wheat at a settlement eight miles from Nauvoo, in company with one or two of the gentiles, although it was forbidden by the men of Illi- nois that any Mormon should show himself outside the city, except en route for the west. The harvesters were seized and beaten with clubs, whereupon the people of Nauvoo, both Mormons and gentiles, took up the matter. Some arrests were made, and the culprits taken to Nauvoo, but by writ of habeas cor- pus were removed to Quincy, where they met with little trouble. While in Nauvoo, a gun in the hands ​

Hist. Utah. 15

of a militia officer was recognized by William Pickett as belonging to one of the harvesters. Pickett took possession of the weapon, and a warrant was issued against him for theft; when an officer came to arrest him, he refused to surrender. As the Mormons stood by him in illegal attitude, the affair caused consider- able excitement.

In short, from the 1st of May until the final evac- uation of the city, the men of Illinois never ceased from strife and outrage. Of the latter I will mention only two instances: "A man of near sixty years of age," writes Major Warren in the letter just referred to, "living about seven miles from this place, was taken from his house a few nights since, stripped of his clothing, and his back cut to pieces with a whip, for no other reason than because he was a Mormon, and too old to make a successful resistance. Conduct of this kind would disgrace a horde of savages." In August a party consisting of Phineas H. Young, his son Brigham, and three others who were found out- side the city, were kidnapped by a mob, hurried into the thickets, passed from one gang to another — men from Nauvoo being in hot pursuit — and for a fort- night were kept almost without food or rest, and under constant threat of death.

Fears are now entertained that, by reason of the popular feeling throughout the country, Nauvoo city will be again attacked; the gentile citizens therefore ask Governor Ford for protection, whereupon Major Parker is sent to their relief ^^ All through August

i» ' Sir — I have received information that another effort is to be made on Monday next to drive out the inhabitants of Nauvoo, new as well as old, and destroy the city. I am informed that it is believed in the surrounding coun- ties that the new citizens in Nauvoo are all Mormons, and that the remnant of the old Mormon population are determined to remain there, although I am assured that the contrary in both particulars is the truth. You are there- fore hereby authorized and empowered to repair to Nauvoo, and there remain until you are relieved. You will immediately inquire how many of the in- liabitants are new citizens, and how many of them are Mormons; how many i>f the old Mormon population remain, and what the prosi^ect is of their re- moval in a reasonable time; and in case an attack on the city should be at- tempted or threatened, you are hereby authorized to take command of such ​

troubles continue, the anti-Mormons almost coming to blows among themselves. Before the end of the month about six hundred men are assembled at Car- thage, by order of Thomas Carlin, a special consta- ble, ostensibly to enforce the arrest of Pickett, but in reality to enforce the expulsion of the Mormons. Major Parker orders the constable's posse to dis- perse, otherwise he threatens to treat them as a mob. The constable replies that if the major should at- tempt to molest them in discharge of their duty he will regard him and his command as a mob and so treat them. Now, fellow-citizens," declares a committee selected from four counties,^*^ in a proclamation issued at Carthage, "an issue is fairly raised. On the one hand, a large body of men have assembled at Carthage, under the command of a legal officer, to assist him in performing legal duties. They are not excited — they are cool, but determined at all hazards to execute the law in Nauvoo, which has always heretofore de- fied it. They are resolved to go to work systemati- cally and with ample precaution, but under a full knowledge that on their good and orderly behavior their character is staked. On the other hand, in Nauvoo is a blustering Mormon mob, who have de- fied the law, and who are now organized for the pur- pose of arresting the arm of civil power. Judge ye which is in the right."

Intending, as it seems, to keep his word, Carlin places his men under command of Colonel Singleton, who at once throws off the mask, and on the 7th of September announces to Major Parker that the Mor- mons must go. On the same day a stipulation is made, granting to the saints sixty days' extension of time, and signed by representatives on both sides.^^

volunteers as may offer themselves, free of cost to the state, to repel it and defend the city. ' FiiUmer^s Expulsion, 29-30.

'^^ Among the members wa^ the Rev. Thomas S. Brockman, who afterward took command of the posse.

'^'Hostilities to cease; the city to be evacuated in 60 days, 25 men re- maining to see the stipulation carried out. Id. , 34-5. ​

But to the terms of this stipulation the men of Illi- nois would not consent. They were sore disgusted, and rebelled against their leaders, causing Singleton, Parker, and others to abandon their commands, the posse being left in charge of Constable Carlin, who summoned to his aid one Thomas Brockman, a clergy- man of Brown county, and for the occasion dubbed general. On the 10th of September the posse, now more than a thousand strong, with wagons, equip- ments, and every preparation for a campaign, ap- proached Nauvoo and encamped at Hunter's farm.

At this time there were in the city not more than a hundred and fifty Mormons, and about the same number of gentiles, or, as they were termed, 'new citi- zens,' capable of bearing arms, the remainder of the population consisting of destitute women and children and of the sick. Many of the gentiles had departed, fearing a general massacre, and those who remained could not be relied upon as combatants, for they were of course unwilling to risk their lives in a conflict which, if successful, would bring them no credit. Nothing daunted, the little band, under command of colonels Daniel H. Wells ^^ and William Cutler, took up its position on the edge of a wood in the suburbs of Nauvoo, a,nd less than a mile from the enemy's camp.'^

Before hostilities commenced, a deputation from Quincy^* visited the camp of the assailants, and in vain attempted to dissuade them from their purpose. No sooner had they departed than fire was opened on the Mormons from a battery of six-pounders, but without effect. Here for the day matters rested. At sunrise the posse changed their position, intending to take the city by storm, but were held in check by

• ^Who afterward became lieut-gen. of the Nauvoo legion in Utah.

• ' There were about 300 Mormons and new citizens who could then bear

arms against the mob, but on the day of the fight no more than 100 could be found to go, as the Mormons were continually leaving. ' Wells^ Narrative, MS., 39.

-* John Wood, the mayor, Major Flood, Dr Conyers, and Joel Rice. See Wells' Narrative, MS. ​, passim.

Captain Anderson ^° at the head of thirty -five men, termed by the saints the Spartan band. The enemy now fired some rounds of grape-shot, forcing the be- sieged to retire out of range; and after some further cannonading, darkness put an end to the skirmish, the Mormons throwing up breastworks during the night. '« 

On the morning of the 12th the demand of uncon- ditional surrender was promptly rejected; where- upon, at a given signal, several hundred men who had been stationed in ambush, on the west bank of the river, to cut off the retreat of the Mormons, appeared with red flags in their hands, thus portending massacre. The assailants now opened fire from all their batter- ies, and soon afterward advanced to the assault, slowly, and with the measured tramp of veterans, at their head being Constable Carlin and the Rev- erend Brockman, and unfurled above them — the stars and stripes. When within rifle-range of the breastworks the posse wheeled toward the south, at- tempting to outflank the saints and gain possession of the temple square. But this movement had been anticipated, and posted in the woods to the north of the Mormon position lay the Spartan band. Leading on his men at double-quick, Anderson suddenly con- fronted the enemy and opened a brisk fire from re- volving rifles.^^ The posse advanced no farther, but for an hour and a half held their ground bravely against the Spartan band, the expense of ammunition in proportion to casualties being greater than has yet been recorded in modern warfare. Then they re- treated in excellent order to the camp. The losses of the Mormons were three killed and a few slightly wounded; the losses of the gentiles are variously

• • He was more than brave, he was presumptuous. Wells, in Utah Notes,

MS., p. 7.

^^ 'Many of our log houses were torn down by the mob, which numbered 1.000 men; we made barricades of corn-stalks stacked up.' Wells, in Utah Notes, MS., 7.

^' Elder John S. Fullmer, then a colonel in the Nauvoo legion, claims that he directed this movement. Exp ​ulsion, 38.

stated. ^^ Among those who fell were Captain Ander- son and his son, a youth of sixteen, the former dying, as he had vowed that he would die, in defence of the holy sanctuary.

The following day was the sabbath, and hostilities were not renewed; but on that morning a train of wagons, despatched by the posse for ammunition and supplies, entered the town of Quincy. It was now evident that, whether the men of Illinois intended massacre or forcible expulsion, it would cost them many lives to effect either purpose. With a view, therefore, to prevent further bloodshed, a committee of one hundred proceeded to Nauvoo and attempted mediation. At the same time the Reverend Brock- man sent in his ultimatum, the terms being that the Mormons surrender their arms, and immediately cross the river or disperse, and that all should be protected from violence.^^ There was no alternative. The armed mob in their front was daily swelling in number, while beyond the river still appeared the red flag; their own ranks, meanwhile, were being rapidly thinned by defection among the new citi- zens.^"

^^ 'But three in all were killed. . .Meetings were held to stop the efifusion of blood, . . .but there was no necessity for such action, when no blood was shed.' Wells, in Utah Notes, 7.

^" 1st. The city of Nauvoo will surrender. The force of Reverend Brock- man to enter and take possession of the city to-raorrow, the 17th of Septem- ber, at three o'clock P. M. 2d. The arms to be delivered to the Quincy com- mittee, to be returned on crossing the river. 3d. The Quincy committee pledge themselves to use their inHuence for the protection of persons and property, and the officers of the camp and the men likewise pledge them- selves. 4th. The sick and helpless to be protected and treated with humanity. 5th. The Mormon population of the city to leave the state or disperse as soon as they can cross the river. 6th. Five men, including the trustees of the church, and five clerks with their families (William Pickett not one of the number), to be permitted to remain in the city for the disposition of property, free from all molestation and personal violence. 7th. Hostilities to cease immediately, and ten men of the Quincy committee to enter the city in the execution of their duty as soon as they think proper.' It will be observed tiiat nothing is said about the surrender of Pickett. He was not even arrested.

'"'The mob entered the temple, instituted an inquisition, and regardless of the Mormons or new citizens, went froni house to house plundering cow- yards, pig-pens, hen-roosts, and bee-stands indiscriminately; thus turning some of tkeir best friends into enemies, bursting open trunks and chests, searching for arms, keys, etc. ' p. 343. ' In the temple ringing the bells, shou ​ting, and

On the 17th of September the remnant of the Mormons crossed the Mississippi, and on the same day the gentiles took possession of Nauvoo.^^

It was indeed a singular spectacle, as I have said, this upon the western border of the world's great republic in the autumn of 1846. A whole cityful, with other settlements, and thousands of thrifty agri-

hallooing; they took several to the river and baptized them, swearing, throw- ing them backward, then on to their faces, saying: "The commandments must be fulfilled, and God damn you."' Hist. B. Young, MS., 345.

^' The best narrative, and indeed the only one that enters circumstantially into all the details of the expulsion from Nauvoo, is contained in the Assassina- tion of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Prophet and the Patriarch of the Church of Latter-day Saints. Also a Condensed History of the Exjndsion of the Saints from Nauvoo by Elder John S . Fullmer (of Utah, U. S. A.), Pastoi of the Man- chester, Liverpool, and Preston Conferences. Liverpool and London, 1855. The work is written from a Mormon standpoint, but including as it does copies of the despatches of Illinois officers and officials, of the stipulations between the belligerents, and of some comments made by the Qnincy Whig, appears in the main reliable. The author's comments on the gentiles are suliiciently bitter, and his description of the fight at Nauvoo and the valor of the saints militant must of course be taken with due allowance. For instance: 'Seeing our men take possession of some vacant buildings on the line of their ap- proach, they took a position on an elevated spot of ground, and opened a heavy cannonade at a distance of something less than half a mile. This was returned with great spirit on our part from guns made of steam shafts that carried six-pound balls. Many were the balls that we picked up as they came rolling and bounding among us, and we sent them back with as much spirit and precision as they were first sent.' p. 37. Col Kane says: 'A vin- dictive war was waged upon them, from which the weakest iied in scattered parties, leaving the rest to make a reluctant and almost ludicrously una- vailing defence.' The Mormons, 54. In the General Epistle of the Twelve, Dec. 23, 1847, in Snow's Voice of Joseph, 14-15, we read: 'In September 1846 an infuriated mob, clad in all the horrors of war, fell on the saints who had still remained in Nauvoo for want of means to remove, murdered some, and drove the remainder across the Mississippi into Iowa, where, destitute of houses, tents, food, clothing, or money, they received temporary assistance from some benevolent souls in Quincy, St Louis, and other places, whose names will ever be remembered with gratitude. Their property in Hancock CO., Illinois, was little or no better than confiscated; many of their houses were burned by the mob, and they were obliged to leave most of those that i-emained without sale; and those who bargained sold almost for a song; for the influence of their enemies was to cause such a diminution in the value of property that for a handsome estate was seldom realized enough to remove the family comfortably away; and thousands have since been wandering to and fro, destitute, afflicted, and distressed for the common necessaries of life, or unable to endure, have sickened and died by hundreds; while the temple of the Lord is left solitary in the midst of our enemies, an enduring monu- ment of the diligence and integrity of the saints.' Mention of the expulsion from Nauvoo is of course made in most of the books published on Mormon- ism, but in none of them, except perhaps in one or two of the most rabid anti-Mormon works, which I have not thought it worth while to notice, is the conduct of the Illinois mob defended. ​

culturists in the regions about, citizens of the United States, driven beyond the border by other citizens : not by reason of their rehgion alone, though this was made a pretence ; not for breaking the laws, though this was made a pretence; not on account of their immorality, for the people of Illinois and Missouri were not im- maculate in this respect; nor was it altogether on account of their solid voting and growing political power, accompanied ever by the claim of general in- heritance and universal dominion, though this last had more to do with it probably than all the rest combined, notwithstanding that the spirit of liberty and the laws of the republic permitted such massing of social and political influence, and notwithstanding the obvious certainty that any of the gentile political parties now playing the role of persecutors would gladly and unscrupulously have availed themselves of such means for the accomplishment of their ends. It was all these combined, and so combined as to engen- der deadly hate. It gave the Mormons a power in proportion to their numbers not possessed by other sects or societies, which could not and would not endure it; a power regarded by the others as unfairly acquired, and by a way and through means not in accord with the American idea of individual equality, of equal rights and equal citizenship. In regard to all other sects within the republic, under guard of the consti- tution, religion was subordinated to politics and gov- ernment; in regard to the Mormons, in spite of the constitution, politics and government were subordi- nated to religion.

And in regard to the late occupants of the place, the last of the Mormon host that now lay huddled to the number of 640 on the western bank of the river in sight of the city :^^ if the first departures from Nauvoo escaped extreme hardships, not so these. It was the

^^ A few mouths before, Nauvoo with the neighboring Mormon settlements had contained some 20,000 saints, of whom in July about 15,000 were encamped on the Missouri liiver, or were scattered through the western states iu search of employment. ​

POOR CAMP. 23;f

latter part of September, and nearly all were pros- trated with chills and fevers;^^ thereat the river bank, among the dock and rushes, poorly protected, without the shelter of a roof or anything to keep off the force of wind or rain, little ones came into life and were left motherless at birth. ^* They had not food enough to satisfy the cravings of the sick, nor clothing fit to wear. For months thereafter there were periods when all the flour they used was of the coarsest, the wheat being ground in coffee and hand mills, which only cut the grain; others used a pestle; the finer meal was used for bread, the coarser made into hominy. Boiled wheat was now the chief diet for sick and well. For ten days they subsisted on parched corn. Some mixed their remnant of grain with the pounded bark of the slippery elm which they stripped from the trees along their route.

This encampment was about two miles above Montrose on the Mississippi, and was called the Poor Camp. Aid was solicited, and within three weeks a little over one hundred dollars was collected, mostly in Quincy, with provisions and clothing, though the prejudice against them was deep and strong.^^ Some of the people were crowded into tents, made frequently of quilts and blankets; others in bowers made of brush; others had only wagons for shelter. They suffered from heavy thunder-storms, when the rain was bailed out with basins from their beds. Mothers huddled their children in the one dress which often was all they possessed, and shaking with ague or burning with fever, took refuge from the pitiless storms under wagons and bushes.^^

'^ While at Montrose, Heber C. Kimball writes thus in his journal of the condition of his family, his wife having a babe a few days old, and he himself ill with ague. ' I went to the bed; my wife, who was shaking with the ague, having two children lying sick by her side;. . .the only child well was little Heber Parley, and it was with ditiiculty he could carry a two-quart pail full of water from a spring at the bottom of the hill. '

'* ' Such deaths occurred from exposure and fright in Nauvoo. The camp journalist recorded: Effect of jjcrsecution by the Illinois mob.'

'^ The trustees from Nauvoo also di.^tributed clothing, and molasses, salt, and salt pork. Hht. B. Young, MS., 1846, .383.

^^ Mr6 Clara Yuun'/a Experience, MS., 3. ​

" While the people for the most part were ill with chills and fever," says Wells, "quail fell into camp and were picked up with ease.^' This supply was looked upon as miraculous by the half- famished people. So long had they been lashed by the fierce winds of misfortune, that now they accepted with gratitude this indication of providential care.

Wagons were sent from Winter Quarters for the removal of the people from Poor Camp; and gradually all reached the various stations in which the Mormons had gathered.^^

Of their long journey many painful incidents are recorded. Weakened by fever or crippled with rheu- matism, and with sluggish circulation, many were severely frost-bitten. Women were compelled to drive the nearly worn-out teams, while tending on their knees, perhaps, their sick children. The strength of the beasts was failing, as there were intervals when they could bo kept from starving only by the browse or tender buds and branches of the cotton-wood, felled for the purpose.^

At one time no less than two thousand wagons could be counted, it was said, along the three hundred miles of road that separated Nauvoo from the Mor- mon encampments. Many families possessed no wag-

^" ' Ou the 9th of October, while our teams were waiting on the banks of the Miss, for the poor saints. . .left without any of the necessaries of life,. . .and nothinij; to start their journey with, the Lord sent flocks of quail, which lit upon their wagons and on their empty tables, and upon the ground within their reach, which the saints, and even the sick, caught with their hands until they were satisfied.' Hmt. B. Young, MS., 1847, 9. This phenome- non extended some 30 or 40 miles along the river, and was generally observed. The quail in immense quantities liad attempted to cross the river, but it being beyond their strength, had dropped into the river boats or on the bank.' Wells, in Utah Notc.'i, MS., 7.

^8 See 7'/ie Mormons: A Ducoiirse delivered hpfore the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, March 26, 1S50, by Thomas L. Kane. Philadelphia, 1850. A copy of it will be found at the end of Orson Pratt's Works, and in Mackay's The 3formons, 200-45. The story of the Mor.mon exodus, as handed down to us by a man of Colonel Kane's powers of observation, would have been a valuable record were it not plainly apparent that truth is too often sacrificed to diction. Among Mormon writers we find no detailed narrative of this exodus, and among others little that is not borrowed from the coloners dis- course.

^^ Snow's Biogr ​aphy, 89.

ons, and in the long procession might be seen vehicles of all descriptions, from the lumbering cart, under whose awning lay stretched its fever-stricken driver, to the veriest makeshifts of poverty, the wheelbarrow or the two-wheeled trundle, in which was dragged along a bundle of clothing and a sack of meal — all of this world's goods that the owner possessed.

On arriving at the banks of the Missouri, the wagons were drawn up in double lines and in the form of squares. Between the lines, tents were pitched at intervals, space being left between each row for a passage-way, which was shaded with awnings or a lattice-work of branches, and served as a promenade for convalescents and a playground for children.

And what became of Nauvoo? The temple was destroyed by fire and tempest,**' and all the wood-work consumed, while the rock was utilized for miles around as foundations of houses, for door-steps, and other pur- poses. A French company coming in later bought the stone from those in possession, and built wine-vaults. Foundations of buildings were broken up, and houses once surrounded by carefully tended flower-gardens, pillaged of all that was valuable, were now abandoned by their ruthless destroyers.*^ "At present," writes Linforth, "the Icariansform the most important part of the population of Nauvoo . . . They live in a long ugly row of buildings, the architect of which and of the school-house was a cobbler." In the house built for the prophet and his family dwelt in 1854 the prophet's widow, his mother, and his family.*^

• The temple was half deetroyod by fire ou Z'J'ov. 19, 1848. Nauvoo Pa-

triot, in Millennial Star, xi. p. 46; and on May 27, 1850, further damaged by a tornado. Hancock Patriot, in Mackay's The Mormons, 210. For cut of remnants, see Linforth's Route from Liverpool to G. S. L. Valley, 62, and Hyde's Mormonism, 140. See also George Q. Cannon, in Juvenile Instructor, vol. ix. no. 5, and WelW Narrative, MS., 41; Deseret News, Aug. 24, 1850; Frontier Guardian, July 24, 1850.

• i As James Linforth describes in writing of Nauvoo in 1858.

• ^ Route from Liverpool to G. S. L. Valley, 63. ​

CHAPTER IX.

AT THE MISSOURI.

1846-1847.

Nativb Races of the Missouri — The Pottawattamies and the Omaiias— The Moemons Welcomed as Brethren — War with Mexico — Califor- nia TERFaTORY — Mexican Boundaries— Application to the United States Government for Aid — An Offer to Serve as Soldiers Ac- cepted—Organization OF the Mormon Battalion — Departure o» THE Battalion — Bounty Money— March across the Continent — The Battalion in California — Matters on the Missouri.

Among the savages on either side of the Missouri, the Pottawattamies on the east side and the Omahas on the west side, the outcasts from Nauvoo were warmly welcomed. "My Mormon brethren," said the chief Pied Riche,^ "the Pottawattamie came sad and tired into this unhealthy Missouri bottom, not many years back, when he was taken from his beauti- ful country beyond the Mississippi, which had abun- dant game and timber and clear water everywhere. Now you are driven away in the same manner from your lodges and lands there, and the graves of your people. So we have both suffered. We must help one another, and the great spirit will help us both."

Extreme care was taken not to infringe in any way upon the rights of the Indians or the government. Brigham counselled the brethren to regard as sacred the burial customs of the natives; frequently their dead were deposited in the branches of trees, wrapped in buffalo robes and blankets, with pipes and truikets

Le Clerc, on account of his scholarship.

(236) ​

NEGOTIATIONS WITH INDIANS.

237

beside them. At Cutler Park there were friendly negotiations made with Big Elk, chief of the Omahas, who said: "I am willing you should stop in my coun- try, but I am afraid of my great father at Washing- ton. "^

As the United States pretended to hold the title to the land, it was thought that the Pottawattamies had no right to convey their timber to others; so Brigham enjoined that there should be no waste of timber within these limits, but that as much as was necessary might be used. A permit for passing through their territory, and for remainhig while

About the Missouri.

necessary, was obtained from Colonel Allen, who was acting for the United States.'

Although it was late in the season when the first bands of emigrants crossed the Missouri, some of them still moved westward as far as the Pawnee villages on Grand Island, intending to select a new home before winter. But the evil tidings from Nauvoo, and the destitute condition in which other parties of the

' ' The Omahas caused them some trouble, as they would steal with one hand while we fed them with the other.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 46, Oct. ISth.

^ Hist. B. Young, MS., 1846, 98-9. Maj. Harvey brought the Mormons at Winter Quarters letters from Washington, expecting them to leave the Pottawattamie lands in the spring. See cor., Hist. B. Young, MS. ​, 441-52.

saints reached the Mormon encampments, forbade further progress, and all prepared to spend the winter on the prairie. To the Mormon encampment on the site of the present town of Council Bluffs was after- ward given the name of Kanesville.*

While the saints were undergoing their infelicities at Nauvoo, war had broken out between the United States and Mexico. At that time New Mexico and California were a part of Mexico, and Utah and Ne- vada were a part of California.^ Journeying west from Nauvoo, California or Oregon would be reached. The latter territory was already secured to the United States; people were there from the United States, composing religious sects and political parties as jeal- ous of their holdings as any in Missouri or Illinois. Vancouver Island" was practically unoccupied, but the Hudson's Bay Company would scarcely regard with favor its occupation by a large body of American citizens whose government was at that moment crowd- ing them out of the Oregon territory and across the Columbia River.

But had the Mormons known their destination, had they known what point among the mountains or

• So called after Thomas L. Kane. Here was first issued on Feb. 7, 1849,

the Frontier Guardian, and its publicatiou was continued till March 22, 1852, Richards' Narr., MS., 65; Richards' Bibliog. of Utah, MS., 13. The paper was edited by Orson Hyde, and makes a very creditable appearance. The subscription was $2 per year. In the second number we read: ' Flour nicely put up in sacks of from 50 to 100 lbs each will be received in exchange for the Guardian at the rate of $2 per hundred pounds, if good.' The last num- ber of the Times and Seasons bears date Fob. 15, 1846.

^ I frequently find California and Utah confounded by writers of this early period. The limits of California on the east were not then defined, and it was not uncommon, nor indeed incorrect, to apply that term to territory east of the sierra. I find this written in Snow^s Voice of the Prophet, 15: 'The pioneers discovered a beautiful valley beyond the pass of the great Rocky Mts, being a portion of the great basin of Upper California.' As we shall see later, the Mormons knew even less about Utah than they did about California.

^Brigham Young at first suggested Vancouver Island. 'There are said to be many good locations for settlements on the Pacific, especially .at Van- couver Island.' Circular to the brethren, in Times and Seasons, vi. 1019. In 1845 the report was current that the IMormona of Illinois had chosen V. I. as their future home, the metropolis to be situated at Nootka. Niles' Register, Ixix. 134. The Qiiiney Whig thinks the Mormons intend to settle at Nootka Sound. Polynesian, ii. 1846. ​

beside the sea was to be their final resting-place, they would not have told it. When they turned their back on Nauvoo, the whole western coast was before them, with its multitudinous mountains and valleys, its rivers and lakes, and long line of seaboard. Of the several parts of this immense territory, ownership and right of occupation were not in every instance de- termined. The question of the boundary line between England's possessions and those of the United States had stirred up no small discussion and feeling, and out of the present war with Mexico would doubtless arise some changes.^ It was a foregone conclusion in the minds of many, before ever the migratory saints had reached the Missouri Kiver, that when the pres- ent troubles with Mexico were ended the United States would have California. But however this might be, the saints had a firm reliance on an overruling providence, and once adrift upon the vast untenanted west, their God and their sagacity would point out to them their future home. Thus it was that while the Mormons in the western states took the route over- land, another portion living at the east took passage round Cape Horn, the intention being that the two bodies of brethren should come together somewhere upon the Pacific slope, which indeed they did.^

The national title to what is now the Pacific United States being at this time thus unsettled, and the Mormons having been driven from what was then

^In a letter to Pres. Polk, dated near Council Bluffs, Aug. 9, 1846, the determination was expressed, 'that as soon as we are settled in the great basin, we design to petition the U. S. for a territorial govt, bounded on the north by the British and south by the Mexican dominions, east and west by the sum- mits of the Rocky and Cascade Mts. ' And again elsewhere: ' We told Col Kane we intended settling in the great basin on Bear River Valley; that those who went round by water would settle in S. F. That was in council with the twelve and Col Kane.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 133, 140.

• In his address to the saints in Great Britain, dated Liverpool, 1849, Elder

John Taylor says: 'When we arrive in California, according to the provisions of the Mexican government, each family will be entitled to a large tract of land, amounting to several hundred acres; but as the Mexican and American nations are now at war, sliould Cal. fall into the hands of the American nation, there has been a bill before congress in relation to Or., which will undoubtedly pass, appropriating 640 acres of land to every male settler.' MiUennicd Star, viii. 115. ​

the United States, it was considered but natural, as indeed it seemed to be a necessity, that they would take possession of such unoccupied lands in the region toward the Pacific as best suited them. But it was not necessary that they should hold possession of such lands in opposition to the government of the United States, as they have been charged with doing.

They now applied to the government at Washing- ton for work, offering to open roads, transport mili- tary stores, or perform any other service which the government might require in this farthest west, even to assist in fighting its battles. Such occupation would be of the greatest advantage to them in this new country, where land was fertile and plenty and free, and possessing as they did large herds of cattle and horses and sheep, with no market and but little money. And on the other hand, being on the ground, accustomed to work, and having every facility at hand without long and expensive transportation, they could give more and better work for the pay than the government could obtain by any other means.

They even asked for aid direct about the time the exodus began, being represented at Washington by Elder Jesse C. Little,^ who, aided by Colonel Kane, Amos Kendall, and others, brought the matter before President Polk. While negotiations were yet in progress, news arrived that General Taylor had al- ready won two victories over the Mexicans; where- upon the elder addressed a petition to the president, stating that from twelve to fifteen thousand Mormons had set forth from Nauvoo for California, while some had departed by sea, and in Great Britain alone were forty thousand converts, all resolved to join the saints in their promised land. Many of them were without means; they were compelled to go; tliey wanted as-

• • In the letter appointing and giving instructions to Elder Little is the

following: 'If our government should offer facilities for emigrating to the western coast, embrace those facilities if possible. As a wise and faithful man, take every advantage of the times you can.' TuUidge'n Life of Brigham Young, 48. ​

sistaiice either in the way of work or otherwise. The Mormons were true-hearted Americans, the memo- rial went on to say, and if the government would assist them in their present emergency, the petitioner stood ready to pledge himself as their representative to answer any call the government might make upon them for service on the field of battle.

Elder Little was taken at his word. At a cabinet meeting, held a day or two after his petition was pre- sented, the president advised that the elder be sent at once to the Mormon camps, and there raise a thousand men to take possession of California in the name of the United States, while a thousand more be sent by way of Cape Horn for the same purpose, on board a United States transport. It was finally arranged that the elder, in company with Kane, should proceed westward, the latter bearing despatches to Kearny, then at Fort Leavenworth, with a view to raising a corps of about five hundred men.

On the 19th of June, Kearny issued an order to Captain James Allen of the 1st dragoons to pro- ceed to the Mormon camp, and there raise four or five companies of volunteers, to be mustered into the service of the United States and receive the pay and rations of other infantry volunteers. They were then to be marched to Fort Leavenworth, where they would be armed; after which they would proceed to California by way of Santa Fe. They were to enlist for twelve months, after which time they were to be discharged, retaining as their own property the arms furnished them.

In pursuance of his orders, Captain Allen proceeded to Mount Pisgah, where on the 26th he made known his mission. After a conference with the church council at that point, Allen went to Council Bluffs, where on the 1st of July it was determined by President Young that the battalion should be raised. In two weeks the corps was enrolled, and mustered in on the 16th of July, the president of the church ​

Hist. Utah. 1G

promising to look after the wants of the families of those enlisting.

Though in reality a great benefit to the brethren, there were some hardships connected with the meas- ure.^" As Brigham and others were on their way from Council Bluffs to Pisgah to aid in obtaining these recruits, they passed 800 west-bound wagons. At their encampments on each side the river there was much serious illness, and as many of the teamsters had been withdrawn for this campaign, much heavy work fell upon the women and children, and the aged and infirm."

After a ball on the afternoon of the 19th, the vol- unteers next day bade farewell to their families and friends, and accompanied by eighty women and chil- dren,^^ set forth on their march/^ on the 1st of August arriving at Fort Leavenworth. Here the men re-

^° So ingrafted in their minds was the idea of persecution, and so accus- tomed were they now to complaining, that when the government acceded to their request, there were many who believed, and so expressed themselves, that this was but an act of tyranny on the part of the United States, whose people, after driving them from their borders, had now come upon them to make a draft on their healthiest and hardiest men, forcing them to separate from their wives and children now in the time of their extremest need, under penalty of extermination in case of refusal. And this idea, which was wholly at variance with the facts, is present in the minds of some even to this day. In order to facilitate enlisting, or for some other cause best known to himself, Brigham deemed it best to preserve this idea rather than wholly disabuse their minds of it; for in his address to tlie brethren on the 15th of July he said: ' If we want the privilege of going where we can worship God accord- ing to the dictates of our consciences, we must raise the battalion,' In his address at the gathering of the pioneers on the 24th of July, 1880, Wilfoi'd Woodruff said: ' Our government called upon us to raise a Ijattalion of 500 men to go to Mexico to fight the battles of our country. This draft was ten times greater, according to the population of the Mormon camp, than was made upon any other portion of our nation . . . Whether our government ex- pected we would comply with the request or not, is not for me to say. But I think I am safe in saying that plan was laid by certain parties for our de- struction if we did not comply.' Utah Pioneers, 33d Ann., 20.

" ' Most of our people were sick; in fact, the call for 500 able-bodied men from Council Bluffs for Mexico, by the government, deprived us of about all our strength.' Richards' Rem., MS., 25.

^^ Compare official report in U. S. House Ex. Doc, no. 24, 31st Cong., 1st Sess., and Tyler ■•< Hist. Mormon Battalion, and note discrepancies in regard to numbers enlisted and discharged. The names of those M'ho reached Cali- fornia \Fill be found in my pioneer register, Hist. Cal., this series.

^^ 'The members started upon their pilgrimage cheerfully, 'says Woodruff, ' understanding that they occupied the place of a ram caught in a thicket, and were making a sacrifice for the salvation of Israel. ' Utah Pioneers, 20. ​

ceived their arms and accoutrements, and to each was given a bounty of forty dollars, most of the money be- ing sent back to the brethren by the hands of elders Hyde, Taylor, and others, who accompanied the bat- talion to that point, and there bade them God speed."

About the middle of August the corps resumed its march toward Santa ¥6, a distance of seven hundred miles, arriving at that place in two parties on the 9th and 12th of October. There eighty-eight men were invalided and sent back to Pueblo for the winter, and later a second detachment of fifty-five, being found unfit for service, was also ordered to Pueblo. ^^ Many of them found their way during the following year to the valley of Great Salt Lake.

From Santa Fe the remainder of the troops set forth for San Diego, a journey of more than eleven hundred miles, the entire distance between that town and the Mormon camps on the Missouri exceeding two thousand miles. Much of the route lay through a pathless desert; at few points could food be obtained in sufficient quantit}^ for man or beast, and sometimes even water failed. Wells were sunk in the wilderness; but on one occasion, at least, the men travelled for a hundred miles without water. ^^ Before leaving Santa

1* ' Here they received 100 tents, one for every 6 privates. ' ' The pay- master remarked that every one of the Mormon battalion could write his own name, but only about one third of the volunteers he had previously paid could do so.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1846, IS. 'Five thousand eight hupdred and sixty dollars was brought in by Parley Pratt from Ft Leavenworth, being a por- tion of the allowance for clothing paid the battalion. It was counselled that this money be expended in St Louis for the families; three prices have to be paid here;. . .we wish they should all act voluntarily, so that they may have no reflections to cast upon themselves or counsellors.' Id., MS., 1846, 150. ' When the goods were bought, prices had advanced and ferriage was very high, all of which brought the goods higher than was anticipated, and pro- duced some grumbling in camp.' Id., MS., 1847, 12.

^* Families accompanying the battalion were ordered to Pueblo for winter quarters. Hist. B. Young, MS., 1S46, 2G0. A detachment was sent to Pueblo consisting of 89 men and 18 laundresses. Later in this vol., I refer to affairs at Pueblo as furnished me in a very valuable manuscript by Judge Stone of Colorado.

16 In a general order issued at San Diego on Jan. 30, 1847, by command of Lieut-col St George Cooke, then in charge of the battalion, vice Col Allen, de- ceased, the men are thus complimented on their safe arrival at the shores of the Pacific: ' History may be searched in vain for an equal march of infan- try; nine tenths of it through a wilderness, where nothing but ​savages and

Fe rations were reduced," and soon afterward further reduced to one half and finally to one quarter allow- ance, the meat issued to the trooj^s being the flesh of such animals as were unable to proceed further, though their hides and entrails were eagerly devoured, being gulped down with draughts of water, when water could be had.^^ While suffering these hardships the men were compelled to carry their own knapsacks, muskets, and extra ammunition, and sometimes to push the wagons through heavj'- sand, or help to drag them over mountain ranges.

Passing through a New Mexican pueblo on the 24th of October, some of the men were almost as naked as on the day of their birth, except for a breech- clout, or as their colonel termed it, a * centre-clothing,' tied around the loins. In this plight, near the middle of December, the battalion reached the San Pedro River, some three hundred and forty strong, and here occurred the only battle which the saints militant fought during their campaign — an encounter with a

wild beasts are found; or deserts where, for the want of water, there is no living creature. There, with almost hopeless labor, we have dug deep wells, which the future traveller will enjoy. Without a guide who had traversed them, we have ventured into trackless prairies, where water was not found for several marches. With crowbar and pickaxe in hand, we have woi'ked our way over mountains which seemed to defy aught save the wild goat, and hewed a passage through a chasm of living rock, more narrow than our wagons. ' Smith's Rise, Progress, and Travels, 10.

1' 'Until further orders, three fourths pound of flour, also three fourths rations sugar and coffee will bo issued. Beef, one and a half pounds will be issued for a day's ration.' Order JVo. 11, Headquarters Mormon Battalion, Santa F(5. A copy of it will be found in Tyler's Hist. Mor. Battalion, 175-6.

18 During the march from Santa Fe to San Diego a song was composed by Levi W. Hancock, a musician. belonging to company E. It was entitled the 'Desert Route,' and commences:

Wliilo hero beneath a sultry sky. Our famished mules and cattle die; Scarce aught but skin and bones remain, To feed poor soldiers on the plain. Chorus: How hard to starve and wear us out Upon this sandy desert route.

We sometimes now for lack of bread. Are less than quarter rations fed, And soon expect, for all of meat, Naught else than broke-down mules to eat.

Now half-starved oxen, over-drilled. Too weak to draw, for beef arc killed; And gnawing hunger prompting men, To eat small outrails and the skin. ​

Id., 181-2.

herd of wild bulls. Thence, without further adventure worthy of note, they continued their march, and reach- ing the Pacific coast on the 29tli of January, 1847, found the stars and stripes floating peacefully over the town of San Diego. ^^

A more detailed account of the career of the Mor- mon battalion will be found in my History of Cali- fornia. It remains only to add here that about one hundred of the men reached Salt Lake City in the winter of 1847, while some remained on the Pacific coast. ^

The alacrity displayed by the Mormon president in raising this battalion has been ascribed to various causes ; to the fear of further persecution should the levy be refused, and to a desire of showing that, not- withstanding their maltreatment, the saints were still

^' In A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War, 1846 -1847, by Sergeant Daniel Tlyer, (Salt Lake City,) 1881, 8vo, 376 pp., we have a most valuable book, ami one that forms the leading authority on this subject. Though written, of course, from a Mormon standpoint, and marked by the credulity of his sect, the execution of the work is all that its titls-page promises. Li the introduction, occupying 109 pages, we have President John Taylor's account of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, Colonel Kane's discourse on the Mormons, and a poem by Eliza R. Snow, entitled The Mormon Battalion, and First Wagon Load over the Great American Desert. The remainder of the volume consists of original matter. Tyler was a mem- ber of company C in the battalion, and no doubt speaks the truth when he says in his preface that ' neither labor, pains, nor expense has been spared in the effort to make this a just and authentic history.' Among other authori- ties may be mentioned Home's Migr. and Settlem't, L. D. Saints, MS., 32-3; Xehfktr's Early Justice, MS., 3; Woodruff's Rem., MS., 76; Henry W. Big- ler's Diary of a Mormon in California, MS., in which last we have a faithful and interesting record of the Mormon battalion and Mr Bigler's account of the discovery of gold in California. The Conquest of New Mexico and Califor- nia: an Historical and Personal Narrative, by P. St. George Cooke, Brigadier and Brevet Major-general U.S. A., N. Y., 1878, 12mo, gives some additional matter, as do the jounial and report of that officer in U. S. Sen. Doc. No. 2, 30th Cong., Special Sess., diini.'ya. House Ex. Doc, 30th Cong., IstSess., no. 41, pp. c40-63. Cooke, it will be remembered, was in command of the battalion. Items have also been gathered from U. S. House Ex. Doc, 31st Cong., 1st Sess., no. 24, p. 22; Apostle Wilford Woodruff's Speech, in Utah Pioneers, 33d ann., 19-22; Smith's Rise, Progre-is, and Travels, 8-11; Tullidge's Life of Brigham Young, 41-76; OlshajiMn, Gesch. de Mor., 142-4; and Kane's The Mormons, 27-9. Biographical notices of some of the members, and the names of the women who accompanied the battalion, are given in Tullidge's Women, 427, 432, 443-4.

-'^In the Frontier Guardian, March 7, 1849, is a notice copied from the St Joseph Gazette, stating that the members of the battalion can at once receive their extra pay at Fort Leavenworth. The notice is signed by Paymaster Thos ​S. Bryant.

unswerving in their loyalty to the United States. While all this carried weight, the bounty of twenty thousand dollars was no insignificant consideration, nor the hope that this battalion might serve as van- guard to Brigham's host, provided he carried out his partially formed purpose to settle in California.

At the close of 1846, about twelve thousand souls had assembled in the Mormon camps, a portion of them being yet stationed as far eastward as Garden Grove. Of the rest a few had made their way to some Atlantic port and taken ship for Califor- nia; many had dispersed throughout the country, some of whom were now gathering at the ren- dezvous. Though the first bands that crossed the Mississippi encountered no very severe hardships, as I have said, the sufferings of those who set forth later have few parallels, even among the pioneers, who, a year or two afterward, followed their track westward in search of gold.^^

Mount Pisgah, the next encampment west of Gar- den Grove, was on the middle fork of Grand River. Through this winter of 1846-7, which was one of severest struggle, there was great lack of food and clothing. They could not go on because they had no teams, most of them being employed in bringing forward the emigration from the Mississippi. Many

2' Instance the experiences of Mrs Richards, Reminiscences, MS., passim. While on their journey toward the Missouri, having parted from her husband who was about starting on a mission to England, her little daughter was taken dangerously ill, and the mother was prematurely confined in a wagon with a son, who died soon after. 'Our situation was pitiable; I had no suitable food for niyself or my child; the severe rain prevented our having any fire; on the third day we resumed our journey. In ten days we reached Mt Pisgah; my little girl was very ill, and I was also. We continued our journey till we reached my mother at Cutler Park, and here, after weeks of almost incred- ible suffering, my little daughter died. A few days previously she had asked for some potato soup, the first thing she had shown any desire for for weeks, and as we were then travelling, we came in sight of a potato-field. One of the sisters eagerly a?ked for a single potato. A rough woman impatiently heard her story throug i, and putting her hands on her shoulders, marched her out of the house, say ig, "I won't give or sell a thing to one of you damned Mor- mons." I turned on my bed and wept, as I heard them trying to comfort my little one in her disappointment. When she was taken from me I only lived because I could not die. ' ​

families were entirely out of provisions, and their des- titute neighbors were .sorely taxed. ^^ A fatal sick- ness swept through the camp, and soon there were not sufficient persons to nurse the sick; frequently burials were hastened with little ceremony. In the spring of 1847, Lorenzo Snow was made president of the camp. The men were put to work wherever they could get it. Seed was planted, and the result was enough not only for themselves, but they were enabled to send supplies to the camp at Council Bluffs.'^^ Snow instituted religious ceremonies and amusements to brighten and encourage them. He describes a dance in his log cabin, where clean straw was spread over the ground floor, and the walls draped with sheets. Turnips were scooped out and in them were placed lighted candles, which, suspended from the ceiling of earth and cane, or fastened on the walls, imparted a picturesque effect. Dancing, speeches, songs, and recitations varied the exercises, which opened and closed with prayer.

On each side of the hills where now stands Council Bluffs could be seen the white canvas tents of a Mor- mon encampment, from which arose at sunrise the smoke of hundreds of fires. After the morning meal, the men employed themselves in tending herds, in planting grain and vegetables, or in building houses for winter. Many of them were excellent craftsmen, and could fell a tree, and split its trunk into boards, scantling, rails, posts, or whatever were needed, as

It cannot be said that any considerable number died of starvation. 'Only those died of it outright,' says Kane in The Mormons, ' who fell in out- of-the-way places that the hand of brotherhood could not reach ... If but part of a group were supplied with provisions, the whole went on half or quarter ration.' 'Articles of diet, such as tea, coffee, sugar, with every species of clothing, were eagerly stored up, as possibly the last we should ever see. ' Broom's Testimonies, MS. , 24. ' When starting from Nauvoo, a gentile neigh- bor gave me a pound of tea, which through sickness and great suffering was about all the sustenance I had for some time. ' Mrs Richards' Rem. , MS. , 20.

^^ 'Parties were sent to the gentile settlements to look for work, food, and clothmg, and elders Dana and Campbell collected about |600 from the rich gentiles in Ohio and elsewhere.' Snow's Biography, 91. ​

readily as the most expert backwoodsmen of their day.^^*

During the summer and autumn months of 1846, the Papillon camp, near the Little Butterfly River, in common with the others, was stricken with fever, and with a scorbutic disease which the Mormons termed the black canker. In the autumn drought, the streams that discharge into the Missouri at this point are often little better than open sewers, pestilential as open cesspools, and the river, having lost more than half its volume, flows sluggishly through its channel of slime and sedge. Of the baked mud on either bank is formed the rich soil on which lay the encampments, the site being called, in their own phrase, Misery Bottom. In the year previous the Indians in this neighborhood had lost one ninth of their number; and now that the earth was for the first time upturned by the plough, the exhalations from this rank and steaming soil were redolent of disease and death.

In the camp nearest to Papillon more than one third of the company lay sick at the beginning of August; elsewhere matters were even worse; and as the season advanced there were in some of the en- campments not one who escaped the fever, the few who were able to stagger from tent to tent carrying food and water to their comrades. For several weeks it was impossible to dig graves quickly enough for the burial of the dead,^^ and one might see in the open tents the wasted forms of women brushing away the flies from the putrefying corpses of their children.

Through all these months building was continually going on at Winter Quarters.^® The axe and saw were

-* ' There were among them many skilled mechanics, who could work at forge, loom, or turning-lathe. A Mormon gunsmith is the inventor of the excellent repeating rifle that loads by slides instead of cylinders; and one of the neat- est finished tire-arms I have ever seen was of this kind, wrought from scraps of old iron, and inlaid with the silver of a couple of half-dollars.' Kane's The Mormons, 36.

'-"At the camp situated on the site of the town of Florence, there were over 600 burials. Kane's The Mormons, 51.

^^ ' Here we suffered terribly fi'om scurvy, for want of vegetables. I was a victim, and even my little children as young as three years of ​age. The

incessantly at work night and clay. It was a city of mucl and logs; the houses had puncheon floors and roofs of straw and dirt, or of turf and willows; they were warm and not unwholesome, but would not en- dure the thaw, rain, and sunshine. ^^

There was a camp at Cutler Park which was moved to Winter Quarters. Great difficulty was experi- enced in getting flour and meal; a little grain was ground at the government mill, and the rest was ob- tained in Missouri, a hundred and fifty miles distant.^^ Brigham kept everybody bus}^, and everything was well organized and systematically executed. ^^ Schools were soon established, officers of the church appointed, and men sent on missions. The whole machinery w^as apparently in as active operation as it had been at Nauvoo. The gathering continued through the sum- first relief experienced was when a bag of potatoes was brought in from Missouri ... It was observed that those who had milk escaped the trouble. ' Home's Migrations, MS., 20.

2' ' The buildings were generally of logs from 12 to 18 feet long, a few were split, and made from lynn and cotton-wood timber; many roofs were made by splitting oak timber into boards, called shakes, about 3 ft long and 6 in. wide, and kept in j)lace by weights and i^oles; others were made of willows, straw, and earth, about a foot thick; some of puncheon. Many cabuis had no floors; there were a few dugouts on the sidehills— the tire- place was cut out at the upper end. The ridge-pole roof was supported by two uprights in the centre and roofed with straw and earth, with chimneys of prairie sod. The doors were made of shakes, with wooden hinges and string latch; the inside of the log houses was daubed with clay; a few had stoves.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1846, 534. ' The roofs were made of logs laid across with flags spread over them, and earth spread over these. This was partial protection from the rain, but when once it was soaked through in a lieavy storm, we were at the mercy of the rain.' Richards' Bern., MS., 27. In Dec. 1846, at Winter Quarters there were ' 538 log houses and 83 sod houses, inhabited by 3,483 souls, of whom 334 were sick. ' Church Chronology, ,65.

^^ ' .§8,000 was sent by Whitney to St Louis to purchase stones and machin- ery for flouring mills; and through A. H. Perkins a cai-ding machine was ordered from Savannah.' Hist. B. Young, MS., Aug. 30, 1846. 'Sugar and coSee were I63 cts per lb.; domestics and calicoes from 18 to 25 cts; $3 a cwt. for flour,' etc. ; all of which could be purchased in St Louis for a third of these rates. These prices seemed exorbitant to the Mormons, thougli in reality they were not unreasonable. In transporting the goods from St Louis later, ferriage became so high and prices were .so advanced that the brethren burst forth: 'Woe unto you, Missourians! but we are independent of them and can live without them, for we have thousands of cattle left. '

-^ 'At a meeting of the council July 14th, it was voted that colonies be established on the east side of the river to put in buckwheat, and winter; that a fort be built on Grand Island and a settlement made there; and that Bishop Miller and a company go over the mountains.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1846, 50. ​

mer, but it was deemed inexpedient to move forward that year. Some twelve hundred cattle were herded on the rush bottoms, about a hundred miles up the river.

The building of a water flouring mill was in process of construction, and Brigham superintended the work. As the camp journalist writes: "He sleeps with one eye open and one foot out of bed, and when anything is wanted he is on hand." The tithing collected was distributed among the destitute at Mount Pisgah. To the gentiles who visited their camps such hospitality was extended as their means permitted, which though often scant was never stinted.

Within the camp the women attended not only to their ordinary household duties, but were busily occu- pied spinning, knitting, making leggings from deer and elk skins, and in weaving willow baskets for market. ^° With cheerfulness and courage they adapted them- selves to their many vicissitudes, their faith in their religion never swerving, and supported by it to a pa- tient endurance beyond human strength. Most of them had exchanged their household treasures and personal effects, even to their table and bed furniture, for stores of maize or flour, which with milk were their only articles of diet. As evening approached, the tinkling of cattle bells announced the return of the men, when the women went forth to meet them, and welcome them back to their log hut and frugal meal. Then a little later all sounds were hushed, save that on the still night arose the strains of the evening hymn and the murmur of the evening prayer, the day closing, as it had commenced, with a supplication for the blessing of the Almighty, and with heartfelt thanksgiving that he had been pleased to deliver his people from the hands of their persecutors.

During the latter part of the winter and toward the early spring matters assumed a brighter look.

^" Several loads of willow baskets were manufactured. Hist. B. Young, M ​S.. 534.

New-year's day was ushered in at Winter Quarters by the firing of cannon.^^ There were frequent assem- blies for dancing, and in February several picnics were held. In inaugurating these festivities, Brig- ham told the people he would show them how to go forth in the dance in an acceptable manner before the Lord,^ and to the sound of music led the dance. A picnic lasting for three days was also given, at which three hundred of the poor were feasted.^

'^ The thermometer was during that week from 2° to 8° below zero, later falling several degrees lower.

'* 'I then knelt down and prayed to God in behalf of the meeting, . . .and dedicated the meeting and house to the Lord, . . .and led forth in the dance.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1847, 27. In an address Brigham said: 'For some weeks past I could not wake up at any time of the night but I heard the axe at work, . . . and now my feelings are, dance all night if you desire to do so. ' p. 48. 'The "Silver Greys " and epectacled dames, . . .some nearly a hundred years old, . . .dancing like ancient Israel.' p. 49.

'^ 'There were 117 poor adults,. . .divided into three wards. . . Shortly after noon I met with 66 of my family, including my adopted children.' Id., p. 53. ​

CHAPTER X.

MIGRATION TO UTAH.

1847.

Camp Near the Missouri — Preparations at Winter Quarters — Depart- ure OP the Pioneer Band — Elkhorn Rendezvous— Route and Rou- tine — Incidents of Journey — Approach to Zion — In the CaIJon — Hosanna! Hallelujah! — Entry into the Valley of the Great Salt Lake— Ploughing and Planting — Praying and Praising — Site FOR A City Chosen — Temple Block Selected — Return of Companies TO Winter Quarters — Their Meeting with the Westwaed-bound — General Epistle of the Twelve.

In the spring of 1847 we find the saints still in camp in the vicinity of the Missouri. Considering what they had been called upon to undergo, they were in good health and spirits. There is nothing like the spiritual in man to stimulate and sustain the physi- cal ; and this result is equally accomplished by the most exalted piety of the true believer, or by the most stupid fanaticism or barbaric ignorance; for all of us are true believers, in our own eyes. There is nothing like religion to sustain, bear up, and carry men along under trying circumstances. They make of it a fight; and they are determined that the world, the flesh, and the devil shall not conquer.

In the present instance it was of course a miracle in their eyes that so many of their number were pre- served; it was to this belief, and to the superhuman skill and wisdom of their leader, and partly to their own concert of action, that their preservation was due.

Frequent meetings had been held by the council to consider plans for further explorations by a pioneer ​

DEPARTURE OF THE PIONEER BAND. 253 \s\n

band/ A call was made for volunteers of young and able-bodied men, and in April a company was or- ganized, with Brigham Young as lieutenant-general, Stephan Markham colonel, John Pack major, and fourteen captains. The company consisted of 143 persons, including three women, wives of Brigham Young, Lorenzo Young, and Heber C. Kimball. They had 73 wagons drawn by horses and mules, and loaded chiefly with grain and farming implements,^ and with provisions which were expected to last them for the return journey.

Early in April a detachment moved out of Winter Quarters for the rendezvous on the Elkhorn, and on the 14tli the pioneer band, accompanied by eight mem- bers of the council,^ began the long journe}^ westward in search of a site for their new Zion. If none were found, they were to plant crops and establish a settle- ment at some suitable spot which might serve as a base for future explorations.*

The route was along the north branch of the Platte, and for more than 500 miles the country was bare of

^ The octagon house of Dr Richards in which the council met is described as a queer-looking thing, much resembling a New England potato-heap in time of frost. ' Council voted a load of wood for each day they met in his house.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1S47, 2.

2 Woodruff's Journal, MS., Apr. 17, 1847.

^ John Taylor, Parley Pratt, and Orson Hyde were engaged in missionary work abroad. Pratt's Autobioj., 383.

• The impression was that they would reach as soon as possible ' the foot of

the mountains somewhere in the region of the Yellowstone River, perhaps at the fork of Tongue River, say 2 days' ride north of the Oregon road, and a week's travel west of Ft Laramie. . .1 informed Bishop Miller tliat when we moved hence it would be to the great basin.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 79. No one knew whither they were going, not even the leaders. 'We have learned by letter to Elder G. D. Watt that a company left Council Bluffs for the mountains on the 12th of April to seek a location for a stake in Zion.' Mil- lennial Star, ix. 235. ' The pioneers started for the mountains to seek out a resting-place for the saints.' Brown's 'Testimonies for the Truth, 26. In Niles' Register, Ixxii. 20G (May 29, 18-47), we read: 'Their intention is to proceed as far as possible up to the period of necessary planting-time, when they will stop and commence a crop. The leaders will make but a short delay at this point, and will proceed over into California and communicate with or join the disbanded forces of the ilormon battalion, whose period of service \v\\\ expire about the 1st of July next.' 'When President Young was questioned by any of the pioneers as to the definite point of our destination, all he could say to them was, that he would know it when he should see it. ' Erastus Snow, in Utah Pioneers, 33d ann., 44. ​

254

MIGRATION TO UTAH.

vegetation. Housed by the call of the bugle at five o'clock in the morning, they assembled for prayers; then they breakfasted^ and upon a second call of the bugle at seven o'clock they started, and travelled about twenty miles for the day. At night the note of the bugle sent each to his own wagon to prayers and at nine o'clock to bed. They rested on Sunday, giving up the day to fasting and prayer. They were careful in marching to preserve order, with loaded guns and powder-horn ready. And the better to present a compact front, the wagons were kept well together, usually two abreast where the ground would permit, and the men were required to walk by the wagons. They felled cotton-wood trees for their horses and

Route of the Mormons.

cattle to browse upon, and at last were obliged to feed them from the grain, flour, and biscuit they carried, subsisting meanwhile themselves on game and fish. In the valley of the Platte roamed such vast herds of buffaloes that it was often necessary to send parties in advance and clear the road before the teams could pass. At night the wagons would be drawn up in a semicircle on the bank, the river forming a defence upon one side. The tongues of the wagons were on the outside, and a fore wheel of each was placed against the hind wheel of the wagon before it; all the horses and cattle were brought inside of the en- closure. The corral thus formed was oblong, with an ​

JOURNEY OF THE PIONEERS.

255

opening at either end, where was stationed a guard. The tents were pitched outside of the corral.^

In crossing the Loup River on the 24th, they used a leathern boat made for this expedition, and called Tlie Revenue Cutter. On the 4th of May letters were sent back to Winter Quarters by a trader named Charles Beaumont. On the 2 2d they encamped at Ancient Bluff Buins. Here the spirits of the people reached such high hilarity that their commanding

'yim m ^^

CoRRAii OP Wagons.

officer was obhged to rebuke them, whereupon all covenanted to humble themselves.^

Early in June they reached the Black Hills by way of Fort Laramie.^ Here they rested for two or three

» Woodruff's Journal, MS., April 19, 1847. On May 4th they 'established a post-office and guide system for the benefit of the next camp following. Every ten miles. . .we put up a guide-board.'

^ ' I have told the few who did not belong to the church that they were not at liberty to introduce cards, dancing, or iniquity of any description.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1847, 90.

' Fort John, or Laramie, was occupied by ' James Bordeaux and about eighteen French half-breeds and a few Sioux . . . There had been ro rain for the last two years . . . Two or three of us visited Mr Bordeaux at th ​e fort.

weeks to build ferry-boats and recruit their animals. Grass was now plentiful; most of the brethren de- pended upon their rifles for food, and after having prepared sufficient dried meat for the rest of the jour- ney, they continued on their way.

No sooner had they crossed the river than a horse- man, who had followed their trail from Laramie, rode up and begged them to halt, as near by was a large company bound for Oregon, for which he asked con- veyance over the stream. The pioneers consented, stipulating that they should receive payment in pro- visions. Other parties following, the larder of the saints was replenished.^

Travelling rapidly, and a little to the south of what was known as the Oregon track,^ the Mormons ar- rived at South Pass in the latter part of June, about the time when the tide of emigration usually passed the Missouri. Thence skirting the Colorado desert and reaching the Green River country, the monotony was broken. Here the brethren were met by Elder Brannan, who had sailed from New York for Califor- nia in the ship Brooklyn, the previous February, with 238 saints, as before mentioned. He reported that they were all busy making farms and raising grain on the San Joaquin River. ^'^ As several of the present

We paid him $15 for the use of his ferry-boat. Mr Bordeaux said that this was the most civil and best- behaved company that had ever passed the fort. ' Id., MS., 1847,91.

8 Snow, in Utah Pioneers, 44. ' Capt. Grover and eight others of the pion- eers were left at North Platte ferry and ford to ferry the companies that should arrive, and especially to ferry the emigration from Winter Quarters.' Hist. B. Yoinuj, MS., 1847.

^ ' Making a new road for a majority of more than one thousand miles westward, they arrived at the great basin in the latter part of July.' General Epistle of the Twelve, in Millennial Star, x. 82. 'He [Brigham] and the com- pany arrived on the 24th of July, having sought out and made a new road G.^O miles, and followed a trapper's trail nearly 400 miles. Smith's Bise, Prog- ress, and Travds, 16; see also Tidlidge's Life of Young, 161. Ilemysays that an odometer was attached to a wheel of one of the wagons, and careful notes taken of the distances. Jour, to O. S. L. City, i. 433-4. 'As I remember, there was no trail after leaving Laramie, going over the Black Hills, except very rarely. For a short distance before reaching the Sweetwater, we saw a wagon track; it was a great surprise and a great curiosity.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1848, 7. *^

^"^ Hist. B. Young, MS., 1847, 95; Tnllidge's Life of Young, 166. ​

company were ill with mountain fever, they encamped for a few days. Thirteen battalion brethren who were out searching for stolen cattle now surprised them, and Brigham led in three hearty cheers.^^ Again en route, passing through the Green Kiver country, they reached Fort Bridger. Soon after leaving this point the real difficulties of the journey commenced. Led, as the saints relate, only by the inspiration of the Almighty,^"' Brigham and his band crossed the rugged spurs of the Uintah range, now following the rocky bed of a mountain torrent, and now cleaving their way through dense and gnarled timber until they arrived at Echo Canon, near the eastern slope of the Wasatch Mountains, where for a brief space the main bod}^ rested, the president and many others being attacked with mountain fever. ^^

Impatient of the delay, Brigham, after a formal

^^ 'I exclaimed, "Hosanna! hosanna! give glory to God and the lamb, amen !" in which they all joined.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1S47, 96. 'Left Phineas Young and four others, who had volunteered to return to guide the immigrants.'

^'^ Smith's Rise, Progress, and Travels, 16. 'For,' says the author, 'no one knew anything of the country.' Snow, in Utah Pioneers, 33d ami. , 44, remarks: 'The president said we were to travel "the way the spirit of the Lord should direct us.'" Snow states that James Bridger, who had a trading post which still bears the name of Fort Bridger, when he met the president on the Big Sandy River about the last of June, and learned that his destination was the valley of Great Salt Lake, offered §1,000 for the first ear of corn raised tliere. 'Wait a little,' said the president, 'and we will show you.' Again, on p. 4-5 lie says that, being encamped on what is now known as Tar Springs, the pioneers were met by a mountaineer named Goodyear, who had wintered on the site of the present city of Ogden, after planting grain and vegetables in the valley, but with meagre results. The mountaineer's report was very discouraging, but to him also Brigham replied, 'Give us time and we will show you.' There is no evidence that as yet the president knew anything about the Salt Lake Valley except what he heard from Bridger and Gooilyear, or had gleaned from the reports of Fremont's expedition. 'On the 15th of June met James H. Grieve, \Vm Tucker, James Woodrie, James Eouvoir, and six other French- men, from whom we learned that Mr Bridger was located about 300 miles west, that the mountaineers could ride to Salt Lake from Fort Bridger in two days, and that the Utah country was beautiful.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1847, 92. 'Half-mile west of Fort Bridger some traded for buckskins, their cloth- ing being Morn out.' Id., 97. Note also the following: 'Met Capt. Bridger, who said he was ashamed of Fremont's map of this country. Bridger con- sidered it imprudent to bring a large population into the great basin until it was ascertained that grain could be raised. '

'^ 'We had to stop at Yellow Creek and again at the head of Echo Canon, stopping and travelling as the sick were able to endure the journey, until we reached the Weber at the mouth of Echo Canon, and struck our camp a few miles below the present railroad station.' Utah Pioneers, 33d ami., 45. ​Hist. Utah. 17

meeting, directed Orson Pratt'* to take the strong- est of their number and cut through the mountains into the valley, making roads and bridges as they went. After crossing what were designated as Big and Little mountains, the party, consisting of some forty -two men having twenty-three wagons, encamped in Emigration Canon. ^®

Thus the saints are reaching their resting-place. Their new Zion is near at hand; how near, they are as yet all unaware. But their prophet has spoken ; their way is plain; and the spot for them prepared from the foundation of the earth will presently be pointed out to them. The great continental chain is penetrated. In the heart of America they are now upon the border of a new holy land, with its Desert

^* ' Voted, that Orson Pratt take charge of an expedition to go on and make a road down the Weber River.' Jlisf. B. Young, MS., 1847, 97. O. Pj-attwaa appointed to take 23 wagons and 42 men, and precede the main company. Church Chron., 65. Erastus Snow says, in a discourse on the Utah pioneers, delivered in the tabernacle July 25, 1880: ' I well remember, as we called at the wagon to bid the president good-by, Brother Willard Richards. . .asking if he had any counsel to give to guide our movements. . .Resting his elbow on the pillow with his head in his hand, he spoke feebly, ..." My im^Dressions are," said he, "that when you emerge fi'om the mountains into the open country you bear to the northward, and stop at the first convenient place for putting in your seed." '

'^ ' Tlie emigration route previous to 1847 was via Laramie through South Pass to Big Sandy River. Then to avoid a desert stretch, down the Big Sandy to its junction with Green River, and across, then up Black's Fork to junction with Ham's Fork, and thence up Black's Fork to Fort Bridger. The Mormons here took the road made Ijy Hastings and the Donner company in 184G, bearing almost due west, crossing Bear River, down Echo Canon to junction with the Weber. The Mormons here chose the Donner trail, which passed up the Weber southerly from Echo about twelve miles, then westerly into Parley's Park, then across the hills northerly to tlie head of Immigration Canon, then into the valley. As the Donner company iiad passed over this route more recently than any other, it seems to have been followed as probably the best, and was usually travelled for many years. In 1847, when the Mormons entered the valley, there were three wagon routes into it. The first, down Bear River from Soda Si^rings, through Cache Valley— Capt. Bart- lett's route in 1841, followed by Fremont in 1843; the second, Hastings' California emigration through Echo and W^eber canons in 1846; and the third, the Donner route of 184G, described. The Mormons found a plain road into a fertile, unoccupied country;. . .its isolation alone was the cause of its non- occupation.' McBride's Route, of tlie Mormons, MS. This manuscript, to which among other favors I am indebted to Judge McBride, throws fresh liglit on the question of passes and routes in early times. The author, one of the first to enter Utah, was second to none in ability and position at a later ​period.

and Dead Sea, its River Jordan, Mount of Olives, and Gallilee Lake, and a hundred other features of its prototype of Asia.

Through the western base of the mountains extends the canon, the two sides of which are serrated by a narrow stream, which along the last five miles flings itself from one side to the other a score or two of times, in places tumbling over bowlders, again quietly threading its way over a pebbly bottom, but every- where cutting up the narrow and rugged gorge so as to make it most difficult and dangerous of passage.

The primeval silence is now broken; the primeval songs are now disturbed by sounds strange to the surrounding hills, accustomed only to the music of running water and the notes of birds and wild beasts. There is the rumbling of the caravan as it conies slowly picking its way down the dark ravine, the tramping of the horses upon the hard ground, and the grinding of the wheels among the rocks as they plunge down one bank and climb another, or thread their way along the narrow ledge overhanging an abyss, the songs of Israel meanwhile being heard, and midst the cracking of whips the shouts now and then breaking forth of a leader in Israel awe-struck by the grandeur of the scene, " Hosanna to the Lord ! hosanna to the creator of all I hallelujah! hallelujah!"

Emerging from the ravine upon a bench or terrace, they behold the lighted valley, the land of promise, the place of long seeking which shall prove a place of rest, a spot whereon to plant the new Jerusalem, a spot of rare and sacred beauty. Behind them and on either hand majestic mountains rear their proud fronts heavenward, while far before them the vista opens. Over the broad plain, through the clear thin air, bathed in purple sunlight, are seen the bright waters of the lake, dotted with islands and bordered by glistening sands, the winding river, and along the creek the broad patches of green cane which look like wavincr corn. Kaisins: their hats in reverence ​

from their heads, again hosannas hurst from their Hps, while praise to the most high ascends from grateful hearts.

It was near this terrace, being in fact a mile and a half up the canon, that Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow, with their detachment of pioneers, encamped on the 20th of July, 1847. Next day, the ever-mem- orable 21st, to reach this bench, whence was viewed with such marvellous effect the warm, pulsating pano- rama before them, Pratt and Snow crept on their hands and knees, warned by the occasional rattle of a snake, through the thick underbrush which lined the south side of the mountain and filled the canon's mouth, leaving their companions on the other side of the brush. After drinking in the scene to the satis- faction of their souls, the}^ descended to the open plain, Snow on horseback, with his coat thrown loosely upon his saddle, and Pratt on foot. They journeyed westward three miles, when Snow missing his coat turned back, and Pratt continued alone. After trav- ersing the site of the present city, and standing where later was temple block, he rejoined his comrade at the mouth of the canon. Together they then returned to camp late in the evening and told of their discoveries.

The following morning the advance company, com- posed of Orson Pratt, George A. Smith,^^ and seven others, entered the valley and encamped on the bank of Canon Creek. They explored the valley toward the lake, and about three miles from the camp found two fine streams with stony bottoms, whose banks promised sufficient pasturage. Proceeding northward, they found hot springs at the base of the mountain spur. Upon their return they were greeted by the working camp five miles from the mouth of the canon, at what was subsequently known as Parley Canon

'^ Geo. A. Smith says in his autobiography that on this journey he walked 1,700 miles and rode some 800 miles on horseback. He had 25 lbs of flour, •which he used by the cupful for those who were ill; for six weeks he waa without bread, and like the rest of the company, lived on buffalo meat and ot ​her game.

creek. *^ On the 23d the camp moved some two or three miles northward, the site chosen being near the two or three dwarf cotton-woods/^ which were the only trees within sight, and on the bank of a stream of pure water now termed City Creek, overgrown with high grass and willows. Pratt called the men together, dedicated the land to the Lord, and prayed for his blessing on the seeds about to be planted and on the labors of the saints. Before noon a committee re- turned a report that they had staked off land suitable for crops; that the soil was friable, and composed of loam and gravel. The first furrow was thereupon turned by William Carter, and through the afternoon three ploughs and one harrow were at work. A dam was commenced and trenches cut to convey water to the fields. Toward evening their energetic labors were interrupted by a thunder-storm.^^ The ground was so dr}^ that they found it necessary to irrigate it before ploughing, some ploughs having been broken; and it was not until after the arrival of Brigham that planting was begun.

The coming of the leader had been impatiently awaited, although in their ambition to have as much as possible accomplished, the time quickly passed. Brigham was slowly following with the remainder of the company, and was still so weak as to be obliged to be carried on a bed in Wilford Wordruff's carriage. As they reached a point on Big Mountain where the view was unbroken, the carriage was turned into proper position, and Brigham arose from his bed and surveyed the country. He says: "The spirit of light rested upon me and hovered over the valley, and I felt that there the saints would find protection and

Parley was always quite popular among the brethren, though his judg- ment was not always the best.

'^ ' My poor mother was heart-broken because there were no trees to be seen; I don't remember a tree that could be called a tree.' Clara Youmj's Experi- ence-'i, MS., 5.

^' "July 23d, 9G° Fah. A company commenced mowing the grass and pre- paring a turnip-patch.* Hint. B. Yoang, MS., 1S47, 99. ​

safety."^" WoodrufF in describing the scene says of Brigham: *'He was enwrapped in vision for several minutes. He had seen the valley before in vision, and upon this occasion he saw the future glory of Zion. . .planted in the valley."^^ Then Brigham said: "It is enough. This is the right place. Drive on." Toward noon on the 24th they reached the encamp- ment. Potatoes were planted in a five-acre patch of ploughed ground, and a little early corn.^'^

Their first impressions of the valley, Lorenzo Young says, were most disheartening.^^ But for the two or three cotton-wood trees, not a green thing was in sight. And yet Brigham speaks almost pathetically of the destruction of the willows and wild roses growing thickly on the two branches of City Creek, destroyed because the channels must be changed, and leaving nothing to vary the scenery but rugged mountains, the sage bush, and the sunflower. The ground was covered with millions of black crickets which the Indians were harvesting for their winter food.'^* An unusual number of natives had assembled for this pur- pose, and after dinner gathered about the new-comers, evincing great curiosity as to their plans.

Lumber was made in the canons, or from logs drawn thence, with whip-saws, through the entire winter;

^^Hist. B. Younrj, MS., 1847, 99.

^^ Woodruff, in t/tafi Pioneers, ISSO, 23. See also Wooditifs Journal, MS. ; Clara Younifs Experiences, MS.; Utah Early Record, MS.; Pioneer Women, MS.; Taylor's Rem., MS.

■■^^ ' I had brought a bushel of potatoes with me, and I resolved that I would neither eat nor drink until I had planted them.' Woodruff, in Utah Pioneers, 1880, 23. ' I planted the first potato. . .in Salt Lake Valley,' says Geo. A. Smith in his autobiography.

^^Mrs Clara Decker Young speaks of the distress she suffered at leaving Winter Quarters, where there were so many people and life so social; but that when she finally reached her destination she was satisfied, ' It didn't look so dreary to me as to the other two ladies. They were terribly disappointed because there were no trees, and to them there was such a sense of desolation and loneliness.' Experience of a Pioneer \l'o7na)i, MS., 5.

^' ' The Indians made a corral twelve or fifteen feet square, fenced about with sage brush and grease-wood, and with branches of the same drove them into the enclosure. Then they set fire to the brush fence, and going amongst them, drove them into the fire. Afterward they took them up by the thou- sand, rubbed off their wings and legs, and aftcr'two or three days separated the meat, which was, I should think, an ounce or half an ounce of fat to each cricket.' Early Experiences of Lorenzo Youn(), MS., 4. ​

afterward, on account of alarm at the apparent scarcity of timber, restrictions were put upon the manner of cutting and quantity used. Certain fines were im- posed as a penalty for disobedience; for fuel onl}'- dead timber was allowed, and while there was sufficient, the restraint excited some opposition.^

The next day was the sabbath; and as had been the custom at Nauvoo, two services were held, George A. Smith, followed by Heber C. Kimball and Ezra T. Benson, preaching the first sermon, and in the afternoon the meeting was addressed by Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt, and Willard Richards. One cause for thankfulness was that not a man or an ani- mal had died on the journey. The sacrament was administered, and before dismissing the saints, the president bade them refrain from labor, hunting, or fishing. You must keep the commandments of God," he said, or not dwell with us; and no man shall buy or sell land, but all shall have what they can cultivate free, and no man shall possess that which is not his own."

On the 27th,^ the president, the apostles, and six others crossed a river which was afterward found to be the outlet of Utah Lake, and thence walked dry- shod over ground subsequently covered by ten feet of water to Black Rock, where all bathed in the lake, Brigham being the first to enter it.^^ The party re- turned to camp on the following day, when a council was held, after which the members walked to a spot midway between the north and south forks of a neigliboring creek, where Brigham stopped, and strik- ing the ground with his cane, exclaimed, " Here will

^ ' Taylor and Pratt took the lead; through them this understanding about the timber occurred.' Nebckers Early Justice, MS., 4.

2* On Monday, the '26th, the president and his apostles ascended Ensign Peak, so called on account of a remark made by Brigham: ' Here is a proper place to raise an ensign to the nations. ' Ibid. See also Utah Early Records, MS., 4; Woodruff's Journal, MS.; Nebeker's Early Justice, MS. Woodruff was the Hrst who stood on the top of the peak.

^' On this day was commenced the first blacksmith's shop, the property of Burr ​Frost.

be the temple of our God."^^ This was about five o'clock in the afternoon. An hour later it was agreed that a site should be laid out for a city in blocks or squares of ten acres, and in lots of an acre and a quarter, the streets to be eight rods wide, with side- walks of twenty feet.

At eight o'clock on the same evening a meeting was held on the temple square, and it was decided by vote that on that spot the temple should be built/ and from that spot the city laid out.

On the 29tli of July a detachment of the battal- ion, which had wintered at Pueblo,^" to the number of 150, under Captain James Brown, arrived in the val- ley; they were accompanied by fifty of the brethren who had started the year previous from the Missis- sippi. On the following evening a praise service for their safe arrival was held in the brush bowery ,^^ has-

^^ ' This was about the centre of the site of the Temple we are now build- ing.' Utah Pioneers, o3d ami., 23.

^' ' vSome wished for forty acres to be set apart for temple purposes, but it was finally decided to have ten acres;. . .the base line was on the south-east corner, and government officials afterward adopted it as the base meridian line. ' Tai/lor's Reminiscences, MS. , 21. When the elders arrived from England they brought with them to Winter Quarters, just before the starting of the pioneers, ' two sextants, two barometers, two artificial horizons, one circular reflector, several thermometers, and a telescope.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1847, 82. Thus Orson Pratt was enabled to take scientific observations. He reported the latitude of the north line of temple square, which was ten acres in size, to be 40° 45' 44" N., and its longitude 111° 26' 34" w. From George W. Dean's observatioias in 1869, taken at the temple block, the results were lat. 40° 46' 2", long. 11 r 53' 30". Rcpt Const Survei/, 1869-70. In taking lunar dis- tances for longitude, it is usual to have four observers, but Orson Pratt had no assistant; hence probably the discrepancy. On August 16th it was deter- mined that the streets around the temple block should be called respectively North, South, East, and West Temple streets, the others to be named, as re- quired, First North street, Second North street, First South street. Second South street, etc.

^'^ Says Mrs Clara Young: 'Before reaching Laramie three of the pioneers were sent to Pueblo to tell the families there to strike their trail and follow them to their settlement.' I^x. of a Pioneer Woman, MS., 7. 'The men of this detacliment were on their way to San Francisco, but their wagons break- ing down and their cattle being in very poor condition, they were compelled to turn aside and await further orders.' Utah Earhj Records, MS., 8.

^' For many years these boweries of trees and brush had been constructed when any large number of the people needed a temporary place of shelter. This onewas 40x28 feet. Col Markham reported at this meeting 'that 13 ploughs and 3 harrows had been stocked during tlie past week, 3 lots of ground broken up, one lot of 35 acres planted in corn, oats, buckwheat, polat')cs, beans, and garden seed.' Hist. B. Yoiukj, MS., 1847, 103-4. 'On the 2Jth H. G. Sherwood, in returning from an excursion to Cache Valley, brought an ​

BUILDING OF A ST0CKL4DE. 265

tily constructed for the purpose by the battahon brethren.

During the next three weeks all were busily at work, tilling the soil, cutting and hauling timber, making adobes, and building, ambitious to accom- plish as much as possible before the main body of the pioneer band should start on its return journey to report to the brethren and to promote further emi- gration. The battalion brethren moved their wagons and formed a corral between the forks of City Creek. Brigham exhorted the brethren to be rebaptized, him- self setting the example, and reconfirming the elders. On the 8th of August three hundred were immersed, the services commencina^ at six o'clock in the mornino:. During the month twenty-nine log houses had been built, either with roofs or read}^ for the usual substi- tute, a covering of poles and dirt. These huts were so arranged as to carry out their plan of forming a rect- angular stockade,^^ the president and Heber C. Kim- ball being the first to take possession of their dwellings.

On the 17th of August twenty-four pioneers and forty-six of the battalion set out on their return to Winter Quarters.^^

On the afternoon of the 22d a conference was held, at which it was resolved that the place should be called the City of the Great Salt Lake. The term 'Great' was retained for several years, until changed by legislative enactment. It was so named in con- tradistinction to Little Salt Lake, a term applied

Englishman with him, na.med Wells, who had been living in New Mexico for some years.' Hist. B. You7ir/,'M.S., 1847, 109. On the •2ist A. Carrington, J. Brown, W. W. Rust, G. Wilson, and A. Calkins made the ascent of the Twin Peaks, 15 miles south-east of the stockade, and the highest mountain in the Wasatch Range, its elevation being, as they reported, 11,219 feet. These were probably the first white men M-ho ascended this mountain.

3^ They were 8 or 9 feet high, and 16 or 17 feet long, by 14 wide. Hist. B. Yonnfj, MS., 1847, 110. 'We were the first to move into the fort; our house had a door and a wooden window, which through the day was taken out for light, and nailed in at night. . .There was also a port-hole at the east end of the fort, which could be opened and closed at pleasure. . .We bad adobe chim- neys and a fire-place in the corner, with a clay hearth.' Youmfs Pioneer Women, MS., 6.

^■' 'With .34 wagons, 02 yoke of oxen, IS horses, and 14 mules, in charge of Siiadrach Uoundy and Tunis llai)pclyo. Lt Wesley Willis was in charge of the battalion men.' Richards^ Narr., ​MS., 13-14.

to a body of water some two hundred miles to the south, situated in what was later known as Iron county, near Parowan, and which has since almost disappeared. The stream connecting the two great lakes was named the Western Jordan, now called the Jordan, and the whole region whose waters flow into the lake was distinguished as the great basin. ^^ On the 26th a second company, consisting of 107 per- sons,^^ started for Winter Quarters. Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball set forth on horseback a little in advance of the others, but turning back, they waved their hats with a cheery "Good-by to all who tarry," and then rode on.

"We have accomplished more this year," writes Wilford Woodruft', " than can be found on record con- cerning an equal number of men in the same time since the days of Adam. We have travelled with heavily laden wagons more than a thousand miles, over rouo^h roads, mountains, and canons, searchin^y out a land, a resting-place for the saints. We have laid out a city two miles square, and built a fort of hewn timber drawn seven miles from the mountains, and of sun-dried bricks or adobes, surrounding ten acres of ground, forty rods of which were covered with block-houses, besides planting about ten acres of corn and vegetables. All this we have done in a smgle month. "^^

At Winter Quarters active preparations had been making for following the pioneers at the earliest op- portunity. Throughout the spring all was activity. Every one who had teams and provisions to last a year and a half was preparing to move, and assist- ing those who were to remain to plough and sow. Parley P. Pratt, having returned^ from England short-

'* *It was also called The Great North American Desert.' Taylor's Bern., MS., 2-2.

^* With 36 wagons, 71 horses, anil 49 mules,

• " lVoodruf\f Journal, MS., 78.

• ' 'I found my family all alive and dwelling in a log cabin; they had, how-

ever, suffered much from cold, hunger, and sickness. . .The winter had been ​

I,

ly before Brigham's departure, was left in charge of the first companies ordered westward. On the 4th of July, 1847, they set forth for the Rocky Mountains, numbering in all 1,553 persons.^^

A complete organization of the people was effected, according^ to a revelation of the Lord made throusfh Brigham on the 14th of January, 1847.^^ They were divided into companies, each with one hundred wagons, and these into companies of fifty wagons, and ten ^vagons, every company under a captain or commander. Two fifties travelled in double columns if practicable. When a halt was called the wagons were arranged as in the march of the pioneers, form- ing a temporary fort, with its back opening upon the corral formed by the two semicircles. The cattle were then driven into the corral under charge of the herdsmen. When ready to march, the captain of each ten attended to his company, under the super- vision of the captain of fifty. Advance parties each day selected the next camping-ground. In the ab- sence of wood, fires were made from buffalo chips and 'sage brush. The wagons had projections extending over the sides, making the interior six feet wide. Hen-coops were carried at the end of each wagon, and a few young pigs were brought for use in the valley. Great care was used to prevent a stampede of the animals, as they appeared to recognize the peculiarities and dangers of the new country and

very severe, the snow deep, and consequently horses and cattle had been lost. . . .My wagons were overhauled and put in order, tii'es reset, chains repaired, yokes and bows arranged in order, wagon bows made and mended.' Pratt's Autobioij., 397-S. 'The companies were organized by Elder P. P. Pratt and myself, as near as we could in accordance with instructions left by Pres. Young.' Tai/lor's Rem., MS., 7.

^^This company is distinguished as the first immigration. It was supplied with 580 wagons, 2,21.3 oxen, 124 horses, 887 cows, 358 sheep, 716 chickens, and 35 hogs. Utah Early Records, ISIS., 17. Smith says about 700 wagons. Rise, Progrenii, and Travels, 16. Kearny's and Fremont's parties met Pratt's com- panies at Loup River; and according to Marthi's Narr., '42 '" dd., MS., 122, John Young was appointed president and John Van Cott marshal.

2* This was called ' the word and will of the Lord concerning the camp of Israel.' Like all revelations, it was in scriptural phraseology, and very explicit in its directions. It was also read by Brigham to his people in Salt Lake City on the 1st of Aug ​ust.

were easily alarmed. The organization and order in the camp was so perfect that not unfrequentl}^ half an hour after a halt the people sat down to a com- fortable meal of fresh bread and broiled meat."

At the beginning of their journey, jealousy, bicker- ing, and insubordination arose among them, and a halt was called for the purpose of holding a council and adjusting matters. For several hundred miles they followed the trail of the pioneers, and now were ap- proaching the president and his men, who, encamped between Green River and the Sweetwater, had sent forward two messengers" to ascertain the progress and condition of the company. Upon hearing of the difficulties that had arisen, Brigham sent for Pratt and censured him severely for defects in the manage- ment of the party at the start, and for misunderstand- ings on the road. Pratt humbly acknowledged his faults and was forgiven. While the president and council were at prayer, the Sioux improved the occa- sion by stealing a number of horses, which proved a serious loss.

Pratt now returned to his command, and without special incident reached the Salt Lake settlement on the 19th of September; the companies arriving in de- tachments at intervals of several weeks.

Brigham's band was scantily provisioned for the journey to Winter Quarters.*"^ The number that had already gathered at Salt Lake had drawn heavily on the pioneers' resources, and they set out depending for subsistence on game and fish. They travelled more rapidly in returning,*^ although most of them were compelled to walk. A few days after the Indian dep-

■'"From account of their journeyings furnished me in Taylor's Rem., 7-12.

• ^ 0. P. Rockwell and E. T. Benson.

• ^ Among them was a party of battalion men who were entirely destitute

except for a very small quantity of beef, which was soon exhausted. General Papistic of the Twelve, in Millennial Star, x. 83.

•■^ ' Camped on the south side of the Platte. We were 42 days in going to the valley from this point, and only 23 days in returning.' Jliat. B. Yoaiuj, MS., 1847, 115. ​

A DAY OF JUBILEE. 269

reclation mentioned during the council, the Mormons were attacked by a large war party of Sioux, who again carried off many horses. The meeting of the battal- ion and pioneer brethren with Parley Pratt's company was an occasion of rejoicing to all.** On the 7th of Sep- tember the former arrived at the Sweetwater. Here, with the assembled companies, a jubilee was held and a feast of good things prepared. While the men cut down brush and constructed a bowery, the women, with great trouble, unpacked their dishes and table furniture, delighted at the opportunity of assistinof at such an event. A fat heifer was killed, and what- ever luxuries were in camp were now produced. A slight snow fell, but in nc degree marred their merri- ment; the feast was followed by music and dancing, and by accounts of the pioneers' experiences in en- tering upon and settling their new Zion; after prayer the company dispersed.*^ The remnants of the ban- quet were left with the eastern-bound train, and as they separated each bade the other God speed. A fortnight before reaching Winter Quarters a small dele- gation met Brigham's company with most welcome supplies. On the 31st of October, when within one mile of the settlement, Brigham called his men to- gether, praised them fortheir good conduct, blessed and dismissed them. They drove into town in order an hour before sunset. The streets were crowded, and friends pressed forward, shaking hands as they passed through the lines. *^

During this season an abundant harvest had been gathered by the brethren at their encampments near

^* 'Met Spencer's advance company Sept. .3d, with 76 wagons; we bad a joyful meeting; on the 4th met encampment of 75 wagons; on the 5th 1G2; and on the 8th met the last company of saints.' Hint. B. Young, MS., 1847.

^^ 'All felt greatly encouraged. We now knew for tlie first time our des- tination; wc had talked of California, and knew not until now where we should settle.' Home's ^fir] ration!*, MS., 22.

^^ ' We were truly rejoiced once more to behold our wives, children, and oldfriends, after an absence of six months, having travelled over 2,000 miles. . . and accomplished the most important mission in this last dispensation.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1S47, 122. ​

the Missouri, though sickness was an ever-present guest; and many of their number who could least be spared were scattered throughout the world as mis- sionaries in Europe, and as far westward as the Sand- wich Islands, as soldiers in California, or as laborers wherever they could find a livelihood in the western states. The winter was passed quietly and in content, most of the saints preparing for their migration in the spring. Meanwhile, on the 23d of December, 1847, a general epistle of the twelve was issued to the brethren and to the gentiles. In this it was stated that they were at peace with all the world, that their mission was to extend salvation to the ends of the earth, and an invitation was extended to " all presi- dents, and emperors, and kings, and princes, and no- bles, and governors, and rulers, and judges, and all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people under the whole heaven, to come and help us to build a house to the name of the God of Jacob, a place of peace, a city of rest, a habitation for the oppressed of every clime." Then followed an exhortation for the saints to gather unto Zion, promising that their reward should be a hundred-fold and their rest glorious. They must bring " their gold, their silver, their copper, their zinc, their tin, and brass, and iron, and choice steel, and ivory, and precious stones; their curiosities of science, ... or anything that ever was, or is, or is to be for the exaltation, glory, honor, and salvation of the living and the dead, for time and for all eternity. "^^ Such a gathering of saints and gentiles would of itself have constituted an earthly Zion, especially for the president and the twelve, who held virtual control over their brethren's property. Among the gentiles one would think that such rhodomontade could not fail to bring discredit on the Mormon faith and the Mormon cause, but no such result followed. As will be mentioned later, their missions were never more prosperous than during the years when at their new

" The full text of this epistle is given in the Millennial Star, x. Sl-8. ​

stake of Zion the saints were employed, not in adorn- ing their temple witli gold, silver, and precious stones, but in building rough shanties, hewing timber, hoeing corn, and planting potatoes.

The trite maxim commencing yEquam memento was one which the saints had taken well to heart, and on few was the mens cequa in arduis more firmly stamped than on the brow of him who, on christmas eve, the day after his invitation to the princes and potentates of all the earth, was appointed president of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. And while in adversity there were none more steadfast, it must be admitted there were few in whom success developed so little of pride and of vainglory. From this time forth Brigham Young was to the saints as a prophet — yea, and more than a prophet: one on whom the mantle had fallen not unworthily. By his foresight he had saved his people from dispersion, and per- chance his faith from annihilation. Hounded by a mob, he had led his followers with consummate tact throughout their pilgrimage, and in a wilderness as yet almost untrodden by man had at length estab- lished for them an abiding-place.

After the departure of Brigham from Salt Lake, John Smith, the prophet's uncle, was nominally pres- ident of the camp;*^ but upon the arrival of John Taylor and Parley P. Pratt their precedence was ac- knowledged and they were placed in charge.*^ There were no laws until the latter part of this year, though certain penalties were assigned for certain crimes and executed by the people. As there was no jail, the whipping-post was substituted, but used only two or three times. In such cases the high council tried the

• ^ Affairs were controlled by the high council, consisting of twelve high-

priests. Salt Lake City was a stake of Zion, with president and other officers. 'At the conference on Oct. 3d Father John Smith was elected president of the stake of Zion and patriarch of the church. Brigham Young was aus- tained as president of the whole church.' Uist. B. Young, MS., 117.

• ^ li'ebeker's Early Justice, MS., 4. ​

prisoner, and sentenced him. "President Young was decidedly opposed to whipping,"^*' says George Q. Cannon, "but matters arose that we considered re- quired punishment at the time."^^

During this period men and women voted by ballot in matters relating to government. Women had already voted in religious meetings by the uplifted hand, but this is probably the first instance in the United States where woman suffrage was permitted. Utah at that time, however, was not a part of the United States, and before its admission as a ter- ritory the privilege , was withdrawn. ^'^

»o ' I had to chastise one in that way for stealing.' Id., MS., 4.

^^ ' For instance, one of our best men now, wlio was then j'oung, was ac- cused of riding on horseback with a girl in front of him. This was looked upon as indecorous. He and others guilty of the same thing were severely reprimanded.' G. Q. Cannon, in Taylor's Rem., MS., 12-1.3.

^^ Taylor^ s Rem., MS., 14. Herewith I give a list of the Utah pioneers of 1847: Adams, Barnabas L.; Angel, Truman 0.; Allen, Rufns; Attwood, Millen; Badger, Rodney; Barney, Lewis; Barnham, Charles D. ; Benson, Ezra T. ; Billings, Geo. P.; Boggs, Francis; Brown, Geo.; Bi'own, John; Brown, Nathaniel Thomas; Bullock, Thos; Burke, Charles; Burnham, Jacob D.; Byard, R,obert; Carringtou, Albert; Carter, William; Case, James; Chamberlin, Solomon; Chessley, Alexander P.; Clayton, William; Cloward, Thos P.; Coltrin, Zebcdee; Craig, James; Crosby, Oscar; Curtis, Lyman; Gushing, Hosea; Davenport, James; Dewey, Benjamin F.; Dixon, John; Driggs, Starling; Dykes, William; Earl, Sylvester H. ; Eastman, Ozro; Egan, Howard; Egbert, Josepli; Eldredge, John S. ; Ellsworth, Edmund; Empey, William A.; Ensign, Datus; Everett, Addison; Fairbanks, Nathaniel; Farr, Aaron; Fitzgerald, Perry; Flake, Green (coloi'ed); Fowler, John S.; Fox, Samuel; Freeman, John M.; Frink, Horace M. ; Frost, Burr; Gibbons, An- drews.; Gleason, JohnS. ; Glines, Eric; Goddard, Stephen H.; Grant, David; Grant, Geo. R. ; Greene, John Y. ; Grover, Tiiomas; Hancock, Joseph; Hanks, Sidney A.; Hanson, Hans C. ; Harmon, Appleton M.; Harper, Charles A.; Henrie, William; Hewd, Simeon; Higbee, John S. ; Holman, John G. ; Ivory, Matthew; Jackman, Levi; Jacobs, Norton; Johnson, Artcmas; Johnson, Luke; Johnson Philo; Kelsey, Stephen; Kendall, Levi N. ; Kimball, Ellen S. (wife of H. C. K.); Kimball, Heber C. ; King, William A.; Klineman, Conrad; Lark, Hark (colored); Lewis, Tarlton; Little, Jessie C. ; Losee, John G. ; Loveland, Chancey; Lyman, Aniasa; Marble, Samuel H.; Markham, Stephen; Matthews, Joseph; Mills, George; Murray, Carlos; Newman, Elijah; Nor- ton, John W. ; Owen, Seely; Pack, John; Pierce, Eli H.; Pomeroy, Francis M. ; Powell, David; Pratt, Orson; Reddin, Jackson; Rappelye, Tunis; Rich- ards, Willard; Rockwell, Orrin P.; Rockwood, Albert P.; Rolfe, Benjamin W. ; Rooker, Joseph; Roundy, Shadrach; Schofield, Joseph S.; Scholes, George; Sherwood, Henry G. ; Shnmway, Andrew P.; Shumway, Chailes Smith, George A.; Smoot, Wm C. A.; Snow, Erastus; Stevens, Roswcll Stewart, Benjamin F.; Stewart, James W.; Stringham, Briant; Summe, Gil burd; Taft, Seth; Tanner, Thomas; Taylor, Norman; Thomas, Robert T. Tliornton, Horace M.; Thorpe, Marcus B.; Tippitts, John H.; Vance, Will iam P.; Walker, Henson; Wardel, George; Weiler, Jacob; Wheeler, John Whipple, Edson; Whitney, Horace K.; Whitney, Orson K.; Williams, Al mon L.; Woodard, George; Woodrufl", Wilford; Woolsey, Thomas; Words' ​

AT PUEBLO AND ON THE MISSOURI. 273

On the 16th of November, O. P. Rockwell, E. K. Fuller, A, A. Lathrop, and fifteen others set forth for California to buy cows, mules, mares, wheat, and seeds. They bought two hundred head of cows at six dollars each, with which they started from Cali- fornia, but lost forty head on the Mojave; being ninety days on the return trip. During the autumn, several parties of the battalion men arrived from California, bringing a quantity of wheat. Captain Grant came to Salt Lake City from Fort Hall in December to arrange for opening trade between the two points. After due discussion, the matter was referred to the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company.

In regard to affairs at Pueblo and on the Missouri, I am indebted for further and later information to my esteemed friends Wilbur F. Stone and William N. Byers of Colorado. A detachment of the Mormons that wintered at Pueblo underwent many hardships, and there have been found relics in that vicinity, in the shape of furnace and cinders, significant of their industrial occupation at the time.

On the Missouri, the Indians, who at first had so heartily welcomed the saints during the year 1847, complained to the government that they were intrud- ing on their domain. The government therefore ordered away the Mormons, but gave them permis- sion to occupy lands on the east bank of the river for five years. There they built a town, named Kanesville, opposite Omaha, and occupied the best part of the country up and down the left bank of the river for a distance of twenty miles in each direction. Many of them lived in dugouts, that is, artificial caves made by digging out a space for occupancy in the bank of the river or on the side of a bluff'. Most

■worth, William; Young, Brigham; Clarissa D. (wife of B. Y.); Young, Har- riet P. (wife of Lorenzo D.); Young, Isaac P. D. ; Young, Lorenzo D. ; Young, Lorenzo Z. ; Young, Phineas H. HiBT ​. Utah. 18

of them were farmers, and they had three or four grist-mills and two or three saw-mills.

The first emigrants did not stop on the east side of the river, but passed over at once on arrival, making their first settlement, as before mentioned, at Winter Quarters, situated six miles from the present city of Omaha, at the north end of the plateau, nearly all of which they ploughed up in the spring of 1847, and planted seed corn brought by those who the pre- vious winter had returned to the Mississippi to work for wages. Hereabout they built many log houses, Brigham having a httle cluster of them for his wives in a cosey nook apart from the others.

On their final departure for the west, the Mormons left a few of their number under A. J. Mitchell, who was assisted by A. J. Smith. They lived on the east side of the Missouri at first, and had a ferry across the river as early as 1851, with other ferries west, one at Loup Fork, and one on the Elkhorn. A large emigration up the river from New Orleans set in about this time. In the spring of 1852 the steamboat Sa- luda, having six hundred souls on board, was blown up at the mouth of the Platte.

In 1854 the lands of the Omahas, on the west side of the river, came into market, through a treaty made during the summer of that year with the natives, who ceded that section to the United States. Mitchell and Smith then moved to the western side, and changed the name of Winter Quarters to that of Florence, at the same time selling their interests on the eastern side to the gentiles, who changed the name of Kanesville to that of Council Blufis. ​

CHAPTER XI.

IN THE VALLEY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.

1848.

Food and Kaiment— Houses— Home Manufactures— The Fort— Wild Beasts— Cannon from Sutter's Fort— Indian Children for Sale — Measles — Population — Mills and Farming Machinery — The Plagub of Crickets— They are Destroyed by Gulls— Scarcity of Provisions — The Harvest Feast— Immigration — Five Thousand Saints Gath- ered IN THE Valley — Fencing and Farming — Distribution of Lots — Organization of County Government — Association for the Exter- mination OF Wild Beasts.

At the opening of January 1848, the saints were housed, clad, and fed in moderate comfort, and general content prevailed.^ The season was exceptionally mild; there were occasional light falls of snow, but not enough to interfere with ploughing and sowing,* and a large tract of land was partially enclosed and planted with wheat and vegetables.

So many people were now in the valley that not- withstanding the abundant crops food at length be- came scarce. Families weighed out their flour and allowed themselves so much a day. The wheat was ground at a mill on City Creek, but as there was no bolting-cloth, the shorts and bran could not be sepa- rated. The beef was very poor,^ as most of the cattle

^ Parley P. Pratt says: ' Here life was as sweet as the holidays, as merry as in the Christian palaces and mansions of those who had driven us to the moimtains. '

^ ' It was a strange sight to see sometimes furrows on one side and snow on the other. In Feb. men worked out of doors in their shirt sleeves. ' Homers Migraiiona, MS., 24.

' ' It was so tough that Brother Taylor suggested we must grease the saw to make it work.' Home's Migrations, MS., 26. ​

(276)

had been worked hard while driven to the valley and after their arrival, while those turned out to range did not fatten quickly. Butter and tallow were needed. One wild steer, well fattened, was brought in from Goodyear 's rancho. A herd of deer crossing from one range of mountains to another was startled by the unexpected obstruction of the fort, and one sprang into the enclosure and was killed. Wild sago and parsnip roots constituted the vegetable food of the settlers. A few deaths occurred from poisonous roots. The bracing air and hard work stimulated appetite as stores decreased. For coffee parched bar- ley and wheat were used, and as their sugar gave out, they substituted some of home manufacture.* In the spring thistle tops were eaten, and became an impor- tant article of diet.^

Anxiety began to be felt about clothing, and the hand-looms were now busily at work, although wool was scarce.*' As shoes wore out, moccasins were sub- stituted, and goat, deer, and elk skins were manu- factured into clothing for men and women, though most unsuitable for use in rain and snow.

At the time of Parley P. Pratt's arrival, the city of Great Salt Lake consisted of a fort enclosing a block of ten acres, the walls of part of the buildings being of adobes and logs. There were also some tents.^ As additional companies came in, they ex-

• * We manufactured our own sugar and molasses from beets, corn-stalks,

and watermelons, and made preserves for winter, which were excellent, by- boiling the rinds of the melons in this molasses.' Hornets Migrations, MS., 30. ' I attempted to make sugar out of com. A rude apparatus was made to squeeze the corn stalks, but the manufacture was not altogether a success. After this, beet molasses followed. The boiler I used this time I made out of some stove piping and lumber. Brother Cannon and I assisted to saw our lumber.' Taylor s Reminiscences, MS., 16.

• Geo. Q. Cannon, in JtiiK Inst., xix. no. 5, 68.

^ ' They collected the hair of the bufialo from the sage brush as they travelled, and used also the hair of cows.' Hume's Migrations, MS., 35. From this blankets were woven and used in exchange with the Indians. Mrs Home remarks that ' in Nauvoo there was a man dressed througliout in a suit made from the curly hair of his dog, which was sheared annually.'

' It stood on what was later known as the 6th Ward Square. ​

SALT LAKE CITY.

277

tended the south divisions, which were connected with the old fort by gates. Wa.£jon-boxes were also brought into line, and served for habitations until better accom- modations were provided. The houses were built of logs, and were placed close together, the roofs slanting inward, and all the doors and windows being on the inside, with a loop-hole to each room on the outside. As everything indicated a dry climate, the roofs were made rather flat, and great inconvenience resulted. In March the rains were very heavy, and umbrellas were used to protect women and children while cook- ing, and even in bed. The clay found in the bottoms near the fort made excellent plaster, but would not stand exposure to rain, and quickly melted. All bread- stufls were carefully gathered into the centre of the rooms, and protected with buffalo skins obtained from the Indians. The rooms in the outer lines all ad- joined, and many of the families had several rooms. On the interior cross-lines rooms were built on both sides, the streets being eight rods wide.

"SOUTH FORTS NORTH FORT

Fort, Great Salt Lake City, 1848.

There were serious depredations committed by wolves, foxes, and catamounts, and great annoyance occasioned by the howling of some of these animals.^ Further discomfort was caused by innumerable swarms of mice. Digging cavities and running about under the earthen floor, they caused the ground to tremble, and when the rain loosened the stones of the roofs.

® ' One night soon after our arrival I spread some strychnine about, and in the morning found fourteen white wolves dead.' Lorenzo Young's Ex., ​MS., 8.

scampered off ia hordes. Frequently fifty or sixty had to be caught and killed before the family could sleep.^

The furniture was home-made, and very little of it at that. The table was a chest, and the bedstead was built into the corner of the house, which formed two of its sides, rails or poles forming the opposite sides; pegs were driven into the walls and rails, and the bed-cord tightly wound around them.^° The chim- neys were of adobe, and sometimes there was a fire- place in the corner wiuU a clay hearth.

In the early part of the year two brass cannon were purchased at Sutter's Fort for the church, by the battalion brethren.^^

During the winter of 1847-8, some Indian children were brought to the fort to be sold. At first two were offered, but the settlers peremptorily refused to buy them. The Indian in charge said that the chil- dren were captured in war, and would be killed at sunset if the white men did not buy them. Thereupon they purchased one of them, and the one not sold was shot. Later, several Indians came in with two more children, using the same threat; they were bought and brought up at the expense of the settlers. ^'^

Measles now appeared for the first time among the natives, who did not know where the disease came from or what to do. They assembled in large num- bers at the warm springs, bathed in the waters, and died.i^

' ' One contrivance for catching them was a bucketful of water with a board sloping at each end, greased and balanced ou the edge. The first cat and her progeny were invaluable. The green timber from the mountains was full of bed-bugs, another serious trouble.' Home's Aligrations, MS., 31.

1" This describes the furniture of the first liouse occupied in the fort by Brigham Young's family. Mrs Clara Young's Pioneer Ex., MS., 8.

" Forty-five of the battalion brethren contributing $512 for the purpose. Hist. B. Youni), MS., 1S48, 35.

■'■' ' Charles Decker bought one of the prisonci-s, a girl, who was afterward brought up in President Young's family. She married an Lidian chief named Kanosh.' WelW Narr., MS., 48.

" ' Some they buried, but not all. We buried thirty-six in one grave. They killed their dogs when their masters died.' Nebeker's Early Justice, ​

MS., 2.

Public meetings were generally held near the lib- erty-pole in the centre of the fort; religious and secu- lar meetings were also held in private houses. In March 1848 the population of the city was reported at 1,671, and the number of houses 423." Bridges were built over Mill Creek and Jordan River. Daniel Spencer was appointed road-master, and authorized to call on men to assist in making roads. In order that the burden might fall equally on all, a poll and property tax were instituted.

There were several mills soon in working order. A small grist-mill on City Creek was built by Charles Crismon near the pioneer garden; then there were Chase's saw-mill and Archibald and Kobert Gardiner's on Mill Creek, and Nebeker, Riter, and Wallace's in a canon ten miles north of the city. A carding machine was erected near Gardiner's saw-mill by Amasa Russell, and a flouring mill during the summer by John Neff, Leffingwell constructed a threshing machine and fanning mill on City Creek, with a ca- pacity of two hundred bushels per day. Mill-stones cut out of the basalt in the valley were of very good quality. Mill-irons, mill-stones, printing-presses, type, paper, and the carding machine were brought by the first bands of emigrants in 1848.^^

The spring saw everybody busy, and soon there were many flourishing gardens, containing a good va- riety of vegetables. In the early part of March plough- ing commenced. The spring was mild and rain plenti- ful, and all expected an abundant harvest. But in the latter part of May, when the fields had put on their brightest green, there appeared a visitation in the form of vast swarms of crickets, black and bale- ful as the locust of the Dead Sea.^^ In their track

^*Juv. Inft., ix. no. 1, 9.

^^Hist. B. Young, MS.; Home's Migrations, MS.; Geo. Q. Cannon, in Juv. Inst.; Taylois Reminiscences, MS.; Woodruff^s Journal, MS.; Young's Ex., MS.; Wells' Narr., MS.; Richards' Narr., MS.; Nebeker's Early Justice, MS.; Jenning's Material Progress, MS., passim.

'6 Utah Early Records, MS., 29-30. ​

280 m THE VALLEY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.

they left behind them not a blade or leaf, the ap- pearance of the country which they traversed in countless and desolating myriads being that of a land scorched by fire.^^ They came in a solid phalanx, from the direction of Arsenal Hill, darkening the earth in their passage. Men, women, and children turned out en masse to combat this pest, driving them into ditches or on to piles of reeds, which they would set on fire, striving in every way, until strength was exhausted, to beat back the devouring host. But in vain they toiled, in vain they prayed; the work of destruction ceased not, and the havoc threatened to be as complete as was that which overtook the land of Egypt in the last days of Israel's bondage. "Think of their condition," says Mr Cannon — the food they brought with them almost exhausted, their grain and other seeds all planted, they themselves 1,200 miles from a settlement or place where they could get food on the east, and 800 miles from California, and the crickets eating up every green thing, and every day destroying their sole means of subsistence for the months and winter ahead." ^^

I said in vain they prayed. Not so. For when everything was most disheartening and all effort spent, behold, from over the lake appeared myriads of snow-white gulls, their origin and their purpose alike unknown to tho new-comers ! Was this another scourge God was sending- them for their sins? Wait and see. Settling uj)on all the fields and every part of them, they pounced upon the crickets, seizing and swallowing them. They gorged themselves. Even after their stomachs were filled they still devoured them. On Sunday the people, full of thankfulness, left the fields to the birds, and on the morrow found on the edges of the ditches great piles of dead crick- ets that had been swallowed and thrown up by the

" Autobiog. P. P. Pratt, 405; Smith's Rise, Progress, and Travels, 17. ^^Juv. Inst., ix. no. 2, 22. ​

greedy gulls. Verily, the Lord had not forgotten to be gracious !

To escape the birds, the crickets would rush into the lake or river, and thus millions were destroyed. Toward evening the gulls took flight and disappeared beyond the lake, but each day returned at sunrise, until the scourge was past.^^ Later grasshoppers seem to have taken the place of crickets. They were of a kind popularly called iron-clad, and did much mischief'^"

Though the crops of this year of 1848 were thus saved from total destruction, fears were entertained that there would not be food enough for those already in the valley, and the expected arrival of large additional numbers was looked upon as a calamity.^' The stock of provisions was therefore husbanded with care, many living principally on roots and

'^ Kane says that the gulls soon grew to be as tame as poultry, and that the children called them their pigeons. They had clear, dark eyes, small feet, and large wings that arched in flight. The Mormons, 67. ' No one is allowed to kill a gull in Utah, and they are consequently very tame.' Jenning's Ma- terial ^Progress, MS., 7. 'I am sure that the wheat was in head, and that it averaged two or tliree crickets on every head, bending them down. One couldn't step without crushing under foot as many as the foot could cover. ' Mrs Clara Young's Experiences of a Pioneer, MS., 9. 'Channels were dug and filled with water to prevent their travel, but they would throw them- selves across; it was impossible to fight them back.' Nebeker^s Early Judice, MS., 2. 'In the spring, when thousands of young trees had been started and were several inches in height, came the crickets. The wheat, too, was well in head.' Home's Migrations, MS., p. 28.

^Says Mr Jennings: 'They would devastate hundreds of acres, and as they would rise and fly high in the air, the air would be darkened with them. They seemed to be massed together, and to take but one direction, flying eight or ten miles perhaps, then settling upon another field . . . The only extermi- nator seems to be the sea-gulls. They gorge themselves on this rich diet; they suddenly appear in the wake of the grasshoppers, and will swallow them, throw them up, and swallow them again. . .Sometimes the grasshoppers come like a cloud, and apparently alighting not knowing where; on one occasion a quarter of their number perhaps di'opped into the lake, and were blown on shore by the wind, in rows of sometimes two feet deep for a distance of two miles.' Material Progress, MS., 6-7.

• ^ ' Word was sent back that probably no crops could be raised that year,

and advising that no further emigrations should come in that season.' Mrs Clara Young's Experiences of a Pioneer, MS., 9. John Young wished to send an express to his brother, the president, advising him not to bring any more peo- ple to the valley, as there was danger of starvation. Utah Early Records, MS. , 30-2. Parley P. Pratt writes: 'I had a good harvest of wheat and rye with- out irrigation, but those who irrigated had double the quantity. Wheat harvest commenced early in July . . . Oats do extremely well, yielding sixty bushels for one.' Hist. B. Young, M ​S., 1848, 54.

thistles, to M^hich fare was sometimes added a little flour or milk. The wheat crop, however, turned out better than was expected, and pumpkins, melons, and corn yielded good returns.^'^

On the 10th of August, however, the harvest being then gathered, a feast was held in the bowery, at which the tables were loaded with a variety of viands, vegetables, beef, and bread, butter and cheese, with cakes and pastry. Sheaves of wheat and other grain were hoisted on harvest poles; "and," says Parley, "there was prayer and thanksgiving, congratulations, songs, speeches, music, dancing, smiling faces, and merry hearts."

The rendezvous for westward-bound brethren in the spring of 1848 was the Elkhorn River, and thither at the end of May came the president, who organized the people and gave them instructions to be observed on the way. Good order was to be preserved in camp; there must be no shouting; prayers were to be at- tended to, and lights put out at 9 o'clock. Drivers of teams must walk beside their oxen, and not leave them without permission. Brigham was general super- intendent of the emigrating companies, with Daniel H. Wells as aide-de-camp, H. S. Eldredge marshal, and Hosea Stout captain of the night-guard. Mov- ing west early in June, on the 14th the emigrants were fired on by Indians, two being wounded. At this time also there was sickness in the camp. To secure grass and water, the emigration was sepa- rated into divisions, of which there were two principal

^* 'Wheat harvest good. Co.: crop good. The worms ate some in the ear. Price of wheat, $2 a bushel. Population, 1,800; n.ain fence, 12 miles long. Had a surplus of bread -stuff this year.' Hint. B. Young, MS., Aug. 1, 1848, 52. Parley states that he and his family, in common with many others, suffered much for want of food. He had ploughed and planted, in grain and vegetables, nearly 40 acres, nearly every women and child in his family toiling in the field so far as their age and strength would permit. Autobiog., 405. 'One family had nothing but milk to live upon;... they would let a portion thicken, and then icix it with new milk and eat it for bread. They lived upon it for six weeks, and thrived.' Eli2;a Snow, in Utah Notes, MS., 6. ​

ones, under Brigham Young and H. C. Kimball, with several subdivisions.'^

The first letters received at Great Salt Lake City from Brigham came twelve months after his departure from the valley, and were sent on in advance from the encampments. The excitement was great as Taylor and Green rode into the city and distributed the letters, without envelopes, tied round and round with buckskin thongs, and bearing the cheering news that a large body of brethren was on the way, and bring- ing plenty of food.^*

In June and July two small parties left the city to meet the immigration, and another in August. In September Brigham and the first companies arrived; and under the organization of the president and his two counsellors, Willard Richards and Heber C. Kim- ball, during the autumn months most of the brethren from Winter Quarters and other camps reached the valley. ^^

Before the expiration of the year, there were nearly

23 The first division consisted of 1,229 persons, with 397 wagons, 74 horses, 91 mules, 1,275 oxen, 699 cows, 184 loose cattle, 411 sheep, 141 pigs, 605 chickens, 37 cats, 82 dogs, 3 goats, 10 geese, 2 hives of bees, 8 doves, and 1 crow; the second of 662 persons, with 226 wagons, 57 horses, 25 mules, 737 oxen, 284 cows, 150 loose cattle, 243 sheep, 96 pigs, 299 chickens, 17 cats, 52 dogs, 3 hives of bees, 3 doves, 5 ducks, and 1 squirrel.

^^ As recorded in Mrs Clara Decker Young's very valuable manuscript. She shows now the first letter received, still tied with buckskin thongs.

'^'The first companies under Brigham arrived on Sept. 20th; Kimball's party reached the valley a few days later. At the beginning of August Lorenzo Snow, A. 0. Smoot, and others, with 47 wagons and 124 yoke of oxen, were sent from Salt Lake City to assist the emigrants. On the 28th of the same month a party well supplied with wagons and cattle was sent back to Winter Quarters from the camp of the president, then on the Sweet- water. Utah Early Becords, MS., 33. The companies under Richards reached their destination toward the end of October. Richards' Narr., MS., 38. In relating the incidents of his journey, Richards states that his was the last party to leave Winter Quarters during that summer. His men were ill supplied with provisions; feed was scarce, and many of the cattle died from drinking alkali \\ ater, so that he was compelled to yoke to the wagons even bis yearlings and his milch-cows. Many families, iucluding the children, were compelled to walk the entire distance; yet not a single death occurred. Id., 34-5. * The companies behind were kept well informed of the progress of those in advance. . .Sometimes a copy of the camp journal was written and placed in a notch in a tree, . . .sometimes in a post stuck in the ground; but whenever a large buSalo skull or other suitable bone was found, . . .some particulars were written on them.' Cannon, in Juv. Inst., xix ​. no. 3, 36.

three thousand,^® and including the pioneers, the bat- talion men, and the companies that arrived under Parley, at least five thousand of the saints assembled in the valley.

Thus about one fourth of the exiles from Nauvoo were for the present beyond reach of molestation. That five thousand persons, including a very large proportion of women and children, almost without money, almost without provisions, excepting the milk of their kine and the grain which they had raised near their own camps, should, almost without the loss of a life, have accomplished this journey of more than twelve hundred miles, crossing range after range of mountains, bridging rivers, and traversing deserts, while liable at any moment to be attacked by roam- ing bands of savages, is one of the marvels that this century has witnessed. To those who met them on the route, the strict order of their march, their coolness and rapidity in closing ranks to repel assault, their method in posting sentries around camp and corral, suggested rather the movements of a well-organized army than the migration of a people; and in truth, few armies have been better organized or more ably led than was this army of the Lord.^^ To the skill of their leaders, and their own concert of purpose and action, was due their preservation. And now, at length, they had made good their escape from the land of their bondage to the promised land of their freedom, in which, though a wilderness, they rejoiced to dwell.

In a private letter written in September 1848, Parle}'- writes: How quiet, how still, how free from excitement we livel The legislation of our high council, the decision of some judge or court of

'^^ White persons 2,393, and 24 negroes, with 792 wagons, 2,527 oxen, about 1,700 cows, 181 horses, 1,023 sheep, and other live-stock. Utah Early Rec- ords, MS., 41.

^' ' So well recognized were the results of this organiaation, that bands of hostile Indians have passed by comparatively small parties of Mormons to attack much larger but less compact bodies of other emigrants. ' Kane's The Morinona, 34. ​

the church, a meeting, a dance, a visit, an exploring tour, the arrival of a party of trappers and traders, a Mexican caravan, a party arrived from the Pacific,^^ from the States, from Fort Bridger, a visit of Ind- ians, or perhaps a mail from the distant world once or twice a year, is all that breaks the monotony of our busy and peaceful life . . . Here, too, we all are rich- there is no real poverty; all men have access to the soil, the pasture, the timber, the water power, and all the elements of wealth, without money or price. "^®

On his arrival in the autumn, Brigham stirred up the people to the greatest activity. Fencing material being scarce, and the city lands all appropriated, it was proposed that a large field for farming purposes adjoin- ing the city should be selected and fenced in com- mon. By October there were 863 applications for lots, amounting to 11,005 acres.

A united effort was made to fence the city, which was done by enclosing each ward in one field, and re- quiring the owner of every lot to build his proportion of the fence.^" No lots were allowed to be held for speculation, the intention, originally, being to assign them only to those who would occupy and improve them. The farming land nearest the city was sur- veyed in five-acre lots to accommodate the mechanics and artisans ; next beyond were ten-acre lots, followed by forty and eighty acres, where farmers could build and reside. All these farms were enclosed in one common fence, constituting what was called the 'big field,' before mentioned.^^

^ ' In July 1848, William and Nathan Hawks, Sanford Jacobs, and Rich- ard Slater came from California with copies of Brannan's Star of April lat, and tidings that the brethren at San Francisco were doing well, and that those who had settled on the San Joaquin River had vacated in favor of the mosquitoes.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1848, 46.

• ® The letter was afterward published in part in Snow's Voice of Joseph,

16, and portions copied into Utah Early Pioneers, MS,, 34^5.

'" ' Every man is to help build a pole, ditch, or a stone fence. . .in propor- tion to the land he draws, also a canal on each side for the purpose of irriga- tion.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 55.

• ^ 'The fence will be 17 miles and 53 rods long, and 8 ft high.' Hist. B.

Young, MS., 1848, 68-9; Juv. Inst., ix. no. 3, 34. It had been decided by the high council in Jan. that fencing be commenced, and that the farm lands be ​

The streets were kept open, but were barely wide enough for travel, as the owners cultivated the space in front of their houses. At a meeting on the 24th of September, permission was granted to build on the lots immediately, all buildings to be at least twenty feet from the sidewalk; and a few days later it was voted " that a land record should be kept, and that $1.50 be paid for each lot; one dollar to the surveyor and fifty cents to the clerk for recording." A council-house was ordered to be built by tithing labor; and it was suggested that water from the Big Cottonwood be brought into the city; the toll for grinding grain was to be increased,^^ and a resolution was passed against the sale or use of ardent spirits. That all might be satisfied, the lots were to be distributed "by ballot, or casting lots, as Israel did in days of old."^^

On the 1st of October Brigham called the battalion brethren together, blessed them, and thanked them for the service they had rendered. "The plan of rais- ing a battalion to march to California," he said, "by a call from the war department, was devised with a view to the total overthrow of this kingdom, and the de- struction of every man, woman, and child. "^*

Winter was now at hand, and there was sore need that the saints should bestir themselves. The presi-

located as near together as possible, and immediately south of the city. The line of the fence began at a steep point in the bluffs just south of tlie warm springs, thence straight to the north-west corner of the fort, then from the south-east corner of the fort, east of south, to some distance south of Mill Creek, thence east to the bluffs again, its entire length, including two sides of the fort, being 3,638 rods. Utah Early Bfcords, MS., 20-1. The entire tract was 5,153 acres, of which 872 acres were sown with winter-wheat, the remainder being intended for spring and summer crops.

^^ 'Chas Crismon petitions that it be increased from 1-16 to 1-10; granted.' Hist. B. Y0UIVJ, MS., 1848, 64.

' The city plat is already allotted, and many families are at present without lots; therefore we have deemed it expedient to run off an addicion to the city, commencing at the eastern line of the city and running east as far as the nature of the land will allow for building purposes. Not only is this addition necessary, but we are going to lay oft' a site for a city about ten miles north, and another site about ten miles to the south of our city.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1848, 69.

^Hht. B. Young, MS., 1848, 65, This was not the case. See Hist. Cal., vol. V. chap, xviii., this series. ​

(lent and others of the church dignitaries worked in- defatigably with their people, carrying mortar and making adobes, hauling timber and sawing it. There w^ere but 450 log cabins within the stockade, and one thousand more well-filled wagons had arrived this season.

A county government was organized, and John D. Barker elected sheriff, Isaac Clark judge of probate, and Evan M. Green recorder and treasurer. ^^ Two hunting companies in December were formed, under the leadership of John D. Lee and John Pack, for the extermination of wild beasts. There were eighty- four men in all, and their efforts were successful.^* From the 1st of December until the end of February there were heavy snow-storms. On the coldest day the mercury fell below zero,^^ and on the warmest marked 21° of Fahrenheit. On account of the snow in the canons it was difficult to bring in the necessary fuel. As the previous winter had been warm, the settlers were unprepared for such cold weather, and there was much suffering. ^^

^^ ' George Conlson, Andrew H. Perkins, and David D. Yearsley, county commissioners; James Sloan, district clerk; Jacob G. Bigler, William Snovr, Levi Bracken, and J onatlian C. Wright, magistrates.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 77.

36 « n^[^Q tvvo hunting companies organized last Dec. report that they have killed 2 bears, 2 wolverenes, 2 wild-cats, 7S3 wolves, 409 foxes, 31 minks, 9 eagles, 530 magpies, hawks, and owls, and 1,C26 ravens.' Mist. B. Young, MS., March 1849.

" ' To 33° below freezing-point on Feb. 5th. ' General Epistle of the Twelve, in Fronti'-r Guardian, May 30, 1849.

^^ 'At Fort Briilger the winter had been unusually severe, and the traders, it was reported, had suffered almost starvation.' It was resolved that no corn should be made iuto whiskey, and that if any man was preparing to distil corn into whiskey or alcohol, the com should be taken and given to the poor. Hist. B. Youwj, MS., 1849, 4. ​

CHAPTER XII.

IN THE VALLEY OP THE GREAT SALT LAKE.

1849.

Food Supply and Shelter — Building Lots — Currency Issue— Bajik Notes and Coinage— Private and Public Buildings — Wide Area of THE City — Second Anniversary of the Pioneers — Festivals and Amusements — Labor a Duty among the Saints— Effect of the Cali- fornia Gold Discovery — Immigration— Carrying Company — Cali- fornia-bound Emigrants— Their Traffic with the Mormons— Prod- ucts AND Prices — Gold-hunting Frowned upon by the Church.

Throughout the winter of 1848-9 food was scarce among the settlers. Many still subsisted mainly on roots, thistles, and even on rawhides.^ Milk, flesh, and the small quantity of breadstufls that remained were, however, distributed among the poor in such quantities as to prevent actual starvation. On April 1, 1849, each household was required to state the smallest allowance of breadstuff's that would suffice until the forth-coming harvest. Some received half a pound a day, and others four ounces.^

1 ' Many were necessitated to eat rawhides, and to dig sago and thistle roots for mouths to subsist upon.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 95.

^ The committee on breadstuflfs reported on the 8th of Feb. that there was I'oo lb. per capita for the next five months. Utah Early Records, MS. , 45. ' In the former part of Feb. the bishops took an inventory of the breadstuff in the valley, when was reported a little moro than | lb. per day for each soul, until the 9th of July; and considerable was known to exist wliich was not reported. Hence while some were nearly destitute others had abundance. The price of corn since harvest has been $2; some has sold for $3; at present there is none in the market at any price. Wheat has ranged from $4 to $5, and potatoes from $6 to $^0, a bushel; and though not to be bought at pres- ent, it is expected that there will be a good supply for seed by another year.' General Epistle of the Twelve, in Frontier Guardian, May 30, 1849. ' Those persons who had imparted measurably to those who had not, so that all extremity of suffering from hunger was avoided.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 95. ​

388)

Until the first fruits were reaped the famine con- tinued, but the harvest of 1849 was a bountiful one,^ and for six years thereafter none wanted for bread in the city of Salt Lake.'*

During part of this season many women and chil- dren were without shelter or fuel. To each family as it arrived was given a city lot, until the site was exhausted, as we have seen; but for most a wagon served for dwelling during the coldest months, and later an adobe hut, roofed with unseasoned lumber, and thatched with hay or frozen mud.^ Before sum- mer all were housed in log or adobe dwellings/ the fort

' It was not injured by crickets. Kane's The Mormons, 67. ' Our prophet predicted that if we would exercise patience under our difficulties during the immediate future, our necessities would be supplied as cheaply as they could be in the city of St Louis; and this proved to be true, for in 1849 we raised fair crops.' Smoot's Mormon Wife, MS., 5-6.

• The peculiar chemical formations in earth and water proved of great prac-

tical value when once understood. ' For two years all the saleratus used was obtained from Saleratus Lake, near Independence Rock; the salt from the lake became an article of value in local use and among their exports. The alkali swept down from the mountains, and composed of a great variety of ingredients, &uch as magnesia, soda, salt, etc., when once subdued, makes the most durable of soils, which needs no enriching.' Richards, in Utah Notes, MS., 8.

^ ' Now as regards my beginning at Salt Lake. Soon after my arrival a city lot was assigned to me for a home and residence, on which I placed my wagon box or wagon bed, which contained our provisions, bedding, and all our eartlily goods, placed them upon the ground, turned away our stock upon the winter range, and looked about us. I soon disposed of some of my cloth- ing for some adobes, and put the walls up of a small room, which we covered with a tent-cloth, that answered us during the winter, until lumber could be procured next spring.' Richards' Narr., MS., 38; Early Records, MS., 36-8.

^ On Feb. 18th the people began to move out of the fort to their city lots. Id., 47. A number of temporary farm buildings had been completed before this date. Pratfs Autobiography, 406; Millennial Star, x. 370. A correspond- ent of the Neiv York Tribune, writing from Salt Lake City, July 8, 1849, gives an exaggerated account of the place, which has been copied by several writers on Mormonism. ' There were no hotels, because there was no travel; no bar- bers' shops, because every one chose to shave his neighbor; no stores, because they had no goods to sell nor time to traffic; no centre of business, because all were too busy to make a centre. There was abundance of mechanics' shops, of dressmakers, milliners, and tailors, etc. ; but they needed no sign, nor had they time to paint or erect one, for they were crowded with business. I this day attended worship with them in the open air. Some thousands of well-dressed, intelligent-looking people assembled, some on foot, some in car- riages, and on horseback. Many were neatly and even fashionably clad. The beauty and neatness of the ladies reminded me of some of our congre- gations in New York.' The letter is in Macl-ay's The Mormons, 282. It is unnecessary to expose the absurdity of this description, as the reader is well aware that hundreds of California-bound emigrants passed through the valley this year. Harvesting began July 9th, and until that date the Mormons were Hisr. ​ViAU. 19

being rapidly broken up by the removal of the houses on to the city lots. The city was divided into nine- teen bishops' wards ;^ the ten-acre blocks were divided into allotments of an acre and a quarter, the five-acre lots in similar proportion, each building facing the garden of the one adjoining, the space of twenty feet left between the houses and the surrounding fence being afterward planted with trees and shrubbery.^

The need of a circulating medium had been felt ever since the valley had been settled.^ Their cur- rency was blankets, grain, and seeds; and even after gold-dust was brought in by the miners great incon- venience was experienced in its use, and many re- fused to take it, as there was a waste in weighing it. To meet this emergency, bank bills for one dollar

often without their daily bread, as we have seen. The following is probably much nearer the truth: ' The houses are small, principally of brick (adobe), built up only as temporary abodes, until the more urgent and important mat- ters of enclosure and cultivation are attended to; but I never saw anything to surpass the ingenuity of arrangement with which they are fitted up, and the scrupulous cleanliness with which they are kept. There were tradesmen and artisans of all descriptions, but no regular stores or workshops, except forges. Still, from the shoeing of a horse to the mending of a watch there was no dif- ficulty in getting it done, as cheap and as well put out of hand as in any other city in America. ' Kelly's Excursion to California, 226.

' The bishops were David Fairbanks, John Lowry, Christopher Williams, William Hickenlooper, William J. Perkins, Addison Everett, Seth Taft, David Pettigrew, Benjamin Covey, Edward Hunter, John Murdock, Abraham 0. Smoot, Isaac Higbee, Joseph L. Hey wood, James Hendrix, Benjamin Brown, Orville S. Cox, and Joel H. Johnson. Utah Early Records, MS., 47-8, 69. The valley is settled for 20 miles south and 40 miles north, and divided into 19 wards. Hist. B. Youvg, MS., 1849, 57.

^ At a council held Feb. 17, 1849, the committee on fencing reported that the enclosure termed the big field would include 291 ten-acre lots, 460 five- acre lots, the church farm of 800 acres, and 17 acres of fractional lots, the whole requiring 5,240 rods of fencing, of which it was recommended that 3,216 should be of adobes, 663 of adobes or stone, and 1,361 of ditch, posts, and rails. 'When the Mormons first arrived they did not quarrel for best lands, but cultivated a whole district in common, dividing the harvest according to work done, seed supplied, and need of family. On dividing the town into lots, each received his plat, and so with fields, for south of the town lay a field of 6 square miles, cultivated in common; this was divided into 5- acre square lots and given to beads of families, by lot or distribution, in tracts of one to eight lots each. After the distribution some began to speculate with their lots, but to this the church objected, saying that none should sell his land for more than first cost and improvements, for it belonged to God, and was merely held in use by the holder. Still, secret speculations occurred. ' Olshausen's Mormonen, 166-7.

' ' Owing to the absence of small change, the tax collector was instructed to give due-bills for sums less than a dollar, and redeem them when presented in suflicient amount.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 23. ​

were issued on the 1st of January, 1849, signed by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Thomas Bullock, clerk. In September, Brigham had brought eighty-four dollars in small change into the valley, which had been distributed, but was no longer in cir- culation. On the 6th of January, resolutions were passed by the council to the effect that "the Kirtland bank bills be put into circulation for the accommodation of the people, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Joseph, that the Kirtland notes would one day be as good as gold." The first printing was in connection with the manufacture of paper raoney.^"

Previous to the issue of this currency an attempt was made by John Kay to coin gold-dust, but the crucibles broke in the attempt. All the dies and everything connected with the coining were made in Salt Lake City.^^ Subsequent attempts were more successful. The coin was made of pure gold, without alloy, which made it deficient in weight; it was there- fore sold as bullion. Brigham then proposed the issue of paper currency until gold could be coined. ^^ There was also a paper currency issued some years later by a company in Salt Lake City known as the Des- eret Currency Association, its capital being in cattle, but this was merely a temporary convenience.^^ Cur-

'^ Fifty-cent and one-dollar paper currency was issued. Hist. B. Young, MS., 1S49, 3. On the 22d, type was set for 50-cent bills— the first type- eetling in the city. Id., 42-3; S. L. C. Contributor, ii. 209.

" 'Robert Campbell engraved the stamps for the coin.' Wells' Narr., MS., 42. Brigham says, 'I offered the gold-dust back to the people, but they did not want it.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 1. 'Thos L. Smith, a mountaineer, wrote me from Bear River Valley, offering to sell me §200 or $300 in small coin. . .and take our currency for the same, and he would trade his skins, furs, robes, etc., with us.' Id., 79.

'-'John Kay coined $2.50, %o, and $20 pieces.' Nebeher's Early Justice, MS., 3. A description is given in Juv. Inst, of coins with beehive and spread eagle on one side, with inscription 'Deseret Assay OfSce, Pure Gold,' and at the base '5 D.' On the reverse is a lion, surrounded by 'Holiness to the Lord,' in characters known as the Deseret alphabet. Vol. ix. no. 4, p. 39. In 1849 and 1850, coins of the value of $20, $10, $5, and $2.50 were struck off. Their fineness was 899-1000, and no alloy was used except a little silver. -S'. L. ('. Contributor, ii. 209. 'The gold-dust was sufficient in quantity for all ordinary purposes. . .In the exchange the brethren deposited the gold-dust with the presidency, who issued bills or a paper currency; and the Kirtland safety fund re-signed it on a par with gold.' Id., 56.

^*See Taylor's Reminiscences, MS., 23. ​

rency, in either gold or paper, was afterward desig- nated as valley tan, a name synonymous with home- made or of Utah manufacture, the origin of which will be explained later. ^^

Of the houses built early in 1849, few had more than two rooms, many had only board windows, and some were without doors. Several of the adobe houses in the fort had fallen down from the effects of the thaw. When at last they had learned how to make adobes, they were of the best kind. Alkali at first was mixed with the clay, which, when exposed to rain, would expand and burst the bricks. After this year more commodious structures were erected for public and private use, the means being supplied in part by traffic with emigrants for California. Conspicuous among them was the council-house on East Temple street, a two-story stone edifice, forty-five feet square,^^ used originally for church purposes, and afterward occupied by the state and territorial legislatures. In front of the council-house was temple block, on the south-west corner of which stood the tabernacle, buiit in 1851-2, on the ground now occupied by the assem- bly hall, with accommodation for 2,500 persons, ^^ and consecrated on April 6th of the latter year.^ Dur-

^* See chap, xix., note 44, this vol.

'^'I was appointed superintendent of public works in the fall of 1848. The first house that was built was a little adobe place that was used for the church office. . .The little office that was the first place built was one story, about 18 by 12 feet, slanting roof covered with boards and dirt. This re- mained the church office for about two yeai'S. . .The foundation of the council- house was laid in the spring of 1849, and then the first story put up.' Wells^ Narr., MS., 41-2. Built by tithing. Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 55. At a meeting held Oct. 1, 1848, it was I'esolved to build a council-house, and on the 7th of November masons commenced laying the foundation. Utah Early Records, MS., 36, 38.

'® Linforth gives its dimensions at 126 ft by 64, and states that the roof was arched, without being supported by pillars. Route from Liverpool, 109. In Utah Early Records, MS., 125, 127, it is stated that the dimensions were 120 by 60 ft, and that work was begun May 21st. See also Deseret News, May 17, 1851; The Mormons at Home, 112-13, 147-9; Burton's City of the Saints, 270.

" At a general conference, the proceedings of which are related in the Coiilrlbutor, ii. 333. The conference lasted several days, and at its conclusion a collection was made to provide funds for a sacramental service, $149 beijig given in coin, together with several pounds' weight of silver watch-cases, spoons, rings, and ornaments. From the silver, cupa were made, which are still in use at the tabernacle. ​

ing its construction, the saints in every part of the world were urged to self-denial, and it was voted to dispense with the use of tea, coffee, snuff, and tobacco, the sums thus saved to be also used for the building of the temple, which was to stand on the same block. The latter was to be built of stone quarried in the mountains, and a railroad from temple block to the quarry was chartered for the conveyance of building material.

Adjoining the tabernacle was the bowery, 100 by 60 feet, made of posts and boarding, completed three or four years later, and large enough to contain 8,000 people, a temporary structure having been erected in 1848. Among other buildings may be mentioned the tithing office, the social hall, and the seventies' hall of science. Several bridges were also built, which were paid for by the one per centum property tax.^^

Thus at the western base of the Wasatch Moun- tains was laid out the city of Great Salt Lake, its buildings being distributed over a greater area than that on which stood, in 1850, the commercial metrop- olis of the United States. ^^ Its site was on a slope, barely perceptible except toward the north, where it was enclosed by the Wasatch Range and a spur trend- ing to the westward. Resting on the eastern bank of the Jordan, it was watered by several creeks; a canal, twelve miles long, crossing three streams, being pro- posed to convey the waters of the Big Cottonwood to the farm-lands south of the city; and through each street flowed a rivulet of pure water, which was thence diverted into the garden plats.

On the 24th of July, 1849, was held the second anniversary of the arrival of the pioneers.^^ At day-

" Resolved that a tax of one per ct per annum be assessed on property to repair public highways. Ilhft. B. Young, MS., 1849, 5.

^^ Kaiie'.'i The Mo/ mom, 74; New York Tribune, Oct. 7, 1849.

■■'"The 4th and 24th of July were at first celebrated together, but on t^e latter date because bread and vegetables were more plentiful at the end of this month than at the beginning. Utah Early Record ​s, MS., 91,

break cannon were fired and bands of music passed through the city, arousing the citizens for the great events of the day. A flag brought from Nauvoo was prominently displayed, and a larger flag was hoisted from the liberty-pole. A procession was formed of young men and maidens, who in appropriate costumes, bearing banners and singing, escorted Brigham to the bowery. They were received with shouts of '*Ho- sanna to God and the Lambl" While the governor and the church dignitaries were passing down the aisle cheers and shouts of " Hail to the governor of Des- eretl" greeted them on every side. The declaration of independence and the constitution were then read, followed by patriotic addresses. The procession was then re-formed and marched to the feast served on tables fourteen hundred feet in length. "The tables were heavily loaded," says Brigham, "with all the lux- uries of field and garden, and with nearly all the vege- tables of the world; the seats were filled and refilled by a people who had been deprived of those luxuries for years, and they welcomed to their table every stranger within their border.""^ A greater variety was provided, as the saints had exchanged for many luxuries their flour, butter, potatoes, and other pro- duce, with passing emigrants.

Not only on the pioneer anniversary but on the 4th of July,^^ at christmas week, and on other occa-

^1 'The hospitalities of the occasion were not confined to the saints alone, but included several hundreds of California emigrants who had stopped to recruit, as well as threescore Indians, ' says Eliza Snow. See Snow's Biographj, 95-107, for description of the celebration; also Kane's The Mormotis, 80-1; Hist. B. Young, MS., 108-116, 143; Mrs Horne's Migrations, MS., 30; Frontier Guardian, Sept. 19, 1849. After dinner four and twenty toasts were drunk, fol- lowed by volunteer toasts. President Young declared that he never saw such a dinner in his life. One of the ciders remarked that 'it was almost a marvel- lous thing that everybody was satisfied, and. . .not an oath was uttered, not a man intoxicated, not a jar or disturbance occurred to mar the union, peace, and harmony of the day.' Frontier Guardian, Sept. 19, 1849. Among the guests was the Indian chief Walker, who, accompanied by Soweite, chief of the Utahs, and several hundred Indians, men, women, and children, had vis- ited the city in Sept. 1848. Utah Early Records, MS., 33.

^^For a description of 4th of July festivities, see Frontier Guardian, July 10, 1850, Oct. 3, 1851; Deseret News, July 12, 1851, July 10, 1852; S. L. G. Contributor, ii. 271. ​

sions festivities were held.'^' Sometimes the guests contributed toward the expense of the entertainment, the amount that each one was expected to pay being stated on the card of invitation.^*

In winter, theatrical performances were given by the Deseret Dramatic Association at the social hall, and in summer at the bowery, the parts being well sustained and the orchestra and decorations well ap- pointed.^^ At the former, private parties were given when the gathering was too large for the residence of the host; in the basement were appliances for cooking, and adjoining was a dining-room with seats and tables sufficient for three hundred persons. All entertain- ments were opened with prayer; then came dancing, songs, and music, followed by supper, the guests being dismissed with a benediction at an early hour.

The public festivities of the Mormons were always conducted under the auspices of the church, and none were allowed to join in them who were not in good standing. To sing, dance, and rejoice before the Lord was regarded almost as a religious duty, but only those must rejoice whose hearts were pure and whose hands were clean. Thus, toward christmas of this year, 1849, regulations were issued by the high council for the observance of the approaching holi- days. They were to commence on the 20th of De- cember and last until the council should declare them at an end, officers being appointed to preside over the dances. No person who had been disfellowshipped

'^ The-christmas festival of 1851 is described in the Deseret News, Jan. 24, 1852. ' On the 24th,' writes Brigham in regard to another occasion, ' I in- vited the wives of the twelve apostles, and other elders who were on missions, with a number of my relatives, to dine at my house. Seventy ladies sat down at the first table. I employed five sleighs to collect the company; the day was stormy; near my house the snow drifted three feet deep.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1850, 2.

^* Contributions were often made in the shape of eatables, and an in-door picnic extemporized. Ferris' Utah, and the Alormom^, 306.

^^ In May 1851, the second act of ' Robert Macaire' was performed at the bowery, the performance concluding with the farce of 'The Dead Shot.' Coil' tributor, ii. 271. ​

or excommunicated was allowed to go forth to the dance. Those who had sold liquor for gain, thereby corrupting the morals of society, were also disquali- fied. All friends and well-wishers to society, all who remembered the poor and needy,'^^ were invited to participate, though not members of the church. But declares the council : "Woe unto them that dance with guile and malice in their hearts toward their neigh- bor! Woe unto them that have secretly injured their neighbor or his or her property! Woe unto them that are ministers of disorder and of evil ! If these shall go forth in the dance without confessing and forsaking their guilt, the faith of the council is that they seal their doom by it."

After their festivities the people returned, each to his calling, with renewed zest. It was an article of faith among them that labor was honorable, and all who were not missionaries were expected to do their part. By revelation, Joseph Smith was released from this obligation, but Brigham Young worked as a car- penter in his own mills. Labor was regarded as a duty no less than prayer or temple service, each one working with his hands at whatsoever he found to do, and cheerfully contributing his tithes toward the church revenues, which were expended for public im- provements, for the support of missions, and the re- lief of the sick and destitute.^^

^* ' Bring all your tithes and offerings to the proper place for the poor, that there be none hungry among us, and let the poor rejoice; and then you may rejoice in the dance to your heart's content.' Regulations of the High Council, in Frontier Guardian, Nov. 28, 1849. Brigham, in an address at the State-house in 1852, at a party given to the legislature, said: 'I want it distinctly understood that fiddling and dancing are no part of our worship. My mind labors like a man logging. This is the reason why I am fond of these pastimes; they give me a privilege to throw everything off and shake myself, that my body may exercise and my mind rest.' And again: 'This company is controlled like the ship by the rudder in a gentle breeze, that can be turned hither and thither at the will and pleasure of him who com- mands.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1852, 22.

^' Olshauseii's Mormonen, 164-5. On July 28, 1850, the president writes to Orson Hyde, then at Kanesville. 'Our celebration was well attended. It is a general time of health with the saints, and peace and plenty of hard work, as every one has been so busy that they can hardly get time to eat or sleep. You speak about hurry and bustle at Kanesville; but if you were here, to see, feel, and realize the burdens, labors, and responsibilities, which are daily, ​

CALIFORNIA-BOUND EMIGRANTS. 297

Among the causes that led to the prosperity of the people of Utah at this period was the migration of gold-seekers to California. Hundreds of emigrants, turning aside to Salt Lake City, wearied and dis- pirited, their cattle worn out and their wagons broken, were glad to exchange them, together with their tools, household furniture, and spare clothing, for provisions and pack animals at very low rates.^^ Many were glad to remain during winter, and work for their liveli- hood. Though reports were freely circulated to the contrary, there is sufficient evidence that as a rule they were kindly treated, and not a few abandoned their search for gold to cast in their lot with the saints.^^

The arrival in November of the first pack-mule train from California, laden with many luxuries and neces- sities, was an important event. The people formed in line, waiting hours for their turn to buy the limited amount allowed.^" When a sack of potatoes was

hourly, momentarily, rolling, piling, tumbling, and thundering upon us, you would at least conclude that there was no danger of our getting the gout from idleness or too much jollity.' Frontier Guardian, Sept. 18, 1850. Men- tion of cholera on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in the spring of 1849 is made by Brigham. 'Many Mormon brethren and sisters emigrating on those rivers died; 60 died going from St Louis to Kanesville, mostly from England and Wales, under Capt. Dan. Jones.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 85.

^^ Horses, harnesses, carriages, wagons, etc., were bought of eager emigrant? at one fifth of their cost in the states. Utah Early Uecords, MS., 113.

^* In the autumn of 1849 many emigrants, while resting in Salt Lake City, wrote letters to their friends, in which they acknowledged the kindness and hospitality shown them by the saints. Extracts from these letters were pub- lished in newspapers throughout the states. Gunnison, The Mormons, 65, says: ' Their many deeds of charity to the sick and broken-down gold-seekers all speak loudly in their favor, and must eventually redound to their praise. ' See also Kane's The Mormons, 76-7; Stansbury's Expedition to O. S. Lake, i. 134. In March 1851, numbers of emi,t;rants were baptized, and most of them remained in Utah. Id., 123. D. J. Staples, who remained at S. L. City for two or three weeks with a Boston party bound for California in 1849, says: 'The Mormons showed their kindness in every possible way, supplying all wants and taking care of the sick.' Incidents and Inform., in Cat., MS., D. 1-3. See also Van Dyke's Statement, in Id., 1. Among later instances may be mentioned that of John C. Fremont, who with nine white men and twelve Indians arrived at Parowan Jan. 7, 1854, in a starving condition. He was supplied with provisions and fresh animals, setting forth eastward on the 20th.

• " Brown sugar was $1 a lb.; and everything else in proportion. No one

was allowed more than one pound of anything. Mrs Hornets Migrations, M ​S.. 30.

brought into the valley in the spring, they were eagerly bought at any price. From four small ones, costing fifty cents, was obtained a bushel of good-sized potatoes which were saved for seed.

The immigration during the season numbered some 1,400 souls, who were added to the settlers in the valley,^^ and who, with the number remaining of those originally bound for California, made a large population to clothe, feed, and shelter.

A carrying company was also established^^ in De- cember for the purpose of conveying passengers and goods from the Missouri River to the gold regions of California. In their prospectus, the proprietors set forth that, residing as they did in the valley, and be- ing acquainted with the route, they could provide fresh animals as they were needed and save the loss of hundreds and thousands of dollars that had been incurred by former parties through inexperience. For passengers to Sutter's Fort, the rate was $300, of which $200 must be paid in advance, and the remain- der on reaching Salt Lake City. For freight, the terms were $250 per ton, of which two thirds must also be paid in advance.

A small company under Captain Lamoreaux left the valley for Green Kiver, and there established a ferry and trading post; among them were wagon- makers and blacksmiths, whose services would be in- valuable.

When the immigrants of this year arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake, many of them were

' Our cattle stampeded, and at the south pass of the Platte we were overtaken by a heavy storm, in which 70 animals were frozen. We made our journey to Salt Lake City, 1,034 miles, in 145 days, arriving Oct. 27th.' Geo. A. Smith's Autobiog., in TuUidije's il/r/fl'., July 1884. The cattleof tlieCalifor- nia Enterprise Company, under Judge Thos K. Owen of 111., stampeded near the forks of the Platte and ran back 130 miles in about 26 hours; they were brought aloi'g by Capt. Allen Taylor's company, which received from their owners a series of resolutions expressive of their gratitude. Hist. B. Youmj, MS., 1849, 157-8.

^^ Termed the Great Salt Lake Valley Carrying Company. The proprie- tors were Shadrach Roundy, Jedediah M. Grant, John S. Fullmer, George D. Grant, and Russell Homer. Utah Early Records, MS., 101; Hist. B. Youmj, MS., ​1849, 168.

almost destitute of clothing,^^ bedding, and liouseliold furniture, such articles as they possessed having been exchanged for food during their journey. In 1848 it had been prophesied by Heber C. Kimball that the commodities, known among the brethren as 'states goods,' would be as cheap in Salt Lake City as in New York; while Brigham Young, soon after setting forth from Nauvoo, had made a similar prediction, declaring that within five years his people would be more pros- perous than they had ever been. Both prophecies were fulfilled,^* when, during the first years of the gold fever, company after company came pouring into Utah, which might now be termed the half-way house of the nation. Several hundred California-bound emi- grants arrived in the valley in 1849, too late to con- tinue their journey on the northern route, and proposed to spend the winter in the valley. There was scarcely provision enough for those already there, and as Jeffer- son Hunt of the battalion offered to pilot the company over the southern route, they decided to undertake the trip, and started on the 8th of October, arriving in California on the 22d of December. ^^ On the 1st of December nineteen men came into the city on foot, nearly famished, having been two days making their way over Big Mountain. Their wagons had been left on Echo Creek, and their animals at Wil- low Springs, where the snow, they said, was six feet deep on a level. Though many of these adven- turers were poor, some of the trains were loaded with valuable merchandise, for which their owners

'^ Parley relates that during 1848 he and his family were compelled to go barefooted for several months, reserving their Indian moccasins for extra occasions. Autohiog., 405.

^*In the summer of 1849, almost every article except tea and coffee sold at 50 per cent below the prices ruling in eastern cities. Frontier Guardian, Sept. 5, 1849.

^^ ' The company became dissatisfied at the continued southern direction. At Beaver Creek, one Capt. Smith came up with a company of packers, say- ing that he liad maps and charts of a new route, called Walker's cut-off. All the packers and most of Capt. Hunter's co. joined Smith. After wandering about the mountains for a time many turned back and took the southern route, while Capt. Smith and a few others struggled through and arrived in CaUfomiaonfoot.' Bist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 167. ​

300 IN" THE VALLEY OP THE GREAT SALT LAKE.

expected to find a ready market on reaching their destination. But while sojourning in the valley, news arrived that vessels laden with similar merchandise had arrived in San Francisco, or were far on their way, and that already the market was greatly over- stocked.^^ The emigrants were thereiore glad to exchange their costly outfits and their trading goods for whatever they could get in exchange, a single horse or a mule, with a small stock of provisions, be- ing sometimes accepted as an equivalent for property that had cost the owner thousands of dollars. The cattle thus obtained by the settlers, in barter, after being fattened on the nutritious grasses of the valley, were driven to California, where a sure and profitable market was found.

As a result of the California-bound migration, there followed an enormous advance in the price of provi- sions, flour selling before the harvest of 1850 at one dol- lar per pound, and after harvest at twenty-five dollars per cental.^^ Throughout the autumn of this year the grist-mills were run to their utmost capacity, grinding wheat for the passing emigrants, who at any cost must procure sufficient to carry them to the gold mines. Some other articles of food were for a time equally scarce, sugar selling at the rate of three pounds for two dollars ;^^ though beef was plentiful, and could be had for ten cents per pound.^^ It is probable,

'6 ' Thousands of emigrants. . . have passed through Salt Lake City this sea- son, exchanging domestic clothing, wagons, etc., for horses and mules.* Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 143.

2' Utah Early Records, MS., 112; Contributor, ii. 240. See also Frontier Guardian, Sept. 18, 1850, where is a copy of an address delivered by Brigham Young at the bowery, S. L. City. 'I say unto you, farmers, keep your wheat, for I foresee if you are not careful starvation will be on our heels.' It was not intended, however, that food should be withheld from the destitute; in another address from Brigham, published in tlie same paper, we read: ' I say to you, latter-day saints, let no man go hungry from your doors; divide with them and trust in God for more.' 'Emigrants, don't let your spirits be worn down; and shame be to the door where a man has to go liungry away.'

^On Nov. 21, 1849, Mr Vasquez opened a store in Salt Lake City, and met with ready sale for his sugar at this rate. Utah Early Records, MS., 100.

"' Fuel and building material were costly, firewood being worth, in 1850, ten dollars per cord, adobe bricks a dollar a hundred, and lumber five dollars the hundred feet. Two years later, 'states goods' had also become scarce throughout the territory, linen selling for 20 to 30 cents per yard, flannel for ​

THE GOLD FEVER AMONG THE BRETHREN-. 301

however, that these rates represent the prices charged to passing eaiigrants, for at this period the wages of laborers did not exceed $2 per day, and of skilled mechanics $3. The saints prided themselves upon their honorable dealings with these strangers, and the moderate prices demanded, though frequently charged with swindling. *° They could afford to part with their produce, because they had learned to dis- pense with many articles which among other com- munities were considered necessaries. For men who had fed during their first winter in the valley on hides and roots, it was no great hardship to dispense for a season with a portion of their provisions, their grain, beef, and butter, their coffee and sugar, in return for which they received such value.

It was not of course to be expected that while thou- sands of California-bound emigrants were passing each year through the Mormon settlements, the saints should themselves entirely escape the gold fever. In November 1848, several small parties of the battalion found their way to Salt Lake City,^^ some of them bringing considerable quantities of gold-dust, which, as they relate, had come into their possession in this wise.

In September 1847 about forty of the battalion men arrived at Sutter's Fort in search of employment and were hired by Sutter to dig the races for a flour mill about six miles from the fort and for a saw-mill some forty-five miles distant.'*^ The latter work be- ing completed in January 1848, and the frame of the

30 to 40 cents, prints for 25 to 50 cents, and jeans for 75 cents to $1.25; while a bottle of ink cost $2, and a ream of writing-paper $10 to $12. Deseret News, Nov. 6, 1852, where it is stated that on some classes of goods traders realized from 200 to 10,000 per cent profit.

• " ' I saved straw that spring and braided forty hats. . .1 made one to order

and sold to an emigrant at the usual price, $1. He was surprised at its cheap- ness, but in all our dealings with emigrants we took no advantage of them. I took boarders at five or six dollars a week.' Mrs Richards' Rem., MS., 36.

• ^ Others had already arrived in June and Sept. of this year. Utah Early

Records, MS., 30-1.

• • Their pay was to be 12^ cents per cubic yard, with rations and free pasture

for their stock. Tyler's Hist. Mormon Battalio ​n, 332.

building erected, water was turned into the flume on the 24th, and the fall being considerable, washed out a hole near the base of the mill on reaching the tail-race, whereupon Marshall, Sutter's partner, and superintendent of the party, examined the spot, fear- ing that the water would undermine the foundations. While thus engaged, he observed there pieces of yel- low glistening metal, and picking up a handful put them in his pocket, not knowing what they were, and supposing probably that he had found nothing more valuable than iron pyrites.

They were no iron pyrites, however, that Marshall had found, but, as it proved, nuggets of gold, the largest of them being worth about five dollars. The discovery was revealed in confidence to three of the saints, who unearthed a few more specimens, and soon afterward removed to a sand-bar in the Sacramento river, since known as Mormon Island. Here was gold in paying quantities, the average earnings of each man being twenty to thirty dollars per day. But though dust and nuggets were freely shown to the brethren, there were few who would believe their senses, and for weeks the matter caused no excitement. At length, however, the secret was disclosed, which soon transformed the peaceful valleys of California into busy mining camps, changing as if by magic the entire face of the country. How throughout the settlements on seaboard and on river the merchant abandoned his wares, the lawyer his clients, the parson his flock, the doctor his patients, the farmer his standing grain — all making one mad rush for the gold-fields, some on horseback, some with pack-mules, some with wheel- barrows, some with costly outfits, and some with no outfit save the clothes on their backs — is fully set forth in my History of California.

When the disbanded soldiers arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake and displayed their treasures, a cry was raised among the saints, "To California; to the land of Ophir that our brethren have discovered!" ​

THE GOLD-SEEKERS REBUKED. 303

But from the twelv^e came a stern rebuke. "The true use of gold is for paving streets, covering houses, and making cuHnary dishes; and when the saints shall have preached the gospel, raised grain, and built up cities enough, the Lord will open the way for a supply of gold to the perfect satisfaction of his peo- ple. Until then, let them not be over-anxious, for the treasures of the earth are in the Lord's store- house, and he will open the doors thereof when and where he pleases."*^

President John Smith wrote to the saints in Cali- fornia in March 1848, urging them to gather at the Great Salt Lake, "that they might share in the bless- ings to be conferred on the faithful; and warned them against settling down at ease in California with an eye and a half upon this world and its goods, and half an eye dimly set towards Zion on account of the high mountains and the privations to be endured by the saints."

"If we were to go to San Francisco and dig up chunks of gold," said Brigham to the returned battalion on the 1st of October, 1848, "or find it in the valley, it would ruin us." In an address on the sabbath he said: "I hope the gold mines will be no nearer than eight hundred miles ... There is more delusion and the people are more perfectly crazy on this continent than ever before... If you elders of Israel want to go to the gold mines, go and be damned. If you go, I would not give a picayune to keep you from damnation."** "I advise the corrupt, and all who want, to go to California and not come back, for I will not fellowship them. . .Prosperity and riches blunt the feelings of man. If the people were united, I would send men to get the gold who would care no more about it than the dust under their feet, and then we would gather millions into the church...

" Second General Epistle of the Twelve, dated Salt Lake City, Oct. 12, 1849, in Frontier Guardian, Dec. 26, 1849.

• • H%st. B. Young, MS., 1849, 100-2, 123. ​

Some men don't want to go after gold, but they are the very men to go."^^

Thus the threatened migration was stayed; a few companies departed/^ and were asked in all kindness never to return. "If they have a golden god in their hearts," said Brigham, "they had better stay were they are." But the majority of the settlers were well content to abide in the valley, building up towns, planting farms, and tending stock in their land of promise.

• • Oiithe 7th of December, 1848, Brigham writes in his journal- 'Some

few have caught the gold fever; I counselled such, and all the saints, to re- main in the valleys of the mountains, make improvements, build comfort- able houses, and raise grain against the days of famine and pestilence with which the earth would be visited. '

^*The gold fever first broke out in June 1848, news of the discovery be- ing brought by a party of battalion men that arrived from California in that month. In March 1849, about a dozen families departed or were preparing to depart for the mines. In March 1851, about 520 of the saints were gath- ered at Payson, Utah county, most of them for the purpose of moving to California. Utah Early Records, MS., 31, 69, 122. ​

In the autumn of 1847 one Thomas Grover arrived with his family on the bank of a stream twelve miles north of Salt Lake City, and now called Centreville Creek. His intention was to pasture stock for the winter; and for this purpose a spot was chosen where the stream spreading over the surface forms plats of meadow-land, the soil being a black, gravelly loam. Here Grover, joined by others in the spring, resolved to remain, though in the neighborhood were encamped several bands of Indians, and this notwithstanding that as yet there was no white settlement north of Salt Lake City. Land was ploughed and sown in wheat and vegetables, the crops being more promising than those to the south. But in May of the following year the settlers were startled, not by the war-whoop of the Utahs, but by hordes of black monster crickets, swarming down from the bench-lands, as at Salt Lake City, and bringing destruction on field and garden. They turned out to do battle with the foe; ditches were dug around the grain-fields, and the ​

water of the stream diverted into them, while men, women, and children, armed with clubs, checked the advance of the devouring host. Enough of the crop was saved to supply the wants of the settlers, and their energy, on this occasion, coupled with a supposed

St'TTLEMENTS AT THE EnD OF 1852.

miraculous visitation of gulls, probably saved a fore- taste of the disaster of 1848/ A site for a town was

^ After this incident the water in the creek began to fail, thus for a time preventing the growth of the se'tlement. In 1880 there was a good flow of water, sutlicient for the wants of 1 ^rty families, with their orcliards, gardens, and farm lands. N. T. Porter, in Utah Sketches, MS., 177​

surveyed in the autumn of 1849, and the place was named Centreville.

Near Centreville, in what was afterward Davis county, a settlement was begun in the spring of 1848 by Peregrine Sessions, the place being called Boun- tiful.2

As early as 1841 the country round where the city of Ogden was laid out was held as a Spanish grant by Miles M. Goodyear, who built a fort, consisting of a stockade and a few log houses, near the confluence of the Weber and Ogden rivers.^ On the 6th of June, 1848, James Brown, of the battalion, coming from California with $5,000, mostly in gold-dust, pur- chased the tract from Goodyear.* As it was one of the most fertile spots in all that region, grain and vegetables being raised in abundance, not only num- bers of the brethren from Salt Lake City, but after a while gentiles from the western states, settled there. In August 1850 Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, and others laid out the city of Ogden, so called from the name of the river.^ The

^ A little to the south of Centreville was a small settlement which at first went by the name of Call's settlement, afterward taking the name Bountiful. Utcih Early Records, MS., 132. In Sloan's Utah Gazetteer, 130-1, it is stated that there were three settlements of this name — East, West, and South Boun- tiful — West Bountiful being settled in 1848 by James Fackrell and his fam- ily. South Bountiful by George Meeyers and Edwin Page. All are now on the line of the Utah Central railroad. In January of this year Sessions also founded a settlement which bore his name, about 15 miles north of S. L. City. Harruon's Crit. Notes on Utah, MS., 45.

^ The tract is described as commencing at the mouth of Weber CaQon, following the base of the mountains north to the hot springs, thence westward to the Great Salt Lake, along the southern shore of the lake to a point opposite Weber Canon, and thence to the point of beginning. Stanford's Ogden City, MS., 1; Richards' Narr., MS., passim.

• Some say for $1,950; others place the amount at $3,000. See Richards'

2sarr., MS.; Stanford's Ogden City, MS.

'•>Utah Early Records, MS., 112. See also S. L. C. Contributor, ii. 240; and Deseret Aews, Sept. 7, 1850. Stanford's Ogden City, MS., 1-2. The site was selected as early as Sept. 1849, on the south side of the Ogden River, at the point of bench-land between the forks of the Ogden and Weber rivers, so that water from both streams might be used for irrigation. Utah Early Records, MS., 94. North Ogden, formerly called Ogden Hole, once the resort of a noted desperado, was laid out in 1851. Amos Maj'cock, in Utah S/cetches, ]MS., 114. 'Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards,'j. M. Grant, Brigham Young, and several others ascended a sand hill, Sept. 3d, to discover the lest location for a town, which we finally decided should be on the south sidi af ​

president urged the people to move at once to their city lots, and to build for themselves substantial dwellings, a meeting-house, and a school-house, to fence their gardens and plant fruit-trees, so that the place might become a permanent settlement, and the headquarters of the northern portion of the territory. Before the end of the year a log structure was finished, which served for school and meeting house, and soon after- ward the settlers commenced to build a wall for pro- tection against the Indians, completing it about three years later at a cost of some $40,000.^ So rapid was the growth of the town, that in 1851 it was made a stake of Zion,^ divided into wards, and incorporated by act of legislature.^

In 1848 Isaac Morley and two hundred others set- tled in the southern part of the valley of the Sail Pete^ — particulars to be mentioned hereafter.

In the spring of 1849 a stockade was built and log houses erected by the pioneer settlers of Utah count}- , numbering about thirty families,^*' near the Timpano- gos or Provo River, and below the point where a small creek issuing from it discharges into Lake Utah. To

0£Tden. . .A dance was instituted in the evening.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1S49, 124.

6 Raised by taxation. Stanford's Ogden City, MS., 4.

'Of which Lorin Farrwas appointed president, and R. Dana and David B. Dillie councillors. Id., 3.

^ The first municipal election was held on Oct. 23d, Farr being chosen mayor, Gilbert Belnap marshal, David Moore recorder, and William Critchellow jus- tice of the peace. Four aldermen and twelve councillors were also elected. Id., 4. According to the statement of John Brown, a resident of Ogden in 1884, there were 100 families in Ogden in 1852. Brown, a native of York- shire, England, came to Winter Quarters in 1849, remained in the church for 21 years, and was then cut off at his own request. In 1883 he was tlie propri- etor of the hotel which bears his name. Two miles north of Ogden a settle- ment named Lynne was formed in 1849. Stanford's Weber Co., MS., 1. Near Lynne a few families formed a settlement named Slaterville in 18r)2-3, but on account of troubles with Indians, moved into Lynne in 1854. Id. , 3. Eight miles south-east of Ogden, at the mouth of Weber Canon, on the line of the rail- way, a small settlement named Easton was formed in 1852, a branch of the church organized, and A. Wadsworth appointed bishop. Three miles north- west of Ogden a settlement named Marriotsville was formed in 1850 by three families. The neighborhood was infested with wolves and bears, and near by were the lodges of 200 Indian warriors. Id., 10.

3 So called from the name of an Indian chief. Pdchards' Narr., MS., G6.

^o Under the leadership of John and Isaac Higbee and Jefferson Hunt of the battalion. Albert Jones, in Utah Sketches, MS ​., 54.

this settlement was given the name of Fort Utah. Witliin the space enclosed by the stockade was a mound, the top of which was levelled, and on a plat- form built thereon were mounted several twelve- pounders for the purpose of intimidating the Indians. But the Indians were not to be thus intimidated. In the autumn they began to steal the grain and cattle of the white men, and one of their number being killed while in the act of pilfering, hostilities broke out and the fort was soon in a state of siege.

Indeed, ill feeling on the part of the Indians had begun to show itself the previous year. Vasquez and Bridger wrote to Brigham on the 17th of April, 1849, that the Utes were badly disposed toward Americans, and that chiefs Elk and Walker were urging the Utes to attack the settlements in Utah Valley. The brethren were advised to protect themselves, but if the Indians were friendly, to teach them to raise grain, and "order them to quit stealing." Brigham was persuaded that Bridger was his enemy, and ex- pressed the conviction that he and the other moun- taineers were responsible for all the Indian trouble, and that he was watching every movement of the Mormons and reporting to Thomas H. Benton at Washington.^^ Alexander Williams and D. B. Hunt- ington were empowered by the council to trade ex- clusively with the Indians on behalf of the community.

On the 31st of January, 1850, Isaac Higbee, of Fort Utah, reported at Salt Lake that the Indians of Utah Valley had stolen fifty or sixty head of cattle or horses, threatening further depredations, and asked permission to chastise them, which was granted. Gen- eral Daniel H. Wells then called for volunteers from the militia, and on the 4th of February Captain George D. Grant started with a company for Utah Fort, followed soon after by Major Andrew Lytle.

" 'I believe that old Bridger is death on us, and if he knew that 400,000 Indians were coming against us, and any man were to let us know, he would cut his throat . . . His letter is all bubble and froth . . . Vasquez is a difl'ereut Bortof man.' BiiC. B. Young, MS., 1S49, 77. ​

The Indians were attacked on the 8th, and took refuge in a log house, whence they were dislodged next day, and driven into the thicket along the Provo River. In this encounter Joseph Higbee was killed, and Alexander Williams, Samuel Kearns, Albert Miles, Jabez Nowland, and two men named Orr and Stevens were wounded.

On the 11th the Indians fled from the thicket to Rock Canon, whither the volunteers pursued them; but failing to find them, the white men proceeded to the west and south sides of Utah Lake, and shot all they could find there.

During the expedition twenty-seven warriors were killed. The women and children threw themselves upon the settlers for protection and support, and were fed and cared for in Salt Lake City until spring. Thus Utah Valley was entirely rid of hostile Indians. Until 1852 there was no further trouble with them of a serious nature ;^^ and thus ended the first Indian war of Utah, which like all the others was rather a tame aflair. It was the mission of the Mormons to convert the Indians, who were their brethren, and not to kill them.

Later in the year was founded the city of Provo,^* somewhat to the eastward of Fort Utah, near the western base of the Wasatch Mountains, on a site where timber and pasture were abundant,^^ and where the gradual fall of the Timpanogos affords excellent water-power. In March 1851 it was organized as a stake of Zion. The settlement was pushed forward with the energy characteristic of the settlers. Be- fore the close of 1850 more than twenty dwellings

12 ' I was ordered not to leave that valley until every Indian was out of it.' Wells' Narr., MS., 45-6.

1^ At a general conference of the church, held in October 1849, it waa ordered that a city he laid out in the Utah Valley, and called Provo. Utah Early Records, MS., 97.

1* A heavy growth of cotton- wood and box elder covered the river bottom, with a large belt of cedar extending some four miles north from tlie river and about half a mile in width. Bunch grass was very plentiful. Albert Jones, in Utah Sketches, ^MS. , 55. ​

had been completed;'^ and before the end of 1851 the place began to wear the appearance of a town, among the buildings in course of erection being a flouring-mill and two hotels; manufactures were started; all were busy the livelong day at farm or workshop, and in the evening, writes Elder Isaac Higbee, in February 1852, "We have on Monday singing-school, on Tuesday lyceum, on Wednesday seventies' meeting, on Thursday prayer-meeting, on Friday spelling-school, and on Saturday the meeting of the lesser priesthood. "^^

On Dry Creek, near the head of Lake Utah and about sixteen miles northwest of Provo, a settlement was formed in 1851, named Evansville." The neighbor- ing lands were surveyed in lots of forty acres, and to each new settler as he arrived was given a plat of this size until the tract was exhausted. The soil was rich ; but here, as elsewhere in the northern part of Utah county, water was scarce. A supply was obtained by diverting a portion of the waters of American Fork creek,^^ and thereafter the affairs of the settlement prospered so rapidly that, in February 1852, the place was incorporated under the name of Lehi, or as it is sometimes written, Lehigh.

South-east of Lehi, on a plain about three miles east of Lake Utah, was founded, in 1850, a settle-

^^Deseret News, Jan. 24, 1852. Ross R. Rogers luilt the first adobe house in ISjI. Albert Jones, in Utah Sketches, MS., 53. A large building was erected in 1852 for George A. Smith, the prophet's cousin, then pi-esident of Utah CO. stake. It was afterward used as a school-house and known as the seminary. In 1851 an adobe wall was commenced, 14 feet iu height and four feet at the base. Three sides of it, with bastions, port-holes, and gates, were completed iu 1855, the finished length being then two and a half miles. A portion of this wall remained in 18S0. Id., 57. These walla were built aljout several of the settlements. ' It was usual for our people to protect themselves by building what we call a fort — a place the people could get into in tlie event of a raid. Our wall was a kind of concrete. In Mount Pleasant their walls were built of cobble rock, parts of which are now standing. At that place they put a grist-mill inside, so the Indiana couldn't cut them off. At Neplii the Indians did cut them off from their grist-mill.' Wells' Narr., MS., 60.

« Letter in DescrH News, Feb. 21, 1852,

" A few houses were built on an adjacent site by David Savage and others in 1850. David Evans, iu Utah Sketches, MS., 37.

" By a ditch seven milea in length. ​

meiit first known as Battle Creek, and afterward called Pleasant Grove. It was here that the first engage- ment with the natives occurred. Captain Scott with a band of thirty or forty men started south in pursuit of Indians who had stolen fourteen horses from Orr's herd, on Wilson Creek, in Utah Valley, and several cattle from Tooele Valley. The band was found en- camped on a creek in the midst of willows and dense brushwood in a deep ravine. After a desultory fight of three or four hours, four Indians were killed, but none of the settlers. As was their custom, the women and children of the slain followed the victorious party to their camp.^^

In the neighborhood of Pleasant Grove were good farming land, good range for stock, and water-power, inducements which quickly attracted emigrants, and caused the place to thrive rapidly. In 1853 the pres- ent site was laid out,'^ and to this spot were transferred, on July 24th of that year, the efl:ects of the commu- nity, then numbering seventy-five families.

Between Lehi and Pleasant Grove the village of American Fork was founded in 1850, on a site where were farming and grazing land of fair quality, a little timber, springs of fresh water, and a stream that could be easily diverted for purposes of irrigation. ^^

About twenty miles south of Provo the settlement of Payson was laid out on the banks of the Peteetneet Creek ;^^ a few miles to the north-east of Payson was founded a village named Palmyra, containing, at the close of 1 852, fifty families; and in 1851, on Salt Creek,

'^TUsl. B. Young, MS., 1849, 24-5; John Brown, in Utah Sketches, MS., 30. The first Indian trouble was a little skirmish between some sheep-herders and Indians. Wells' Narr., MS., 43.

^^ By George A. Smith and Ezra T. Benson.

^' The site was laid out by George A. Smith, assisted by L. E. Harrington, Arza Adams, Stephen Chipraan, William GreeuM^ood, and Stephen Mott. A. J. Stewart was the surveyor. The first house was built by Adams and Chip- man in 1850; the first grist-mill by Adams in 1851; and the first store was opened by Thomas McKenzie in the same year. L. E. Harrington, in Utah Sketches, MS., 121.

■■'^ The first settlers were James Pace, Andrew Jackson Stewart, and John C. Searle. Joseph S. Tanner, in Utah Sketches, MS., 3. ​

twenty-five miles to tlie soutli, the site of Neplii, in Juab county, was first occupied by Joseph L. Hey- wood. Nephi was surveyed in the autumn of 1852, the spot being selected on account of its beauty and con- venience. A fort was afterward built, surrounded by a wall twelve feet in height and six feet at the base.^^ Through this town passed the old California or south- ern road made by the pioneers in 1849; and here, in cabins built of mud and willows, lived, at the close of 1852, more than forty families.^*

I have mentioned that Isaac Morley with two hundred settlers went into the San Pete country in 1848. On the 14th of June, 1849, a council was held at Salt Lake City, at which were present a Ute chief named Walker,^^ and twelve of his tribe. After the pipe of peace had been passed around, Walker declared himself a friend of the settlers, and asked their sachem to send a party southward to the valley of San Pete, where they might teach his people how to build and farm. Within six moons," answered Brigham, "I will send you a company." In the spring of this year the party sent to explore this valley had already selected the site of the present town of Manti, on a branch of the San Pete Creek, though there was little in the neighborhood to invite the settler, sage brush and rabbit brush, the red man and the coyote, being

^* Its length was 420 rods, and its cost $8,400. Portions of it remained in 1880. Geo. Teasdale, in Id., 111.

^* The first settler was Timothy B. Foote, who, with his wife and six chil- dren, took up his abode in this neighborhood in the autumn of 1851. Before the end of the year he was joined by seven other families. Id., 107; and be- fore the end of 1852, 35 additional families settled at Nephi. Deseret News, Dec. 11, 1852.

^•^ ' Walker was the chief of the Ute Indians . . . Uinta was the great chief of this region, and Ora was the head chief of the Ute nation. . .Walker's head- quarters were the Sevier, generally; he would paj'^ a visit to San Pete once a year.' Wells Narr., MS., 48, 56. 'Walker used to go into California to steal horses; had a place of concealment among the mountains. At one time, while there, people were so incensed that they turned out to capture him and his band. In the dead of night he quietly took possession of tlieir horses and trappings and came into Utah triumphant. He would boast of his proceed- ings some time later. He never brought stolen goods into the settlements, but secreted them among his people.' IJtali Notes, MS., 8. ​

the principal features. In November the town was laid out.^^ The name of Manti was suggested by Brigham, who declared that on this spot should be raised one of the cities spoken of in the book of Mor- mon, and here he built with his own hands an adobe house, which in 1883 was still pointed out to visitors as one of the curiosities of the place. ^^

On Chalk Creek, in Pahvan Valley, south-west of Manti and about a hundred and fifty miles from Salt Lake City, a site was chosen by Brigham, in October 1851, for the capital of the territory, and named Fill- more, in honor of the president.^^ During 1852 the foundations of the state-house were laid, and many private buildings erected, the settlement numbering about seventy families at the close of the year.

In the autumn of 1849, John Bowberry, Cyrus Tolman, and others set forth from Salt Lake City to explore the country west of the Jordan Valley, in search of grazing lands whereon to pasture their stock. Crossing the mountain range which forms the western boundary of Cedar and Jordan valleys, ^^ they discovered a spot where grass, timber, and water were abundant, and encamped for the winter on the banks of a stream now called Emigrant Canon creek. Beturning in the spring, they made their report to Brigham, who recommended them to form a settle- ment in that neighborhood. To this the men con- sented. "By what name will you call it?" asked the

^^ Including 110 blocks, each 26 rods square, with eight lots to each block. Utah Early liecords, MS., 111. The site was surveyed by Jesse W. Fox, un- der Brigham 's direction. J. B. Maiben, in Utah Sketches, MS., 172.

^' In June 1852 a fort was completed, the walls being eight feet high and two feet thick. De.-^eret News, July 10, 1832.

^^In the Deseret News of Jan. 24, 1852, is a letter to Brigham from Anson Call, one of the first settlers, dated Nov. 24, 1851. 'We have had an addi- tion of three to our camp since you left; have built a corral according to your instructions, including about two and a half acres of ground. We found, upon trial, that the ground was so dry and hard, being also rocky, that it was next to an impossibility to stockade or picket in our houses with the tools we have to work with; so we have built our houses in close order, having our doors or windows on the outside.'

^*Novv called the Oquirrh Mountains, Oquirrh being probably an Indian word. ​

■president. Tolmari suggested Cedar Valley, a large belt of cedar having been found there; but Brighani recommended Tule, as reeds were plentiful in that neighborhood. And so it was ordered; and this word, spelled Tooele by Thomas Bullock, the president's private secretary, is still applied to the town, the site of which was discovered by Rowberry and his comrades.^*'

In the winter of 1849-50, Edward Phillips and John H. Green proceeded northward from Salt Lake City, intending to settle in the neighborhood of Ogden. When within twelve miles of that place, the snow-drifts prevented further progress, and turn- ing aside to Sandy Creek, or as it was later termed, Kay Creek, where the land was covered with bunch- grass, they resolved to take up their abode in that neighborhood. After passing the winter in Salt Lake City, the two men set forth in the spring of 1850, ac- companied by William Kay and others, and founded the settlement of Kaysville.^^ In September it was organized as a ward, Kay being appointed bishop, with Green and Phillips as councillors.^^

In the winter of 1849-50, it was ordered by the first presidency that Parley P. Pratt, with a company of fifty men, should explore the southern part of the ter- ritory in the neighborhood of Little Salt Lake. They found the brethren at Manti well pleased with their location, there being a good stone quarry and an abun-

The site was surveyed by Jesse W. Fox, under Rowberry's direction. The first house was built by Tolman, who in partnership witli Rowberry erected a saw-mill nine miles north of the settlement. The first grist-mill was built by Ezaias Edwards, and the first store opened by Isaac Lee. John Rowberry and F. M. Lyman, in Utah Sketches, MS., 150. A meeting-house 24 feet square had been finished in ISIarch 18.12. Deseret New>^, April 17, 1852. Twelve miles to the west of Tooele was a small settlement named Grantsville.

^* From 5 bushels of club-wheat, planted during this year, 250 bushels were raised. Edward Phillips, in Utah Sketches, Sl-2.

■'^ A mile and a half south of Sandy Creek was a herd-house, the property of S. 0. Holmes. Near this spot a fort was built, surrounded with a mud ​wall.

dance of cedar at hand. At the Sevier River they met Charles Shumway, James Allred, and Ehjah Ward; also Walker, the Utah war chief, and his people, many of whom were sick with the measles. They proceeded to explore the country for some distance round. On the 1st of January, 1850, they were on Virgen River, whence they passed up the Santa Clara, and came to "the valley subsequently named Mountain Meadows." One division of the party explored Little Salt Lake. Beaver Creek was pronounced an excellent place for a settlement. In a half-frozen condition they reached Provo the 30th, and next day some of them were in Salt Lake.

The report of Parley being favorable, a party of about one hundred and seventy persons, well sup- plied with wagons, implements, live-stock, seeds, and provisions,^^ set forth, in charge of George A. Smith, on the 7th of December, 1850, toward the south; and on Centre Creek, in a valley of the Wasatch Range, about two hundred and fifty miles from Salt Lake City, built a fort near the site of the pres- ent town of Parowan.^* Pasture and timber were plentiful, the soil was of good quality, and in the sea- son of 1851 a bountiful harvest was gathered from about one thousand acres of land.^^ The main attrac- tion, however, was the immense deposits of magnetic iron ore found in the neighboring mountains. In May, Brigham and others visited Parowan and ad- dressed the people in the fort. The Indian name Parowan was then recommended and adopted. Brig-

'^ John Urie, in Utah Sketches, MS., 88, says that there were 119 men and 48 women and children, with 101 wagons, .3U8 oxen, 146 cows, and about 22 tons of seed; that they were well supplied with implements, and had 300 lbs of flour per capita. Richards, in Utah Early liecords, MS., 117, men- tions 1G3 souls, of whom 30 were women.

3* James G. Bleak, in Utah Sketches, MS., 67-8. On the south-east corner of the fort a meeting-house in the shape of a St Andrew's cross was built of hewn logs. Utah Early Records, MS., 163. The name was first spelt Paroan. Frontier Guardian, Aug. 8, 1851. A view of the fort, with Little Salt Lake in the distance, painted by W. Majors, was presented by Brigham Young to the Descret University in 1870. Contributor, ii. 270.

'^In the Deseret News of March 6, 1852, is an account of the pioneer anni- versary celebrated at Parowan on July 24, 1851. ​

ham urged the people to buy up the Lamanite children as rapidly as possible, and educate thera in the gospel, for though they would fade away, yet a remnant of the ^-eed of Joseph would be saved.^*^

At Cedar City — or, as it was then called, Cedar Fort — seventeen miles to the south-west of Parowan, a furnace was built in 1852, but at the close of the year stood idle for lack of hands. ^^ Here, in May 1851, coal had been discovered near what was then known as the Little Muddy, now Coal Creek. In November of that year the site was occupied ^^ by a company from Parowan. The winter was passed amid some privation, mainly from lack of warm clothing; but on the 30th of January a dry-goods pedler making his appearance — probably the first who had ventured so far south into the land of the Utahs — the settlers were soon clad in comfort.^^ In October it was re- solved to move the settlement to a point farther to the west and south, and before the end of the year a number of iron-workers and farmers arrived from Salt Lake City.**'

In 1851 a party under Simeon A. Carter, sent to explore the country north of Ogden, founded a small settlement at Box Elder Creek.'*^ The soil was of the

'^Hisl. B. Young, ^MS., 1851, 46. On the same page is mentioned the first use in the country of the stone-coal at Parowan, used in blacksmith work.

^'George A. Smith, in Frontier Guardian, Aug. 8, 1851, and in Deseret News, Dec. 11, 1S52.

^^This valley had been explored as early as 1847. In December of that year, a party of the pioneers passed through it, as already mentioned, on their way to California to purchase live-stock and provisions.

^'Building progressed rapidly, and during the following summer one Burr Frost, a blacksmitia from Parowan, started the manufacture of iron, making nails enough to shoe a hovse. Deseret News, Nov. 27, 1852.

^'John Urie, in Utah Sketches, ^IS., 93-4. See also Deseret News, July 24, 1852. The scarcity of nails hindered building. Workmen were brough"; from England to manufacture them from native ore, but the experiment failed; as the work could not be done on a sufficiently large scale to make it profit- able, and it was abandoned. Years later, when the soldiers were ordered away from Camp Floyd, the settlers bought old iron cheap, and nails were manu- factured to advantage. The price in market then was 30 or 40 cts a lb.; afterward the railroad brought them in and they were sold at 3 to 5 cents a pound.

" About 60 miles north of Salt I.ake City. A. Christensen, in Utah Sketches, M ​S., 102.

poorest, but near by were a few spots of meadow and farm land, on which, with irrigation, a fair crop could be raised. A number of emigrants, principally Welsh and Scandinavian, joined the party, and two years later a new site was surveyed*^ under the direction of Lorenzo Snow. To the town then laid out was after- ward given the name of Brigham City.

A few weeks later a small settlement was formed about five miles south of this point, and in 1853 was removed to the present site of Willard City.^

On Red Creek, about twenty miles north of Cedar City, a small settlement was formed in the autumn of 1852, named Paragoonah, the Pi-Ede name for Little Salt Lake.^* Six miles south of Cedar City, Fort Walk- er was built, containing at the close of 1851 only nine men capable of bearing arms; and on Ash Creek, nine- teen miles farther south, was Fort Harmony, the southernmost point in the valley occupied by white men/^ and where John D. Lee located a rancho in 1852.

• '^ Tn blocks of six acres, each lot being half an acre.

^^ The first settlers on the old site were Jonathan S. Wells, who built the first house, and was the first to commence farming, Elisha Mallory, who with his brother Lemuel built the first grist-mill, M. McCrearj', Alfred Walton, and Lyman B. Wells. George W. Ward, in Utah Sketches, MS., 44-5. The city was named after Willard Richards. Jiichards' Narr., MS., 67.

" In December, 15 or 20 families had settled there. Deseret Neivs, Dec. 11, 1852. On June 12, 1851, a company with a few wagons started for this point from Salt Lake City. Utah Early Records, MS., 128.

" This settlement was 20 miles north of the Rio Virgen. It was thought that the route to California might be shortened by way of the fort about 35 miles. Deseret News, Dec. 11, 1852. In addition to those mentioned in the text, a number of small settlements had been made in various parts of the ter- ritory. Farmington, now the county seat of Davis co., and on the line of the Utah Central railroad, was first settled in 1848 by D. A. Miller and four others. In 1849 it was organized as award. Mill Creek, in S. Lake co., was settled in 1848-9 by John Neff and nine others; Alpine City and Springville, in Utah co., in 1850, the former by Isaac Houston with ten others, the latter by A. Johnson and three comrades. Santaquin, in the same county, was set- tled in 1852; abandoned in 1853 on account of Indian raids, and reoccupied in 1856 by B. P. Johnson and 23 associates. The site of Harrisville, a few miles north of Ogden, was occupied in the spring of 1850 by Ivin Stewart, abandoned the same autumn on account of an Indian outbreak, and resettled in 1851 by P. G. Taylor and others. In 1883 Taylor was bishop of this ward. Slatcrville, in Weber county, was first settled in the fall of 1850 by Alex. Kelley, who was soon afterward joined by several families; in 1853 — the year of the Walker war— it was abandoned, the inhabitants taking refuge in Bing- ham Fort, but was again occupied in 1854. South Weber, in the same county. ​

SYSTEM OF COLONIZATION". 319

Thus we see that within less than two years after the founding of Salt Lake City, the population there had become larger than could be supported in com- fort on the city lots and the lands in their vicinity, and it had been found necessary to form new settlements toward the north and south, the latter part of the territory being preferred, as water, pasture, and land lit for tillage were more abundant. Instead of merely adding suburb to suburb, all clustering around the par- ent centre, as might have been done by other com- munities, the church dignitaries, while yet Salt Lake City was but a village, ordered parties of the brethren, some of them still barely rested from their toilsome journe} across the plains, to start afresh for remote and unprotected portions of a then unknown country. As new locations were needed, exploring parties were sent forth, and when a site was selected, a small com- pany, usually of volunteers, was placed in charge of an elder and ordered to make ready the proposed settle- ment. Care was taken that the various crafts should be represented in due proportion, and that the expe- dition should be well supplied with provisions, imple- ments, and live-stock.

When, for instance, at the close of 1850, it had been resolved to form a settlement in the neighbor- hood of Little Salt Lake, a notice appeared in the Deselect News of November 16th, giving the names of those who had joined the party, and calling for a hun- dred additional volunteers. They must take*with them 30,000 pounds of breadstuffs, 500 bushels of seed wheat, 34 ploughs, 50 horses, 50 beef-cattle, 50 cows, and 25 pairs of holster pistols; each man must be supplied with an axe, spade, shovel, and hoe,*^ a gun and 200 rounds

■was located in 1851 by Robt Watts and nine others. Uintah, at the mouth of Weber Cauon, was settled in 1850 by Dan. Smith and a few others. It was first called East Weber, and received its present name on the 4th of March, 1SG7, at which date the Union Pacific railroad was finished to this point. Sloan's Utah Gazetteer, 1884, passim. Of the above settlements, those which became prominent will be mentioned later.

^The party must also have 17 sets of dra§ teeth, and of grain and grass scythes, sickles, and pitchforks, 50 «ach. , " ​

.4

of ammunition. Among them there should be five carpenters and joiners, a millwright, a surveyor, and two blacksmiths, shoemakers, and masons. Thus equipped and selected, the settlers, with their marvel- lous energy and thrift, made more progress and suf- fered less privation in reclaiming the waste lands of their wilderness than did the Spaniards in the garden spots of Mexico and Central America, or the English in the most favored regions near the Atlantic sea- board.

A company was organized in March 1851, at the suggestion of Brigham, to go to California and form the nucleus of a settlement in the Cajon Pass, where they should cultivate the olive, grape, sugar-cane, and cotton, gather around them the saints, and select locations on the line of a proposed mail route.*^ The original intention was to have twenty in this company, with Amasa M. Lyman and C. C. Rich in charge. The number, however, reached over five hundred, and Brigham's heart failed him as he met them at start- ing. "I was sick at the sight of so many of the saints running to California, chiefly after the god of this world, and was unable to address them."*^

• 'In Hist. B. Young, MS., 1851, 85, it is stated that, at the next session

of congress, it was expected that a mail route would be established to San Diego by way of Parowan. At this date there was, as we shall see later, a monthly mail between S. L. City and Independence, Mo. There was also a mail to Sacramento, leaving that and S. L. City on the 1st of each month, a bi-inontlily mail to The Dalles, Or., a weeklj' mail to the San Pete valley, and a semi-weekly mail to Brownsville.

« Hist. B. Young, MS., 1851, 14. The object of the establishment of this colony was that the people gathering to Utah from the Islands, and even Europe, might have an outfitting post. In 1853, Keokuk, Iowa, on the Mis- sissippi River, was selected by the western-bound emigrants as a rendezvou3 and place of outfitting. ​

CHAPTER XIV.

EDUCATION, MANUFACTURES, COMMERCE, AGRICULTURE, SOCIETY.

1850-1852.

BOUSDAKIES AND EXTENT OF UtAH— CONFIGURATION AND PHYSICAL FeAT-

tnuEs OF THE Country — Its Lands and Waters-^Iora and Fauna — State University — Curriculum— Educational Ideas — Library — Periodicals — Tabernacle and Temple — New Fort — Progress of the Useful Arts — Mills, Factories, and Manufactures— Farm Prodccts — Traffic— Population — Revenue — Mortality — Healthful Aies and Medicinal Springs.

In the year 1850 Utah, bounded on the south and east by New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska, on the west by CaHfornia, on the north by Oregon, which then included Idaho, was one of the largest territories in the United States. Its length from east to west was 650 miles, its breadth 350 miles, and its area 145,- 000,000 acres. The portion known as the great basin, beyond which were no settlements in 1852, has an elevation of 4,000 to 5,000 feet, and is sur- rounded and intersected by mountain ranges, the high- est peaks of the Humboldt Range near its centre be- ing more than 5,000 feet, and of the Wasatch on the east about 7,000 feet, above the level of the basin.

For 300 miles along the western base of the Wasatch Range is a narrow strip of alluvial land.* Elsewhere in the valley the soil is not for the most part fertile until water is conducted to it, and some of the alkali washed out. Rain seldom falls in spring

• Gunnison's The Mormons, 15.

Hist. Utah ​. 21 (»21)

or summer, and during winter the snow-fall is not enough to furnish irrigating streams in sufi&cient num- ber and volume. Throughout the valley, vegetation is scant except in favored spots. With the exception of the Santa Clara River in the south-west, the Green River in the east, the Grand and other branches of the Colorado in the south and east, the streams all discharge into lakes or are lost in the alkali soil of the bottom-lands. On the hillsides bunch-grass is plentiful the year round, and in winter there is pas- ture in the canons. Around Salt Lake the soil is poor ; in the north and east are narrow tracts of fertile land; toward the valleys of the Jordan and Tooele, sepa- rated by the Oquirrh Range, and on the banks of the Timpanogos and San Pete, is soil of good quality, that yielded in places from sixty to a hundred bushels of grain to the acre.

The Jordan and Timpanogos furnished good water- power, and on the banks of the latter stream was built a woollen-mill that ranked as the largest fac- tory of the kind west of the Missouri River. In the Green River basin, immense deposits of coal were known to exist, and the Iron Mountains near Little Salt Lake were so called from the abun- dance of ore found in their midst. Other valuable minerals were afterward discovered, among them being gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, sulphur, alum, and borax; the waters of Great Salt Lake were so densely impreg- nated that one measure of salt was obtained from five of brine.^

In the streams were fish of several varieties;^ in

^ An analysis of the mineral matter forty years ago showed 97.8 per cent of chloride of sodium, 1.12 of sulphate of lime, .24: of magnesium, and .23 of sulphate of soda. LinforiKs Route from Liverpool, 101. The specific grav- ity of the water is given by L. D. Gale, in Stansbury^s Expedition to O. S. Lake, at 1.117. Out of 22.422 parts of solid matter Gale found 20.196 of common salt, 1.834 of soda, .252 of magnesium, and of chloride of calcium a trace. See also Sloan's Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 177-8; Hist. Nev., 11, this series. In chap. i. of that vol. is a further description of the great basin, its topography, climate, soil, springs and rivers, fauna and flora.

^ ' The angler can choose his fish either in the swift torrents of the canons, where the trout delights to live, or in the calmer currents on the plains. ​

the mountains roamed the deer, elk, antelope, and bear, and on the marshy flats amid the plains were smaller game/ Timber was scarce and of poor quality, except in places difficult of access;^ but with this ex- ception there was no great lack of resources in the territory which the saints had made their abode.

During the first years that followed their migration, while yet engaged in building houses, fencing lands, planting crops, and tending herds, the Mormons pro- vided liberally for the cause of education. In the third general epistle of the twelve, dated the 12th of April, 1850, it is stated that an appropriation of $5,000 per annum, for a period of twenty years, had been made for a state university^ in Salt Lake City, branches to be established elsewhere throughout the territory as they were needed. In the curriculum the Keltic and Teutonic languages were to rank side by side with the Romanic, and all living languages spoken by men were to be included. Astronomy, geology, chemistry, agriculture, engineering, and other branches of science were to be studied; for having sought first the kingdom of heaven, the saints were now assured that knowledge and all other things should be added unto them.^ The world of science was to be revolu-

where he will find abundance of the pike, the perch, the bass, and the chub. Gunnisoii's The Mormons, 20.

• Wild ducks and geese were abundant in 1852. Ibid. There were also

quail and herons. lu summer, boys filled their baskets with eggs found among the reeds on the banks of streams or on the islands in the Great Salt Lake.

• * Hidden away in tlie profound chasms and along the streams, whose

beds are deeply worn in the mountain-sides, are the cedar, pine, dwarf-maple, and occasionally oak, where the inhabitants of the vale seek their kxel and building timber, making journeys to obtain these necessaries twenty to forty miles from their abodes.' Id., 21.

^ Under the supervision and contrpl of a chancellor, twelve regents, a sec- retary, and a treasurer. Frontier Guardian, June 12, 1850. t

' ' But what,' says Phelps in an oration delivered July 24, 1851, 'will all the precious things of time, the inventions of men, the records, £rom Japheth in the ark to Jonathan in congress, embracing the wit and the gist, the fashions and the folly, which so methodically, grammafipally, and transcendentaily grace the libraries of the 6lite of nations, really be worth to a saint, when our father sends down his regents, the angels, from the grand library of Zion above, with a copy of the history of eternal lives, the records of worlds, the genealogy of the gods, the philosophy of truth, the names of our spirits from ​

tionized ; the theories of gravitation, repulsion, and attraction overthrown, the motion of atoms, whether single or in mass, being ascribed to the all-pervading presence of the holy spirit. The planetary systems were to be rearranged, their number and relations modified, for in the book of Abraham it was revealed that in the centre of the universe was the great orb Kolob, the greatest of all the stars seen by that pa- triarch, revolving on its axis once in a thousand years, and around which all other suns and planets revolved in endless cycles.^

At first, however, education among the settlers was mainly of an elementary nature. There were many, even among the adults, who could not write or spell, and not a few who could not read. A parents' school was therefore established at Salt Lake City, for the heads of families and for the training of teachers, among the pupils being Brigham Young.^ Primary and other schools were opened in all the principal settlements,^" and for those who were suffi- ciently advanced, classes were organized as early as the winter of 1848-9, for the study of ancient and modern languages."

the Lamb's book of life, and the songs of the sanctified ? ' Deseret News, July 26, 1851.

•* ' I saw the stars that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones that were near it; and the Lord said unto me, These are the governing ones: and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God; I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order of that upon which thou standest. And the Lord said unto me. By the m-im and thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolution thereof, that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest.' Reynolds' Book of Abraham, 29. See also Orson Pratt's lecture on astronomy in Deseret News, Dec. 27, 1851.

' The parent school is in successful operation in the comicil-house, and schools have been built inmost of the wards. Hist. B. Young, MS., 1851, .32; Chmnisoii's The Mormons, 80; Utah Early Records, MS., 115. Lyons Collins was appointed teacher by the chancellor and board of regents.

'"Jesse W. Fox taught the first school at Manti in 1850. Utah Sketches, MS., 172. The first school at Nephi was opened in 1851. Id., 111. The best school-house in Utah county was at Palmyra; at Provo, Evan M. Greene opened a select school in the second ward. Deseret News, Dec. 11, 1852.

• ' ' There have been a large number of schools the past winter, in which

the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Fvench, German, Tahitian, and English languages ​

In 1850, by vote of congress, twenty thousand dollars were appropriated for the building of a state-house, and the sum of five thousand dollars was appropriated for the foundation of a library in Salt Lake City. The delegate from Utah was authorized to make a selection of books, and several thousand volumes were forwarded from the east during this and the following year.^^ Rooms were prepared in the council-house for their reception, and many periodicals, both Mormon and gentile, were added to the stock of reading matter. Among the former was the Millennial Star, already mentioned, and the Frontier Guardian, published bi-monthly at Kanesville, Iowa, between February 1849 and March 1852, and afterward as a weekly paper under the style of the Frontier Guardian and Iowa Sentinel}^

have been taught successfully. First General Epistle of the Twelve, in Utah Earhj Records, MS., 74, and Frontier Guardian, May 30, 1849. 'German books were bought in order that the elders might learn that language. ' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 3.

1^ Dr Bemhisel was appointed by the president of the U. S. as special agent to expend the U. S. appropriation of §5,000. Hist. B. Young, MS., 80. Many valuable donations of maps, papers, etc., were received. Contributor, 270; G-unnison's The Mormons, ^'ii; Utah Early JRecords, MS., 130; Millennial Star, xii. 330-1. William C. Staines was appointed librarian. Deseret News, Feb. 21, 1852.

^' Of the Frontier Guardian, brief mention has already been made. The first number, published Feb. 7, 1849, with Orson Hyde as editor and proprietor, will bear comparison with many of the leading newspapers in eastern or Euro- pean cities. In the prospectus Mr Hyde states that 'it will be devoted to the news of the day, to the signs of the times, to religion and prophecy, both an- cient and modern; to literature and poetry; to the arts and sciences, together with all and singular whatever the spirit of the times may dictate. ' Published, as was the Guardian, on the extreme frontier of the states, Mr Hyde was enabled to furnish the latest news from Salt Lake City, and many valuable items have been gleaned from its pages. Glancing at them for the first time, one asks, How did he contrive to bring out his newspaper in such creditable shape, at a place which one year before was only an encampment of emigrants en route for the valley? During this year, however, Kanesville — later Flor- ence — had made very rapid progress, due, in part, to the migration to Califor- nia. Glancing over the first numbers of the Guardian, we find advertised for sale dry goods, groceries, provisions, hardware, clothing, and most of the commodities needed by emigrants. There was a hotel, a fashionable tailor, a lawyer, a doctor, and of course a tabernacle, which served for -.ocial pai-ties and religious worship. Provisions rose to very high rates, th*- igh not to the prices demanded in Salt Lake City. On Feb. 7, 1849, flour, beef, and pork were selling at Kanesville for about $2 per 100 lbs. On May 1, 1850, flour was worth §6 to $6.50, beef $3.50 to $4.50, and pork $5 to $6. Potatoes had risen meanwhile from 25 cents to $1, com from 20 cents to $2.25, and wheat from 50 cents to $1 .75, per bushel. On March 4, 1852, appeared the first num​

On the 15th of June, 1850, was published at Salt Lake City, under the editorship of Willard Richards, the first number of the Deseret News, a weekly paper, and the church organ of the saints." In this num- ber, a copy of which I have before me, is a report of the conflagration which occurred in San Francisco on Christmas eve of 1849, and of Zachary Taylor's mes- sage to the house of representatives relating to the admission of California as a state.

ber of the Frontier Guardian and Iowa Sentinel, the paper having then passed into the hands of Jacob Dawson & Co.

"Until Aug. 19, 1851, it was issued as an eight-page quarto, the pages being about 8^ by 6^ in., and without column rules. After that date it was suspended for want of paper until Nov. 19th. ' We got short of type, and I happened to have some stereotyped plates, . . .which we melted down and used for type. We were short, too, of paper, and all went to work to make it. We collected all the rags we could and made the pulp, sifted it through a sieve, and pressed it as well as we could.' Taylor's Rem., MS., 17. The terms were $5 per year, payable half-yearly in advance, single copies being sold for fifteen cents. There seems to have been some difficulty in collecting subscriptions, for in the issue of November 15, 1851, the editor states that payment will be due at the office on receipt of the iirst number, ' and no one need expect the second number until these terms are complied with, as credit will not create the paper, ink, press, or hands to labor.' In his prospectus, Richards said that the Deseret News is designed ' to record the passing events of our state, and in connection refer to the arts and sciences, embracing general education, medicine, law, divinity, domestic and political economy, and everything that may fall under our observation which may tend to promote the best interest, welfare, pleasure, and amusement of our fellow-citizens. . .We shall overtake pleasure in communicating foreign news as we have opportunity; in receiving communications from our friends at home and abroad; and solicit ornaments for the Neios from our poets and poetesses.' In the first issue is the following, perhaps by Beta, who afterward wrote a number of papers styled the Chron- icles of Utah in the Salt Lake City Contributor: To my Friends in the Valley.

Let all who would have a good paper,

Their talents and time ne'er abuse; Since 'tis said by the wise and the humored,

That the best in the world is the News,

Then ye who so long have been thinking

What paper this year you will choose, Come trip gayly up to the office

And subscribe for the Deseret News.

And now, dearest friends, I will leave you;

This counsel, I pray you, don't lose; The best of advice I can give you

Is, pay in advance for the News.

Fortunately for the prospects and reputation of the paper, such eflPusions were rare even in its early pages. The Deseret News was at first less ably edited, and inferior, as to type .and paper, to the Frontier Guardian. It appears, indeed, to have lacked support, for in the first number are only two adver- tisements, one from a blacksmith and the other from a surgeon-dentist, who also professes to cure the scurvy. In Nov. 1851 it appeared in folio and in greatly improved form; for years it was the only paper, and is still the lead- ing Mormon journal, in the territory. ​

At Salt Lake City and elsewhere throughout the country manufactures began to thrive. Isolated, poor, having brought little or nothing with them, these set- tlers were peculiarly dependent for necessaries and comforts upon themselves, and what they could do with their hands. And it would be difficult to find anywhere in the history of colonization settlers who could do more. Among them were many of the best of Europe's artisans, workers, in wood, iron, wool, and cotton, besides farmers, miners, and all kinds of laborers.

At Tooele and several other settlements grist- mills and saw-mills were established before the close of 1852.^^ Near Salt Lake City, a small woollen- mill was in operation.^^ At Parowan and Cedar City, iron-works were in course of construction; at Paragoonah, a tannery had been built; and at Salt Lake City, in addition to other branches of man- ufacture, flannels, linseys, jeans, pottery, and cutlery were produced,^^ and sold at lower prices than were asked for eastern goods of inferior quality. "Produce what you consume," writes Governor Brigham Young in his message of January 5, 1852; draw from the native elements the necessaries of life; permit no viti- ated taste to lead you into indulgence of expensive luxuries which can only be obtained by involving yourselves in debt; let home industry produce every article of home consumption."^^ This excellent advice

15 The first grist-mill built at Tooele was erected by Ezaias Edwards; in 1849 a saw-mill was built at Provo by James Porter and Alex. Williams, and in 1850 a grist-mill, by James A. Smith and Isaac Higbee. At American Fork Azra Adams built a grist-mill in 1851 ; at Mauti a grist-mill was built by Brigham Youn^ and Isaac Morley, and a saw-mill by Charles Shumway; in 1848 Samuel Parish built a grist-mill at Centre ville. Utah Sketches, MS., passim. In Salt Lake county there were, in the autumn of 1851, four grist- mills and five saw-mills. Utah Early Records, MS., 158. Near Ogden, Lorin Farr built a grist-mill and saw-mill in 1850. Stanford's Ogden City, MS., 3.

18 In March 1851 the general assembly appropriated §2,000 for this pur- pose. Utah Early Records, MS., 12.3.

1' 'Our pottery is nearly completed;. . .cutlery establishments are com- pleted.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1851, 26.

"In Id., Nov. 6, 1852, similar advice is given to the saints: 'Buynoarti cle from the stores that you can possibly do without. Stretch our means, skill, and wisdom to the utmost to manufacture what we need, beg ​inning with

was not unheeded; but the supply of home-manufac- tured goods did not, of course, keep pace with the de- mand. Such commodities as were not the products of home industry were, for the most part, obtained by barter with passing emigrants, or were brought in wagon trains by way of Kanesville;^^ though already traffic had been opened with regions far to the west- ward on either side of the Sierra Nevada. ^°

According to the United States census returns for the year 1850, the population of the valley of Great Salt Lake mustered 11,354 persons, of whom about 53 per cent were males, and 6,000 residents of Salt Lake City.^^ There were 16,333 acres under culti- vation, on which were raised 128,711 bushels of grain. The value of live-stock was estimated at $546,698, and of farming implements at $84,288. At the close of 1852, the total population was variously estimated at from 25,000 to 30,000,^^ of whom perhaps 10,000 resided in the metropolis. The assessed value of

a shoestring (if we cannot begin higher).' 'When we have manufactured an article, sell it for cash or its equivalent, as low, or lower, than it can be bought for at the stores. ' In the fifth general epistle is the following: ' Beach and Blair have opened a general manufacturing establishment; . . . are now making molasses and vinegar. Several grain and lumber mills have been erected in the various settlements, . . . chairs and various articles of furniture are multiplying,. . .two or three threshing-machines have been in successful operation.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1851, 24. 'We are going in extensively for home manufactures. My own family alone have this season manufactured over 500 yds of cloth, and the home-made frequently makes its appearance in our streets' — a great blessing, 'if it will prove an inducement to the people to depend and rely upon their own resources for their own supplies.' Id., 1852, 16.

^^ On May 1, 1851, the first train of merchandise for the season arrived in the city, laden partly with sugar, coffee, and calicoes. Utah Early Records, MS., 127.

2** On Nov. 19, 1848, Capt. Grant of the Hudson's Bay Company arrived from Fort Hall with pack-horses laden with skins, groceries, and other goods. On April 17, 1851, a small party arrived from Fort Hall in search of provi- sions and Indian trading goods. On the 10th of the same month, Col Reese sent ten or twelve wagon-loads of flour toCarson Valley for trading purposes. M, 39, 125, 127.

" The returns were made under the direction of Brigham Young, who was appointed census agent. Utah Early Records, MS., 112; Deseret News, Oct. 5, 1850.

^^ Early in 1853 the Deseret Almanac places the number at 30,000, while in Orson Pratt's Seer it is given at 30,000 to 35,000. Olshausen's Mormonen, 192. At this date it was estimated at 25,000 by the gentiles. Burton's City of the Saints, 357. Probably the Mormons exaggerated, as they desired to ​

A THRIVING COMMUNITY. 329

taxable property at the latter date was $1,160,883.80, or an average of more than $400 per capita. The entire revenue amounted to $26,690.58,^^ of which sum $9,725.87 was expended for public improvements, the encouragement of industries, or educational purposes.

Little more than five years had elapsed since the pioneer band entered the valley of Great Salt Lake, and now the settlers found themselves amidst plenty and comfort in the land of promise, where until their arrival scarce a human being was to be seen, save the Indians whose clothing was the skins of rabbits and whose food was roasted crickets.^* There was no destitution in their midst ;^^ there was little sick- ness. ^^ In these and some other respects, the wildest misstatements have been made by certain gentile writers, among them Mr Ferris, who, as we shall see, was appointed secretary for Utah.^^ In this pure

show as soon as possible a population of 100,000, which would entitle them to claim admission as a state.

'^^Not more than one tenth was collected in cash, payment being usually- made in grain. Contributor, 332. ' SeciA-ing a territorial revenue of $23,000, including merchants' licenses and tax on liquors. ' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1852, 2.

^* The most exposed parts of the country are annually run over by the fires set by the Indians to kill and roast the crickets, which they gather in summer for winter food.' Gunnison s The Mormons, 21.

"^The country was canvassed to ascertain how many inmates there would be for a poor-house, then projected. Only two were found, and the Mormons concluded that it was not yet time for such an institution. Id., 34.

^The number of deaths in the territory during the year ending June 1, 1850, was 239. U. S. Census, 1S50, 997; and in Salt Lake county, which vir- tually meant Salt Lake City, 121; in both, the mortality was therefore less than 20 per thousand, or about the average death-rate in San Francisco dur- ing recent years. jNIoreover, the population of Utah included a very large proportion of infants. Of 64 deaths reported in the Deseret News of March 8, 1851, 34 occurred between the ages of one and ten.

• ' Utah and the Mormons; the History, Government, Doctrines, Customs,

and Prospects of the Latter-day Saints; from personal observation durinrj a six months' residence at Great Salt Lake City. By Benjamin G. Ferris, late secretary of Utah Territory, Neio York, 1S54- Mr Ferris is not the first one whom in his own opinion a six months' residence in the west justifies in writ- ing a book. It was the winter of 1S52-3 which he spent there, and while professing that he writes wlioUy from an anti-Mormon standpoint, as a rule he is comparatively moderate in his expressions. The illustrations in this volume are many of them the same which are found in several other works. Beginning with the physical features of Utah, he goes through the whole range of JNIormon history, and concludes with chapters on government, doc- trines, polygamy, book of INIormon proselytizing, and society. While some- times interesting, there is little original information; and aside from what the author saw during his residence in Utah, the book has no special value. ​

naountain air, with its invigorating embrace, the aged and infirm regained the elasticity of a second youth. Here was no rank vegetation, here were no stag- nant pools to generate miasma, no vapors redolent of death, like those amid which the saints encamped on the banks of the Missouri. In the valley were mineral springs, the temperature of which ranged from 36° to 150° of Fahrenheit, some of them being prized for their medicinal properties. From the warm spring ^^ in the vicinity of Salt Lake City, waters which varied be- tween 98° in summer and 104° in winter ^^ were con- ducted by pipes to a large bath-house in the north- ern part of the city.^°

'^8 The water was analyzed in 1851 byL. D. Gale. Its specific gravity was fovmd to be 1.0112; it was strongly impregnated with sulphur, and 100 parts of water yielded 1.082 of solid matter. The specific gravity of the hot spring in the same neighborhood was 1.013, and 100 parts yielded 1.1454 of solid matter. Detailed analyses are given in Stansbury's Expedition to G. S. Lake, i. 41 9-20. An analysis of the warm spring given by Joseph T. Kingsbury in Contributor, iv. 59-60, differs somewhat from that of Gale. Further in- formation on these and other springs and mineral waters will be found in Id., iv. 86-9; Hist. Nev., 17, this series; Salt Lake Weekly Herald, July 29, 1880; S. L. C. Tribune, Jan. 5, 1878; Wheeler's Surveys, iii. 105-17; HolUster's Re- sources of Utah, 83-5; Hardy's Through Cities and Prairie, 121; Burton's City of the Saints, 222; Sac. Union, Aug. 7, I860.

^^ Contributor, iv. 59. One of the brethren, writing to Orson Hyde from Salt Lake City, Sept. 10, 1850, says that the temperature stands, winter and summer, at about 92°. Frontier Guardian, Jan. 8, 1851.

^^ On Nov. 27, 1850, the warm-spring bath-house was dedicated and opened with prayer, festival, and dance, tjtah Early Records, MS., 116.

The material for the preceding chapters has been gathered mainly from a number of manuscripts furnished at intervals between 1880 and 1885. As I have already stated, to F. D. Richards I am especially indebted for his un- remitting effort in supplying data for this volume. The period between Feb. 1846 and the close of 1851 — say between the commencement of the exodus from Nauvoo and the opening of the legislature of Utah territory — is one of which there are few authentic printed records. From Kane's The Mormons, from Fullmer's E.rpulsion, and other sources, I have gleaned a little; but as far as I am aware, no work has yet been published that gives, or pretends to give, in circumstantial detail the full story of this epoch in the annals of Mor- monism. In the Utah Early Records, M.S., I have Ijeen supplied with a brief but full statement of all the noteworthy incidents from the entrance of Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow into the valley of the Great Salt Lake to the close of the year 1851. In the Narrative of Franklin D. Richards, MS.; the Remi- niscences of Mrs F. D. Richards, MS. ; Inner Facts of Social Life in Utah, MS., by the same writer; History of Brif/hain Young, MS., which is indeed a con- tinuation of the History of Joseph Smith, or the history of tlie church; Mar- tin's Narrative, MS. — I have been kindly furnished with many details that it would have been impossible to obtain elsewlaere. Some of them I have al- ready noticed, and others I shall mention in their place.

In Reminiscences of Preaident John Taylor, MS., we have an account of the migration from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters, the organization of the various ​

companies, and much information of a miscellaneous nature, relating to house- building in Salt Lake City, the first manufactures, the location of the temple, and other matters. The manuscript also makes mention of his visit to Eng- land as a missionary in 1846, in company with Parley P. Pratt and Orson Hyde.

The Narrative of General Daniel H. Wells, MS., gives an account of the disturbances in Hancock county, the troubles at Nauvoo before the exodus, the journey to Winter Quarters, the organization of the Nauvoo legion, and of the state of Deseret; but perhaps the most valuable portion is a condensed narrative of all the Indian outbreaks between 1849 and 1864, a task for which General Wells, who during this period had charge of the Nauvoo legion and aided in suppressing some of the disturbances, is specially qualified.

]Yilford Woodruff's Journal, MS., commencing with the claims of Sidney Rigdon to the guardianship of the church, in 1846, and closing witii a sum- mary of the operations of the pioneers in the following year. Mr Woodruff gives some valuable details concerning this most interesting period in the an- nals of Mormonism. Being himself a pioneer, he furnishes minute particu- lars as to their journey and their early labors in the valley.

In A Woman^- Experiences with the Pioneer Band, by Mrs Clara Decker Young, MS., we have also some information as to the work accomplished during the single month that the pioneers remained in the valley, among other matters being the building of the old fort. Items of interest are also given concerning those who were left alone in the valley after the pioneers' departure, until the arrival of Parley Pratt's companies. Clara Decker Young, a native of Freedom, N. Y., moved with her parents to Daviess co.. Mo., in 1837, the family being driven, during the persecutions of that year, to Far West, whence they removed to Quincy, and later to Nauvoo. When 16 years of age she became the fifth wife of Brigham Young.

From the Material Progress of Utah, by William Jennings, MS., I have gathered many details as to the industrial condition of the Mormons from the earliest settlement of S. L. City up to a recent date, among them being items relating to manufactures, agriculture, stock-raising, the grasshopper plague, and the influence of the railroad on the population of Utah.

Early Justice, by John Nebeher, MS., besides describing the punishment of offenders in the days of 1847, *. hen, as I have already stated, the whipping- post was substituted for imprisonment, furnishes other material of value relating to early times. In his capacity of public complaiuer, Mr Nebeker prosecuted one culprit before the high council for stealing, and himself ad- ministered the flogging. Mr Nebeker, a native of Delaware, came to Nauvoo in the winter of 1846; crossed the plains with the first companies, and left Winter Quarters with Parley Pratt's detachment.

In The Migration and Settlements of the Latter-day Saints, by Mrs Joseph H. Home, MS. , is an account of her conversion, her experiences at Far West, Quincy, and Nauvoo, and the hardships suffered during the migration. Then follows a description of the first years in S. L. City, the food, dress, and dwellings of the saints, their make-shifts and privations, with some mention of the Mormon battalion, and the ill feeling caused by the withdrawal of 500 able-bodied men at this crisis in their affairs. Mrs Home, a native of Rain- ham, England, moved with her parents to New York (now Toronto, Canada) when ten years of age. In 1836, the year of her marriage, she was converted by the preaching of Parley and Orson Pratt, her house being afterward open to the elders, who frequently held meetings there.

From the Utah Sketches, MS. , I have gathered much information as to the founding of various settlements and their progress up to the year 1880, of which mention will be made later. Most of them were written by persons who were themselves among the earliest settlers, and of whom some are still prominent members of the several communities among which their lot was cast. In this connection may be mentioned the Brief Historical Sketch of the Settlements in Weber County, by Joseph Stanford, MS., and the Historical Sketch of Ogden City, by the same author.

In addition to the manuscripts and journals constituting the vast origina' ​

sources upon which I have drawn, I would mention also the following printed and secondary authorities: Millen. Star, iv. 187-90, v. 174-7, vi. 41-2, vii. 71-2, 87-9, 103-4, 149-53, viiL 68-71, 97-8, 102-3, 113-21, 149-58, ix. 11-22, xi. 46-7; Times and Seasons, i. 30-1, 44, 185-7, 517, ii. 273-4, 281-6, 309, 319, 321-2, 336, 355-6, 370-1, 375-7, 380-2, 417-18, 435, 617, 567-70, iii. 630-1, 666, 638, 654, 683-6, 700, 718, 733^, 743, 767-9, 775-6, 806-7, 831-2, 902-3, 919-21, 936-7, iv. 10-11, 33-6, 65-71, 154-7, 198-9, 241-78, v. 392-6, 418- 23, 455, 471-2, 536-48, 560-75, 584-99, 618-22, vi. 762, 773-80, 926, 972-3; Beadle, Life in Utah, 58-9, 63-121, 125-54, 161-2, 280; Bennett, Morm. Ex- posed, 5-10, 140-62, 188-214, 278-302, 307-40; Bertrand, Mem. Morm., 61, 65-70; Bonwick, Morm. and Silv. Mines, 3; Burton, City of Saints, ISZ-A, 433, 625-67; Busch, Gesch. Morm., 43-5, 97-113, 125-30, 205-17, 254-98; Death of the Prophets, with Offic. Doc, no. 23, in Utah Pamph. Belig.; Deseret News, 1851, Apr. 8, Nov. 29, Dec. 13, 27; 1867, July 24; 1868, July 1, Dec. 16, 30; 1869, Apr. 7, Sept. 1; 1876, Mar. 22; 1877, Nov. 14; Hall, Morm. Exposed, 7- 8, 15-16, 24-7, 28-34, 55-70, 91-9, 106-7; Tucker, Morm., 37, 167-207; Tul- lidge. Life of Young, 6-191. 204; Women of Morm., 297-300, 425-32, 443-4, 488-95; Edinburg Rev., Apr. 1854, 319-83; Ford ( Thos, Gov. III.), in Utah Tracts, no. 11; Ferris, Utah and Morm., 51, 92-107, 114-15, 137-46, 151-4. 120-30; Gunnison, Morm., 133, 115-39; Stansbury, Exped., 135-7; Green, Morm., 28-9, 36-7, 54^64; Hickman, Destroying Angel, 41-5; Hyde, Morm., 140, 144-6, 152-3, 155-7, 172-5, 183-5, 189-92; Kidder, Morm., 157-9, 182- 92; Kanesville (la). Front. Guard., 1849, Feb. 7, 21, Mar. 7, June 27, Aug. 8, Nov. 14; Id., 1850, May 1, 29, Oct. 2, 30; Id., 1852, Mar. 18, 25; Linforth, Route from Liverpool, 61-9, 72-5; Lee, Morm., 109-12, 144-8, 152-5, 167-8, 173-4, 179-80; Mackay, The Morm., 115-206; Niks' Reg., Ixix. 70, 134, Ixx. 208, 211, 327, Ixxii. 206, 370, Ixxiii. 6; Olshausen, Gesch. Mormonen, 59-65, 88-90, 100-3, 144-51, 202-34; Hon. Polynesian, ii. 1846, 91; Pratt (P.), Au- toUog., 378, 398-401, 405-6; Remy, Journey to G. S. L. City, i. 336-406, 434-8, ii. 258-63; Smucker, Hist. Morm., 119-34, 148-276, passim; Snow (Eliza), in Utah Pioneers, 33d Ann., 41-50, in Times and Seasons, iv. 287; Snoio (Lo- renzo), with Taylor, Govt of God, no. 12, 9-11; Stenhouse, Tell It AU, 306; Crimes of L. D. Saints, 11-15; Dunbar, Romance of Age, 45; Ebberts, Trapper^s Life, MS., IS; Fullmer, in Utah Tracts, no. 9. 1-40; Mather, in LippincolVs Mag., Aug. 1880; AlcGlashen, Hist. Donner Party, 34-56; Spence, Settler's Guide, 268-9; Sala, Amer. Revisited, ii. 289; Salt Lake City, Contributor, ii. 86, 134-7, 195-8, 239, 301, 354-6, 366, iii. passim, iv. 370-6; Salt Lake City, Deseret News, 1850, July 27; 1851, July 26, Aug. 19; 1852, Feb. 7, Aug. 7, 21; 1854, July 27, Aug. 3; 1855, Sept. 26; 1857, July 29, Aug. 5; 1858, June 30; Salt Lake City, Herald, 1880, July 3, 29; Salt Lake City, Telegraph, 1868, May 30, Oct. 10, 12-14; Smith, Rise, Progress, etc., 6-18, 314-22, 334-6; Smoot (Margaret S.), Experience, etc., MS., 4-5; Gal, Its Past Hist., 218-19; Tracy (Mrs N. N.), Narr., MS., 10-19; Thornton, Or. and Cal, i. 158-9; Utah Pioneer, 33d Ann., 50-2; Narrative of the Murders of the Smiths, in Utah Tracts, no. 1, passim; The Murder of Jos Smith, in Utah Tracts, no. 1, 54-5; Tyler, Hist. Morm. Battalion, passim; U. S. Ex. Doc, 24, 31 Cong. 1st Sess.; Van Tramp, Adventures, 313-38; Woodruff (W.), in Utah Pion., 33d Ann., 19-24; Ward, Mormon Fi/e. 81-4, 109-40, 165; White ( Mrs C. V.), The Mormon Prophet, etc., 4-8; Young (Ann Eliza), Wife No. 19, 5A-7 ; Marshall, Through Amer., 184; Murphy, Mineral Resour., 84-5; Miller (J), First Families, etc., 65-73; Martin ( Thos S), Narrative, etc., MS., 42; San Francisco, AltaCal., 1851, Aug. 8; Id., Cal. Star, 1848, Feb. 26; Id., Call, 1869, Sept. 5, 1877, Aug. 31; Id., Chronicle, 1881, Jan. 9; Id., Herald, 1851, Oct. 12, 1859, Nov. 15; Sacra- mento. Placer Times, 1849, May 26; Id., Union, 1855, Sept. 10, 27, 1859, Aug. 24; Portland (Or.), Telegram, 1879, Mar. 15; Salem (Or.), Argus, 1858, Feb. 13, Aug. 28; Id., Statesman, 1851, Dec. 23; Or. City (Or.), Spectator, 1846, July 4; Ogden (Utah), Freeman, 1879, May 2; Gold Hill (Nev.), News, 1872, May 1, Oct. 24; Eureka (Nev.), Leader, 1880, July 24; Carson (Nev.), State Register, 1872, Nov. 24; Rae, Westward by Rail, 125-7. ​

CHAPTER XV.

MORMONISM AND POLYGAMY.

What is Mormonism ? — Tenets of the Chubch — Sacred Books and Pebson- AGEs — Organization — Priesthood — First Presidency — The Twelve Apostles— Patriarchs — Elders, Bishops, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons — The Seventies — Stakes and Wards— Marriage — Temple Building— Tabernacle — Political Aspect — Polygamy as a Church Tenet — Celestial Marriage— Attitude and Arguments of Civili- zation — Polygamy's Reply — Ethics and Law — The Charge of Dis- loyalty — Proposed Remedies.

We are now prepared to ask the question with some degree of intelligence, What is Mormonism? In for- mulating an answer, we must consider as well the political as the religious idea. I will examine the latter first.

Mormonism in its religious aspect is simply the ac- ceptation of the bible, the whole of it, literally, and following it to its logical conclusions.

As the Christian world has advanced in civilization and intelligence these two thousand years or so, it has gradually left behind a little and a little more of its religion, first of the tenets of the Hebraic record, and then somewhat even of those of the later dispensation. Long before religionists began to question as myths the stories of Moses, and Jonah, and Job, they had thrown aside as unseemly blood-sacrifice and burnt- offerings, sins of uncleanness, the stoning of sabbath- breakers, the killing in war of women, children, and prisoners, the condemnation of whole nations to per- petual bondage, and many other revolting customs of the half-savage Israehtes sanctioned by holy writ. ​

This they did of their own accord, not because they were so commanded, but in spite of commandments, and by reason of a higher and more refined culture — a culture which had outgrown the cruder dogmas of the early ages. Then came the putting away of slavery and polygamy, the former but recently permitted in these American states, and the latter being here even now. Among the discarded customs taught and en- couraged by the new testament are, speaking in tongues, going forth to preach without purse or scrip, laying on of hands for the healing of the sick, rais- ing the dead, casting out devils, and all other miracles ; and there will be further repudiations as time passes, further ignoring of portions of the scriptures by ortho- dox sects, a further weeding out of the unnatural and irrational from things spiritual and worshipful. The tenets of the Mormon church are these : The bible is the inspired record of God's dealings with men in the eastern hemisphere; the book of Mormon is the inspired record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of this continent; the book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consists of revelations from God concerning the present dispensation to Joseph Smith, who was inspired to translate the book of Mormon and organize the church of Christ anew. Joseph Smith to the present dispensation is as Moses was to Israel; there is no conflict, either in per- sonages or books. The statements, assertions, prom- ises, and prophecies of the books, and the precepts and practices of the personages, are accepted, all of them, and held to be the revealed will to man of one and the same God, whose will it is the duty and en- deavor of his people to carry out in every particular to the best of their ability.

There are more gods than one. There are spirit- ual gifts. Not only must there be faith in Christ, but .faith in the holy priesthood, and faith in continual ​

revelation.^ Man is a free agent. The laying on of

hands for ordination, and for the healing of the sick, descends from the early to the later apostles.^ There will be a resurrection of the body and a second coming of Christ. Israel is a chosen people; there has been a scattering of Israel, and there will be a gathering. Joseph Smith was the fulfiller not only of bible proph- ecies, but of the book of Mormon prophecies, and of his own prophecies. Foreordination, election, ana dispensation of the fulness of times are held. There was an apostasy of the primitive church, and now there is a return. There was the Jerusalem of the eastern hemisphere ; on the continent of North Amer- ica is planted the new Jerusalem. Miracles obtain; also visions and dreams, signs and tokens, and angels of light and darkness. There are free spirits and spirits imprisoned; the wicked will be destroyed, and there will be a millennial reign. The saints are largely of the house of Israel, and heirs to the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The aboriginal in- habitants of America and the Pacific isles were the

^In 1S53, Benjamin Brown, high-priest, and pastor of the London, Read- ing, Kent, and Essex conferences, published at Liverpool a tract entitled. Testimonies for the Truth; a Record of Manifestations of the Power of God, Mir.aculous and Providential, witnessed by him in his travels and experiences. The author was a native of New York, and born in 1794, He was a firm be- liever in latter-day revelations from God, and that the ancient gifts of the gospel still remained, long before he joined the Mormons. He labored long and in various places. He held property in Nauvoo when the saints ■were driven out, and was obliged to take §250 for what was worth $3,000. After- ward he underwent all the sufferings and vicissitudes of the overland journey to Salt Lake. Mr Brown was an earnest and honest man; his book is the record of his life, and is simple and attractive in style and substance.

• Healing the sick. Joseph early laid it down as a rule that all diseases

and sickness among them were to be cured by the elders, and by the use of herbs alone. Phj'sicians of the world were denounced as enemies to mankind, and the use of their medicines was prohibited. Afterw "d, anointing with oil, prayer, and laying on hands were resorted to in add. 'on to the lirst men- tioned. Says Mrs Richards, ' In all sicknesses we useu no medicines, with the exception of herb teas that we ourselves prepared, trusting exclusively to the efficacy of the anointing with oil and prayer.' Reminiscences, MS., 34. Joseph said, 'All wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man. Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof.' The use of flesh was not forbidden, but rather re- stricted to seasons of cold and famine. All grain was pronounced good for man, but wheat was particularly recommended, with corn for the ox, oats for the horse, rye for fowls and swine, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks; as also other grain. Times and Seasons, v. 736. ​

seed of Joseph, divided into numerous nations and tribes. The Lamanites were of the house of Ma- nasseli.

We beUeve, saj their articles of faith, in God the father, in Jesus Christ the son, and in the holy ghost. For their own sins, and not for any transgression of Adam, men will be punished; but all may be saved, through the atonement, by obedience to the ordi- nances of the gospel, which are : faith in Christ, re- pentance, baptism by immersion,^ and laying on of

^Baptism, a prerequisite to church membership, as well as to final salva- tion, to be of avail, must be by immersion, and performed by one of the sect. The person who is called of God, and has authority from Jesus Christ to bap- tize, shall go down into the water with the person to be baptized, and shall say, calling him or her by name: ' Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost. Amen.' Doctrine and Covenants, 115, 118. Baptisms are entered in the gen- eral church records, giving the name, place, and date of birth, quorum, date of baptism, first time or re-baptism, by whom baptized, when and by whom confirmed. Deseret News, Feb. 22, 1851. In 1844, complaints were made that members of the church, dismissed by the council, had been re-baptized by elders who were themselves excluded, and declaring such baptisms invalid. Times ami Seasons, v. 458-9.

In 1836, Joseph introduced the ceremony of anointing with consecrated c il. He first anointed his father, who, having been blessed by the first presidency, anointed them in turn, beginning with the eldest. The bishops of Kirtland and Zion, together with their counsellors, were next anointed, and after- ward the presiding officers of each quorum performed the ceremony on their subordinates, assisted in some instances by the Smith brothers. Joseph de- scribes the ceremony of consecrating the oil, as follows: ' I took the oil in my left hand. Father Smith being seated before me, and the remainder of the presidency encircled him round about. We then stretched our right hands towards heaven, and blessed the oil, and consecrated it in the name of Jesus Christ.' Mil. Star, xv. 620. Olive-oil is commonly used. Mrs Richards, Reminiscences, MS., 34. Many remarkable cures are mentioned. A sea- man, belonging to H. B. M. ship Terror, was rendered deaf and dumb by a stroke of lightning, at Bermuda. Several years after, he was baptized by elders in a canal in England, and instantly recovered both speech and hearing. Frontier Guardian, Jan. 23, 1850. In 1840, a young woman then living at Batavia, N. Y., who had been deaf and dumb for four and one half years, was first restored to her hearing bjj^ the laying on of the hands of the elders of the church, and a second ministration, some time afterward, enabled her to speak. Times and Seasons, ii. 516-17. During the building of Nauvr , nearly every one was attacked with malarial fever, caused by breaking ..p the new land, and even the prophet himself suc- cumbed for a time. But hearing the voice of the Lord calling on him, he arose and went through the camp healing all to whom he drew near. Woodruff (Mrs), Autobiofj., 2-3. Brigham declares he was among the num- ber healed at this time. Mil. Star, xxv. 646. While Joseph was in the midst of his sick, an unbeliever, living a few miles distant, came to him, beseeching him to come and heal his twin children, who were near death's door. The prophet was unable to go himself, but sent Wilford Woodruff in his place. Says the latter, ' He [Joseph] took a red silk handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to me, and told me to wipe their faces with the handkerchief ​

THE MORMON CREED. 33T

hands for the gift of the holy ghost. We beheve in the same organization and powers that existed in

when I administered to them, and they should be healed. ' He also said unto me: "As long as you will keep that handkerchief, it shall remain a league between you and me." I went with the man, and did as the jorophet com- manded me, and the children were healed. I have possession of the hand- kerchief unto this day [1881].' Leaves from my Journal, 65. F. D. Richards, who had been sick for several months, was baptized, anointed, and confirmed; immediately after which he was restored to health. Some time afterward, being then an elder, he cured a severe toothache by touching the tooth with his huger. Narrative, MS., 15-10. Mrs Richards' brother, afterward Elder Snyder, was raised from a sick-bed after having been baptized and adminis- tered to by Elder John E. Page. Mrs Richards was taken by her brother from a sick-bed to a lake from the surface of which ice more than a foot thick had been removed, and there baptized, whereupon she immediately recovered. Similar cases might be given by the score.

Baptism for the dead is first alluded to by the prophet, who, in a revela- tion dated Jan. 19, 1841, declares, 'A baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that they, my saints, may be baptized for those who are dead.' It is intimated that a reasonable time will be allowed in which to build a temple and a permanent font, and that during this time a temporary substitute for the font may be employed; but after the completion of the temple, no baptisms for tlie dead will be of avail unless conducted within the build- ing. See Doctrine and Covenants, .392, 395. Brigham says he first heard of the new doctrine when he was in Europe (1840), and that he believed in it before anything was said or done about it in the church. Times and Seasons, vi. 954. Daniel Tyler says the doctrine was first taught in Nauvoo, although Joseph told some of the elders in Kirtland that it was part of the gospel, and would yet be practised as such. Juvenile Instructor, xv. 56. He also says that before other provision was made, many were baptized in the Mississippi River. The first baptismal font, a temporary structure, intended for use only until the coinpletion of the temple, was erected in the basement of that build- ing, and dedicated on Nov. 8, 1841, Joseph being present and Brigham deliv- ering the address. Joseph thus describes the font: It is constructed of pine staves, tongued and grooved, and is oval-shaped, 'sixteen feet long east and west, and twelve feet wide, seven feet high from the foundation, the basin four feet deep; the mouldings of the cap and base are formed of beautiful carved work in antique style. The sides are finished with panel-work. A flight of stairs in the north and south sides lead up and down into the basin, guarded by a side railing. The font stands upon twelve oxen, ioxiy on each side and two at each end, t-heir heads, shoulders, and fore legs project- ing out from under the font; they are carved out of oak plank, glued together, and copied after the most beautiful five-year-old steer that could be found in the country, and they are an excellent striking likeness of the original; the horns were geometrically formed after the most perfect horn that could be procured. The oxen and the mouldings were carved by Elder Elijah Ford- ham, from the city of New York, the work occupying eight months. The whole was enclosed in a temporary frame building.' MU. Star, xviii. 744. On Sept. 6, 1842, Joseph -writes to the church that all baptisms must be re- corded by a person appointed for the purpose, and whose duty it will be to note every detail of the ceremony in each case. One of the officials is to be appointed in each ward, and his returns properly certified to are to be forwarded to the general recorder, who will enter them on the church records, together with the names of all witnesses, etc., and finally add his own certifi- cate as to the genuineness of the signature of the ward recorder. This detail is necessary for the proper identification hereafter of those baptized, for the authority for which the prophet quotes licvelations, xx. 12. 'And I saw the Hist. Utah. 22 ​

the primitive church, namely, apostles, prophets, pas- tors, teachers, evangelists; in the gift of tongues,*

dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened,' etc. He also states that it was revealed to him on Sept. 1, 1842, that a general re- corder must be appointed. Mil. Star, xx. 5-6; Doctrine and Covenants, 409- 13. For the ceremony itself, he finds warrant in 1st Cor., xv. 29. 'Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead ? If the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead?'

Confirmation follows baptism, with frequently an interval of a few days. Baptism may take place on any day in the week, and the confirmation be de- ferred until the church assembles on the following, or even a later, Sunday. Two or more elders commonly attend, all taking part in the ceremony. Mrs Stenhouse thus describes her own confirmation: 'Four elders placed their hands solemnly upon my head, and one of them said: "Fanny, by virtue of the authority vested in me, I confirm you a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints; and inasmuch as you have been obedient to the command of God, through his servants, and have been baptized for the re- mission of your sins, I say unto you that those sins are remitted. And in the name of God I bless you, and say unto you, that inasmuch as you are faithful and obedient to the teachings of the priesthood, and seek the advancement of the kingdom, there is no good thing that your heart can desire that the Lord will not give unto you. You shall have visions and dreams, and angels shall visit you by day and by night. You shall stand in the temple in Zion, and administer to the saints of the most high God. You shall speak in tongues and prophecy; and the Lord shall bless you abundantly, both tempo- rally and spiritually. These blessings I seal upon your head, inasmuch as you shall be faithful; and I pray heaven to bless you; and say unto you, be thou blessed, in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost. Amen.'" Englishwoman in Utah, 19-20.

• The gift of tongues is the power to speak in a strange language, but

not to translate. It first appeared about 1830, when it was pronounced of the devil. Howe says it was revived in the early part of 183.3, and that at one meeting Joseph passed around the room laying his hand upon each one, and speaking as follows: 'Ak man, oh son, oh man, ah ne commene en hoUe goste en haben en glai hosanne en holle goste en esac milkea Jeremiah, eze- kiel, Nephi, Lehi, St John, 'etc. Mormonism Unveiled, 132-6. In this year, it was suggested that 'no prophecy spoken in tongues should be made public, for this reason: many who pretend to have the gift of interpretation are liable to be mistaken, and do not give the true interpretation of what is spoken ; . . . but if any speak in tongues a word of exhortation or doctrine, or the princi- ples of the gospel, etc., let it be interpreted for the edification of the church.' Times and Seasons, vi. 865. The gift was not confined to men; many women were noted for eloquence when thus inspired. Says Mrs Stenhouse of a Sister Ellis: 'Her hands were clenched, and her eyes had that wild and supei'natural glare which is never seen save in cases of lunacy or intense feverish excite- ment. Every one waited breathlessly, listening to catch what she might say; you might have heard a pin drop. They [her utterances] seemed to me chief- ly the repetition of the same syllables, something like a child repeating la, la, la, le, lo; ma, ma, ma, mi, ma; dele, dele, dele, hela; followed, perhaps, by a number of sounds strung together, which could not be rendered in any shape by the pen.' Enrjl'ishiooman in Utah, 27-8. Says Orson Hyde: 'We believe in the gift of the holy ghost being enjoyed now as much as it was in the apostles' days, and that it is imparted by the laying on of hands of those in authority; and that the gift of tongues, and also the gift of prophecy, are gifts of the spirit, and are obtained through that medium.' Frontier Guardian, Dec. 12, 1849. Mrs Stenhouse remarks that 'in later days, the exer- cise of this gift has been discouraged by the elders, and especially by Brigham. ' Going to the Lion House one day, she was blessed by one of Brigham 's wives, ​

prophecy, revelation, and visions. In the scriptures is found the law of tithing, which law is now revived, and the keeping of it made one of the first duties of the saints. The ten commandments, and all other commandments, ordinances, promulgations, and possi- bilities, are in force now as at the time they were given. Marriage is a sacred and an eternal covenant. Plural marriage, sanctioned under the old dispensa- tion and revived under the new, is open to all, and is, in some instances, commanded, when it becomes a sacred obligation.

Seldom does a good Mormon appear in a court of law arrayed against a brother Mormon. And this is why, as the saints allege, the twenty-five or fifty law- yers in Utah who are compelled to derive their living almost entirely from the gentiles, are so bitter against the saints. When two Mormons disagree, they pre- sent themselves before the president of the stake, who with twelve councillors, six facing six, their selection having been agreed to by the litigants, is ready to try the case without delay. Plaintiff and defendant, each with his witnesses, take their places before the pres- ident, and between the rows of councillors. Prayer is then offered, almighty aid being asked in bringing the affair to a righteous and amicable conclusion. The litigants state the case, each from his own stand- point; the witnesses are heard; the councillors de- cide. Prayer is again ofiered. The adversaries shake hands; there is nothing to pay. Until the gentiles came, there were in Utah no police or police courts; no houses of drinking, or of gambling, or of prostitu- tion. Of the administration of justice among the saints I shall speak more at length in a later chapter.

and the blessing interpreted by another wife; the latter, however, cautioned her not to repeat what had occurred, for 'Brother Brigham does not like to hear of these things. ' Enrjlifshwoman in Utah, 29. TuUidge mentions the names of many women who were distinguished as possessing this gift, and relates an instance of a party whose wagon was surrounded by Indians, escaping •\\ ith their lives and pro23erty; the captors being induced to abandon their prize by Jane Grover, a girl of seventeen, who addressed them in their own language. Women of Mormondom, 474-8. ​

The doctrine of blood atonement was early inculcated by the church, as a sacrifice necessary for salvation, and not, as many have asserted, in order to legalize murder. There were the altars and the offerings of the old testament, and the great god-man sacrifice of the new. Christ made the atonement for the sins of the world by the shedding of his blood. By the laws of the land, he who commits murder must atone for it by his own death.^ There are sins of various de-

• The theory of blood atonement is that for certain sins the blood of the

transgressor must be shed to save his soul. Among these sins are apostasy, the shedding of innocent blood, and unfaithfulness to marriage obligations on the part of the wife. Says Brigham, in a discourse delivered in Salt Lake City: 'There are sins which men commit for which they cannot receive for- giveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they had their eyes open to their true condition, they would be perfectly willing to have their blood spilled upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins; and the smoking incense would atone for their sins; whereas, if such is not the case, they will stick to them and re- main upon them in the spirit world. 1 know, when you hear my brethren telling about cutting people off from tiie earth, that you consider it is strong doctrine; but it is to save them, not to destroy them. . .1 do know that there are sins committed, of such a nature that if the people did understand the doctrine of salvation they would tremble because of their situation. And furthermore, I know that there are transgressors who, if they knew them- selves and the only condition upon which they can obtain forgiveness, would beg of their brethren to shed their blood, that the smoke thereof m.ight as- cend to God as an offering to appease the wrath that is kindled against them, and that the law might have its course. I will say further: I have liad men come to me and offer their lives to atone for their sins. . .There are sins that can be atoned for by an offering upon an altar, as in ancient days; and there are sins that the blood of a lamb, of a calf, or of turtle-doves cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man.' And at another time: 'All mankind love themselves, and let these principles be known l)y an individual, and he would be glad to have his blood shed. That would be loving themselves, even unto an eternal exaltation. Will you love your brothers or sisters likewise when they have committed a sin that can- not be atoned for without the shedding of their blood? Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood ? That is what Jesus Chi-ist meant... I could refer you to plenty of instances where men have been righteously slain in order to atone for their sins. I have seen scores and hundreds of people for whom there would have been a chance in the last resurrection if their lives had been taken and their blood spilled on the ground as a smoking incense to the almighty. . .1 have known a great many men who have left "this church for whom there is no chance wliatcver for exaltation; but if their blood had been spilled it would have been better for them. This is loving our neighbor as ourselves; it he needs help, help liim; and if he wants salvation, and it is necessary to spill his blood on the earth in order that he may be saved, spill it.' JJef^eret News, Oct. 1, 185G, Feb. 18, 1857. Following Brigham 's lead, Heber C. Kimball and Jedediah M. Grant taught the same doctrine during the religious revival, or so-called reformation, in Utah, in 185G-7, of which more later, Grant being the most vehement of the three. The reader will find these discourses reported at length in the Deseret News. Tlie doctrine is very clearly explained in Pen​

grees of heinousness; some requiring only puLlic con- fession and promised reformation by way of atone- ment, whilst others are characterized by an enormity so vast that pardon on earth is impossible. Of the first class are all minor offences against church disci- pline, breach of which has been publicly acknowledged by nearly every leader, from Joseph himself down to the humLlest official.

For the proper carrying out of the instructions re- vealed in the sacred books, an organization has been effected in these latter days, based upon books and on former organizations. There are two principal priesthoods, the Melchisedek and the Aaronic, the latter including the Levitical. The Melchisedek is the higher, comprising apostles, patriarchs, high-priests, seventies, and elders. It holds the right of presi- dency, with authority to administer in all the offices, ordinances, and affairs of the church. It holds the keys of all spiritual blessings, receives the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, whose doors are ever open, and holds conniiunion with God the father, Jesus Christ the mediator, Joseph Smith the prophet, and all departed saints.^

The Aaronic is a subordinate priesthood, being an appendage to the Melchisedek, and acting under its

rose's Blood Atonement, passim. See also Lee's Morm., 282-3; Morm. Proph., 157-GO; Young's Wife No. 19, 182-99; Paddock's La Tour, 305-8; Bertrand's Mem. Morm., 139-72, 250-8, 290-316.

^ lu regard to the two priesthoods, the Melchisedek and the Aaronic, or Levitical, all authority in the church is subordinate to the first, which holds the right of presidency and has power over all the offices in the church. The presidency of the high-priesthood of this order has the right to officiate in all the offices of the church. High-priests are authorized to officiate in any lower positions in the church, as well as in their own office. Elders are of this priesthood, and are authorized to officiate instead of high-priests, in the absence of the latter. The twelve apostles are charged witia the duty of or- daining all the subordinate officers of the church, and also with its missionary work. Togetlicr they form a quorum whose authority equals that of the first presidency, but action by eitlier body must be unanimous. A majoi'ity may form a quorum when circumstances render it impossible to assemble the whole body. They also constitute a travelling, presiding high-council, under the direction of the presidency of the church, and it is their duty to ordain ministers in all large branches. The seventies are also missionaries — assist- ants to the twelve, and united they are equal in authority with the twelve. ​

supervision. It comprises bishops, priests, teachers, and deacons, who hold the keys of the ministering angels, having power to administer in certain ordi- nances and in the temporal affairs of the church, bap- tizing and sitting as judges in Israel. The bishopric is the presidency of the Aaronic priesthood. The office of a bishop is to administer in temporal matters. First-born sons, lineal descendants of Aaron, and no others, have a legal right to the bishopric. But a high-priest of the order of Melchisedek may officiate in all lesser offices, including that of bishop, when no lineal descendant of Aaron can be found, and after he has been ordained to this power by the first presidency. There is also the patriarchal priesthood/

' About 1834, Joseph Smith had a revelation to the effect that it was the •will of the Loixl that every father should bless his own children, and that patriarchs should be set apart to bless those without a father in the church. This revelation was due to an expressed desire on the part of Brigham Young's father to bless his own children before dying, after the manner of the patri- archs of old. Young's Wife No. 19, 581. Several years before this, it had been directed that every member of the church having children should bring them to the elders before the church, who were to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, aud bless them. Doctrine and Covenants, 72. During the life of the first patriarch — Jos. Smith, sen. — these blessings were nominally free to the recipients. A high-council held at Kirtland in Sept, 183d decided that when the patriarch was occupied in blessing the church, he should be paid at the rate of ten dollars a week, and his expenses; also that Frederick G. Williams be appointed to attend blessing meetings, and record the proceedings, for which services he should receive the same com- pensation. The payment of twelve dollars for a book in which to record the blessings caused discussion in this council, and brother Henry Green, who had intimated that a suitable book could be procured for less money, was ex- cluded fi'om the church for his presumption. Mil. Star, xv. 308-9. In Jan. 183G, Smith, sen., was anointed with oil by the prophet, blessed bj' each of the presidency in turn, aud was thenceforth known as Father Smith. Id., G20. In 1837, the i^ay of the patriarch was lixed at a dollar and fifty cents a day, and that of the recorder at ten cents for each 100 words. J\Iil. Star, xvi. 109. When Hyrum became patriarch, says the author of Young's Wife No. 10, 581, the demand for blessings had so increased that one dollar each was charged for them; and in 1875 the price had advanced to two dollars. Upon the death of his father in 1840, llyrum Smith succeeded to the office of patriarch, pursuant to a revelation entailing it on the eldest son. The revelation is dated in Jan. 1841. Doctrine and Covenants, 305-G; Mil. Star, xviii. 303. The fol- lowing notice appears in Times and Seasons, Nov. 1, 1841: 'The brethren are hereby notilied tliat our well-beloved brother, Hyrum Smith, patriarch of the church, has erected a comfortable office opposite his dwelling-house [in Nauvoo], where himself, together with his scribe and recorder, James Sloan, will attend regularly every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, during the entire day, or ujjon any other day if urgent circumstances require it, to per- form the duties of his high and holy calling. A copy of the blessings can be received immediately after being pronounced, so that the brethren who live ​

the patriarch to be the oldest man of the blood of Joseph or of the seed of Abraham. Likewise there are mothers in Israel.^

Head overall is the First Presidency of the Church, known also as the First Presidency of the High-Priest- hood, and consisting of a president and two council- lors.^ The first presidency presides over and governs

at a distance can have it to take with them. ' Hyrum's successor was his brother William, who was disfellowshipped in 1845, John Smith, brother to tlie prophet, being ordained patriarch over the church, and holding that office until his death in 1854. In the following year Hyrum's son John was ordained patriarch, and since that date has been sustained in his office at each successive conference. A child is first blessed when eight days old, and again so soon as the mother is able to present her child on a regular fast-day. 1 he first Thursday in each month is set apart for fasting. Mis Richards' liem- iniscenceH, MS., 34-5. The second ceremony is usually attended by both parents, and in addition to a blessing, the child receives its name. Each birthday it is customary for the parents to hold a family gathering, when the child is again blessed, and prayers offered for its welfare. When eight years old, the child is baptized. See Home's Migrations, MS., 37. The blessings are not only pronounced, but also written out. Id. , 34. ' These blessings are rather wonderful affairs; they promise all sorts of things, in a vague, in- definite way, if only the recipient proves faithful. Some are assured they shall never taste death, but live until Christ comes, and be caught up to meet him in the air; others are assured that they are to have the privilege of re- deeming their dead so far back that there shall not be a broken link in the chain. Absurd as this all seems, there are hundred of saints who believe that every word shall be fulfilled.' Young's Wife No. 19, 581.

8 Hall says there is a class of women, mothers in Israel, whose business it is to instruct females as to their duty in matters not suitable to be taught from the stand. Mormojiism Exposed, 39-44.

' Early in 1833 the first presidency was established, with Joseph Smith at the iiead, his associates in the management of affairs being Sidney Bigdou and Frederick G. Williams. The revelation creating this triumvirate is dated March 8th, and in it Joseph's coadjutors are instructed first to finish the translation of the prophets, and afterward preside over the affairs of the church and the school. Times and Seasons, v. 736-7. William Hall, who was a member of the church for seven years, erroneously states that the presidency at first consisted of Smith, Rigdon, and William Law. Abominations, 8. At a conference held in Sept. 1837, Joseph appealed to the church to ascertain if he was still regarded as its head, when the vote was unanimous. He then introduced Rigdon and Williams as his councillors. According to the min- utes of the conference, Williams was not accepted at first, but this action appears to have been rescinded afterward. Mil. Star, xvi. 56. Oliver Cow- dery, Jos. Smith, sen., Hyrum Smith, and John Smith were accepted as assist- ant councillors, and these seven were henceforth to be regarded the heads of the church. At a general conference of the branch of the church at Far West in Nov. 1837, the action of the Kirtland conference was sustained so far as Smith and Rigdon were concerned, but Williams was rejected. Hyrum Smith was unanimously chosen in Williams' place. Mil. Star, xvi. 106-7. At a conference held at Far West in April 1838, the first presidency was ap- pointed to sign the licenses of the official members of the church. In Jan. 1841, Joseph had a revelation to the effect that he was presiding elder over all the church, translator, revelator, a seer, and prophet; and tliat his coun- cillors were Sidney Rigdou and William Law. These three were to consti​

all the affairs of the church, temporrl and spiritual; the first president is the prophet of God, seer, reve- lator, and translator.

Next in authority are twelve apostles, who are a travelling presiding high-council, and with whom, on the death of the president of the church, the supreme rulership rests until another first presidency is in- stalled,^*^ The president of the twelve, chosen in the

tute a quorum and first presidency, to receive the oracles for the whole church. Law's selection was to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of Hyrum Smith to be patriarch. Mil. Star, xviii. 3G3. In this tame month Joseph notified the recorder of Hancock county that he (Joseph) liad been elected sole trustee of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day sauits by the church at Nauvoo, to hold ofiice during life. Id., 373. Smith, Rigdon, and Law were continued in office by the annual conference, convened in April 1843. After the murder of the Smiths in 1S44, the first presidency lapsed, and for moi'e than three years the church was governed by the quorum of the twelve apostles, of which Brigham was president. At a meeting of the twelve apos- tles, high-council, and high-priests at Nauvoo, in August 1844, Sidney Rigdon offered himself as guardian to the church, claiming that his action was in obedience to revelation. Young opposed Rigdon's claims, and the assembly decided that the twelve should govern the church, with Young at their head. Mil. Star, x.KV. 215-17, '2G3-4. In Dec. 1847 Brigham Young, Heber C. Kim- ball, and Willard Richards were chosen to constitute the first presidency. Jav. Inst., xiv. 128. Young died in 1877, and the presidency remained vacant imtil October ISSO, when John Taylor was chosen, with George Q. Can- non and Joseph F. Smith as councillors. Marshall, Through America, IGl. This conference lasted five days. S. L. Tribune, Oct. 11, 1880. On the death of the president the quorum is dissolved, and its members, as a presidency, have no status. Richards'" Narr., MS., 51.

'"On Feb. 14, 1835, the church at Kirtland met for the purpose of choos- ing and ordaining the twelve apostles. The business occupied several days. Briefly, the ceremonies were as follows: The assemblage consented to accept the names presented by the three witnesses who had been appointed to make the selection. P. P. Pratt saj's, in his Autobiog., 127-28, the ceremonies were performed by Smith, Whitmer, and Cowdery, and that they acted in accord- ance with the revelation of June 1829; but in the history of Jos. Smith, Mil. Star, Mar. and Apr. 1853, the three witnesses only are mentioned. Martin Harris' name does not appear in the revelation referred to. See Doctrine and Covenants, 190-2. In an article by 'R. A.' in the Juv. Inst., xiv. 128, the selection is accredited to the three Avitnesses, who are mentioned by name. As Pratt was one of the ordained, it would seem that his account should be reliable. Each candidate came forward as summoned, and in re- turn received a blessing, and a charge from one of the three. The order of ordination was as follows: On Feb. 14th, Lyman E. Johnson, Brigham Young, and Heber C. Kimball. On the next day, Orson Hyde, David W. Patten, Luke Johnson, Wm E. McLellin, John F. Boynton, and William Smith. On Feb. 21st, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, and Thos B. Mai'sh, who were absent on a mission, were ordained upon their return to Kirtland, which occurred later. Mil. Star, xv. 200-12. Shortly after, the names were arranged according to seniority, when they stood. Marsh, Patten, Young, Kimball, Hyde, McLellin, P. P. Pratt, Luke Johnson, Smith, O. Pi'att, Boynton, and L. E. Johnson. Four of the above apostatized in 1838, viz. : McLellin, the Johnsons, and Boynton; John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, and Willard Richards were appointed instead. Shortly after this, Marsh, the ​

first instance by reason of seniority or ordination, usually becomes president of the church. The office of the twelve is to preach and teach throughout the world, regulating the affairs of the church every- Avhere under the direction of the first presidency, calling to their aid therein the seventies.

An apostle may administer in the several offices of the church, particularly in spiritual matters. ^^ The office of a patriarch is to give patriarchal blessings; the office of a member of a seventy is to travel and preach the gospel; but a patriarch, a high-priest, a

president of the twelve, apostatized, and in 1838 Patten was killed, which left Y'oung at the head of the list, and he became president of the twelve. Geo. A. Smith was ordained iu 1S39, and Lyman Wight not long after. In 1844, according to Elder Phelps, the following names were on the roll: Young, Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Hyde, ilichards, Taylor, William Smith, WoodrnfF, George A. Smith, Orson Pratt, Page, and Wight. During this year W'm Smith and Page apostatized, and were replaced by Amasa M. Lyman and Ezra T. Benson. Early in 1845, Young, Kimball, and Rich- ards were chosen to the first presidency, and Wight was disfellowshippcd for apostasy; the vacancies thus caused were filled by appointing Chas C. liich, Lorenzo and Erastus Snow, and Franklin D. Pdcliards. In 1S57, Geo. Q. Cannon was appointed, vice P. P. Pratt, deceased. In 18G7, Lyman was dropped and Jos. F. Smith appointed. In 1868, Geo. A. Smith became one of the first presidency, and Brigham Young, jun., succeeded him. Albert Carrington was appointed in 18U9 in place of Benson, deceased, and Moses Thatcher in 1879, vice Hyde, deceased in 1878; which left tlie twelve in the following order: John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt, Chas C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Joseph F. Smith, Albert Carrington, Moses Ihatcher, Pratt being the only remaining member of the original twelve. Jiiv. lust., xiv. 128-'J. The vacancies caused by the elevation of John Taylor to the presi- dency in 1880, with George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith as councillors, were partially filled by the appointment of Francis M. Lyman and John H. Smith. S. L. Tribune, Oct. 11. 1880. Orson Pratt died Oct. 1881, and a year later Geo. Teasdale and Heber J. Grant M'cre elected. Hand-book of Ref., v9-90. Up to 1877, the twelve received no pay for their services; but the con- ierence of Oct. voted $1,500 a year to each apostle. 'This is the first sum that lias ever been publicly appropriated to any council of the church for the performance of their duties to the people. When I went to Europe in 1806, I borrowed the means and gave my note; on my return I had to pay back my indebtedness.' Richards' Narr., MS., 59-60.

" In 1845 was issued at New York and Liverpool, Proclamation of the Tweh-e Apost/cs of the Church of Jesjis Christ of Latter-day Saints; to all the Kings of the World; to the President of the United States of America; to the (Joiernors of the several states, and to the rulers and people of all nations, Greeting, ' Know ye that the kingdom of God has come,' etc. The tract goes on to say that 'Jehovah has been pleased once more to speak from the heavens,' by which means the apostleship of Christ has been restored, in preparation for his coming, which is now near at hand. Then are recited t!ie leading points of faith, with allusions to the history of the church, and calls to repentance. ​

member of a seventy, and an elder may, in common with an apostle, administer in other spiritual offices.

All superior officers are frequently called elders. Thus an apostle is an elder; and he may baptize, and ordain other elders, priests, teachers, and deacons. It is his calling to administer bread and wine, or bread and water, emblems of the flesh and blood of Christ; to confirm the baptized by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the holy ghost; to teach, ex- pound, exhort, and to lead in meetings as he is led by the holy ghost.

A bishop who is a first-born and a lineal descend- ant of Aaron may sit as a common judge in the church without councillors, except in the trial of a president of the high-priesthood. But a bishop from the high- priesthood may not sit as a judge without his two councillors. Over all the bishops in the church there is a presiding bishop.

The duties of a priest are to preach, baptize, ad- minister the sacrament, and visit families and pray with them. The duties of a teacher are to watch over and strengthen the church, and see that no iniquity creeps into it, and that every member performs his obligations and conducts himself without guile. The duties of the deacon are to assist the teacher and the bishop, attending to the temporal affairs of the church, looking after the houses of worship and the necessities of the poor. Teachers and deacons may instruct and exhort, but they are not authorized to baptize, lay on hands, or administer the sacrament. No one can hold office except by authoritative call and ordination, or by special appointment of God.

The seventies are organized into various councils of seventy, commonly called quorums. Each council of seventy has seven presidents, chosen out of the seven- ty, one of the seven presiding over the others and over the whole seventy. The seven presidents of the first council of seventies also preside over all the councils ​

of seventies.^^ According to Elder John Jaques, to whose Uttle book on the priesthood I am indebted for this information, there were in 1882 seventy-six coun- cils of seventies, with seventy members in each council when complete. Elders are organized in councils of ninety-six, each council having a president and two councillors. Priests are organized in councils of forty-eight, each with a president — who must be a bishop — and two councillors. Teachers are organized in councils of twenty-four, and deacons in councils of twelve, each with a president and two councillors.^^

In the society of saints, there are territorial divi- sions into what are called Stakes of Zion. In Utah, these divisions correspond usually, but not necessa- rily, with the counties, each county being a stake.

^'^In February 1835, Joseph Smith, with the aid of the recently appointed apostles, proceeded to organize two quorums of the seventies, whose duties were to assist in the missionary work of the church. Each quorum had seven pi'esidents, and these constituted the councils of the two organizations. Jo- seph Youngsen, who gives an account of the seventies, gives the names of the presidents of the first quorum only, as follows: Hazen Aldrich, Joseph Young, Levi W. Hancock, Leonai'd Kich, Zebedee Coltrin, Lymau Sherman, and Sylvester Smith. After noting the changes in the interval, he states that in 1878 the presidents were Young, sen., Hancock, Henry Hcrriman, Albert P. Rockwood, Horace S. Eldredge, Jacob Gates, and John Van Cott. Hist, of Organ, of Seventies, 1-8. In an account of the dedication of their hall at Nauvoo, in 1844, it is stated there were fifteen quorums — one thousand and fifty in all, if each quorum was full. Times and Seasons, vi. 794.

^^ For act of incorporation of Mormon church, 1851, see Utah, Acts Legist. (ed. 18G6), 108; <S'. L. C. Contributor, ii. 270; number and wealth of churches, Seventh Census Rept, 1851-2, 45; prayer in the family, Itohinsoii's Sinners and Saints, 243-4; church property, and law regulating it, Richards' Narr., MS., 83; church government. Ward's Husband in Utah, 10-17; Mil. Star, iii. 67; po- sitions of church ofiicials, /(/., xv. 709. As showing the relative standing of the church dignitaries, the order of voting, as presci'ibed at the conference which elected Taylor to the presidency in 1880, is given. The twelve apos- tles and their councillors; the patriarchs; presidents of stakes and their councillors, and the high-councils; the high-priests; the seventies; the elders; the bishops and their councillors; the lesser priesthood — priests, teachers, and deacons. The members of eacli order voted standmg and with the right hand uplifted, and finally the congregation voted in the same manner. ^S". L. City Tribune, Oct. 11, 1880. On faith and doctrine, see Jaciufs' Church of Jesus Christ, passim; Hand-book of Reference, passim; Jaques' Catechism, passim; Book of Doctrine and Covenants, passiui; Richards' and Little's Com- pendium, passim; Articles of Our Faith, passim; Pearl of Great Price, passim; 7'imes and Seasons, passim; Millennial Star, passim; Deserct Xeiv^, passim; Moffat's Catechism, passim; Pratt's Persecutions, passim; Pratt's Voice of Warning, passim; Reynolds' Bonk of Abraham, passim; and mauy other books, pamphlets, and periodicals by various members and dignitaries of the ​church.

Every stake has a president, with his two councillors, and a high-council, consisting of twelve high-priests.^^ The high-priests assemble in council, having its presi- dent and two councillors, at stated times, usually once a month, for conference and instruction. The presi- dent of a stake, with his two councillors, presides over

the hisfh-council of that stake, which has original and

... . . ^

appellate jurisdiction, and whose decisions are usually,

but not invariably, final. Appeals are had to a gen- eral assembly of the several councils of the priesthood, but such appeals are seldom taken. The jurisdiction of the several councils is ecclesiastical, affecting fellow- ship and standing only, the extreme penalty being excommunication.

Each stake is divided into wards, the number being according to territory and population ; over each ^vard presides a bishop, with his two councillors. Each stake and each ward, as a rule, has its own meeting- house. There are about twenty-five stakes, divided into some three hundred wards. Salt Lake City is divided into twenty-one wards, each containing for the most part nine ten-acre blocks, though in the out- skirts they are larger. Each stake holds a quarterly conference ; and the church holds a general conference every April and October.

It will be observed that the orders of priesthood and organization of the church are copied essentially from the bible. As before remarked, the Mormons believe and practise what their sacred books teach, and all that they teach, without intended misinter-

^*Tho standing high-council at the stakes of Zion forms a quorum equal in authority in the affairs of the church, in all its decisions, to the quorum of t)ie presidency, or to the travelling high-council. Each order is gov- erned as follows: the seventy, by seven presidents, one of whom presides over the other six; and as many additional seventies may be organized as tlie in- crease of the church shall demand. The president of the high-priests is to preside over the whole church ; the president of the ciders presides over iiinety- Bix elders; the president of the Aaronic priesthood over forty-eight priests; the president of the teachers over twenty-four teachers, and the pi-esident of the deacons over twelve deacons. Should the president of the church trans- gress, he is to be tried before the common coun ​cil of the church.

pretation, elimination, or repudiation. And as the book of Mormon is held to be a continuation of the historical portion of the bible, and equally with it the word of God; and as the ideas and instructions con- tained in the book of Doctrine and Covenants have been derived, for the most part, from a study and lit- eral interpretation of the bible — though with some- thing added — it is safe to say that in the main the Mormons believe what the bible teaches, and that Mormonism is the acceptation of the bible, the whole of it, literally, and following it to its logical conclu- sions.

Tithing, though enjoined by divine command, is a free-will offering. ^° The law of tithing in its

'"Upon the matter of tithing, Joseph Smith in 1831 had three several rev- elations, each containing a clause I'equiring money and other property to be set apart for general use in the church. Tlie first was received in Feb., the second in May, and the last in Aug. See Times and Seasons, iv. 369; v. 410, 466. But it was not until several years later tliat an organized system was established, by revelation dated Far West, July 8, 1838. See Doctrine and Covenants, 382-3. During the progress of settlements at Far West, the ques- tion of taxation was brought up and referred to the prophet, who inquired of the Lord, and received answer that all surplus property must be turned over to the bishop as the first step, after which one tenth of each annual interest was also to be paid. Tliese payments were to be devoted to the building of a place of worship, and for the debts of the presidency. In the Millennial Star, XXV. 474, it is denied that the priesthood receive any support from the tithing fund, and asserted that it is expended for general purposes solely, such as public buildings, roads, assisting immigration. The twelve apostles, in an epistle dated Nauvoo, Dec. 13, 1841, declare that the tithing required is 'one tenth of all any one possessed at the commencement of the building of the temple, and one tenth part of all his increase from that time till the completion of the same, whether it be money, or whatever he be blessed with. Many in this place are laboring every tenth day for the house, and this is the tithing of their income, for they have nothing else.' Times and Seasons, iii. 626. Says William Hall: ' When I came to Illinois, I gave, as was required, one tenth of the amount of my whole estate to be appropriated to the building of the temple. After this, annually, I gave one tenth of the products of my farm; even the chickens, cabbages, and other vegetables in kind were turned over, with a like share of the grain. ' Mormonis7n Exposed, 6. Mrs Stenhouse, during her first winter in Salt Lake City, made bonnets for Brigham Young's wives, for which a bill of $250 was presented to Young, when tiie latter gave orders that the amount should be credited to the Stenhouses for tithing. Englishwoman in Utah, 187-8. There arc two colonies of Mormons in Arizona that are free from territorial and county taxes. They are so isolated that the cost of collecting amounts to more than the taxes. They do not escape tithes, however. Elko (Nev.) Daily Independent, Jan. 28, 1882. During the construc- tion of the railroad through Utah, Mormon agents collected tithings from the railroad laborers. Salt Lake Reporter, Feb. 9, 1869, in S. F. Times, Feb. 19, 1869. Should a laborer be idle thirty days, the tithing office clai ​ms three

fulness requires the tenth of the surplus property of members corning to Zion to be paid into the church as a consecration, and after that one tenth of increase or earnings annually. This is to be used for the poor, for

days from him, on the grounds that he may do as he pleases with twenty-seven days, but he has no right to idle away three days belonging to the Lord. Vedette, in San Jose Mercunj, Mar. 14, 1867. Says Richards: 'If they do not pay their tithes, nothing is done to compel them to do it; they are only re- minded of the case, as with neglect to attend meeting, or of any other duty.' Nan:, MS., GO-1. At the conference held at Salt Lake City on April 6, 1880, it was reported that the total tithing receipts for the year ending Dec. 31, 1870, were $458,333; which amount it had cost $lS,9:)G.7o— paid the bishops — to collect. S. L. C. Tribune, April 7, 1880. This report includes only the branches of the church in Utah. Coyner, in a letter to the Boston Educational. Journal, dated S. L. City, Nov. 20, 1878, states that the church has an income of about $1,000,000 from tithing. Numerous complaints are made from the clmrch's pulpits against delinquents who have failed to pay. In a book of travels, entitled 31]/ First Holiday, Boston, 1881, Caroline H. Dall wrongly asserts that tiie Scandinavian Mormons refuse to pay tithes. In almost any number of the Deserct News the reader may find a notice calling upon delinquents to pay their tithing. In the issue of May 14, 1833, the bishop within whose jurisdiction a saw-mill is in operation is reminded that lumber is wanted at the public yard; and in the number of July 20, lo54, the first presidency calls on every bishop throughout the territory to furnish at once lists showing who have paid and who still owe. In a speech by Brigham, April 7, 1873, he said: 'When I reached here I could not pay one tenth, I could not pay my surplus, I could not give myall, for I had nothing.' Dfseret News, April 23, 1873. Finally, at the jubilee conference, held in celebration of the semi-centennial of the church's organization, one half of the delinquent tithes throughout the whole church, the amount being about $75, 900, was re- mitted. The deserving poor of the church were further assisted on this occa- sion by the gift of 6,000 head of milch-cows and sheep, and a loan of about 34,000 l)ushels of wheat until after harvest, without interest. Circulars from the Twelve Apostles, S. L. City, Apr. 16, 1880.

If tithing dues are satisfied by manual labor, the workman is paid from the public stores at rates which, though fixed from time to time, are proba- bly never so low as those paid in ready money elsewhere. Ca itain Burton copies a price-current list for 1860, too long for me to repeat here, but which will be referred to again elsewhere, and remarks that wheat is quoted at $1.50 per bushel, more than double its current value at the time in the valley of the Mississippi. City of the Saints, 389. Mrs Waite states that when the poor clamored, in 1862-3, because the tithing-ofiice price of flour was $6 per hundred, they were assured that though flour would undoubtedly still advance in price, the cost to them would be no greater. But the fol- lowing winter, when, owing to the demand from the mining rej:;ion3 of Idaho and elsewhere, flour rose rapidly in price, the tithing-ofSce charged $12 i^er hundred. This caused so great an excitement that Brigham deemed it neces- sary to interfere, and the price was reduced to $6 again. It is complained in the Deseret News of Jan. 10, 1852, that merchants are paying 33 per cent more for butter than tithing-house rates, and that this action had drawn the saints away from the tithing-house, and thus forced the laborers on the tem- ple to eat their bread without butter. This was in the midst of winter, when such action might not be altogether unexpected; but we find six months later another complaint, reporting that from March 29th to July 11th there had onlj' been received 5,115^ pounds of butter, 2,534i of cheese, and 1,182,2 dozens of eggs, and inquiring how fast the work would proceed at this rate of supply. Id., July 24, 1852. The revelation establishing tithing was followed ​

building or other church purposes, and for the support of those engaged in church business. There are no salaried preachers. Tithing is paid in kind to the bishop, who renders a strict account, the whole finan-

ten days later by another, in which it was declared that the church fund should be disposed of by a council composed of the first presidency, the bishop and his council, and the high-council. This revelation, which is not given in the eai-liest editions of Doctrine and Covenants, will be found, how- ever, on p. 383 of the edition of 1876, and also in the Mil. Star, xvi. 183. The twelve, in an epistle dated Nauvoo, Dec. 13, 1841, direct that all money and other property designed for tithings be paid to President Joseph Smith, trustee in trust. Times and Seasons, iii. G27. Smith had been chosen to this office some time before by a general conference, at Quincy, 111. Id., ii. 579. After Smith, each president has held the position in turn. W. Richards, editor of the Deseret News, describes the system of accounts in use at the genei-al tithing-office, in his number of Nov. 29, 1851. A debtor and credit account was kept on a ledger, with all pei'sons who paid tithing. When an account was settled in full, the name was transferred to the general tithing record, or the book of ' The Law of the Lord,' and a certificate of non-in- debtedness given to the person paying, wliich was evidence in case of a demand from the bishop of his ward. Four kinds of certificates were is- sued at this time: one for property tithing due previous to Sept. 10, 1851; one for property tithing due in accordance with the vote of a confer- ence of the date mentioned; and one each for labor and produce tithing. These were all for the year 1851, after which only the labor and produce tithes would be required until a future conference should authorize a new levy. The business of appraising property belongs of right to the presiding bishop, but he may send one of his clerks to attend to the matter. It has been charged against Joseph Smith that his entire wealth was acquired by the diversion of tithes. The prophet, at his own estimate, had property worth one million dollars about the time of his death. He was then at the head of affairs in planning and laying out the city of Nauvoo. His estimates, based upon his faith in the prosperity of the city, may have been not unreasonable; but with the crash of the falling walls of his temple came ruin to his estate. As the general conduct of the church under Brigham was peaceful, and therefore progressive compared with the disastrous rule of his predecessor, so opportunities increased, not only for augmenting private fortunes, but for the circulation of scandal. A writer in the Salt Lake Tribune of June 25, 1879, asserts that during Brigham's term of office he received about $13,000,000 in tithes, of which 'about $9,000,000 was squandered on his family,' and dying, left the remainder to be quarrelled over by his heirs and assigns, including the church. In July 1859 Horace Greeley visited Brig- ham, who said: ' I am the only person in the church who has not a regular calling apart from the church's service, and I never received one farthing from her treasury. If I obtain anything from the tithing-house, I am charged with and pay for it, just as any one else would . . .1 am called rich, and con- sider myself worth $250,000; but no dollar of it was ever paid me by the church, nor for any service as a minister of the everlasting gospel. I lost nearly all I had when we were broken up in Missouri and driven from that state. I was nearly stripped again when Joseph Smith was murdered, and we were driven from Illinois; but nothing was ever made up to me by the church, nor by any one. I believe I know how to acquire property, and how to take care of it.'" Overland Journey to California, 213-14. The governor, in his message to the legislature in 1882, stated that tithing should be prohib- ited. The message was referred to a committee, which reported that the ques- tion being one oi a purely religious character did not call for legislative action. ' The payment of tithing, like contributions for missionary, charita​

cial system being in the hands of the bishopric, but supervised by tlie trustee in trust through the aid of an auditing committee. The names of those who do not keep the law of tithing shall not be enrolled with the people of God; neither shall their genealogy be kept.

The doctrine of divine revelation is continued. God's ways are immutable; past and present to him are as one; what he has done, that he continues to do; what was right five thousand years ago is right now. If God spoke to Abraham and Solomon, and gave them more wives than one, even giving to David his neighbor's wives, there is no reason why he should not do the same with Joseph and Brigham. There is nothing which God has ever done and sanctioned that he may not do and sanction now; otherwise he is not an omniscient, omnipotent, unchangeable, all-wise, and perfect being. Every member of the church may hold communion with God relative to his own aifairs; revelations for the church are only given through its head.

As through Christ alone man may be saved, in order that the souls of many millions who never heard of him may not be all of them lost, baptism for the dead, and thereby salvation, was revealed, as was also celestial marriage.

Nature is dual. An unmarried man or woman is and forever must be an imperfect creature. There are marriages for time and marriages for eternity. A celestial marriage is a marriage of God, and those thus

ble, and other church purposes, by the members of other religious bodies, is clearly an ecclesiastical matter, with which, as law-makers, we have nothing whatever to do, so long as the free exercise thereof does not interfere with the rights and liberties of others. Tithing is not, as we understand it, a new doctrine, for, as a religious i^rivilege and duty, Abraham paid tithes to Mclchisedck about four thousand years ago. Wc arc not aware, however, that exactions of tithings arc made in this territory, even by ecclesiastical authority; but supposing they were, there is no law by which payment can be enforced, nor is it likely there ever will be, for it is a matter not within t!ie constitutional province of legislative enactment. If any citizen in the territory feels aggrieved by reason of the payment of tithes or other church donations, he holds the remedy in his own hands by simj)ly renouncing con- nection with any religious body requiring such dona ​tions.'

joined can never be divorced, except by the power of God. Ifa man's wife d ies and he marries another, and she dies and he marries a third, beheving in resurrection and a Hfe of purity beyond the grave but repudiating polygamy, how will he manage with his plural wives in heaven ? She who dies unmarried cannot enter into the full enjoyment of God; but as a man ma}^ be bap- tized for the dead and so save their souls, so he may be sealed to a husbandless woman in heaven. There is a, difference between marriage and sealing; the former is secular, and the latter both secular and celestial, as it may be either for time or for eternity, in person or by proxy, and with the living or with the dead. A woman may be sealed to one man for time and to another for eternity, the former being still living.^^

'^ Gentile mai-riage and divorce are not recognized as valid in the Mormon church. In its early days, the church had no marriage ordinances of its ov/n,. and the requirements, conditions, and ceremonies incident to the rite were similar to those of the various protestant sects. Nor had it officials legally qualilied to marry, other, perhaps, than a few such men as Sidney Rigdon». who, having been duly appointed to preside over churches of other denomi- nations, were still competent to join in legal marriage. In 1S3G, when the church was three years old and the Kirtland temple about to bo dedicated, we find Joseph petitioning the court of Medina county, Ohio, for licensee pennitting his elders to perform marriage ceremonies, which authority had been refused them by the Geauga county court. Mil. Star, xv. 708.

Later, when the church had gained power, the result of more complete organization, Joseph announced, as its belief respecting marriage, that it

• should be solemnized in a public meeting, or feast, prepared for that pur-

pose,' and that the celebrant should be 'a presiding high-pKiest, bishop, elder, or priest.' But no prohibition was issued against marriage by any other authority. Neither were church-members forbidden to marry out of the church, though any so doing would be considered weak in the faith. In the edition of Doctrine and Covenants, published at S. L. City in 1870, a revela-' tion of the prophet's purporting to explain 1st Cor., vii. 14, is construed as forbidding marriages between believers and unbelievers. Ann Eliza Webb, who was twice married according to Mormon practice, once by Brigham, and afterward to him, thus describes the ceremonies: After registration, which includes name, age, place of birth, with county, state, or country, ' we went before Brigham Young, who was waiting for us,' and who asked, ' Do you, Brother James Dee, take Sister Ann Eliza Webb by the right iiand, to re- ceive her unto yourself, to Ije your lawful and wedded wife, and you to bo her lawful and wedded husband, for time and eternity, with a covenant and promise on your part that you will fulfd all the laws, rights, and ordinances pertaining to this holy matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant, do- ing this in the presence of God, angels, and these witnesses, of your ov.n freej will and accord?' 'Yes.' 'Do you, Sister Ann Eliza Webb, take Brother James Dec l>y the right hand, and give yourself to him, to be his lawful and, wedded wifo, for time £ind for all eternity, with a covenant and promise on your part that you will fulfil all the laws, rights, and ordinances pertaining to this lioly matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant, doing this in Hist. Utah. 23 ​

3S» MORMONISM AND POLYGAMY.

A sacred duty is the constant effort to convert all men throughout the world to a belief in the divinity

the presence of God, angels, and these witnesses, of your own free will and accord?' 'Yes.' 'In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the author- ity of the holy priesthood, I pronounce you legally and lawfully husband and wife, for time and for all eternity. And I seal upon you the blessings of the holy resurrection, with power to come forth in the morning of the lirst resur- rection, clothed with glory, immortality, and everlasting lives; and I seal upon you the blessings of thrones, and dominions, and principalities, and powers, and exaltations, together with the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I say unto yoa. Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, that you may have joy and rejoicing in your prosperity in the day of the Lord Jesus. AH these blessings, together with all other blessings per- taining to the new and everlasting covenant, I seal upon your heads, through your faithfulness unto the end, by the authority of the holy priesthood, in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost. Ameu.' 'The scribe then entered the date of the marriage, together with the names of my mother and the one or two friends who accompanied us.' When the marriage is a polygamous one, the wife stands on the left of her husband, and the bride at her left hand. The president then puts this question to the wife: 'Are you willing to give this woman to your husband, to be his lawful and wedded wife for time and for all eternity? If you are, you will manifest it by plac- ing her right hand within the right hand of your husband.' The right hands of the husband and bride being thus joined, the wife takes her husband by the left arm, as in walking, and the ceremony then proceeds as in the manner quoted above. Younrfs Wife No. 19, 388. Mrs Stenhouse, who gave a po- lygamous wife to her husband, states that in her case the cei'emony was per- formed at the altar, her husband kneeling on one side, and the two women opposite him; the wife being required to join the hands of the contracting parties as in the other case; but it does not appear that she afterward took her husband's arm. Indeed, the position of the three would render this im- practicable. See TelL It A II, 453-4. Of course, as these ceremonies took place in the endowment house, the temple robes were worn.

But apart from ordinary n^arriage as known among gentiles, remarriage of converts and polygamous unions, the church in its benelicence, by an addi- tional marriage rite, secures to her children eternal salvation accompanied with permanent positions of rank. This is effected by the ceremony known as spiritual marriage, based upon the following tenets: No unmarried man or woman can be eternally scved. One woman can save one man only; but a man can be instrumental in the salvation of an indefinite number of women. Sealing may be either for the dead, or for those yet alive. Persons sealed on earth need not necessarily live together. Brigham, in a discourse delivered in Nauvoo, Apr. 6, 1845, announces the doctrine in the following language: 'And I would say, as no man can be perfect without the woman, so no wo- man can be perfect without a man to lead her. I tell you the truth as it is in the bosom of eternity ; and I say so to every man upon the face of the earth: if he wishes to be saved, he cannot be saved without a woman by his side. This is spiritual wifeism, that is, the doctrine of spiritual wives.' Times and Seasons, vi. 955. ' No woman can be sealed to two husbands; she nmst choose which it shall be whom she will marry for eternity. The man can be sealed to as many wives as he pleases. If the husband will be baptized for a former husband who perhaps died out of the church, then it leaves the wife at lib- erty to make that choice. If she feels that her second husband is her pref- erence, she can be baptized for some dead female, and have her sealed to her dead husband, so as to secure his conjugal happiness forever.' Mis Richards' Inner Facts, MS., 5. ' If a husband has lost his wife by death, before he had the opportunity of attending to this holy ordinance, and securing her ae Iiis lawful wife for eternity, then it is the duty of the second w ife, hrst, to be ​

of Joseph Smith's mission. To this end are sent forth proselyting ministers, elders of the church, selected by

sealed or married to the husband, for and in the name of the deceased wife,

for all eternity; and, secondly, to be married for time and eternity herself, to the same man. Thus, by this holy ordiuance, both the dead and the liv- ing wife will be his in the eternal m oilds. But if, previous to marriage for eternity, a woman lose her husband by death, and marry a second, and if her first husband was a good man, then it is the duty of the second husband to be married to her for eternity, not lor herself, but in the name of her deceased husband, while he himself can only be married to her for time; and he is obliged to enter into a covenant to deliver her up, and all her children, to hor deceased husband, in the morning of the first resui-^^tion. ' Waite's Mormon Projihct, 173. 'A man can either have a woman sealed to him as his con- sort for this world only, or he can have her sealed to him both for this world as well as for the world to come — she is A. 's wife while she is on earth, but she becomes B.'s as soon as she has reached heaven. Or again, a woujan — a spinster, for instance — who has talcen a particular fancy to any deceased saint, and who wishes to become his consort in the world to come, can be sealed to him by proxy by becoming the wife of some living saint. She has first to be sealed on earth before she can obtain the necessary introduction mto heaven. When a woman is said to be sealed to a man, it does not neces- sarily imply that she is married to him. It may mean marriage, or it may simply amuunt to an arrangement to marry, to be consummated in the next wor.d, made either directly between the two parties, or by proxy by another party in place of one of the two interested parties who is dead, .. .even if she prefers being the consort of Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Job, etc., for the Monnon spiritual- wife doctrine even ventures to go the length of this! ' Mar- sliaU, Through America, 186. Mrs Stenhouse says President Heber C. Kim- ball upon one occasion introduced her to live of his wives in succession, and upon being asked, 'Are these all you have got?' replied, '0 dear! no. 1 have a few more at home, and about fifty more scattered over the earth some- where. I have never seen them since they were sealed to me in Nauvoo, and 1 hope I never shall again.' Ex-pos6 of Poly (j amy in Utah, 91-2. See also, in this connection. Green's Mormonism, 180-92; Lee's Mormonism Unveiled, IGJ-72.

Brigham, as head of the church, claimed authority not only to marry, but also to uivorce at will. No law's delay, no filing of bills, summoning witnesses, or learned decision granting absolute or partial severance, accompanied by partial or impartial award of property and the custody of infants, was required. Uiven the approbation of the chief, and the rest followed as speedily as a clerk could write the certilicate and receive the fee. In a district removed from the capital, only the consent of the bishop is necessary, and the bill of divorce- ment is a very simple writing. 'March 18, 1871. To whomsoever it may concern. This is to certify, in the beginning of 1869 when I gave a bill of divorce to Sarah Ann Lowry I gave to her for the good of her four children the following property, viz. : a parcel of land of about nine acres enclosed all around, with a house of two rooms and one cow and heifer. William U. fit- ter.' The customary fee is ten dollars, and Mrs VVaite relates an instance in which a woman who had been granted a divorce was told by Brigh;im that the act was null until tiie money was paid. The Mormon Prophet, 23D. The following is copied from note G, app. to Paddock's Madame La Tour: 'An Englishwoman who abandoned her husband and children for the purpose of gatUering with the saints to Zion has been divorced and remarried five times since she came to Utah. The present writer has lived within half a block of a woman who, after being divorced from five husbands, is now living in jxjlyg- amy with the sixth; and one of our district judges reports the case of an elderly saintess, living near the place in which he holds court, who has been divorced fourteen tinics.' ​

the authorities and called by the saints assembled at the general semiannual conferences held in Salt Lake City. Neither age nor pecuniary condition governs the selection. They may be men or boys, rich or poor; but they must have faith and integrity, and go forth without purse or scrip, relying alone upon the hand of God to feed them. An elder is likewise selected by the church authorities to preside over each mission. Thus has been visited almost every quarter of the globe, the book of Mormon being mean- while translated into many languages. And a Per- petual Emigration Fund Company has been estab- lished, which has advanced the funds to bring out thousands to Zion, the money being paid back by the immigrant after his arrival, as he has been able to earn it.

Temple building is a characteristic work, and is prompted by the belief that Jesus Christ will some day come suddenly to his temple. Hence the devotion and self-sacrifice practised by Christ's people in order to prepare for him a fitting place of reception. Won- ders in this direction have been accomplished by a poor and wandering people, at Kirtland, at Nauvoo, at Salt Lake City, St George, Manti, and Logan.

In the north-west corner of Temple block, Salt Lake City, in which is the tabernacle, the smaller church building, and the new temple, stands a plain two-story adobe structure known as the Endowment House. Here are conducted the most secret and solemn mysteries of the church, which maybe termed rcligio-masonic ceremonies, illustrative of the origin and destiny of man. Here also are performed the rites of baptism for the dead, anointing with oil, mar- riage, and other ceremonies, by which the convert is endowed with the special grace of God, receives his inheritance as a child of God, and is made a partaker of the fulness of all the blessings of religion. All these rites should properly be performed in the temple, which on its completion will supersede the endowment ​

house, and in which special apartments are being con- structed for tliese purposes."

'" The ceremony of Endowment, or as it is termed, going through the en- dowment house, occupies usually about eight hours. It has been desciibed at length by several persons who have experienced it, and I give herewith a condensation of the most reliable accounts. Minor changes have been intro- duced since the days of Joseph Smith, but, in the main, tlic rites are as they were in the begiuniug. Certain days in each week, throughout the year, are set apart, upon which candidates present themselvts at the endowment house, as early as seven o'clock a. m. Each is required to bring a bottle of the best olive-oil, and supposed to bring his robes also, although it is common to borrow the latter from friends, tor the first appearance, after which every good Mormon possesses his own. These garments are described as follows: The temple robe, alike for both sexes, is a long, loose, flowing garment, made of white linen or bleached muslin, and reaching to the ankle. It is gathered to a band sufficiently long to pass around the body from the right shoulder underneath the left arm, thus leaving the latter free. A linen belt holds it in place. The women wear a head covering made of a large square of Swiss muslin, gathered in one corner so as to form a sort of cap to fit the head, the remainder falling duwn as a veil. For the men, a round piece of linen, drawn up with a string and a bow in front, something after the fashion of a Scotch cap, is used. The under garment, which is also alike for both sexes, is a sort of jacket and trousers together, something like the night-dresses made for children; and is worn night and day. When changed, only an arm or a leg must be i-emoved at once, the fresh garment being thus put on as tlie other is taken off. This garment protects from disease, and even death, for the bullet of an enemy will not penetrate it. The prophet Josepli carelessly left off this gai-ment on the day of his death, and had he not done so, he would have escaped unharmed. Over the inner garment the men wear r.n ordinary shirt, and the women a white skirt. White stockings and a pair of white linen slippers complete the costume. Entering the building, the candidate's own name and age are registered, and also the names of the parents. The candidates hand in their oil, remove their shoes, and pass with their bundles of clothing into a bath-room divided down the middle by a heavy curtain whicli separates the sexes. Here the ceremony of purification is performed, the women being washed by women, and the men by men. The person washed is informed that he or she is now cleansed from the blood of this generation, and if faithful, shall never be subject to the plagues and mis- cries A^hich are about to come upon the earth. Next follows the anointing. The oil is poured from a large horn into the hand of the person officiating, and applied to the crown of the head, eyes, ears, mouth, and feet of the candidate. The eyes are touched, that they may be quick to see; the ears, that the hear- ing may be sharp; the mouth, to bestow wisdom upon speech; and the feet, that they be swift to run in the ways of the Lord. Then a new name, which is rarely to be mentioned, is whispered into the ear, and all are marched into room No. 2, where they are seated, the sexes on opposite sides of the room, and facing each other. Here they are told by a jniest that any person not strong enough to proceed may retire; but if any portion of the ceremony is disclosed, the throat of the person so offending will be cut from ear to ear. Those faltering, if any, having retired, the remainder are taken into room No. 3, where a representation of the creation, the temptation, and fall is given. Each candidate then puts on over his robe an apron of white linen, upon which are sewn pieces of green silk representing fig-leaves, and also the cap or veil. All good Monnons are buried in their endowment robes, and tlie veil worn by the women covers their faces when they are consigned to the grave. In the morning of the resurrection, this veil is to be lifted by the husband; otherwise no woman can sec the face of the almighty in the next world. This ends the first degree; and the initiated are now driven out of Edeu into room No. ​

The order of exercises in the tabernacle, which seats seven thousand persons, is much the same as in orthodox evangeHcal churches, beginning and end- ing with prayer and singing, and sometimes singing and administering the sacrament in the middle of a discourse. The speaker seldorn knows that he is to speak until called upon by the moderator, who regu- lates the services, and makes the selection under inspi- ration, announcing the name of the person sometimes without knowing whether he is in the house, or even in the city. The singing is very fine, the organ, con- structed wholly by Mormon artisans, being the largest

4, which represents the world, where they encounter many temptations, the chief of which is the false gospel preached by methodists, baptists, etc. Finally St James and St John appear and proclaim thetrue gospel of IMormonism, which all gladly embrace. After this they receive certain grips and pass-words, and all are arranged in a circle, kneel, and the women lower their veils. Then, with the right hand uplifted, an oath is taken to avenge the death of Joseph Smith, jun. , upon the gentiles who had caused his murder, to teacli the children of the cliurch to do likewise, to obey implicitly and without murmur or question nil commands of the priesthood, to refrain from adultery, and finally, eternal secrecy concerning all that transpired in the endowment house is promised. Then comes an address, after which another room is entered, leading from which is a door with a hole in it, covered with a piece of muslin. The men approach this door in turn and ask to enter. Then a person behind tlie door reaches through the opening, and with knife in hand cuts a certain mark on the left breast of the shirt, another over the abdomen, and one over tlie right knee, which marks are faithfully copied by the women in their own garments after returning to their homes. The man then mentions his new name, gives the grip of tlie third degi-ee, and is permitted to pass in. This is called go- ing behind the veil. When the men are all in, each woman is passed through by her husband, or having none, by one of the brethren. This concludes the ceremony, with the exception of marriage, which will be noticed elsewhere. Of these ceremonies MrsStenhouse, from whose account the foregoing is partlj' taken, says: 'About what was done in Nauvoo, I can only speak by hear- say, but have been told many strange and revolting stories about the cere- monies which were there performed. Of the endowments in Utah, everything was beautifully neat and clean, and I wish to say most distinctly that, al- though the initiation appears now to my mind as a piece of the most ridiculous absurdity, there was, nevertheless, nothing in it indecent or immoral. Eng- lii<hvovian in Utah, 190-2. For more on endowment ceremonies, see Morm. at Home, 209; Stnihouse's Eiiglishwomnn, 155-201; Tdl It AH, 253-G, 514-15; Beadle's Lifcin Utah, 486-502; Hyde's Morm., 89-101, 108-9; Worthington's Woman in Battle, .591-2; Burton's City of Saints, 211-2; Young s Wi/e No. 19, 35G-72; 8. L. Herald, Mar. 31, 1881; Tribune, Nov. 16, 1878; Sept. 28, 1879; Utah Rev., Deo. 12, 1871; S. F. Bulletin, 1878, Nov. 16; 1879, May 5, Oct. 25; Herald, July 27, 1852; Bed Bluff Sentinel, Nov. 30, 1878; Sac. Union, Sept. 25, 1858; Bee. -Union, Oct. 1, 1879; San Jos6 Anjus, Sept. 15, 22, 1877; Sta Cruz Cour., May 10, 1878; Stockton Indep., May 6, 1879; Te- hama 7'ocsin, Nov, 1, 1879; Yreka Union, Nov. 22, 1879; S'llcm (Or.) Statesman, Nov. 7, 1879; Carbon City (Nev.) Tribune, Oct. 6, 1879; Elko Indep., Dec. 12, 1878; Gold Hill News, 1878, Oct. 29-31. ​

and finest in America at the time it was built. The acoustic properties of the oval-shaped room and ceil- ing are wonderful; stationed at one point, a pin may be heard drop at the opposite end. The singers, thirty or forty in number, are stationed on the main stage, facing the audience in front of the organ. In front of them are the church officials, seated on a series of platforms according to their respective grades, the first presidency highest, next the twelve apostles, and finally the teachers, priests, and bishops, who have charge of administering the sacrament of the Lord's supper, which is done regularly every Sunday. In the first organization of the church, bread and wine were specified as the proper elements to be used, but it was soon after revealed that it makes no difference what the emblems are, and now bread and water are used. Tabernacle services are held Sunday after- noons; there are Sunday-schools at the ward meeting- houses Sunday mornings, and preaching at the same places in the evening by subordinate officials, who often repeat the main points of the morning taber- nacle discourse. In the tabernacle, several rows of the best seats are reserved for gentile strangers, and are filled for the most part by travellers and tourists, American and European, who take no pains to hide their contempt for all about them, and return the courtesy extended by smiles and sneers, which, to say the least, is in bad taste for people pretending to a superior culture.^^

•* Oae or two other matters of belief I may mention here. There was early established the order of Enocti. The prophet Joseph not only indorsed tlie biblical account of the translation of Enoch, but added to it. There was not only one Enoch, but a whole city full. This city of Enoch was located where are now the waters of the gulf of Mexico, and its inhabitants were absolutely perfect. Many sought to reach this place, for its fame had be- come noised abroad; but none were successful, owing to wanderings and bickerings by the way. Within its gates all things were held in common, and unalloyed happiness reigned. And inasmuch as the people of Enoch were unfitted by their moral excellence to mingle with other earthly inhabi- tants, they were removed to celestial realms. Joseph's idea at this time seems to have been to induce his followers to surrender all rights, including that of property, into tlie hands of the cliurch. In May 1831 it was revealed, 'And again, let the bishop appoint a storehouse unto this church, and let all ​

After all that can be said about Mormon ism and polygamy in their social or moral relations, it is only when we come to consider them in their political as- pect, in their relations to government and governing,

tilings, both in money and in meat, which is more than is needful for the wants of this people, be Ivept in the hands of the bishop.' Times and Scawns, v. 41G. 1 his revelation was for the information and guidance of the first bishop, Partridge, who is authorized therein to take wh;it he wants for himself and family. The prophet's revelation concerning the order of Enoch is without date, and is entitled ' Revelation given to Enoch concerniug tlie order of the church for the bc'uelit of the j)oor.' In it is prescribed that there shall be two treasuries: from the first, to be called ' the sacred treasury of the Lord,' nothing can be taken but by the voice of the order, or by commandment; into the second treasury are to be cast all moneys except those rcscrvetl for Bacred purposes. It is'also provided that general consent is necessary for the withdrawal of funds from this, as in the case of the first repository, but common consent in this case is construed to be, -if any man shall say to the treasurer, ' I have need of a certain sum,' he shall receive it, provided the asker shall be in full fellowship. The revelation in full will be found in Doctrine and Covenants, 283-9. One of the grounds of complaint brought against the saints in Caldwell county, by the Missouri an s, was that the former were coni- raunists, as has been narrated alrea,dy. S:iys the Salt Lake Tribune of May 9, 1874: ' The JNlormons paid the United States authorities $318,000 for public lands in Missouri, but were not allowed to enjoy one acre of their purchase.' See also Deseret News, JNIay 13, 1874. At Nauvoo, Joseph had himself appointed trustee in trust of the whole church, and thereafter \Ye hear no more of the order of Enoch until some years subsequent to the establishment of the Deseret colonies. Soon after Joseph's death we find Brigham sole trustee of affairs. During the scenes- following the murder of the Smiths, the expulsion from Illinois, and up to the settlement of the migratoiy saints in Utah, there was little jDroperty to care for; but after that, attention was again turned to the matter. Ptobinson, in his Sinners and Saints, gives a, copy of a deed: ' Be it known by these presents, that I, Jessie W. 1^'ox, of Great Salt Lake City, in the county of Great Salt Lake, and territory of Utah, for and in consideration of the sum of one hundred ($100) dollars and the good-will which I have to the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day s.aints, give and convey unto Brigham Young, trustee in trust for the said church, his successor in office and assigns, all my claims to and ownership of the following-described property, to wit: One house and lot, §1,000; one city lot, §100; east half of lot 1, block 12, §50; lot 1, block 14, §75; two cows, $50; two calves, $15; one mare, $100; one colt, $50; one watch, $20; one clock, $12; clothing, $300; beds and bedding, $125; one stove, $20; household furniture, $210; total, $2,127; together with all the rights, privileges, and appurtenances thereunto belonging or appertaining. I also covenant and agree that I am the lawful claimant and owner of said property, and will warrant and forever defend the same unto the said trustee in trust, his suc- cessor in office and assigns, against the claims of my heirs, assigns, or any person whomsoever.' Then follows the attestation of the witness, and the formal certificate of the judge of the probate coui-t that the signer of the above transfer personally appeared before him on April 2, 1857, and made the customary acknowledgment. Robinson also gives a list of rules, which I have not room for in detail, but which the reader may find in pp. 223-5, in the work already quoted. William Hall, who was a member of the church from 1840 until 1847, says that at the time of tho exodus from Kauvoo a mercantile firm was appointed to act as trustees, not only for the church property, but also for individuals. These trustees were to sell the property ​

OPPONENTS OF POLYGAMY. S6I

that we touch the core of the matter. Those who wax the hottest against the latter-day saints and their polygamous practices are not as a rule among the purest of our people. They care no mure, indeed,

left behind, and account to the proper owners. Mormonism Exposed, 66-70. Says Ex-elder John Hyde, juu.: 'In 1854 Brighatn Young commanded the people to oonseciate by legal transfer all right and title to all personal prop- erty. Quitclaim deeds were drawn up, and froiii their land to their wear- ing apparel the majority transferred everything to Brigham or his successor as trustee in trust for the latter-day saints; and some, in the exuberance of enthusiasm, threw in their wives and families.' Mormonism., 37-9. The legis- lature, by act approved Jan. 18, 18o5, legalized these transfers, and provided a form in blank therefor. See Utah L<tws (ed. ISoo), 268-9; (ed. 1S6G), 92-3. At the semiannual conference held in Oct. 1873, the subject of reviving thcoi'der was again agitated. Elder David McKenzie touched upon the ultimate es- tablishment of the order of Enoch in a very emphatic manner. Deseret News, Oct. 15, 1873. The Salt Lake Tribune of March 21, 1874, quotes the elder as follows: ' We should give thanks and praise to almighty God that tliere is a chance, a door opened, by which we may take a step towards establishing the order of Enoch.' JNIrs Steuhouse says efforts wei'c made to revive the order Ijefore the completion of the railways, which were not finished until 1869. Englishicoman in Utah, 371-2. Rev. Clark Smith, author of a 12mo pamphlet entitled Mystery and Crime in the Land of the Ute, states that the plan for reviving the order was matured during the winter of 1873-4 at St George, where Brigham and a few of his leaders were at that time. During the early part of ] 874, scarcely a sermon was delivei-ed without a reference to tlie order and an assurance that all joining would be benefited both spiritually and temporally. On May 9th an election of officers was held. Brigham was was chosen president; Geo. Smith, Danl H. Wells, and the twelve apostles, vice-presidents; David McKenzie, George Goddard, D. 0. Calder, P. A. Sehettlcr, John T. CaLne, and James Jack, secretaries; Thos W. EUerbeck, general book-keeper; Edward Hunter, treasurer; and Hoiuee J. Eldridge, John Sharp, Fcrezmore Little, James Van Cott, Moses Thatcher, Thos Dinwiddle, and Elijah Sheets, directors. S. L. G. Tribune, May 16, 1874.

The dogma of adoption for eternity originated after Joseph's time. Hall says he first heard of it about the date of the expulsion from Nauvoo. Mor- monifim Exposed, 70. It was ascertained that many of the saints had inter- married with gentile stock, and were thus debarred from a fall enjoyment of the rights and privileges of the house and lineage of Abraham. But tiiese lost blessings could be restored by ingraftment upon the stock of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, represented by the twelve apostles, each of whom was deemed as in lineal descent from Abraliam, tracing his consanguinity to Isaac and Jacob, and thence to himself as a chief of one of the tribes. Romans, xi. ] 6, is quoted as authorizing the doctrine, which requires every member of the church, except the twelve, to choose a f.ither from one of the latter. The father may be either younger or older than the son, but in any case assumes the character of guardian, with full control of the labor and estate of the adopted son. j\Iany young men give themselves over to the leaders as ' eter- nal sons,' in the hope of sharing the honor of their adopted parents. W. C Staines was Brigham's adopted son, and D. Candland, Heber C. Kimball's. Jtyde, Jj'onnoniiii, ] 10. Wubert Earls is also mentioned as Kimball's son. JIall, Mormonism Exposed, 70.

About 1840, in obedience to a special revelation, Joseph Smith established a secret society known as the Order Lodge. None save persotis of high stand- ing iu the church could gain admission, the avowed object of the organization being induction into the higher mysteries of the priesthood. J. C. Bennett writes as follows of this order: ' The lodge-rocm is carefully prepared and ​

about the half-dozen wives of the Mormon than about the half-dozen mistresses of the congressman. As Judge Roseborough, in a very able dictation to my stenographer, remarks: "When I came here I was a

consecrated; and from 12 to 24 sprigs of cassia, olive branches, cedar boughs, or other evergreens, are tastefully arranged about it. These are intendetl to represent tlic eternal life and unmingled bliss, which, in the celestial kingdom, will be enjoyed by all who continue in full fellowship.'. . .The candidate is stripped naked, blindfolded, and in this condition marched around t'.ic lodge- room, the most excellent Grand Master repeating: 'I will bring the blind by a way they know not; I will lead them in paths that tliey have not known; I will make darkness light beftn-e them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.' The candidate having knelt before the altar, the following oath is administered: 'In the name of Jesus Christ, the son of God, I now promise and swear, truly, faithfully, and without reserve, that I will serve the Loi-d with a perfect heart and a willing mind, dedicating myself, wholly and unreservedly, in my person and effects, to the upbuilding of his kingdom on earth, according to his revealed will. I furthermore promise and swear that I will regard the first president of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints as the supreme head of the church on earth, and obey him the same as the supreme God, in all written revela- tions, given under the solemnities of a "thus saith the Lord," and that I will always uphold the presidency, right or wrong. I furthermore promise and swear that I will never touch a daughter of Adam unless she is given Jne of the Lord. I furthermore promise and swear that no gentile shall ever be admitted to the secrets of this holy institution, or participate in its blessings. I furthermore promise and swear that I will assist the Daughter of Zion in the utter destruction of apostates, and that I will assist in setting up the Kingdom of Daniel in these last days, by the power of the highest and the sword of his might. I furthermore promise and swear that I will never com- municate the secrets of this degree to any person in the known world, except it be to a true and lawful brother, binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having melted lead poured into my ear. So help me God and keep rnc faithful.' Jlist. of the Saints, 215-6.

I have thousands of references to articles written and sermons preached on the doctrines of the church. The tabernacle and bowery sermons have been reported and publisiied in the Deseret News, from its first publication up to 18G0. Besides President Young, the prominent speakers were Parley P. Pratt, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Lorenzo Snow, Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, John Taylor, Franklin D. Richards, David Fullmer, J. W. Cum- mings, John Young, Wilford Woodruff, John D. McAUistei', Joseph Young, Daniel H. Wells, Cyrus H. Wheelock, Robert T. Burton, Jacob Gates, Charles H. Bassett, and many others. For duties of bishops, see Dexeret Neicx, 1850, Aug. 10; patriarchal notice, Sept. 21; revelation, Dec. 28; 18.j1, for religious questions and answers, Jan. 11; minutes special conference of seventies, Jan. 25; appcl. presidency and apostolate, Mar. 8; min. gen. con., 19; Patriarch .Smith's letter to the saints throughout the world, and letter from P. P. Pratt to Brigham Young, Nov. 29; letter from Thos Bullock, president of seventies, Dec. 27; 1852, letter from O. Jones to Pres. Young, Jan. 10; offices in church, authority explained, Jan. 24; signs of the times, and advice to the saints, Feb. 7; disc, by Brigham, Feb. 9; letter. Patriarch Smith, Feb. 20; opinions about Mormonism (from Harper's Mar/.), Feb. 21; min. con. new tabernacle, Apr. 17; Mormon question {N. Y. Trib- U7ie and Herald), May 1; letter of defence (in N. Y. Herald), May 15; reflections, 0. Pratt, June 26; disc, by Kimball, Aug. 15; gen. funeral ser- mon by O. Pratt, Aug. 21; Brigham on apostles, Nr irs cxtni, p. 25; remarks by Taylor and Kimball, Sept. 4; speech by Kimball, Sept. 14; special con., ​

democrat. They pretended to be democrats, but I found them such democrats as hell is full of. They are neither democrats nor republicans. I did not care about matters of belief, if they were American citizens.

Sept. 18; disc, by Brigham, Oct. 2; min. gen. con., Oct. 16 and Nov. 6; epis- tle by Young, Oct. IG; the Mormons tlie Mahometans of 19th cent. (iV. Y. Herald), Nov. 2; remarks, Young, Aug. 26, Nov. 6; 1853, sermon by P. P. Pratt, Jan. 19; address by Taylor, Jan. 19; disc, by Benson, Feb. 1; sermon, Pratt, Mar. 2; Brigliam and Pratt, address, Apr. 2; Brigham, disc, Apr. 13; miu. gen. con., Apr. 16, 30; epistle pres., rept quorum seventies, Apr. 16; ad., lljdc. May 14; ad., Brigham, May 14; disc, Brigham, July 6 and 20; speech, Hyde, July 30; disc, Brigham, Aug. 24, 31, and Oct. 1; min. gen. con., Oct. 15 and 29; ep. pres., Oct. 15; disc, Brigham, Sept. 7; ad., H. Kim- ball, Nov. 12; ad., tabernacle, Nov. 24; Mormon vs gentile, Nov. 24; ad., Brigham, Dec 8; Mormonism, Dec. 8; sermon, Taylor, Dec. 22; 1854, disc, H. Kimball, Jan. 4; Smith, Jan. 18; reg. dialogue, and art. on restitution, Jan. 12; bible and Mormonism, Jan. 19; repts of quorums of seventies, Mar. 2, Apr. 13, Apr. 27; gen. epis., Apr. 13; gen. confer., Apr. 13; address, Hyde, Apr. 27; disc, Pratt, Apr. 27; address, Kimball, Apr. 27; disc, Taylor, May 1 1 ; Brigham, May 1 1 ; Smith, May 1 1 ; Grant, June 8; Brigham, July 27; Grant, July 27; Brigham, Aug. 3; Kimball, Aug. 17; epis. pres., Sept. 14; disc, Kim- ball, Sept. 14; a Mormon leader (from Sem. Wy. Jour., Tex.), Sept. 21; disc, Grant, Sept. 21; epis. against litigation, Sept. 21; remarks. Grant, Sept. 28; disc, Kimball, Sept. 28; Hyde, Oct. 5, Oct. 19; Kimball, Oct. 19; Benson, Oct. 19; Smith, Oct. 26; Pratt, Oct. 26; Brigham, Oct. 26; Hyde. Nov. 9; Grant. Nov. 23; Kimball, Nov. 23; Pratt, Nov. 30; Grant, Dec 7; Kimball, Dec. 14; Pratt, Dec. 21; local recog. of Morm. (from Democracy), Dec. 21; disc, Pratt, Dec. 28; 1855, Grant, Jan. 25; testimony, Kimball, Jan. 25; disc, Brigham, Feb. 8; rept of 27 quor., Jan. 11: disc, on prophecies, Pratt, Feb. 22; jMorm. worldliness, etc., Harrison; address, Brigham, Mar. 1; belief in superiority, Hyde, Mar. 14; sermon. Woodruff, Mar. 21; Hyde, Mar. 28; Smith, Apr. 4; testimony, faith, and confidence; gen. confer., Apr. 11 ; sermon. Grant, Apr. 11; gen. epist. , Apr. 25; disc, Brigham, Apr. 25, May 9; remarks, Pratt, May 2; ciders' corrcsp., May 16; disc, Pratt, May 16; on inspection, Brigham, May 23; ciders' corrcsp., May 23, May 30; remarks, Brigham, June 6; disc, Brigham, June 20; the word of wisdom (in Doctrines and VoL-enant>>), June 27; sermon, Smith, July 11; Morm., July 18; disc, Brigham, July IS; lecture, Grant, July 25; disc, Brigham, Aug. 1; Smith, Aug. 22; Benson, Aug. 22; Smith, Aug. 29; comments (N. Y. Papers), Sept. 12; remarks, Benson, Sept. 12; disc, Pratt, Sept. 12; remarks, Pratt, Sept. 19; disc, Brigham, Sept. 26; Smith, Oct. 10; gen. confer., Oct. 10; disc, Oct. 10; bowery meeting, Oct. 17; confer., Oct. 17, 24; tabernacle meeting, Oct. 24, 31; gen. epis., Oct. 31; ser- mon, Brigham, Oct. 31; to the truth-loving, Nov. 7; disc, Nov. 7; remarks. Grant, Nov. 7; tabernacle meeting, Nov. 7; remarks, Kimball, Nov. 7; ser- mon, Ijrigham, Nov. 21; disc, Kimball, Dec. 4; Pratt, Dec. 12, 19; Lyman, Dec. 19, 26; 1856, disc, Lyman, Jan. 2; Pratt, Jan. 30; Kimball, Feb. 6; Brig- ham, Feb. 6; Grant, Feb. 6; Lyman, Feb. 20; Brigham, Feb. 27: remarks, Kimball, Mar. 5; Brigliam, Mar. 5, 12; epis. to high priest's quorum. Mar. 12; disc, Kimball, Mar. 12; remarks. Grant, Mar. 12; fair weather disc. Mar. 12; disc, Wells, Mar. 19; Kimball, Mar. 19; Brigham, Mar. 26; Vernon, Mar. 26; remarks, Brigham, Mar. 26; disc. Grant, Apr. 2; Brigham, Apr. 2; Kimball, Apr. 2; gen. confer., Apr. 9; disc. ; Kimball, Apr. 9; sacrifice, Apr. 9; disc. , Smith, Apr. 16; obedience, Apr. 23; disc, Pratt, Apr. 23; Brigham, Apr. 30; Pratt, May 14; the world and the saints, May 28; remarks, Brigham, June IS; disc, Brigham, June 25; counsel, July 9; obedience, July 16; disc, Pratt, July 16; Kimbt.ll, Aug. 20; sermon, Brigham, Aug. 27; confer, at Kayvillc. Sept. 24; disc, Piatt, Sept. 24; sermon, Brigham, Sept. 27; disc, Grant, Sept. 27; disc. ​

They might worship the devil if they were citizens and discharged their duties as citizens. But I found that in a military way, in a political way, and in a judicial way they controlled matters; and nearly all of them

Brigham, Oct. 1; meetings, Oct. 1; disc, Kimball, Oct. 1; Brigham, Oct. 1; remliiks, Grant, Oct. 1; center., Oct. S; remarks, Kimball, Oct. 8; Brigham, Oct. 8, 15; disc, Richards, Oct. 15; confer., Oct. 15; remarks, Spencer, Oct. 15; condition of saints, Oct. 22; remarks, Kimball, Nov. 5; disc, Grant, Nov. 6; special confer., Nov. 5; quart, confer., Nov. 12; remarks, Nov. 12; disc, Brigham, Nov. 12; Grant, Nov. 12; appointments, Nov. 12; disc, Grant. Nov. 19;"Kimbai), Nov. 19; remarks, Brigham, Nov. 19; Yomig (.Jos. A.), Nov. 19; Woodruff, Nov. 20; Brigham, Nov. 20; Kimball, Nov. 20; address, Pratt, Dec. 1; remarks, Brigham, Dec. 10; gen. epist., Dec. 10; disc, Pratt, Dec. 24; high priest's meeting, Dec. 31; sermon, Kimball, Dec. 31; remarks, Woodruff, Dec 31; 1857, disc, Kimball, Jan. 7; remarks, Grant, Jan. 7; disc, Snow, Jan. 14; Richards, Jan. 21; Kimball, Jan. 21; Snow, Jan. 28; remarks. Wood- ruff, Feb. 4; toleration, Feb. 4; remarks. Grant, Feb. 4; morals, Feb. 11 ; disc, Brigham, Feb. 11; Kimball, Feb. 11; Cummings, Feb. 18; Brigham, Feb. 18; remarks, Kimball, Feb. 25; Hyde, Mar. 4; disc, Richards, Mar. 4; W^oodruff, Mar. 4; remarks, Wells, Mar. 4; disc, Brigham, Mar. 11; Kimball, Mar. 11; Snow, Mar. 11; remarks. Wells, Mar. 11; disc, Brigham, Mar. IS; Young (Jos.), Mar. 18; Brigham, Mar. 25; Kimball, Mar. 25; Grant, Mar. 25; remarks, McAllister, Mar. 25; Kimball, Apr. 1; Richards, Apr. 1; disc Woodruff, Apr. 1; sermon, Brigham, Apr. 8; remarks, Burton, Apr. 8; gen. confer., Apr. 15; remarks. Wells, Apr. 15; Stout, Apr. 15; Wells, Apr. 15; disc, Kimball, Apr. 22; Brigham, Apr. 22, 29; remarks, Herriman, Apr. 29; Wiieelock, Apr. 29; remarks, Snow, May 6; Brigham, May G; Woodruff, May 13; disc, Brigham, May 13; disc, Mav 20; the'bible, May 20; remarks, Brigham, May 20; Fer- guson, May 20; Fullmer, May 20; Davis, May 20; McKnight, May 20; Bassett, May, 27; disc, Gates, May 27; remarks. Woodruff, May 27; disc, Woolley, June 3; Mills, June 3; remarks, Bi'igham, Juno 10; Smith, June 10; Kimball, June 10; disc, Kimball, June 17; remarks, Brigham, June 17, 24; Rich, June 24; Brigham, June 24; Hyde, June 24; Lyman, June 24; disc, Kimball, June 24; Chislett, July 8; remarks, Brigliam, July 8; Cummings, July 8; Brigham, July 15; Kimball, July 15; Carn, July 15; Lyman, July 22; Ellsworth, July 22; Brigliam, July 22; disc, Lyman, July 29; pol. move, against Utah, July 29; remarks, Brigham, Aug. 5; Smoot, Aug. 5; Smith, Aug. 5; disc, Hyde, Aug. 5; Smith, Aug. 12; Kimball, Aug. 12; Smith (E. ), Aug. 12; remarks, Brig- ham, Aug. 12; Kimball, Aug. 12; Taylor, Aug. 19; Brigham, Aug. 19; Kimball, Aug. 20;' Brigham, Aug. 20; disc, Hyde, Aug. 20; Taylor, Sept. 2; remarks, Brigham, Sept. 9; Stewart, Sept. 9; disc, Kimball, Sept. 9, 10; Taylor, Sept. 10, 23; remarks. Smith, Sept. 23; Brigham, Sept. 23; Kimball, Sept. 30; Brig- ham, Sept. 30; disc, Taylor, Sept. SO; remarks. Woodruff, Oct. 7; disc, Kim- ball, Oct. 7; sem. ann. confer., Oct. 14; remarks, Brigham, Oct. 14; Spencer, Oct. 14; Snow, Oct. 14; disc, Hyde, Oct. 14; Kimball, Oct. 14; Snow, Oct. 21; sermon, Lyman, Oct. 21; remarks, Spencer, Oct. 21; remarks, Brigham, Oct. 21; Rich, Oct. 21; Young, Oct. 21; Snow, Oct. 21; Brigham, Oct. 28; by bishops and elders, Oct. 28; Brigham, Nov. 11, 25, Dec 2, 9, 30; 1858, con- fer., Apr. 14; 1850, Mar. 9, Apr. 13, Oct. 12, Dec. 28; disc, 1858, Jan. 27, Feb. 17, Apr. 14, July 14, 28; 1859, May 25, June L 8, 15, July G, Aug. 10, 17, Nov. 10, 23, 30; 1800, remarks, Brigham, Mar. 14, Apr. 4, 25, INIay 2, 10, 30, June 0, 27, July IS, 25, Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, Sept. 5; 18(;4, June 15; 1805, Jan. 4; ISOG, Mar. 15; 1807, Feb. 3; 1808, Jan. 15; 1809, Jan. 20, Feb. 2, Dec. 10; 1870, Mar. 30; 1871, Apr. 19; 1879, Feb. 12; confer., 1800, Feb. 8, Apr. 11, Oct. 10; 1801, Apr. 10, Oct. 23; 1802, Apr. 0, 10, 29, Oct. 15; 1803, Apr. 15, 22; 1804, Apr. 13, May 25, Oct. 12, Dec 14; 1S05, Apr. 12, Oct. 12; ISGG, Mar. 8, Apr. 12, Oct. 10; 18G7, Apr. 10, Oct. 9; 18G8, Apr. 8, 15, Oct. ​

are aliens. I found that I had got out of the United States and come to Utah. I have never got over that feehng jet, and I think I will get out of Utah and back into the United States again."

14; 18G9, Apr. 14, July 7, Oct. 13; 1870, Apr. 13, May 11, Oct. 12, Nov. 2;

1871, Apr. 1-J, May 24, Oct. 11; 1872, Apr. 10, 17, 24, May 1, Aug. 28, Oct. 9, 16; 187o, Apr. 9, 16, May 7, Aug. 13, Oct. 8; 1874, Apr. 8, May 13, Oct. 14; 1875, Mar. 3, Apr. 14, 21, Oct. 13; 1876, Apr. 12, Oct. 11; 1877, May 16, June 6, 13, Oct. 10; 1878, Mar. 9, Apr. 10, Oct. 9, 10; 1879, Apr. 9, 16; Oct. 15; 1884. Apr. 7; high council, 1877, Oct. 24; meetings of priesthood, 1877, Oct. 10, Dec. 5; 1878, Feb. 6; 1879, Mar. 12; epist., 1879, Apr. 2; ciders' disc,

1872, Jan. 24; 1873, Jan. 22, Apr. 16; 1874, Jan. 21, Apr. 22, May 6, 27; 1S76, May 3, Oct. 11; 1877, May 16, 28; 1878, Feb. 13; hist, of Morm. (from St Louis Weekly tlhionj, Dec. 27, 1851; miscel. {from St Louis Bejmblican), S. F. Herald, Sept. 25, 1851.

For sermons and discourses, see also Millennial Star, passim; address, Kimball, Yomufs Journal of Discourses, ii. 354-7; sermons, Ferris, Utah and the Mormons, 217-32, 302-3; sermon, Brigham, Scdem (Or.) Statesman, Feb. 5, 1856; repts of confer., among others, Frontier Guardian, 1851, Jime 13, Oct. 31, Nov. 28; gen. epist., in Id., Nov. 14; various sermons, Young's Jour, of Disc., ii. passim; disc, Pratt, Ward's Ihi.sband in Utah, 79-103; ser- mons, Brigham, Sac. Union, 1855, Oct. 25, Dec. 13; 1857, Juno 16; sermons by Brigham and Kimball, et al., S. F. Alfa, 1854, May 16; 1S55, Apr. 6, May 1; 1857, Jan. 12, June 4, Oct. 14; i\ F. Bulletin, 1857, May 2; 1866, Apr. 18; lecture, Hyde, S. F. Herald, 1857, Apr. 14; rites and ceremonies, Ferris, Utah and the Mormons, 311-17; Gunnison's Mormons, 37-8; Femy's Journey to G. S. L. Git II, ii. 4-82; Derby, Overland Foide, 30-2; Fae's Westward by Fail, 123- 4; Beadle's Life in Utah, 255-9; Rusllnr/'s Acro.^s America, 1G6-9; Life among the Mormon.% 173-9; Boiler's Amonri the Indians, 401-3; Bowles' Our New West, 242-7; Stenhouse, Tell It All, 251, 387-9; Ward's Husband in Utah, 204- 8; Schiel, Rcise durch Felsengeb, 103-24; Smith's Fise, Pro<j7-e-<s, and Travels, 64-5; Utah Scrap.% 5, 16; Burton's City of Saints, 365-75. On faith and doc- trines, see Smith, Doc. and Gov., passim; S. F. Gol. Era, Dec. 1, 1867; Des. News, Sept. 14, 1864; Mackafs The Morm., 51-4; Ferris, Utah and Morm., 201-16; Gunnison's Morm., i^-Q^; Frontier Guardian, Feb. 20, \S!oO;Busch, Morm., 72-105; De Rupert's Gal. and Morm., 138-40; Times and Seasons, vi. 971; Tucker's Morm., 174-9; S. L. G. Contributor, ii. 192-324; church gov., Tullidge, Hist. S. L. City, 57-8; Todd's Sunset Land, 185-93; S. L. Direc, 1869, 58; Head, in Overland Monthly, v. 275-7; Utah Scrajx^ 8-9; Mackay's Morm., 293-305; Ferris, Utah and Morm., 171-7; Stansbury's Ex- plor. Exp., 1.35-9; Richards' JVarr., JNIS., 42; Smith's Ri^e, Prog., etc., 17- 18, 27-8; Green's Morm., 150-06, .308-19; Hyde's Morm., 18, 25, 101-2, 188- 9; The Morm. Proph., 120-1, 114-19; Ueadh's Life in Utah, 381-9; Remy's Journey to G. S. L. City, ii. 229-34; Voting's Wife No. 19, bll; Gunnison's Morm., 23-5, 57-61, 78-9; Sac. Union, June 26, 1857; theory of creation, Stenhouse'sR. M. Saints, 485-94; order of Enoch, /cZ. , 495 -503 ; law of adoption. Id., 503-6; book of Abraham, Id., 507-20; res. of infants, 483-4; Wasliington bap. by prox.. Id., 475-82; Hyde expelled, /(/., 640; negro Mormons, S. F. Bulletin, Nov. 14, 1884; pub. discuss., Pratt, Ser. of Pamph., no. 10, 1-46, no. 11, 1-40; Taylor's Govt of God, passim; Morm. pro and con, Chaudless' Visit to S. Lake, 156; Ward's Husband in Utah, 140-283; Gunnison's iMorin., 35, 164; Salem (Or.) Statesman, Dec. 5, 1854; S. F. Herald, 1854, Jan. 26, Aug. 23, Sept. 27; Alia, 1851, July 24, Aug. 6, 7; 1852, Dec 21; 1853, Nov. 26; 1854, June 25, 26; 1856, May 10, 15, June 13, Sept. 15, Dec. 17; 1858, Jan. 22; Cal. Chris. Advoc, Apr. 6, 1805; Bulletin, 1856, Aug. 21; 1877, Sept. 8; Sac. Union, 1855, Mar. 16, July 17, Dec 13; 1856, June 14; Morm. at Home, 65, 122-3, 142-5, 220-1; N. Y. Jour, of Com., in Pan. Star and Her.^ ​

m MORMONISM AND POLYGAMY.

Thus, notwithstanding the iniquities of the saints, to- gether with their impudence and arrogance, as charged upon them by their enemies, the impossibihty of others hving with them as members of one community, of

Feb. 18, 1869; Smucker's Hist. Morm., 323-99; Young's Wife No. 19, 333-40; Olshauseu, Morm., 170-5; Jonveaux, L'Ameriyue, 235-G, 244-8; Mackay's The, Mcrm., 271-32G; Ferris, Utah and Morm., 171-7; Young's Resurrection, 11; Smet's Western Missions, 390-7: 32 Cong. Id Sess., H. Ex. Doc, 19-20; Frontier Guardian, 1850, Feb. 6, 20, Mar. 6, 20, June 12, July 10, Sept. 4, Oct. 30, Dec. 25; 1851, Jan. 8, Mar. 21, Apr. 18, May IG, 30, June 13, 27, July 25, Aug. 8, Sept. 5, Oct. 31, Dec. 12, 26; 1852, Jan. 9, 23, Feb. 6, 20; Ward's Husband in Utah, 283-9; Hyde's Morm., 50, 179-81, 306-30; Bur- ton's Cit:i o/ Saints, 437-97; Hickman's Dest. Amjel, 10-15.

In addition to these authorities, it is safe to assert that every gentile paper of importance in the U. S. has at some time extracted from the Salt Lake papers, and commented freely thereon. During the existence of the Kanes- ville ( fowa) Frontier Guardian, 1849-52, nearly every issue contained arti- cles explanatory of the dogmas of the church, a few of which I have referred to. Tiie Millennial Star, although devoted more especially to missionary effort abroad, baa always copied freely from home publications. I append a few additional authorities, as follows: On religion, S. F. Alta, Jan. 19, 1860; Bulletin, June 19, 1871; S. L. Rev., Sept. 22, 1871; Gaz. Utah, 1874; 5". L. Trih., Jan. 29, 1876, May 19, 1877; Juv. Inst., xv.; doc, Pratt, Key to Scien. ThecL, passim; Bonwick, Morm. and Silv. Mines, 34-61; S. L. Trib., Jan. 25, 1872, Mar. 28, 1874; S. L. 0. Contributor, ii. 39, 70, 135; bible and book of Morm., S. L. Trih., May IG, 1874; rev., Eureka Sent., Apr. 16, 1875; Silv. City Avalan., Mar. 31, 1876; S. L. Trib., June 2, Oct. 20, 1877; Sept. 24, Oct. 26, 1879; Silv. Reef Miner, June 11, 1879; Stenhouse, Englishwoman in Utah, 34, 74; S. F. Stock Rept, Jan. 1, 1880; church, Sac. Union, Feb. 4, Sept. 1, I8G0; <S'. /: Bulletin, Dec. 22, 1868, Oct. 10, 1870; Chronicle, Oct. 7, 1S83; priest- hood. Sac. Union, Oct. 20, 1860; S. L. Trib., in Unionville Silv. State, Mar. 23, 1S72; Eureka Sent., Apr. 15, 1873; S. F. Alta, Apr. 14, 1873; S. L. Trib., July 4, 1874, July 10, 1875; Gold Hill News, Dec. 14, 1875; Smith's Mystery and Crime, 16-23, 27-30; Circulars of First Presid., 1877; Pratt's prophecy, Aiist/n, Reese Riv. Rev., Apr. 23, 1880; worship and preachers, Burton, City of Saints, 316; sermons. Young, 1860; Burton, City of Saints, 320; Sac. Union, May 30, Oct. 9; Morm. Expos., i. no. 1; S. F. Call, May 11, 18G5; Bulletin, Oct. 17, 1867; Alta, July 19, 1869; S. L. Rev., Dec. 7, \81\; Hubner's Round the World, 109; The Resurr., S. L. City, 1875; Prescott Miner, Aug. 17, 1877; by elders, *S'. L. Tel., June 15, 1869; Corinne Reptr, in Elko Indpt, Aug. 21, 1869; Greemvood's New Life, 144-7; Taylor's Summer Savory, 21-5; S. L. Herald, 1878, Sept. 2, 17, 24, Oct. 1, 22, 29, Nov. 5, 12, 19; Marshall's Through Amer., 198-205; Silver Reef M in., June 18, 1879; character of, Sala's Amer. Revis., 296; Richardson's Beyond Miss., 356-7; Sac. Union, Feb. 28, 1861; relig. freedom. Cannon, Rev. of Beds. ofSupm. Ct; confer., S. F. Alta, 1869, Oct. 9; 1872, Apr. 29; Bulletin, 1870, Apr. 12; 1871, Oct. 6, 7; 1872, Apr. 9, 29; 1873, Apr. 7, 9; 1874, Oct. 7; 1876, Nov. 3; 1877, Apr. 11, Oct. 8; 1879, Apr. 9; 1883, Oct. 6, 15; Call, 1864, Apr. 7; 1871, Apr. 11; 1872, Apr. 9; 1873, Apr. 7; Chronicle, 1883, Oct. 6; Post, 1875, Apr. 12; 1877, Apr. 6; Times, 1868, Apr. 21; S'ac. Union, 1860, Oct. 20; Carson Union, Apr. 12, 1873; Jackson (Amador) Ledger, Dec. 29, 1877; S. L. Herald, 1878, Oct. 8; 1879, Apr. 9, 12, 22, May 20, June 10, 24, Oct. 7; 1880, Jan. 6; Telegraph, 1869, Apr. 6, 7, 8, 9; 1870, May 7, 8, 9; Tribune, 1873, May 10; 1874, Apr. 4; 1875, Apr. 17, Aug. 6, Oct. 9, 10, 12; 1876, Apr. 8-15, Oct. 7; 1877, May 19, 26, Oct. 13; 1878, Apr. 13, July 13, Oct. 12; 1879, Apr. 5, 8, Oct. 7; 1880, Apr. 10, Sept. 23; Townsend'a Morm. Trials, 44; Beadle's Life in Utah, 278-89; Robinson's Sinners and Saints; bishops, Des. News, Nov. 29, 1851; book of ​

one commonwealth, is the real difficulty — not their religion, their so-called blasphemies, their pretended revelations and miracles, their opposition bible, their latter-day dispensations, and the rest; nor yet their crimes and misdemeanors, their robberies and mur- ders; nor even yet their secret ceremonies, their en- dowments, Danite bands, blood atonement, and the rest. The copy or counterpart of very many of these, in greater or smaller degree, is, or has been, practised by the gentiles; or if not, few care enough for any of them to go to war on their account. The trouble is this, and this will continue to be the trouble, in Utah or elsewhere in the United States, and that whether polygamy stands or falls — the saints are too exclusive, industrially and politically, for their neighbors.

The theory of government of this republic is nu- merical equality, each man and each hundred men being equal to every other man or every other hundred men as industrial and political factors. In this case, however, it is not so, and it never can be so. Spirit- ual manifestations and spiritual wives have nothing to do with it. A hundred or a thousand Mormons are a unit, socially, politically, and commercially, in a community organized theoretically upon the basis of only one man to the unit. And until the principles of the United States republic are remodelled. Mor- mons and gentiles cannot live together in peace and amity. It is folly for gentiles to enter a Mormon

Abraham, Smith's Pearl of Gt Price, 25-30; Mil. Star, xv. 549-50, passim. For additional sermons on theology, see Mil. Star, i. passim, vi. 33-8, 49-56, 65-70, 97-9, viii. 35-8; Times and Seasons, ii., iii., iv., and v. passim, vi. 808- 9, 823-5, 957-8, 1001-5; anal, of, Beadle's Life in Utah, 311-31; Townsend's Morm. Trials, 40; on creed and faith. Times and Seasons, i. 68-70, iii. 863-5, 931-3; Spencer's Letters, etc., 1-252; Young's Wife No. 19, 58-60; Bennett's Hist, of Saints, 103-32, 302-7, 340-1; Eden Rev., Apr. 1854, 352; Pratt, In- ter. Acct, 27-36; Id., Series of Pamph., nos 2-6; Tucker's Morm., 139-52; Vetromile, A Tour, 70-1; Ferris' Utah and Morm., 211-13, 299-300; Sten- house's Tell It All, 295-300; Reynolds' Bk of Abraham, 15; Grass Valley, Foot- hill Tidings, July 5, 1879; Pratt, in Des. News, Aug. 21, 1852; Smith, in Times and Seasons, iii. 709; Id., Pearl of Gt Price, 63; Smucker's Morm., 61- 6; Pratt's Persecutions, iii.-v.; Id., Voice of Warn., passim; Dixon, White Conquest, 182-8, 193-7, 223-8; preachers and preaching, Greeley's Overland Jour., 218-22; Seventies, Mil. Star, xxxvi. 369-72; church charter, S. F. Bulletin, Nov. 26, 1858; sincerity of Morm., S. F. Alta, Mar. 30, 1858. ​

36S MORMONISM AND POLYGAMY.

community and think to rule, or to have any part In the government as at present existing, and following the line of law and order. This is why the people of Missouri and Illinois drove them out — not because of their religion or immorality, for their religion was nothing to the gentiles, and their morals were as good or better than those of their neighbors. It may as well be understood and agreed upon that, in the United States or out of the United States, the Mor- mons are, and ever will be, a people self-contained and apart.

Thus the matter continues to be discussed by the world at large, as a question of theology or morality, and not of active political and judicial control, or of the domination of a politico-religious organization, with aspirations and purposes diverse from those of the American people generally.

The theory and assumption of the Mormon church as a politico-religious organization is that the church is a government of God, and not responsible to any other government on earth conflicting with it, if not indeed bound from necessity to overturn and supplant all civil governments. This assumption lies at the very foundation of the Mormon creed; and from this point, in practical operation as well as in theory, there is a divergence between that organization and the United States government. Grant that any man believes what the Mormons believe, say their enemies, and where will his allegiance rest — with the government of the United States, or with this politico-religious or- ganization which ought to and will, as they imagine, supplant all other governments? Many of them are alien born, and, from the treatment they receive on their arrival, learn to distrust the government of the United States, and to cling all the closer to the insti- tutions of their sect.

" It is not consistent that the people of God," says Orson Pratt, "should organize or be subject to man- made governments. If it were so, they cou ​ld never

be perfected. There can be but one perfect govern- ment — that organized by God, a government by apos- tles, prophets, priests, teachers, and evangehsts; the order of the original church of all churches acknowl- edged by God."

Early in this narrative we saw plainly, and re- marked upon it as we proceeded, that it has been chiefly the political character and aspirations of the church that have brought it into all its difficulties everywhere — in Ohio, in Missouri, in Illinois. And its thirty years of isolation and independence in Utah, during which time it came in contact with the American people or with the government only in a limited degree, intensified its desire for con- trol. The only way the Mormons can live in peace with gentile neighbors is for them to follow the ex- ample of their brethren, the Josephites — leave politics and government out of their ethics, and not combine for the purpose of controlling counties, states, or ter- ritories. But this strikes at the very root of their religion, which has already given them for an inher- itance all counties and countries and peoples through- out the world, as they modestly claim.

There is here much more than the religious unity of ancient Israel. As a cooperative association, Mor- monism has not its equal in the history of the world. In every conceivable relation, position, interest, and idea; in every sentiment of hope and fear, of joy and sorrow — there is mutual assistance and sympathy. It enters into all afiairs, whether for time or eternity; there is an absolute unity in religion, government, and society, and to the fullest extent short of communism, mutual assistance in agriculture, commerce, and manu- factures. If a foreign convert wishes to come to Amer- ica, he is helped hither; if he wants land, farming imple- ments, seed, stock, he is helped to them ; trade and man- ufactures are largely cooperative. And this bond of strength, whether it be called the holiness of saints or ​

Hist. Utah. 24

the bigotry of fanatics, causes them to be feared and hated by their neighbors.

Polygamy, as a tenet of the Mormon church, is based upon scripture example, and if this is unlaw- ful, it says, all is unlawful. Marriage is ordained of God, and essential to salvation. Christian sects hold up the patriarchs as examples in their sacred instruction, and yet condemn in these personages a practice which Christ nowhere condemns. While in polygamy, God blessed them and their polyga- mous seed, saying never a word about their plural wives. Polygamy was common in Asia at the time of the apostles; yet none of them preached against it, nor does John the revelator mention it, writing to the seven churches. In the days of Justin Martyr, the Jews practised polygamy. It is true that the emperor Theodosius, about a. d. 393, promulgated a law against polygamy, but it was repealed sixty years after by Valentinian. Nevertheless, as the civilized world, particularly Christian sects, regarded the prac- tice with abhorrence, the prophet Joseph inquired of the Lord as to what he should do. And the Lord answered, commanding him to restore all things, the practice of polygamy among the rest. The revelation on this subject is given entire in note 19 of this chap- ter. The inferior order of wifehood, known in the sacred scriptures as concubinage, is not recognized in the Mormon church. By the marriage covenant, all are made wives, and all children are legitimate.

Celestial marriage and the plural-wife system, as incorporated parts of the Mormon religion, are essen- tial to the fulness of exaltation in the eternal world. The space around us, it declares, is inhabited by spirits, thousands of years old, awaiting tabernacles in the flesh, which can be legitimately furnished them only by marriage and procreation; and bodies cannot be obtained for these spirits fast enough unless men have more wives than one. It is the will and glory of God ​

that these spirits have bodies as speedily as possible, that they become saints on earth and in his kingdom, those who keep this commandment thus to multiply being as gods; otherwise these spirits will take refuge in the bodies of unbelievers, and so sink to perdition.

But civilization has pronounced polygamy a curse and a crime, a retrogression, an offence against society and against morality, a beastly abomination, immoral, incestuous, degrading, a relic of barbarism, a sin, a shame, a vice, and as such has discarded it and passed laws against it. And the issue between polygamy and monogamy is one purely for civilization to determine ; Christianity has not a foot of ground to stand upon in the matter.

Culture cares nothing for religion ; it is what a man does, not what he believes, that affects progress. It will not do to break the law in the name of religion. Suppose a man's religion authorizes him to commit murder: does that make it right? Civilization seeks the highest morality ; and the highest morality, it says, is not that of the bible, of the book of Mormon, or of any other so-called holy book. The highest morality is based on nature, and by a study of nature's laws men may find it. Long before Christ, civilization awoke to the evils of this custom, which is not in accord with its morality. The religious reformer, Buddha, who died 470 years before Christ was born, and whose followers now number about one third of the whole human race, preached against polygamy. When Greece and Rome were the foremost nations of the world, they did not practise polygamy, nor has ever the highest civilization entertained it. Polygamy is to monogamy as Greece to China, or as England to India.

All very religious people, as well as science fanat- ics, are partially insane. This insanity may be pas- sive and harmless, or aggressive and hurtful. We have innumerable instances of both kinds in the his- tory of the Christian church. But as t ​he world

progresses, religion becomes less dogmatic, and the insanity assumes more and more the milder form. Thus it is with the Mormons as with others; they would not feel justified in doing now some things which were done by their predecessors, any more than gentile Cliristians would wish to burn here- tics, or slaughter millions in the name of the re- deemer; or any more than they would accept Joseph Smith as a prophet from God, or believe in his metal book of Mormon, or his pretended revelations.

But admitting man's obligation to follow the pre- cepts and example of the bible, which, if done literally, would lead him into all manner of contrarieties and absurdities, even as it does the Mormons to-day, the scriptural argument in support of polygamy does not go for much. Among the half-savage Israelites the custom obtained, but as they grew more civilized, it died out. The first apostles had none of them two wives, and St Paul maintained that it was best not to have any; the spirit of the new testament is all against plurality of wives, and, though it nowhere in so many words condemns the system, the books of Mormon and doctrine and covenants do.

Thus we see that holy books are contradictory and unreliable, not being consistent in themselves, or pro- ducing consistent followers. Codes of morality de- pending on the divine will are without foundation : are, indeed, not codes of morality, which to be genuine must be based on nature as the law-giver and punisher; for otherwise all men to whom the will of God has not been revealed, or who do not believe in any god or revelation, would be without any knowledge of right and wrong, or any standard of morality.

Innate perceptions, supernatural intuitions, or a con- science divinely given, instead of one evolved from the ever-increasing accumulation of human experiences, are not safe guides to right conduct, as the doctrines and doings of the Mormons clearly show. By the re- sult of an act, not by supernatural revelation, we know ​

whether it is good or bad; and here, the result being bad, the act is wrong, immoral.

The result is bad because by reason of the act civ- ilization takes a step backward, woman is degraded, and the progress of the race hampered. The mono- gamic is the highest type of family, and the highest type of society, yet evolved. Polygamy is better than promiscuity or polyandry, but it is not equal to mo- nogamy. Polygamy springs from the desire to extend the sexual gratification at the expense of the better sense of the better part of the world's inhabitants. It is but a few removes from the old way among sav- ages, where women were property, and bought by hus- bands to be used as slaves. To monogamy is due the fullest development of the emotions, of the higher sentiments, motherly tenderness, fatherly care, and the dutiful respect and obedience on the part of chil- dren. It is here that the passion of love assumes its most refined form ; it is here that we find in family, social, and political relations, the greatest good to the greatest number.

For if we degrade woman, we degrade her children, her husband, and the whole community. Through- out all ages the position of woman has fixed the ad- vancement of the nation in the scale of refinement and intelligence. Polygamy makes of woman, not the equal and companion of man, but his subordinate, if not indeed his serf or slave. The charm of her in- fluence is gone; the family circle becomes incongruous and less cohesive; and there is an absence of those firm relations, filial and paternal, which, continued through successive generations, engender the highest type of society yet known. Make of American wo- men Circassian slaves, and you will make of American men Turks.

The nations having the highest and best literature, laws, commerce, and religion, the nations that are enlightening the world with their books, telegraphs, steamboats, and railroads, are monogamic. Polygamy ​

encourages, if it does not necessitate, a domestic des- potism, which, united with a rehgious and political despotism, constitutes one of the worst possible of social evils. It adds to the Mormons numbers and strength, banding them in a pecuhar brotherhood, politically and socially.

The system is not an equitable one. There are born a tolerably even number of males and females, so that under this arrangement, where one man had a dozen wives, a dozen or so men would have none. Then, as to the relationships of the individual members, in- justice is wrought, some of them being but little bet- ter than those existing among animals. There is an instinct in every woman which tells her that to be second or third is to be no wife at all. Neglect must exist. One man cannot properly care for so many women and children. Even if he is wealthy, he has not the time. Differences of origin and interests breed jealousies, foster selfishness, and are injurious to character. Then, when the reproductive age has passed, there is nothing left for the wife but a lonely and miserable old age.

Further than this, if reproduction be the chief in- centive to the plural-wife system among the Mormons, and if it be true, as is often asserted, that as a rule the sexes are born numerically equal, then the system will in the end defeat its own object, for more chil- dren will be born and cared for where there is one man for every woman than where some women have to go without a husband, or with a fraction of one. It might pertinently be asked, in this connec- tion, what is the benefit in multiplying the popula- tion? Are there not enough people already in the world? and is it not better to improve the stock than unduly to multiply it? This prevention is practised often for improper motives and by injurious methods; but millions do it because they think they cannot afford to raise children, and have no right to bring them into existence. ​

True, the evils of the practice are not so great under a theocratic and patriarchal system like that of the Mormons, as it would be if allowed to run riot round the world, giving libertines the widest opportunity to deceive and then desert women; in which case there would be no need of prostitution to satisfy men's pas- sions, as the great barriers between the virtuous and the lewd would be for the most part broken down. Among the Mormons, this is prevented by strong re- ligious feeling, and by the patriarchal influence of the leaders. But the majority of mankind in the great outside world are not controlled by religion or reason — they simply drift.

Whether for this reason or some other reason, Mor- mons are not loyal to the government, and the issue is between polygamic theocracy and American repub- licanism. Nor are the fears of the friends of the lat- ter wholly groundless; for, as one writer said of it,

• • the Mornlon church is one of the best organized

systems in the world. The cunning of the devil and the sophistry of error are so mingled with truth as to make it one of the most powerful agencies to delude the ignorant." The truth is, the theocratic organiza- tion has already become absolute. Opposition stimu- lates propagandism, and persecution brings only de- fiance of federal authority and the moral sense of the nation. Legislation is defeated at every turn. The history of Utah is the history of the Mormon priest- hood in its attempt to subordinate the state to the church, and make the authority of the priesthood su- perior to that of the United States government.

So says civilization.

In answer, polygamy reiterates scriptural example and divine command, and repudiates civilization wherever it interferes with religion. Culture and progress, which set at defiance God's law, are of the devil. There is no retrogression in keeping the com- mands of the most high. God blessed Abraham, and ​

David, and Solomon; polygamy is no curse. And that cannot be a sin which God commands; that can- not be a vice which has for its accomplishment only the highest and holiest purposes of the almighty; that cannot be against morality which is practised only by the righteous, and for the pure and eternal welfare of the human race.^^

^'For a time, in so far as possible, the practice of polygamy ia Illinois and Utah was kept secret by the missionaries in England and in Europe. Says Parley P. Pratt in Manchester, and in the Millennial Star of 1846, ' Such a doctrine is not held, known, or practised as a principle of the latter-day saints;' and John Taylor at the Boulogne discussion, in France, in July 1850, says, ' We are accused here of polygamy and actions the most indelicate, ob- scene, and disgusting, such as none but a corrupt heart could have conceived. These things are too outrageous to be believed.'

On the morning of Aug. 29, 1852, before a special conference in session at S. L. City, Orson Pratt preached on the subject of mannage, in which dis- course he stated, ' It is well known, however, to the congregation before me, that the latter-day saints have embraced the doctrine of a plurality of wivea as part of their religious faith.' In the evening, whilst the sacrament was being passed, Brigham addressed the audience, saying in the course of his re- marks, ' Though I hat doctrine [polygamy] has not been preached by the elders, this people have believed in it for many years. ' At the close of Brigham'a address, the revelation of July 12, 1843, was read by Elder Thomas Bullock. The proceedings of this conference were jDublished in full in an 8vo pamphlet of 48 pages, issued as an extra by the Deseret News, on Sept. 14, 1852, when the revelation first saw the light. It next appeared in the Millennial Star, and may now be found in the book of Doctrine and Covenants. Herewith I give the revelation entire.

Revelation given to Joseph Smith, at Nauvoo, July 12, 1843: ' Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David, and Solo- mon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines: behold, and lo! I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter; therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those ^vho have this law revealed unto them must obey the same; for behold! I re- veal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant, and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory; for all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appouited for that blessing, and the con- ditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundations of the world; and as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my gloiy; and he that leceiveth a fuhiess thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God. And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of tliis law are these: All covenants, con- tracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associa- tions, or expectations that are not made and entered into and sealed by the holy spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that, too, most holy, by revelation and commandment, through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead: for all contracta ​

MONOGAMY FRO.M THE MORMON STANDPOINT. 377

Whatever may be the blessings attending civiUza- tion, they are insignificant as compared with the bless- ings of religion, a life of faith and holiness, and the pure worship of God. Civilization with its one-wife or no-wife system breeds licentiousness, fosters pros-

that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead. Behold mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confu- sion. Will I accept an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name ? Or will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed ? And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law, even as I and my father ordained unto you, before the woi'ld was? I am the Lord thy God, and I give unto you this commandment that no man shall come unto the fa- ther but by me, or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord; and every- thing that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be that are not by me, or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God; for whatsoever things remain are by me, and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed. Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me, nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world, and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world; therefore, when they are out of the world, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more and an exceeding and an eternal weight of glory; for these an- gels did not abide my law, therefore they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition to all eternity, and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever. And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the holy spirit of prom- ise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power, then it is not valid, neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world, it can not be received there because the angels and the gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory, for m,y house is a house of order, saith the Lord God. And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the holy spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood, and it shall be said unto them, Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resur- rection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, prin- cipalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths; then shall it be written in the Lamb's book of life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if he abide in my covenant, and commit no mur- der whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world, and they shall pass by the angels and the gods which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in ail things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to ever- lasting because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things ​

titutioB, and brings much misery on the human race in this world, not to mention the world to come. The laws of God we know; civilization's laws we know not. Civilization has little to boast of in the

are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

'Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory; for straight is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world, neither do ye know me. But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation, that where I am ye shall be also. This is eternal lives, to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law. Broad is the gate and wide the way that leadeth to the deaths, and many there are that go in thereat, because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my word, and they are sealed by the holy spirit of promise, according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all man- ner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder wherein they shed innocent blood, yet they shall come forth in the first resurrection and enter into their exaltation; but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan, unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God. The blasphemy against the holy ghost, which shall not be foi-given in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed in- nocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God; and he that abideth not this law can in no wise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord. I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my holy priesthood as was ordained by me and my Father before the world was. Abraham re- ceived all things whatsoever he received by revelation and commandment by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne. Abraham received promises concerning his seed and of the fruit of his loins — from whose loins ye are, viz., my servant Joseph — which were to continue so long as they were in the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed out of the world, they should continue; both in the world_ and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars, or if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore, ye could not number them. This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, .and the promise was made unto Abraham, and by this law are the continuation of the works of my father, wherein he glorifieth himself. Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham; enter ye into my law, and ye shall be saved. But if ye enter not into my law, ye cannot receive the promise of my Father which he made unto Abraham. God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abra- ham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law, and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises. Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Ver- ily I say unto you, nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it. Abraham was com- manded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless it was written thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted imto him for righteousness.

'Abraham received concubines, and they bare him children, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him and he abode in my law; as Isaac also, and Jacob, did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were conmiandcd, they have entered into their exalta- tion, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are ​not angels, but

line of its moralities. It is true that monogamy was early enforced in Greece; but outside of marriage limits, there was gross indulgence in every form, which was as freely permitted and practised as among

are gods. David also received many wives and concubines, as also Solomon and Moses, my servants, as also many others of my servants, from the begin- ning of creation until this time, and in nothing did they sin, save in those things which they received not of me. David's wives and concubines were given unto him of me by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord. I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto thee, my servant Joseph, an appointment, and restore all things; ask what ye will, and it shall be given unto you, ac- cording to my word; and as ye have asked concerning adultery, verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting cove- nant, and if she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the holy anointing, she hath committed adultery, and shall be destroyed. If she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and she be with another man, she has committed adultery; and if her husband be with another woman, and he was under a vow, he hath broken his vow and hath committed adul- tery; and if she hath not committed adultery, but is innocent, and hath not broken her vow, and she knoweth it, and I reveal it unto you, my servant Joseph, then shall you have power, by the power of my holy priesthood, to take her and give her unto him that hath not committed adultery, but hath been faithful,- for he shall be made ruler over many; for I have conferred upon you the keys and power of the priesthood, wherein I restore all things and make known unto you all things in due time. And verily, verily, I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven, and what- soever you bind on earth, in my name and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you remit on earth shall be remitted eternally in the heavens, and whosesoever sins you retain on earth shall be retained in heaven. And again, verUy I say, whomsoever you bless, I will bless;, and whomsoever you curse, I will curse, saith the Lord; for I the Lord am thy God. And again, verily I say unto you, my ser- vant Joseph, that whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give any one on earth, by my word and according to my law, it shall be visited with blessings, and not cursings, and with my power, saith the Lord, and shall be without condemnation on earth and in heaven; for lam the Lord thy God, and will be with thee even unto the end of the world, and through all eter- nity; for verily I seal upon you your exaltation and prepare a throne for you in the kingdom of my father, with Abraham, your father. Behold I I have seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins; I have seen your sacrifices, in obedience to that which I have told you; go, therefore, and I make a way for your escape, as I accepted the ofiering of Abraham, of his son Isaac. 'Verily I say unto you, a commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wile, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself and par- take not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offer- ing at your hand by covenant and sacrifice; and let my handmaid Emma Smith receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are vir- tuous and pure before me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be desti'oyed, saith the Lord God; for I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice; and I give unto my ser%'ant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things, for he hath been faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him. And I command mine handmaid Emma ​

the foremost nations of to-day. Plato even advo- cated plurality of wives, chiefly on patriotic grounds. In Rome, the one- wife system was more firmly estab- lished, though in the absence of marriage, chastity was little regarded. Marcus Aurelius, indeed, was eulogized by his biographer for bringing into his

Smith to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord, for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law; but if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do all things for her even as he hath said, and I will bless him and multiply him, and give unto him a hundred-fold in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal worlds. And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my sei'vant Joseph his trespasses, and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me, and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her and multiply her, and make her heart rejoice. And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph put his property out of his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him — for Satan seeketh to destroy^for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant; and behold ! and lo I am with him, as I ani with Abraham, thy father, even unto his exaltation and glory. Now as touching the law of the priesthood, there are many things pertaining thereunto. Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him with the keys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law, and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph, for I will justify him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands, for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God. And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood; if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, if and he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to on other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery, for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belonged unto him, and to none else; and if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he can- not commit adultery, for they belong to him and they are given unto him; there- fore is he justified. But if one or either of the ten virgins after she is espoused shall be with another man, she has committed adultery and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the soiils of men; for herein is the work of my father continued, that he maj' be glorified. And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, if any man have a wife who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God; for I will destroy her; for I wiU magnify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law. Therefore it shall be lawful in me, if slie receive not this law, for him to receive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto him, because she did not administer unto him according to my word; and she then becomes the transgressor, and he is ex- empt from the law of Sarah, who admiuistered unto Abraham according to the law, when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife. And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will reveal moi-e imto you hereafter; therefore let this suffice for the present. Behold I am Alpha and Omega. Amen.' ​

house a concubine, upon the death of his wnfe, in- stead of inflicting upon his children a step-mother.

If monogamy is the only natural form of sexual relationship, how happens it that, throughout the life- time of the race, there have been and still are so many other forms of relationship? From time im- memorial polygamy has existed, and has been sanc- tioned b}^ all religions. Bramin, Parsee, and Raj- poot all indulged in it. Though nothing is said of it in the new testament, we learn from the Talmud that it was lawful among the Jews about the time of Christ's coming. Among the early converts to Chris- tianity in Sjriei and Egypt were many polygamists who remained uncensured. The rabbles of the west prohibited it eight or nine centuries ago, but those of the east, where it is practised by nearly all nations, permit it even now. It is common to-day through- out a large part of the world. Take all the peoples of the earth, of all times and cultures, and those among whom plural wives obtained are far in excess of the others.

Pre-nuptial unchastity was scarcely censured either in Greece or Rome, "If there be any one," said Cicero, "who thinks that young men should be alto- gether restrained from the love of courtesans, he is indeed very severe." Even that most austere of Stoics, Epictetus, makes a wide distinction between what he regards as comparatively innocent pre-nuptial indulgences, and those which were regarded as adul- terous and unlawful. While the utmost license was allowed the husband, the wife was held under close re- strictions. Courtesans were the real companions of men, and the only free women in Athens. Apelles painted them; Pindar and Simonides sang their praises. Aspasia was worshipped before Pericles, and sage philosophers did not hesitate to pay homage at her shrine, and receive words of wisdom from her lips.

In imperial Rome, while the courtesan clas ​s never

attained to such distinction as in Greece, divorce was so easy and frequent as to render the marriage cere- mony almost a nulHty. There were periods when the term 'adultery' had no significance as applied to men; only women were punished for this crime. Persons five, ten, twenty times married and divorced were not uncommon. Though monogamy obtained, female life was lower there than in England under the restoration, or in France under the regency. Alexander Seve- rus, the most persistent of all the Roman emperors, in vainly legislating against vice, provided his provin- cial governors, if unmarried, with a concubine as well as with horses and servants.

The privilege of royalty in having many mistresses, tolerated until all the people arose and usurped roy- alty, was but a modified form of polygamy, and is still secretly practised by individuals.

The question of sensualism has nothing to do with it. The polygamist, as a rule, is no more sensual than the monogamist. Your true sensualist does not marry at all. He holds himself free to taste pleasure as he can find it. The trammels of matrimony and the responsibilities of parentage he alike avoids. He is the most selfish of beings; for his own gratifica- tion he is willing to sacrifice society, debase manhood, and doom to perdition the highest inspirations and holiest affections of the race.

Beastliness is hardly a fit word to apply to the exercise of an animal impulse, the gratification of animal appetite. It too often maligns the brute cre- ation. Eating and sleeping are in one sense beastly ; while smoking and dram-drinking are worse than beastly. Beasts are natural in all things. In many respects they are less open to the charge of beastli- ness, as we commonly employ the term, than men ; they indulge less in excess; they are sometimes glut- tonish, but they do not intoxicate themselves ; if they do not regulate intercourse by numbers, they do by seasons. Their passions are in subordination to the ​

laws of nature. Man's passions are not. Taking this charge of beastliness as it is meant, the polyg- amist is less beastly than the monogamist, who in the majority of cases is more beastly in his sexual intercourse than the beast, being less obedient to the laws of nature, less considerate for the health and strength of his one only wife. Millions of gentle, un- complaining women have been killed by beastly hus- bands putting upon them more children than they should bear, not to mention innumerable cruelties of other kinds. In so far as any system is not in accord- ance with the laws of nature, nature will in due time assert her rights and put it down. It is said that the Mormon women are martyrs: so are other women; part of them because they are married, and part be- cause they are not.

The readers must bear in mind that these are the assertions and arguments of polygamy, and must be prepared to take them for what they are worth, and answer them each according to the light of his own reason. I have already presented the current argu- ments against polygamy; these are the opinions and dogmas of the Mormons themselves, the doctrines they everywhere preach and print, teaching them to their children, inculcating them into the minds of young men and women, until they have fully imbibed them.

And thus they continue. How many husbandless wo- men there are who drag out a miserable existence in the effort to sustain themselves without sin ! how many fall into shame under the effort! Society lays no heavier burden on any of its members than on its poverty-stricken single women, reared in luxury, and unable to support themselves by work.

If you are so tender of woman, her position and morals, why not turn your batteries against the ten thousand of your own people of all classes, including preachers and legislators, who tamper with other men's wives, seduce and abandon innocent girls, keep mis- tresses, and frequent the haunts of prostitution? ​

That the race deteriorates under the polygamous system is not true, they say. The single wife is very often hurried to a premature grave by an incon- siderate or brutal husband, the offspring which she meanwhile bears being puny and ill-developed. And again, it is only the better class of men, the healthy and wealthy, the strongest intellectually and physi- cally, who as a rule have a plurality of wives; and thus, by their becoming fathers to the largest number of children, the stock is improved.

The charge of immorality, as laid upon the Mor- mons as a community, is likewise untenable. Morality is the doctrine of right and wrong, the rule of conduct implying honesty and sobriety. In all honesty and sobriety the Mormons live up to their standard of right and wrong, they claim, more completely than any other people. They indulge in fewer vices, such as drunkenness, prostitution, gambling, and like- wise fewer crimes. There is nothing necessarily im- moral in the practice of polygamy; if it is not immoral for a man to take one wife, it is not for him to take twelve wives.

The Mormons are loyal to their consciences and convictions. They are essentially a moral people, moral in the highest sense of the term, more so-, they claim, than the average American or European. They do not drink, cheat, or steal; adultery is scarcely known among them; they are not idle, profligate, or given to lying. They are true to themselves, true to their principles, and true to the world. Of what other society can you fairly say as much? They are honest in all things, and law-abiding when the law does not touch their rights or their religion; when it does, all who are not dastards will fight. Judge them by their fruits; if a sect is to be regarded from the standpoint of its imperfections and inconsistencies rather than from its results, what shall be said of christianitv, which has butchered millions for the faith. ​

and has further committed all the wickedness flesh is heir to, or of which Satan could conceive?

It is not right to place the polygamist on a par with the bigamist. The one, without deception, and in con- formity with the proclaimed tenets of his faith, takes to wife the second, or third, or twentieth — the more the better for all, it is said — promising to her the same life-long care and protection as to the first; the other breaks his contract with his first wife, and deserts her for another woman. Neither can the polygamist be justly placed on a level with the adulterer. Mor- mons abhor everything of the kind. The sacred cere- mony of marriage signifies far more with them than with those who mark the difference between morality and immorality by a few insignificant rites.

The Mormons lay no small stress on the fact that there is always a large number of women who have no husbands, and can get none, on account of women being always so greatly in the preponderance. They deny that there are more men than women.

Whatever may be true with regard to the numer- ical equality or inequality of the sexes at birth, it is certain, dating back almost from the beginning, that there have always been more women than men in the world. Particularly in primitive times, owing to war or exposure, the death rate was much greater among the males than among the females. To obviate the evil — for it was early recognized that the sexes should be mated — in some instances the female children were killed, but more frequently the excess of women was divided among the men. Where wars were frequent and continuous, everything else being equal, the mo- nogamous nation could not long stand before a polyg- amous neighbor.

Coming down to later times, it is safe to say that there are a million more women than men in Christen- dom to-day; there are here five millions of women who would like to marry but cannot, being denied one of the fundamental rights of humanity by statutory law. ​

Hist. Utah. 25

A large class of men refuse to take upon themselves the cost and cares of matrimony, preferring more free and cheaper indulgence. Of very many of these five mill- ions thus left to themselves, unmated, unsupported, forbidden to become plural wives, Christian civiliza- tion makes prostitutes or paupers. And this is the orthodox idea of the elevation of woman ! Make angels of light and happiness of one portion, while dooming the rest, under the hard heel of social despotism, to the depths of misery and despair. Nay, more : while the men are thus busied working upon the affections of women, taking advantage of their loneliness and poverty, and constantly adding to the numbers of the lost by seducing the pure from the paths of re- spectability, their sisters, mothers, wives, and daugh- ters are applying the scourge with all their might to these unfortunates, hoping thereby to gain further favor with the men by showing how much better are they than their most foully wronged sisters.

Such are the men, such the society, in which the foulest wrongs to women are so universally and con- stantly committed — wrongs which would put to blush savages, yea, and all the devils of darkness; such are the men who wage war on the plural-wife system, which would give to this class and all classes of wo- men home and honorable alliance.

Further than all this, polygamy claims that men or governments have no natural or moral right to forbid the practice, pass laws against it, and inflict punish- ments. Inherent human rights are above statutory law. Governments have no right to pass laws against gambling, prostitution, drunkenness, or any act of the individual resulting in injury only to himself He who harms another may be punished, not he who harms himself; otherwise, who is to determine what is or what is not harmful ? All men and women are every day doing things harmful to themselves, but which no one thinks of checking by legislation. By no line of logic can polygamy be rightly placed in the ​

criminal category. In its worst aspect, it can only be called a vice. Drunkenness is not a crime : it is a vice. Statutory law cannot justly make criminal that which by the law of human rights is only a vice. Govern- ments may repress crime, but they never can uproot vice; and the sooner legislators realize and act upon this truth, the fewer failures they will have to record. Public sentiment and moral force are the only agen- cies which can be brought against this class of evils with any hope of success.

The right and wrong of the matter, as usually dis- cussed, are not the right and wrong of nature and common sense, but of divine and human enactment, variously interpreted and viewed from different stand- points. The bible forbids prostitution, but permits polygamy; the supporters of the bible and its civili- zation forbid polygamy, but permit prostitution.

The Mormons are held to be a most unphilosophical sect, and yet the sentiment against them is more un- philosophical than their doctrines or practices. The American congress is not a Sunday-school, neither is it within the province of government to establish and enforce a code of ethics. Congress has no more right to legislate, against their consent, for the territories than it has for the states. I do not know that all Mormons hold to this opinion, but many of them do. The idea of political nonage is only an idea; it is not a fact. Murder, theft, breach of contract, malefeasance in office, unjust monopoly, cheating, slave- holding, adulteration, bigamy, etc., are crimes to be punished by law. Drunkenness, gambling, prostitu- tion, and the like, are vices to be uprooted by precept and example. A crime is an injury to one's neighbor; a vice is an injury to one's self I have no right to in- jure my neighbor, but I have the right to do as I will with my own and myself, howsoever foolish may be the act. Congress, indeed, would have its hands full were it to undertake to pass laws to keep men from making fools of themselves. If polygamy must be ​

placed in one category or the other, it must be denom- inated a vice, and not a crime. If one man and three women contract to live in a connubial relationship, neither God nor nature pronounces it a crime. In bigamy the marriage contract is broken; in polygamy it is kept. Admit that monogamy is best, that one man for one woman tends to the highest culture, it still does not prove that coercion in morals is better than precept and example. Is woman less chaste than in the days of feudalism, now that she is less watched? If the law has the right to limit a man to one wife, it may if it chooses deny him any wife, as many orders among the Greeks and Armenians, the heathens and christians, have declared. If one man is restricted by law to one woman, the least the law can do in common justice is to compel every man to marry one woman. Why does not the United States war upon the catholic priest or the unprincipled debauchee, who by refusing to take a wife repudiates the laws of nature, and sets an example which if universally fol- lowed would prove the strangulation of the race? Better punish those who denaturalize themselves rather than those who are too natural.

This is what Utah polygamy says to civilization.^**

""My references to articles, both printed and in manuscript, relating to polygamy, are no less voluminous than those touching upon other church matters. I note as follows: early polygamists, Ferris' Utah and Morm., 117; Smucker's Hist. Morm., 161-2; Young's Wife No. 19, 150-5; Stenhouse's Ex- pos4, 85-93; Atlantic Monthly, 1859, 576-7; denial of exist., Stenhouse's Tell ft All, 103-4, 499-500; Pratt, in Millennial Star, vi. 22; Lee's Morm., 167; Young's Wife No. 19, 329-31; favored by women, Des. News, 1870, Jan. 12, 19; 1871, Nov. 8, Dec. 20; S. F. Ool. Era, June 13, 1868; Woodruff's Auto- biog., MS., 4-6; The Morm. at Home, 145-7, 159; S. L. Herald, Feb. 1, 1879; Burton's City of Saints, 525-34; Ward's Husband in Utah, 130-4, 216-22; Tanner's Letter, MS., passim; Smoot's Experience, etc., MS., 4, 8-9; Tracy's Narr., MS., 30-2; Richards' Remin., MS., 18-19, 36-7, 48-9; Pratt (Belinda M.), in Utah Pamph. Rdig., no. 3, 27-33; Marshall's Through Amer., 185-8; Millennial Star, xvii. 36-7; Brown's Letter, MS., passim; arg. in favor of, Smith's Rise, Progress, etc., 48-56; Millennial Star, xix. 636-40, xxxvii. 340- 1; Beadle's Life in Utah, 252-4; Paddock's La Tour, 324-5; Ferris' Utah and Morm., 115-17; Johnson, in Utah Tracts, no. 10; Richardson, with Taylor's Govt of God, no. 19; Spencer, with Id., no. 18; Taylor vs Hollister, Sup. Ct Decis., no. 2, in Morm. Pamph.; Cannon's Rev. of Decis., no. 11, in Id.; Rob- inson's Sinners and Saints, 82-109; Dilke's Greater Brit., i. 130; Stenhouse's Expos4, 218-21; Tell It All, 256-8; Richards' Narr., MS., 79-81; Worthing- ton's Women, etc., 692-3; Busch, Gesch. Morm., 340-52, 407-44; Times and ​

In reply to the charge of disloyalty, of maintain- ing an anti- American attitude toward the people of America, of endeavoring by any illegal or indirect means to undermine the institutions of the country

Seasons, vi. 798-9; Tullidge's Women, etc., 367-78; Bois4 Ciiy Statesman, Sept. 30, 1879; S. F. Alta, Nov. 13, 1857; Chronicle, 1880, Dec. 12; 1882. Feb. 15, July 29; Stock JRept, Jan. 8, 1880; Des. JSfews, 1857, May 13, July 16; 1866, Mar. 15; 1867, Apr. 17, 24; 1871, Oct. 11; S. L. Gontrib., ii. 213; Tribune, 1875, July 17; 1879, Oct. 10, 11; S. F. Herald, 1852, Sept. 17; 1853, Mar. 1;

1869, Aug. 28; 1880, Jan. 6, 18; sermons. Young, Bilke's Greater Brit., i. 129; Young, Jotir. of Disc, ii. 75-90; S. F. Bulletin, 1856, Sept. 16; 1862, Sept. 10; 1866, Oct. 26; 1869, Mar. 3; 1874, Nov. 13; Gall, 1867, Sept. 11; 1868, Sept. 5; Occident, July 10, 1873; Sac. Union, Jan. 12, 1856; Elko Indpt, Sept. 6, 1873; Pan. Star and Her., Jan. 1867; Boise Gity Statesman, July 24, 1869; Salem (Or.) Statesman, May 5, 1857; S. L. Herald, June 6, 1877; Ward's Hishand in Utah, 104-30, 245-6, 303-7; Des. News, May 25, 1870; Pratt, Smith, and Cannon, Discourses, passim; disc, Pratt, Des. News, Oct. 20, 1869; Hyde, S. F. Herald, Nov. 23, 1854; Des. News, May 9, 1860; Young (John), Id., Apr. 22, 1857; origin and prog., S. F. Bulletin, 1858, July 23; 1859, Apr. 16; 1868, July 18; 1869, Mar. 1; 1870, Nov. 12; 1871, July 6; 1872, Feb. 21, June 25; 1882, Mar. 3; Gall, 1865, Aug. 2; 1868, Aug. 29; 1869, Feb. 28; 1874, July 15, Oct. 21; Gol. Era, July 3, 1869; Plac. Times, Feb. 2, 1850; N. Y. Her., in Watsonville Pajar., June 6, 1872; Gal. Ghris. Advoc., Oct. 15, 1874; Gal. Farm., June 16, 1870; Des. News, 1866, Mar. 22, Apr. 19, May 17; 1879, May 7, 14; S. L. Gontrih., iii. 61; Herald, May 23, 77; Review, 1871, Dec. 11, 19; Telcqraph, May 26, 1868; Tribune, 1874, May 16; 1883, Oct. 20; Sac. Union, Nov. 26, Dec. 5, 1856; S. L. Herald, in Helena Gaz., Apr. 27, 1872; Gole, Gal, 18; Beadle's Letter, Jan. 1, 1869; Life in Utah, 346-7; The Morm. at Home, 94-5, 102, 111-12; Yoimfs Wife No. 19, 124-6, 135-59; Olshausen, Gesch. Morm., 175-84; Smucker's Hist. Morm., 402-24; Bertrand's 31em. Morm., 173-217; Busch, Gesch. Morm., 105-33, 313-17; Marshall's Through Amer., 221; Stenhouse's Englishwoman in Utah, 38-9, 76-87, 153-4; Slater, Morm., 85-6; Burton's Gity of Saints, 217, 301-2; The Morm. Proph., 211-14; Ferris' Utah and Morm., 239, 248-64, 309-11; Mackay's The Morm., 287; Olympia, Pion. and Dem., Feb. 6, 1857; women's opposition, Stenhouse's Ex- pos6, 34-41, 72-84; Tell It All, 393-404, 420-58.

For arguments against polygamy, see Ward's Husband in Utah, 180, 303- 5; Beadle's Life in Utah, 262-4, 354-80; Nouv. Ann. Voy., cxliii. 183-4; Garvallo's Inc. of Travel, 151-4, 166-71; Hall's Morm. Exp., 52-5; Overland Monthly, vii. 551-8; De Rupert, Gal. and Morm., 153-62; Todd's Sunset Land, 161-212; Dilke's Greater Brit., i. 144-52; Remy's Journey, etc., ii. 137-72; Young's Wife No. 19, 98-109, 591-7; Pop. Scien. Month., Iii. 479-90, Ivi. 160-5; Godman's Round Trip, 173-277; Froiseth's Women, etc., passim; Jon- veaux, L'Amer., 230-49; Waite's Morm. Proph., 216-60; Book of Morm., 83, 132; Doc. and Gov., 218, 330; Tucker's Morm., 184-6, 267, 283; Times and Seasons, iv. 369; Ferris' tjtah and Morm., 309-10; Marshall's Through Ajner. , 178-9; Harper's Mag., liii. 647-51; Stansbury's Explor. Exp., 4-5;' Life Among Morm., 123-59; Utah Scraps, 15-17; Townsend's Morm. Triah, 42-3; Green- wood's New Life, 131-71, 161-3; Hubner's Ramble, 90, 116; Olshausen, Morm., 175-82; McGlure's Three Thous. Miles, etc., 158-9; Nordhoff's Gal, 43; Bur- toil's Gity of Saints, 517-25; Grimes of L, D. Saints, 30-4; Hyde's Morm., 2S4-5; Dixon's White Gong., I 200-14; Stenhouse's Exposi, 47-51, 146-53; Taylder's Morm., 148-83; Barnes' Atlan. to Pac., 56-8; Greeley's Overland Jour., 238-41; Howitt's Hist. Amer., ii. 356; Richardson's Beijond Miss., 360- 2; S. F. Advocate, Aug. 4, 1870; Alta, Mar. 26, 1877; Feb. 7, 1882; Bulletin, 1856, Aug. 18; 1860, Apr. 28; 1864, Jan. 18; 1865, Aug. 24; 1867, Oct. 25;

1870. Apr. 22, Sept. 2; 1871. Nov. 6; 1872. Sept. 25; 1873, Jan. 17, Dec. 17; ​

and eventually usurp the government, the Mormons say that it is not true. It is not true that Mormons are not good citizens, law-abiding and patriotic. Even when hunted down and robbed and butchered by the

1875, Apr. 9; 1877, June 1, Aug. 3; 1878, Jan. 8, Nov. 1; 1879, Jan. 7, 10, 21; 1881, Aug. 22; Call, 1870, Mar. 27; 1871, June 30, Aug. 9, 18; 1872, Feb. 21, Sept. 6; 1873, Feb. 11; 1874, Jan. 14; 1879, Aug. 11; Gal. Farm., Apr. 17, 1863; Chronicle, 1869, June 26, July 28, Aug. 11, 17, 18, 22, Nov. 12, 28, Dec. 14; 1870, Jan. 28, Feb. 27, May 8, 17; 1871, Sept. 21, Oct. 4, 8, 14, 17, 31, Nov. 5, Dec. 2; 1872, Feb. 3, 10, Apr. 20, Oct. 10; 1873, Apr. 11, 12, July 17, 27, 31, Aug. 1, 6, 26. Mar. 4; 1880, Oct. 14, 24, Nov. 6, 14, 28; 1881, Jan. 9; Gol. Era, Sept. 26, 1869; News Letter, Mar. 16, 1867; Pacif. Observ., Nov. 10, 1871; Pioneer, Sept, 15, 1873; Post, 1879, Sept. 11, Dec. 5; Times, 1869, Jan. 5, Mar. 25; Town Talk, Nov. 26, 1856; Sac. Union, May 11, 1859; San Jos^- Herald, Apr. 20, 1877; Jackson (Am.) Ledger, Dec. 15, 1877; Sta Barbara Index, Mar. 8, 1877; San Rafael Jour., Oct. 16, 1879; May 20, 1880; Red Bluff Sentinel, Nov. 16, 1878; Jan. 18, 1879; Ukiah Democ, Sept. 6, 1879; Cres. City Cour., Oct. 15, 1879; Roseburg Plaindealer, Dec. 20, 1879; Marin Co. Jour., Oct. 16, 1879; Monterey Cal., Feb. 4, 1879; Antioch Ledger, Nov. 23, 1878; Healdsburg, Russ. Riv. Flag, Aug. 22, 1872; Ogden (Utah) Freeman, Mar. 28, 1879; S. L. Anti-Polyg. Standard, June 1880; Contributor, iii. passim; Des. News, 1854, Aug. 24, Oct. 5; 1858, Aug. 11, 25; 1866, Mar. 29; 1867, July 3; 1869, Aug. 5, Sept. 22; 1870, Feb. 2; 1871, Nov. 1; 1878, Nov. 20; 1884, Sept. 10; Utah Rev., 1871, Aug. 18, Dec. 5; 1872, Jan. 12, 26; Tribune, 1872, May 25, June 1; 1874, Mar. 21, Apr. 4, Oct. 24; 1875, Aug. 21;

1876, Jan. 5, Nov. 19; 1877, Apr. 14, Aug. 25; 1878, Oct. 1, Nov. 22, Dec. 21; Apr. 20, May 9, June 25, 29, July 17, Aug. 23, Sept. 24, Oct. 3, 10, 29, Nov. 16; 1883, June 7; 1884, Sept. 7, 14; Austin (Nev.) Reese Riv. Reveil., Feb. 15, 1866, Mar. 5, 1872; Carson State Regis., Oct. 24, 1871; Elko Index>., Aug. 11, 1879; Eureka Sentinel, Aug. 28, 1879; Gold Hill News, Dec. 6, 1878; Tuscarora Times-Rev., Nov. 22, 1878; Virg. City Chron., Dec. 12, 1877; Win- nemucca, Silv. State, Apr. 26, 1880; Prescott (Ariz.) Miner, Aug. 15, 1879; Helena(Mont.) Indep., Mar. 12, 1875; Bois6 (Idah.) News, Aug. 27, 1864; City Statesman, May 24, 1879; Oxford (Idah.) Enterprise, Oct. 9, 1879; Portland (Or.) Bee, Oct. 30, 1878; Oregonian, July 28, 1865; Ev. Telegram, May 1, 1879; Astoria, Astorian, Jan. 19, 1878; Eugene City Guard, Feb. 1, 1879; Salem Mercury, Oct. 29, 1870; Dy Talk, Nov. 7, 1879; socialism. Woods (J. O.), in N. Y. Church Union, Aug. 15, 1884; suggest, for suppress, polyg., Colfax, in Froiseth, Women, 360-2; Bliss in Id., 367-71; Ward's Husband in Utah, 55-62; Crimes of L. D. Saints, i.-iii.; Russling, Across Amer., 191-5; 8. F. Alta, Jan. 8, 1880; Bulletin, Feb. 8, 1859; Nov. 29, 1883; Inyo Indep., July 27, 1872; sermons against. Smith (T. W.), in N. Y. Herald, Feb. 20, 1882; Higbee, A Discourse, etc., passim; Sac. Union, May 12, 1855; Nov. 15, 1856; S. L. Review, Sept. 15, 1871; S. F. Alta, Nov. 8, 1878; Ogden Freeman, May 30, 1879; marriage, social and moral effects. Young's Wife No. 19, 388-9; S. F. Alta, Oct. 14, 1857; Pratt, in Des. Neios, Jan. 16, 1856; sealing for eter- nity, Chandless, Visit to S. L., 161-2; Stenhouse's Exposi, 69-70; Rocky Min Saints, 586-8; Englishwoman in Utah, 120-1; Tell It All, 405-19, 550, 607; S. F. Bulletin, Jan. 27, 1872; Oct. 29, 1878; Ferris' Utah and Mormons, 233-46; Young's Wife No. 19, 310-18; Ward's Husband in Utah, 12-38, 208-12; Hyde'-i Morm., 83-9; Tucker's Morm., 270-5; San Jose Herald- Argus, Nov. 22, 1878; Doll, My First Holiday, 91; first monog. marriage, S. F. Call, Feb. 8, 1865; divorce, Utah Laws, 1878, 1-2; Utah Scraps, 19; Stenhozise's Tell It All, 390-1, 554-8; S. F. Alta, 1873, July 31, Aug. 9, 23; Bulletin, 1877, Sept. 27, Oct. 11; Cal. Farm., May 12, 1870; Post, Feb. 13, 1873; Stock Exch., Feb. 23, 1878; Sta Rosa Times, Nov. 1, 1877; S. L. Tribune, 1874, Mar. 28; 1877, June 9, July 14, Sept. 29; Virg. City Chron., Sept. 27, 1877; dower, Paddock's La Tour, 293; ​

enemies to their faith, they have not retahated. — On this point they are naturally very sore, — When de- prived of those sacred rights given to them in common with all American citizens, when disfranchised, their

Utah, Gov. Mess., 1882, 14; adultery, Dilke's Greater Brit., i. 127; Kanesville (Iowa) Front. Guard., June 13, 1851; Grimes of L. D. Saints, 2-6; condition of womeu, Dtiffus-FIarch/s Through Cities, etc., 103-4; Leslie, California, etc., 76-102; Putnam's Mag., 144-607, passim; Utah Scraps, 18-19; Young's Wife No. 19, 224-531, passim; Cradlebaugh, Speech of, 4r-7; Bowles' Our New West, 249-53; Ward's Husband in Utah, 23-303, passim; The Morm. Proph., 218- 77; Life Among Morm., 183-6; Prime's Around the World, 31-2; Dilke's Greater Brit., i. 129; Hyde's Morm., 51-82, 158-67; Hall's Morm., 113; Tucker's Morm., 173-82, 275-6; Appleton's Jour., xi. 547-8; Morm.. at Home, 116-85; Clark's Sights, MS., 7-11; Machay's The Morm., 298, 303; Smith's Mys. and Crimes, 38-43; Bonwick's Morm. and Silv. Mines, 110-140; Jackson's Bits of Trav. at Home, 22-7; Greenwood's New Life, 160-1; Gunnison's Morm., 75, 159-01; Stenhouse's Englishwoman, 202-339; ^^/(ose, 96-190; Tell It All, passim; S. F. Alta, July 17, 1873; Call, Oct. 8, 1876; Bulletin, 1856, Nov. 24; 1858, Nov. 17; 1871, May 4, July 25; 1872, Sept. 30; 1872, Aug. 20; 1877, July 19; Herald, Nov. 24, 1856; Mail, Jan. 4, 1876; Pacif. Baptist, Sept. 17, 1874; Post, Nov. 18, 1872; Eureka Sentinel, Jan. 22, 1875; Placer Herald, Nov. 4, 1871; Red Bluff Indept, Apr. 3, 1867; Sac. Union, Aug. 25, 1855; Aug. 19, 1857; Bee, Nov. 9, 1878; S. L. Obispo Tribune, May 5, 1877; Stockton In- dept, Mar. 8, 1879; 8. L. Des. News, Oct. 5, 1850; Jan. 15, 1868; Apr. 27, 1870; Herald, Nov. 12, 1878; June 25, 1879; Utah Rev., 1871, Aug, 21, Oct. 7, Dec. 7, 19; 1872, Jan. 17, 20, 24; Tribune, 1877, Apr. 28, May 19, 26, June 9; Kanesville (Iowa) Front. Guard., June 13, 1849; Belmont (Nev.) Cour., Jan. 12, 1878; Portland (Or.) Oregonian, Dec. 24, 1863; Ev. Telegram, May 5, 1879; Young's wives, Stenhouse's Englishwoman, 168-78; Expose, 154-97; Tell It All, 510-14; Ward's Husband in Utah, 243-4; Morm. at Home, 130- 1; Young's Wife No. 19, 598-605; S. L. Tribune, 1874, Apr. 25, May 23, July 18; S. F. Call, 1874, Aug. 27, Oct. 4; 1806, Mar. 29, Aug. 2; 1867, Feb. 1; Deer Lodge (Mont.) New N. West, Jan. 31, 1874. For references to polygamy in presidential messages, see S. F. Times, June 27, 1869; U. S. H. Ex. Doc, i., 42 Coug., 2d Sess.; S. F. Bulletin, Aug. 1, 1872; Post, Feb. 15, 1873; Elko Indept, Dec. 18, 1875; 8. L. Herald, Dec. 8, 1881; N. Y. The Natim, Dec. 15, 1881.

In his message to the congress of 1883-4, the president favors a re- peal of the organic act, and recommends a federal commission as a substitute. In commenting upon this, the Des. News declares that the destruction of the local government will fail to destroy polygamy, neither can 'commissions, edicts, or armies, or any other earthly powers, ' for the plural marriages of the Mormons are ecclesiastical, pei-petual, and eternal. Says W. S. Godbie, a well-known writer on Mormonism, in a letter to the 8. L. Tribune of Dec. 9, 1883, after first quoting George Q. Cannon as preaching in the tabernacle 'it is not vox populi vox Dei, 'but ' vox Dei vox populi,' 'The essence of the whole Utah question lies couched in these telling words of the ciiurch organ and the leading apostle.'

For the messages of Utah governors touching polygamy, see Utah Jour. Legis., 1862-3, app. v.-viii.; 1872, 32-4; 1876, 31-3, 34, 240; 1878, 43, 44-5, 47-9; Utah, Gov. Mess., 1882, 11; S. F. Call, Jan. 28, 1872; Jan. 17, 1878; Prescott Miner, Apr. 30, 1875; Morm. Prophet, 79-84; Hazen's report, in Hayes' Scraj^s, R. li. iii. 212; discussions in congress, S. F. Bulletin, Mar. 23, 1870; Call, 1870, Feb. 19, Mar. 24, Aug. 16; Chronicle, Feb. 16, 18S2; Deer Lodge NewN, West, Apr. 29, 1870; S. L. Dy Telegraph, Mar. 23, 24, 1870; Des. News, May 16, 1860; Apr. 26, 1866; Apr. 3, 1867; Mar. 9, 1870; Apr. 6, 1870; Nov. 29, 1871; Mar. 6, 1872; Tribune, May 15, 1875; Millennial Star, xxxiv. 257-63, 268​

homes broken up, their families scattered, the husband and father seized, fined, and imprisoned, they have not defended themselves by violence, but have left their cause to God and their country.

71; Antioch Ledger, Jan. 17, 1874; Gooch's Speech, Apr. 1860; Green, Morm., 457-65; Beadle's Life in Utah, 523-6; UfahPamph., Polit., no. 2; Id., Relig., no. 7; Col/ax's Morm. Quest., passim; Prescott Miner, Apr. 30, 1875; also Cong. Globe, passim; bills introd. in congress, U. S. H. Jour., 34 Cong., 1st- 2d Sess., 1117-18; U. S. Acts, 37 Cong., 2d Sess., 208-9; S. F. Bulletin, Apr. 1, 1870; S. L. Dy Telegraph, Mar. 25, 1870; Cong. Globe, 1870-1, 966; N. Y. Herald, Jan. 27, 1872; Utah, Jour. Legis., 1872, 84; 1878, 203-4; Nat. Quart. Rev., July 1879, 91-2; U. S. Dist Atty, in Froiseth's Women, etc., 334-5, 346 -51, 355; S. L. Herald, Dec. 15, 1881; Robinson s Sinners and Saints, 74-81; S. L. Contributor, iii. 204-13; S. F. Alta, 1874, Mar. 1, June 3, Dec. 6; S. F. Bulletin, Dec. 14, 1881; Call, Jan. 9, 1879; Feb. 17, 1882; Chronicle, 1881, Dec. 13; 1882, Jan. 25, Feb. 17; 1884, June 18; Post, Feb. 27, 1873; June 3, 1874; S. Jos4 Mercury, Dec. 1878; Austin, Reese Riv. Reveil, Aug. 12, 1879; Eureka Sentinel, Jan. 28, 1879; Gold Hill News, Jan. 3, 1878; S. L. Tribune, Feb. 2, 1878; U. S. Acts and Res., passim.

Arthur G. Sedgwick, in the Century Mag. for Jan. 1882, under the heading Jjeading Aspects of the Mormon Problem, refers to the various bills introduced, and mentions the most imiDortant prosecutions and their results : decis. of U. S. Supreme Ct, S. L. Herald, 1879, Jan. 8, May 23; Tribune, Aug. 2, 1879; S. F. Bulletin, 1879, Jan. 7, 8, Feb. 24; Eurelca Sentinel, Jan. 16, 1879; evasion of the Edmunds law, S. F. Bulletin, 1883, Apr. 30, Sept. 29; grand juries, charges to, S. F. Bulletin, Dec. 9, 1858; Salejn (Oregon) Argus, Aug. 28, 1858; Sac. Union, Apr. 20, 22, 1867; S. F. Call, Oct. 14, 1875; competency of polyga- mists as jurors, S. L. Utah, Rev., 1871, Sept. 19, 27; report of, Deseret News, Oct. 3, 1877; rept of commission, Utah, Rept on Gov. Mess., 9-13; S. F. Bulle- tin, Dec. 7, 1882; Chronicle, Oct. 3, 1882; cause of trouble with U. S., Richards' Narr., MS., 74; discuss, between Colfax and Morm., Boicles' Our New West, 238-41; Des. News, Feb. 9, 1870; Chaplain Newman and others, Pratt and New- man, etc., 3-67; Tullidge's Life of Young, 403-6; Newman, Sermon, passim; Des. News, Aug. 17, 1870; con-esp. Newman and Young, Id., 1870, Aug. 10, 17; mass-meetings, memorials, petitions, and protests, Tullidge's Life of Young, 389-413; Women of Morm., 379-402, 528-31; Coyner's Letters, etc., vii.; Sten- house's Englishwoman, etc., 373-4; Tell It All, 606-7; U. S. H. Ex. Doc., 58, 45 Cong., 3d Sess., 1-6; Utah Pamph., Relig., no. 18; The Cullom Bill, in 3Iorm. Pamph., no. 6; S. F. Alta, Apr. 22, 1872; Bulletin, Jan. 18, 1870; Nov. 9, 1878; Jan. 21, 1879; Feb. 17, 23, 1882; Call, Nov. 8, 1878; Chronicle, Feb. 3, 27, 1882; Petaluma Argus, Nov. 22, 1878; Sac. Bee, Nov. 16, 1878; Stockton Indept, Jan. 21, 1878; Elko Indept, Nov. 15, 1878; Eureka Sentinel, Nov. 17, 1878; Gold Hill News, Nov. 8, 1878; Reno Gazette, Nov. 21, 1878; S. L. Contributor, iii. 155-6; Des. News, 1867, Jan. 16; 1870, Apr. 6; 1872, May 22, 29; Herald, June 14, 1879; Telegraph, Apr. 1, 1870; Tribune, 1878, Nov. 16, 23; the Reynolds case, Froiseth's Women, 401-12; Utah Pamjjh., Polit., no. 17, 20; Review of Opin., etc., in Morm. Pamph., no. 1; S. F. Bulletin, Aug. 21, 1874; Call, Dec. 22, 1875; Dec. 10, 1878; Elko Indept, 1878, Oct. 30, Nov. 13; 1879, Jan. 8; Eureka Sentinel, Aug. 6, 1879; Gold Hill News, Nov. 15, 1878; Tuscarora Times-Rev., Nov. 21, 1878; 8. L. Contributor, ii. 154-7, 188-90; Des. News, 1874, Oct. 28; 1875, Apr. 7; 1878, Oct. 9; 1879, Jan. 15, 29, Dec. 3; Herald, July 19, 1879; the Miles case, S. F. Bulletin, May 7, 1879; Call, Oct. 31, 1878; Sac. Rec- Union, May 5, 7, 1879; Elko Indept, June 5, 1879; Virg. City Eve. Chron., Oct. 30, 31, Nov. 8, 1878; S. L. Des. News, 1878, Nov. 6, 13; 1879, May 7, 14, June 4; Herald, 1878, Oct. 27, 29, Nov. 5; 1879, Apr. 29, 30, May 1-4, 6, 7.

On March 10, 1863, the president of the church was arrested, as we shall see later, the charge being polygamy, and brought under the act of July 1, 1862; the accused was placed under bonds in the sum of $2,000 to appear ​

Much has been said in terms of reproach against the unitj^ and brotherhood of the Mormons, or as it is more often denominated, their exclusiveness or clan- nishness, as appHed to their social^, business, and re- ligious relations. It is said that they hold to one another, band against all societies and interests except their own; that they hold all the agricultural lands, cooperate in commerce and manufactures, vote all one way, and so work into one another's hands in every way; that no other people can stand up in com- petition with them.

at the next sitting of the U. S. ct for the 3d judic, dist. On Oct. 2, 1871, he ■was again arrested on an indictment of the grand jury, found under the stat- utes of Utah; see Utah Laws, 58, sec. 32, which prohibits the cohabitation of persons not married to each other. On Jan. 2, 1872, Brigham was for the third time arrested, the accusation on this occasion being complicity in the murder of one Richard Yates in Echo Cafion, in 1857. There being no gov- ernment jail, and the prisoner old and feeble, he was allowed to remain in his own house under charge of the U. S. marshal. It does not appear that, be. yond the annoyance caused by restraint of liberty, Brigham suffered in conse» quence of either of these charges. For details of the arrests, I refer to Mil- lennial Star, XXV. 273-4, xxxiii. 696-700, 708-14, 728, xxxiv. 58-60, 70-1, 120- 3, 209-15; S. F. Alta, 1871, Oct. 3, 4, 8, 13, 28, 29, Nov. 1, 22, 24, 1872, Apr. 26; BulUtin, 1871, Oct. 3, 9, 13, 25, 27, 30, 31, Nov. 21, 28; 1872, Jan. 3, 8, Apr. 26; Call, 1870, Jan. 3; 1871, Oct. 3, 5, 11, 17, Nov. 22, 28; 1872, Apr. 26; Examiner, 1871, Oct. 6, 9, 13, 17, 19, 25, Nov. 2, 22, 28; 1872, Jan.

3, Feb. 14; Gol. Era, Nov. 12, 1871; Sac. Union, 1871, Oct. 6, 18; S. L. Des. News, 1871, Oct. 11, 18, Nov. 1, 8, 22; 1872, May 1; Tribune, 1872, Feb. 1, Apr. 27; Utah Review, 1871, Oct. 12, 13, 20, 21, Nov. 25, 27, Dec. 1, 4; 1872, Jan. 16, Feb. 10; Carson State Regis., Oct. 14, 1871; Elko Indept, Jan. 6, 1872; Silver City (Id.) Avalanche, Oct. 7, 1871; Portland (Or.) Deutsche Zeit., Nov.

4, 1871.

On Oct. 28, 1871, Thomas Hawkins, of Salt Lake City, having been found guilty of adultery with two women, under a territorial statute ap- proved by Gov. Young on Mar. 6, 1852, was sentenced to three years' impris- onment and to pay $500 fine; see S. F. Alta, Oct. 4, 1871; Bulletin, Nov. 3, 1871; Sac. Union, 1871, Oct. 24, 30, Nov. 1. On Mar. 6, 1879, Dan. H. Wells was imprisoned for two days and fined $100 for contempt of court in refusing to testify as to the garments worn during the endowment ceremonies. Juv. Inst., xIt. 114-15; McClellan, Golden State, 587-9. In 1873, Ann Eliza Young, known as Wife No. 19, began suit against Brigham for divorce, with alimony. About two years later she was awarded $500 per month, which deci- eion was afterward setaside, but not, Tullidge says, until Brigham had been im- prisoned for contempt of court, and had paid two months' alimony and $4,000 coimsel fees; see Young's Wife No. 10, 553-65; TuUidge's Life of Young, 431- 3; Helena (Mont.) Indept, Nov. 25, 1875; Virginia Madisonian, June 9, 1877;

5, F. Bulletin, 1873, July 29, 31; 1875, Feb. 26, May 11; 1876, Nov. 1, 8; Call, July 10, 1875; Los Angeles Star, May 5, 1877; Dayton (Lyon Co.) Times, May 2, 1877; Eureka Sentinel, Jan. 10, 1879; Gold Dill News, Apr. 28, 1877; S. L. Des. News, Apr. 24, 1872: Sept. 2. 1874; Mar. 3, Nov. 3, 24, 1875; Aug. 2, Nov. 8, 1876; Tribune, Nov. 16, 1875; July 22, 1876; Apr. 28, 1877.

Herewith I give a table, brought down to include 1882, compiled from census of 1880, police and penitentiary statistics, and report of commissioners appointed under the Edmunds bill, comparing the distribution of criminals ​

Grant it, they answer ; is it a crime ? May not peo- ple legally labor hard, practise frugality, worship God after their own fashion, and vote as they choose? Is this contrary to the free enlightenment of American institutions ?

Of what are the people of the United States afraid, with their fifty millions of free, intelligent, progress- ive men and women, that they should deem it their duty to be seized with such a savage hate toward this handful of poor and despised religionists? In the evo- lution of society as an organism, the fittest is sure to remain. If this principle be true, it is perfectly safe to let the Mormons alone. Their evil practices, as well as those of their enemies, are sure in due time to be dissipated by the ever-increasing enlightenment of

between Mormon and non-Mormon. The table includes the Mormon settle-