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 LIBRIS 
 
LIFE OF 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG; 
 
 OR, 
 
 UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 
 
 By EDWARD W. TULLIDGE. 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 1876. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, 
 
 by TULLIDGE & CRANDALL, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
^6*7 s 
 
 Bancroft Library 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 That the matters embodied in the chapters of this 
 book are eminently worthy an enduring record will, 
 I think, be cheerfully conceded. 
 
 Of myself let me say, if the manner in which I have 
 handled the subject betrays my love for the Mor- 
 mon people, I confess it. But it must not be for- 
 gotten that I have been, for many years, an apos- 
 tate, and cannot be justly charged with a spirit of 
 Mormon propagandism. Rather have I striven to 
 treat the subject with an artist's fidelity, and with 
 the earnestness of one concerned. 
 
 EDWARD W. TULLIDGE. 
 Salt Lake City. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The Prophet and his Fulfiller. A New Dispensation. The 
 Empire-Founding Saints. 
 
 CHAPTER II. The Mormon Exodus. Brigham Young as the Modern Moses. 
 
 CHAPTER III. A Law-Giver in the Wilderness. The Mormons the First 
 American Emigrants to California and the Discoverers of the Gold. 
 The Ship " Brooklyn" sails from New York to San Francisco with Six 
 Hundred Mormons. Propositions of Political Demagogues to Share the 
 Lands of California with the Saints.. President Polk a Silent Party to 
 the Scheme. Threat to intercept the Pioneers it they refused. A Noble 
 Resolve. Petition to the Governor of Iowa Territory. The Monument 
 we Leave. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. The Mormons on the March. Their Organic Condition. 
 They Move as a Nation. A Prophet and Lieut. -General. Mormon 
 Life on the Journey. They Praise the Lord in the Song and in the 
 Dance. They Build temporary Cities on the way. A Sensation from 
 the U. S. Government. 
 
 CHAPTER V. The Call for the " Mormon Battalion." Interviews with Presi- 
 dent Polk. The Apostles Enlisting Soldiers from their People for the 
 Service of the Nation. The Battalion on the March. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. The Mormons Settle on Indian Lands. A Grand Council 
 held between the Elders and Indian Chiefs. A Covenant is made be- 
 tween them, and land granted by the Indians to their Mormon Brothers. 
 Characteristic Speeches of famous Indian Chiefs. Winter Quarters 
 Organized. The Government at first Confirms the Indian Permission 
 to the Mormons, and then seeks to eject them. Official Correspondence. 
 Judge Kane and his Son. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. Sketch of the Life of Brigham Young up to the Martyrdom 
 of Joseph Smith. A View of the Early History of the Church. Found- 
 ing of the British Mission. Brigham Young in England. Martyrdom 
 of the Mormon Prophet. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. Sidney Rigdon. Brigham and the Twelve take their place 
 and lead the Church. The Disciples recognize the Spirit of Joseph in 
 his Successor. The Last Days of Nauvoo. 
 
ii. CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER IX. The Remnant at Nauvoo. The Great Battle. March of the 
 Mob Army into the Doomed City : Description by Governor Ford. 
 Thomas L. Kane's famous Picture of Nauvoo, after the Fall, and the 
 Scene of Extermination. 
 
 CHAPTER X. The Journey of the Pioneers to the Mountains. Their First 
 Sight of the Promised Land. 
 
 CHAPTER XL The First Sabbath in the Valley. The Pioneers apply the 
 Prophecies to themselves and their location. Zion has gone up into the 
 Mountains. They locate the Temple and lay off the ''City of the Great 
 Salt Lake." The Leaders return to Winter Quarters to Gather the Body 
 of the Church. Their Second Arrival in the Valley. Brigham declared 
 the Leader of Israel. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. The Mormons in their new " Gathering Place." First Cele- 
 bration. Growth of their Commonwealth. Founding of the State of 
 'Deseret. Congress Establishes a Territorial Organization. Famine and 
 Crickets. A Strange Prophecy by Heber C. Kimball, and a Stranger 
 Fulfillment. The Rush of the Gold-finders to California. Grand 
 Celebrations. Memorial to Congress for a National Railroad to. the 
 Pacific in 1852. A Slander Exploded. Grand Railroad Demonstration 
 in 1854. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. Pictures of Mormon Society in the Founding of Utah. 
 
 Life among the Saints. Their Social and Religious Peculiarities and 
 I Customs. Ecstacy of the Gold-finders when they came upon "Zion." 
 
 Views by Stansbury, Gunnison, and Noted English Travelers, of tV.e 
 
 Mormons and their Institutions. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. Views of Brigham Young as Governor. Correspondence of 
 Colonel Kane with President Fillmore. Arrival of Colonel Steptoe and 
 his Regiment. President Pieice tenders the Governorship of Utah to 
 Steptoe : He Refuses, and Petitions the President for the Re-appointmeat 
 of Brigham Young. Pierce Re-appoints him. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. The National Mission cf the Mormons. Their Israelitish 
 Genius and Destiny. They Believe in their Constitutional Right to 
 Found a State of the Union. A View Preparatory to the " Utah War." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. The Pioneer Jubilee. Celebration of their Tenth Anni- 
 versary. Arrival of Messengers with the News of the Coming of an. 
 Invading Army. The Day of Jubilee Changed to a Day of Independence. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. The Utah Expedition. Mad Policy of Buchanan. The 
 Priests and Journalists Exultant. The Two Governors. How Brigham 
 met the issue. The Saints Resolve to Lay their Cities Waste and take 
 Refuge in the Mountains. Arrival of Captain Van Vliet. The Mormon 
 Leader Sends a Righteous Defiance and Rebuke to the Government. 
 Governor Young's Proclamation. The Territory Placed under Martial Law, 
 
CONTENTS. iii. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. Buchanan coerced by Public Sentiment into sending a 
 Commission of Investigation. He sends Colonel Kane with a Special 
 Mission to the Mormons. Arrival of the Colonel in Salt Lake City. 
 His first interview with the Mormon Leaders. Incidents of his sojourn. 
 He goes to meet Governor Gumming, and is placed under arrest by 
 General Johnston. His Challenge to that Officer. He brings in the 
 new Governor in Triumph. Cordial Meeting between the Two Gover- 
 nors. Return of Colonel Kane. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. Report of Governor Gumming to the Government. The 
 Government Records found not burned as reported by Drummond. The 
 Mormon Leaders justified by the Facts, and the People loyal. Graphic 
 and thrilling description of the Mormons in their Second Exodus. The 
 Governor brings his Family to Salt Lake City. His Wife is moved to 
 Tears at witnessing the Heroic Attitude of the People. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. The arrival of Peace Commissioners. Extraordinary Council 
 . between them and the Mormon Leaders. A singular Scene in the 
 Council. Arrival of a Courier with Despatches. "Stop that army! or 
 we break up the Conference." "Brother Dunbar, sing Zion!" The 
 Peace Commissioners marvel, but at last find a Happy Issue. Retro- 
 spective View of the Mormon Army. 
 
 CHAPTER XXL Reflections upon the "Utah War." The Re-action. Cur- 
 rent Opinion as expressed by the Leading Journals of Europe and 
 America. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. The March of the Troops into Salt Lake City. Return of 
 the People to their Homes. Treachery of the Judges. Malicious Prose- 
 cutions. A Requisition made by the Court upon General Johnston for 
 Troops. The Governor Protests. The Military Power frustrated in the 
 Attempt to Arrest Brigham Young. Courageous Attitude of Governor 
 Gumming. Mormon Loyalty. Johnston's Army ordered to the Potomac 
 Evacuation of Camp Floyd. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. Change in the Personnel of the Federal Offices. The 
 Morrisite Tragedy. More Officials. The California Volunteers and 
 Establishment of Camp Douglas. Arrest of President Young. Midnight 
 Alarms. Harmony restored by a Change of Federal Officials. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. The Constitutional Issue raised by the Mormons the Fore- 
 runner of the National Conti-oyersy resulting in Civil W T ar. Utah and the 
 South Radically Associated in the Chicago Platform. Joseph Smith's 
 Remarkable Prophecy. The Loyalty of the Mormons. Utah Neutral in 
 the Controversy. Brigham Young's Judgment upon the Fratricidal 
 War. How the Mormons regard Secession. Retrospection. Reflection. 
 Predication. 
 
iv. CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. The Nation's Grief over the Death of Lincoln finds sympa- 
 thetic Response in Utah. Visit of the Colfax Party. They are called 
 upon by Brigham Young and the Apostles, and Serenaded by the People. 
 Speeches by Colfax, Bross and Richardson. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. Second Visit of Mr. Colfax. " Will the Mormons Fight ? " 
 *' Let us alone with our Problems." He is Informed of an Approaching 
 Schism. The Schism Inaugurated. Excommunication of the Apostates. 
 Passing Events. The Railroad and the Man of Destiny. Passage of 
 the Female Suffrage Bill, etc. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. President Grant Bent on the Conquest of " Mormon The- 
 ocracy." He appoints Shaffer Governor for that purpose. Sheridan's 
 " Moral Force." Shaffer's Military "Coup de Main:" General Wells 
 avoids a Collision. Correspondence between the Lieut. General and the 
 Governor. Death of Shaffer. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. Congressional History of Utah up to 1870. William 
 H. Hooper. The Settlement of Affairs after the Utah War. Return 
 of Bernhisel to Congress and the Passage of the Anti-Polygamic Bill ; 
 followed by a Gentile Delegate. Hooper Returned again, and the Pres- 
 tige of Home Delegates Restored. The Cullom Bill. Hooper's great 
 Speech. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. Mormondom Aroused by the Passage of the Cullom Bill. 
 Great Indignation of the People. The Brotherhood and Sisterhood on 
 the Eve of a Constitutional Revolution, or Ready for Martyrdom. Presi- 
 dent Grant and President Brigham Young Moving their Forces from 
 Behind. Memorial and Remonstrance to the Senate of the United 
 States. Newman's Evangelical Raid. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. The M'Kean Regime. History of the Protracted Efforts 
 to judicially Murder the Founders of Utah. The Conspiracy Defeated. 
 Justice Triumphant. M'Kean Removed. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. Congressional Matters subsequent to 1870. Polygamic 
 Theocracy boldly submitted at the National Capital. Delegate Cannon's 
 Congressional Career. General Grant Visits Utah. Meeting of the 
 Presidents. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. Utah Emerges from her Isolation. Transformations in- 
 cident thereto. Zion Co-operative Mercantile Institution. The Mormon 
 Emigration. Parting View of Brigham Young. 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. Biographical Sketches. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PROPHET AND HIS FULFILLER. A NEW DISPEN- 
 SATION. THE EMPIRE-FOUNDING SAINTS. 
 
 At distant periods, as the centuries roll, Provi- 
 dence raises up a rare class of men to found 
 empires and open new dispensations, thereby giving 
 fresh life to the body of society and new forms 
 to its institutions. Most fitly are they called men 
 of destiny. None of the world's great characters 
 stand out bolder in this type than do Joseph 
 Smith and Brigham Young. They show a strik- 
 ing resemblance to Moses and Mohammed, two 
 of the greatest religious empire-founders the world 
 has yet seen. Indeed, in his lifetime, the Mormon 
 prophet was styled the Mohammed of the West; 
 and scarcely had Brigham Young succeeded him 
 in the leadership of the Mormon people, ere he 
 was classed with the immortal law-giver of Israel. 
 Scarcely better does the following, from Thomas 
 Carlyle, on Mohammed and his mission, apply to 
 the Eastern prophet and his followers than to 
 Joseph Smith and his disciples: 
 
 "This Mohammed, then, we will in no wise 
 " consider as an inanity and theatricality, a poor 
 "conscious ambitious schemer; we cannot conceive 
 " him so. The rude message he delivered was a 
 " real one withal ; an earnest confused voice from 
 "the unknown deep. The man's words were not 
 
2 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " false nor his workings here below : no inanity and 
 " simulacrum ; a fiery mass of life cast up from the 
 " great bosom of nature herself, to kindle the world ; 
 "the world's maker had ordained it so. * * * 
 " This deep-hearted son of the wilderness, with his 
 " beaming black eyes, and open, social, deep nature, 
 " had other thoughts in him than ambition. A silent 
 
 o 
 
 " great soul ; he was one of those who cannot but 
 " be in earnest ; whom nature herself appointed to 
 " be sincere. While others walk in formulas and 
 " hearsays, contented enough to dwell there, this 
 "man could not screen himself in formulas; he was 
 " alone with his own soul and the reality of things. 
 " The great mystery of existence, as I said, glared 
 "in upon him, with its terrors, with its splendors. 
 " * *' * * The word of such a man is as a 
 " voice direct from nature's own heart. Men do 
 " and must listen to that as to nothing else ; all 
 " else is as wind in comparison. * * * The 
 "word this man spoke has been the life guidance 
 " of one hundred and eighty millions of men these 
 " twelve hundred years. These hundred and eighty 
 " millions were made by God as well as we. A 
 "greater number of God's creatures believe in Mo- 
 " hammed's word, at this hour, than in any other 
 " word whatever. Are we to suppose that it was 
 "a miserable piece of legerdemain, this which so 
 " many creatures of the Almighty had lived by and 
 "died by? I, for my part, cannot form any such 
 " supposition. I will believe most things sooner 
 " ( than that. ' One would be entirely at a loss what 
 " to think of this world at all, if quackery so grew 
 " and were sanctioned here." 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 3 
 
 Had Carlyle designed this philosophical view 
 for the Mormon prophet and his people it could 
 not have been more happily expressed. True, 
 Mormonism has not yet survived the action of 
 centuries ; it has not yet become a mighty em- 
 pire; nor yet have countless millions lived and 
 died by the faith ; yet possibly it is destined to 
 quite as markedly affect the world's career. It 
 is the only absolute religion of modern times. 
 No other, except the Mormon apostles, have even 
 attempted, within a thousand years, to open an 
 entirely new dispensation. In this sense it is the 
 first religion that has sprung from the anglo-saxon 
 race. Very properly its prophet arose, in America. 
 America may affect to be scandalized by the fact, 
 but the fact will remain, that Joseph Smith is the 
 first and only great national prophet who has arisen 
 in the new world. He is emphatically the prophet 
 of America. Indeed, another like him could not 
 come to-day. In the presence of a wide-spreading 
 infidelistic spiritualism, a prophet, with a divine 
 revelation and a new dispensation, would not even 
 have the potency of a fresh sensation. He came 
 but just in time to come at all ; and by coming 
 before the advent of " modern spiritualism " he 
 found an opportunity for his mission. Nor should 
 America be pained over the event. One of her 
 greatest thinkers has said that Mormonism is the 
 only religion of force of modern times, the only 
 religion of force since the rise of Mohammed. 
 Neither did Mohammedanism, nor Christianity, 
 during the first fifty years of their respective 
 careers, accomplish anything more wonderful than 
 
4 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 has Mormonism accomplished in the first fifty years 
 of its career. It should be remembered, too, that 
 the mission of the latter has been in the nineteenth 
 century, among the superior races, in England and 
 America. In the coming time it may be proven 
 that this age could have well taken some pride 
 in its offspring ; for if there be sound philosophy in the 
 maxim that God is in the world's success, God 
 must be in a successful Mormonism. 
 
 Of the Mormon people, it should be strongly 
 marked that they are not a sect ; not a mere 
 community of church-builders; but religious empire 
 founders. This is an extraordinary character-cast, 
 but Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and their 
 disciples have dared to assume it. Hence they 
 have originated and founded new religious and 
 social institutions as startling as they are peculiar. 
 This has naturally provoked antagonism, and 
 brought upon them great persecutions ; yet we 
 should no more blame the age for its antagonism to 
 Mormonism than the age should blame the Mor- 
 mons for their fidelity to their mission. Let us 
 accept this " irrepressible conflict " understandingly 
 and without malice. If Mormonism prevail we 
 shall ultimately see its peculiar problems outwrought 
 to solution ; if Mormonism fail, there is no God in 
 it ; let it go to the wall. But let the oppressor 
 beware. Even the United States Government has 
 been no more successful in its crusades against 
 the Mormons than were Missouri and Illinois. 
 President Grant, though he has stretched out his 
 arm all the day long against them, has been as 
 impotent as was President Buchanan, who made 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 5 
 
 war actual war upon them, and then begged of 
 them for peace. God was in those successes ! God 
 was not in those failures ! 
 
 It is impossible to imagine a man more fit to 
 succeed Joseph Smith than Brigham Young; and 
 he was as much a necessity to the Mormon mission 
 and programme as was Joseph himself. They are 
 as two halves of one whole. 
 
 It was thought that when Joseph Smith was 
 killed the Mormon work would die out. Not un- 
 likely this expectation helped much to bring about 
 the tragedy of his end. And so, according to ordi- 
 nary probabilities, it would have died out, or been 
 crushed out, and the Mormon church scattered to 
 the four winds, had not a man arisen fully the equal 
 of Joseph Smith; not like him in type, but his 
 other half, the ful filler of the prophet. It is 
 evident that the man required to execute such a 
 mission and work as the Mormon prophet had laid 
 down, was one having the real empire-founding 
 genius, and that, too, of an extraordinary cast. It 
 was not remarkable that, on the martyrdom of the 
 Prophet, his chief apostle should take the leader- 
 ship of the church ; but that he should have been 
 equal to the task of holding the community together, 
 conducting them through their exodus to the Rocky 
 Mountains, consolidating the impetuous forces and 
 agencies that his predecessor had thrown into the 
 work, building up a powerful territory of the Union, 
 founding two hundred and fifty cities, and preserv- 
 ing his people through a strange and eventful his- 
 tory, is quite in keeping with the idea of a Western 
 Mohammed in the nineteenth century. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE MORMON EXODUS. BRIGHAM YOUNG AS THE 
 MODERN MOSES. 
 
 The period of his life that seems the most proper 
 in which to introduce Brigham Young in action to 
 the reader, is when he succeeded the Mormon 
 prophet and led his people in the famous exodus 
 from Nauvoo. Here we have him at once in the 
 character of the modern Moses. It is no fanciful 
 conceit of the author to thus style him to-day, after 
 he and his people have built up a State fabric, with 
 three hundred cities and settlements, networked 
 with railroads and the electric telegraph ; for at that 
 very period his name rang throughout America, 
 and reverberated in Europe, as the Moses of the 
 " latter days," and the Mormons were likened to the 
 children of Israel in the wilderness. 
 
 Finding before his death that the issue had come 
 that he and his people could no longer remain in 
 the land of the "gentile," the Prophet planned the 
 removal of the Mormons to the Pacific slope ; but, 
 closing his career in martyrdom, the execution of 
 the design fell upon Brigham Young. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1845, the leaders, 
 in council, resolved to remove at once and seek a 
 second Zion in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains. 
 It was too clear that they could no longer dwell 
 among so-called civilized men. They knew that 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 7 
 
 they must soon seek refuge with the children of the 
 forest ; and as for humanity, they must seek it in 
 the breasts of savages, for there was scarcely a 
 smouldering spark of it left for them, either in' Mis- 
 souri or Illinois, nor indeed anywhere within the 
 borders of the United States. That this was ex- 
 actly the case appears from the fact that before the 
 Mormons undertook their exodus, they appealed, 
 but appealed in vain, not only to the President of 
 the United States, but to the Governors of all the 
 States, excepting Missouri and Illinois, addressing 
 to each a personal prayer, asking of them their in- 
 fluence to prevent the ruthless extermination of 
 twenty thousand native-born American citizens, or, 
 at least, their favor in peacefully removing them to 
 Oregon or California. Moreover, they had, during 
 the lifetime of the Prophet, sent a delegation to 
 Washington, Joseph Smith, himself going to ask 
 redress of the wrongs of his people. It was then 
 that President Van Buren made his famous reply : 
 " Gentlemen, your cause is just, but I can do nothing 
 " for you ! " 
 
 The appeal thereafter made to President Polk, 
 and to the Governors, will be found in another 
 chapter ; suffice it here to say, that it availed the 
 Mormons nothing. They had now no destiny but 
 in the West. If they tarried longer their blood 
 would fertilize, the lands which they had tilled, and 
 their wives and daughters would be ravished within 
 the sanctuary of the homes which their industrious 
 hands had built. Their people were by a thousand 
 ancestral links joined to the pilgrim fathers who 
 founded this nation, and with the heroes who won 
 
8 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 for it independence, and it was as the breaking of 
 their heartstrings to rend them from their father- 
 land, and send them as exiles into the territory of a 
 foreign power. But there was no alternative be- 
 tween a Mormon exodus or a Mormon massacre. 
 
 Sorrowfully, but resolutely, the Saints prepared to 
 leave ; trusting in the providence which had thus 
 far taken them through their darkest days, and 
 multiplied upon their heads compensation for their 
 sorrows. But the anti-Mormons seemed eager for 
 the questionable honor of exterminating them. In 
 September of the year 1845, delegates from nine 
 counties met in convention, at Carthage, over the 
 Mormon troubles, and sent four commissioners : 
 General Hardin, Commander of the State Militia ; 
 Senator Douglass ; W. B. Warren ; and J. A. Me 
 Dougal, to demand the removal of the Mormons to 
 the Rocky Mountains. The commissioners held a 
 council with the twelve apostles at Nauvoo, and the 
 Mormon leaders promptly agreed to remove their 
 people at once, a movement, as observed, which 
 they had been considering for several years. Now 
 they were brought face to face with the issue. 
 Brigham Young sought not to evade it ; but, with 
 his characteristic method, resolved to grapple with 
 the tremendous undertaking of the exodus of a 
 people. Knowing well, as everybody to-day knows, 
 that this extraordinary man is no fanatic, nor even a 
 religious enthusiast, but a cool-headed, strong-willed 
 leader, who undertakes nothing but what he feels 
 that he can execute, if faithfully supported by his 
 brethren, this act will be perpetuated in history as 
 one of the marvels in the lives of the world's great 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 9 
 
 characters ; for on that exodus hung, not only the 
 future of Brigham Young, but the very destiny of 
 the Mormon people. Probably it was a sensible 
 comprehension of this fact that prompted General 
 Hardin to ask of the twelve apostles, at the council 
 in question, what guarantee they would give that 
 the Mormons would fulfill their part of the cove- 
 nant ? To this Brigham replied, with a strong touch 
 of common-sense severity, " You have our all as the 
 "guarantee; what more can we give beyond the 
 " giiarantee of our names?" Senator Douglass 
 observed, " Mr. Young is right." But Gen. Hardin 
 knew that the people of Illinois, and especially the 
 anti-Mormons, would look to him more than to 
 Douglass, who had been styled the Mormon-made 
 senator; so the commissioners asked for a writ- 
 ten covenant, of a nature to relieve themselves of 
 much of the responsibility, and addressed the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 " NAUVOO, Oct ist, 1845. 
 
 " To the President and Council of the Church at 
 
 Nauvoo : 
 
 Having had a free and full conversation with you 
 this day, in reference to your proposed removal 
 from this country, together with the members of 
 your church, we have to request you to submit the 
 facts and intentions stated to us in the said conver- 
 sations to writing, in order that we may lay them 
 before the Governor and people of the State. We 
 hope that by so doing it will have a tendency to 
 allay the excitement at present existing in the public 
 mind. 
 
IO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " We have the honor to subscribe ourselves, 
 " Respectfully yours, 
 
 " JOHN J. HARDIN, 
 " W. B. WARREN, 
 " S. A. DOUGLASS, 
 
 " J. A. McDoUGAL." 
 
 The covenant itself is too precious to be lost to 
 history ; here it is : 
 
 " NAUVOO, ILL., Oct. ist, 1845. 
 
 " To Gen. J. Hardin, W. B. Warren, S. A. Douglass 
 and J. A. McDougal: 
 
 MESSRS : In reply to your letter of this date, 
 requesting us ' to submit the facts and intentions 
 stated by us in writing, in order that you may lay 
 them before the Governor and people of the State/ 
 we would refer you to our communication of the 
 24th ult. to the ' Quincy committee/ &c., a copy of 
 which is herewith enclosed. 
 
 In addition to this we would say that we had 
 commenced making arrangements to remove from 
 the country, previous to the recent disturbances ; 
 that we have four companies, of one hundred fami- 
 lies each, and six more companies now organizing, 
 of the same number each, preparatory to a removal. 
 
 That one thousand families, including the twelve, 
 the high council, the trustees and general authori- 
 ties of the Church, are fully determined to remove 
 in the Spring, independent of the contingencies of 
 selling our property ; and that this company will 
 comprise from five to six thousand 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. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. I I 
 
 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 deter- 
 mined 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 
 two thousand houses for sale in this city and county, 
 and we request all good citizens, to assist in the dis- 
 posal of our property. 
 
 That we do not expect to find purchasers for our 
 temple and other public buildings ; but we are will- 
 ing to rent them to a respectable community who 
 may inhabit the city. 
 
 That we wish it distinctly understood, that al- 
 though we may not find purchasers for our property, 
 we will not sacrifice it, nor give it away or surfer 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 
 crops of any description. 
 
 That as soon as practicable, we will appoint com- 
 mittees for this city, La Harpe, Macedonia, Bear 
 Creek, and all necessary places in the county, 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 behalf of the council, respectfully yours, &c., 
 
 B RICH AM YOUNG, President. 
 WILLARD RICHARDS, Clerk. 
 
 The covenant satisfied the commissioners, and 
 for a time satisfied also the anti-Mormons. 
 
 But their enemies were impatient for the Mormons 
 
12 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 to be gone. They would not keep even their own 
 conditions of the covenant, much less were they 
 disposed to lend a helping hand to lighten the bur- 
 den of this thrice-afflicted people in their exodus, 
 that their mutual bond might be fulfilled a bond 
 
 o 
 
 already sealed with the blood of their prophet, and 
 of his brother their patriarch. So the high council 
 issued a circular to the Church, Jan. 20, 1846, in 
 which they stated the intention of their community 
 to locate " in some good valley in the neighborhood 
 " of the Rocky Mountains, where they will infringe 
 " on no one, and not be likely to be infringed upon." 
 " Here we will make a resting place," they said, 
 " until we can determine a place for a permanent 
 " location. We also further de- 
 
 " clare, for the satisfaction of some who have con- 
 " eluded that our grievances have alienated us from 
 " our country, that our patriotism has not been 
 " overcome by fire, by sword, by daylight nor by 
 " midnight assassination which we have endured, 
 " neither have they alienated us from the institu- 
 " tions of our country." 
 
 Then came the subject of service on the side of 
 their country, should war break out between it and 
 a foreign country, as was indicated at that time by 
 our growing difficulties with Mexico. The anti- 
 Mormons took advantage of this war prospect, and,, 
 not satisfied with their act of expulsion, they raised 
 the cry, " The Mormons intend to join the enemy !" 
 This was as cruel as the seething of the kid in its 
 mother's milk, but the high council answered it with 
 the homely anecdote of the Quaker's characteristic 
 action against the pirates in defence of the ship on 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 13 
 
 which he was a passenger, when he cut away the 
 rope in the hands of the boarder, observing: "If 
 " thee wants that piece of rope I will help thee to 
 " it." " The pirate fell," said the circular, " and a 
 " watery grave was his resting place." Their country 
 had been anything but a kind protecting parent to 
 the Sairits, but at least, in its hour of need, they 
 would do as much as the conscientious Quaker did 
 in the defence of the ship. There was, too, a grim 
 humor and a quiet pathos in the telling, that was 
 more touchingly reproachful than would have been 
 a storm of denunciations. In the same spirit the 
 high council climaxed their circular thus- 
 
 We agreed to leave the country for the sake of 
 peace, upon the condition that no more persecutions 
 be instituted against us. In good faith we have 
 labored to fulfill this agreement. Governor Ford 
 has also done his duty to further our wishes in this 
 respect, but there are some who are unwilling that 
 we should have an existence anywhere ; but our 
 destinies are in the hands of God, and so are also 
 theirs. 
 
 Early in February, 1846, the Saints began to 
 cross the Mississippi in flat boats, old lighters, and a 
 number of skiffs, forming, says the President's 
 Journal, "quite a fleet," which was at work night 
 and day under the direction of the police, com- 
 manded by their captain, Hosea Stout. 
 
 On the 1 5th of the same month, Brigham Young, 
 with his family, accompanied by Willard Richards 
 and family, and George A. Smith, also crossed the 
 Mississippi from Nauvoo, and proceeded to the 
 " Camps of Israel," as they were styled by the 
 
14 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 Saints, which waited on the west side of the river, a 
 few miles on the way, for the coming of their leader^ 
 These were to form the vanguard of the migrating 
 Saints, who were to follow from the various States 
 where they were located, or had organized them- 
 selves into flourishing branches and conferences ; 
 and soon after this period also began to pour across 
 the Atlantic that tide of emigration from Europe, 
 which has since swelled to the number of about one 
 hundred thousand souls. 
 
 As yet the " Camps of Israel" were unorganized, 
 awaiting the coming of the President, on Sugar 
 Creek, which he and his companions reached at 
 dusk. The next day he was busy organizing the 
 company, " acting the part of a father to every- 
 " body," and on the following, which was February 
 1 7th, at 9.50 A. M., the brethren of the camp had 
 assembled near the bridge, to receive their initiatory 
 instructions, and take the word of command from 
 their chosen leader. 
 
 In Nauvoo the Saints had heard the magic cry, 
 " to your tents, O, Israel ! " And in sublime faith 
 and trust, such as history scarcely gives an example 
 of, they had obeyed, ready to follow their leader, 
 whithersoever he might direct their pilgrim feet. 
 True, they possessed unbounded confidence in him, 
 and, if possible, still greater confidence in their 
 destiny as a people, but the task before him was 
 almost superhuman, and a friendly looker-on might 
 have well been pardoned had he paused ere he pro- 
 nounced the man Brigham equal to the task, for 
 that would have declared him to be fully the equal 
 of Moses in a strictly Mosaic work. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 15 
 
 Brigham leaped into a wagon and sent his clarion 
 voice ringing its first note of command. The dull- 
 est ear in the camp was awakened with the cry, 
 " Attention, the whole Camp of Israel." There was 
 no prosaic prelude of wrongs no harangue on 
 their perilous journey, such as a demagogue might 
 have made ; nor was it merely the inspiring method 
 of a great man, who, trusting in himself, sought to 
 carry his people to a triumphant issue by the 
 magic of his own genius. It was more than that. 
 It was the man of destiny with the spirit of his 
 mission in him ; a man greater at that moment 
 than he himself knew or aimed to be ; a man 
 greater than even to-day, after all his successes, he 
 sees himself, at that supreme moment of his life. 
 
 Here, from the leader's private journal, is the 
 simple telling of the epic of that day : " On the 
 " 1 7th, at 9.50 A. M., all the brethren of the camp 
 " assembled near the bridge, when I arose in a 
 " wagon, and cried with a loud voice, ' Attention, 
 " the whole Camp of Israel ! ' 
 
 This is truly Napoleonic in its commanding grip; 
 but this homely telling ! It is treating an exodus, 
 which writers of every age have confessed to be the 
 grandest of epic subjects, as an ordinary every-day 
 affair. 
 
 The Mormons were setting out, under their 
 leader, from the borders of civilization, with their 
 wives and their children, in broad daylight, before 
 the very eyes of ten thousand of their enemies, 
 who would have preferred their utter destruction to 
 their " flight," notwithstanding they had enforced it 
 by treaties outrageous beyond description, inasmuch 
 
1 6 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 as the exiles were nearly all American born, many 
 of them tracing their ancestors to the very founders 
 of the nation. They had to make a journey of 
 fifteen hundred miles over trackless prairies, sandy 
 deserts and rocky mountains, through bands of 
 warlike Indians, who had been driven, exasperated, 
 towards the West ; and at last, to seek out and 
 build up their Zion in valleys then unfruitful, in a 
 solitary region where the foot of the white man had 
 scarcely trod. These, too, were to be followed by 
 the aged, the halt, the sick and the blind, the poor, 
 who were to be helped by their little less destitute 
 brethren, and the delicate young mother with her 
 new-born babe at her breast, and still worse, for 
 they were not only threatened with the extermina- 
 tion of the poor remnant at Nauvoo, but news had 
 arrived that the parent-government designed to 
 pursue their pioneers with troops, take from them 
 their arms, and scatter them, that they might perish 
 by the way, and leave their bones bleaching in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 Yet did Brigham Young deal with the exodus of 
 his people as simply in its opening as he did in his 
 daily journal record of it. So, indeed, did the entire 
 Mormon community. They all seemed as oblivious 
 of the stupendous meaning of an exodus, as did the 
 first workers on railroads of the vast meaning to 
 civilization of that wonder of the age. A people 
 trusting in their God, the Mormons were, in their 
 mission, superior to the greatest human trials, and 
 in their childlike faith equal to almost superhuman 
 undertakings. To-day, however, with the astonish- 
 ing change which has come over the spirit of the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. IJ 
 
 scene, on the whole Pacific slope, since the Mor- 
 mons pioneered our nation towards the setting sun, 
 the picture of a modern Israel in their exodus has 
 almost faded from the popular mind ; but, in the 
 centuries hence, when the passing events of this 
 age shall have each taken their proper place, the 
 historian will point back to that exodus in the New 
 World of the West, as one quite worthy to rank 
 with the immortal exodus of the children of Israel. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 A LAW-GIVER IN THE WILDERNESS. THE MORMONS 
 THE FIRST AMERICAN EMIGRANTS TO CALIFORNIA 
 AND THE DISCOVERERS OF THE GOLD. THE SHIP 
 "BROOKLYN" SAILS FROM NEW YORK TO SAN 
 FRANCISCO WITH SIX HUNDRED MORMONS. PROP- 
 OSITIONS OF POLITICAL DEMAGOGUES TO SHARE 
 THE LANDS OF CALIFORNIA WITH THE SAINTS. 
 PRESIDENT POLK A SILENT PARTY TO THE 
 SCHEME. THREAT TO INTERCEPT THE PIONEERS 
 IF THEY REFUSED. A NOBLE RESOLVE. PETITION 
 TO THE GOVERNOR OF IOWA TERRITORY. THE 
 MONUMENT WE LEAVE. 
 
 It is due to the compeers of Brigham Young to 
 say that' it was their consistency, devotion and 
 forcefulness of character that enabled him to lead 
 the Mormons through their wonderful exodus. As 
 seen in the previous chapter, Brigham Young 
 showed his fitness when he leapt into the wagon, 
 and, with a matchless might of will and self-con- 
 fidence, mastered the situation. Then came not an 
 oration, but practical dealing with the organization, 
 and counseling of the " Camp of Israel," to prepare 
 for an unparalleled journey. 
 
 In this simple but thorough manner, the great 
 leader set about his stupendous task ; but he closed 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 19 
 
 his first day's orders to the congregation with a real 
 touch of the law-giver's method. He said, "we will 
 " have no laws we cannot keep, but we will have 
 " order in the camp. If any want to live in peace 
 "when we have left this place, they must toe the 
 " mark:' He then called upon all who wanted to 
 go with the camp to raise their right hands. " All 
 " hands flew up at the bidding," says the record. 
 
 After the dismissal of the congregation, the 
 President took several of the twelve with him half a 
 mile up a valley east of the camp and held a 
 council. A letter was read from Mr. Samuel 
 Brannan, of New York, with a copy of a curious 
 agreement between him and a Mr. A. G. Benson, 
 which had been sent west, under cover, for the 
 authorities to sign. 
 
 To make clear to the reader a story, which now 
 belongs to our national history, in connection with 
 the first settling of California, it must be observed 
 that this Brannan, once known as one of the mil- 
 lionaires of the " Golden State," had been the editor 
 of The Prophet, published at New York. He seems 
 to have been one of those sagacious men who saw 
 in Mormonism the means to their own ends. Ac 
 the date of the exodus he was in charge of a com- 
 pany of Saints, bound for the Pacific coast, in the 
 ship Brooklyn. They took all necessary outfit for 
 the first settlers of a new country, including a print- 
 ing press, upon which was afterwards struck off the 
 first regular newspaper of California. This com- 
 pany was, also, the earliest company of American 
 emigrants that arrived in the bay of San Francisco, 
 and really the pioneer emigration of American citi- 
 
2O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 zens to the Golden State, for Fremont's volunteers 
 cannot be considered in that character. Indeed, it 
 is not a little singular that the Mormons were not 
 only the pioneers of Utah, but also the pioneers of 
 California, the builders of the first houses, the 
 starters of the first papers, and, what has contrib- 
 uted so much to the growth of the Pacific slope, 
 the men who discovered the gold, under Mr. Marshal, 
 the foreman of Sutler's mills. These facts, how- 
 ever, the people of California seem somewhat to 
 hide in the histories of their State. 
 
 Relative to the sailing of this company, Samuel 
 Brannan had written to the- Mormon authorities. 
 Ex-Postmaster Amos Kendall, and the said Benson, 
 who seems to have been Kendall's agent, with 
 others of political influence, represented to Brannan 
 that, unless the leaders of the Church signed an 
 agreement with them, to which the President of the 
 United States, he said, was a "silent party," the 
 government would not permit the Mormons to pro- 
 ceed on their journey westward. This agreement 
 required the pioneers " to transfer to A. G. Benson 
 " & Co., and to their heirs and assigns, the odd 
 " numbers of all the lands and town lots they may 
 " acquire in the country where they may settle." In 
 case they refused to sign the agreement the Presi- 
 dent, it was said, would issue a proclamation, 
 setting forth that it was the intention of the Mor- 
 mons to take sides with either Mexico or Great 
 Britain against the United States, and order them 
 to be disarmed and dispersed. Both the letter and 
 contract are very characteristic, and the worldly- 
 minded man's poor imitation of the earnest reli- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 21 
 
 gionist has probably often since amused Mr. Bran- 
 nan himself. In his letter he said : 
 
 " I declare to all that you are not going to Cali- 
 " fornia, but Oregon, and that my information is 
 " official. Kendall has also learned that we have 
 " chartered the ship Brooklyn, and that Mormons 
 " are going out in her ; and, it is thought, she will 
 " be searched for arms, and, if found, they will be 
 " taken from us ; and if not, an order will be sent to 
 " Commodore Stockton on the Pacific to search our 
 " vessel before we land. Kendall will be in the city 
 " next Thursday again, and then an effort will be 
 " made to bring" about a reconciliation. I will make 
 
 o 
 
 " you acquainted with the result before I leave." 
 
 The " reconciliation " between the Government 
 and the Mormons, as the reader will duly appre- 
 ciate, was to be effected by a division of the spoils 
 among political chiefs, including, if Brannan and 
 Kendall are to be relied on, the President of the 
 United States. The following letter of fourteen 
 days later date is too rich and graphic to be lost to 
 the public : 
 
 " NEW YORK, Jan. 26, '46. 
 
 DEAR BROTHER YOUNG : 
 
 I haste to lay before your honorable body the 
 result of my movements since I wrote you last, 
 which was from this city, stating some of my dis- 
 coveries, in relation to the contemplated movements 
 of the General Government in opposition to our 
 removal. 
 
 I had an interview with Amos Kendall, in com- 
 pany with Mr. Benson, which resulted in a com- 
 promise, the co-ftditions of which you will" learn by 
 
22 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 reading the contract between them and us, which I 
 shall forward by this mail. I shall also leave a copy 
 of the same with Elder Appleby, who was present 
 when it was signed. Kendall is now our friend, 
 and will use his influence in our behalf, in connec- 
 tion with twenty-five of the most prominent dema- 
 gogues in the country. You will be permitted to 
 pass out of the States unmolested. Their counsel 
 is to go well armed, but keep them well secreted 
 from the rabble. 
 
 I shall select the most suitable spot on the Bay 
 of San Francisco for the location of a commercial 
 city. When I sail, which will be next Saturday, at 
 one o'clock, I shall hoist a flag with ' Oregon ' 
 on it. 
 
 Immediately on the reception of this letter, you 
 must write to Mr. A. G. Benson, and let him know 
 whether you are willing to coincide with the con- 
 tract I have made for our deliverance. I am aware 
 it is a covenant with death, but we know that God 
 is able to break it, and will do it. The Children of 
 Israel, in their escape from Egypt, had to make 
 covenants for their safety, and leave it for God to 
 break them ; and the Prophet has said, ' As it was 
 then, so shall it be in the last days.' And I have 
 been led by a remarkable train of circumstances to 
 say, amen ; and I feel and hope you will do the 
 same. 
 
 Mr. Benson thinks the twelve should leave and 
 get out of the country first, and avoid being arrest- 
 ed, if it is a possible thing ; but if you are. arrested, 
 you will find a staunch friend in him ; and you will 
 find friends, and that a host, to deliver you from 
 their hands. If any of you are arrested, don't be 
 tried west of the Alleghany Mountains ; in the 
 East you will find friends that you little think of. 
 
 It is the prayer of the Saints in the East night 
 and day for your safety, and it is mine first in the 
 morning and the last in the evening. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 23 
 
 I must now bring my letter to a close. Mr. 
 Benson's address is No. 39 South Street ; and the 
 sooner you can give him answer the better it will 
 be for us. He will spend one month in Washington 
 to sustain you, and he will do it, no mistake. But 
 everything must be kept silent as death on our 
 part, names of parties in particular. 
 
 I now commit this sheet to the post, praying 
 that Israel's God may prevent it from falling into 
 the hands of wicked men. You will hear from me 
 again on the day of sailing, if it is the Lord's will, 
 amen. Your's truly, a friend and brother in God's 
 kingdom, 
 
 S. BRANNAN." 
 
 The contract in question was signed by Samuel 
 Brannan and A. G. Benson, and witnessed by W. I. 
 Appleby. To it is this postscript : 
 
 This is only a copy of the original, which I have 
 filled out. It is no gammon, but will be carried 
 through, if you say, amen. It was drawn up by 
 Kendall's own hand ; but no person must be known 
 but Mr. Benson. 
 
 The following simple minute, in Brigham Young's 
 private journal, is a fine set-off to these docu- 
 ments : 
 
 Samuel Brannan urged upon the council the 
 signing of the document. The council considered 
 the subject, and concluded that as our trust was in 
 God, and that, as we looked to him for protection, 
 we would not sign any such unjust and oppressive 
 agreement. This was a plan of political dema- 
 gogues to rob the Latter-day Saints of millions, 
 and compel them to submit to it by threats of 
 Federal bayonets. 
 
24 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 No matter what view the reader may take of the 
 Mormons and their leaders, relative to the intrinsic 
 value to the world of their social and theological 
 problems, no intelligent mind can help being struck 
 with the towering superiority of men trusting in 
 their God, in the supremest hour of trial, compared 
 with the foremost politicians in the country, includ- 
 ing a President of the United States, as illustrated 
 in the above example. It is charitably to be hoped, 
 however, that President Polk was a very " silent 
 party " to this scheme, and that his name was 
 merely used to give potency to the promise of 
 protection, and to the threat that the General Gov- 
 ernment would intercept the Mormons in their 
 exodus. 
 
 Little did the political demagogues of the time, 
 and these land speculators, understand the Mormon 
 people, and still less the character of the men who 
 were leading them ; nor did " Elder Brannan " 
 know them much better. From the beginning, the 
 Mormons never gave up an inch of their chosen 
 ground, never as a people consented to a compro- 
 mise, nor allowed themselves to be turned aside 
 from their purposes, nor wavered in their fidelity to 
 their faith. They would suffer expulsion, or make 
 an exodus if need be, yet ever, as in this case, have 
 they answered, " Our trust is in God. We look to 
 him for protection." So far, " Elder Brannan " un- 
 derstood them ; hence his profession of faith that 
 the Lord would overrule and break the " covenant 
 with death." But these men did wiser and better. 
 They never made the covenant, but calmly defied 
 the consequences, which they knew too well might 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 25 
 
 soon follow. Not even as much as to reply to 
 Messrs. Benson, Kendall & Co. did they descend 
 from the pinnacle of their integrity. 
 
 But, be it not for a moment thought that the 
 Mormon leaders did not fully comprehend their 
 critical position in all its aspects. A homely anec- 
 dote of the apostle George A. Smith will illustrate 
 those times. At a council in Nauvoo, of the men 
 who were to act as the captains of the people in 
 that famous exodus, one after the other brought up 
 difficulties in their path until their prospect was 
 without one poor speck of daylight. The good 
 nature of " George A." was provoked at last, when 
 he sprang up and observed with his quaint humor 
 that had now a touch of the grand in it, "If there is 
 " no God in Israel we are a 'sucked in' set of 
 " fellows. But I am going to take my family and 
 " cross the river, and the Lord will open the way." 
 He was one of the first to set out on that miracu- 
 lous journey to the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Having resolved to trust in their God and them- 
 selves, quietly setting aside the politicians, Brigham 
 and several of the twelve left the " Camp of Israel " 
 for a few days, and returned to bid farewell to their 
 beloved Nauvoo, and hold a parting service in the 
 temple. This was the last time Brigham Young 
 ever saw that sacred monument of the Mormons' 
 devotion. 
 
 The Pioneers had now been a month on Sugar 
 Creek, and during the time had, of course, con- 
 sumed a vast amount of the provisions, indeed 
 nearly all, which had been gathered up for their 
 journey. Their condition, however, was not with- 
 
26 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 out its compensation ; for it checked the move- 
 ments of the mob, among whom the opinion pre- 
 vailed that the outfit of the pioneers was so utterly 
 insufficient that, in a short time, they would break 
 in pieces and scatter. Moreover, it was mid-winter 
 Up to the date of their starting from this first 
 camping ground, detachments continued to join 
 them, crossing the Mississippi, from Nauvoo, on 
 the ice ; but before starting they addressed the 
 following memorial : 
 
 " To His Excellency Governor of the Territory of 
 
 Iowa. 
 HONORED SIR : 
 
 The time is at hand in which several thousand 
 free citizens of this great Republic are to be driven 
 from their peaceful homes and firesides, their prop- 
 erty and farms, and their dearest constitutional 
 rights, to wander in the barren plains and sterile 
 mountains of western wilds, and linger out their 
 lives in wretched exile, far beyond the pale of pro- 
 fessed civilization, or else be exterminated upon 
 their own lands by the people and authorities of 
 the State of Illinois. 
 
 As life is sweet, we have chosen banishment 
 rather than death, but, sir, the terms of our banish- 
 ment are so rigid, that we have not sufficient time 
 allotted us to make the necessary preparations to 
 encounter the hardships and difficulties of these 
 dreary and uninhabited regions. We have not time 
 allowed us to dispose of our property, dwellings and 
 farms, consequently many of us will have to leave 
 them unsold, without the means of procuring the 
 necessary provisions, clothing, teams, &c., to sustain 
 us but a short distance beyond the settlements ; 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 2*J 
 
 hence our persecutors have placed us in very un- 
 pleasant circumstances. 
 
 To stay is death by ' fire and sword ; ' to go 
 into banishment unprepared, is death by starvation. 
 But yet, under these heart-rending circumstances, 
 several hundred of us have started upon our 
 dreary journey, and are now encamped in Lee 
 County, Iowa, suffering much from the intensity of 
 the cold. Some of us are already without food, 
 and others have barely sufficient to last a few 
 weeks : hundreds of others must shortly follow us 
 in the same unhappy condition, therefore: 
 
 We, the presiding authorities of the Church of 
 Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as a committee in 
 behalf of several thousand suffering exiles, humbly 
 ask Your Excellency to shield and protect us in our 
 constitutional rights, while we are passing through 
 the Territory over which you have jurisdiction. And, 
 should any of the exiles be under the necessity of 
 stopping in this Territory for a time, either in settled 
 or unsettled parts, for the purpose of raising crops, 
 by renting farms or upon public lands, or to make 
 the necessary preparations for their exile in any 
 law r ful way, we humbly petition Your Excellency to 
 use an influence and power in our behalf, and thus 
 preserve thousands of American citizens, together 
 with their wives and children, from intense suffer- 
 ings, starvation and death. And your petitioners 
 will ever pray. 
 
 In the diary of the President is a sort of a vale- 
 dictory, written before starting on their journey 
 from Sugar Creek, which concludes thus : " Our 
 " homes, gardens, orchards, farms, streets, bridges, 
 " mills, public halls, magnificent temple and other 
 " public improvements, we leave as a monument 
 " of our patriotism, industry, economy, upright- 
 " ness of purpose and integrity of heart, and as 
 
28 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 " a living testimony of the falsehood and wicked- 
 " ness of those who charge us with disloyalty to the 
 " constitution of our country, idleness and dis- 
 " honesty." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE MORMONS ON THE MARCH. THEIR ORGANIC 
 CONDITION. THEY MOVE AS A NATION. A PRO- 
 PHET AND LIEUT.-GENERAL. MORMON LIFE ON 
 THE JOURNEY. THEY PRAISE THE LORD IN THE 
 SONG AND IN THE DANCE. THEY BUILD TEMPO- 
 RARY CITIES ON THE WAY. A SENSATION FROM 
 THE U. S. GOVERNMENT. 
 
 At home or abroad, in their very dispersions as 
 much as in their gathering, the Mormons have been 
 organic beyond any people known to history. Or- 
 ganism, indeed, is the essential manifestation of 
 their genius ; so now, even in their exodus, they 
 were still strictly a community. Their proverb is, 
 " Where the Presidency and Twelve are there is the 
 " Church." They were journeying to the mountains 
 as a little nation. At their head was not only a 
 prophet but a lieutenant-general. The rank had 
 originally been conferred on Joseph Smith by the 
 Legislature of Illinois, when it granted the charter 
 to the city of Nauvoo and to the Nauvoo legion. 
 After the martyrdom, Brigham Young succeeded to 
 the rank of lieutenant-general. Here is the extra- 
 ordinary commission : 
 
3O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " THOMAS FORD, Governor of the State of Illinois. 
 To all to whom these Presents shall come greeting : 
 
 Know ye that Brigham Young, having been 
 duly elected to the office of Lieutenant-General of 
 the Nauvoo Legion of the Militia of the State of 
 Illinois, I, Thomas Ford, Governor of said State, 
 for and in behalf of the people of said State, do 
 commission him Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo 
 Legion, to take rank from the 3ist day of August, 
 1844. He is, therefore, carefully and diligently to 
 discharge the duties of said office by doing and per- 
 forming all manner of things thereunto belonging ; 
 and I do strictly require all officers under his com- 
 mand to be obedient to his orders ; and he is to 
 obey such orders and directions as he shall receive 
 from time to time, from the Commander-in-chief or 
 his superior officer. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my 
 hand and caused the Great Seal of State to be 
 affixed. Done at Springfield, this 24th day of 
 September, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 eight hundred and forty-four, and of the independ- 
 ence of the United States the sixty-ninth. 
 
 By the Governor, THOMAS FORD. 
 THOMAS CAMPBELL, Secy of State? 
 
 It is a singular fact that, after Washington, 
 Joseph Smith was the first man in America who 
 held the rank of lieutenant-general, and that Brig- 
 ham Young was the next. In reply to a comment 
 of the author upon this fact, Brigham Young said : 
 " I was never much of a military man. The com- 
 " mission has since been abrogated by the State of 
 " Illinois, but if Joseph had lived when the war 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 3! 
 
 41 broke out, he would have become commander-in- 
 " chief of the United States armies." 
 
 It was the marvellous will and almost super- 
 human energy of the man that, in 1846, inspired the 
 Mormons in their exodus from civilization. The 
 organic character of Brigham Young which, in mov- 
 ing a people and building up a new society, has 
 shown itself to be quite the equal of the great Napo- 
 leon's and decidedly more preservative, was mani- 
 festing itself in the very best methods. It was evi- 
 dent to the lookers on that the man was attempting 
 to show to modern times the wonderful spectacle 
 of a migrating nation. 
 
 At about noon, on the ist of March, 1846, the 
 " Camp of Israel " began to move, and at four 
 o'clock nearly four hundred wagons were on the 
 way travelling in a north-westerly direction. At 
 night, they camped again on Sugar Creek, having 
 advanced five miles. Scraping away the snow they 
 pitched their tents upon the hard frozen ground ; 
 and, after building large fires in front, they made 
 themselves as comfortable as possible under the 
 circumstances. Indeed, it is questionable whether 
 any other people in the world could have cozened 
 themselves into a happy state of mind amid such 
 surroundings, with such a past, fresh and bleeding 
 in their memories, and with such a prospect as was 
 before both themselves and the remnant of their 
 brethren left in Nauvoo to the tender mercies of 
 the mob. In his diary Apostle Orson Pratt wrote 
 that night, " Notwithstanding our sufferings, hard- 
 41 ships and privations, we are cheerful, and rejoice 
 ' that we have the privilege of passing through 
 " tribulation for the truth's sake." 
 
32 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 These Mormon pilgrims, who took much consola- 
 tion on their journey in likening themselves to the 
 pilgrim fathers and mothers of this nation, whose 
 descendants many of them actually were, that night 
 made their beds upon the frozen earth. " After 
 " bowing before our great Creator," wrote Apostle 
 Pratt, " and offering up praise and thanksgiving to 
 " him, and imploring his protection, we resigned 
 " ourselves to the slumbers of the night." 
 
 But the weather was more moderate that night 
 than it had been for several weeks previous. At 
 their first encampment the thermometer, at one 
 time, fell 20 deg. below zero, freezing over the great 
 Mississippi. The survivors of that journey will 
 tell you they never suffered so much from the cold 
 in their lives as they did on Sugar Creek. And 
 what of the Mormon women ? Around them circles 
 almost a tragic romance. Fancy may find abundant 
 subject for graphic story of the devotion, the suffer- 
 ing, the matchless heroism of the "Sisters," in the 
 telling incident that nine children were born to 
 them the first night they camped out on Sugar 
 Creek, Feb. 5th, 1846. That day they wept their 
 farewells over their beloved city, or in the sanctuary 
 of the temple, in which they had hoped to worship 
 till the end of life, but which they left never to see 
 again ; that night suffering nature administered to 
 them the mixed cup of woman's supremest joy and 
 pain. 
 
 But it was not prayer alone that sustained these 
 pilgrims. The practical philosophy of their great 
 leader, daily and hourly applied to the exigencies 
 of their case, did almost as much as their own 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 33 
 
 matchless faith to sustain them from the commence- 
 ment to the end of their journey. With that 
 leader had very properly come to the " Camp of 
 Israel " several of the Twelve and the chief bishops 
 of the church, but he also brought with him a quo- 
 rum humble in pretensions, yet useful as high 
 priests to the saints in those spirit-saddening days. 
 It was Captain Pitt's brass band. That night the 
 President had the " brethren " and " sisters " out 
 in the dance, and the music was as glad as at a 
 merry-making. Several gentlemen from Iowa 
 gathered to witness the strange interesting scene. 
 They could scarcely believe their own senses when 
 they were told that these were the Mormons in 
 their " flight from civilization," bound they knew 
 not whither, except where God should lead them by 
 the " hand of his servant." 
 
 Thus in the song and the dance the Saints 
 praised the Lord. When the night was fine, and 
 supper, which consisted of the most primitive fare, 
 was over, some of the men would clear away the 
 snow, while others bore large logs to the camp fires 
 in anticipation of the jubilee of the evening. Soon, 
 in a sheltered place the blazing fires would roar, and 
 fifty couples, old and young, would join, in the mer- 
 riest spirit, to the music of the band, or the rival 
 revelry of the solitary fiddle. As they journeyed 
 along, too, strangers constantly visited their camps, 
 and great was their wonderment to see the order,, 
 unity and good feeling that prevailed in the midst 
 of the people. By the camp fires they would linger,, 
 listening to the music and song ; and they fain 
 had taken part in the merriment had not those 
 
34 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG | OR, 
 
 scenes been as sacred worship in the exodus of a 
 God-fearing people. To fully understand the inci- 
 dents here narrated, the reader must couple in his 
 mind the idea of an exodus with the idea of an 
 Israelitish jubilee ; for it was a jubilee to the Mor- 
 mons to be delivered from their enemies at any 
 price. 
 
 The sagacious reader will readily appreciate the 
 wise method pursued by Brigham Young. Prayers 
 availed much. The hymn and the prayer were 
 never forgotten at the close of the dance, before 
 they dispersed, to make their bed within the shelter 
 of the wagon, or under it, exposed to the cold of 
 those bitter nights. But the dance and the song 
 kept the Mormon pilgrims cheerful and healthy in 
 mind, whereas, had a spirit of gloomy fanaticism 
 been encouraged, such as one might have expected, 
 most likely there would soon have been murmuring 
 in the congregation against their Moses, and the 
 people would have been sighing for the flesh-pots 
 of Egypt. The patriarchal care of Brigham Young 
 over the migrating thousands was also something 
 uncommon. It was extended to every family, every 
 soul ; even the very animals had the master friend 
 near to ease and succor them. A thousand anec- 
 dotes could be told of that journey to illustrate 
 this. When traveling, or in camp, he was ever 
 looking after the welfare of all. No poor horse or 
 ox even had a tight collar or a bow too small but 
 his eye would see it. Many times did he get out 
 of his vehicle and see that some suffering animal 
 was relieved. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the industrious 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 35 
 
 habits of the Mormons, and the semi-communistic 
 character of their camps, enabled them to accom- 
 plish on their journey what otherwise would have 
 been impossible. They were almost destitute at the 
 start, but they created resources on the way. Their 
 pioneers and able-bodied men generally took work 
 on farms, split rails, cleared the timber for the new 
 settlers, fenced their lands, built barns and husked 
 their corn. Each night brought them some employ- 
 ment ; and, if they laid over for a day or two at 
 their encampment, the country around was busy 
 with their industry. They also scattered for work, 
 some of them going even into Missouri among 
 their ancient enemies to turn to the smiter the 
 " other cheek," while they were earning support for 
 .their families. 
 
 At one of their first camping grounds, on a ten- 
 acre lot which the pioneer had cleared of timber, 
 they made the acquaintance of its owner, a Dr. 
 Jewett. The worthy doctor was an enthusiast over 
 mesmerism and animal magnetism, so he sought to 
 convert the Mormon leaders to his views. Brigham 
 replied, " I perfectly understand it, doctor. We 
 " believe in the Lord's magnetizing. He magnetized 
 " Belshazzar so that he saw the hand-writing on the 
 " wall." The Mormons, too, had seen the hand-writ- 
 ing on the wall, and were hastening to the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 The citizens of Farmington came over to invite 
 the " Nauvoo band," under Captain Pitt, to come to 
 their village for a concert. There was some music 
 left in the " brethren." They had not forgotten 
 how to sing the " Songs of Zion," so they made the 
 
36 LIFE OF UKIGIIAM 
 
 good folks of Farmington merry, and for a time for- 
 got their own sorrows. 
 
 As soon as the " Camp of Israel " was fairly on 
 the march, the leader, with the Twelve and the cap- 
 tains, divided it into companies of " hundreds," 
 " fifties," and " tens ; " and then the companies 
 took up their line in order, Brigham directing the 
 whole, and bringing up the main body, with the 
 chief care of the families. 
 
 The weather was still intensely cold. The 
 pioneers moved in the face of keen-edged north- 
 west winds ; they broke the ice to give their cattle 
 drink ; they made their beds on the soaked prairie 
 lands ; heavy rains and snow by day, and frost at 
 night rendered their situation anything but pleasant. 
 The bark and limbs of trees were the principal food 
 of their animals, and after doubling their teams all 
 day wading through the deep mud, the companies 
 would find themselves at night only a few miles on 
 their journey. They grew sick of this at last, and 
 for three weeks rested on the head-waters of the 
 Chariton, waiting for the freshets to subside. 
 
 These incidents of travel were varied by an occa- 
 sional birth in camp. There was also the death of 
 a lamented lady early on the journey. She was a 
 gentle, intelligent wife of a famous Mormon mis- 
 sionary, Orson Spencer, once a Baptist minister of 
 excellent standing. She had requested the brethren 
 to take her with them. She would not be left be- 
 hind. Life was too far exhausted by the persecu- 
 tions to survive the exodus, but she could yet have 
 the honor of dying in that immortal circumstance 
 of her people. Several others of the sisters also 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 37 
 
 died at the very starting. Ah, who shall fitly pic- 
 ture the lofty heroism of the Mormon women ! 
 
 Amid all this, the remnant of the Saints left at 
 Nauvoo were not forgotten. The President's views 
 of their condition, and the thanksgiving of the 
 pioneers over the deliverance from their Egypt, he 
 told to his brother Joseph in a letter dated, " Rich- 
 ardson's Point, Camp of Israel, fifty-five miles from 
 Nauvoo, March 9." He wrote : 
 
 " I feel as though Nauvoo will be filled with all 
 41 manner of abominations. It is no place for the 
 " Saints, and the Spirit whispers to me that the 
 " brethren had better get away as fast as they can. 
 " We pray for you continually. I hope the brethren 
 " will not have trouble there, but the dark clouds of 
 " sorrow are gathering fast over that place. It is a 
 " matter of doubt about any of the Twelve returning 
 " to Nauvoo very soon. It is not the place for me 
 " any more, till this nation is scourged by the hand 
 " of the Almighty, who rules in the heavens. This 
 " nation shall feel the heavy hand of judgment. 
 " They have shed the blood of prophets and saints, 
 " and have been the means of the death of many. 
 " Do not think, Brother Joseph, that I hate to leave 
 " my house and home. No, far from that, I am so 
 " free from bondage at this time, that Nauvoo looks 
 " like a prison to me. It looks pleasant ahead, but 
 " dark to look back." 
 
 A rumor had reached Nauvoo that there was 
 division in the " Camp of Israel," and that Brigham 
 had been shot at. To this he replied in his letter: 
 
 " This is all false. We have the most perfect 
 " peace that ever a camp had. There is not a word 
 
38 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OK, 
 
 " of contention through the whole camp. The Lord 
 " is with us, and praised be his name, all is well. 
 "Glory! Hallelujah! And I think I shall feel 
 " more so when we get a few miles farther west." 
 
 It was near the Chariton that the organization of 
 the " Camp of Israel " was perfected, on the 27th of 
 March, when Brigham was formally chosen as the 
 President, and captains of hundreds, fifties and tens 
 were appointed. 
 
 Thus the Twelve became relieved of their mere 
 secular commands, and were placed at the heads of 
 divisions, in their more apostolic character, as 
 presidents. 
 
 The provisioning of the camp was also equally 
 brought under organic management. Henry G. 
 Sherwood was appointed contracting commissary 
 for the first fifty ; David D. Yearsley for the second ; 
 W. H. Edwards for the third ; Peter Haws for the 
 fourth; Samuel Gulley for the fifth ; Joseph War- 
 than for the sixth. Henry G. Sherwood ranked as 
 acting commissary-general. There were also dis- 
 tributing commissaries appointed. Their duties, 
 says the President's diary, " are to make a righteous 
 " distribution of grain and provisions, and such 
 " articles as shall be furnished for the use of the 
 " camp, among their respective fifties." 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the "Camp of Israel" 
 now partook very much of a military character, with 
 all of an army's organic efficiency. 
 
 The strictest laws of honesty, too, were enjoined 
 on the camps. A case or two will illustrate this. 
 At Chariton a boy shot an otter on the bank of 
 the river, and then discovered that it was caught in 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 39 
 
 a trap. He skinned it and brought it to camp. 
 The trapper came and complained that he had lost 
 several of his traps. The boy was brought up to 
 council, and the next morning he was sent over to 
 the trapper with the skin and the trap, under charge 
 of Col. Markham, who bore a message from the 
 council to the trapper that, if one of his traps was 
 found in the camp, within a thousand miles of that 
 place, it should be sent back to him with the man 
 who took it. Moreover, on the morning of their 
 leaving the Chariton,the camp was searched for the 
 two lost traps. The leader of the Mormon Israel- 
 ites seemed to have a godly remembrance of the 
 plagues which fell upon the camps of ancient Israel 
 for harboring stolen goods. 
 
 About this time also an attempt was made to 
 pass counterfeit money. It was the case of a young 
 man who bought from a Mr. Cochran a yoke of 
 oxen, a cow and a chain, for fifty dollars. Bishop 
 Miller wrote to Brigham to excuse the young man, 
 but to help Cochran to restitution. The President 
 was aroused to great anger. The bishop was 
 severely rebuked, the property ordered to be re- 
 stored, and the anathemas of the leader from that 
 time were thundered against thieves and " bogus 
 men " and passers of bogus money. 
 
 The anti-Mormons have ever delighted to tell 
 stories of this class of the Mormons at Nauvoo, and 
 to affirm that it was because of their crimes they 
 were driven forth from Missouri and Illinois. Some 
 such characters were doubtless among them, and it 
 can well be understood how a few expulsions would 
 breed them, but the fact is just as patent, that no 
 
40 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 sooner did Brigham get the Mormons into the 
 " wilderness," than he sought to drive out this class 
 from the " Congregation of Israel." 
 
 The following is a minute of his diary of a 
 council on the next Sunday, with the twelve 
 bishops and the captains : 
 
 " I told them I was satisfied that the course we 
 " were taking would prove to be the salvation, not 
 " only of this camp, but of the saints left behind. 
 " But there had been things done which were 
 " wrong. Some pleaded our suffering from perse- 
 
 41 cution, and the loss of our homes and property, as 
 41 a justification for retaliating upon our enemies, 
 " but such a course tends to destroy the kingdom of 
 " God." 
 
 This, in a nutshell, seems to be the explanation of 
 many of the objectionable features in Mormon history 
 from the beginning to this day. To expect no re- 
 taliation under wrongs such as the Mormons have 
 borne, would be too much to expect from pugna- 
 cious human nature ; yet have the Mormons, as a 
 people, returned good for evil, even in their expul- 
 sions and martyrdoms. 
 
 Towards the end of April the camp came to a 
 place the leaders named Garden Grove. Here they 
 determined to form a small settlement, open farms, 
 and make a temporary gathering place for " the 
 poor," while the better prepared were to push on 
 the way and make other settlements. 
 
 On the morning of the 27th of April the 
 bugle sounded at Garden Grove, and all the 
 men assembled to organize for labor. Imme- 
 diately hundreds of men were at work cutting 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 41 
 
 trees, splitting rails, making fences, cutting logs for 
 houses, building bridges, digging wells, making 
 ploughs and herding cattle. Quite a number were 
 sent into the Missouri settlements to exchange 
 horses for oxen, valuable feather beds and the like 
 for provisions and articles most needed in the camp, 
 and the remainder engaged in ploughing and plant- 
 ing. Messengers were also dispatched to call in the 
 bands of pioneers scattered over the country seek- 
 ing work, with instructions to hasten them up to 
 help form the new settlements before the season 
 had passed ; so that, in a scarcely conceivable time, 
 at Garden Grove and Mount Pisgah, industrious 
 settlements sprang up almost as if by magic. The 
 main body also hurried on toward old Council Bluffs, 
 under the President and his chief men, to locate win- 
 ter quarters, and to send on a picked company of 
 pioneers that year to the Rocky Mountains. Reach- 
 ing the Missouri River, they were welcomed by the 
 Pottowatomie and Omaha Indians. 
 
 By this time Apostle Orson Hyde had arrived at 
 head quarters from 'Nauvoo, and Apostle Woodruff, 
 home from his mission to England, was at Mount 
 Pisgah. To this place an express from the Presi- 
 dent at Council Bluffs came to raise one hundred 
 men for the expedition to the mountains. Apostle 
 Woodruff called for the mounted volunteers, and 
 sixty at once followed him out into the line ; but 
 the next day an event occurred which caused the 
 postponement of the journey to the mountains till 
 the following year. 
 
 It was on the 26th of June, when the camp at 
 Mount Pisgah was thrown into consternation by 
 
42 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 the cry, "The United States troops are upon us !" 
 But soon afterwards, Captain James Allen arriving 
 with only three dragoons, the excitement subsided. 
 The High Council was called, and Captain Allen 
 laid before it his business, which is set forth in the 
 following : 
 
 o 
 
 Circular to the Mormons : 
 
 I have come among you, instructed by Col. S. F. 
 Kearney, of the U. S. army, now commanding the 
 Army of the West, to visit the Mormon camp, and 
 to accept the service for twelve months of four or 
 five companies of Mormon men who may be willing 
 to serve their country for that period in our present 
 war with Mexico ; this force to unite with the Army 
 of the West at Santa Fee, and be marched thence 
 to California, where they will be discharged. 
 
 They will receive pay and rations, and other 
 allowances, such as other volunteers or regular 
 soldiers receive, from the day they shall be mustered 
 into the service, and will be entitled to all comforts 
 and benefits of regular soldiers of the army, and 
 when discharged, as contemplated, at California, 
 they will be given gratis their arms and accoutre- 
 ments, with which they will be fully equipped at 
 Fort Leavenworth. This is offered to the Mormon 
 people now. This year an opportunity of sending 
 a portion of their young and intelligent men to the 
 ultimate destination of their whole people, and en- 
 tirely at the expense of the United States, and this 
 advanced party can thus pave the way and look out 
 the land for their brethren to come after them. 
 
 Those of the Mormons who are desirous of serv- 
 ing their country, on the conditions here enumer- 
 ated, are requested to meet me without delay at 
 their principal camp at the Council Bluffs, whither 
 I am now going to consult with their principal men, 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 43 
 
 and to receive and organize the force contemplated 
 to be raised. 
 
 I will receive all healthy, able-bodied men of 
 from eighteen to forty-five years of age. 
 
 J. ALLEN, Capt. ist Dragoons. 
 
 Camp of the Mormons, at Mount Pisgah, 138 miles 
 east of Council Bluffs, June 26th, 1846. 
 
 NOTE. I hope to complete the organization of 
 this battalion in six days after my reaching Council 
 Bluffs, or within nine days from this time. 
 
 The High Council of Mount Pisgah treated the 
 military envoy with studied courtesy, but the matter 
 was of too great importance for even an opinion to 
 be hazarded in the absence of the master mind ; so 
 Captain Allen was furnished with a letter of intro- 
 duction to Brigham Young and the authorities at 
 head-quarters, and a special messenger was dis- 
 patched by Apostle Woodruff to prepare the Presi- 
 dent for the business of the Government agent. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CALL FOR THE " MORMON BATTALION." INTER- 
 VIEWS WITH PRESIDENT POLK. THE APOSTLES 
 ENLISTING SOLDIERS FROM THEIR PEOPLE FOR 
 THE SERVICE OF THE NATION. THE BATTALION 
 ON THE MARCH. 
 
 We now come to a subject in Mormon history of 
 which two opposite views have been taken, neither 
 of which, perhaps, are unqualifiedly correct. It is 
 that of the calling of a Mormon battalion to serve 
 the nation in its war with Mexico, as set forth in 
 the circular already given. One view is that the 
 Government, prompted by such men as Senator 
 Benton of Missouri, sought to destroy, or at least 
 to cripple the Mormons, by taking frpm them five 
 hundred of their best men, in an Indian country, 
 and in their exodus ; while the other view is that 
 the Government designed their good and honor. 
 The truth is that a few honorable gentlemen like 
 Colonel Thomas L. Kane did so design ; but it is 
 equally true that the great majority heartily wished 
 for their utter extinction ; while Senator Douglass 
 and many other politicians, seeing in this vast 
 migration of the Mormons towards the Pacific the 
 ready and most efficient means to wrest California 
 from Mexico, favored the calling of the battalion 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 45 
 
 for national conquest, without caring what after- 
 wards became of those heroic men who left their 
 families and people in the " wilderness," or whether 
 those families perished by the way or not. More- 
 over, the Mormon leaders are in possession of what 
 appears to be very positive evidence that, after 
 President Polk issued the " call," Senator Thomas 
 Benton obtained from him the pledge that, should 
 the Mormons refuse to respond, United States 
 troops should pursue, cut off their route, and dis- 
 perse them. Such a covenant was villainous beyond 
 expression ; for to have dispersed the Mormon pil- 
 grims at that moment would have been to have 
 devoted a whole people to the cruelest martyrdom. 
 
 In any view of the case, it shows that Brigham 
 Young was a statesman, and that the Mormons 
 were an essentially loyal and patriotic people ; and, 
 if we take the darkest view, which be it emphatically 
 affirmed was the one of that hour, then does the 
 masterly policy of Brigham Young, and the conduct 
 of the Mormons, stand out sublime and far-seeing 
 beyond most of the examples of history. The 
 reader has noted Mr. Brannan's letter, received by 
 the leaders before starting on their journey ; they 
 looked upon this " call " for from five hundred to a 
 thousand of the flower of their camps as the fulfill- 
 ment of the " threat." The excuse to annihilate 
 them they believed was sought ; even the General 
 Government dared not disperse and disarm them 
 without an excuse. At the best an extraordinary 
 test of their loyalty was asked of them, under cir- 
 cumstances that would have required the thrice 
 hardening of a Pharaoh's heart to have exacted. 
 
46 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 Mount Pisgah had been thrown into consternation 
 with the cry, "The United States troops are upon 
 <; us ! " And the High Council had sat in grave 
 silence, without venturing even a probable answer 
 to the Government agent. But at Council Bluffs 
 was a matchless leader, ready to master the 
 situation. 
 
 Here it will be only just to both sides to give 
 Colonel Kane's statement, in his historical discourse 
 on the Mormons, delivered before the Historical 
 Society of Pennsylvania, as that gentleman sustained 
 in the case very much the character of a special 
 agent of the Administration to the Mormons. He 
 said : 
 
 " At the commencement of the Mexican war, the 
 " President considered it desirable to march a body 
 " of reliable infantry to California, at as early a 
 " period as 'practicable, and the known hardihood 
 " and habits of discipline of the Mormons were 
 " supposed peculiarly to fit them for this service.^ 
 " As California was supposed also to be their ulti- 
 " mate destination, the long march might cost them 
 " less than other citizens. They were accordingly 
 " invited to furnish a battalion of volunteers early 
 " in the month of July. 
 
 1 The call could hardly have been more incon- 
 " veniently timed. The young and those who could 
 " best have been spared, were then away from the 
 " main body, either with pioneer companies in the 
 " van, or, their faith unannounced, seeking work 
 " and food about the north-western settlements, tc 
 " support them till the return of the season for com- 
 " mencing emigration. The force was, therefore, to 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 47 
 
 41 be recruited from among the fathers of families, 
 " and others, whose presence it was most desirable 
 " to retain. 
 
 4< There were some, too, who could not view the 
 <( invitation without distrust ; they had twice been 
 " persuaded by Government authorities in Illinois 
 " and Missouri, to give up their arms on some 
 " special appeals to their patriotic confidence, and 
 " had then been left to the malice of their enemies. 
 " And now they were asked, in the midst of the 
 " Indian country, to surrender over five hundred of 
 " their best men for a war march of thousands of 
 '" miles to California, without the hope of return till 
 " after the conquest of that country. Could they 
 " view such a proposition with favor? 
 
 " But the feeling of country triumphed ; the 
 " Union had never wronged them. 'You shall have 
 " your battalion at once, if it has to be a class of 
 " elders,' said one, himself a ruling elder. A central 
 " mass-meeting for council, some harangues at the 
 " more remotely scattered camps, an American flag 
 " brought out from the storehouse of things rescued, 
 " and hoisted to the top of a tree-mast, and, in three 
 " days, the force was reported, mustered, organized 
 " and ready to march." 
 
 The foregoing is a graphic summary, but the 
 reader will ask for something more of detail of this 
 one of the chief episodes of Mormon history. 
 
 On the ist of July Captain Allen was in council 
 at the Bluffs with Brigham Young, Heber C. Kim- 
 tall, O.rson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Willard Richards, 
 George A Smith, John Taylor John Smith and 
 Levi Richards. At head-quarters they had not 
 
48 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 nearly sufficient force to raise the battalion. Yet 
 they lost not a moment. In the character of re- 
 cruiting sergeants Brigham, Heber and Willard at 
 once set out for Mount Pisgah, a distance of 130 
 miles, on the back track. Here they met Elder 
 Jesse C. Little, home from Washington, having had, 
 interviews with President Polk and other members 
 of the Government. A condensation of Elder 
 Little's report will, at last, give to the public the 
 original plan of the Government in the call of the 
 battalion : 
 
 To President Brigham Yoiing and the Council 
 
 of the Twelve Apostles : 
 
 BRETHREN : In your letter of appointment to me 
 dated Temple of God, Nauvoo, January 26th, 1846, 
 you suggested, "If our Government should offer 
 facilities for emigrating to the western coast, em- 
 brace those facilities if possible. As a wise and 
 faithful man, take every honorable advantage of the 
 times you can. Be thou a Savior and a deliverer 
 of the people, and let virtue, integrity and truth be 
 your motto salvation and glory the prize for which 
 you contend" In accordance with my instructions, 
 I felt an anxious desire for the deliverance of the 
 Saints, and resolved upon visiting James K. Polk, 
 President of the United States, to lay the situation 
 of my persecuted brethren before him, and ask him, 
 as the representative of our country, to stretch 
 forth the Federal arm in their behalf. Accordingly 
 I called upon Governor Steele, of New Hampshire, 
 with whom I had been acquainted from my youth, 
 and other philanthropic gentlemen to obtain letters 
 of recommendation to the heads of the depart- 
 ments. 
 
 Governor Steele gave to Elder Little a letter of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 49 
 
 introduction to Mr. Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy, 
 in which the Governor said : 
 
 Mr. Little visits Washington, if I understand it 
 correctly, for the purpose of procuring, or endeavor- 
 ing to procure, the freight of any provisions or 
 naval stores which the Government may be desirous 
 of sending to Oregon, or to any portion of the Pa- 
 cific. He is thus desirous of obtaining freight for 
 the purpose of lessening the expense of chartering 
 vessels to convey him and his followers to Califor- 
 nia, where they intend going and making a perma- 
 nent settlement the present Summer. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 JOHN STEELE. 
 
 From Col. Thomas L. Kane, Elder Little received 
 a letter of introduction to the Hon. George M. 
 Dallas, Vice-Pres't of the U. S., in which the writer 
 said : 
 
 This gentleman visits Washington with no 
 other object than the laudable one of desiring aid 
 of Government for his people, who, forced by per- 
 secution to found a new commonwealth in the Sacra- 
 mento Valley, still retain American hearts, and 
 would not willingly sell themselves to the foreigner, 
 or forget the old commonwealth they leave be- 
 hind. 
 
 Armed with these and other letters, Mr. Little 
 started to Washington from Philadelphia, where he 
 had enlisted, for his afflicted people, the zealous 
 friendship of the patriotic brother of the great 
 Arctic explorer ; and, soon after his arrival at the 
 capital, he obtained an introduction to President 
 Polk, through ex-Postmaster-General Amos Ken- 
 
5O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 dall. The Elder was favorably received by Mr. 
 Polk, which emboldened him to address a formal 
 petition to the President, which he closed as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 From twelve to fifteen thousand Mormons have 
 already left Nauvoo for California, and many others 
 are making ready to go ; some have gone around 
 Cape Horn, and I trust, before this time, have land- 
 ed at the Bay of San Francisco. We have about 
 forty thousand in the British Isles, all determined 
 to gather to this land, and thousands will sail this 
 Fall. There are also many thousands scattered 
 through the States, besides the great number in and 
 around Nauvoo, who will go to California as soon 
 as possible, but many of them are destitute of 
 money to pay their passage either by sea or 
 land. 
 
 We are true-hearted Americans, true to our na- 
 tive country, true to its laws, true to its glorious in- 
 stitutions ; and we have a desire to go under the 
 outstretched wings of the American Eagle ; we 
 would disdain to receive assistance from a foreign 
 power, although it should be proffered, unless our 
 Government shall turn us off in this great crisis, and 
 compel us to be foreigners. 
 
 If you will assist us in this crisis, I hereby pledge 
 my honor, as the representative of this people, that 
 the vhole body will stand ready at your call, and 
 act as one man in the land to which we are going ; 
 and should our Territory be invaded, we will hold 
 ourselves ready to enter the field of battle, and then- 
 like our patriotic fathers, make the battle-field our 
 grave, or gain our liberty. 
 
 There were present, at the first interview between 
 the Mormon Elder and the President of the United 
 States, Gen. Sam. Houston, just from Texas, upon 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 51 
 
 Mexican affairs, and other distinguished men. A sin- 
 gular circumstance in American history is here con- 
 nected ; for at that important juncture in the history 
 of our nation as well as the Mormons, Washington 
 was thrown into great excitement by the news that 
 Gen. Taylor had fought two battles with the Mexi- 
 cans. This important event was directly bearing on 
 the affairs of the Mormons, as much as upon those 
 of the nation at large. The news of the actual com- 
 mencement of the war between the two rival Repub- 
 lics came in the very nick of time. Had Elder 
 Little arrived in Washington six months before, or 
 six months later, there would have been a marked 
 variation from that which came to pass. We know 
 not what the exact difference would have been, but 
 it is most certain that President Polk would not 
 then have designed to possess California by the 
 help of these State-founding Saints, nor would 
 their shovels have turned up the gold at Sut- 
 ter's Mill, nor would General Stephen F. Kearney 
 have had at his back the Mormon battalion as his 
 chief force, when he made himself master of the 
 land of precious metals, and put his rival, Fremont, 
 under arrest. 
 
 The day after his first interview with President 
 Polk, Elder Little called again upon ex-Postmaster- 
 General Kendall, who informed him that the Presi- 
 dent had determined to take possession of Califor- 
 nia ; that he designed to use the Mormons for this 
 purpose, and that they would receive orders to push 
 through to fortify the country. This induced the 
 Elder to address the petition already quoted. 
 
 The President now laid the matter before the 
 
52 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 cabinet. The plan offered to his colleagues was for 
 the Elder to go direct to the Mormon camp, to raise 
 from among them " one thousand picked men, to 
 " make a dash into California and take possession 
 " of it in the name of the United States." The bat- 
 talion was to be officered by their own men, ex- 
 cepting the commanding officer, who was to be 
 appointed by President Polk, and to take cannon 
 and everything necessary for the defence of the 
 country. One thousand more of the Mormons 
 from the Eastern States were proposed to be sent 
 by way of Cape Horn, in a U. S. transport, for the 
 same service. This was the original plan which 
 President Polk laid before his cabinet. 
 
 After this Elder Little had his second interview 
 with President Polk, who told the Elder that he 
 " had no prejudices against the Saints, but he be- 
 " lieved them to be good citizens;" that he "was 
 " willing to do them all the good in his power con- 
 " sistently ; " that " they should be protected ; " and 
 that he had "read the petition with interest." He 
 further emphatically observed that he had " confi- 
 " dence in the Mormons as true American citizens, 
 " or he would not make such propositions as those 
 " he designed." This interview lasted three hours, 
 so filled was the President with his plan of possess- 
 ing California by the aid of the Mormons. But this 
 generous design was afterward changed through 
 the influence of Senator Benton. 
 
 Before his departure west, Elder Little had 
 another special interview with the President, who 
 further said that he had " received the Mormon 
 " suffrages," that " they should be remembered ; " 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 53 
 
 and that he had " instructed the Secretary of War 
 " to make out dispatches to Colonel Kearney, com- 
 " mander of the Army of the West, relative to the 
 " Mormon battalion." 
 
 On the 1 2th of June, Elder Little, in company 
 with Colonel Thomas L. Kane, started for the 
 West, the Colonel bearing special dispatches from 
 the Government to General Kearney, who was at 
 Fort Leavenworth. Judge Kane journeyed with 
 his son as far as St. Louis. 
 
 The following is the order under which the bat- 
 talion was mustered into service : 
 
 SIR : 
 
 Head-quarters, Army of the West, 
 
 FORT LEAVENWORTH, June 19, 1846. 
 
 It is understood that there is a large body of 
 Mormons who are desirous of emigrating to Cali- 
 fornia, for the purpose of settling in that country, 
 and I have therefore to direct that you will proceed 
 to their camps and endeavor to raise from amongst 
 them four or five companies of volunteers, to join 
 me in my expedition to that country, each company 
 to consist of any number between 73 and 109; the 
 officers of each company will be a captain, first lieu- 
 tenant and second lieutenant, who will be elected 
 by the privates, and subject to your approval, and 
 the captains then to appoint the non-commissioned 
 officers, also subject to your approval. The com- 
 panies, upon being thus organized, will be mustered 
 by you into the service of the United States, and 
 from that day will commence to receive the pay, 
 rations and other allowances given to the other 
 infantry volunteers, each according to his rank. 
 You will, upon mustering into service the fourth 
 company, be considered as having the rank, pay 
 
54 LIFE OF BRIGIIAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 and emoluments of a lieutenant-colonel of infantry, 
 and are authorized to appoint an adjutant, sergeant- 
 major, and quartermaster-sergeant for the battalion. 
 
 The companies, after being organized, wilj be 
 marched to this post, where they will be armed and 
 prepared for the field, after which they will, under 
 your command, follow on my trail in the direction 
 of Santa Fee, and where you will receive further 
 orders from me. 
 
 You will, upon organizing the companies, require 
 provisions, wagons, horses, mules, &c. You must 
 purchase everything that is necessary, and give the 
 necessary drafts upon the Quartermaster and Com- 
 missary departments at this post, which drafts will 
 be paid upon presentation. 
 
 You will have the Mormons distinctly to under- 
 stand that I wish to have them as volunteers for 
 twelve months ; that they will be marched to Cali- 
 fornia, receiving pay and allowances during the 
 above time, and at its expiration they will be dis- 
 charged, and allowed to retain, as their private 
 property, the guns and accoutrements furnished to 
 them at this post. 
 
 Each company will be allowed four women as 
 laundresses, who will travel with the company, re- 
 ceiving rations and other allowances given to the 
 laundresses of our army. 
 
 With the foregoing conditions, which are hereby 
 pledged to the Mormons, and which will be faithfully 
 kept by me and other officers in behalf of the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States, I cannot doubt but 
 that you will in a few days be able to raise five 
 hundred young and efficient men for this expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 Very respectfully your ob't serv't, 
 
 (Signed) S. F. KEARNEY, 
 
 Col. of First Dragoons. 
 
 Per Capt. James Allen, First Reg. Dragoons, Fort 
 Leavenworth." 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 55 
 
 It will be remembered that Brigham Young, 
 while believing the battalion call to be a test of 
 loyalty, hastened with Heber C. Kimball and Wil- 
 lard Richards to Mount Pisgah, 130 miles, to exe- 
 cute the "demand," as they deemed it, for a bat- 
 talion of their picked men to serve their country. 
 They immediately sent messengers, with official 
 despatches from their high councils, to Nauvoo, 
 Garden Grove and the regions around, calling to 
 head-quarters their old men and able-bodied boys 
 to supply the place of their picked men going for 
 the service of their country. 
 
 Returning to Council Bluffs, the Twelve gathered 
 the " Camp of Israel " to enrol the companies of 
 volunteers. While Major Hunt, of the volunteers, 
 was calling out the first company, Brigham Young 
 conversed with Col. Kane in Woodruff's carriage 
 about the affairs of the nation, and told him the 
 time would come when the Mormons would " have 
 " to save the Government of the U. S., or it would 
 " crumble to atoms." 
 
 Forty minutes after twelve of the same day, July 
 1 5th, the Elders and the people assembled in the 
 Bowery. President Young then delivered to the 
 congregation a simple but earnest speech, in which 
 he told the brethren, with a touch of subdued 
 pathos, " not to mention families to day ; " that 
 they had " not time to reason now." " We want," 
 he said, " to conform to the requisition made upon 
 " us, and we will do nothing else till we have ac- 
 " complished this thing. If we want the privilege 
 " of going where we can worship God according to 
 " the dictates of our consciences, we must raise the 
 
56 LIFE OF BRIGIIAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " battalion. I say, it is right ; and who cares for 
 " sacrificing our comfort for a few years ? " 
 
 Nobly did the Mormons respond to this call of 
 their country. The apostles acted as recruiting 
 sergeants ; nor did they wait for their reinforce- 
 ments, but moved as though they intended to apply 
 their leader's closing sentence literally ; he said : 
 " After we get through talking, we will call out 
 " the companies ; and if there are not young men 
 " enough we will take the old men, and if they are 
 " not enough we will take the women. I want to 
 <f say to every man, the Constitution of the United 
 " States, as formed by our fathers, was dictated, was 
 " revealed, was put into their hearts by the Al- 
 " mighty, who sits enthroned in the midst of the 
 " heavens ; although unknown to them, it was dic- 
 " tated by the revelations of Jesus Christ, and I tell 
 " you, in the name of Jesus Christ, it is as good as 
 " ever I could ask for. I say unto you, magnify 
 " the laws. There is no law in the United States, 
 " or in the Constitution, but I am ready to make 
 " honorable" 
 
 " There was no sentimental affectation at their 
 " leave-taking," said Thomas L. Kane, in relating 
 the story to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
 " The afternoon before their march was devoted to 
 " a farewell ball ; and a more merry dancing rout 
 " I have never seen, though the company went with- 
 " out refreshments, and their ball was of the most 
 " primitive. It was the custom, whenever the larger 
 " camps rested for a few clays together, to make 
 " great arbors, or boweries, as they called them, of 
 " poles, and brush, and wattling, as places of shelter 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 57 
 
 " for their meetings of devotion or conference. In 
 " one of these, where the ground had been trodden 
 " firm and hard by the worshipers, of -the popular 
 <l Father Taylor's precinct, was gathered now the 
 " mirth and beauty of the Mormon Israel. 
 
 ' If anything told that the Mormons had been 
 " bred to other lives, it was the appearance of the 
 " women as they assembled here. Before their 
 " flight they had sold their watches and trinkets as 
 " the most available recourse for raising ready 
 " money; and hence, like their partners, who wore 
 " waistcoats cut with useless watch pockets, they, 
 " although their ears were pierced and bore the 
 " marks of rejected pendants, were without earrings, 
 " chains or brooches. Except such ornaments, how- 
 " ever, they lacked nothing most becoming the 
 " attire of decorous maidens. The neatly-darned 
 " white stockings, and clean white petticoat, the 
 " clear-starched collar and chemisette, the some- 
 " thing faded, only because too-well washed lawn 
 " or gingham gown, that fitted modishly to the 
 " waist of its pretty wearer these, if any of them 
 " spoke of poverty, spoke of a poverty that had 
 " known better days. 
 
 " With the rest attended the elders of the Church 
 " within call, including nearly all the chiefs of the 
 " High Council, with their wives and children. 
 " They, the bravest and most trouble-worn, seemed 
 " the most anxious of any to throw off the burden 
 " of heavy thoughts. Their leading off the dance 
 " in a double cotillon was the signal which bade the 
 " festivity to commence. To the canto of debon- 
 " nair violins, the cheer of horns, the jingle of sleigh 
 
58 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 " bells, and the jovial snoring of the tambourine, 
 " they did dance ! None of your minuets or other 
 " mortuary possessions of gentles in etiquette, tight 
 " shoes and pinching gloves, but the spirited and 
 " scientific displays of our venerated and merry 
 " grandparents, who were not above following the 
 " fiddle to the lively fox-chase, french fours, Co- 
 " penhagen jigs, Virginia reels, and the like for- 
 " gotten figures, executed with the spirit of people 
 " too happy to be slow, or bashful, or constrained. 
 " Light hearts, lithe figures and light feet had it 
 " their own way from an early hour till after the sun 
 " had dipped behind the sharp sky-line of the 
 " Omaha hills. Silence was then called, and a well- 
 " cultivated mezzo-soprano voice, belonging to a 
 " young lady with fair face and dark eyes, gave with 
 " quartette accompaniment, a little song, the notes 
 " of which I have been unsuccessful in repeated 
 " efforts to obtain since a version of the text 
 " touching to all earthly wanderers : 
 
 " By the rivers of Babylon we sat clown and wept ; 
 We wept when we remembered Zion: 
 
 " There was danger of some expression of feeling 
 " when the song was over, for it had begun to draw 
 " tears, but, breaking the quiet with his hard voice, 
 " an elder asked the blessing of heaven on all who, 
 " with purity of heart and brotherhood of spirit, had 
 " mingled in that society, and then all dispersed, 
 " hastening to cover from the falling dews." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE MORMONS SETTLE ON INDIAN LANDS. A GRAND 
 COUNCIL HELD BETWEEN THE ELDERS AND INDIAN 
 CHIEFS. A COVENANT IS MADE BETWEEN THEM, 
 AND LAND CRANTED BY THE INDIANS TO THEIR 
 MORMON BROTHERS. CHARACTERISTIC SPEECHES 
 OF FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS. WINTER QUARTERS 
 ORGANIZED. THE GOVERNMENT AT FIRST CON- 
 FIRMS THE INDIAN PERMISSION TO THE MORMONS 
 AND THEN SEEKS TO EJECT THEM. OFFICIAL 
 CORRESPONDENCE. JUDGE KANE AND HIS SON. 
 
 With the departure of the battalion, the flower of 
 their strength, vanished all expectation of going to 
 the Rocky Mountains that year, and the elders 
 immediately set to work to locate and build their 
 winter quarters. Ever exact to the organic genius 
 of their community, their first business was to 
 organize the High Council of a u Traveling Stake 
 ofZion." This was done at Council Bluffs, July 
 2 ist, with Father Morley at the head of an incorpo- 
 rated council of twelve high priests. 
 
 The Indians welcomed their " Mormon brothers" 
 with a touch of dramatic pathos. " They would 
 " have been pleased," said Colonel Kane, " with 
 " any whites who would not cheat them, nor 
 " sell them whiskey, nor whip them for their 
 
6O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " poor gipsey habits, nor bear themselves indecently 
 " toward their women, many of whom among the 
 " Pottowatomies, especially those of nearly unmixed 
 " French descent, are singularly comely, and some 
 " of them educated. But all Indians have some- 
 " thing like a sentiment of reverence for the insane, 
 " and admire those who sacrifice, without apparent 
 " motive, their worldly welfare to the triumph of an 
 " idea. They understand the meaning of what they 
 "call a great vow,, and think it the duty of the 
 " right-minded to lighten the votary's penance 
 " under it. To this feeling they united the sym- 
 " pathy of fellow sufferers for those who could talk 
 " to them of their own Illinois, and tell the story 
 " how from it they also had been ruthlessly ex- 
 " pellecl. 
 
 " Their hospitality was sincere, almost delicate. 
 " Fanny Le Clerc, the spoiled child of the great 
 " brave, Pied Riche, interpreter of the nation, would 
 " have the pale face, Miss Divine, learn duets with 
 " her to the guitar; and the daughter of substantial 
 " Joseph La Framboise, the interpreter of the 
 " United States (she died of the fever that Summer) 
 " welcomed all the nicest young Mormon Kitties 
 " and Lizzies and Jennies and Susans, to a coffee 
 " feast at her father's house, which was probably the 
 " best cabin in the river village. They made the 
 * Mormons at home there and elsewhere. Upon all 
 :i they formally gave them leave to tarry just so 
 " long as it suited their own good pleasure. 
 
 " The affair, of course, furnished material for a 
 :< solemn council. Under the auspices of an officer 
 " of the United States, their chiefs were summoned. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 6 1 
 
 " in the form befitting great occasions, to meet in 
 " the dirty yard of one Mr. P. A. Sarpy's log trading 
 " house, at their village ; they came in grand toilet, 
 " moving in their fantastic attire with so much 
 " aplomb and genteel measure, that the stranger 
 " found it difficult not to believe them high-born 
 " gentlemen attending a costumed ball. Their aris- 
 " tocratically thin legs, of which they displayed fully 
 " the usual Indian proportion, aided this illusion. 
 " There is something, too, at all times very mock- 
 " Indian in the theatrical French millinery tie of 
 " the Pottowatomie turban ; while it is next to im- 
 " possible for a sober white man, at first sight, to 
 " believe that the red, green, black, blue and yellow 
 " cosmetics, with which he sees such grave person- 
 " ages so variously dotted, diapered, cancelled and 
 " arabesqued, are worn by them in any mood but 
 " one of the deepest and most desperate quizzing. 
 " From the time of their first squat upon the 
 " ground, to the final breaking up of the council 
 " circle, they sustained their characters with equal 
 " self-possession and address. 
 
 " I will not take it upon myself to describe their 
 " order of ceremonies ; indeed I ought not, since I 
 " have never been able to view the habits and 
 " customs of our aborigines in any other light than 
 " that of a sorrowful subject at best. Besides, in 
 " this instance, the displays of pow wow and elo- 
 " quence were both probably moderated by the con- 
 " ducting of the entire transaction on temperance 
 " principles. I therefore content myself with observ- 
 " m g> generally, that the proceedings were such as 
 '" every way became the grandeur of the parties in- 
 
62 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " terested, and the magnitude of the interests in- 
 " volved. When the red men had indulged to 
 " satiety in tobacco smoke from their peace pipes,, 
 " and in what they love still better their peculiar 
 " metaphoric rodomontade, which beginning with 
 " celestial bodies, and coursing downwards over the 
 " grandest sublunary objects, always managed to 
 1 alight at last on their Grand Father Polk, and the 
 " tenderness for him of his affectionate colored chil- 
 " dren ; all the solemn funny fellows present, who 
 " played the part of chiefs, signed formal articles of 
 " convention with their unpronounceable names. 
 
 " The renowned chief, Pied Riche (he was sur- 
 " named Le Clerc on account of his remarkable 
 " scholarship) then rose and said : 
 
 " MY MORMON BRETHREN : The Pottowatomie 
 " came sad and tired into this unhealthy Missouri 
 " bottom, not many years back, when he was taken 
 " from his beautiful country beyond the Mississippi, 
 " which had abundant game and timber, and clear 
 " water everywhere. Now you are driven away the 
 " same from your lodges and lands there, and the 
 " graves of your people. So we have both suffered. 
 " We must keep one another, and the Great Spirit 
 " will keep us both. You are now free to cut and 
 " use all the wood you may wish. You can make 
 " your improvements and live on any part of our 
 " actual land not occupied by us. Because one 
 " suffers and does not deserve it, is no reason he 
 " should suffer always. I say, we may live to see 
 " all right yet. However, if we do not, our children 
 " will. Bon jour ! " 
 
 And thus ended the pageant This speech was. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 63 
 
 recited to Col. Kane after the treaty by the Potto- 
 watomie orator in French, which language he spoke 
 with eloquence. 
 
 But the Mormons had most to do with the Omaha 
 Indians, for they located their camps on both the east 
 and west sides of the Missouri river. Winter quar- 
 ters proper was on the west side, five miles above 
 Omaha of to-day. It has since dwindled from a 
 Mormon city to the present Florence. There, on a 
 pretty plateau, overlooking the river, they built, in 
 a few months, more than seven hundred houses, 
 neatly laid out with highways and byways, and for- 
 tified with breast-work, stockade and blockhouses. 
 It had, too, its place of worship, " tabernacle of the 
 " congregation ; '' for in everything they did they 
 kept up their character of the modern Israel. The 
 industrial character of the people also typed itself 
 on their city in the wilderness, which sprang up as 
 by magic, for it could boast of large workshops, and 
 mills and factories provided with water power. 
 They styled it a " Stake of Zion." It was the prin- 
 cipal stake, too, several others, such as Garden 
 Grove and Mount Pisgah having already been es- 
 tablished on the route. 
 
 The settlement of head-quarters brought the 
 Mormons into peculiar relationship with the Oma- 
 has. A grand council was also held between their 
 chiefs and the Elders. Big Elk made a character- 
 istic speech for the occasion, yet not so distinguished 
 in its Indian eloquence as that of Le Clerc. Big 
 Elk said, in response to President Young : 
 
 " My son, thou hast spoken well. I have all thou 
 " hast said in my heart. I have much I want to 
 
64 LIFE OF 13RIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " say. We are poor. When we go to hunt game 
 " in one place, we meet an enemy, and so in another 
 " place our enemies kill us. We do not kill them. 
 " I hope we will be friends. You may stay on 
 " these lands two years or more. Our young men 
 " may watch your cattle. We would be glacl to 
 " have you trade with us. We will warn you of 
 " danger from other Indians." 
 
 The council closed with an excellent feeling ; the 
 pauper Omahas were treated to a feast, very gra- 
 cious even to the princely appetite of Big Elk ; and 
 then they returned to their wigwams, satisfied for 
 the time with the dispensation of the Great Spirit, 
 who had sent their " Mormon brethren " into their 
 country to care for and protect them from their 
 enemies the warlike Sioux. 
 
 The Omahas were ready to solicit as a favor the 
 residence of white protectors among them. The 
 Mormons harvested and stored away for them their 
 crops of maize ; with all their own poverty they 
 spared them food enough besides, from time to 
 time, to save them from absolutely starving ; and 
 their entrenched camp to the north of the Omaha 
 villages served as a sort of breakwater between 
 them and the destroying rush of the Sioux. 
 
 But the Mormons were as careful in their settle- 
 ment on the Indian lands as they had been in the 
 battalion case, to make their conduct irreproachable 
 in the eyes of the General Government, and to do 
 nothing, even in their direst necessities, that would 
 not force the sanction of the nation. They were, 
 therefore, particular in obtaining covenants from 
 the Indians and forwarding them to the President 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 65 
 
 of the United States. Here is the covenant of the 
 Omahas : 
 
 " West Side of the Missouri River, 
 
 Near Council Bluffs, August 31, 1846. 
 
 We, the undersigned chiefs and braves, represen- 
 tatives of the Omaha nation of Indians, do hereby 
 grant to the Mormon people the privilege of tarrying 
 upon our lands for two years or more, or as long as 
 may suit their convenience, for the purpose of making 
 the necessary preparations to prosecute their jour- 
 ney west of the Rocky Mountains, provided that 
 our great father, the President of the United States, 
 shall not counsel* us to the contrary. 
 
 And we also do, grant unco them the privilege 
 of using all the wood and timber that they shall re- 
 quire. 
 
 And furthermore agree that we will not molest or 
 take from them their cattle, horses, sheep, or any 
 other property. 
 
 BIG ELK, his x mark, 
 STANDING ELK, his x mark, 
 LITTLE CHIEF, his x mark." 
 
 On this matter Brigham Young wrote to the 
 President in behalf of his people : 
 
 " Near Council Bluffs, Butlers Park, 
 
 Omaha Nation, Sept. 7, 1846.' 
 SIR : 
 
 Since our communication of the Qth ult. to Your 
 Excellency, the Omaha Indians have returned from 
 their Summer hunt, and we have had an interview 
 in general council with their chiefs and braves, who 
 expressed a willingness that we should tarry on 
 their lands, and use what wood and timber would be 
 necessary for our convenience, while we were pre- 
 
66 LIFE OF BRIGIIAM YOUX(i 
 
 paring to prosecute our journey, as may be seen 
 from a duplicate of theirs to us of the 2ist of 
 August, which will be presented by Col. Kane. 
 
 In council they were much more specific than in 
 their writings, and Big Elk, in behalf of his nation, 
 requested us to lend them teams to draw their corn 
 at harvest, and help keep it after it was deposited, 
 to assist them in building houses, making fields, 
 doing some blacksmithing, &c., and to teach some 
 of their young men to clo the same, and also keep 
 some goods and trade with them while we tarried 
 among them. 
 
 We responded to all their wishes in the same 
 spirit of kindness manifested by them, and tolcl 
 them we would do them all the go'od we could, with 
 the same proviso they made, if the President was 
 willing ; and this is why we write. 
 
 Hitherto we have kept aloof from all intercourse 
 except in councils, as referred to, and giving them a 
 few beeves when hungry, but we have the means of 
 doing them a favor by instructing them in agricul- 
 tural and mechanical arts, if it is desirable. 
 
 It might subject us to some inconvenience, in our 
 impoverished situation, to procure goods for their 
 accommodation, and yet, if we can do it, w T e might 
 receive in return as many skins and furs as would 
 prove a valuable temporary substitute for worn-out 
 clothing and tents in our camp, which would be no 
 small blessing. 
 
 . A small division of our camp is some two or 
 three hundred miles west of this, on the rush bot- 
 toms, among the Puncaws, where similar feelings 
 are manifested towards our people. 
 
 Should Your Excellency consider the requests of 
 the Indians for instruction, &c., reasonable, and sig- 
 nifying the same to us, we will give them all the 
 information in mechanism and farming the nature 
 of the case will admit, which will give us the oppor- 
 tunity of getting the assistance of their men to help 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 67 
 
 us herd and labor, which we have much needed 
 since the organization of the battalion. 
 
 A license, giving us permission to trade with the 
 Indians while we are tarrying on or passing through 
 their lands, made out in the name of Newel K. 
 Whitney, our agent in camp, would be a favor to 
 our people and our red neighbors. All of which is 
 submitted to Your Excellency's consideration and 
 the confidence of Col. Kane. 
 
 Done in behalf of the council of the Church of 
 Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at the time and 
 place before mentioned, and Camp of Israel. 
 
 Most respectfully, 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG, Pres't. 
 WILLARD RICHARDS, Clerk. 
 
 To James K. Polk, Pres't. U. S." 
 
 At this time Col. Thomas L. Kane was lying sick 
 in the " Camp of Israel " at head-quarters. The 
 ministering hand of the Mormons smoothed his 
 pillow, and their faith and prayers wooed his spirit 
 back to new life. Their prophetic assurances that 
 he had a destiny to fulfill, and that his days should 
 be lengthened, contrary to all his expectations, must, 
 in his romantic surroundings, have been singularly 
 fascinating. He was with a veritable Israel in the 
 Wilderness a people fleeing from their Egypt, 
 with a faith and trust in their God more constant 
 and exalted than that of the ancient people ; for 
 there was no murmuring among these, against the 
 hand that was delivering them ; no rebellion against 
 their Moses ; no hungering for the fat of the land 
 of the Gentile that they were leaving hehind. Our 
 friend was with them on a crowning occasion ; it 
 
68 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 gave to him a taste of the spirit of that brother- 
 and-sisterhood which was bearing them through an 
 historic drama that rises above even sublimity, and 
 he himself was a subject of that ministering tender- 
 ness that took comfort in pouring salvation upon 
 another's head. He learned more of the Mormons 
 thus sympathetically, without actual change from his 
 presbyterian faith, than a quarter of a century's cold 
 investigation would have given him. And nobly 
 has their friend paid them back, while every day 
 has enshrined him deeper in the Mormon's heart, 
 and rendered his name as sacred as that of a house- 
 hold deity. 
 
 It will be remembered that Col. Kane came 
 West bearing despatches from the Government to 
 General Kearney, relative to the call of the Mor- 
 mon battalion and the expedition to California to 
 possess that country. His sickness in the Mormon 
 camp hindered his further journey towards the land 
 that soon afterwards became the El Dorado of the 
 nation. As he grew convalescent he became anxious 
 for his Mormon friends, lest, should a relapse take 
 him off, they should be charged with his death ; so 
 he sent to Fort Leavenworth for a physician. Dr. 
 Edes obeyed the summons, and gave the certificate 
 to Dr. Richards, the church historian. 
 
 What a comment is this suggestive certificate 
 upon Mormon history ! Imagine the death of -the 
 best and most constant friend charged in the ac- 
 count of their crimes. Yet is the case of Gunnison 
 a very similar one. He was murdered by the Mor- 
 mons, so they say that Gunnison who almost sang 
 psalms to the Mormons' praise, and had only Kane 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 69 
 
 died at winter quarters twenty-nine years ago, Brig- 
 ham Young might have stood but yesterday indicted 
 for his murder in the immaculate court of Judge 
 McKean. 
 
 .But their friend was spared, and the mission he 
 took upon himself in this people's behalf was nobly 
 forwarded by his honorable father. The letters of 
 Judge Kane to his son at the time deserve an ever- 
 lasting record. They are, moreover, important 
 historical links necessary to harmonize the views 
 of relations with the Government. Here is the 
 first : 
 
 " PHILADELPHIA, loth Aug., 1846. 
 
 MY DEAR SON : 
 
 Your letter of the 23d of July reached me yester- 
 day. I have lost no time in making the appeal to 
 the President for the permission to remain ; and 
 before the end of this week, my court being about 
 to adjourn for a fortnight, I shall see him, and take 
 care that the thing is done. The form, of course, 
 is immaterial, but in substance all shall be right. 
 
 I am sincerely happy at the prospect there is of 
 doing good to the sufferers for conscience sake. 
 You say right, that you have not lived in vain, if 
 you can guard one individual from outrage, or one 
 heart from anxiety. It is worth the hazard and the 
 suffering, for it will make your pillow smoother at 
 last, even though it be the rough grass of the wild- 
 erness, without a mother's blessing or the pressure 
 of a father's hand. 
 
 God be with you always to protect and cheer you 
 my boy, in your pilgrimage of mercy, and bring you 
 back to us in his own good season to our comfort 
 and pride. 
 
 J. K. KANE." . 
 
7O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 The judge personally laid the matter before the 
 President, as promised, and then wrote : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 4th Sept., 1846. 
 DEAR SON : 
 
 We have just received your letter of the 
 August, dated at the camp of the Omaha country. 
 Thank God it is no worse (referring to his son's 
 sickness), and that we are to have you back again 
 among us. All that we have to pray against is a 
 relapse. We shall look with intense anxiety for 
 your letter from Nauvoo or Galena, which we ought 
 to receive in about three weeks. 
 
 I saw the President last week and talked over 
 the whole subject. He assured me definitely that 
 the Mormons shall not be disturbed. To-day I 
 have received from the War Department a copy of 
 the instructions of the Indian Bureau to Major 
 Harvey, and I enclose them to you by the Presi- 
 dent's request. We are all well. Gocl bless you. 
 
 Most affectionately your father and friend, 
 
 J. K. KANE. 
 
 The instructions were duly sent to the superin- 
 tendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis. 
 
 But Major Harvey strangely interpreted his in- 
 structions. He visited President Young on the ist 
 of November. He had letters from Washington, 
 he said. The department expected the Mormons 
 to leave the Indian lands in the Spring. " What 
 41 reason had they for stopping there at all ? " 
 Harvey wished to know. Brigham Young told him 
 the reason the reader can guess it. The soldiers 
 of the battalion could have answered, also, had they 
 been present. But President Young informed the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. Jl 
 
 superintendent that the Mormons should not move 
 from either side of the river till the Spring, and re- 
 quested a copy of the instructions from the depart 
 ment. A confidential scribe was sent to the sub 
 agency for it ; he returned with the following : 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS, Sub- Agency, 
 
 November 5th, 1845. 
 SIR : 
 
 Your communication of the 3d instant was re- 
 ceived on Saturday. Mr. Clayton is furnished with 
 the letter of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of 
 September 3d, for the purpose of copying. My en- 
 gagements here will not permit me to write you but 
 a line. I would, however, add that no white per- 
 sons are permitted to settle on the lands of the 
 Indians without authority of the government. Your 
 party being Mormons does not constitute the objec- 
 tion, but the fact of your being there without the 
 authority of Government. In the execution of my 
 duty, I know no sects or parties, and I am sure the 
 Government at Washington acts upon the same 
 principle. 
 
 I may write you more particularly on my return 
 to St. Louis, where I shall have all the correspond- 
 ence on the subject before me. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 W. H. HARVEY, Supt. Ind. Affairs. 
 
 This was addressed to the High Council, and that 
 body, in reply, wrote a very powerful and touching 
 letter to the superintendent in the name of the 
 people. 
 
 At this juncture, William Kimball arrived with 
 the mail, bringing the official documents from the 
 
/2 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 department, enclosed to Judge Kane, giving per- 
 mission to the Mormons to remain, with the follow- 
 ing also from Colonel Kane to President Young : 
 
 " NAUVOO, ILLINOIS, Sept. 22d, 1846. 
 MY DEAR FRIEND : 
 
 As my mind is confused by the effect of over 
 exercise this hot day upon my disease-shattered 
 frame, I forward to you in original, or copy, all the 
 enclosures which I have received from my father, 
 that they may tell their own story better than I am 
 able to do it for them. 
 
 I do not, you may believe, deny myself the 
 pleasure of writing to you at length without reluct- 
 ance ; but the pain I have at present in my head is 
 really so acute that you must take my honest wish 
 to do so for the deed itself. 
 
 With regard to the clauses, which for convenience 
 I have marked with asterisks, in the communication 
 of Medill to Major Harvey of St. Louis, I need only 
 observe that the first shows that Captain Allen's 
 report, which fully narrated your objects and inten- 
 tion alluded to has, in all probability, never been 
 dispatched to Washington, inasmuch as the date of 
 Medill's letter to my father is as late as September 
 3d ; and the second and third suggest it to me to 
 remind you that I have with me, in case of personal 
 accident, documents in the nature of vouchers, &c., 
 not only from Mitchell, the sub-agent in question, 
 who is pledged to me personally, but from all having 
 influence or authority in the Upper Missouri country, 
 which are every way satisfactory to us in their 
 nature. You see, therefore, that you need appre- 
 hend no more from any instructions to Harvey or 
 Mitchell, such as those which I fear alarmed you a 
 little at the time of my departure. 
 
 I am getting to believe more and more every day, 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 73 
 
 as my strength returns, that I an? spared by God 
 for the labor of doing you justice ; but if I am 
 deceived, comfort yourself and your people with the 
 knowledge that my sickness in your midst has 
 touched the chords of noble feeling in a brave 
 heart, and that even if I do not succeed in getting 
 'home in person to secure your rights, my papers 
 are now so arranged that my father will find it 
 little more trouble to do you service than yours 
 sincerely, 
 
 THOMAS L. KANE. 
 
 The answer to this by Willard Richards, the 
 church historian, will at once be finely descriptive 
 of the Mormons at winter quarters, and a complete- 
 ment of the view of their relations with the Govern- 
 ment and its agents : 
 
 WINTER QUARTERS, CAMP OF ISRAEL, 
 Omaha Nation, Nov. 15, 1846. 
 
 MY DEAR COLONEL : 
 
 Although near midnight, cold and wet, and myself 
 without shelter, except a worn-out, torn-out tent, 
 weary and sick, I cannot let the moment pass with- 
 out acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 
 22d September to General Young, two days since, 
 enclosed with Judge Kane's two letters to yourself, 
 also Mr. Medili's to Judge Kane the day following. 
 
 The package was unaccountably delayed, but 
 better late than never, and it did your friends in 
 camp good to hear you were so far on your journey, 
 fully believing that ere this you have landed safe in 
 the city of brotherly love. 
 
 I could not well deny myself copies of your 
 father's letters, which I herewith enclose, with thanks 
 from myself and brethren. These letters breathe 
 the spirit of a nobleman. 
 
74 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 The communications from the War Office are as; 
 satisfactory as we could reasonably expect, consider- 
 ing the probable information the Executive was in 
 possession of at the time, and prove most clearly 
 that the prompt action of your dear father in the 
 premises was not misplaced. Israel's God will 
 reward him and you also, for the eagle eye with 
 which you have watched for the good of suffering 
 virtue. 
 
 We are never alarmed at any instructions which 
 have or may be given to agents concerning us, for 
 our cause is just, and we are detained at this point 
 by an act of the President, which he intended for 
 our good, and we have no doubt it will thus prove, 
 though we have suffered much by the absence of 
 so many men. 
 
 Many of the families in camp are now in small 
 log or turf houses, just fit to ward off the winter's 
 blast, and many more will be like situated should 
 the mild weather continue till winter's day. 
 
 On the ist inst. Major Harvey, Mitchell and Mil- 
 ler visited our camp. Their stay was too brief to 
 call a council ; indeed I know not if any member 
 knew of their presence until they were absent, ex- 
 cept General Young, who met them in his yard, or 
 by the road side ; and Major Harvey stated that he 
 had communications from Washington, but had for- 
 got to bring them ; that the United States wanted 
 the Mormons to remove from Pottowatomie lands 
 in the Spring ; and he much regretted that we were 
 not on the opposite side of the river. General 
 Young wished to know what advantage that would 
 be if we were to leave there in the Spring ; but 
 could get no satisfaction. 
 
 The High Council of this place wrote Major 
 Harvey at the sub-agency, where he was making 
 payments, requesting a copy of the Washington 
 documents, which he had proffered to General 
 Young when opportunity should present. After a 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 75 
 
 day or two's delay, the messenger, or confidential 
 clerk, succeeded in taking" a copy, which proved the 
 same as the one enclosed by you ; also received a 
 letter from Major Harvey, stating " that no white 
 persons are permitted to settle on the lands of the 
 Indians. Your party being Mormons does not con- 
 stitute the objection, but the fact of your being 
 there without the authority of the Government. In 
 the execution of my duty I know no sects or par- 
 ties, and I am sure the Government at Washington 
 acts upon the same principles." 
 
 Let the sequel answer ! 
 
 Did not Major Harvey know that it was an act 
 of Government that caused us to settle ? If a few 
 log and mud huts can be called settling ! Or 
 could he have referred to the few poor who had 
 stopped on the Pottowatomie lands previous to 
 raising the battalion, when he had just been urging 
 us to fall back on to said lands ? 
 
 Pay day arrived, and Major Mitchell informed 
 the chiefs that no Mormons could have any of the 
 annuities ; for there was one or two half-breeds or 
 French (I know not which), who had married and 
 been adopted into the Pottowatomie nation and be- 
 lieved in Mormonism. The chiefs informed him it 
 was none of their business to decide who belonged 
 to their nation and were to receive annuities, and it 
 was none of his business whether they were Catho- 
 lics, or Mormons, or Methodists, or anything else 
 Mitchell has warned one of our brethren off the In- 
 dian lands, a good man, too, and for no reason that 
 can be imagined, only he is a Mormon. 
 
 Major Harvey, in Indian council, said he did not 
 approve of our being on this side of the river, and 
 if he was tall enough he would remove us across 
 the river. He also promised the Ottoes a farmer. 
 The Indians immediately pointed out Mr. Case, 
 who was present, and with whom they had long 
 been acquainted, as he had been a Government 
 
76 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 farmer to the Ottoes, Pawnees and others for about 
 twenty years, and wanted him ; but the Major re- 
 fused, and said he would send whom he pleased. 
 You will recollect Mr. Case was the Government 
 farmer at Pawnee, and was baptized while you was 
 here. Immediately Mr. Miller informed Mr. Case 
 that Major Harvey instructed him to give him his 
 discharge, from that day, and he must cross the 
 river ; that the Major had left no money for his pay 
 (which was due some time previously), and he did 
 not know why Major Harvey should discharge him, 
 only because he was a Mormon. No regard to sects 
 or parties ! 
 
 But enough of this for the present to give you a 
 conjecture how little petty officers are carrying sail 
 in the West. 
 
 I remain, with Presidents Young and Kimball, 
 and thousands of others, 
 
 Your warm friend, 
 
 WILLARD RICHARDS. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG, UP TO 
 THE MARTYRDOM OF JOSEPH SMITH. A VIEW OF 
 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. FOUND- 
 ING OF THE BRITISH MISSION. BRIGHAM YOUNG 
 IN ENGLAND. MARTYRDOM OF THE MORMON 
 PROPHET. 
 
 While the Saints are resting at winter quarters, 
 we will give to the reader a sketch of the life of 
 President Young up to the martyrdom of Joseph 
 Smith. That life is too crowded with great events 
 thereafter to enable us to touch more than the con- 
 necting incidents of his earlier career. 
 
 Brigham Young was born in Whitingham, Wind- 
 ham County, Vermont, June ist, 1801. 
 
 His parents were devoted to the Methodist reli- 
 gion, to which, in his maturity, he also inclined. 
 
 He was married October 8th, 1824, in Aurelius, 
 Cayuga County, New York, where for twelve years 
 he followed the occupations of carpenter, joiner, 
 painter and glazier. In the Spring of 1829, he re- 
 moved to Mendon, Monroe County, where his 
 father resided, and here the next Spring he first saw 
 the Book of Mormon, which was left with his 
 brother Phineas Young, by Samuel H. Smith 
 brother of the Prophet. 
 
78 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 In January, 1832, in company with Phineas Young 
 and Heber C. Kimball, he visited a branch of the 
 Church at Columbia, Pennsylvania, and returned 
 deeply impressed with the principles of Mormon- 
 ism. In this state of mind he went to Canada for 
 his brother Joseph, who was there on a mission, 
 preaching the Methodist faith. This prompt action, 
 after he had resolved on his own course, is quite 
 typical of the man. 
 
 Joseph Young "received and rejoiced in the testi- 
 " mony," and returned home with his brother ; and 
 both immediately united themselves with the Saints. 
 
 Brigham was baptized April i4th, 1832, by Elder 
 Eleazur Miller, who confirmed him at the water's 
 edge, and ordained him to the office of an elder that 
 same night. 
 
 About three weeks afterwards his wife was also 
 baptized, but in the following autumn she died, 
 leaving him two little children (girls). After her 
 death he made his home at Heber C. Kimball's. 
 
 In the same month, with his brother Joseph and 
 Heber C. Kimball, he started for Kirtland, to see 
 the Prophet. Arriving at Kirtland, they found him, 
 with several of his brothers, in the woods, chopping 
 and hauling wood. " Here my joy was full," says 
 Brigham, " at the privilege of shaking the hand 
 " of the Prophet of God, and receiving the sure 
 " testimony by the spirit of prophesy that he was 
 " all that any man could believe him to be, as a true 
 " prophet. 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 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 79 
 
 " pray. In my prayer I spoke in tongues. As soon 
 " as we arose from our knees, the brethren flocked 
 (i around him, and asked his opinion concerning" the 
 41 gift of tongues that was upon me. He told them 
 " it was the pure Adamic language. Some said to 
 " him they expected he would condemn the gift, but 
 " he said ' no, it is of God ; and the time will come 
 " when Brother Brigham Young will preside over 
 " this Church/ The latter part of this conversation 
 " was in my absence." 
 
 After staying about a week in Kirtland they re- 
 turned home, and then, with his brother Joseph, he 
 started on a mission to Upper Canada, on foot, in 
 the month of December, and returned home in 
 February, 1833, before the ice broke up. 
 
 For a little while he made his home at Heber C. 
 Kimball's, preaching in the neighborhood, but on the 
 first of April he started on foot for Canada again, 
 where he raised up branches of the Church. He 
 then " gathered up " several families, and started 
 with them to Kirtland about the first of July, where 
 he tarried awhile " enjoying the society of the 
 " Prophet," and then returned to Mendon. 
 
 Taking his two children, in the month of Septem- 
 ber, he " gathered " to Kirtland with Heber C. Kim- 
 ball. Here he commenced working at his former 
 trade. 
 
 When the elders " went up to redeem Zion," in 
 Jackson County, a missionary expedition famous in 
 Mormon history, the Prophet was particularly anxi- 
 ous that Brigham should go with him. Meeting the 
 Prophet one day, in company with Joseph Young, 
 Brigham told him that his brother was doubtful as 
 
8O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 to his duty about going, to which the Prophet re- 
 plied, " Brother Brigham and Brother Joseph, if you 
 " will go with me in the camp to Missouri, and keep 
 " my counsel, I promise you, in the name of the 
 " Almighty, that I will lead you there and back 
 " again, and not a hair of your heads shall be 
 " harmed ; " at which each presented his hand to 
 the Prophet and the covenant was confirmed. 
 
 The organization of " Zion's Camp " being com- 
 pleted, they started for Missouri, where they arrived 
 at Rush Creek, Clary County, on the 23d of June, 
 when the camp was struck with the plague. Here 
 they remained one week, attending to the sick and 
 burying their dead. About seventy of the brethren 
 were attacked with the cholera, of whom eighteen 
 died. 
 
 The Prophet assembled the " Camp of Zion," and 
 told the brethren that " if they would humble 
 themselves before the Lord, and covenant that they 
 would, from that time forth, obey his counsel, the 
 plague should be stayed from that very hour ; " 
 whereupon the brethren, with uplifted hands, cove- 
 nanted, " and the plague was stayed according to 
 " the words of the Lord through his servant." 
 
 The journey to Missouri and back was performed 
 in a little over three months, being a distance of 
 about 2,000 miles, averaging forty miles per day, on 
 foot, while traveling. On the return the brethren 
 were scattered. Brigham and his brother Joseph 
 arrived home safe, July 4, fulfilling the covenant 
 made with them. He tarried in Kirtland during 
 that Fall and Winter, quarrying rock, working on 
 the Temple, and finishing the printing-office and 
 schoolroom. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 8 1 
 
 On the 1 4th of February, 1835, the Prophet 
 called a council of Elders, at which the quorum of 
 the Twelve Apostles were selected in the following- 
 order : 
 
 Lyman E. Johnson, Brigham Young, Heber C. 
 Kimball, Orson Hyde, Luke Johnson, David W. 
 Patten, William E. M'Lellin, John F. Boyington,. 
 William Smith, Orson Pratt, Thomas B. Marsh and 
 Parley S. Pratt. 
 
 In May, Brigham Young was called to go and 
 preach to the Indians. " This," said the Prophet, 
 "will open the doors to all the seed of Joseph." 
 He started on his mission in company with the 
 Twelve, returning to Kirtland in September, where 
 he spent the Fall and Winter preaching, attending 
 a Hebrew school and superintending the painting 
 and finishing of the Temple. 
 
 In March, 1836, the Temple, being nearly finished, 
 was dedicated. "It was a day of God's power," 
 says the record ; " the glory of the Lord filled the 
 house." It is known in the, church as the Latter- 
 day Pentacost, on which the Elders were specially 
 " endowed with power from on high." The Twelve 
 held the " solemn assembly," and received their 
 " washings and annointings." The " washing of feet " 
 was administered to Brigham by Joseph himself. 
 
 Soon after this, in company with his brother 
 Joseph Young, he started on a mission to the Eastern 
 States, traveling through New York, Vermont and 
 Massachusetts. In the Fall and Winter of 1836, 
 he was at home again with the Prophet, sustaining 
 him through the darkest hour which the Church has 
 yet seen. 
 
82 LIFE OY BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 It was at this time that a " spirit of apostacy " 
 manifested itself among the Twelve, and ran 
 through all the quorums of the church. It prevailed 
 so extensively that it was difficult for many to see 
 clearly the path to pursue. 
 
 On one occasion several of the Twelve, the " wit- 
 nesses " to the Book of Mormon, and others of the 
 authorities of the church, held a council in the 
 upper room of the Temple. The question before 
 them was to ascertain how the Prophet coulcl be 
 deposed, and David Whitmer, who was one of the 
 <c witnesses," appointed President of the Church. 
 
 " I rose up," says President Young, " and told 
 " them in a plain and forcible manner that Joseph 
 " was a prophet, and I knew it ; and that they might 
 " rail at and slander him as much as they pleased, 
 *' they could not destroy the appointment of the 
 " Prophet of God ; they could only destroy their 
 41 own authority, cut the thread which bound them 
 41 to the Prophet and to God, and sink themselves 
 " to hell. Many were highly enraged at my decided 
 <( opposition to their measures, and Jacob Bump (an 
 " old pugilist), was so exasperated that he could not 
 " be still. Some of the brethren near him put their 
 " hands on him and requested him to be quiet ; but 
 " he writhed and twisted his arms and body, saying, 
 " * how can I keep my hands off that man ? ' I told 
 " him if he thought it would give him any relief he 
 " might lay them on. The meeting was broken up 
 " without the Apostates being able to unite on any 
 " decided measures of opposition. This was a crisis 
 " when earth and hell seemed leagued to overthrow 
 " the Prophet and Church of God. The knees of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 83 
 
 " many of the strongest men in the church fal- 
 " tered. 
 
 " During this siege of darkness I stood close by 
 " Joseph, and with all the wisdom and power God 
 " bestowed upon me, put forth my utmost energies 
 " to sustain the servant of God, and unite the quo- 
 " rums of the church. 
 
 " Ascertaining that a plot was laid to way-lay 
 " Joseph for the purpose of taking his life, on his 
 " return from Monroe, Michigan, to Kirtland, I pro- 
 " cured a horse and buggy, and took brother Wil- 
 " Ham Smith along to meet Joseph, whom we met 
 " returning in the stage coach. Joseph requested 
 " William to take his seat in the stage, and he 
 " rode with me in the buggy. We arrived in Kirt- 
 " land in safety." 
 
 The strength of Brigham Young's character 
 broke the tide of apostacy arising among the very 
 leaders of the church. There were in it no less 
 than four of the Twelve Apostles, several of the 
 " witnesses of the Book of Mormon," and many 
 influential elders. To this day it has been a won- 
 der among " gentile " writers that the Prophet dared 
 to excommunicate so many of his first elders at 
 one grand sweep. It means that Joseph and Brig- 
 ham, " with the Lord on their side," were equal to 
 anything. The part that Brigham Young acted 
 then made him the successor of Joseph Smith. 
 
 About this time Brigham's cousins, Levi and 
 Willard Richards, arrived in Kirtland. Willard, 
 having read the Book of Mormon, came to enquire 
 further concerning the book. His cousin invited 
 him to make his home at his house during 'his in- 
 
84 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 vestigation, which he did, and was baptized on the 
 last day of the year 1836, in the presence of Heber 
 C. Kimball and others, who had spent the afternoon 
 cutting- the ice to prepare for the ceremony. Wil- 
 lard Richards became one of the greatest men of 
 the church. 
 
 On the first of June, 1837, Brigham's birthday, 
 there were a few missionaries appointed to Eng- 
 land, under the direction of Heber C. Kimball and 
 Orson Hyde of the Twelve. Heber was very 
 anxious that President Young should also go, but 
 Joseph said he should keep Brigham at home with 
 him. This was a sacrifice to the man who had so 
 well earned the right " to unlock the dispensation " 
 to foreign nations ; but the moment was too critical 
 for him to be spared. Before the mission to Eng- 
 land started, Willard Richards was added to the 
 number appointed. It is scarcely necessary to say 
 that the opening of the mission to Great Britain 
 has proved to be one of the most important events 
 in the history of the Mormon church. 
 
 The policy of keeping Brigham home was soon ap- 
 parent. " On the morning of December 22d," he 
 says, " I left Kirtland in consequence of the fury of 
 " the mob, and the spirit that prevailed in the apos- 
 " tates, who threatened to destroy me because I 
 " 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 apos- 
 " tates declared." 
 
 The Prophet and Sidney Rigdon also fled and 
 joined Brigham at Dublin, Indiana, where Joseph 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 85 
 
 made enquiry concerning a job at cutting and saw- 
 ing wood, after which he came and said : " Brother 
 " Brigham, I am destitute of means to pursue my 
 "journey, and as you are one of the Twelve Apos- 
 " ties, who hold the keys of the kingdom in all the 
 " world, I believe I shall throw myself upon you, 
 " and look to you for counsel in this case." 
 
 " At first/' says Brigham, " I coulcl hardly believe 
 " Joseph was in earnest, but on his assuring me he 
 " was, I said, ' If you will take my counsel, it will be 
 " ' that you rest yourself, and be assured, Brother 
 " * Joseph, you shall have plenty of money to pursue 
 " ' your journey.' " 
 
 A providential sale of a tavern, owned by a 
 Brother Tomlinson, brought the Prophet a gift of 
 three hundred dollars, and he proceeded on his 
 journey. 
 
 After a variety of incidents, Joseph and Brigham 
 found themselves together in the Far West, but the 
 Missourians soon commenced again to stir up the 
 mob spirit, riding from neighborhood to neighbor- 
 hood, making flaming speeches, priests taking lead 
 in the crusade. This brought the exterminating 
 army of Governor Boggs, under Generals Lucas 
 and Clark, to drive the Mormons en masse out of 
 Missouri. 
 
 Some of the mob were painted like Indians. 
 Gillum, their leader, was painted in a similar manner. 
 He styled himself the " Delaware chief." Afterwards 
 he, and the rest of the mob, claimed and obtained 
 pay, as militia, from the State. 
 
 Many of the Mormons were wounded and mur- 
 -dered by the army, and several women were ravished 
 
86 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 to death. " I saw," says Brigham, " Brother Joseph 
 " Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Lyman 
 " Wight and George W. Robinson delivered up by 
 " Colonel H inkle to General Lucas, but expected 
 " they would have returned to the city that evening 
 " or the next morning, according to agreement, and 
 " the pledge of the sacred honor of the officers that 
 " they should be allowed to do so, but they did not 
 " so return. The next morning General Lucas de- 
 41 manded and took away the arms of the militia of 
 " Caldwell County (Brigham refused to give up his 
 " arms), assuring them that they should be pro- 
 " tected ; but as soon as they obtained possession 
 " of the arms, they commenced their ravages by 
 " plundering the citizens of their bedding, clothing, 
 " money, wearing apparel, and every thing of value 
 " they could lay their hands upon, and also attempted 
 " to violate the chastity of the women in the pres- 
 " ence of their husbands and friends. The soldiers 
 " shot down our oxen, cows, hogs and fowls at our 
 " own doors, taking part away and leaving the rest 
 " to rot in the street. They also turned their horses 
 " into our fields of corn." 
 
 At this time General Clark delivered his noted 
 speech. He said : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN : You whose names are not attached 
 " to this list of names, will now have the privilege 
 " of going to your fields and of providing corn, 
 " wood, &c., for your families. Those that are now 
 " taken will go from this to prison, be tried, and re- 
 " ceive the due dement of their crimes ; but you 
 " except such as charges may hereafter be preferred 
 " against, are at liberty, as soon as the troops are 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 87 
 
 " removed that now guard the place, which I shall 
 " cause to be done immediately. 
 
 " It now devolves upon you to fulfill the treaty 
 " that you have entered into, the leading items of 
 " which I shall now lay before you. The first re- 
 " quires that your leading men be given up to be 
 " tried according to law ; this you have complied 
 " with. The second is, that you deliver up your 
 " arms ; this has also been attended to. The third 
 " is, that you sign over your properties to defray the 
 " expense that has been incurred on your account; 
 " this you have also done. Another article remains 
 " for you to comply with, and that is that you leave 
 " the State forthwith. And whatever may be your 
 " feelings concerning this, or whatever your inno- 
 " cence is, it is nothing to me. General Lucas, 
 " whose military rank is equal with mine, has made 
 " this treaty with you ; I approve of it. I should 
 " have done the same had I been here, and am, 
 " therefore, determined to see it executed. 
 
 " The character of this State has suffered almost 
 " beyond redemption, from the character, conduct 
 " and influence you have exerted ; and we deem it 
 " an act of justice to restore her character by every 
 " proper means. 
 
 " The order of the Governor to me was, that you 
 " should be exterminated, and not allowed to re- 
 " main in the State. And had not your leaders 
 " been given up, and the terms of the treaty com- 
 " plied with, before this time your families would 
 " have been destroyed and your houses in ashes. 
 
 " There is a discretionary power vested in my 
 " hands, which, considering your circumstances, I 
 
88 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 4 ' shall exercise for a season. You are indebted to 
 4C me for this clemency. I do not say that you shall 
 41 go now, but you must not think of staying here 
 " another season, or of putting in crops ; for the 
 " moment you do this the citizens will be upon you, 
 " and if I am called here again in case of your non- 
 " compliance with the treaty made, do not think 
 " that I shall act as I have done now. You need 
 " not expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am 
 44 determined that the Governor's order shall be 
 " executed. 
 
 " As for your leaders, do not think, do not 
 4 ' imagine for a moment, do not let it enter into 
 " your minds that they will be delivered and re- 
 41 stored to you again, for their fate is fixed, the die 
 " is cast, their doom is sealed. 
 
 " I am sorry, gentlemen, to see so many appar- 
 " ently intelligent men found in the situation that 
 " you are ; and oh ! if I could but invoke that great 
 " spirit of the unknown God to rest upon and.de- 
 ' liver you from that awful chain of superstition, 
 " and liberate you from those fetters of fanaticism 
 " with which you are bound that you might no 
 4< longer do homage to man ! 
 
 " I would advise you to scatter abroad, and never 
 " again organize yourselves with bishops, priests, 
 " &c., lest you excite the jealousies of the people 
 44 and subject yourselves to the same calamities that 
 " have now come upon you. 
 
 " You have always been the aggressors. You 
 4i have brought upon yourselves these difficulties, by 
 " being disaffected, and not being subject to rule. 
 44 And my advice is, that you become as other citi- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 89 
 
 " zens, lest by a recurrence of these events, you 
 " bring upon yourselves inevitable ruin." 
 
 " I was present," says Brigham, " when that speech 
 " was delivered, and when fifty-seven of our breth- 
 " ren were betrayed into the hands of our enemies 
 " as prisoners. 
 
 " General Clark said that we must not be seen as 
 " many as five together ; ' if you are,' said he, * the 
 " ' citizens will be upon you and destroy you ; but 
 " * you should flee immediately out of the State. 
 " ' There is no alternative for you but to flee ; you 
 " ' need not expect any redress ; there is none for 
 " ' you,'" 
 
 " With respect to the treaty mentioned by Gen. 
 " Clark, I have to say that there never was any 
 " treaty proposed or entered into on the part of the 
 " Mormons, or any one called a Mormon, except by 
 " Col. Finkle. And with respect to the trial of 
 " Joseph and the brethren at Richmond, I did not 
 " consider that tribunal a legal court but an inquisi- 
 " tion. The brethren were compelled to give 
 
 " away their property at the point of the bayonet. 
 
 "In February, 1839, I I GU: Missouri with my 
 
 " family, leaving my landed property and also my 
 
 " household goods, and went to Illinois, to a little 
 
 u town called Atlas, Pike County, where I tarried a 
 
 , " few weeks ; then moved to Ouincy. 
 
 " I held a meeting with the brethren of the 
 " Twelve and the members of the Church in Quincy, 
 " on the 1 7th 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 
 u means to move. Though the brethren were pool 
 
90 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG | OR, 
 
 " and stripped of almost everything, yet they mani- 
 " Tested a spirit of willingness to do to their utmost. 
 " Offering to sell their hats, coats and shoes to 
 " accomplish the object. We broke bread and par- 
 " took of the sacrament. At the close of the meet- 
 " ing $50 was collected in money, and several teams 
 " were subscribed to go and bring the brethren. 
 " Amongr the subscribers was the widow of Warren 
 
 o 
 
 " Smith, whose husband and two sons had their 
 " brains blown out at the massacre at Haun's Mill. 
 " She sent her only team on this charitable mis- 
 11 sion." 
 
 It was Brigham Young who superintended the 
 removal and settling of the Mormons in Illinois, for 
 the Prophet was now in prison with Parley P. Pratt 
 and others. 
 
 A revelation had been given the previous year, 
 July 8th, 1836, in answer to a petition: "Show us 
 " thy will O Lord, concerning the Twelve." The 
 answer came thus : 
 
 " Verily thus saith the Lord, let a conference be 
 " held immediately. Let the Twelve be organized, 
 " and let men be appointed to supply the places of 
 " those who are fallen. Let my servant Thomas 
 " remain for a season in the land of Zion to publish 
 " my word. Let the residue continue to preach 
 " from that hour, and if they will do this in all lowli- 
 " ness of heart, in meekness and humility, and long- 
 " suffering, I, the Lord, give unto them a promise 
 " that I will provide for their families, and an 
 " effectual door shall be Open for them from hence- 
 " forth ; and next Spring let them depart to go over 
 " the great waters, and there promulgate my gospel, 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 91 
 
 "" the fulness thereof, and bear record of my name. 
 <l Let them take leave of my Saints in the city of 
 " Far West, on the 26th day of April next, on the 
 "' building spot of my house, saith the Lord. 
 , " Let my servant, John Taylor, and also my serv- 
 " ant, John E. Page, and also my servant, Wilford 
 " Woodruff, and also my servant, Willarcl Richards, 
 " be appointed to fill the place of those who have 
 " fallen, and be officially notified of their appoint- 
 41 ment." 
 
 But the Saints were now in banishment, and the 
 Twelve could only return to Far West at the immi- 
 nent risk of their lives. Many of the authorities of 
 the Church urged that the Lord would not require 
 the Twelve to fulfill this revelation to the letter, 
 but would take the will for the deed. " But I felt 
 41 differently," says Brigham, an'd " so did those of the 
 " quorum who were with me. I asked them, indi- 
 " vidually, what their feelings were upon the sub- 
 " ject. They all expressed their desire to fulfill 
 " the revelation. I told them the Lord had spoken 
 " and it was our duty to obey, and leave the event 
 " in his hands, and he would protect us." 
 
 There was a world of wisdom in this decision. 
 The revelation was a special one concerning the 
 Twelve Apostles themselves, and the success of 
 their mission " across the great waters." Brigham 
 was the master spirit of the Twelve. It would not 
 do for that revelation to fail, now the Church was 
 resting on the shoulders of the Twelve ; and Brig- 
 ham Young was not the man to let it fail ! 
 
 The Twelve started. Far West was reached in 
 safety. They hid themselves in a grove. The mob 
 
92 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 came into Far West to tantalize the committee, 
 boasting that this was one of Joe Smith's revelations 
 which could not be fulfilled, and threatened the 
 committee themselves if they were found in Far 
 West the next day. 
 
 Early on the morning of the elect day, April 
 26th, the Twelve held their conference, " cut off" 31 
 persons from the church, and proceeded to the 
 building spot of the " Lord's House," where Elder 
 Cutter, the master workman of the house, recom- 
 menced laying the foundation by rolling up a large 
 stone near the south-east corner. There were pres- 
 ent of the Twelve, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kim- 
 ball, Orson Pratt, John E. Page, and John Taylor, 
 who proceeded to ordain Wilford Woodruff and 
 George A. Smith to the office of the Twelve, in 
 place of those who had fallen. The quorum then 
 offered up vocal prayer, each in their order, begin- 
 ning with President Young, after which they sang 
 " Adam-on-di-ahman," and took leave of the Saints 
 according to the revelation. 
 
 " Thus," says the President, " 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, as it had 
 " date and place to it." 
 
 After being in prison in Missouri about six 
 months, the Prophet, with Parley P. Pratt and 
 others, made their escape. 
 
 " It was one of the most joyful scenes of my life," 
 says Brigham, " to once more strike hands with the 
 " Prophet, and behold him and his companions free 
 " from the hands of their enemies ; Joseph con- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 93 
 
 44 versed with us like a man who had just escaped 
 " from a thousand oppressions, and was now free in 
 " the midst of his children." 
 
 The Prophet was highly pleased with Brigham 
 and the Twelve for what they had done ; and at 
 a conference which he immediately held at Quincy, 
 resolutions were passed expressing the approval of 
 the whole church. 
 
 Joseph and the Twelve next founded Nauvoo, at 
 a place then called Commerce, in Hancock County, 
 Illinois, and soon again the Mormons gathered to- 
 gether as a people, 
 
 But the unhealthy labor of breaking new land on 
 the banks of the Mississippi, for the founding of 
 their city, invited pestilence. Nearly every one 
 " was down " with fever and ague. The Prophet 
 had the sick borne into his house and door-yard, 
 until his place was like a hospital. At length, even 
 he succumbed to the deadly contagion, and for sev- 
 eral days was as helpless as his disciples. He was a 
 man of mighty faith, however, and " the spirit came 
 " upon him to arise and stay the pestilence." 
 
 " Joseph arose from his bed," narrated the Presi- 
 dent,. " and the power of God rested upon him. He 
 '" commenced in his own house and door-yard, com- 
 " manding the sick in the name of Jesus Christ to 
 " arise and be made whole ; and they were healed 
 " according to his word. He then continued to 
 " travel from house to house, and from tent to tent, 
 " upon the bank of the river, healing the sick as he 
 " went, until he arrived at the upper stone house, 
 " where he crossed the river in a boat, accompanied 
 '" by several of the quorum of the Twelve, and landed 
 
94 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " in Montrose. He walked into the cabin where I 
 " was lying sick, and commanded me, in the name 
 " of Jesus Christ, to arise and be made whole. I 
 " arose and was healed, and followed him and the 
 " brethren of the Twelve into the house of Elijah 
 " Fordham, who was supposed, by his family and 
 " friends to be dying. Joseph stepped to his bed- 
 " side, took him by the hand and commanded him, 
 " in the name of Jesus Christ, to arise from his bed 
 " and be made whole. His voice was as the voice 
 " of God. Brother Fordham instantly leaped from 
 " his bed, called for his clothing and followed us 
 " into the street. We then went into the house of 
 " Joseph S. Nobles, who lay very sick, and he was 
 " healed in the same manner ! And when, by the 
 " power of Gocl granted unto him, Joseph had healed 
 " all the sick, he recrossed the river, and returned 
 " to his home This was a day never to be forgot- 
 " ten." 
 
 While yet emaciated from their recent sickness, 
 the Twelve started on their mission to England. 
 
 President Young started from his home in Mont- 
 rose on the 1 4th of September, 1839. Being still 
 feeble, he was carried to the house of Heber C. 
 Kimball, where he remained till the i8th. Kimball 
 was in a similar condition ; but these two chief 
 apostles, nevertheless, resolutely set out for Eng- 
 land, visiting Kirtland by the way. 
 
 On the 1 9th of March, 1840, Brigham Young, 
 Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, Parley P. Pratt, 
 Orson Pratt and Reuben Hedlock, sailed from New 
 York on board the Patrick Henry, a packet of 
 the Black Ball line. A large number of the Saints 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 95 
 
 came down to the wharf to bid them farewell. 
 When the elders got into the small boat to go out 
 to the ship, the Saints on shore sang " The gallant 
 " ship is under way," in which song the elders 
 joined until the voices were separated by the dis- 
 tance. 
 
 Liverpool was reached by these apostles on the 
 6th of April. It was the anniversary of the organ- 
 ization of the church, just ten years before. Brig- 
 ham left the ship in a boat, with Heber C. Kimball 
 and Parley P. Pratt, and when he landed he gave a 
 loud shout of Hosanna! They procured a room 
 at No. 8 Union Street, and here they partook of the 
 sacrament, and returned thanks to God for his pro- 
 tecting care while on the waters, and prayed that 
 their way might be opened to the successful accom- 
 plishment of their mission. 
 
 Next day they found Elder Taylor and John 
 Moon, with about thirty Saints who had just re- 
 ceived the work in that place. On the following 
 day they went to Preston by railroad (which was 
 built just at the period that the Mormon mission 
 was introduced to that country). 
 
 In Preston, the cradle of the British mission, 
 the apostles were met by a multitude of Saints, 
 who rejoiced exceedingly at the great event of the 
 arrival of the Twelve in that land. 
 
 Willard Richards immediately hastened to Pres- 
 ton and gave an account of the churches in the 
 British Isles, over which he had been presiding 
 during the interval from the return of Heber C. 
 Kimball and Orson Hyde to America. The Presi- 
 dent of the Twelve was so emaciated from his long 
 
96 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 journey and sickness, that Willard did not at first 
 recognize him ; yet he at once commenced to grap- 
 ple with the work in foreign lands, convened a con- 
 ference, and wrote to Woodruff to attend. 
 
 Apostles Woodruff and Taylor had arrived in 
 England on the first of the year, since which time 
 Taylor had founded a church in Liverpool ; and 
 Woodruff, in Herefordshire, had built up a confer- 
 ence, consisting of many branches, numbering nearly 
 a thousand souls. The President, therefore, had 
 come at the very moment when he was most needed 
 to give organic form to that great mission, out of 
 which Utah itself has largely grown. 
 
 It was on the I4th of April, 1840, that the first 
 council of the Twelve Apostles, in a foreign land, 
 was held at Preston. There were present, Brigham 
 Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson 
 Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and George 
 A. Smith. These proceeded to ordain Willard 
 Richards to their quorum, and then Brigham was 
 chosen, by a unanimous vote, the standing Presi- 
 dent of the Twelve, 
 
 Then followed, during the next two days, " a 
 " general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ 
 " of Latter-day Saints," held in the Temperance 
 Hall, Preston, with Heber C. Kimball presiding and 
 William Clayton clerk. There were represented at 
 that time 1,671 members, 34 elders, 52 priests, 38 
 teachers, and 8 deacons. 
 
 During this conference the Apostles resolved to 
 publish a monthly periodical The Millennial Star 
 to be edited by Parley P. Pratt, assisted by Brigham 
 Young, and to compile a new Hymn Book. Brig- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 97 
 
 ham Young, Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor were 
 appointed a committee to select the hymns suitable 
 for the service of the Saints ; and Brigham Young, 
 Heber C. Kimball and Parley P. Pratt, a committee 
 for the publication of the Book of Mormon. Upon 
 this Brigham wrote the following characteristic 
 letter to the Prophet : 
 
 " To President Joseph Smith and Councilors : 
 
 DEAR BRETHREN : You no doubt will have the 
 perusal of this letter and minutes of our conferences ; 
 they will give you an idea of what we are doing in 
 this country. 
 
 If you see anything in or about the whole affair 
 that is not right, I ask, in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, that you would make known unto us 
 the mind of the Lord and his will concerning us. 
 
 I believe that I am as willing to do the will of the 
 Lord, and take counsel of my brethren, and be a 
 servant of the Church, as ever I was in my life ; but 
 I can tell you, I would like to be with my old 
 friends ; I like my new ones, but I cannot part with 
 my old ones for them. 
 
 Concerning the Hymn Book: when we arrived 
 here, we found the brethren had laid by their old 
 hymn books, and they wanted new ones ; for the 
 Bible, religion and all, is new to them. * * * 
 
 I trust that I will remain your friend through life 
 and in eternity. 
 
 As ever, 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG." 
 
 From the conference the President accompanied 
 Willard Woodruff into Herefordshire, which was 
 the most important field of labor in the British 
 mission. Here he obtained most of the money for 
 
98 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 the publication of the Book of Mormon and the 
 Hymn Book ; Brother John Benbow furnishing 250 
 pounds and Brother Kington 100 pounds sterling. 
 
 On the 1 6th of June, President Young sent off 
 the first company of the Saints, numbering 41 souls, 
 in the ship North America. They were bound for 
 the " Land of Zion." He then, with his quorum, 
 held the second general conference, July ist. in 
 Manchester, at which were represented 41 branches, 
 2,513 members, 56 elders, 126 priests, 61 teachers, 
 and 13 deacons, being an increase in three months 
 of 842 members, 22 elders, 74 priests, 23 teachers 
 and 5 deacons. At this conference twenty of the 
 native elders volunteered to devote themselves ex- 
 clusively to the ministry. 
 
 Soon after this conference, Parley P. Pratt, leav- 
 ing for America to bring his family to England, 
 Brigham took more immediate charge of The Mil- 
 lennial Star, assisted by Willard Richards. 
 
 In September he organized the second company 
 of emigrants 200 souls on board the North 
 America, which sailed on the 8th. 
 
 On the 6th of October the third general confer- 
 ence was held at Manchester, at which 3,626 mem- 
 bers were represented, with 81 elders, 222 priests, 74 
 teachers, and 26 deacons, showing an increase in 
 the three months of 1,113 members, 25 elders, 96 
 priests, 15 teachers, and 13 deacons. 
 
 By this time the work had penetrated into Wales 
 and Scotland ; yet with great difficulty into the lat- 
 ter country. 
 
 The work in London was also opened about this 
 time by Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, and 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 99 
 
 Wilford Woodruff; and, notwithstanding that it 
 afterwards became the stronghold of Mormonism in 
 England, the elders found the metropolis hard to 
 penetrate. 
 
 While he was in England, President Young visit- 
 ed London several times. On one occasion, as he 
 passed the chapel in which John Wesley preached, 
 he paused and respectfully uncovered his' head. It 
 was the instinctive reverence of one great man paid 
 to another. 
 
 On the 2Oth of April, 1841, Brigham Young, He- 
 ber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, 
 John Taylor, George A. Smith, and Willard Rich- 
 ards, with a company of 130 Saints, went on board 
 the ship Rochester, bound for New York. The 
 following passage from the President's journal will 
 give a view of what was done by the Twelve during 
 the mission to England : 
 
 "It was with a heart full of thanksgiving and 
 " gratitude to God, my heavenly father, that I re- 
 " fleeted upon his dealings with me and my breth- 
 " ren of the Twelve during the past year of my life 
 " which was spent in England. It truly seems a 
 " miracle to look upon the contrast between our 
 " landing and departing from Liverpool. We land- 
 " ed in the Spring of 1840, as strangers in a strange 
 " land, and penniless, but through the mercy of God 
 " we have gained many friends, established churches 
 " in almost every noted town and city of Great 
 " Britain, baptized between seven and eight thou- 
 ""sand souls, printed 5,000 Books of Mormon, 3,000 
 " hymn books, 2,500 volumes of The Millennial 
 " Star, and 50,000 tracts ; emigrated to Zion 1,000 
 
IOO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 4< souls, establishing a permanent shipping agency, 
 " which will be a great blessing to the Saints, and 
 " have left sown in the hearts of many thousands 
 " the seed of eternal life, which shall bring forth 
 " fruit to the honor and glory of God ; and 
 " yet we have lacked nothing to eat, drink or 
 *' wear ; in all these things I acknowledge the hand 
 of God." 
 
 A multitude of the Saints stood on the dock to 
 ee these successful apostles start for their native 
 land, among whom was P. P. Pratt, who was left in 
 charge of the British mission, and Apostle Orson 
 Hyde, bound on a mission to Jerusalem. 
 
 On the ist of July President Young, with Heber 
 C. Kimball and John Taylor, arrived in Nauvoo. 
 They were cordially welcomed by the Prophet, 
 who several days after received the following revela- 
 tion : 
 
 " Dear and well beloved brother Brigham Young, 
 " verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant 
 41 Brigham, it is no more required at your hand to 
 " leave your family as in times past, for your offer- 
 " ing is acceptable to me ; I have seen your labor 
 " and toil in journeying for my name. I, therefore, 
 " command you to send my word abroad, and take 
 " special care of your family from this time, hence- 
 " forth and for ever, amen." 
 
 The Prophet also wrote in his history concerning 
 the Twelve : 
 
 " All the quorum of the Twelve Apostles who 
 " were expected here this season, with the exception 
 " of Willard Richards and Wilford Woodruff, have 
 " arrived. We have listened to the accounts which 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. IOI 
 
 " they give of their success, and the prosperity of 
 " the work of the Lord in Great Britain, with plea- 
 " sure. 
 
 " They certainly have been instruments in the 
 " hands of God of accomplishing much, and must 
 " have the satisfaction of knowing that they have 
 " done their duty. Perhaps no men ever undertook 
 " such an important mission under such peculiarly 
 " distressing, forbidding and unpropitious circum- 
 " stances. Most of them, when they left this place, 
 tl nearly two years ago, were worn down with sick- 
 " ness and disease, or were taken sick on the road. 
 " Several of their families were also afflicted, and 
 " needed their aid and support. But knowing that 
 " they had been called by the God of heaven to 
 " preach the gospel to other nations, they conferred 
 " not with flesh and blood, but, obedient to the 
 " heavenly mandate, without purse or scrip, com- 
 " menced a journey of five thousand miles entirely 
 " dependent on the providence of that God who 
 " had called them to such a holy calling. 
 
 " While journeying to the sea board, they were 
 " brought into many trying circumstances ; after a 
 " short recovery from severe sickness, they would 
 * be taken with a relapse, and have to stop among 
 " strangers, without money and without friends. 
 " Their lives were several times despaired of, and 
 " they have taken each other by the hand, expecting 
 " it was the last time they should behold one an- 
 " other in the flesh. 
 
 " Notwithstanding their afflictions and trials, the 
 " Lord always interposed in their behalf, and did 
 " not suffer them to sink into the arms of death. 
 
IO2 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 " Some way or other was made for their escape ; 
 " friends rose up when they most needed them, and 
 " relieved their necessities, and thus they were en- 
 " abled to pursue their journey and rejoice in the 
 ' holy one of Israel. They truly went forth weep- 
 " ing, bearing precious seed, but have returned re- 
 " joicing, bearing their sheaves with them." 
 
 The Prophet hfad now nearly reached the zenith 
 of his power. His marvellous career was drawing 
 to a close. But he had lived long enough to see his 
 mission planted firmly in the United States and 
 Europe. He had seen, too, the very man rise by 
 his side who, perhaps, above all men in the world, 
 was the one most fitted in every respect to succeed 
 him and carry the new dispensation to a successful 
 issue. Every move which Joseph made from that 
 moment to his death manifested his instinctive ap- 
 preciation of that fact. At the next conference 
 the Prophet called upon the Twelve to stand in 
 their place and " bear off the Kingdom of God " 
 victorious among all nations. From that time, too, 
 the burden of his sayings was that he was " rolling 
 " off the kingdom from his own shoulcjers on to the 
 " shoulders of the Twelve." The mantle of Joseph 
 was falling upon Brigham. He lived barely long 
 enough to make this appreciated, and to prepare 
 the church for his martyrdom. A thousand times 
 did the Prophet foreshadow his death. Every day 
 he told his people in some form of the coming 
 event. They blinded their understanding ; yet, to- 
 day they remember but too well the prophetic sig- 
 nificance which indicated the close of his mortal 
 career. If any man could have averted the stroke 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 1 03 
 
 of fate, that man was Brigham Young. Had he 
 been in Nauvoo he would have probably prevented 
 the martyrdom. But strange to say, in spite of the 
 foregoing revelation, and Joseph's evident feeling of 
 safety with Brigham by his side, he sent him 
 again on mission, during which period the tragedy 
 occurred. 
 
 But during the last two years preceding his mar- 
 tyrdom, the star of the Prophet burst forth in its full 
 brilliancy. Nauvoo rose as a beautiful monument 
 of a new dispensation. The city numbered twenty 
 thousand souls. In its legion were mustered several 
 thousand militia soldiers. They were the flower of 
 Israel, and in the prime of manhood. Joseph was 
 their lieut.-general. With the thousands that were 
 now expected to flock to Zion from the British mis- 
 sion, had his triumphant career continued, a hun- 
 dred thousand of his disciples would, in a few years, 
 have been gathered to Illinois and adjacent States. 
 Their united votes would have controlled those 
 States. Success would have multiplied the oppor- 
 tunities for success. Long ere this, following up 
 such a prospect, the Prophet would have held half 
 a million votes at his command among his disciples. 
 Even some of his wisest elders were carried away 
 by this view, while brilliant politicians and aspiring 
 spirits outside the church pointed the Prophet out 
 to the nation as the " coming man," and sought to 
 unite their destiny with his. In short, Joseph 
 Smith became a candidate for the Presidency of 
 the United States. The first contest would of 
 course have been lost ; the second and the third 
 perhaps lost also ; but ere this the Mormon elders 
 
IO4 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG 
 
 would have swept over the States in a political mis- 
 sion like an avalanche down the mountain. 
 
 There was one man, whose clear strong judgment 
 was not glamoured by this delusive view. It is 
 scarcely necessary to say that that man was Brig- 
 ham Young. His genius would have led him just 
 where his destiny has led him namely, to the 
 Rocky Mountains. In the very certainty that the 
 Mormons, by their united vote, would soon rule the 
 elections in several States consisted the Prophet's 
 greatest clanger. This people never have been 
 guilty of crimes, but they have been guilty of 
 unity, and have been damned by the prospect of a 
 great destiny. 
 
 The only course that could have saved the Pro- 
 phet, would have been an earlier removal to the 
 Rocky Mountains. An expedition to explore this 
 country had not only been planned, but was in pro- 
 cess of organization, when the electioneering cam- 
 paign, for Joseph Smith as President of the United 
 States, came uppermost, and absorbed every other 
 interest. 
 
 Events have since proved that had Joseph led a 
 band of pioneers in the Spring of 1844 ^o the Rocky 
 Mountains, Brigham was quite equal to master an 
 exodus and remove the entire Church. When the 
 mob force threatened Nauvoo, and the Governor, 
 with an army, prepared to march against the de- 
 voted city, under the excuse of forestalling civil 
 war, making the demand on the person of the Pro- 
 phet for high treason, Joseph essayed to flee to the 
 mountains. He had even started, crossing the river 
 to the Iowa side, where he waited the enrolment of 
 
UTAH AND HER 'FOUNDERS. 105 
 
 a chosen band of pioneers ; but a messenger from 
 his wife and certain of his disciples, reproaching him 
 as a shepherd who had deserted his flock, recalled 
 him to Nauvoo. Such a reproach was, beyond all 
 others, the last that the lion heart of Joseph could 
 bear and he returned and gave himself up to the 
 authorities of Illinois. But had Brigham Young 
 been home he never would have permitted that re- 
 turn. He would have thundered indignation upon 
 the craven heads of those who thus devoted their 
 Prophet to almost certain death. Rather would he 
 have sent a thousand elders to guard him to the 
 mountains, for none loved Joseph better than did 
 Brigham Young. 
 
 It was one of those cases in which Providence 
 over-rules for the accomplishment of its wiser pur- 
 poses. A triumphant career leading to empire was 
 most in accordance with human desires, but from 
 the hour of his death, the Church realized that a 
 martyr's blood was necessary to consecrate a new 
 dispensation of the gospel. Christ was a greater 
 success than Mohammed ; Joseph was more im- 
 mortal in his martyr's gore than he had been in the 
 seat at Washington. The Church mourns the event 
 to this day ever will look upon it as one of the 
 darkest of earth's tragedies, but all acknowledge the 
 hand of God in it. 
 
 Brigham was away with the majority of the 
 Twelve when the martyrdom took place. Two only 
 were in Nauvoo ; they were Willard Richards and 
 John Taylor. Both of these were in prison with 
 the Prophet when the assassins, with painted faces, 
 broke into Carthage gaol, overpowered the guards, 
 
IO6 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG * OR, 
 
 and martyred the brothers Joseph and Hyrum. No- 
 pen can describe the universal shock felt among 
 the Saints, when the news burst upon them, and 
 sped throughout the United States and Europe. 
 
 Brigham Young and Orson Pratt were together 
 at Peterboro, N. H., at the house of Brother Bemet, 
 when a letter from Nauvoo came to a Mr. Joseph 
 Powers, giving particulars of the assassination. The 
 rumor met them first at Salem. Awful as it was to 
 him, the President too well realized that unless the 
 Twelve were equal to the occasion, the Church was 
 in danger of dissolution or a great schism. At best,, 
 the Saints must feel for a moment as sheep without 
 a shepherd. 
 
 Those who have followed him in his eventful 
 career, know that Brigham is always greatest on 
 |reat occasions. He never fails in a trying houn 
 The disciples of Christ, with Peter at their head, 
 went sorrowfully to their fishing nets after the 
 crucifixion ; but not so with these modern apostles. 
 " The first thing that I thought of," says the Presi- 
 dent, " was whether Joseph had taken the keys of 
 " the kingdom with him from the earth. Brother 
 " Orson Pratt sat on my left ; we were both leaning 
 " back in our chairs. Bringing my hand down on 
 " my knee, I said, the keys of the kingdom are right 
 " here with the Church." 
 
 The President immediately started for Boston, 
 where he held council with Heber C. Kimball, 
 Orson Pratt, and Wilford Woodruff, relative to their 
 return to Nauvoo. Heber and Brigham remained 
 there a week, awaiting the arrival of Apostle Lyman 
 Wight. During their stay, they ordained, at one 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 1 07 
 
 evening meeting, thirty-two elders. This act was 
 conclusive evidence that these apostles did not in- 
 tend to let the Church die. 
 
 As soon as Lyman Wight arrived, the three set 
 out for Nauvoo, and at Albany they were joined by 
 Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt and Wilford Woodruff. 
 
 A stupendous burden rested upon the shoulders 
 of the Twelve. The Church had not only to be 
 comforted in its great affliction, and made to realize 
 by a sufficient manifestation of apostolic power, that 
 the keys were " right here with the Chnrch," but to 
 establish an authorized succession. Sidney Rigdon 
 was already at Nauvoo. He had been the second 
 councilor to the Prophet, and Hyrum the first 
 councilor, was a martyr with his brother. Sidney 
 was now a claimant for the leadership. The Twelve 
 knew that they should have first to grapple with 
 this brilliant but unfit man, and knew that Sidney 
 would, if possible, wreck the Church in his vain- 
 glorious ambitions. 
 
 Granting that the keys of the kingdom remained 
 on earth, who held them ? This was the all-im- 
 portant question before the Saints, when Brigham 
 Young and the Twelve arrived at Nauvoo on the 
 6th of August, 1844. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SIDNEY RIGDON. BRIGHAM AND THE TWELVE TAKE 
 THEIR PLACE AND LEAD THE CHURCH. THE 
 DISCIPLES RECOGNIZE THE SPIRIT OF JOSEPH IN 
 HIS SUCCESSOR. THE LAST DAYS OF NAUVOO. 
 
 Sidney Rigdon, the second councilor of the 
 martyred Prophet, arrived at Nauvoo before the 
 President of the Twelve. He had for some time 
 been as an unstable staff to his chief, and the Saints 
 were not in a frame of mind to look upon him as 
 " the man whom God had called " to sustain the 
 Church in that awful hour. But the vain-glorious 
 Rigdon had come to claim the guardianship of the 
 Church, in the absence of the majority of the 
 Twelve. There were enough, however, of that 
 quorum in Nauvoo to prevent Sidney from beguiling 
 the people into an untimely action. 
 
 When Rigdon appeared before the congregation, 
 he related a vision which . he said the Lord had 
 shown him concerning the situation of the Church, 
 and declared that there must be a guardian chosen 
 " to build up the kingdom to Joseph." He was the 
 identical man, he said, that the prophets had sung 
 about, wrote about and rejoiced over ; he was to do 
 the identical work that had been the theme of all 
 the prophets in every preceding generation. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 1 09 
 
 Elder Parley P. Pratt remarked, " I am the 
 " identical man the prophets never sung nor wrote 
 " a word about." 
 
 Marks, the president of the stake, .appointed a 
 day for a special conference, for the purpose of 
 choosing a guardian. 
 
 Willard Richards proposed waiting till the Twelve 
 Apostles returned, and advised the people to "ask 
 " wisdom of God." 
 
 Elder Grover proposed waiting to examine the 
 revelation. 
 
 And thus the elders were variously moved. 
 
 Rigdon sought to evade coming in council with 
 such men as Willard Richards, Parley P. Pratt, John 
 Taylor and George A. Smith, but at length he was 
 forced to a meeting with them. Entering, he paced 
 the room and said : 
 
 " Gentlemen, you are used up; gentlemen, you are 
 " divided ; the anti-Mormons have got you ; the 
 " brethren are voting every way, some for James, 
 " some for Deming, some for Coulson and some for 
 " Bedell. The anti-Mormons have got you ; you 
 " can't stay in the country ; everything is in con- 
 " fusion ; you can do nothing. You lack a great 
 " leader ; you want a head ; and unless you unite 
 " upon that head, you're blown to the four winds. 
 " The anti-Mormons will carry the election ; a guar- 
 " dian must be appointed." 
 
 " Brethren," said George A. Smith, " Elder Rigdon 
 " is entirely mistaken. There is no division ; the 
 " brethren are united ; the election will be unani- 
 " mous, and the friends of law and order will be 
 " elected by a thousand majority. There is no 
 
I IO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " occasion to be alarmed. Brother Rigdon is inspir- 
 " ing fears there are no grounds for." 
 
 With the return of President Young and the re- 
 mainder of the Twelve vanished Rigdon's last 
 chance of being elected Guardian of the Church ; 
 " but," says Apostle Woodruff, in his journal, 
 " when we landed in the city a deep gloom seemed 
 " to rest over Nauvoo which we never experienced 
 " before. The minds of the Saints were agitated ; 
 " their hearts sorrowful, and darkness seemed to 
 " cloud their path. They felt like sheep without a 
 " shepherd. Their beloved prophet having been 
 " taken away." 
 
 President Young immediately called a special 
 conference, to give Sidney Rigdon the opportunity 
 to lay before the Church his claims for the leader- 
 ship. It was August 8th, 1844. That day was 
 practically to be decided who was to " lead Israel." 
 
 At the hour appointed, Sidney took his position 
 in a wagon, about two rods in front of the stand, 
 where sat the Twelve. For nearly two hours he 
 harrangued the Saints upon the subject of choosing 
 a guardian for the Church. But his words fell upon 
 the congregation like an untimely shower. 
 
 " The Lord hath not chosen you ! " Thus felt 
 the Mormon Israel as his words died upon the 
 ear. 
 
 At two P. M. the second meeting was convened. 
 
 " Attention all ! " The voice rang over that vast 
 congregation ; it was the voice of Brigham Young. 
 " This congregation," he said, " makes me think of 
 " the days of King Benjamin, the multitude being so 
 " great that all could not hear. For the first time 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS III 
 
 " in my life, for the first time in your lives, for the 
 " first time in the Kingdom of God, in the nine- 
 " teenth century, without a prophet at our head, do 
 " I step forth to act in my calling in connection 
 <( with the quorum of the Twelve, as apostles of 
 " Jesus Christ unto this generation apostles whom 
 " God has called by revelation through the Prophet 
 " Joseph Smith, who are ordained and annointed 
 " to bear off the keys of the Kingdom of God in 
 " all the world. This people have hitherto walked 
 " by sight and not by faith. You have had a 
 " prophet as the mouth of the Lord to speak to 
 " you, but he has sealed his testimony with 
 " his blood, and now for the first time are you 
 " called to walk by faith not by sight. 
 
 " The first position I take in behalf of the Twelve 
 *' and the people is to ask a few questions, I ask 
 " the Latter-day Saints, do you, as individuals, at 
 " this time, want to choose a prophet or a guardian ? 
 " Inasmuch as our prophet and patriarch are taken 
 " from our midst, do you want some one to guard, 
 " to guide and lead you through this world into the 
 " kingdom of God or not ? All who want some 
 " person to be a guardian, or a prophet, a spokes- 
 41 man, or something else, signify it by raising the 
 "' right hand. (No votes). 
 
 " When I came to this stand I had peculiar feel- 
 *' ings and impressions. The faces of this people 
 " seem to say, we want a shepherd to guide and lead 
 " us through this world. All who want to draw 
 " away a party from the Church after them, let 
 " them do it if they can, but they will not prosper. 
 
 "If any man thinks he has influence among this 
 
112 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " people, to lead away a party, let him try it, and he 
 " will find out that there is power with the apostles, 
 " which will carry them off victorious through all 
 " the world, and build up and defend the Church 
 " and kingdom of God. 
 
 " What do the people want ? I feel as though I 
 " wanted the privilege to weep and mourn for thirty 
 " days at least, then rise up, shake myself, and tell 
 " the people what the Lord wants of them. Although 
 " my heart is too full of mourning to launch forth 
 " into business transactions and the organization of 
 " the Church, I feel compelled this day to step forth 
 " in discharge of those duties God has placed upon 
 " me. 
 
 " There has been much said about Brother Rigdon 
 " being President of the Church, and leading the 
 " people, being the head, &c. Brother Rigdon has 
 " come i, 600 miles to tell you what he wants to do 
 " for you. If the people want Brother Rigdon to 
 " lead them, they may have him ; but, I say unto 
 " you, the Twelve have the keys of the kingdom 
 " of God in all the world. 
 
 " The Twelve are pointed out by the finger of 
 " God. Here is Brigham, have his knees ever 
 " faltered ? Have his lips ever quivered ? Here is 
 " Heber and the rest of the Twelve ; an independent 
 " body, who have the keys of the priesthood, the 
 " keys of the kingdom of God to deliver to all the 
 " world ; this is true, so help me God ! They stand 
 " next to Joseph, and are as the first presidency of 
 11 the Church. 
 
 " I do not know whether my enemies will take 
 " my life or not, and I do not care, for I wait to be 
 " with the man I love. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 113 
 
 " You cannot fill the office of a prophet, seer and 
 " revelater ; God must do this. You are like chil- 
 " dren without a father and sheep without a shep- 
 " herd. You must not appoint any man at you-r 
 " head ; if you should the Twelve must ordain him. 
 " You cannot appoint a man at your head ; but if 
 " you do want any other man or men to lead you, 
 " take them, and we will go our way to build up the 
 " kingdom in all the world. 
 
 " I tell you there is an over anxiety to hurry 
 " matters here. You cannot take any man and put 
 " him at the head ; you would scatter the Saints to 
 " the four winds ; you would sever the priesthood, 
 " So long as we remain as we are, the heavenly head 
 " is in constant co-operation with us ; and if you go 
 " out of that course God will have nothing to do 
 " with you. 
 
 " Again, perhaps some think that our beloved 
 " Brother Rigdon would not be honored, would not 
 " be looked to as a friend ; but if he does right, and 
 " remains faithful, he will not act against our counsel 
 " nor we against his, but act together, and we shall 
 " be as one. 
 
 " I again repeat, no man can stand at our head 
 " except God reveals it from the heavens. 
 
 " I have spared no pains to learn my lesson of the 
 " kingdom in this world, and in the eternal worlds. 
 " If it were not so I could go and live in peace ; 
 " but for the gospel and your sakes, I shall stand in 
 " my place. We are liable to be killed all the day 
 " long. You never lived by faith. 
 
 " Brother Joseph, the Prophet, has laid the found- 
 " ation of a great work, and we will build upon it^ 
 
H4 L1FE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 41 You have never seen the quorums built one upon 
 " another. There is an Almighty foundation laid. 
 " And we can build a kingdom such as there never 
 " was in the world ; we can build a kingdom faster 
 " than Satan can kill the Saints off. 
 
 " Elder Rigdon claims to be a spokesman to the 
 " Prophet. Very well, he was ; but can he now act 
 " in office? If he wants now to be a spokesman to 
 " the Prophet, he must go to the other side of the 
 " veil, for the Prophet is there ; but Elder Rigdon is 
 " here. Why will Elder Rigdon be a fool ? I am 
 <4 plain. 
 
 "I will ask, who has stood next to Joseph and 
 " Hyrum ? I have, and I will stand next to them. 
 " We have a head, and that head is the apostleship ? 
 " the spirit and the power of Joseph, and we can 
 " now begin to see the necessity of that apostle- 
 " ship. 
 
 " Brother Rigdon was at his side not above. 
 " no man has a right to counsel the Twelve but 
 41 Joseph Smith. Think of these things. You can- 
 41 not appoint a prophet, but if you will let the 
 41 Twelve remain and act in their place, the keys of 
 " the kingdom are with them, and they can manage 
 " the affairs of the Church, and direct all things 
 " aright." 
 
 Much more was said by the President, but this 
 brief synopsis will be sufficient to show the master 
 spirit stepping into the place to which destiny had 
 appointed him. On all these grand occasions of his 
 life, Brigham Young has towered above his fellows, 
 not so much in the character of a " spokesman," as 
 in that of a great and potent leader, whose spirit 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 115 
 
 could inspire a whole people with his own matchless 
 confidence and energy. 
 
 That day, "all Israel" felt that the spirit which 
 had moved Joseph to his work was living in Brig- 
 fram Young. Apostle Cannon, describing the cir- 
 cumstance, says : 
 
 "It was the first sound of his voice which the 
 " people had heard since he had gone east on his 
 " mission, and the effect upon them was most won- 
 " derful. Who that was present on that occasion 
 " can ever forget the impression it made upon them? 
 "If Joseph had risen from the dead, and again 
 " spoken in their hearing, the effect could not have 
 " been more startling than it was to many present 
 " at that meeting; it was the voice of Joseph him- 
 " self; and not only was it the voice of Joseph 
 " which was heard, but it seemed in the eyes of the 
 " people as though it was the very person of Joseph 
 " which stood before them. A more wonderful and 
 " miraculous event than was wrought that day in 
 " the presence of that congregation we never heard 
 " of. The Lord gave his people a testimony that 
 " left no room for doubt, as to who was the man he 
 " had chosen to lead them. They both saw and 
 " heard with their natural eyes and ears ; and then 
 " the words which were uttered came, accompanied 
 " by the convincing power of God to their hearts, 
 " and they were filled with the Spirit and with great 
 " joy. There had been gloom and, in some hearts 
 " probably, doubt and uncertainty ; but now it was 
 " plain to all that here was the man upon whom the 
 " Lord had bestowed the necessary authority to act 
 " in their midst in Joseph's stead." 
 
Il6 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 That day saved the Church. The anti-Mormons 
 had imagined that it was only necessary to murder 
 the Prophet and Mormonism would cease to have a 
 name in the earth. But " the blood of the Prophet 
 " was the seed of the Church ; " and a great man 
 had risen to fulfill his mission. 
 
 The Twelve was sustained as the first Presidency 
 by the unanimous vote of the people. Rigdon left 
 for Pittsburgh, and gathered around him a few of 
 his disciples, while the apostles at Nauvoo set to 
 work to enlarge their superstructure. 
 
 " You have never seen the quorums built one 
 " upon another," Brigham had said on that great 
 occasion. " There is an almighty foundation laid, 
 " and we will build a kingdom such as there never 
 " was in the world." 
 
 This was more fully comprehended when, at the 
 next October conference, there were about sixty 
 high priests and four hundred and thirty seventies 
 ordained. And to-day his words have still a 
 broader meaning, for there are now nearly one hun- 
 dred quorums of the seventies, who constitute the 
 grand missionary army of the Church, under the 
 Twelve Apostles. 
 
 But turn we now to the more secular history of 
 the Mormon people. 
 
 On the 27th of September, 1844, Governor Ford 
 marched five hundred troops into Nauvoo. He 
 came ostensibly to bring the murderers of Joseph 
 and Hyrum Smith to justice ; for as they were, at the 
 time of their assassination, State prisoners, under 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 117 
 
 the plighted faith of the State, the Governor could 
 do nothing less than support an investigation. On 
 the day of his arrival, Brigham Young received his 
 commission as Lieut-General of the Nauvoo Le- 
 gion, previously held by Joseph Smith, and the 
 next day the following was sent to His Excellency : 
 
 " Head-quarters Nauvoo Legion, 
 
 Sept. 28, 1844. 
 
 SIR : The review of the Nauvoo Legion will take 
 place this day at 12 M., at which time the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, with his staff, is respectfully solicit- 
 ed to accept an escort from the Legion, and be 
 present at the review. 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG, 
 
 Lieut. -Gen. Nauvoo Legion? 
 
 The Lieut-General reviewed the Legion, the 
 Governor, General J. J. Harden and Staff present. 
 Salutes were fired, and the Legion made a soldier- 
 like appearance ; several of its staff officers, how- 
 ever, came in uniform but without arms, which the 
 Governor regarded as a hint to remind him of his 
 having disarmed the Legion previous to the massa- 
 cre of Joseph Smith. 
 
 Soon afterwards the Governor issued the follow- 
 ing very suggestive order, accompanied with in- 
 structions : 
 
 State of Illinois, Executive Department, 
 
 Springfield, Oct. Qth, 1844. 
 
 To Lieut-General Brigham Young, of the Nauvoo 
 
 Legion. - 
 SIR : It may be probable that there may be fur- 
 
Il8 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 ther disturbances in Hancock County by those op- 
 posed to the prosecutions against the murderers of 
 Joseph and Hyrum Smith. They may combine to- 
 gether in arms to subvert justice and prevent those 
 prosecutions from going on. They may also attack 
 or resist the civil authorities of the State in that 
 county, and they may attack some of the settle- 
 ments or people there with violence. 
 
 The sheriff of the county may want a military 
 force to guard the court and protect it, or its officers 
 or the jurors thereof, or the witnesses attending 
 court, from the violence of a mob. 
 
 In all these cases you are hereby ordered and di- 
 rected to hold in readiness a sufficient force, under 
 your command, of the Nauvoo Legion, to act under 
 the direction of the said sheriff, for the purpose 
 aforesaid ; and also to suppress mobs which may be 
 collected in said county to injure the persons or 
 property of any of the citizens. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my 
 hand and affixed the Seal of State, the day and year 
 first herein above written. 
 
 THOMAS FORD, 
 Governor and Commander-in-chief? 
 
 " The inclosed order is one of great delicacy to 
 execute. I have conversed with Mr. Backenstos and 
 others, and my opinion is the same as theirs, that 
 employing the Legion, even legally, may call down 
 the vengeance of the people against your city. If 
 it should be the means of getting up a civil war in 
 Hancock, I do not know how much force I could 
 bring to the aid of the Government. A force to be 
 efficient would have to be called out as volunteers ; 
 a draft would bring friends and enemies alike. I 
 called for twenty-five hundred before ; and, by 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. I 19 
 
 ordering out independent companies, got four hun- 
 dred and seventy-five, three of those companies, 
 the most efficient, have been broken up, and would 
 refuse to go again. I should anticipate but a small 
 force to be raised by volunteers. I would not un- 
 dertake to march a drafted militia there. Two- 
 thirds of them would join the enemy. The enclosed 
 order is more intended as a permission to use the 
 Legion, in the manner indicated, if upon considera- 
 tion of the whole matter it is thought advisable, 
 than a compulsory command. 
 
 Your most wise and discreet councilors and the 
 county officers will have to act according to their 
 best judgment. 
 
 THOMAS FORD." 
 
 This order, with the private instructions, is very 
 significant, in connection with the history of the 
 Mormons in Missouri and Illinois. Constitutionally 
 they were in the right. The murder of the Prophet 
 and his brother had brought them into the service 
 of the State. Thus employed, Brigham Young and 
 the legion could have taken care of their people, 
 and, if necessary, could have maintained the Gover- 
 nor through the issue of a civil war. This would^ 
 however, have given Illinois to the dominance of 
 the Mormons. Hence the "delicacy" of his Ex- 
 cellency in calling the legion into service ; doing 
 substantially what Joseph Smith had done, which 
 in him had been construed as high treason against 
 the State, 
 
 The anti-Mormons were keen to perceive the 
 advantage which the people of Nauvoo had gained, 
 not only from the intrinsic righteousness of their 
 cause, but in their patient bearing of intolerable 
 
I2O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 wrongs. It became their policy from that moment 
 to repeal the charter of Nauvoo, and the charter of 
 the legion. This the Legislature of Illinois did in 
 the month of January, 1845. The Mormon people 
 were now virtually outlawed, and all constitutional 
 powers for their preservation taken away from 
 them. 
 
 The members of the Legislature were but too 
 ready to execute any plan proposed for the extinc- 
 tion of the Mormon community. One of the mem- 
 bers of the Senate, Jacob C. Davis, was under in- 
 dictment for the murder of the Prophet and his 
 brother. In relation to this action of the Legis- 
 lature, the Attorney General of the State, Josiah 
 Lamborn, wrote to President Young thus : 
 
 " I have always considered that your enemies 
 " have been prompted by religious and political 
 41 prejudices, and by a desire for plunder and blood, 
 " more than for the common good. By the repeal 
 " of your charter, and by refusing all amendments 
 " and modifications, our Legislature has given a 
 41 kind of sanction to the barbarous manner in which 
 41 you have been treated. Your two representatives 
 41 exerted themselves to the extent of their ability 
 41 in your behalf, but the tide of popular passion and 
 " frenzy was too strong to be resisted. It is truly a 
 4t melancholy spectacle to witness the law-makers of 
 41 a sovereign State condescending to pander to the 
 " vices, ignorance and malevolence of a class of 
 " people who are at all times ready for riot, murder 
 " and rebellion." 
 
 Of Jacob C. Davis, he said : 
 
 "Your Senator, Jacob C. Davis, has done much 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 121 
 
 " to poison the minds of members against anything 
 " in your favor. He walks at large, in defiance of 
 " law, an indicted murderer. If a Mormon was in 
 " his position, the Senate would afford no protection, 
 " but he would be dragged forth to the gaol or to 
 " the gallows, or to be shot down by a cowardly and 
 " brutal mob." 
 
 On the iQth of May the trial of the men indicted 
 by the grand jury for the murder of Joseph and 
 Hyrum Smith, was begun at Carthage, Hon. Richard 
 M. Young of Quincy on the bench. The men on 
 trial were : Col. Levi Williams, a Baptist preacher ; 
 Thomas C. Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal ; 
 Jacob C. Davis, Senator ; Mark Aldrich and William 
 N. Grover. They were outrageously held to bail, 
 upon their personal recognizances, in the unprece- 
 dentedly insignificant sum of one thousand dollars 
 each, to make their appearance in the court each 
 day of the term. They made two affidavits, asking 
 for the array of jurors to be quashed, obtained the 
 discharge of the county commissioners, the sheriff 
 and his deputies, and the appointment by the court 
 of two special officers to select jurors. Ninety-six 
 were summoned, out of whom the defence chose a 
 suitable panel. One of the lawyers for the 
 accused, Calvin A. Warren, in his defence of them, 
 said: " If the prisoners were guilty of murder, then 
 " he himself was guilty. It was the public opinion 
 " that the Smiths ought to be killed, and public 
 " opinion made the laws ; consequently it was not 
 " murder to kill them ! " This was strange doctrine 
 to be affirmed in a great murder case, in which the 
 State was a party, not in an ordinary but an extra- 
 
122 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 ordinary sense ; affirmed too and sustained in open 
 court. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to add that the assassins 
 were " honorably acquitted ! " 
 
 But the tragedy of those days was not without 
 an occasional relief. One of the richest practical 
 jokes ever perpetrated is thus related by one of the 
 actors : 
 
 " By the time we were at work in the Nauvoo 
 " Temple," says President Young, " officiating in the 
 " ordinances, the mob had learned that ' Mormon- 
 " ' ism ' was not dead, as they had supposed. We 
 " had completed the walls of the temple, and the 
 " attic story from about half way up of the first 
 " windows, in about fifteen months. It went up 
 " like magic, and we then commenced officiating in 
 " the ordinances. Then the mob commenced to 
 " hunt for other victims ; they had already killed 
 " the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum in 
 " Carthage gaol, while under the pledge of the State 
 " for their safety, and now they wanted Brigham, 
 " the President of the Twelve Apostles, who were 
 " then acting as the Presidency of the Church. I 
 " was in my room in the temple ; it was the south- 
 " east corner of the upper story. I learned that a 
 " posse was lurking around the temple, and that the 
 " United States Marshal was waiting for me to 
 " come down, whereupon I knelt down and asked 
 " my Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus, to 
 " guide and protect me, that I might live to prove 
 " advantageous to the Saints ; I arose from my 
 " knees, and sat down in my chair. There came a 
 " rap at my door. Come in, I said ; and Bro. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 123 
 
 " George D. Grant, who was then engaged driving 
 " my carriage and doing chores for me, entered the 
 " room. Said he, ' Brother Brigham, do you know 
 " ' that a posse and the United States Marshal are 
 "-' here ? ' I told him that I had heard so. On en- 
 " tering the room, Brother Grant left the door open, 
 " Nothing came into my mind what to do until,. 
 " looking across the hall, I saw Brother Wil- 
 *' Ham Miller leaning against the wall. As I 
 " stepped towards the door I beckoned to him ; he 
 " came. Brother William, I said, the Marshal is 
 " here for me ; will you go and do just as I tell 
 " you ? If you will I will serve them a trick. I 
 " knew that Brother Miller was an excellent man, 
 " perfectly reliable, and capable of carrying out my 
 " project. Here, take my cloak, said I ; but it hap- 
 " pened to be Brother Heber C. Kimball's ; our 
 " cloaks were alike in color, fashion and size. I 
 " threw it around his shoulders, and told him to 
 " wear my hat and accompany Brother George D. 
 " Grant. He did so. George, you step into the 
 " carriage, said I to Brother Grant, and look 
 " towards Brother Miller, and say to him, as though 
 " you were addressing me, are you ready to ride ? 
 " You can do this, and they will suppose Brother 
 " Miller to be me, and proceed accordingly ; which 
 " they did. Just as Brother Miller was enter- 
 " ing the carriage, the Marshal stepped up to 
 " him, and, placing his hand upon his shoulder, said, 
 " ' You are my prisoner.' Brother William entered 
 " the carriage, and said to the Marshal, ' I am going 
 " to the Mansion House, won't you ride with 
 " me ? ' They both went to the Mansion House. 
 
124 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " There were my sons Joseph A., Brigham Jr., and 
 " Brother Heber C. Kimball's boys and others, who 
 " were looking- on, and all seemed at once to under- 
 " stand and participate in the joke. They followed 
 " the carriage to the Mansion House, and gathered 
 " around Brother Miller with tears in their eyes,. 
 " saying, father, or President Young, where are you 
 " g om g - ? ' Brother Miller looked at them kindly, 
 " but made no reply ; and the Marshal really 
 " thought he had got ' Brother Brigham.' 
 
 " Lawyer Edmonds, who was then staying at the 
 " Mansion House, appreciating the joke, volunteered 
 " to Brother Miller to go to Carthage with him, 
 " and see him safe through. 
 
 " When they arrived within two or three miles 
 " of Carthage, the Marshal, with his posse, stopped. 
 " They arose in their carriages, buggies and wagons, 
 " and, like a tribe of Indians going to battle, or as 
 " if they were a pack of demons, yelling and shout- 
 " ing, exclaimed : ' We've got him ; we've got him ; 
 " ' we've got him ! ' 
 
 " When they reached Carthage, the Marshal took 
 u the supposed Brigham into an upper room of the 
 " hotel, and placed a guard over him, at the same 
 " time telling those around that he had got him. 
 " Brother Miller remained in the room until they 
 " bid him come to supper. While there, parties 
 " came in, one after the other, and asked for Brig- 
 " ham. Brother Miller was pointed out to them. 
 " So it continued, until an apostate Mormon, by the 
 " name of Thatcher, who had lived in Nauvoo, 
 " came in. sat down and asked the landlord where 
 " Brigham was. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 125 
 
 
 
 ' That is Mr. Young,' said the landlord, pointing 
 41 across the table to Brother Miller. 
 
 " ' Where ? I can't see any one that looks like 
 4< * Brigham,' Thatcher replied. 
 
 " The landlord told him it was that fleshy man, 
 " eating. 
 
 " ' Oh, H 1 ! ' exclaimed Thatcher, ' that's not 
 " ' Brigham ; that's William Miller, one of my old 
 " ' neighbors.' 
 
 " Upon hearing this the landlord went, and, tap- 
 " ping the sheriff on the shoulder, took him a few 
 " steps to one side, and said : 
 
 " * You have made a mistake. That is not Brig- 
 " ham Young. It is William Miller, of Nauvoo. 
 
 " The Marshal, very much astonished, exclaimed : 
 " * Good heavens ! and he passed for Brigham/ He 
 " then took Brother Miller into a room, and, turning 
 " to him, said : ' What in h 1 is the reason you 
 " ' did not tell me your name ? ' 
 
 " ' You have not asked me my name,' Brother 
 41 Miller replied. 
 
 " ' Well, what is your name ? ' said the sheriff, 
 " with another oath. 
 
 " ' My name is William Miller.' 
 
 " ' I thought your name was Brigham Young. Do 
 " ' you say this for a fact ? ' 
 
 " ' Certainly I do,' returned Brother Miller.' 
 
 " ' Then,' said the Marshal, ' Why did you not 
 " ' tell me that before ? ' 
 
 " ' I was under no obligation to tell you,' replied 
 41 Miller. 
 
 " The Marshal, in a rage, walked out of the room, 
 '" followed by Brother Miller, who walked off in 
 
126 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR. 
 
 '* company with Lawyer Edmonds, Sheriff Backen- 
 " stos and others, who took him across lots to a 
 " place of safety ; and this is the real birth of the 
 " story of ' Bogus Brigham/ as far as I can recol- 
 " lect." 
 
 The energy, referred to by the President in the 
 completion of the temple, signifies that the author- 
 ities were anxious for the Saints to receive their 
 endowments before their removal, which was every 
 day becoming more matured and pressing in their 
 minds. . They did not wish to make their flight in 
 haste, and it was pretty evident that they had not a 
 moment to spare for a well-planned exodus. 
 
 It may seem strange to some, who do not appre- 
 ciate the earnest, genuine faith of these singular 
 people, that they should thus finish their temple 
 merely, as it would seem, to leave it as a monument 
 for a triumphant mob. But the Saints had been 
 commanded by revelation to build that temple ; and 
 the administration of their ordinances was of more 
 than earthly importance to them, 
 
 From their retreats, where they had secreted 
 themselves to avoid arrest, President Young and 
 the apostles came forth, on the morning of Satur- 
 day, the 24th of May, 1845, to ^ a Y th e cap-stone on 
 the south-east corner of the temple. 
 
 " The singers sang their sweetest notes," writes 
 one of the apostles ; " their voices thrilled the 
 " hearts of the assemblage, and the music of the 
 ' band, which played on the occasion, never sounded 
 " more charming ; and when President Young 
 " placed the stone in its position and said : 
 
 " ' The last stone is now laid upon the temple, 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 127 
 
 " ' and I pray the Almighty, m the name of Jesus, 
 " ' to defend us in this place and sustain us until 
 " ' the temple is finished, and we have all got our 
 " ' endowments.' And the whole congregation 
 " shouted, ' Hosanna ! Hosanna ! Hosanna, to God 
 " ' and the Lamb, amen, amen, and amen ; ' and 
 " repeated these words the second and third time. 
 " The Spirit of God descended upon the people ; 
 " gladness filled every heart, and tears of joy 
 " coursed down many cheeks. The words of praise 
 " were uttered with earnestness and fervor ; it was 
 " a relief to many to be able to give expression to 
 " the feelings with which their hearts were over- 
 " charged. Altogether the scene was a very impress- 
 " ive one, and we doubt not that angels looked upon 
 " it and rejoiced." 
 
 " So let it be," said President Young, concluding 
 the ceremonies ; " this is the seventh day of the 
 " week, or the Jewish Sabbath. It is the day on 
 " which the Almighty finished his work and rested 
 " from his labors. We have finished the walls 
 " of the temple, and may rest to-day from our 
 " labors." 
 
 The workmen were dismissed for the day, the 
 congregation dispersed, and the Twelve Apostles 
 returned to their places of retreat. 
 
 Governor Ford, in a letter to President Young, 
 under date of April 8th, 1845, urging the migration 
 of the Mormons to California, said : 
 
 "If you can get off by yourselves you may enjoy 
 " peace ; but, surrounded by such neighbors, I con- 
 " fess that I do not see the time when you will be 
 " permitted to enjoy quiet. I was informed by 
 
128 , LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " General Joseph Smith last Summer that he con- 
 " templated a removal west ; and from what I 
 " learned from him and others at that time, I think, 
 " if he had lived, he would have begun to move in 
 " the matter before this time. I would be willing 
 " to exert all my feeble abilities and influence to 
 " further your wiews in this respect if it was the 
 " wish of your people. 
 
 " I would suggest a matter in confidence. Cali- 
 " fornia now offers a field for the prettiest enterprise 
 " that has been undertaken in modern times. It is 
 " but sparsely inhabited, and by none but the Indian 
 " or imbecile Mexican' Spaniards. I have not en- 
 " quired enough to know how strong it is in men 
 " and means. But this we know, that if conquered 
 " from Mexico, that country is so physically weak 
 " and morally distracted that she could never send 
 " a force there to reconquer it. Why should it not 
 " be a pretty operation for your people to go out 
 " there, take possession of and conquer a portion 
 " of the vacant country, and establish an independ- 
 " ent Government of your own, subject only to the 
 " laws of nations ? You would remain there a long 
 " time before you would be disturbed by the prox- 
 " imity of other settlements. If you conclude to 
 " do this, your design ought not to be known, or 
 " otherwise it would become the duty of the United 
 " States to prevent your emigration. If once you 
 " cross the line of the United States Territories, 
 " you would be in no danger of being interfered 
 " with." 
 
 Knowing the intentions of Joseph Smith to re- 
 move the Mormon people, Senator Douglass and 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 129 
 
 others had given similar advice to him ; and the 
 very fact that such men looked upon the Mormons 
 as quite equal to the establishment of an independ- 
 ent nationality, is most convincing proof that not 
 their wrong-doing, but their empire-founding genius 
 has been, and still is, the cause of the " irrepressible 
 conflict" between them and the gentiles. 
 
 The advice of Governor Ford, however, was 
 neither sought nor required. Brigham had nearly 
 matured every part of the movement, shaping also 
 the emigration from the British mission ; but the 
 Rocky Mountains, not California proper, was the 
 place chosen for his people's retreat. 
 
 It was then that Brigham Young addressed the 
 famous petition to President Polk and the Gover- 
 nors of all the States, excepting Missouri and Illinois, 
 changing simply the address to each person. Here 
 it is : 
 
 NAUVOO, April 24th, 1845. 
 
 His EXCELLENCY JAMES K. POLK, 
 
 President of the United States. 
 
 HON. SIR: Suffer us, in behalf of a disfranchised 
 and long afflicted people, to prefer a few suggestions 
 for your serious consideration, in hope of a friendly 
 and unequivocal response, at as early a period as 
 may suit your convenience, and the extreme urgency 
 of the case seems to demand. 
 
 It is not our present design to detail the multi- 
 plied and aggravated wrongs that we have received 
 in the midst of a nation that gave us birth. Most 
 of us have long been loyal citizens of some one of 
 these United States, over which you have the honor 
 to preside, while a few only claim the privilege of 
 
I3O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 peaceable and lawful emigrants, designing to make 
 the Union our permanent residence. 
 
 We say we are a disfranchised people. We are 
 privately told by the highest authorities of the State 
 that it is neither prudent nor safe for us to vote at 
 the polls ; still we have continued to maintain our 
 right to vote, until the blood of our best men has 
 been shed, both in Missouri and Illinois, with 
 impunity. 
 
 You are doubtless somewhat familiar with the 
 history of our expulsion from the State of Missouri, 
 wherein scores of our brethren were massacred. 
 Hundreds died through want and sickness, occa- 
 sioned by their unparalleled sufferings. Some mil- 
 lions worth of our property was destroyed, and some 
 fifteen thousand souls fled for their lives to the then 
 hospitable and peaceful shores of Illinois ; and that 
 the State of Illinois granted to us a liberal charter, 
 for the term of perpetual succession, under whose 
 provision private rights have become invested, and 
 the largest city in the State has grown up, number- 
 ing about twenty thousand inhabitants. 
 
 But, sir, the startling attitude recently assumed 
 by the State of Illinois, forbids us to think that her 
 designs are any less vindictive than those of Mis- 
 souri. She has already used the military of the 
 State, with the executive at their head, to coerce 
 and surrender up our best men to 'unparalleled 
 murder, and that too under the most sacred pledges 
 of protection and safety. As a salve for such un- 
 earthly perfidy and guilt, she told us, through her 
 highest executive officers, that the laws should be 
 magnified and the murderers brought to justice ; 
 but the blood of her innocent victims had not been 
 wholly wiped from the floor of the awful arena, ere 
 the Senate of that State rescued one of the indicted 
 actors in that mournful tragedy from the sheriff of 
 Hancock County, and gave him a seat in her hall 
 of legislation ; and all who were indicted by the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 131 
 
 grand jury of Hancock County for the murder of 
 Joseph and Hyrum Smith, are suffered to roam at 
 large, watching for further prey. 
 
 To crown the climax of those bloody deeds, the 
 State has repealed those chartered rights, by which 
 we might have lawfully defended ourselves against 
 aggressors. If we defend ourselves hereafter against 
 violence, whether it comes under the shadow of law 
 or otherwise (ior we have reason to expect it in 
 both ways), we shall then be charged with treason 
 and suffer the penalty ; and if we continue passive 
 and non-resistant, we must certainly expect to perish, 
 for our enemies have sworn it. 
 
 And here, sir, permit us to state that General 
 Joseph Smith, during his short life, was arraigned 
 at the bar of his country about fifty times, charged 
 with criminal offences, but was acquitted every time 
 by his country ; his enemies, or rather his religious 
 opponents, almost invariably being his judges. And 
 we further testify that, as a people, we are law-abid- 
 ing, peaceable and without crime ; and we challenge 
 the world to prove to the contrary; and while other 
 less cities in Illinois have had special courts insti- 
 tuted to try their criminals, we have been stript of 
 every source of arraigning marauders and murderers 
 who are prowling around to destroy us, except the 
 common magistracy. 
 
 With these facts before you, sir, will you write to 
 us without delay as a father and friend, and advise 
 us what to do. We are members of the same great 
 confederacy. Our fathers, yea, some of us, have 
 fought and bled for our country, and we love her 
 constitution dearly. 
 
 In the name of Israel's God, and by virtue of 
 multiplied ties of country and kindred, we ask your 
 friendly interposition in our favor. Will it be too 
 much for us to ask you to convene a special session 
 of Congress, and furnish us an asylum, where we 
 can enjoy our rights of conscience and religion un- 
 
132 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 molested ? Or, will you, in a special message to 
 that body, when convened, recommend a remon- 
 strance against such unhallowed acts of oppression 
 and expatriation as this people have continued to 
 receive from the States of Missouri and Illinois ? 
 Or will you favor us by your personal influence and 
 by your official rank ? Or will you express your 
 views concerning what is called the " Great Western 
 Measure " of colonizing the Latter-day Saints in 
 Oregon, the north-western Territory, or some loca- 
 tion remote from the States, where the hand of 
 oppression shall not crush every noble principle 
 and extinguish every patriotic feeling? 
 
 And now, honored sir, having reached out our 
 imploring hands to you, with deep solemnity, we 
 would importune you as a father, a friend, a patriot 
 and the head of a mighty nation, by the constitution 
 of American liberty, by the blood of our fathers who 
 have fought for the independence of this republic, 
 by the blood of the martyrs which has been shed 
 in our midst, by the wailings of the widows and 
 orphans, by our murdered fathers and mothers, 
 brothers and sisters, wives and children, by the 
 dread of immediate destruction from secret combi- 
 nations now forming for our overthrow, and by 
 every endearing tie that binds man to man and 
 renders life bearable, and that too, for aught we 
 know, for the last time, that you will lend your 
 immediate aid to quell the violence of mobocracy, 
 and exert your influence to establish us as a people 
 in our civil and religious rights, where we now are, 
 or in some part of the United States, or in some 
 place remote therefrom, where we may colonize in 
 peace and safety as soon as circumstances will 
 permit. 
 
 We sincerely hope that your future prompt meas- 
 ures towards us will be dictated by the best feel- 
 ings that dwell in the bosom of humanity, and the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 133 
 
 blessings of a grateful people, and many ready to 
 perish, shall come upon you. 
 
 We are, sir, with great respect, your obedient 
 servants, 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG, 
 
 WILLARD RICHARDS, 
 
 ORSEN SPENCER, 
 
 ORSEN PRATT, 
 W. W. PHELPS, 
 N. W. BABBITT, 
 J. M. BERNHISEL, 
 
 - Committee, 
 
 In behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
 day Saints, at Nauvoo, Illinois. 
 
 P. S. As many of our communications, post 
 marked at Nauvoo, have failed of their destination, 
 and the mails around us have been intercepted by 
 cur enemies, we shall send this to some distant 
 office by the hand of a special messenger. 
 
 The appeal itself is not a mere attempt at rhetoric. 
 The very inelegance of multiplied ties and sacred 
 objects invoked and crowded upon each other, to 
 touch the hearts of men in power, is truly affecting. 
 There is a tragic burden in the circumstances and 
 urgency of the case. But the prayer was un- 
 answered. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE REMNANT AT NAUVOO. THE GREAT BATTLE. 
 MARCH OF THE MOB ARMY INTO THE DOOMED 
 CITY I DESCRIPTION BY GOVERNOR FORD. THOMAS 
 L. KANE'S FAMOUS PICTURE OF NAUVOO, AFTER 
 THE FALL, AND THE SCENE OF EXTERMINATION. 
 
 Scarcely less eventful than that of the main body 
 of the Church had been the history of the remnant 
 at Nauvoo, after the departure of the Twelve ; a 
 condensed narrative of which we must give, culmin- 
 ating in the famous " Battle of Nauvoo," and the 
 evacuation of that devoted city. 
 
 In April, ere the vanguard of the pioneers had 
 got fairly on their journey west, the anti-Mormons 
 again began to rise, and Governor Ford sent a 
 small force into Hancock County, ostensibly to pre- 
 serve the peace, but really to spur the Mormons HI 
 their flight. On the i6th of that month, the officer 
 in command addressed the following to the editor 
 of the Hancock Eagle : 
 
 W. E. MATLOCK, ESQ. : Will you permit me, 
 through the medium of your paper, to announce to 
 the citizens of Hancock, that I have been directed 
 by His Excellency, Governor Ford, to disband the 
 force under my command, on the ist of May 
 proximo. It seems to be the understanding of the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 135 
 
 Executive, and the State at large, that the time 
 stipulated for the removal of the Mormons will ex- 
 pire on that day. I indulge a hope that the under- 
 standing so general may not be disappointed. 
 
 The removal of the entire Mormon population 
 has been looked forward to as an event that could 
 alone restore peace and quiet to this portion of our 
 State ; and for the peace of the inhabitants, and 
 honor of the State, public expectation must be 
 gratified. 
 
 With great respect, I am, &c., 
 
 W. B. WARREN, 
 Major Commanding III. Vol. 
 
 As the reader is aware, there was no such terms 
 of stipulation, that the Mormons would evacuate 
 their city by the ist of May. They had been leav- 
 ing, company after company, as fast as possible. It 
 was not in human efforts to do more than they had 
 done. One of Major Warren's reports in the 
 Quincy Whig of May 2oth, 1846, will give to the 
 reader the other side of the picture : 
 
 " The Mormons are leaving the city with all pos- 
 " sible dispatch. During the week four hundred 
 " teams have crossed at three points, or about 1,350 
 " souls. The demonstrations made by the Mormon 
 " population are unequivocal. They are leaving 
 " the State, and preparing to leave, with every 
 " means God and nature have placed in their hands. 
 " This ought to be satisfactory. 
 
 " A man of near sixty years of age, living about 
 " seven miles from this place (Nauvoo), was taken 
 " from his house a few nights since, stripped of his 
 41 clothing, and his back cut to pieces with a whip, 
 
136 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " for no other reason than because he was a Mor- 
 " mon, and too old to make a successful resistance. 
 " Conduct of this kind would disgrace a horde of 
 
 savages." 
 
 Early in June a public meeting was called at Car- 
 thage to make arrangements for the fourth of July, 
 but the " crusade " coming uppermost, even above 
 the celebration of our national independence, the 
 meeting resolved itself into an anti-Mormon one, 
 and delegates were appointed to hold a conference 
 with a committee of the " new settlers " who were 
 succeeding the Mormons in Nauvoo. Accordingly, 
 a delegation from Nauvoo attended the conference 
 at Carthage on the i2th of June, where they found 
 an armed force ready to march against their city ; 
 but, after a hurried consultation, it was agreed to 
 march them within four miles of Nauvoo, giving 
 the new citizens the privilege of sending a commit- 
 tee of nine, to meet a similar committee of nine 
 from the anti-Mormons, to confer on the all-prevail- 
 ing subject. 
 
 The anti-Mormons stated that they wished to 
 march their force into Nauvoo, to see if the Mor- 
 mons were leaving, but the new citizens' committee 
 promptly objected. It was then proposed that 
 companies of fifty at a time should march in, which 
 was also rejected, and it was declared that no armed 
 force, without legal authority, would be permitted 
 to enter the city. 
 
 All manner of illegal proceedings were resorted 
 to by the mob, to get into custody the most active 
 members of the new citizens' committee, and they 
 went even so far as to threaten to lynch them. At 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 137 
 
 length W. E. Clifford, President of the Trustees of 
 the town of Nauvoo, wrote a letter to Governor 
 Ford for assistance, to protect the town against the 
 mob faction. 
 
 In response to the trustees of Nauvoo, the Gov- 
 nor sent Major Parker to defend the city. Major 
 Parker issued a proclamation to Hancock County, 
 commanding all good citizens to return to their 
 homes. 
 
 Previous to this, the mob had got a certain John 
 Carlin, till then unknown to fame, deputized as a 
 special constable to serve writs upon members of 
 the new citizens' committee, and by this time the 
 ambitious mobocrat had become sufficiently famous 
 to reply to the proclamation, placing himself above 
 its authority. Major Parker answered that, if Car- 
 lin's posse did not disperse, he should regard them 
 as a mob, and treat them as such ; to which Carlin 
 rejoined that he should do the same with Parker 
 and his men. Nor was the mobocrat worsted by 
 the State authorities, for he raised an army of a 
 thousand men, officered and equipped for a cam- 
 paign, and gave the command of it to Colonel Sin_ 
 gleton. Major Parker now, in behalf of the State, 
 concluded to consider Carlin and his compeers his 
 equals, and to make a treaty with them ; and, 
 in order that they might be fully satisfied, he 
 agreed to all the terms of their officers. 
 
 Colonel Singleton submitted the propositions of 
 the treaty to his men, but they manifested their dis- 
 approbation so decidedly that he resigned his com- 
 mand and published the following : 
 
138 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 CARTHAGE, ILL., 
 
 ii o'clock P. M., Sept. 8, 1846. 
 Messrs. SMITH, REYNOLDS AND PARKER, 
 
 GENTLEMEN : I have submitted to the officers of 
 my command, for their ratification, the articles of 
 peace this day concluded between us, and I am 
 sorry that they have been rejected. I consider that 
 the Mormon population in Nauvoo have agreed to 
 as much as a reasonable or feeling man could ask. 
 You will, therefore, consider me no longer connect- 
 ed in any way with the camp in its future proceed- 
 ings. Col. Chittenden has likewise retired. 
 
 Respectfully yours, &c., 
 
 JAMES W. SINGLETON. 
 
 The Warsaw Signal thus explained : 
 
 " While this compromise was under consideration 
 " the aspect of affairs in the camp was gloomy in- 
 " deed. The number of men were reduced to about 
 " four hundred, and it required all the energies of 
 " ' old Tom ' (Thomas S. Brockman) to keep them 
 " together. When it was, however, fully understood 
 " that the treaty had been rejected, the gloom wore 
 " off, and all seemed anxious to bring things to an 
 " immediate crisis." 
 
 Carlin thereupon appointed " Col. Brockman " to 
 fill Col. Singleton's place, and the new commander, 
 in a stirring speech, told the regulators he would 
 lead them on if they would pledge themselves to 
 obey his orders. " Old Tom," as he called him- 
 self, was described as the staff of the camp. 
 
 As soon as Brockman took command, he gave 
 orders for marching. The mob had now again 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 139 
 
 swelled to over a thousand, with many baggage 
 wagons, and everything for a regular campaign. 
 
 The Mormons and the new citizens prepared 
 themselves for the worst. On the iQth of Septem- 
 ber, 1846, at about half-past nine A. M., the watch- 
 men posted on the tower of the temple announced 
 tnat the mob was approaching. Nauvoo on the Car- 
 thage road. Orders were given to the four com- 
 panies into which the volunteers of Nauvoo had 
 been organized to march out and meet the enemy. 
 About noon the companies reached the. copse of 
 timber in Lott's Lane on the Carthage road, when 
 Mayor John Wood, Major Flood, Dr. Conyers, and 
 Messrs. Joel Rice and Benjamin Clifford, Jr., all of 
 Quincy, arrived at Nauvoo. Major Flood having 
 received a commission from the Governor to raise 
 forces in Adam's County for the protection of Nau- 
 voo, Mayor Wood recommended that they proceed 
 to the mob camp to effect a compromise. This 
 these gentlemen did, and held a conference with 
 Carlin and Brockman, who made a written demand 
 that Carlin should be allowed to arrest his men ; 
 that the Mormons should give up their arms and 
 leave the State within thirty days, and that the 
 anti-Mormons should station a force at their discre- 
 tion in the city to see that the terms were complied 
 with. The document was signed, John Carlin. Thus 
 it will be seen that this now illustrious mobocrat ac- 
 tually dictated to a State, in civil war, including its 
 Governor and militia. 
 
 As the Quincy peacemakers returned from the 
 camp of the regulators, several cannon balls were 
 fired over their heads. 
 
140 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 Major Flood declining to accept the commission 
 of the Governor, Benjamin Clifford of Quincy took 
 command of the volunteers to defend Nauvoo. 
 
 The mob continued advancing, firing their can- 
 non. At about five p. M., they halted, and shortly 
 retired a short distance and camped for the night.. 
 During the night there was some skirmishing be- 
 tween the hostile forces. 
 
 Next day, September the nth, with the over- 
 whelming mob force within gun range of their 
 defences,, the citizens of Nauvoo anxiously waited 
 for the reinforcement which Major Parker, upon 
 leaving, gave them reasons to hope would be sent 
 to their relief from the Governor. But no reinforce- 
 ment came, and it was now too evident that they 
 must rely upon their own resources. 
 
 The besieged, in their strait, remembered that 
 there were two steamboat shafts-which had lain for 
 years 'on the banks of the Mississippi. These the 
 citizens of Nauvoo hastily transformed into cannon. 
 
 The companies paraded at the Temple at an 
 early hour, and Captain William Anderson chose a 
 band of select men for flankers and sharpshooters, 
 who were armed with repeating rifles. These pro- 
 ceeded to " Squire Wells," and organized under the 
 name of the " Spartan band," with Anderson captain 
 in command, and Alexander McRae second captain^ 
 They then moved to the La Harpe road and 
 ambushed in a corn field. 
 
 The mob advanced in solid columns to the La 
 Harpe road, when the Spartan band became nearly 
 surrounded by their flankers, but the Spartans beat 
 a retreat under a close fire, which they returned 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 
 
 vigorously, and retired in good order, in spite of the 
 -enemy's artillery, which poured after them grape 
 and canister. They retreated towards the town, 
 where a line of defence had been hastily thrown up f 
 under which they took shelter. The mob dispatched 
 their horse to take possession of it, but were driven 
 back by a spirited cannonade. Several times during 
 the day the mob attempted to outflank the volun- 
 teers, but were as often checked by counter moves ; 
 and, after their last repulse, they retired to the brow 
 of the hill and entrenched themselves for the night 
 in the field of Hyrum Smith, the martyr. 
 
 During the night the defenders were not idle, 
 having erected breastworks. In the morning a flag 
 of truce was brought in, with a demand from Brock- 
 man for the surrender of the city. This was rejected, 
 and then commenced the " Great Battle." 
 
 The defenders went into line early, each company 
 taking up its respective position. Col. Johnson 
 being now sick, the command fell upon Lieut-Col. 
 Wm. E. Cutler, with Daniel H. Wells as his aid. 
 During the battle Captain Anderson, commander 
 -of the Spartan band, and his son, were killed. He 
 died encouraging his men with his last words. The 
 action lasted one hour and twenty minutes, when 
 the mob retreated, carrying their dead and wounded 
 in conveyances brought up ; but his men were so 
 exhausted that they laid down by their guns, unable 
 to leave their position until they had received re- 
 freshments, so overpowering had been the excite- 
 ment of the battle. As soon, however, as they were 
 refreshed, and had taken care of their dead and 
 wounded, the companies resumed the positions they 
 
142 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 had held in the morning, and repaired their defences 
 in anticipation of another attack. The command 
 of the Spartan band, after the fall of Anderson, 
 devolved on Captains Alexander McRae and Almon 
 L. Fuller. 
 
 The Warsaw Signal, the mob organ, in that day's 
 bulletin said : 
 
 " The battle lasted from the time the first feint 
 " was made, until our men were drawn off, an hour 
 " and a quarter. Probably there is not on record 
 " an instance of a longer continued militia fight. 
 " The Mormons stood their ground manfully, but 
 " from the little execution done by them, we infer 
 " that they were not very cool or deliberate. Their 
 " loss is uncertain, as they had taken special pains 
 " to conceal the number of their dead and wounded." 
 
 Mayor Wood and his companions returned to 
 Quincy after the Saturday's battle. They imme- 
 diately called a public meeting, at which it was 
 decided that a committee ofone hundred should go 
 to settle the difficulties in Hancock County. On 
 the Tuesday following the committee ofone hundred 
 arrived ; but it was soon discovered by the defenders 
 that they were the strongest anti-Mormons that 
 Adams County could raise. It had been resolved 
 that, if the Quincy committee did not succeed in 
 expelling the citizens of Nauvoo by a treaty, they 
 would join the mob force, for which reason Mayor 
 Wood and his colleagues refused to be of their 
 number. 
 
 Immediately after the arrival of the Quincy com- 
 mittee, a lengthy correspondence was exchanged, 
 and the following treaty executed : 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 143 
 
 " Articles of accommodation, treaty and agree- 
 ment made and entered into this i6th day of De- 
 cember, A. D. 1846, between Almon W. Babbitt, 
 Joseph L. Heywood and John S. Fullmer, trustees 
 in trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
 day Saints, of the one part, Thomas B. Brockman, 
 commander of the posse, and John Carlin, special 
 constable and civil head of the posse of Hancock 
 County, of the second part, and Andrew Johnson, 
 chairman of the citizens of Quincy, of the third 
 part : 
 
 i st. The city of Nauvoo will surrender. The 
 force of Col. Brockman to enter and take possession 
 of the city to-morrow, the I2th of September, at 
 three o'clock p. M. 
 
 2d. The arms to be delivered to the Quincy 
 committee, to be returned on the crossing of the 
 river. 
 
 3d. The Quincy committee pledge themselves 
 to use their influence for the protection of persons 
 and property from all violence, and the officers of 
 the camp and the men pledge themselves to protect 
 all persons and property from violence. 
 
 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 (William Pickett not of their 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. 
 
 We, the undersigned, subscribe to, ratify, and con- 
 firm the foregoing articles of accommodation, treaty 
 
144 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 and agreement, the day and year first above 
 
 written. 
 
 ALMON W. BABBITT, 
 JOSEPH L. HEYWOOD, 
 JOHN S. FULLER, 
 
 Trustees in trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter-day Saints. 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON, 
 Chairman of the Committee of Quincy. 
 
 THOMAS S. BROCKMAN, 
 
 Commanding Posse. 
 
 JOHN CARLIN, 
 
 Special Constable. 
 
 The triumphal entrance of the mob into the 
 doomed city is thus described by Governor Ford : 
 
 " The constable's posse marched in, with Brockman 
 " at their head, consisting of about eight hundred 
 " armed men, and six or seven hundred unarmed, 
 " who came from motives of curiosity, to see the 
 " once proud city of Nauvoo humbled and delivered 
 " up to its enemies, and to the domination of a self- 
 " constituted and irresponsible power. When the 
 "posse arrived in the city, the leaders of it erected 
 " themselves into a tribunal to decide who should 
 " be forced away and who remain. Parties were dis- 
 " patched to search for Mormon arms and for Mor- 
 " mons, and to bring them to the judgment, where 
 " they received their doom from the mouth of 
 " Brockman, who then sat, a grim and unawed 
 " tyrant, for the time. As a general rule, the Mor- 
 " mons were ordered to leave within an hour or two 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 145 
 
 " hours ; and by rare grace some of them were 
 " allowed until next day, and in a few cases, longer. 
 
 " The treaty specified that the Mormons only 
 " should be driven into exile. Nothing was said in 
 " it concerning the new citizens who had, with the 
 " Mormons, defended the city. But the posse no 
 " sooner obtained possession than they commenced 
 " expelling the new citizens. Some of them were 
 " ducked in the river, being, in one or two instances, 
 " actually baptized in the name of the leaders of 
 " the mob ; others were forcibly driven into the 
 " ferry boats, to be taken over the river before the 
 " bayonets of armed ruffians : and it is asserted that 
 " the houses of most of them were broken open and 
 " their property stolen during their absence. * 
 
 " The Mormons had been forced away from their 
 " houses unprepared for their journey ; they and 
 " their women and children had been thrown house- 
 " less upon the Iowa shore, without provisions or 
 " the means of getting them, or to get to places 
 " where provisions might be obtained. It was now 
 " the height of the sickly season. Many of them 
 " were taken from sick beds, hurried into the boats^ 
 " and driven away by armed ruffians now exercising 
 " the power of government. The best they could 
 " do was to erect their tents on the bank of the 
 " river, and there remain to take their chances of 
 " perishing by hunger or by prevailing sickness. In 
 " this condition the sick, without shelter, food, nour- 
 " ishment, or medicines, died by scores. The mother 
 " watched the sick babe without hope, and when it 
 " sank under accumulated miseries, it was only to 
 " be quickly followed by her other children, now 
 
146 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " left without the least attention, for the men ha'd 
 " scattered out over the country seeking employ- 
 " ment and the means of living." 
 
 The Governor also describes the mob commander- 
 in-chief as " a Campbellite preacher, nominally be- 
 " longing to the democratic party, a large, awkward, 
 " uncouth, ignorant, semi-barbarian, ambitious of 
 " office and bent upon acquiring notoriety." The 
 very picture of this man, from the pen of the Execu- 
 tive of the State, at the head of, what the army of 
 regulators assuredly must have considered them- 
 selves, the better people of the State, compared 
 with the Mormons, at that time, in their exodus 
 under Brigham Young, raising their battalion for 
 the service of their country, gives such a strong 
 contrast that the reader, however much indisposed, 
 cannot but be provoked to admiration of the latter. 
 
 But the most eloquent and graphic picture of 
 those days and scenes is from the historical dis- 
 course of Thomas L. Kane, without which no story 
 of the Mormon exodus would be complete. He 
 said : 
 
 " A few years ago, ascending the Upper Missis- 
 " sippi, in the Autumn, when its waters were low, 
 " I was compelled to travel by land past the region 
 " of the rapids. My road lay through the half-breed 
 " tract, a fine section of Iowa which the unsettled 
 " state of its land-titles had appropriated as a 
 " sanctuary for coiners, horse thieves, and other 
 " outlaws. I had left my steamer at Keokuk, at the 
 " foot of the lower fall, to hire a carriage, and to 
 " contend for some fragments of a dirty meal with 
 " the swarming flies, the only scavengers of the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 147- 
 
 " locality. From this place to where the deep 
 " waters of the river return, my eye wearied to see 
 " everywhere sordid vagabonds and idle settlers ; 
 " and a country marred, without being improved, by 
 " their careless hands. 
 
 " I was descending the last hill-side upon my 
 " journey, when a landscape in delightful contrast 
 " broke upon my view. Half encircled by the bend 
 " of the river, a beautiful city lay glittering in the 
 " fresh morning sun ; 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 radi- 
 " ant with white and gold. The city appeared to 
 " cover several miles ; and beyond it, in the back- 
 " ground, there rolled off a fair country, chequered 
 " by the careful lines of fruitful husbandry. The 
 " unmistakable marks of industry, enterprise, and 
 " educated wealth everywhere, made the scene one 
 " of singular and most striking beauty. 
 
 " It was a natural impulse to visit this inviting 
 " region. I procured a skiff, and, rowing across the 
 " river, landed at the chief wharf of the city. No 
 " one met me there. I looked and saw no one. I 
 " could hear no one move, though the quiet every- 
 " where was such that I heard the flies buzz, and 
 " the water-ripples break against the shallow of the 
 " beach. I walked through the solitary streets. The 
 " town lay as in a dream, under some deadening 
 " spell of loneliness, from which I almost feared to 
 " wake it ; for plainly it had not slept long. There 
 " was no grass growing up in the paved ways ; rains 
 " had not entirely washed away the prints of dusty 
 " footsteps. 
 
148 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " Yet I went about unchecked. I went into 
 " empty workshops, ropewalks and smithies. The 
 " spinner's wheel was idle ; the carpenter had gone 
 " from his work-bench and shavings, his unfinished 
 " sash and casing. Fresh bark was in the tanner's 
 " vat, and the fresh-chopped lightwood stood piled 
 " against the baker's oven. The blacksmith's shop 
 " was cold ; but his coal heap, and ladling pool, and 
 " crooked water-horn were all there as if he had 
 " just gone off for a holiday. No workpeople any- 
 " where looked to know my errand. If I went into 
 " the gardens, clinking the wicket-latch after me, 
 " to pull the marigolds, heart's-ease and ladyslippers, 
 " and draw a drink with the water-sodden water- 
 " bucket and its noisy chain, or knocking off with 
 " my stick the tall heavy-headed dahlias and sun- 
 " flowers, hunting over the beds for cucumbers and 
 " love-apples ; no one called out to me from any 
 " open window, or dog sprang forward to bark an 
 " alarm. I could have supposed the people hidden 
 " in their houses, but the doors were unfastened ; 
 " and when at last I timidly entered them, I found 
 " dead ashes white upon the hearths, and had to 
 " tread a-tiptoe, as if walking down the aisle of a 
 " country church, to avoid rousing irreverent echoes 
 " from the naked floors. 
 
 " On the outskirts of the town was the city grave- 
 " yard ; but there was no record of plague there ; 
 " nor did it in anywise differ much from other Pro- 
 " testant American cemeteries. Some of the 
 " mounds were not long sodded ; some of the 
 " stones were newly set, their dates recent, and their 
 " black inscriptions glossy in the mason's hardly 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 149 
 
 " dried letter-ink. Beyond the graveyards, out in 
 " the fields, I saw on a spot hard by where the fruit- 
 " ed boughs of a young orchard had been roughly 
 " torn down, the still smouldering remains of a bar- 
 " becue fire, that had been constructed of rails from 
 " the fencing round it. It was the latest sign of life 
 " there. Fields upon fields of heavy headed yellow 
 " grain lay rotting ungathered upon the ground. 
 " No one was at hand to take in their rich harvest 
 " As far as the eye could reach, they stretched 
 " away they sleeping, too, in the hazy air of 
 " Autumn. 
 
 " Only two portions of the city seemed to suggest 
 " the import of this mysterious solitude.. On the 
 " southern suburb, the houses looking out upon the 
 *' country showed, by their splintered woodwork, 
 " and walls battered to the foundation, that they 
 " had lately been the mark of a destructive cannon- 
 " ade. And in and around the splendid temple 
 " which had been the chief object of my admira- 
 " tion, armed men were barracked, surrounded by 
 " their stacks of musketry and pieces of heavy 
 " ordnance. These challenged me to render an 
 " account of myself, and why I had had the temerity 
 " to cross the water without a written permit from 
 " a leader of their band. 
 
 " Though these men were generally more or less 
 " under the influence of ardent spirits, after I had 
 " explained myself as a passing stranger, they 
 " seemed anxious to gain my good opinion. They 
 " told the story of the dead city ; that it had been 
 " a notable manufacturing and commercial mart, 
 " sheltering over 20,000 persons ; that they had 
 
I5O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " waged war with its inhabitants for several years, 
 " and been finally successful only a few days before 
 " my visit, in an action brought in front of the 
 " ruined suburb, after which they had driven them 
 " forth at the point of the sword. The defence, 
 " they said, was obstinate, but gave way on the 
 " third day's bombardment. They boasted greatly 
 " of their prowess, especially in this battle as they 
 " called it ; but I discovered that they were not of 
 " one mind as to certain of the exploits that had 
 " distinguished it ; one of which, as I remember, 
 "" was, that they had slain a father and his son, a 
 " boy of fifteen, not long residents of the fated city, 
 41 whom they admitted had borne a character with- 
 " out reproach. 
 
 " They also conducted me inside the massive 
 " sculptured walls of the curious temple, in which 
 " they said the banished inhabitants were accus- 
 " tomed to celebrate the mystic rites of an unhal- 
 " lowed w r orship. They particularly pointed out to 
 " me certain features of the building, which having 
 " been the peculiar objects of a former superstitious 
 " regard, they had, as a matter of duty, sedulously 
 " defiled and defaced. The reputed sites of certain 
 41 shrines they had thus particularly noticed ; and 
 41 various sheltered chambers, in one of which was 
 " a deep well, constructed, they believed, with a 
 41 dreadful design. Besides these, they led me to 
 " see a large and deep chiseled marble vase or 
 " basin, supported by twelve oxen, also of marble, 
 " and of the size of life, of which they told some 
 " romantic stories. They said the deluded persons, 
 " most of whom were emigrants from a great dis- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 151 
 
 " tance, believed their deity countenanced their re- 
 " ception here of a baptism of regeneration, as 
 " proxies for whomsoever they held in warm affection 
 " in the countries from which they had come. That 
 " here parents went into the water for their spouses, 
 " and young persons for their lovers. That thus the 
 " great vase came, to be for them associated with all 
 " dear and distant memories, and was, therefore, the 
 " object of all others in the building to which they 
 " attached the greatest degree of idolatrous affec- 
 " tion. On this account the victors had so diligently 
 " desecrated it, as to render the apartment in which 
 " it was contained too noisome to abide in. 
 
 " They permitted me also to ascend into the 
 " steeple to see where it had been lightning-struck 
 " on the Sabbath before, and to look out east and 
 " south, on wasted farms like those I had seen near 
 " the city, extending till they were lost in the dis- 
 " tance. There, in the face of the pure day, close 
 " by the scar of divine wrath left by the thunder- 
 " bolt, were fragments of food, cruises of liquor, and 
 " broken drinking vessels, with a brass drum and a 
 " steamboat signal-bell, of which I afterwards 
 " learned with pain. 
 
 " It was after nightfall when I was ready to cross 
 " the river on my return. The wind had freshened 
 " since the sunset, and the water beating roughly 
 " into my little boat, I hedged higher up the stream 
 ' than the point I had left in the morning, and 
 " landed where a faint glimmering light invited me 
 " to steer. 
 
 " There, among the dock and rushes, sheltered 
 " only by the darkness, without roof between them 
 
152 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 '' and sky, I came upon a crowd of several hundred 
 ' human creatures, whom my movements roused 
 *' from uneasy slumber upon the ground. 
 
 " Passing these on my way to the light, I found 
 " it came from a tallow candle in a paper funnel 
 " shade, such as is used by street venders of apples 
 " and peanuts, and which, flaming and guttering 
 '' away in the bleak air off the water, shone flicker- 
 " ingly on the emaciated features of a man in the 
 " last stage of a bilious remittent fever. They had 
 " done their best for him. Over his head was some- 
 " thing like a tent, made of a sheet or two, and he 
 " rested on a partially ripped open old straw mat- 
 " tress, with a hair sofa-cushion under his head for a 
 " pillow. His gaping jaw and glaring eye told how 
 " short a time he would monopolize these luxuries ; 
 " though a seemingly bewildered and excited per- 
 " son, who might have been his wife, seemed to find 
 " hope in occasionally forcing him to swallow awk- 
 " wardly sips of the tepid river-water, from a burned 
 " and battered, bitter-smelling tin coffee-pot. Those 
 " who knew better had furnished the apothecary he 
 " needed ; a toothless old bald head, whose manner 
 " had the repulsive dullness of a man familiar with 
 " death scenes. He, so long as I remained, mum- 
 " bled in his patient's ear a monotonous and melan- 
 " choly prayer, between the pauses of which I heard 
 " the hiccup and sobbing of two little girls who 
 " were sitting upon a piece of driftwood outside. 
 
 " Dreadful, indeed, was the suffering of these for- 
 " saken beings, bowed and cramped by cold and 
 " sunburn, alternating as each weary day and night 
 " dragged on. They were, almost all of them, the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 153 
 
 " crippled victims of disease. They were there 
 " because they had no homes, nor hospital, nor 
 " poor house, nor friends to offer them any. They 
 " could not satisfy the feeble cravings of their sick ; 
 " they had not bread to quiet the fractious hunger- 
 " cries of their children. Mothers and babes, daugh- 
 " ters and grandparents, all of them alike, were 
 " bivouacked in tatters, wanting even covering to 
 " comfort those whom the sick shiver of fever was 
 " searching to the marrow. 
 
 " These were Mormons in Lee County, Iowa, in 
 " the fourth week of the month of September, in 
 " the year of our Lord 1846. The city it was 
 " Nauvoo. Illinois. The Mormons were the owners 
 " of that city, and the smiling country around. And 
 " those who had stopped their plows, who had 
 " silenced their hammers, their axes, their shuttles, 
 " and their workshop wheels ; those who had put 
 " out their fires, who had eaten their food, spoiled 
 " their orchards, and trampled under foot their thous- 
 " ands of acres of unharvested bread these were 
 ' the keepers of their dwellings, the carousers in 
 " their temple, whose drunken riot insulted the ears 
 " of the dying. 
 
 " I think it was as I turned from the wretched 
 " night watch of which I have spoken, that I first 
 " listened to the sounds of revel of a party of the 
 " guard within the city. Above the distant hum of 
 " the voices of many, occasionally rose distinct the 
 " loud oath-tainted exclamation, and the falsely in- 
 " tonated scrap of vulgar song ; but lest this requiem 
 " should go unheeded, every now and then, when 
 " their boisterous orgies strove to attain a sort of 
 
154 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " ecstatic climax, a cruel spirit of insulting f rolic 
 " carried some of them up into the high belfry of 
 " the Temple steeple, and there, with the wicked 
 " childishness of inebriates, they whooped, and 
 " shrieked, and beat the drum that I had seen, and 
 " rang, in charivaric unison, their loud-tongued 
 " steamboat bell. 
 
 " There were, all told, not more than six hundred 
 " and forty persons who were thus lying upon the 
 " river flats. But the Mormons in Nauvoo and its 
 " dependencies had been numbered the year before 
 " at over twenty thousand. Where were they ? 
 " They had last been seen, carrying in mournful 
 " train their sick and wounded, halt and blind, to 
 " disappear behind the western horizon, pursuing 
 " the phantom of another home. Hardly anything 
 " else was known of them ; and people asked with 
 " curiosity, what had been their fate what their 
 " fortune." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE JOURNEY OF THE PIONEERS TO THE MOUNTAINS. 
 THEIR FIRST SIGHT OF THE PROMISED LAND. 
 
 Return we now to the main body of the Saints, 
 to see what their fate had been, and to pursue the 
 journey with them to the mountains. 
 
 At the close of the day on which he left Mount 
 Pisgah, Wilford Woodruff, describing the grand 
 spectacle of the exodus, wrote in his journal thus : 
 "" I stopped my carriage on the top of a rolling 
 41 prairie, where I had a fine view. I could stand 
 41 and gaze to the east and west, north and south, 
 " and behold the Saints pouring out and gathering 
 " like clouds from the hills and dales, groves and 
 " prairies, with the teams, wagons, flocks and herds, 
 " by hundreds and thousands. It looked like the 
 " moving of a nation ! " 
 
 " The moving of a nation ! " It is a graphic pic- 
 ture .in a touch. It was now more than ever this, 
 for the remnant from Nauvoo had been driven 
 toward the west. The Saints also in Europe, as 
 well as those in the Eastern States, were looking to 
 their leader to found for them another Zion to 
 which they might gather. 
 
 Brigham moved not as a captain at the head of a 
 mere band of pioneers, but 'in every thing he well 
 
156 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 sustained the character of a Moses. He established 
 his people on the route in organized " Stakes of 
 Zion." They were journeying towards the moun- 
 tains as a line of cities, and not as emigrant camps. 
 Indeed, they were called " Traveling Stakes of 
 Zion." It was a novel name a novel idea this of 
 traveling cities, but peculiarly empire-founding, and 
 very like Brigham Young, the founder of two 
 hundred and fifty cities. 
 
 Out of an absolute destitution, and in spite of 
 their expulsion, the Mormons had flourished and 
 increased in the wilderness, so that at the end of 
 the year 1846, winter quarters had grown into 
 twenty-two wards, with a bishop over each. 
 
 As the Spring opened, they began to prepare for 
 their journey to the mountains, which at that day 
 was almost appalling to the imagination. They had 
 still over a thousand miles to the valley of the Salt 
 Lake, and so little was known of the country any 
 more than its name implied the Great American 
 Desert that the Mormons could not look forward 
 to much of a land of promise to repay them for all 
 the past. Yet sang their poet, Eliza R. Snow, 
 who has ever on their great occasions fired them 
 with her Hebraic inspiration : 
 
 " The time of winter now is o'er, 
 There's verdure on the plain ; 
 We leave our shelt'ring roofs once more, 
 And to our tents again. 
 
 CHORUS; O Camp of Israel, onward move, 
 
 O, Jacob, rise and sing ; 
 Ye Saints the world's salvation prove, 
 All hail to Zion's King !" 
 
 The pioneer song (as it was called) was, like 
 their journey, quite lengthy. But the pioneers sang 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 157 
 
 It with a will. It told them of their past; told 
 them in exultation, that they were leaving the 
 " mobbing gentile race, who thirsted for their blood, 
 " to rest in Jacob's hiding place," and it told of the 
 future, in prophetic strains; for " Sister Eliza" is a 
 rare prophet as well as a poet. 
 
 The word and will of the Lord concerning the 
 Camp of Israel in its journeyings to the West, was 
 published from head-quarters, on the I4th of Janu- 
 ary, 1846. As it is the first written revelation ever 
 sent out to the Church by President Young, the 
 following passage from it will be read with interest : 
 
 " Let all the people of the Church of Jesus Christ 
 " of Latter-day Saints, and those who journey with 
 " them, be organized into companies, with a cove- 
 " nant and promise to keep all the commandments 
 " and statutes of the Lord our God. Let the com- 
 " panics be organized with captains of hundreds, and 
 " captains of fifties, and captains of tens, with a 
 " president and councilor at their head, under the 
 " direction of the Twelve Apostles ; and this shall 
 " be our covenant, that we will walk in all the ordi- 
 " nances of the Lord. 
 
 " Let each company provide itself with all the 
 " teams, wagons, provisions and all other necessaries 
 " for the journey that they can. When the com- 
 " panics are organized, let them go to with all their 
 " might, to prepare for those who are to tarry. Let 
 " each company, with their captains and presidents, 
 " decide how many can go next spring ; then choose 
 " out a sufficient number of able-bodied and expert 
 " men to take teams, seed, and farming utensils to 
 " go as pioneers to prepare for putting in the Spring 
 
158 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " crops. Let each company bear an equal propor- 
 " tion, according to the dividend of their property, 
 " in taking the poor, the widows, and the fatherless, 
 ' and the families of those who have gone with the 
 " army, that the cries of the widow and the father- 
 " less come not up into the ears of the Lord against 
 " his people. 
 
 " Let each company prepare houses, and fields for 
 " raising corn for those who are to remain behind 
 " this season ; and this is the will of the Lord con- 
 " cerning this people. 
 
 " Let every man use all his influence and property 
 " to remove this people to the place where the Lord 
 " shall locate a Stake of Zion ; and if ye do this 
 " with a pure heart, with all faithfulness, ye shall be 
 " blessed in your flocks, and in your herds, and in 
 " your fields, and in your houses, and in your 
 11 families. ' * * * 
 
 " Seek ye, and keep all your pledges one with 
 " another, and covet not that which is thy brother's. 
 " Keep yourselves from evil ; take not the name of 
 " the Lord God in vain, for I am the Lord your 
 " God, even the God of your fathers the God of 
 " Abraham, Isaac and of Jacob. I am he who led 
 " the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,, 
 " and my arm is stretched out in the last days to 
 " save my people Israel. ' * * * 
 
 " Have I not delivered you from enemies only in 
 ' that I have left the witness of my name ? Now, 
 " therefore, hearken, oh ye people of my church, 
 " and ye elders listen together. You have received 
 " my kingdom ; be diligent in keeping all my com- 
 " mandments, lest judgment come upon you, and 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 159 
 
 " your faith fail you, and your enemies triumph 
 " over you. Amen, and Amen." 
 
 On the 7th of April, 1846, the day after the 
 general conference, the pioneers started from winter 
 quarters. 
 
 As soon as they got fairly on the journey, they 
 were organized as a military body, into companies 
 of hundreds, fifties and tens. The following order 
 of the officers will illustrate : 
 
 Brigham Young, lieut.-general ; Stephen Mark- 
 ham, colonel; John Pack, ist major; Shadrach 
 Roundy, 2d major ; captains of hundreds, Stephen 
 Markham and A. P. Rockwood. 
 
 Captain of Company i, Wilford Woodruff; Com- 
 pany 2, Ezra T. Benson ; Company 3, Phineas H. 
 Young; Company 4, Luke Johnson; Company 5, 
 Stephen H. Goddard ; Company 6, Charles Shum- 
 way; Company 7, James Case; Company 8, Seth 
 Taft ; Company 9, Howard Egan ; Company 10^ 
 Appleton M. Harmon ; Company n, John Higbie; 
 Company 12, Norton Jacobs; Company 13, John 
 Brown; Company 14, Joseph Mathews. 
 
 The camp consisted of 73 wagons, 143 men, 
 3 women and two children 148 souls. 
 
 Nothing could better illustrate the perfection of 
 Mormon organization than this example of the 
 pioneers, for they were apostles and picked elders 
 of minute companies, and under strict discipline. 
 
 " Lieut.-General Young" issued general orders to 
 the regiment. The men were ordered to travel in 
 a compact body, being in an Indian country; every 
 man to carry his gun loaded, the locks to be shut 
 on a piece of buckskin, with caps ready in case of 
 
l6o LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 attack; flint locks, with cotton and powder flask 
 handy, and every man to walk by the side of his 
 wagon, under orders not to leave it, unless sent by 
 the officer in command, and the wagons to be 
 formed two abreast, where practicable, on the march. 
 At the call of the bugle in the morning, at five 
 o'clock, the pioneers were to arise, assemble for 
 prayers, get breakfast, and be ready to start at the 
 second call of the bugle at seven. At night, at half- 
 past eight, at the command from the bugle, each 
 was to retire for prayer in his own wagon, and to 
 bed at nine o'clock. Tents were to be pitched on 
 Saturday nights and the Sabbath kept. 
 
 A God-fearing people, without hypocrisy or cant, 
 the Mormons have been, in every scene and every 
 day of their eventful career. Cromwell's famous 
 order, " Trust in God, but keep your powder dry," 
 was never better exemplified than by these pioneers. 
 Indeed, none ever so well understood this maxim 
 as did these Mormon elders. 
 
 The course of the pioneers was up the north bank 
 of the Platte, along which they traveled slowly. 
 They crossed Elk Horn on a raft, forded the Loup 
 Fork with considerable danger in consequence of 
 the quicksands, and reached Grand Island about the 
 ist of May. 
 
 This was the day on which the pioneers had their 
 first buffalo hunt. There was much exciting interest 
 in the scene, for scarcely one of the hunters had 
 chased a buffalo before. They killed four cows, 
 three bulls, and five calves. 
 
 While on a hunt, several days after, the hunters 
 were called in, a party of 400 Indian warriors near 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. l6l 
 
 by having showed signs of an attack. The Indians 
 'had previously been threatening, and were setting 
 fire to the prairie on the north side of the Platte. 
 The pioneers fired their cannon twice to warn the 
 Indians that they were on the watch. 
 
 A council was now held to consider whether or 
 not it were wise to cross the river and strike the old 
 road to Laramie, there being good grass on that 
 side, while the Indians were burning it on the north. 
 In view, however, of the thousands who would fol- 
 low in their track, it was concluded to continue as 
 before, braving the Indians and the burning prairies ; 
 for, said the pioneers : 
 
 " A new road will thus be made, which shall stand 
 " as a permanent route for the Saints, independent 
 " of the old route, and the river will separate the 
 " Mormon companies from other emigrants, so that 
 " they need not quarrel for wood, grass or water, 
 " and fresh grass will soon grow for our companies 
 " to follow us this season." 
 
 Thus the pioneers broke a new road across the 
 plains, over which tens of thousands of their people 
 have since traveled, and which was famous as the 
 " old Mormon road," till the railway came to blot 
 almost from memory the toils and dangers of a 
 journey of more than a thousand miles, by ox 
 teams, to the valleys of Utah. (It is a curious fact 
 that for several hundred miles the grade of the 
 great trans-continental railway is made exactly upon 
 the old Mormon road). 
 
 The pioneers were wary. Colonel Markham 
 drilled his men in good military style, and the 
 cannon was put on wheels. 
 
l62 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 William Clayton, formerly the scribe of the Pro- 
 phet, and, in the pioneer journey, scribe to President 
 Young, and Willard Richards, the Church historian, 
 invented a machine to measure the distance. 
 
 General Young himself marked the entire route, 
 going in advance daily with his staff. This service 
 was deemed most important, as their emigrations 
 would follow almost in the very footprints of the 
 pioneers. 
 
 Those were days for the buffalo hunt, scarcely to 
 be imagined, when crossing the plains a quarter of 
 a century later. Some days they saw as many as 
 fifty thousand buffalo. 
 
 They came to the hunting ground of the Sioux, 
 where, a few days before, five hundred lodges had 
 stood. Nearly a thousand warriors had encamped 
 there. They had been on a hunting expedition. 
 Acres of ground were covered with buffalo wool 
 and other remains of the slaughter. No wonder 
 the Indian of the plains bemoans his hunting 
 grounds, now lost to him forever. 
 
 Several days later there were again fears of an 
 Indian attack, and the cannon was got ready. 
 
 The pioneers were within view of Chimney Rock 
 on Sunday, the 23d of May. Here they held their 
 usual Sabbath service. Erastus Snow preached, 
 followed by President Young. The President said 
 he had never seen a people more united than this 
 camp had been, and promised them that they should 
 pluck the fruit of this mission to all eternity. He 
 had many things to teach them, but could do it only 
 in a stake of Zion ; he was well satisfied with him- 
 self, his brethren of the Twelve, and with the pioneers 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 163 
 
 generally ; he knew the Lord was with them, and 
 that He was leading them ; to the praise of all, he 
 would say, that not a man of them would refuse to 
 obey his counsel. His peace with God was continu- 
 ally like a river, and he felt that the spirit of peace 
 rested upon the whole camp. 
 
 On the first of June they were opposite Laramie. 
 Here they were joined by a small company of Mor- 
 mons from Mississippi, who had been at Pueblo 
 during the Winter. They reported news of a de- 
 tachment of the battalion at Pueblo that expected 
 to start for Laramie about the first of June, and 
 follow the pioneer track. This addition to the 
 camp consisted of a brother Crow and his family 
 (14 souls, with seven wagons). 
 
 The next day President Young and others visited 
 Fort Laramie, then occupied by 38 persons, mostly 
 French, who had married the Sioux. 
 
 Mr. Burdow, the principal man af the Fort, was a 
 Frenchman. He cordially received President Young 
 and his staff, invited them into his sitting-room, 
 gave them information of the route, and furnished 
 them with a flat-bottom boat on reasonable terms^ 
 to assist them in ferrying the Platte. Ex-Governor 
 Boggs, who had recently passed with his company, 
 had said much against the Mormons, cautioning Mr 
 Burdow to take care of his horses and cattle. Boggs 
 and his company were quarreling, many having de- 
 serted him ; so Burdow told that old anti-Mormon 
 that, let the Mormons be what they might, they 
 could not be worse than himself and his men. 
 
 It is not a little singular that this exterminating 
 Governor of Missouri should have been crossing 
 
164 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 the Plains at the same time with the pioneers. 
 They were going to carve out for their people a 
 greater destiny than they could have reached either 
 in Missouri or Illinois he to pass away, leaving 
 nothing but the infamy of his name. 
 
 It was decided to send Amasa Lyman, with 
 several other brethren, to Pueblo, to meet the de- 
 tachment of the battalion, and hurry them on to 
 Laramie to follow the track. 
 
 At the old Fort they set up blacksmith shops, 
 and did some necessary work for the camp. Then 
 commenced the ascent of the Black Hills, on the 
 4th of June. 
 
 Fifteen miles from Laramie, at the Springs, a 
 company of Missouri emigrants came up. The 
 pioneers kept the Sabbath the next day; the Mis- 
 sourians journeyed. Another company of Missou- 
 rians appeared. 
 
 A party of traders, direct from Santa Fe, overtook 
 the pioneers, and gave information of the detach- 
 ment of the battalion, at Santa Fe, under Capt. 
 Brown. 
 
 The two Missouri companies kept up a warfare 
 between themselves on the route. They were a 
 suggestive example to the Mormons. After they 
 had traveled near each other for a week, on the 
 Sunday following the President made this the sub- 
 ject of his discourse. He said of the two Missou- 
 rian companies : 
 
 " They curse, swear, rip and tear, and are trying 
 " to swallow up the earth ; but though they do not 
 " wish us to have a place on it, the earth might as 
 " well open and swallow them up ; for they will go 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 165 
 
 " to the land of forgetfulness, while the Saints, 
 " though they suffer some privations here, if faith- 
 " ful, will ultimately inherit the earth, and increase 
 " in power, dominion and glory." 
 
 General Young called together the officers, to 
 consult on a plan for crossing the river. He direct- 
 ed them to go immediately to the mountains with 
 teams, to get poles. They were then to lash from 
 two to four wagons abreast, to keep them from 
 turning over, and float them across the river with 
 boats and ropes ; so a company of horsemen started 
 to the mountains with teams. 
 
 The " brethren " had previously ferried over the 
 Missourians, who paid them $1.50 for each wagon 
 and load, and paid it in flour at $2.50; yet flour was 
 worth ten dollars per cwt, at least, at that point. 
 They divided their earnings among the camp equally. 
 It amounted to five and a half pounds of flour each, 
 two pounds of meal, and a small piece of bacon. 
 
 " It looked," says Wilford Woodruff, " as much of 
 " a miracle to me to see our flour and meal bags 
 " replenished in the Black Hills as it did to have 
 " the Children of Israel fed with manna in the wil- 
 " derness. But the Lord had been truly with us on 
 " our journey, and had wonderfully preserved and 
 " blessed us." 
 
 These little stores of flour were supposed to have 
 saved the life of some of the pioneers, for they 
 were by this time entirely destitute of the " staff of 
 " life." 
 
 The pioneers were seven days crossing the river 
 at this point. While here they established a ferry, 
 and selected nine men to leave in charge of it, with 
 
1 66 LIFE OF BRIGllAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 instructions to divide the means accumulated 
 equally, to be careful of the lives and property of 
 those they ferried, to " forget not their prayers," 
 and "to come on with the next company of 
 " Saints." 
 
 They reached Independence Rock on the 2ist of 
 June, and the South Pass on the 26th. 
 
 Several days later they met Major Harris, who 
 had traveled through Oregon and California for 
 twenty-five years. He spoke unfavorably of the 
 Salt Lake country for a settlement. 
 
 Next day Col. Bridger came up. He desired to 
 go into council with the Mormon leaders. The 
 apostles held the council with the colonel. He 
 spoke more favorably of the great basin ; but 
 thought it not prudent to continue emigration there 
 until they ascertained whether grain would grow 
 there or not. He said he would give a thousand 
 dollars for the. first bushel of wheat raised in the 
 valley of the Salt Lake. 
 
 At Green River they were met by Elder Samuel 
 Brannan from the Bay of San Francisco. He came 
 to give an account of the Mormon company that 
 sailed with him in the ship Brooklyn. They had 
 established themselves two hundred miles up the 
 river, were building up a city, and he had already 
 started a newspaper. 
 
 They were several days fording Green River. 
 Here the pioneers kept the 4th of July. 
 
 The Mormon battalion now began to reinforce 
 the pioneers. Thirteen of these soldiers, returning 
 from the service of their country, joined them at 
 Green River, and reported that a whole detachment 
 of 140 were within seven days' drive. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 167 
 
 As the pioneers approached the valley of the 
 Great Salt Lake, the interest became intense. The 
 gold-finders of California, and the founders of the 
 Pacific States and Territories generally, had but a 
 fever for precious metals, or were impelled westward 
 by the migrating spirit of the American people ; 
 but these Mormon pioneers were seeking the 
 " Pearl of Great Price," and their thoughts and emo- 
 tions, as they drew near the Salt Lake Valley were 
 akin to those of the Pilgrim Fathers as they came 
 in sight of Plymouth Rock. 
 
 During the last days of the journey, President 
 Young was laid up with the " mountain fever," from 
 which he did not fully recover till on the return trip 
 to winter quarters. 
 
 After passing Bear River, a council of the whole 
 was called, and it was resolved that Apostle Orson 
 Pratt should take a company of about twenty 
 wagons, with forty men, to go forward and make a 
 road. Twenty-three wagons started the next 
 morning. 
 
 A few simple but graphic passages from the diary 
 of Apostle Woodruff, will illustrate the entrance of 
 the pioneers into the valleys of Utah, better than an 
 author's imagination. 
 
 " July 20th. We started early this morning, and 
 " stopped for breakfast after a five miles' drive. I 
 " carried Brother Brigham in my carnage. The 
 " fever was still on him, but he stood the ride well. 
 " After breakfast we traveled over ten miles of the 
 " worst road of the whole journey. 
 
 2Ist . We are compelled to lay over in conse- 
 " quence of the sick. 
 
1 68 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG \ OR, 
 
 " 22d. Continued our journey. 
 
 " 23d. We left East Canyon ; reached the sum- 
 " mit of the mountain, and descended six miles 
 " through a thick-timbered grove. We nooned at a 
 " beautiful spring in a small birch grove. Here we 
 " were met by Brothers Pack and Mathews from the 
 " advance camps. They brought us a dispatch. 
 " The brethren had explored the Great Salt Lake 
 " Valley, as far as possible, and made choice of a 
 " spot to put in crops. 
 
 "July 24th. This is one of the most important 
 " days of my life, and in the history of the Church 
 " of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 
 
 " After traveling six miles through a deep ravine 
 " ending with the canyon, we came in full view of 
 " the valley of the Great Salt Lake ; the land of 
 " promise, held in reserve by God, as a resting place 
 " for his Saints. 
 
 " We gazed in wonder and admiration upon the 
 " vast valley before us, with the waters of the Great 
 " Salt Lake glistening in the sun, mountains tower- 
 " ing to the skies, and streams of pure water running 
 " through the beautiful valley. It was the grandest 
 " view that we had ever seen till this moment. 
 " Pleasant thoughts ran through our minds at the 
 " prospect that, not many years hence, the house 
 " of God would be established in the mountains and 
 " exalted above the hills ; while the valleys would 
 " be converted into orchards, vineyards, and fruitful 
 " fields, cities erected to the name of the Lord, and 
 " the standard of Zion unfurled for the gathering of 
 " the nations. 
 
 " President Young expressed his entire satisfaction 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 169 
 
 " at the appearance of the valley, as a resting place 
 " for the Saints, and felt amply repaid for his jour- 
 " ney. While lying upon his bed, in my carriage, 
 " gazing upon the scene before us, many things of 
 " the future concerning the valley were shown to 
 " him in vision. 
 
 " After gazing awile upon this scenery, we moved 
 " four miles across the table land into the valley, to 
 " the encampment of our brethren who had arrived 
 " two days before us. They had pitched upon the 
 "banks of two small streams of pure water and had 
 <; commenced ploughing. On our arrival they had 
 " already broken five acres of land, and had begun 
 " planting potatoes in the valley of the Great Salt 
 " Lake. 
 
 " As soon as our encampment was formed, before 
 " taking my dinner, having half a bushel of potatoes, 
 " I went to the ploughed field and planted them, 
 " hoping, with the blessing of God, to save at least 
 " the seed for another year. 
 
 " The brethren had dammed up one of the creeks 
 " and dug a trench, and by night nearly the whole 
 " ground, which was found very dry, was irrigated. 
 
 " Towards evening, Brothers Kimball, Smith, 
 " Benson and myself rode several miles up the 
 " creek (City Creek) into the mountain, to look for 
 " timber and see the country. 
 
 " There was a thunder shower, and it rained over 
 " nearly the whole valley ; it also rained a little in 
 " the fore-part of the night. We felt thankful for 
 " this, as it was the generally conceived opinion that 
 " it did not rain in the valley during the summer 
 
 season." 
 
I 70 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 How well this arrival of the pioneers into their 
 " Land of Promise," illustrates the character of the 
 Mormon people. Empire founding on the first day ; 
 planting their fields before rest or dinner. Rain on 
 the day of Brigham's arrival, a miracle of promise ! 
 Already had his vision begun to be fulfilled ! 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE FIRST SABBATH IN THE VALLEY. THE PIONEERS 
 APPLY THE PROPHECIES TO THEMSELVES AND 
 THEIR LOCATION. ZION HAS GONE UP INTO THE 
 MOUNTAINS. THEY LOCATE THE TEMPLE AND 
 LAY OFF THE " CITY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE." 
 THE LEADERS RETURN TO WINTER QUARTERS TO 
 GATHER THE BODY OF THE CHURCH. THEIR 
 SECOND ARRIVAL IN THE VALLEY. BRIGHAM 
 DECLARED THE LEADER OF ISRAEL. 
 
 How characteristically the Mormons commenced 
 their history in Utah as a God-fearing people ! 
 
 The arrival of Brigham Young in the valley of 
 the Salt Lake was on a Saturday. The next day to 
 the pioneers was a Sabbath indeed. 
 
 "We shaved and cleaned up" (says Apostle 
 Woodruff, in his graphic story of the pioneers), 
 " and met in the circle of the encampment." 
 
 In the afternoon the whole " Congregation of 
 Israel" partook of the Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper. 
 
 Then the valleys rang with the exultant themes 
 of the Hebrew prophets, and the " Everlasting 
 Hills" reverberated the hosannas of the Saints. 
 
 Orson Pratt was the preacher of the great sub- 
 ject, which, to the ardent faith of those pioneers, 
 
172 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 never lived in fulfillment till that moment. The 
 sublime flights of the matchless Isaiah gave the 
 principal theme. 
 
 " O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up 
 " into the high mountains ! " 
 
 But Isaiah is not alone in the culminating inspi- 
 ration. There is such a grand unity among the 
 Hebrew prophets, when touching this subject of a 
 Latter-day Zion, that, undoubtedly, it was the burden 
 of the divine epic to which the Hebraic genius 
 soared. Notwithstanding the mental diversity of 
 these poet-prophets, in this crowning theme, they 
 give us, not poetic fragments, but a glorious con- 
 tinued composition, as from a manifold genius. 
 
 " Thy watchmen shall lift up their voice ; with 
 " the voice together shall they sing ; and they shall 
 " see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again 
 " Zion." 
 
 This was fulfilled to those Anglo-American pio- 
 neers that day. They were the watchmen ! With 
 the voice together they sang the theme, and did 
 literally shout their hosannas ; for the " Hosarina" 
 is a part of their Temple service. They saw eye to 
 eye. The Lord had brought again Zion ! 
 
 Nor were these Mormon apostles figurative in 
 their applications ; they rendered most literally to 
 themselves every point. Orson Pratt declared, 
 with an apostle's assurance, that their location, in 
 the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, was in the view 
 of the ancient seers. That which was before seem- 
 ingly contradictory in the extreme, relative to the 
 Latter-day Zion, especially its location and the 
 ' 'rapid transformation of its founding, was now made 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 173 
 
 plain and most literal. Apostle Pratt reconciled it 
 all. The pioneers saw the vision of Zion harmon- 
 ized on that first Sabbath in the valley, as they 
 might have seen their own faces in a mirror. 
 
 God would " hide his people in the chambers of 
 "the mountains!" Yet, in these "last days," he 
 would " establish his house on the tops of the 
 41 mountains, and exalt it above the hills ! " 
 
 And here were these pioneers of Mormon Israel 
 in a Valley nearly thirty miles in diameter, circled 
 by a chain of mountains ; here, in a valley nearly, 
 five thousand feet above the level of the sea 
 41 exalted above the hills "-yet belted by mountains 
 with their everlasting caps of snow. It was indeed 
 as the " chambers of the Lord," and the name 
 which it popularly bore the " Great Basin "-was 
 nearly as striking to the imagination as its prophetic 
 name. 
 
 Latter-day Zion, too, was to be a place " sought 
 " out " a place " not forsaken." They had sought 
 it out by an exodus, and an unparalleled journey of 
 a people, nearly fifteen hundred miles, over un- 
 broken prairies, sandy deserts and rocky mountains ; 
 and they were about to found their Zion in a prime- 
 val valley, where no city, since the creation, had 
 ever stood a place " not forsaken " by civilized 
 people of the ages long since dead. The " solitary 
 " places " were to be " made glad," the " wilderness" 
 was to "blossom as the rose," and the "desert'' 
 suddenly to be converted into the "fruitful field." 
 The pioneers had chosen for the location of their 
 Zion and her temples, the " Great; American Desert," 
 and they were about to make real the strange and 
 
I 74 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 highly colored picture. So much like the change in 
 an enchanted scene has been the transformation 
 which has since come over those desert valleys and 
 canyons of the Rocky Mountains, that, for the last 
 quarter of a century, the Mormons have been popu- 
 larly described in nearly every nation of the earth 
 as that peculiar people who have made the " desert 
 " to blossom as -the rose." Look upon the valley 
 of the Salt Lake to-day as Spring opens, when the 
 gardens and orchards are in one universal rose- 
 blossom, and there never was a prophetic picture 
 more literally realized. 
 
 But the prophecy most emphasized by these 
 Mormon apostles, and one, too, which they have 
 expected will be fulfilled most exactly, is by the 
 Prophet Micheas. (The Catholic version best 
 describes the Mormon expectation.) 
 
 " And it shall come to pass in the last days, that 
 " the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be 
 11 prepared in the top of the mountains, and high 
 " above the hills ; and the people shall flow to it. 
 
 " And many nations shall come in haste, and say, 
 " come, let us go up to the mountains of the Lord r 
 " and to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he 
 " will teach us of his ways ; and we will walk in his 
 " paths ; for the law shall go forth out of Zion, and 
 " the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. 
 
 " And he shall judge among many people, and 
 " rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat 
 " their swords into plough shares, and thei ' rpears 
 " into spades ; nation shall not take sword igainst 
 " nation ; neither shall they learn war any more. 
 
 " And every man shall sit under his vine, and 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. I 75 
 
 " under his fig tree ; and there shall be none to 
 " make them afraid ; for the mouth of the Lord of 
 " Hosts hath spoken." 
 
 This remarkable prophecy thousands have ex- 
 pected to be fulfilled during the lifetime of Brigham 
 Young. He is to be the " Mouth-piece " through 
 which " The Lord shall rebuke strong nations afar 
 " off." 
 
 Though feeble with that most languishing of dis- 
 eases, the mountain fever, and scarcely able to stand 
 upon his feet, Brigham was still the law-giver on 
 that first Sabbath. If he had not the strength to 
 preach a great sermon on the Latter-day Zion, like 
 that of the Mormon Paul Orson Pratt he was 
 " every inch " the Moses of the last days. 
 
 " He told the brethren," says the historian Wood- 
 ruff, " that they must not work on Sunday ; that 
 <c they would lose five times as much as they would 
 " gain by it. None were to hunt or fish on that 
 " day ; and there should not any man dwell among 
 " us who would not observe these rules. They 
 " might go and dwell w r here they pleased, but 
 " should not dwell with us. He also said, no man 
 " should buy any land who came here ; that he had 
 " none to sell ; but every man should have his land 
 " measured out to him for city and farming pur- 
 " poses. He might till it as he pleased, but he must 
 " be industrious, and take care of it." 
 
 " On Monday ten men were chosen for an explor- 
 " ing expedition. I took President Young into my 
 " carriage, and, traveling two miles towards the 
 " mountain, made choice of a spot for our garden. 
 
 " We then returned to camp, and went north 
 
Ij6 LIFE OF BKIGHAM VOUNG ; OK, 
 
 " about five miles, and we all went on to the top of a 
 " high peak, on the edge of the mountain, which we 
 "considered a good place to raise an ensign. So 
 " we named it ' Ensign Peak.' 
 
 " I was the first person who ascended this hill, 
 " which we had thus named. Brother Young was 
 '* very weary, in climbing to the peak, from his re- 
 " cent fever. 
 
 " We descended to the valley, and started north 
 " to the Hot Sulphur Springs, but we returned two 
 " miles to get a drink of cold water, and then went 
 " back four miles to the Springs. We returned to 
 " the camp quite weary with our day's explorations- 
 " Brothers Mathews and Brown had crossed the 
 " valley in the narrowest part, opposite the camp, to 
 " the west mountain, and found it about fifteen 
 " miles. 
 
 " Next day Amasa Lyman came into camp, and 
 " informed us that Capt. Brown's detachment of the 
 " Mormon battalion would be with us in about two 
 " days. 
 
 " We again started on our exploring expedition. 
 " All the members of the quorum of the Twelve 
 " belonging to the pioneers, eight in number, were 
 " of the company. Six others of the brethren, in- 
 " eluding Brannan of San Francisco, were with us. 
 
 " We started for the purpose of visiting the great 
 " Salt Lake, and mountains on the west of the valley. 
 " We traveled two miles west from Temple Block, 
 " and came to the outlet of the Utah Lake ; thence 
 " fourteen miles to the west mountain, and found 
 ".that the land was not so fertile as on the east 
 " side. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 177 
 
 " We took our dinner at the fresh water pool, 
 and then rode six miles to a large rock, on the 
 shore of the Salt Lake, which we named Black 
 Rock, where we all halted and bathed in the salt 
 water. No person could sink in it, but would roll 
 and float on the surface like a dry log. We con- 
 cluded that the Salt Lake was one of the wonders 
 of the world. 
 
 " After spending an hour here, we went west 
 along the lake shore, and then returned ten miles 
 to our place of nooning, making forty miles that 
 day. 
 
 "In the morning we arose refreshed by sleep 
 in the open air. Having lost my carriage whip 
 the night before, I started on horseback to go 
 after it. As I approached the spot where it was 
 dropped, I saw about twenty Indians. At first 
 they looked to me in the distance like a lot of 
 bears coming towards me. As I was unarmed I 
 wheeled my horse and started back on a slow 
 trot. 
 
 " But they called to me, and one, mounting his 
 horse, came after me with all speed. When he 
 got within twenty rods I stopped and met him. 
 The rest followed. They were Utes, and wanted 
 to trade. I told them by signs that our camp was 
 near, so he went on with me to the camp. From 
 what we had yet seen of the Utes they appeared 
 friendly, though they had a bad name from the 
 mountaineers. The Indian wanted to smoke the 
 pipe of peace with us, but we soon started on and 
 he waited for his company. 
 
 " We traveled ten miles south under the moun- 
 
178 LIFE OF BRIGHAM 
 
 " tain. The land laid beautifully, but there was no 
 <c water, and the soil was not so good as on the east. 
 " We saw about a hundred goats, sheep and ante- 
 " lope playing about the hills and valleys. We re- 
 " turned, weary, to the pioneer encampment, making 
 " thirty miles for the day. 
 
 " After our return to the camp, President Young 
 " called a council of the quorum of the Twelve- 
 " There were present : Brigham Young, Herbert 
 " Kimball, Willard Richards, Orson Pratt, Wilford 
 " Woodruff, George A. Smith, Amasa Lyman and 
 " Ezra T. Benson. 
 
 " We walked from the north camp to about the 
 " centre between the two creeks, when President 
 " Young waved his hand and said : ' Here is the 
 " * forty acres for the temple. The city can be laid 
 " ' out perfectly square, north and south, east and 
 " 'west.' It was then moved and carried that the 
 " temple lot contain forty acres on the ground where 
 " we stood. It was also moved and carried that the 
 " city be laid out into lots of ten rods by twenty 
 " each, exclusive of the streets, and into blocks of 
 " eight lots, being ten acres in each block, and one 
 " and a quarter in each lot. 
 
 "It was further moved and carried that each 
 " street be laid out eight rods wide, and that there 
 " be a side-walk on each side, twenty feet wide, and 
 " that each house be built in the centre of the lot 
 " twenty feet from the front, that there might be 
 " uniformity throughout the city. 
 
 " It was also moved that there be four public 
 " squares of ten acres each, to be laid out in various 
 " parts of the city for public grounds. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. I 79 
 
 " At eight o'clock the whole camp came together 
 " on the temple ground and passed the votes unani- 
 " mously, and, when the business part of the meet- 
 " ing was closed, President Young arose and ad- 
 " dressed the assembly upon a variety of subjects. 
 
 " In his remarks the President said that he was 
 " determined to have all things in order, and right- 
 " eousness should be practiced in the land. We had 
 " come here according to the direction and counsel 
 " of Brother Joseph, before his death ; and, said the 
 " President, Joseph would still have been alive if 
 " the Twelve had been in Nauvoo when he re- 
 " crossed the river from Montrose. 
 
 " During his remarks, President Young observed 
 " that he intended to have every hole and corner 
 " from the Bay of San Francisco to Hudson Bay 
 " known to us. 
 
 " On the 29th, President Young, with a number 
 " of brethren, mounted and started to meet the 
 " battalion detachment, under the command of Cap- 
 " tain Brown. 
 
 " We met some of them about four miles from 
 " camp, and soon afterwards met Captains Brown 
 " and Higgins, Lieutenant Willis, and the company. 
 " There were 1,400 of the battalion, and a company 
 " of about 100 of the Mississippi Saints, who came 
 " with them from Pueblo. They had with them 60 
 " wagons, 100 horses and mules, and 300 head of 
 " cattle, which greatly added to our strength. 
 
 " While we were in the canyon, a water cloud 
 " burst, which sent the water into the creeks from 
 " the mountains, with a rush and roar like thunder^ 
 V resembling the opening of a flood gate. The 
 
l8o LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " shower spread over a good share of the valley 
 " where we settled. 
 
 " We returned at the head of the companies, and 
 " marched into camp with music. The battalion 
 " took up their quarters between our two camps on 
 " the bank of the creek. 
 
 " While we had been exploring the rest of the 
 " pioneers had been farming. 
 
 "By the ist of August (Sunday) the brethren 
 " constructed the Bowery on Temple block, in which 
 " Heber C. Kimball was the first to preach. Orson 
 " Pratt followed in a discourse upon the prophecies 
 ' of Isaiah, proving that the location of Zion in the 
 " mountains by our people was the fulfillment. 
 
 " On Monday we commenced laying out the city, 
 " beginning with the Temple block. In forming 
 " this block, 40 acres appeared so large, that a 
 " council was held to determine whether or not it 
 " would be wisdom to reduce it one-half. Not being 
 " decided in our views, we held council again, 
 " two days later, when we gave as our matured 
 " opinions that we could not do justice to 40 acres; 
 41 that 10 acres would be sufficient. 
 
 " As we were under the necessity of returning 
 " soon to winter quarters for the Saints, it was 
 " thought best to go at once to the mountains for 
 " logs to build ourselves cabins, as the adobe houses 
 " might not be ready for our use. 
 
 " On the 6th of August, the Twelve were re-bap- 
 " tized. This we considered a privilege and a duty. 
 " As we had come into a glorious valley to locate 
 " and build up Zion, we felt like renewing our cove- 
 " nants before the Lord and each other. We soon 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. -l8l 
 
 " repaired to the water, and President Young went 
 " down into the water and baptized all his brethren 
 lt of the Twelve present. He then confirmed us, 
 " and sealed upon us our apostleship, and all the 
 " keys, powers and blessings belonging to that 
 " office. Brother Heber C. Kimball baptized and 
 " confirmed President Brigham Young. The follow- 
 " ing were the names and order of those present : 
 " Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, 
 " Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, George A. 
 " Smith, and Amasa Lyman. Ezra T. Benson had 
 " been dispatched several days before to meet the 
 " companies on the road. 
 
 "In the afternoon of the next day, the Twelve 
 " went to the Temple block to select their inherit- 
 " ances. 
 
 " President Young took a block east of the 
 " Temple, and running south-east, to settle his 
 " friends around him ; Heber C. Kimball, a block 
 " north of the Temple -; Orson Pratt, s.outh and 
 " running south ; Wilford Woodruff, a block corner- 
 " ing Temple block, the south-west corner joining 
 " Orson Pratt's ; Amasa Lyman took a block forty 
 " rods below "^Vilford Woodruff's ; George A. Smith, 
 " one joining the Temple on the west, and running 
 " due west. It was supposed that Willard Richards 
 <* would take his on the east, near President Young's. 
 " None others of the Twelve were present in camp. 
 
 " During the same evening the Twelve went to 
 " City Creek, 'and Heber C. Kimball baptized fifty- 
 " five members of the camp, for the remission of 
 " their sins ; and they were confirmed under the 
 " hands of President Young, Orson Pratt, Wilford 
 
l82 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " Woodruff, George A. Smith, and Amasa Lyman ; 
 " President Young being mouth. 
 
 " On the next day (Sunday, August 8th), the 
 " whole camp of Israel renewed their covenants 
 " before the Lord by baptism. There were two 
 " hundred and twenty-four baptized this morning, 
 " making two hundred and eighty-eight re-baptized 
 " in the last three days. 
 
 "In the afternoon we partook of the Sacrament- 
 " At the close of the meeting one hundred and ten 
 " men were called for, to go into the adobe yard, 
 " and seventy-six volunteered. 
 
 " Brother Crow had a child drowned on the nth. 
 
 "On the 1 3th -the Twelve held council. Each 
 " one was to make choice of the blocks that they 
 " were to settle their friends upon. President Young 
 " took the tiers of blocks south through the city ; 
 " Brother Kimball's runs north and north-west ; 
 " Orson Pratt, four blocks ; Wilford Woodruff, eight 
 " blocks ; George A. Smith, eight ; and Amasa 
 " Lyman, twelve blocks, according to the companies 
 " organized with each. 
 
 "Next day four of the messengers returned from 
 " Bear River and Cache Valley. 
 
 " They brought a cheering report of Cache Valley. 
 " The brethren also returned who went to Utah 
 " Lake for fish. They found a mountain of granite. 
 
 " The quorum of the Twelve decided in council 
 " that the name of the city should be the ' City of 
 41 ' the Great Salt Lake.' 
 
 " Sunday, August i5th, President Young preached 
 " on the death of Brother Crow's child ; a most in- 
 " teresting discourse, full of principle. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 183 
 
 " Sunday, the 22<d, we held a general conference, 
 41 when the public assembly resolved to call the city 
 " ' The City of the Great Salt Lake/ 
 
 " It was also voted to fence the city for farming 
 " purposes the coming year, and to appoint a Presi- 
 " dent and High Council, and all other officers 
 " necessary in this Stake of Zion, and that the 
 " Twelve write an epistle to leave with the Saints in 
 " the valley. The conference then adjourned until 
 41 the 6th of October, A. D. 1848. 
 
 " On the morning of the 26th of August, 1847, 
 "* the pioneers, with most of the returning members 
 41 of the Mormon battalion, harnessed their horses 
 " and bade farewell to the brethren who were to 
 " tarry. The soldiers were very anxious to meet 
 " their wives again, whom they had left by the way- 
 " side, without a moment's notice, for their service 
 " in the war with Mexico. These being, too, the 
 " 'Young Men of Israel/ had left many newly wedded 
 " brides ; and not a few of those gallant fellows were 
 ' fathers of first-born babes whom they had not yet 
 " seen. 
 
 " The brethren in the valley were placed under 
 41 the presidency of the Chief Patriarch of the 
 " Church Father John Smith, uncle of the Pro- 
 " phet. The members of the quorum of the Twelve 
 " Apostles Brigham took with him ; but he left reli- 
 " able men, among whom was Albert Carrington, 
 " at the present date an apostle. 
 
 " There were a number of companies also on the 
 " road, under principal men and chief ' Captains of 
 41 Israel/ such as apostles Parley P. Pratt and John 
 < 4 Taylor, Bishop Hunter, Daniel Spencer, and 
 
184 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " Jedediah M. Grant, who was afterwards one of the 
 " first presidents of the Church. 
 
 " On the fourth day of their : return journey, the 
 " pioneers were met by their messengers, under 
 " Ezra T. Benson, whom President Young had sent 
 " forward with instructions to the outcoming com- 
 ' panics. These messengers gladdened the hearts 
 " of the pioneers, with letters from their wives and 
 " brethren, and reported the coming ' Camp of 
 " Israel' as divided into nine companies, numbering 
 " 600 wagons. 
 
 " On the ^d of September, they met the first divi- 
 " sion of fifty, under President Daniel Spencer, upon 
 " the Big Sandy ; and, on the following day, on the 
 " Little Sandy, two more fifties, one under the corn. 
 " mand of Captain Sessions and the other under 
 " Apostle Parley P. Pratt. 
 
 "In the afternoon, the quorum of the Twelve 
 " held a council, and two of the Twelve were sharply 
 " rebuked, for undoing what the majority of the 
 " quorum had done in the organization of the camps 
 " for traveling. At first it was not received, but 
 " afterwards the error was confessed. President 
 " Young gave much instruction, and the power of 
 " God rested upon us. He said, if he did not tell 
 " us of our faults, we should be destroyed, but if we 
 " received necessary reproof, we should live in love, 
 
 " and our hearts would be cemented together. 
 
 p 
 
 " President Young said he felt eternity rest- 
 " ing upon him, and was weighed down to the 
 " earth with this work ; and that Brother Kimball 
 " felt it also more than any other man except him- 
 " self. He should chastise any one of the quorum 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 185 
 
 " when out of the way. He had done it for our 
 " good, and had been constrained to it by the power 
 " of God. 
 
 " Brother Kimball then addressed President 
 " Young : 
 
 " ' I want you Brother Brigham,' he said, ' to save 
 " ' yourself, for you are wearing down. I feel tender 
 " ' towards you to live, and if I and my brethren do 
 " ' wrong, tell us of it, and we will repent; 
 
 " They continued daily to meet the companies, 
 " Apostle Taylor bringing up his hundred on the 
 " Sweet Water. In this company was Edward 
 " Hunter, the present presiding Bishop of the whole 
 " Church. These brethren prepared a great feast 
 " in the wilderness. They made it a sort of a sur- 
 " prise party, the pioneers being unexpectedly in- 
 " troduced to the richly-laden table. The feast con- 
 " sisted of roast and boiled beef, pies, cakes, biscuit, 
 " butter, peach sauce, coffee, tea, sugar, and a great 
 " variety of good things. In the evening the camp 
 " had a dance, but the Twelve met in council to ad- 
 " just important business. 
 
 " Next day they met Jedediah M. Grant, with his 
 " hundred. He was direct from Philadelphia. He 
 " informed them that Senator Thomas Benton, the 
 " inveterate enemy of the Mormons, was doing all 
 " he could against them. 
 
 " Early the next morning the alarm w r as given 
 " that their horses were stolen. Bells were found 
 " cut from the horses, the lariats cut, an arrow was 
 " picked up, and other Indian signs discovered. 
 " The trail was finally struck, and a company of 
 " twenty horsemen started after the Indians. 
 
1 86 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 "It looked gloomy to see so many women and 
 4< children there in the mountains with their horses 
 " and cattle stolen, and breaking down so late in the 
 " secson. 
 
 " Daring the evening two of the brethren who 
 " had b^en in the pursuit returned, bringing back 
 " five of the horses. 
 
 " Next morning we parted from our friends, who 
 " were going west, and those of us who had not 
 " lost horses divided with those who had. As we 
 "journeyed on we met the remainder of our breth- 
 " ren returning from the pursuit, but they had not 
 " recovered any more of our horses ; the Indians 
 " had escaped with forty-three of them. 
 
 " Two weeks later we had another immensely ex- 
 " citing Indian fray. About nine in the morning 
 " the call was made to get our horses, when sud- 
 " denly reports of firearms were heard, in quick 
 " succession, with cries from the guard of, ' Indians ! 
 " ' Indians!' 
 
 "In less than a minute the timber and bluffs were 
 " lined with mounted Indians, charging with all 
 " speed upon the guard houses and camp. They 
 " numbered quite two hundred warriors. 
 
 " The brethren returned the fire, broke the In- 
 " dian charge, and gave chase, seeing which, the old 
 " chief shouted to his band and proclaimed peace 
 " to the pioneers, telling the latter that they were 
 " good Sioux and that they had taken them for 
 " Crows or Snakes. He proposed the smoking of 
 " the pipe of peace between the Mormons and his 
 " warriors, and wanted the big chief of his Mormon 
 " brothers to go to his camp. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 187 
 
 " This the brethren would not permit ; but Heber 
 <f C. Kimball, Colonel Markham and Apostle Wood- 
 " ruff went in the President's stead, for the pioneers 
 * were desirous to cultivate the friendship of the 
 " Indians for the sake of their emigrations across 
 " the plains. They obtained from the Indians some 
 " of their stolen horses. 
 
 " At Fort Laramie President Young, Kimball and 
 " others of the apostles dined with Commodore 
 " Stockton, from the Bay of San Francisco, with 
 " forty of his men, eastward bound. 
 
 " On the i Qth of October, the pioneers were met 
 "by a troop of mounted, police from winter 
 "' quarters, under their captain, Hosea Stout, who 
 " had come to meet them, thinking they might need 
 "' help." 
 
 As they drew near winter quarters, - the sisters, 
 mothers and wives came out to meet the brave men 
 who had found for them a second Zion. They also 
 :sent teams laden with the richest produce of winter 
 quarters and the delicacies of the household table* 
 which loving hands had prepared. 
 
 When within about a mile of winter quarters a 
 halt was called; the company was drawn up in order 
 and addressed by President Young, who then dis- 
 missed the pioneer camp with his blessing. 
 
 They drove into the city in order. The streets 
 were lined with people to shake hands with them as 
 they passed. Each of the pioneers drove to his 
 own home. This was October 3ist. 
 
 The pioneers on their return found the Saints at 
 winter quarters well and prosperous. They, like 
 their leaders, had been greatly blessed. The earth, 
 
l88 LIFE OF BRIGI-IAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 under their thorough habits of cultivation and in- 
 dustry, had brought forth abundantly. 
 
 During the month of November much important 
 business came before the Twelve ; and, on the last 
 of the month, the subject of reorganizing the first 
 Presidency, which had been vacant since the mar- 
 tyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, was consid- 
 ered. 
 
 On the 3d of December a conference was held on 
 the east side of the river ; but, after having resolved 
 to build immediately a large tabernacle for the con- 
 gregation, it adjourned for three weeks. 
 
 There was a feast and a grand council, Dec. 5th, 
 at the house of Elder Hyde, who had been in 
 charge at winter quarters during the absence of the 
 pioneers. 
 
 In this council of the Twelve Apostles, their 
 President first expressed his views concerning the 
 reorganization of the quorum of the first Presidency, 
 and wished those present to do the same in their 
 order, when Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Wil- 
 ford Woodruff, Willard Richards, George A. Smith, 
 Amasa Lyman and Ezra T. Benson spoke to the 
 question. President Young closed. 
 
 Orson Hyde then moved that Brigham Young be 
 President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
 day Saints, and that he nominate his two councilors 
 to form the first Presidency. Wilford Woodruff 
 seconded the motion, and it was then carried unani- 
 mously. 
 
 President Young then nominated Heber C. Kim- 
 ball as his first councilor, and Willard Richards as 
 his second councilor, which was seconded and car- 
 ried unanimously. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 189 
 
 The Twelve again met the next day, and ap- 
 pointed Father John Smith presiding patriarch of 
 the whole Church. 
 
 The conference reassembled on the 24th of De- 
 cember, and lasted four days. In the " Log Taber- 
 " nacle " one thousand persons assembled, and chose 
 Brigham Young " President of the Church of Jesus 
 " Christ in all the world." This was reconfirmed at 
 the October general conference the following year, 
 in Salt Lake City. 
 
 During the first three months of the year 1848, 
 the Saints at winter quarters were busy preparing 
 for the general migration of the Church to the 
 Valley of the Great Salt Lake ; but they also pe- 
 titioned the Legislature of Iowa for the organiza- 
 tion of a county in the Pottowatomie tract of land, 
 and for a post office. 
 
 On the 3d of February those who were in the 
 " Battle of Nauvoo " commemorated it with a 
 feast. 
 
 On the 6th of April the regular general confer- 
 ence was held, celebrating the organization of the 
 Church; and on the nth messengers arrived 
 from Great Salt Lake City. They were of the 
 battalion. 
 
 A feast was made by President Young on the 
 2Qth for his immediate associates, some of whom 
 were going on missions, others were designed to 
 stay on the frontiers to conduct and bring up the 
 emigration ; while President Young himself was 
 about to lead the vanguard of the people to the 
 mountains. 
 
 About the middle of May, all was bustle at winter 
 
LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 quarters. President Young addressed the people 
 Sunday, i4th, blessed those who were going with 
 him to the valley, and those who were to tarry. He 
 also blessed the Pottowatomie land, and prophesied 
 that the Saints would never be driven from the 
 Rocky Mountains. 
 
 On the 24th of May President Young started 
 for Elk Horn to organize his company. There 
 were 600 wagons in the encampment. They formed 
 the largest pioneer force which had yet set out to 
 build up the States and Territories destined to 
 spring up on the Pacific slope. 
 
 We need not follow the pipneers on their second 
 journey to the Rocky Mountains. Suffice it to say 
 that Brigham led the body of the Church in safety 
 to those mountain retreats, ariving in the City of 
 the Great Salt Lake in September, 1848. 
 
 The bare suggestion of an exodus, when the 
 young Prince of Orange proposed to the Dutch the 
 submerging of Holland by the unlocking of her 
 dykes, and the transporting of the nation in her 
 fleets to some virgin soil, rather than be conquered 
 by France, suddenly from the lowest depression 
 aroused the heroism of the people of the Nether- 
 lands to the sublimest pitch. It restored the family 
 of the dispossessed Stadtholders ; lifted the House 
 of Nassau even above what it was when the young 
 hero's great-grandfather, " William the Silent," 
 founded the Dutch Republic ; brought out the fra- 
 gile stripling who conceived and proposed that exo- 
 dus, and made him the soul of a European coalition 
 which checkmated the gigantic ambitions of Louis 
 le Grand, and finally placed him on the throne of 
 England as William the Third. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 1 91 
 
 But here, with the Mormons, we have not a mere 
 conception of an exodus, daring as that was, but a 
 veritable exodus itself, of an entire people, reduced 
 to the greatest extremity. There has been nothing 
 of its type for a thousand years. The last was the 
 immortalized " Hegira " of Mohammed, whence 
 dated the Mohammedan era, and the founding of 
 that vast religious empire which for centuries with- 
 stood the chivalry of Christendom and contended 
 for the dominion of the world. And what even 
 was the exodus of the disciples of Mohammed, 
 compared with that of the Mormons ? Having 
 converted to the cause of Islam twelve citizens 
 from Medina, who came on pilgrimage to the sacred 
 city of Mecca, and through them the warrior chief- 
 tains of the rival neighboring city, the Eastern 
 Prophet had merely sent a pioneer band of his 
 adherents there to raise his standard, while he and 
 his faithful Abu Beker brought up the "flight" 
 alone on foot. But the Mormons, under their great 
 leader, passed over the borders of civilization, with 
 their wives and their children, in broad daylight, 
 before the eyes of their enemies, making a journey 
 of fifteen hundred miles across trackless prairies, 
 sandy deserts and rocky mountains. What, indeed, 
 for distance, was the immortalized exodus of ancient 
 Israel compared with that of Mormon Israel under 
 Brigham Young ? 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE MORMONS IN THEIR NEW " GATHERING PLACE." 
 FIRST CELEBRATION. GROWTH OF THEIR COMMON- 
 WEALTH. FOUNDING OF THE STATE OF DESERET. 
 CONGRESS ESTABLISHES A TERRITORIAL ORGANI- 
 ZATION. FAMINE AND CRICKETS. A STRANGE 
 PROPHECY BY HEBER C. KIMBALL, AND A STRANGER 
 FULFILLMENT. THE RUSH OF THE GOLD FINDERS 
 TO CALIFORNIA. GRAND CELEBRATIONS. MEMO- 
 . RIAL TO CONGRESS FOR A NATIONAL RAILROAD 
 TO THE PACIFIC IN 1852. A SLANDER EXPLODED. 
 GRAND RAILROAD DEMONSTRATION IN 1854. 
 
 The Saints in the valley had been specially 
 blessed, notwithstanding the adversities attendant 
 upon the first settling of a country so far removed 
 from the borders of civilization. As we have seen^ 
 they brought from Nauvoo scarcely a week's sup- 
 plies for a whole people in their exodus ; the rest 
 they had to create, by sending their laborers into 
 the surrounding country. This, with the wise policy 
 of establishing temporary settlements on the route, 
 in time to plant their seed and reap their harvest, 
 had preserved them from want during their two 
 years' sojourn in the wilderness. But a severe 
 winter in the valley on their arrival, considering the 
 condition of a community under such extraordinary 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 193 
 
 circumstances, must have been disastrous, or at least 
 attended with great suffering ; but Providence was 
 propitious ; the winter was the mildest ever known 
 in that region to this very day ; and, when the 
 pioneers returned they found all well. To use their 
 own expressions, the people were " hid in the cham- 
 bers of the Lord," to rest from the persecutions of 
 their enemies and develop, in their sanctified isola- 
 tion, those social and religious institutions which 
 they believed, when perfected, would be to the age 
 as the beginning of a new civilization. 
 
 On the evening of President Young's arrival, two 
 of his daughters, Elizabeth Ellsworth and Vilate 
 Decker, with their husbands, who came the previous 
 season, made a feast for him and sang a salutation, 
 composed for the occasion by Eliza R. Snow ; and ? 
 on the Sabbath following, a general welcome was 
 extended by the entire community. 
 
 The first celebration in the mountains was held 
 on the 24th of July, 1849 tne second anniversary 
 of the entrance of the pioneers. 
 
 It was a grand primitive festival. The feast con- 
 sisted of but few luxuries, yet the day which they 
 celebrated made it a crowning occasion ; nor have 
 the immense displays of later years overshadowed 
 this one in the remembrance of the first settlers of 
 the valley. 
 
 The people, in their satisfied pride, united to 
 grace the day with primitive taste and beauty, and 
 every device which their inventive skill could 
 bring into requisition, was exhibited in the decora- 
 tions and performance of the day. It was truly a 
 display of civilization in the midst of a rude wilder- 
 ness. 
 
IQ4 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 The following description of the celebration, by 
 the " Chief Scribe," may be of interest to many : 
 
 1 The inhabitants were awakened by the firing- of 
 cannon, accompanied by music. The brass band 
 playing martial airs, was then carried through the 
 city, returning to the Bower by seven o'clock. The 
 Bower is a building 100 feet long by 60 feet wide, 
 built on 104 posts, and covered with boards; but 
 for the services of this day a canopy or awning was 
 extended about 100 feet from each side of the 
 Bower, to accommodate the vast multitude at 
 dinner. 
 
 At half-past seven the large national flag, measur- 
 ing sixty-five feet in length, was unfurled at the top 
 of the liberty pole, which is 104 feet high, and was 
 saluted by the firing of six guns, the ringing of the 
 Nauvoo bell, and spirit-stirring airs from the band. 
 
 At eight o'clock the multitude were called to- 
 gether by music and the firing of guns, the bishops 
 of the several wards arranging themselves in the 
 sides of the aisles, with the banners of their wards 
 unfurled, each bearing some appropriate inscription. 
 
 At a quarter-past eight, the Presidency of the 
 Stake, the Twelve, and the bands, went to prepare 
 the escort in the following order, at the house of 
 President Brigham Young, under the direction of 
 Lorenzo Snow, J. M. Grant, and T. D. Richards : 
 
 (i) Horace S. Eldridge, marshal, on horseback, in 
 military uniform ; (2) brass band; (3) twelve bishops 
 bearing the banners of their wards ; (4) seventy-four 
 young men dressed in white, with white scarfs on 
 their right shoulders, and coronets on their heads, 
 each carrying in his right hand a copy of the decla- 
 ration of independence and the constitution of the 
 United States, and each carrying a sheathed sword 
 in his left hand ; one of them carrying a beautiful 
 banner, inscribed on it, "The Zion of the Lord;'' 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 195 
 
 (5) twenty-four young ladies, dressed in white, with 
 white scarfs on their right shoulders, and wreaths 
 of white roses on their heads, each carrying a copy 
 of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and one 
 carrying a very neat banner, inscribed with " Hail 
 to our Captain " ; (6) Brigham Young, Heber C. 
 Kimball, Willard Richards, Parley P. Pratt, Charles 
 C. Rich, John Taylor, Daniel Spencer, D. Fullmer, 
 Willard Snow, Erastus Snow ; (7) twelve bishops, 
 carrying flags of their wards ; (8) twenty-four Silver 
 Greys, led by Isaac Morley, patriarch, each having a 
 staff, painted red at the upper part, and a bunch of 
 white ribbon fastened at the top, one of them carry- 
 ing the stars and stripes, bearing the inscription, 
 " Liberty and Truth." 
 
 The procession started from the house at nine 
 o'clock. The young men and young ladies sang a 
 hymn through the streets, the cannon roared, the 
 musketry rolled, the Nauvoo bell pealed forth its 
 silvery notes, and the air was filled by the sweet 
 strains of the brass band. On arriving at the Bower 
 the escort was received with shouts of " Hosanna ! 
 to God and the Lamb ! " While the presidency, 
 patriarch and presiding bishops were passing down 
 the aisle, the people cheered and shouted " Hail to 
 the Governor of Deseret." These being seated by 
 the committee on the stand, the escort passed 
 round the assembly, singing a hymn of praise, 
 marched down the aisle, and were seated in double 
 rows on either side. The assembly was called to 
 order by Mr. J. M. Grant. On being seated Mr. 
 Erastus Snow offered up a prayer. 
 
 Richard Ballantine, one of the twenty-four young 
 men, came to the stand, and in a neat speech pre- 
 sented the declaration of independence, and the 
 constitution of the United States, to President 
 Young, which was received with three shouts, " May 
 it live for ever," led by the President. 
 
 The declaration of independence was then read 
 
196 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 by Mr. Erastus Snow, the band following with a 
 lively air. 
 
 The clerk then read " The Mountain Standard," 
 composed by Parley P. Pratt : 
 
 11 Lo the Gentile chain is broken, 
 
 Freedom's banner waves on high." 
 
 After the above had been sung by the twenty-four 
 young men and young ladies, Mr. Phineas Richards 
 came forward in behalf of the twenty-four aged sires 
 in Israel, and read their congratulatory address on 
 the anniversary of the day. At the conclusion of 
 the reading, the assembly rose and shouted three 
 times, " Hosanna! hosanna! hosanna! to God 
 " and the Lamb, for ever and ever, Amen," while 
 the banners were waved by the bishops. The band 
 next played a lively air, and the clerk then rose and 
 read an " Ode on Liberty." 
 
 The ode was then sung by the twenty-four 
 Silver Greys to the tune of " Bruce's Address to 
 His Army." 
 
 The hour of intermission having arrived, the 
 escort was reformed, the bishops of each ward col- 
 lected the inhabitants of their respective wards to- 
 gether, and marched with them to the dinner tables, 
 when several thousand of the Saints dined sumptu- 
 ously on the fruits of the earth. Several hundred 
 emigrants also partook of the repast, as did also 
 three score Indians." 
 
 The community grew so rapidly that before the 
 close of the second year it was deemed wise to 
 establish a constitutional secular g6vernment, and 
 accordingly representatives of the people met in 
 convention, and formed the " Provisional Govern- 
 ment of the State of Dcseret." A constitution was 
 adopted, and delegates sent to Washington, asking 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 197 
 
 admission into the Union. Here is what they 
 said : 
 
 " We, the people, grateful to the Supreme Being 
 for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our 
 dependence on Him for a continuation of those 
 blessings, do ordain and establish a free and inde- 
 pendent government by the name of the State of 
 Deseret, including all the Territory of the United 
 States within the following boundaries, to wit : 
 commencing at the 33d deg. of north latitude, where 
 it crosses the io8th deg. of longitude west from 
 Greenwich ; thence running south and west to the 
 boundary of Mexico ; thence west to and down the 
 main channel of the Gila River (or the northern 
 part of Mexico), and on the northern boundary of 
 Lower California to the Pacific Ocean ; thence 
 along the coast northwesterly to the i i8th deg. 3Oth 
 min. of west longitude ; thence north to where said 
 line intersects the dividing ridge of the Sierra Ne- 
 vada Mountains to the dividing range of mountains 
 that separates the waters flowing into the Columbia 
 River from the waters running into the great basin 
 on the south, to the summit of the Wind River 
 chain of mountains ; thence southeast and south 
 by the dividing range of mountains that separates 
 the waters flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from 
 the waters flowing into the Gulf of California, to 
 the place of beginning, as set forth in a map drawn 
 by Charles Preuss, and published by order of the 
 Senate of the United States, in 1848." 
 
 When it is remembered that this vast tract of 
 country, thus mapped out for the State of Deseret, is 
 the very antipodes of the ancient land of Canaan ; not 
 " flowing with milk and honey," but literally barren 
 and desolate ; the projectors of the scheme will surely 
 receive more credit for their " pluck " than censure 
 
198 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 for their ambition. Nor did the Mormon pioneers 
 wantonly map out more Territory than their faith 
 led them to believe they could subdue and occupy ; 
 for with prophetic eye they saw an innumerable 
 company gathering to their standard, in support of 
 the divine mission of their Prophet. Neither is 
 their faith concerning this matter materially changed 
 to-day, notwithstanding the fact that Congress has, 
 from time to time, largely contracted their original 
 boundaries. 
 
 A Governor (Brigham Young), Lieut.-Governor, 
 Judges and Legislators for the State of Deseret, 
 were duly elected, and all swore fidelity to the con- 
 stitution of the United States. But Congress, in- 
 stead, saw fit to disregard their desire for a State 
 organization, and on the gth of September, 1850, 
 passed an act, organizing the Territory of Utah 
 within the following limits : " Bounded on the west 
 " by the State of California ; on the north by the 
 " Territory of Oregon ; on the east by the summits 
 4t of the Rocky Mountains ; and on the south by 
 41 the 37th parallel of north latitude," with the pro- 
 viso that Congress should be at liberty, when it 
 might be deemed " convenient and proper," to cut 
 it up into two or more Territories, or to attach any 
 portion of it to any other State or Territory. On 
 the 2Oth of the same month, President Fillmore, 
 41 with the advice and consent of the Senate," ap- 
 pointed Brigham Young Governor of Utah ; B. D. 
 Harris, of Vermont, Secretary ; Joseph Bufifington, 
 of Pennsylvania, Chief Justice ; Perry E. Brocchus, 
 of Alabama, and Zerubbabel Snow, of Ohio, Asso- 
 ciate Justices ; Seth M. Blair, of Deseret, U. S. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 199 
 
 Attorney ; and Joseph L. Heywood, of Deseret, U. 
 S. Marshal ; but Buffington declining the office of 
 Chief Justice, Lemuel G. Brandebury was appointed 
 in his stead. These appointments gave the majority 
 of the Federal offices to the people, Snow, Blair 
 and Heywood being Mormons. 
 
 The choice of Governor was made upon the 
 recommendation of Col. Thomas L. Kane, but 
 President Fillmore could not with consistency have 
 appointed any other than Brigham Young, for 
 though his ecclesiastical supremacy might have been 
 objectionable to the Government, Congress could 
 not wisely have set aside his just claims. On their 
 side, the Saints signified their grateful appreciation 
 by naming the capital of the Territory " Fillmore," 
 and the county in which it was located, " Millard.'' 
 At Fillmore, which is one hundred and fifty miles 
 south of Salt Lake City, the "State House" was 
 built ; and there, for some years, the Legislative 
 Assembly met ; but at a later period, the capital of 
 Utah was removed to Salt Lake City. 
 
 Governor Young took the oath of office on the 
 3d of February, 1851 ; and on the 25th of March, 
 he issued a special message to the General Assem- 
 bly of the State of Deseret, notifying them of the 
 action of Congress. On the 5th of April, 1852, 
 Deseret was officially merged into the Territory of 
 Utah. 
 
 Of course, in the founding of Utah, there was 
 much that was peculiar to the people in their social 
 and governmental methods ; but in nothing were 
 they more peculiar than in their judicial affairs. 
 The did not believe in going to law one with an- 
 
2OO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 other. They took their cases to the " High Coun- 
 cil " and the courts of their bishops, or Ward 
 Councils. Their judicial economy was after the 
 patterns of the New Testament rather than after 
 the patterns of Blackstone. It was this which made 
 Mormon rule so obnoxious to Federal judges and 
 Gentile lawyers. Federal judges could not possibly 
 find their vocation in a purely Mormon common- 
 wealth, nor could Gentile lawyers reach the pockets 
 of the people. 
 
 The Federal officials arrived in Utah in July, 
 1851. By an uncalled for and injudicious attempt 
 to meddle with the social and religious peculiarities 
 of the people, they soon rendered themselves un- 
 popular. Being thus brought to a condition of 
 social self-ostracism, their stay became irksome and 
 intolerable, and they accordingly accepted the first 
 convenient occasion to resign and retire from the 
 Territory. 
 
 Judges Reed and Shaver, and Secretary Ferris, 
 succeeded the retiring officials, and their intercourse 
 with the people was markedly wiser and more suc- 
 cessful than that of - their predecessors. Judges 
 Reed and Shaver soon died (the former while on a 
 visit to New York), and Secretary Ferris, after pub- 
 lishing an anti-Mormon book, retired from the 
 United States service in Utah. 
 
 The next set >of Federal officials, Chief Justice 
 Kinney, Associate Justices Stiles and Drummond, 
 and Secretary Babbitt, had a more lengthy and im- 
 portant connection with the affairs of the Territory. 
 Justice Drummond became particularly conspicuous 
 as a mischief maker, many of the more serious 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 2OI 
 
 governmental perplexities and difficulties of the 
 Mormon people being popularly accredited to his 
 Mephistophelian tendencies. Largely through his 
 efforts and representations, the uncharitable and 
 bigoted elements of the country were brought into 
 array against Governor Young, and President Pierce 
 was prevailed upon to determine his removal from 
 the Governorship. 
 
 In 1854, Lieutenant-Colonel E. J. Steptoe, with 
 about three hundred of his regiment, arrived in the 
 Territory on their way to California, and to him, 
 early in December, President Pierce tendered the 
 Governorship of Utah ; but a memorial to His 
 Excellency, headed by Chief Justice Kinney and 
 Colonel Steptoe, obtained Brigham's re-appointment 
 as Governor and Superintendent of Indian affairs. 
 (See Chapter XIV.) 
 
 The destitute condition of the Saints in their 
 exodus 'has already been depicted, and such, in a 
 measure, must have inevitably been their con- 
 dition during the first seasons spent in a country 
 where Colonel Bridger had supposed not even a 
 bushel of wheat could be raised. Their crops, how- 
 ever, had been plentiful, but the large emigration of 
 their people from the frontiers and from Europe, in 
 1847 and 1848, may readily suggest that the pro- 
 ducts of the country raised by the few must, at the 
 best, have fallen far short of the most primitive 
 necessities of the community. 
 
 Then came the desolating crickets before the 
 harvest of 1848. Their ravages were frightful. 
 
202 
 
 Countless hosts attacked the fields of grain. The 
 crops were threatened with utter destruction. The 
 valleys appeared as though scorched by fire. Famine 
 stared the settlers in the face. All were in danger 
 of perishing. America and Europe were shocked 
 with the prospect of a whole community being 
 doomed to absolute starvation before succor coulcl 
 be sent, even had the benevolent Christian world 
 been disposed to feed the outcast Mormons from 
 its overflowing granaries. 
 
 Then came the manifestation of a special provi- 
 dence. Immense flocks of gulls came up from the 
 islands of the lake, to make war upon the destroy- 
 ing hosts. Like good angels they came at the 
 dawn ; all day they feasted upon the crickets. 
 When full they disgorged and feasted again. Thus 
 the gulls certainly saved the Mormons in 1848. 
 They were, indeed, as angels sent, and the grateful 
 people treated them as such. This incident, along 
 with that of the coming of the flock of quails to the 
 remnant of the exiles from Nauvoo, as they laid 
 sick and starving on the banks of the Mississippi, 
 will live in Mormon history, to be deservedly com- 
 pared with the feeding of the Children of Israel in 
 the wilderness. 
 
 Even as it was, there was a season of famine in 
 Utah ; but like as in the second famine in 1856, 
 none perished from starvation. In both cases the 
 patriarchal character of the community saved it. 
 As one great family, they shared the substance of 
 the country. The inventory of provisions in the 
 Spring of 1849 showed that there was only three- 
 quarters of a pound of breadstuffs per day in the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 203 
 
 whole Territory for each person, up to the 5th of 
 July. It is evident that in all these times of famine, 
 as in their exodus and emigrations, the Mormons 
 owe their preservation to their patriarchal and com- 
 munistic organization. The people were put upon 
 rations. Still their breadstuffs were insufficient, 
 and many v/ent out with the Indians and dug small 
 native roots, while.some, in their destitution, took 
 the hides of animals which covered the roofs of their 
 houses, and cut them up and cooked them. But 
 the harvest of 1849 was abundant, and the people 
 were saved. 
 
 By this time the Mormons in Utah were as des- 
 titute of clothing and every kind of " States goods " 
 as they had been of food. Now came another prc- 
 vidential circumstance to help them in their time of 
 need. Now came another event which not only 
 gave prosperity to Utah, but a dispensation of 
 wealth to the nation, and new States and Territories 
 to her dominions. It scarcely need be said that 
 this was the discovery of gold in California. 
 
 A happy prophecy of Heber C. Kimball is im- 
 mortalized in connection with this event. Here is 
 the often-told story, which, unlike most popular 
 stories, is singularly true : 
 
 After the return of the pioneers from winter 
 quarters to the Valley, in 1848, bringing with them 
 the body of the Church, which had become, during 
 the sojourn in the wilderness, nearly as primitive in 
 the matter of clothing as the Indians, the spirit of 
 prophecy rested upon Heber, and, to the astonish- 
 ment of the congregation of Israel, and greatly to 
 the provocation of their unbelief, he predicted that 
 
204 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " States goods " should be sold in the streets of 
 Salt Lake City as cheap as in New York, and that 
 the people should be abundantly provided with 
 clothing. The fulfillment, of course, was to be im- 
 mediate, or the prophecy would be worthless. After 
 dwelling upon this most blessed gospel news, if 
 true, Heber sat down, and the " spirit went out of 
 " him." Then the Prophet doubted his own words, 
 and confessed to the brethren his fears that he had 
 " missed it this time" Yet it was the best prophetic 
 hit of his life. Brigham, when leading the Mor- 
 mons from Nauvoo, had made a similar prediction, 
 declaring that in " five years " they should be " bet- 
 " ter off " than ever they had been. Both prophe- 
 cies were hanging on some coming event then un- 
 seen. 
 
 Here is how the fulfillment was brought about, 
 coupled with an episode of California and the Mor- 
 mon battalion : 
 
 Destiny led the Mormon pioneers to the valleys 
 of Utah. Destiny went with the Mormon battalion 
 to California in the expedition of General S. W. 
 Kearney, whose instructions from the Secretary of 
 War were to " conquer " California, and set up a 
 provisional military government there in the name 
 of the United States. California, however, was 
 won by Fremont and his volunteers, and the United 
 States flag was hoisted in the Bay of San Francisco 
 by Commodore Stockton before the arrival of Gen, 
 Kearney. A battle or two, by the regular troops 
 under Kearney, completed the conquest. Had not 
 the General been forestalled by Fremont, the Mor- 
 mons would have been among his most reliable sol- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 2O5 
 
 diers in the conquest of that country. As it was, 
 Kearney found the situation claimed by several 
 rival Governors. Fremont was the hero. Fremont 
 was his, great rival. The hero was in rebellion. He 
 refused at first to resign to the military chief the 
 government of the conquered Province. He might 
 have even won the position from the rightful Gov- 
 ernor on the strength of his claims as conqueror, 
 -supported by his popularity ; but at this crisis of 
 affairs Col. Phillip St. George Cooke arrived in 
 California with his command the Mormon bat- 
 talion. Their coming gave to Kearney the victory 
 over his rival. He consulted with Colonel Cooke, 
 who assured him that he could rely on his Mormon 
 soldiers to a man. This decided the General. He 
 resolved to force the issue and arrest his rival. 
 This was consummated, and Fremont was carried 
 to Washington for trial, under a Mormon guard. 
 The famous case of Kearney and Fremont forms 
 quite a chapter of American history, but it is not so 
 well known how conspicuous a part the Mormon 
 soldiers played in the case. They did, in fact, very 
 materially help their General accomplish his mission 
 of establishing in California the regular authority 
 of the United States. 
 
 The Mormon battalion fought no battles during 
 the service, but its soldiers performed one of the 
 most remarkable marches on record. 
 
 The battalion was discharged. It was then that 
 these disbanded soldiers did for America a work in 
 California which will not be forgotten, even when 
 the West shall have become the rival of the East in 
 wealth and dominion. It was their shovels upon 
 
2O6 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 which the gold first glittered, inviting adventurous 
 millions to the Pacific coast. 
 
 On being discharged from the United States 
 service, four of the Mormon battalion found employ 
 with Mr. Thomas Marshall, in digging Captain Sut- 
 ter's mill race. One day these brethren were at- 
 tracted by the mysterious movements of their fore- 
 man, Mr. Marshall, whom they partly surprised in 
 the act of washing something which his shovel had 
 just turned up. That something was gold ! The 
 discovery was at once shared by Mr. Marshall and 
 his men. Of course, at first, there was some secrecy 
 preserved, but such a discovery could not be long 
 hid, and soon the Mormons of California, both 
 those of the battalion and those who sailed to the 
 Bay of San Francisco with Mr. Samuel Brannan in 
 the ship Brooklyn, were working in the gold dig- 
 gings. So that notwithstanding Mr. Marshall's 
 shovel brought the initial glitter of California gold 
 to light, it was the ordained shovels of Mormon 
 Elders that published the golden tidings to the 
 world. It is not a little curious, too, that the gold 
 of California pretty faithfully at first paid tithing to 
 the Church. But the Mormons, as a class, did not 
 resign their mission for the service of Mammon. 
 The brethren of the battalion returned to their 
 families in the Valley, leaving the pursuit of gold to 
 the Gentiles, yet bringing with them large quanti- 
 ties of the precious " dust." The Church at once 
 became wealthy ; a " mint" was established in Zion^ 
 and a gold currency issued ; but before this had 
 also been fulfilled the prophecy of Heber C. Kim- 
 ball. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 
 
 No sooner was the discovery bruited than the 
 whole civilized world seemed to be rushing to the 
 new El Dorado. Scarcely a nation but sent its 
 adventurous spirits to the paradise of gold which 
 Mormon elders had found. A paradise soon to be 
 transformed into a veritable pandemonium. But 
 from the American States themselves came colony 
 after colony pouring daily toward the west. Gold 
 was the incentive at first, but as that wondrous emi- 
 grational tide swelled, it became more like the 
 migration of a dominant race for the purpose of 
 founding a new empire. This did finally become 
 the proper character of the movement. The exodus 
 of the Saints seemed to have been but as a pioneer 
 impulse which all America was in turn to feel. 
 
 The best blood of America was in those emigrant 
 companies, and they took with them enough re- 
 sources to found a new State ; but there was no 
 " royal road " to the land of gold ; fifteen hundred 
 miles then intervened between the western frontier 
 of the States and Salt Lake City. The Mormon 
 Zion became the " half-way house " of the nation. 
 
 But the ambitious and spirited emigrants to Cali- 
 fornia could not endure the tedious journey as the 
 Saints had done. Before they reached the moun- 
 tains they began to leave fragments of their richly- 
 laden trains by the wayside. All along the route 
 was strewn valuable freight, with the ruins of 
 wagons and the carcasses of oxen and mules. 
 
 By the time the gold finders reached the valley 
 of the Great Salt Lake, they were utterly impatient 
 and demoralized. Many had loaded their trains 
 with clothing, dry goods, general merchandise, 
 
2O8 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 mechanics' tools and machinery, expecting to find a 
 market where gold was dug and a new country to 
 be settled. But the merchant, alike with the adven- 
 turer, was at last subdued by the contagion of the 
 gold fever, and provoked into a mania of impatience 
 by the tedious journey. News also reached the 
 overland emigrants that steamers, laden with mer- 
 chandise, had sailed from New York to California. 
 The speculations of the merchants lost their last 
 charm. That which was destined for California 
 was left in Utah. In absolute disgust for their 
 trains of merchandise and splendid emigrant outfits, 
 they gave the bulk to the Mormons at their own 
 price, and for the most ordinary means of barter. 
 A horse or a mule outfit to carry the gold finder 
 quickly to his destination, was taken as an equiva- 
 lent for wagons, cattle and merchandise. 
 
 Thus the destitute Mormons, by as strange a 
 providence as one could conceive, were suddenly 
 made prosperous in all they most needed by the 
 simplest exchanges, and their supply of cattle and 
 mules was greatly augmented by the temporarily 
 exhausted but excellent stock of the emigrants. 
 
 Thus was the remarkable prophecy of Heber C. 
 Kimball fulfilled, with a detailed exactness that 
 seldom falls to the lot of prophecies. " States 
 goods " were purchased in the streets of Salt Lake 
 City cheaper than in New York ; in some cases for 
 a tenth of their original cost. Brigham's prophecy 
 to the Saints, when they left Nauvoo, was also 
 verified. Within the given "five years" they were, 
 indeed, better off than they had ever been before. 
 
 In 1852 the people had a grand celebration of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 209 
 
 the Fourth -of July. This was the first notable cele- 
 bration of our national anniversary by the Mormons 
 since their arrival in the valley, though it was kept 
 by the pioneers on the way, both at winter quarters 
 and as they approached the haven of their search. 
 They had afterwards, in a manner, blended the idea 
 and spirit of the fourth with the twenty-fourth, 
 which they esteem as the natal day of Utah. On 
 the first celebration of the twenty-fourth, the con- 
 stitution of the United States was presented to the 
 Governor of the State of Deseret, and the declara- 
 tion of independence read, but the honor of the 
 year, in 1852, was given to the Fourth of July. 
 
 The Saints, however, could not altogether forget 
 their exile. Their expulsions and other wrongs 
 rankled in their hearts and in their memories, for 
 they were mostly American born who occupied the 
 valleys at that time. The Fourth of July, therefore, 
 was just the occasion to call up some bitter remem- 
 brances, which not even a genuine patriotism could 
 quite subdue. This latter feeling was allowed public 
 expression by the reading of the following poem, 
 composed for the occasion, by Eliza R. Snow : 
 
 Shall we commemorate the clay 
 
 Whose genial influence has passed o'er? 
 Shall we our hearts' best tribute pay 
 
 Where heart and feeling are no more ? 
 
 Shall we commemorate the clay, 
 
 With freedom's ensign waving high, 
 Whose blood-stained banner 's furled away, 
 
 Whose rights and freedom have gone by ? 
 
 Shall we, when gasping 'neath its wave, 
 
 Extol the beauties of the sea? 
 Or, lashed upon fair freedom's grave, 
 
 Proclaim the strength of liberty? 
 
210 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 It is heart-rending mockery ! 
 
 I'd sooner laugh midst writhing pain, 
 Than chant the Song of Liberty 
 
 Beneath oppression's galling chain ! 
 
 Columbia's glory is a theme 
 
 That with our life's warm pulses grew ; 
 But ah ! 'tis fled; and like a dream, 
 
 Its ghost is flutt'ring in our view ! 
 
 Her dying groans her fun'ral knell 
 
 We've heard, for oh ! we've had to fly ! 
 And now, alas ! we know too well, 
 
 The days of freedom have gone by. 
 
 Protection faints and justice cow'rs 
 
 Redress is slumbering on the heath ; 
 And 'tis in vain to lavish flowers 
 
 Upon our country's fading wreath ! 
 
 t 
 Better implore His aid divine, 
 
 Whose arm can make his people free ; 
 Than decorate the hollow shrine 
 
 Of our departed liberty ! 
 
 Yet an excellent accompaniment of this gifted 
 lady's theme will be found in the following, from a 
 patriotic speech, delivered on that occasion, by Gen. 
 Wells. He said : 
 
 "It has been thought by some that this people, 
 abused, maltreated, insulted, robbed, plundered and 
 finally disfranchised and expatriated, would natu- 
 rally feel reluctant to again unite their destiny with 
 the American Republic. No wonder that it was 
 thought by some that we would not again submit 
 ourselves (even while we were yet scorned and 
 ridiculed) to return to our allegiance to our native 
 country. Remember, that it was by the act of our 
 country, not ours, that we were expatriated ; and 
 then consider the opportunity we had of forming 
 other ties ; let this pass while we lift the veil and 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 211 
 
 show the policy which dictated us. That country, 
 that constitution, those institutions were all ours- 
 they are still ours. Our fathers were heroes of the 
 revolution. Under the master spirits of an Adams, 
 a Jefferson, and a Washington, they declared and 
 maintained their independence ; and under the 
 guidance of the spirit of truth, they fulfilled their 
 mission whereunto they were sent from the presence 
 of the Father. Because demagogues have arisen 
 and seized the reins of power, should we relinquish 
 our interest in that country, made dear to us by 
 every tie of association and consanguinity ? * * * 
 Those who have indulged such sentiments concern- 
 ing us, have not read Mormonism aright ; for never, 
 no never, will we desert our country's cause ; never 
 will we be found arrayed by the side of her enemies, 
 although she herself may cherish them in her own 
 bosom. 'Although she may launch forth the thun- 
 der-bolts of war, which may return and spend their 
 fury upon her own head, never, no never, will we 
 permit the weakness of human nature to triumph 
 over our love of country, our devotion to her insti- 
 tutions, handed down to us by our honored sires, 
 made dear by a thousand tender recollections." 
 
 "Such, surely," says Stansbury, '" is neither the 
 " language nor the spirit of a disloyal people." 
 
 The fact, too, that the people kept the Fourth of 
 July during the pioneer journey to the mountains, 
 when no eye but God's saw them, and there was no * 
 need for a display of loyalty for political purposes 
 shows how genuine is their love of country and 
 reverence for the constitution. The address of 
 President Young also, on the. occasion of the calling 
 of the Mormon battalion, is a rare example of this. 
 Notwithstanding they had looked upon the " call " 
 
212 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 as a test of Mormon loyalty, and knew that it would 
 prevent their going to the mountains that year, and 
 rob them of the flower of their camps, he prompted 
 the volunteers to their duty, as we have before re- 
 corded, in this remarkable manner : 
 
 " I want to say to every man, the constitution of 
 " the United States, as formed by our fathers, was 
 " dictated, was revealed, was put into their hearts 
 41 by the Almighty, who sits enthroned in the midst 
 41 of the heavens ; although unknown to them, it 
 " was dictated by the revelations of Jesus Christ, 
 " and I tell you in the name of Jesus Christ, it is as 
 41 good as I could ever ask for. I say unto you, 
 " magnify the laws. There is no law in the United 
 41 States, or in the constitution, but I am- ready to 
 " make honorable." 
 
 Yet, if to boldly stand up for their own constitu- 
 tional rights, and to protest against the maladminis- 
 tration of Federal rule over the Territories, be dis- 
 loyalty, Brigham Young and his people have been 
 disloyal enough. 
 
 An incident of their history, at this date, relative 
 to the construction of a great national railroad to 
 the Pacific coast, is too suggestive to be omitted, 
 and it will be an excellent refutation of the slander 
 that the Mormons courted a semi-barbaric isola- 
 tion. 
 
 At the first session of the Territorial Legislature, 
 held in 1851-2, in Salt Lake City, memorials to 
 Congress were adopted, praying for the construc- 
 tion of a national central railroad, and also a tele- 
 graph line from the Missouri River, via Salt Lake 
 City, to the Pacific. The following memorial 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS 213, 
 
 was signed and approved by Governor Young,. 
 March 3d, 1852 : 
 
 " To the Honorable the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the United States, in Congress 
 Assembled : 
 
 Your memorialists, the Governor and Legislative 
 Assembly of the Territory of Utah, respectfully 
 pray your honorable body to provide for the estab- 
 lishment of a national central railroad from some 
 eligible point on the Mississippi or Missouri River, 
 to San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento or 
 Astoria, or such other point on or near the Pacific 
 coast as the wisdom of your honorable body may 
 dictate. 
 
 Your memorialists respectfully state that the im- 
 mense emigration to and from the Pacific requires 
 the immediate attention, guardian care and fostering 
 assistance of the greatest and most liberal Govern- 
 ment on the earth.. Your memorialists are of the 
 opinion that not less than five thousand American 
 citizens have perished on the different routes within 
 the last three years, for the want of proper means 
 of transportation. That an eligible route can be 
 obtained, your memorialists have no doubt, being 
 extensively acquainted with the country. We know 
 that no obstruction exists between this point and 
 San Diego, and that iron, coal, timber, stone and 
 other materials exist in various places on the route ;; 
 arid that the settlements of this Territory are SO' 
 situated as to amply supply the builders of said 
 road with materials and provisions for a considera- 
 ble portion of the route, and to carry on an exten- 
 sive trade after the road is completed. 
 
 Your memorialists are of opinion that the mine- 
 ral resources of California and these mountains can 
 never be fully developed to the benefit of the 
 
214 LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 United States, without the construction of such a 
 road ; and upon its completion, the entire trade of 
 China and the East Indies will pass through the 
 heart of the Union, thereby giving our citizens the 
 almost entire control of the Asiatic and Pacific 
 trade ; pouring into the lap of the American States 
 the millions that are now diverted through other 
 commercial channels ; and last, though not least, 
 the road herein proposed would be a perpetual 
 chain or iron band, which would effectually hold to- 
 gether our glorious Union with an imperishable 
 identity of mutual interest ; thereby consolidating 
 our relations with foreign powers in times of peace, 
 and our defence from foreign invasion, by the 
 speedy transmission of troops and supplies, in. time 
 'of war. 
 
 The earnest attention of Congress to this import- 
 ant subject is solicited by your memorialists, who, 
 in duty bound, will ever pray." 
 
 Herein will be seen that strong Mormon ambi- 
 
 o 
 
 tion for the glory and unity of our common country 
 manifested throughout the entire history of this 
 people, when the national destiny is not made to 
 mean the extinction of the Mormons in its manifest 
 course. With that qualification the Mormons were, 
 in their design, as much the pioneers of this " great 
 " national railroad," to unite the two halves of the 
 continent, and pour millions of people on to the 
 Pacific slope, to build up a galaxy of new States, as 
 they had been of the emigration itself in that 
 direction ; and this, too, was quite in keeping with 
 that bold offer made to the Government by Joseph 
 Smith, in 1843, to enter into the service of the 
 nation, with several thousand well armed volun- 
 teers, to be followed by the entire Mormon com- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 215 
 
 munity, to conquer the Pacific dominion for the 
 United States, and checkmate the aims of Great 
 Britain to establish herself on this coast by the 
 connivance of Mexico. 
 
 On the 3 ist of January, 1854, there was another 
 movement of the people for a Pacific railroad. The 
 citizens of Salt Lake and surrounding country, men 
 and women, gathering en masse to make a grand 
 demonstration in its favor. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PICTURES OF MORMON SOCIETY IN THE FOUNDING OF 
 UTAH. LIFE AMONG THE SAINTS. THEIR SOCIAL 
 AND RELIGIOUS PECULIARITIES AND CUSTOMS. 
 ECSTACY OF THE GOLD FINDERS WHEN THEY 
 CAME UPON " ZION." VIEWS BY STANSBURY, GUN- 
 NISON, AND NOTED ENGLISH TRAVELERS, OF THE 
 MORMONS AND THEIR INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 It is thought that a few pictures of the early days 
 of Utah, and of Mormon society in its primeval 
 forms, may have a special interest to visitors of 
 to-day, who go up to the New Jerusalem of the 
 West in luxurious palace cars. They shall be the 
 pictures which struck the fancy, or the judgment^ 
 of the intelligent " gentile " who first came upon 
 the peculiar people, just settled in the valleys of 
 Utah, yet described them in wonderment, much as 
 they would have done had they come upon the 
 strange habitations and inhabitants of another world. 
 There is a graphic life touch in some of those 
 sketches mere letters though they were that the 
 imagination of. the best artist could not equal. 
 They are realistic pictures of what was ; romances 
 of social life, so to speak, that were not dreams. 
 
 Gunnison, in his " History of the Mormons," 
 observes : 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 217 
 
 " This treatise on the faith and condition of the 
 Mormons, results from a careful observation of that 
 strange and interesting people, during more than a 
 year's residence among them, in an official capacity. 
 It was conceived that what is influencing the con- 
 scientious character of a half million souls, is worthy 
 a serious investigation, though not pertinent to 
 an official report under government auspices. For 
 those who desire facts in the history of humanity, 
 on which to indulge in reflection, is this offered. It 
 were far easier to give a romantic sketch in lofty 
 metaphors, of the genesis and exodus of the empire- 
 founding Saints the subject is its own epic of 
 heroism, whose embellishment is left to imaginative 
 genius, and its philosophy to be deduced by the 
 candid philanthropist. * * But the peculiar 
 
 character of the founders of Deseret, their energy, 
 union, and hopes, stimulated by their religious 
 views, more especially demand our notice ; and this 
 subject is equally interesting to the politician, the 
 philosopher, and the theologian. We found them, 
 in 1849, organized into a State, with all the order 
 of legislative, judicial, and executive offices regularly 
 filled, under a constitution eminently republican in 
 sentiment, and tolerant in religion ; and though the 
 authority of Congress has not yet sanctioned this 
 form of Government, presented and petitioned for, 
 they proceed quietly with all the routine of an 1 
 organized self-governing people, under the title of a 
 Territory being satisfied to abide their time, in 
 accession of strength by numbers, when they may 
 be deemed fit to take a sovereign position, being 
 contented, so long as allowed to enjoy the substance, 
 under the shadow of a name. They lay and collect 
 taxes, raise and equip troops for protection, in full 
 sovereignty, on the soil they helped to conquer first 
 and to subdue to use afterward." 
 
 Here is a graphic sketch from the artistic pen of 
 
2l8 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 a gold digger, a correspondent of the New York 
 Tribune, under date of July 8th, 1849 : 
 
 " The company of gold diggers which I have the 
 honor to command, arrived here on the 3d instant, 
 and judge our feelings when, after some twelve 
 hundred miles travel through an uncultivated desert, 
 and the last one hundred miles of the distance 
 through and among lofty mountains, and narrow 
 and difficult ravines, we found ourselves suddenly, 
 and almost unexpectedly, in a comparative paradise. 
 * * * At first sight of all these signs of cultiva- 
 tion in the wilderness, we were transported with 
 wonder and pleasure. Some wept, some gave three 
 cheers, some laughed, and some ran and fairly 
 danced for joy, while all felt inexpressibly happy to 
 find themselves once more amid scenes which mark 
 the progress of advancing civilization. We passed 
 on amid scenes like these, expecting every moment 
 to come to some commercial centre, some business 
 point in this great metropolis of the mountains, but 
 we were disappointed. No hotel, sign post, cake 
 and beer shop, barber pole, market house, grocery, 
 provision, dry goods, or hardware store distinguished 
 one part of the town from another ; not even a 
 bakery or mechanic's sign was anywhere discernible. 
 , Here, then, was something new ; an entire people 
 reduced to a level, and all living by their labor all 
 cultivating the earth, or following some branch of 
 physical industry. At first I thought it was an ex- 
 periment, an order of things established purposely 
 to carry out the principles of ' socialism ' or ' Mor- 
 monism.' In short, I thought it very much like 
 Owenism personified. However, on inquiry, I found 
 that a combination of seemingly unavoidable cir- 
 cumstances had produced this singular state of 
 affairs. There were no hotels, because there had 
 been no travel ; no barber's shops, because every 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 2 19 
 
 one chose to shave himself, and no one had time 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, &c. ; but they 
 needed no sign, nor had they time to paint or erect 
 one, for they were crowded with business. Beside 
 their several trades, all must cultivate the land, or 
 die, for the country was new, and no cultivation but 
 their own within a thousand miles. Every one had 
 his own lot, and built on it ; every one cultivated it, 
 and perhaps a small farm in the distance. 
 
 And the strangest of all. was, that this great 
 city, extending over several square miles, had been 
 erected, and every house and fence made, within nine 
 or ten months of the time of our arrival ; while at 
 the same time, good bridges were erected over the 
 principal streams, and the country settlements ex- 
 tended nearly one hundred miles up and down the 
 valley. 
 
 This Territory, State, or, as some term it, ' Mor- 
 mon empire,' may justly be considered one of the 
 greatest prodigies of our time, and, in comparison 
 with its age, the most gigantic of all Republics in 
 existence being only in its second year since the 
 first seed of cultivation was planted, or the first 
 civilized habitation commenced. If these people 
 were such thieves and robbers as their enemies rep- 
 resented them to be in the States, I must think they 
 have greatly reformed in point of industry since 
 coming to the mountains. 
 
 I this day attended worship with them in the 
 open air. Some thousands of well dressed, intelli- 
 gent-looking people assembled ; a number of them 
 on foot, some in carriages, and some on horseback. 
 Many were neatly and even fashionably clad. The 
 beauty and neatness of the ladies reminded me of 
 some of our best congregations of New York. 
 
22O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 They had a choir of both sexes, who performed 
 exceedingly well, accompanied by a band, playing 
 well on almost every musical instrument of modern 
 invention. Peals of the most sweet, sacred and 
 solemn music filled the air ; after which, a solemn 
 prayer was offered by Mr. Grant (a Latter-day 
 Saint), of Philadelphia. Then followed various 
 business advertisements, read by the clerk. * * * 
 After this, came a lengthy discourse by Mr. Brigham 
 Young, President of the Society, partaking some- 
 what of politics, much of religion and philosophy, 
 and a little on the subject of gold ; showing the 
 wealth, strength and glory of England, growing out 
 of her coal mines, iron and industry, and the weak- 
 ness, corruption and degradation of Spanish Ame- 
 rica, Spain, &c., growing out of their gold and silver, 
 and idle habits. 
 
 He further observed that the people here would 
 petition to be organized into a Territory under the 
 American Government, notwithstanding its abuses, 
 and that, if granted, they would stand by the consti- 
 tution and laws of the United States ; while, at 
 the same time, he denounced their corruption and 
 abuses. 
 
 ' But,' said the speaker, ' we ask no odds of them, 
 whether they grant us our petition or not ! We 
 never will ask any odds of a nation that has driven 
 us from our homes. If they grant us our rights, 
 well ; if not, well ; they can do no more than they 
 have done. They, and ourselves, and all men, are 
 in the hands of the great God, who will govern all 
 things for good ; and all will be right, and work to- 
 gether for good to them that serve God/ 
 
 Such, in part, was the discourse to which we 
 listened in the strongholds of the mountains. The 
 Mormons are not dead, nor is their spirit broken. 
 And, if I mistake not, there is a noble, daring, stern 
 and democratic spirit swelling in their bosoms, 
 which will people these mountains with a race of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 221 
 
 Independent men, and influence the destiny of our 
 country and the world for a hundred generations. 
 In their religion they seem charitable, devoted and 
 sincere ; in their politics, bold daring and deter- 
 -mined ; in their domestic circle, quiet, affectionate 
 and happy ; while in industry, skill and intelli- 
 gence they have few equals, and no superiors on 
 earth. 
 
 I had many strange feelings while contemplating 
 this new civilization, growing up so suddenly in the 
 wilderness. I almost wished I could awake from my 
 golden dream, and find it but a dream ; while I pur- 
 sued my domestic duties as quietly, as happily, and 
 contentedly as this strange people. 
 
 " These Mormons," says Gunnison, " are certainly 
 the most earnest religionists I have ever been 
 among. It seems to be a constant self-sacrifice 
 with them, which makes me believe that the 
 masses of the people are honest and sincere. 
 " While professing a complete divorce of Church 
 and State, their political character and administra- 
 tion is made subservient to the theocratical or re- 
 ligious element. They delight to call their sys- 
 tem of government a ' theo-democracy,' and that, 
 in a civil capacity, they stand as the Israelites of 
 old under Moses. For the rule of those not fully 
 imbued with the spirit of obedience, and sojourn- 
 ers not of the faith, as well as for things purely 
 temporal, tribunals of justice and law-making as- 
 semblies are at present rendered necessary. 
 " The influence of their nomenclature of ' breth- 
 ' ren and sisters ' is apparent in their actions, and 
 creates the bond of affection among those who are 
 
222 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 " more frequently thrown together. It is impressed 
 " on infantile minds by the constant repetition, and 
 " induces the feeling of family relationship. A 
 " little boy was asked the usual question, ' whose 
 " ' son are you ? ' and he very naively replied, ' I 
 " ' am Brother Pack's son ; ' a small circumstance^ 
 " truly, but one that stamps the true mark of Mor- 
 " mon society. The welfare of the order becomes, 
 " therefore, paramount to individual interest ; and 
 " the union of hearts causes the hands to unite in 
 " all that pertains to the glory of the State ; and 
 " hence we see growing up an'd prospering the most 
 " enterprising people of the age combining the 
 " advantages of communism, placed on the basis of 
 " religious duty and obedience to what they call the 
 " law of the gospel transcending the notion of 
 " socialistic philosophers, that human regulations 
 " can improve and perfect society, irrespective of 
 " the revealed word of God. 
 
 " Right or wrong, in the development of the prin- 
 " ciple, and in its application, they have seized upon 
 " the most permanent element of the human mind 
 " in its social relations not yielding fully to the 
 " doctrines of earnestness and universal intention, 
 " and making man his own regenerator, as the foun- 
 " tain head of truth, and passing thence into mys- 
 " ticism, pantheism and atheism, neither endeavor- 
 " ing to cure the ills of society by political notions 
 " of trade and commerce, nor by educating in the 
 " sentiment of honor, and by political inculcation of 
 " high thoughts and noble images, independent of 
 u being ' born of the water and of the spirit.' 
 
 " Nor must we look upon all as ignorant and 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 223 
 
 " blindfolded, guided along the ditch of enthusiasm 
 M by self-deluded leaders. Indeed, almost every 
 " man is a priest, or eligible to the office, and ready 
 " armed for the controversial warfare. His creed is 
 " his idol. And while among the best proselytes 
 " we class many that are least versed in literary 
 ".attainments, still among them we find liberally 
 " educated men, and those who have been ministers 
 " in other denominations in fact there seems to be 
 " as fair a sample of intelligence, moral probity, and 
 " good citizenship, as can be found in any nominal 
 " Christian community. 
 
 " Sincerity and simplicity of purpose mark the 
 " masses, which virtues have been amply proved by 
 " the sacrifices and suffering endured. And among 
 " the people, so submissive to counsel, are those 
 " who watch with eagle eye that first principles are 
 " adhered to, and stand ready to proclaim apostacy 
 " in chief or layman, and scrutinizing all revelations 
 " to discover whether they are from the Lord, or 
 " given, through his permission, by Satan, to test 
 " the fidelity and watchfulness of the disciples of 
 " truth. Litigation is much discouraged, and it is 
 " specially thought improper for brother to go to 
 " law with brother, and that before unbelievers ; so 
 " each bishop is a sort of county court judge be- 
 " tween man and man, with an appeal to the whole 
 " ' bench/ and a final resort to Brigham, who does 
 " good practical justice without any embarrassment 
 " from statute or common law. 
 
 " This people are jealous of their rights, and feel 
 " themselves entitled to enforce order by their own 
 " laws, and severely punish contempt of them. The 
 
224 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " administration of justice is of the most simple 
 " kind, and based on the equity and the merits of 
 " the question, without reference to precedents and 
 " technicalities, referring to the rules of the Mosaic 
 " Code, and its manner of punishment, when applic- 
 " able. Witnesses are seldom put on oath in the 
 " lower courts, and there is nothing known of the 
 " l law's delay/ " 
 
 Another correspondent writing to a New York 
 paper said : 
 
 " It is now three years since the Mormons arrived 
 in Salt Lake valley, and their energy in laying out 
 a city, building, fencing farms, raising crops, &c., is 
 truly wonderful to behold, and is but another strik- 
 ing demonstration of the indefatigable enterprise, 
 industry, and perseverance of the Anglo-Saxon 
 race. 
 
 The Mormons, take them as a body, I truly be- 
 lieve are a most industrious people, and, I confess, 
 as intelligent as any I have met with when in the 
 East or West. It is true they are a little fanatical 
 about their religious views, which is not at all 
 strange when compared with the majority of reli- 
 gious denominations in the East. But let no man 
 be deceived in his estimation of the people who 
 have settled here. Any people who have the cour- 
 age to travel over plains, rivers and mountains, for 
 twelve hundred miles, such, probably, as cannot be 
 traveled over in any other part of the world, to 
 settle in a region which scarcely ever received the 
 tread of any but the wild savages and beasts who 
 roam the wilderness, must be possessed of an in- 
 domitable energy that is but rarely met with." 
 
 W. Kelty, in his " Excursions in California in the 
 Early Days," says : 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 225 
 
 " The houses are small, principally of adobes, 
 built up only as temporary abodes, until the more 
 urgent and important matter of inclosure and culti- 
 vation 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 artizans of all descriptions, but no regular stores 
 or workshops, except forges. Still, from the shoe- 
 ing of a wagon to the mending of a watch, there 
 was no difficulty experienced in getting it done as 
 cheap and as well put out of hand as in any other 
 city in America. Notwithstanding the oppressing 
 temperature, they were all hard at work at their 
 trades, and abroad in the fields, weeding, moulding, 
 and irrigating ; and it certainly speaks volumes for 
 their energy and industry, to see the quantity of 
 land they have fenced in, and the breadth under 
 cultivation, considering the very short time since 
 they founded the settlement in 1847. 
 
 After bathing, we dressed in our best attire, and 
 prepared to attend the Mormon service, held for 
 the present in the large space adjoining the intended 
 Temple, which is only just above the foundations, 
 but will be a structure of stupendous proportions, 
 and, if finished according to the plan, of surpassing 
 elegance. I went early, and found a rostrum in 
 front of which there were rows of stools and chairs 
 for the townfolks ; those from the country, who 
 arrived in great numbers, in light wagons, sitting on 
 chairs, took up their stations in their vehicles in the 
 background, after unharnessing the horses. There 
 was a very large and most respectable congrega- 
 tion ; the ladies attired in rich and becoming cos- 
 tumes, each with parasols ; and I hope I may say, 
 without any imputation of profanity, a more be- 
 witching assemblage of the sex it has rarely been 
 my lot to look upon." 
 
226 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 A still more important authority on Mormon 
 society, in the early days of Utah, was Captain 
 Stansbury, who was sent out by the government to 
 survey the lakes, accompanied by Lieutenant Gun- 
 nison. He says in his official report : 
 
 " The founding, within the space of three years, 
 of a large and flourishing community, upon a spot 
 so remote from the abodes of men, so completely 
 shut out by natural barriers from the rest of the 
 world, so entirely unconnected by water-courses with 
 either of the oceans that wash the shores of this 
 continent a country offering no advantages of in- 
 land navigation or of foreign commerce, but, on the 
 contrary, isolated by vast uninhabited deserts, and 
 only to be reached by long, painful, and often 
 hazardous journeys by land presents an anomaly 
 so very peculiar, that it deserves more than a pass- 
 ing notice. In this young and prosperous country 
 of ours, where cities grow up in a day, and States 
 spring up in a year, the successful planting of a 
 colony, where the natural advantages have been 
 such as to hold out the promise of adequate reward 
 to the projectors, would have excited no surprise ; 
 but the success of an enterprise under circumstances 
 so at variance with all our pre-conceived ideas of 
 its probability, may well be considered one of the 
 most remarkable incidents of the present age. 
 
 Their admirable system of combining labor, while 
 each has his own property, in lands and tenements, 
 and the proceeds of his industry, the skill in divid- 
 ing off the lands, and conducting the irrigating 
 canals to supply the want of rain, which rarely falls 
 between April and October ; the cheerful manner 
 in which every one applies himself industriously, 
 but not laboriously ; the. complete reign of good 
 neighborhood and quiet in house and fields, form 
 themes for admiration to the stranger coming from 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 22 7 
 
 the dark and sterile recesses of the mountain gorges 
 into this flourishing valley ; and he is struck with 
 wonder at the immense results, produced in so short 
 a time, by a handful of individuals. 
 
 This is the result of the guidance of all those 
 hands by one master mind ; and we see a comfort- 
 able people residing where, it is not too much to 
 say, the ordinary mode of subduing and settling our 
 wild lands could never have been applied. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the appearance of prosperity, 
 peaceful harmony, and cheerful contentment that 
 pervaded the whole community. Ever since the 
 first year of privation provisions have been abun- 
 dant, and want of the necessaries and even comforts 
 of life is a thing unknown. A design was at one 
 time entertained (more, I believe, as a prospective 
 measure than anything else) to set apart a fund for 
 the purpose of erecting a poor-house ; but, after 
 strict inquiry it was found that there were in the 
 whole population but two persons who could be 
 considered objects of public charity, and the plan 
 was consequently abandoned. 
 
 This happy external state of universally diffused 
 prosperity, is commented on by themselves as an 
 evidence of the smiles of heaven, and of the special 
 favor of the deity ; but I think it may be most 
 clearly accounted for in the admirable discipline 
 and ready obedience of a large body of industrious 
 and intelligent men, and in the wise counsels of 
 prudent and sagacious leaders, producing a oneness 
 and concentration of action, the result of which has 
 astonished even those by whom it has been effected. 
 The happy consequences of this system of united 
 and well-directed action, under one leading and con- 
 troling mind, is most prominently apparent in the 
 erection of public buildings, opening of roads, the 
 construction of bridges, and the preparation of the 
 country for the speedy occupation of a large and 
 rapidly growing population, shortly to be still fur- 
 
228 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 ther augmented by an immigration even now on its 
 way, from almost every country in Europe. 
 
 The masses are sincere in their belief: if they 
 are credulous, and have been deceived by their 
 leaders, the sin, if any, rests on them. I firmly be- 
 lieve the people to be honest, and imbued with true 
 religious feelings ; and when we take into consider- 
 ation their general character previously, we cannot 
 but believe in their sincerity. Nine-tenths of this 
 vast population are the peasantry of Scotland, 
 England and Wales, originally brought up with 
 religious teaching at Protestant parish churches. 
 They place implicit faith in their leaders, who, in a 
 pecuniary point of view, have fulfilled their promise ; 
 each and all of them are comfortably provided with 
 land and tenements. At first they, of course, suffer 
 privation, until they build their houses, and reap 
 their crops, yet all their necessities in the meantime 
 are provided for by the Church, and in a social 
 point of view they are much happier than they 
 could ever hope to have been at their native homes. 
 From being tenants at the will of an imperious and 
 exacting landlord, they suddenly become landhold- 
 ers in their own right, free men, living on free soil, 
 under a free and enlightened Government. 
 
 Considering, again, how all efforts for the im- 
 provement of these advantages must necessarily be 
 self-dependent in such a place, one cannot say they 
 have been tardily developed. Indeed, to me, the 
 manufactures, few as they were, and the products 
 and settlements sprung up so extensively in so 
 short a time, spoke not of a sensual but of a thrifty 
 and industrious population, who, whatever may be 
 their delusions in matters of belief, or the corrupt- 
 ing influence of their customs, at least determined 
 to put their hands to the plow, and, looking forward, 
 to work, out of hardship and adversity, a comfort- 
 able, if not an enviable, prosperity. Observe Salt 
 Lake City not a San Francisco, certainly but re- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 229 
 
 member that eight years ago not a house stood 
 here, nor a stick, nor a stone to build one of. 
 
 The cheerful happy faces, the self-satisfied coun- 
 tenances, the cordial salutation of brother or sister 
 on all occasions of address, the lively strains of 
 music pouring forth from merry hearts in every 
 domicile, as women and children sing their " Songs 
 of Zion," while plying the domestic tasks, give an 
 expression of a happy society in the vales of 
 Deseret. 
 
 It certainly argued a high tone of morals, and an 
 habitual observance of good order and decorum, to 
 find women and children thus securely slumbering 
 in the midst of a large city, with no protection from 
 midnight molestation other than a wagon-cover of 
 linen, and the aegis of the law. In the very next 
 enclosure to that occupied by our party, a whole 
 family of children had no other shelter than one of 
 these wagons, where they slept all the winter, liter- 
 ally out of doors, there being no communication 
 whatever with the inside of their parents' house. 
 
 All goods brought into the city pay, as the price 
 of a license, a duty of one per cent., except spiritu- 
 uous liquors, for which one half of the price at 
 which they are sold is demanded ; the object of this 
 last impost being avowedly to discourage the intro- 
 duction of that article among them. It has, indeed, 
 operated to a great extent as a prohibition, the im- 
 porter, to save himself from loss, having to double 
 the price at which he could otherwise afford to sell. 
 The result of this policy was, when we were there, 
 to bring up the price of brandy to twelve dollars 
 per gallon, of which the authorities took six, and 
 whisky to eight dollars, of which they collected four 
 dollars. 
 
 They have determined to keep themselves dis- 
 tinct from the vices of civilization. During a resi- 
 dence of ten weeks in Great Salt Lake City, and 
 my observations in all their various settlements, 
 
230 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 amongst a homogeneous population of over seventy- 
 five thousand inhabitants, it is worthy of record 
 that I never heard any obscene or improper 
 language, never saw a man drunk, never had my 
 attention called to the exhibition of vice of any 
 sort. There are no gambling houses, grog shops, 
 or houses of ill fame in all their settlements. 
 They preach morality in their churches and from 
 their stands, and, what is as strange as it is true, 
 the people practice it, and religiously believe their 
 salvation depends on fulfilling the behests of the 
 religion they have adopted. 
 
 A liquor law enforced pretty strictly, compels 
 sobriety, which virtue is, therefore, no subject for 
 praise. Swearing, at least blasphemous swearing, 
 in the public streets, is prohibited under pain of a 
 five-dollar fine for each offence ; the fine is scarcely 
 ever imposed, but violation of the law is uncommon, 
 and very rarely in public or private do you hear an 
 oath. Theft, even in petty things, such as vegeta- 
 bles or fuel, is prevented, not by prosecution, but by 
 the known rule, that if a man steals two or three 
 times he is ordered to become honest or leave the 
 country for good. Not that Mormons ever pretend 
 there are no bad men among them ; nay, agreeable 
 to their principles, they will tell you that a Mormon, 
 if bad, will be worse than other men, because he 
 sins against greater light and knowledge, and after 
 receiving the Spirit of God. Confirmatory of this, 
 I have met at Salt Lake with two or three very 
 proper scoundrels ; but, taking the people all 
 around, I consider them as moral, industrious, fair- 
 dealing and hospitable a set as one is apt to fall in 
 with. 
 
 In social parties and lively meetings the Mor- 
 mons are pre-eminent, and their hospitality would 
 be more readily extended to strangers had they 
 suitable dwellings to invite them into. In their 
 social gatherings and evening parties, patronized by 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 231 
 
 the presence of the prophets and apostles, it is not 
 unusual to open the ball with prayer, asking the 
 blessing of God on their amusements, as well as 
 upon any other engagement ; and then will follow 
 the most sprightly dancing, in which all join with 
 hearty good will, from the highest dignitary to the 
 humblest individual ; and this exercise is to become 
 part of the temple-worship, to ' praise God in song 
 and dances.' 
 
 These private balls and soirees are frequently ex- 
 tended beyond the time of cock-crowing by the 
 younger members, and the remains of the evening 
 repast furnish the breakfast for the jovial guests. 
 
 Toward the end of April, 1854, about ten days 
 previous to the departure of Governor Brigham 
 Young, on his annual visit to the southern settle- 
 ments of Utah, tickets of invitation to a grand ball 
 were issued in his name. I had the honor to receive 
 one of them. 
 
 At the appointed hour I made my appearance, 
 chaperoned by Governor Young, who gave me a 
 general introduction. A larger collection of fairer 
 and more beautiful women I never saw in one 
 room. All of them were dressed in white muslin, 
 some with pink and others with blue sashes. Flow- 
 ers were the only ornaments in the hair. The ut- 
 most order and the strictest decorum prevailed. 
 Polkas and waltzes were not danced ; country 
 dances, cotillions, quadrilles, &c., were permitted. 
 At the invitation of Governor Young I opened the 
 ball with one of his wives. The Governor, with a 
 beautiful partner, stood vis-a-vis. An old-fashioned 
 cotillion was danced with much grace by the ladies, 
 and the Governor acquitted himself very well on 
 the ' light fantastic toe.' After several rounds of 
 dancing, a march was played by the band, and a pro- 
 cession was formed ; I conducted my first partner 
 to the supper room, where I partook of a fine enter- 
 tainment at the Governor's table. There must have 
 
232 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 been at least two hundred ladies present, and about 
 one hundred gentlemen. I returned to my quarters 
 at twelve o'clock, most favorably impressed with the 
 exhibition of public society among the Mormons." 
 
 These pictures, from the pens of distinguished 
 travelers and newsp'aper correspondents, excellently 
 illustrate Mormon society, from the founding of 
 Utah to the date of the Buchanan expedition. A 
 fitting close is presented by the following testimony 
 of Stansbury : 
 
 " Before taking leave of the Mormon community, 
 whose history has been the subject of no little in- 
 terest in the country, I cannot but avail myself of 
 the opportunity again to acknowledge the constant 
 kindness and generous hospitality which has ever 
 been extended to the party during a sojourn of 
 rather more than a year among them. The most 
 disinterested efforts were made to afford us, both 
 personally and officially, all the aids and facilities 
 within the power of the people, as well to forward 
 our labors as to contribute to our comfort and en- 
 joyment. Official invitations were sent by the 
 authorities to the officers of the party engaged in 
 distant duties on the lake, to participate in the cele- 
 bration of their annual jubilee, on the 24th of July, 
 and an honorable position was assigned them in the 
 procession on that occasion. Upon our final depar- 
 ture, we were followed with the kindest expressions 
 of regard, and of anxious hopes for the safety and 
 welfare of the party upon its homeward journey. 
 Though this people fled to a foreign country to 
 enjoy the liberty that persecution denied them in 
 the States, as soon as they found that their adopted 
 land had come under the jurisdiction of the stars 
 and stripes, which consummation their own valor in 
 the army of the Pacific had helped to effect, they 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 233 
 
 embraced the earliest opportunity of declaring their 
 adherence to the great charter of liberty and na- 
 tional glory, and announced to the world that it 
 was given to our patriot fathers by divine inspira- 
 tion, and that they would uphold and defend it, 
 though all the original parties should secede and 
 trample it under foot. 
 
 They will make no law forbidden by the sacred 
 constitution of the United States, and they predict 
 that the day is not far distant when they will be 
 solicited by patriotic American citizens to descend 
 from their rocky fastnesses to enforce its provi- 
 sions among those led astray by frantic political 
 delusion." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 VIEWS OF BRIGHAM YOUNG AS GOVERNOR. CORRES- 
 PONDENCE OF COLONEL KANE WITH PRESIDENT 
 FILLMORE. ARRIVAL OF COLONEL STEPTOE AND 
 HIS REGIMENT. PRESIDENT PIERCE TENDERS THE 
 GOVERNORSHIP OF UTAH TO STEPTOE I HE RE- 
 FUSES AND PETITIONS THE PRESIDENT FOR THE 
 RE-APPOINTMENT OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. PIERCE 
 RE-APPOINTS HIM. 
 
 Captain Stansbury, in his official report to the 
 government, giving his views and testimony relative 
 to Brigham, both as the leader of the Mormon 
 people and the Governor of Utah, says : 
 
 " Upon the personal character of the leader of thi* 
 singular people, it may not, perhaps, be proper for 
 me to comment in a communication like the pres 
 ent. I may, nevertheless, be pardoned for saying, 
 that to me, President Young appeared to be a man 
 of clear, sound sense, fully alive to the responsibili- 
 ties of the station he occupies, sincerely devoted to 
 the good name of the people over whom he pre- 
 sides, sensitively jealous of the least attempt to 
 under-value or misrepresent them, and indefatigable 
 in devising ways and means for their moral, mental, 
 and physical elevation. He appeared to possess 
 the unlimited personal and official confidence of his 
 people ; while both he and his councilors, forming 
 the Presidency of the Church, seem to have but one 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 235 
 
 object in view, the prosperity and peace of the 
 Society over which they preside. 
 
 Upon the action of the Executive in the appoint- 
 ment of the officers within the newly-created Terri- 
 tory, it does not become me to offer other than a 
 very diffident opinion. Yet the opportunities of in- 
 formation to which allusion has already been made, 
 may perhaps justify me in presenting the result of 
 my own observations upon this subject. With all 
 due deference, then, I feel constrained to say, that 
 in my opinion the appointment of the President of 
 the Mormon Church, and the head of the Mormon 
 community, in preference to any other person, to 
 the high office of Governor of the Territory, inde- 
 pendent of its political bearings, with which I have 
 nothing to do, was a measure dictated alike by 
 justice and by sound policy. Intimately connected 
 with them from their exodus from Illinois, this man 
 has been indeed their Moses, leading them through 
 the wilderness to a remote and unknown land, where 
 they have since set up their tabernacle, and where 
 they are now building their temple. Resolute in 
 danger, firm and sagacious in council, prompt and 
 energetic in emergency, and enthusiastically devoted 
 to the honor of his people, he had won their un- 
 limited confidence, esteem and veneration, and held 
 an unrivaled place in their hearts. Upon the estab- 
 lishment of the provisional government, he had 
 been unanimously chosen as their highest civil 
 magistrate, and oven before his appointment by the 
 President, he combined in his own person the triple 
 character of confidential adviser, temporal ruler, and 
 prophet of God. Intimately acquainted with their 
 character, capacities, wants, and weaknesses ; identi- 
 fied now with their prosperity, as he had formerly 
 shared to the full in their adversities and sorrows ; 
 honored, trusted, the whole wealth of the commu- 
 nity placed in his hands, for the advancement both 
 of the spiritual and temporal interest of the infant 
 
236 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 settlement, he was, surely, of all others, the man 
 best fitted to preside, under the auspices of the 
 general government, over a colony of which he may 
 justly be said to have been the founder. No other 
 man could have so entirely secured the confidence 
 of the people ; and the selection by the Executive 
 of the man of their choice, besides being highly 
 gratifying to them, is recognized as an assurance 
 that they shall hereafter receive at the hands of the 
 general government that justice and consideration 
 to which they are entitled. Their confident hope 
 now is that, no longer fugitives and outlaws, but 
 dwelling beneath the broad shadow of the national 
 aegis, they will be subject no more to the violence 
 and outrage which drove them to seek a secure 
 habitation in this far distant wilderness." 
 
 Chief Justice Reed, shortly after his arrival in 
 Utah, wrote as follows : 
 
 " I waited on His Excellency, Governor Young, 
 exhibited to him my commission, and by him was 
 duly sworn and installed as Chief Justice of Utah. 
 I was received by Governor Young with marked 
 courtesy and respect. He has taken pains to make 
 my residence here agreeable. The Governor, in 
 manners and conversation, is a polished gentleman, 
 very neat and tasty in dress, easy and pleasant in 
 conversation, and I think a man of decided talent 
 and strong intellectual qualities. In person he 
 very strongly resembles our deceased fellow citizen, 
 W. W. McCay. I have heard him address the 
 people once on the subject of man's free agency. 
 He is. a very excellent speaker. His gesture un- 
 commonly graceful, articulation distinct, and speech 
 pleasant. His voice resembles very much judge 
 Hiram Gray, of Elmira. I was extremely edified by 
 his address and manner. The Governor is a first- 
 rate business man. As civil Governor of the Terri- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 237 
 
 tory and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, we would 
 naturally suppose he had as much to do as one 
 man could well attend to ; but in addition to those 
 employments, he is also President of the Church 
 a station which is no sinecure by any means. His 
 private business is extensive ; he owns several grist 
 and saw mills, is extensively engaged in farming 
 operations, all of which he superintends personally. I 
 have made up my mind that no man has been more 
 grossly misrepresented than Governor Young, and 
 that he is a man who will reciprocate kindness and 
 good intentions as heartily and as freely as any one, 
 but if abused, or crowded hard, I think he may be 
 found exceedingly hard to handle." 
 
 Under date of July nth, 1851, Colonel Thomas 
 L. Kane, then residing in Philadelphia, addressed 
 the following to President Fillmore : 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR: I have no wish to evade the 
 responsibility of having vouched for the character 
 of Brigham Young, of Utah, and his fitness f for the 
 station he now occupies. I reiterate, without re- 
 serve, the statement of his excellent capacity, energy 
 and integrity, which I made you prior to his ap- 
 pointment. I am willing to say I volunteered to 
 communicate to you the facts by which I was con- 
 vinced of his patriotism and devotion to the interest 
 of the Union. I made no qualification when I 
 assured you of his irreproachable moral character, 
 because I was able to speak of this from my own 
 intimate personal knowledge. 
 
 I have not yet heard a single charge against them 
 as a community, against their habitual purity of life, 
 their integrity of dealing, their toleration of differ- 
 ences of religious opinions, their regard for the 
 laws, or their devotion to the constitutional govern- 
 ment under which we live, that I do not, from my 
 own observation, or the testimony of others, know 
 
238 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 to be unfounded. * * * Can charges which are 
 so commonly and so circumstantially laid, be with- 
 out any foundation at all? I know it. Upon my 
 return from the prairie, I met through the settle- 
 ments scandalous stories against the President of 
 the sect, which dated of the precise period when I 
 myself was best acquainted with his self-denying 
 and blameless life. I had an experience no less 
 satisfactory with regard to other falsehoods, some 
 of them the most extravagant and most widely 
 believed. During the sickness I have referred to, I 
 was nursed by a dear lady, well connected in New 
 York and New Jersey, whom I sufficiently name to 
 many by stating that she was the first cousin of one 
 of our most respected citizens, whose conduct as 
 chief magistrate of Philadelphia, in an excited time, 
 won for him our general esteem. In her exile she 
 found her severest sufferings in the belief that her 
 friends in the States looked upon her as an irre- 
 claimable outcast. It was one of the first duties I 
 performed on my return, to enlighten them as to 
 her true position, and the character of her exem- 
 plary husband ; and the knowledge of this fact 
 arrived in time, I believe, to be of comfort to her 
 before she sank under the privation and hardships 
 of the march her frame was too delicate to endure."" 
 
 To this may be added Colonel Kane's testimony 
 of the Mormons as a people : he said, upon the 
 delivery of his famous discourse before the Histo- 
 rical Society of Pennsylvania : 
 
 " I have been annoyed by comments this hastily 
 written discourse has elicited ; well-meaning friends 
 have even invited me to tone down its remarks in 
 favor of the Mormons, for the purpose of securing 
 them a readier acceptance. 
 
 I can only make them more express. The truth 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 239 
 
 must take care of itself. I not only meant to deny 
 that the Mormons, in any wise, fall below our stan- 
 dard of morals, but I would be distinctly understood 
 to ascribe to those of their number with whom I 
 associated in the West, a general correctness of 
 deportment and purity of character above the 
 average of ordinary communities. 
 
 It is observed to me, with a vile meaning, that I 
 have said little about the Mormon women. I have 
 scarcely alluded to them, because my memories of 
 them are such that I cannot think of their charac- 
 ter as a theme for discussion. In one word, it was 
 eminently that for which Americans dignify the 
 names of mother, wife, and sister. Of the self- 
 denying generosity, which went to enoble the whole 
 people in my eyes, I witnessed among them the 
 highest illustrations. I have seen the ideal charity 
 of the statue gallery surpassed by the young Mor- 
 mon mother, who shared with the stranger's orphan 
 the breast of milk of her own child." 
 
 In 1854, Lieut.-Col. E. J. Steptoe, with his com- 
 mand, arrived in Salt Lake City, and the term of 
 Governor Young's appointment expiring about this 
 time, President Pierce tendered the office to Col. 
 Steptoe ; but he was a gentleman, and a true Re- 
 publican, and he had too much wisdom withal to 
 accept the honor, for he knew that Brigham was the 
 choice of the people. The following document, 
 expressive of the movement which he inspired, will 
 be of interest at this point : 
 
 To His Excellency, Franklin Pierce, President of 
 the United States : 
 
 Your petitioners would respectfully represent 
 
240 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 that, whereas Governor Brigham Young possesses 
 the entire confidence of the people of this Terri- 
 tory, without distinction of party or sect ; and from 
 personal acquaintance and social intercourse we 
 find him to be a firm supporter of the constitution 
 and laws of the United States, and a tried pillar of 
 Republican institutions ; and having repeatedly 
 listened to his remarks, in private as well as in 
 public assemblies, do know he is the warm friend 
 and able supporter of constitutional liberty, the 
 rumors published in the States notwithstanding ; 
 and having canvassed to our satisfaction his doings 
 as Governor, and Superintendent of Indian affairs, 
 and also the disposition of the appropriation for 
 public buildings for the Territory ; we do most 
 cordially and cheerfully represent that the same has 
 been expended to the best interest of the nation ; 
 and whereas his re-appointment would subserve the 
 Territorial interest better than the appointment of 
 any other man, and would meet with the gratitude 
 of the entire inhabitants of the Territory, and his 
 removal would cause the deepest feeling of sorrow 
 and regret ; and it being our unqualified opinion, 
 based upon the personal acquaintance which we 
 have formed with Governor Young, and from our 
 observation of the results of his influence and ad- 
 ministration in this Territory, that he possess in an 
 eminent degree every qualification necessary for the 
 discharge of his official duties, and unquestioned 
 integrity and ability, that he is decidedly the 
 most suitable person that can be selected for that 
 office. 
 
 We therefore take pleasure in recommending 
 him to your favorable consideration, and do earn- 
 estly request his re-appointment as Governor, and 
 Superintendent of Indian affairs for this Territory 
 
 This document was signed by Col. Steptoe and 
 every other U. S. Army officer in the Territory, as 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 241 
 
 well as by all of the Federal civil officials, and by 
 every merchant and prominent citizen of Salt Lake 
 City. President Pierce accordingly re-appointed 
 Governor Young. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE NATIONAL MISSION OF THE MORMONS. THEIR 
 ISRAELITISH GENIUS AND DESTINY. THEY BE- 
 LIEVE IN THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO 
 FOUND A STATE OF THE UNION. A VIEW PRE- 
 
 Distasteful as the fact may be, the United States 
 Government has been worsted in its conflict with 
 Mormonism. There has been no parallel case since 
 ancient Israel arose to perplex the gentile world 
 with prophecies of a rival destiny and an extra- 
 ordinary career under a Divine leadership. That 
 Israelitish nationality was, indeed, a peculiar nation- 
 ality. It was the very prototype of Mormon 
 genius ; in fact it has had no strict antetype but in 
 the rise, progress and history of the Mormon 
 people. 
 
 Israel was, from its birth, unlike all other nations. 
 It was cradled in the heart of an old empire ; a 
 national destiny was nascent within it ; a transcend- 
 ent blessing was upon its 'head. Ever was it the 
 peculiar nation a kingdom within a kingdom ; its 
 empire the whole world ; its God unlike all other 
 gods ; its genius as extraordinary as it was dis- 
 tinctive. 
 
 And now, here, in modern times, appears another 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 243 
 
 Israel the Mormon Israel. He is no accident, but 
 a Divine intending. He blunders not into his des- 
 tiny, even in his ignorance ; he is not unshaped 
 even in his primitive simplicity. He claims his 
 destiny at his birth ; he (arrogantly, if you please,) 
 asserts his national mission to all the world, and 
 especially to all America. All that the historian 
 knows to be true of ancient Israel, the imagination 
 may affirm of the Mormon Israel ; and, what the 
 latter seems to lack in his race example, he makes 
 up in his mystical claim of being the literal seed of 
 Abraham, mixed among the nations to fulfill a provi- 
 dential design. 
 
 Meeting a possible issue in the most practical 
 sense, it is fair to claim for the Mormons that they are 
 not mere church-builders, but the founders of a new 
 empire ; not a mere sect, but a nation ; having a dis- 
 tinctive providence and an inevitable destiny. While 
 in Missouri and Illinois, their desire to found a 
 commonwealth could, with some consistency, be 
 denied, but in Utah the case was changed. They 
 undoubtedly had the constitutional right, if as a 
 people they had the social force and capacity, to 
 there found a State with all the functions of self- 
 government. Nor is this condition of imperium in 
 imperio an anomaly in America, so long as it has 
 a republican meaning. Our Republic is many 
 nations within one grand confederation, and that, 
 too, in so broad a sense as to permit the multiplica- 
 tion and subdivision of its members. 
 
 Born, then, in a newly-created republican empire, 
 whose very destiny and enlargement grows out of 
 its condition of generation, the Mormon believes he 
 
244 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 has the natural privilege to beget one of the family 
 of States. To found a State is, indeed, his privilege, 
 but he believes it is also his mission ; yet is his 
 mission based upon the idea of a republican con- 
 federation, and not upon that of an independent 
 kingdom. Those who have understood his theoc- 
 racy in any other sense have misconceived it sadly. 
 He is simply an apostle of a republican nationality, 
 manifold in its genius ; or, in popular words, he is 
 the chief apostle of State rights, by Divine appoint- 
 ment. He has the mission, he affirms, and has been 
 endowed with the inspiration to preach the gospel 
 of a true democracy to the nation, as well as the 
 gospel for the remission of sins, and he believes the 
 United States will ultimately need his ministration 
 in both respects. 
 
 And the Mormon reconciles his national mission 
 in the union of States, constitutionally, and with 
 historical consistency. In the most practical lan- 
 guage, he will tell you that the Lord, in times past, 
 in the heart of old empires and nations, was not 
 able to establish Divine government ; but that in 
 this age, in a vast and virgin country like the 
 United States, the Lord found the opportunity. To 
 fulfill his purpose, he inspired the fathers of this 
 nation, in the framing of the constitution ; and in 
 due time he raised up the Mormon people to evolve 
 an apostolic commonwealth and leaven the Union. 
 They form not, therefore, a rival power as against 
 the Union, but an apostolic ministry to it, and their 
 political gospel is State rights and self-government. 
 This is political Mormonism in a nutshell. 
 
 Urged on by politicians, and stimulated by the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 245 
 
 anti-Mormon jealousies of the country, President 
 Buchanan affirmed by all the preliminary action and 
 intention of war, that the Mormon commonwealth 
 should not be allowed to fulfill the destiny that was 
 marked out in the mission of the great American 
 prophet. Nor is it strange that America should 
 object to the Divine leadership of modern Israel ; 
 yet if the Mormons knew " the Divine call " to be 
 thus apostolic to the whole confederation, there is 
 nothing in the genius of our Republic, nor in the 
 purview of the national compact, to make that mis- 
 sion inconsistent. So long as one State does not 
 make war upon a sister State, nor antagonize the 
 covenant of the Union, but, on the contrary, seeks 
 to be as an apostolic minister, glorifying the na- 
 tion in her examples of a civilization suited to the 
 providential impulses of the age, such a State would 
 certainly have the constitutional privilege so to do. 
 Indeed, is not the very existence and growth of the 
 American Republic prophetic of a new civilization 
 and a national mission such as the Mormon people 
 affirm ? The elders have believed so ; and Brigham 
 Young, in behalf of his people, has, in an unmis- 
 takable record, proclaimed to the world that the 
 Mormons shall fulfill their mission, with or without 
 the consent of the United States. This is the whole 
 burden of the history. 
 
 Great as Brigham Young was in the exodus of 
 this people from their Egypt, his power seems to 
 have found its culmination in the Utah war. Not 
 only did he then show himself to be equal to the 
 leadership of a people, but abundantly able to 
 grapple with the most gigantic besetments. Intelli- 
 
246 .-JFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 gent readers will also note the fact that, in every 
 stage and phase of the history of the Mormons, 
 from the time they numbered but six members, to 
 this very moment, their every crisis has given to 
 them an enlarged outcoming and a more world-wide 
 name. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE PIONEER JUBILEE. CELEBRATION OF THEIR 
 TENTH ANNIVERSARY. ARRIVAL OF MESSENGERS 
 WITH THE NEWS OF THE COMING OF AN INVAD- 
 ING ARMY. THE DAY OF JUBILEE CHANGED TO 
 A DAY OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 The people were celebrating the twenty-fourth of 
 July the anniversary of the pioneers in Big Cot- 
 tonwood Canyon, when the news reached them of 
 the coming of the troops to invade their homes. 
 
 They had conquered the desert. Cities were fast 
 springing up in the solitary places, where cities had 
 never been planted before, and in valleys that had 
 once been the bed of the great sea, civilization 
 was spreading. 
 
 A plentiful harvest was promised that year, and 
 every circumstance of their situation seemed favor- 
 able, except the lack of postal communication with 
 the East. Their isolation, in this particular, had 
 kept them in ignorance, up to that time, of the 
 movements of the Government concerning them. 
 
 On the 22d of July, 1857, numerous teams were 
 seen wending their way, by different routes, to the 
 mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, where they 
 halted for the night. Next morning Governor 
 Young led the van of the long line of carriages and 
 
248 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 wagons, and before noon the cavalcade reached the 
 camp ground at the Cottonwood Lake, which nestles 
 in the bosom of the mountain, 8,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea. Early in the afternoon, the com- 
 pany, numbering 2,587 persons, encamped, and soon 
 all were busy with the arrangements for the morrow. 
 It will be seen, at a glance, that this was intended 
 to be a pioneer's jubilee indeed ; not in a city, but 
 in primitive surroundings, suggestive of their en- 
 trance into these valleys ten years before. 
 
 There were in attendance: Captain Ballo's band, 
 the Nauvoo brass band, the Ogden City brass band, 
 and the Great Salt Lake City and Ogden martial 
 bands; also, of the military, the ist company of 
 light artillery, under Adjutant-General James Fer- 
 guson ; a detachment of four platoons of life guards 
 and one platoon of the lancers, under Colonel 
 Burton ; and one company of light infantry, under 
 Captain John W. Young. Colonel J. C. Little was 
 marshal of the, day. 
 
 Early on the following morning the people 
 assembled, and the choir sang : 
 
 " On the mountain tops appearing." 
 
 Then, after prayers, the stars and stripes were 
 unfurled on the two highest peaks, in sight of the 
 camp, on two of the tallest trees. At 20 minutes 
 past nine A. M., three rounds from the artillery 
 saluted the First Presidency, and at a quarter past 
 ten three rounds were given for the " Hope of 
 Israel." Captain John W. Young, with his company 
 of light infantry, answered to this last salute, and 
 went through their military evolutions to the admi- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 249 
 
 ration of the beholders. This company numbered 
 fifty boys, at about the age of twelve, who had been 
 uniformed by Governor Young. 
 
 At noon, Bishop A. O. Smoot, Elder Judson 
 Stoddard, Judge Elias Smith, and O. P. Rockwell, 
 rode into camp, the two former from the " States " 
 (Missouri River), in twenty days. They brought 
 news of the coming of the troops. It was the first 
 tidings of war. Any other people in the world 
 would have been stricken with a terrible fear ; but 
 not so these Mormon Saints. The well-known war 
 cry of Cromwell, when he entered into battle, " The 
 Lord of Hosts is with us ! " was the undaunted ex- 
 clamation of every heart, and soon it was the burden 
 of every speech. 
 
 In a moment the festive song was changed to the 
 theme of war ; the jubilee of a people swelled into a 
 sublime declaration of independence. Never before 
 did such a spirit of heroism so suddenly and com- 
 pletely possess an entire community. Men and 
 women shared it alike. Brigham was among them 
 like an archangel of God. As a Moses he had led 
 modern Israel in their exodus ; like a David he was 
 now called to deliver them from the overwhelming 
 hosts that the United States could marshal against 
 them. $ 
 
 To say that the Mormons were taken with aston- 
 ishment would be to misstate the case. They had 
 long looked for this issue. They had seen mobs 
 marshaled against them from the beginning, but 
 they had also been told by the Prophet Joseph, 
 early in his career, that " Some day they would see 
 " the United States come against them in war, and 
 
250 LIFE OF URIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " that the Lord should deliver them and bring glory 
 " to His name." Nothing more unlikely could have 
 been uttered by this prophet of a few hundred dis- 
 ciples ; as likely was it that the stars of heaven 
 should make war upon the earth in impotent wrath. 
 They were not even in a location at that time where 
 this was possible. The very prophecy foreshadowed 
 their removal to the mountains, as though to invite 
 the nation to the issue ; and its fulfillment bespoke 
 a destiny in them superior to the destiny even of 
 the United States. The nation was now coming 
 against them, to verify the prophecy in the most 
 literal manner. Hence, doubtless, the extraordinary 
 trust and fortitude of the people, and the self-pos- 
 session of their leaders. They had no doubt as to 
 the issue, though how God would work out their 
 deliverance they saw not fully. 
 
 Everything the Mormons did at that time was done 
 in the most deliberate earnestness. Two messen- 
 gers were immediately dispatched to England, to 
 call home the American elders in Europe, and ten 
 thousand British Saints would have gathered that 
 year, had it been possible, to share the fate of their 
 brethren and sisters in the mountains ; but all emi- 
 gration was, of course, now cut off. Never was there 
 so much enthusiasm in the foreign missions as then. 
 One could judge of the sublime enthusiasm at home 
 by that which animated the Saints abroad. Yet 
 they saw a mighty nation moving against the handful 
 in the mountains, and moving with a settled resolve 
 to annihilate the Mormon power at once and for- 
 ever, leaving no seed on American territory from 
 which that power might re-germinate. The papers 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 251 
 
 of America and Europe teemed with these anticipa- 
 tions. It was broadly suggested that volunteers 
 from every State should pour into Utah, make short 
 work of the Saints, possess their cities, fill their 
 Territory with a gentile population, and take their 
 wives and daughters as spoil, thus breaking up the 
 polygamic institution. For a time there was a 
 prospect of this. Tens of thousands were eager 
 for this thorough work of regeneration for Utah ; 
 and, had the Government dared to encourage it, the 
 attempt would have been made. For such a crusade, 
 however, a civilized judgment could have found no 
 excuse, not even on the plea of rebellion. At least, 
 President Buchanan was made to see this much, 
 and to appreciate that he could only use United 
 States regular troops, and these only in the guise 
 of -^ posse comitatus to the new Governor. 
 
 That Brigham Young could have been " as serene 
 as a Summer's day," under such circumstances, is 
 one of the marvels of history, and one of the mar- 
 vels of character. But he meant war with the 
 United States after his own Mosaic methods. He 
 knew from the first that he had the President of 
 the United States at his mercy. His affirmation 
 that he should " whip " their armies if they came 
 against him was no rebellious utterance, but a simple 
 statement of what was coming to pass. He under- 
 stood himself, and understood his people, and knew 
 that they also understood him. 
 
 The man resolved on an exodus again, if the 
 need came, and resolved to leave Utah in ashes a 
 desolation that would have damned, in history, the 
 conduct of a great and once exemplary Republic, 
 
252 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 Nor was he a mere copyist of the Moses of Israel, 
 or the Alexander of Russia. Exoduses had been 
 forced upon him. They w came as the natural 
 methods of his life. He had become a master of 
 them, and was learned in their results. The heroic 
 resolve would have started into the man's brain and 
 purposed action, even though no blazing Moscow 
 had confirmed the genius of the Russian Emperor. 
 And Brigham and his people were justified in 
 such a method of warfare against the United States. 
 No matter how good the claim had been of Louis 
 XIV to any part of the Netherlands, or the plausi- 
 ble right of a greater power to subdue a lesser one, 
 all our sympathies go out to William of Orange 
 and his Dutch. When the young Dutch hero pulled 
 up the dykes and submerged Holland, he conquered 
 both France and Spain. Luxemburg, Conde and 
 Louis himself were beaten, very much as Brigham 
 beat Colonel Alexander, General Johnston and 
 President Buchanan. And when a leader is found 
 great enough, and a people devoted and heroic 
 enough, to rise to such examples, the historian 
 must justify them, for posterity will surely do as 
 much. Thus will the Mormons be justified for 
 what they did in the "Utah war." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE UTAH EXPEDITION. MAD POLICY OF BUCHANAN 
 IN SENDING AN ARMY BEFORE A COMMISSION OF 
 INVESTIGATION. THE PRIESTS AND JOURNALISTS 
 OF AMERICA AND GREAT BRITAIN EXULTANT OVER 
 THE PROSPECT OF THE EXTINCTION OF THE MOR- 
 MONS. THE TWO GOVERNORS. HOW BRIGHAM 
 MET THE ISSUE. THE SAINTS RESOLVE TO LAY 
 THEIR CITIES WASTE AND TAKE REFUGE IN THE 
 MOUNTAINS. ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN VAN VLIET. 
 THE MORMON LEADER SENDS A RIGHTEOUS DE- 
 FIANCE AND REBUKE TO THE GOVERNMENT. 
 GOVERNOR YOUNG PROCLAIMS TO THE PEOPLE 
 THAT THEY ARE UNLAWFULLY INVADED, 'AND 
 PLACES THE TERRITORY UNDER MARTIAL LAW. 
 HIS LAST MESSAGE TO THE LEGISLATURE. 
 
 Apart from all considerations of justice, nothing 
 could have been more impolitic, in " solving the 
 Mormon problem," than for the Administration to 
 conclude that Utah was in rebellion, before a com- 
 mission of investigation had so determined ; and 
 evidently any subsequent event, growing out of a war 
 movement on the part of the Government at that 
 time, could not militate against the previous good 
 intentions and loyalty of the people; and nothing 
 could have been more illogical than to assume 
 
254 LIFE F BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 that the Mormons had rejected a Governor be- 
 fore that Governor had been sent to them, or 
 even appointed ; yet the Utah expedition was 
 projected and in process of organization for actual 
 war before Governor Gumming received his ap- 
 pointment. The pretence for such action was fur- 
 nished by Associate-Justice Drummond, who re- 
 ported that some Mormons had burned the govern- 
 ment records. It was also reported that Brigham 
 Young had declared that he was, and would con- 
 tinue to be, the Governor of the Mormons, the 
 Government of the United States to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. The sequel proved that the 
 records were not burned, but were in careful preser- 
 vation, and that the new Governor was loyally 
 received ; and it can be further maintained that 
 from first to last he enjoyed the most satisfactory 
 relations with the Mormons. 
 
 The whole affair of the Utah expeditition shows 
 upon its face, from the inception, not that the Mor- 
 mons were in rebellion, but that the Government, 
 desirous of grappling with this " peculiar people,"" 
 assumed as much, on purpose to force them into 
 that attitude. The first question seems to have 
 been, "Will Brigham Young fight?" It was the 
 very question put, in later years, in those exact 
 words, by Vice-President Colfax, and which was the 
 practical commencement of General Grant's crusade 
 against the Mormons. Of course the answer in 
 Buchanan's time was that Brigham Young would 
 fight. The Mormons could do nothing else, unless- 
 they tamely consented to give up their religious 
 institutions, or remove from American territory. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 255 
 
 The former they could not do ; the latter they 
 would not. But it was thought by the aggressors 
 that in any case an easy conquest would be made, 
 and that the cost to the United States would have 
 its compensation. A Territory with the basework 
 of a hundred and fifty cities already laid would be 
 deserted by the Mormons ; the mineral backbone 
 of the continent would be left for the Gentiles, and 
 " civilization "- heaven save the mark ! would be 
 rid of the Mormons and Mormonism forever. 
 Hence the Utah expedition ! 
 
 Such views and speculations (as stated in the 
 preceding chapter), some of them of the wildest and 
 most inhuman kind, found eager expression in the 
 newspapers of this country and Great Britain, and 
 were pronounced from a thousand American pul- 
 pits. Extermination was seriously contemplated, 
 and a very popular view was, that the unmarried 
 soldiers should, on the conquest, take the Mormon 
 wives and daughters as spoil. 
 
 Notwithstanding the final abortive termination 
 of that expedition, productive only of disaster to 
 its members, and of humiliation to the nation, noth- 
 ing could have been more popular, at first, than was 
 the Buchanan movement against the Mormons. 
 But deserved failure came, and the Administration 
 was covered with shame. 
 
 The action of Governor Young and the Mor- 
 mons, judged by the facts, is seen to be the legiti- 
 mate result of sufficient cause. Such also must be 
 the conclusion with regard to the action of the 
 Indians, whose untutored and revengeful natures 
 were exercised to a high pitch, by the marching of 
 
256 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 troops across the plains to make war upon the Mor- 
 mons. The opportunity was given them, by the 
 United States Government, for vengeance upon the 
 whites. And let it not be forgotten that this expe- 
 dition was placed under the command of General 
 Harney, more familiarly known, because of his In- 
 dian butcheries, as the " Squaw Killer." The effect 
 upon the Indians of this " Mormon war," and the 
 appointment of the "Squaw Killer" General, can 
 well be imagined. Nor need we leave it to imagi- 
 nation alone, for there were substantial and terrible 
 results. No sooner had the expedition started than 
 delegations of chiefs and noted Indian warriors 
 came, from every direction, to offer to Governor 
 Young their services and the alliance of their tribes. 
 They came from the Colorado, from the Missouri, 
 from the Columbia, from the Platte, from Nevada; 
 and, had they been encouraged by Governor Young, 
 would surely have gathered, with their forces, from 
 every part of America, and struck for a common 
 vengeance. It must not be forgotten that the Book 
 of Mormon is professedly the history of the abori- 
 gines of this continent; that the Indians know of 
 this ; that thousands of them indeed believe that 
 book to be the sacred legacy of their forefathers. 
 Couple with this the fact that since the exodus of 
 the Mormons from Nauvoo, and their sojourn with 
 the Indians in the wilderness, the red men have 
 looked upon them as their brothers like them- 
 selves, intolerably wronged and outraged, yet long 
 suffering and it is certain that an alliance between 
 the Mormons and the Indian tribes, all over the 
 continent, would have been as strong and natural as 
 it would have been formidable. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 257 
 
 In this war of extermination upon the Mormons > 
 the Indians recognized a distinct premonition of 
 their own doom, and hence their vengeful desire for 
 an alliance with Brigham Young and his people. 
 But at this juncture Brigham Young desired above 
 most things that the Indians should keep the peace, 
 and quietly await the development of results. 
 These, therefore, were not the instruments he re- 
 quired at that critical moment. He could control 
 his own people in their supremest wrath, and under 
 a madness of wrongs such, as probably no other 
 people in the world could have borne with control 
 (the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith proves 
 this-) ; but had those Indian tribes been once set on 
 their work of slaughter and desolation, nothing 
 could have stayed their hands ; they, or their ene- 
 mies must have perished utterly. That was the 
 only view which they were sensible of or capable of 
 taking. It is singular that these significant facts 
 should have received so little attention in connec- 
 tion with the investigation of the Mountain Meadow 
 massacre. Is it because those who did so much to 
 create and inspire that condition of things, appreci- 
 ate that in coming to the just view, they take ^tpon 
 their own shoitlders the responsibility of that awful 
 deed ? 
 
 " Go home," said Brigham Young to those dele- 
 gations of Indian chiefs, " and live in peace with the 
 " whites, and live in peace with each other. The 
 " Lord the Great Spirit will fight the battles of 
 " the Mormons, and fight the battles of the Indians, 
 " if you will all go home and live in peace with one 
 " another, and let the whites alone." 
 
258 LIFE OF JiKIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 Had a desolating war upon his people once fairly 
 begun, Brigham Young would have counseled the 
 Indians differently. Imagine the two hundred cities 
 and settlements of Utah in ashes, and those desert 
 valleys, which had been made to blossom as the 
 rose, baptized in blood ; imagine the women and 
 children hidden in the caves and canyons of the 
 mountains ; imagine a guerrilla army of ten thousand 
 brave men, righteously fulfilling their mission of 
 vengeance ! Then let fancy complete the picture 
 by bringing all the Indian warriors of the continent 
 into an alliance with the Mormons ! Had there been 
 thereafter a thousand Mountain Meadow massacres 
 by the Indians, the people of the United States 
 would have simply taken the consequences of their 
 own conduct. The Government that instigated the 
 war, the priests and editors who inspired it, and the 
 people who sanctioned it would have been guilty 
 of those massacres not Brigham Young and the 
 Mormons. 
 
 The sentiments that actuated the Mormon com- 
 munity at that time were of no doubtful tenor, as 
 may be judged by the following extracts from Brig- 
 ham's discourses to his people : 
 
 " Liars have reported that this people have com- 
 " mitted treason, and upon their misrepresentations 
 " the President has ordered out troops to aid in 
 " officering this Territory. If those officers are like 
 " many who have previously been sent here and 
 " we have reason to believe that they are, or they 
 41 would not come were they know they are not 
 " wanted they are poor, broken down political 
 <* hacks, not fit for the civilized society whence they 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 259 
 
 " came, and so they are dragooned upon us for 
 " officers. I feel that I won't bear such treatment 
 " (and that is enough to say), for we are just as free 
 " as the mountain air. * * * This people are 
 " free ; they are not in bondage to any Government 
 " on God's footstool. We have transgressed no 
 " law, neither do we intend so to do ; but as for any 
 " nation coming to destroy this people, God Al- 
 " mighty being my helper, it shall not be ! * * * 
 " We have borne enough of their oppression and 
 " abuse, and we will not bear any more of it, for 
 " there is no just law requiring further forbearance 
 " on our part. And I am not going to permit 
 " troops here for the protection of the priests and 
 " the rabble in their efforts to drive us from the 
 " land we possess. The Lord does not want us to 
 " be driven, for He has said, ' If you will assert 
 " ' your rights, and keep my commandments, you 
 " ' shall never again be brought into bondage by 
 " ' your enemies.' * * They say that the 
 " coming of their army is legal ; and I say that it is 
 " not ; they who say it are morally rotten. Come 
 " on with your thousands of illegally-ordered troops, 
 " and I promise you, in the name of Israel's God, 
 " that they shall melt away as the snow before a 
 " July sun. * You might as well tell me 
 
 " that you can make hell into a powder-house as to 
 " tell me that they intend to keep an army here and 
 " have peace ! * *-.-* I have told you that if 
 " this people will live their religion all will be well ; 
 " and I have told you that if there is any man or 
 " woman who is not willing to destroy everything 
 41 of their property that would be of use to an 
 
26O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " enemy if left, I would advise them to leave the 
 41 Territory. And I again say so to-day ; for when 
 " the time comes to burn and lay waste our im- 
 " provements, if any man undertakes to shield his 
 41 he will be treated as a traitor ; for 'judgment will 
 " ' be laid to the line, and righteousness to the 
 " ' plummet.' * * * Now the faint-hearted can 
 " go in peace ; but should that time come, they 
 " must not interfere. Before I will again suffer as I 
 " have in times gone by there shall not one build- 
 " ing, nor one foot of lumber, nor a fence, nor a 
 "tree, nor a particle of grass or hay, that will burn, 
 " be left in reach of our enemies. I am sworn, if 
 " driven to extremity, to utterly lay waste this land 
 " in the name of Israel's God, and our enemies 
 " shall find it as barren as when we came here." 
 
 It was at such a moment, as the picture suggests, 
 that Capt. Van Vliet arrived in the city of the Saints. 
 The Governor, the Lieut-General, Adjt.-General 
 Ferguson, and the Apostles, received him with 
 marked cordiality, but with an open programme. 
 They took him into their gardens. The sisters 
 showed him the paradise that their woman hands 
 would destroy if that invading army came. He was 
 awed by the prospect his ordinary judgment con- 
 founded by such extraordinary examples. To the 
 wife of Albert Carrington, in whose garden he was 
 walking, in conversation with the Governor and his 
 party, he exclaimed : 
 
 " What, madam ! would you consent to see this 
 " beautiful home in ashes and this fruitful orchard 
 " destroyed ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " answered Sister Carrington, with heroic 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 26 1 
 
 resolution, " I would not only consent to it, but I 
 " would set fire to my home with my own hands^ 
 " and cut down every tree and root up every 
 " plant ! " 
 
 Captain Van Vliet thus reported to the command- 
 ing general of the army : 
 
 " He (Governor Young) stated that the Mormons 
 had been persecuted, murdered and robbed in Mis- 
 souri and Illinois, by the mob and the State author- 
 ities, and that now the United States were about 
 to pursue the same course, and that, therefore, he 
 and the people of Utah had determined to resist all 
 persecution at the commencement, and that the 
 troops now on the march for Utah should not enter 
 the Salt Lake valley. As he uttered these words 
 all there present concurred most heartily in what he 
 said. * * * In the course of my conversation 
 with the Governor, and the influential men in the 
 Territory, I told them plainly and frankly what I 
 conceived would be the result of their present 
 course. I told them that they might prevent the 
 small military force now approaching Utah from 
 getting through the narrow defiles and rugged 
 passes of the mountains this year, but that next 
 season the United States Government would send 
 troops sufficient to overcome all opposition. The 
 answer to this was invariably the same : ' We are 
 aware that such will be the case, but when those 
 troops arrive, they will find Utah a desert, every 
 house will be burned to the ground, every tree cut 
 down, and every field laid waste. We have pro- 
 visions on hand for years to come, which we will 
 cache, and then take to the mountains, and bid 
 defiance to all the powers of the Government.' 
 
 I attended their service on Sunday, and in the 
 course of a sermon delivered by Elder Taylor, he 
 referred to the approach of the troops, and declared 
 
262 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 they should not enter the Territory. He then re- 
 ferred to the probability of an overpowering force 
 being sent against them, and desired all present 
 who would apply the torch to their own buildings, 
 cut down their trees, and lay waste their fields, to 
 hold up their hands every hand, in an audience 
 numbering over four thousand persons, was raised 
 at the same moment." 
 
 The following extracts from conversations between 
 Governor Young and Captain Van Vliet, on the 
 1 2th and I3th of August, 1857, will be of interest, 
 inasmuch as they were had previous to the receipt, 
 in Salt Lake City, of the news of the Mountain 
 Meadow massacre. Although now for the first time 
 given to the public, their accuracy may be relied on, 
 as they are transcribed from Apostle Woodruff's 
 private journal, and were originally recorded within 
 a few hours of ,their occurrence, and are amply veri- 
 fied by many persons then present : 
 
 .President Young: We do not want to fight 
 the United States, but if they drive us to it, we 
 shall do the best we can ; and I will tell you, as the 
 Lord lives, we shall come off conquerors, for we 
 trust in Him. * God has set up his king- 
 
 dom on the earth, and it will never fall. * * * 
 We shall do all we can to avert a collision, but if 
 they drive us to it, God will overthrow them. If 
 they would let us alone and say to the mobs: ( Now 
 you may go and kill the Mormons if you can, but 
 we will have nothing to do with it/ that would be 
 all we would ask of them ; but for the Government 
 to array the army against us, is too despicable and 
 damnable a thing for any honorable nation to do ; 
 and God will hold them in derision who do it. 
 The United States are sending their 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 263 
 
 armies here to simply hold us still until a mob can 
 come and butcher us, as has been done before. 
 *;;'** We are the supporters of the constitution 
 of the United States, and we love that constitution 
 and respect the laws of the United States; but it is 
 by the corrupt administration of those laws that we 
 are made to suffer. If the law had been vindicated 
 in Missouri, it would have sent Governor Boggs to 
 the gallows, along with those who murdered Joseph 
 and Hyrum, and those other fiends who accom- 
 plished our expulsion from the States. 
 Most of the Government officers who have been 
 sent here have taken no interest in us, but, on the 
 contrary, have tried many times to destroy us. 
 
 Capt. Van Vliet : This is the case with most 
 men sent to the Territories. They receive their 
 offices as a political reward, or as a stepping-stone 
 to the Senatorship ; but they have no interest in 
 common with the people. * This people 
 
 has been lied about the worst of any people I ever 
 saw. * * * The greatest hold that the Govern- 
 ment now has upon you is in the accusation that 
 you have burned the United States records. 
 
 President Young : I deny that any books of the 
 United States have been burned ! All I ask of any 
 man is, that he tell the truth about us, pay his debts 
 and not steal, and then he will be welcome to come 
 or go as he likes. * If the Government 
 
 has arrived at that state that it will try to kill this 
 people because of their religion, no honorable man 
 should be afraid of it. * * * We would like 
 to ward off this blow if we can ; but the United 
 States seem determined to drive us into a fight. 
 They will kill us if they can. A mob killed Joseph 
 and Hyrum in jail, notwithstanding the faith of the 
 State was pledged to protect them. I 
 
 have broken no law, and under the present state of 
 affairs I will not suffer myself to be taken by any 
 
264 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 United States officer, to be killed as they killed 
 Joseph. 
 
 Capt. Van Vliet : I do not think it is the inten- 
 tion of the Government to arrest you, but to install 
 a new Governor in the Territory. 
 
 President Young : I believe you tell the truth 
 that you believe this but you do not know their 
 intentions as well as I do. When you get away 
 from here you will think of a great many things that 
 you have seen and heard : for instance, people have 
 accused us of colleaguing with the Indians against 
 the Government : they were much afraid that Joseph 
 Smith would go among the Indians, and they wanted 
 to keep him away from them ; but now they have 
 driven us into their midst. I want you to note the 
 signs of the times ; you will see that God will chas- 
 tise this nation for trying to destroy both the Indi- 
 ans and the Mormons. * If the Gov- 
 ernment persists in sending an army to destroy us, 
 in the name of the Lord we shall conquer them. If 
 they dare to force the issue, I shall not hold the In- 
 dians by the wrist any longer, for white men to 
 shoot at them ; they shall go ahead and do as they 
 please. If the issue comes, you may tell the Gov- 
 ernment to stop all emigration across this continent, 
 for the Indians will kill all who attempt it. And if 
 an army succeeds in penetrating this valley, tell the 
 Government to see that it has forage and provisions 
 in store, for they will find here only a charred and 
 barren waste. 
 
 Captain Van Vliet : * * * If our Govern- 
 ment pushes this matter to the extent of making 
 war upon you, I will withdraw from the army, for 
 I will not have a hand in shedding the blood of 
 American citizens. 
 
 President Young: We shall trust in God * 
 Congress has promptly sent investigating commit- 
 tees to Kansas and other places, as occasion has 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 265 
 
 required ; but upon the merest rumor it has sent 
 2,000 armed soldiers to destroy the people of Utah, 
 without investigating the subject at all. 
 
 Capt. Van Vliet : The Government may yet 
 send an investigating committee to Utah, and con- 
 sider it good policy, before they get through. 
 
 President Young : I believe God has sent you 
 here, and that good will grow out of it. I was glad 
 when I heard you were coming. 
 
 Capt. Van Vliet : I am anxious to get back to 
 Washington as soon as I can. I have heard offi- 
 cially that General Harney has been recalled to 
 Kansas to officiate as Governor. I shall stop the 
 train on Hams Fork, on my own responsibility. 
 
 President Young : If we can keep the peace for 
 this Winter I do think there will something turn 
 up that may save the shedding of blood. 
 
 Now let the reader mark the points. These con- 
 versations of Governor Young with Capt. Van Vliet 
 occurred before the news of the massacre reached 
 Salt Lake City. Governor Young charged this 
 officer to tell the Government that if this war of 
 extermination against the Mormons continued, all 
 emigration across the plains must be stopped ; inti- 
 mating that he had " held the wrist of the Indians " 
 from retaliating upon the whites, and that, if it was 
 to be war, he neither could nor would hold their 
 wrist any longer. But mark his policy : // was to 
 keep the invading army out during the Winter, 
 hold off a battle between the troops and the Mor- 
 mons, and PREVENT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD. This 
 
 accomplished, he believed the country would, in its 
 sober judgment, rebuke the unrighteous war, the 
 Government send on a commission, and the issue 
 be reached without the shedding of blood. Van 
 
266 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUXG 
 
 Vliet is so strongly moved by the aspect of the 
 case, and the heroic resolve of the entire Mormon 
 people, that he declares he will resign his commis- 
 sion if the Government decides to force the issue 
 and subject the people to the horrors of an exter- 
 minating war. He hastens back to stop the ap- 
 proach of the troops beyond a proper point, and to 
 report in Washington the state of affairs. The 
 sequel will show that he is finally instrumental in 
 bringing the whole matter to as satisfactory an 
 issue as was then possible, through a peace commis- 
 sion. 
 
 The reader cannot fail to perceive that any overt 
 act much less the terrible butchery at Mountain 
 Meadow was farthest from Brigham Young's policy 
 at that time, to say nothing of humanitarian con- 
 siderations. There can be but one just view of that 
 melancholy event, that it was an act of retaliation 
 by the Indians ; as it is a well-substantiated fact 
 that that particular company of emigrants had pur- 
 posely left poisoned meat at their camping places, 
 and had also poisoned certain springs of water, 
 thereby causing the death of several Indians. It is 
 also a fact that the Mormons urgently counseled 
 those emigrants to take the northern route to Cali- 
 fornia, it being, less likely to be infested by hostile 
 Indians. But they stubbornly pursued their way by 
 the southern route, and met their fate at Mountain 
 Meadow. 
 
 But, though Governor Young was aiming for 
 some such consummation as that which came, he 
 neither allowed himself nor his people to retreat a 
 step from their chosen position. Indeed, in their 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 267 
 
 stern fidelity to their cause was their only safety 
 and successful outcome. The next day after the 
 departure of Van Vliet, the Governor issued the 
 following proclamation, placing the Territory under 
 martial law : 
 
 " Citizens of Utah : We are invaded by a hostile 
 force, who are evidently assailing us to accomplish 
 our overthrow and destruction. 
 
 For the last twenty-five years we have trusted 
 official Government, from Constables and Justices to 
 Judges, Governors and Presidents, only to be 
 scorned, held in derision, insulted and betrayed. 
 Our houses have been plundered and then burned, 
 our fields laid waste, our principal men butchered 
 while under the pledged faith of the Government 
 for their safety, and our families driven from their 
 homes to find that shelter in the barren wilderness, 
 and that protection among hostile savages which 
 were denied them in the boasted abodes of Christi- 
 anity and civilization. 
 
 The constitution of our common country guaran- 
 tees to us all that we do now, or have ever, claimed. 
 
 If the constitutional rights which pertain to us as 
 American citizens were extended to Utah accord- 
 ing to the spirit and meaning thereof, and fairly and 
 impartially administered, it is all that we could ask 
 all that we ever asked. 
 
 Our opponents have availed themselves of preju- 
 dices existing against us because of our religious 
 faith, to send out a formidable host to accomplish 
 our destruction. We have had no privilege, no op- 
 portunity of defending ourselves from the false, 
 foul and unjust aspersions against us, before the 
 nation. 
 
 The Government has not condescended to cause 
 an investigating committee or other persons to be 
 sent to enquire into and ascertain the truth, as is 
 customary in such cases. 
 
268 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR. 
 
 We know those expressions to be false, but that 
 avails us nothing. We are condemned unheard, 
 and forced to an issue with an armed mercenary 
 mob, which has been sent against us at the instiga- 
 tion of anonymous letter-writers, ashamed to father 
 the base, slanderous falsehoods which they have 
 given to the public ; of corrupt officials who have 
 brought false accusations against us to screen them- 
 selves in their own infamy ; of hireling priests and 
 howling editors, who prostitute the truth for filthy 
 lucre's sake. 
 
 The issue which has been thus forced upon us 
 compels us to resort to the first great law of self- 
 preservation, and stand in our own defence, a right 
 guaranteed to us by the genius of the institutions 
 of our country, and upon which the Government is 
 based. 
 
 Our duty to ourselves, to our families, requires us 
 not tamely to be driven and slain without an at- 
 tempt to preserve ourselves. Our duty to our 
 country, our holy religion, our God, to freedom and 
 liberty, requires that we should not quietly stand 
 still and see those fetters being forged which are 
 calculated to enslave, and bring us in subjection to 
 an unlawful military despotism, such as can only 
 emanate, in a country of constitutional law, from 
 usurpation, tyranny and oppression. 
 
 Therefore^ I, Brigham Young, Governor, and Su- 
 perintendent of Indian affairs for the Territory of 
 Utah, in the name of the people of the United 
 States in the Territory of Utah : 
 
 ist. Forbid all armed forces of every descrip- 
 tion from coming into this Territory, under any 
 pretence whatever. 
 
 2d. Order all the forces in said Territory to hold 
 themselves in readiness to march at a moment's 
 notice to repel any and all such invasion. 
 
 3d. Martial law is hereby declared to exist in 
 this Territory, from and after the publication of this 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 269 
 
 proclamation, and no person shall be allowed to 
 pass or re-pass into or through or from the Terri- 
 tory, without a permit from the proper officers. 
 
 Given under my hand and seal at Great Salt Lake 
 City, Territory of Utah, this I5th day of September, 
 A. D. 1857, and of the independence of the United 
 .States of America the 82d. 
 
 (Signed) BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 In December following the Utah Legislature 
 met. The members came together with the reso- 
 lute bent of men who believed in the righteousness 
 of their cause. On the first day of the session was 
 duly presented the following : 
 
 GOVERNOR YOUNGS LAST MESSAGE. 
 
 It is a matter 01 deep regret that officers of a 
 government, founded at so great a sacrifice by our 
 forefathers, upon 'a land choice above all other 
 lands/ have become so sunken in degradation as to 
 have utterly lost sight of those pure and just prin- 
 ciples embodied in the constitution, and prefer, in 
 the pursuit of law, grovelling and selfish aims, to 
 carry out that suicidal policy, a persistence in which 
 can but end in rending to pieces a nation that other- 
 wise might become the happiest and most powerful 
 on the globe. Reckless office-holders and office- 
 seekers have their poisoned fangs so deeply buried 
 in the vitals of the body politic, and are so thoroughly 
 organized and drilled in the defence and attack of 
 the spoils, while the tradesmen, the mechanics, the 
 husbandmen and humble laborers the real virtue 
 and sound intelligence of the republic are so busily 
 occupied in their daily toil, and, except here and 
 there a few, are so little aware of the dire portent 
 of the future, and of the measures necessary for in- 
 suring public tranquility, that it is a discouraging 
 task to attempt arresting the turbid current of 
 
270 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 official corruption that would sweep every vestige 
 of truth, virtue and human rights from our happy 
 country ; but the crimsoned satellites of plunder,, 
 oppression and usurpation may rest assured that 
 every friend of liberty will resist their destructive 
 progress, and stand fast by the constitution and all 
 laws conformable therewith. 
 
 True, all human instituted governments contain 
 more or less of the weakness pertaining to imper- 
 fection, and to this law our Government is by no 
 means an exception, still I am not acquainted with 
 any man-made form of government in which are 
 sown so few of the seeds of its own dissolution. 
 Lovers of justice as were the revolutionary patriots,, 
 endowed as they were in their deliberations and 
 acts with a goodly portion of that wisdom that 
 cometh from above, and wielding an influence sel- 
 dom attained by so small a number, yet they were 
 unable to devise a republican form of government 
 without a system of checks and balances, dividing 
 the federative power into three distinct branches, 
 controlable only by the will of the sovereign people. 
 Their former experience makes it a matter of no 
 surprise that in their deliberations and acts they 
 leaned so strongly to the side of the largest degree 
 of individual freedom ; nor, having suffered so sorely 
 under the cruel rod of religion established by secular 
 power, that they so clearly and strenuously guarded 
 and guaranteed the widest scope to freedom of con- 
 science and consequent right of worship in accord- 
 ance therewith. But with the sound judgment and 
 experience possessed by those great statesmen, it is 
 only another evidence of the weakness incident to 
 humanity, even when acting under the best of 
 motives, that, after having so long groaned under 
 the bitter oppression of British colonial rule, and 
 successfully struggled for the establishment of the 
 inherent right of each and all to * life, liberty and 
 the pursuit of happiness/ with the positive guaran- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 271 
 
 tee that every one should be privileged with and 
 protected in the blessings flowing from a republican 
 form of government, whose characteristic consisted 
 solely in the well-defined and well-understood fact 
 that the rulers and the laws shall proceed only from 
 the election and consent of the governed, they 
 should, in April, 1784, pass resolutions, and, in July, 
 1787, over two months previous to the adoption of 
 the constitution, pass an ordinance specially legis- 
 lating for American citizens residing on public 
 domain, directly contrary to the very genius of the 
 articles of confederation by which they had mutu- 
 ally pledged each other they would be guided. And 
 that very legislation, contrary as it was to the author- 
 ities and limitations of the articles of confedera- 
 tion existing at the time of the passage of the cele- 
 brated ordinance of '87, and to those of the consti- 
 tution adopted in the same year, as well as to the 
 great truth embodied in the declaration of indepen- 
 dence, that 'governments derive their just powers 
 from the consent of the governed,' could be and 
 was endorsed by Americans, so long as the usurped 
 power was exercised in justice. And the portion of 
 that illegal legislation copied into ' organic acts ' for 
 Territories could be still endured, were it not so 
 grievously abused, as is the case when officers are 
 attempted to be forced upon a free people, contrary 
 to their known and expressed wishes. Still, look- 
 ing as our patriot fathers measurably did, to the 
 governmental experience of the mother country, 
 and surrounded as they were by so many conflicting 
 views and entangling questions, it is not a subject 
 of so much surprise that they inadvertently took so 
 illegal a course, as it is that an early Congress under 
 the constitution continued to perpetuate and en- 
 deavor to make legal that which neither was nor 
 ever could be law, without first destroying or re- 
 modeling the very constitution from which Con- 
 gress derives its sole power to act. And again, the 
 
272 LIFE OF BRIGHAM 
 
 course of that Congress is by no means so surpris- 
 ing as that Congress after Congress, with a length- 
 ening experience in the workings of the govern- 
 mental machinery and a boasted increase of enlight- 
 enment, should still continue to fasten a portion of 
 that unconstitutional relic of colonial barbarism 
 upon American citizens, whenever a laudable spirit 
 of enterprise induces those citizens to lawfully 
 occupy and improve any portion of the public 
 domain. And it is most surprising of all, that 
 Americans occupying public domain in Territories, 
 have so tamely submitted to such long continued 
 and obvious usurpation. 
 
 Even since the more odious features in the ordi- 
 nance of '87 have been omitted in the organic acts 
 more recently passed by Congress for Territories, 
 which acts are but illegal patterns after that uncon- 
 stitutional ordinance, officers are appointed to rule 
 over American citizens in Territories, and to have a 
 voice in the enactment, adjudication and execution 
 of Territorial laws ; and, worse still, those officers are 
 frequently appointed from a class well known, 
 through the rightfully expressed wishes of large 
 majorities, to be justly objected to by those whom 
 they are appointed to govern. Call you that repub- 
 lican ? It is British colonial vassalage unconstitu- 
 tionally perpetuated by tyranny and usurpation in 
 the powers that be. It is difficult to conceive how 
 a people, so enlightened as are Americans, should 
 for so long a period have suffered themselves to be 
 measurably disfranchised by usurpations curtailing 
 their right, when passing an air line from a State 
 into a Territory, more especially when that chang- 
 ing of locality is to result in the improvement of 
 regions that would otherwise remain waste. 
 
 It is foreign to my present purpose to detail that 
 policy which should have governed from the begin- 
 ning in relation toenliorhtened residents in our Terri- 
 tories, a policy that would not have curtailed them 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 273 
 
 in the least constitutional right, and would thereby 
 have utterly excluded that odious and suicidal in- 
 consistency existing from the first until now, be- 
 tween the form and the administration of our 
 government, and would have caused the adminis- 
 tration, as does the form, to guarantee equal free- 
 dom to all, in Territory as well as State, but will 
 merely remark, in passing, that the continued prac- 
 tice of that wretched inconsistency, has done, and is 
 doing, much to undermine the fair fabric of Ameri- 
 can liberty. 
 
 Utah, also, like other Territories, saw fit to waive 
 those constitutional rights so illegally denied to 
 citizens who cross certain air lines of a common 
 country to extend the area of civil and religious 
 liberty, and an act organizing our Territorial Gov- 
 ernment was passed by Congress on the Qth of 
 September, 1850. Fortunately for us a wise and 
 good man occupied the executive chair of our na- 
 tion, a statesman whose sound judgment and hu- 
 mane feelings prompted him to extend to us our 
 rights, so far as the ' organic act ' and hungry office- 
 hunters would permit. He appointed a part of the 
 customary appointees in accordance with the wishes 
 of the people, and no doubt thought he had ap- 
 pointed good men to fill the remaining offices, but 
 in this he was partially disappointed, being deceived 
 by the foolish, although very common, habit of 
 recommending men who are not worthy. I am also 
 confident that his successor endeavored to make as 
 good appointments for us as circumstances and un- 
 wise counsels and recommendations would allow, 
 but during his administration prejudice began to set 
 in against Utah, and he was so unfortunate as to 
 appoint, at the instigation and solicitation of a then 
 influential Senator in Congress, a person who 
 proved to be as degraded as his capacity would 
 admit, and who, it is reported, came, acted, left and 
 still acted in accordance with the instructions from 
 
274 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 the Senator who procured his appointment, but in a 
 manner outraging morality, justice, humanity, law 
 and even common decency. 
 
 The members and officers of the last Legislative 
 Assembly, familiar with the evils visited upon the 
 innocent by the miserably bad conduct of certain 
 officials heretofore sent here by Government, know- 
 ing that all republican governments, which both 
 our general and State governments are in form, 
 are based upon the principle that the governed 
 shall enjoy the right to elect their own officers, and 
 be guided by the laws having their own consent, 
 and perfectly aware that by the constitution resi- 
 dents in Territories are guaranteed that great right 
 equal with residents in States (for Congress has 
 not one particle more constitutional power to legis- 
 late for and officer Americans in Territories than 
 they have to legislate for and officer Americans in 
 States), respectfully memorialized the President and 
 Senate to appoint officers for Utah in accordance 
 with an accompanying list containing the names of 
 persons who were her first choice for the offices 
 placed opposite those names, but if that selection 
 did not meet with approval, they were solicited to 
 make appointments from a list containing other and 
 a larger number of names of residents who were 
 also the choice of the people ; and if that selection 
 was also rejected, to appoint from any part of the 
 Union, with the simple request, in such an event, 
 that the appointees be good men. In this matter 
 of appointment of officers, what more rights could 
 the most tyrannical in a republican government 
 ask a Territory to waive ? Yet up to this date no 
 official information concerning the action, if any,, 
 taken upon that memorial, has ever reached us. 
 
 Time glided by, and travelers and newspapers 
 began to confirm the rumor that the present Execu- 
 tive, and a part of the Cabinet, had yielded to the 
 rabid clamor raised against Utah by lying editors, 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 275 
 
 corrupt demagogues, heartless office hunters, and 
 the ignorant rabble, incited by a number of the 
 hireling clergy, and were about to send an army to 
 Utah, with the sole and avowed purpose, as pub- 
 lished in almost every newspaper, of compelling 
 American citizens, peacefully, loyally and lawfully 
 occupying American soil, to forego the dearest con- 
 stitutional rights, to abandon their religion, to 
 wallow in the mire and worship at the shrine of 
 modern civilization and Christianity, or be expelled 
 from the country, or exterminated. Where are now 
 constitutional rights ? Who' is laying the axe at 
 the root of the tree of liberty ? Who are the 
 usurpers ? Who the tyrants ? Who the traitors ? 
 Most assuredly those who are madly urging meas- 
 ures to subvert the genius of free institutions, and 
 those principles of liberty upon which our Govern- 
 ment is based, and to overthrow virtue, independ- 
 ence, justice and true intelligence, the loss of either 
 of which, by the people, the celebrated Judge Story 
 has wisely affirmed would be " the ruin of our Re- 
 public the destruction of its vitality." And ex- 
 President James Madison, among other purposes, 
 declared it to be the purpose of Government " to 
 avoid the slightest interference with the rights of 
 conscience, or the functions of religion, so wisely 
 exempted from civil jurisdiction." 
 
 Has Utah ever violated the least principle of the 
 constitution, or so much as broken the most insig- 
 nificant constitutional enactments. No ; nor have 
 we the most distant occasion for so doing, but have 
 ever striven to peacefully enjoy and extend those 
 rights granted to all by a merciful creator. But so 
 unobtrusive and wise a course does not seem to 
 please those who live and wish to live by office, and 
 those who make and live lies ; and since those 
 characters are numerous, and also powerful through 
 well disciplined organization; and since Utah has 
 yielded right after right, for the sake of peace, until 
 
276 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 her policy has emboldened the enemies of our 
 Union, it must needs be that President Buchanan, 
 if he has ordered an army to Utah as reported, for 
 he has not officially notified me of such a move- 
 ment by his order, has at length succumbed, either 
 of choice or through being overcome, to the cruel 
 and nefarious counsels of those enemies, and is 
 endeavoring to carry out a usurpation of power, 
 which of right belongs only to the people, by ap- 
 pointing civil officers known to be justly objection- 
 able to freemen, and sending a so-called army, 
 under mere color of law, to force those officers 
 upon us at the point of the bayonet, and to form a 
 nucleus for the collection and protection of every 
 gambler, cut-throat, whore-monger and scoundrel 
 who may choose to follow in their train. Such a 
 treasonable system of operations will never be en- 
 dured, nor even countenanced, by any person pos- 
 sessed of the least spark of patriotism and love of 
 constitutional liberty. The President knew, if he 
 knew the facts in the case, as he was in duty bound 
 to do before taking action, that the officials hitherto 
 sent here had beeri invariably received and treated 
 with all the respect their offices demanded, and that 
 a portion of them had met with far more courtesy 
 than elsewhere would have been extended to them, 
 or their conduct deserved; he also knew, or had, 
 the privilege of knowing, that the memorial of the 
 last Assembly, as already stated, respectfully in- 
 formed him that Utah wished good men for officers, 
 and that such officers would be cordially welcomed 
 and obeyed, and that we would not again tamely 
 endure the abuse and misrule meted by official 
 villains, as were some who have formerly officiated 
 here. Such being a few of the leading facts, what 
 were the legitimate inferences drawn from the 
 rumors that the President had sent a batch of offi- 
 cials with an army to operate as their posse ? That 
 he had willfully made the official appointments for 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 
 
 Utah from a class other than good men, and placed 
 himself, where tyrants often are, in the position of 
 levying war upon the very nation whose choice had 
 made him its chief executive officer. 
 
 Fully aware, as has been justly written, that 
 " patriotism does not consist in aiding Government 
 in every base or stupid act it may perform, but 
 rather in paralyzing its power when it violates 
 vested rights, affronts insulted justice, and assumes 
 undelegated authority," and knowing that the so- 
 called army, reported to be on its way to Utah, was 
 an undisguised mob, if not sent by the President 
 of the United States; and, if sent by him, in the 
 manner and for the purpose alleged in all the in- 
 formation permitted to reach us, was no less a mob, 
 though in the latter event acting under color of 
 law ; upon learning its near approach, I issued, as 
 in duty bound, a proclamation expressly forbidding 
 all bodies of armed men, under whatsoever name, 
 or by whomsoever sent, to come within the bounds 
 of this Territory. That so-called army, or, more 
 strictly speaking, mob, refused to obey that procla- 
 mation, copies of which were officially furnished 
 them, and prosecuted their march to the neighbor- 
 hood of Forts Bridger and Supply (which were 
 vacated and burnt upon their approach), where it is 
 said they intended to winter. Under these circum- 
 stances, I respectfully suggest that you take such 
 measures as your enlightened judgment may dictate, 
 to insure public tranquility, and protect, preserve 
 and perpetuate inviolate those inalienable constitu- 
 tional rights which have descended to us, a rich 
 legacy, from our forefathers. 
 
 A civilized nation is one that never infringes upon 
 the rights of its citizens, but strives to protect and 
 make happy all within its sphere, which our Govern- 
 ment, above all others, is obligated to accomplish, 
 though its present course is far from that wise and 
 just path. And under the aggravated abuses that 
 
278 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 have been heaped upon us in the past, you and the 
 whole people are my witnesses that it has more 
 particularly fallen to my lot and been my policy and 
 practice to restrain rather than urge resistance to 
 usurpation and tyranny, on the part of the enemies, 
 to the constitution and constitutional laws (who are 
 also our enemies and the enemies of all republics 
 and republicans), until forbearance under such cruel 
 and illegal treatment cannot well be longer exer- 
 cised. No one has denied or wishes to deny the 
 right of the Government to send its troops when, 
 where and as it pleases, so it is done clearly within 
 the authorities and limitations of the constitution, 
 and for the safety and welfare of the people ; but 
 when it sends them clearly without the pale of those 
 authorities and limitations, unconditionally to op- 
 press the people, as is the case in the so-called army 
 sent to Utah, it commits a treason against itself 
 which commands the resistance of all good men, or 
 freedom will depart from our nation. 
 
 In compliance with a long-established custom in 
 appointing officers not of the people's electing, 
 which the Supreme Court of the United States 
 would at once in justice decide to be unconstitu- 
 tional, we have petitioned and petitioned that good 
 men be appointed, until that hope is exhaused ; and 
 we have long enough borne the insults and outrages 
 of lawless officials, until we are compelled, in self- 
 defence, to assert and maintain that great consti- 
 tutional right of the governed to officers of their 
 own election, and local laws of their own enactment. 
 That the President and the counselors, aiders and 
 abettors of the present treasonable crusade 'against 
 the peace and rights of a Territory of the United 
 States, may re-consider their course and retrace 
 their steps is earnestly to be desired ; but in either 
 event, our trust and confidence are in that being 
 who at his pleasure rules among the armies of 
 heaven and controls the wrath of the children of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 
 
 men, and most cheerfully should we be able to abide 
 the issue. 
 
 Permit me to tender you my entire confidence 
 that your deliberations will be distinguished by that 
 wisdom, unanimity and love of justice that have 
 ever marked the counsels of our legislative assem- 
 blies, and the assurance of my hearty co-operation 
 in every measure you adopt for promoting the true 
 interests of a Territory beloved by us for its very 
 isolation and forbidding aspect ; for here, if any- 
 where upon this footstool of our God, have we the 
 privilege and prospect of being able to secure and 
 enjoy those inestimable rights of civil and religious 
 liberty, which the beneficent creator of all mankind 
 has, in his mercy, made indefeasible, and perpetuate 
 them upon a broader and firmer basis for the benefit 
 of ourselves, of our children and our children's chil- 
 dren, until peace shall be restored to our distracted 
 country." 
 
 In the course of their session the Territorial 
 Legislature passed a series of resolutions, which 
 were embodied in a memorial to the President of 
 the United States. 
 
 The memorial set forth, in brief, their various 
 grievances consequent upon the persecutions waged 
 against them by the people of the various States in 
 which they had lived, and the annoyances they had 
 endured under the maladministration of corrupt 
 Federal officials, especially Judge W. W. Drum- 
 mond, who was the immediate cause of the political 
 agitation on Utah affairs. The memorial closed 
 thus: 
 
 Whereas, in our well-founded opinion, there are 
 citizens of our Territory who are capable and honest, 
 
280 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 whose interest is identified with the people, who 
 desire the promotion of peace and the prosperity of 
 the Territory and the Union ; and 
 
 Whereas, we have furnished our worthy delegate 
 in Congress, the Hon. John M. Bernhisel, a list of 
 names of certain citizens of this Territory, with in- 
 structions to him to respectfully request the Presi- 
 dent of the United States to make the appointments 
 for this Territory therefrom, or to select other citi- 
 zens of this republic whose interests are and will be 
 here, and somewhat identified with the growth and 
 prosperity of the country : therefore be it by the 
 Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Terri- 
 tory of Utah, in solemn assembly convened, and 
 having the foregoing facts and suggestions under 
 consideration, 
 
 Resolved, that, while we respect the General Gov- 
 ernment, and are at all times willing to observe the 
 laws thereof, so far as they may be applicable to 
 our condition, in our Territorial capacity, we will 
 resist any attempts of Government officials to set 
 at naught our Territorial laws, or to impose upon 
 us those which are inapplicable, and of right not in 
 force in this Territory. 
 
 jRes0/veat r th3Lt, while we will seek to carry out the 
 rules and regulations of the various departments of 
 the General Government, as we invariably have, we 
 will resist any attempt of any of its officers to bring 
 us into difficulty, by misrepresentation or otherwise, 
 with either of said departments of the Government. 
 
 Resolved, that we will maintain the constitution 
 and laws of the United States, so far as they are 
 applicable to our Territory, but we will not tamely 
 submit to being abused by the Government officials 
 here in this Territory ; they shall not come here to 
 corrupt our community, set at defiance our laws, 
 trample upon the rights of the people, stir up the 
 Indians and use the patronage of the Government 
 against us, as a people, by their false statements 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 28 1 
 
 and misrepresentations ; or, if they do come and act 
 in this manner, as has been done, we will send them 
 away, asking no odds either of political demagogues 
 or bigots ; for we well understand and know that 
 neither the one nor the other is justified by the 
 constitution and laws in thus trifling with the liber- 
 ties of the people or trampling upon their rights. 
 
 Resolved, that we are a portion of the great 
 American Republic ; that we have rights civil, 
 political, and religious, in common with the rest of 
 the States and Territories ; that those rights are as 
 sacred to us as they are to any other people, and 
 that it is the duty of the Government to protect us 
 in the peaceful enjoyment thereof, so far as it is in 
 their power, and not to seek to annoy and distress 
 us either with foreign appointments or by fastening 
 upon our necks the yoke of tyranny and oppression, 
 thus depriving us of those rights of freedom per- 
 taining to every republican government, and held 
 sacred by every State and Territory. 
 
 Resolved, that we inherit from our fathers who 
 declared that governments " derive their just powers 
 from the consent of the governed," the right to have 
 a voice in the selection of our rulers, and that to 
 deny that right is anti-republican and fraught with 
 evil, not only to us who are unwisely and unjustly 
 held in a Territorial capacity, but to every lover of 
 American freedom. 
 
 Resolved, that we desire to live in peace, and have 
 ever done so, when let alone by our enemies ; that 
 we have sacrificed much to get out of their way, and 
 that,, if they follow us up, as in times past, to seek 
 our destruction, we are ready and willing to sacrifice 
 far more, rather than not be rid of them. They 
 shall not live in our midst to plot treason against 
 the Territory, and to bring against us the forces of 
 the United States to our destruction. 
 
 Resolved, that we eschew as evil, and utterly repu- 
 diate, all social intercourse with those officials who 
 
282 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 practice, under the garb of their official dignity, 
 every species of iniquity ; also with the murdering 
 thieves and vagabonds with whom such officials 
 associate ; and they must and shall leave this Terri- 
 tory, so soon as they manifest themselves to be of 
 the character set forth in this memorial. 
 
 Resolved, that we respectfully solicit the President 
 of the United States to make the appointments to 
 the offices of this Territory from among the citizens 
 thereof, or else select other good citizens of this 
 great republic, who will endeavor to promote the 
 interests of the Territory and become identified 
 therewith. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 EUCHANAN COERCED BY PUBLIC SENTIMENT INTO 
 SENDING A COMMISSION OF INVESTIGATION. HE 
 SENDS COLONEL KANE WITH A SPECIAL MISSION 
 TO THE MORMONS. ARRIVAL OF THE COLONEL IN 
 SALT LAKE CITY. HIS FIRST INTERVIEW WITH 
 THE MORMON LEADERS. INCIDENTS OF HIS SO- 
 JOURN. HE GOES TO MEET GOVERNOR GUMMING, 
 AND IS PLACED UNDER ARREST BY GENERAL 
 JOHNSTON. HIS CHALLENGE TO THAT OFFICER. 
 HE BRINGS IN THE NEW GOVERNOR IN TRIUMPH. 
 CORDIAL MEETING BETWEEN THE TWO GOVERNORS. 
 RETURN OF COLONEL KANE. 
 
 The reaction came. The leading papers, both of 
 America and England, declared that President Bu- 
 chanan had committed a great and palpable blunder. 
 He had sent an army, before a committee of investi- 
 gation, and had made war upon one of our Terri- 
 tories for rejecting (!) a new Governor before that 
 Governor had been sent. Brigham Young had 
 clearly a constitutional advantage over the Presi- 
 dent of the United States for in those days the 
 rights of the citizen, and the rights of a State or 
 Territory, had some meaning in the national mind. 
 The idea of " Buchanan's blunder " once started, it 
 soon became universal in the public mind. The Mor- 
 
284 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 mons were not in rebellion, as they themselves stoutly 
 maintained. They were ready to receive the new 
 Governor with becoming loyalty, but not willing to 
 have him forced upon them by bayonets. There 
 was nothing more to be said in the case, excepting 
 that, by the common law of nature, a man may 
 hold off the hand at his throat to say in good 
 old scriptural language, " Come, let us reason to- 
 gether." 
 
 All America, and all Europe, " saw the point,"" 
 and' a storm of condemnation and ridicule fell upon 
 the devoted head of the President. Peace commis- 
 sioners alone could help him out of the trouble. 
 
 At this critical juncture Col. Kane sought the 
 man at the White House, and offered his services 
 as mediator. Buchanan wisely recognized his po- 
 tency and fitness, and without a moment's loss of 
 time the Colonel set out on his self-imposed mis- 
 sion, although in such feeble health that any con- 
 sideration short of the noble impulse that actuated 
 him at the time would have deterred him from 
 making the attempt. The undertaking was as 
 delicate as it was important. Its success alone 
 could make it acceptable, either to the Mormons or 
 to the nation. 
 
 For prudential reasons he registered himself as 
 " Dr. Osborne " among the passengers on board the 
 California steamer, which left New York in the first 
 week of January, 1858. On reaching the Pacific 
 coast, he hastened, overland, to Southern California 
 there overtaking the Mormons who had just broken 
 up their colony at San Bernardino, re-gathering to 
 Utah for the common defence. An escort was im- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 285 
 
 mediately furnished him, and he reached Salt Lake 
 City in the following February. 
 
 Governor Young called a council of the Presi- 
 dency and Twelve, at his house, on the evening of 
 the day of Col. Kane's arrival, and at eight o'clock 
 the " messenger from Washington " was introduced 
 by Joseph A. Young, as " Dr. Osborne." 
 
 The introduction was very formal. The Colonel 
 had a peculiar mission to fulfill, and was evidently 
 desirous to maintain tbe dignity of the Government. 
 Moreover, it was more than eleven years since he 
 had met his friends of winter quarters. They had, 
 with their people, become as a little nation, and the 
 United States was making war upon them as an in- 
 dependent power. Notwithstanding that his great 
 love for them had prompted him to undertake the 
 long journey which he had just accomplished, at 
 first he must have felt the uncertainty of his mis- 
 sion, and some misgivings as to the regard in which 
 they would hold his mediation. But perhaps no 
 other man in the nation at that critical moment 
 would have been received by the Mormon leaders 
 with such perfect confidence. 
 
 The Colonel was very pale, being worn down 
 with travel by day and night. An easy chair was 
 placed for him. A profound silence of some mo- 
 ments reigned. The council waited to hear the 
 mind of the Government, for the coming of Col. 
 Kane had put a new aspect on affairs, though what 
 it was to be remained to be shaped from that night. 
 With great difficulty in speaking he addressed the 
 council as follows : 
 
 " Governor Young and Gentlemen : I come as 
 
286 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " an ambassador from the chief executive of our 
 " nation, and am prepared and duly authorized to 
 " lay before you, most fully and definitely, the feel- 
 " ings and views of the citizens of our common 
 " country, and of the Executive towards you, relative 
 " to the present position of this Territory, and rela- 
 " tive to the army of the United States now upon 
 " your borders. 
 
 " After giving" you the most satisfactory evidence 
 " in relation to matters concerning you, now pend- 
 " ing, I shall then call your attention, and wish to 
 " enlist your sympathies, in behalf of the poor soldiers 
 " who are now suffering in the cold and snow of the 
 " mountains. I shall request you to render them 
 " aid and comfort, and to assist them to come here, 
 " and to bid them a hearty welcome into your hos- 
 " pitable valley. 
 
 " Governor Young, may I be permitted to ask a 
 " private interview for a few moments with you ? 
 " Gentlemen, excuse my formality." 
 
 They were gone about thirty minutes, when they 
 returned again to the room. 
 
 Colonel Kane then informed the council that 
 Captain Van Vliet had made a good report of them 
 at Washington, and had used his influence to have 
 the army stop east of Bridger. He had done a great 
 deal in their behalf. 
 
 " You all look very well," said the Colonel, " you 
 " have built up quite an empire here in a short 
 " time." 
 
 He spoke upon the prosperity of the people, in- 
 stancing some of its phases ; and then the enquiry 
 came from some one present : " Did Dr. Bernhisel 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 287 
 
 " take his seat?" No news whatever of the Utah 
 delegate had yet reached them. 
 
 " Yes," he answered, " Delegate Bernhisel took 
 " his seat. He was opposed by the Arkansas mem- 
 " her and a few others, but they were treated as 
 " fools by more sagacious members ; for, if the dele- 
 " gate had been refused his seat, it would have been 
 " tantamount to a declaration of war." 
 
 Speaking of the conduct of the Mormons, he 
 said : 
 
 " You have borne your part manfully in this con- 
 " test. I was pleased to see how patiently your 
 " people took it." 
 
 "How was the President's message received?" 
 asked Governor Young. 
 
 " The message was received as usual. In his 
 " appointments he had been cruelly impartial. So 
 " far he has made an excellent President. He has 
 " an able cabinet. They are more united, and work 
 " together better than some of our former cabinets 
 " have done." 
 
 " I suppose," observed Governor Young, caustic- 
 ally, " they are united in putting down Utah ? " 
 
 " I think not," replied the Colonel. 
 
 Then came conversations on the affairs of the 
 nation of Spain, Kansas, the Black Warrior affair, 
 financial pressure, &c. 
 
 By this time all restraint between the brethren 
 and their noble friend was gone. 
 
 " I wish you knew how much I feel at home," he 
 observed. " I hope I shall have the privilege of 
 " breaking bread with these, my friends." 
 
 " I want to take good care of you," returned Gov- 
 
288 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 ernor Young warmly. " I want to tell you one 
 " thing, and that is, the men you see here do not 
 " look old. The reason is they are doing right, and 
 " are in the service of God. If men would do right 
 " they would live to a great age. There are but few 
 " in the world who have the amount of labor to do 
 " which I have. I have to meet men every hour in 
 " the day. It is said of me that I do more busi- 
 " ness in an hour than any President, King or 
 " Emperor has to perform in a day ; and that I think 
 " for the people constantly. You can endure more 
 " now than you could ten years ago. If you had 
 " done as some men have done you would have 
 " been in your grave before now." 
 
 The Colonel replied, " I fear that I can endure 
 " more than I could ten years ago. The present 
 " life doesn't pay, and I feel like going away as soon 
 " as it is the will of God to take me." 
 
 " I know, to take this life as it is, and as men 
 " make it," answered President Young, " it does not 
 " appear worth living, but I can tell you that, when 
 " you see things as they are, you will find life is 
 " worth preserving, and blessings will follow our 
 " living in this life, if we do right. 
 
 " Now," continued the President, warming with 
 his subject, " if God should say I will let you live 
 " in this world without any pain or sorrow, we 
 " might feel life was worth living for. But this is not 
 " in his economy. We have to partake of sorrow, 
 " affliction and death ; and if we pass through this 
 " affliction patiently, and do right, we shall have a 
 " greater reward in the world to come. I have been 
 " robbed several times of my all in this life, and my 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 289 
 
 " property has gone into the hands of my enemies ; 
 " but as to property, I care no more about it than 
 " about the dirt in the streets, only to use it as God 
 " wishes. But I think a great deal of a friend a 
 " true friend. An honest man it truly the noblest 
 " work of God. It is not in the power of the 
 " United States to destroy this people, for they are 
 " in the hands of God. If we do right, He will pre- 
 " serve us. The Lord does many things which we 
 " would count as small things. For instance, a poor 
 " man once came into my office ; I felt by the spirit 
 " that he needed assistance ; I took five dollars out 
 " of my pocket and gave to him. I soon after 
 " found a five-dollar gold piece in my pocket, which 
 " I did not put there. Soon I found another. Many 
 " think that the Lord has nothing to do with gold ; 
 " but he has charge of that as well as every other 
 " element. Brother Kimball said in Nauvoo, * if 
 " ' we have to leave our houses we will go to the 
 " ' mountains, and in a few years we will have a 
 " ' better city than we have here.' This is fulfilled. 
 " He also said, ' We shall have gold, and coin 
 " ' twenty-dollar gold pieces.' We came here, 
 " founded a city, and coined the first twenty-dollar 
 " gold pieces in the United States. Seeing the 
 " brethren poorly clad, soon after we came here, he 
 " said, ' It will not be three years before we can 
 " ' buy clothing cheaper in Salt Lake Valley than in 
 " ' the States.' Before the time was out, the gold- 
 " diggers brought loads of clothing, and sold them 
 " in our city at a wanton price. 
 
 " Friend Thomas," concluded Governor Young, 
 " the Lord sent you here, and he will not let you 
 
2QO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " die no, you. cannot die till your work is done- 
 '* I want to have your name live to all eternity; You 
 " have done a great work, and you will do a greater 
 " work still." 
 
 The council then broke up, and the brethren went 
 to their homes. 
 
 The straight-forward, noble simplicity of what 
 was thus done and said between Thomas L. Kane 
 and Brigham Young, in the presence of the apostles, 
 cannot but strike the attention of the intelligent 
 investigator. 
 
 After the council had ended, word was sent to 
 Elder Wm. C. Staines that a Dr. Osborne, traveling 
 with the company from California, was sick, and 
 desired accommodation at his house ; and late in 
 the evening " Dr. Osborne " was duly introduced 
 to, and cordially welcomed by, Elder Staines. The 
 elder had no idea that his guest was other than the 
 person represented, for when Col. Kane was at 
 winter quarters, he (Staines) was among the In- 
 dians, with Bishop Miller's camp. 
 
 However, in a few days Elder Staines learned 
 who his guest was, and, as a favorable opportunity 
 presented itself, said to him : 
 
 " Col. Kane, why did you wish to be introduced 
 " to me as Dr. Osborne ? " 
 
 " My dear friend," replied the Colonel, " I was 
 " once treated so kindly at winter quarters that I 
 " am sensitive over its memories. I knew you to 
 " be a good people then ; but since, I have heard so 
 " many hard things about you, that I thought I 
 " would like to convince myself whether or not the 
 " people possessed the same humane and hospitable 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 2QI 
 
 " spirit which I found in them once. I thought if 
 " I go to the house of any of my great friends 
 " of winter quarters, they will treat me as Thomas 
 " L. Kane, with a remembrance of some services 
 " which I may have rendered them. So I requested 
 " to be sent to some stranger's house, as ' Dr. Os- 
 " borne,' that I might know how the Mormon people 
 " would treat a stranger at such a moment as this> 
 " without knowing whether I might not turn out to 
 " be either an enemy or a spy. And now, Mr. 
 " Staines, I want to know if you could have treated 
 " Thomas L. Kane better than you have treated 
 " Dr. Osborne." 
 
 " No, Colonel," replied Elder Staines, " I could 
 " not." 
 
 " And thus, my friend," added ' Dr. Osborne,' " I 
 " have proved that the Mormons will treat the 
 " stranger in Salt Lake City, as they once did 
 " Thomas L. Kane at winter quarters." 
 
 In a few days, under the inspiring spirit and 
 affectionate nursing of his host, Colonel Kane was 
 sufficiently recovered to carry out his design of pro- 
 ceeding to the head-quarters of the army (Fort 
 Bridger, then called Camp Scott). 
 
 Governor Young's policy had changed in nought, 
 excepting in that which was consistent with the im- 
 proved situation. The Mormons would receive 
 their new Governor loyally, but would not have him 
 accompanied by an army into their capital ; neither 
 would they allow an army to be quartered in any of 
 their cities. The agent of the administration could 
 ask no more nor desire more. It was the basis of a 
 fair compromise, which would give to President 
 
LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 Buchanan a plausible out-come, and at the same 
 time maintain the Mormon dignity. 
 
 The visit of Col. Kane to Camp Scott was at- 
 tended with a chain of circumstances that give to 
 the narration of it a decidedly dramatic cast. At 
 the worst season of the year, in delicate health, he 
 made his way through the almost impassable snows 
 of the mountains, a distance of 113 miles. Arrived, 
 on the loth of March, in the vicinity of the army 
 outposts, he insisted, out of consideration for the 
 safety of his friendly escort, on entering the lines 
 unaccompanied. Reaching the nearest picket post ? 
 an over-zealous sentry challenged him, and at the 
 same time fired at him. In return, the Colonel 
 broke the stock of his rifle over the sentry's head. 
 The post being now fully arroused and greatly ex- 
 cited, Col. Kane, with characteristic politeness as 
 well as diplomacy, requested to be conducted to 
 the tent of Gov. Cumming. The Governor re- 
 ceived him cordially. 
 
 The Colonel's diplomacy in seeking the Gover- 
 nor, instead of General Johnston, is evident. His 
 business was not directly with the commander, but 
 with the civil chief, whose posse commitatus the 
 troops were. The compromise which Buchanan 
 had to effect, with the utmost delicacy, could only 
 be through the new Governor, and that, too, by his 
 heading off the army sent to occupy Utah. 
 
 The General was chagrined. Here was Buchanan 
 
 o 
 
 "withdrawing from a serious blunder as gracefully 
 as possible ; but where was Albert Sidney Johnston 
 to achieve either glory or honor out of the Utah 
 war ? 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 293 
 
 Affecting to treat Col. Kane as a spy, an orderly 
 was sent to arrest him. It was afterwards converted 
 into a blundering execution of the General's invita- 
 tion to him to dine at head-quarters. The blunder 
 was no doubt an intentional one. Col. Kane re- 
 plied by sending a formal challenge to General 
 Johnston. 
 
 Governor dimming could do nothing less than 
 espouse the cause of the " ambassador," who was 
 there in the execution of a mission entrusted to him 
 by the President of the United States. The affair 
 of honor also touched himself. He resented it 
 with great spirit, extended his official protection to 
 his guest, and from that moment there was an im- 
 passable breach between the executive and the mili- 
 tary chief. The duel, however, was prevented by 
 the interference of Chief Justice Eckels, who 
 threatened to arrest all concerned in it if it pro- 
 ceeded further. 
 
 The conduct of General Johnston was looked 
 upon by the Mormon leader as very like a bit of 
 providential diplomacy interposed in behalf of his 
 people. With the Governor and the commander -of 
 the army at swords' points, the issues of the " war " 
 were practically in the hands of Brigham Young. 
 From that moment he knew that he was master of 
 the situation ; and the extraordinary moves that he 
 made thereupon, culminating with the second exo- 
 dus, show what a consummate strategist he is, and 
 how complex are his methods of mastering men. 
 He was now not only in command of his own 
 people, who at the lifting of his finger would move 
 with him to the ends of the earth, but substantially 
 
294 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 dictator both to the Governor and the army. John- 
 ston could only move at the call of the Governor, 
 and was hedged about by the new policy of the 
 President, while this shaping of affairs converted 
 the Mormon militia, then under arms, into the 
 Governor's posse commitatus, instead of the regular 
 troops. 
 
 The mission of Col. Kane to the seat of war was 
 to induce the Governor to trust himself th'rough 
 the Mormon lines, under a Mormon escort of honor 
 that would be furnished at the proper point, and to 
 enter immediately upon his gubernatorial duties. 
 The officers remonstrated with the Governor 
 against going to the city without the army, pre- 
 dicting that the Mormons would poison him, or 
 put him out of the way by some other wicked in- 
 genuity ; but the camp was now no longer the place 
 for him, and with a high temper and a humane 
 spirit, he trusted himself to the guidance of Col 
 Kane. 
 
 The Governor left Camp Scott on the 5th of 
 March, en route for Salt Lake City, accompanied 
 by Col. Kane and two servants. As soon as he had 
 passed the Federal lines, he was met by an escort 
 of the Utah militia, and welcomed as Governor of 
 the Territory with military honors. 
 
 On the 1 2th of April they entered Salt Lake 
 City in good health and spirits, escorted by the 
 Mayor, marshal and aldermen, and many other dis- 
 tinguished citizens. 
 
 Arrived at the residence of Elder Staines, Gov- 
 ernor Young promptly and frankly called upon 
 his successor at the earliest possible moment ; 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 295 
 
 and they were introduced to each other by Col. 
 Kane. 
 
 " Governor Gumming, I am glad to meet you ! " 
 observed Brigham, with unostentatious dignity, and 
 that quiet heartiness peculiar to him. 
 
 " Governor Young, I am happy to meet you, sir ! " 
 responded His Excellency warmly, at once im- 
 pressed by the presence and spirit of the remark- 
 able man before him. 
 
 " Well, Governor," said Elder Staines, after the 
 interview was ended, " what do you think of Presi- 
 " dent Young ? Does he appear to you a tyrant, as 
 41 represented ? " 
 
 " No, sir. No tyrant ever had a head on his 
 " shoulders like Mr. Young. He is naturally a very 
 " good man. I doubt whether many of your people 
 " appreciate him as a leader." 
 
 The brethren were apprised of the fact that the 
 officers at Camp Scott had warned the Governor 
 that the Mormons would poison him, so it was con- 
 trived that Elder Staines and Howard Egan should 
 eat at the same table with him and partake of the 
 same food. Of course he understood the delicate 
 assurance that " death was not in the pot." 
 
 Three days after his entrance into the city, Gov- 
 ernor Gumming officially notified General Johnston 
 that he had been properly recognized by the 
 people ; that he was in full discharge of his office, 
 and that he did not require the presence of troops. 
 
 On his part, ex-Governor Young set the public 
 example, and on the Sunday following introduced 
 him to a large assembly as the Governor of Utah. 
 
 Thus successfully ended the mission of Col. 
 
296 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 Kane, who shortly thereafter returned to Washing- 
 ton, to report in person to the President. Journeying 
 by the overland route, a body-guard of Mormon 
 scouts accompanied him to the Missouri River. It 
 is no more than simple justice to here testify of 
 him, that a more gentle and noble man is rarely to 
 be found, and for his disinterested kindness toward 
 the Mormon people they will ever hold his name in 
 honorable and affectionate remembrance. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 REPORT OF GOVERNOR GUMMING TO THE GOVERN- 
 MENT. THE GOVERNMENT RECORDS FOUND NOT 
 BURNED AS REPORTED BY DRUMMOND. THE 
 
 MORMON LEADERS JUSTIFIED BY THE FACTS, AND 
 THE PEOPLE LOYAL. GRAPHIC AND THRILLING 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE MORMONS IN THEIR SECOND 
 EXODUS. THE GOVERNOR BRINGS HIS FAMILY TO 
 SALT LAKE CITY. HIS WIFE IS MOVED TO TEARS 
 AT WITNESSING THE HEROIC ATTITUDE OF THE 
 PEOPLE. 
 
 Governor Gumming immediately reported the 
 condition of affairs in Utah, and the re-action that 
 it produced in the public mind, both in America 
 and Europe, can well be imagined. It was a new 
 revelation, to the age, of Mormon character and 
 Mormon sincerity. The peculiar people were never 
 understood till then, notwithstanding their previous 
 exodus, for only Missouri and Illinois seemed con- 
 cerned in their early history and doings ; but now 
 that the United States Government was a party in 
 the action, all the world became interested in the 
 extraordinary spectacle of a peculiar little uncon- 
 querable people braving the wrath of a mighty 
 nation. 
 
 The current events of those days, including the 
 
298 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " second exodus," which was begun in anticipation 
 of a breach of faith, on the part of the United States 
 authorities, in this instance, as in the previous case 
 of the State authorities at Nauvoo, are well re- 
 counted in the following report of Governor Gum- 
 ming, addressed to General Cass, then Secretary of 
 State : 
 
 Executive Office, Salt Lake City, U. T., 
 
 May 2d, 1858. 
 
 SIR : You are aware that my contemplated journey 
 was postponed in consequence of the snow upon 
 the mountains, and in the canyons between Fort 
 Bridger and this city. In accordance with the deter- 
 mination communicated in former notes, I lett camp 
 on the 5th, and arrived here on the I2th ult. 
 
 Some of the incidents of my journey are related 
 in the annexed note, addressed by me to General 
 A. S. Johnston, on the i5th ult: 
 
 Executive Office, Salt Lake City, U. T., 
 April 1 5th, 1858. 
 
 SIR : I left camp on the 5th, en route to this city, 
 in accordance with a determination communicated 
 to you on the 3d inst., accompanied by Colonel 
 Kane as my guide, and two servants. Arriving in 
 the vicinity of the spring, which is on this side of 
 the " Quaking Asp" hill, after night, Indian camp 
 fires v/ere discerned on the rocks overhanging the 
 valley. We proceeded to the spring, and after dis- 
 posing of the animals, retired from the trail beyond 
 the mountain. We had reason to congratulate our- 
 selves upon having taken this precaution, as we 
 subsequently ascertained that the country lying be- 
 tween your outposts and the " Yellow Creek " is 
 infested by hostile renegades and outlaws from 
 various tribes. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 299 
 
 I was escorted from Bear River Valley to the 
 western end of Echo Canyon. The journey through 
 the canyon being performed, for the most part, after 
 night, it was about 1 1 o'clock p. M. when I arrived 
 at Weber Station. I have been everywhere recog- 
 nized as Governor of Utah ; and, so far from having 
 encountered insults or indignities, I am gratified in 
 being able to state to you that, in passing through 
 the settlements, I have been universally greeted with 
 3uch respectful attentions as are due to the repre- 
 sentative of the executive authority of the United 
 States in the Territory. 
 
 Ne^ar the Warm Springs, at the line dividing 
 Great Salt Lake and Davis Counties, I was honored 
 with a formal and respectful reception by many 
 gentlemen, including the mayor and other municipal 
 officers of the city, and by them escorted to lodgings 
 previously provided, the mayor occupying a seat in 
 my carriage. 
 
 Ex-Governor Brigham Young paid me a call of 
 ceremony as soon as I was sufficiently relieved from 
 the fatigue of my mountain journey to receive com- 
 pany. In subsequent interviews with the ex-Go v- 
 ernor, he has evinced a willingness to afford me 
 every facility I may require for the efficient perform- 
 ance of my administrative duties. His course in 
 this respect meets, I fancy, with the approval of a 
 majority of this community. The Territorial seal, 
 with other public property, has been tendered me 
 by William H. Hooper, Esq., late Secretary pro tern. 
 
 I have not yet examined the subject critically, 
 but apprehend that the records of the United States 
 Courts, Territorial Library, and other public prop- 
 erty remain unimpaired. 
 
 Having entered upon the performance of my 
 official duties in this city, it is probable that I will 
 be detained for some days in this part of the 
 Territory. 
 
 I respectfully call your attention to a matter 
 
3OO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 which demands our serious consideration. Many 
 acts of depredation have been recently committed 
 by the Indians upon the property of the inhabitants 
 one in the immediate vicinity of this city. Believ- 
 ing that the Indians will endeavor to sell the stolen 
 property at or near your camp, I herewith inclose 
 the Brand Book (incomplete) and memoranda (in 
 part) of stock lost by citizens of Utah since Feb, 
 25th, 1858, which may enable you to secure the 
 property and punish the thieves. 
 
 With feelings of profound regret I have learned 
 that Agent Hart is charged with having incited to 
 acts of hostility the Indians in Uinta Valley. I hope 
 that Agent Hart will be able to vindicate himself 
 from the charges contained in the inclosed letter 
 from Wm. H. Hooper, late Secretary pro tem, yet 
 they demand a thorough investigation. 
 
 I shall probably be compelled to make a requisi- 
 tion upon you for a sufficient force to chastise the 
 Indians alluded to, since I desire to avoid being 
 compelled to call out the militia for that purpose. 
 
 The gentlemen who are intrusted with this note, 
 Mr. John B. Kimball and Mr. Fay Worthen, are 
 engaged in mercantile pursuits here, and are repre- 
 sented to be gentlemen of the highest respectability, 
 and have no connection with the Church here. 
 Should you deem it advisable or necessary, you will 
 please send any communication intended for me by 
 them. I beg leave to commend them to your con- 
 fidence and courtesy. They will probably return to 
 the city in a few days. They are well-known to 
 Messrs. Gilbert, Perry and Burr, with whom you 
 will please communicate. 
 
 Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
 
 A. GUMMING, 
 
 Gov. Utah Ter. 
 
 To A. S. JOHNSTON, commanding Army of Utah, 
 Camp Scott, U. T. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 30! 
 
 The note omits to state that I met parties of 
 armed men at Lost Creek and Yellow Creek, as 
 well as at Echo Canyon. At every point, however, 
 I was recognized as the Governor of Utah, and re- 
 
 o 
 
 ceived with a military salute. When it was arranged 
 with the Mormon officers in command of my escort 
 that I should pass through Echo Canyon at night. 
 I inferred that it was with the object of concealing 
 the barricades and other defences. I was, therefore, 
 agreeably surprised by an illumination in honor of 
 me. The bonfires kindled by the soldiers from the 
 base to the summits of the walls of the canyon, 
 completely illuminated the valley, and disclosed 
 the snow-colored mountains which surrounded us. 
 When I arrived at the next station, I found the 
 " Emigrant Road " over the " Big Mountain " still 
 impassable. I was able to make my way, however, 
 down " Weber Canyon." Since my arrival, I have 
 been employed in examining the records of the 
 Supreme and District Courts, which I am now pre- 
 pared to report as being perfect and unimpaired. 
 This will doubtless be acceptable information to 
 those who have entertained an impression to the 
 contrary. 
 
 I have also examined the Legislative Records, 
 and other books belonging to the Secretary of State, 
 which are in perfect preservation, The property 
 return, though not made up in proper form, ex- 
 hibits the public property for which W. H. Hooper, 
 late Secretary of State pro tern, is responsible. . It is, 
 in part, the same for which the estate of A. W. Bab- 
 bitt is liable, that individual having died whilst in 
 the office of Secretary of State for Utah. 
 
 I believe that the books and charts, stationery 
 and other property appertaining to the Surveyor- 
 General's office, will, upon examination, be found in 
 the proper place, except some instruments, which 
 are supposed to have been disposed of by a man 
 
3O2 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 temporarily in charge of the office. I examined the 
 property, but cannot verify the matter in conse- 
 quence of not having at my command a schedule or 
 property return. 
 
 The condition of the large and valuable Territo- 
 rial library has also commanded my attention, and I 
 am pleased in being able to report that Mr. W. C. 
 Staines, the librarian, has kept the books and 
 records in the most excellent condition. I will, at 
 an early day, transmit a catalogue of this library > 
 and a schedule of the other public property, with 
 certified copies of the records of the Supreme and 
 District Courts, exhibiting the character and 
 amount of the public business last transacted in 
 them. 
 
 On the 2 ist inst. I left Salt Lake City, and visited 
 Tooele and. Rush Valleys, in the latter of which 
 lies the military reserve selected by Col. Steptoe, 
 and endeavored to trace the lines upon the ground, 
 from field-notes which are in the Surveyor-General's 
 office. An accurate plan of the reserve, as it has 
 been, measured off, will be found accompanying a 
 communication, which I shall address to the Secre- 
 tary of War, upon the subject. 
 
 On the morning of the 26th inst., information 
 was communicated to me that a number of persons 
 who were desirous of leaving the Territory were 
 unable to do so, and considered themselves to be 
 unlawfully restrained of their liberties. However 
 desirous of conciliating public opinion, I felt it in- 
 cumbent upon me to adopt the most energetic 
 measures to ascertain the truth or falsehood of this 
 statement. Postponing, therefore, a journey of im- 
 portance which I had in contemplation to one of 
 the settlements of Utah County, I caused public 
 notice to be given immediately of my readiness to 
 relieve all persons who were, or deemed themselves 
 to be, aggrieved, and on the ensuing day, which was 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 303 
 
 Sunday, requested a notice to the same effect 
 to be read, in my presence, to the people in the 
 tabernacle. 
 
 I have since kept my office open at all hours of 
 the day and night, and have registered no less than 
 56 men, 38 women and 71 children, as desirous of 
 my protection and assistance in proceeding to the 
 States. The large majority of these people are of 
 English birth, and state that they leave the congre- 
 gation from a desire to improve their circumstances, 
 and realize elsewhere more money for their labor. 
 Certain leading men among the Mormons have 
 promised them flour, and to assist them in leaving 
 the country. 
 
 My presence at the meeting in the tabernacle will 
 be remembered by me as an occasion of interest. 
 Between three and four thousand persons were as- 
 sembled for the purpose of public worship ; the hall 
 was crowded to overflowing ; but the most pro- 
 found quiet was observed when I appeared. Presi- 
 dent Brigham Young introduced me by name as 
 the Governor of Utah, and I addressed the audi- 
 ence from " the stand." I informed them that I had 
 come among them to vindicate the national sover- 
 eignty ; that it was my duty to secure the suprem- 
 acy of the constitution and the laws ; that I had 
 taken my oath of office to exact an unconditional 
 submission on their part to the dictates of the law. 
 I was not interrupted. In a discourse of about 
 thirty minutes' duration, I touched (as I thought 
 best) boldly upon all the leading questions at issue 
 between them and the General Government. I re- 
 membered that I had to deal with men embittered 
 by the remembrance and recital of many real and 
 imaginary wrongs, but did not think it wise to with- 
 hold from them the entire truth. They listened 
 respectfully to all I had to say approvingly, even, 
 I fancied when I explained to them what I in- 
 tended should be the character of my administra- 
 
304 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 tion. In fact the whole character of the people 
 was calm, betokening no consciousness of having 
 done wrong, but rather, as it were, indicating a con- 
 viction that they had done their duty to their 
 religion and to their country. I have observed that 
 the Mormons profess to view the constitution as 
 the work of inspired men, and respond with readi- 
 ness to appeals for its support. 
 
 I informed them that they were entitled to a trial 
 by their peers ; that I had no intention of station- 
 ing the army in immediate contact with their settle- 
 ments, and that the military posse would not be re- 
 sorted to until other means of arrest had been 
 tried and failed. * * * The President and the 
 American people will learn with gratification the 
 auspicious issue of our difficulties here. I regret 
 the necessity, however, which compels me to mingle 
 with my congratulations, the announcement of a fact 
 that will occasion great concern. 
 
 The people, including the inhabitants of this city, 
 are moving from every settlement in the northern 
 part of the Territory. The roads are everywhere 
 filled with wagons loaded with provisions and 
 household furniture, the women and children often 
 without shoes or hats, driving their flocks they 
 know not where. They seem not only resigned but 
 cheerful. " It is the will of the Lord," and they re- 
 joice to exchange the comforts of home for the 
 trials of the wilderness. Their ultimate destination 
 is not, I presume, definitely fixed upon. " Going 
 South," seems sufficiently definite for the most of 
 them, but many believe that their ultimate destina- 
 tion is Sonora. 
 
 Young, Kimball and most of the influential men 
 have left their commodious mansions, without appa- 
 rent regret, to lengthen the long train of wanderers. 
 The masses everywhere announce to me that the 
 torch will be applied to every house indiscriminately 
 throughout the country, so soon as the troops 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 305 
 
 attempt to cross the mountains. I shall follow these 
 people and try to rally them. 
 
 Our military force could overwhelm most of these 
 poor people, involving men, women and children in 
 a common fate ; but there are among the Mormons 
 many brave men, accustomed to arms and horses ; 
 men who could fight desperately as guerrillas ; and 
 if the settlements are destroyed, will subject the 
 country to an expensive and protracted war, without 
 any compensating results. They will, I am sure, 
 submit to " trial by their peers," but they will not 
 brook the idea of trials by "juries" composed of 
 " teamsters and followers of the camp," nor of an 
 army encamped in their cities or dense settlements. 
 
 I have adopted means to recall the few Mormons 
 remaining in arms, who have not yet, it is said, com- 
 plied with my request to withdraw from the canyons 
 and eastern frontiers. I have also taken measures 
 to protect the buildings which have been vacated in 
 the northern settlements. I am sanguine that I 
 will save a great part of. the valuable improvements 
 there. 
 
 I shall leave this city for the South to-morrow. 
 After I have finished my business there, I shall 
 return as soon as possible to the army, to complete 
 the arrangements which will enable me before long, 
 I trust, to announce that the road between California 
 and Missouri may be traveled with perfect security 
 by trains and emigrants of every description. 
 
 I shall restrain all operations of the military for 
 the present, which will probably enable me to re- 
 ceive from the President additional instructions, if 
 he deems it necessary to give them. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 A. CUM MINGS, 
 
 Governor of Utah. 
 
 To Hon. LEWIS CASS, Secretary of State, Washington, 
 D. C. 
 
3O5 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 On the 1 3th of May, Gov. Cumming started for 
 Camp Scott/ for the purpose of moving his family 
 to Salt Lake City. Meanwhile the " exodus " had 
 been quietly going forward, and when the Governor 
 returned he found only a few men who had been 
 left in the city to burn it in case the army attempted 
 to quarter there. 
 
 The Governor and his wife proceeded to the 
 residence of Elder Staines, whom they found in 
 waiting with a plentiful cold lunch. His family had 
 gone south, and in his garden were significantly 
 heaped several loads of straw. 
 
 The Governor's wife enquired their meaning, and 
 the cause of the silence that pervaded the city. 
 Elder Staines informed her of their resolve to 
 burn the town in case the army atempted to 
 occupy it. 
 
 " How terrible ! " she exclaimed. " What a sight 
 " this is ! ,1 never shall forget it ! It has the ap- 
 " pearance of a city that has been afflicted with a 
 " plague. Every house looks like a tomb of the 
 " dead ! For two miles I have seen but one man in 
 " it. Poor creatures ! And so all have left their 
 " hard-earned homes ? " 
 
 Here she burst into tears. 
 
 " Oh ! Alfred (to her husband), something must 
 " be done to bring them back ! Do not permit the 
 " army to stay in the city ! Can't you do something 
 " for them ? " 
 
 " Yes, madam," said he, " I shall do all I can, rest 
 " assured. I only wish I could be in Washington 
 " for two hours ; I am persuaded that I could con- 
 " vince the Government that we have no need for 
 " troops." 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE ARRIVAL OF PEACE COMMISSIONERS. EXTRA- 
 ORDINARY COUNCIL BETWEEN THEM AND THE 
 MORMON LEADERS. A SINGULAR SCENE IN THE 
 COUNCIL. ARRIVAL OF A COURIER WITH DES- 
 PATCHES. " STOP THAT ARMY ! OR WE BREAK 
 UP THE CONFERENCE." " BROTHER DUNBAR, SING 
 ZION ! " THE PEACE COMMISSIONERS MARVEL, BUT 
 AT LAST FIND A HAPPY ISSUE. RETROSPECTIVE 
 VIEW OF THE MORMON ARMY. 
 
 The honorable course of Van Vliet, in protesting* 
 against an exterminating war upon a religious 
 people, coupled with the guarantee which Colonel 
 Kane had personally given to the Government for 
 the essential loyalty of the Mormons, made the 
 sending of peace commissioners imperative. An 
 example of the right course once set by the noble 
 Kane, President Buchanan hastened to send Gov- 
 ernor L. W. Powell, of Kentucky, and Major Ben 
 McCullough, of Texas, to negotiate a peace. They 
 arrived in the city in June, 1858. Wilford Wood- 
 ruff's Journal contains the following minute of their 
 first council with the Mormon leaders : 
 
 June \\th. The Presidency and many others 
 met with the Peace Commissioners in the council 
 
308 LIFE OF BRIG1IAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 house. Governor Powell, a Senator elect from 
 Kentucky, and Major McCullough, from Texas, 
 were then introduced to the assembly, as the Peace 
 Commissioners sent by President Buchanan. Gov- 
 ernor Powell spoke to the people, and informed us 
 what the President wished at our hands. President 
 Buchanan has sent by them a proclamation, accusing 
 us of treason and some fifty other crimes, all of 
 which charges are false. Yet he pardons us for all 
 these offences, if we will be subject to the constitu- 
 tion and laws of the United States, aud if we will 
 let his troops quarter in our Territory. He pledged 
 himself that they should not interefere with our 
 people, nor infringe upon any city, and said that he 
 had no right to interfere with our religion, faith or 
 practice. 
 
 The Peace Commissioners confirmed the same. 
 They did not wish to enquire into the past at all, 
 but wished to let it all go and talk about the pres- 
 ent and the future. 
 
 Reflections. President Buchanan had made war 
 upon us, and wished to destroy us because of our 
 religion, thinking that it would be popular, but he 
 found that Congress would not sustain him in it. 
 He has got into a bad scrape, and wishes to get out 
 of it the best he can. Now he wants peace, because 
 he is in the wrong, and has met with a strong re- 
 sistance from a high-minded people in these moun- 
 tains, which he did not expect to meet. We are 
 willing to give him peace upon any terms that are 
 honorable ; but not upon terms which are dishonor- 
 able to us. We have our rights and dare maintain 
 them, trusting in God for victory. The Lord 
 has heard our prayers, and the President of the 
 United States has been obliged to ask for peace. 
 
 The naivete of Apostle Woodruff, in his idea of 
 giving peace to James Buchanan, is something 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 309 
 
 amusing, yet is there a severe democratic philosophy 
 in it. "He wants peace because he is in the wrong 
 u and has met with a strong resistance from a high- 
 " minded people," is a passage that any President of 
 the United States might profitably lay under his 
 official pillow, whether in his administration towards 
 a Utah or a Louisiana. But Brother Woodruff's 
 emphatic view that the Mormons could only consent 
 to a peace on honorable terms ; with his brave 
 assertion that, " we have our rights, and dare main- 
 " tain them, trusting in God for victory," has in it a 
 touch of sublimity. 
 
 That day also witnessed a striking example of 
 Governor Young's tact and resolution : 
 
 The Peace Commissioners had laid their message 
 before the council. Brigham had spoken, as well 
 as the Peace Commissioners. The aspect of affairs 
 was favorable^ Presently, however, a well-known 
 character was seen to enter, approach the ex-Gov- 
 ernor and whisper to him. He was from the Mor- 
 mon army. There was at once a sensation, for it 
 was appreciated that he brought some unexpected 
 and important news. Brigham arose ; his manner 
 self-possessed, but severe. 
 
 " Governor Powell, are you aware, sir, that those 
 " troops are on the move towards the city ? " 
 
 "It cannot be ! " exclaimed Powell, surprised, 
 " for we were promised by the General that they 
 " should not move till after this meeting." 
 
 " I have received a dispatch that they are on the 
 " march for this city. My messenger would not 
 " deceive me." 
 
 It was like a thunderclap to the Peace Commis- 
 sioners : they could offer no explanation. 
 
3IO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " Is Brother Dunbar present?" inquired Brigham. 
 " Yes, sir," responded the one called. 
 What was coming now ? 
 " Brother Dunbar, sing Zion." 
 
 The Scotch songster came forward and sang the 
 following soul-stirring lines, by Chas. W. Penrose : 
 
 O ye mountains high, where the clear blue sky 
 Arches over the vales of the free ; 
 Where the pure breezes blow, 
 And the clear streamlets flow, 
 How I've longed to your bosom to flee. 
 O Zion ! dear Zion ! land of the free, 
 
 My own mountain home, now to thee I have come, 
 All my fond hopes are centred in thee. 
 
 Though the great and the wise all thy beauties despise, 
 To the humble and pure thou art dear ; 
 Though the haughty may smile 
 And the wicked revile, 
 Yet we love thy glad tidings to hear. 
 O Zion ! dear Zion ! home of the free ; 
 
 Thou wert forced to fly to thy chambers on high, 
 Yet we'll share joy or sorrow with thee. 
 
 In thy mountain retreat, God will strengthen thy feet ; 
 On the necks of thy foes thou shall tread , 
 And their silver and gold, 
 As their prophets have told, 
 Shall be brought to adorn thy fair head. 
 O Zion ! dear Zion ' home of the free ; 
 
 Soon thy towers shall shine with a splendor divine, 
 And eternal thy glory shall be. 
 
 Here our voices we'll raise, and we'll sing to thy praise, 
 Sacred home of the prophets of God ; 
 Thy deliverance is nigh, 
 Thy oppressors shall die, 
 And the gentiles shall bow 'neath thy rod. 
 O Zion ! dear Zion ! home of the free ; 
 
 In thy temples we'll bend, all thy rights we'll defend. 
 And our home shall be ever with thee. 
 
 The action of Brigham had been very simple in 
 the case, but there was a world of meaning in it. In- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 31 I 
 
 terpreted it meant " Gentlemen, we have heard 
 " what President Buchanan and yourselves have 
 " said about pardoning us for standing up for our 
 "constitutional rights, arid defending our lives and 
 " liberties. We will consent to a peace on honor- 
 " able terms; but you must keep faith with us. Stop 
 " that army ! or our peace conference is ended. 
 " Brethren, sing Zion. Gentlemen, you have our 
 " ultimatum ! " 
 
 With the theme before him, the reader will fully 
 appreciate what the singing of "Zion" meant. There 
 have been times when the singing of that hymn 
 by the thousands of the Saints has been almost as 
 potent as that revolutionary hymn of France the 
 Marsellaise. This was such a time. 
 
 After the meeting, McCullough and Governor 
 Gumming took a stroll together, for the purpose of 
 chatting upon the affairs of the morning. 
 
 " What will you do with such a people ? " asked 
 the Governor, with a mixture of admiration and 
 concern. 
 
 " D n them ! I would fight them, if I had 
 " my way/' answered McCullough. 
 
 " Fight them, would you ? You might fight 
 " them, but you would never whip them. They 
 " would never know when they weVe whipped ! Did 
 " you notice the snap in those men's eyes to-day ? 
 " No, sir ; they would never know when they were 
 " whipped ! " 
 
 And Governor Gumming was right. When did a 
 God-fearing people, with providence seen in every 
 foot-mark of their career, ever know that they were 
 whipped ? Did ancient Israel ? Did Cromwell and 
 
312 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OK, 
 
 his Ironsides ? Have the Mormons to this hour 
 known it ? They never will know it, so long as they 
 remain a God-fearing and God-trusting people ! 
 
 At night the Peace Commissioners and the Mor- 
 mon leaders were again in council, in private ses- 
 sion, until ten o'clock. 
 
 Next morning, at nine o'clock, the conference 
 again convened, and the doors were thrown open 
 to the public. Elders John Taylor, George A. 
 Smith and Adjt.-Gen. James Ferguson gave expres- 
 sion to their views and feelings, and then President 
 Young spoke at some length, with a will and a 
 purpose in every word. Woodruff, in his journal; 
 says : 
 
 " Then the Peace Commissioners heard the roar 
 " of the lion of the Lord ! " 
 
 The following brief synopsis of his speech, fur- 
 nished by one present, will give the reader an idea 
 of what the " roar of the lion of the Lord " was at 
 that critical moment, when the issue of peace or 
 war was pending : 
 
 President Young arose. He said : " I have 
 " listened very attentively to the commissioners, 
 " and will say, as far as I am concerned, I thank 
 " President Buchanan for forgiving me, but I really 
 " cannot tell what I have done. I know one thing, 
 " and that is, that the people called ' Mormons ' are 
 '' a loyal and a law-abiding people, and have ever 
 " been. Neither President Buchanan nor any one 
 " else can contradict the statement. It is true, Lot 
 " Smith burned some wagons containing Govern. 
 " ment supplies for the army. This was an overt 
 " act, and if it is for this we are to be pardoned, 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 313 
 
 " I accept the pardon. The burning of a few U. S. 
 " wagons is but a small item, yet for this, combined 
 " with false reports, the whole Mormon people are 
 " to be destroyed. 
 
 " What has the United States Government per- 
 " mitted mobs to do to us ? Gentlemen, you can- 
 " not answer that question ! I can, however, and so 
 " can thousands of my brethren. We have been 
 " whipped and plundered ; our houses burned, our 
 " fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children 
 " butchered and murdered by the scores. We have 
 " been driven from our homes time and time again ; 
 " but have troops ever been sent to stay or punish 
 "those mobs for their crimes? No! Have we 
 " ever received a dollar for the property we have 
 " been compelled to leave behind ? Not a dollar ! 
 " Let the Government treat us as we deserve ; this 
 " is all we ask of them. We have always been loyal 
 " and expect to so continue ; but, hands off ! Do 
 " not send your armed mobs into our midst. If you 
 " do we will fight you as the Lord lives. Do not 
 " threaten us with what the United States can do, 
 " for we ask no odds of them or their troops. We 
 " have the God of Israel the God of battles on 
 " our side; and, let me tell you, gentlemen, we fear 
 " not your armies. I can take a few of the boys 
 " here and, with the help of the Lord, can whip the 
 " whole of the United States. These, my brethren, 
 " put the.ir trust in the God of Israel, and have no 
 " fears. We have proven him and he is our friend. 
 " Boys, how do you feel ? Are you afraid of the 
 " United States? (Great demonstration among the 
 
314 LIFE F BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " brethren.) No ! No ! We are not afraid of man 
 " nor of what he can do. 
 
 "The United States are going to destruction as 
 " fast as they can go. If you do not believe it, 
 " gentlemen, you will soon see it to your sorrow. 
 " It will be with them like a broken potsherd. Yes, 
 " it will be like water spilled on the ground, no more 
 " to be picked up. 
 
 " Now let me say to you Peace Commissioners, 
 " we are willing those troops should come into our 
 " country but not to stay in our city. They may 
 " pass through it if needs be, but must not quarter 
 " less than 40 miles from us. 
 
 1 If you bring your troops here to disturb this 
 " people, you have got a bigger job than you or 
 " President Buchanan have any idea of. Before the 
 " troops reach here, this city will be in ashes, every 
 41 tree and shrub will be cut to the ground, and 
 " every blade of grass that will burn shall be 
 " burned. 
 
 " Our wives and children will go to the canyons, 
 " and take shelter in the mountains ; while their 
 " husbands and sons will fight you ; and, as God 
 " lives, we will hunt you by night and by day until 
 " your armies are wasted away. No mob can live 
 " in the homes we have built in these mountains- 
 " That's the programme, gentlemen, whether you 
 " like it or not. If you want war you can have it ; 
 " but, if you wish peace, peace it is ; we shall be 
 " glad of it." 
 
 The Commissioners " wished peace ; " and the 
 result of their negotiations was embodied in the 
 following note to General Johnston : 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 315 
 
 GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, Utah Ten, 
 June 1 2th, 1858. 
 
 E)EAR SIR : We have the pleasure of informing 
 you that after a full and free conference with the 
 chief men of the Territory, we are informed by 
 them that they will yield obedience to the constitu- 
 tion and laws of the United States; that they will 
 not resist the execution of the laws in the Territory 
 of Utah ; that they cheerfully consent that the civil 
 officers of the Territory shall enter upon the dis- 
 charge of their respective duties, and that they will 
 make no resistance to the army of the United 
 States in its march to the valley of Salt Lake or 
 elsewhere. We have their assurance that no resist- 
 ance shall be made to the officers, civil or military, 
 of the United States, in the exercise of their various 
 functions in the Territory of Utah. 
 
 The houses, fields and gardens of the people of 
 this Territory, particularly in and about Salt Lake 
 City, are very insecure. The animals of your army 
 would cause great destruction of property if the 
 greatest care should not be observed in the march 
 and the selection of camps. The people of the 
 Territory are somewhat uneasy for fear the army, 
 when it shall reach the valley, will not properly re- 
 spect their persons and property. We have assured 
 them that neither their persons nor property will 
 be injured or molested by the army under your 
 command. 
 
 We would respectfully suggest, in consequence 
 of the feeling of uneasiness, that you issue a proc- 
 lamation to the people of Utah, stating that the 
 army under your command will not trespass upon 
 the rights or property of peaceable citizens during 
 their sojourn in or march through the Territory. 
 Such a proclamation would greatly allay the exist- 
 ing anxiety and fears of the people, and cause those 
 who have abandoned their homes to return to their 
 houses and farms. 
 
316 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 We have made inquiry about grass, wood, &c. 
 necessary for the subsistence and convenience of 
 your army. We have conversed with Mr. Ficklin 
 fully on this subject, and given him all the informa- 
 tion we have, which he will impart to you. 
 
 We respectfully suggest that you march to the 
 valley as soon as it is convenient for you to do so. 
 
 We have the honor to be, very respectfully, your 
 obedient servants, 
 
 L. W. POWELL, Y ~ , TT . , 
 BEN McCuLLOUGH, } Cams to Utak ' 
 
 To General A. S. Johnston, commanding Army of 
 Utah, Camp Scott, Utah Territory. 
 
 To this came the following reply : 
 
 Head-quarters, Department of Utah, 
 
 Camp on Bear River, June i4th, 1858. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : Your communication from Salt 
 Lake City was received to-day. The accomplish- 
 ment of the object of your mission entirely in ac- 
 cordance with the instructions of the President, and 
 the wisdom and forbearance which you have so ably 
 displayed to the people of the Territory, will, I 
 hope, lead to a more just appreciation of their rela- 
 tions to the General Government, and the estab- 
 lishment of the supremacy of the laws. I learn with 
 surprise that uneasiness is felt by the people as. to 
 the treatment they may receive from the army. 
 Acting under the two-fold obligations of citizens 
 and soldiers, we may be supposed to comprehend 
 the rights of the people, and to be sufficiently 
 mindful of the obligations of our oaths, not to dis- 
 regard the laws which govern us as a military body. 
 A reference to them will show with what jealous 
 care the General Government has guarded the 
 rights of citizens against any encroachments. The 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 317 
 
 army has duties to perform here in execution of the 
 orders of the Department of War, which, from the 
 nature of them, cannot lead to interference with 
 the people in their varied pursuits ; and if no ob- 
 struction is presented to the discharge of those 
 duties, there need not be the slightest apprehension 
 that any person whatever will have any cause of 
 complaint. 
 
 The army will continue its march from this posi- 
 tion on Thursday, 1 7th instant, and reach the valley 
 in five days. I desire to encamp beyond the Jordan, 
 on the day of arrival in the valley. 
 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 A. S. JOHNSTON, 
 
 Colonel. Second Cavalry and Brevet Brigadier- 
 General United States Army, Commanding. 
 
 To the Hon. L. W. Powell and Major-General 
 McCullough, United States Commissioners to 
 Utah. 
 
 Although a minute statement of the Mormon 
 military force and the methods by which it was 
 turned to good account in the " Utah war," might 
 be of interest to many, it will doubtless satisfy 
 the general reader to simply know that only so 
 much of that force was used as was necessary to 
 effectively carry out President Young's policy, i. e., 
 to harass and retard the advance of the U. S. army 
 until a more peaceful solution of the question at 
 issue could be reached. In the execution of that 
 policy an effective body of scouts was sent forward, 
 with orders of which the following is a sample, 
 which orders were scrupulously obeyed and executed 
 with precisely the results desired : 
 
318 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 On ascertaining the locality or route of the 
 troops, proceed at once to annoy them in every pos- 
 sible way. Use every exertion to stampede their 
 animals, and set fire to their trains. Burn the whole 
 country before them and on their flanks. Keep them 
 from sleeping by night surprises. Blockade the road 
 by felling trees, or destroying the fords when you 
 can. Watch for opportunities to set fire to the grass 
 on their windward, so as, if possible, to envelop 
 their trains. Leave no grass before them that can 
 be burned. Keep your men concealed as much as 
 possible, and guard against surprise. 
 
 They were also ordered to not " shed blood " if it 
 could possibly be avoided, and then only and strictly 
 in self-defence. Although often fired upon by the 
 soldiers, in no single instance did they return the 
 fire. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 REFLECTIONS UPON THE " UTAH WAR." THE RE- 
 ACTION. CURRENT OPINION, AS EXPRESSED BY 
 THE LEADING JOURNALS OF EUROPE AND AMERICA. 
 
 That the Mormons would have fought ; that they 
 would, in the language of their leader, have made a 
 " Moscow of Utah, and a Potter's Field of every 
 " canyon," had the United States pushed the issue 
 to extermination, there can be little doubt, knowing 
 how terribly so large a number as 75,000 or 80,000 
 earnest religionists could have avenged themselves, 
 at that day, in those far-off mountains and valleys. 
 
 But the opinion expressed to Van Vliet, relative 
 to the reaction which would come in the public 
 mind over Utah affairs, and his fixed resolve, if pos- 
 sible, to prevent the shedding of blood, as declared 
 ijn that conversation, and still more emphatically 
 pronounced in all his orders to Lieut-Gen. Wells, 
 best denote what was Brigham's policy and first 
 desire. True, it had been as much as he could do 
 to keep his people from fighting the " enemy," not- 
 withstanding the "enemy" was the United States. 
 A quarter of a century's injustice had fired them 
 with an indignation that made them feel a super- 
 human strength. But though the founder of Utah 
 had resolved to conquer the issue, he had no wish 
 
32O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 to lose the nucleus of a nationality which his people 
 had evolved in their isolation. 
 
 Why then this second exodus ? Why ? It was 
 the very backbone of Brigham's triumph. As great 
 a triumph was in that exodus as in any battle the 
 great Napoleon ever fought. It was in fact the 
 exodus which forced the " reaction." It carried 
 such an overwhelming power that it becam^ like an 
 irresistible impulse in the public mind. Not only 
 was this so with the American people, but it was so 
 with every nation in Europe. Deep sympathy, 
 blended with a mighty admiration, was felt for a 
 people who could at once dare a war with the 
 United States, in defence of their religious cause, 
 and rise to such a towering heroism as to sanctify 
 their act by a universal offering of their homes for 
 sacrifice. This was no common rebellion. These 
 were no unworthy rebels. No rude defiers of " the 
 " powers that be " were they : their act placed them 
 on a level with the men who won the independence 
 of America : their women were fitting mates of the 
 mothers, daughters and sisters of the revolution. 
 
 The London Times called the Mormons a nation 
 of heroes. It said : 
 
 The intelligence from Utah is confirmatory of 
 the news that came by the last steamer. This 
 strange people are again in motion for a new home, 
 and all the efforts of Governor Gumming to induce 
 the men to remain and limit themselves to the 
 ordinary quota of wives have been fruitless. We 
 are told that they have left a deserted town and 
 deserted fields behind them, and have embarked 
 for a voyage, over 500 miles of untracked desert, to 
 a home, the locality of which is unknown to any 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 321 
 
 but their chiefs. Does it not seem incredible that, 
 at the very moment when the marine of Great 
 Britain and the United States are jointly engaged 
 in the grandest scientific experiments that the world 
 has yet seen, 30,000 or 40,000 natives of these 
 countries, many of them of industrious and temper- 
 ate habits, should be the victims of such arrant im- 
 position ? Does it not seem impossible that men 
 and women, brought up under British and American 
 civilization, can abandon it for the wilderness and 
 Mormonism ? There is much that is noble in their 
 devotion to their delusions. They step into the 
 waves of the great basin with as much reliance on 
 their leaders as the descendants of Jacob felt when 
 they stepped between the walls of water in the red 
 sea. The ancient world had individual Curiatii, Ho- 
 ratii, and other examples of heroism and devotion ; 
 but these western peasants seem to be a nation of 
 heroes, ready to sacrifice everything rather than 
 surrender one of their wives, or a letter from Joe 
 Smith's golden plates. 
 
 The following from the New York Times will 
 give a specimen of what the American press gener- 
 ally said upon the subject : 
 
 Whatever our opinions may be of Mormon 
 morals or Mormon manners, there can be no ques- 
 tion that this voluntary abandonment by 40,000 
 people of homes created by wonderful industry, in 
 the midst of trackless wastes, after years of hard- 
 ships and persecution, is something from which no 
 one who has a particle of sympathy with pluck, for- 
 titude and constancy can withhold his admiration. 
 Right or wrong, sincerity thus attested is not a 
 thing to be sneered at. True or false, a faith to 
 which so many men and women prove their loyalty, 
 by such sacrifices, is a force in the world. After 
 this last demonstration of what fanaticism can do, 
 
322 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 we think it would be most unwise to treat Mormon- 
 ism as a nuisance to be abated by a posse commita- 
 tus. It is no longer a social excrescence to be cut 
 off by the sword ; it is a power to be combated only 
 by the most skillful political and moral treatment. 
 When people abandon their homes to plunge with 
 women and children into a wilderness, to seek new 
 settlements, they know not where, they give a higher 
 proof of courage than if they fought for them. 
 When the Dutch submerged Holland, to save it 
 from invaders, they had heartier plaudits showered 
 upon them than if they had fertilized its soil with 
 their blood. We have certainly the satisfaction of 
 knowing that we have to deal with foemen worthy 
 of our steel. If the conduct of the 
 
 recent operations has had the effect of strengthen- 
 ing their fanaticism, by the appearance of persecu- 
 tion, without convincing them of our good faith and 
 good intentions, and worse still, has been the means 
 of driving away 50,000 of our fellow citizens from 
 fields which their labor had reclaimed and culti- 
 vated, and around which their affections were clus- 
 tered, we have something serious to answer for. 
 Were we not guilty of a culpable oversight in con- 
 founding their persistent devotion with the insubor- 
 dination of ribald license, and applying to the one 
 the same harsh treatment which the law intends for 
 the latter alone ? Was it right to send troops com- 
 posed of the wildest and most rebellious men of 
 the community, commanded by men like Harney 
 and Johnston, to deal out fire and sword upon 
 people whose faults even were the result of honest 
 religious convictions ? Was it right to allow John- 
 ston to address letters to Brigham Young, and 
 through him to his people, couched in the tone of 
 an implacable conqueror towards ruthless savages ? 
 Were the errors which mistaken zeal generates 
 ever cured by such means as these ? And have 
 bayonets ever been used against the poorest and 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 323 
 
 weakest sect that ever crouched beyond a wall to 
 pray or weep, without rendering their faith more 
 intense, and investing the paltriest discomforts with 
 the dignity of sacrifice ? * We stand on 
 
 the vantage ground of higher knowledge, purer 
 faith and acknowledged strength. We can afford 
 to be merciful At all events, the world looks to us 
 now for an example of political wisdom such as few 
 people, now-a-days, are called on to display. Pos- 
 terity must not have to acknowledge with shame 
 that our indiscretion, or ignorance, or intolerance 
 drove the population of a whole State from house 
 and home, to seek religious liberty and immunity 
 from the presence of mercenary troops, in any part 
 of the continent to which our rule was never likely 
 to extend. 
 
 The famous African explorer, Captain Burton, 
 of the British army, closing his description of the 
 great man who took his people successfully through 
 that crisis, gives us the following suggestive passage 
 in his " City of the Saints : " 
 
 Such is His Excellency, President Brigham 
 Young, " Painter and Glazier " (his earliest craft), 
 prophet, revelator, translator and seer; the man 
 who is revered as king or kaiser, pope or pontiff, 
 never was ; who, like the old man of the mountain., 
 by holding up his right hand could cause the death 
 of any man within his reach ; who, governing as 
 well as reigning, long stood up to fight with the 
 sword of the Lord, and with his few hundred 
 guerrillas, against the then mighty power of the 
 United States ; who has outwitted all diplomacy 
 opposed to him ; and, finally, who made a treaty of 
 peace with the President of the great Republic, as 
 though he had wielded the combined power of 
 France, Russia and England. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE MARCH OF THE TROOPS INTO SALT LAKE CITY. 
 RETURN OF THE PEOPLE TO THEIR HOMES. 
 TREACHERY OF THE JUDGES. MALICIOUS PROSE- 
 CUTIONS. A REQUISITION MADE BY THE COURT 
 UPON GENERAL JOHNSTON FOR TROOPS. THE 
 GOVERNOR PROTESTS. THE MILITARY POWER 
 
 FRUSTRATED IN THE ATTEMPT TO ARREST BRIG- 
 HAM YOUNG. COURAGEOUS ATTITUDE OF GOVER- 
 NOR GUMMING. MORMON LOYALTY. JOHNSTON'S 
 ARMY ORDERED TO THE TOTOMAC. EVACUATION 
 OF CAMP FLOYD. 
 
 Substantially .the word of Brigham Young was 
 fulfilled, in that he had said an invading army should 
 not enter the city. 
 
 General Johnston and his army came not as con- 
 querors into Zion. The entire chain of circum- 
 stances, from the start of their expedition, had been 
 most humiliating to the brave men who deserved 
 better service. Their march had 'been but a series 
 of disasters and failures. 
 
 They were merely permitted to pass through the 
 streets of Salt Lake City on their way to a location 
 in the Territory well removed from the Mormon 
 people. Zion was a forsaken city that day. The 
 Saints were still south with their great leader. If 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 325 
 
 faith was not kept with them, they did not intend 
 to return, and war would have been re-opened in 
 deadly earnest. 
 
 It was a sad spectacle to see a community of 
 earnest religionists who could not trust in the 
 parent power, even after the proclamation of the 
 President. But the history of the Mormons to this 
 hour shows a constant justification of this lack of 
 confidence. 
 
 On the 1 3th of June, the army commenced its 
 movement towards the city ; and, on the morning 
 of the 26th, it may have been seen advancing from 
 the mouth of Emigration Canyon to make what 
 once was expected to have been a triumphal en- 
 trance into conquered Zion, with all " the pomp and 
 " circumstance of glorious war." Here is the picture 
 of it as it was, from the pen of an army corres- 
 pondent : 
 
 It was one of the most extraordinary scenes that 
 have occurred in American history. All day long, 
 from dawn until after sunset, the troops and trains 
 poured through the city, the utter silence of the 
 streets being broken only by the music of the mili- 
 tary bands, the monotonous tramp of the regiments, 
 and the rattle of the baggage wagons. Early in the 
 morning the Mormon guards had forced all their 
 fellow religionists into the houses, and ordered them 
 not to make their appearance during the day. The 
 numerous flags that had been flying from staffs on 
 the public buildings during the previous week were 
 all struck. The only visible groups of spectators 
 were on the corners near Brigham Young's resi- 
 dence, and consisted almost entirely of gentile 
 civilians. The stillness was so profound that during 
 the intervals between the passage of the columns, 
 
326 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 the monotonous gurgle of the city creek struck on 
 every ear. The Commissioners rode with the 
 General's staff. The troops crossed the Jordan and 
 encamped two miles from the city, on a dusty 
 meadow by the river bank. 
 
 But the army correspondent did not properly 
 construe the death-like stillness and desertion of the 
 city, when he says the Mormon guard had " forced 
 41 all their fellow religionists into their houses." 
 They were not in their houses, but in the second 
 exodus. It is estimated that there were no less 
 than 30,000 of the Mormon people from the city 
 and northern settlements in " the move south.' 
 They took with them their flocks and herds, their 
 chattels and furniture. When that army marched 
 through the streets of Zion, grass was growing on 
 the side-walks, and there were only a few of " the 
 boys " left on the watch in the city, to see that the 
 people were not betrayed. Some of the officers 
 were deeply moved by the scene and the circum- 
 stances. Lieutenant-Colonel Phillip St. George 
 Cooke, who had commanded the Mormon battalion 
 in the Mexican war, rode through the city with 
 uncovered head, leading the troops, but forgetting 
 not his respect for the brave Mormon soldiers who 
 had so nobly served with him in their country's 
 cause. 
 
 Cedar Valley, forty miles west of the city, was 
 chosen as their permanent camping place, which was 
 named Camp Floyd, in honor of the then Secretary 
 of War. 
 
 Return we now to the Saints in their flight. It 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 327 
 
 had taxed their faith and their means to an abso- 
 lute consecration of their all, and called forth as 
 much religious heroism as did their first exodus 
 from Nauvoo. Gallant old Governor Gumming 
 was almost distracted over this Mormon episode. 
 He was not used to the self-sacrifices and devo- 
 tion of the peculiar people whom he had taken 
 under his official guardianship. They were more 
 familiar than he with this part of their eventful 
 drama. Familiarity had bred in them a kind of 
 contempt for their own sufferings and privations. 
 So they witnessed their new Governor's concern 
 for them with a stoical humor. They were, indeed, 
 grateful, but amused. They could not feel to 
 deserve his pity, yet were they thankful for his 
 sympathy. They sang psalms by the wayside. He 
 felt like strewing their path with tears. He followed 
 them fifty miles south, praying them, as would a 
 father his wayward children, to turn back. But the 
 father whom they knew best was leading them on. 
 
 " There is no longer danger. General Johnston 
 " and the army will keep faith with the Mormons, 
 " Every one concerned in this happy settlement will 
 " hold sacred the amnesty and pardon of the 
 " President of the United States ! By G d, sirs v 
 " Yes." 
 
 Such was the style of Governor Cumming's 
 pleadings with the " misguided " Mormons. But 
 Brigham and his chiefs replied with a quiet fixed- 
 ness of purpose : 
 
 " We know all about it, Governor. We remem- 
 " ber the martyrdoms of the past ! " 
 
 " 'Twas madness for the people to thus forsake 
 
328 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " their homes." So thought their good Governor. 
 " None would be so base as to desecrate the family 
 " hearth, or to outrage the purity of the wives and 
 " daughters of Mormondom." 
 
 But the answer came in the words and actions of 
 Brigham Young : 
 
 " We are leaving our homes that they may be 
 " preserved that our sacrifice, like that of Abra- 
 " ham, may be accepted, not consumed. We have, 
 " on just such occasions, seen our disarmed men hewn 
 " down in cold blood, our virgin daughters violated, 
 " our wives ravished to death before our eyes. We 
 " know all about it, Governor Gumming." 
 
 It was a terrible logic that thus met the brave 
 mediation of the fine old Georgian successor of 
 Governor Young, who coupled patriotism with hu- 
 manity, and believed in the primitive faith that 
 American citizens and American homes must be 
 held sacred. 
 
 Brigham Young alone could turn the tidal wave, 
 and lead back the Mormon people to their homes. 
 Had he continued onward to Sonora, Central 
 America, anywhere to the ends of the earth his 
 people would have followed him. 
 
 The .Mormon leaders, with the body of the 
 Church, were at Provo on the evening of the 4th of 
 July ; General Johnston and his army being about 
 to take up their quarters at Camp Floyd. It was 
 on that evening that Governor Gumming informed 
 his predecessor that he should publish a procla- 
 mation to the Mormons for their return to their 
 homes. 
 
 " Do as you please, Governor Gumming," replied 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 329 
 
 Brigham, with a quiet smile. " To-morrow I shall 
 " get upon the tongue of my wagon, and tell the 
 " people that / am going home, and they can do as 
 " they please." 
 
 On the morning of the 5th, Brigham announced 
 to the people that he was going to start for Salt 
 Lake City ; they were at liberty to follow him 
 to their various settlements, as they pleased. In 
 a few hours nearly all were on their homeward 
 march. 
 
 But scarcely had the people returned to their 
 homes, ere they had abundant proof how much they 
 could have trusted a united Federal power, in an 
 anti-Mormon crusade, with an army at its service to 
 subvert the civil and religious liberties of the people. 
 
 The machinery of the Federal power was soon set 
 in motion. Chief Justice Eckles took up his quar- 
 ters at Camp Floyd ; Associate Justice Sinclair was 
 assigned to the district embracing Salt Lake City ; 
 and Associate Justice Cradlebaugh was assigned to 
 the judicial supervision of all the southern settle- 
 ments ; and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Jacob 
 Forney, and Alexander Wilson, Territorial District 
 Attorney, entered upon the discharge of their 
 duties. 
 
 The Governor from the beginning assumed a 
 pacific attitude, in which he was seconded by Super- 
 intendent Forney and District-Attorney Wilson. 
 But the three Judges, in concert with the marshal, 
 united in the prosecution of past offences that had 
 naturally arisen out of the condition of hostility, 
 just brought to a happy and peaceful issue. It is 
 needless to add that although these prosecutions 
 
330 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 were conducted with great vigor, they were justly 
 fruitless of results. 
 
 In the course of one of these prosecutions, Judge 
 Cradlebaugh made a requisition upon General 
 Johnston for troops to act as protection to certain 
 witnesses, and also, in the absence of a jail, to serve 
 as a guard over the prisoners. The Mayor of Provo 
 protested that the presence of the military was an 
 infringement upon the liberties of his fellow-citizens ; 
 but the Judge answered that he had well considered 
 the request before he had made it. A petition was 
 sent to Governor Cumming, and he asked General 
 Johnston to withdraw the troops, asserting that the * 
 Court had no authority to call for the aid of the 
 military, except through him. The Judges inter- 
 preted General Johnston's instructions from the 
 War Department adversely to the statement of the 
 Governor, and the troops were continued at Provo. 
 On the 27th of March (1859), the Governor issued 
 a proclamation protesting against the continuance of 
 the troops at Provo, taking open ground against 
 the action of the military commander. 
 
 About this time was concocted a conspiracy to 
 arrest Brigham Young on the " State's evidence " of 
 a rogue who had been employed by some counter- 
 feiters to engrave a bogus plate for printing certain 
 blank drafts used by the U. S. Army Quartermaster. 
 But Governor Cumming stoutly resisted the at- 
 tempted outrage, and the military officers entrusted 
 with its perpetration returned to Camp Floyd dis- 
 comfited. Immediately the news was circulated 
 that General Johnston would send two regiments 
 of troops and a battery of artillery to enforce the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 331 
 
 writ for the apprehension of Brigham. Governor 
 Gumming promptly notified General Daniel H. 
 Wells to hold the Utah militia in readiness to act 
 on orders. This was on a Sunday evening. By 
 ten o'clock on Monday morning five thousand 
 troops were under arms. Had the United States 
 forces attempted to enter the city the struggle 
 would have commenced, for the Governor was de- 
 termined to carry out his instructions. 
 
 Happily at this juncture an official letter from 
 Washington decided that the military could only be 
 used as a posse on a call from the Governor ; and 
 thus the matter ended without a collision, and 
 Governor Gumming became thoroughly established 
 in authority, receiving the cordial support of the 
 people, and the respectful consideration of his 
 Federal associates. 
 
 It was an undisguised fact that, up to this time, 
 the Federal judges had diligently sought to violate 
 the Presidential amnesty and betray the people. It 
 was the uncompromising integrity and honor of 
 Governor Gumming alone that saved the Territory 
 from a bloody collision between the citizens and 
 soldiers. 
 
 But, while this conspiracy of the judges was 
 being enacted, the Mormons did the best they 
 could to prove to the nation that they had returned 
 to their loyalty, even accepting the view that they 
 had been in rebellion. At the very moment the 
 conspiracy was at its height, soon after the attempt 
 of the military, instigated by the judges, to arrest 
 Brigham Young, the Lieut-General of the Utah 
 militia issued the following : 
 
332 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 Special Order No. 2. 
 
 -xi\_iv^i -i. ^ vy. 
 
 Head-quarters, Nauvoo Legion 
 Adjutant-General's Office, G. S. L. 
 July ist, 1859. 
 
 City. 
 
 Monday, the 4th, will be the eighty-third anniver- 
 sary of the birth of American freedom. It is the 
 duty of every American citizen to commemorate the 
 great event ; not in a boisterous revelry, but with 
 heart full of gratitude to Almighty God the Great 
 Father of our rights. 
 
 The Lieutenant-General directs for the celebra- 
 tion in the city as follows : 
 
 ist. At sunrise a salute of thirteen guns will be 
 
 o 
 
 fired, commencing near the residence of His Excel- 
 lency the Governor, to be answered from a point on 
 South Temple Street, near the residence of Presi- 
 dent Brigham Young. 
 
 The national flag will be hoisted at the signal 
 from the first gun, simultaneously at the residence 
 of Governor Cummings and President Young, at 
 the office of the Territorial Secretary, and the resi- 
 dence of the United States Attorney. Captain 
 Pitt's band will be stationed at sunrise opposite the 
 residence of Governor Cummings, and Captain 
 Ballo's band opposite the residence of President 
 Young. 
 
 At the hoisting of the flags the bands will play the 
 " Star Spangled Banner." 
 
 2d. After the morning salute the guns will be 
 parked at the Court House till noon, when a salute, 
 of 33 guns will be fired. 
 
 3d. At sunset a salute of five guns, in honor of 
 the Territories, will be fired, and the flags lowered. 
 
 4th. For the above service Lieutenant Atwood 
 and two platoons of artillery will be detailed. Two 
 six-pounder iron guns will be used for the salutes. 
 Also a first-lieutenant and two platoons of the ist 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 333 
 
 cavalry will be detailed as a guard, and continue on 
 guard through the day. The whole detachment will 
 be dismissed after the sunset salute. 
 
 5th. Col. J. C. Little, of the Generals staff, will 
 perform the duties of marshal of the day, with per- 
 mission to select such deputies as he may require 
 to assist him. The Declaration of Independence 
 will be read by him from the steps of the court- 
 house at noon. 
 
 6th. The bands and the services to be performed 
 by them will be under the direction of Col. Duzette. 
 By order of 
 
 Lieut-Gen. DANIEL H. WELLS, 
 
 Adjt-Gen. JAMES FERGUSON. 
 
 As might be expected, the great civil war, pre- 
 cipitated at this time, between the North and the 
 South, gave to Utah the opportunity for a unique 
 example in her conduct. She had herself just been 
 in rebellion ; how would she now act ? This was 
 a most natural question, and, strange to say, her 
 answer was almost the reverse of the general pro* 
 nouncement of what she would do. 
 
 And here it might be said that it matters not to 
 the integrity of history whether or not the Mor- 
 mons be understood by others, as long as they act 
 consistently with themselves, and their own faith in 
 their religious and national mission. We have just 
 seen that on the very first occasion after the " Utah 
 rebellion," as we will style it to illustrate the exam- 
 ple, they made haste to re-assert their faith in the 
 constitution and the Union, by celebrating the day 
 of American independence very much with the 
 
334 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 same intention as though they had sent a manifesto 
 to the States of their views and conduct. And just 
 in keeping with this was the pronouncement of the 
 Mormon leaders upon secession at its very birth, as 
 the accompanying fourth of July military order will 
 suggest : 
 
 HEAD QUARTERS, NAUVOO LEGION, 
 
 G. S. L. City, June 25th, 1861. 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS, NO. I. 
 
 i. Thursday, the 4th of July, being the eighty- 
 fifth anniversary of American independence ; not- 
 withstanding the turmoil and strife which distress 
 the nation established on that foundation, the citi- 
 zens of Utah esteem it a privilege to celebrate the 
 day in a manner becoming American patriots and 
 true lovers of the constitution of their country. 
 
 2. The Lieut-General directs, that district com- 
 manders throughout the Territory will conform, as 
 far as practicable, to the requisitions of the various 
 committees of arrangements for details. 
 
 3. In Great Salt Lake City, at the request of 
 the committee of arrangements, the following de- 
 tails will be made, and placed under the direction 
 of Major John Sharpe, marshal of the day, viz. : 
 
 One company of the ist, and one of the 3d regi- 
 ments of infantry. 
 
 One company of light artillery, and two guns. 
 
 Two brass bands and one martial band. 
 By order of 
 
 Lieut-Gen. D. H. WELLS, 
 JAMES FERGUSON, Adjt-Gen. 
 
 This military manifesto, just after the national 
 flag had been fired upon at Fort Sumter, meant 
 simply that Utah was going to stand by the Union 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 335 
 
 and the constitution or, as the Mormons would 
 express it, in good apostolic language they had 
 resolved to " stick to the old ship Zion." 
 
 General Albert Sidney Johnston and his army 
 were ordered from Utah to the Potomac, and in 
 the early Autumn of 1861 the troops marched east- 
 ward. Thus ended President Buchanan's military 
 expedition against the Mormons. They had been 
 as Philistines to modern Israel. What would 
 they be to the South ? They had gone up agairist 
 Zion with the noise of battle, but " The Lord had 
 " given them into the hands of his people." 
 
 But the service upon which General Johnston 
 was now ordered, was more congenial to his soldiers, 
 and worthier his military genius than was the 
 crusade upon a God-fearing people. True, he joined 
 the South, refusing to maintain the Union and the 
 constitution ; yet he certainly proved himself a great 
 general, and won for himself a national fame. 
 
 Before evacuating Camp Floyd General Johnston 
 destroyed all of the ordnance and ammunition of 
 the post, a proceeding quite in keeping with the 
 entire extravaganza of the Utah war, from the 
 beginning to the end. Perhaps this afterwards 
 famous Confederate general, before his departure 
 from Utah, had revised his views of the secession 
 proclivities of Brigham Young. At least, if he 
 could not understand the apostolic motives which 
 moved the Mormons and their great leader, he 
 might have discovered that they were not the people 
 to make war upon the constitution and the Union. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 CHANGE IN THE PERSONNEL OF THE FEDERAL 
 OFFICES. THE MORRISITE TRAGEDY. MORE 
 
 OFFICIALS. THE CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEERS AND 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF CAMP DOUGLAS. ARREST OF 
 PRESIDENT YOUNG. MIDNIGHT ALARMS. HAR- 
 MONY RESTORED BY A CHANGE OF FEDERAL 
 OFFICIALS. 
 
 The change of Federal administration incident 
 to the election of Abraham Lincoln, in due course 
 gave to Utah a new set of Federal officials. Ex- 
 cepting the Governor, these proved to be more 
 acceptable to the people than their predecessors 
 had been. Indeed, it is no more than just to here 
 record that, notwithstanding the anti-Mormon atti- 
 tude of the political party that elevated Mr. Lincoln 
 to the Presidency, his course towards Utah was 
 uniformly considerate. 
 
 After the departure of Johnston's army, the ordi- 
 nary current of Utah affairs was not disturbed by 
 any event of special historical interest, until in the 
 Spring of 1862, when occurred the somewhat 
 famous Morrisite schism and tragedy. 
 
 Joseph Morris, a Mormon of some talent, origin- 
 ally from Wales, becoming possessed with a mania, 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 337 
 
 set himself up as a new prophet, with claims tran- 
 scending those of the founders of the Church. At- 
 tracting to himself a considerable following, a colony 
 of Morrisites was duly established on the Weber 
 River. Dissensions soon arose, however, and when 
 certain of the dissenters endeavored to appropriate 
 what they considered an equitable share of the 
 community property, and retire from the colony^ 
 they were restrained by their former companions 
 and imprisoned. Their friends sought the aid of 
 the sheriff of the county to effect their release, but 
 the Morrisites offered a well-organized and armed 
 resistance. Resort was then had to the courts, and 
 Chief Justice Kinney, in answer to a petition there- 
 for, issue a writ of habeas corpus, and instructed the 
 Territorial marshal to serve the same upon the 
 belligerent Morrisites. But it, and a second writ 
 also, was disregarded, and Governor Fuller, at the 
 instance of the Chief Justice, ordered out a body of 
 militia, to act as the marshal's posse, to protect and 
 assist him in enforcing the order of the Court. 
 
 The marshal's posse left Salt Lake City on the 
 1 2th of June, and on the, morning following moved 
 to within a short distance of the Morrisite set- 
 tlement, and sent in to them the following procla- 
 mation : 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS, MARSHAL'S POSSE, 
 
 Weber River, June 13, 1862. 
 
 To Joseph Morris, John Banks, Richard Cook, John 
 Parsons and Peter Klemguard : 
 
 Whereas, you have heretofore disregarded and 
 
338 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 defied the judicial officer and laws of the Territory 
 of Utah, and 
 
 Whereas, certain writs have been issued for you 
 from the Third Judicial Court of said Territory, 
 and a sufficient force furnished by the executive of 
 the same to enforce the law : 
 
 This is, therefore, to notify you to peaceably and 
 quietly surrender yourselves, and the persons in 
 your custody, forthwith. 
 
 An answer is required within thirty minutes after 
 the receipt of this notice ; if not, forcible means 
 will be taken for your arrest. 
 
 Should you disregard the proposition, and place 
 your lives in jeopardy, you are hereby required to 
 remove your women and children, and all persons 
 peaceably disposed are hereby notified to forthwith 
 leave your encampment, and are informed by this 
 proclamation that they can find protection with this 
 posse. 
 
 H. W. LAWRENCE, Territorial Marshal^ 
 By R. T. BURTON and 
 THEODORE McKEAN, Deputies. 
 
 The proclamation being ignored, the posse sub- 
 sequently moved forward, when a volley of musketry 
 from the Morrisites forced them to cover. Desul- 
 tory firing was engaged in by both parties during 
 the day, and one member of thej0w, Jared Smith 
 was killed. The next day being stormy, no move 
 was made ; but, on the third day (Sunday) another 
 forward movement was made, and sharp firing was 
 exchanged, resulting in the death of J. P. Whiplin 
 of the posse. Toward night a flag of truce was 
 raised by the Morrisites, and a large number of 
 them threw down their arms. Supposing the sur- 
 render to be general, Marshal Burton and others of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 339 
 
 the posse entered the Morrisite defences, whereupon 
 Morris treacherously ordered a resumption of hos- 
 tilities, and in the melee which followed, he (Morris) 
 and a man by the name of Banks were killed. With 
 the release of the prisoners and the death of Morris 
 ended the Morrisite movement. 
 
 The number of casualties amounted to eight 
 two of the posse and six of their opponents. This 
 fact is strikingly opposed to the impression evidently 
 sought to be conveyed by several anti-Mormon 
 historians. A three day's skirmish with such insig- 
 nificant results in the matter of casualties can by no 
 reasonable method be elevated into the consequence 
 of an unnecessary slaughter, much less a massacre. 
 
 About this time the retirement of Governor 
 Dawson and the Associate Justices made way for 
 Governor Harding and Justices Waite and Drake r 
 who were appointed to succeed them. These three 
 resolved themselves into an implacable anti-Mormon 
 clique, and were barely prevented doing much mis- 
 chief by the just course of Chief Justice Kinney and 
 Secretary Fuller, coupled with the wary movements 
 of Brigham Young. 
 
 Whatever may have been the prevailing impres- 
 sion as to what course Utah would take in conse- 
 quence of the great civil war whether she would 
 join the Confederacy or strike for independence, or 
 loyally adhere to the cause of the Union the 
 country was not long kept in doubt, for she 
 promptly applied for admission as a State of the 
 Union. A striking illustration was thus given of the 
 difference between a grand constitutional assertion 
 
340 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 and defence of the people's rights inside the Union 
 such as Utah had just made and the national 
 crime of secession. 
 
 But it seems to have been inconsistent with the 
 national estimate of Mormon honor and fidelity to 
 accept either their application for admission to the 
 Union as a State, or the loyal sentiment which that 
 movement expressed. A military surveillance was 
 therefore determined upon. 
 
 Col. Connor, who had raised the 3d Regiment of 
 California Infantry, in the expectation of doing 
 service at the seat of war, was, with his regiment, 
 ordered to Utah, ostensibly to protect the overland 
 mail route and telegraph line from Indian depreda- 
 tions. It became at once apparent, however, that 
 the real object of that disposition of them was to 
 watch the Mormons. 
 
 On the 20th of October, 1862, the California 
 volunteers reached Salt Lake City, and on the 
 evening of the same day established " Camp Doug- 
 las " on the " bench " eastward of, and near, the 
 town. 
 
 The coming of those volunteers to plant their 
 guns over against the Mormon capital was very 
 properly looked upon as a menace from the General 
 Government, and naturally became a subject of irri- 
 tation to the people. At about this time also 
 occurred the passage in Congress of the anti-Poly- 
 gamic bill. All this in view of the record that the 
 Mormons had just made ! They had not only loy- 
 ally served the Government that year by protecting 
 the overland mail from Indian depredations, but 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 34! 
 
 their Senators elect were even then knocking at the 
 door of the national capitol for the admission of 
 Utah as a State of the Union. 
 
 It is entirely proper to state that Colonel Connor, 
 at that time, interpreted his " mission " to be that of 
 an aggressor upon the established practices of the 
 people, and he lost no time in setting about his 
 " duty." By the publication of a newspaper at Camp 
 Douglas, and by concerted action with Governor 
 Harding and the Associate Justices, he contributed 
 considerable strength to the determined assault then 
 made upon the theocracy of Mormondom in general,, 
 and upon the great personal influence of Brigham 
 Young in particular. 
 
 The natural reflex of this assault expressed itself 
 in the form of a grand protesting mass meeting, held 
 in the tabernacle, March 3d, 1863, from which was 
 enthusiastically issued a petition for the removal of 
 the over-zealous and aggressive officials. A com- 
 mittee was appointed to wait upon Governor Har- 
 ding and Justices Waite and Drake, to ask them to 
 resign. This they refused to do, and the above- 
 mentioned petition was sent to President Lincoln. 
 A counter petition was gotten up by Colonel Con- 
 nor and his officers ; and, pending action by the 
 President, several collisions between the people and 
 the soldiers were barely prevented. 
 
 About this time President Young was arrested, 
 on civil process, for the offence of polygamy. The 
 grand jury refused to indict him, however, and the 
 prosecution fell to the ground. 
 
 Two general alarms also occurred to break the 
 monotony of the times ; one on the occasion of a 
 
34 2 LTFE OK BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 movement from Camp Douglas to arrest several 
 leading citizens, when, in the dead of night, "all 
 hands " were called to arms ; the other, when on the 
 reception at Camp Douglas of the news that Col. 
 Connor had been breyetted a Brigadier-General for 
 gallantry in a recent expedition against the Indians, 
 the whole camp turned out at midnight and made 
 the "welkin ring" with cannonading, musketry, 
 music, &c., in honor of the event. Although this 
 unique demonstration filled the city with apprehen- 
 sion, and again brought out the citizen soldiery in 
 hot haste, it is scarcely proper to now look back 
 upon the matter with any thought of censure. The 
 soldiers of the camp simply thought to markedly 
 display their appreciation of the honor conferred 
 upon their commander, and the blushing Colonel 
 may reasonably be supposed to have been modestly 
 overwhelmed, to the exclusion of any thought of 
 the alarm that the noisy demonstration was spread- 
 ing in the adjacent city. 
 
 No wonder that in view of these events some 
 belligerent speech was indulged in. Indeed, how 
 natural that the representative Mormon should feel 
 the competency of his fellows to " use up Camp 
 " Douglas before breakfast," and that the button- 
 bedecked embodiment of the dignity of the Amer- 
 ican Republic should retort that his fellows could 
 " riddle Mormondom " in the time ordinarily re- 
 quired by a lamb to " whisk his tail." 
 
 The removal, shortly thereafter, of Gov. Harding, 
 Secretary Fuller and Judge Kinney, was the signal 
 for a better state of things between Camp Douglas 
 and the city. James Duane Doty was appointed 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 343 
 
 to take Gov. Harding's place, and it is proper to 
 say that he made an excellent and acceptable 
 Governor. Amos Reed was appointed to fill the 
 place of the retiring Secretary, and John Titus was 
 appointed to the Chief Justiceship. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE RAISED BY THE MOR- 
 MONS THE FORERUNNER OF THE NATIONAL CON- 
 TROVERSY RESULTING IN CIVIL WAR. UTAH AND 
 THE SOUTH RADICALLY ASSOCIATED IN THE 
 CHICAGO PLATFORM. JOSEPH SMITH'S REMARK- 
 ABLE PROPHECY. THE LOYALTY OF THE MOR- 
 MONS. UTAH NEUTRAL IN THE CONTROVERSY. 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG'S JUDGMENT UPON THE FRATRI- 
 CIDAL WAR. HOW THE MORMONS REGARD SECES- 
 SION. RETROSPECTION. REFLECTION. PREDICA- 
 TION. 
 
 At no time during the Utah war had Brigham 
 Young acted or spoken as a man in the wrong; 
 but as a great leader of a people, maintaining a 
 constitutional cause. True, he had been bold 
 enough in his assurance of Divine support to do 
 this, though it should seem as a grand rebuke to 
 the whole United States. And, in this, his conduct 
 was truly apostolic. Generations hence it will be 
 spoken of as one of the marvels of history. That 
 Utah war will not be predicated upon anything so 
 ridiculous as the burning of a few library books, 
 but will be viewed as a grand assertion of States 
 rights and the principles of self-government. 
 
 And mark how soon after the Mormons had tested 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 345 
 
 their constitutional cause it became a national 
 controversy in which the whole United States were 
 involved. It was, in seeming, altogether out- 
 side the Mormon question, but, in reality, it was 
 deep within its very heart. The case, indeed, is 
 well expressed in the Mormon adage that "judg- 
 " ment begins at the house of the Lord." 
 
 Scarcely had the Utah war closed ere, while yet 
 the troops sent to conquer Mormondom lay at 
 Camp Floyd in inglorious discontent, the great 
 eruption came between the North and the South. 
 It was as though that supreme intending of national 
 events, which the American tact has so happily hit 
 off as " manifest destiny," had worked up quickly, 
 one after the other, two famous examples. First, it 
 was the vital question of the nation concealed in 
 the Mormon question, and next, that same question 
 exposed throughout the entire Union in one of the 
 most terrible civil .wars that the world has ever 
 seen. It was the same national controversy in both 
 cases. 
 
 That conflict was over the fundamental question 
 of the ricrht of States and Territories to evolve 
 
 o 
 
 their respective commonwealths, and maintain their 
 own social and domestic institutions,' responsible to 
 the Federal Government or to a sectional determina- 
 tion of the States only so far as consistent with the 
 original Federal compact. 
 
 It was Utah that opened this great national con- 
 troversy upon fundamental principles. It was a 
 controversy that spread over North and South, giv- 
 ing life and superhuman fury to the civil war. It 
 is a controversy more radical to-day than when 
 
346 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 Richmond fell ; and it is a controversy that may 
 not find a satisfactory settlement for a quarter of a 
 century to come. 
 
 With the exception of the slavery question and 
 the policy of secession, the South stood upon the 
 same ground that Utah had stood upon just pre- 
 viously. True, she had no intention to follow any 
 example set by Utah, for old and powerful States, 
 which had ranked first in the Union from the very 
 foundation of the nation, would not have taken 
 Utah as their example. Yet this very fact, coupled 
 with the stupendous view of North and South en- 
 gaged in deadly conflict, shows how fundamental 
 was the cause which Utah maintained, and how 
 pregnant were the times with a common national 
 issue. Moreover, with that view before us, Brigham 
 Young stands not only justified, but his conduct 
 claims extraordinary admiration, for he led his 
 people safely through that controversy without 
 secession. 
 
 And here we reach the heart of the Mormon 
 policy and aims. Secession is not in it. Their 
 issues are all inside the Union. The Mormon 
 prophecy is, that that people are destined to save 
 the Union, and preserve the constitution. Joseph 
 Smith uttered it, and for the last thirty years Brig- 
 ham Young has been its practical exponent. 
 
 The North, which had just risen to power through 
 the triumph of the republican party, occupied the 
 exact position towards the South that Buchanan's 
 administration had held towards Utah. And the 
 salient points of resemblance between the two cases 
 were so striking, that Utah and the South became 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 347 
 
 radically associated in the Chicago platform that 
 brought the republican party into office. Slavery 
 and polygamy the " twin relics of barbarism "- 
 were made the two chief planks of the party plat- 
 form. Yet neither of these were the real ground 
 of the conflict. It continues still, and some of the 
 soundest men of the times believe that it will be 
 ultimately re-opened in a revolution so general that 
 nearly every man in America will become involved 
 in the action. 
 
 The war between the North and the South came. 
 The Mormons had foretold it thirty years before, 
 and had published the prophecy broadcast, both in 
 America and Europe. Here is the singular and 
 remarkable prophecy of Joseph Smith, which, 
 though measurably fulfilled, evidently still fore- 
 shadows future events : 
 
 REVELATION GIVEN DECEMBER 25TH, 1832. 
 
 Verily thus saith the Lord concerning the wars 
 that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the re- 
 bellion of South Carolina, which will eventually 
 terminate in the daeth and misery of many souls. 
 
 The day will come that war will be poured out 
 upon all nations, beginning at that place ; for, be- 
 hold the Southern States shall be divided against 
 the Northern States, and the Southern States will 
 call on other nations, even the nation of Great 
 Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call on 
 other nations in order to defend themselves against 
 other nations ; and thus war shall be poured out 
 upon all nations. And it shall come to pass, after 
 many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters 
 who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war. 
 And it shall come to pass, also, that the remnants 
 
348 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 who are left of the land will marshal themselves,, 
 and shall become exceedingly angry, and shall vex 
 the gentiles with a sore vexation ; and thus with 
 the sword, and by bloodshed, the inhabitants of the 
 earth shall mourn ; and with famine and plague and 
 earthquakes, and the thunder of heaven, and the 
 fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants 
 of the earth be made to feel the wrath and indigna- 
 tion and chastening hand of an Almighty God, 
 until the consumption decreed hath made a full end 
 of all nations ; that the cry of the Saints, and of the 
 blood of the Saints, shall cease to come up into the 
 ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the earth, to be 
 avenged of their enemies. Wherefore, stand ye in 
 holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the 
 Lord come ; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the 
 Lord. Amen ! 
 
 There now had come, in this conflict between the 
 North and the South, an opportunity for Utah, by 
 her conduct, to more perfectly define her cause, and 
 for the Mormon leaders to show their integrity in 
 the treatment of a constitutional issue. They had 
 now the chance to set forth to all the world an ex- 
 ample of loyalty or disloyalty to the Union and the 
 principles of the Republic, yet, from their own stand- 
 point, and consistently with their former action. 
 
 The North, and the Sojath too, had a correspond- 
 ing opportunity, for both had been united in their 
 treatment of the Mormons, notwithstanding they 
 were about to settle, as between each other, the 
 same vital question. The North stood firm to the 
 Union, but it waged war against State rights, in 
 favor of the " National Idea," which has at length 
 assumed very much the form of centralization within 
 the Federal Government of powers and rights ori- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 349 
 
 finally belonging to the States, which centralization 
 cannot but be repugnant to a republican genius. 
 On her part the South committed the national crime 
 -of seceding from the Union, though she, with marked 
 consistency, maintained States rights, without which 
 republican confederation is the merest farce. Utah, 
 on her part, kept out of the controversy, going 
 neither with the North nor with the South, yet re- 
 maining true to the Union and the constitution. 
 She believed, in fact, that neither the North nor the 
 South was wholly right. The North was wrong in 
 making war against the very genius of the Republic, 
 and the domestic institutions of States which had 
 entered into the Federal compact with those insti- 
 tutions in existence, and the South was quite as 
 wrong in firing upon the national flag and severing 
 the Union. The conduct of Utah was a nobler ex- 
 ample than that of any of the States or Territories > 
 and her course more consistent with the great 
 charter and covenant of the nation. 
 
 The judgment of Brigham Young upon our fratri- 
 cidal war, is strikingly illustrated in an often re- 
 peated anti-Mormon report of one of his expres- 
 sions. He is said to have told the Government, in 
 Tery plain language, that he would " see it in h 
 '" first, before a man should march from Utah to aid 
 "" in the suppression of the rebellion." Possibly he 
 did express himself to that effect. But this meant 
 precisely what has been just shown that he had 
 no patriotic sympathy with a war in which brothers 
 were become deadly foes, and in which States that 
 had been for nearly a century united in a common 
 cause, stood now arrayed against each other on the 
 
350 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 battle field. That determination was like Brigham 
 Young, and it showed at once the great statesman 
 and the self-reliant patriot. It suggests that had he 
 been President he would neither have allowed a 
 rebellion nor Federal aggression upon the institu- 
 tions and rights "of the Southern States. 
 
 But, had the cause been a different one a foreign 
 invasion, or a war to maintain the institutions of the 
 Republic, judging from the immortal example which 
 he gave in the exodus, when he sent over five 
 hundred of his best men into the service of the 
 nation in the war with Mexico, Brigham Young 
 would have given, in his subsequent days of strength, 
 at least five thousand, with a patriotic will. Indeed, 
 though the Mormons do not believe in prosecuting 
 their own mission by the sword, it is exactly this 
 grand occasion to defend the institutions of the 
 Republic, that they have for forty years anticipated 
 with such prophetic enthusiasm. When the day 
 comes the Mormons will not be found wanting. 
 But they never will be found with secession, nor in 
 arms to subvert the rights of kindred States by the 
 establishment of a military despotism. 
 
 Another capital illustration was given by Utah. 
 It was when General Albert Sidney Johnston with- 
 drew his army at the outbreak of the rebellion, and 
 went with its remnant into the disunion cause. His 
 conduct, and the conduct of Buchanan's Govern- 
 ment, certainly did seem inconsistent, but Johnston 
 was patriotic from his point of view, and certainly 
 became an illustrious general. Honorably remem- 
 bered, he rests in a soldier's grave. 
 
 A fitting accompaniment to the example of the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 351 
 
 Utah army under General Johnston going into the 
 rebellion was that of Utah herself seeking admis- 
 sion into the Union. Nor was this at the close of 
 the war, but in the Spring of 1862, when it was 
 thought by no inconsiderable portion of the world 
 that the issues of the war would be won by the 
 South. It was universally understood that the 
 sympathies of France and England were with the 
 Southern Confederacy. The South did call upon 
 Great Britain to help her, as Joseph Smith had pre- 
 dicted, and Great Britain came near lending that 
 help, as was betrayed by the uncertainty which she 
 manifested. 
 
 The famous Alabama arbitration between the 
 two Governments, since the close of the war, has 
 brought to light how much Great Britain, by her 
 sympathies and the unacknowledged aid of her 
 people, became a partner with the South. In the 
 American statement of the case, on the basis of the 
 Washington Treaty, the count of " consequential 
 claims " made Great Britain responsible for the 
 continuance of the war after the battle of Bull 
 Run. Nothing can be more certain than that had 
 Palmerston joined Louis Napoleon in a joint recog- 
 nition of the Southern , Confederacy, and acknowl- 
 edged officially the well-known sympathies of the 
 people of England towards the South, Great 
 Britain and France must have been brought into 
 the war. In such a case, it would seem that 
 victory must have perched upon the banners of the 
 South. 
 
 Now it was with just this view before them that 
 the Mormons again sought admission into the 
 
352 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 Union as a State. Nor was this a hypocritical 
 policy, but another striking assertion of their po- 
 litical principles and loyalty to the constitution and 
 the Union. Brigham Young and his compeers who 
 are proud that so many of their sires were among 
 the men who founded this nation, and then, in a 
 later generation, won for it independence, hold, as 
 we see in every view, that the South committed a 
 grave error in seceding. They affirm that the 
 Southern States should have fought out their issue 
 inside the Union, and under the sanction of the 
 constitution. They did wrong, the Mormons think, 
 in setting up a new confederacy, and firing upon 
 the old flag, thus tarnishing the bright integrity of 
 their cause. They should have stood upon the 
 broad platform of States rights, and wrapped the 
 time-honored flag around them, and they would 
 have been invulnerable. The Mormons had done 
 this themselves, and had just come out of their 
 struggle for constitutional rights victoriously, and 
 the same conduct has made them invulnerable to 
 this day. Indeed, Brigham Young had been so 
 careful upon this point that he dared, as the record 
 exhibits, to treat the United States army, sent 
 against Utah, as an unconstitutional force, making 
 war upon a loyal Territory, and proclaimed that the 
 Government was traitorously subverting the consti- 
 tution. True, it was a strange act, but it gave to 
 Brigham Young all the advantages of the argu- 
 ment, and Buchanan was forced, practically, to ad- 
 mit it. A wonderful instance is this, that the right 
 is always the strongest, when well pressed to the 
 issue, though ten thousand to one be against it; 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 353 
 
 especially in a republican country, where the rights 
 of the individual citizen are simply the rights of 
 the million. The Mormon never would have ad- 
 mitted that he was a traitor or a rebel, though he 
 had come to the issue of arms, but would have 
 fought for the constitution and its guarantees to the 
 last. 
 
 The Mormon view of the great national contro- 
 versy, then, is, that the southern States should have 
 done precisely what Utah did, and placed them- 
 selves on the defensive ground of their rights and 
 institutions, as old as the Union. Had they placed 
 themselves under the political leadership of Brig- 
 ham Young, they would have triumphed, for their 
 cause was fundamentally right ; their secession alone 
 was the national crime. 
 
 There are fundamental reasons, too, as previously 
 instanced, why Brigham Young and the Mormons 
 stand upon the cause of the Union and the consti- 
 tution. They do not endorse secession, either as a 
 national consent or as a successful policy for any 
 party ; they believe that God is with the Union 
 and the constitution, and they believe, moreover, 
 that the time will come when God will call the 
 Mormon people to save both. Should the emer- 
 gency ever arise, may we not hope for a glorious 
 and happy issue, even though accomplished accord- 
 ing to the words of the Mormon prophet ? 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE NATION'S GRIEF OVER THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 
 FINDS SYMPATHETIC RESPONSE IN UTAH. VISIT 
 
 OF THE COLFAX PARTY. THEY ARE CALLED UPON 
 BY BRIGHAM YOUNG AND THE APOSTLES, AND 
 SERENADED BY THE PEOPLE. SPEECHES BY COL- 
 FAX, BROSS AND RICHARDSON. 
 
 The assassination of President Lincoln produced 
 a profound sensation in the minds of the entire 
 Mormon people, especially among the leaders of 
 the Church. At the first receipt of the dreadful 
 news the soldiers (there was now a provost guard 
 established in the city) seemed ready to vent their 
 fury on the citizens, but even the rudest of them 
 soon appreciated that for once they had done in- 
 justice to the Mormons, in imagining that they 
 would sympathize with that crowning infamy. The 
 people too keenly felt the memory of their own 
 martyrs not to be most genuinely affected by the 
 stroke which had given to the nation a martyr so 
 pure, in his life and in his patriotism, as was Abra- 
 ham Lincoln. Besides, in spite of the pledge of 
 his party to an anti-Mormon crusade, President 
 Lincoln had not been unfriendly to the Mormon 
 people. 
 
 In the tabernacle, a united Mormon and Gentile 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 355 
 
 service was held, in honor of the illustrious dead, 
 and a number of orations were delivered eulogizing 
 his character and lauding his virtues. 
 
 On the inauguration of President Lincoln, there 
 had been a fraternization between the city and the 
 camp, and now again all were united in a fraternal 
 gathering for the purpose of mourning a common 
 loss. From that day the barriers between soldier 
 and citizen have gradually crumbled away, and the 
 past few years have witnessed many interchanges 
 of courtesies, cordially rendered. 
 
 Next came a prominent event, in the matter of the 
 visit of Schuyler Colfax and party. It will be remem- 
 bered that the tour of the then Speaker of the 
 House, in a semi-official character, to familiarize the 
 Government with the condition and rapid growth 
 of the Pacific States and Territories, created quite 
 a national sensation. The death of Lincoln had 
 thrown Colfax into an enlarged prominence before 
 the nation, and for some time there was prospect 
 of his reaching the Presidential chair. His visit, 
 therefore, to Salt Lake, was an interesting event, 
 for it was at once appreciated that the impression 
 made upon him by this visit would largely shape 
 the policy of the Government towards Utah. 
 
 On the nth of June, 1865, Speaker Colfax, 
 Lieut-Governor Bross, of Illinois, Albert D. Richard- 
 son, of the New York Tribune, and Samuel Bowles, 
 of the Springfield Republican, made their entrance 
 into the valley of the Great Salt Lake, where they 
 were met by a committee of the municipal authori- 
 ties and influential citizens, and welcomed to the 
 hospitalities of the city. 
 
356 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 But the Speaker of the House stood upon his 
 dignity. Esteeming himself a chief representative 
 of the nation, he did not think it becoming his 
 national importance to call first on Brigham Young. 
 This was expressed, and President Young was fully 
 informed of the mountain of etiquette that bur- 
 dened the spirit of the honorable Speaker. There 
 could be no doubt that he wished to see the Prophet. 
 To have gone away without seeing him would have 
 taken away half the relish of the visit. So Brig- 
 ham, in company with several apostles, humored 
 him. 
 
 The interview that followed was unconstrained 
 and pleasant. 
 
 Polygamy, of course, was the great topic. The 
 marvels that the Mormons had created in the 
 Desert were freely confessed ; but the peculiar insti- 
 tution, that was something which the sensitive 
 morals of the Speaker could not tolerantly contem- 
 plate, although he strongly advocated miscegenation! 
 
 " Your people must come into harmony with the 
 M nation ! " said he, bringing the point home to the 
 President. " You must do away with polygamy." 
 
 But Brigham answered with native simplicity. 
 What could he do in the matter ? If it was a diffi- 
 culty with Mr. Colfax, it was a greater difficulty 
 with himself, as the Moses of his people. If Con- 
 gress had been in travail over the many-wived ques- 
 tion, so, also, had Mormondom. It was none of 
 Brigham's business only as a disciple. 'Twas the 
 Lord's concern. He had revealed the order of ce- 
 lestial marriage to Joseph. There was the end of 
 all controversy. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 357 
 
 The party was generously entertained by a num- 
 ber of prominent elders, and on the Monday after 
 their arrival they were serenaded by Professor 
 Thomas' brass band. Of course the music of Zion 
 brought the distinguished visitors out to receive 
 the acclamations of the people. They were intro- 
 duced to the multitude by Judge Kinney, and in 
 response to the popular request addressed the citi- 
 zens from the balcony of their hotel. 
 
 No doubt it was evident to Mr. Colfax and his 
 friends that the welcome was most cordial and sin- 
 cere, and, for the time being, he seemed to have given 
 way to the happifying influences of Zion. In listen- 
 ing to his speech that night, one could almost have 
 fancied that the distinguished visitor had become 
 already half converted to the new faith. His sud- 
 denly coming upon this oasis of the great American 
 Desert, and the generous feast he had partaken of 
 that day, had wrought a miracle. What his eyes 
 had beheld was a crowning wonder, even in this 
 age of wonders. In his enthusiasm he declared 
 that the nation herself was " indebted to the Mor- 
 mons." And he was right. Emphatically so, when 
 he affirmed that California, especially, owed them a 
 debt of gratitude, for Utah had been the half-way 
 house and resting-place of Californians. 
 
 As for Governor Bross, of Illinois, there was a 
 genuine earnestness in his expression of admiration 
 for the people, and for the work of civilization that 
 they had wrought in the Desert. He was a western 
 man, and had been associated with the rapid growth 
 of the West all his life, but what he saw in Utah 
 surpassed it all, and astonished even him ; and as a 
 
LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 journalist he heartily pledged his word to the 
 people that, from that hour, his pen and influence 
 should be used to do justice to the Mormons. In 
 this regard he has kept his word. 
 
 Mr. Richardson was philosophical, arguing that 
 the evidences of industry and of a good ordered 
 society proved that the Mormons could not but be 
 a virtuous people a people, indeed, endowed with 
 the highest social and religious qualities. 
 
 The party remained over a week in Salt Lake 
 City, and on the Sunday evening before their de- 
 parture Mr. Colfax delivered an oration, in the 
 Bowery, to an immense audience, on " the Life and 
 Principles .of President Lincoln." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 SECOND VISIT OF MR. COLFAX. " WILL THE MORMONS 
 FIGHT?" "LET US ALONE WITH OUR PROBLEMS." 
 HE IS INFORMED OF AN APPROACHING SCHISM. 
 THE SCHISM INAUGURATED. EXCOMMUNICATION 
 OF THE APOSTATES. PASSING EVENTS. THE RAIL- 
 ROAD AND THE MAN OF DESTINY. PASSAGE OF 
 THE FEMALE SUFFRAGE BILL, ETC. 
 
 In 1869, Mr. Colfax, then Vice-President of the 
 United States, again visited Utah ; but this time it 
 was for a more important purpose than to simply 
 spy out the land, as on his previous visit. There 
 can be no doubt that he had at this time a pretty 
 well-defined programme. It was nothing less than 
 the suppression of polygamy, even at the cost of 
 war, if necessary. Nothing less than the complete 
 overthrow of Brigham Young and the Mormon 
 hierarchy was to stay his arm. Mormondom, to his 
 mind, was nothing less than a standing rebeldom, 
 which ever and anon hurled insulting defiance into 
 the face of the General Government. This was a 
 view of easy acceptance by President Grant, and to 
 accept it was to simply inspire within him the re- 
 solve to conquer " polygamic theocracy " by the 
 establishment of a Federal rule, in Utah, as iron- 
 heeled as that which had just been established over 
 
360 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 the Southern States. To work up the case by the 
 most summary Congressional proceedings, was as 
 natural to the occasion as was the consummation of 
 it, by military force, congenial to the man. Hence, 
 at that moment, the country looked upon another 
 Mormon war as being not only probable but 
 imminent. 
 
 Not a little singular is it that at this moment of 
 the Vice-President's visit, there was being fulmi- 
 nated within the Church a schism, which was to be 
 at once an apparent danger and a real protection ; 
 yet subsequent events fully substantiate this view. 
 
 Colfax came with the question, " Will the Mor- 
 mons fight ? " He was answered by a revelation of 
 the impending schism, and implored by the aposta- 
 tizing elders to " let us alone with our problems ! '" 
 A revolution was about to be inaugurated. If the 
 Federal power attempted to coerce the people, every 
 prospect of success would be swept away by the co- 
 hesive impulse of a common defence. The sagacious 
 Vice-President was at once fully converted to the 
 encouragement of the disintegration of the Church, 
 in preference to an attempt to force the issue by the 
 sword, and thereafter gave direction to his efforts 
 in consonance with that view. 
 
 The war programme was therefore abandoned. 
 But to return to the immediate cause of its aban- 
 donment : 
 
 The movement, whose adherents are familiarly 
 known as the " Godbeites," took definite shape in 
 the form of a protestant movement against a certain 
 line of policy which President Young had inaugu- 
 rated in the matter of the commercial relations of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 361 
 
 the Mormons, and which he was pushing with char- 
 acteristic vigor and persistence. With this tangible 
 point of protest were also coupled some points con- 
 cerning the more abstruse questions of Church 
 polity and personal orthodoxy. But these latter, 
 although doubtless furnishing the conscientious in- 
 centive to action of Mr. Godbe and his compeers, 
 cannot be considered the great elements of success, 
 in whatever of success came out of the movement. 
 The revolt took shape and strength in that its 
 element of opposition to President Young's com- 
 mercial policy attracted to it the support of 
 every gentile in the Territory. Realizing that a 
 house divided against itself cannot stand, Brigham 
 promptly and summarily "cut off' ? the protestant 
 members, although many of them had thenbefore 
 been held by him in high esteem 
 
 It is not profitable to here recount the details of 
 that dealing with apostacy. The heart-burnings 
 and recriminations of those days had best be left to 
 pass out of thought and remembrance. All that 
 was honorable and just in the purview of that 
 movement will surely triumph ; all of it that was 
 born of selfishness and untruth will surely fail. But 
 in the broader aspect and higher view, that it was 
 a divine intending, to ward off the war-charged 
 cloud of bigotry that threatened, in Colfax's time, to 
 overshadow the valleys of Utah, can be seen a 
 circumstance that compasseth all selfishness, and 
 attains to the broadness of a purpose fit to be con- 
 sidered the purpose of God. 
 
 It is claimed that out of the " Godbe movement" 
 grew up the political opposition party that has 
 
362 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 since its organization figured somewhat conspicu- 
 ously, to the effect, however, of more firmly con- 
 solidating the power of the Church. 
 
 The next important event in the history of Utah 
 was the laying of the last rail of the Utah Central 
 Railroad. The completion of the Union and 
 Central Pacific lines was a national event, affecting 
 greatly the destiny of Utah as well as that of the 
 entire Pacific coast ; but the completion of the Utah 
 Central was the proper local sign cf radical changes. 
 That event put the Territory en rapport with the 
 age of railroads, and a world of expansion came to 
 Mormondom with the laying of the last rail in Salt 
 Lake City, and a community, originally formed in a 
 state of isolation, appreciated at once that hence- 
 forth the hand of the East and the hand of the 
 West were joined with Utah, and forty millions of 
 people were at her door. 
 
 It was January loth, 1870; the weather was cold; 
 a heavy fog hung over the city of the Great Salt 
 Lake ; but the multitude assembled, and by two 
 o'clock P. M. there is said to have been gathered 
 around the depot block not less than fifteen thou- 
 sand people. As the train with the invited guests 
 from Ogden and the north came in sight, dashing 
 toward the end of the track, shouts arose from the 
 assembled city. A large steel mallet had been pre- 
 pared for the occasion, made at the blacksmith's 
 shop of the public works of the Church. The " last 
 spike " was forged of Utah iron, manufactured ten 
 years previously by the late Nathaniel V. Jones. 
 The mallet was elegantly chased, bearing on the top 
 an engraved bee-hive (the emblem of the State of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 363 
 
 Deseret), surrounded by the inscription " Holiness 
 to the Lord," and underneath the bee-hive were the 
 letters U. C. R. R. ; a similar ornament consecrated 
 the spike, both intending to symbolize that Utah, 
 with the railroad, should still be the " Kingdom of 
 God." The sun, which had hid himself behind the 
 clouds during the whole day, burst forth as in joy 
 to witness the event of the laying of the last rail 
 almost at the very instant. It was like a glad sur- 
 prise, and the apostles took it as an omen of good. 
 The honor of driving the last spike in the first rail- 
 road built by the Mormon people, was assigned to 
 President Young. 
 
 Another matter worthy of record was the passage, 
 by the Utah Legislature, of a bill granting the 
 suffrage to women. The following is a copy of it : 
 
 An Act, giving women the elective franchise in 
 the Territory of Utah. 
 
 Sec. i. Be it enacted by the Governor and the 
 Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, 
 that every woman of the age of twenty-one years, 
 who has resided in this Territory six months next 
 preceding any general or special election, born or 
 naturalized in the United States, or who is the wife, 
 or widow, or the daughter of a naturalized citizen 
 of the United States, shall be entitled to vote at 
 any election in this Territory. 
 
 2. All laws, or parts of laws, conflicting with 
 this act are hereby repealed. 
 
 Approved February 12, 1870. 
 
 It has been charged that the ruling motive which 
 actuated the dominant party in Utah to enfranchise 
 the women was identical with that which procured 
 the enfranchisement of the Freedmen, i. e. a desire 
 
364 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 to secure their votes. Be that as it may, it is truly 
 an " ill wind that blows nobody any good ; " and if 
 the whirlwind of political strife did put the ballot 
 into the hands of the noble women of U tah, it is well. 
 The brothel, the gambling den and the dram-shop 
 will soon go to the wall, when the women of 
 America are permitted to assail them at the ballot- 
 box. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 PRESIDENT GRANT BENT ON THE CONQUEST OF 
 " MORMON THEOCRACY." HE APPOINTS SHAFFER 
 GOVERNOR FOR THAT PURPOSE. SHERIDAN'S 
 
 "MORAL FORCE." SHAFFER'S MILITARY " COUP DE 
 MAIN." GENERAL WELLS AVOIDS A COLLISION. 
 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE LIEUT.-GENERAL 
 AND THE GOVERNOR. DEATH OF SHAFFER. 
 
 The design of President Grant to overthrow 
 Mormon rule in Utah was developed through vari- 
 ous methods of action. Dr. Newman's Evangelical 
 Expedition, and McKean's Judicial Crusade, were 
 both stamped with the President's seal. But first 
 came his war policy, which at one time meant the 
 absolute conquest of " Mormon Theocracy " by mili- 
 tary force, or at least by military rule. This is what 
 was signified by the appointment of a " War Gov- 
 ernor," in the person of J. Wilson Shaffer. 
 
 In 1868, General Rawlings, then Secretary of 
 War, visited Utah. The South was in process of 
 reconstruction, and the Secretary thought that 
 Utah needed reconstruction quite as much as the 
 South. Casting his eye over the list of his old war 
 comrades to find the man most fit for the work, he 
 determined to select General Shaffer. Rawlings 
 committed to President Grant his " dying charge/" 
 
366 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 to appoint "Wils" Shaffer of Illinois Governor of 
 Utah, to conquer Brigham Young. After the death 
 of the Secretary, on the resignation of Governor 
 Durkee, the appointment was duly made. Sur- 
 prised at the event, and knowing that the choice of 
 himself, at that critical juncture of Utah affairs, was 
 not due to political management, Shaffer hastened 
 to Washington to "inquire" of the President. It 
 was then that the new Governor learned from the 
 lips of President Grant that he owed his appoint- 
 ment to the dead Secretary of War, and was in- 
 formed of the grand purpose for which he had been 
 chosen. This is Governor Shaffer's own statement. 
 
 Shaffer knew that he himself was gradually dying 
 that a few short months must close his mortal 
 career. But he was assigned to a post of honor. 
 He accepted the appointment as a trust extraordi- 
 nary from the President of the United States, and 
 as a legacy left to him by his dead patron and com- 
 rade. He undertook the " mission " with the " vow '' 
 to execute it before his death. He would make 
 himself Governor of Utah, to all intents and pur- 
 poses, if he had to do it by the sword. 
 
 " Never after me," said he, "by - -! shall it be 
 " said that Brigham Young is Governor of Utah !" 
 
 Governor Shaffer arrived in Utah in the latter 
 end of March, 1870. Casting about for some object 
 on which to expend his belligerency, he made en- 
 quiry of a prominent schismatic as to the feasibility 
 of successfully attacking polygamy. The answer 
 was : " I married my wives in good faith. They 
 " married me in good faith. They have borne me 
 " children. We have lived together for years, be- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 367 
 
 " lieving it was the will of God. The same is true 
 " of the Mormon people generally. Before I will 
 " abandon my wives as concubines, and cast off my 
 " children as bastards, I will fight the United States 
 " Government down to my boots. What would you 
 4(1 do, Governor, in the like case ? " 
 
 " By - , I would do the same !" 
 
 Soon after this General Sheridan visited Salt 
 Lake City, for the purpose of establishing another 
 military post in Utah, " as a moral force," as he ex- 
 pressed it. The post was duly established at Provo, 
 and President Grant, inclining to the Vice-Presi- 
 dent's view, so far modified his policy as to abandon 
 the idea, for the time being, of forcing a rupture 
 with the people. 
 
 But Governor Shaffer was resolved not to die 
 before he had executed some military coup de main 
 against Mormondom. The annual muster of the 
 Territorial militia gave him the opportunity. Here 
 is the call for the muster, followed by proclamations 
 and correspondence between the Governor and the 
 Lieut.-General. They tell their own story : 
 
 THE LIEUT.-GENERAL'S ORDER. 
 
 Adjut-General's Office, U. T., Salt Lake City, 
 
 August 1 6th, 1870. 
 General Orders, No. i. 
 
 No. i. Major-General Robert T. Burton, com- 
 manding ist Division, Nauvoo Legion, Salt Lake 
 Military District, will cause to be held a general 
 muster, for three days, of all the forces within said 
 district, for the purposes of drill, inspection and 
 camp duty. 
 
368 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 No. 2. The commandants of Utah, Juab, San- 
 pete, Parawan, Richland, ^Tooele, Summit and 
 Wasatch military districts, will cause to be held a 
 similar muster, not to exceed three days, of all the 
 forces in their respective districts, to be held not 
 later than the ist day of November. Said com- 
 mandants will cause suitable notice to be given of 
 time and place of muster, and all persons liable to 
 military duty to be enrolled and notified. 
 
 No. 3. Bands of music may be organized, and 
 musicians required to perform duty as per General 
 Order No. 2. 
 
 No. 4. It is with deep regret that we announce 
 to the Legion the death of Brigadier-General C. W. 
 West, commandant of Weber military district. 
 
 No. 5. At the muster of the forces of Cache 
 military district, there will be elected a Brigadier- 
 General, who will take command of said district. 
 
 No. 6 District-Commandants will cause all va- 
 cancies to be filled in their respective districts ; they 
 will have a rigid inspection of arms and equipments, 
 and make full and complete returns to this office, on 
 or before the fifteenth day of November. They are 
 also enjoined to enforce good order and sobriety, 
 and to take every precaution to avert the occurrence 
 of accident from any cause whatever during the 
 muster. 
 
 By order of 
 
 Lieut-Gen. DANIEL H. WELLS, 
 
 Commanding Nauvoo Legion. 
 H. B. CLAWSON, 
 
 Adjutant-General U. T. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 369 
 
 GOVERNOR SHAFFER'S PROCLAMATION i. 
 
 Executive Department, 
 Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 
 September i5th, 1870. 
 
 Know ye, that I, J. Wilson Shaffer, Governor of 
 the Territory of Utah, and Commander-in-chief 
 of the militia of said Territory, by virtue of the 
 power and authority in me vested by the laws of the 
 United States, have, this day, appointed and commis- 
 sioned P. E. Connor, Major-General of the militia 
 of Utah Territory ; and W. M. Johns, Colonel and 
 Assistant Adjutant-General of the militia of the 
 Territory. Now, it is ordered that they be obeyed 
 and respected accordingly. 
 
 Witness my hand and the great seal of said 
 
 Territory, at Salt Lake City, this the i5th 
 
 day of September, A. D. 1870. 
 
 [SEAL.] 
 
 J. M. SHAFFER, 
 
 Governor. 
 Attest : VERNON H. VAUGHN, 
 
 Secretary of Utah Territory. 
 
 GOVERNOR SHAFFER S PROCLAMATION 2. 
 
 Executive Department, 
 Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 
 September 15, 1870. 
 
 Know ye, that I, Wilson Shaffer, Governor of the 
 Territory of Utah, and Commander-in-chief of the 
 military of the Territory of Utah, do hereby forbid 
 and prohibit all musters, drills or gatherings of 
 militia of the Territory of Utah, and all gatherings 
 
37O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 of any nature, kind or description of armed persons 
 within the Territory of Utah, except by my orders, 
 or by the orders of the United States Marshal, 
 should he need a posse commitatus to execute any 
 order of the Court, and not otherwise. And it is 
 hereby further ordered that all arms or munitions 
 of war belonging to either the United States or the 
 Territory of Utah, within said Territory, now in the 
 possession of the Utah militia, be immediately 
 delivered by the parties having the same in their 
 possession to Col. Wm. M. Johns, Assistant Adjt.- 
 General ; and it is further ordered that, should the 
 United States Marshal need a posse commitatus, to 
 enforce any order of the Courts, or to preserve 
 order, he is hereby authorized and empowered to 
 make a requisition upon Major-Gen. P. E. Connor for 
 such posse commitatus or armed force ; and Major- 
 General P. E. Connor is hereby authorized to order 
 out the militia, or any part thereof, as of my order 
 for said purposes and no other. 
 
 Witness my hand and the great seal of said 
 
 Territory, at Salt Lake City, this the I5th 
 
 day of September, 1870. 
 
 [SEAL] 
 
 J. W. SHAFFER, 
 
 Governor. 
 Attest : VERNON H. VAUGHN, 
 
 Secretary of Utah Territory. 
 
 THE LIEUT.-GENERAL'S REPLY TO THE GOVERNOR. 
 
 Adjt.-General's Office, U. T., Salt Lake City, 
 
 October 20, 1870. 
 
 His Excellency J. W. Shaffer, Governor, and 
 Commander-in-chief of the militia of Utah 
 Territory. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 371 
 
 SIR : Whereas, a proclamation has been pub- 
 lished, emanating from your Excellency, in which 
 the holding of the regular musters in this Territory 
 is prohibited, except by your order ; and 
 
 Whereas, to stop the musters now, neither the 
 terms of the proclamation, the laws of the Terri- 
 tory, nor the laws of Congress requiring reports of 
 the force and condition of the militia of the Terri- 
 tory could be complied with ; we, therefore, the 
 undersigned, for and in behalf of the militia of said 
 Territory, respectfully ask your Excellency to sus- 
 pend the operation of said proclamation until the 
 2oth day of November next, in order that we may 
 be enabled to make full and complete returns of the 
 militia as aforesaid. 
 
 DANIEL H. WELLS, 
 Lieut.-Gen. Comg Militia, U. T. 
 
 H. B. CLAWSON, 
 
 Adjt.-Gen. Militia, U. T. 
 
 THE GOVERNOR S FIAT. 
 
 Executive Department, 
 Utah Territory, Salt Lake City, 
 
 October 27, 1870. 
 DANIEL H. WELLS, ESQ. : 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your communication of yesterday, in which you sign 
 yourself " Lieutenant-General Commanding the 
 militia of Utah Territory." As the laws of the 
 United States provides for but one Lieutenant- 
 General, and as the incumbent of that office is the 
 distinguished Phillip H. Sheridan, I shall certainly 
 be pardoned for recognizing no other. 
 
372 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 In your communication you addressed me as 
 " Commander-in-chief of the militia of Utah Ter- 
 " ritory." It is now twenty years since the act to 
 organize this Territory was passed by the Congress 
 of the United States, and, so far as I am informed, 
 this is the first instance in which you, or any of 
 your predecessors, in the pretended office which 
 you assume to hold, have recognized the Governor 
 of this Territory to be, as the organic act makes 
 him, the Commander-in-chief, &c. My predecessors 
 have been contemptuously ignored, or boldly de- 
 fied. I congratulate you and the loyal people here, 
 and elsewhere, on the significant change in your 
 conduct. 
 
 You do me the honor to ask me to suspend the 
 operation of my proclamation of Sept. i5th, 1870, 
 prohibiting all musters, drills, &c., &c. In other 
 words, you ask me to recognize an unlawful military 
 system, which was originally organized in Nauvoo, 
 in the State of Illinois, and which has existed here 
 without authority of the United States, and in de- 
 fiance of the Federal officials. 
 
 You say : " Whereas, to stop the proclamation 
 now, neither the terms of the proclamation, the 
 laws of the Territory, nor the laws -of Congress, 
 &c., could be complied with." That is, my procla- 
 mation cannot be carried out, unless I let you 
 violate it. Laws of the Territory which conflict 
 with the laws of Congress, must fall to the ground, 
 unless I will permit you to uphold them, and the 
 laws of Congress cannot be complied with unless I 
 will let you interpret and nullify them ! To state 
 the proposition is to answer it. 
 
 Mr. Wells, you know, as well as I do, that the 
 people of this Territory, most of whom were foreign 
 born, and are ill acquainted with our institutions, 
 have been taught to regard certain private citizens 
 here as superior in authority, not only to the 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 373 
 
 Federal officials here, but also at Washington. 
 Ever since my proclamation was issued, and on a 
 public occasion, and in presence of many thousands 
 of his followers, Brigham Young, who claims to be, 
 and is called, " President," denounced the Federal 
 officials of this Territory with bitter vehemence, 
 and on a like occasion, about the same time, and in 
 his (Young's) presence, one of his most conspicu- 
 ous followers declared that Congress had no right 
 whatever to pass an organic act for this Territory ; 
 that such was a relic of colonial barbarism, and that 
 not one of the Federal officials had any right to 
 come to, or remain in, this Territory. 
 
 Mr. Wells, you ask me to take a course which, 
 in effect, would aid you and your turbulent associ- 
 ates to further convince your followers that you and 
 your associates are more powerful than the Federal 
 Government. I must decline. 
 
 To suspend the operation of my proclamation 
 now, would be a greater dereliction of my duty than 
 not to have issued it. 
 
 Without authority from me you issued an order 
 in your assumed capacity of Lieut.-General, etc., 
 calling out the military of the Territory to muster, 
 and now you virtually ask me to ratify your act. 
 
 Sir, I will not do anything in satisfaction of your 
 officious and unwarranted assumption. 
 
 By the provisions of the organic act, the Governor 
 is made the Commander-in-chief of the militia of the 
 Territory, and, sir, so long as I continue to hold 
 that office, a force so important as that of the militia 
 shall not be wielded or controled in disregard of 
 my authority, which, by law, and by my obligation, 
 it is my plain duty not only to assert, but, if possible, 
 to maintain. 
 
 I hope the above is sufficiently explicit to be fully 
 understood, and supersede the necessity of any 
 further communications on the subject. 
 
374 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 I have the honor to be, etc. 
 
 (Signed) J. W. SHAFFER, 
 
 Governor and Commander-in-chief of 
 Utah Territory. 
 
 AN OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR SHAFFER. 
 
 Editor " Deseret Evening News' 1 
 
 SIR: I find myself under the necessity of request- 
 ing you to give space in your columns for the en- 
 closed correspondence between myself and His 
 Excellency Governor Shaffer. His reply to my 
 communication reached me yesterday, and it was 
 only a few hours afterwards that I saw the entire 
 correspondence in print. I might have felt some 
 reluctance before this in giving our correspondence 
 publicity, but now I have' no alternative ; my duty 
 to the public, my regard for truth, and my own self- 
 respect will not suffer me to remain silent ; and 
 although Governor Shaffer closes his communication 
 by saying, that he hopes what he has written will 
 supersede the necessity of any further communica- 
 tion on this subject, I am constrained to write you 
 this letter. 
 
 The first point which I will notice in his commu- 
 nication is the statement that, 
 
 " As the laws of the United States provide for but 
 one lieut.-general, and as the incumbent of that 
 office is the distinguished Phillip H. Sheridan, I 
 shall certainly be pardoned for recognizing no 
 other." 
 
 What inference does Governor Shaffer wish to 
 draw from this ? The same law of Congress which 
 provides for one lieut.-general provides for five 
 major-generals (see Army Register for 1869; also 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 375 
 
 General E. D. Townsend's report to General W. T. 
 Sherman, commanding U. S. army for same year) ; 
 must we therefore conclude that there shall be no 
 major-generals of militia in the States or Terri- 
 tories ? The same law prescribes that there shall 
 be eight brigadier-generals ; are we to understand 
 Governor Shaffer that the distinguished gentlemen 
 who hold these positions in the regular army are 
 the only ones in the States and Territories who are 
 to be recognized as such ? This being the inference 
 to be drawn from his language, who shall presume to 
 recognize any officers of militia in any of the States 
 and Territories as major-generals and brigadier- 
 generals, when the law of Congress has already pro- 
 vided for but five of the former and eight of the 
 latter ? 
 
 As His Excellency seems to take pleasure in re- 
 ferring to law, permit me also to direct his attention 
 to the following;; : 
 
 o 
 
 Section 10 of an Act, approved July 28th, 1866, 
 limits the number of officers and assistant adjutant- 
 generals in their respective corps, prescribing their 
 rank, pay and emoluments ; and section 6 of an Act 
 approved March 30!, 1869, provides that, until other- 
 wise directed by law, there shall be no new appoint- 
 ments in the Adjutant-General's Department; also 
 an Act of June I5th, 1844, chapter 69, entitled, " An 
 Act to authorize the Legislatures of the several Ter- 
 ritories to regulate the apportionment of represen- 
 tatives and for other purposes," provides, in section 2, 
 " that justices of the peace, and all general officers 
 of militia in the Territories, shall be elected by the 
 people, in such manner as the respective Legisla- 
 tures . thereof shall provide by law." Also, see 
 Brightly's Digest of the United States Laws, page 
 619, on organization of the militia, section 3. 
 
 These extracts are from laws of Congress the 
 laws for which His Excellency seems to have so 
 much respect ; and if they are the only laws which. 
 
376 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 obtain in this Territory, how can His Excellency 
 reconcile with them his recent appointment by proc- 
 lamation of a major-general, and an assistant adju- 
 tant-general for the militia of Utah? And what 
 about the five distinguished incumbents of the office 
 of major-general already appointed under the law? 
 Or, does His Excellency imagine that it falls to his 
 province to fill the vacancy created by the death of 
 the lamented George H. Thomas. 
 
 The second point in Governor Shaffer's communi- 
 cation which I will notice, is wherein he states 
 that 
 
 " So far as I have been informed, this is the first 
 instance in which you or any of your predecessors, 
 in the pretended office which you assume to hold, 
 ever recognized the Governor of this Territory to 
 be as the organic act makes him to be, the com- 
 mander-in-chief, etc., etc. My predecessors have been 
 contemptuously ignored or boldly defied." 
 
 It is scarcely necessary for me to remark to any 
 resident familiar with the history of this Territory, 
 that Governor Shaffer's information on this subject 
 is very defective. That which he styles a " pre- 
 tended office" I have held by the unanimous voice 
 of the people of the Territory the office having 
 been created by Act of the Legislative Assembly 
 of the Territory of Utah, approved by the Gov- 
 ernor, Feb. 5th, 1852, and not transported from Illi- 
 nois, as stated by Governor Shaffer in another part 
 of his letter. Even if it were as he states, can no 
 good thing come out of Illinois ? Or is it such a 
 crime to copy after anything emanating from that 
 distinguished State ? I may here add, further, that 
 I have never had any predecessor in the office since 
 the organization of the Territory. As to this being 
 the " first instance " in which I have recognized the 
 Governor of this Territory as the commander-in- 
 chief, Governor Shaffer is either strangely ignorant 
 or wilfully misrepresents, for during the first eight 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 377 
 
 years after the organization of the Territory, His 
 Excellency Brigham Young was the Governor of 
 the Territory, and I presume no one will dispute 
 that he was recognized as the commander-in-chief. 
 During the next four years, while His Excellency 
 Alfred Gumming was Governor of the Territory, 
 and also during the administrations of his suc- 
 cessors up to the present time with the exception 
 of Governor Dawson, who only remained in the 
 Territory about thirty days I have abundant docu- 
 mentary evidence to show that I recognized them 
 as governors and commanders-in-chief of the militia 
 of the Territory, and have in return been recognized 
 by them as Lieut-General commanding militia of 
 Utah Territory. Besides being recognized as Lieut- 
 General by the predecessors of Governor Shaffer, I 
 have in every instance been acknowledged as such 
 in all official correspondence with officers of the 
 regular army, superintendents of the Indian affairs 
 and other " Federal officials," both here and out of 
 the Territory. His Excellency Governor Shaffer 
 therefore stands distinguished as the first " Federal 
 officer" who, in reply to a respectful communica- 
 tion, has so far forgotten what is due from a man 
 holding his position, as to ignore the common cour- 
 tesies always extended between gentlemen. 
 
 Before ending my reference to this point, permit 
 me, if it does not trespass too much on your space, 
 to give you copies of one or two communications 
 which I have received from predecessors of Gov- 
 ernor Shaffer : 
 
 Executive Department, 
 
 Great Salt Lake City, 
 
 June 1 1, 1862. 
 
 To Gen. D. H. WELLS, commanding militia of Utah 
 
 Territory. 
 
 SIR : A requisition has been made upon me this 
 
378 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 day by Henry W. Lawrence, Esq., Territorial Mar- 
 shal for the Territory of Utah, through his deputies, 
 R. T. Hurton, Esq., and Theodore McKean, Esq., 
 for a military force to act as a posse commitatus in 
 the service of certain writs issued from the Third 
 Judicial District Court of said Territory, for the 
 arrest of Joseph Morris and others, residing in 
 the northern part of Davis County, in said district. 
 
 It appears that said Joseph Morris, and his 
 associates, have organized themselves into an 
 armed force to resist the execution of said writs, 
 and are setting at defiance the law and its officers. 
 
 I therefore require you to furnish the said Henry 
 W. Lawrence, Esq., or his deputies aforesaid, a suffi- 
 cient military force for the arrest of the offenders, 
 the vindication of justice, and the enforcement of 
 the law. 
 
 FRANK FULLER, 
 Acting-Governor and Commander-in-chief. 
 
 Executive Department, 
 
 Great Salt Lake City, 
 
 November 26, 1862. 
 
 Lieut-Gen. D. H. WELLS, Commanding Nauvoo 
 Legion. 
 
 SIR : I herewith enclose a communication di- 
 rected to the Governor of this Territory, from the 
 War Department at Washington, in relation to 
 arms, &c., furnished by the several States since the 
 4th of March, 1861. If you have any information 
 on the subject applicable to this Territory, I will 
 be glad if you will report the same to me imme- 
 diately. 
 
 I remain, respectfully yours, &c., 
 
 H. S. HARDING, 
 Governor and Commander-in-chief of the 
 
 Territory of Utah. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 379 
 
 P. S. You will please return the communication 
 from the War Department, with your report. 
 
 As to Governor Shaffer's next paragraph, I fail to 
 see the point as stated. As has been the usage in 
 the Territory for years past, and in accordance 
 with the laws thereof, orders were issued for the 
 holding of the regular Fall muster of the military 
 of the Territory in their respective districts. These 
 orders were dated August i6th, 1870. Some thirty 
 days after, Governor Shaffer issued his proclamation 
 prohibiting the holding of musters, drills, &c. In 
 my communication to him, I simply asked him to 
 suspend the operation of that proclamation until the 
 2Oth of Nov., that the Fall musters might be com- 
 pleted they having already been held in some of 
 the districts in order that I might comply with the 
 request of the department made through the Adjt.- 
 General's office, for Washington city, asking for the 
 annual return of the militia of Utah Territory, in 
 accordance with the provisions of the Act of Con- 
 gress (sec. i), approved March 20, 1803. How this 
 can be construed into an attempt to " nullify " the 
 laws of Congress escapes my penetration, but, on 
 the contrary, it appears to me that the proclamation 
 of Governor Shaffer is calculated to produce that re- 
 sult. As to there being any conflict between the 
 laws of the Territory and the laws of Congress, 
 that is mere assertion, incapable of proof. 
 
 As to his allusion respecting what has been said 
 at public meetings, I have to say that public officers, 
 41 Federal officials " included, are supposed to be 
 public property, so far as their official acts are con- 
 cerned, and subject to the scrutiny of the people. 
 Every man under our Government has the right to 
 free speech, and to express his opinions concerning 
 the acts of public officers a right, moreover, which 
 is generally indulged in by all parties. I am not 
 aware that President Brigham Young has " de- 
 
380 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 " nounced the Federal officials of this Territory 
 " with bitter vehemence," or that if he has, I am 
 responsible therefor, or that I should be held re- 
 sponsible for the opinion of any other gentleman in 
 regard to the power of Congress to organize a 
 Territorial Government. 
 
 I am of the opinion that the people of the Terri- 
 tory, according to the constitution, have the right 
 to bear arms that the Legislative Assembly had 
 the right to organize the militia that Congress 
 had the right to declare that the general officers 
 should be elected by the people in such a manner 
 as the respective Legislatures of the States and 
 Territories may provide by law ; that the Governors 
 of the States and Territories are Commanders-in- 
 chief of the militia, the same as the President of 
 the United States is Commander-in-chief of the 
 armies and navies of the United States, with Gen- 
 erals and Admirals under him commanding ; that 
 the military organization of our Territory follows 
 that of the Federal Government more closely, per- 
 haps, than that of any other Territory or State in 
 the Union ; and that Governors and Commanders- 
 in-chief are as much the creatures of law as any 
 other officers, and while they exercise a higher juris- 
 diction, they are as amenable to law as the humblest 
 officer or citizen. 
 
 I will not take up your valuable space, neither 
 will I condescend to make reference to the conclud- 
 ing paragraphs of his letter. My only object has 
 been to vindicate the Legislative Assembly, myself 
 and the people, as to our rights under the law, so 
 unwarrantably assailed in the communication of 
 Governor Shaffer. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 DANIEL H. WELLS. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 381 
 
 Adjutant-General's Office, U. T., 
 
 Salt Lake City, Nov. i2th, 1870. 
 
 General Orders, No. 2. 
 
 i. So far as the general musters in various mili- 
 tary districts have not already been held, as con- 
 templated in General Orders, No. i, of August 
 1 6th, 1870, they are hereby postponed until further 
 orders. 
 
 By order of 
 
 D. H. WELLS. 
 
 Lieut.-Gen, Comg N. L. Militia, U. T. 
 
 H. B. CLAWSON, 
 
 Adjutant-General, U. T. 
 
 Thus was suspended that famous Nauvoo Legion 
 which, in 1857-58, stood against the army of the 
 United States. At the time of this occurrence it 
 numbered about thirteen thousand men, who were 
 well-armed and equipped and well drilled. First 
 organized by Joseph, the Prophet, it was subse- 
 quently brought to a condition of great efficiency 
 by General Wells. Brigham Young, as we have 
 seen, was the second lieutenant-general of the 
 legion, but, after he had sufficiently filled the calling 
 of a prophet-general, in leading his " Latter-day- 
 Israel " to the Rocky Mountains, he resigned, and 
 Daniel H. Wells succeeded him. Under this 
 thoroughly military type of man the Legion was per- 
 fected, having, at the time of its suspension, two 
 major-generals, nine brigadier-generals, and twenty- 
 five colonels, with their respective staffs. 
 
 Governor Shaffer died in the following month, 
 October, 1870. 
 
382 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 On the next Fourth of July, Lieut-General Wells 
 issued an order for a part of the militia to participate 
 in the celebration of that day, but Acting Governor 
 George A. Black, in violation of right and courtesy, 
 not only forbade the parade, but actually caused the 
 arrest of several militia officers, who met to join in 
 the celebration of the day, and confined them at 
 Camp Douglas. The simple recital of this outrage, 
 in connection with the day and occasion, is most 
 sarcastically suggestive. 
 
 But the organization still exists, and the yearly 
 musters have been duly held in many of the military 
 districts. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 CONGRESSIONAL HISTORY OF UTAH UP TO 1870. 
 WILLIAM H. HOOPER. THE SETTLEMENT OF 
 AFFAIRS AFTER THE UTAH WAR. RETURN OF 
 BERNHISEL TO CONGRESS AND THE PASSAGE OF 
 THE ANTI-POLYGAMIC BILL ; FOLLOWED BY A 
 GENTILE DELEGATE. HOOPER RETURNED AGAIN 
 
 AND THE PRESTIGE OF HOME DELEGATES RE- 
 STORED. 
 SPEECH. 
 
 STORED. THE CULLOM BILL. HOOPER'S GREAT 
 
 Utah can scarcely be said to have possessed any 
 political or congressional history until the period of 
 the war. Previously her condition and career had 
 been almost entirely primitive and patriarchal. The 
 Hon. John M. Bernhisel, delegate from Utah through 
 this period, had served his constituents faithfully ; 
 but no feature of that service stands out so promi- 
 nent as to require special mention. The general 
 history, up to this time, may therefore be considered 
 as including the congressional. 
 
 The " Mormon war," of course, had somewhat 
 interrupted the relations between Utah and the 
 nation. In the eyes of the American public Utah 
 had been in rebellion ; although, as we have seen, 
 the controversy had been amicably settled, and the 
 
384 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 Mormons had been pardoned of all their political 
 offences. 
 
 It was under this aspect of affairs that William 
 H. Hooper was elected delegate to Congress, from 
 Utah, in August, 1859. His position was a delicate 
 one, his task arduous, and the case he had to handle 
 certainly a very peculiar and complex case, looking 
 at it from whatever point of view. Notwithstanding 
 his constituents held that they were in the right in 
 the late controversy which had nearly come to 
 bloodshed, and notwithstanding their affirmation 
 that they had stood upon their constitutional 
 ground, and had merely resisted, by a practical but 
 a justifiable protest, an unconstitutional invasion of 
 the rights of American citizens, delegate Hooper 
 well knew that the general public took another 
 view of the case. But the great advantage which 
 Hooper possessed, and which enabled him to master 
 the situation, was in this thorough appreciation of 
 the views and shapings of both sides. Therefore, 
 while the delegate was prepared to stand by his 
 people, in the defence of all their constitutional 
 rights, and to ward off any new difficulty, he was 
 equally ready to " see eye to eye " with members of 
 Congress. This was the exact reason why Brigham 
 Young sent him ; indeed, one of Brigham's greatest 
 gifts is manifested in his choice of the fittest instru- 
 ments for the work and the times. 
 
 Fortunately, also, when Hooper went to Con- 
 gress, as delegate, in 1859, the members were dis- 
 posed to humor the Mormon view of the Utah 
 expedition and troubles, and he in turn humored 
 them most politicly. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 385 
 
 As we have seen, the public, and especially jour- 
 nalists and Congressmen, were only too willing to 
 treat the Utah war as Buchanan's affair, and wipe 
 the hands of the nation clean of it. With this 
 feeling came the good-natured inclination to let the 
 Mormons have all they asked for, if they only 
 asked in reason. And Congress had a Utah dele- 
 gate of a most sagacious, practical turn of mind, who 
 understood his points too well to ask for more than 
 was certain to be granted, contenting himself, in the 
 rest, in working up a good feeling towards his con- 
 stituents. 
 
 Delegate Hooper settled everything he touched. 
 There were two sessions of the Utah Legislature 
 unrecognized and unpaid ; Governor Young's ac- 
 counts against the U. S. Treasury were unsettled ; 
 and the expenses of the Indian war of 1850 were 
 still due to the Territory. All this the energetic 
 and influential delegate brought to a settlement. 
 Besides this financial triumph, a bill which passed 
 the House, for the suppression of Polygamy, 
 never became a law, and the thirty-sixth Con- 
 gress ended, leaving Utah affairs comparatively 
 tranquil. 
 
 Notwithstanding that in the thirty-sixth Congress 
 Utah matters had met a very fair adjustment, and 
 that it was indeed the only one in which Utah, up 
 to this date, had risen to anything like political 
 importance in the nation, the Hon. John M. Bern- 
 hisel was returned to the thirty-seventh Congress. 
 This may have been intended as a recognition of 
 the past services of that gentleman, before his final 
 retirement from public life, but it is evident that 
 
386 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 he was not so well fitted for the post as Delegate 
 Hooper. Dr. Bernhisel was originally rather a pro- 
 fessional than a political character, something of a 
 Mormon elder in Congress, representing a religious 
 people, whereas Hooper was a successful merchant, 
 and full of political sagacities. It is true the latter 
 might not have been able to have prevented the 
 passage of the anti-polygamic bill of 1862, but he 
 certainly would have rallied a host of political 
 friends against it. Without wasting his strength to 
 show the " unconstitutionally " of the bill, he 
 would have adopted the more practical line of argu- 
 ment that the bill must, from its very nature, remain 
 inoperative for years, thus giving, tacitly, a license 
 for the continuation of polygamy. This has been 
 abundantly recognized by members of Congress 
 since. That bill of 1862 has been considered by 
 them to be as great a nuisance as polygamy itself. 
 Surely Hooper would have foreshadowed the diffi- 
 culties of special legislation, in such a delicate ques- 
 tion as the marriage question of an entire commu- 
 nity. Moreover, in 1862 the whole responsibility 
 of the abolition of thousands of plural marriages 
 rested entirely with Congress, there having been no 
 primary agitation of the matter by the people of 
 Utah themselves. But the thirty-seventh Congress, 
 in its innocence, passed that bill, committing almost 
 as great a blunder as did Buchanan in the case of 
 the Utah war. 
 
 The Hon. John M. Bernhisel returned to his con- 
 stituents, and the Hon. John F. Kinney was 
 elected to succeed him. For a number of years 
 Judge Kinney had been Chief Justice of Utah, but 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 387 
 
 he had just been removed by Lincoln, it is said, for 
 too faithfully serving the Mormons. Be that as the 
 reader may please to consider, the Mormons were 
 grateful, and resolved that the Chief Justice should 
 not go from them in disgrace. They accordingly 
 elected him to represent them in the thirty-eighth 
 Congress; and so the Chief Justice, instead of re- 
 turning to his friends in the East, under a cloud, 
 went to Washington in triumph, to take his seat in 
 the Congress of the United States. 
 
 Judge Kinney was a brilliant man, and he soon 
 won golden opinions from both constituents and 
 strangers, by his eloquent efforts in Congress. 
 
 But he was not essentially identified with the 
 destiny of Utah, although a constant friend of the 
 people, and it became evident that the congressional 
 career of a gentile, representing a purely Mormon 
 constituency, must tend more to his political ad- 
 vancement than to their potency. He might have 
 built a pinnacle on their political destiny ; they 
 could build nothing on his political fame. They 
 had the example of Judge Douglass before them 
 "the Mormon-made Senator "-who in his career 
 nearly reached the Presidency of the United States, 
 yet who recommended to Congress the expediency 
 of cutting the " loathsome ulcer out "-that "ulcer" 
 the people who, in his rise to fame, had done so 
 much to uplift him. In justice, however, it should 
 be said that Judge Kinney served his constituents 
 well and faithfully. 
 
 With the return of Hon. W. H. Hooper to the 
 thirty-ninth Congress, the prestige of home dele- 
 gates was restored. His influence was greater than 
 
388 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 ever, both at home and in Washington. The very 
 change for a time from Mormon to Gentile had en- 
 hanced that influence, and illustrated the eminent 
 consistency of a man who was politically in har- 
 mony with Congress, yet in destiny one with the 
 Mormon people, representing them as their dele- 
 gate. We are ever impressed with that law which 
 is described as the " eternal fitness of things ; " so 
 Congress could better understand and respect Wil- 
 liam H. Hooper maintaining the integrity of the 
 Mormon commonwealth, and reconciling it with the 
 rights of the American citizen, than it could the 
 representation of Utah, in those days, by a Gentile 
 delegate. Hooper had by far the greater influence 
 in Congress ; his earnestness in controversy was 
 respected by his congressional colleagues, even 
 when they were resolutely bent on an anti-Mormon 
 policy ; and the very fact that he was a well-known 
 monogamist only rendered his defence of the re- 
 ligious rights of his polygamic constituents more 
 truly American in spirit. 
 
 After the return of Mr. H6oper, and during the 
 thirty-ninth and fortieth Congresses, to the com- 
 mencement of Grant's administration, in 1869, noth- 
 ing very formidable was proposed or carried out 
 against the founders of Utah. Bills were introduced 
 by Mr. Ashley, then chairman of the Territorial 
 Committee, and others, looking to the disintegra- 
 tion of the Territory ; but only a passive recogni- 
 tion was given those measures by Congress. Gen- 
 tile delegations also went to Washington from 
 Utah urging legislation against the Mormons ; but 
 Congress was busy with the great question of " re- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 389 
 
 construction," and the impeachment of President 
 Johnson, and thus Utah, a minor question, was 
 overlooked. 
 
 The passive action of Congress towards Utah, 
 coupled with the wholesome legislation of the John- 
 son period, among which was the establishment of 
 the present land system, warranted the hope that a 
 brighter day was dawning for the Territory. But, 
 with the commencement of Grant's administration, 
 a new warfare was opened, and early in the first 
 session under his Presidency, the Cullom Bill was 
 introduced in the House. Its monstrosity was such 
 that scarcely a section did not propose measures in 
 violation of the most sacred provisions of the con- 
 stitution. It is understood that this bill was framed 
 in Utah. It was very like a resume of the Cragin 
 Bill ; and Senator Cragin at once adopted it as his 
 protege. He could well afford this, for it was a 
 more perfected anti-Mormon measure than his own, 
 bristling with formidable points of special legisla- 
 tion against " Polygamic Theocracy," wherever 
 touched. General Cullom fathered the bill in the 
 House; Senator Cragin introduced it in the Senate. 
 The Cullom Bill was published and reviewed by 
 nearly all the journals of the country. From the stand 
 point of newspaper criticism, it was very difficult to 
 tell exactly what was its moral character. There 
 was, however, a pretty general confession that it 
 was an infamous bill ; yet, with a strange consist- 
 ency, it was quite as candidly confessed that it was 
 not nearly bad enough to satisfy the popular desire. 
 
 Sargeant, Axtell and Fitch spoke against the bill. 
 The Hon. Thomas Fitch's speech, against the 
 
3QO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 iniquitous measure, was one of the most powerful 
 efforts of oratory that Congress has had the privi- 
 lege of listening to in these latter days. Not, how- 
 ever, from the bill itself did Mr. Fitch conjure the 
 effectiveness of his speech, but over the prospect of 
 the blood and the millions of money which it must 
 cost the nation to enforce its provisions. Fitch's 
 speech created so much sensation in the House that 
 General Cullom himself proposed the temporary re- 
 committal of the bill. 
 
 The Cullom Bill not only stirred the entire nation 
 to a desire for special legislation against the Mor- 
 mons, but also Mormondom to its very centre. Prep- 
 aration for the action nearly brought Delegate 
 Hooper to his grave. Several weeks he laid sick in 
 New York, his friends sometimes despairing of his 
 recovery ; but the tenacious spirit of the man pre- 
 vailed. Moreover, the magic power and will of 
 Brigham Young was behind him ; and the faith 
 of the entire Mormon people went up to heaven in 
 behalf of their delegate, that he might be equal to 
 the task of the crowning moment. 
 
 That crowning moment came. Delegate Hooper 
 was on the floor of the House, with his plea for 
 religious liberty. His great speech, delivered March 
 23d, 1870, justly takes rank as amongst the ablest 
 forensic efforts of the nineteenth century. * 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 MORMONDOM AROUSED BY THE PASSAGE OF THE 
 CULLOM BILL. GREAT INDIGNATION OF THE 
 PEOPLE. THE BROTHERHOOD AND SISTERHOOD 
 ON THE EVE OF A CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION 
 OR READY FOR MARTYRDOM. PRESIDENT GRANT 
 AND PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG MOVING THEIR 
 FORCES FROM BEHIND. MEMORIAL AND REMON- 
 STRANCE TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 NEWMAN'S EVANGELICAL RAID. 
 
 The Cullom Bill was passed in the House on the 
 same day that Hooper delivered his speech. He 
 immediately telegraphed the fact home. Mormon- 
 dom was aroused in a moment. The excitement 
 was intense. A burning indignation against Con- 
 gress possessed the men and women alike, and there 
 was good reason for this righteous indignation, for 
 not only did the bill contemplate its own execution, 
 in the most summary manner, by the arbitrary will 
 of the courts, but troops were expected to be neces- 
 sary to intimidate the people. 
 
 The Mormon leaders alone were cool and self- 
 possessed. Brigham Young was not moved from 
 his wonted serenity, by the prospect of the inevit- 
 able conflict between himself and the man who had 
 conquered the South, and who had already boasted 
 
392 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 that he would do as much for Mormondom. That, 
 indeed, was what all this noise of anti-Mormon 
 battle signified. It was war between these two 
 Titans, Ulysses S. Grant and Brigham Young. The 
 Cullom Bill was but a method of attack, and General 
 Cullom, the member from Illinois that State which 
 had driven the Mormons from the " borders of civili- 
 zation," was a very proper herald of President 
 Grant's proclamation of war against " President 
 Brigham Young." 
 
 Yet how like themselves, and how unlike any 
 other people of modern times, did the Mormons 
 meet the crusade against them ; notwithstanding 
 they saw the victorious Grant at its head, and the 
 various movements of the coming action com- 
 manded by such potent enemies as Vice-President 
 Colfax, Senator Cragin, General Cullom and the 
 ambitious chaplain of the Senate, Dr. Newman, the 
 Mormon people showed their peculiar examples 
 very nearly as strongly marked in 1870 as they were 
 in 1857-8. 
 
 This time Brigham Young deemed it not wise to 
 place himself in the foreground. He was still, how- 
 ever, in the soul of the action. The unalterable 
 purposes were his, the methods were his. He was 
 still the inspirer of his people, still the master 
 mind that directed the whole ; but he placed 
 his people face to face with Congress and the 
 nation to let them speak for themselves. He 
 could trust the brotherhood, and he could trust the 
 sisterhood, for on this occasion the women of Mor- 
 mondom were brought into the field of action as a 
 major force. Brigham Young well understood that 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 393 
 
 the real conflict was between himself and President 
 Grant. These two remarkable men were both aim- 
 ing to pursue the best methods to master each 
 other ; and it is not a little interesting to study the 
 development of the movements of each to that end 
 from the onset to the present moment. In other 
 chapters we shall see how, step by step, General 
 Grant has advanced to the conquest of Brigham 
 Young, with as determined a spirit as he ever mani- 
 fested in the subjugation of the -South ; and how he 
 has failed in his every effort, with all his instru- 
 ments, in bringing confusion to the modern " man 
 *' of destiny," and overthrowing the Mormon com- 
 monwealth. But come we now more immediately 
 to the issue of the Cullom Bill, and the remon- 
 strances of the entire Mormon people. 
 
 The Cullom Bill had passed the House, but it 
 had not yet passed the Senate. There was the bare 
 chance that, if the people arose en masse, and mani- 
 fested to the country that earnest apostolic spirit so 
 becoming of them, the Cullom Bill might die in the 
 Senate. The Gentiles of Utah, however, looked 
 upon this as the Mormon " forlorn hope," and de- 
 cided, beyond all question, that Senator Cragin 
 would prosecute the action through the Senate to a 
 successful issue, as surely as had General Cullom 
 done in the House. 
 
 But the Mormon people still trusted in the Lord. 
 At midday of the 3ist of March, according to pre- 
 vious notice, the people began to flock en masse 
 towards Temple Block, to protest against the recent 
 action of the House, of Congress, and to petition 
 the Senate not to pass the Cullom Bill. At one 
 
394 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 o'clock every seat and window of the tabernacle 
 was packed with spectators, the doorways were 
 crowded, and around the building was a vast multi- 
 tude that could not find entrance. Mayor D. H. 
 Wells was chosen to preside over the meeting. 
 Apostles Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Geo. Q. Cannon 
 and others addressed the people, after which the 
 following memorial to Congress was unanimously 
 adopted : 
 
 To the Honorable the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the United States, in Congress 
 Assembled : 
 
 GENTLEMEN : It is with no ordinary concern 
 that we have learned of the passage by the House 
 of Representatives of the House Bill No. 1,089, en- 
 titled " A bill in aid of the execution of the laws 
 in Utah, and for other purposes," commonly known 
 as " The Cullom Bill," against which we desire 
 to enter our most earnest and unqualified protest, 
 and appeal against its passage by the Senate of the 
 United States, or beg its reconsideration by the 
 House of Representatives. We are sure you will 
 bear with us while we present for your considera- 
 tion some of the reasons why this bill should not 
 become law. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives, of the 150,000 estimated population of 
 the Territory of Utah, it is well known that all ex- 
 cept from 5,000 to 10,000 are members of the 
 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, usually 
 called Mormons. These are essentially the people 
 of this Territory ; they have settled it, reclaimed the 
 desert waste, cultivated it, subdued the Indians, 
 opened means of communication, made roads, built 
 cities, and brought into being a new State to add 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 395 
 
 lustre to the national galaxy of our glorious Union. 
 And we, the people who have done this, are believers 
 in the principles of plural marriage or polygamy, 
 not simply as an elevating social relationship, and a 
 preventive of many terrible evils which afflict our 
 race, but as a principle revealed by God, underlying 
 our every hope of eternal salvation and happiness 
 in heaven. We believe in the pre-existence of the 
 spirits of men ; that God is the author of our being ; 
 that marriage is ordained as the legitimate source 
 by which mankind obtain an existence in this proba- 
 tion on the earth ; that the marriage relation exists 
 and extends throughout eternity, and that without 
 it no man can obtain an exaltation in the celestial 
 kingdom of God. The revelation commanding the 
 principle of plural marriage, given by God through 
 Joseph Smith, to the Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter-day Saints, in its first paragraph has the 
 following language : " Behold, I reveal unto you a 
 " new and everlasting covenant ; and if ye abide not 
 " that covenant, then are ye damned ; for none can 
 " reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into 
 " my glory." With this language before us, we can- 
 not view plural marriage in any other light than as 
 a vital principle of our religion. Let the revelation 
 appear in the eyes of others as it may, to us it is a 
 divine command, of equal force with any ever given 
 by the Creator of the world to his children in the 
 flesh. 
 
 The Bible confessedly stands in our nation as the 
 foundation on which all law is based. It is the 
 fountain from which our ideas of right and wrong 
 are drawn, and it gives shape and force to our 
 morality ; yet it sustains plural marriage, and in no 
 instance does it condemn that institution. Not only 
 having, therefore, a revelation from Gocl making the 
 belief and practice of this principle obligatory upon 
 us, we have the warrant of the Holy Scriptures and 
 the example of prophets and righteous men whom 
 
396 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 God loved, honored and blessed. And it should be 
 borne in mind that when this principle was promul- 
 gated, and the people of this Territory entered upon 
 its practice, it was not a crime. God revealed it to 
 us. His divine word, as contained in the Bible 
 which we had been taught to venerate and regard 
 as holy, upheld it, and there was no law applicable 
 to us making our belief or practice of it criminal. 
 It is no crime in this Territory to-day, only as the 
 law of 1862, passed long years after our adoption 
 of this principle as a part of our religious faith, 
 makes it such. The law of 1862 is now a fact ; one 
 proscription gives strength to another. What yes- 
 terday was opinion is liable to-day to be law. It is 
 for this reason that we earnestly and respectfully 
 remonstrate and protest against the passage of the 
 bill now before the Honorable Senate, feeling assured 
 that, while it cannot accomplish any possible good 
 it may result in a great amount .of misery. 
 
 It gives us no alternative but the cruel one of re- 
 jecting God's command and abjuring our religion, 
 or disobeying the authority of a Government we 
 desire to honor and respect. 
 
 It is in direct violation of the first amendment of 
 the constitution, which declares that " Congress shall 
 make no law respecting an establishment of religion 
 or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." 
 
 It robs our priesthood of their functions and 
 heaven-bestowed powers, and gives them to Justices 
 of the Supreme Court, Justices of the Peace, and 
 priests whose authority we cannot recognize, by 
 empowering such as the only ones to celebrate 
 marriage. As well might the law prescribe who 
 shall baptize for the remission of sins, or lay on 
 hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 It encourages fornication and adultery, for all 
 such marriages would be deemed invalid and with- 
 out any sacred or binding force by our community, 
 and those thus united together would, according to 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 397 
 
 their own belief and religious convictions, be living 
 in a condition of habitual adultery, which would 
 bring the holy relation of marriage into disrepute, 
 and destroy the safeguards of chastity and virtue. 
 
 It is unconstitutional in that it is in direct oppo- 
 sition to section nine, article one, of the constitu- 
 tion, which provides that " no bill of attainder, or 
 ex post facto law shall be passed." 
 
 It destroys the right of trial by jury, providing 
 for the impaneling of juries composed of individuals 
 the recognized enemies of the accused, and of for- 
 eigners to the district where a case under it is to be 
 tried ; while the sixth amendment to the constitu- 
 tion provides that " in all criminal prosecutions the 
 accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public 
 trial by an impartial jury of the State and district 
 wherein the crime shall have been committed." 
 
 It is contrary to the eighth amendment to the con- 
 stitution, which provides that* excessive fines shall 
 not be imposed, " nor cruel and unusual punish- 
 ments inflicted." 
 
 It violates section eight, article one, of the consti- 
 tution, which provides that Congress shall establish 
 a uniform rule of naturalization throughout the 
 United States, in that it provides, in section seven- 
 teen, a new, unheard of, and special rule, applicable 
 only to the Territory of Utah. 
 
 It is anti-republican, in that in section ten it 
 places men on unequal ground, by giving one por- 
 tion of the citizens superior privileges over others, 
 because of their belief. 
 
 It strips us, in sections seventeen and twenty-six, 
 of the land we have reclaimed from barrenness, and 
 which we have paid Government for ; also of 
 all possessory rights to which we are entitled as 
 settlers. 
 
 It authorizes, by section fourteen, the sending of 
 criminals into distant military camps and prisons. 
 
 It is most unjust, unconstitutional, and proscrip- 
 
398 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 tive, in that it disfranchises and proscribes American 
 citizens for no act, but simply believing in plurality 
 of wives, which the bill styles polygamy, bigamy, or 
 concubinage, even if they never have practiced or 
 designed to practice it. 
 
 It offers a premium for prostitution and corrup- 
 tion, in that it requires, in sections eleven and 
 twelve, husbands and wives to violate the holiest 
 vows they can make, and voluntarily bastardize their 
 own children. 
 
 It declares, in section twenty-one, marriage to be 
 a civil contract, and names the officers who alone 
 shall solemnize the rite, when our faith expressly 
 holds it as a most sacred ordinance, which can only 
 be administered by those holding the authority from 
 heaven ; thus compeling us to discriminate in favor 
 of officers appointed by the Government and 
 against officers authorized by the Almighty. 
 
 It thus takes away the right of conscience, and 
 deprives us of an ordinance upon the correct ad- 
 ministration of which our happiness and eternal 
 salvation depend. 
 
 It not only subverts religious liberty, but, in sec- 
 tions sixteen and nineteen, violates every principle 
 of civil liberty and true republicanism, in that it 
 bestows upon the Governor the sole authority to 
 govern jails and prisons, and to remove their ward- 
 ens and keepers ; to appoint and remove Probate 
 Judges, Justices of the Peace, Judges of all elec- 
 tions, Notaries Public and all sheriffs ; clothing one 
 man with despotic and, in this Republic, unheard-of 
 power. 
 
 It thus deprives the people of all voice in the 
 Government of the Territory, reduces them to ab- 
 solute vassalage, creates a dangerous, irresponsible 
 and centralized despotism, from which there is no 
 appeal, and leaves their lives, liberties and human 
 rights subject to the caprice of one man, and that 
 man selected and sent here from afar. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 399- 
 
 It proposes, in sections eleven, twelve and seven- 
 .teen, to punish American citizens, not for wrongs, 
 but for acts sanctioned by God, and practiced by 
 his most favored servants, requiring them to call 
 those bad men whom God chose for his oracles 
 and delighted to honor, and even to cast reflections 
 on the ancestry of the Saviour himself. 
 
 It strikes at the foundation of all Republican 
 Government, in that it dictates opinions and belief, 
 prescribes what shall and shall not be believed 
 by citizens, and assumes to decide on the validity 
 of revelation from Almighty God, the author of 
 existence. 
 
 It disorganizes and reduces to a chaotic condition 
 every precinct, city and county in the Territory of 
 Utah, and substitutes no adequate organization. It 
 subverts, by summary process, nearly every law on 
 our statute-book. 
 
 It violates the faith of the United States, in that 
 it breaks the original compact made with the people 
 of this Territory in the organic act, who were, at 
 the time that compact was made, received as citizens 
 from Mexican Territory, and known to be believers 
 in the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter-day Saints. 
 
 We also wish your honorable bodies to under- 
 stand that the Legislature of this Territory has 
 never passed any law affecting the primary disposal 
 of the soil, but only adopted regulations for the 
 controling of our claims and possessions, upon 
 which improvements to the amount of millions of 
 dollars have been made. 
 
 This bill, in section 36, repeals the law of the 
 Territory containing said regulations, thereby leav- 
 ing us destitute of legal protection to our hard- 
 earned possessions, the accumulated labor of over 
 twenty years, and exposing us to the mercy of land 
 speculators and vampires. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Repre- 
 
4OO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 sentatives this bill which would deprive us of reli- 
 gious liberty and every political right worth having, 
 is not directed against the people of Utah as 
 men and women, but against their holy religion. 
 Eighteen years ago, and ten years before the passage 
 of this Anti-Polygamy Act of 1862, one of our 
 leading men, Elder Orson Pratt, was expressly de- 
 puted and sent to the city of Washington, D. C., to 
 publish and lecture on the principle of patriarchal 
 or plural marriage as practiced by us. 
 
 He lectured frequently in that and other cities, 
 and published a paper for some length of time, in 
 which he established, by elaborate and convincing 
 arguments, the divinity of the revelation command- 
 ing plural marriage, given through the prophet, 
 Joseph Smith, and that the doctrine was sanctioned 
 and endorsed by the highest Biblical authority. For 
 ten years before the passage of the Act of 1862 this 
 doctrine was widely preached throughout the Union 
 and the world, and it was universally known and re- 
 cognized as a principle of our holy faith. We are 
 thus explicit in mentioning this fact to show that 
 patriarchal marriage has long been understood to 
 be a cardinal principle of our religion. We would 
 respectfully mention, also in this connection, that 
 while hundreds of our leading elders have been in 
 the Eastern States and in the city of Washington, 
 not one of them has been cited to appear as a wit- 
 ness before the Committee on Territories, to prove 
 that this doctrine is a part of our religion ; gentle- 
 men well knowing that if that were established, the 
 law would be null and void, because of its uncon- 
 stitutionally. 
 
 What we have done to enhance the greatness and 
 glory of our country by pioneering, opening up, and 
 making inhabitable the vast western region, is before 
 the nation, and should receive a nation's thanks, not 
 a prescriptive edict to rob us of every right worth 
 possessing, and of the very soil we have reclaimed 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 4OI 
 
 and then purchased from the Government. Before 
 this soil was United States Territory we settled it, 
 and five hundred of our best men responded to the 
 call of the Government in the war with Mexico, and 
 assisted in adding it to our national domain. When 
 we were received into the Union our religion was 
 known ; our early officers, including our first Gov- 
 ernor, were nearly all Latter-day Saints or " Mor- 
 mons," for there were few others to elect from ; we 
 were treated as citizens possessing equal rights, and 
 the original bond of agreement between the United 
 States Government and the people inhabiting this 
 Territory, conferred upon us the right of self-gov- 
 ernment in the same degree as is enjoyed by any 
 other Territory in the Union. 
 
 It is declared that the power of the Legislature 
 of this Territory " shall extend to all .rightful sub- 
 jects of legislation, consistent with the constitution 
 of the United States and the provisions of the 
 Organic Act ; and the right of suffrage and holding 
 office shall be exercised by citizens of the United 
 States," including those recognized as citizens by 
 the treaty with the Republic of Mexico, concluded 
 February 2d, 1848. This compact or agreement we 
 have preserved inviolate on our part, and we respect- 
 fully submit that it is not in the power of any legis- 
 lature or congress, legally and constitutionally, to 
 abrogate and annul such an agreement as the 
 organic law, which this bill proposes to do, without 
 the consent of both parties. Our property, lands, 
 and buildings, private and public, are to be confis- 
 cated ; our rights of citizenship destroyed ; our men 
 and women subjected to excessive pains and penal- 
 ties, because we believe in and practice a principle 
 taught by the Bible, commanded by divine revela- 
 tion to us, and sustained by the Christian monarchies 
 of Great Britain and France among millions of their 
 subjects in their territories of India and Algeria. 
 
 We earnestly, we solemnly appeal to you not to 
 
4O2 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 permit this iniquitous, unjustly discriminating, and 
 anti-republican measure to become law, and that, 
 too, in violation of the constitution, by which one 
 hundred and fifty thousand industrious, peaceable, 
 and orderly persons will be driven to the desperate 
 necessity of disobeying Almighty God, the governor 
 of the universe, or of subjecting themselves to the 
 pains and penalties of this Act, which would be 
 worse than death. 
 
 We beseech of you, gentlemen, do not, by the 
 passage of harsh and despotic measures, drive an 
 inoffensive, God-fearing, and loyal people to des- 
 peration. 
 
 We have suffered, God knows how much, in years 
 past, for our religion. We fled to the mountain 
 wilds to escape the ruthless hand of persecution ; 
 and shall it be said now that our Government, 
 which ought to foster and protect us, designs to 
 repeat, in the most aggravated form, the miseries 
 we have been called upon to pass through before. 
 
 What evidence can we give you that plural mar- 
 riage is a part of our religion, other than what we 
 have done by our public teaching and publishing 
 for years past ? If your honorable bodies are not 
 satisfied with what we now present, and what we 
 have previously published to the world, we beseech 
 you, in the name of our common country and those 
 sacred principles bequeathed unto us by our revolu- 
 tionary fathers, in the name of humanity, and in the 
 name of Almighty God, before making this act a 
 law, to send to this Territory a commission clothed 
 with the necessary authority to take evidence and 
 make a thorough and exhaustive investigation into 
 the subject, and obtain evidence concerning the be- 
 lief and workings of our religious system, from its 
 friends, instead of its enemies. 
 
 This memorial, which was duly signed and at- 
 tested, along with a set of resolutions more dis- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 403 
 
 tinctly emphasizing the sentiment of the people 
 upon some of its cardinal points, was promptly for- 
 warded to Washington. 
 
 Just previous to this a series of mass-meetings 
 had been held throughout the Territory, by the 
 Mormon women, at which was affirmed, with great 
 earnestness, their belief in, and determination to 
 maintain, the institutions of the Church. 
 
 The puritan aspect of those meetings would have 
 been a rare treat to any historical spectator. They 
 would have reminded him of the times when the 
 God-fearing men of England defended their reli- 
 gious and political rights under such leaders as 
 Cromwell, Hampden, Sir John Elliot and Sir Harry 
 Vane, and were inspired by the republican pen of 
 the divine Milton ; nor would he have forgotten 
 that one of Milton's most powerful writings is his 
 defence of polygamous marriages, based upon the 
 Hebrew covenants and examples. 
 
 This united action of the brotherhood and sister- 
 hood created a sentiment which finally culminated 
 in the overthrow of the Cullom Bill. 
 
 In the meantime Dr. Newman had been blowing 
 his bubble on Mormon polygamy. The great 
 speech of Delegate Hooper on the Cullom Bill 
 had embodied, for the edification of Congress, quite 
 an elaborate biblical review and defence of the 
 " peculiar institution." This provoked the evan- 
 gelical ire of the chaplain of the Senate, and in 
 turn he discoursed eloquently on the subject of Mor- 
 
404 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 mon polygamy, to the admiration of his aristocratic 
 constituency of the Metropolitan church. 
 
 The Saints in Zion were much amused at the 
 scene in Washington, and decidedly pleased that 
 their institutions should at length be theologically 
 glorified in " high places." Like Napoleon the 
 Great, they think that " noise is better than monu- 
 1 ments." Dr. Newman was making noise for them 
 on polygamy. So with mischievous tact Mr. Ed- 
 ward Sloan, acting editor of the Salt Lake Daily 
 Telegraph, suggested that the chaplain of the 
 Senate should discuss the subject in the Mormon 
 tabernacle, it being out of place in Washington. 
 The Dr. affected to regard this as a challenge from 
 Brigham Young. It was a crowning opportunity. 
 To discuss polygamy with the man who had made 
 so much noise in the age discuss it, too, in the 
 tabernacle before ten thousand Mormons, was to 
 trumpet his own name into an extraordinary 
 notoriety ! 
 
 Newman " accepted the challenge," and publicly 
 announced his purpose of visiting Utah to discuss 
 with Brigham Young- the sensational subject of 
 polygamy. On their side the apostles humored the 
 delusion of the reverend champion, and though the 
 challenge was a transparent hoax, they were quite 
 ready to give the chaplain of the Senate a taste of 
 their apostolic steel. In the event of the polygamic 
 tournament, Orson Pratt was universally chosen by 
 the Mormons as their champion. Soon the Paul 
 of Mormondom and General Grant's pastor were 
 engaged in a preliminary encounter through the 
 columns of the New York Herald. 
 
UTAH AND "HER FOUNDERS. 405 
 
 The coming discussion in Zion created a "great 
 noise." In some sort of sense it was a national 
 event. There was just that novelty in it too that 
 the public taste so dearly relishes. The American 
 people were prepared for a treat, and the Dr. was 
 duly "billed," and "illustrated" for the occasion. 
 However, to the last moment of his, leaving Wash- 
 ington, he affected to believe that he was going up 
 to the stronghold of Mormondom to discuss with 
 Brigham Young. 
 
 Dr. Newman's expectation of a personal dis- 
 cussion with Brigham Young was as absurd as it 
 was presumptuous. As well might that mediocre 
 priest have journeyed to Rome in the expectation 
 of discussing Catholicism with the Pope. 
 
 Early in August, 1870, Newman made his advent 
 in Salt Lake City, accompanied by the Rev. Dr. 
 Sunderland, and immediately opened correspond- 
 ence with Brigham Young. Much to the Rev. 
 Newman's discomfiture, he found that President 
 Young disclaimed the challenge. A lengthy corres. 
 pondence then ensued ; Dr. Newman persistently 
 endeavoring to bring President Young into the 
 arena, but he as persistently referring him to some 
 one of the apostles ; the result being that the Rev. 
 ambassador finally condescended to measure swords 
 with Apostle Orson Pratt. 
 
 The grand discussion duly came off in the great 
 tabernacle in the presence of thousands. Each 
 day's apostolic fight was glorified with a verbatim 
 report in the New York Herald, and every leading 
 paper in the country devoted its columns to a daily 
 synopsis of the arguments. Never before, in the 
 
406 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG \ OR, 
 
 whole Christian era, had polygamy been so elabo- 
 rately and ably discussed between two divines, and 
 certainly never was a religious debate so extensively 
 published and read. Millions of readers followed 
 the arguments of Dr. Newman and Orson Pratt 
 and it is safe to estimate that quite two-thirds of 
 them yielded the palm to the Mormon apostle. 
 
 It may have been that Dr. Newman was conscious 
 of his defeat, or at least sensible of public opinion, 
 for the judicial crusade which immediately followed 
 under Judge McKean, against Brigham Young and 
 polygamic theocracy, appeared very much like New- 
 man's revenge. Grant stood by McKean in the 
 very face of the Supreme Court, and Newman stood 
 by and counseled Grant. Indeed, it is only simple 
 justice to McKean to hold that the President of the 
 United States and his pastor were largely responsi- 
 ble for the outrageous judicial proceedings recorded 
 in the following chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE M'KEAN REGIME. HISTORY OF THE PROTRACTED 
 EFFORTS TO JUDICIALLY MURDER THE FOUNDERS 
 OF UTAH. THE CONSPIRACY DEFEATED. JUSTICE 
 
 TRIUMPHANT. M'KEAN REMOVED. 
 
 We now come to a period in the life of Brigham 
 Young, which betrays most clearly the overruling 
 hand of Providence. The manner in which he was 
 enabled to confound his enemies and triumph over 
 a most wicked perversion of the United States' laws, 
 and vanquish a band of conspirators against the 
 peace and happiness of the Mormon people, as 
 shown in the following record, cannot be regarded 
 as ether than providential. 
 
 The events to which allusion is made occurred 
 during the years 1870-1-2-3-4, and in the Spring 
 of 1875, finally culminating in the removal of Chief 
 Justice McKean from an office which he had dis- 
 graced and abused in a manner to which the world 
 can furnish no parallel. Appointed through the 
 Jesuitical influence of the Methodist Church, and 
 sustained by the combined bigotry of the land, his 
 downfall only came through the sheer recklessness 
 of his despotic and brutal career. 
 
 A careful search of the records will reveal how, 
 through such instrumentalities as those of packed 
 
408 LIFE OF BRIGIIAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 grand and petit juries, a corrupt judge, a pretended 
 United States district attorney, appointed by that 
 judge, and the State's evidence of an atrocious mur- 
 derer, who purchased his own immunity from justice 
 by his perjury, it was intended to consummate the 
 judicial murder of Brigham Young, Mayor Wells of 
 Salt Lake City, Hosea Stout, Joseph A. Young and 
 other leading Mormons, on charges the most absurd 
 and untrue. 
 
 Chief Justice McKean and his co-conspirators 
 had their plans apparently well laid, but " man 
 proposes, God disposes." Chief Justice Chase and 
 his associates, inspired by the God of justice, 
 stepped in at the last moment, overwhelmed the 
 enemies of the Mormons, and scattered to the winds 
 their unrighteous machinations. Before we present 
 the proofs, however, from the records of this most 
 remarkable providential interposition to arrest the 
 hands of those would-be judicial murderers, we will 
 give an analysis of the laws bearing upon the case, 
 as expounded by the Supreme Court of the United 
 States. 
 
 In the case of Dred Scott, Chief Justice Taney 
 said : 
 
 " But the power of Congress over the person or 
 property of a citizen (in a Territory) can never be 
 a mere discretionary power under our constitution 
 and form of government. The powers of the Gov- 
 ernment and the rights and privileges of the citizen 
 are regulated and plainly defined by the constitution 
 itself. And when the Territory becomes a part of 
 the United States, the Federal Government enters 
 into possession in the character impressed upon it 
 by those who created it. It enters upon it with its 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 409 
 
 powers over the citizen clearly defined, and limited 
 by the constitution, from which it derives its own 
 existence, and by virtue of which alone it continues 
 to exist and act as a government and sovereignty. 
 It has no power of any kind beyond it; and it can- 
 not, when it enters a Territory of the United States, 
 put off its character and assume discretionary or 
 despotic powers which the constitution has denied 
 to it. It cannot create for itself a new character 
 separated from the citizens of the United States, 
 and the duties it owes them under the provisions of 
 the constitution. The Territory being a part of the 
 United States, the government and the citizen both 
 enter it under the authority of the constitution, with 
 their respective rights defined and marked out ; and 
 the Federal Government can exercise no power 
 over his person or property, beyond what that in- 
 strument confers, nor lawfully deny any right which 
 it has reserved." 
 
 A reference to a few of the provisions of the con- 
 stitution will illustrate this proposition. 
 
 For example, no one, we presume, will contend 
 that Congress can make any law for a Territory, 
 respecting the establishment of religion or the free 
 exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech 
 or of the press, or the right of the people of the 
 Territory peaceably to assemble, and to petition the 
 Government for the redress of grievances. Nor can 
 Congress deny to the people the right to keep and 
 bear arms, nor the right to trial by jury, nor compel 
 any one to be a witness against himself in a crim- 
 inal proceeding. 
 
 These powers and others in relation to rights of 
 person, which it is not necessary here to enumerate, 
 are, in express and positive terms, denied to the 
 
4IO LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 General Government ; and the rights of private 
 property have been guarded with equal care. Thus 
 the rights of property are united with the rights of 
 person, and placed on the same ground, by the fifth 
 amendment of the constitution, which provides that 
 no person shall be deprived of life, liberty and 
 property, without due process of law. And an Act 
 of Congress which deprives a citizen of the United 
 States of his liberty or property, merely because he 
 came himself, or brought his property, into a par- 
 ticular Territory of the United States, and who had 
 committed no offence against the laws, could hardly 
 be dignified with the name of " due process of law." 
 
 So, too, it will hardly be contended that Con- 
 gress could by law quarter a soldier in a house in a 
 Territory without the consent of the owner, in time 
 of peace ; nor in time of war, except in a manner 
 prescribed by law. Nor could they by law forfeit 
 the property of a citizen, in a Territory, who was 
 convicted of treason, for a longer period than the 
 life of the person convicted ; nor take private prop- 
 erty for public use without just compensation. 
 
 The powers over person and property of which 
 we speak are not only not granted to Congress, but 
 are in express terms denied, and Congress is forbid- 
 den to exercise them. And this prohibition is not 
 confined to the States, but the words are general, 
 and extend to the whole territory over which the 
 constitution gives power to legislate, including 
 those portions of it remaining under Territorial 
 government, as well as that covered by State gov- 
 ernment. It places the citizens of a Territory, so 
 far as these rights are concerned, on the same footing 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 411 
 
 -with citizens of the States, and guards them as 
 Jirmly and plainly against any inroads which the 
 General Government might attempt, under the plea 
 of implied or incidental powers. And if Congress 
 itself cannot do this if it is beyond the powers 
 conferred on the Federal Government it will be 
 admitted, we presume, that it could not authorize 
 a Territorial government to exercise them. It 
 could confer no power on any local government^ 
 established by its authority, to violate the provisions 
 of the constitution. 
 
 Now let us see what Chief Justice Chase saicj in 
 the Englebrecht decision : 
 
 The theory upon which the various govern- 
 ments for portions of the Territory of the United 
 States have been organized has ever been that of 
 leaving to the inhabitants all the powers of self- 
 government consistent with the supremacy and 
 supervision of national authority, and with certain 
 fundamental principles established by Congress. As 
 early as 1784 an ordinance was adopted by the 
 Congress of the Confederation, providing for the 
 division of all the territory ceded, or to be ceded, 
 into States, with boundaries ascertained by the 
 ordinance. These States were severally authorized 
 to adopt for their temporary government the con- 
 stitution and laws of any one of the States, and 
 provision was made for their ultimate admission, by 
 delegates, into the Congress of the United States. 
 We thus find that the first plan for the establish- 
 ment of governments in the Territories authorized 
 the adoption of State governments from the start, 
 and committed all matters of internal legislation 
 to the discretion of the inhabitants, unrestricted 
 otherwise than by the State constitution originally 
 adopted by them. 
 
412 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 This ordinance, applying to all Territories ceded 
 or to be ceded, was superseded three years later by 
 the ordinance of 1787, restricted in its application 
 to the Territory north-west of the river Ohio the 
 only Territory which had been actually ceded to 
 the United States. 
 
 It provided for the appointment of the Governor 
 and three judges of the court, who were authorized 
 to adopt, for the temporary government of the dis- 
 trict, such laws of the original States as might be 
 adapted to.its circumstances. But as soon as the 
 number of adult male inhabitants should amount to 
 five thousand, they were authorized to elect repre- 
 sentatives, who were required to nominate ten per- 
 sons from whom Congress should elect five to con- 
 stitute a legislative council ; and the House and 
 Council thus selected and appointed were thence- 
 forth to constitute the Legislature of the Territory,, 
 which was authorized to elect a delegate to Con- 
 gress, with the right of debating, but not of voting. 
 This Legislature, subject to the negative of the 
 Governor, and certain fundamental principles and 
 provisions embodied in articles of compact, was 
 clothed with the full power of legislation for the 
 Territory. 
 
 In all the Territories full power was given to the 
 Legislature over all ordinary subjects of legislation. 
 The terms in which it was granted were various,, 
 but the import was the same in all. 
 
 The doctrine, in the early days of this govern- 
 ment, was that the people who scattered themselves 
 over the Territories, who encountered the Indians, 
 and who built up towns, cities and villages in the 
 Territories of the United States, and erected rail- 
 roads and telegraphs, should be a State ad interim. 
 
 This same doctrine was adopted by Congress in 
 1850; when General Cass in the great discussion 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 413 
 
 on the compromise bill, when for the first time in 
 the history of our Government, Calhoun and his 
 pro-slavery friends, for the purpose of extending 
 slavery into Territories then free, assumed and 
 declared that Congress could interfere with the 
 domestic relations in Territories, replied : " During 
 " the pendency of the Territorial Government they 
 " should be allowed to manage their own concerns 
 " in their own way. Does not slavery come within 
 " this category ? Is it not a domestic concern ? Is 
 " not that the doctrine of the South of common 
 " sense indeed ? No Territorial Government was 
 " ever established which had not power to regulate 
 " the domestic relations of husband and wife, of 
 " parent and child, of guardian and ward ; and if 
 " the inhabitants are competent to manage these 
 " great interests, and indeed the interests belonging 
 ' to all the departments of society, including the 
 " issues of life and death, are they not competent to 
 " manage the relation of master and servant, involv- 
 " ing the condition of slavery?" 
 
 A prominent journal, in discussing the point, said : 
 " To us it appears that, from the earliest times, the 
 " policy has been to leave all matters of internal 
 " legislation to the Legislative Assembly, as soon as 
 *' there was one, in a Territory of the United States. 
 ' The only deviation to be found from this rule was 
 "" when the agitation about slavery prompted at- 
 " tempts at exceptional provisions for or against it. 
 " It was at the very time that Utah was erected 
 " into a Territory that adverse pretensions on the 
 " subject of slavery in the Territories received a 
 " quietus, in the measures of 1850, advocated by 
 
414 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 " Clay, Webster, Douglass, Cass and other eminent 
 " Statesmen. They framed and advocated the 
 " several Acts, among them the Act organizing 
 " Utah, by which, without proscribing slavery or 
 " protecting slavery, the matter was left to the 
 " people of the Territory, like all other local sub- 
 " jects, and with the best results. Slavery never 
 " was introduced into either New Mexico or Utah, 
 " both organized on the same principle of leaving 
 " all domestic institutions to the local law. General 
 " Cass, in the debate on the subject, gave its true 
 " history, as above quoted. And as to the entire 
 " power of the several Territorial Legislatures 
 " subject to revision by Congress to manage all 
 " their domestic matters, in their own way, Chief 
 " Justice Campbell, of Michigan, one of the very 
 " ablest, purest and most learned judges on the 
 " bench of this Union, in 21 Michigan, page 75, in 
 " the case of Crane vs. Reeder, says : 
 
 Immediately after the Government of the United 
 States was organized under the constitution, a brief 
 Statute was passed to adapt the ordinance of the 
 constitution, not to change its nature, but as stated in 
 the preamble, in order that it " may continue to 
 have full effect." And so long as the system should 
 continue, the whole legal regulation was clearly 
 relegated to the Territory, as it was afterwards to 
 Michigan when separately organized. 
 
 Then, under the old common law notions, the 
 creation of such a government would be at least an 
 equivalent to the erection of a Country Palatine, 
 and- would transfer all necessary sovereign preroga- 
 tives. But under this ordinance the Territory not 
 only differed from a State in holding derivative in- 
 stead of independent functions, but in being subject 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 415 
 
 to such changes as Congress might adopt. But, 
 until revoked or annulled, an Act of the Territory 
 was just as obligatory as an Act of Congress, and 
 for the same reasons. 
 
 Congress, in 1850, acting on this theory of the 
 entire separation of all the duties and acts of the 
 United States officers in Utah from those of the 
 territorial officers thereof, in enacting the organic 
 act for Utah, had provided by sec. 10, as follows : 
 
 There shall be appointed for the District of Utah 
 a United States District Attorney, who shall con- 
 tinue in office four years unless sooner removed by 
 the President ; and who shall receive the same pay 
 and emoluments as the attorney of the U. S. for 
 Oregon ; and there shall also be appointed a United 
 States Marshal for the Territory of Utah, who shall 
 execute all processes issuing from said Courts, when 
 exercising their jurisdiction as Circuit and District 
 Courts of the United States. He shall perform the 
 same duties and be subject to the same pay as the 
 Marshal of the present Territory of Oregon. 
 
 The duties of the United States District Attor- 
 ney for Utah are thus defined by the Act of Con- 
 gress of September 24, 1819, sec. 35, vol. i, U. S. at 
 large : 
 
 There shall be appointed in each district a person 
 learned in the law to act as the attorney of the 
 U. S. in such district, who shall be sworn, &c. ; 
 and whose duty it shall be to prosecute in such 
 district all delinquents for crimes or offences 
 cognizable under the authority of the United 
 States, and all civil actions in which the United 
 States shall be concerned, except in the Supreme 
 Court. 
 
416 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 And by the 2d sec. of the same act, the duty of 
 United States marshals are thus defined : 
 
 It shall be their duty to attend the District and 
 Circuit Courts, when sitting, and to execute, 
 throughout their districts, all lawful processes di- 
 rected to them, and issued under the authority of 
 the United States. 
 
 By the same organic law of Utah it was provided 
 " that the first six days of every term of the Terri- 
 " torial District Court, or so much thereof as shall 
 " be necessary, shall be appropriated to the trial of 
 " clauses under the law of the United States ; " and 
 during those six, or any other days, when the 
 courts were engaged in enforcing the laws of the 
 United States, the U. S. Marshal and District At- 
 torney performed precisely the same duties as the 
 same officers would do in the Federal Courts, in the 
 States of the Union. 
 
 The Territorial Legislature, to enforce territorial 
 laws, had, on March 3d, 1852, provided by statute 
 for the election of a Territorial marshal and attor- 
 ney-general, by a joint vote of both branches of 
 the legislative council, by which all the duties of 
 attorney-general were thus defined. " To attend to 
 " all legal business on the part of the Territory 
 " before the Courts, where the Territory is a party, 
 " and prosecute Indians accused of crimes, in the 
 " district in which he keeps his office, under the laws 
 " of the Territory of Utah." And the duties of 
 territorial marshal were declared to be " to execute 
 " all orders and processes of the Supreme and Dis- 
 " trict Courts of the Territory, in all cases arising 
 " under the laws of the Territory." 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 417 
 
 This latter statute had been affirmed by Con- 
 gress, for over 22 years, by its tacit approval 
 thereof and so had become, to all intents, the 
 law of Congress itself. 
 
 It will thus be seen that, by the Acts of Congress, 
 the duties of U. S. Dist. Attorney and marshal for 
 Utah were precisely the same as those in all the 
 States of the Union, while the offices of Terri- 
 torial attorney-general and marshal were the same 
 as those of attorney-general and sheriff of the 
 several States. 
 
 Under this state of things the conspirators 
 deemed it necessary at the outset to get rid of the 
 Territorial marshal and Attorney-General, and vest 
 their duties in the United States Marshal and Dis- 
 trict Attorney. They also wished to nullify the 
 statutes of Utah, providing for the drawing and 
 impaneling of grand and petit jurors, as they could 
 not otherwise use the courts as instrumentalities for 
 the destruction of the Mormons. 
 
 The first move in this direction was made in 
 1870, in the proceedings of Chas. H. Hempstead, 
 U. S. District Attorney, against Zerubbabel Snow, 
 Attorney-General of Utah, the result of which was 
 that Snow was removed from office, and his duties 
 devolved upon Hempstead, in violation both of the 
 laws of Utah and of the United States. 
 
 At the same time a similar course was taken by 
 Hempstead against the Territorial marshal, John 
 D. T. McAllister, which ultimated in the removal 
 of that officer and the assumption of his duties by 
 J. M. Orr, U. S. Marshal. 
 
 So long as these absurd decisions remained un- 
 
418 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 reversed by that of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, which, in the case of Snow vs. 
 Hempstead, was finally done in October, 1873, tne 
 governmental machinery of Utah was held in the 
 hands of the United States judicial officers, who 
 made use of their power to vex and punish the 
 Mormons for pretended offences. 
 
 This was done by means of packed juries, per- 
 jured witnesses, and prosecutions conducted by 
 men who were alike ignorant and regardless of law. 
 During the period embracing the years 1870 to 
 1873, until the United States Supreme Court over- 
 ruled McKean, and decided that it was " Snow's 
 " duty to prosecute all those persons charged with 
 " crimes against the statutes of Utah, and McAllis- 
 " ter's duty to draw and impanel all grand and petit 
 " jurors," the United States had expended in this 
 direction over $30,000, and President Young and 
 some sixty to eighty of his people had been illegally 
 indicted for alleged crimes of every name and 
 nature, had suffered many months of false im- 
 prisonment at Camp Douglas and in the jails of 
 Salt Lake City and County, and had paid to attor- 
 neys and witnesses many thousands of dollars. 
 
 The second step on the part of the conspirators 
 was a process entirely ignoring and blotting out 
 the Statutes of Utah in regard to procuring grand 
 and petit juries for district courts, and enabling 
 Marshal Patrick to select as such jurors any persons 
 whom he might choose, the selection in every case 
 being made, of course, from the most bitter and 
 malignant enemies of the Mormon people. 
 
 Pendent e lite, Hempstead resigned the office of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 419 
 
 U. S. District Attorney, and Justice McKean ap- 
 pointed R. N. Baskin to succeed him in an office 
 which no one has any right to fill unless nominated 
 by the President, and confirmed by the Senate of 
 the United States. It was not until November, 
 1871, that the lawful successor of Hempstead was 
 appointed by Grant. At this juncture of affairs a 
 collision between the judicial authorities of Utah 
 and the Mormon people seemed inevitable. Great 
 alarm existed all over the United States as well as 
 in Utah. But these gross perversions of law, and 
 Justice McKean's wild and extraordinary charge to 
 the packed grand jury, aroused the public mind ; 
 and the Administration at Washington was spurred 
 to action. 
 
 Meantime, the illegally-appointed U. S. Attorney, 
 Baskin, had drawn and signed various indictments, 
 which were presented and filed in court by the 
 illegal grand jury, and a very large number of lead- 
 ing Mormons and officers, including the Mayor of 
 Salt Lake City, were arrested and placed in close 
 confinement, at Camp Douglas under a military 
 guard commanded by Lieut.-Col. Henry Morrow. 
 This officer had superseded his predecessor, Col. 
 De Trobriand, through the influence of McKean 
 and Doctor Newman, simply because the Colonel 
 had refused to consent to fire upon the Mormon 
 people on the 4th of July, if ordered to do so by 
 the Secretary of the Territory of Utah. 
 
 "Bill" Hickman, who had been cut off from. the 
 Mormon Church for his crimes, was one of the per- 
 sons so indicted, and being promised immunity if 
 he would turn State's evidence and swear against 
 
42O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 President Young and his people, confessed to the 
 new District Attorney that he had murdered 
 eighteen persons in cold blood. His confinement, 
 however, was merely nominal. 
 
 During the Fall of 1871, President Young being 
 in very poor health, went to St. George, in Southern 
 Utah, to spend the winter. Here he was safe from 
 the hands of the assassins, and also beyond the 
 reach of the United States officers at Salt Lake j 
 who were now eager and ready to consign him, 
 through form of law, to the gallows, whether inno- 
 cent or guilty. 
 
 All seemed now ready for the sacrifice, and the 
 conspirators, having full control of the Courts, 
 trampled under foot the Territorial statutes, and 
 claimed to be governed in these prosecutions by the 
 laws of Congress ; and there was no appeal, in crim- 
 inal cases, from their final judgments. 
 
 The guilt of the Mormon prisoners had been pre- 
 determined, a bitter and unscrupulous press had 
 promulgated its verdict against them, and McKean's 
 judgments were often pre-announced through its 
 columns ere they were filed in court. Attorney 
 General Ackerman was grossly ignorant of all these 
 movements, while Grant had shut his eyes and ears 
 to Utah. In January, 1872, in the Ebbett House, 
 in Washington, Judge McKean avowed his prin- 
 ciples to Judge Louis Dent, brother-in-law of the 
 President, in these precise words : 
 
 "Judge Dent, the mission which God has called 
 " upon me to perform in Utah, is as much above 
 " the duties of other courts and judges as the 
 " heavens are above the earth, and whenever or 
 

 UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 421 
 
 " wherever I may find the Local or Federal laws 
 " obstructing or interfering therewith, by God's bles- 
 " sing I shall trample them under my feet." 
 
 The conspirators were now ready to consummate 
 their plans. To bring Brigham Young back from 
 St. George, and before a packed petit jury, with 
 paid witnesses upon the stand, it would be an easy 
 matter to secure a verdict of "guilty of murder," 
 and sentence of death was assured. Thus in a single 
 execution was it designed to overthrow President 
 Young, Mayor Wells, and all the other leaders of 
 the Mormon people. 
 
 But about this time, November 1871, the Presi- 
 dent and his cabinet became at last alarmed at the 
 aspect of affairs in Utah. Fears arose that Brigham 
 Young and his 140,000 people might be goaded to 
 madness by these illegal acts, and by force of arms 
 resist their consummation. At the urgent request 
 of General Benjamin H. Bristow, and by the advice 
 of Senator Trumbull, Judges David Davis and 
 Drummond and Blodgett of Illinois, a United States 
 District Attorney, Geo. C. Bates, Esq., was appointed 
 to succeed the conspirators' attorney, Baskin, and 
 ordered to proceed to Salt Lake and assume the 
 duties of his office with all possible dispatch. 
 
 On the 29th of November, 1871, he arrived there, 
 took the oath of office, and immediately entered 
 upon his duties with this declaration : 
 
 " As far as my official prerogative extends, I will 
 " so administer the law, as that all men, irrespective 
 " of caste, color, condition, sect or religion, shall be 
 " protected by its power, and that equal and exact 
 "justice shall be meted out to Christian, Jew, Mor- 
 " mon and Gentile alike." 
 
422 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 This new United States District Attorney at 
 once saw that all the criminal proceedings thus far 
 taken by McKean and his coadjutors, were abso- 
 lutely null and void, and that all the Mormons now 
 in confinement were imprisoned without any author- 
 ity of law ; and he at once determined to stop all 
 further proceedings in the Court until a deci- 
 sion could be obtained on these grave questions, 
 either from Congress or the Supreme Court of the 
 United States. He saw, on a careful examination, 
 that there were no legal indictments against the 
 parties in prison, no legal petit jury in court to try 
 them, but a body of men packed and selected for 
 their bitter and avowed hatred of the Mormons and 
 their President. He found also that there was not 
 a single dollar in the hands of the United States 
 Marshal to pay jurors or witnesses' fees, or any 
 other expenses of the Court ; and, further, that the 
 United States Comptroller at Washington had not 
 recognized Baskin as United States District At- 
 torney for Utah, and had positively refused to pay 
 one cent for expenses incurred in any cases where 
 the Territorial laws had been violated. On the 
 other hand, the Territorial authorities being fully 
 aware of the gross violations of the law by McKean 
 and his coadjutors, would not pay one dollar to 
 these Federal usurpers. 
 
 A debt of over $30,000 for some one to pay had 
 been created by these criminal prosecutions, which, 
 they being null and void, was worthless. 
 
 Thus the U. S. District Attorney found himself 
 placed in a delicate and trying position, for it was 
 evident that as soon as McKean should find his 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 423 
 
 proceedings set aside as illegal, he, and Newman* 
 who was almost omnipotent at Washington, would 
 seek his removal ; but with a strict sense of justice, 
 he proved himself equal to the "emergency. He 
 placed himself at once in constant communication 
 with Solicitor-General Bristow, then acting Attor- 
 ney-General at Washington one of the ablest and 
 purest men who has occupied that position for 
 many years. The next step in the programme was 
 to gain time. To this end he continued all criminal 
 cases on McKean's calendar at Salt Lake to as late 
 a date as possible, fixing the time for the case of 
 the U. S. vs. Brigham Young and other Mormon 
 leaders, for the pretended murder of one Yates, on 
 January I2th, 1872. 
 
 At this time was manifested another striking 
 revelation of the towering genius of Brigham 
 Young. It was midwinter ; he was in poor health ; 
 a journey of 350 miles must be made through sleet 
 and storm, to answer the outrageous summons of 
 McKean's court, to appear for trial at Salt Lake 
 City. It seemed as simple a matter as it was just 
 for President Young to answer that he would not 
 heed the summons at least not until Spring. 
 
 Moreover, he was surrounded by his faithful 
 councilors, every one of whom earnestly entreated 
 him to disregard the mandate of the court ; and 
 ten thousand brave men, every one of whom would 
 have died for. him, were near. 
 
 " No," said he, " it is right to go ; the Lord says 
 " go ; it will take their weapons from their hands." 
 And in the dead of winter he journeyed those 350 
 miles to face the officers of the district court, and 
 
424 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 proclaim his willingness to be tried, even on their 
 illegal process. 
 
 Arrived at Salt Lake City, he promptly surren- 
 dered himself. His attorney, acting on McKean's 
 decision that the crime charged in the indictment 
 was an offence against the statutes and sovereignty 
 of the United States, moved the Court under the 
 laws of the United States, that it should admit 
 Brigharn Young to bail in the sum of $500,000 ; but, 
 although there were Gentiles then in Court who 
 offered to sign his bail bond and qualify, the motion 
 was overruled, and President Young was ordered into 
 close custody of a United States marshal. He was 
 confined in his own house and forced to pay the 
 marshal for his guardianship, ten dollars per day. 
 This confinement continued for one hundred and 
 twenty days, three weeks of which was after the 
 Supreme Court of the United States had unani- 
 mously decided in the case of Englebrecht, already 
 cited, that the grand jury who found the indictment 
 was an illegal body, drawn and impaneled in de- 
 fiance of all law making the imprisonment of 
 these leaders a crime. 
 
 Mr. Bates next procured a still further continu- 
 ance of all public business upon the calendar, from 
 January 12 to March 12, 1872, and, having obtained 
 permission, proceeded at once to Washington, 
 where he issued a printed circular, addressed to 
 Congress, at the same time orally addressing the 
 Territorial and judiciary committees of both Houses, 
 and thus thrice furnished the representatives of the 
 nation with an accurate narrative of the matters 
 pending in the courts of Utah. He entreated them 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 425 
 
 to arrest all further prceedings, or else to appro- 
 priate sufficient money to pay all witnesses, jurors, 
 and the court's expenses, so that pending cases 
 could be tried and ended forever. But in vain did 
 he plead the injustice of the false imprisonment of 
 the Mormon leaders. Congress would not appro- 
 priate money for either past or future expenses in 
 the prosecution of these pretended offences against 
 the Territorial laws of Utah, and would make no 
 order dismissing the cases now pending in McKean's 
 court. Then Mr. Bates applied to Attorney-Gen. 
 Williams to move forward on the calendar of the 
 Supreme Court of the United States the case of 
 Englebrecht vs. Jeter, Clinton et al, pending on 
 appeal, to have the same argued and decided at once, 
 and thereby the law as to these proceedings would 
 be settled forever. After many weeks' delay, and 
 only after a near relative of President Grant had 
 been retained and paid a large fee as counsel, did 
 Attorney-General Williams move the Court, when 
 the case of Englebrecht was advanced upon the 
 calendar of the United States Supreme Court, and 
 in April, 1872, the decision which we have before 
 cited was made ; and in that decision the Court de- 
 cided as the District Attorney had predicted they 
 would, viz. : " that the grand and petit juries sum- 
 " moned by McKean were both drawn in violation 
 " of law ; that they could only be drawn under the 
 " statutes of Utah, even in cases where the United 
 " States laws had been violated ; that McAllister, 
 " Territorial marshal, de facto, could alone serve the 
 " venire, no matter whether he was legally in office 
 " or not ; that United States Marshal Patrick had 
 
426 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 " no authority to serve the venire, or in any manner 
 " to intermeddle with the manner of drawing jurors, 
 " and, as a legal consequence, all the indictments 
 " now pending in the courts of Utah were null and 
 " void ; that Brigham Young and his Mormon 
 " brethren must be discharged from confinement, 
 " and the records of this judicial conspiracy ex- 
 " pungecl." 
 
 McKean had, in the meantime, followed Bates to 
 Washington, and had entered upon the more con- 
 genial duties of a lobbyist, besetting the committees 
 and members of Congress to appropriate the na- 
 tion's money to enable him to continue his unlawful 
 and iniquitous crusade against Brigham Young and 
 the Mormon people. He sat in court and heard 
 the reading of this unanimous and able opinion, and 
 listened to it in blank amazement, while all his de- 
 crees, judgments and sentences were expunged and 
 emasculated ; and his victims, just now under 
 the shadow of the gallows, were to be set free for- 
 ever. 
 
 Although this decision was immediately tele- 
 graphed to Marshal Patrick at Salt Lake, with 
 orders to release and discharge all the prisoners in 
 custody or under bail, yet Judge Hawley, being in 
 sympathy with McKean, and the acting District At- 
 torney, in collusion with Governor Wood, disregarded 
 the orders of the Attorney-General at Washington ; 
 and the Mormon prisoners were kept imprisoned 
 for three weeks longer until a certified copy of the 
 decision of the Supreme Court could be obtained 
 and filed in McKean's court. Thus ended the first 
 act in this judicial conspiracy, to the utter confusion 
 and disgrace of the conspirators. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 427 
 
 From the time of this decision, down to the close 
 of Congress in 1872, McKean, as lobbyist, sought 
 to have Congress pass a bill conferring upon the 
 United States District Attorney and Marshal, of 
 Utah only, the powers which he had already erro- 
 neously decided they possessed. 
 
 Congress, however, had studied the law regulating 
 the Territorial governments, and dared not go be- 
 fore the country, then, on an issue against so able 
 a decision. 
 
 Before Mr. Bates left Washington, he had a pro- 
 tracted interview with the President, and laid before 
 him a plan, looking to a settlement through the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, of the vexed 
 question of polygamy, by having six leading po- 
 lygamists indicted under the Act of Congress of 
 1862, and test cases made of them ; these six cases 
 to be tried in McKean's court, pro forma, and con-, 
 victed ; then, under a special Act of Congress, to 
 be passed for that purpose, they should be appealed 
 to the Supreme Court of the United States, and 
 the validity of the Act of 1862, under the Treaty 
 of Guadalupe Hidalgo, should be finally settled. 
 The Mormon leaders agreed to abide by and sub- 
 mit to that decision, whatever it might be, and 
 Delegate George Q. Cannon, in the presence of 
 Attorney-General Williams, offered to be one of 
 these test cases. This plan pleased the President, 
 and Mr. Bates started back to Utah to hasten the 
 impaneling of the grand jury, the court being then 
 in session, in time to have these indictments found 
 before the Republican convention should be held in 
 Philadelphia, June 9, 1872, but all in vain ; the 
 
428 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 secret leaked out and the court instantly adjourned 
 sine die, and on the return of the District Attorney 
 to Salt Lake, it was too late to carry out the plan 
 agreed upon. 
 
 At the next October term, 1872, of McKean's 
 court, the District Attorney again applied for a 
 grand jury to take up these test cases of polygamy, 
 but the wily judge kept it under advisement several 
 days, and then under the plea of having already 
 too much business ri his court, refused to order a 
 venire, his motive, in reality, being to avoid the test. 
 Although ten years had elapsed since Congress had 
 passed the law against polygamy, that law had never 
 yet been enforced. President Lincoln on the moment 
 of its passage refused to approve or sign it. He 
 appointed Hosea Stout a Mormon polygamist 
 as United States District Attorney for Utah, in 
 1862, and declared openly that he had very grave 
 doubts as to the right of Congress to interfere with 
 domestic relations in the Territories. No instruc- 
 tions to enforce that law ever issued from the De- 
 partment of Justice. 
 
 McKean had been thwarted at every point. The 
 indictments which his illegal grand jury had found 
 against many of the Mormons for " Lewd and las- 
 " civious co-habitation with their plural wives," were 
 all swept away by the Englebrecht decision. He 
 now adopted a new policy, and for tjiree years car- 
 ried it out, which was to hinder and delay the 
 business of the Courts of Utah, civil and criminal, 
 to impanel no juries, either grand or petit, till Con- 
 gress was coerced to pass a law by which the Mor- 
 mons, whether actual polygamists or only religious 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 429 
 
 believers therein, should be kept off all juries, and 
 all polygamic wives could apply for divorce and 
 have alimony given them. In direct violation of the 
 Englebrecht decision, ordering petit juries to be 
 drawn from term to term, McKean decided that 
 they were illegal because drawn by McAllister, the 
 Territorial marshal. The Chief Justice declared 
 upon one occasion that he " would starve every 
 " lawyer out of Utah, if necessary, to show Con- 
 " gress that other and further legislation was indis- 
 " pensable." 
 
 In the meantime, McKean, having sole control of 
 all judicial matters in Utah, anarchy reigned su- 
 preme. Criminals languished in prison, and liti- 
 gants in court, even in civil cases, from 1872 to 
 1874, were left without any remedy at law, simply 
 because the Chief Justice would not yield obedience 
 to the decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States ; and President Grant, blinded by false ad- 
 vice, would not remove McKean from an office to 
 which he was a living disgrace. 
 
 In the meantime, wherever an opportunity offered 
 under cover of the law to prosecute any of the Mor- 
 mons, where no jurors were required, McKean and 
 his fellow conspirators did not fail to improve it. 
 
 An attempt was made, in the Spring of 1874, by 
 McKean's friends, to get possession of the records, 
 papers, and treasures of Salt Lake City, in the name 
 of a self-constituted people's committee, more than 
 half of whom were non-taxpayers of the city. Judge 
 Sutherland, however, argued with such consummate 
 clearness and force that there was no power in the 
 court to grant a mandamus, that the counsel for 
 
43O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 the relators, the ablest lawyers of the entire clique, 
 waived the mandamus and gave it up, while Justice 
 McKean was eager, in violation of all precedent, to 
 grant it. Had success crowned this effort, Salt 
 Lake City would have gone at once into the hands 
 of a ring, like that which has plundered New 
 York. 
 
 At the August election of 1874, by a pre-arranged 
 conspiracy, the ballot boxes of Tooele County were 
 stuffed with illegal votes to the number of thou- 
 sands, more than two-thirds of those votes being 
 cast by non-residents. Thus men were elected 
 through fraudulent votes, and received certificates 
 and commissions of office in gross violation of law. 
 The statutes of Utah provide that the title to an 
 office can only be tried by a writ of quo warranto^ 
 and if the incumbents in Tooele County had usurped 
 their offices, or held them contrary to law, they 
 could only be punished and ousted after trial by a 
 quo warranto and verdict of a jury thereon ; but in 
 spite of all law, McKean denied a trial by jury,, 
 found the facts himself, and then gave judgment in 
 each case in favor of the. gentile ballot-box stuffers, 
 against the Mormon legal voters and tax-payers, 
 and by mandamus compeled the latter to turn over 
 to the former, books, records, offices, etc. In Janu- 
 ary, 1875, these cases were again very elaborately 
 argued in the Supreme Court, but Justice McKean 
 and his associate, Justice Boreman, refused to con- 
 sider or decide the causes, simply to leave their 
 colleagues in fraud in office until their term 
 expired. 
 
 But the case of Ann Eliza Webb, a name now 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 43 1 
 
 familiar to the world, demonstrates still further the 
 futile attempts of McKean to rob and destroy the 
 Mormon people. This woman, who was the wife 
 of one Dee, and the mother of his two children, be- 
 came the celestial or plural wife of President Young, 
 under the ceremonies of the Mormon creed, while 
 he was living openly with his legal wife, to whom 
 he was married in 1833, at Kirtland, Ohio. The 
 Act of Congress of 1862 made this plural marriage 
 a crime, punishable if prosecuted within two years 
 after the second marriage. Of course the marriage 
 was, by law, utterly null and void. Ann Eliza well 
 knew this, and so also did McKean. He had been 
 an eye-witness of the fact for five years. There 
 were several plain objections to granting her prayer 
 for divorce and alimony, viz. : 
 
 ist. At that time Probate Courts had juris- 
 diction over all matters of divorce and alimony. 
 
 2d. The District Court had no power to meddle 
 therein. 
 
 3d. There had been no lawful marriage between 
 Ann Eliza and Brigham Young, and, of course, 
 there could be no lawful divorce or alimony. 
 
 Notwithstanding these facts, which were well- 
 known to McKean, this malignant usurper, who 
 should have dismissed this bill of complaint as soon 
 as he had read it, as absurd, and, in any case, as one 
 over which he had no jurisdiction, entertained and 
 kept it in court over two years, and in violation of 
 all law and equity, awarded to the counsel of Ann 
 Eliza the sum of $3,000, and to her the sum of 
 $9,500 alimony, pending decision. He also awarded 
 her $500 per month until Brigham Young could 
 
432 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 prove by witnesses in court, his answer, when he 
 would dismiss her bill, deny a divorce, and give 
 defendant costs, but not^until he had first robbed 
 him of from $15,000 to* $20,000 for alimony. He 
 also ordered that, if counsel fee was not paid in ten 
 days, and alimony in twenty clays thereafter, Presi- 
 dent Young should be imprisoned for contempt of 
 court. Acting on the advice of counsel, who had 
 taken an appeal to the Supreme Court of the 
 United States from this decree, President Young 
 refused to pay counsel fees until after argument 
 on the appeal, whereupon McKean ordered this 
 venerable and reverend leader of a people, on one of 
 the coldest, stormiest days of March, to be confined in 
 a penitentiary. It was this last straw which broke 
 the judicial camel's back. It was so notoriously in 
 violation of accepted law that a woman, the seven- 
 teenth plural wife, so-called, a relation not legally 
 recognized at all, should have alimony granted her 
 by a so-called Christian Judge, that the moral sense 
 of the President and his Cabinet was at length 
 shocked, and the Bench and Bar everywhere uprose 
 against such an enormity. It resulted in McKean's 
 instant removal and disgrace ; and with him fell a 
 system of judicial tyranny, the like of which 
 never before disgraced the annals of American 
 jurisprudence. 
 
 Thus ended the five long years of persecution of 
 Brigham Young and his people, through a con- 
 spiracy which resulted in the complete disgrace and 
 overthrow of the conspirators. 
 
 The new Chief Justice was an honest man, and 
 would not lend himself to any system of fraud or 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 433 
 
 injustice, and, in the case of Ann Eliza, he deter- 
 mined that the order for alimony should be ex- 
 punged from the record. But this did not occur, 
 however, until its victim had been imprisoned, and 
 had paid over $4,000 for counsel fees, and two 
 months' alimony. 
 
 The five years of judicial maladministration of 
 McKean in Utah may be summarized as follows : 
 
 ist. $100,000, of United States public money, 
 belonging to the Department of Justice, have been 
 squandered there. 
 
 2d. No Mormon has ever been convicted, during 
 that period, of any offence against the laws of the 
 Territory, or of the United States, except: 
 
 3d. The case of the United States vs. George 
 Reynolds, for polygamy, where the verdict of guilty 
 was found by a jury, nine of whom were Mormon 
 polygamists ; and the witnesses who furnished all 
 the evidence, including the plural wife herself, were 
 all polygamists which case is expected to go to 
 the Supreme Court of the United States, where the 
 validity of the Act of '62 will be finally settled, as it 
 would have been in '72, had not the plan then 
 agreed upon been frustrated by the Federal officials 
 in Utah. 
 
 4th. These illegal prosecutions, including the 
 false imprisonment of Brigham Young and the 
 leaders of the people, have cost them in counsel 
 fees, loss of time, and injuries to their business, at 
 least $500,000. 
 
 5th. The panic and alarm created thereby in the 
 States of the Union, and the fear of a collision be- 
 tween the authorities and the Mormon people, have 
 
434 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 driven or kept away millions of dollars of capital. 
 A single word in view of this remarkable history: 
 as. verified by the records, it is demonstrated that in 
 every case where the court sought to rob, oppress, 
 vex and harass President Young and his people, 
 to deprive them of their lives, liberty and property, 
 it was finally overruled by the special judgment of 
 heaven, in the decisions of the Supreme Court, and 
 McKean's successors in office. McKean's own wicked 
 acts, decrees, and judgments became the instru- 
 ments of his downfall, disgrace and end. The author- 
 ities in Washington were compelled to officially 
 decapitate him, solely by reason of his violation of 
 the law, and of equity and good conscience, thus 
 going to prove that now^ as in the past, Brigham 
 Young and that chosen people are under the especial 
 care and protection of heaven, and that all who have 
 sought by wicked and criminal means to destroy or 
 injure them, have, sooner or later, as in case of 
 Drummond, Harding, Wood, Hawley, Ashley, Col- 
 fax, Cullom Poland,, Williams, and others, been 
 confounded or disgraced. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 CONGRESSIONAL MATTERS SUBSEQUENT TO 1870. 
 POLYGAMIC THEOCRACY BOLDLY SUBMITTED AT 
 THE NATIONAL CAPITAL. DELEGATE CANNON\S 
 CONGRESSIONAL CAREER. GENERAL GRANT VISITS 
 UTAH. MEETING OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 While affairs in Utah were in the condition just 
 narrated, it seemed as if Providence determined 
 that the Mormon case in its entirety should be sent 
 to Washington. Delegate Hooper, who had repre- 
 sented Utah most efficiently and untiringly for ten 
 years on the floor of the House, and who, in addi- 
 tion to this, had spent nearly two years in Washing- 
 ton as Senator elect, trying to get the Territory 
 admitted as a State, having served so long and 
 faithfully, it was deemed best to relieve him from 
 the arduous duties of the position. Moreover, 
 he needed rest and the privilege of attending to his 
 affairs at home, and enjoying the society of his 
 family and friends. The question then arose, with 
 many, " Who will be sent as delegate ? " Many 
 excellent friends felt that it would be a great mis- 
 fortune to lose the services of Mr. Hooper at such 
 a time. No man was better known in Washington 
 than he. His reputation was excellent, and though 
 known as a Mormon, it was generally understood 
 
436 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 that he was not a practical polygamist. He had 
 served the Territory efficiently and to the satisfac- 
 tion of his constituents. Others, with excellent 
 motives, but with little faith in the value of the 
 Mormon movement in the age, not only counseled 
 the sending of a conservative Gentile at that period 
 to Congress, but the renunciation of polygamy 
 itself, and the practical abandonment of the Mor- 
 mon mission in its vast society aims, allowing the 
 Church to quietly settle down to a " respectable " 
 religious sect. Not so, however, will the Mormons 
 ever think. President Young and his compeers 
 never will resign their mission, nor the Mormon 
 people prove so unworthy as to give up the fraction, 
 even, of their institutions. The general feeling 
 among the clearest thinkers of Utah was, to send a 
 strictly socialistic representative man. In the per- 
 son of George Q. Cann'on they had such a man. 
 " But," it was urged by some timid persons, " he is 
 " an apostle and a polygamist. If you send him, 
 " your enemies will say that you mean to defy pub- 
 " lie sentiment, and you will be sure to evoke strong 
 " opposition." President Young, however, was in 
 favor of his nomination, and the people determined 
 to elect him. They certainly had the right, under 
 the constitution, to choose whom they pleased to 
 represent them, so long as he possessed the consti- 
 tutional qualifications. What had a representative's 
 religion or family relations to do with his qualifica- 
 tions for Congress ? Catholics and Jews had been 
 deemed suitable for legislators in free America, 
 and why should Mormons be deprived of this 
 right ? 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 437 
 
 It was a grand manifestation of faith and right- 
 eousness, when George Q. Cannon, an apostle and 
 polygamist, was sent to Congress. The Mormon 
 people have never from the first moment shirked 
 their responsibilities, but have ever courted a right- 
 eous trial of their cause. Milton's motto : " Give 
 " truth a fair and an open field ; let her grapple with 
 " error; whoever knew truth worsted ? "-has been 
 well applied in their case. They have never shun- 
 ned investigation, but have ever met with resigna- 
 tion even their imprisonments and martyrdoms. At 
 this very period President Young, as we have seen, 
 had just submitted to arrest and imprisonment, 
 from which he was only relieved by the decision of 
 the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 Upon consideration, the honorable anti-Mormon 
 must confess that next to giving up their " institu- 
 tion," the most proper thing for the Mormon people 
 to do, was to boldly send their cause to Congress, 
 in the person of a polygamic representative. It was 
 Congress that gave them an anti-polygamic law, 
 which even a missionary judge could not twist into 
 an effective form : Congress, that was everlastingly 
 in travail with special legislation for Utah : Con- 
 gress and the President of the United States, who 
 insisted that "polygamic theocracy" must be brought 
 to trial somewhere or somehow. " Polygamic theoc- 
 racy " could therefore have chosen no better field 
 of mission for one of its ablest apostles than Con- 
 gress itself. Half a dozen earnest Mormon elders 
 in Congress, would be the rarest godsend that the 
 nation has seen for the last quarter of a century. 
 
 The institutions of that people are truly embodied 
 
LIKE OK BKIGIIAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 in President Young, but he could not go to Con- 
 gress to stand in their stead. One therefore had to 
 be chosen worthy both to represent Brigham Young 
 and the Mormons, as a people, as well as the general 
 interests of Utah, as a Territory. George Q. Cannon 
 was the man, and there is no doubt that his election 
 meant as much in the minds of the whole com- 
 munity. 
 
 Delegate Cannon was elected to Congress in the 
 Fall of 1872. One George R. Maxwell, Register 
 of the Land Office of the Territory, had been a 
 candidate for the same office in 1870, against Dele- 
 gate Hooper, but had been badly beaten, receiving 
 only a few hundred votes as against over 26,000 in 
 favor of Mr. Hooper. On the . strength of this 
 meagre vote, he contested the seat, collected a mass 
 of testimony, and put the delegate to the trouble 
 and expense of rebutting it. He relied mainly for 
 his success on the prejudices which he knew existed 
 against the Mormons ; he also accused Mr. Hooper 
 of disloyalty, and of having taken part against the 
 Government during the Buchanan troubles ; and 
 of being unfitted as a delegate in Congress, by rea- 
 son of having taken the " endowment oath." He 
 failed, however, to accomplish anything in the mat- 
 ter ; but, when Mr. Cannon was nominated as candi- 
 date for delegate, he doggedly renewed the contest, 
 and made no concealment of his expectations that 
 he would get the seat. In his notice of contest^ 
 Maxwell did not accuse Mr. Cannon of being in 
 rebellion during Buchanan's time, but he made the 
 same charge concerning the " endowment oath " as 
 he had against his predecessor, with the additional 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 439 
 
 charge of his having- conspired with Brigham 
 Young and others to intimidate voters, under 
 threats of death if they did not vote for him ; and 
 also charged him with living in polygamy in " viola- 
 " tion of the laws of God and his country," with 
 four wives. At the opening of the 43d Congress, 
 Maxwell was present, and with some friends to help 
 him, endeavored to create an influence among mem- 
 bers adverse to the delegate elect. When the 
 members were being sworn in, he succeeded in 
 inducing Mr. Merriam, of New York, to introduce a 
 resolution into the House embodying in brief his 
 charges against Mr. Cannon. According to the 
 rules of the House, one objection, offered by a mem- 
 ber, can prevent the swearing in of another, until it 
 is disposed of by the House. He therefore had to 
 step aside until the other delegates were sworn in ; 
 then the resolution came up for discussion. The 
 leading men of both political parties spoke 
 against the resolution. The reading of his certifi- 
 cate of election was demanded, and as it stated that 
 his vote was over 20,000 above his opponent's, it 
 created a sensation. It was clear, according to all 
 precedents, and the rules of the House, that he had 
 a strong prima facie case, and was fully entitled to 
 his seat. On motion, the resolution was tabled, 
 only one dissenting voice being heard, and he was 
 sworn in. 
 
 Every effort was made by the contestant Max- 
 well, during that session, to get him unseated, but, 
 the committee on electiens, by unanimous vote, de- 
 cided that Maxwell was not entitled to the seat, and 
 by a like vote delared that Mr. Cannon was. 
 
44O LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 Upon all subjects connected with the Mormon 
 question, there is great sensitiveness and timidity 
 manifested by members of Congress. They are 
 strongly averse to putting themselves on record in 
 such a manner as to expose them to the charge of 
 being favorable to Mormonism : therefore, when a 
 resolution was introduced by a member by the name 
 of Hazelton, appointing a committee to investigate 
 the Maxwell charges, though many were opposed 
 to it, it received a majority vote. Action, however, 
 was not had upon it during that session, and in the 
 second session of that Congress, although the 
 matter was pushed, in committee, to the extent of 
 recommending a resolution to " exclude " the dele- 
 gate, it was never considered by the House. 
 
 Upon the opening of the 44th Congress, a contest- 
 ant (Baskin) was ready to urge his case upon the at- 
 tention of the House of Representatives. But the old 
 members were becoming accustomed to these con- 
 tests. They knew by past experience how little 
 real merit they possessed. In this instance the con- 
 testant for the seat had against him a majority of 
 over 20,000 votes. Those who knew anything of 
 the case, therefore, saw that whatever the objections 
 to Mr. Cannon himself might be, the contestant 
 could lay no just claim to the seat. But the com- 
 mittee on elections were in duty bound to listen to 
 the case. Mr. Baskin made his argument before 
 them, and was replied to, in a powerful argument, 
 by the sitting delegate. At present (June, 1876) 
 the decision of the committee, if they have arrived 
 at any, has not been made public. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 441 
 
 In the early part of October, 1875, President 
 Grant and wife, with a party of friends and relatives, 
 journeyed to Salt Lake City, where they were most 
 cordially received by the people. On the day of 
 their arrival in the Territory, President Young and 
 a select party, representing the municipal authorities 
 of Salt Lake City, proceeded by special train to 
 Ogden, to meet and welcome them. 
 
 The meeting of the two Presidents was simple 
 but impressive, one representing the fierce and 
 aggressive bigotry of the age- the other the em- 
 bodiment of its successful resistance. 
 
 The presidential party remained in Salt Lake 
 City but a day and a half. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 i 
 
 UTAH EMERGES FROM HER ISOLATION. TRANSFORM- 
 ATIONS INCIDENT THERETO. ZION CO-OPERATIVE 
 MERCANTILE INSTITUTION. THE MORMON EMIGRA- 
 TION. PARTING VIEW OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 On the advent of the Pacific Railroad the Mormon 
 leader went out to meet and shake hands with civil- 
 ization with a great shout of joy, and all his people 
 amened his salutation, and sang hallelujahs that the 
 days of isolation were no more. And this was to 
 their minds another literal fulfillment of prophecy. 
 Already, as we have seen, they rejoiced in the fulfill- 
 ment of that prophecy in which it is declared that 
 " It shall come to pass in the last days that the 
 " mountain of the Lord's house shall be established 
 " in the top of the mountains, and all nations shall 
 " flow unto it," and now, in the opening up of this 
 great highway was the fulfillment of that other 
 prophecy of Isaiah, in which it is written that "a great 
 " highway shall be cast up," and " they shall come 
 " with speed swiftly." 
 
 In the altered state of things that quickly ensued 
 Brigham Young met all the conditions. Indeed, so 
 rapid and varied were his transformations during 
 the next few years that he may have often seemed 
 to have been reversing himself and his policies. 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 443 
 
 The fact is, he was testing his problems ; now in his 
 movements advancing, now retreating ; now urging 
 his social ideas with all the might of his matchless 
 will, now accepting with resignation the degree of 
 progress attained by the people. This has been 
 strikingly illustrated in his efforts to transform the 
 Mormons into a great co-operative community, and 
 to establish " in Zion" the " Order of Enoch ; " thus 
 aiming to create a superior kind of isolation, keep- 
 ing God and the Devil apart, as of old, and Zion 
 still Zion in the very presence of the gentiles. In 
 these efforts he has been testing only that which is 
 possible, consistent in all his movements with the 
 mission of his life. 
 
 He had long foreseen that isolation in its old 
 forms must pass away. The railroad was coming ; 
 a " manifest destiny " was with the railroad. Brig- 
 ham Young is a man of " destiny." In the interests 
 of his people he became a chief contractor in build- 
 ing the Utah end of the Pacific Railroads ; he 
 hastened to construct the Utah Central ; he is 
 pushing railroads all over the Territory. Even 
 before the building of these roads he had net- 
 worked the settlement with lines of telegraph. He 
 has been as successful as a railroad king as he was 
 in leading the Mormons to these valleys. It is not 
 the Walker Brothers, not the Gentiles, not the 
 " Apostates," not Congress, not the civilization that 
 came from abroad as an invader, but Brigham 
 Young and the Mormons, who have given to Utah 
 her railroads and telegraphs. In this, as also in his 
 social and co-operative experiments, he has suc- 
 ceeded as far as developed. 
 
444 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 The Mormon people, inspired by the genius of 
 President Young, are now solving one of the most 
 important problems of the age. It is that of a 
 social and commercial commonwealth. 
 
 Reformers and Statesmen have long been con- 
 scious of a cardinal lacking in the constitutions of 
 the world, as touching its social systems. Even 
 England to-day is without a social system, though 
 she has abundant political machinery, dating back 
 to Alfred the Great. But latterly such men as 
 Robert Dale Owen have brought forth co-operative 
 ideas, and have preached a socialistic gospel as 
 being absolutely necessary to the age. 
 
 In this great social movement President Young 
 is in the line of the special mission of his life. A 
 society builder is the type of his ministry ; social 
 systems are his offspring. 
 
 Early in 1868 the merchants were startled by the 
 announcement " that it was advisable that the 
 "people of Utah Territory should become their own 
 " merchants ; " and that for this purpose an organi- 
 zation should be created for them expressly for im- 
 porting and distributing merchandise on a compre- 
 hensive plan. When it was asked of President 
 Young, " What do you think the merchants will do 
 " in this matter ; will they fall in with this co-opera- 
 " tive idea ? " he answered, " I do not know ; but if 
 " they do not we shall leave them out in the cold, 
 " the same as the Gentiles, and their goods shall 
 " rot upon their shelves." Meeting followed meet- 
 ing ; a committee was appointed to frame a constitu- 
 tion and by-laws, and, without seeing the end from the 
 beginning, their part of the programme was carried 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 445 
 
 out, and an institution formed on paper ;. subscriptions 
 were solicited, and cash fell into the coffers of the 
 treasurer pro tern. This was during the winter 
 months of 1868. With the turn of the year a com- 
 mittee was appointed to commence operations. 
 They waited upon the President for advice, who, in 
 his quiet but decided way said : " Go to work and 
 do it." After a little conversation the question was 
 again suggested : " What shall we do ? " With the 
 same sententious brevity, the reply came, " Go to 
 work and do it." But how ? We haven't enough 
 money ; we haven't the goods ; we have no build- 
 ings ; we haven't sufficient credit. " Go to work 
 " and do it, and I will show you how." Consulta- 
 tions were the order of the day ; business men 
 were interviewed ; offers of stock began to be made 
 the leading firms gracefully capitulated, and in a 
 few weeks the full-fledged institution was in exist- 
 ence. Stock was bought, business premises leased, 
 its agents sent east to represent and purchase for it, 
 and its career was opened with a subscribed capital 
 of $250,000, under the name of " Zion Co-operative 
 41 Mercantile Institution." 
 
 President Young was the principal stockholder, 
 and Geo. A. Smith, Geo. Q. Cannon, Wm. Jennings, 
 H. S. pldredge, Wm. H. Hooper and others were 
 among the first directors. There was quite a char- 
 acteristic feature in this accumulation of stock 
 which evinced a thoughtful care for individual inter- 
 ests that should not pass unnoticed. To secure 
 premises it was advisable that the stock of Jen- 
 nings, and Eldredge, and Clawson should be pur- 
 chased ; and it was also considered fair that the 
 
446 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 stocks held by others should be largely reduced by 
 purchase or investment, which was done. This 
 policy, shielded from embarrassment those who 
 would otherwise have inevitably suffered from 
 the inauguration and prestige of the Z. C. M. I, 
 Simultaneously with the organization of the parent 
 institution, local organizations were formed in all 
 the settlements of the Territory ; each pledged to 
 sustain the one central depot, and to make their 
 purchases from it. The people, with great unan- 
 imity, became shareholders in their respective local 
 " co-operatives," and also in the parent co-operative, 
 so that they might enjoy the profits of their own 
 investment and purchases. 
 
 It has been a cardinal principle with the Mormon 
 people, and the continued counsel and practice of 
 their leaders, that all articles of consumption should, 
 as speedily as possible, when practicable, be made 
 at home. No sounder principle of political economy 
 was ever promulgated. It was early evident, also, 
 that indiscriminate and uncontrolled importation 
 was not the way to encourage home production ; 
 therefore, if importation could be consolidated ; if 
 the character of that importation could be canvassed 
 and judiciously guarded ; every struggling enter- 
 prise at home would be aided, and as soon 45 sup- 
 plies were equal to the demand, these products could 
 be distributed to every settlement throughout the 
 mountains. This was the key to the situation ; and 
 among the first results of the idea was the increased 
 manufacture of jeans, cotton yarns from home- 
 grown cotton, boots and shoes, clothing, brooms, 
 soap, trunks, leather and other articles, giving em- 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 447 
 
 ployment to many, and opening up that best of all 
 markets a home demand for home productions. 
 
 These ideas popularized the "institution." It was 
 looked upon by the people as belonging to them, as 
 serving their interests, as the guardian of their 
 rights, as the great bulwark against the intrusion of 
 an undesirable element, and an ever-present power 
 against the encroachments and tyranny of capital. 
 As a consequence it grew rapidly, and by increased 
 business and the turning of its capital many times a 
 year, it was able to pay handsome dividends, form 
 a reserve for contingencies*, and at the same time 
 extend the circle of its operations, and increase the 
 number of its departments. The promptness with 
 which it met its obligations brought into the com- 
 mercial world a desire to be favored with its patron- 
 age, and thus from an insignificant and despised 
 origin, it sprang almost at a bound to the highest 
 position of commercial credit. Soon its interests 
 became so important, and its patronage so desirable, 
 that the threatened Congressional legislation of '72 
 and '73 was doubtless modified at the recommenda- 
 tion of its friends. Visitors to Salt Lake City looked 
 through its many departments, and at its immense 
 amount and variety of merchandise with astonish- 
 ment and wonder, that in the very heart of the 
 mountains should be found a business whose mag- 
 nitude and status could only be paralleled in the 
 chief cities of the Union. 
 
 When the panic of '73 fell upon the country much 
 larger and more experienced business institutions 
 yielded and went down before the gale ; yet this 
 institution met with but a momentary faltering; and 
 
448 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG J OR, 
 
 now it stands erect, its . honor uncompromised, its 
 credit unimpaired, and it, as an institution, more 
 fully prepared to fill the mission assigned it by its 
 great founder. 
 
 Its officers are a president, vice-president, seven 
 directors, general superintendent, secretary and 
 treasurer. 
 
 But aside from its commercial success, President 
 Young has seen in it the stepping-stone to the 
 establishment of other principles of social and 
 political economy. He, with the fire and fervor of 
 the prophetic impulse, * knows and tells of the 
 " Order of Zion," to which all the leading move- 
 ments inaugurated by him tend. His unflinching 
 persistency is bound to tell, and the future will 
 surely witness the fruition of other and grander 
 desires, in behalf of his people, that have moved the 
 heart and purpose of this great and remarkable 
 man. 
 
 But the merchant class, both Mormon and Gen- 
 tile, were opposed to the grand co-operative move- 
 ment of President Young. This was a matter of 
 course. Moneyed men and monopolists all the 
 world over will ever be opposed to the co-operation 
 of the people and the establishment of anything 
 like a Christian communism. Yet the New Testa- 
 ment examples show that communism " in all 
 things " is the very basis of a true Christianity. 
 And it is also the crowning aim of Mormonism 
 which copies strictly after the old and new examples 
 of the bible. Hence polygamy, hence, too, Presi- 
 dent Young's desire to establish, before his death, 
 a grand communistic church after the " Order of 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 449 
 
 Enoch." The Mormons have it in their power 
 to found the most successful commonwealth the 
 world has ever seen. Its success would attract the 
 attention not only of America, but of Europe in- 
 deed of all the world, and multiply the Mormons a 
 hundred fold. 
 
 Although President Young has not yet fully pre- 
 vailed in establishing jihis order of heaven upon 
 earth, he has at least succeeded as far as the people 
 were prepared for it. To reconcile the " children 
 " of this world " into a perfect brotherhood is no 
 easy task for a great statesman. But his co-opera- 
 tive movements will live, and the principle and 
 spirit of co-operation will permeate all Mormon 
 society. 
 
 The civilized world is prophetic of a grand social 
 change, and the Mormon genius is not only suscep- 
 tible of this change, but pregnant with it ; hence 
 the " United Order." 
 
 The Mormon mission, in its prophetic glory, em- 
 braces the gathering of a Latter-day Israel and the 
 building up of a Zion on the American continent; 
 but, viewed even in the most practical light, the 
 grand emigrational movement of the Mormons is 
 the most striking social event of the age, and the 
 man who has executed it has wrought a work 
 worthy of a chapter in the history of America. 
 
 Brigham Young, as the " Gatherer," is a more 
 palpable character to the American mind than Brig- 
 ham Young as the " Lion of the Lord." As the 
 emigrator of tens. of thousands from Europe, to 
 
45 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 people the three hundred cities which he has 
 founded on the Pacific Coast he is as understand- 
 able to the ordinary citizen as to one of his own 
 apostles. Indeed these vast emigrations of the 
 Mormons from Europe, each year, give renewed 
 evidence that " Mormondom " is a living, growing 
 fact, under the successful management of an empire- 
 founding prophet. 
 
 It was Heber C. Kimball who first proclaimed to 
 Great Britain the gathering of the " Latter-day 
 Saints " to America, but it was Brigham Young who 
 started the great emigrational tide. 
 
 The first regular company of emigrant Saints^ 
 numbering about 200, sailed from Liverpool for 
 New York on the 7th of August, 1840, on board 
 the North America. The second vessel was the 
 Sheffield, which sailed in February, 1841 ; and about 
 the time of the departure of the Sheffield, a com- 
 pany from Herefordshire and the neighboring coun- 
 ties (the disciples of Apostle Woodruff) sailed 
 from Bristol. Since the expulsion from Nauvoo, 
 the emigration has been direct from Liverpool to 
 Utah, via New Orleans. New York, Philadelphia, 
 Boston and other American ports. 
 
 The following epistle-general from the Twelve, 
 dated at Winter Quarters, Omaha Nation, Dec. 23d, 
 1847, will be of interest in this connection : 
 
 " To the Saints in England, Scotland, Ireland, 
 Wales, and adjacent islands and countries, we say, 
 emigrate as speedily as possible to this vicinity, 
 looking to and following the counsel of the Presi- 
 dency at Liverpool : shipping to New Orleans, and: 
 from thence direct to Council Bluffs, which will save 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 451 
 
 much expense. Those who have but little means, 
 and little or no labor, will soon exhaust that means 
 if they remain where they are, therefore it is wisdom 
 that they remove without delay ; for here is land on 
 which, by their labor, they can speedily better their 
 condition for their further journey. And to all 
 Saints in any country bordering upon the Atlantic, 
 we would say, pursue the same course, come imme- 
 diately and prepare to go west, bringing with you 
 all kinds of choice seeds, of grain, vegetables, fruit, 
 shrubbery, trees, and vines everything that will 
 please the eye, gladden the heart, or cheer the soul 
 of man, that grows upon the face of the whole 
 earth ; also the best stock of beast, bird and fowl 
 of every kind ; also the best tools of every descrip- 
 tion, and machinery for spinning, or weaving, and 
 dressing cotton, wool, flax and silk, &c., &c., or 
 models and descriptions of the same, by which they 
 can construct them ; and the same in relation to all 
 kinds of farming utensils and husbandry, such as 
 corn shellers, grain threshers and cleaners, smut 
 machines, mills, and every implement and article 
 within their knowledge that shall tend to promote 
 the comfort, health, happiness, or prosperity of any 
 people. So far as it can be consistently done, bring 
 models and drafts, and let the machinery be built 
 where it is used, which will save great expense in 
 transportation, particularly in heavy machinery, and 
 tools and implements generally." 
 
 -t* J^tWfc**.** 1 
 
 And here must be noticed the covenant of the 
 emigration, to show how faithfully it was kept,- as 
 have been all Brigham Young's covenants as the 
 leader of his people. 
 
 Previous to leaving Nauvoo President Young 
 prompted the Latter-day Saints to enter into a 
 solemn covenant in the temple, that they would not 
 
45 2 LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 cease their exertions until every individual of them 
 who desired and was unable to gather to the valley 
 by his own means was brought to that place. No 
 sooner were they located in the Rocky Mountains, 
 than the Church prepared to fulfill this covenant, 
 extending its application to the Saints in all the 
 world. The subject was introduced at the October 
 conference, in 1849, by President Heber C. Kimball, 
 and a unanimous vote was there and then taken to 
 raise a fund for the fulfillment of the promise. A 
 committee was appointed to raise money, and 
 Bishop Edward Hunter sent to the frontiers to pur- 
 chase wagons and cattle, to bring the poor Saints 
 from the Pottowatomie lands. About $5,000 were 
 raised that season. This fund was designated 
 " The Perpetual Emigration Fund," and the method 
 of its application is well set forth in the following 
 from a letter to Apostle Orson Hyde, who was at the 
 time presiding at winter quarters : 
 
 GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, 
 October i6th, 1849. 
 
 PRESIDENT ORSON HYDE : Beloved brother, we 
 write to you more particularly at this time, concern- 
 ing the gathering, and the mission of our general 
 agent for the perpetual emigration fund for the 
 coming year, Bishop Hunter, who will soon be with 
 you, bearing the funds already raised in this place. 
 
 In the first place, this fund has been raised by 
 voluntary donations, and is to be continued by the 
 same process, and by so managing as to preserve 
 the same, and cause it to multiply. 
 
 * As early in the Spring as it will 
 possibly do, on account of feed for cattle, Brother 
 Hunter will gather all his company, organize them 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 453 
 
 in the usual order, and preside over the camp, 
 traveling with the same to this place, having pre- 
 viously procured the best teamsters possible, such 
 as are accustomed to driving, and will be kind and 
 attentive to their teams. 
 
 When the Saints thus helped arrive here, they 
 will give their obligations to the Church to refund 
 to the amount of what they have received, as soon 
 as circumstances will permit ; and labor will be fur- 
 nished, to such as wish, on the public works, and 
 good pay ; and as fast as they can procure the 
 necessaries of life, and a surplus, that surplus will be 
 applied to liquidating their debt, and thereby in- 
 crease the perpetual fund. 
 
 By this it will readily be discovered that the 
 funds are to be appropriated in the form of a loan 
 rather than a gift ; and this will make the honest in 
 heart rejoice, for they have to labor and not live on 
 the charity of their friends, while the lazy idlers, if 
 any such there be, will find fault and want every 
 luxury furnished them for the journey, and in the 
 end pay nothing. * * * 
 
 Brother Hunter will return all the funds to this 
 place next season, when the most judicious course 
 will be pursued to convert all the cattle and means 
 into cash, that the same may be sent abroad as 
 speedily as possible on another mission, together 
 with all that we can raise besides to add to it ; and 
 we anticipate that the Saints at Pottowatomie and 
 in the States will increase the fund by all possible 
 means the coming winter, so that our agent may 
 return with a large company. 
 
 The few thousands we send out by our agent at 
 this time is like a grain of mustard seed in the 
 earth ; we send it forth into the world, and among 
 the Saints, a good soil, and we expect it will grow 
 and flourish, and spread abroad in a few weeks ; that 
 it will cover England, cast its shadow on Europe, 
 and in process of time compass the whole earth ; 
 
454 LIFE F BRIGIIAM YOUNG; OR, 
 
 that is to say, these funds are destined to increase 
 until Israel is gathered from all nations, and the poor 
 can sit under their own vine, and inhabit their own 
 house, and worship God in Zion. 
 
 We remain your brethren in the gospel, 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG, 
 HEBER C. KIMBALL, 
 WILLARD RICHARDS. 
 
 A similar epistle was written to Orson Pratt, the 
 President of the British Mission, saying at the 
 close : 
 
 Your office in Liverpool is the place of deposit 
 for all funds received either for this or the tithing 
 funds for all Europe, and you will not pay out only 
 upon our order, and to such persons as we shall 
 direct. 
 
 These instructions and general epistles are the 
 more important in the emigrational history, as they 
 are substantially the basis upon which all the emi- 
 grations and business thereof have been conducted 
 from that time to the present. 
 
 Donations in England were made straightway. 
 The first received was 2s. 6d. from Mark and Char- 
 lotte Shelly of Woolwich, on the igth of April, 
 1850. The next was i from George P. Waugh of 
 Edinburgh, on the iQth of June; but in time the 
 various emigration funds of the British mission 
 alone became immense. 
 
 The mode of conducting the emigrations from 
 Europe was as patriarchal as the Church itself. As 
 the emigration season came round, from every 
 branch and conference the Saints would be gathered 
 
UTAH AND HER FOUNDERS. 455 
 
 and taken to Liverpool by their elders, who saw 
 them on shipboard in vessels chartered for their use. 
 Not a moment were they left to the mercy of 
 " runners " and shipping agents. When on board, 
 the companies, which in some cases have amounted 
 to nearly a thousand souls per ship, were divided 
 into wards, each ward being under its president or 
 bishop, and his two councilors, and each company 
 under its president and councilors ; and besides 
 these were the doctor, steward, and cook, with their 
 assistants. During the passage, regular service was 
 daily observed, morning and evening prayers, 
 preaching meetings and councils. Besides these 
 were numerous entertainments, concerts, dances, &c., 
 so that the trips across the Atlantic were like merry 
 makings, enjoyed by the captains and their officers 
 as much as by the Saints. Reaching America 
 a similar system was pursued on the railroads, 
 up the rivers, and across the plains until the 
 Saints arrived in the valleys, when they were re- 
 ceived, in the old time, by Brigham and the author- 
 ities in Zion, and sent by Bishop Hunter to the 
 various settlements where they were most needed 
 to people the fast-growing cities of Utah. 
 
 As the " Gatherer," Brigham is as colossal as he 
 was in the character of the Mormon Moses in the 
 exodus. In the one, he founded Utah with a brave 
 apostolic band of pioneers ; in the other he has 
 peopled Utah from the robust races of Great 
 Britain and Scandinavia. Their children will in- 
 habit these valleys for generations to come, fill up 
 their cities of to-day, and build as many more. The 
 Gentiles may, indeed will, increase in the " land of 
 
LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ; OR, 
 
 the Saints," but the Mormons will ever outnumber 
 them ten to one, and they and their children will 
 form the backbone of the State. 
 
 Here, for the time being, we must take a parting 
 view of Brigham Young. 
 
 The statue of the man is boldly chiseled in his 
 life, as by his own hands. 
 
 In this history we have seen him as the fitting 
 successor of the Mormon Prophet, as the modern 
 Moses, and the founder of Utah. To the popular 
 mind, the whole epic of Mormonism is embodied in 
 the lives and missions of Joseph Smith and Brig- 
 ham Young ; but quorums of great men, in the 
 Mormon sense, have helped to bear the " kingdom " 
 this ark of " the new and everlasting; covenant " 
 
 o 
 
 upon their shoulders. And, apostolically viewed, 
 they have been men of great character, great force, 
 and surpassing faith, which constitute the soul of 
 all new religions that bear the stamp of destiny. 
 
 In the history of the Mormons we have seen the 
 real apostolic character, and the manifestation of the 
 superhuman forces of a religion destined to be the 
 beginning of a new dispensation and civilization. 
 The leaders have been like the fishermen who 
 established Christianity, and their disciples like 
 those who laid the foundation of all the Christian 
 empires. Such a class of divines, and such a people, 
 under Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, have 
 grown into a mighty power. We have seen their 
 strange works and methods in these chapters. They 
 
UTAH AND TIER FOUNDERS. 4-57 
 
 have not been as polished stones, but, as they liken 
 themselves as the " little stone cut out of the moun- 
 " tain without hands," forecast by Daniel the 
 Prophet, as the " Latter-day kingdom," which 
 should roll down from the mountain and " fill the 
 " whole earth." 
 
 And Brigham Young, in the characteristic work 
 of his life, has made this possible. Without such a 
 man, as Joseph's successor, it never could have been 
 fulfilled. Joseph was a divine success ; Brigham 
 has clothed it in the body of a great worldly suc- 
 cess, and the world who rejected the one has been 
 made to comprehend a successful Mormonism in 
 the other. He has made it comprehend Mormonism 
 in a matchless exodus ; he has pioneered America 
 westward ; he has founded Utah, with the ground- 
 work of over three hundred cities, some of which 
 will yet be known among the great cities of America. 
 He has, through the elders, missioned a world, and 
 gathered an Israel from many nations; he has, on 
 the Prophet Joseph's pattern, built up a new social 
 and religious system ; he has established polygamy, 
 which was alone enough to revolutionize a nation 
 and not unlikely his organized experiment may 
 markedly affect the marriage question of the world ; 
 he has prayed with as much faith as Elijah, and 
 wrought with as much hard sense as Peter the 
 Great ; in fine, he has brought to a practical success 
 the strangest religious movement of modern times. 
 
 Brigham Young has led his people thirty-three 
 years. Seldom does it fall to the lot of rulers to 
 sway the sceptre so long ; still less seldom to keep 
 up in their lives such an unwearied sensation. His 
 
45$ LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG \ OR, 
 
 name has now provoked and now charmed " all the 
 world." A marvelous psychology has been in that 
 name, to thus prevail. 
 
 He has just completed his seventy-fifth year 
 (June ist, 1876). His will is still matchless ; his 
 mind still sound. View the man as we may, Brig- 
 ham Young is an enduring name. The friction of 
 centuries will not erase it. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY TO 
 
 " LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; OR, UTAH AND HER 
 FOUNDERS." 
 
 HEBER C KIMBALL. 
 
 HEBER CHASE KIMBALL was born June 14th, 
 1801, in the town of Sheldon, Franklin County, 
 Vermont. His father (Solomon Farnham Kimball) 
 and his mother (Anna Spaulding-Kimball) were 
 American born, although of English extraction. 
 Up to the age of nineteen his life was about the 
 same as that of the other lads of his day 
 and situation ; a few months of attendance at the 
 common school, and ordinary labor with his father, 
 making up the sum of his opportunities and experi- 
 ences. At about the age mentioned, however, a 
 change occurred in his father's circumstances which 
 resulted in throwing young Kimball upon his own 
 resources. Being extremely diffident in disposition, 
 and inexperienced in the ways of the world, he 
 suffered many hardships, two or three times nearly 
 perishing from hunger. His condition being finally 
 brought to the attention of an older brother, he was 
 
2 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 offered by him an opportunity to learn the potter's 
 trade, which offer he gladly accepted, remaining in 
 apprenticeship until he was twenty-one years of 
 age, and afterward working for his brother as a 
 journeyman. While with his brother they removed 
 to Mendon, Monroe County, New York, where the 
 latter established another pottery. Although this 
 incident was commonplace in itself, it nevertheless 
 brought young Kimball within the circle of those 
 influences that afterward outwrought for him a most 
 wonderful career 
 
 In the Fall of 1823 he was married to Miss Vilate 
 Murray, of Victor, Ontario County, New York, and 
 shortly thereafter purchased his brother's business, 
 and settled down to the quiet prosecution of the 
 same. 
 
 While thus employed, it must not be forgotten, 
 he often brought his mind to the consideration of 
 the subject of religion, and was finally persuaded to 
 an expression of faith which led him to join the 
 Baptist Church. Only a few weeks elapsed there- 
 after, however, when the fame of certain elders of 
 the Church of Latter-day Saints reached his ears, 
 and, being prompted by curiosity, he went to see 
 them at the house of Phineas H. Young, in Victor, 
 when he, to use his own words, " for the first time 
 '* heard the fullness of the everlasting gospel." 
 Speaking of his subsequent confirmation, he said, 
 " Under the ordinances of baptism and laying on of 
 " hands, I received the Holy Ghost, as the disciples 
 " did in ancient days, which was like a consuming 
 " fire ; and I was clothed in my right mind, although 
 " the people called me crazy. I continued in this 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 3 
 
 41 way for many months, and it seemed as though 
 " my flesh would consume away ; at the same time 
 " the Scriptures were unfolded to my mind in such 
 41 a wonderful manner that it appeared to me at 
 " times as if I had formerly been familiar with 
 " them." 
 
 Being ordained an elder by Joseph Young, he, in 
 company with him and Brigham Young, labored 
 in Genesee, Avon and Lyonstown, where many 
 were baptized and church organizations effected. 
 About this time these three went to Kirtland, Ohio, 
 where for the first time they saw the Prophet, 
 Joseph Smith. 
 
 In the Fall of 1833, he removed to Kirtland, 
 being acompanied on the journey by Brigham 
 Young. 
 
 Passing over the less noteworthy events which 
 followed, we come at once to the incident which 
 was the determining point in his marked career. 
 Of that event his journal says : 
 
 On or about the first day of June, 1837, the 
 Prophet Joseph came to me, while I was seated in 
 the front stand, above the sacrament table, on the 
 Melchisedec side of the temple, in Kirtland, and 
 whispering to me, said : " Brother Heber, the Spirit 
 of the Lord has whispered to me, ' let my servant 
 Heber go to England and proclaim my gospel, and 
 open the door of salvation to that nation.' " 
 
 With much misgiving as to his ability and worth, 
 he nevertheless accepted the " mission," and set 
 about its accomplishment. Of the remarkable suc- 
 cess that rewarded his labors, in conjunction with 
 his compeers of the British mission, the Mormon 
 
 
4 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 emigration is a living monument. More particularly 
 does this remark apply to his second mission, along 
 with Brigham Young and others, in 1840, when was 
 performed one of the greatest missionary works 
 since the days of Christ's apostles. 
 
 After his return from the British Mission, Heber 
 labored in his apostolic calling chiefly, being but 
 little with his family. At the time of the martyrdom 
 of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, he was out, with 
 nearly every member of his quorum, on mission to 
 the Eastern States. He was the right hand man of 
 Brigham Young in the exodus ; and was one of the 
 143 pioneers. He returned with his. chief to winter 
 quarters to gather up the body of the Saints, and 
 while there was chosen .first councilor of Brigham 
 in the reorganization of the First Presidency of 
 the Church. To the end of his eventful life he 
 continued the faithful counselor and friend of his 
 chief, between whom and himself there had existed 
 for forty-three years one of those remarkable 
 friendships which authors love to immortalize. The 
 friendship of Damon and Pythias was not of a 
 stronger type than that of Brigham Young and 
 Heber C. Kimball, and Heber was as jealous of the 
 love of Brigham as a woman is of the love of her 
 husband. Heber was a very singular, very genuine, 
 and an extraordinarily earnest man, with a character 
 of so much strength and rugged honesty as to make 
 him one of the most noticeable men in the world. 
 Though born among the humble, it was both phy- 
 sically and metaphysically impossible for him to 
 make other than a strong mark in the world. His 
 personal appearance was powerful and uncommon ; 
 
SUPPLEMENT 5 
 
 his structure as of iron ; and no one could well forget 
 the man who had seen him once. He was just such 
 a character as one would imagine as a bosom friend 
 of Oliver Cromwell. Heber C. Kimball, after 
 Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, was decidedly 
 the greatest character the Mormon Church has 
 brought forth. They are indeed the Mormon trinity. 
 He died on the 22d of June, 1868. 
 
 The universal esteem in which he was held may 
 be inferred from the following notice of his funeral, 
 by the Daily Telegraph, in its issue of the day 
 succeeding that event : 
 
 Yesterday the last sad offices of affection and 
 friendship were rendered to the mortal remains of 
 our beloved President, Heber Chase Kimball. 
 
 Throughout the city, stores and business houses 
 were closed, and ordinary business was suspended, 
 out of respect to the memory of the deceased. 
 Draped flags swung to the breeze on the tops of 
 public buildings, stores and private residences. The 
 streets were exceedingly quiet, the few people 
 passing being apparently imbued with the solemnity 
 of the occasion. 
 
 The day also was in perfect harmony. The 
 oppressive sultriness of the few preceding days 
 gave way to a cooler atmosphere. Black clouds 
 draped the skies, heaven's artillery roared, the wind 
 moaned and swept along in fitful gusts, and as the 
 appointed hour for the obsequies drew nigh, the 
 rain, like tear drops from heaven, fell heavily, ming- 
 ling with the tears of the mourners, and continuing 
 almost without intervals of cessation during the 
 ceremonies, although relieved toward evening by 
 brief snatches of sunshine, to show the silver lining 
 to a cloudy day, and to indicate the smiling Provi- 
 dence that rules and overrules all things for good. 
 
6 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 While the masses congregated in the tabernacle, 
 Presidents Brigham Young and Daniel H. Wells, 
 the Twelve Apostles, the First Presidents of the 
 Seventies, the Presidents of the High Priests' 
 Quorum, the presiding Bishop and his councilors, 
 the President of this Stake of Zion, the High 
 Council, and Capt. Croxall's band, with the pall- 
 bearers and relatives, repaired to the late residence 
 of President Kimball. Here was beheld the Chief- 
 tain of Zion, with whom the illustrious departed, for 
 a full third of a century and more, had stood 
 shoulder to shoulder when men's souls were tried, 
 with more than fraternal interest personally over- 
 seeing even the minutest item of arrangement in 
 those last solemn offices. * * * 
 
 To the " Dead March in Saul," by Croxall's band, 
 the procession moved from the residence, down 
 North Temple Street, turned south on West Tem- 
 ple Street, passed through the West Gate of Tem- 
 ple Block, entered the tabernacle at door No. 32, 
 north side, and occupied the seats reserved for the 
 purpose in front of the stand, the band still playing 
 as the procession entered. When the band ceased, 
 the powerful tones of the organ swelled forth in a 
 selection from Beethoven. 
 
 The remains were deposited upon a draped bier, 
 raised from the middle aisle, so as to be plainly 
 observable by all the vast audience. Seven elegant 
 vases of roses and other beautiful flowers were 
 placed upon the coffin. 
 
 In consonance with the solemnity of the scene, 
 the interior of the tabernacle was also draped in 
 mourning. * * * 
 
 The vast assemblage was called to order by Presi- 
 dent Young, and the choir sang a hymn composed 
 by Miss E. R. Snow, after which, Apostle Cannon 
 offered up a prayer, and the choir sang " Farewell all 
 earthly honors." 
 
 The assembly was then addressed by Elders 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 7 
 
 John Taylor, Geo. A. Smith, Geo. Q. Cannon, Presi- 
 dents Daniel H. Wells and Brigham Young, who 
 said : " Brother Kimball was a man of as much 
 integrity, I presume, as any man who ever lived on 
 the earth. I have been personally acquainted with 
 him forty-three years, and I can testify that he has 
 been a man of truth, a man of benevolence, a man 
 that was to be trusted." 
 
 At the close of President Young's remarks, the 
 choir sang " O my Father, thou that dwellest," after 
 which the procession re-formed in its previous order, 
 the band playing the Belgian dead march, and the 
 remains of the deceased were escorted to a spot in 
 his private burying ground, previously selected by 
 himself, where they were laid by the side of Vilate, 
 the partner and companion of his youth. 
 
 He was mourned by the whole Church, and prin- 
 cipal men from all parts of the Territory honored 
 by their presence the memory of the dead. 
 
 GEORGE A. SMITH. 
 
 GEORGE ALBERT SMITH was born in the town of 
 Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York, on the 
 26th day of June, 1817. It may be claimed for him 
 that he was of purely American descent, for his 
 American-born ancestry date back to 1666. On the 
 maternal side he was descended from the Lymans, 
 a family of patriotic revolutionary record ; and on 
 the paternal side he was cousin to Joseph Smith 
 the Prophet. 
 
 His cousin Joseph's seership was first brought to 
 his attention in 1828, by a letter written to his 
 grandfather by Joseph Smith, sen., in which was re- 
 
8 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 counted several visions that the writer's son had 
 received ; and also in which letter was the remark : 
 ;< I always knew that God was going to raise up 
 " some branch of my family to be a great benefit to 
 " mankind." 
 
 A subsequent letter from Joseph himself, in which 
 he declared that the sword of the Almighty hung 
 over that generation, and could only be averted by 
 repentance and works of righteousness, made a pro- 
 found impression on the mind of George A., and 
 elicited from his father the declaration that " Joseph 
 " wrote like a prophet." An investigation of the 
 Book of Mormon resulted in the conversion of his 
 parents, and the consequent bigoted opposition of 
 their neighbors. One of these, an influential and 
 wealthy man, offered young Smith, if he would 
 leave his parents and promise to never become a 
 Mormon, a seven years' education, without expense, 
 and a choice of profession when his education should 
 be complete. His answer was worthy an everlast- 
 ing record : " The commandment of God requires 
 " me to honor my father and mother." He did so 
 honor them as to fully embrace their faith, and was 
 baptized in their presence, September loth, 1832. 
 Concerning events immediately following, his journal 
 states : 
 
 My father sold his farm in Potsdam, and, on the 
 ist of May, 1833, we started for Kirtland, Ohio, the 
 second gathering place of the Saints, where we 
 arrived on the 25th, having traveled 500 miles. We 
 were heartily welcomed by cousin Joseph. This 
 was the first time I had ever seen him ; he con- 
 ducted us to his father's house. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 9 
 
 I was engaged during the Summer and Fall 
 in quarrying and hauling rock for the Kirtland 
 temple, attending masons, and performing other 
 duties about its walls. The first two loads of rock 
 taken to the temple ground were hauled from Stan- 
 ard's quarry by Harvey Stanley and myself. 
 
 In consequence of the persecution which raged 
 against Joseph, and the constant threats to do him 
 violence, it was found necessary to keep continued 
 guard, to prevent his being assassinated. During 
 the Fall and Winter I took part in this service, 
 going two miles and a half to guard. 
 
 Although but seventeen years of age, he was a 
 member of the company that went up to " redeem 
 Zion " in Jackson County, Mo. He started with 
 " Zion's Camp," May 5th, 1834, and returned pn the 
 4th of August of the same year, having traveled 
 about 2,000 miles in three months, mostly on foot. 
 
 On the ist of March, 1835, he was ordained a 
 member of the first quorum of Seventies, and on 
 the 5th day of May, following, in company with 
 Lyman Smith, started on mission through Ohio, 
 Pennsylvania and New York. They returned in 
 November, having traveled 1,850 miles on foot, 
 without purse or scrip, holding numerous meetings, 
 and making several converts. 
 
 From this time forward his life was a series of 
 missions, and adventures incident thereto, up to 
 April, 1839, when he was ordained one of the 
 Twelve Apostles, on the corner-stone of the temple, 
 at Far West. 
 
 He was a member of the quorum of the Twelve 
 who went on mission to England in 1839-40, travel- 
 ing and preaching in the counties of Lancaster, 
 
IO SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Chester, Stafford, Hereford, Worcester and Glouces- 
 ter, and preaching the first Mormon sermon in 
 London. 
 
 Soon after his return, in 1841, he was married to 
 Miss Bethsheba W. Bigler, and after a temporary 
 settlement in Zarahemla, Iowa, became a resident 
 of Nauvoo. He was thereafter engaged in mission 
 work in various States until recalled, in 1844, by the 
 martyrdom of the Prophet. 
 
 He was with the Twelve in the exodus from 
 Nauvoo, and with the pioneers in their journey from 
 winter quarters to the Rocky Mountains. He 
 planted the first potato that was put into the ground 
 in Sale Lake Valley, and to the day of his death 
 was permanently identified with the various projects 
 for settling and redeeming the valleys of Deseret. 
 
 When the Provisional Government of the State 
 of Deseret was erected, he was chosen a member 
 of the State Senate, and at that early date presented 
 a bill concerning the construction of a national rail- 
 road across the continent. 
 
 In speaking of his mission to Jerusalem, which, 
 in company with Lorenzo Snow, Albert Carring- 
 ton, Ferezmore Little and others, he accomplished in 
 1873, it w iM be necessary to explain that one of the 
 most peculiar and characteristic phases of the Mor- 
 mon religion is the linking of the destiny of this 
 modern Israel, raised up by Joseph Smith, with the 
 destiny of ancient Israel. The Jews, of course, are 
 the proper representatives of the former, the Mor- 
 mons of the latter. 
 
 As observed elsewhere, the Mormons themselves 
 are supposed to be the literal seed of Abraham 
 
SUPPLEMENT. II 
 
 " mixed with the Gentiles," but now " in these last 
 days " gathered by the mysterious providence of 
 the House of Israel into the " new and everlasting 
 covenant." 
 
 In 1840, Apostle Orson Hyde performed the first 
 mission to Jerusalem, and thirty-two years later this 
 second mission was appointed. Here is the com- 
 mission : 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY, U. T., 
 
 October 15, 1872. 
 Prest. G. A. SMITH. 
 
 DEAR BRO. : As you are about to start on an 
 extensive tour through Europe and Asia Minor, 
 where you will doubtless be brought in contact with 
 men of position and influence in society, we desire 
 that you observe closely what openings now exist, 
 or where they may be effected, for the introduction 
 of the gospel into the various countries you shall 
 visit. 
 
 When you go to the land of Palestine, we wish 
 you to dedicate and consecrate that land to the 
 Lord, that it may be blessed with fruitfulness pre- 
 paratory to the return of the Jews in fulfillment of 
 prophecy and the accomplishment of the purposes 
 of our Heavenly Father. 
 
 We pray that you may be preserved to travel in 
 peace and safety ; that you may be abundantly 
 blessed with words of wisdom and free utterance in 
 all your conversations pertaining to the holy gospel, 
 dispelling prejudice and sowing seeds of righteous- 
 ness among the people. 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG, 
 
 DANIEL H. WELLS. 
 
 These missionaries from the modern to the 
 ancient Zion, visiting the President of the United 
 
12 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 States and President Thiers of France on their 
 way, reached Palestine in March, 1873. They 
 visited the most famous places of bible mention j 
 and also the places made famous by the exploits of 
 the crusaders. Concerning- their ceremony on the 
 Mount of Olives Eliza R. Snow wrote : 
 
 Sunday morning, March 2d, President Smith 
 made arrangements with our dragoman, and had a 
 tent, table, seats, and carpet taken up on the Mount 
 of Olives, to which all the brethren of the company 
 and myself repaired on horseback. After dismount- 
 ing on the summit, and committing our animals to 
 the care of servants, we visited the Church of 
 Ascension, a small cathedral, said to stand on the 
 spot from which Jesus ascended. By this time the 
 tent was prepared, which we entered, and after an 
 opening prayer by Brother Carrington, we united 
 in the order of the Holy Priesthood, President 
 Smith leading in humble, fervent supplication, dedi- 
 cating the land of Palestine for the gathering of the 
 Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and returned 
 heartfelt thanks and gratitude to God for the 
 fulness of the gospel and the blessings bestowed on 
 the Latter-day Saints. Other brethren led in turn, 
 and we had a very interesting season ; to me it 
 seemed the crowning point of the whole tour, real- 
 izing as I did that we were worshiping on the sum- 
 mit of the sacred mount, once the frequent resort 
 of the Prince of Life. 
 
 The Jerusalem missionaries returned to Utah in 
 July, 1873. 
 
 Upon the death of Heber C. Kimball, the eleva- 
 tion of George A. Smith to the second place in the 
 Mormon Church, thus made vacant, was pronounced 
 by the people of his faith an honor worthily be- 
 stowed. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 13 
 
 The construction of the temple at St. George fur- 
 nished the occasion for this apostle to unite with 
 Brigham Young in the administration of ordinances 
 in " high places," thus fitly/ crowning the labors of 
 his life. On his tablet might thereafter be written 
 " It is finished." 
 
 Shortly after his return from St. George, he was 
 prostrated with a sickness which finally resulted in 
 his death, September ist, 1875. Although, mortally 
 considered, he has passed away, in the hearts of the 
 Mormon people George A. Smith will never die. 
 
 GENERAL WELLS. 
 
 DANIEL H. WELLS, who in the history of Utah 
 has become famous as the lieutenant-general of the 
 Utah militia, mayor of Salt Lake City, and Second 
 Councilor of the Mormon Church, was born in 
 Trenton, Oneida County, New York, October 27th } 
 1814. 
 
 His father, Daniel, served in the war with Great 
 Britain, in 1812, and his mother, Catherine Chapin, 
 was the daughter of David Chapin, a revolutionary 
 soldier who served with General Washington. 
 
 His father died in 1826, when Daniel H. was but 
 12 years of age. When he was 18 the family, con- 
 sisting of his mother, himself and six sisters, sold 
 their estate in Trenton and removed to Ohio. In 
 the Spring following (1834), he settled at Commerce, 
 afterwards famous as Nauvoo. This was the year suc- 
 ceeding the Black Hawk War, and before Carthage, 
 
14 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 the county seat, was located. Ere he was 21 years 
 of age, he was elected constable, and soon after- 
 wards justice of the peace. He was also elected 
 second sergeant in the first organization of the 
 militia of the district ; and so great was the confi- 
 dence of all parties and sects, including the Catho- 
 lics, in his integrity and impartiality, that he was 
 often selected as arbitrator of differences between 
 neighbors, and administrator of the estates of de- 
 ceased persons. In politics he was a whig, and was 
 an influential member of many of the political con- 
 ventions of Hancock County, from its organization 
 to the time of the expulsion of the Mormons. 
 
 In 1839 ne became acquainted with the Mormons. 
 When they fled from Missouri he was among the 
 foremost to welcome and give succor to the refu- 
 gees. That severe American spirit, for which he 
 has ever been marked was aroused to indignation 
 at witnessing the expulsion of free-born Ameri- 
 can citizens from a neighboring State, many of 
 whose forefathers, like his own, had helped to found 
 the nation, and to fight for its independence in 
 later generations. Indeed, it would seem, from the 
 tenor of his life, that the chain which at first bound 
 him to the Mormons was his uncompromising 
 Americanism and stern republican integrity, rather 
 than a sentimental sympathy with a religious sect, 
 or from any constitutional tendency to be carried 
 away by a love of the marvelous, which is popularly 
 supposed to have been the moving cause with the 
 majority of those who embraced the new faith. 
 
 When Nauvoo was organized, and charters w r ere 
 granted by the Legislature of Illinois to the City, 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 15 
 
 University, and Nauvoo Legion, Daniel H. Wells 
 was elected alderman and member of the city coun- 
 cil, one of the regents of the university, and com- 
 missary-general on the staff of the major-general, 
 with the rank of brigadier-general. After the mur- 
 der of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, when the Gov- 
 ernor of the State of Illinois sent Lieutenant Aber- 
 nethy to demand the arms of the Legion, General 
 Wells protested against the order, as an infringe- 
 ment of his constitutional right to bear arms as a 
 member of the militia of the State. After the exo- 
 dus of the main body of the Mormon Church, under 
 the Twelve, and at the time the mob was gathering, 
 he became a member of the Church, and, six weeks 
 later, he took part in the famous battle of Nauvoo, 
 fighting for his religion, the freedom of his con- 
 science, and the rights of American citizens. In this 
 battle, Colonel Johnson having been taken sick, he 
 assisted Lieutenant-Colonel Cutler in the command, 
 acting as the latter's aid-de-camp. During the 
 three days of the battle he was especially conspicu- 
 ous on his white horse, encouraging and directing 
 the men, and was often made a target by the 
 enemy. 
 
 On the surrender of Nauvoo, he resolved to go to 
 winter quarters, but was among the very last to 
 leave the doomed city. As the mob advanced, 
 coming down the street, only two blocks behind the 
 expelled citizens, Colonel Cutler and himself brought 
 up the rear of the refugees. On the other side of 
 the river they were met by a patrol guard, who 
 demanded their arms, which they refused to give 
 up, it being in violation of the treaty, which provided 
 
l6 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 that the arms should be restored to the Mormons 
 as soon as they reached the Iowa side of the river. 
 From the portico of the temple the enemy fired 
 their cannon on the defenceless camp across the 
 river. Gathering up the balls he sent one of them, 
 with his compliments, to the Governor of Iowa, 
 whose Territory had been thus invaded. He then 
 took a one-horse buggy and rode day and night, 
 with Colonel Cutler, to the Mormon head-quarters, 
 to send back teams for the expelled remnant, to 
 whose rescue he soon returned. In the second 
 journey of the pioneers to the valleys he was aid- 
 de-camp to General Brigharn Young. 
 
 Since that day, in the history of Utah, Daniel H. 
 Wells has figured among the most conspicuous, in 
 its great events and important places in the Church, 
 in the city and in the Territorial government. He 
 was a member of the Legislative council in the 
 Provisional State of Deseret, Superintendent of 
 Public Works, after the death of Jedediah M. Grant, 
 Second Councilor of the Church, and Lieut.-Gen. 
 of the Utah militia, which he commanded in the 
 " Utah war" in 1857-8. In 1864-5, he was Presi- 
 dent of the European Mission, and since then has 
 been Mayor of Salt Lake City a number of terms. 
 The reader will find the links of his history abund- 
 antly dispersed throughout the chapters of this 
 book. 
 
 Daniel H. Wells is a thorough American. His 
 loyal and stirring speech, stimulating the patriotism 
 of the Mormons soon after their entrance into the 
 Valley, which has been already given, is proof of his 
 ardent love of his native country and its institu- 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 17 
 
 tions ; and he was very strong in his condemnation 
 of the late war upon the Union and the national 
 flag. His peculiar expression was that the South 
 should have " wrapped the time-honored flag of 
 " their country around them, and fought for their 
 " constitutional rights as we did ! " Daniel is the 
 author of that view. He remembers that he is the 
 direct descendant of the fourth Governor of Con- 
 necticut, and all through his life has aimed to be 
 worthy of his illustrious descent. 
 
 WILFORD WOODRUFF. 
 
 WILFORD WOODRUFF, third son of Aphek Wood- 
 ruff and Beulah Thompson Woodruff, was born 
 March ist, 1807, in that part of Farmington now 
 called Avon, Hartford County, Conn. His ancestors 
 for several generations, were also residents of that 
 section. Up to his twenty-first year he remained 
 at home, assisting his father in attending to the 
 Farmington Mills. 
 
 At a very early age his mind was considerably 
 exercised upon religious subjects, although in a 
 somewhat different view from that . of the orthodox 
 teachings of those days. A notable point of differ- 
 ence was his firm conviction that the gifts and 
 graces that belonged to the ancient apostles ought 
 still to obtain among the true disciples of Jesus, 
 although the ministers of his acquaintance all 
 taught that such things had been done away. This 
 difference in belief caused him to hold aloof from 
 
l8 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 any espousal of particular doctrine until 1833, when- 
 he, in company with his brother Azmon (being at 
 the time in Oswego Co., N. Y.), chanced to hear 
 two Mormon elders preach. A single sermon con- 
 vinced both him and his brother, and they thereupon 
 presented themselves for baptism. 
 
 Young Woodruff was an enthusiastic convert, 
 and soon gravitated to Kirtland, where he was 
 kindly received by, and temporarily domiciled with, 
 the Prophet Joseph. Surrounded by influences so 
 congenial to his natural cast of mind, his spiritual 
 nature developed rapidly, and in a few months' time 
 he had reached the point of joyfully accepting an 
 ordination as elder, and a commission to go on 
 mission. He had in the meantime removed to Clay 
 Co., Mo. 
 
 He straightway, in company with an elder by the 
 name of Brown, started out on a tour in which was 
 traversed a most desolate and perilous section of 
 country, viz. : southern Missouri, northern Arkansas, 
 and western Tennessee. It is worthy of note that 
 this journey (on foot) was made to embrace the 
 traversing of the Mississippi Swamp, a distance of 
 175 miles, most of the way in mud and water up to 
 their knees. Youno; Woodruff bein^ stricken with 
 
 o o 
 
 rheumatism in the midst of the swamp, his com- 
 panion abandoned him. But, kneeling in the water, 
 he cried to God for succor, and was immediately 
 healed. He thereupon continued his journey, and 
 in due time returned to his brethren. 
 
 His life thereafter was made up almost entirely 
 of mission work. In Jan., 1837, he was set apart to 
 be a member of the first quorum of Seventies, and 
 
SUPPLEMENT. ig 
 
 remained for a while in Kirtland. Here, on the i3th 
 of April of that year, he was married to Miss 
 Phoebe W. Carter, at the house of Joseph Smith. 
 
 Shortly thereafter he went on mission again, and 
 continued in that work until appointed a member 
 of the quorum of the Twelve. In the following 
 Fall, 1839, ne started on the mission to England. 
 (See record elsewhere.) His ministry in that 
 country was very successful. During the seven 
 months of their labors in Herefordshire, Gloucester- 
 shire and Worcestershire, he and his confreres of 
 that mission baptized over eighteen hundred per- 
 sons, including over two hundred preachers of va- 
 rious denominations ; their success so greatly alarm- 
 ing the orthodox ministers of those localities, that 
 it was made the subject of a petition to Parliament. 
 
 Returning in 1841, he was shipwrecked on Lake 
 Michigan, but escaped with his life, and reached 
 Nauvoo in October of that year. 
 
 It is not the design of this sketch to give more 
 than a general view of this faithful apostle ; suffice 
 it to say, therefore, that he was on mission in the 
 Eastern States at the time of Joseph and Hyrum's 
 martyrdom ; that he thereupon returned and promi- 
 nently participated in the events succeeding that 
 monstrous wrong ; that he was a member of the 
 famous mission to England in 1844, remaining there 
 a year, and returning to join the exodus ; that he 
 was one of the 143 pioneers; that he again went 
 on mission to the Eastern States in 1848, returning 
 to Salt Lake in 1850; and in December of that 
 year was elected a member of the Senate of the 
 Provisional State of Deseret. 
 
2O SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Since that time Apostle Woodruff has been one 
 of the very foremost in all the affairs at home. The 
 church history is mostly compiled from his journals, 
 and the success of his mission to England is to this 
 
 o 
 
 day a marvel in the Church. He is emphatically 
 one of the founders of Utah, and as an apostle well 
 deserves the name of " Wilford the Faithful." 
 
 LORENZO SNOW. 
 
 LORENZO SNOW, who has attained to considerable 
 distinction in the Mormon Church as an elder, and 
 to marked prominence as a successful utilizer of the 
 wise suggestions of President Young, in matters per- 
 taining to the local interests of the Saints in Utah, 
 was born April 3d, 1814, in Mantua, Portage County^ 
 Ohio. His father and mother were New England 
 
 o 
 
 born, being descended from the genuine Puritan 
 stock. 
 
 In childhood Lorenzo exhibited a decision of 
 character which has been conspicuously apparent in 
 subsequent life. After improving the best advan- 
 tages afforded in common schools, he went to 
 " Oberlin College " to complete his education. 
 
 Two of his sisters being residents of Kirtland, 
 Ohio, where the Latter-day Saints were then located, 
 on leaving college he went there on a visit, but 
 without the most distant thought of ever uniting his 
 interests with that people. However, on acquaint- 
 ance, he became convinced of the truth of the 
 doctrines they professed, was baptized, and soon 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 21 
 
 ordained an elder, and-sent forth "without purse -or 
 scrip," to preach the gospel, like the disciples of old. 
 
 Like a veteran soldier constantly at his post, from 
 that time to this, Lozenzo Snow has been an active 
 missionary in the cause he espoused, either at home 
 or abroad, wherever his labors were required, hav- 
 ing performed several missions in this as well as in 
 foreign countries. 
 
 In 1837, with his father's family, he moved to 
 Daviess County, Missouri, and the next Spring, 
 when he was filling a mission in the South, his 
 people were driven from Missouri into Illinois, 
 where he joined them, and, after performing a mis- 
 sion to the Eastern States in 1840, he was sent on 
 his first mission to Europe.. In England he suc- 
 ceeded his predecessors in the presidency of the 
 London conference, and after the Twelve had left 
 England, he acted as councilor to Parley P. Pratt, 
 who presided over the European mission. 
 
 A pamphlet entitled " The only Way to be Saved," 
 which Elder Snow published while on this mission^ 
 has been translated into every language, where the 
 fullness of the gospel has been preached under the 
 Mormon dispensation. 
 
 At the close of this mission of nearly three years, 
 he took charge of a large company of Saints, with 
 whom he safely landed in Nauvoo, via New Or- 
 leans and the Mississippi river. 
 
 Inasmuch as some of its bitter opposers have 
 strenuously asserted that the introduction of the 
 practice of plural marriage was subsequent to the 
 death of the great founder of Mormonism, we will 
 here transcribe from Lorenzo Snow's Journal an 
 entry which should settle that controversy : 
 
22 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Soon after my arrival in the city of Nauvoo, a 
 private interview was accorded me by President 
 Joseph Smith, in which he explained the doctrine 
 of plural or celestial marriage said it was made 
 known to him by revelation from God, by whom he 
 had been commanded to introduce the sacred order 
 by taking more wives. At the same time he in- 
 formed me that my sister, Eliza R. Snow, had been 
 sealed to him in this relationship by the authority 
 of that priesthood which is recognized in the 
 heavens. 
 
 In the winter of 1845-6 he, with his family, crossed 
 the Mississippi, and joined the mass of pilgrims from 
 their beautiful city, in that strange and eventful 
 exodus of the nineteenth century, " From the Land 
 " of the Free and the home of the brave" (!) ; stayed 
 in Pisgah until the Spring of 1847, when, taking 
 charge of a train of one hundred wagons, he arrived 
 in Salt Lake valley in the autumn following. The 
 next winter he was ordained into the quorum of the 
 Twelve, and in the ensuing autumn called to go to 
 Italy to introduce and establish the gospel in that 
 land ; his mission also extended to other nations 
 and countries wherever opportunity should present. 
 
 After an absence of nearly three years he returned 
 home via Malta, Gibraltar, Liverpool and New 
 York, and in the following autumn was elected 
 a member of the Utah Legislature. 
 
 The next mission of importance was to locate 
 fifty families in Box Elder County, sixty miles north 
 of Salt Lake City, where a small settlement had 
 been formed, which, for want of the right master- 
 spirit, had lost every vestige of enterprise, and was 
 minus all aim in the direction of advancement. To 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 23 
 
 diffuse active energies into this stereotyped con- 
 dition of things, was not unlike raising the dead, 
 and a man of less strength of purpose would have 
 faltered. Not so the one in question. He went to 
 work, laid out a city, naming it " Brigham," in honor 
 of the President of the Church, moved his family to 
 the new city, and thus laid the foundation for the 
 great financial co-operative enterprise that he has 
 there built up. 
 
 When the county was organized, by the authority 
 of the Legislature he took the presidency, as a 
 Stake of Zion, which position he still holds. He 
 was elected member of the Legislative Council to 
 represent the district composed of the counties of 
 Box Elder and Weber, and yet serves in that 
 capacity. 
 
 A few years ago, with Elders E. T. Benson and 
 J. F. Smith, he visited the Sandwich Islands on im- 
 portant matters relative to the interests of the 
 Saints on those islands. 
 
 But the great work designed to bring into exer- 
 cise the gigantic powers, and exhibit this entirely 
 devoted man in the higher plane of practical en- 
 gineering as an organizer, statesman and financier, 
 was yet to come. 
 
 Prompt to the suggestions of Pres't Young, in an 
 order designed to firmly cement the bonds of union 
 among the Saints, thereby laying a foundation for 
 mutual self-support and independence, through a 
 combination of temporal as well as spiritual inter- 
 ests, on a general co-operative basis, Hercules like, 
 Lorenzo put his shoulder to the wheel, and, 
 although he saw at a glance the magnitude of the 
 
24 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 undertaking that it required almost superhuman 
 skill, and the labor of years, his duty was the watch- 
 word, and success the ultimatum. Present results 
 show that no difficulties were too great for him to 
 encounter. 
 
 His first step in the co-operative movement was 
 in the mercantile line. In 1863-4 he commenced 
 by establishing a co-operative store, with stock in 
 shares of $5.00, thus making it possible for people 
 of very moderate circumstances to become share- 
 holders. 
 
 Many difficulties occurred in the start, and the 
 progress was slow, but it steadily gained in the con- 
 fidence of the people, the stockholders realizing 
 from twenty to twenty-five per cent, per annum, in 
 merchandise, and in five years it was an acknowl- 
 edged success. Then, aided by the profits from the 
 mercantile department, an extensive tannery was 
 erected at a cost of ten thousand dollars ; the 
 people having the privilege of putting in labor as 
 capital ; and soon after these departments were in 
 successful operation, a woolen factory, at a cost of 
 nearly forty thousand dollars, was brought into 
 working order, again taking labor as stock. 
 
 A co-operative sheep-herd, for supplying the fac- 
 tory, was soon added then co-operative farms, and 
 to these a cheese dairy. Thus one department of 
 industry after another has been established, until 
 now between thirty and forty departments are com- 
 bined all working harmoniously like the wheels 
 of a grand piece of machinery. 
 
 Their last year's report stated that there were 
 about five hundred stockholders, with a capital of 
 one hundred and forty thousand dollars. 
 
SUPPLEMENT 25 
 
 In 1872 he accompanied Pres't Geo. A. Smith on 
 a tour through Europe, Egypt, Greece and Pales- 
 tine. While in Vienna, on his return, he received 
 information of his appointment as Assistant Coun- 
 cilor to Pres't Young. 
 
 As a missionary he has traveled over one hundred 
 and fifty thousand miles. Probably none of his 
 compeers have been longer in the field, or traveled 
 more, in preaching the gospel among the nations of 
 the earth. 
 
 HON. W. H. HOOPER. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HOOPER is the son of Henry 
 Hooper and Mary Noel Price. He was born at the 
 old homestead known as Warwick Manor, Dor- 
 chester County, Eastern Shore, Maryland, December 
 25th, 1813. 
 
 His father, who died when Mr. Hooper was three 
 years of age, was of English descent, while his 
 mother, as her name would indicate, was of Scotch 
 extraction. 
 
 Becoming a clerk in a store at the age of 14, his 
 mercantile experience may be said to have begun at 
 that time, and his subsequent 'life has been substan- 
 tially a pursuit of the calling indicated by that 
 event. 
 
 From that humble beginning he gradually rose 
 to the attainment of considerable prominence as a 
 merchant, and, in the year 1836, we find him a 
 member of the firm of " Hooper, Peck & Scales," of 
 
26 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Galena, Illinois, afterwards well known upon the 
 frontiers as merchants, miners and smelters, as well 
 as being considerably concerned in steamboat in- 
 terests. It was during this year that he married his 
 first wife, Miss Electa Jane Harris, by whom he 
 had two daughters, both of whom are now dead, as 
 is also their, mother, who died in 1844. 
 
 The affairs of this firm becoming involved in the 
 crash of '38, the business was duly closed up, and 
 Mr. Hooper, for a time, became interested in steam- 
 boating upon the Mississippi, and also in steamboat 
 building. His ventures in this line, however, in 
 consequence of certain accidents and disasters, did 
 not prove remunerative, and in the Spring of 1850 
 he emigrated to Salt Lake City, under an engage- 
 ment with Holliday & Warner, merchants. This 
 event, small as it may appear, changed the whole 
 phase of his future life. Although thinking to soon 
 again embark in another steamboat venture, his 
 health was so much improved by his stay in Salt 
 Lake that he abandoned the idea, and remained 
 with Holliday & Warner. 
 
 In December, '52, he married Miss Mary Ann 
 Knowlton, his present wife, by whom he has had 
 nine children, seven of whom are now living. In 
 1853, and while in company with Holliday & 
 Warner, he went to California with, a large adven- 
 ture of cattle, horses, flour, &c. The latter he 
 disposed of to a large company of emigrants on the 
 road. While in California he sol'd his interest in 
 the concern .to Holliday & Warner, and, in com- 
 pany with four other men, returned to Salt Lake, 
 with pack animals, in the Fall, reaching the city in 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 2J 
 
 the month of December. This journey was at- 
 tended with great danger, the country being infested 
 with hostile Indians from where Virginia City, Ne- 
 vada, now stand, to the settlements of Utah, a dis- 
 tance of 700 miles. 
 
 In '54 he embarked in mercantile pursuits, and in 
 '55 was elected a member of the State convention 
 to frame a constitution for the State of Deseret. In 
 '56, he was appointed by Gov. Brigham Young sec- 
 retary pro tern of the Territory, to fill the place 
 made vacant by the death of Almon W. Babbitt. 
 This position he held until '58. 
 
 As we have seen, coming to Utah changed the 
 course of Mr. Hooper's life, and turned the fates in 
 his favor ; for in 1859 he was elected delegate from 
 Utah to the 36th Congress of the United States. 
 His record in Congress has been given elsewhere. 
 Undoubtedly his extensive acquaintance and asso- 
 ciation with public men from early life had much to 
 do in protecting and preserving the interests of the 
 people, whom, as their representative, he so long 
 and faithfully served. 
 
 Since his return to private life, Mr. Hooper has 
 been engaged in the successful pursuit of mercantile 
 enterprises. 
 
 HON. GEORGE Q. CANNON. 
 
 GEORGE Q. CANNON was born in Liverpool, 
 
 England, on the nth of January, 1827. His parents 
 joined the Mormons when he was 12 years of age. 
 Previously, however, his fathers sister left England, 
 
28 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 for Canada, as a companion to the wife of the Sec- 
 retary of the colony, but with the intention of re- 
 turning. While in Canada, however, she met Elder 
 John Taylor, then a Methodist minister, whose wife 
 she afterwards became. 
 
 At this time Elder Parley P. Pratt was on mis- 
 sion to Canada, preaching the doctrines of Mor- 
 mon ism, to which Mr. Taylor and wife were soon 
 converted. Mr. Taylor having been chosen one of 
 the Twelve Apostles of the Mormon Church, 
 visited England in 1839, as a Mormon missionary, 
 where he first made the acquaintance of his brother- 
 in law, Mr. Cannon's father, whom, with his wife and 
 family he succeeded in baptizing into the Mormon 
 church. Mr. Cannon states that " As soon as my 
 " mother saw Mr. Taylor, and before she knew he 
 " was a religious man, she said, 'he is a man of 
 " ' God/ " 
 
 The headquarters of the Mormon Church was 
 then at Nauvoo, to which place the new converts 
 were very desirous to emigrate, but active opera- 
 tions in that direction were for some time delayed 
 on account of Mrs. Cannon having strong premo- 
 nitions that she would not reach " Zion." These were 
 supported by certain analogous dreams by Mr 
 Cannon, all of which were literally fulfilled in the 
 death of Mrs. Cannon while crossing the Atlantic 
 ocean. The rest of the family reached Nauvoo in 
 safety. 
 
 Two months after the massacre of Joseph and 
 Hyrum Smith, Mr. Cannon's father left Nauvoo on 
 a business tour to St. Louis, and, while there, died* 
 leaving seven orphan children. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 29 
 
 After reaching Nauvoo, George Q., then but a 
 lacl, went to work in the office of the Nauvoo Neigh- 
 bor, and Times and Seasons, where he learned the 
 printing business. 
 
 In 1847 young Cannon crossed the plains with 
 the emigrants, and, during the winter following, and 
 up to the Fall of 1849, ne was engaged in house 
 building, farming operations, canyon work, adobe 
 making, and other labor incident to the settlement 
 of a new country. 
 
 In the Fall of '49 he accompanied Apostle Charles 
 C. Rich to California, where he worked in the gold 
 mines until the Summer of 1850, when he, with five 
 others, was called to go on a mission to the Sand- 
 wich Islands. They sailed from San Francisco, and 
 after a three weeks' voyage, landed at Honolulu, on 
 the i2th of December of that year. Mr. Cannon 
 acquired the Hawaiian language very rapidly, and, 
 after being there six weeks, he started out to travel 
 among, and preach to, the natives. In a few months 
 he succeded in organizing branches of the Church 
 in various places. 
 
 While there he translated the Book of Mormon 
 into the Hawaiian language, and with the other 
 missionaries made arrangements for the purchase 
 of a press and printing materials necessary for its 
 publication. 
 
 He returned to Salt Lake Valley in the winter 
 of '54. In 1855 he went on mission to California 
 and established a printing office and a newspaper, 
 the Western Standard, of which he was editor. 
 
 The news of what is known as the " Utah war " 
 reached California in '57, and Mr. Cannon soon 
 
3O SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 after returned to Salt Lake to take part in the 
 defence. 
 
 In April, 1858, the abandonment of Salt Lake 
 commenced, and Mr. Cannon was appointed to take 
 the press and printing materials belonging to the 
 Deseret Neivs to Fillmore City, where he published 
 that paper from April to September of that year. 
 
 He was then sent on mission to the Eastern 
 States, which duty he performed until he received 
 an official notification that he had been elecced on 
 the 23d of October, '59, as one of the Twelve 
 Apostles, to act in the place made vacant by the 
 death of Parley P. Pratt. In the Fall of 1860 he 
 returned to Salt Lake City, where he remained six 
 weeks, during which time he was called to fill a 
 mission to England. He was appointed to take 
 charge of the emigration in Europe, and of the 
 Millennial Star office ; and to act as president of 
 the European Mission. 
 
 In May, '62, he received a despatch to the effect 
 that he had been elected United States Senator by 
 the Legislature of the inchoate State of Deseret, 
 and was requested to join Mr. Hooper in Washing- 
 ton early in June, which he did. 
 
 Both Senators-elect labored diligently in Wash- 
 ington to get Utah admitted into the Union as 
 a State during the remainder of that session of 
 Congress. 
 
 Upon the adjournment of Congress Mr. Cannon 
 returned to England where he labored with marked 
 success until August, '64, when he returned home, 
 having, while in England, shipped upwards of 13,000 
 souls, as Latter-day Saints, for Utah. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 3! 
 
 For three years after his return to Salt Lake he 
 acted as private secretary to President Brigham 
 Young, having been elected in the mean time a 
 member of the legislative council. In the Fall of 
 '67 he took charge of the Deseret News, then pub- 
 lished semi-weekly, as its editor and publisher. 
 He immediately commenced the publication of the 
 Deseret Evening News (daily), and his connection 
 with that paper continued until the Fall of 1872, 
 when he was elected Delegate to Congress, which 
 position he still fills, to the credit of himself and 
 the satisfaction of his constituency. 
 
 BISHOP HUNTER. 
 
 EDWARD HUNTER, Presiding Bishop of the Mor- 
 mon Church, was born in Newtown, Delaware 
 County, Pennsylvania, June 22d, 1793. He was the 
 son of Edward and Hannah Hunter, of the same 
 county and State. His great 'grandfather, John 
 Hunter, was from the north of England, and served 
 under William of Orange, as a lieutenant in the 
 cavalry, at the battle of the Boyne. 
 
 Edward. Hunter, sen., the father of the Bishop, 
 was a man of standing in the State of Pennsylvania, 
 holding the office of Justice of the Peace in Dela- 
 ware County for forty years. 
 
 On the mother's side was Robert Owen, of North 
 Wales, who, on the restoration of Charles II., re- 
 fused to take the oath of allegiance, for which he 
 was imprisoned. He subsequently came to America 
 
32 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 and purchased property near Philadelphia. His son 
 George was early in life called to the public service, 
 being elected to the Legislature of his native State, 
 and during his lifetime holding many posts of trust, 
 among which was that of Sheriff of Chester and 
 Delaware Counties. The Owens family were 
 Quakers, and from them the Mormon Bishop has 
 inherited many of his religious and character traits. 
 He was brought up as a regular farmer and given 
 a thorough farmer's education. His father was in 
 
 o 
 
 the habit of causing him to read, as a constant les- 
 son in his education, the declaration of independ- 
 ence, which so impressed his imagination that in his 
 ardent enthusiasm he would affirm to his father 
 that it was surely written by the inspiration of God, 
 and his father would reply, with something of pro- 
 phetic solemnity, " Edward, it is too good for a 
 " wicked world." Among his father's constant in- 
 structions to him were the admonitions that he 
 should sustain the principle of worshiping God 
 according to the dictates of conscience ; that men 
 should rise in life by merit only ; that he must never 
 fail in business to the putting of himself within the 
 power of wicked men ; and, as a comprehensive rule 
 in life, to "be invited up but never ordered down ;" 
 all of which he has aimed to regard most religiously. 
 Edward Hunter, sen., was, for many years, a 
 justice of the peace, and in his native State was 
 known as a man of marked character and integrity ; 
 and on his death his son, though only twenty-two 
 years of age, was proffered his father's office, but 
 would not accept it on account of his youth. He 
 was also offered the certain election as representa- 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 33 
 
 live in the Legislature of Pennsylvania on the pop- 
 ular side the old Federals but refused, he being 
 a Democrat, which political preference he has faith- 
 fully maintained ever since. 
 
 When about thirty years of age he removed to 
 Chester County, where he purchased over five hun- 
 dred acres of farming land, about thirty miles from 
 Philadelphia, which he brought under the highest 
 cultivation, and became noted as one of the best 
 graziers in that country. Here, in 1839, ne was 
 visited by three Mormon elders, but though they 
 made their home at his house, he did not come into 
 the Mormon Church until the succeeding year. 
 Both himself and his father before him had main- 
 tained a conscientious independence of the sectarian 
 churches. Going, however, one evening, a distance 
 from the neighborhood to a place called Locust 
 Grove, to affirm in behalf of a certain Mormon 
 elder the sacred right of liberty of conscience, he 
 made a decided stand in defence of the new faith. 
 The trustee of the school having first challenged 
 the elder for his views on the gospel, and then 
 assaying to crowd him from the stand by his local 
 influence, the honest farmer indignantly arose and 
 maintained the elder's right to preach the gospel 
 uninterrupted. As it was known that Hunter em- 
 ployed a good lawyer, and had the best character 
 and the most money of any man in the country 
 around, he carried the day for the Mormon preacher. 
 At night, however, sleep was interrupted by the 
 question uppermost in his mind, " Are these men 
 " the servants of God ? " Addressing the question 
 to heaven, immediately a light appeared in his 
 
34 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 room, from the overpowering glory of which he hid 
 his face. This was his first testimony to the Mor- 
 mon work. 
 
 Soon after this the Mormon prophet, having 
 visited Washington to invoke President Van 
 Buren's protection of the Mormons who had just 
 been driven out of Missouri, returned by way of 
 Pennsylvania, and stopped at Mr. Hunter's house. 
 While there his host, who had been for many years 
 interested in Swedenborgianism, asked the Prophet 
 if he was acquainted with that doctrine, and what 
 was his opinion of its founder, to which he replied : 
 " I verily believe Emanuel Swedenborg had a view 
 " of the world to come, but for daily food he 
 " perished." This visit was in 1839, but Mr. Hun- 
 ter was not baptized into the Mormon Church until 
 October of the following year, when the ordinance 
 was administered to him by Apostle Orson Hyde, 
 who was then on his way to Jerusalem. 
 
 The summer after his baptism he " gathered " to 
 Nauvoo, and purchased a farm of the Prophet. His 
 wealth did much to endow the Church, for he do- 
 nated thousands to the " Trustee-in-Trust," and for 
 the assistance of the poor. He assisted the Church 
 to the amount of fifteen thousand dollars during 
 the first year, until Joseph told him, in the " name 
 " of the Lord," he had done enough. 
 
 Bishop Hunter w r as with his people in their exo- 
 dus from Nauvoo, and entered the Valley with the 
 first companies after the pioneers. Soon afterwards, 
 on the death of Newel K. Whitney, he became the 
 presiding bishop of the Church. 
 
 Great hearted and childlike, he is beloved by all, 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 35 
 
 and his odd, rich sayings are as household words 
 among his people. 
 
 BISHOP SHARP. 
 
 JOHN SHARP, the " Railroad Bishop," is not only 
 a Scotchman by bi-rth, but is of unmixed Scotch 
 descent. He was born in the Devon Ironworks, 
 Scotland, November gth, 1820, and was sent into a 
 coalpit to work when but eight years of age. 
 
 In 1847 Mormonism found him in Clackmannan- 
 shire, still engaged as a coal miner. The Mormon 
 gospel was brought to this quarter by William 
 Gibson, one of the first Scotch elders sent out, a 
 man who obtained notoriety in the British mission 
 as an orator and an able disputant. This elder 
 converted the Sharp brothers (there were three of 
 them) to the faith, and in 1848 they left Scotland 
 for America. They landed in New Orleans, came 
 up the Mississippi to St. Louis, where they lived 
 until the Spring of 1850, and then took up their 
 line of march for Salt Lake City. 
 
 The date of his arrival, August 28th, 1850, makes 
 John Sharp one of the earlier settlers of Utah, and 
 the sphere that he has filled so many years, properly 
 classes him among the " founders." He first went to 
 work in the church quarry, getting out stone for 
 the " Old Tabernacle" and Tithing Office, and next 
 was made the superintendent of the quarry. Under 
 his direction the stone for the public works, the 
 foundation of the temple, and the massive wall 
 
30 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 around the temple block, was got out ; and it must 
 be understood that in those days the quarrying and 
 hauling of those huge blocks of granite was no in- 
 different undertaking. The church quarry is 18 
 miles from the city, and the rock, of course, had to 
 be hauled by oxen, and the men employed directly 
 or indirectly on tithing account. The numerous 
 difficulties which the superintendents of the Church 
 works have had to grapple with, in raising teams 
 upon the tithing offerings, the employment of reg- 
 ular hands, and the finding of means generally to 
 carry on the public works, are not easily imagined, 
 unless one can fancy what the national income would 
 mean if paid in flour, molasses, potatoes, squashes, 
 and the like, and distributed afterwards for the 
 national service. 
 
 In 1854 he was ordained by President Young as 
 the Bishop of the Twentieth Ward. It had been 
 at its organization coupled with the Eighteenth 
 Ward, under Bishop Lorenzo Young ; but substan- 
 tially Bishop Sharp is the founder of the Twentieth 
 Ward. It grew up under him, and soon became 
 known as one of the most liberal and intellectual 
 wards in the city. 
 
 In 1864 Bishop Sharp was appointed Assistant 
 Superintendent of the Public Works, and when 
 President Daniel H. Wells went to England to take 
 charge of the European mission, he was the Acting 
 Superintendent until his return. In '68 he became 
 a sub-contractor under Brigham Young on the 
 Union Pacific Railroad. Under this contract Sharp 
 & Young did the heavy stone work of the bridge 
 abutments, and the cutting of the tunnels of Weber 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 37 
 
 Canyon. In this work they employed from five to 
 six hundred men, and the contract amounted to 
 about a million of dollars. Afterwards, during the 
 strife between the Union Pacific and the Central 
 Pacific, the Bishop took another contract for Sharp 
 & Young, on the Union Pacific, on which he em- 
 ployed four or five hundred men, the contract 
 amounting to $100,000. In the difficulties of the 
 settlement between President Young and the U, P. 
 Co., John Sharp, John Taylor and Joseph A. Young 
 were chosen to go to Boston to bring the business 
 to an issue. So vigorously, yet prudently, did they 
 press the matter with Durant and others that, in 
 the lack of the company's funds, Brigham got 
 600,000 dollars' worth of railroad material, iron and 
 rolling stock, which was used in the construction 
 of the Utah Central. After the building of that 
 line, Joseph A. Young was made its superintendent, 
 and he was followed by Ferezmore Little, but Sharp 
 succeeded them in 1871, and in 1873 was also ap- 
 pointed its president as well as superintendent. In 
 the organization of the Utah Southern in 1870, he 
 was elected Vice-President. He went east as the 
 purchasing agent for this company, and becoming 
 extensively associated with the Union Pacific di- 
 rectors, was finally elected one of them. He is a 
 man of pronounced character, and of much capacity, 
 particularly of the practical quality. This has been 
 shown in his career. He has a very common-sense 
 type of mind, is, in fact, a " man of the world," 
 notwithstanding he is a bishop 
 
 Coming from a coalpit in Scotland, and rising to 
 his position as a bishop in the Church, a president 
 
38 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 and superintendent of railroads, and one of the 
 directors of the Union Pacific, John Sharp may 
 well be pronounced a " self-made man." 
 
 BISHOP BUDGE. 
 
 WILLIAM BUDGE, one of the presiding bishops 
 over the Stakes of Zion, is a Scotchman by birth. 
 Bishop Sharp, David V. Calder, Judge Pyper, and 
 Bishop Budge may be taken as fair representatives, 
 in the Mormon Church, of the Scotch nationality. 
 
 Bishop Sharp we have styled the Railroad 
 Bishop ; William Budge, on the other hand, is a 
 missionary man, having been one of the founders 
 of foreign missions. 
 
 He was born in Lanark, Lanarkshire, Scotland, 
 May ist, 1828. Like nearly all of the Mormon 
 elders, he is from the working class ; therefore a 
 self-made man. 
 
 In 1848, when at the age of twenty, he embraced 
 Mormonism, and at twenty-one became a local 
 preacher. In the Spring of 1851 he was sent as a 
 missionary to the North of England to build up 
 new branches of the Church. In the Fall of the 
 same year he was sent to the West of Scotland, but 
 shortly afterwards to the West of England, where 
 he labored two years, baptizing in and around 
 Southampton quite a number of converts. From 
 Southampton he was sent to Norwich, and then to 
 the classical city of Cambridge, to leave tracts with, 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 39 
 
 and expound the scriptures to, the students of the 
 University. 
 
 From Cambridge Elder Budge was commissioned 
 to go to Switzerland at the beginning of the year 
 1854. Although understanding simply the rudi- 
 ments of the German language before he left Eng- 
 land, in less than three months he was preaching in 
 German. 
 
 But on nearly every part of the continent of 
 Europe, excepting Scandinavia, the elders found it 
 almost impossible to make inroads. They were 
 often imprisoned, at the instigation of priests, for 
 " preaching the gospel," and so in Switzerland, 
 within three months, Elder Budge was subjected to 
 examination and imprisonment thirteen times. He 
 was ultimately banished from the country ; but he 
 wrote to the British minister at Bern, claiming the 
 protection of a British subject, he having a passport 
 signed by Lord Clarendon, then Home Secretary. 
 Proceedings against him were stopped, and the 
 minister sent for his passport and further explana- 
 tion of the case. The elder explained as the proba- 
 ble cause that he was a Mormon missionary. The 
 minister replied with quite a sermon on " that 
 " abominable sect," and advised the elder, though 
 reluctantly, to leave the country, the British con- 
 science being pricked in not standing by Her 
 Majesty's subject. 
 
 The elder left Zurich, and returned to England, 
 where he labored a while, traveling through the 
 conferences of Bedfordshire, Cambridge and Nor- 
 wich, and then was sent to Dresden, Saxony, in 
 September, 1855. Here everything had to be done 
 
4<D SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 with the strictest secrecy, the law expressly forbid- 
 ding the propagation of any faith excepting Catho- 
 lic, Jewish, and a certain established Protestantism. 
 But notwithstanding the strict espionage and pass- 
 port system, Elder Budge was enabled to build up 
 a large branch of his Church, among the members 
 of which were Carl G. Masser and Edward Schon- 
 field, both employed as teachers in government 
 schools. Professor Masser has since been one of 
 the founders of education in Utah, and is now the 
 Principal of the Provo University, an institution 
 lately endowed by President Young. 
 
 Towards the close of 1855, Elder Budge returned 
 to England, and labored in the great London con- 
 ference, of which he soon became president. This 
 position he held for about two years, when he was 
 elevated to the rank of second councilor of the 
 presidency of the European mission, in the Spring 
 of 1858, when all the American elders were called 
 home in consequence of the Utah war. He was 
 also made pastor of the Birmingham pastorate, 
 which was second only to that of London, incor- 
 porating four conferences. 
 
 In the summer of 1860 Elder Budge emigrated, 
 arriving in Salt Lake City. October 5th, and settled 
 in F'armington. In the Fall of 1863 he was or- 
 dained a bishop, under the hands of President 
 Young, and sent to Providence, Cache Valley, and 
 in the Summer of 1870 he was sent by the President 
 to Paris, the capital of Bear Lake Co., Idaho, to pre- 
 side as a bishop over that " Stake of Zion,' consist- 
 ing of sixteen settlements. 
 
 This presiding bishop has never in his life been 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 4! 
 
 before a council of the Church, either as the accused 
 or the accuser, which at once shows his rectitude 
 and Christian tolerance. He has been an energetic 
 laborer for his Church, both in Europe and in 
 " Zk>n," and is decidedly a civilizing man. Now that 
 the first work of settling is done, Utah needs 
 bishops over all her wards, settlements, and stakes, 
 of the class of William Budcre. 
 
 o 
 
 JUDGE SMITH. 
 
 ELIAS SMITH, the chief and best representative 
 of Mormon jurisprudence in the history of Utah to 
 the present date, is first cousin of the Prophet and 
 founder of the Mormon Church. His father, Asahel, 
 was the brother of Joseph Smith, " First Patriarch" 
 of the Church, the father of the- " Prophet Joseph." 
 
 Judge Smith was born September 6th, 1804, in 
 Royalton, Windsor County, Vermont, near Sharon, 
 where his cousin, the Prophet, was born. In 1809 
 his father emigrated to the town of Stockholm, St. 
 Lawrence County, New York. There Ellas was 
 raised in the wilderness, with but few opportunities 
 for schooling. Most of his knowledge was acquired 
 by observation and "study without a master." 
 
 The announcement of the mission of the Prophet 
 and the rapid growth and strange career of the 
 " Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," very 
 naturally drew into the faith several of the best 
 branches of the Smith family. The famous apostle, 
 George A. Smith, who was decidedly one of the 
 
42 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 very greatest men of the Mormon dispensation, was 
 a missionary of the Church at the age of 16, but his 
 elder cousin Elias was 31 years of age when he em- 
 braced the faith. His mind was well-matured, for 
 he had been already ten years in public life. 
 
 Having embraced " Mormonism," he removed 
 from New York State, in 1836, to Kirtland, Ohio, 
 where the Mormons were then gathering ; thence 
 he removed to Missouri, in 1838, settling in Calcl- 
 well County, and was among the disciples expelled 
 from that State. Illinois becoming, after this, the 
 gathering place of the Saints, he fled with them 
 there, but finally settled, for several years, in Lee 
 County, Iowa; then he returned to Nauvoo, which 
 by this time had become famous as the second Zion 
 of the Mormon people. 
 
 At Nauvoo he was associated with the press as 
 business manager of the Times and Seasons and the 
 
 o 
 
 Nauvoo Neighbor. After the martyrdom of his 
 cousins Joseph and Hyrum, he followed the leader- 
 ship of Brigham Young, as did also the Apostle 
 George A. Smith, with his father John, who was 
 now the Chief Patriarch of the Church. Thus, not- 
 withstanding that Emma, first wife of the Prophet, 
 with her sons and " Mother Lucy " Smith, remained 
 at Nauvoo with the relics of their martyred dead, 
 the surviving leaders of the Smith family were with 
 the Saints in their exodus, and are among the 
 founders of Utah. The sons of Hyrum Smith also 
 came with the people to build up with them the 
 religious fabric which the blood of their father and 
 uncle had sanctified. 
 
 With his family he took up the pioneer journey 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 43 
 
 from Nauvoo in May, 1846, intending to go with 
 the body of the -Church to the Rocky Mountains 
 that year, but the call of the Mormon battalion 
 soon afterwards hindering this, he sojourned awhile 
 in lowaville, Van Buren Co., Iowa. In 1851 he 
 emigrated to Utah, and soon after was elected, by 
 the Legislature, Probate Judge of Salt Lake County, 
 in which office he has been continued up to the 
 present time. His terms of office have ranged 
 from four years to one, and he now holds office by 
 election from the people. In 1852 he was also ap- 
 pointed one of a Code Commission of three, with 
 Albert Carrington and William Snow, he being 
 chairman. Their duty was to present to that legis- 
 lature of pioneers, unskilled in legal science, those 
 laws best adapted to the peculiar condition and 
 character of the people; and whatever may be 
 the criticism of the lawyers of to-day upon their 
 work, undoubtedly these men acted with strict 
 fidelity, and with the most conscientious intentions. 
 Judge Smith has eminently filled the most im- 
 portant judicial sphere in Utah, the Probate Courts 
 being, until the McKean period, practically the 
 Courts of Justice for the people. Indeed, he is 
 known in all the acts of his .life, and in his essential 
 character and quality of mind, to be conscientious 
 in the highest degree. It is not in his nature to 
 administer unrighteously ; and in the peculiar case 
 of Utah, with Gentile and Mormon in chronic con- 
 flict, that quality of mind and judgment has had 
 ample opportunity to manifest itself. In this quality 
 of justice his peer was Daniel Spencer, who occu- 
 pied an office in the Church analogous to that of 
 
44 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Chief Justice of the State, and to whose Ecclesias- 
 tical Court, the High Council, Gentiles have in 
 the early days repeatedly taken their cases for arbi- 
 tration in preference to " going to law " either in 
 the Federal or Probate Courts. Elias Smith and 
 Daniel Spencer may therefore be offered to the 
 Gentile reader as the proper types of the judges of 
 Mormon Israel. 
 
 Besides his judicial sphere, Judge Smith has filled 
 other important callings. He was business manager 
 of the Dcseret News, under Dr. Richards, in the 
 early rise of journalism and literature in the West, 
 and was Postmaster of Salt Lake City from July, 
 1854, until the army came in 1858. In 1859 ne 
 became editor of the Deserct News, retaining the 
 position until September, 1863, when he was suc- 
 ceeded by Albert Carrington ; since which time he 
 has exclusively confined himself to his judicial duties. 
 In '62 he was a member of the Constitutional Con- 
 vention, and one of the committee who drafted the 
 Constitution for the State. His general history is 
 the history of his people. While in his private 
 capacity he is universally respected, in his public 
 sphere he may also be said to be without an enemy, 
 notwithstanding he has so long administered law 
 and equity. 
 
 MAYOR LITTLE. 
 
 FEREZMORE LITTLE was born in Cayuga County, 
 New York, June i4th, 1820. His father, James 
 Little, died a few years thereafter, and his mother, 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 45 
 
 whose maiden name was Susan Young; (a sister of 
 President Brigham Young), died in Salt Lake City, 
 May 5th, 1852. 
 
 After the death of his father, his mother, with 
 the balance of the family, moved west, leaving him 
 in the care of a family with whom he was living at 
 the time of their departure. He remained in* the 
 State of New York until in his 22d year, when he 
 also moved west, arriving in Illinois in the Summer 
 of 1842. 
 
 In 1843 ne wen t to St. Louis, where he remained 
 until the Spring of 1859, m which year he emigrated 
 to Salt Lake City. 
 
 In the year 1846 he^went from St. Louis to Nau- 
 voo, where he was married to Miss Fanny M. 
 Decker, youngest daughter of Isaac Decker, and on 
 his return to St. Louis with his wife, three days 
 afterwards, he crossed the Mississippi River on the 
 same boat with Brigham Young, when he made his 
 final exit from Nauvoo. 
 
 He moved to Salt Lake in 1850, but did not join 
 the Mormon Church until 1853. 
 
 His first business ventures in Utah were in con- 
 nection with the U. S. mail service, across the 
 plains, which he had more or less to do with for 
 several years. 
 
 In 1854-5 he superintended the construction of 
 the Big Cottonwood Canyon Wagon Road, and the 
 erection of five saw mills on the canyon stream, 
 and during the same period he also built the Terri- 
 torial Penitentiary. 
 
 In 1858 he superintended the building of the 
 first passable wagon road in Provo Canyon. In 
 
46 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 1863 he went to Florence as emigration agent for 
 the Church, where he spent the whole Summer 
 superintending the outfitting of 500 wagons and 
 4,000 Latter-day Saint emigrants for Utah. In 
 February, 1864, in connection with President Brig- 
 ham Young, he purchased the Salt Lake City 
 House, himself becoming its proprietor for the suc- 
 ceeding seven years. 
 
 In 1868-9 he was engaged in railroad work on 
 the Union Pacific, and afterward became promi- 
 nently identified with the Utah Central and Utah 
 Southern. 
 
 In addition to his extensive connections, he is 
 also a stockholder in, and a director of, the Deseret 
 Bank, and at the last election in Salt Lake City was 
 elected Mayor. 
 
 Thus, in the past quarter of a century he has, by 
 industry and close application, worked himself from 
 comparative obscurity into a position of prominence, 
 trust and honor. 
 
 WILLIAM JENNINGS. 
 
 Decidedly one of the most marked of the com- 
 mercial men of Utah is WILLIAM JENNINGS. He 
 was the son of Israel Jennings and Jane Thornton, 
 and was born at Yardley, near Birmingham, Worces- 
 tershire, England, September 13, 1823. 
 
 In that city his father was known as one of the 
 wealthiest of its butchers, who was some years ago 
 one of the claimants in the famous Jennings chan- 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 47 
 
 eery suit for the immense sum of several millions 
 of pounds sterling ; but without other results than 
 proving himself a lawful claimant to the estate, and 
 a branch of that aristocratic family. 
 
 In the year 1847 Mr. Jennings emigrated to 
 America, landing in New York early in October ; 
 after looking around a few weeks he engaged for 
 the Winter with a Mr. Taylor, from Manchester, 
 England, a pork packer, at a wage of six dollars per 
 week. 
 
 The next year he crossed the Alleghany Moun- 
 tains, by way of Cumberland and Wheeling, to Cin- 
 cinnati, thence to Chillicothe, Ohio. During that 
 year he was robbed of between four and five hun- 
 dred dollars, leaving him absolutely destitute. 
 Being in this reduced condition, he next engaged 
 as a journeyman butcher at a small salary. 
 
 Leaving Ohio in March, '49, he went to St. Louis, 
 but finding that place unsuited to his purposes, he 
 left in April for St. Joseph, where he engaged to 
 work for one Gawey, to trim bacon ; but afterwards 
 went at butchering again. In the Fall of the same 
 year he was seized with cholera, which prostrated 
 him four weeks, at the expiration of which time he 
 found himself penniless, and two hundred dollars in 
 debt. 
 
 Although broken down by sickness, and robbed 
 of his money, his grit, backed by strong commercial 
 ambitions, was unconquerable, and he soon brought 
 to his assistance a benevolent Roman Catholic 
 priest, whose name was " Lealan," and from him 
 obtained the loan of $50, with which he set to work, 
 relieved himself of his liabilities, and laid the foun- 
 
48 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 dation upon which he has since amassed an immense 
 fortune. 
 
 In the year '49, and while in St. Joseph, he mar- 
 ried Miss Jane Walker, a Mormon emigrant girl. 
 The following Spring they crossed the plains en 
 route to Utah, arriving in Salt Lake City in the 
 Fall. Shortly after his arrival he joined the Mor- 
 mon Church, subsequently becoming a polygamist, 
 and marrying his second wife, with whom he is 
 still living, his first wife having died May 10, 1871, 
 after bearing him eleven children. His present 
 wife has borne him thirteen children, making 
 twenty-four children by his two wives. 
 
 fn the Spring of '55 he added to his butcher 
 business, which he had. established on his arrival in 
 Salt Lake, a tannery. This business was as grand 
 a success for the country as it was remunerative to 
 himself. 
 
 In '56 he was called on a mission to Carson 
 Valley, where he remained sixteen months ; but 
 ever anxious to be self-sustaining and independent 
 in the world, he started butchery in connection with 
 his mission, supplying the mining camps in that 
 region with meat. He also cut logs from the sur- 
 rounding mountains, with which he built a substan- 
 tial house. In the Summer of '57 he returned to 
 Salt Lake, where he found the people much excited 
 over the Buchanan expedition, but in spite of the 
 fact that Johnston's army Xvas marching on Utah, 
 for the avowed purpose of " wiping out " the 
 " Mormons," he set to work and built a large 
 butcher's shop, at a cost of $1,000, on the site where 
 the eagle emporium now stands. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 49 
 
 In the Spring of '58 he joined in the general 
 exodus of the Saints, and took his family and house- 
 hold effects to Provo ; but continued his business in 
 Salt Lake City. 
 
 After the return of the Saints to their homes, he 
 purchased, in 1860, some $40,000 worth of dry 
 goods of Mr. Solomon Young, and started in the 
 mercantile business. 
 
 The following year he was engaged in supplying 
 telegraph poles for the line between Salt Lake and 
 Ruby Valley. The same year he went to San 
 Francisco to purchase merchandise, traveling to 
 Sacramento, a distance of 800 miles, by stage. 
 
 In the year 1863, in conjunction with his mer- 
 chandising, he carried on a banking and broker's 
 business. In fact, he was the first of Salt Lake's 
 merchants to buy and ship Montana gold dust. He 
 was also owner of the first steam planing mill in 
 Utah. 
 
 In '64 he built the Eagle Emporium, a large 
 
 and substantial stone building, in which he clicl 
 
 a business amounting to $2,000,000 per annum, 
 
 thus making himself the leading merchant of the 
 
 western country. 
 
 During the same year he assisted in organizing 
 the Utah Central R. R. Company, himself becoming 
 its Vice-President, and remaining as such at the 
 present time. He also took part in organizing 
 the Utah Southern R. R., and succeeded President 
 Brigham Young as its President, and is still holding 
 that position. At a later period he became one of 
 the founders and directors of the Deseret National 
 Bank. 
 
5<D SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 He was elected a member of the Territorial 
 Legislature under Governor Doty's administration, 
 who also gave him his commission as lieut.-colonel 
 of the Nauvoo Legion of the militia of Utah. 
 
 Mr. Jennings, being a strong believer in the prin- 
 ciple of self-insurance, adopted this method of pro- 
 tecting himself against losses at an early period 
 after his business transactions in Utah warranted 
 such protection, using cattle as a basis. The amount 
 he would have had to pay insurance companies as a 
 premium he invested annually in cattle, until at the 
 present time he is, through these means alone, the 
 owner of 1,200 head ; the income derived therefrom 
 nets him $10,000 per annum ; this he invested in 
 railroad stock until his insurance fund now amounts 
 to the enormous sum of $100,000. He is an owner 
 in Utah railroads to the amount of about $400,000, 
 and is a bona fide millionaire. 
 
 William Jennings' commercial career has been 
 marked with as many salient points as that of the 
 Walkers, and he has been quite as prominent a 
 figure in history. On the Church side, he has occu- 
 pied a corresponding position to that of the Walker 
 Brothers on the Gentile side. In their relations to 
 Utah, among its founders, they are equally from the 
 Mormon people ; but, while the latter threw all 
 their weight into a commercial warfare against the 
 Church and its co-operative movement, the former 
 directed all his moneyed potency and enterprise 
 toward its commercial supremacy. 
 
 Jennings was in business years before the \Valker 
 Brothers, but chiefly in the home-manufacturing 
 line, in connection with his extensive stock dealing 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 51 
 
 and butchering. As the great home-manufacturer 
 of Utah, he filled a sphere of usefulness to the com- 
 munity, not only in starting several branches of 
 home industries, upon which the very life and pros- 
 perity of communities depend, but also thus empha- 
 sizing the home policy of the Mormon leaders. In 
 this Jennings has been the exception to all the 
 other merchants, both Mormon and Gentile, par- 
 ticularly when speaking of the earlier times. Until 
 the opening of the mines, he alone was the mer- 
 chant-apostle of home industries, and even then, 
 true to his precedents, he became a railroad builder 
 with Brigham Young, and has moved with sagacity 
 towards the development of the solider resources 
 and capacities of the Territory. 
 
 Thus William Jennings has risen above the mere 
 home-manufacturer to the merchant, the banker and 
 the railroad director. His great hit as a merchant 
 was in 1864, the year in which he built his " Eagle 
 Emporium." Major Burrows had brought to Salt 
 Lake City a mammoth train of goods, worth half a 
 million dollars, at a wholesale bargain, which he 
 desired to sell to one house. Jennings was the only 
 one who could dare the venture at that period, and 
 this he did against the earnest protest of his busi- 
 ness managers, who feared so great a risk. He pur- 
 chased the half a million's worth, and " came to 
 time " handsomely. It was the luckiest hit of his 
 life, for, independent of large profits, it raised him 
 at once among the great merchants of America, and 
 enhanced the commercial standing of Utah herself. 
 He says this was his chief object in purchasing that 
 train of goods, rather than the temptation of a bar- 
 
52 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 gain. From that time Jennings was the merchant 
 prince of Utah, and he held the sceptre until he re- 
 signed it to Brigham Young, as President of " Zion's 
 co-operative Mercantile Institution." 
 
 Undoubtedly Mr. Jennings' greatest service to 
 the Mormon people, and especially his value to 
 President Young, was in the establishment of that 
 famous institution. This is more apparent from the 
 fact that the President had to force it in the face of 
 a commercial rebellion. The great merchant was 
 
 o 
 
 of more service to him at that moment than a 
 quorum of Elders. 
 
 Mr. Jennings is a lover of home magnificence. To 
 his examples Salt Lake City owes greatly its fine 
 solid appearance of to-day. With his Eagle Empo- 
 rium he commenced the collossal improvements of 
 Main Street, in which he was followed by William S. 
 Godbe and the Walker Brothers. His home is 
 quite palatial, and, during the last few years, many 
 of our most distinguished visitors, including Presi- 
 dent Grant, have partaken of his hospitality. 
 
 Jennings is again in business with his sons in the 
 Eagle Emporium, where the family will very likely 
 flourish as merchant princes for several generations. 
 
 JUDGE PYPER. 
 
 With the general approbation of all classes of 
 citizens, in 1874, Alderman ALEXANDER PYPER was 
 appointed Judge of the Police Court of Salt Lake 
 City. The appointment of Judge Pyper to this 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 53 
 
 important position was very acceptable to the Gen- 
 tiles and seceders, for he bore a character of un- 
 swerving impartiality. True, he was a Mormon, but, 
 in his own words, the stamp of his administration 
 had-been given. He said: "My education and re- 
 " ligion have taught me to deal fairly and justly 
 ' towards all men, under the law, irrespective of 
 " their conditions or opinions, and regardless of 
 " offences." 
 
 It was also peculiarly satisfactory to the " author- 
 ities " that Judge Pyper was so acceptable to the 
 general public on the retirement of Judge Clinton, 
 for there was at that moment a fast growing desire 
 among all classes to see the city under a manage- 
 ment suitable to the changed times, and especially 
 to have an unsectarian administration of the law. 
 The Third United States Judicial Court had be- 
 come quite an ecclesiastical inquisition, where the 
 constant questions put by the United States Prose- 
 cuting Attorney, and allowed by the Chief Justice, 
 and indeed often put by him, especially in " McKean's 
 reign," were : " Are you a Mormon ? Have you 
 " been through the Mormon Endowment House ? 
 ' Do you believe that polygamy is a divine revela- 
 " tion ?" &c. This became so finely drawn between 
 the Chief Justice and the Prosecuting Attorney. that 
 it had no practical limit to the person guilty of the 
 act of polygamy, but was extended to those merely 
 guilty of the condition of faith in Mormonism. 
 And these questions were also constantly put not 
 only to jurors, but to applicants for United States 
 citizenship. It was this condition of things that 
 rendered Judge Pyper's words just quoted so perti- 
 
54 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 nent ; and in all his administration he has made good 
 those words. 
 
 Judge Pyper is a native of Ayreshire, Scotland. 
 He emigrated to the United States when a boy, 
 and subsequently graduated at Jones' Commercial 
 College, of St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 From 1853 to 1858 he conducted a very successful 
 mercantile business at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and at 
 Forence, Nebraska, being one of the principal 
 founders of the last-named place, and assisted in 
 the church emigration matters at that point, under 
 the direction of H. S. Eldridge, for a period of 
 four years. He moved to Utah in 1859, a d in 
 1860 built a chemical manufacturing laboratory, 
 producing, in large quantities, a number of useful 
 articles, used principally in home manufactures. 
 
 He was elected alderman for the fifth municipal 
 precinct of Salt Lake City in 1866, which position 
 he has held ever since. In 1834, by appointment of 
 the city council, he assumed the duties of Judge of 
 the Police Court, as before mentioned. 
 
 NICHOLAS GROESBECK. 
 
 This gentleman is one of the principal capitalists 
 of Utah, and the builder of the handsomest hotel 
 in the Territory. The " Wahsatch Hotel" is 
 already an ornament to the city, and when it is 
 completed it will present a magnificent appearance, 
 quite worthy any of the great cities of America. 
 
 Mr. Groesbeck is one of the old Mormons. He 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 55 
 
 was born in Rensselaer County, New York, Sept. 
 5, 1819. His father died when he was nine years 
 old, leaving him self-dependent. He embraced 
 Mormonism at the age of nineteen, and emigrated 
 to Springfield, 111., in the Fall of 1839, J Qst at tne 
 time the Mormons were settling in Illinois, after 
 being driven from Missouri. There he lived till 
 1856, when he emigrated to Utah, just before the 
 Utah war. In the Spring of 1857 he was sent to 
 Independence, as an agent of the Y. X. Company, 
 to forward the mail. He sent on the news of the 
 Buchanan expedition, and coming home had quite 
 an adventure with General Johnston and his sol- 
 diers. In his train he had thirty-nine kegs of pow- 
 der. The General refused to give him a pass, and 
 at Platte Bridge he was forced to dispose of his 
 train and " flee to the mountains " on mules. In 
 the Fall of 1858 he bought the valuable piece of 
 property where now stand " Groesbeck's buildings." 
 In 1869 he commenced mining in Cottonwood 
 Canyon, and was one of the original company who 
 developed the Flagstaff Mine. He went to New 
 York to sell this mine in 1871. Having stayed 
 there all the Summer without success, he went to 
 London, where he sold the Flagstaff for one hun- 
 dred thousand pounds. This gave him a first-class 
 place among moneyed men, the Flagstaff having 
 belonged solely to the Groesbeck family. He re- 
 turned to Utah in the Spring of 1872, when he 
 commenced the building of his grand hotel. 
 When finished it will have cost two hundred 
 thousand dollars, which tells something of the 
 change wrought in the Great American Desert 
 
56 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 since the Mormon pioneers entered these valleys, 
 with scarcely seed enough for the first planting. 
 The Wahsatch Hotel will have a frontage of over 
 
 o 
 
 190 feet on the Main Street, and 155 on the side 
 street, it being the opposite corner of the block 
 where stands the colossal store and bank of the 
 Walker Brothers, which once terminated the busi- 
 ness part of Main Street. The Groesbeck Build- 
 ings, therefore, form an extension to this street of 
 merchants, comprising, as it does, eight handsome 
 stores, while the grand National Bank of Deseret, 
 and the immense store now being built by Zion's 
 Co-operative Mercantile Institution carries Main 
 Street a block above the old commercial marks ; 
 these extensions at both ends giving promise that 
 this street will some day be worthy a metropolitan 
 city. 
 
 Groesbeck is largely interested in the mining 
 enterprises of the Territory, and at present especi- 
 ally in the development of coal and iron, for which 
 Utah is destined to be almost as famous as Penn- 
 sylvania. He is a director in the Great Western 
 Iron Co., of which John W. Young is President 
 owner of a vast coal mine, and a director in several 
 railroad companies. 
 
 WALKER BROTHERS. 
 
 The career of the Walker Brothers has consti- 
 tuted no inconsiderable part of the commercial his- 
 tory of Utah. In their sphere they are pre-emi- 
 nently among her founders. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 57 
 
 In September, 1852, four brothers, with their 
 mother, arrived in Salt Lake City. SAMUEL SHARP 
 WALKER, born September 22d, 1834; JOSEPH ROB- 
 INSON WALKER, born August 2Qth, 1836 ; DAVID 
 FREDERICK WALKER, born April igth, 1838 ; and 
 MATTHEW HENRY WALKER, born January i6th, 
 1845 ; all of the town of Yeadon, Yorkshire, Eng- 
 land. 
 
 On their arrival in Salt Lake City, the three 
 brothers, " Sharp," "'Bob " and " Fred," as they are 
 familiarly known to the people, although yet in 
 their teens, at once courageously entered into the 
 purposes of life with the energy and decision of 
 men ; for the death of their father at St. Louis the 
 previous year, with the death also of their two only 
 sisters, had thrown upon the elder brothers the re- 
 sponsibility of the family. 
 
 At the period that the Walker Brothers com- 
 menced their career in Utah, all the channels of 
 civilized life were unopened, and all the opportuni- 
 ties of enterprise were yet to be created. Com- 
 merce was not even born, and -trade was barely 
 known in its most primitive forms. 
 
 Beginning in the most primitive manner, by ped- 
 dling and clerking, they gradually acquired money 
 and experience, the result of which is now manifest 
 in a decided commercial success. 
 
 The establishment of Camp Floyd, and the pres- 
 ence of an army of three thousand men with a train 
 of camp followers, gave to the Utah merchants 
 their first golden opportunity. From this event 
 dates the commencement of the commercial era 
 proper. The presence of that army, with its train 
 
58 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 of reckless adventurers, gamblers and desperadoes, 
 was certainly demoralizing from a social standpoint, 
 but, nevertheless, by it a commercial life was in- 
 fused into the Territory, which it did not previously 
 possess. 
 
 It was at Camp Floyd that the Walker Brothers 
 began business as a firm. At first Mr. " Fred '' 
 Walker kept store there for William Nixon, but in 
 the year 1859 tne three older brothers built a store 
 for themselves. By their frugality, perseverance and 
 integrity they soon established themselves as 
 among the rising merchants of Utah. Once fairly 
 started, the business grew rapidly, and in the Spring 
 of 1860 they opened a branch store in Salt Lake 
 City. After the evacuation of Camp Floyd this 
 latter store became their headquarters. 
 
 It is the Mormon and Apostate merchants, and 
 not the Gentiles, who have accomplished the gather- 
 ing of wealth into the Territory for themselves and 
 the people. Their homes were in Utah, their des- 
 tiny with the people of Utah, their own growth and 
 lasting fortunes in the legitimate development of 
 her enterprises. Indeed, they could neither grow, 
 as a class, in social importance, nor work out any 
 considerable material prosperity for themselves 
 without doing the same for the entire community. 
 This was bound to be the case whether they re- 
 mained Mormons or became apostates ; and it is a 
 singular fact that the apostates have done quite as 
 much to create wealth for the people, to develop the 
 native resources of Utah, and to bring in foreign 
 capital and enterprise, as those who have remained 
 under ecclesiastical guidance. Yet each of the two 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 59 
 
 classes has been doing its proper part in the great 
 work of social progress and civilization. The one 
 has been the propelling power which has pushed 
 the Territory into new directions ; the other has 
 been the conservative power, which has consolidated 
 and appropriated the natural changes as they came 
 along. 
 
 The enterprises of the Walkers since 1869-70 
 have been largely in connection with the mines of 
 Utah. They were really the men who gave by their 
 wealth an irresistible start to the mining industries 
 of the country. It can easily be seen how since 
 that time they have multiplied the material wealth 
 of the Territory, and contributed to the general 
 prosperity of the people ; their enterprises being 
 directed to the working of the mines rather than to 
 speculation in the sale of stocks. 
 
 But in 1860, when the Walkers built their first 
 store in Salt Lake City, there were no mining in- 
 dustries to form the basis of commercial life. It was 
 not possible to open the mines at that early day, 
 for there was neither capital to work them nor rail- 
 roads to transport the ore. In fact, there was barely 
 capital enough in the Territory to supply even the 
 better classes with the commonest necessities. 
 Herein lay the first commercial difficulties of all the 
 early merchants. 
 
 The Walker Brothers were pre-eminently the men 
 who grappled with these difficulties and opened the 
 door for exportation. Fortunately Nevada, Mon- 
 tana, Idaho, and Colorado were springing up into 
 importance as mining Territories, and they needed 
 just what Utah was capable of furnishing, namely, 
 
6O SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 food. The Walkers, in catering to that demand, 
 exchanging " States goods " for the produce of the 
 Mormon farmers, gave force and direction to home 
 enterprise, and materially helped to establish a con- 
 dition of commercial prosperity in Utah. 
 
 WILLIAM S. GODBE. 
 
 WILLIAM S. GODBE was born in London, Eng- 
 land, June 26th, 1833. In his early youth he went 
 to sea, but, after having visited several foreign 
 countries, spending some time in France, Germany, 
 and Denmark, and being shipwrecked twice, he gave 
 up his nautical life and started for America. He 
 had previously become connected with the Mor- 
 mons, and his adventurous mind was charmed with 
 the history of the migrations of that strange people, 
 and the wonderful work which they were perform- 
 ing in the Great American Desert. Landing in New 
 York, young Godbe, for he was but a stripling, 
 boldly set out to walk the entire distance to Salt 
 Lake City. Excepting the journey from Buffalo to 
 Chicago, which was performed on the lakes, he 
 measured every step of the road to the frontiers, 
 from which point he worked his way across the 
 plains in a merchant train. After his arrival in Salt 
 Lake City, in 1851, he engaged with Mr. Thomas 
 Williams, a merchant, and, in a few years, grew to 
 be one of the substantial men of the Mormon com- 
 munity. 
 
 Later, however, he, together with others, becom- 
 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 6 1 
 
 ing dissatisfied with the commercial policy of Presi- 
 dent Young, and also entertaining some opinions at 
 variance with the polity of the Church, inaugurated 
 an antagonistic agitation, known as the Godbe 
 movement. (See mention elsewhere). His history 
 since that time, so far as the Church is concerned, 
 has been that of a consistent as well as persistent 
 opponent of Brigham Young. However, on all 
 matters concerning the good fame of Utah, and the 
 development of her resources, he has ever con- 
 tended for her good honor and the welfare of her 
 people. Especially has this been the case in the 
 development of mining interests in Utah; for it \vill 
 not be disputed that the present flattering aspect of 
 those interests are, in a considerable degree due to 
 his enterprise and sagacity. 
 
 Concerning Mr. Godbe's enterprise and public 
 spirit, it may be said that, in the erection of build- 
 ings alone in Utah, he has spent a quarter of a 
 million of dollars, given in tithing and donations 
 $50,000, and $25,000 for the establishment of an 
 opposition press. Since his first journey to Salt 
 Lake he had crossed the plains twenty-four times 
 before the completion of the Pacific Railroad ; has 
 been four times to Europe, the last time on business 
 of great importance, having formed an alliance with 
 some of the wealthiest and most influential opera- 
 tors in England for the futherance of their mutual 
 interests, their object being to secure from among 
 the mines of Utah some of the most promising and 
 productive ones, in view of placing them on the 
 English and other markets for sale. 
 
 o 
 
 In this new and vastly enlarged field of action, 
 
62 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Mr. Godbe will doubtless display the same energy 
 which has characterized him from his youth, and 
 already made him one of the most enterprising and 
 substantial pioneers of the great West. 
 
 The Chicago Silver Mining Company, Limited, 
 was organized by Mr. Godbe in London, in the 
 Spring of '73, and has proved, under his efficient 
 management, the only successful English company 
 in Utah. In July, '75, additional permanence was 
 given to this company by the acquisition of the 
 celebrated Queen of the Hills and Flavilla Mines, 
 since which period their net profits have averaged 
 no less than $20,000 a month, while their disburse- 
 ments for labor, fuel, &c., have been more than 
 double that sum, or at least half a million per 
 annum. 
 
 Whatever the merits of the case of the Godbeites 
 vs. the Church of Latter-day Saints, it is but just to 
 say, Mr. Godbe is still true to the destiny that im- 
 pelled him to take a leading part in the up-building 
 of Utah. 
 
 HENRY W. LAWRENCE. 
 
 HENRY W. LAWRENCE was born July iSth, 1835, 
 near Toronto, Canada. 
 
 \Vhen Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, took 
 his mission to Canada, he, with John Taylor, who had 
 joined the Church in the British province, visited 
 Toronto, and among their converts were Edwar^l 
 Lawrence and Margaret his wife, the parents of the 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 63 
 
 subject of this sketch. In 1838 the Lawrences 
 moved to Illinois to join the body of the Saints, but 
 in 1840 the father died at Lima, from which place 
 the family removed to Nauvoo. In 1850 the 
 mother and her children crossed the plains to Salt 
 Lake City. 
 
 After having served as a clerk for several of the 
 pioneer firms, Mr. Lawrence, in the Spring of 1859, 
 went into business with his brother-in-law, John B. 
 Kimball, a Gentile, who was known as a prominent 
 merchant of Salt Lake City before the period of 
 the Utah war. Soon the firm of Kimball & Law- 
 rence became famous both at " home and abroad," 
 for its commercial integrity, solidity and prudence. 
 John Kimball, though a Gentile merchant, had 
 always been on the most friendly terms with the 
 Mormon people, to whom he was so nearly related, 
 and was as faithful as any brother in paying tithing 
 to the Church, and as liberal as a prince in his dona- 
 tions to the poor. Undoubtedly, however, it was 
 Lawrence who gave to the firm its substantial influ- 
 ence with the community, for the strict moral life 
 and uprightness of character of the young merchant, 
 coupled with his excellent commercial ability, estab- 
 lished him at once in the public regard and in the 
 confidence of President Young. It should also be 
 observed that his marriage with the niece of John 
 B. Kimball gave to Henry a moneyed influence, as 
 the lady brought him a considerable dower. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence was one of the prime movers in 
 the Godbe movement, and, although dearly beloved 
 by Brigham Young and the Church generally, he 
 was promptly " cut of, ' along with Godbe and 
 others. 
 
64 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 Nevertheless, Henry W. Lawrence, for his integ- 
 rity, is respected by all classes of the people of 
 Utah, and by no man more so than by President 
 Young, who to this day regrets the necessity that 
 compelled their separation. 
 
 WM. C STAINES. 
 
 WM. C. STAINES was born in Higham Ferries, 
 Northamptonshire, England, September 26th, 1818. 
 In 1841, on his birthday, he first listened to the 
 preaching of a Mormon elder (Geo. J. Adams), 
 and in the following Nov. was baptized. He was 
 shortly thereafter ordained, and did some preaching 
 up to the time of his leaving Liverpool for America, 
 -Jan. 1 8th, 1843. He reached Nauvoo, via New 
 Orleans, in April of that year. Was in the first 
 company that left Nauvoo in 1846, and arrived in the 
 Valley Sept. i4th, 1847. Was made a president of 
 one of the quorums of Seventies, and in the Fall 
 of 1859 was sen t to Europe on mission, taking 
 charge of the London conference until the Spring 
 of 1863, when he was called to assist Elder Horace 
 S. Eldridge in the New York office of the emigra- 
 tion. In 1864 he served in the same capacity under 
 Jos. A. Young, and the year following under H. B. 
 Clawson, since which time he has been in charge. 
 
 The duties and service of the emigration agent 
 of the Mormon Church are of the most important 
 and responsible kind. This is readily appreciated 
 in view of the emphatically patriarchal character 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 65 
 
 and condition of the Mormon emigrations from 
 Europe. Gathered mostly from the rural districts 
 of Great Britain and Scandinavia, many of them 
 never before having gone more than te4i or twenty 
 miles from their birthplaces, the people have been 
 very much like grown-up children leaving their 
 native lands. Who more than they needed a father 
 in the emigration agent appointed to receive them 
 when they reached this side of the Atlantic ? For 
 nearly fifteen years the Mormon people have had 
 such a father in the person of William C. Staines, 
 who has been quite a chief apostle of President 
 Young in the execution of his great emigrational 
 movement that has peopled the valleys of the 
 Rocky Mountains. 
 
 William C. Staines has emigrated from this side 
 of the Atlantic to Utah nearly forty thousand souls. 
 He receives them on their landing in America, and 
 has in readiness special trains to take them in com- 
 panies immediately west, so that no expense is in- 
 curred by delays in New York. No "runners" or 
 emigration pirates are allowed to break in among 
 the Mormon companies, who are kept strictly in 
 their family-like capacity during the few hours they 
 remain in New York, and then the agent oversees 
 them to the last moment of their start west per 
 train, so that the emigrants scarcely realize what it 
 is to be in a strange land. 
 
 During all these years in the " gathering " of the 
 tens of thousands of his people, William C. Staines 
 has not only been an emigration father to the 
 Saints, but a very efficient and successful agent in 
 the conduct of the vast and complicated business 
 
66 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 connected therewith. It is this, with his general 
 fitness for the service, which has kept him so long- 
 in the trust, for President Young never continues in 
 the management of important church affairs any 
 but successful men ; and especially would he not in 
 the superintendence of the emigrations of his 
 people. The fact that Mr. Staines has been thus 
 continued year after year by President Young is 
 the very best testimonial that could be possibly pre- 
 sented of him. 
 
 In years gone by there have been a few mishaps 
 in the Mormon emigrations, but none since Mr. 
 Staines took charge. He has done more emigra- 
 tional business than any other man, and has done it 
 most satisfactory to the Presidency, to the people 
 and to the railroad companies concerned. Not only 
 does he see that all things are right at New York, 
 but on every branch of the route, often making 
 trips to see that all is properly managed for the 
 well-being of the emigrants, and sometimes to 
 " put matters straight." If anything turns up to 
 the discomfort of the people, or is likely to turn up^ 
 the railroad managers hear of it sharply. The 
 great business which he has done in emigration 
 gives him the prestige to speak as " a man having 
 authority." 
 
 William C. Staines has been repeatedly mentioned 
 in the chapters of this book in connection with 
 some of its most interesting episodes. 
 
 AMOS M. MUSSER. 
 
 The Utah telegraph lines are the work of Presi- 
 dent Young and his chief assistants, among whom 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 67 
 
 is AMOS MILTON MUSSER, the General Superin- 
 tendent of the Deseret Telegraph. 
 
 As early as 1861, President Young resolved to 
 connect all the settlements of Utah by a regular 
 home telegraph system. This was more an enter- 
 prise as the head of his people and the founder of 
 Utah, than as a mere incorporator of a telegraph 
 company. The necessities of his calling as the 
 counselor of the entire community required it. An 
 immense achievement would be wrought both for 
 the Territory and the Church, in his being able to 
 sit in his own office at Salt Lake City and commu- 
 nicate in a few hours with every bishop in the 
 Territory, if required. 
 
 In January, 1867, the Utah Legislature incorpo- 
 rated the " Deseret Telegraph Company." The 
 corporators were Brigham Young, -Edward Hunter, 
 A. M. Musser, E. D. Woolley, A. H. Raleigh, John 
 Sharp, William Miller, J. W. Hess, A. J. Moffit and 
 Robert Gardener. 
 
 The first circuit completed required 500 miles of 
 wire, 320 pounds to the mile, which was brought to 
 Salt Lake City by ox teams, at a cost of 35 cents per 
 pound. The line, completed, cost about $150 per 
 mile. Years before this President Young had fur- 
 nished and set the poles for some 500 miles of the 
 overland lines connecting the Atlantic with the 
 Pacific. In the construction of the home line the 
 bishops and people did their part with labor and 
 means, and the 500 mile circuit was completed by 
 the beginning of 1867, and the company assumed 
 legal form, with A. M. Musser as its general super- 
 intendent, Brigham Young being its president and 
 
68 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 principal director. Since the completion of the 
 main circuit the company has built some 600 miles 
 of extensions and branches, penetrating Southern 
 Idaho, Northern Arizona, and South Eastern 
 Nevada ; also a number of the mining camps. 
 
 Superintendent Musser is a representative Mor- 
 mon. Indeed for many years he has figured very 
 much in the character of one of the " authorities of 
 the Church," of the bishop class. He is an Ameri- 
 can by birth, from Pennsylvania, born in 1850. He 
 became a Mormon just before the martyrdom of 
 the Prophet, and with his mother and sister settled 
 in Nauvoo, in 1846. They were among the sufferers 
 in the expulsion from that city, but he remained in 
 that part of the country in business until 1851, 
 arriving in Utah in September of that year, when 
 he was given a position in the General Tithing 
 Office. 
 
 Elder Musser has also figured as a prominent 
 person among the missionaries of his Church. In 
 the Fall of 1852, with eight other elders, he was 
 called to a mission to Hindostan. This was at a 
 great missionary period, when President Young 
 attempted to carry out Joseph's instructions to mis- 
 sion all the world, including Heathendom. At this 
 conference there were called some forty elders for 
 missions to Hindostan, China, Australia, Siam and 
 the Sandwich Islands. Elder Musser labored in 
 Calcutta, Bombay and Kuwachee for three years, 
 when the elders were released to return to Utah. 
 Of course Heathendom never gave to the Mormon 
 Church many converts, but it did afford the elders 
 some very hard missions. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 69 
 
 Elder Musser reached London in 1856, and re- 
 mained in England laboring in the ministry till the 
 following Spring, when he returned to Utah, being 
 one of the principals in charge of the emigration of 
 that year. 
 
 Since his return to Utah in 1857, he has been 
 actively employed in promoting the chief interests 
 of home industries ; and as general traveling agent 
 of the Church throughout the Territory, he has 
 assisted materially in emigration, Indian matters, 
 temple building, co-operation, &c. ; and finally as 
 superintendent of " Deseret Telegraph Company." 
 He has also been one of the assistant Trustees-in- 
 trust of the Church, and one of the chief men gener- 
 ally in carrying out President Young's movements. 
 
 ORSON HYDE. 
 
 This famous apostle, the son of Nathan Hyde, 
 was born in Oxford, Conn., January 8th, 1805. Of 
 his first efforts in life, on his own account, he says : 
 " My first strike was to hire out at six dollars per 
 " month, to work in an iron foundry. I 
 
 " then hired for six months to Mr. Orrin Holmes of 
 " Chagin (now Willoughby), to card wool, and, 
 " being a raw hand at the business, I could not get 
 " very high wages. The machines were in Kirtland. 
 ".***! went to the store of Gilbert & 
 " Whitney, in Kirtland, to serve as clerk, where I 
 " continued for a year or two ; then hired two card- 
 " ing machines to run for one year, the same where 
 " I was engaged a year or two before." 
 
7O SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 This explains how young Hyde came to be at 
 Kirtland, afterwards the famous gathering place of 
 the Mormons. 
 
 About that time there was a Methodist camp 
 meeting near Kirtland, and Orson became a con- 
 vert and subsequently a class leader. At about the 
 same time he heard that a " golden Bible " had 
 been dug out of a rock in the State of New York. 
 It was treated, however, as a hoax ; but, on reading 
 the report, he remarked : " Who knows but that 
 " this golden Bible may break up our religion and 
 " change its whole features and bearing." 
 
 Soon afterwards he became a convert to the 
 famous Sidney Rigdon, who taught baptism for the 
 remission of sins ; but Sidney becoming a convert 
 to the Prophet Joseph, Orson Hyde, after some 
 hesitation, embraced the " fullness of the Gospel." 
 He soon became a minister, traveling without purse 
 or scrip, as was the custom of the elders, and on the 
 organization of the Twelve he was chosen one of 
 them. 
 
 In the Spring of 1837 Heber C. Kimball, Orson 
 Hyde, Willard Richards, Isaac Russell, John Snider 
 and Joseph Fielding were appointed to mission 
 England. These were the first elders to that land 
 indeed the first to go on any foreign mission. 
 
 In 1840 he went to Jerusalem, to -consecrate the 
 Holy Land. Alone he performed a solemn service 
 on the Mount of Olives. The Prophet had, de- 
 clared Orson to be of the House of Judah ; hence 
 this singular mission. 
 
 After the death of the Prophet, while the Saints 
 were at winter quarters, he, with Apostles Parley P. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. Jl 
 
 Pratt and John Taylor, set out for Great Britain, to 
 put the churches in order there, and returned just 
 too late to start with the pioneers to the Rocky 
 Mountains. On their return he was active in the 
 re-Organizing of the first presidency, and was the 
 man who proposed Brigham Young as Joseph's 
 successor. For a year or two he presided over the 
 Saints in Pottowatomie County, Iowa, until the re- 
 moval of the remnant of the Church. Since then 
 he has been a presiding apostle in various settle- 
 ments of Utah. 
 
 FRANKLIN D. RICHARDS. 
 
 FRANKLIN DEWEY RICHARDS was born in Rich- 
 mond, Mass., April 2d, 1821. Here he lived with 
 his parents until the age of ten, and was kept at 
 school. From his tenth to his seventeenth year he 
 worked out, on hire, 'towards the support of his 
 father's family ; and during this time he heard and 
 embraced the doctrines of the Latter-day Saints. 
 In 1838 he joined the community in Missouri in 
 season to share with them in their cruel banishment 
 from that State. He afterwards found employment 
 near Quincy, 111., until April, 1840, when he was 
 called to the ministry. His first missions were in 
 the United States. In 1844 he was ordained a 
 High Priest, and was appointed on a mission to 
 England, but was recalled on the assassination of 
 the Prophet. He started for England, with his 
 brother, in 1846, and at once became associated 
 with the presidency of that great mission. In 1848 
 
72 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 he returned with a company of emigrants, and 
 removed his father's family from Missouri to Great 
 Salt Lake Valley in time to help fence in the city. 
 In Feb., 1849, ne was ordained one of the Twelve 
 Apostles, and appointed to preside over the 
 churches in Europe, which then numbered over 
 30,000 members. The Millennial Star, which his 
 uncle Willard had, with Parley P. Pratt, been instru- 
 mental in founding, under his management reached 
 an issue of 23,000 weekly. It was during his presi- 
 dency that the various great missions of the Conti- 
 nent were established by John Taylor, Lorenzo 
 Snow and Erastus Snow, which were incorporated 
 under the presidency of Great Britain. In 1852 he 
 returned to Utah, and for two years actively partic- 
 ipated in the public affairs of the Territory. In 
 1854 he went on mission again to Europe, and 
 during this term he shipped from Europe via Liver- 
 pool about 10,000 emigrants for Utah. He returned 
 home in 1856, and was the next year commissioned 
 by Governor Young a Brig.-Gen. of the Nauvoo 
 Legion. He has, from the organization of the 
 Territory, been almost constantly a member of the 
 Legislature. In 1866 he was for the third time 
 appointed President of the European mission. He 
 is now presiding at Ogden over one of the Stakes 
 of Zion. 
 
 CHARLES C. RICH. 
 
 CHAS. C. RICH is one of the apostolic generals 
 of Mormondom,. and a descendant of the Puritan 
 stock of America. Like Heber C. Kimball, he has 
 
SUPPLEMENT 73 
 
 shown, in his physical structure as well as in the 
 type of his character, the real stamp that one 
 naturally looks for in the descendants of those 
 mighty men of God who fought for civil and reli- 
 gious liberty in their native England, or fled to 
 establish their rights in the New England that they 
 founded; so Charles C. Rich, in his youth, was an 
 apostolic soldier, actually fighting with the sword in 
 the " wars of the Saints " in Missouri and Illinois. 
 In the Prophet Joseph's days he was more distin- 
 guished as General Rich than he was as a mission- 
 ary preacher of the faith. Yet he was by no means 
 ambitious for military distinction, but rather a true 
 Christian soldier a defender of the faith. 
 
 After the death of the Prophet, when the Saints 
 moved to the Rocky Mountains, General Rich was 
 chosen by President Young a member of the 
 Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. With Apostle 
 Amasa Lyman and a colony of Mormons he went 
 into Southern California, and founded the settle- 
 ment of San Bernardino, which prosperous city was 
 abandoned by the Saints at the breaking out of the 
 Utah war. This war being over, he was appointed, 
 in 1860, to a mission to England. There he labored 
 several years in the presidency. 
 
 Apostle Rich is a man of excellent and marked 
 character. For his uprightness, unwavering fidelity 
 and unblemished life, he has but few equals. He is 
 honored by his chief, from whom probably he has 
 never received a rebuke, and is respected by the 
 entire community. He is a man who has (according 
 to his faith) committed but few errors in his event- 
 ful life, and has no enemies. Of course he is a 
 
74 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 polygamic patriarch, and it may be interesting to 
 the reader to learn that he is the father of fifty 
 children, nearly all of whom are sons. There are, 
 therefore, quite a tribe of Riches in Utah. He is 
 the founder of Bear Lake County, over which he 
 presides as an apostle. 
 
 ORSON PRATT. 
 
 Apostle ORSON PRATT, one of the three surviving 
 members of the first quorum of the Twelve, was 
 born September iQth, 1811, in Hartford, Washing- 
 ton Co., N. Y., and may justly lay claim to be of 
 semi-apostolic stock, being descended from the 
 Puritan founders of New England. 
 
 The first quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which 
 included Parley P. and Orson Pratt, was organized 
 in 1835, when the Prophet Joseph gave to them the 
 commission to preach the gospel to all the nations 
 of the earth. In 1840, Orson, with nine of that 
 quorum, were in England, and it fell to his lot to 
 open a mission in Scotland. After much labor and 
 great privation he succeeded in building up the, 
 Edinburgh conference. Subsequently he has been 
 several times president of the European mission. 
 
 He and Erastus Snow were the two first Mor- 
 mons who entered the Valley of the Great Salt 
 Lake. For his eloquent and erudite championship 
 of the Church, both as a speaker and writer, he is 
 widely recognized as the Paul of Mormonism. His 
 famous discussion with Dr. Newman has been men- 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 75 
 
 tioned elsewhere. He is at present the , Church 
 Historian, but also maintains with great acceptance 
 his position, long since achieved, as the greatest 
 preacher of the Church of Latter-day Saints. 
 
 PARLEY P. PRATT. 
 
 PARLEY PARKER PRATT was born in Burlington, 
 Otsego Co., N. Y., April i2th, 1807. He was a 
 distinguished member of the first quorum of the 
 Twelve, and for his marked Hebraic character and 
 tone, was accounted the Isaiah of his people. He 
 was one of the first missionaries of the Mormon 
 faith, and some of his early writings have been 
 treated as standard works of the Church. In the 
 5 ist year of his age, while traveling in Arkansas, he 
 was assassinated. An autobiography of this distin- 
 guished apostle has been published, from which 
 may be gathered those matters of interest concern- 
 ing his life and labors which, from lack of space, are 
 necessarily excluded from this cursory sketch. 
 
 ERASTUS SNOW. 
 
 Apostle ERASTUS SNOW was born at St. Johns- 
 bury, Vt, November gth, 1818. In 1833 he became 
 a convert to Mormonism, and two years afterwards 
 was ordained an elder. At about this time also he 
 left his parents and journeyed to Kirtland, Ohio, to 
 
76 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 join the Saints. From that time forward he was 
 intimately identified with the Church, and shared in 
 its various trials and vicissitudes. He and Orson 
 Pratt were the first Mormons to enter the Valley 
 of the Great Salt Lake, and visit the future site of 
 Salt Lake City. This occurred July 2ist, 1847. ^ n 
 1849 ne was appointed a member of the Twelve. 
 In the same year he opened the mission to Scandi- 
 navia, beginning in Denmark, from which beginning 
 a great work has been developed, over 16,000 Scan- 
 dinavian emigrants having since been gathered to 
 Utah. Since that time he has engaged in numerous 
 other missions and works for the upbuilding of the 
 Church, in all of which undertakings he has been 
 eminently successful. 
 
 In October 1861, he, in connection with Orson 
 Pratt, was selected to explore the Rio Virgin 
 country, and to take charge of a colony of several 
 hundred families, for the purpose of opening up 
 cotton farms in Southern Utah. The result of that 
 expedition was the laying out of a number of towns 
 within the next few years, with St. George as the 
 capital, and the general opening up of the Southern 
 country, over which Apostle Snow has since most 
 acceptably presided. 
 
 JOHN TAYLOR. 
 
 This distinguished apostle was born in Winthrop, 
 Westmoreland County, Eng., Nov. ist, 1808. He 
 received a common school education, and remained 
 in that country until about the year 1832, when he 
 
SUPPLEMENT. . 77 
 
 rejoined his father's family in Canada, to which 
 Province they had emigrated two years previously. 
 Before leaving England, young Taylor joined the 
 Methodist Church, and was made a local preacher 
 in that body. Shortly after arriving in Canada, he 
 made the acquaintance of, and married, Miss 
 Leonora Cannon ; and in 1836, under the ministra- 
 tion of Parley P. Pratt, he was brought into the 
 Church of Latter-day Saints, thereafter becoming a 
 zealous laborer, and rapidly rising in influence and 
 fame. In 1837 he left Canada and joined the body 
 of the Church at Far West, where he was soon 
 elevated to the apostleship as a member of the 
 Twelve. On Aug. 8th, 1839, ne took leave of his 
 family, and started with Wilford Woodruff on mission 
 to England (see account elsewhere). His especial 
 work on this mission was to introduce the new faith 
 into Ireland, which he did with considerable success. 
 He returned with Brigham Young and others in 
 1841, and subsequently became the editor and pub- 
 lisher of various church newspapers and books, and 
 was prominently identified with all of the events 
 of moment to the Saints in those times, including a 
 voluntary imprisonment with Joseph and Hyrum 
 Smith in Carthage jail ; and on the occasion of their 
 assassination he received four balls in his own 
 person. 
 
 In 1846 he joined the exodus, but while the 
 Saints tarried on the prairies he made a trip to 
 England, returning to winter quarters just as the 
 pioneers started on their famous journey to the 
 Valley of the Great Salt Lake. He subsequently 
 entered the valley with the first companies of the 
 Saints. 
 
78 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 In 1849 ne was appointed to go on mission to 
 Europe, and reached France in the following year, 
 where he had a famous discussion, with three minis- 
 ters, upon the principles of Mormonism, which dis- 
 cussion was published, eliciting much comment. 
 He returned to Utah in 1852. In 1854 he was ap- 
 pointed to preside over the Eastern churches, super- 
 vise the emigration, and publish a paper. This 
 paper, The Mormon, was continued under his man- 
 agement un/1 1857, when he was recalled to Salt 
 Lake, and on account of the threatened " Buchanan 
 war* the paper was soon discontinued. In the 
 meantime he had been also prominent in the en- 
 deavor to get the inchoate State of Deseret admit- 
 ted into the Union. 
 
 Since that time he has traveled and preached 
 extensively throughout the Territory, and performed 
 much literary work for the Church ; also having 
 served as Probate Judge of Utah County, and hav- 
 ing been for many terms a member of the Utah 
 Legislature. 
 
 ALBERT CARRINGTON. 
 
 ALBERT CARRINGTON was born in Royalton, 
 Windsor Co., Vt., January 8th, 1813. He graduated 
 at Dartmouth College, in the class of 1833, and for 
 two or three years subsequently taught school and 
 studied law in Pennsylvania. From Pennsylvania 
 he removed to Wisconsin, where he engaged in lead 
 mining until 1844. In 1841 he joined the Mormon 
 Church in Wiota, Wis. ; and, on the abandonment 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 79 
 
 of his business in '1844, "gathered" to Nauvoo. 
 This was at the very crisis of the troubles then 
 occurring there, and just previous to the martyrdom 
 of the Prophet. He was with the Saints in their 
 exodus, crossing the Mississippi, with his family, on 
 the Qth of February, 1846, thus being one of the 
 first to start for the Rocky Mountains. He was of 
 the camp on Sugar Creek, went to Council Bluffs 
 with the " Camp of Israel/' and was a member of 
 the band of pioneers. He returned with President 
 Young to gather the main body of the Saints, and 
 journeyed to the mountains with them in 1848. 
 
 After the organization of Utah Territory he was 
 repeatedly elected a member of the Council until 
 1868, when he was sent to England, to preside over 
 the European mission. 
 
 For twenty years, when at home, he has been 
 President Young's secretary. Bearing in mind that 
 Brigham is a Napoleonic character, and that he has 
 directed Mormondom throughout the world, it is 
 easy to understand that his secretary must be no 
 ordinary man. This is also indicated by the title 
 which the anti-Mormons have given him : " The 
 Mormon Wolsey." 
 
 Several years ago he was elevated to the rank of 
 an apostle. He is now again presiding over the 
 British mission. 
 
 JOSEPH F. SMITH. 
 
 Apostle J. F. SMITH was born Nov. i3th, 1838, at 
 Far West, Caldwell Co., Mo. He is a son of Hy- 
 rum Smith, who, with his brother Joseph, was 
 
8o 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 assassinated in Carthage jail ; and his youth was 
 spent amid the scenes and vicissitudes incident to 
 the journeying of the Church from Nauvoo, and 
 the early settlement of Utah. 
 
 In 1854 he went on mission to the Sandwich 
 Islands, . where he labored with very encouraging 
 success. " According to promise/' says he, " and 
 " by the blessing of the Almighty, I acquired the 
 " language of the islanders, and commenced my 
 " labors, preaching, baptizing, etc., among the na- 
 " tives, in one hundred days after my arrival at 
 " Honolulu." He returned in time to engage in the 
 campaign against the U. S. army, in the Spring of 
 1858, and was on duty in the Utah militia up to the 
 time tl)at Johnston's army entered the Valley. In 
 1860 he went on mission to England, returning in 
 1863 ; and in 1864 again went to the Sandwich 
 Islands, in company with Elders E. T. Benson, L. 
 Snow, W. W. Cluff, and A. L. Smith, remaining 
 about one year. In 1865 he was elected a member 
 of the House of Representatives of the Utah 
 Legislature, and was returned in 1866-7-8-9-' 70 
 and '72. 
 
 In 1866 he was ordained an apostle, and in '67 
 was called to fill a vacancy in the quorum of the 
 Twelve. 
 
 He has served several terms in the Council of 
 Salt Lake City , and once in the same capacity in 
 the City of Provo, where he resided a portion of the 
 year 1868. During 1874 and a p^rt of '75, he pre- 
 sided over the British mission, and had charge of 
 the church emigration, etc. In Nov., '75, he was 
 appointed to preside in Davis County, Utah, in 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 8 1 
 
 which duty he is now engaged. As an expression 
 of his fidelity to the faith', his own words will tes- 
 tify: " I am as confident of the divine mission of 
 "Joseph Smith as I am of my own existence," and 
 concerning his practice it is proper to say that his 
 life has been one of labor, of self-denial, and of 
 earnest solicitude for the salvation of mankind.