The Rocky Mountain Saints/Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII.
In November, 1833, Joseph first met Brigham Young, who had been baptized in the preceding April. At that time the latter resided in New York, following the business of a painter and glazier; but he had not hitherto enjoyed an opportunity of meeting the Prophet face to face. Heber C. Kimball and Joseph Young accompanied Brigham, and they had a high time of rejoicing in Kirtland. During this brief visit, Brigham and his relative, John P. Green, "spake in tongues," and this was the first time that the "gift" had been demonstrated. The same influence fell upon others, and they also "spake in tongues," and Joseph the Prophet is said to have been among the gifted ones.
On Christmas Day he received the famous prophetic revelation relating to the rebellion in the South. On the 27th, "the Lord" intimated his desire that a house should be built to his name, in which "the School of the Prophets" should assemble, and everything in the shape of prayer and teaching be done in perfect order thus preparing the way for the Kirtland temple.
To Joseph and the Saints, the year 1833 was destined to be an eventful time. The general cause was advancing, but the faithful in Missouri were doomed to suffer persecution.
Early in the year Joseph finished the inspired translation of the New Testament, and by the beginning of July completed the revision of the Old Testament. In June he received the revelation giving the dimensions of the temple that "the Lord" required to be built by the Saints in Kirtland, and on the 23rd of July the first stone was laid.
From the day of trouble between the first sons of Adam, there never was a controversy without a double statement of what were the contributory causes. In Mormon history, charges and recriminations concerning the hostilities in Missouri are prolific; but it is generally admitted that at the first outbreak the anti-Mormons "were actuated much more by a fear of what the Mormons would do when they had the power than by what they had already done."[1] On the other hand, the Mormons, proud of the promises of a glorious future, were boastful of the favours and possessions that awaited them; and probably some of them taunted the Missourians with the coming change. But even this, however injudicious, was not likely to lead to armed hostility. Before men resort to bloodshed, there is generally something that outrages them in a personal way, and when once that is the case a very slight pretext alone is necessary to produce a collision.
At the commencement of hostilities, the country of the New Jerusalem was only sparsely settled, and the Mormons probably numbered about 1,500 souls. "Whatever evidence there is to support the charges of wrong-doing which were afterwards made against some of them in other parts of Missouri, and later still in Illinois, they were, in 1833, both too few in number and too sincere in faith to assume an aggressive attitude. As a people, they could not have been very bad; for Joseph was constantly chastening them for the slightest neglect of the revelations, and they had gathered to Missouri in the full belief that Christ was coming thither to join the faithful band. Under such circumstances, it is but fair to consider them, however chimerical in faith, intentionally right in practice, except where there is the evidence of fact to the contrary.
The other citizens of Missouri had little sympathy with the new arrivals, and saw very clearly that, with the constant accession to their numbers, it would only be a short time before the Mormons would become a political power among them— would control the elections in the county, and have everything their own way. According to that not very elegant expression so frequently heard in the Mormon sermons, it was destined that "Israel should be the head and not the tail." As citizens, the Mormons had political rights, and would exercise these in their own interest; and, while no sensible person could blame them for this, the other citizens none the less felt that it was a calamity to them that these strangers had come amongst them. The only direct charge against the Mormons met with in the publications of the day is that of tampering with the slaves. The Evening and Morning Star had published something offensive on this subject; for though the Mormons believed that "Ham is a servant unto his brethren," they were opposed to the general treatment of the Africans in the South.
On the 20th of July a mob tore down the office of the Star, tarred, feathered, and whipped a number of the brethren, and insisted upon the Mormons leaving Jackson county. Three days later a second mob assembled, and at length the leaders of the Mormons in that locality agreed to leave. Some time in October, elders W. W. Phelps and Orson Hyde carried a petition to the Governor of the State for protection, and his Excellency answered that they had a right to the protection of the law if they chose to stay in the county and fight it out.
The anti-Mormons were, however, determined that the followers of Joseph should leave the county, and they resolved to get rid of them—"peaceably, if we can: forcibly, if we must, and believing, as we do, that the arm of the civil law does not afford us a guarantee, or at least a sufficient one, against the evils which are now inflicted upon us, and seem to be increasing by the said religious sect, deem it expedient and of the highest importance to form ourselves into a company for the better and easier accomplishment of our purpose." Such was the resolution which was followed by the pledge to each other of "bodily powers, lives, fortunes, and sacred honour."
On the 4th of November this hostile organization commenced its work; a "battle" took place, some persons were shot, and the people driven out of the county. Parley P. Pratt, in his "History of the Missouri Persecutions," presents a sad of personal suffering, cruelty, and outrage to men, women, and children, and the wanton destruction of property. The world has grown older since then, and, after a lapse of nearly forty years, it seems scarcely possible that such scenes could have been enacted during the present century, and in an American State.
A few of the Saints were shot, some tied up and cruelly whipped, over two hundred of their houses were burned, fences were torn down, cattle and horses stolen, and household effects, goods, and chattels destroyed or taken from them. Men, women, and children fled terrified before their enemies in every direction seeking protection. A party of about one hundred and fifty children are said to have wandered out on to the prairie, and remained there for several days without shelter, and with only the aid of half a dozen men who went with them to provide as well as they could for the helpless little ones, while their fathers and mothers were being hunted down like wild beasts.
Some of the exiles sought refuge in Van Buren (now Cass) county, but were not permitted to settle either there or in La Fayette. Most of them ultimately settled in Clay county, where they were received with some degree of kindness.
- ↑ "Mysteries and Crimes of Mormonism," p. 41.