The Rocky Mountain Saints/Chapter 44

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The Rocky Mountain Saints
by T. B. H. Stenhouse

Chapter XXXIII

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2232201The Rocky Mountain Saints — Chapter XXXIIIT. B. H. Stenhouse

CHAPTER XLIV.

THE SPRINGVILLE MURDERS.—The Status of the People during the Time of Blood—Brigham's absolute Authority—Something Personal of Lee and the Leaders at Springville—How the Parrishes were Entrapped and Murdered—Confession of the Bishop's Counsellor—"Helping those who need Help"—How Bird "worked the best he could"—"A Lick across the Throat"—Paying the Atoning Penalty—Horrible Sacrifice of an Unfaithful Wife How—John G———'s Blood was "Spilled."

The Mormon newspapers very properly declaim against "the people" of Utah being branded as murderers, because murders have been committed within their Territory, and, further, they protest against the great "crimes being charged to Brigham Young. Unfortunately for these defenders, no sane person, in or out of the Territory of Utah, ever did hold "the people" responsible for the black deeds of their history, and if the Prophet is selected by the universal judgment of mankind to bear the charge of crimes, his own teachings may have had something to do with inducing that conclusion.

When a public teacher utters a thousand times the statement that it is his right to dictate, direct, and control the affairs of a whole people, from the building of a temple down "to the ribbons that a woman should wear," or to "the setting-up of a stocking," and that his influence over the passions of men and women in a religious assembly was so potential that, if he "had but crooked his little finger" they would have torn a United States judge to pieces, neither he nor his friends can righteously complain when violence is done among such a people, without personal cause being visible, that a suspicion should follow that "the ruling priesthood" may have been the cause.

That the citizens of Cedar, Parowan, Pinto, Harmony, and Washington settlements, south of Fillmore, were any more wicked than the citizens of the settlements north of Fillmore, no one believes—yet the Mountain Meadows Massacre was committed by the militia from those southern settlements. When the news of that deed was heard, the people north were terror-stricken, and shuddered with horror at the thought of the barbarous crime, and the recital of the bloody work is harrowing to them to-day. Had the massacre been committed in the north, the people of the south would have experienced the same sentiments of abhorrence, yet they in the south committed the crime, and served themselves with the spoils of their victims.

The Mormon people in Utah are not the offspring of a barbarous race, neither were they raised and nurtured in uncivilized nations. Apart from the spitefulness of religious controversy—which, by-the-by, is nothing peculiar to them a kinder and more simple-hearted people is not upon the face of the earth. Had the Mountain Meadows Massacre occurred in any of the neighbouring Territories, and that crime was clearly the work of white people, the Mormons would have despised them, hated them, and in all probability would have refused all intercourse with them.

That Brigham Young is by his natural instincts a bad man, or that his apostles and his bishops are men of blood, is not true. Here and there among them a malicious man is met with, but, apart from religion, the ruling men in Utah would be considered good citizens in any community.

Without the consideration of the question of personal divinity, the high moral teaching and unspotted life of the Nazarene have been the greatest blessings to mankind, and have, through the varied channels, and slow, tortuous, and muddled windings of progressive civilization, made the nineteenth century what it is. Under the influence of that Christianity, the Mormons were second to no people of their class; but once from under it, and with headlong rush flying back to the habits, customs, and morality, of the ages of the world's childhood, Mormonism is consistently just what it is. Moving in the light of past ages, the hatred of the Gentile and the apostate has made the history of Utah what it has been. The more they have approximated in situation to the nomadic Israelites, the more have they been able to reproduce their works. It is with this understanding that the Mountain Meadows Massacre is explicable, and the subject-matter of this chapter can be comprehended.

John D. Lee, who has been selected as the chief scapegoat upon which to pile the responsibility of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, is not, in his own estimation, without defence. That his instincts are, in the judgment of others, low and brutal, is unquestioned, but he probably prays as much as the most refined Mormon in Utah, and doubtless pays his tithing with as great regularity. The Author wrote to a gentleman, who had visited Lee and had been with him some time, to ask what his personal opinion was about this man now so notorious. His answer was: "Lee is a good, kind-hearted fellow, who would share his last biscuit with a fellow-traveller on the plains, but at the next instant, if Brigham Young said so, he would cut that fellow-traveller's throat."

It is not intended to infer here that Lee, in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, was but the tool of Brigham Young. Lee has refused to divulge anything on the subject, but he has said that the order was not given by the Prophet, and though there has been but little done that was not, either directly or indirectly, ordered or countenanced by Brigham, it is due to the latter that he should have all the advantage of Lee's disclaimer, till evidence shows that Lee has spoken falsely. The arguments and statements of "Argus" are very forcible to all who have lived in Utah, and they point logically to Brigham, but there is not yet before the public the evidence of direct communication between Brigham Young, in Salt Lake City, and Col. W. H. Dame, in Parowan. That the communication was possible, is true, but that it was had is as yet "not proven," and Brigham Young has a right to the benefit of that fact.^[1]

The chapter on the "Reformation" must have satisfied the reader that the commission of the massacre was possible in 1857, for the Tabernacle had been preaching a "reformation" by blood for a period of three years. The provocation to violence was all that was required. The advance of the troops and the passage of the emigrant trains were only the accidents. Before either of them was heard of, the teachings of the "Reformation" had begun to bear their fruits among the Mormons themselves, particularly in the very notable case known as the Parrish Murders at Springville.

The family of Parrish had at one time been very devoted to the Church. In the controversy that occurred between Sidney Rigdon and the Twelve Apostles at Nauvoo for the ruling supremacy of the Church, Parrish's name figures in one of the documents, and he is reported to have said that "he would follow the Twelve if they led him to hell." Ten years later his zeal had cooled considerably, and he had resolved to leave the Territory. It is not likely that the consideration of the influence abroad of a man of his calibre could have weighed much with the Mormon leaders, yet he was brutally and foully murdered, as also was one of his sons, and the other son was seriously wounded, on the evening that they were preparing to start for California. This particular case is probably the best illustration of how men are "killed to save them."

The reader, however, must not suppose that Brigham has heedlessly distributed the wealth of the disciples in Utah for the suffering poor among the Saints. The prophet thinks himself a financier, and he loves to boast of that qualification.

A resolution was taken by the Mormons in Nauvoo, who had wealth enough to lead the van in the exodus to the Rocky Mountains, that they would never cease their efforts to assist the poor whom they had left behind, till every deserving soul was gathered to the body of the Church. The exiles honoured their word, and, as the pioneers found resting-places in the West, teams were sent back to Iowa and Illinois, and the poor were assisted forward to the Missouri river.

During this exodus, the emigration from Europe to the States was entirely closed; but, stimulated by the apostles, the British Saints memorialized her Majesty the Queen to provide them transportation to Vancouver's Island or Oregon, and to grant them the means of subsistence till they could produce it from the soil. The memorial has been severely criticised by those who charge the Mormon leaders with disloyal sentiments to the Republic, and there is a paragraph in it that quite admits of that construction; but Brigham has enough sins to account for without being responsible for that. In 1846 the distress in England among the poorer classes was sorely felt by the Mormons, and justified their seeking deliverance at the hands of royalty, even though their presence, 30,000 strong, in the Territory of Oregon, might have been prejudicial to American interests during the boundary debate. The British treasury, however, was represented at the time as unable to favour the prayers of the thirteen thousand persons who signed the memorial, and the Saints had no alternative but to "bide their time."

In the spring of 1848 immigration was reopened, via New Orleans, up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, thence by the Missouri to Council Bluff's and "Winter-Quarters on the opposite bank of the river. During the October Conference of the following year, the resolution for gathering the poor from Nauvoo was extended to the poor of all countries, and a "Perpetual Fund" was created. A liberal contribution was made, and some of the leading elders, under the direction of the chief bishop, were sent East to first gather up the Saints left on the Missouri river, and from that time the operation of the fund was to be extended to Europe.

The funds, of course, like everything else, were, and are under the direction of the First Presidency, and the immigrants assisted were usually met by the clerks of the Trustee-in-Trust one day before they entered Salt Lake City, and signed their obligations to refund the money with ten per cent. per annum, added till paid. Contributions have been continually called for, and the fund has increased to a pretty large sum. During the present summer Brigham announced that the immigrants owed the fund nearly a million of dollars! As the fund is a general receptacle for contributions, loses nothing, and gains annually ten per cent, upon its entire capital, it is destined to be a great institution, and a rod in pickle for the disobedient.

The opponents of Brigham are usually very severe upon him for "the bondage" in which he holds his poor debtors; but he has his defence. Many of those immigrants can never return the funds unless they apostatize, and if that dreadful deed is done, his agent is instantly after the rebel. One of the elders who had been on mission for several years in England, and who had, in addition, been a liberal contributor with his pen to the Church organ there, had to be assisted to Zion by the fund. He thought they had no right to expect his "obligation" after all those years of service; but he was obliged to give it. Three years ago he apostatized, and gave promise of being a magnificent rebel. He was tried before the Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/616 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/617 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/618 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/619 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/620 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/621 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/622 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/623 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/624 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/625 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/626 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/627 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/628 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/629 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/630 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/631 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/632 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/633 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/634 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/635 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/636 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/637 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/638 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/639 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/640 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/641 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/642 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/643 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/644 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/645 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/646 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/647 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/648 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/649 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/650 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/651 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/652 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/653 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/654 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/655 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/656 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/657 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/658 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/659 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/660 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/661 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/662 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/663 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/664 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/665 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/666 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/667 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/668 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/669 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/670 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/671 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/672 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/673 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/674 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/675 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/676 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/677 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/678 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/679 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/680 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/681 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/682 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/683 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/684 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/685 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/686 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/687 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/688 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/689 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/690 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/691 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/692 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/693 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/694 Page:The Rocky Mountain Saints.djvu/695 the missionaries abroad, when and whither he pleased, but when he desired it, he sent the elders away for some cause of offence, real or imaginary. He once told the best Mormon lawyer in Zion, who had been a Federal judge, that if he came again on to the platform where he stood, he would kick him off it, and he appointed him to a mission in Yan Diemen's Land, and told him never to return—he never wanted to see him there again. The lawyer went, performed his mission, and returned to his family, and has since been of great service to Brigham. Time after time he has called men living in Salt Lake City to close their business, and go down to "Dixie"—the southern part of the Territory, which has been regarded by most people as a penal settlement, or place of banishment. Re- pugnance to such a country, or the inadaptability of the person to any pursuits there, was nothing to him. Quite a number of persons had to sacrifice property in the city in order to go to "Dixie," and free tongues have not been slow to insinuate that, in some instances, those persons were sent away for the very purpose that the Prophet might the more easily purchase their property. He sent at one time a mission to Fort. Limhi, Salmon River, to civilize the Indians. The brethren were counselled not to take their families with them, but they were to live with the Indians, to educate and civilize them, and to teach them various trades and farming. When Brigham and Heber afterwards visited the missionaries to see how they were succeeding, Heber, in his quaint way, told them that he did not see how the modern predictions could well be fulfilled about the Indians becoming "a white and delightsome people" without extending polygamy to the natives. The approach of the United States army, in 1857, contributed to break up that mission, but not before Heber's hint had been clearly understood, and the prophecy half fulfilled! Heber was very practical, and believed that the people should never ask "the Lord" to do for them what they could do themselves, and, as all "Israel" had long prayed that the Indians might speedily become a "white and delightsome people," he thought it was the duty of the missionaries to assist "the Lord" in fulfilling his promises. This was not -the first time that a Mormon prophet attempted to aid in bringing to pass the prophecies of "the Lord." More than one missionary appears to have thoroughly understood him!^[2]

The illustration at the beginning of this chapter is a perfect representation of the Prophet's style of travelling through the settlements. He tries to visit all the Saints once a year. His visit north occupies between three and four weeks, and his southern trip takes between five and six weeks.

The order of travel after leaving Salt Lake City is: first, the Prophet's carriage.; next, the members of his family; then his counsellors, the apostles, chief-bishop, bishops generally; then distinguished visitors. The latter take the first vacant place in the long suite, and remain there all through the journey. The only rank and aristocracy in Zion is priesthood, and precedence in every quorum is seniority of ordination. In these journeys, the last-ordained apostle is the last in the order of travel among the apostles; but if the youngest apostle should be a son of the Prophet he overtops them all the "royal blood of Young" is more honoured than the royal priesthood of Melchisedec!

Some miles before "the President's company" arrives at the first settlement to be visited, he is met by a company of mounted cavalry, bearing aloft the stars and stripes, and, as they near the settlement, the citizens turn out to greet the Prophet, and there is usually a procession of the school-children. If it is a very large settlement, and the bishop is a very "live man," the procession often embraces all the people. On such occasions there is a brass-band heading the citizens, the elderly brethren are arranged together, bearing in front of them a banner with the inscription, "Fathers in Israel;" the elderly sisters have their banner, "Mothers in Israel;" the young men carry their banner, "Defenders of Zion;" the maidens their banner, "Daughters of Zion, Virtue;" and the little, toddling school-children are, "The Hope of Israel." Those too young to walk are, as usual, in the arms of indulgent mothers, standing by the doors to make up the other part of the picture. All along the procession may be seen banners bearing the devices, "Hail to Zion's Chief," "God Bless Brigham Young," and kindred sentiments of "Welcome." No doubt these honest, simple people truly and thankfully express on such occasions their kindly feeling for "Brother Brigham"—they see him but seldom!

On arrival, the Prophet is taken to the best accommodation in the settlement, his suite are distributed among the people, and every kind attention is extended to them all, and their horses and carriages no further require their care. The people are happy to see their "big brethren," and many of them strain their pockets to entertain their guests.

There is usually one or more "meetings" for preaching, and, as these visits occur in summer, "boweries" are improvised, and decorated with evergreens, flowers, and fruits, and oftentimes the homespun cloth and home-made coverlets are suspended through the Bowery to exhibit the manufactures of Zion.

"And now, gentlemen of the Jury, my task is done. In the name of the people, whom I represent, I thank you for the patience you have exhibited during this protracted examination. I have laboured zealously and to the best of my humble ability to unravel the mystery, but I confess I have failed. We have not been permitted to lift the veil, and show you the perpetrators of this horrible murder—a murder most atrocious in its inception, brutal and cowardly in its execution a crime which in many respects stands without a parallel. But the blood of a pure and honourable man, shed in the streets of your city, calls aloud to Heaven for vengeance, and I trust the cry will be heard and answered; for is it not written that 'whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed?'"

II.

WRITERS ON MORMONISM.

The following is a list of some of the authorities books, pamphlets, essays, etc. which, with innumerable private letters and valuable documents in MS., have been consulted in preparing this work for the press:

Adams, G. J.—Letter to his Excellency John Tyler. New York, 1844.

Address by a Minister of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the People of the United States. Printed while the Mormons were at Nauvoo.

Amberley, Viscount—The Latter-Day Saints. Fortnightly Review, Nov., 1869.

Authentic History of Remarkable Persons, etc. New York, 1849.

Beadle, J. H.—Life in Utah; or, The Mysteries and Crimes of Mormonism. Philadelphia, 1870.

Bennett, John C.—History of the Saints; or, An Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston, 1842.

Bradford, W. J. A.—The Origin and Fate of Mormonism. Christian Examiner, Sept., 1852.

Brewster, James Colin—An Address to the Church of L. D. S. Springfield, Ill., 1848.

Brigham, Wm. J. The Church of Latter-Day Saints. Old and New, Sept. and Oct., 1870.

Brighamism, its Promises and their Failures. Plano, Ill.

Brigham Young and his Women. Galaxy, Dec. 1, 1866.

Brown, Albert G.—The Utah Expedition. Atlantic Monthly, March, April, and May, 1859.

Smoot, Elder A. O., Mayor of Salt Lake City, 349-352, 608, 609.

Snow, Eliza R., Secretary of Ladies' Society, and poetess, 191.

— Zerubbabel, Associate - Justice, 275, 278.

— Erastus, 333.

Social Hall, Salt Lake City, 286.

Soda Springs, 368, 606.

Sophronia [or Mary] Huff, 450.

Sorrow, John Calvin, 455.

South, the, 46, 212, 307; prophecy of rebellion in, 44; rebellion, 610.

South Pass, 330.

Southern California, 353.

Southey, Robert, the poet, strange passage from, 89.

Spanish Fork, 432, 464.

Spaulding, Solomon, 208, 508, 543.

Speech extraordinary of General Clark, 110.

Spencer, Augustine, 156.

— Orson, 266.

— Daniel, 333, 335, 339, 341, 342.

Spiritualism and Joseph Smith, 66, 508, 520-522, 546, 551, 552, 631, 632, 636, 641.

Springfield, 140, 215.

Springfield, speech of Senator Douglas at, 347.

Spring Hill, 77.

Springville, 801, 403, 404, 407-409, 432, 462, 463, 465.

Springville, murder at, 459.

Squatter sovereignty, 347.

Staines, Elder W. C., Superintendent of Emigration, 391.

Stakes of Zion, 695, 696. (Vide Zion.)

Stanley, Mr., 102.

Stansbury, Captain Howard, 272.

Stanton, Secretary, 592, 601.

Star office destroyed, 46, 49.

Star. (Vide Millennial.)

Stenhouse, Elder T. B. H., disfellowshipped, 639.

Steptoe, Lieutenant-Colonel E. J., 364.

Stewart, J. M., 463, 465, 467.

— William, 444.

— Riley, 80.

Stiles, Judge George P., 280, 282, 283, 285, 307.

Stoddard, Judson L., 598.

Stores destroyed, 422.

Strang, Elder James, 185, 212.

Strickland, Obed, Associate-Justice of Utah, 442, 684.

Sunday-Schools in S. L. C., 704, 705.

Sunderland, La Roy, 351.

Sunderland, Dr., of Washington, 682.

Sun-Dial, the [John E. Page], 128, 273.

Surveys in Utah, 671.

Sweetwater, the, 320, 329, 331, 337, 368.

TABERNACLE, Salt Lake City, 125, 182, 280, 294, 299, 300, 303, 305, 332, 339, 372, 374-376, 379, 380, 384, 392, 397, 400, 415, 420, 462, 473, 485, 486, 546, 561, 586, 601-610, 627, 634, 638, 641, 642, 644, 651, 666, 693-697, 701 ; discourses in, 359, 361, 610, 624, 641, 695-697, 711; O. Pratt in, 493; discussion in, 682.

Table Mountain, 273.

Taggit, William, 450.

Taos, 380.

Taylder, T. W. P., author of "The Mormon's Own Book," 698.

Taylor [Champion of Right], Apostle John, 128, 150, 157, 166, 169, 170, 174, 194, 195, 204, 236, 241, 248, 263, 264, 333, 339-341, 357, 359, 364, 365, 664.

— Leonora, 191.

— Steve, 336.

— President Zachary, 249, 276, 277, 280, 361, 557.

Telegraph, The Salt Lake, 612, 638.

Temple, The, 108, 266, 478; to be reared, 38; revelation on, 38; at Independence, 120; in Kirtland, 49, 61-63; dedication of, 63; in Nauvoo, 123; foundation of, 136, 137, 140-146, 174; completing of, 217, 221; finished, 223; dispute whether finished, 224-226, 480, 505; in Salt Lake City, 670, 697, 698.

— Block, 260.

Tenant, Mr., an emigrant, 335.

Territorial Legislature, 276, 282.

— Marshal, 684.

Territory, of Utah, Organic Act of, 281.

Terry, Partial, 405.

Testament, Old, inspired translation of, 45.

Texas, 364.

Theocracy, Mormon, 668, 675, 681.

Theodule Devéria, 516. (Vide Devéria and Book of Abraham.)

Theological Institute, 300.

Thompson, Robert B., 129.

— Thornton, 444.

Times, The London, 321.

Times and Seasons, 79, 136, 137, 190, 199, 200, 211, 212, 474, 519.

Timpanogos, 272.

Tithing, 266, 416, 456, 57&, 623, 698.

— Office, 651, 654.

Titus, Chief-Justice, 617, 621, 683.

Tom Corwin's story, 614.

Tompkins, Judge, 117.

Tongues, gift of, 650. (Vide Gifts.)

Tooele, 268.

Trains, United States, burning of, 868.

Transmigration of souls, 481, 488.

Treason charged against Joseph Smith, 112.

Trial of Joseph Smith (vide Smith); of assassins of Smith, 175.

Trial of Mormons for murder and polygamy, 685.

Tribune, Salt Lake, 644.

— The New York, 34, 301.

— The Chicago, 248.

Trobriand, General R. De, 681.

Troubles in Missouri, 46.

True Latter-Day Saints' Herald, 225, 634.

Trustee in Trust, 502, 578, 651, 657, 665.

Truth for the Mormons, 278.

Tullidge, Elder Edward W., 342, 630, 632, 633, 639, 642.

Tullis, David, 451.

Tuttle, Bishop, 704.

Twelve Apostles, 462; Brigham Young President of, 210. (Vide Apostles.)

Tyler, Elder, 334, 336, 444.

UNITED Brethren, 573.

Union Pacific Railroad, 268, 363, 635, 637, 706.

United States Army in Utah, 417, 658, 677.

— Marshal, 686.

Urim and Thummim, 22, 29.

Utah Territory, organized, 274; boundaries of, 274, 669; crops in, 270 ; difficulties in, 279, 407; murders in, 418; population of, 672; statistics of, 691, 706.

— County, 268.

— Central Railway, 636, 667, 706.

— Expedition, 365.

— Lake, 272.

— Magazine, 630, 635, 637, 639, 642.

VALLEY, Salt Lake, 396. (Vide Salt Lake.)

— Tan, 402, 409, 418.

Van Buren, 47.

Vaughan, Vernon H., 678.

Vedette [newspaper], 612.

Vic [Queen Victoria], Rigdon threatens to pull the nose of, 207.

Vision of Joseph Smith, 15, 16, 18; of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, 28, 63; at dedication, 63, 64; of apostates, 642.

Vleit, Major Stewart Van, 353 ; in Salt Lake City, 356, 358, 362, 364, 385.

Volunteers, 604, 612, et al.

Vorhee, 185.

WAHSATCH Mountains, 377, 592, 669, 670, 673, 691.

Waite, Associate-Justice Charles B., 599-602, 605, 609.

— Mrs., her book, 247, 279, 453.

— Miss, 602.

Walker Brothers, merchants of Utah, 417, 623, 627, 643-645.

— J. Robinson, 621, 623-628.

— Cyrus, candidate for Congress, 142.

— House, 706.

Wallock, Major-General, 96.

War, in Utah, preparing for, 353.

— The Civil, 421.

Warm Springs, 617.

Warren, Major, 217.

Warsaw, 154, 169, 215.

Washington, a Latter-Day Saint, 481.

— Monument, 276.

— County, 459.

— City, 436.

Washoe Valley, 353.

Watt, George D., 573.

Weatherford, 214.

Webb, C. G., 319, 333.

Weber Canon, 593, 594.

— County, 268.

— Station, 393.

Weld, Dr., 225.

Welding, Dick, 80.

Weller, Governor John B., 617.

Wells, General Daniel H., 272, 367, 368, 371-376, 412, 593, 609, 640, 666, 680, 681, 685, 701.

Western Standard, 354.

Wheelock, Elder C. H., 321, 335, 336.

White, Captain Joel, 443.

Whitmer family, 29; David, 30, 75, 112; John, 112; Peter, 30.

Whitney, Bishop, 5, 6.

— Eliza Ann [counsellor], 191.

— N. K., 191.

Wife, spiritual, 193.

Wight, Colonel Lyman [Wild Ram of the Mountains], 81, 82, 86, 104, 111, 112, 128, 206, 263.

Wild-Cats, Missouri, 424, 428.

Wiley, Mr. R., 548.

Williams, Colonel Levi, 149, 165, 172, 175 203-205, 209, 314, 319, 320.

— Frederick G., counsellor of Joseph, 69.

Williamson, Dr., 618.

Willie, Captain James G. [Hand-cart Company], 314, 319, 320, 323-329.

Willis, John, 175, 439, 441, 444.

Willow Creek, 329.

Wilson, Alexander, District Attorney,401.

— General, 106.

— an apostate, 621.

Winter-Quarters [Florence], 250, 255, 261, 264, 316 ; log-cabin at, 262.

Witnesses to Book of Mormon, 29, 76, 112, 508.

↑ Many respectable persons in Utah, who have free intercourse with the apostles and leading men of the Mormon Church, do not believe that Brigham Young had anything to do with this massacre. It would be very gratifying to see him exonerated from the charge. Should it yet turn out that it was the work of another, and that Brigham has patiently borne the imputation for so many years, he will richly deserve respect where he now is condemned.
↑ One young man replied to Brother Heber that it was the teaching of the Church that the elders should always follow their "file-leaders," and that "if President Young and he should each take a squaw to wife and thus set the example, they would certainly follow suit." That ended the "bleaching" of the "Lamanites." There was no further instruction upon the fulfilment of the modern prophecies.
↑ As a preacher, Brigham is always listened to attentively—not so much either for style or the matter of his discourse, as from the expectation that he may "say something " that the auditor is anxious to learn. When he has moments of "great freedom " he can make himself interesting; but his utterance is the declamation of the unmethodical itinerant, and not the logical oratory of the thinker or reader. When he tries to make a set speech, he is a fearful failure. At the request of Vice-President Colfax and his friends, he spoke in the Bowery, and made astonishing havoc with history and Lindley Murray. On that occasion in support of Polygamy he brought up the very questionable charge against Martin Luther, that he countenanced Polygamy in acquiescing in the marriage of Philip, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, to a second wife while his first was still alive. Brigham was utterly ignorant of history, and the brethren in his office prepared him notes for this special occasion—the first he had ever tried to use and he was perfectly confounded. On the paper before him were a few hard words about Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, and poor Brigham, innocent that the word "Landgrave" was a title of nobility, spoke of the supposed poylgamist as "Mr. Philip Landgrave"—a worthy example for the world to follow. The visitors could hardly contain their mirth, while the intelligent Mormons almost expired with mortification.

Of that occasion, Mr. Bowles wrote:

"There was every incentive for him to do his best; he had an immense audience spread out under the 'Bowery' to the number of five or six thousand; before him was Mr. Colfax, who had asked him to preach upon the distinctive Mormon doctrines; around him were all his elders and bishops, in unusual numbers; and he was fresh from the exciting discussion of yesterday on the subject of Polygamy. But his address lacked logic, lacked effect, lacked wholly magnetism or impressiveness. It was a curious medley of Scriptural exposition and exhortation, bold and bare statement, coarse denunciation, and vulgar allusion, cheap rant, and poor cant."—"Across the Continent," page 118.

[1] Many respectable persons in Utah, who have free intercourse with the apostles and leading men of the Mormon Church, do not believe that Brigham Young had anything to do with this massacre. It would be very gratifying to see him exonerated from the charge. Should it yet turn out that it was the work of another, and that Brigham has patiently borne the imputation for so many years, he will richly deserve respect where he now is condemned.

[2] One young man replied to Brother Heber that it was the teaching of the Church that the elders should always follow their "file-leaders," and that "if President Young and he should each take a squaw to wife and thus set the example, they would certainly follow suit." That ended the "bleaching" of the "Lamanites." There was no further instruction upon the fulfilment of the modern prophecies.

[3] As a preacher, Brigham is always listened to attentively—not so much either for style or the matter of his discourse, as from the expectation that he may "say something " that the auditor is anxious to learn. When he has moments of "great freedom " he can make himself interesting; but his utterance is the declamation of the unmethodical itinerant, and not the logical oratory of the thinker or reader. When he tries to make a set speech, he is a fearful failure. At the request of Vice-President Colfax and his friends, he spoke in the Bowery, and made astonishing havoc with history and Lindley Murray. On that occasion in support of Polygamy he brought up the very questionable charge against Martin Luther, that he countenanced Polygamy in acquiescing in the marriage of Philip, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, to a second wife while his first was still alive. Brigham was utterly ignorant of history, and the brethren in his office prepared him notes for this special occasion—the first he had ever tried to use and he was perfectly confounded. On the paper before him were a few hard words about Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, and poor Brigham, innocent that the word "Landgrave" was a title of nobility, spoke of the supposed poylgamist as "Mr. Philip Landgrave"—a worthy example for the world to follow. The visitors could hardly contain their mirth, while the intelligent Mormons almost expired with mortification.

Of that occasion, Mr. Bowles wrote:

"There was every incentive for him to do his best; he had an immense audience spread out under the 'Bowery' to the number of five or six thousand; before him was Mr. Colfax, who had asked him to preach upon the distinctive Mormon doctrines; around him were all his elders and bishops, in unusual numbers; and he was fresh from the exciting discussion of yesterday on the subject of Polygamy. But his address lacked logic, lacked effect, lacked wholly magnetism or impressiveness. It was a curious medley of Scriptural exposition and exhortation, bold and bare statement, coarse denunciation, and vulgar allusion, cheap rant, and poor cant."—"Across the Continent," page 118.

[1]

[2]

[3]

The Rocky Mountain Saints/Chapter 44

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