PORTIIAITS OF LEADING MORMONS. / 
 
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 ITS RISE, PEOORESS, 
 
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AGENTS WANTED. 
 
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PKEFAOE. 
 
 America is the paradise of heterodoxy. All sorts of wild, 
 strange and even ?,bominable religions flourish unchecked, 
 side by side, and generally without violent collision. The 
 wild dreams of the fervid Oriental imagination ; the vague 
 shadowings of Gothic mysticism ; the coarse materialism 
 of French infidelity, and the ideal fancies of Greek and 
 Asiatic, all the errors and worn out theories of the Old 
 World, of schisms in the early Church, the monkish age 
 and the rationalistic period, find here a free air, a fertile 
 soil, a more congenial clime and a second native country, 
 as it were, in which new and more luxuriant growths 
 spring rapidly from the old and half dead stocks of pseudo- 
 theology. 
 
 Eut the inventive American mind is not content merely 
 with old errors, and the Yankee is nothing if not practi- 
 cal ; hence we see that to every new or purely American 
 phase of religious error, there is always tacked a feature 
 of political power, communism of property, social license 
 or moral perversion, a general revolt against acce]»ted 
 theories in law, medicine, marriage, government or social 
 relations. Let the extreme tend which way it will, i*: is 
 equally an extreme; whether of the anti-marriage Shakers, 
 the celibate Harmonists, the wife-communists of Oneida, 
 or the polygamous Mormons. All this is, perhaps, a neces- 
 sary evil — an inevitable adjunct to a great good. In the 
 
4 
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 perfect liberty of conscience guaranteed, the perverted or 
 diseased conscience is equally free with the pure or 
 healthy ; and where every man is free to choose as he will, 
 it is reasonable to suppose that many will choose but 
 poorly. Like all good principles this liberty of conscience 
 is strangely liable to abuse ; but a careful examination 
 will show, I think, that the present condition is far better, 
 with all its evil outgrowths, than would be any aiming at 
 repression. Repression is not unity. Suppose either of 
 the prominent sects to be made the Established Church — 
 if indeed the mind can possibly conceive of an Established 
 Church in America — the Methodists, for instance ; then 
 would that Church at once lose many of its communicants; 
 most people would avoid it to the farthest extent allowed 
 by law, not fiom any particular hostility to that one 
 Church, but simply because it wan established. 
 
 We may, indeed, congratulate ourselves, that with such 
 perfect liberty of choice so few have adopted beliefs at all 
 dangerous either to the State or to society ; for these last 
 are the only questions with which we have a right to 
 deal. But certain forms of belief cannot possibly confine 
 themselves to speculative errors ; the perversion of moral 
 and ethical principles is too radical to be confined to the 
 heart, and the hideous moral gangrene, starting from the 
 soul and centre, works outwardly through the life in all 
 manner of corruption, confusion and abomination. When 
 the faith is perfectly inwrought, it cannot but show itself 
 in acts, and with these the State has a right to deal. 
 Perfect toleration is due to all beliefs, and these gross 
 forms of error only demand attention when endeavoring, 
 against the good of the State, to make a peculiar moral 
 
PREFACE, V 
 
 condition the general law for a whole people, and still 
 more as laboring to radically pervert the Christian idea of 
 marriage. If the experience of all civilized nations for 
 three thousand years, and the best judgment of the best 
 minds in law founded upon that experience, have proved 
 any one fact more than another, it is that the marriage 
 relation should be strictly regulated by law, that the 
 State has an absolute right to prescribe the civil condi- 
 tions accompanying and the civil rights resulting from it; 
 and that the human passions, whether excited by mere 
 lust or by religious fanaticism, must be controlled by 
 positive law. It matters not S an individual esteem it 
 his natural right to act contrary to express law, or if 
 several individuals constituting a community believe it to 
 be a religious right; they are equally subject thereto, 
 and must take the legal consequence of disobedience. It 
 is then a gratifying fact, that so few have adopted beliefs 
 tending to pervert the marriage relation. Of the forty 
 millions in America less than half a million are included 
 in all of such sects. In this light liberty of conscience in 
 America is almost a perfect success. 
 
 The vast majority of our people have founded their 
 religious belief on theories not inimical to the public 
 good ; and the scores of varying sects which arise from 
 year to year, generally do so only to run a brief and me- 
 teor-like race, and sink like dissolved exhalations in the 
 bogs and mire of ignorance from which they arose. But 
 occasionally we see one of these parasitic growths upon 
 the body of religious freedom, which, from peculiar and 
 special causes, extends its existence beyond what we 
 would naturally look for ; and a few, originally trans- 
 planted from Europe where the parent organization has 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 long since expired, maintain a sort of sickly life through 
 two or three generations in America. Of such are the 
 Shakers f'-om England, and the Harmonists from Ger- 
 many. But where in contact with vital Christianity, 
 they must sooner or later yield : their wild enthusiam is 
 sufficient for rise and growth, but lacks the virtuous en- 
 ergy to direct and continue. To such, comparatively 
 innocent and harmless, *the public direct little attention. 
 But there are a few, which manage to preserve a sort of 
 isolation even in the midst of other sects, or in extreme 
 cases, to get apart and aside, and maintain fur a long 
 period an independent existence. Of these none have 
 attained to such prominence as the sect called Mormf;ns. 
 Having leaders at once sagacious and unscrupulous, they 
 have long managed to avoid whatever contact would 
 weaken their organization. We have seen them, from small 
 and obscure beginnings, rise to a strength sufficient to 
 create a local i-ebellion in Missouri ; transplanted thence to 
 Illinois, rise to a threatening power ; transplanted again, 
 flourish rapidly for a while, and though now evidently 
 on the decline, yet strong enough to create a difficult and 
 delicate political problem, and like the Bohon Upas, over- 
 shadow a whole Territory with a deadly influence. Scat-* 
 tered through the nation Mormonism would be the weakest 
 of all religions ; collected into one Territory, and ruling 
 there with almost absolute power, they present a painfully 
 interesting problem. Comparatively, their numbers are 
 trifling ; locally, they are of great importance. In the 
 light of the principles here enunciated, and with perfect 
 confidence in their correctness, this work has been pre- 
 pared; with a view to the better enlightenment of the 
 American public on this question and, if possible, to make 
 
PREFACE. VU 
 
 the duty of Government and people more plain, to set 
 forth the most salient points in the progress of religious 
 ijnposture, and to draw attention to a Territory rich in 
 natural resources. It is believed that the work contains 
 most of the material iiicts of interest in regard to Utah 
 and the Mormons ; whether of the climate and resources 
 of the former, or the history, theology and peculiar social 
 practices of the latter. The history of the sect is drawn 
 from many sources : from their own works, from personal 
 records of several who have spent many years among 
 them, from evidence published by the State of Missouri, 
 from official documents of States or the General Govern- 
 ment, from previous compilations and other accredited 
 sources. Of charges against the Mormons not fully proved, 
 the statements for and against them have been equally 
 presented. The same rules of evidence have been ap- 
 plied in summing up their history, as are held applicable 
 in courts of justice. The author's opportunities for per- 
 sonal observation will be seen in the course of the work. 
 The author is well aware of the many imperfections of 
 the work, but does not seek to disarm criticism by a pre- 
 faced apology ; it is given as a compilation of testimony, 
 on which the reader has the same privilege of passing 
 judgment as the author has exercised on those before him. 
 Whatever may be thought of the style in which they arc 
 presented, I trust many of the facts will be found interest- 
 ing, and if the work should excite an intelligent interest 
 among the American people, in regard to the affairs of 
 Utah, it will have accomplished the dearest wish of the 
 
 author. 
 
 J. H. B. 
 
 CoRiNNE, Utah Territory, April 5th, 1871. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORICAL. 
 
 Birth and early life of the Mormon Prophet — The original Smith 
 family — Opinion of Brigham Young — The *' peep-stone " — "Cal- 
 ling" of Joe Smith— The Golden Plates—" Reformed Egyptian" 
 translated — " Bcok of Mormon" published — Synopsis of its con- 
 tents — Real author of the work — "The glorious six" first con- 
 verts — Emma Smith, " Elect Lady and Daughter of God" — Sidney 
 Bigdon takes the field — First Hegira — "Zion" in Missouri — 
 Kirtland B»ak — Swindling and " persecution" — War in Jackson 
 County — Smith "marches on Missouri" — Failure of the "Lord's 
 Bank"— Flight of the Prophet— " Mormon War'— Capture of 
 Smith—Flight into Jllinois 21 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 HISTORY FROM THE FOUNDING OF NAUVOO TILL 1843. 
 
 Rapid growth of Nauvoo — Apparent prosperity — " The vultures 
 gather to the carcass" — Crime, polygamy and politics — Subser- 
 viency of the Politicians — Nauvoo Charters — A government within 
 a government — Joe Smith twice arrested — Released by S. A. 
 Douglas — Second time by Municipal Court of Nauvoo — McRin- 
 ney's Account — Petty thieving — Gentiles driven out of Nauvoo — 
 "Whittling Deacons" — " Danitea" — Anti-Mormons organize a 
 Political Party — Treachery of Davis and Owens— Defeat of Anti- 
 Mormons — Campaign of 1843 — Cyrus ^^'^alker, a great Criminal 
 Lawyer — "Revelation" on Voting — The Prophet cheats the Law- 
 yer — Astounding perfidy of the Mormon Leaders — Great increase 
 of popular hatred — Just anger against the Saints 48 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 PAQB 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MORMON DIFFICULTIES AND DEATH OF THE PROPHET. 
 
 Ford's account — Double treachery in the Quincy district — New and 
 startling developments in Nuuvoo — Tyranny of Joc (Smith — Re- 
 volt of a portion of his followers — The ' ' Expositor" — It is declared 
 "a nuisance" and "abated" — Flight of apostates — Warrants 
 issued for Smith and other Mormons — Constables driven out of 
 Nauvoo— Militia called for — Nauvoo fortified — Mormon war im- 
 minent — Governor Ford takes the field in person — Flight of the 
 Prophet and Patriarch to Iowa — Their vetum and arrest — The 
 Governor pledged for their safety— In his absence the jail is 
 attacked — Death of the Smiths — Character of the Prophet- 
 Comments 71 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TWO YEARS OF STRIFE— EXODUS FROM ILLINOIS. 
 
 No Successor to the Prophet— David Hyrum Smith, the "Son of 
 Promise" — Contest for the Leadership — Diplomacy of Brigham 
 Young — Curious Trials — All of Brigham's Opponents " cutoflf" — 
 Troubles Renewed— Fights, Outrages, Robberies and Murder — 
 Another Election and more Treachery — Singular "Wolf Hunt" — 
 Capture and Trial of Smith's Murderers — Of the Mormon Riot- 
 ers — Failure and Defects of the Law — Further Outrages on Gen- 
 tiles—Troubles in Adams County — The " Oneness"— The People 
 of Adams Drive out the Mormons — Revenge by the Mormons — 
 Murders of McBratney, Worrell, Wilcox, and Daubeneyer — Re- 
 taliation, and Murder of Durfee -The Mormons Ravage Hancock — 
 Flight of the Gentiles— Militia Called, and Hancock put under 
 Martial Law — The Mormons Begin to Leave Illinois — Fresh 
 Quarrels— More Mormon Treachery — Bombardment of Nauvoo, 
 and Final Expulsion of the Mormons 98 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FROM THE NAUVOO EXODUS TO THE MORMON WAR IN 
 
 UTAH. 
 
 The Via Dolorosa of Mormon History — Through Iowa — Great suf- 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 PAOK 
 
 fering — " Stakes of Zion" — Settlement in Nebraska — "Mormon- 
 Battaliou" — Journey to Utah — Founding of Salt Lake City — 
 EJarly accounts — Outrages upon California emigrants — Travellers 
 murdered — Apostates " missing" — Dangers of rivalry in love with 
 a Mormon Bishop — Usurpations of Mormon Courts and officers — 
 Federal Judges driven out — Murders of Babbitt and Williams — 
 Flight of Judges Stiles and Drummond — The Array set in motion 
 for Utah — New officers appointed — Suspicious delay of the army — 
 The " Mormon war begun. " 122 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BLOODY PERIOD. 
 
 Sounds of war in Utah — Popular excitement — Fears of the disaf- 
 fect 3d — Attempted flight — Murder of the Potter and Parish fami- 
 lies — Massacre of the Aiken party — Assassination of Yates — 
 Killing of Forbes — Brigham " Tunis loose the Indians" — Moun- 
 tain Meadow Massacre — Horrible Barbarity of Indians and 
 Mormons — Evidence in the case — Attempt of Judge Cradlebaugh — 
 Progress of the •' Mormon War" — Delay of the army — Treachery 
 or inefficiency ? — Mormon Legir n — Lieutenant General Wells — 
 Brigham " Commands" the National troops to withdraw — Army 
 trains destroyed — Lot Smith, the Mormon GueriUa — The "Army 
 of Utah" in Winter Quarters — Colonel Kane again — Negotiations 
 with Brigham — Governor Gumming "passed" through the Mormon 
 lines — "Peace Commissioners" — Mormon Exodus — Weakness of 
 Gumming — End of the War — Murders of Pike, the Jones's, Ber- 
 nard, Drown, Arnold, McNeil, and others — A change at last 136 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 GENTIT,ES IN UTAH. 
 
 A New Element — Li'.nnggtcn and Kinkead— " Jack-Morraonism at 
 Washington" — Judge Drummond — M. Jules Remy— Gilbert and 
 Sofas — Heavy Trade — Later Gentile Merchants — Walker Bro- 
 thers — Sales at Camp Floyd — " Crushing the Mormons" — Ranso- 
 hoff & Co. — Mormon Outrages again — Murders of Brassneld and 
 Dr. Robinson— Whipping of Weston — Evidence in case of Robin- 
 
^l CONTENTS. 
 
 son— Outrages on Lieut. 3rown and Dr. Williamson— GentUes 
 driven from the Public Laud— Territorial Surveyor— Success of 
 General Connor's Administiation— The Government Returns to 
 the Old Policy— Murder of 'otter and Wilson— Horrible Death 
 of "Negro Tom"— The Last Witness "put out of the Way"— 
 " Danites" again— Murder ea. h Other— Death of Hatch— Flight 
 of Hickman— Forty -thre 3 Mure ers— Another change of Officials- 
 Doty— Durkee— Shameful Neg ect of the Government— Flight 
 of the Gentiles— Comparative Q, iet Again— A better Day— The 
 Author Arrives in Utah 150 
 
 CHAPTIR VTII. 
 
 FIRST VIEWS IN UTAH. 
 
 The real ' 'American Deserf'-No Myth- -Bitter Creek -Green River 
 —Lone Rock— Plains of Bridger— Qua ing Asp Ridge— Bear River 
 —A Mormon Autobiography— " Puling hair"— "Aristocracy" 
 on the Plains —" Mule-skinners" an; " BuUwhackers" — The 
 " Bull whackers Epic"— Cache Ca^e—E: ho Canon— Mormon "for- 
 tifications"— Braggadocio— Storm in W( :)cr Canon— Up the Weber 
 —Parley's Park— A Wife-stealing Ap( .'stle— Down the Canon- 
 Majestic Scenery— First View of the l^alley— The " City of the 
 Saints." : Igg 
 
 ■V 
 
 CHAPTER iX. 
 
 TWO WEEKS IN SALT tAKE CITY. 
 
 Views of the City— Temple Block— Brightm's Block— Theatre- 
 Immigrants — Mormon Arguments — Reasons for Polygamy— 
 
 , ' ' Book of Mormon "- First Mormon Sermon—" Old " Joe Young 
 —His Beauty (?)— His Sermon— Mormon Style of Preaching- 
 Order of Services— First impressions rather favorable—Much to 
 earn yet loo 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TRIP TO BEAR RIVER AND RETURN. 
 Northward foot— Hot Springs — " Sessions Settlement "— P0I7- 
 
• • » 
 
 CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 PAGE 
 
 gamy again — " Ephe Roberta' young wife " — Farmington — Kays- 
 ville — Three wives, and stone walls between — ' * Let us have 
 Peace " — Red Sand Ridge — Ogden — Brigham City — Into the Poor 
 District — Scandinavian porridge- -English cookery — Rural life in 
 Utah— Bear River, North — Cache Valley and the Canon — " Pro- 
 fessor" Barker, the "Mad Philosopher "— A New Cosmogony — 
 Mormon Science — "Celestial Masonry" — "Adam" redwivus — 
 A Modern "Eve" — Folly and Fanaticism — Mineral Springs — 
 'The country rs, the city Mormon 201 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE CONFERENCE AND ITS RESULTS. 
 
 A Mormon mass-meeting — Faces and features — Great enthusiasm — 
 A living "martyr" — A Mormon hymn — The Poetess — A "pre- 
 sident " chosen — He recites the Church history — First view of 
 Brigham — He curses the Gentiles — A " nasty sermon " — Coarse- 
 ness and profanity — Bitterness of other speakers — Swearing in 
 the pulpit — Exciting the people — Their fren?;y and fanaticism — 
 Hatred against the United States — Foolish bravado — The author 
 gains new light on Mormouism — A subject to be studied — 
 English and European Sects of like character — Division of the 
 subject 214 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF MORMON SOCIETY. 
 
 Difficulty at the outset — Extremes among witnesses — Prejudice on 
 both sides — First impressions favorable — " VVhited Sepulchres" — 
 Classes of Mormons — Brigham Young ; imposter or fanatic ? — The 
 dishonest class — The "earnest Mormons" — Disloyalty — Church 
 and State Killing men to save their souls — Slavery of woman — 
 Brigham the government — Prophecy against the United States — 
 " War" — " Seven women to take hold of one man" — Another war 
 expected — Blood and thunder in store for the Gentiles — "The 
 great tribulation" about due — Popular errors — Witchcraft — 
 "Faith-doctoring" — Zion in Jackson County, Missouri — Com- 
 fortable prospect 223 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF MORMON THEOLOGY. 
 
 Its origin— A theological conglomerate— Mythology, Paganism, Mo- 
 hammedanism, corrupt Christianity an'l Philosophy nin mad — 
 "First principles of the Gospel" — The five points of variance — 
 Materialism— No spirit — A god with "body, parts and passions" 
 — Matter eternal —No "creation"— Intelligent atoms— Pre-exis- * 
 tent souls— High Times in the Spirit Worlds— Birth of Spirits— 
 They hunt for " Earthly Tabernacles "—The "Second Estate"-- 
 Apotheosis— The " TJiird Estate"—" Fourth Estate "—Men be- 
 come g^oi.s— "Divine generatj'^n"— Earthly Families and Heavenly 
 Kingdoms — Did man come from the Sun ? — " Building up the 
 Kingdom " — One day as a thousand years - The time of the 
 Gentiles about out — Great events at hand — " Gog and Magog," 
 et. al. — Gentiles, prepare to make tracks —Return to "Zion," in 
 Missouri— Christ's earthly empire -Great destiny for Missouri- 
 Tenets from Christianity— Baptism a "Saving Ordinance" — Bap- 
 tized twelve times— Office of the Holy Ghost— Strange fanati- 
 cism—Eclectic Theology — A personal god— The homoousiaii and 
 the homoiousian — The Logos and the Aeon — Crossness and Vul- 
 garity ; 239 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THEORETICAL POLYGAMY-ITS HISTORY. 
 
 Poetry of religious concubinage— Fanaticism and Sensualism— Two 
 extremes— Origin of Polygamy— The great revelation- Its con- 
 tradictions and absurdities— Mormon argument— Real origin — 
 Beginning of Polygamy— A prostitute for religion's sake— Fail- 
 ures and Wcandals— War in the Church— Stealing a Brother's 
 wife— Furore in consequence— The Expositor— Its destruction- 
 Death of the Smiths— Polygamy practised secretly and denied 
 openly — Brigham's marriages— Nine years of concealment — 
 Avowal at last — Argument in its favor— Demoralization in the 
 English Church— Aclimax of unnatural obscenity— The " Refoi^ 
 mation" — Temporary decline in Polygamy — Hostility of native 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mormon girls — Outside influence— Difference of opinion — It dies 
 hard — Spiritual wives — Mystery and abomination 255 
 
 CHAATER XV. 
 
 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 
 
 Open evils and hidden sufferings — Miss S. E. Carmichael's teoti- 
 mony — Mormon sophistry — The sexual principle — Its objects — 
 Theory and facts — Monogamist vs. Polygamist — Turk, Persian, 
 and African vs. the Christian White- -The same effects in LHah — 
 Jealousy and Misery — Children of different wives — Cultivated 
 indifference — Hatred among child, a — Brigham's idea of paren- 
 tal duty — Are the Mormon women happy ? — Submission and 
 silence — Degradation of women — Mormon idea of politeness — 
 Heber C. Kimball and his "cows" — "My women" — Slavery 
 of sex — Moses and Mohammed outdone — Incest — Marrying a 
 whole family— Robert Sharkey— Remorse and suicide — Uncle 
 and niece — Bishop Smith and his nieces — Mixture of blood — 
 Horrible crimes — Half-brother and sister — The Prophet "sold" 
 — The doctrine of incest — "Too strong now, but the people will 
 come to it" — Now openly avowed — Brothers and sisters to marry 
 for a " pure priesthood " — Testimony of Wm. Hepworth Dixon — 
 Father and dau^ter may marry— Effects upon the young — 
 Infant mortality — Large average mortality-^Fatal blindness— 
 The growing youth —Demoralization — Youthful depravitj — No 
 hope for young men and women — Sophistry and madness — An- 
 cient sensualism to be revived 272 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE MORMON THEOCRACY. 
 
 r- 
 
 Absolutism — An ancient model — Three governments in Utah — 
 Church officials — First President — First Presidency — " The worst 
 man in Utah " — Quorum of Apostles — " The Twelve " — A dozen 
 men with fifty-two wives — President of Seventies — Patriarch — 
 "A blessing for a dollar" — Bishops — Division of the City and 
 Territory — Their magisterial capacity— High Council — Judge and 
 
XVi CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 Jury — Ward teachers — The confessional — The priesthood — 
 Aaronic and Melchisedec— Evangelists— Secret police or " Dan- 
 ites "—Civil government only an appendage — Excessive power of 
 the Mormon Courts— Perversions of law and justice— Organic Act 
 defective— Federal Judges — Their weakness and disgrace— Ver- 
 dict by ecclesiastical " counsel' — Verdicts dictated from the pul- 
 pit—Probate Judges really appointed by Brigham Young — Voting 
 system— Marked ballots— "Protecting the ballot"— The Hooper- 
 McGroarty race — Plurality of offices as well as wives— Tyranny of 
 the Church — the Mormon va. the American idea— The evils of 
 which Gentiles complain 293 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 RECUSANT SECTS OF MORMONS. 
 
 Repression not unity— Great break up at Nauvoo— Sidney Rigdon's 
 Church— J. J. Strang— Cutler, Brewster, and Ileddrick : "The 
 Gatherers "—The " Truth-teller " — Lyman Wight in Texas — 
 San Bernardino Mormons — Apostacy, Spiritualism and insanity — 
 Brigham supreme in Utah — First Secession, the " Gladdenites" — 
 Persecution and murders— Blood-atonement introduced— Second 
 Secession, the " Morrisites"— War with the Sect— Massacre of 
 the " Morrisites "—Governor Harding's adventure— General Con- 
 nor protects the recusants— Soda Springs— Another Prophet— 
 The "infant Christ "—Beginning of the Josephites— Emma and 
 her sons— The " Re-organized Church "—First Mission— Mission 
 of the " Smith boys " — Excitement at Salt Lake— Priestly lying — 
 The Godbe Schism— Liberal principles— Hopeful indications — 
 After Brigham, Who? — Orson Hyde ?— Daniel H. Wells?— 
 George A. Smith ?— Probable future of the Church. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 
 
 Territorial limits—" Basins "— " Sinks "— " Flats "—Rain and eva- 
 poration — Elemental action and reaction — Potamology — Jordan- 
 Kay's Creek- Weber— Bear River— Cache Valley— Timber— Blue 
 (^reek— Promontory— Great Desert— Utah Lake —Spanish Fork— 
 
CONTENTS. XVU 
 
 TAOK 
 
 Salt Creek — Timpanogoa — Sevier River— Colorado System- 
 Fish — Thermal and Chemical Springs — Healing Waters— Hot- 
 water plants — Analysis by Dr. Gale — Mineral Springs — Salt 
 beds — Alkali fiats — Native Salts — Great Salt Lakk — First 
 accounts — Fremont — Staksburv — Amount of salt — Valleys — 
 Rise of tne Lake — Islands — Bear Lake — " Ginastiuutis " — Utah 
 Lake — Climate — Increase of rain — Singular phenomena — Fine 
 air — Relief for pulmonary complaints 334 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MATERIAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 
 
 Amount of arable land— Its nature and location — Increased rain- 
 fall — Causes — Probable greater increase — Mode of irrigation — 
 Aquarian — Socialism — No room for competition — Alkali — Some 
 advantages — Yield of various crops — " Beet sugar" — Sorghum 
 syrup — Mormon improvements (?) — Grossly exaggerated — True 
 Wealth of Utah — Alining and grazing — Bunch-grass — Mountain 
 pastures— Sheep and goats — "Fur, fin and feather" — Trapping 
 and hunting — Carnivora — Ruminants — Buffalo — None in the 
 Basin — Shoshonee tradition — Game, fowl — Amphibia — "Sandy 
 toad" — Serpents — Fish — Oysters in Salt Lake — Insects — "Mor- 
 mon bedbugs " — Advantages from the dry air — Insectivora — 
 Crickets — Grasshoppers or locusts ? — Indians of Utah — Rapid ex- 
 tinction — " Diggers " — " Club-men " — Utes — Shoshonees— Their 
 origin — Mormon theory— ^Scientific theory — Chinese annals— Tar- 
 tars in America — Mormon settlers — Twenty-three years of 
 "gathering" — Much work, slow progress — Reasons — Inherent 
 weakness of the system — Great apostacy — Their present num- 
 ber — Exaggeration — Enumeiation of settlements and popula- 
 tion — Nationality — Total nailitary force — Future of the Territory 353 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MORMON MYSTERIES— THEIR ORIGIN. 
 
 The Endowment — Actors — Scenery and dress — Pre-requisites — 
 Adam and Eve, the Devil and Michael, Jehovah and Eloheim— 
 A new version — Blasphemous assumptions — Terrible oaths — Bar- 
 B 
 
XVm CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 barous penalties — Origin — Scriptures Lost — Paradise and Eleusi- 
 nian mysteries — " Morgan's Free-masonry " — The witnesses — 
 Probabilities — Their reasons— Changes 37 - 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 PRESENT CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 
 
 Cooperation — The " bull's eye " signs — Inherent weakness of the 
 system — Immediate eflfects on the Gentiles — Final result to the 
 Saints — Founding of Corinne — Its bright prospects — Trip to 
 Sevier — The deserted city — New Silverado — Mines and mining — 
 A new interest in Utah — Rich discoveries — Hindrances — Grant's 
 administration in Utah — Better men in the Revenue Depart- 
 ment — Experience of Dr. J. P. Taggart — More "persecution" — 
 The Judges — The Governor — Congressional Legislation — "Cul- 
 lom Bill " — Probable effects — Guesses at the future — Another 
 €xodus — " Zion " in Sonora 387 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 REDEEMING AGENCIES. 
 
 The Church -First attempt— Rev. Norman McLeod — Dr. J. K. 
 Robinson — Second attempt, Father Kelley — Last attempt — The 
 Episcopal Mission, success and progress — Sabbath School — Gram- 
 mar School of St. Marks— A building needed — Mission of Rev. 
 George W. Foote — Difficulties of the situation — Number and 
 occupation of Gentiles — Political prospects — Gentile newspapers 
 —The Valky Tan— The Vedette— The Utah Reporter— S. S. 
 Saul, the founder — Messrs. Aulbach and Barrett — The author's 
 experience — Principles advocated — Courtesy of the Gentiles- 
 Conclusion 405 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 1. Portrait of Brigham Young frontispiece. 
 
 2. Portrait oi Joseph Smith 
 
 3. Portrait of Heber C. Kimball 
 
 4. Portrait of Hyrum Smith 
 
 5. Portrait of Orson Pratt 
 
 6. Portrait of Orson Hyde 
 
 7 Portrait of John Taylor 
 
 PAOE 
 
 8. Death of Joseph Smith 93 
 
 9. Four Wives 179 
 
 10. Mormon Temple being built in Salt Lake City 191 
 
 11. Scenes in the Endowment Ceremonies 373 
 
LIFE m UTAH; 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 MYSTERIES AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORICAL. 
 
 ^^V- „ T^r" .— —*"""""— ^•^""""'.i x>ivuiv— owinuung ana " per- 
 secution -War in Jackson County-Smith " marches on llissouri ''- 
 i allure of the "Lords Bank "-Flight of the Prophet-" Mormon 
 War '—Capture of Smith-Flight into Illinois. ^viormon 
 
 Joseph SxMITH, the founder of Morraonism, was born De- 
 cember 23rd, 1805, at Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont 
 His parents, Joseph Smith, Sen., and Lucy Mack Smith' 
 belonged to the lowest grade of society, and, by the tes- 
 timony of all their neighbors, were illiterate and supersti- 
 tious, as Avell as indolent and unreliable. They could 
 believe in the supernatural as easily as the natural; for 
 they were as ignorant of the one as the other. These 
 qualities seemed to descend upon the son by " ordinary 
 generation ;" but at an early age he showed that he far 
 excelled all the rest of the family in a peculiar low cun- 
 c 
 
22 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THK MVSTEIIIES 
 
 ning, and a certain faculty of invention, which enabled 
 him to have a story ready for any emergency. 
 
 In the year 1815, the Smith family removed to New 
 York, and settled near Palmyra, Wayne county, where 
 they resided ten years. Here young Josej)h developed 
 a remarkable talent for living without work, and at an 
 early age ado})ted the profession of " Water Witch," in 
 which calling ho wandered .about the adjoining country 
 with a forked stick, or hazel rod, by the deflections of 
 which, when held in a peculiar manner, he claimed to 
 determine the spot where a vein of water lay nearest the 
 surface. This had been a part of his father's business ; but 
 Joe was possessedof real genius, though of a peculiar kind, 
 and soon struck into higher paths. He began to " divine " 
 the locality of things which had been stolen, by means of 
 a " peep-stone " placed in his hat, and by the same means 
 to point out where liidden ti .^asures lay. Almost innu- 
 merable are the stories of his youth, giving bright promise 
 of future rascality. But many of them depend on little 
 more than j^opular rejiort, and we can only receive as au- 
 thentic those events which rest upon the sworn testimony 
 of reliable men who were his neighbors. After ten 3'ears' 
 residence in Wayne, the family moved to the adjoining 
 county of Ontario, and settled near the town of Man- 
 chester. Here, from pointing out the place for wells, Joe 
 went to work digging them. While in this work for Mr. 
 Willard Chase, a peculiar, round, white stone was found 
 by him and the other workmen, which Joe took posses- 
 sion of and carried away, much to the regret of Mr. 
 Chase's children, to whom it had been given as a curious 
 plaything. This was afterwards the noted " peep-stone," in 
 which Joe sa'v such wonders. Many of these statements 
 are not very strenuously denied by the best-informed 
 Mormons. They acknowledge, generally, that Joe Smith 
 was of humble parentage, very poor and illiterate, and 
 that he was for many years a " wild boy." Brigham 
 Young is especially frank upon the subject, adding, in con- 
 clusion : " That the Prophet was of mean birth, that he 
 was wild, intemperate, even dishonest and tricky in his 
 youth, is nothing against his mission, God can, and does, 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOUMONISM. 23 
 
 nmke iiso of tlio vilest instruments. Joseph has hrought 
 forth a religion which will save tis if we abide by it. 
 Bring anything against that if you can. I care not if he 
 gamble, lie, swear, and run horses every day, for I embrace 
 no man in my faith. The religion is all in nil." 
 
 Brigham is correct ; the early character of the Pro])hct 
 has little to do with the religion, except as determining 
 the character and credibility of his evidence. Let us then 
 examine briefly the origin of this new theology, present 
 the main testimony; and, as impartial judges, hear the 
 Prophet's account tirst. Many years after, when Mor- 
 monism was an established fact, Jose[)li gave the follow- 
 ing account : At the early age of tifteen he became much 
 concerned about the salvation of his soul, and at the .same 
 time a powerful revival of religion spread th'-oughout 
 Western New York. Joseph professed to be converted and 
 his mother, sister Sophronia and his brothers, Samuel and 
 Hyrum (so spelled by his father) joined the church. But 
 when the revival ceased, a " great rush " took place among 
 the ministers of various denominations as to who should 
 secure most of the new converts ; Joseph's soul was vexed, 
 and he besran to have serious doubts. In this frame of 
 mind ho opened the Bible, and his eye fell upon this text : 
 " If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that 
 giveth to all men liberally, and ui)braideth not " — James, 
 Chap. I. v. 5. He, therefore, retired to a secluded thicket 
 near his father's house, and knelt in prayer, supplicating 
 the Lord to know " which of all the sects was really right." 
 While praying, the entire wood was illuminated with a 
 gi'eat light, he was enveloped in the midst of it and caught 
 away in a heavenly vision, he sav/" two glorious personages 
 and was told that his sins were forgiven. He learned also 
 that none of the sects was quite right, t)ut that God had 
 chosen him to restore the true priesthood upon earth. 
 Afterwards, he began again to doubt, and, being quite 
 young, lei? into sin, and it was not until September 23rd, 
 1823, that God again heard his prayers, and sent heavenly 
 messengers to tell him his sins were forgiven. An angel 
 visited him from time to time afterwards, instructing him 
 in his duties, and finally informed him that in " the hill 
 
24 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Cumorah," not far from Manchester, certain Golden Plates 
 were buried, containing an account of the settlement of 
 America, before Chiist. After several preliminary visits. 
 on the 2L;nd of Septambtr, 182(3, the Golden Plates were 
 taken up from the hill Cumorah " with a mighty display of 
 celestial machinery," and delivered by the angel to Joseph. 
 His vision being cleared, at the same time, he saw a great 
 concourse of devils struggling with angels to prevent the 
 work. Tiie platts were "of the thickness of tin, bound 
 together like a book, fastened at one side by three rings 
 which run thruogh the whole, forming a volume about 
 six inches thi k." The record was engraved on the plates 
 in " reformed Egyptian" characters, consisting of " the 
 language of the Jews and the writing of the Egyptians." 
 In the same box with the plates, were found two stones, 
 "transparent and clear as crj'stal, the Urini and Thum- 
 mim used by seers in ancient times, the instruments of 
 revelations of things distant, past and future." When 
 the news of this discovery spread abroad " the Pr(jphet 
 was the sport of lies, slanders and mobs, and vain attempts 
 to rob him of his plates." He was ere long supplied 
 with witnesses. Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and 
 Martin Harris, make the following solemn certificate : — 
 
 " We have seen the plates which contain the records : 
 they were translated by the gift and power of (iod, for 
 His voice hath declared it unto us, wherefore we know 
 of a surety that the work is trr.e ; and we declare with 
 words of soberness that an angel of God came down from 
 heaven, and brought and laid before our eyes, that we be- 
 held and saw the plates and the engravings thereon." 
 
 The testimony of these three is prefixed to all printed 
 copies of the " Book of Mormon," for such is the name 
 now given to the work. Oliver Cowdery was at that 
 time a sort of wandering schoolmaster, rather noted as 
 an elegant scribe. He assisted in translating the inscrip- 
 tions on the plates, continued an active Saint for many 
 years, and was finally expelled from the Church in Mis- 
 souri, " for lying, counterfeiting and immorality." He 
 led a rambling life for many years, and died a short time 
 since a miserable drunkard. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 25 
 
 Martin Harris was a credulous farmer vvlio lived near 
 the Smiths. He had imbibed the notion, so common in 
 the religious excitement of tliat period, that " the last 
 days were at hand," and mortgaged his ftirm for three 
 thousand dollars, to pay for printing the first edition of 
 the book. He continued with the Mormons till his 
 means were exhausted, and having quarrelled with Joe 
 Smith, in Missouri, returned to his old residence in New 
 York. Of David Whitmer little is known. He dropped 
 out of the Mormon community, in one of the " drives" in 
 Plissouri, and settled in that State. But the Prophet had 
 other witnesses. Soon after, four of the Smiths, three 
 of the Whitmers, and another witness, eight in all, tes- 
 tify as follows : " Joseph Smith, the translator, has shown 
 us the plates of which hath been spoken, which had the 
 appearance of gold ; and as many of the plates as the 
 said Smith had translated, we did handle with our hands 
 and also saw the engravings thereon, all of which had the 
 appearance of ancient work and curious workmanship." 
 
 According to Smith's account, he first met Oliver Cow- 
 dery, April 16th, 1829, and after convincing him of his 
 divine mission, on the 15th of May following, John the 
 Baptist appeared, and ordained them both into the 
 Aaronic Priesthood, after which they baptized each other. 
 In July following, the Golden Plates were shown the 
 ^' three witnesses," and in that year the translation was 
 completed. It was begun some time before, but suspen- 
 ded in July, 1828, from the singular circumstance that 
 the wife of Martin Harris had stolen a hundred and 
 eighteen pages of the manuscript. As afterwards ap- 
 peared, the translators thought she intended to wait 
 until they had supplied tho stolen part, then reproduce 
 the original, and prove that they did not literally corres- 
 pond. But it seems they had credited her with more 
 cunning than she possessed. She had bitterly opposed 
 her husband in his venture upon the ii.<^w speculation, 
 and had burned that part of the manuscript, he brought 
 home, hoping thereby to put a stop to the work. She 
 afterwards attempted, by legal ])roceedings, to prevent 
 the disposal of his farm ; but, failing in that, finally sep- 
 
26 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 arated from him. The translation was then completed, 
 Oliver Cowdery making most of the final copy. The 
 " Book of Mormon" was first given to the world early 
 in 1830, when three thousand volumes were published, 
 under contract, by Mr. Pomeroy Tu ker, then proprie- 
 tor of a paper in the county. He has, within a few 
 years, given to the world a valuable work on the 
 " Origin and Progress of Mormonism," containing many 
 interesting facts concerning the origin of the sect. The 
 first proof-sheet of the work was given by Mr. Tucker, 
 as a sort of curiovsity, to his cousin Steve S. Harding, 
 whom he styles " a fun-loving youth of that vicinity." 
 Mr. Harding soon after removed to Indiana, and just 
 thirty-two years afterwards, was appointed by President 
 'Lincoln Governor of Utah, whither he carried the proof- 
 sheet, and presented it to the Church Historian. 
 
 The " Book of Mormon" was rapidly circulated, and 
 attracted some comment. And at this point, a brief 
 synopsis of this work is appropriate. It consists of a 
 number of Books, named after their reputed authors — 
 Book of Nephi, Book of Alma, Esther, Jared, etc. They 
 contain the following history : 
 
 In the reign of Zedekiah, six hundred years before 
 Christ, a Jewish family, with a few friends and retainers, 
 left Jerusalem, being Avarned of God that a great de- 
 struction and captivity were at hand, and journeyed east- 
 ward in search of a " land of promise." After many 
 wanderings, and the death of the Patriarch, they reached 
 the sea, when Nephi, who had succeeded his father in 
 the Patriarchate and Priesthood, was directed by the 
 Lord to build a boat ; and, furnished with a " double 
 ball and spindle," which served the exact purpose of the 
 modern niariner's compass. They embarked, and in due 
 time reached the continent of America. Subsequent 
 revelations have decided that they landed in Central 
 America. There they increased rapidly ; but a great 
 schism arose, and one Laman, with his followers, refused 
 to obey the true prie.^ thood, for which they were cut of?, 
 cursed, and condemned " to be a brutish and a savage 
 people, having dark skins, compelled to dig in the ground 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 27 
 
 for roots, and hunt their meat in the forests like beasts 
 of prey." But it was foretold that a remnant of them 
 should, in time, " have the curse removed, and become 
 a fair and delightsome people," who should " blossom 
 as the rose, under the teachings of the Latter-day 
 Saints." These were the Lamanites, the present In- 
 dians, while the Christian party were known as Neph- 
 ites. The latter spread over all of North and South 
 America, became rich and powerful, and built the cities of 
 Zarahemla, Jacobbugath, Manti, Gidgiddoni, and scores 
 of others, thus accounting for the numerous ruins found 
 on this continent. They were ruled over successively by 
 Nephi the First, Second, and Third, b}'- Noah, Alma, Kish, 
 Coriantumnr, and numerous other king?, and were suc- 
 cessively instructed by a number of prophets. But the 
 Lamanites increased likewise, and carried on almost per- 
 petual war with the Nephites, till a great part of the land 
 was desolate. According to this history, there have been 
 no people of the Old World so warlike and blood-thirsty 
 as these ; and battles in which from twenty to fifty thou- 
 sand were slain were of common occurrence. The Nephites 
 were troubled, too. by " false doctrine, heresy, and schism ;" 
 the true priesthood was reviled ; one man arose and 
 preached Universalism, " that God would save all mankind 
 at the .last day," and others followed strange gods. An 
 immense mass of the nation turned back and joined the 
 Lamanites, and a band of robbers, under one Gadianton, 
 desolated a large part of the land. At length prophets 
 appeared and announced the coming of Christ, who, after 
 he was crucified at Jerusalem, preached the Gospel, in 
 America. At the time of his death, this country, also, 
 was shrouded in darkness ; a mighty earthquake threw 
 down the wicked city of Jacobbugath, opened great chasms 
 and basins throughout the land, and the whole face of the 
 country was changed. The Nephites accepted Christ at 
 once ; but, in a few generations, fell again into apostasy, 
 and the Lord delivered them into the hand of their ene- 
 mies. The mighty Chieftain Oniandagus, whose rule was 
 from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi, fought 
 against the Nephites, and after him many others. Little 
 
28 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES «t 
 
 by little, the Nephites were driven eastward, but made a 
 stand near the shores of Lake Erie, and fought " till the 
 whole land was covered with dead bodies." They made 
 their final stand about 430, A.D., at the hill Cumorah, in 
 Ontario County, New York, where the Lamanites came 
 against them, and the battle raged till two hundred and 
 thirty thousand Nephites were slain ; the little rem- 
 nant was captured, and only Mormon and his son Moroni 
 escaped. 
 
 The various kings and priests had kept a record of their 
 history, which Mormon now collected in one volume, 
 added a book of his own, and gave them to his son. The 
 latter finished the record, and buried the whole in the hill 
 Cumorah, being assured of God that in fourteen centuries, 
 a great Prophet should restore them to man. Such is the 
 book, and Joseph's account of it. On such testimony 
 alone there is suflUcient cause to reject it, the book itself 
 containing abundant internal evidence of a fraud. 
 
 Let us now glance at the opposiiinr account. In the year 
 1812, a written work, called the " Manuscript Found," 
 was presented to Mr. Patterson, a bookseller of Pittsburg, 
 Penna., by the author. Rev. Solomon Spaulding. This 
 gentleman was born in Pennsylvania, was a graduate of 
 Dartmouth College, and for many years a Presbyterian 
 minister ; he fpU into bad health, left the ministry, and 
 finally died of consumption. The " Manuscript Found " 
 was written by Spaulding as a historical romance, to ac- 
 count for the settlement of America, and he proposed to 
 Mr. Patterson to publish i t with a preface, giving an ima- 
 ginary account of its having been taken from jilates dug 
 up in Ohio ; but the latter did not think the enterprise 
 would pay. Sidney Rigdon was then at work in the office 
 of Mr. Patterson ; the latter died in 1826, and what be- 
 came of that copy of the manuscript is not known. Mrs. 
 Spaulding had another complete copy ; but in the year 
 1825, while residing in Ontario Co , N. Y., next door to a 
 man named Stroude, for whom Joe Smith was then dig- 
 ging a well, that copy also was lost. She thinks it was 
 stolen from her trunk. Thus far all is clear, and there is 
 no particular discrepancy between the two accounts ; but 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMOXISyx. 29 
 
 when the " Book of Mormon " was published, the widow 
 and brother of Solomon Spaulding, and several other per- 
 sons who had heard him read his work, forth with claimed 
 that the new publication was nearly identical with the 
 ■ " Manuscript Found," varying only in certain interpolated 
 texts on doctrinal points. This claim was circulated 
 abroad, and caused Sidney Rigdon to write a highly slan- 
 derous and abusive letter to the press, in regard to Mrs. 
 Spaulding. Mormon historians say that Spaulding'sbook 
 was a mere idolatrous romance, and that the whole story 
 is the invention of Dr. Philastus Hurlbut, who seceded 
 from the saints in Ohio, and " persecuted ' Joe Smith in 
 various ways. The widow's and brother's statement is 
 supported by the evidence of Mr. Joseph Miller, Sr., now 
 of Washington Co., Penna., yho had often heard Spauld- 
 ing read his work ; by that of Mr. Redick McKee, who 
 formerly boarded with the Spaiildings, and by others 
 who knew of the work. Space fails to set forth all the 
 evidence presented in support of this view. Suffice it to 
 say, that while it is of moral force sufficient to convince 
 most minds, it is yet not such proof as would establish 
 the fact beyond all doubt, or convic' Smith and Rigdon 
 of theft and forgery in a court of justice. If the proof 
 were any less strong than it is, I would decide against the 
 Spaulding claim, solely from the intei-nal evidence of the 
 book ; for the style and mutter are such as to raise a very 
 strong presumption that it could not be the work of any 
 man with intelligence enough for a minister, or of a gra- 
 duate from Dartmouth College. Ijut the true theory no 
 doubt is, that the writing of Spaulding was taken by 
 Smith, Rigdon, Cowdery and others, as the suggestion and 
 idea of their work ; but was greatly modified and inter- 
 polated by them, leaving sufficient characteristics to be 
 recognized by the Spaulding witnesses, who were left 
 solely to their memory for a comparison with the " Book 
 of Mormon," recognizing what was in it, and forgetting 
 much that was not included. 
 
 Of the " three witnesses " it is unnecessary to treat ; 
 their subsequent course shows what weight is to be at- 
 tached to their testimony. The best evidence further- 
 
30 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 more shows, that Sidney E,if,'clon was the prime mover in 
 the fraud, and that Joe Smith was conveniently put for- 
 ward as the Prophet. 
 
 The year 1830 ranks tus number one of the Mormon 
 era. Early in the spring, the " Book of Mormon " ap- 
 peared, and on the memorable Cth of April following, 
 the Mormon Chui-ch was organized near Manchester. 
 Six members were baptized and ordained elders, viz : — 
 Joseph Smith, Sr., Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith, 
 Samuel Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and Joseph Knight, all 
 but the last two of the " original Smith family." The 
 sacrament was forthwith administered, and hands laid on 
 "for the gift of the Holy Ghost." On the 11th of April, 
 Oliver Cowdery preached the first public discourse on the 
 new faith, and the same month the "first miracle" was 
 performed in Colesville, Broome Co., N. Y. On the first 
 of June, the Church, which had meanwhile gained a few 
 more Whitmers and some others, held its " First Confer- 
 ence" at Fayette, in Seneca Co. ; and the same month Joe 
 Smith was twice arrested, "on false charges," tried and 
 acquitted. Meanwhile, on the 18th of January, 1827, he 
 had married Emma Hale, daughter of Isaac Hale, of South 
 Bainbridge, Chenango Co., N, Y. ; and, in 1830, she was 
 by special revelation, pronounced " Elect Lady and Daugh- 
 ter of God," afterwards more learnedly styled Electa Cyria. 
 She became thoroughly disgusted at her husband's reli- 
 gion while in Nauvoo, and expressed no particular regret 
 at his death ; she refused to emigrate to Utah, but apos- 
 tatized and married a Gentile, and is rather popular as 
 landlady of the old Mansion House, at Nauvoo. In Au- 
 gust of 1830, Parley P. Pratt, a young Campbellite 
 preacher, came on a visit especially to hear of the new 
 faith, and was at once converted, and soon after, Sidney 
 Rigdon appeared as a leading Mormon.' Their own his- 
 tory states that he had never heard of Smith until this 
 time. Soon after, Orson Pratt wfis baptized, and the new 
 Church now had valuable material in its composition. 
 The wild, poetical zeal of Parley, and the cool determina- 
 tion of Orson Pratt, the immense biblical knowledge and 
 controversial skill of Sidney Rigdon, and the shrewd 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON ISM. 31 
 
 cunning of Joe Smith, were united in the work of propa- 
 gandism, and converts multiplied. In October, mission- 
 aries were sent to the " Lamanites," and in December, 
 Sidney Rigdon visited Joe Smith, and preached several 
 times in the vicinity. In January, Smith and Rigdon 
 proceeded to the latter's residence, near Kirtland, Ohio, 
 preaching by the way. Rigdon had previously collected 
 a band of nearly one hundred persons, who called them- 
 selves Disciples ; mostly seceders from other denomina- 
 tions, holding to a literal and rapid fulfilment of the 
 prophecies, very fanatical and looking daily for " some 
 great event to occur." Many of these adopted the new 
 faith at once, and a church of thirty was organized. " By" 
 revelation" of February 9th, the elders were commanded 
 "to go forth in pairs and preach," and it was ordered they 
 should dwell particularly upon the fact that " the last 
 days were at hand." 
 
 This idea is one that has a great hold upon many minds. 
 Nor is it confined to the ignorant ; many intelligent men 
 in every generation become impressed with the idea that 
 " in our day the world has become so corrupt, that God 
 Almighty is going to make a great change," and, in spite 
 of the plain declarations of Scripture, ftmatics will wrest 
 the mild precepts of the Gospel, and force them to indi- 
 cate that hell-fire and destruction are impending over 
 everybody but their own particular sect. The Mormons 
 began as Millenarians, and that of the maddest sort ; but 
 they did not preach that the world itself was to be de- 
 stroyed, only that destruction was soon to ftill upon all 
 who did not embrace the new gospel. No particular time 
 was set for this consummation, but it was understood to 
 be imminent. Early in 1831, John Whitmer was ap- 
 pointed Church recorder and historian, and about the 
 same time, the remaining New York saints came to Kirt- 
 land, which is set down in Mormon annals as the First 
 Hegira. 
 
 On the Cth of June, the Melchisedck, or Superior 
 Priestiiood, was first conferred upon the elders, and soon 
 after Joe Smith had a revelation that the final gathering 
 place of the Saints was to be in Missouri. He set out the 
 
32 LIFE IN UTAH ; Oil, THE MYSTEllIES 
 
 same month with a few elders, and, in the middle of July, 
 reached Jackson County, Missouri, where another revela- 
 tion was granted that this was " Zion which should never 
 be moved," and the whole land was " solemnly dedicated 
 to the Lord and His Saints." They hegan at once to 
 build, and laid the first log in Kaw Township, twelve 
 miles west of Independence. Another revelation, of 
 August 2nd, fixed the site of the Great Temple " three 
 hundred yards west of the Court House in Independence," 
 which spot was accordingly dedicated by religious exer- 
 cises, which were followed by a great accession of " gifts." 
 On the 4th of August, another large party arrived from 
 Kirtland, a " General Conference" was held in the "land 
 of Zion," and another revelation vouchsafed to Joseph, 
 that the whole land should be theirs, and should not be 
 obtained " hat by purchase or by blood." 
 
 Just what was to be understood by that strange word- 
 ing, it is now impossible to tell. The Mormons explain 
 it very innocently, and the Missourians construed it to 
 mean that the Saints would unite with the Indians and 
 drive out the old settlers. Joe Smith returned to Kirt- 
 land the latter part of August, and soon after established 
 a mill, store, and bank. The last was what was then de- 
 nominated a " wild cat " bank, that is, it had no charter, 
 and deposited no State bonds for security ; but rested 
 solely on the individual credit of the proprietors. As 
 several wealthy men had come into the new organization, 
 the notes of *the bank circulated at par. Joseph Smith 
 was made President, and Sidney liigdon. Cashier. For 
 the next five months, Joseph travelled and preached in 
 the Northern and Eastern States, making many converts, 
 who " gathered" either at Kirtland, or in Missouri. The 
 elders sent out in February previo ■* had met with toler- 
 able success, and Samuel H. Smith, brother of the Prophet, 
 lad added greatly to the Church by converting Brigham 
 \uung. This noted personage was born at Whittingham, 
 Windham Co., Vermont, June 1st, 1801. He had four 
 brothers and six sisters, all of whom became Mormons. 
 He was baptized in April, 1832, by Eleazer Millard, and 
 soon after " gathered" at Kirtland. He was brought up 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON ISM. 33 
 
 on a farm, and learned the trade of a painter and glazier, 
 which he followed till after his conversion to Mormouisni. 
 In him Joe Smith recognized one " born to rule/' and his 
 deep cunning and wonderful knowledge of the weak 
 points in human nature soon gave him a leading position 
 in the Church. In March, 1832, Joe Smith and Sidney 
 Kigdon, while absent from home, were tarred and feath- 
 ered by a mob, ''for attempting to establish Communism, 
 for forgery and dishonorable dealing," ac'-ording to their 
 adversaries ; by their own account, " for the truth's sake,", 
 and this is set down as " the beginning of persecutions." 
 Early in April, Joe Smith found it necessary to go again 
 to Independence, Mo., where a sort of " (Ecumenical 
 Council" was held, and a printing office set up. In June, 
 was issued the Morning and Evening Star, the first 
 Mormon periodical, edited by W. W. Phelps. Joe Smith 
 soon returned to Kirtland, and the latter part of the same 
 year, Heber Chase Kimball was baptized into the CliUrch. 
 In February, 1833, Joe Smith finished his " inspired re- 
 translation" of the New Testament, and soon after re- 
 ceived a " revelation to square things in Zion." A quorum 
 of three High Priests, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and 
 Frederick G. Williams, was organized as " Presidency of 
 the Church," and they were at once favored with " visions 
 of the Saviour and concourse of angels." 
 
 By the spring of 1833, the Mormons numbered some 
 fifteen hundred in Jacksoji County, Missouri. They had 
 taken virtual possession of Independence, where their 
 paper was published, and were fast extending their settle- 
 ments westward. The intense religious excitement which 
 raged throughout the United States during the decade of 
 1820-30, which led to the wild phenomena of "jerks," 
 and so-called religious exercises of howling, jumping, 
 barking and muttering, seems to have left a precipitate of 
 its worst materials in Mormonism. They daily proclaim- 
 ed to the older settlers that the Lord had given them the 
 whole land of Missouri ; that bloody wars would extirpate 
 all other sects from the country ; that " it would be one 
 gore of blood from the Mississippi to the border," and 
 that the few who survived would be servants to the 
 
34 LIFE IN UTx\H; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 ♦Saints, who would own all tho property in the country. 
 As their numhers increased, arrogance and spiritual pride 
 took possession of them ; they proclaimed themselves 
 " Kings and Priests of the Most High God," and regarded 
 all others as reprobates, destined to a speedy destruction. 
 In conversation with the Missourians, they never wearied 
 of declaring that all the Churches established by tho lat- 
 ter were "alike the creation of the devil," that they were 
 under [the curse of God, and all their members doomed, 
 .castaway Gentiles, worse than heathen, and unworthy of 
 longer life. At the same time it does not appear that 
 there were any more violations of law among them, than 
 would bo among the same number of very poor and igno- 
 rant people anywhere ; but their general conduct was in- 
 sufferable. In the first flush of their religious enthu- 
 siasm, they seem to have been governed by no ideas of 
 moderation ; they proclaimed tlirough the country that it 
 was useless folly for Gentiles to open farms, the Lord 
 would never allow them to enjoy the fruits of their labor ; 
 they notified Mie workmen upon new buildings that they 
 could never hope to be paid therefor, and generally pro- 
 claimed that in a very few months the Gentiles would 
 have neither name nor place in Missouri. 
 
 The simple-minded Missourians listened with a vague 
 wonder to their first predictions, then smiled at their con- 
 fident boastings of superior purity and holiness ; but soon 
 their increasing numbers and arrogance awakened serious 
 fears of the future. The Missourians, unaccustomed to 
 the language of hyperbole in prophecy, interpreted their 
 predictions to mean that the Saints themselves would be 
 the ministers of God's vengeance, a;nd smite the unbe- 
 lievers ; many were incensed against them for their lan- 
 guage, and the public mind was greatly inflamed. In 
 April, 1833, a number of Missourians came together -in 
 Independence, and decided that "means of defence ought 
 to be taken," but determined upon nothing. The first 
 June number of the Morning and Evening Star con- 
 tained an intemperate article, headed, "Free People of 
 Color," which excited the wrath of the old citizens against 
 the Mormons, as " abolitionists," and was answered by a 
 
ANI> CRIMES OF MOIIMONISM. 3,5 
 
 small pamphlet, heacleci, " Beware of False Prophets." 
 As summer advanced, it a]>pearcd that the Mormons 
 would be sutHciently numerous to carry the county at 
 the August election, and this roused all the fears of the 
 old settlers afresh. Without apparent concert, an armed 
 mob of three hundred assembled at Independence, tore 
 down the newspaper office, tarred and feathei'od several 
 of the Saints, whipped two of them a little and ordered 
 all to leave the county. Oliver Cowdery was started to 
 Kirtland to consult with Joe Smith ; but, during his ab- 
 sence, the Saintf, agreed with the citizens to leave Jackson 
 County. On the 8th of October, W. W. Phelps and 
 Orson Hyde presented a memorial to Governor Dunklin, 
 of Missouri, praying for redress, to ivhich that officer 
 made answer, that they " had a right to the ])rotection of 
 the law, if they chose to stay in Jackson." Emboldened 
 by this, they refused to leave according to agreement, and 
 the last of the month the mob again rose, burnt ten Mor- 
 mons' houses and committed a few other outrages. The 
 Mormons armed in turn, and fired into a portion of the 
 mob, killing two ; the whole body of citizens then arose 
 against them, calling in aid from other counties, when 
 the Mormons became ])anic-stricken and suddenly evacu- 
 ated Jackson, crossing the Missouri River during the 
 nights of November 4tli and 5th into Clay County. 
 
 This first expulsion of the Mormons is a point upon 
 which there has been much discussion. That the people 
 of Jackson County were not justified in law is plain ; but 
 that they did exactly as the people of nine counties out 
 of ten would have done, is equally plain. They seem to 
 have been actuated much more by a fear of what the 
 Mormons wor.ld do when they had the power, than by 
 what they had done ; and that those fears were well 
 founded, is abundantly shown by subsequent events. 
 The near vicinity of the Mormons was intolerable, and 
 the settlers were determined they should leave. The 
 mob allowed the Saints to carry their printing material 
 to Liberty, Clay Co., where they soon after began to pub- 
 lish the Missouri Enquirer. They spread themselves 
 over Clay and into Van Buren County ; but were " per- 
 
3G LIFE IN UTAH ; OH, THE MYSTEIIIES 
 
 Hccuted" and annoyed in tlie latter so they made no great 
 .settlement. 
 
 Meanwhile, Joe Smith and a mucli more intelligent 
 clas.s of Mormons were building up Kirtland, July 2nd, 
 1833, Smith completed his " inspired tran.slation" of the 
 Old Testauicnt, and soon after a printing press was sot up 
 in Kirtland, and the Latter-Day Sdintfi' Messem/er and 
 Advocate established. " Old man Smith," the Prophet's 
 father, was made Patriarch, and Bishop Partridge head of 
 that branch of the Jhurch. When the news of affairs in 
 Jackson County reached him, Joseph "determined on 
 war, and began at once to collect a small force." He soon 
 had two hundred men, with whom he started westward; 
 " marched on Miaeouri," according to Gentile history ; 
 " hoped to redeem Zion," according to Mormon annals. 
 About this time, Joseph had another revelation " as to 
 business," which will be found in the Doctrine and 
 Covenants with the rest, which contained, among other 
 directions, this remarkable passage : — " Behold, it is said 
 or written in my laws: Thou shalt not get in debt to 
 thine enemies. But, behold, it is not said at any time the 
 Lord should not tahe when He pleases, and pay as seemeth 
 to Him good. Wherefore, as ye are on the Lord's busi- 
 ness, whatsoever ye do," etc. We need not be sui-prised, 
 therefore, to learn, as we do from Joseph's Autobiography, 
 that the people along the road were very hostile. Two 
 d^ays before starting, on May 3rd, the Conference of 
 Elders, in Kirtland, repudiated the name of Mormons and 
 adopted, for the first time; that of Latter-Day Saints; and 
 we notice in Joseph's account that along the road they 
 constantly denied the name of Mormons. These being the 
 "last days," the}'' were Latter-day Saints, as well as to 
 distinguish them from the Saints of former days ; the 
 term Mormon, on the contrary, is supposed to be derived 
 from the Greek Mopfxov [Aformou], signifying a " horrible 
 fright" or "bug-bear." 
 
 Joe and his " army" reached Missouri in the latter part 
 of June, but while near the Mississippi, the cholera, then 
 but just known in America, broke out in his camp, and 
 in a few days twenty of the company died. Joe preached, 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 37 
 
 prayed ftnrl propliesied in vain ; liis followers Averc panic- 
 stricken Jit the horrible and unknown disease. Ho first 
 attempted to cure it " by laying on of hands," but desisted 
 with the remark, that " when the Lord would destroy, it 
 was vain for man to attempt to stay His hand." An 
 armed force which had meanwhile gathered in Jackson 
 County, in anticipation of his coming, was scattered by a 
 violent storm, and in a few days, the cholera having spent 
 its force, the company reached Liberty. There was no- 
 thing to bo done, and in a few days Smith returned to 
 Kirtland. A quorum of twelve apostles was then or- 
 ganized, among them, Brigham Young and Heber C 
 Kimball. The former received the " gift of tongues," and 
 was sent on a mission to the Eastern States, and in May, 
 1835, all the twelve left Kirtland on general missions. 
 The ensuing August, there was a General Assembly at 
 Kirtland, in which the " Book of Doctrine and Covenants," 
 and the "Lectures on Faith," by Sidney Rigdon, were 
 adopted as the rule of faith. About this time, a learned 
 Jew, formerly Professor of Oriental tongues in New York, 
 was connected with the Mormons, and on the 4th of 
 January, 183G, a Hebrew professorship was established at 
 Kirtland, Joseph Smith and several other leading Mor- 
 mons entering upon the study. A Temple had been pro- 
 jected early in the settlement, which was completed and 
 dedicated as the " House of the Lord," March 27th, 183(3. 
 This was their first temple, and its estimated cost, $40,000. 
 Meanwhile, Governor Dunklin had attempted to have the 
 Mormons again put in possession of their lands, in Jackson 
 County, whereupon a committee of citizens from the lat- 
 ter met a committee of the Mormons, and offered the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 "Proposition of the people of Jackson County to the 
 Mormons : 
 
 " The undersigned committee, being fully authorized by 
 the people of Jackson County, Jiereby propose to the Mor- 
 mons, that they will buy all the land that the said Mor- 
 mons own in the County of Jackson, and also all the 
 impro\ ements which the said Mormons had on any of the 
 D 
 
38 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 public lands in said County of Jackson, as they existed 
 before the first disturbance between the people of Jackson 
 and the Mormons, and for such as they have made since. 
 They further propose, that the valuation of said land and 
 im[)rovements sliall be ascertained by three disinterested 
 arbitrators, to be chosen and agreed to by both parties. 
 They further propose, that should the parties disagree in 
 
 the choice of arbitrators, then is to choose them. 
 
 They further propose, that twelve of the Mormons shall 
 be permitted to go along with the arbitrators, to show 
 them their land and improvements while valuing the same, 
 and such other of the Mormons as the arbitrators shall 
 wish to do so, to give them information ; and the people 
 of Jackson County hereby guarantee their entire safety 
 while doing so. They further propose, that when the 
 arbitrators report the value of the land and improvements, 
 as aforesaid, the people of Jackson will pay the valuation, 
 with one hundred per cent., added thereon, to the Mor- 
 mons within thirty days thereafter. 
 
 " They further propose, that the Mormons are not to 
 make any effort, ever after, to settle either collectively or 
 individually within the limits of Jackson County. The 
 Mormons are to enter into bonds to insure the conveyance 
 of their land in Jackson County, according to the above 
 terms, when payment shall be made ; and the committee 
 will enter into a like bond, with such security as may be 
 deemed sufficient for the payment of the money, according 
 to the above proposition, etc., etc." 
 
 The Mormons have always maintained that their later 
 troubles were " solely on account of their religion," but 
 that they were driven from Jackson County because "the 
 mob desired to get possession of their lands." The above 
 document certainly tends to disprove that charge. The 
 foremost men in the county offered their personal security 
 for the payment, but the Mormons rejected the proposi- 
 tion, on the ground that the Lord had said, *' Zion should 
 never be moved." The citizens of Jackson then became 
 apprehensive that they would be attacked from Clay 
 County, and stirred up those in the latter county wlio 
 considered they already had cause to complain of the 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 39 
 
 Mormons; so they "requested" the latter, in May, 183G, 
 to remove, which they did, this time settling in Carroll, 
 Davis and Caldwell Counties. In the last named they 
 founded the town of Far-West, and these counties being 
 new and unoccupied, they prospered greatly for a while. 
 
 In June, 1837, the first organized foreign mission was 
 sent to England, consisting of H. C Kimball, Orson Hyde 
 ancl W. Richards. On the 30th of July following, they 
 baptized the first converts there, in the river Ribbie, and 
 the first confirmation of members was at Walkerford, 
 August 4th. The first Conference of English Mormons 
 was held in the cock-pit at Preston, the 25th of the fol- 
 lowing December. 
 
 In the autumn of the same year, the " Kirtland Safety 
 Society Bank," engineered by Smith and Rigdon, failed, 
 under circumstances which created great scandal, and the 
 Prophet had a revelation to " depart for the land of Zion," 
 in Missouri. Smith and Rigdon left Kirtland " between 
 two days," and their creditors pursued them for a hun- 
 dred miles ; but in the language of Joseph's Autobiog- 
 raphy, " the Lord delivered them out of the hands of 
 their persecutors." They reached Far-West in March, 
 and found a fearful schism raging in the Church. The 
 authority of Joseph was unequal to the task of restoring 
 order, and Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery and one L. E, 
 Johnson, v/ere " cut off from the Church," while Orson 
 Hyde, Thomas B. Marsh, AV. W. Phelps, and many others 
 apostatized and brought many serious charges against Joe 
 Smith and other leaders. It was said they were plotting 
 treason against the State, that they were conspiring with 
 the Indians, that they were engaged in counterfeiting and 
 cattle-stealing, and were atteriipting to establish a com- 
 munity of goods as well as wives. The dissenters stirred 
 up the neighboring people against the Saints, and for 
 purposes of defence and retaliation, the " Danite Band" 
 was organized. They were first commanded by D. W. 
 Patton, who took the name of " Captain Fearnot," and 
 styled themselves " Daughters of Gideon." Afterwards 
 they adopted their present name from the suggestion in 
 Genesis xlix. 17 : " Dan shall be a serpent by the way. 
 
40 TJFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 an adder in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that 
 his rider shall fall backward." 
 
 On the 4th of July, Sidney Rigdon preached what he 
 called, " Sidney's last sermon ;" in which he threatened 
 Gentiles avd apostates with violence, and declared that 
 the " Saints were above all law." Troubles soon after 
 arose in Davis County, at elections; the Mormons all 
 voting one way secured control of the County ; a general 
 fight occurred at the August election in the town of Gal- 
 latin, in which a number were seriously wounded on both 
 sides. For two months there were occasional fights all 
 over Davis County, and the Mormons at length declared 
 their " independence of all earthly rulei'S and magistrates." 
 The Clerk of the County, a Mormon, was commanded by 
 Joe Smith to issue no more writs against the Saints ; and 
 the Justice of the Peace in Gallatin was mobbed for en- 
 tertaining suits against them. Scattering parties of mili- 
 tia be^an to assemble under arms in the neiorhboring coun- 
 ties, one of which, commanded by Captain Bogart, came 
 to battle with a party of seventy Mormons and defeated 
 them. Another party of Mormons attacked the militia 
 near Richmond, in Clay county, and killed two of them ; 
 the latter returned the fire, killing "Captain Fearnot." 
 The Mormons then rose en 'masse and drove out all the 
 officers of Davis County not of their faith, and burned and 
 plundered the town of Gallatin, another small village, and 
 much of the surrounding country, driving out the inhab- 
 itants. 
 
 About this time, Brigham Young fled for his life to 
 Quincy. Illinois. The troubles grew so extensive and 
 complicated, that after many attempts to learn something 
 definite from "the scat of war," Governor Lilburn W. 
 Boggs called out fifteen thousand militia to restore order. 
 The first detachment had a sort of battle with the Mor- 
 mons in Carroll County, after which. Governor Boggs is- 
 sued an order that the Mormons " should be expelled from 
 the State," adding, " even if it was necessary to extermi- 
 nate them." This is the celebrated " exterminating or- 
 der," and Governor Boggs the " Nero" of Mormon histo- 
 rians. Another body of militia were fired upon by the 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON ISM. 41 
 
 Mormons at Haun's Mill, and in revenge exterminated 
 the whole Mormon party, variously estimated at from 
 sixteen to thirty. Only two escaped alive. The Mor- 
 mon forces then began to retreat on every hand, and 
 finally united in the town of Far- West, where they were 
 surrounded by a large militia force under Generals Doni- 
 phan, Lucas and Clarke, and compelled to surrender at 
 discretion. Most of their plunder was recaptured and de- 
 livered to the owners, and the great body of the Mormons 
 were released under a promise to leave the State. 
 
 Joe Smith, Hyrum Smith, and forty others were held 
 for trial, and the militia officers forthwith organized a 
 Court Martial and condemned several of them to be shot. 
 But General Doniphan, a sound lawyer and brave man, 
 by a firm use of his authority and influence, prex/ented 
 this foolishly illegal action. The prisoners were l-aken 
 before the nearest Circuit Judge and put upon trial " for 
 treason, murder, robbery, arson, larceny, and breacl.\ of 
 the peace." They could not well have been tried for more ; 
 but it seems by the evidence that many of them were 
 guilty on most of the charges. They were committed to 
 jail to await their final trial. The evidence in the case 
 was printed by order of the Missouri Legislature, and 
 presents a .singular instance of how- a few knaves may 
 lead to their destruction a whole people, if sufficiently 
 ignorant and fanatical. Comparative peace was restored, 
 but the history of civil commotions shows that private 
 revenge will seek such a period for its gratification, and 
 in many neighborhoods fearful outrages were perpetra- 
 ted upon individual Mormons by those who held a per- 
 sonal animosity against them. Their leaders had pro- 
 voked a conflict for which tne innocent suffered ; and the 
 most quiet and unoffending portion of the Mormons werie 
 hunted out and rudely hurried from their homes at the 
 most inclement season of the year, often without a chance 
 to supply themselves or dispose of their property, and 
 much suffering was the result. They now numbered over- 
 twelve thousand, and in the month of December this 
 large body began the journey into Illinois, which the most 
 of them reached in January, 1839. They spread over 
 
42 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 the western counties wherever they could find food or 
 employment, particularly about the town of Quincy, in 
 Adams couhty ; while many went as far east as Spring- 
 field, and others to St. Louis. They were everywhere re- 
 ceived as sufferers for their religion, and to some extent 
 for their "free-state" sentiments; for Illinois was just 
 then beginning to be agitated by the anti-slavery excite- 
 ment, and the Mormons had been driven from a slave 
 State. The Missouri border had never been well spoken 
 of, nor was it till long afterwards ; and the Illinoisans 
 rather seemed pleased with the opportunity of showing 
 how superior they were to the "border ruffians." They 
 regarded but little the Mormon statement that their reli- 
 gion was the only cause of trouble ; in fact the more in- 
 telligent knew that such could not be the case ; but they 
 made haste to assume that the Mormons were " New York 
 and New England Yankees, driven out as abolitionists," 
 because the Missourians would not tolerate such senti- 
 ments. The people 4)f Illinois, particularly of the wes- 
 tern counties, knew little and cared less about differences 
 of speculative theology. That portion known as the 
 "Military Tract" had but lately come into market, and 
 was settled very rapidly ; the religious training of the 
 people had not kept pace with the advance of their ma- 
 terial interests, and a sermon to them was a sermon, 
 whether preached by Arminian or Calvinist, orthodox 
 Trinitarian or heterodox Unitarian. Perhaps they were 
 not impious or sceptical ; religion was " at loose ends," 
 but there was always a sentiment in its favor, only Sec- 
 tarianism was little understood, talked of, or cared for. 
 In short the charity of these people was broad enough to 
 cover all sects, and no man was persecuted or called in 
 question for his religious belief Under these circumstan- 
 ces they gave the Mormon people protection, and wel- 
 comed them to tlieir homes and tables ; they listened to 
 the story of their wrongs with tears in their eyes ; they 
 grasped the outcasts by the hand, and swore to stand by 
 them to the bitter end. Subscriptions were opened for 
 them in many places; even the Indians, yet upon a near 
 reservation, contributed liberally, and several sections 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 43 
 
 made kindly overtures, and pressingly invited the fugi- 
 tives to settle among them. They had not yet caught 
 sight of the cloven foot of the monster, or seen its mis- 
 created front. 
 
 The Missourians found, in thd meantime, that they had 
 " caught an elephant ;" they had Joe Smith, his brother 
 Hyrum, and forty others in jail on a multitude of charges ; 
 but many of the witnesses were gone, the trial would 
 have been long and expensive, and it was probably the 
 best policy to get them all out of the State in such a way 
 that none would re-enter it, rather than condemn a few 
 to the penitentiary. Accordingly, they were removed, 
 from place to place, loosely guarded, and, on the 15th of 
 April, Joseph and a few others escaped from their guards, 
 who were either drunk or pretended to be. They hastily 
 made their way to Quincy, followed by the small rem- 
 nant of Mormons which had been left Jit Far- West. The 
 remaining prisoners escaped and followed soon after, and 
 in the Janguage of Governor Boggs next message, " the 
 young and growing State was happily rid of the fanatical 
 sect ;" but in the language of Mormon poetry, 
 
 Missouri, 
 
 Like a whirlwind in her fury, 
 
 Drove the Saints and spilled their blood." 
 
 Early in May, Joe Smith went to Commerce, in Han- 
 cock County, Illinois, by invitation of Dr. Isaac Galland, 
 from whom he obtained a large tract of land near the 
 head of the Des Moines Rapids, and shortly had another 
 revelation for his people to settle there. To a proper 
 understanding of their future history, a brief sketch of the 
 locality is necessary, which has been kindly furnished me 
 by R. W. McKinney, Esq., present Postmaster at Nauvoo, 
 who has resided in that vicinity since 1837 : 
 
 " Hancock is a river county, washed on the west by 
 the Mississippi for forty miles, taking into account the 
 windings of the river. It was originally nearly «11 prairie, 
 extending eastward in a direct line from Commerce 
 twenty-five miles ; high and rolling, with a soil of inex- 
 haustible fertility, and with most of the timber fringing 
 
44 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 the streams along the eastern border. The western part 
 of the county, bordering on the Des Moines Rapids, was 
 alway a favourite spot of beauty to the voyager on the 
 Mississippi ; the eye was here relieved by a most inviting 
 prospect, the river was fringed by low wooded hills, from 
 which gushed clear and sparkling brooks, passing with 
 low musical murmurs over their rocky beds, until they 
 were finally lost in the ' Father of Waters.' 
 
 " But the early progress of Hancock County way any- 
 thing but encouraging. While other sections of the 
 St«ite, with fewer advantages, and a less healthy climate, 
 rapidly augmented in wealth and population, this re- 
 mained almost a wilderness, and this by reason of uncer- 
 tain titles, 
 
 " Hancock County, fair, healthful, and fertile, ' even as 
 the Garden of the Lord,' was one of those unfortunate 
 counties comprised in that afflicted section lying between 
 the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, known as the * Military 
 Tract.' It had been set apart, by Act of Congress, as 
 bounty land for the soldiers of the War of 1812; but 
 few of them emigrated there, and nearly all of the pat- 
 ents, or ' soldiers' rights,' as they were called, were thrown 
 upon the market for sale. This furnished, for a score of 
 years, a rich harvest for speculators and land jobbers, 
 and the ' Military Tract ' became the ' happy hunting 
 ground ' of sharks and sharpers of every description, A 
 race of ' bloated patent holders ' was thus created, whose 
 broad tract of wilderness land rivalled in extent the 
 proudest dukedoms and baronies of the old world. It 
 was against sound public policy to create such a land 
 monopoly on the public domain ; but much greater evils 
 grew out of this thing, in the establishment of a conflict 
 of titles, creating doubt and uncertainty, casting a shadow 
 on every man's homestead who dared to erect it on the 
 Tract, and driving away honest and enterprising settlers. 
 A system arose in the East of forging patents, by having 
 absent or deceased soldiers represented by others, and 
 even by making duplicate copies entire without affidavit, 
 or aid from the Land Office. 
 
 " In hundreds of instances there were three patents 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 45 
 
 upon the same section, with facilities to make a thousand, 
 in fact, the entire Tract was eventually strewn with pat- 
 ents as thick as autumn leaves in an unbroken forest. So 
 great grew the evils of this system, and from the non- 
 payment of taxes by non-residents, that the Legislature 
 of Illinois went to work to devise a remedy. But the 
 legislators of new States are not generally very learned 
 or capable statesmen, and the sharpers laughed at the 
 idea of illiterate men thwai'ting the plans of men whose 
 business it was to ' pierce the centre ' of the most explicit 
 statute. The Legislature having tried sharp and pointed 
 statutes on the fraternity before, but without success, 
 instead of tinkering and amending laws which 'John 
 Doe, et at.' had laughed at, tried the virtue of a more 
 sweeping enactment. They enacted, in substance, that 
 if any one held possession of land for seven years, under 
 color of title, such possession should be proof of title 
 conclusive against all the world, and that 'John Doe, 
 ct al.,' with their pockets full of patents, should be for- 
 ever barred and excluded. When John Doe and his 
 compeers took in the force of this statute, not a smile lit. 
 up their solemn countenances. They were caught at last. 
 But everybody wa^ disappointed by the final operation 
 of the statute. It only created or attracted another 
 'swarm of flies, more hungry voracious, and pestilent 
 than any that had preceded tliem ; the heavens and the 
 earth were darkened by their myriads, and no friendly 
 swallow appeared to drive them away.' 
 
 " No sooner was the ' Delinquent List ' exposed for sale 
 for non-payment of -taxes, than a crowd appeared in and 
 around the Court House, hungry and haggard, the like 
 of which had surely not been seen since Pharaoh's lean 
 kind emerged from the river I^ile. Hen; were congre- 
 gated broken down tradesmen, tinkers and vagabonds ;, 
 rough, roaring, swearing fellows, and smooth-faced, hypo- 
 critical, canting knaves, jostled each other, and mingled 
 and commingled in the halls of justice, each one striving, 
 with the few dollars he had contrived to save out of the 
 general wreck by cheating his creditors, to retrieve his. 
 fortunes, and the result was a land -monopoly, more cor- 
 
46 LIFK IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 rupt than any that had precoded it. The law had been 
 aimed at the non-resident jobber, to compel the payment 
 of taxes ; but this unscrupulous crowd hurled it without 
 mercy or discrimination at the heads of everybody ; if it 
 carried away the inheritance of the widow and orphan, 
 it was all the same to them. The wise legislators stood 
 aghast at the havoc they had innocently caused. They 
 had ' called spirits from the vasty deep,' and, contrary to 
 all past experience, they had come. These shiirpers in- 
 spired general terror, and no wonder ; for had the incon- 
 gruous and villanous crowd made a descent into hell, the 
 devil would have fled howling to the most retired and 
 gloomy corner of his domain, leaving them to contend 
 and squabble among themselves for a 'tax title ' on his 
 burning throne ! It was now an indiscriminate fight on 
 the ' Military Tract,' in which all sorts of persons, with 
 ^11 sorts of papers, documents, and titles, rushed to the 
 conflict and couched their lances for the fray. In this 
 liot contest the unsophisticated settler, not conversant 
 with these matters, had but little show. He could much 
 more readily, with the slightest possible assistance, ' read 
 his title clear to mansions in the skies,' than so establish 
 his claim to a single foot of land covered by ' soldiers' 
 rights,' forged patents, and tax titles on the whole Mili- 
 tary Tract. 
 
 "Fortunately, Hancock Coupty was not altogether 
 covered by these titles. The Act granted the soldier 
 ' one hundred and sixty acres of land,' no less, no more. 
 Hence, those quarters called * fractional,' with less or more 
 than one hundred and sixty acres, were subject to entry 
 at the Land Oflice. These skirted the banks of the river 
 and along the township lines of the whole county, and 
 were rapidly taken up and settled before the arrival of 
 the Mormons, at which time Hancock County contained 
 a sparse population of several thousand. Owing to greater 
 security of title, most of them were settled along the 
 Mississippi. The Des Moines Rapids excited much atten- 
 tion as a favorable site. Among the conspicuous men 
 who visited this section was General Robert E. Lee, then 
 a Lieutenant of Topographical Engineers, in the employ 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON ISM. 47 
 
 of the War Department, for the purpose of making a sur- 
 vey of the rapids. His visit was in 1832, and he remained, 
 in the county the whole season, and was favorably known 
 to all the old settlers, and rau<;h respected for his urbanity 
 and gentlemanly bearing. It was then a ftivorite idea 
 with some, that the Mississippi would in time be bridged 
 at these Rapids, and that at no other place could a per- 
 manent structure be erected. Hancock was organized as 
 a county in 1829, and the Capital permanently established 
 a few years after at Carthago. 
 
 " Meanwhile the courts travelled around the country 
 after the manner of a public exhibition, holding terms at 
 such points as met the views of the lawyers, or perhaps 
 where it was considered that law and justice were 'liost 
 needed. Among the lawyers who then practised in Han- 
 cock, were Malcolm McGregor, Archibald Williams and 
 O. H. Browning; the former, a brilliant genius, died 
 young, and the latter two have since become ' known to 
 fame.' 
 
 " First in history was a Post Office at the Rapids, called 
 Venice, but there was no town of that name. In the year 
 1834, Commerce was laid out by Messrs. Alex. White and 
 James B. Teas ; and shortly after a Mr. Hotchkiss, of New 
 Havei, Conn., laid out Commerce City, just above the 
 other town. All proved foilures, but many still had con- 
 fidence that this was the place for a great city in the 
 future. Among the owners of the ' bottom land' was Dr. 
 Isaac Galland, a man of some enterprise, who, immediately 
 after the failure of Hotchkiss, opened a correspondence 
 with Joe Smith, which resulted in an agreement that the 
 latter should settle all his people near Commerce," 
 
 To the foregoing graphic sketch it is only necessary to 
 add, that the Prophet purchased a small tract and received 
 gratis a larger one; a convenient revelation was vouch- 
 safed for the Saints to gather to this stake of Zion ; they 
 complied with rapidity, the plat of a great city was laid 
 out and the Morihon star was once jnore in the ascendant. 
 
48 LIFE IN UTAH; OE, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 ' CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORY FROM THE FOUNDING OF NAUVOO TILL 1843. 
 
 Rapid growth of Nauvoo — Apparent prosperity — *' The vultures gather 
 to the carcass" — Crime, polygamy and politics — Subserviency of the 
 Politicians — Nauvoo Charters — A government within a government — 
 Joe Smith twice arrested — Released by 8, A. Douglas — Second time 
 by Municipal Court of Nauvoo — McRinney's Account — Petty thieving 
 —Gentiles driven out of Nauvoo — "Whittling Deacons" — "Danites" 
 — Attti-Mormons organize a Political Party — Treachery of Davis and 
 Owens— Defeat of Anti-Mormons — Campaign of 1843 — Cyrus Walker, 
 a great Criminal Lawyer — "Revelation" on Voting — The Prophet 
 cheats the Lawyer — Astounding perfidy of the Mormon Leaders— Great 
 increase of popular hatred — Just anger against the Saints. 
 
 A CITY rose as if by magic. Temporary in character as 
 most of the buildings were, rude log houses or frame 
 shanties, they served to shelter the rapidly gathering 
 Saints. The first house on the new site was erected June 
 11th, 1839, and in eighteen months thereafter there were 
 two thousand dwellings, besides school houses and other 
 public buildings. The new city was named Nauvoo, a 
 word which has no signification in any known language, 
 but in the " reformed Egyptian" of Joe Smith's imaginary 
 history, is said to mean " The Beautiful." The site was 
 indeed beautiful, but not the most feasible thev could 
 have selected. Instead of locating immediately at the 
 head of the Rapids, where there was a convenient landing 
 at all seasons, they chose a spot one mile below, only ap- 
 proachable by steamboats at high water. The temporary 
 structures, in no long time, gave way to more permanent 
 buildings ; improvements multiplied on every hand, and 
 Joe Smith had almost daily revelations directing how 
 every work should be carried on. Here,* it was foretold, 
 was to be buill a great city and temple, which should be 
 the great gathering place of "Zion," and central rendezvous 
 of the sect, " until such time as the Lord should open the 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON ISM. 49 
 
 way for their return to Zion, indeed" — Jackson County, 
 Missouri ; and from here were to spread gigantic opera- 
 tions for the conversion of the world. One by one most 
 of tlie Missouri apostates came creeping back into tlio 
 Church ; Orson Hyde was restored to his phice as apostle, 
 and was able to explain his ajt^arent defection. A mis- 
 sionary board was organized, and arrangements perfected 
 for foreign missions embracing half the world. On the 
 29th of August, Orson Pratt and Parley P. Pratt set out 
 on a mission to England, followed, September the 20th, 
 by Elders Brigham Yoking, H. C. Kimball, George A. 
 Smith, R. Hedlock, and T. Turley. Brigham had been 
 appointed "President of the Twelve Apostles" in 1836, in 
 place of Thomas B. Marsh, the apostate. They landed at 
 Liverpool, the Gth of April, 1840, and entered with zeal 
 upon their work. Brigham assumed entire control of the 
 enterprise, established various missions, baptized numer- 
 ous converts, labored among the common jiecple, preached, 
 prayed, wrote and argued, lived hard, and travelled hun- 
 dreds of miles on foot. May the 29th, 1840, he estab- 
 lished and issued the first number of the Latter-Day 
 Saints' Millennial Star, a periodical never suspended 
 since. He organized a number of flourishing churches, 
 and early in 1841 returned to Nauvoo, bringing with him 
 seven hundred and sixty-nine converts. Shortly before 
 this time, Sidney Rigdon had addressed a memorial to the 
 Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania, praying for re- 
 dress for the alleged losses of the Saints in Missouri, and 
 calling upon the Congressional delegation from that State 
 to move the General Government in their behalf; and in 
 October, 1839, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Elias Hig- 
 bee and Orrin Porter Rockwell set out for Washington, 
 delegated to seek redress. They reached the Capital, 
 November the 28th, and were admitted forthwith to an 
 audience with President Van Buren, who heard them 
 through, and, according to their report, replied, " Gentle- 
 men, your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you," 
 adding, in undertone, " I should lose the vote of the State 
 of Missouri." By his own account this last remark was, 
 " The General Government cannot interfere in the domes- 
 
50 LIFE IN UTAH ; Oil, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 tic concerns of Missouri." Nothing resulted from either 
 application ; but the attention of the country was attracted 
 to Nauvoo. The rapid growth of the city excited tho 
 wonder of eastern people, and numerous curiosity hunters, 
 correspondents and tourists hastened to visit it. They 
 were treated with extreme complaisance, and in their re- 
 ports the city lost nothing of its wonders. In October, 
 1840, a petition with many thousand names w.'is forwarded 
 for an Act of Incorporation for Nauvoo, and about tho 
 same time Joe Smith had another revelation that the 
 Temple muso be commenced at once, and ground was 
 broken therefoi October the 3rd. The sudden and sur- 
 prising prosperity of the sect attracted to them a number 
 of anibitious and unscrupulous men, of whom four deserve 
 particular notice. 
 
 Dr. Isaac Galland, was in the early part of his life, a 
 notorious horse-thief and counterfeiter, belonging to the 
 " Massac Gang," as it was c lied, on the Ohio river. He 
 had then nominally reformed and moved into Hancock 
 County, where he was, in 1834, a candidate for the Legis- 
 lature, but was defeated by a small majority. Soon after, 
 he came into possession of a large tract of land, and 
 induced Joe Smith to settle on a part, with a view to 
 enhancing the value of the rest. 
 
 Jacob Backinstos came to Hancock from Sangamon 
 County, wheye he had got credit for a stock of goods, 
 sold them, and defrauded his creditors ; after which he 
 came over to the Mormons seeking his fortune. His 
 brother married a niece of Joe Smith, but Backinstos 
 held off and took rank as a " managing Democrat," a sort 
 of local politician. In this capacity he rendered some 
 service to Judge Stephen A. Douglas, who, in turn, ap- 
 pointed him Clerk of the Hancock Circuit Court, this 
 giving him great political power with the Mormons. By 
 them he was at different times elected Sheriff and mem- 
 ber of the Legislature, and continued a "Jack Mormon" 
 to the end of the chapter. 
 
 " General " James Arlington Bennett was an adven- 
 turer of some talent, whose " range " was from Virginia 
 to New York City, where he had an occasional connec- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 51 
 
 (ion witli the press. Ho early wrote to Jog Smitli, pro- 
 posing a relif,Mi)U.s and political alliance, adding, with re- 
 freshing candor, " You know Mahomed had his rigid 
 hand ^nan." Joe re[)lied in a tone of good liumored 
 sarcasm, adding, however, a aort of offer for Bennett to 
 visit Nauvoo. 
 
 The latter came soon after, and was baptized into the 
 Church, but, not being trusted to the extent he desired, 
 soon depart(jd. 
 
 Dr. John 0. Bennett was usually considered " one of 
 the greatest scamps in the Western country." He was 
 a man of real talent, some ambition, overbearing zeal, 
 and all engrossing lust ; at the same time rather good 
 looking, of smooth manners and eas}; address. Besides, 
 being a medical graduate and })ractising physician, he had 
 acquired considerable military and engineering skill, and 
 had been Adjutant General of the State of Illinois. Ho 
 now brought his talents and rascality to an alliance with 
 Joe Smith ; for a year and a-half he was his intimate 
 friend and trusted counselor, when, as has so often hap- 
 pened before, a beautiful woman set them at outs, and 
 forever put an end to this touching friendship. These, 
 and a score of others of like character, attached them- 
 selves to the rising sect, and became Joe Smith's un- 
 scrupulous tools and allies. As for the common Saints, the 
 pliable mass, though not nearly so foolish and fanatical as in 
 Jackson County, they were quite as obsequious, and work- 
 ed steadily to build up the material interests of " Zion." 
 
 The missions in England, Wales and Scotland pros- 
 pered greatly, and many thousands of foreign Saints 
 arrived in Nauvoo; some remained, but the majority 
 were scattered in settlements through the country'', which 
 the Prophet called " Stakes of Zion." They were not to 
 rival the great city, but to be its feeders and tributaries. 
 The swamp land adjacent to Nauvoo was drained, and 
 the site rendered quite healthy ; the rapids were surveyed 
 by J. C. Bennett, and a wing dam projected, which was 
 to make a commodious harbor in front of Nauvoo, and 
 secure driving power sufficient to turn all the factory 
 wheels of a vast commercial city. 
 
-52 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 These were the palmy clays of Joe Smith ; this was the 
 "" Golden Age" of Mormonism. The former was no more 
 the wandering lad, with " peep-stone" and hazel rod, or 
 the fugitive vagabond fleeing from Missouri rifles ; he was 
 ao the head of a now consolidated and rapidly augment- 
 ing sect ; he was courted and flattered of politicians ; he 
 was absolute ruler and main proprietor of a city already 
 populous, and destined to be rich and powerful. Bright 
 visions of luture aggrandizement and -vvealth floated 
 through his brain, and he confidently looked forward to 
 the time when he should be virtual dictator of a powerful 
 >State. But into the very noon of this halcyon day float- 
 ed the faint rumbling of a distant earthquake, and afar 
 upon the political and social horizon appeared a little 
 cloud, " no bigger than a man's hand," which stayed not 
 till it darkened the whole heaven of the future, and 
 dashed this proud fabric to the ground. 
 
 There now devolves upon me the narration of a change 
 in public sentiment, swift and violent, almost without 
 parallel in America ; and the reader will learn with sur- 
 prise that in a brief period hatred took the place of friend- 
 ship, and the same people who had received the Mormons 
 with gladness, were in hot haste to drive them out at the 
 bayonet's point. The consideration of what caused this 
 unprecedented change in public sentiment, and the intense 
 hatred against the Mormons, '^r^sents some points of per- 
 tinent inquiry to politicians, and perhaps some lessons to 
 religious sects. The' various causes which led to the Mor- 
 mon troubles in Illinois, and their final expi^lsion, may be 
 grouped under three heads : 
 
 I. Criminal. II. Moral and Social. Ill, Political. 
 
 I, In the first, it may well be said, the Mormons were 
 destined to experience, in all its bitterness, the force of 
 the homely adage in regard to giving a dog a bad name. 
 The Mississifipi Valley, from St. Louis to Galena, had 
 been for years unusually infested with reckless and blood- 
 stained men. The whole of south-eastern Iowa, and 
 much of north-eastern Missouri, was in a comparatively 
 wild and lawless state ; the " half-breed" tract of the for- 
 mer, from unsettled land titles and other causes, was ap- 
 
AND CRIME'^ OF MORMONISM, -53 
 
 ])ropriated jus a refuge for and overrun by coiners, lioi'se- 
 thieves and robbers ; and the latter section, adjacent, was 
 little if any better, The law was enforced with slack- 
 ness, or the combination of rogues was too great for the 
 ordinary machinery of justice ; people had but little con- 
 fidence in courts and juries, and, in more atrocious cases 
 than common, satisfied themselves with lynch law. 
 
 The islands and groves farther up the river, near Daven- 
 port and Rock I.Nlund, were the hiding places of regularly 
 organized bands of marauders ; as also were the bayous 
 and hollows west of Nauvoo. The writer was but a boy, 
 l)ut remembers well the thrills of horror that ran throuijh 
 the West at the murder of Miller and Liecy in Leo Coun- 
 ty, I.)wa, of Col. Davenport at Hock Island, of an entire 
 family of five persons in Adams County, and others too 
 numerous to mention. Long afterwards, while the writer 
 was travelling through Hancock, Pike, and Adams Coun- 
 ties, no family thought of retiring at night without bar- 
 ring and double-locking every ingress ; and the names of 
 John Long, Aaron Long, Granville Young, Robert Birch, 
 the Hodges and Foxes, and dozens of other murderers, 
 were as common as household words. 
 
 To all that class the bad name given the Mormons in 
 Missouri was so much capitnl, and it gathered around 
 them, with the real vulture instinct. Hundreds of licen- 
 tious villains, cut-throats, and robbers made their way 
 into Nauvoo, were baptized into the Church as a conven- 
 ient cover for their crimes, and made that their secret 
 headquarters. Property stolen far up the river, or east of 
 the city, was run through and concealed in the western 
 bayous, or hastily disposed of to innocent purchasers, so 
 that the owners generally found it among the Mormons. 
 The criminals were, in many instances, traced directly to 
 Nauvoo ; but once within the charmed circle, all power 
 to punish them was gone. 
 
 Their secret confederates were ready to "swear" them 
 clear, and too often the cry of "persecution" wiis suffi- 
 cient to mislead really honest Mormons, and cause them 
 to defend one who, though really guilty, claimed the 
 name of a Saint. Thus, while the Mormons could truly 
 E 
 
54 LIFE IN UTAH ; OK, THE MYSTE^tlES 
 
 say there was less crime in Nauvoo than in most other 
 cities of its size, it was still true that more criminals is- 
 sued thence than from any other. 
 
 How many of the real Mormons were concerned in 
 these de})redations it is impossible to say, probably very 
 few ; but the fact remained that the criminals had most 
 of them assumed the name of Mormons, that they were 
 not thrust out and punished, and that the really innocent 
 portion obstinately refused to entertain any charge against 
 the guilty, making the Church a complete cover and ex- 
 emption for crime. An angry people could not be expec- 
 ted to go into their city and discriminate between them ; 
 they struck blindly at the whole community, and thus 
 while two-thirds of them were probably guiltless of 
 crime, all sutlered alike. In the outer settlements there 
 was actual cause to complain of the foreign Saints ; thou- 
 sands of them had " gathered" in great haste and extreme 
 poverty ; they had nothing, and knew not how to rapidly 
 accommodate themselves to their new pursuits, and at 
 the same \\u\? very naturally refused to starve in a plen- 
 tiful country. 
 
 Their doctrines virtually invited them to take what 
 they needed, and they did. 
 
 As to the heads of the Church and their newly -acquired 
 allies, enough has been said to show that much of their 
 conduct was on the very border-line of lascality, if it did 
 not altogether step over it. 
 
 11. Of the second class of causes, but little need bo 
 added to the history of polygamy, to be more fully reci- 
 ted hereafter. Of the ten thousand intrigues of Smith, 
 Bennett, Rigdon and other leaders, it is useless to speak, 
 except to give their public results. While the established 
 denominations of Illinois were threatened, and her polit- 
 ical stability endangered, her people were also shocked by 
 the introduction of new, and, to them, revolting vices. 
 
 III. But the great cause of popular hostility, which 
 finally led to the worst result, was the Mormon system of 
 voting solidly, at the dictation of a few men. 
 
 They have always insisted on this principle, pretending 
 that there would be no union in their Church, if the 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 00 
 
 members were allowed to vote by individual will. Such 
 a course must ever have one effect, to cause the Church 
 to be regarded as a mere political entity, to be fought 
 accordingly, and, in time, arouse the fiercest opposition. 
 It will hardly do to say no Church has a ritjJit to .so direct 
 its vote, and yet, if persisted in, it must be a constant 
 source of faction. Any such Church would constitute a 
 dangerous power in a republican government ; and would 
 soon have arrayed against it all those who were defeated 
 by its vote, all who failed to get its support, all who 
 disdained to stoop to the arts necessary to obtain it, and 
 all those who clearly saw the evil tendency of such a 
 system. In two years after he entered Illinois, Joe Smith 
 was absolute master of three thousand votes ; practically, 
 he might just as well have been allowed to cast so many 
 himself The offices of the County were in his gift ; no 
 man could hope to reach Congress from that district, witii- 
 out his favor, and it was highly probal)le, that, by the 
 next election, his simple will would determine who should 
 be Governor of the State. 
 
 Such power in the hands of a corrupt man, used with 
 a singular perfidy, and in the interests of the worst clique 
 ever assembled, would alone be almost sufficient to deter- 
 mine the people upon the expulsion of him and his fana- 
 tical sect. The particular situation, at the time, rendered 
 this evil ten-fold more apparent. For the first time 
 since its organization, the Whig Party had .a fair pros- 
 pect of carrying the State and the nation ; but Illinois 
 was doubtful. 
 
 If Henry Clay should again be the nominee of the 
 Whigs, Kentucky, Louisiana and otlier Southern States 
 were considered certain for that party, and, in certain 
 very probable contingencies, Illinois would turn the scale 
 one way or the other. It was quite certain the Mormons 
 would, by 1844, give the casting vote in Illinois, and Joe 
 Smith had perfect control of the Mormon vote. Such 
 contingencies are liable to frequently occur in our politics, 
 and henceforth set it down as an American axiom, that 
 any Church assuming to cast its vo'^e as a unit, for its 
 own interests, under the dictation of its spiritual head 
 
5G LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 or heads, is the deadly foe of our liberties, and justly an 
 object of distrust and dislike to every lover of his coun- 
 try. With this digression, I resume the thread of history. 
 
 The " Harrison Campaign " of 1840 was in full tide, 
 and the politicians gathered thick around Joe Smith. 
 His people had been driven from a Democratic State by 
 order of a Democratic Governor, and himself denied re- 
 dress by a Democratic President ; while his " memorial " 
 against Missouri had been introduced and countenanced 
 in the Senate of the United States by Henry Clay, and 
 in the House by John F. Stuart, both Whigs. 
 
 He felt friendly to them, but, finding he had great 
 power, determined to use it Avell, and took good care not 
 to commit himself When wined, dined, toasted, and 
 feasted by managers of L:'"h parties, he stated, in general 
 terms, that he felt no particuuir interest in politics ; he 
 had tried the Yankees of New York, and the '" free soilers " 
 of the Western Reserve, and had met with rough treat- 
 ment ; he had gone thence to the pro-slavciy Missouri- 
 ans, and had met with rouglier treatment ; the Democrats 
 had robbed him, and the Whigs refused him redress, and 
 he had little confidence in either. 
 
 But there were certain things absolutel}' necessary for 
 his city to receive from the Legislature, to protect him 
 and his people from mobs, and the party that could most 
 certainly give him these would obtain his support. This 
 cheerful frankness was met by renewed protestations of 
 respect and good-will, and both parties were eager to 
 grant him ftivors. 
 
 After secret consultation with his counsellors at Nauvoo, 
 Joe had a revelation to support the Whig ticket, which 
 the Mormons did unanimously in 1840 and '41. In the 
 Legislature of '40-41, it became an object with the Demo- 
 crats to conciliate them, and at that session Dr. J. C. Bennett 
 came with a charter, mainly drawn up by himself and Joe 
 Smith, for the incorporation of Nauvoo. The charter was 
 referred to the Judiciary Committee, who reported favor- 
 ably, the ayes and noes were called in neither house, and 
 the charter passed without a dissenting vote. 
 
 The annals of ancient and modern legislation might be 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 57 
 
 .searched in vain for a parallel to that Nauvoo Charter. 
 It gave all the powers ever granted to incorporated cities, 
 and gave them power to pass all laws " not repugnant to 
 the Constitution of the United States, or of this State," 
 which was afterwards interpreted to mean that they 
 might pass local ordinances, contrary to the laius of the 
 State. It provided for a Mayor, four Aldermen, and 
 nine Councillors, and established a Mayor's Court with 
 exclusive jurisdiction in all cases arising under the city 
 ordinances. 
 
 It also established a Municipal Court, to be composed 
 of the Mayor as Chief Justice*, and four Aldermen as 
 associates, and gave this Court the power to issue writs of 
 Habeas Corpus. And this not only to try the sufficiency 
 of writs issuing from any other court, which is* a power 
 rarely granted a Municipal Court, but to go beyond that 
 and try the original cause of action. Hitherto none but 
 Judges of the Su})remc and Circuit Court could issue 
 such writs, and there were just nine persons in the State 
 empowered to do so ; but this Act at one fell swoop con- 
 ferred it upon the five judges of this Municij)al Court, 
 and those the persons above all others most liable to 
 abuse it. It also incorporated the militia of Nauvoo into 
 a body to be called the " Nauvoo Legion," independent of 
 all other militia officers in the State, except the Governor 
 as Commander-in-Chief It established a court-martial 
 for this Legion, composed of the commissioned officers, 
 entirely independent of all other officers, and in the regu- 
 lations not governed by the laws of the Slate ! 
 
 This Legion was to be at the dis})osal of the Mayor in 
 executing the ordinances of tlie city. Another charter 
 incorporated a great tavern to be known as the NauvoQ 
 House. " Thus," says Governor Ford, " it was proposed 
 to re-establish for the Mormons a government within a 
 government ; a legislature with ]>ower to pass ordinances 
 at war with the laws of the State ; courts to execute 
 them with but little dependence upon the constitutional 
 judiciary, and a military force at their own command, to 
 be governed by its own laws and ordinances, and subject 
 to no State authority but that of the Governor. 
 
58 LIFE IN UTAH ; OK, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 " The powers conferred were expressed in language at 
 once ambiguous and undefined ; as if on purpc^ie to allow 
 of misconstruction. The great law of the separation of 
 the powers of government was wholly disregarded. The 
 Mayor was at once the executive power, the judiciary, and 
 part of the legislature. The Common Council, in passing 
 ordinances, were restrained only by the Constitution. 
 One would have thought that these charters stood a poor 
 chance of passing the legislature of a republican people 
 jealous of their liberties. Nevertheless they did pass 
 unanimously through both houses. Messrs. Little and 
 Douglas managed with gi^eat dexterity with their i-espec- 
 tive parties. Each party was afraid to object to them, for 
 fear of losing the Mormon vote, and each believed that it 
 had secured their favor. A city government, under the 
 charter, was organized in 1841, and Joe Smith was elected 
 Mayor. 
 
 "In this capacity he presided in the Common Council, and 
 assisted in making the laws for the government of the 
 city ; and as Mayor, also, he was to see these laws put 
 into force. He was ex-ofjicio judge of the Mayor's Court, 
 and chief justice of the Municipal Court, and in these 
 capacities he was to interpret the laws which he had 
 assisted to make. The Nauvoo Legion was also organized, 
 with a great nmltitude of high officers. It was divided 
 into divisions, brigades, cohorts, regiments, battalions and 
 companies. Eacli division, brigade and cohort had its 
 General, and over the whole, as Commander-in-Chief, Joe 
 Smith was appointed Lieutenant-General. These offices, 
 and particularly the last, were created by an ordinance of 
 the Court-martial composed of the commissioned officers 
 gf the Legion. 
 
 "■ The Comm(5n Council passed many ordinances for the 
 punishments of crime. The punishments were generally 
 different from, and vastly more severe than the punish- 
 ments provided by the laws of the State." 
 
 Elder Howard Coray, who was at that time a confiden- 
 tial clerk of Joe Smith's, states that he was present at the 
 time Smith and Bennett were constructing this charter ; 
 that Bennett objected to certain clauses as being " too 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 5J) 
 
 strong," to which Smith replied, "We must have that 
 power in our courts, for this work will gather of all man- 
 kind ; the Turk, ivith Ids ten wli^s, will come to Nauvoo, 
 and we must have laws to protect him with these wives." 
 Elder Coray, now a devoted Brighamite, at Salt Lake, 
 advanced this to disjn-ove the statement of Joe Smith's sons 
 that their father did not establish polygamy. It merely 
 proves, as will hereafter be shown, that he was in that 
 practice long before the date of his pretended revelation. 
 
 It was, indeed, necessary for him to fence out the Mis- 
 sourians with strong ordinances, for his old enemies in 
 that State were busy in scheme against him. In the ftiU 
 of 1841, the Governor sent a requisition to Illinois for 
 Smith's arrest, and after some evasion it was executed. A 
 writ of Habeas Corjius was sued out before Judge S. A. 
 Douglas, whose circuit embraced Hancock. On technical 
 gi'ounds Douglas released Smith, which the latter consid- 
 ered a great favor from the Democrats. Again, in 1842, 
 Smith was arrested on a requisition, and this t^me forcibly 
 rescued by his followers. The election of 1842 was 
 approaching ; the Whigs nominated Joseph Duncan for 
 (Jovernor, and the Democrats Thos. I. Ford. After an 
 immense amount of wire-pulling, Joe Smith issued a 
 proclamation to his people — there seems to have been no 
 revelation this time — pronouncing " Judge Douglas a 
 master-spirit," and commanding the people to vote the 
 Democratic ticket. Ford was elected, and assumed the 
 duties of Governor, late in 1842. He has embodied the 
 official acts of his Administration in his " History of 
 Illinois," and throughout this part of my narrative the 
 (quotations are from that work, unless otherwise credited. 
 
 The Democrats would almost certainly have carried the 
 State without the Mormons ; but in 1843, there was to be 
 an election for Congressman in their district, and therein 
 they were absolute. But the great reaction had set in, 
 and the Mormons were fast becoming odious to the body 
 of the people. After the political account, the reader will 
 be interested in the anti-Mormon account, and I quote 
 from the narrative of R. W. McKinney, Esq., before alluded 
 to, a witness of the facts : 
 
60 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 " The ])reaching of Mornionism was a greater .success 
 than could have been reasonably expected in so enlightened 
 an age, and one to a great extent inclined to scepticism. 
 A new s})irit of emigration was excited, and every con- 
 vert was urged to hasten to where he could gaze upon the 
 divine face of the Prophet, and where the wealth of the 
 Gentile world would How in upon them. Two years had 
 not elapsed since the first fugitives arrived at Nauvoo 
 before the Mormons outnumbered the old settlers. The 
 latter b ^an to think they had enough for the present. 
 None of the promised advantages had accrued from the 
 settlement of the Mormons among them. They had 
 created but little trade or commerce, had made no 
 improvement of the rapids, had established no manufac- 
 tories, erected no school-houses, organized no institutions 
 for instruction, and made no provision for the suppoi-t of 
 the poor. They were pressed into Joe's service, and 
 employed upon the erection of a temple of an order of 
 arcliitecture such as the world had never seen. They 
 now assumed a haughty bearing and arrogant f^peech 
 towards their old friends and protectors, and the latter 
 were constantly sneered at as blind and erring Gentiles, 
 whose stei)s were tending downward to the deepest pit of 
 hell. The Saints were to possess the earth and the Gentiles 
 be crushed beneath tlieir footsteps. This doctrine had 
 a fearful effect upon the common Mormon ; he looked 
 upon the old settler much as the followers of Moses and 
 Joshua looked upon the Canaan ites. If the earth was 
 to be delivered to the Saints with the fullness thereof, 
 why not take possession at once, or so much of it as to 
 supply present wants ? The old settlers began to feel that 
 the inflated declarations of the Prophet meant something 
 more than idle gasconade. Their cattle, which had 
 pastured safely on the broad prairies, now failed to come 
 up ; their poultry took wings and flew away to some 
 undiscovered country, never ,to return, and their barns and 
 granaries were depleted with unheard of rapidity. If one 
 visited Nauvoo in search of estrays, if by accident he 
 peeped into the shambles or slaughter-pens of the Saints, 
 he was rudely rebuffed as a disturber of the peace of Zion. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 61 
 
 He was fortunate if he escaped arrest, and did not often 
 escape annoyance. The Mormons prided thenisolvea on 
 their genius in devising modes of annoyance by wliich a 
 suspicious stranger could be driven away without resort 
 to violence ; the Propliet liad systcmized annoyance, and 
 reduced it to a science. He had organized clubs of loafers 
 and boys into what he called 'whittling deacons.' 
 
 " They were composed of the lowest grade of vaga- 
 bonds in Nauvoo, and were stationed around the streets 
 and corners, armed with pieces of pine board and sharp 
 dirk-knives, always ready for instant service. If a 
 stranger were seen on the streets, the lirst thing was to 
 find out if he were obnoxious. An experienced spy was 
 placed upon his track, who followed him until it was as- 
 certained what the stranger was. If he ap])eared hostile 
 to the Saints, if he spoke disparagingly of the Prophet 
 or his religion, * the whittling deacons' were put at his 
 heels. 
 
 " They would surround him with pine sticks and dirk- 
 knives, and, whistling gravely, keep up a continual whit- 
 tling, tlie shavings flying into the face and over the per- 
 son of the obnoxious one, and the sharp knives being 
 flouiished dangerously close to his ears. If timid and 
 nervous he retreated soon; but if he faced the music, the 
 whittling was more energetic, the whistling louder and 
 schriller, the knives approached closer and flashed more 
 brightly, till his retreat was a necessity. Strange that a ., 
 person wlio claimed to be commissioned as a Prophet, 
 could have authorized such low and disgraceful work ; 
 but we have the authority of the Saints that it was Joe 
 Smith's own invention, and was considered a brilliant 
 stroke of genius. If the suspected person was contuma- 
 cious and stood out against the ' whittling deacon.*!,' his 
 case was referred to a higher tribunal, the ' Danite Band.' 
 The ' whittling deacons' were composed of Saintly loaf- 
 ers, this of Saintly ruftians. Many of them were outlaws, 
 criminals who had fled from justice and 'vvho souglit and 
 received protection from Joe. No man was too deeply 
 stained with crime to gain that protection, if the Prophet 
 could use him. If a fugitive from justice proved a worth- 
 
62 LIFE IN UTAH ; OK, THK MVSTERIKS 
 
 less and inefficient tool, he was given np with a great 
 flourish of trumpets, and with glowing comments by the 
 newspaper press as to what an orderly and law abiding 
 people the Mormons were. 
 
 " Who ever heard of Joe Smith giving up Porter Rock- 
 well, or that he ever lost any respect on account of his 
 crimes. This lawless banditti went after the contuma- 
 cious stranger with bowie-knives and Colt's revolvers. 
 Their business was to terrify nnd insult him, to salute his 
 ears with strange oaths and blasphemies, to menace him 
 with threats of instant death and to flourish their deadly 
 weapons in his fiice. But were there no police to appeal 
 to ? These .'issailants were themselves the police, power- 
 ful only for evil. If the susj)ected was still fool-hardy 
 enough to refuse to leave, his case was reported to a higher 
 tribunal, who gave secret and mysterious warnings, writ- 
 ten in mystic characters and stained with blood, which 
 dropped in the way of the suspected, were found in his 
 bed room, under his pillow or about his person. Dire was 
 his fote if he disregarded this last solemn admonition. 
 He would never again be heard from ; the mission of the 
 'destroying angel' was sudden, sure and complete. 
 
 " The Prophet's ambition and love of display had been 
 sated by a shower of civic honors thrust upon him by 
 the Corporation Act. ,His love of power and desire for 
 vengeance were gratified by a review of his solid squares 
 of infantry, his squadrons of cavalry and parks of artil- 
 lery. He was the only man of his age beneath the rank 
 of Grand I)uke> that could summon a well-equipped army 
 from his retainers. But he had other vices to gratify be- 
 sides ambition and love of display. 
 
 " How to gratify his licentious desires became with him 
 a great study. To overcome the virtue of his female fol- 
 lowers and establish prostitution as a religious rite, he 
 had a revelation. None of his compeers or successors 
 could compete with him in revelations. His son Joe, 
 who claims to be his legitimate successor, has been so re- 
 ticent as to receive from the Brighamites, and deserve, the 
 title of the ' dumb Prophet.' The elder Joe, had revela- 
 tions on all sorts of subjects ; building houses, ploughing 
 
AND CRIMES OF M0RM0N18M. 03 
 
 lands and selling merchandise, and now authorizing him 
 to seduce and degrade his female devotees. His elders 
 were now instructed that the time had arrived when 
 seven women should take hold of one man ; that no wo- 
 man could be saved unless united to a husband in a s[)irit- 
 ual sense ; that such union was enjoined by divine author- 
 ity, and to resist it was to resist the ordinance of God. 
 Here was the dilemma for the female Saint : she must 
 succumb to a libidinous ])riest, or be sent to perdition ; 
 she must accept prostitution or damnation, and there Avas 
 no escape, It was at first claimed that this connection 
 was purely spiritual and platonic ; but the fadmissions of 
 incautious Saints, and the testimony of many women, 
 soon left no doubt in any intelfigent mind that the sys- 
 tem was one of complete concubinage. 
 
 " The two young Smiths, who lately made a raid into 
 Utah, denying that their father practised polygamy, ought 
 to know, as every intelligent person does know, that the 
 will of Joe Smith was absolute in Nauvoo, and all the 
 councils, sanhedrims and priests in the city could never 
 have established polygamy there, if he had but shook his 
 little finger in opposition. 
 
 " The Mormons were not only introducing a new reli- 
 gion, but striving to introduce a new civilization; or 
 rather laboring to abolish all civilization, and to re-estab- 
 lish a barbarism old as the infancy of the world. If an 
 old patriarch, who lived immediately after the earth 
 emerged from the deluge, through ignorance married 
 a sister or an aunt, the Mormon assumed the same right. 
 If another patriarch armed liis numerous servants, and 
 invaded the tented city of a rival, carried his wives and 
 children into captivity, and drove away his sheep, cattle 
 and oxen, it was a divine precedent which the Saint 
 would do well to follow. As in those remote ages the 
 whole people labored and toiled for the aggrandizement 
 of their chieftain in erecting castles for his protection, or 
 guarding the Hocks and herds in which his wealth con- 
 sisted, so the Mormon chieftain employed his retainers in 
 the erection of a gorgeous temple. * The anti-Mormons 
 saw that the Mormons were industrious, and saw too that 
 
<54 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, tflE MYSTERIES 
 
 much of thoir labor w.as misdirected, and tliat tlicy de- 
 rived no benefit from it, more than tlie enslaved multi- 
 tudes v/ho toiled on tiio Ejjfyptian pyramids in the tradi- 
 tional ages of the world. They saw tliat Hancock County, 
 under the control of the dominant sect, was receding to 
 the remotest find most barbarous ages of the world. 
 They farther imderstood that the multitudes who lived 
 in shanties, and worked without pay, were not likely 
 to starve as long as they were taught that the earth, and 
 all things therein, belonged to the Saints of tlie Lord. 
 It was thought high time to impose some barrier to the 
 further increase of the dominant Mormons. No one then 
 thought of violence or war ; there had been no lawless 
 demonstrations prior to tlie Mormons' arrival, and, in 
 justice to the old settlers, it should be noted there has 
 been none since their expulsion. Every one considered 
 that most of the evils resulted from the power vested in 
 the Prophet by the Mormon Charter, and the creation of 
 the Legion. It was, therefore, thought best to constitute 
 a new political organization, uniting all anti-Mormons 
 without regard to previous predilections, having for its 
 object united opposition to the Mormons, and repeal of all 
 the Mormon Charter^, and disbanding of the Nauvoo 
 Legion. A general mass-meeting was called, and was 
 fully attended. Whigs and Democrats fraternized and 
 rivalled each other in their zeal to rid the country of the 
 growing incubus. But when it came to county nomina- 
 tions, unfortunately there were more aspirants than offices. 
 Those who received nominations were content ; but the 
 rejected ones affected to consider themselves badly abused 
 men. Among them were two who went right over with 
 their intluence to Joe Smith. The first was a Reverend 
 Thomas Owens, a renegade Baptist preacher, and the 
 other Jacob C. Davis, a lawyer, too indolent to labor or 
 study, but the political oracle of the red-eyed loafers, who 
 congregated together in the low groggeries of the town 
 where he lived. This brace of worthies wended their 
 wav to Nauvoo, and informed the Mormon autocrat of 
 the combination against him ; but tendered him their 
 sympathy and support, offering to run as the Mormon 
 
AND CllIMKS OF MOUMUNISM. 05 
 
 candidates for the Legislature. The Prophet cliosc. Jacc>U 
 Davis as his candidate for the State Senate, and Bill 
 Smitli, his own brother, and Thomas Owens, his candi- 
 dates for the Lower House. The rest of the county 
 ticket was tilled out by the Prophet from his own Mor- 
 mon tools. 
 
 " The issue was for the first time clearly drawn, tlie 
 election in due time canie off, and tlie Prophet was tri- 
 umphant. He had elected everything on the county 
 ticket. r>y this comlnnation he had completely defeated 
 the anti-Mormon move, and had for county oflicers liis 
 trusty friends, devoted to his interests. If his enemies 
 chose to appeal from the decision of the polls, he was 
 ready for them. His battalions were models of discipline, 
 devoted to his servicj, numbered by thousands, and armed 
 with an efficiency which distinguished no other troops in 
 America. The walls of the Temple were progressing 
 rapidly. The anti-Mormons looked iipon the structure 
 Avith many doubts and apprehensions. Everything the 
 Mormons did was veiled in mystery. This structure re- 
 sembled no church, its walls of massive limestone were 
 impervious to the shot of the heaviest cannon. It had 
 two tiers of circular windows, which looked, to the won- 
 dering Gentiles, very much as if they were port-holes for 
 the manning of cannon. The building was near the 
 centre of a square of four ticres, to be surrounded by a 
 massive wall ten feet in height, and six in thickness. 
 This, the Mormons said, was for a promenade ; the anti- 
 Mormons would have told you, it could be constructed 
 for no other purpose than a fortification, and one which 
 would have stood a heavy bombardment without being 
 breached. 
 
 " Another charter provided for the erection of ' a large 
 hotel,' and it was denominated the ' Lord's boarding 
 house.' to which a revelation is added, that Joe Smith 
 and his heirs were to have * a suite of rooms dedicated to 
 their use forever.' 
 
 " It was the boast of Joe that this would be the great 
 ' Mission House ' of the world ; that in its parlor he would 
 entertain princes, kings, and emperors from Europe and 
 
6Q LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Asia, who would leave their distant homos to receive 
 information and instruction from him in the new faith. 
 So com]>letely liad Joe's head been turned, and so wild 
 and visionary had he become, that it was not without 
 reason that his wife, only a few years after his death, 
 published a statement in the Quincy Whig, that she had 
 no belief in his })rophetic character, and considered his 
 pretended revelations the emanations of a diseased mind. 
 It may be some gratification to know tliat the apostolic 
 dignitaries did not always agree among themselves, after 
 the establishment of 'spiritual wifery,' in the distribution 
 of female prizes. They had no dispute in polemic theo- 
 logy. The oracle Joe settled everything of that sort by 
 immediate revelation. But when the face of a handsome 
 female Saint wqis seen peering from under the curtains of 
 an immigrant waggon, it was like throwing the apple of 
 discord among the lascivious priests of the new religion ; 
 and however submissive the sacred college may have been 
 to the settlement of a theological tenet, when the same 
 oracle pronounced a verdict, in regard to a female prize, 
 against one of them, his curses were loud and deep. In 
 fact, this system was soon the means of destroying the 
 Mormon imity right at home ; the entering wedge that 
 divided Nauvoo into factions, and gave the anti-Mormons 
 a clue to success. 
 
 " The name of Cyrus Walker had long been conspicu- 
 ous in western Illinois. He was an eminent lawyer, who 
 had ac(|uired a great reputation in Kentucky, where he 
 came into competition with Ben Hardin, John Rowan 
 and the Wickliffs. He was past middle life, and had 
 never been a politician ; but, in 1843, the Whigs needed 
 a popular candidate, in the Hancock district, for Congress. 
 There was no hope of his election unless Joe Smith and 
 his follovyers could be manipulated, and thus balance 
 the Democratic majority. Mr. Walker resided in the 
 adjoining county of McDonough, and was thought, to be 
 just the man, as, in a long criminal practice, his mind 
 liad become a perfect storehouse of expedients, artifices 
 and dodges. He was nominated, and accepted in the full 
 belief that he was a match for the tricky Prophet. His 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMOMSM. C7 
 
 (jhances were r«ather doubtful, as the Wliigs liad been 
 most active in the anti-Mormon Convention. Owen and 
 Davis, Democrats, liad deserted to the .Mormon camp ; 
 but no Wiiig had be-jii guilty of such defection. But it 
 Avas confidently anticij)ated Walker could out-general 
 the commonplace Mr. Hoge, the Democratic candidate. 
 Meanwhile the peace of the Mormon Zion was disturbed. 
 Men who had toiled without remuneration began to mur- 
 mur, and the families of those who went forth to preach 
 the gospel, without ' purse or scrip,' often suffered greatly 
 in their absence. Dr. John C Bennett, to whose instruc- 
 tions the Legion owed its admirable drill and di.sci[)line, 
 had not risen to that high rank in Viie Hierarchy which 
 he fancied his talents entitled him to, and had been 
 slighted in the distribution of female prizes. He had 
 seceded, and was a conspirator against the Prophet, de- 
 nouncing him with a bitterness born of imaginary slight 
 and wrong. He travelled through the West, secured 
 large crowds wlierever he lectured, of all who were at- 
 tracted by the disgusting deta: Is of Mormon depravity. 
 But at the same time the Prcphet was engaged in ex- 
 posing and denouncing him ; while he ])roved Joe to be 
 immoral smd licentious, the latter proved the same thing 
 against him, and the community soon became satisfied 
 that it was a quarrel between two great rascals, and they 
 were not called upon to decide which was the greater. 
 Joe had 'apparently forgotten all about the indictment 
 still pending against him in Missouri ; but Bennett had 
 not, and, by his intrigues, a fresh requisition was issued, 
 and Joe was arrested in Henderson county, at one of the 
 ' Stakes of Zion,' some twenty-five miles from Nauvoo. 
 But the officers soon found themselves surrounded by a 
 detachment of tlie Nauvoo Legion, and the whole party 
 was conducted in trium[)h to that city. The Municipal 
 Court met to try the legality of the requisition, and the 
 regularity of the proceedings, and Cyrus Walker was 
 called upon for his opinion. Their judgment was in no 
 wise controlled by his arguments ; l)ut his approval of 
 such jurisdiction was of great value to Joe Smith. He 
 was profuse in his thanks to Walker, and promised ear- 
 
CS LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 ncstly to support liim. Walker fully believed that this 
 settled every Mormon vote in his favor, was satisfied he 
 need do nothing more, and returned home to study up 
 the political questions of the day, and fit himself foi- his 
 future duties in Congress. 
 
 " But tliere was some ' wire-pulling ' going on of which 
 he little dreamed ; there was a great deal of running to 
 and fro of ' mana<j:ing Democrats' between Nauvoo and 
 Springfield, and suddenly the Mormons were called in a 
 mass meeting, the second day before the election, when 
 Hyrum Smith arose and announced that he had just re- 
 ceived a revelation from heaven, that the Mormons were 
 to vote for the Demt^crat, Mr. Hoge 1 They were still in 
 doubt till the Prophet arrived next day, when the whole 
 voting population of Nauvoo again assembled to hear 
 from him. He stated that he was not prepared to advise 
 them v/ith regard to election matters ; ho could only 
 inform them that he had pledged his own vote to Mr. 
 Walker, and would keep his pledge ; but he had received 
 no coninnmication from the Lord on the subject ; ' he had 
 not seen the Lord, nor had he gone to seek the Lord 
 about the niatter. He was not disposed to call u|>on the 
 Lord at the request or desire of any Gentile politician ; 
 if the Lord really Avantcd to sec him, there was nothing 
 to prevent His calling upon him. So far as he was con- 
 cerned, the people might vote for Walker, Hoge, or the 
 devil ; it was all the same to him. But,' continued the 
 Prophet, ' T am informed my brother Hyrum has seen the 
 Lord, and has something to say to you. I have known 
 brother Hyrum ever since he was a boy, and never knew 
 him to lie. When the Lord speaks, let all the earth keep 
 silent.' Thereupon brother Hyrum took the stand and 
 boldly announced that he Jtad seen the Lord, who had 
 instructed him to support Mr. Hoge, * and, brethren, you 
 are all cojnmanded to vote for Mr. Hoge, for thus saith 
 the Lord God Almighty.' This short address of the 
 Patriarch w^as no doubt the most powerful and convinc- 
 ing ' stump speech ' ever delivered. When the count was 
 rendered next day, Mr. Cyrus Walker had one vote, 
 whilst Hoge's counted by thousands. It is difficult 
 
AND CIUMES OF MOHMONISM. ()f) 
 
 to realize that, in. this enlightened age and most enlight- 
 ened nation, any assembly could be found so deplorably 
 ignorant nn to be controlled by two such blackguard im- 
 postors, yet so it was ; they listened to these blasphemous 
 deceivers, as though God spoke from the heavens. Mr. 
 Walker did not go to Congress. He withdrew forever 
 from politics, devoted hiiuself to his profession, and grew 
 rich. He heard the result of the Nauvoo election with 
 deep moriitication. He had been a match for the shrewd- 
 est and most "cultivated members of his own profession ; 
 he was now tricked and sold by a miserable impostor, 
 beneath the notice of any respectable man. Mr. Walker 
 retired to his bed on that night the most bitter, un- 
 compromising and persevering anti-Mormon in the State 
 of Illinois." 
 
 To this interesting recital it is ojily necessary to add a 
 hw facts fro!n the official record. Earl}' in May, 1843, 
 Governor Lilburn W, Bogg, of Missouri, while sitting, in 
 the evening, near an open window, \vas shot from with- 
 out, and seriously wounded in the head. By the testi- 
 mony of various apostates it appears, that Joe Smith had 
 frequently foretold the '" sudden vengeance of God on the 
 Nero of Missouri," who had used the State troops to 
 expel the Mormons; and that, about this time, Orrin Porter 
 Rockwell was for some time absent from Nauvoo, and 
 when Joe Smith was asked his whereabouts, he replied, 
 with a laugh, " 0, just gone to fulfil prophecy." On these 
 iuid other statements, an indictment Wiis found in Mis- 
 souri against Smith and Rockwell, and soon after the 
 officers of that State secured another retj^uisition, from 
 Governor Ford, for Joe Smith. He was arrested, and 
 released by his own IMunicipal Court, with the advice of 
 Mr. Walker, as already related. The agents of Missouri 
 went forthwith to make application to Governor Ford, 
 for a body of militia to enforce the Avrit, and Walker Wius 
 sent by the Mormons, as their attorney, to resist the ap- 
 plication. Governor Ford declined either to act at once, 
 or to say how he would finally act ; as he afterwards 
 stated, because he was not clear as to his duty, and knew 
 the politicians only wanted his deciiJon to carry back to 
 F 
 
70 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 the Mormons. In tliis state of uncertainty the Mormon 
 leaders sent " Jake " Backinstos to manoeuvre at Spring- 
 field, and ascertain, if possible, what the Governor would 
 finally do. Governor Ford was absent at St. Louis, and 
 a prominent Democrat, in his interest at Springfield, gave 
 the most solemn assurance, in the Governor's name, that 
 the militia would not be sent against the Mormons, if 
 they voted the Democrat ticket. Neither Governor Ford, 
 nor any other responsible official knew aught of this 
 promise in his name, till after the Mormons left the State. 
 With this promise, Backinstos reached Nauvoo but two 
 days before the election, with what result has already 
 been seen. Such danniing political treachery was not 
 without due punishment. The Whigs now saw, with 
 amazement, that the most solemn promises meant nothing 
 from Joe Smith ; the Democrats generally felt that a 
 sect of such ])olitical power, for sale every day, and every 
 houi" in the day, and uncertain till the last hour of elec- 
 tion, was no safe ally, and both parties awaked to the 
 startling fact, that Joe Smith was actual dictator of their 
 politics and chose their rulers. Tlie anti-Mormon excite- 
 ment was accelerated ten-fold, and ceased not till their 
 final and complete exi)ulsiyn from the State. And dis- 
 astrous as was that expulsion, terrible as were the. suffer- 
 ings of individual Mormons, it is scarcely too nmcli to 
 say they richly deserve 1 it, for this one act of perfidy 
 and folly. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 71 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MORMON DIFFICULTIES AND DEATH OF THE PROPHET. 
 
 Ford's account — Double treachery in thcQuincy district — New and start- 
 ling developments in Niuivoo — Tyranny of .Toe Smith— Revolt of a por- 
 tion of his followers — The " Expositor" — It is declared "a nuisance" 
 and "abated" — Flight of apostates— Warrants issued for Smith and 
 other Mormons — Constables driven out of Nauvoo— Militia called for 
 — Nauvoo fortified — Mormon war imminent — Governor Ford takes the 
 field in person — Flight of the Prophet and Patriarch to Iowa — Their 
 return and arrest — The Governor pledged for their safety — In his ab- 
 sence the jail is attacked — Death of the Smiths — Character of the 
 Prophet — Comments. 
 
 As from this point nearly everything connected with the 
 Illinois history of the Mormons is official and political, I 
 here take up Governor Ford's account : — 
 
 " It appears that the Mormons had been directed by 
 their leaders to vote the Whig ticket in the Quincy, as 
 well {IS the Hancock district. In the Quincy district, 
 Judge Douglas was the Democratic candidate, and 0. H. 
 Browning the candidate of the Wliigs. The leading 
 Movmons at Nauvoo having never determined in favor of 
 the Democrats until a day or two before the election, 
 there was not sufficient time, or it was neglected, to send 
 orders from Nauvoo into the Quincy district, to effect a 
 change there. The Mormons in that district voted for 
 Browning. Douglas and his friends, being afraid that I 
 might be in his way for tlie United States Senate in 
 184(5, seized hold of this circumstance to affect my ])arty 
 standing, and thereby gave countenance to the clamor of 
 the Whigs, secretly whispering it about that I had not 
 only influenced the Mormons to vote for Iloge, but for 
 Browning also. This decided many of the Democrats in 
 fiivor of ihe expulsion of the Mormons. 
 
 " No further demand for the arrest of Joe Smith hav- 
 ing been made by Missv.uri, he became emboldened by 
 
72 LIFK IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTEIUES 
 
 succesL'. Tlie Mormons became more arrogant and over- 
 bearing. In the winter of 1843-4, tlie Common Council 
 passed some further ordinances to protect their leaders 
 from arrests, on demand from Missouri. They enacted 
 that no writ issued from any other place than Nauvoo, 
 for the arrest of any person in it, should be executed in 
 the city, without an approval endorsed thereon by the 
 Mayor ; that if any ])ublic officer, b}'^ virtue of any 
 foreign writ, should attempt to make any arrest in tlie 
 city, without such aj'tproval of his process, he should be 
 subject to imprisonment for life, and that the Governor 
 of the State should not have the power of pardoning tlie 
 offender without the consent of the Mayor. When these 
 ordinances were published, tliey created general astonish- 
 ment. Many people began to ])elieve in good earnest 
 that the Mormons Avere about to set up a separate 
 government for themselves in detiance of tl'(e laws of the 
 State. Owners of property stolen in other counties 
 made pursuit into Nauvoo, and were fined by the Mormon 
 Courts for daring to seek their property in the holy city. 
 To one such I granted a pardon. Several of the Mor- 
 mons had been convicted* of larceny, and they never 
 failed in any instance to procure petitions signed by 
 1,500 or 2,000 of their friends for their pardon. But 
 that which made it more certain than everything else, 
 that the Mormons contemplated a separate government, 
 was that about this time tliey petitioned Congress to 
 establish a territorial government for them in Nauvoo ; 
 as if Congress had any power to establish such a govern- 
 ment, or ai-y other, within the bounds of a State. 
 
 " To crown the whole folly of the Mormons, in the 
 spring of 1844, Joe Smith announced himself as a can- 
 didate for President of the United States. His followers 
 were confident that h« would be elected. Two or three 
 thousand missionaries "wei'e immediately sent out to 
 preach their religion, and to electioneer in favor of their 
 prophet foi" the Presidency. This folly at once covered 
 that people with ridicule in the minds of all sensible 
 men, and brc^ught them into conflict with the zealots and 
 bigots of all political parties ; as the arrogance and ex- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOEMONISM. 73 
 
 travagancc of their religious pretensions had ah-cady 
 aroused the opposition of all otlier denominations in reli- 
 gion. It seems, from the best infoi'mation that could be 
 got from the best men who had seceded from tb.e Mor- 
 mon Church, that Joe Smith about this time conceived 
 the idea of making himself a temporal prince fis well as 
 spiritual leader of his people. He instituted a new and 
 select order of the priesthood, the members of which 
 were to be priests and kings temporally and spiritually. 
 These were to be his nobility, who were to be the up- 
 holders of his tlirone. He caused himself to be crowned 
 and anointed king and priest, far above the rest ; and he 
 prescribed the form of an oath of allegiance to himself, 
 which he administered to his principal followers. To up- 
 hold his pretensions to royalty, he deduced his descent by 
 an unbroken chain from Joseph the son of Jacob, and 
 that of his wife from some other renowned personage of 
 Old Testament history. The Mormons openly denounced 
 the Government of the United States as utterly corrupt, 
 and as being about to pass away, and to be replaced by 
 the Government of God, to be administered by his ser- 
 vant Joseph. It is at this day certain, also, that about 
 this time, the prophet re-instituted an order in the 
 Church called the ' Danite Band.' These were to be a 
 body of police and guards about the person of their 
 sovereign, who were sworn to obey his orders as the 
 orders of God himself 
 
 "Soon after these institutions were established, Joe 
 Smith began to play the t3Tant over several of his fol- 
 lowers. The first act of this sort which excited atten- 
 tion, was an attempt to take the wife of William Law, 
 one of his most talented and principal disciples, and 
 make her a spiritual wife. By means of his Common 
 Council, without the authority of law, ho established a 
 recorder's office in Nauvoo, in which alone the titles of 
 property could be recorded. In the same manner and 
 with the same want of legal authority, he estal)lished an 
 office for issuing marriage licenses to Mormons, so as to 
 give him absolute control of the marrying propensities of 
 his people. He proclaimed that none in the city should 
 
74 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 purchase real estate to sell again, but himself. He also 
 permitted no one Lut himself to have a license in the 
 city for the sale of spirituous liquors ; and in many other 
 ways he undertook to regulate and control the business 
 of the Mormons. This despotism, administeicd by a 
 corrupt and unprincipled man, soon became intolerable. 
 William Law, one of the most eloquent preachers of the 
 Mormons, who appeared to me to be a deluded but con- 
 scientious and candid man, Wilson Law, his brother, 
 Maior-General of the Lesfion, and four or live other Mor- 
 mon leaders, resolved upon a rebellion against the 
 authority of the Prophet. They designed to enlighten 
 their brethren and fellow-citizens u])on the new institu- 
 tions, tlie new turn given to Monnunism, and the prac- 
 tices under the new system, by procuring a printing-press 
 and establishing a newspaper in tlie city, to be the organ 
 of their complaints and views. But they never issued 
 but one number ; before the second could appear, the 
 press was demolished by an order of the Common 
 Council, and the conspirators were ejected from the 
 Mormon Church. 
 
 "The Mormons themselves published the proceedings 
 of the Council in the trial and destruction of the heret- 
 ical press , from which it does not appear that any one 
 was tried, or that the editor or any of the owners of the 
 property had notice of the trial, or were permitted to 
 defend in any particular. 
 
 " The proceeding was an exparU proceeding, partly 
 civil and partly ecclesiastical, against the press itself No 
 jury was called or sworn, nor were the witnesses required 
 to give their evidence upon oath. The councillors stood 
 up one after another, and some of them several times, 
 and related what they pretended to know. In this mode 
 it was abundantly proved that the owners of the pro- 
 scribed press were sinners, whore masters, thieves, swind- 
 lers, counterfeiters and robbers ; the evidence of which 
 is reported in the trial at full length. It Avas altogether 
 the most curious and irregular trial that was ever re- 
 corded in any civilized country ; and one finds difficulty 
 in determining .whether the proceedings of the Council 
 
AND CHIMES OF MOIIMONISM. 7'> 
 
 were more the result of insanity or depravit}'. Tlie trial 
 resulted in the conviction of the press as a public nui- 
 sance. The Mayor was ordered to see it abated as such, 
 and, if neccssarj^, to call the Legion to his assistance. 
 The Mayor issued his wairant to the City Marshal, who, 
 aided by a portion of the Legion, proceeded to the obnox- 
 ious printing-office, and destroyed the press, and scattered 
 the types and other materials. 
 
 "After this, it became too hot for the seceding and 
 rejected Mormons to remain in the holy city. They 
 retired to Carthage, the county-seat of Hancock County, 
 and took out warrants for the Mayor and members of the 
 Common Council, and others engaged in the outrage, for a 
 riot. Some of those were arrested, but were immediately 
 taken before the Municipal Court of the city on habeas 
 corpus, and discharged iVom custody. 
 
 " On the seventeenth day of June following, a com- 
 mittee of a meeting of the citizens of Carthage presented 
 themselves to me, with a request that the militia might 
 be ordered out to assist in executing process in the city 
 of Nauvoo. I determined to visit in person that section 
 of country, and examine for myself the truth and nature 
 of their complaints. No order for the militia was made ; 
 and I arrived at Carthage on the morning of the 21st 
 day of the same month. 
 
 " Upon my arrival, I found an armed force assembled, 
 and hourly increasing, under the summons and direction 
 of the constables of the county, to serve as a posse com- 
 itatus, to assist in the execution of [)rocess. The general 
 of the brigade had also called for the militia, en masse, 
 of the counties of McDonough and Schuyler, for a simi- 
 lar purpose. Another assemblage to a considerable num- 
 ber had been made at Warsaw, under military command 
 of Col. Levi Williams. 
 
 " The first thing which I did on my arrival was to 
 place all the militia then assembled, and which were ex- 
 pected to assemble, under military command of their 
 proper officers. I next dispatched a messenger to Nauvoo, 
 informing the Mayor and Common Council of the nature 
 of the complaint made against them ; and requested that 
 
70 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, TIIK MYSTKRIKS 
 
 persons might be sent to me to lay their side of the ques- 
 tion before me. A Conmiittec was accordingly sent, who 
 made such acknowledgements that I had no difficulty m 
 concluding what were the facts. 
 
 " It appeared clearly, both from the complaints of the 
 citizens and the acknowledgments of the Mormon Com- 
 mittee, that the whole proceedings of tlie Mayor, the 
 Common Council, and the Municipal Court, were irregu- 
 lar and illegal, and not to be endured in a free country ; 
 though, ])erhaps, some apology might be made for the 
 Court, as it had been repeatedly assured by some of the 
 best lawyers in the State, who had been candidates for 
 office before that people, that it had full and competent 
 power to issue writs of habeas corpus in all cases whaij- 
 ever. The Common Council violated the law in assuming 
 the exercise of judicial power; in proceeding expaiie 
 without notice to the owners of the property ; in pro- 
 ceeding against the pro])crty hb rem ; in not calling a 
 jury; in not swearing all the witnesses; in not giving 
 the owners of the property, accused of being a nuisance, 
 in consequence of being libelous, an opportunity of giving 
 the truth in evidence ; and, in fact, by not proceeding by 
 civil suit or indictment, as in other cases of libel. The 
 Mayor violated the law in ordering this erroneous and 
 absurd judgment of the Common Council to be executed. 
 And the Municipal Court erred in discharging them from 
 arrest. 
 
 " As this proceeding touched the liberty of the press, 
 which is justly dear to any Republican people, it was well 
 calculated to raise a great flame of excitement. And it 
 may well be questioned whether years of misre])resenta- 
 tion, by the most profligate newspaper, could have en- 
 gendered such a feeling as was produced by the destruc- 
 tion of this one press. It is apparent that the Mormon 
 leaders but little understood, and regarded less, the true 
 principles of civil liberty. A free press, well conducted, 
 is a great blessing to a free people ; a | rofligate one is 
 likely soon to deprive itself of all credit and influence by 
 the multitude of falsehoods put forth by it. In addition 
 to these causes of excitement, there were a great many 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 77 
 
 roi)orts in circulation, and generally believed by the 
 people. 
 
 " Fortunately for the pur})oses of those who were active 
 in creating excitement, there were ninny known truths 
 which gave countenance to some of these accusations. It 
 was sutticiently proved in a proceeding at Carthage, whilst 
 I was there, that Joe Smith had sent a band of his fol- 
 lowers to Missouri, to kidnap two men who were witnesses 
 against a member of his Church then in jail, about to be 
 tried on a charge of larceny. It was also a notorious 
 fact, that he had assaulted and severely beaten an officer 
 of the county, for an alleged non-performance of his duty, 
 at a time when that ofticer was just recovering from a 
 severe illness. It is a fact also, that he stood indicted for 
 the crime of perjury, as was alleged, in swearing to an 
 accusation for murder, in order to drive a man out of 
 Nauvoo, who had been engaged in buying and selling lots 
 of land, and thus interfering with the monopoly of the 
 Prophet as a speculator. It is a fact also, that his Muni- 
 cipal Court, of which he was Chief Justice, by writ of 
 habeas corpus, had frec^uently discharged individuals 
 accused of high crimes and ott'ences aiiainst the laws of 
 the State ; and on one occasion had discharged a person 
 accused of swindling the Government of the United 
 States, who had been arrested by process of the Federal 
 Courts ; thereby giving countenance to the report, that 
 he obstructed the administration of justice, and had set 
 up a government at Nauvoo, independent of the laws 
 and Government of the State. This idea was further 
 corroborated in the minds of the people, by the fact that 
 the people of Nauvoo had petitioned Congress for a Terri- 
 torial Government to be established there, and to be in- 
 dependent of the State Government. It was a fact also, 
 that some larcenies and robberies had been committed, 
 and that Mormons had been convicted of the crimes, and 
 that other larcenies had been committed by persons un- 
 known, but suspected to be Mormons. Justice, however, 
 requires me here to say that, upon such investigation as 
 I then could make, the charge of promiscuous stealing 
 appeared to be exaggerated. 
 
78 LIFK IN UTAH ; OK, TlIK MVSTKKIES 
 
 " Auotlusr cuiiso of excitement was a report industri- 
 ously circulated, and generally believed, tl.at Hyrum 
 Smith, another leader of the Mormon Church, had offered 
 a reward for the destruction of tlie press of the * Warsaw 
 Signal,' a newspaper published in the county, and the 
 organ of the opposition to the Mormons, 't was also 
 asserted that the Mormons, scattered througi the settle- 
 ments of the county, had threatened all persons who 
 turned out to assist the constables, with thq destruction 
 of their j)roperty, and the nuirder of their families, in 
 the absence of their fatliers, brothers and husbands. A 
 Mormon woman, in McDonou;^,di County, was imprisoned 
 for threatening to poison the wells of the ])Oople who 
 turned out in the posf<e ; and a Mormon in Warsaw pub- 
 licly avowed that ho was bound, by his religion, to obey 
 all orders of the Prophet, even to commit nnirdor, if so 
 commanded. 
 
 " But the great cause of popular fury was, that the 
 Mormons, at several preceding elections, had cast their 
 vote as a unit; thereby making the fact apparent, that 
 no one could aspire to the honoi's or offices of the country 
 within the sphere of their intluencc, without their appro- 
 bation and votes. 
 
 "As my object in visiting Hancock was expressly to 
 assist in the execution of the laws, and not to violate 
 them, or to witness or permit their violation, as I was 
 convinced that the Mormon leaders had committed a 
 crime in the destruction of the press, and had resisted the 
 execution of process, I determined to exert the whole 
 force of the State, if necessary, to bring them to justice. 
 But seeing the great excitement in the pvblic mind, and 
 the manifest tendency of this excitement to run into 
 mobocracy, I was of ofdnion that, before I acted, I ought 
 to obtain a pledge from the officers and men to support 
 me in strictly legal measures, and to protect the prisoners 
 in case they surrendered. I was determined, if possible, 
 the forms of law should not be made a catspaw of a mob, 
 to seduce these people to a quiet surrender, as the con- 
 venient victims of popular fury, I therefore called to- 
 gether the whole force then assembled at Carthage, and 
 
AND CIUMP^S OK M(»UMONISM. 79 
 
 made an address, oxplainiiii,' to tlieni what ] could, and 
 what 1 couUl not, legally do ; and also adducing to them 
 various reasons why they, as well as the Mormons, slio\ilJ 
 submit to the laws ; and why, if they had resolved on 
 revolutionary proceedings, their jiurpose should he aban- 
 doned. The assembled troops seemed much pleased with 
 the address; and, ui)on its conclusion, the ofHcers and 
 men unanimously voted, with acclamation, to sustain nie 
 in a strictly legal course, and that the prisoners should 
 be protectetl from violence. Upon the arrival of addi- 
 tional forces from Warsaw, IMcDonough, and Schuyler, 
 similar addresses were made, with the same result. 
 
 " It seemed to me that these votes fully authorized mc 
 to promise the accused Mormons the protection of tlie 
 law in case they surrendered. They were accordingly duly 
 informed that if they surrendered they would be i)ro- 
 tected, and, if they did not, the whole force of the State 
 would be called out, if necessary, to compel the submis- 
 sion. A force of ten men was <lcs[)atched with the con- 
 stable to make the arrests, and to guard the prisoners tt> 
 lieadquartcrs. 
 
 " In the meantime, Joe Smith, as Lieuteuant-Genoral 
 of the Nauvoo Legion, had declared martial law in the 
 city ; the Legion was assembled, and ordered under arms ; 
 the members of it residing in the country were ordered 
 into town. The Mormon settlements obeyed the sum- 
 mons of their leader, and m.irched to his assistance. 
 Nauvoo was one great military camp, strictly guarded 
 and watched ; and no ingress or egi-ess was allowed 
 except upon the strictest examination. In one in.stance, 
 which came to m};- knowledge, a citizen of McDonough, 
 who happened to be in the city, was denied the privilege 
 of returning, until he made oath that he did not belong 
 to the party at Carthage, that he would return home 
 without calling at Carthage, and that he would give no 
 information of the movements of the Mormons. 
 
 " However, upon the arrival of the constable and 
 guard, the Mayor and Common Council at once signified 
 their willingness to surrender, and stated their readiness 
 to proceed to Carthage next morning at eight o'clock. 
 
80 LIFE IN UTAH; OH, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Martial law had previously been abolislied. The iiour of 
 eight o'clock came, and the accused failed to iriako their 
 appearance. The constable and his escort returned. 
 The constable made no effort to arrest any of them, nor 
 would he or the guard delay their departure one minute 
 beyond the time, to see whether an orrest could be made. 
 Upon their return, they re])orted that they had been in- 
 formed that the accused had fled, and could not be found. 
 
 " In the meantime, I made a requisition u])on the 
 officers of the Nauvoo Leixion for the State arms in their 
 ])ossession. It appears that there was no evidence in the 
 quartermaster-general's office of the number and descrip- 
 tion of the arms with which the Legion had been fur- 
 nished. Dr. Bennett, after he had been appointed 
 quartermaster-general, had joined the Mormons, and had 
 disposed of the public arms as he pleased, without keep- 
 ing or giving any account of them. On this subject I 
 applied to General Wilson Law for information. He had 
 lately been the Major-general of the Legion. He had 
 seceded from the Mormon party ; was one of the owners 
 of the proscribed press ; had left the city, as he said, in 
 fear of his life, and was one of the ])arty asking for jus- 
 tice against its constituted authorities. He was interest- 
 ed to exaggerate the number of arms rather than to place 
 it at too low an estimate. From his information I learned 
 that the Legion had received three pieces of cannon, and 
 about two hund?'ed and flfty stand of small arms and 
 their accoutrements. Of these, the three pieces of can- 
 non and two hundred and fifty stand of small arms were 
 siirrendered. These arms were demanded because the 
 Legion was illegally used in the destruction of the press, 
 and in enforcing martial law in the city, in o[)en resist- 
 ance to legal process, and the 'possc comitatus. 
 
 " I demanded the surrender also, on account of the 
 great prejudice and excitement which the possession of 
 these arras by the Mormons had always kindled in the 
 minds of the people. A large portion of the people, by 
 pure misrepresentation, had been made to believe that 
 the Legion had received from the State as many as thirty 
 pieces of artillery and Ave or six thousand stands of small 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 81 
 
 urms, wliicli, in all probability, would soon be wielded 
 for the conquest of the country, and for their subjection 
 to Mormon domination. I was of opinion that the re- 
 moval of these arms would tend much to allay this ex- 
 citement and prejudice ; and in point of fact, although 
 wearing a severe aspect, would be an act of real kindness 
 to the Mormons themselves. 
 
 " On the 23d or 24th day of June, Joe Smith, the 
 Mayor of Nauvoo, together with his brother Hyrum and 
 all the members of the Council, and all others demanded, 
 came into Carthage, and surrendered themselves prisoner.", 
 to the constable, on the charge of riot. They all volun- 
 tarily entered into, a recognizance before the Justice of 
 the Peace, for their appearance at court to answer the 
 charge. And all of them were discharged from custody 
 except Joe and Hyrum Smith, against whom the magis- 
 trate had issued a new writ, on a complaint of treason. 
 They were immediately arrested by the constable on this 
 charge, and retained in his custody to answer it. 
 
 " Soon after the surrender of the Smiths, at their re- 
 quest I despatched Captain Singleton with his company, 
 from Brown County to Nauvoo, to guard the town ; and 
 I authorized him to take command of the Legion. He 
 reported to me afto > ards, that he called out the Legion 
 for inspection ; and that, upon two hours' notice, two 
 thousand of them assembled, all ofs^'-them armed ; and 
 this after the public arms had been "taken away from 
 them. So it appears that they had a sufficiency of pri- 
 vate arms for any reasonable purpose. 
 
 " After the Smiths had been arrested on the new charge 
 of treason, the Justice of the Peace ])Ostponed the exa- 
 mination, because neither of the parties were prepared 
 with their witnesses for trial. Meanwhile he committed 
 them to the jail of the county fo greater security. The 
 jail, in which they were confined, s. a considerable stone 
 l)uilding; containing a residence /^r the jailor, cells for 
 the close confinement of prisoners, and one largex* room 
 not so strong, but more airy and comfortable than thi^ 
 cells. They we»'e put into the cells by the jailor ; but 
 upon their remonstrance and request, and by my advice, 
 
82 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 they were transferred to tlie larger room ; and there the}' 
 remained until the final catasti'ophe. Neither they nor I 
 seriously apprehended an attack on the jail, through the 
 guard stationed to protect it. Nor did I apprehend the 
 least danger on their part of an attempt to escape. For 
 I was very sure that any such an attempt would have 
 been the signal of their immediate death. Indeed, if 
 they had escaped, it would have been fortunate for the 
 purposes of those who were anxious for the expulsion of 
 the Mormon pojmlation. For tiie great body of that 
 people would most assuredly have followed their Prophet 
 and principal leaders, as they did in their Hight from 
 Missouri. I learned afterwards that . the leaders of the 
 anti-Mormons did much to stimulate 'heir followers to 
 the murder of the Smiths in jail, by alleging that the 
 Governor intended to favor their escape. Jf this had 
 been true, and could have been well carried out, it would 
 have been the best way of getting rid of the Mormons. 
 The leaders would not have dared to return, and all their 
 church would have followed. I had such a plan in my 
 mind, but I had never breathed it to a living soul, and 
 was thus thwarted in ridding the State of the Mormons 
 two years before they actually left, by the insane fury of 
 the anti-Mormons. 
 
 " The force assembled at Carthage amounted to about 
 twelve or thirteeis|ijiundrcd men, and it was calculated 
 that four or live hundred more w^ere asseml)led at War- 
 saw. Nearly all that portion resident in Hancock were 
 anxious to be marched into Nauvoo. This measure was 
 supposed to be necessary, to search for counterfeit money 
 and the ap[)aratus to make it, and .also to strike a salu- 
 tary terror into the Mormon people, by an exhibition of 
 the force of the State, and thereby prevent future out- 
 rages, murders, robberies, burnings, and the like, appre- 
 hended as the effect of Mormon ven^'eance on those who 
 had taken a part against them. On my part, at one time, 
 this arrangement was agreed to. The morning of the 
 27th day of June was appointed for the riiarch ; and 
 Golden's Point, near the Mississippi river, and about 
 equidistant from Nauvoo anil Warsaw, was selected jis 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 83 
 
 the place of rendezvous. I had determined to prevail on 
 the Justice to bring out his prisoners, and take them 
 along. A council of officers, however, determined that 
 this would be highly inex])edient rnd dangerous, and 
 oflFered such substantial reasons for their opinions as in- 
 duced me to change my resolution. 
 
 "Two or three days' preparation had been made for 
 this expedition, I observed that some of the peo])le be- 
 came more and more excited and inflammatory, the fur- 
 ther the [>reparations were advanced. Occasional threats 
 came to my ears of destroying the city and murdering or 
 expelling the inhabitants. I had no objection to ease the 
 terrors of the peojjle by such a display of force, and was 
 most anxious also to search for the alleged apparatus for 
 making counterfeit money ; and, in fact, to inquire into 
 all the charges against that ])eople, if I could have been 
 assured of my command against mutiny and insubordi- 
 nation. But I gradually learned, to my entire satisfac- 
 tion, that there was a plan to get the troops into Nauvoo, 
 and there to begin the war, probably by some of our own 
 part}', or some of the seceding Mormons, taking advan- 
 tage of the night to lire on our own force, and then laying 
 it to the Mormons. I was satisfied there were those 
 amongslf us fully capable of such an act, hoping that in 
 the alarm, bustle and confusion of a militia camp, the 
 truth could not be discovered, and .that it might lead to 
 the desired collision. 
 
 " All these considerations were duly urged by me upon 
 the attention of a council of officers, convened on the 
 morning of Juno 27th. I also urged u))on the council, 
 that such Avanton and unprovoked barbarity on their 
 part would turn the sympathy of the people in the sur- 
 rounding counties in favor of the Mormons, and therefore 
 it would be impossible to raise a volunteer militia force 
 to protect such a people against them. Many of the offi- 
 cers admitted that there might be danfjer of a collision. 
 But such was the blind fury prevailing at the time, 
 though not showing itself by much visible oxciten-ent, 
 that a small maioritv of the toun(;il adhered to the first 
 resolution of marchin,^ ii.to ISauvoo ; mixt of t'le oircevs 
 
84 LIFE IX TTAH; OR, Tlil-: MYSTEUIiCS 
 
 of the Schu3^ler and McDonough militia voting fig-ainst it, 
 and most of those of the County of Hancock voting in 
 its favor. 
 
 "A very responsible duty now devolved upon me to 
 determine whether I would, as Commander-in-Chief, be 
 governed by the advice of this majority. T had no hesi- 
 tation in deciding that I would not ; but on the contrary, 
 I ordered the troops to be disbanded, both at Carthage 
 and Warsaw, with the exception of three companies, two 
 of which were retained as a guard to the jail, and the 
 other to accompany me to Nauvoo. 
 
 " I ordered two companies under the command of Cap- 
 tain R. F. Smit'i, of the Carthage Crays, to guard the 
 jail. In selecting these companies, and particularly the 
 company of the Carthage Grays for this service, I have 
 been subjected to some censure. It has been said that 
 this company had already been guilty of nmtiny, and 
 had been ordered to be arrested whilst in the encamp- 
 ment at Carthage ; and they and their officers were the 
 deadly enemies of the prisoners. Indeed it would have 
 been diflicult to find friends of the prisoners under my 
 command, unless I had called in the Mormons as a guard ; 
 and this I was satisfied would have led to immediate war, 
 and the sure death of the prisoners. * 
 
 " Although I knew that this company were the ene- 
 mies of the Smiths, yet I had confidence in their loyalty 
 and integrity ; because their captain was universally 
 spoken of as a respectable citizen and honorable man. 
 The company itself was an old independent company, 
 well armed, uniformed and drilled ; and the members of 
 it were the elltG of the militia of the county. I relied 
 upon this company especially, because it was an indepen- 
 dent company, for a long time instructed and practised 
 ill military discipline and subordination. I also had their 
 word of honor, officers and men, that they would do their 
 duty according to law. Besides all this the officers and 
 most of the men resided in Carthage ; and in the near 
 vicinity of Nauvoo ; and, as I thought, must know that 
 they would make themselves and their property conveni- 
 ent and consjjicuous marks of Mormon vengeance, in case 
 they were guilty of treachery. 
 
AND CHIMES OF MOIIMONISM. 85 
 
 " I had at iirst intended to select a guard from the 
 County of MeDonougli, but the militia of that county 
 were very much dissatiwfied to remain ; their crops were 
 sufferinc;: at home ; they were in a perfect fever to be dis- 
 charged ; and 1 was destitute of provisions to supply them 
 for more than a few days. They were far from home, 
 where they could not supply themselves. Whilst the 
 Carthage company could board at their own homes, and 
 would be put to little inconvenience in comparison. 
 
 " It is true also, that at this time I had not believed or 
 suspected that an attack would be made upon the pri- 
 soners in jail. It is true that I was aware that a great 
 deal of hatred existed against them, and that there were 
 those who would do them an injury if they could. I had 
 heard of some threats being made, but none of an attack 
 upon the pi-isoners while in jail. Those threats seemed 
 to be made by individuals not acting in concert. They 
 were no more than the bluster which might have beeii 
 expected, and furnished no indication of numbers com- 
 bining for this or any other jmrpose. Having ordered 
 the guard and left Gen. Deming in command and dis- 
 charged the residue of the rnilitia, I immediately depart- 
 ed for Nauvoo, eighteen miles distant, accom})anied by 
 Colonel Buck master, Quartermaster General, and Capjtain 
 Dunn's company of dragoons. 
 
 " After we had proceeded four miles. Col. Buckmaster 
 intimated to me a suspicion that an attack would be 
 made upon the jail. He stated the matter as a mere 
 suspicion, arising from having seen two ])ersons converse 
 together at Carthage with some air of mystery. I myself 
 entertained no suspicion of such an at .ick ; at any rate, 
 none before the next day in the aftern^ 'on ; because it was 
 notorious that we had departed from Carthage with the 
 declared intention of being absent at least two days. I 
 could not believe that any person would attack the jail 
 whilst we were in Nauvoo, and thereby expose my life 
 and the life of my companions to the sudden vengeance 
 of the Mormons, upon hearing of tlie death of their 
 loaders. Nevertheless, acting upon the ])rinciple of pro- 
 viding against mere possibilities,, I sent back one of the 
 c, 
 
86 liff: in utah ; on, the mysteries 
 
 company with a special order to Captain Smith to guard 
 the jail strictly, and at the peril of his life, until my 
 return. 
 
 " We proceeded on our journey four miles further. By 
 this time I had convinced myself that no attack would 
 be made upon the jail that day or night. I supposed 
 that a regard for my safety and the safety of my com- 
 panions would prevent an attack until those to be engag- 
 ed in it could be assured of our departure from Nauvoo. 
 I still think that this ought to have appeared to me to be a 
 reasonable supposition. I therefore determined at this 
 point to omit making the search for counterfeit money at 
 Nauvoo, and defer an examination of all other abomina- 
 tions charged on that ])coplo, in order to return to Car- 
 thage that same night, that 1 might be on the ground in 
 person, in time to prevent an attack upon the jail, if any 
 had been meditated. To this end we called a halt ; the 
 baggage waggons where ordered to remain where they were 
 until towards evening, and then return to Carthage. 
 
 " Having made these arrangements, wc proceeded on 
 our march, and arrived at Nauvoo about four o'clock of 
 the afternoon of the 27th day of June. As soon as 
 notice could be given, a crowd of the citizens assembled 
 to hear an address Avhich I ])roposed to deliver to them. 
 The number present has been variously estimated at from 
 one to live thousand. 
 
 " In this address I stated to them how, and in what, 
 their functionaries had violated the law^s. Also, tlie 
 many scandalous reports in circulation against them, and 
 that these reports, whether true or false, were generally 
 believed by the people. I distinctly stated to them the 
 amount of I.atred and prejudice which prevailed every- 
 where against them, and the causes of it, at length. 
 
 "I also told them plainly ond emphatically, that if 
 any vengeance should be attempted, openly or secretly, 
 against the persons or property of the citizens who had 
 taken part against their leaders, that the public hatred 
 and excitement were such, that thousands would as- 
 semble for the total destruction of their city and the 
 extermination of their people ; and that no power in the 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 87 
 
 State would be able to prevent it. During tliis address 
 some impatience and resentment were manifested by the 
 Mormons, at the recital of the various reports enumerated 
 concerning them, which they strenuously and indignantly 
 denied to be true. They claimed to be a law-abiding 
 people, and insisted that as they looked to the law alone 
 for their protection, so were they careful themselves to 
 observe its provisions. Upon the conclusion of this ad- 
 dress, I proposed to take a vote on the question whether 
 ihey would strictly observe the laws, even in opposition 
 to their Prophet and leaders. The vote was unanimous 
 in favor of this proposition. 
 
 " The anti-Mormons contended that such a vote from 
 the Mormons signified nothing ; and truly the subsequent 
 history of that people showed clearly that they were 
 loudest in their professions of attachment to the law, 
 when they were guilty of the greatest extravagances ; 
 and in fact, that they were so ignorant and stupid about 
 matters of law, that they had no means of judging of the 
 legality of their conduct, only as tliey were instructed by 
 their spiritual leaders. 
 
 " A short time before sundown w^e departed on our 
 return to Oarthjige. When we had proceed'jd two miles, 
 we met two individuals, one of them a Mormon, who in- 
 formed us that the Smiths had been assassinated in jail, 
 about five or six o'clock of that day. The intelligence 
 seemed to strike every one with a kind of dumbness. 
 As to myself it was perfectly astounding ; and T antici- 
 pated the very worst consequences from it. The Mor- 
 mons had been represented to me as a lawless, infatuated 
 and fanatical people, not governed by the ordinary mo- 
 tives which infiuenco the rest of mankind. If so, most 
 likely an exterminating war would ensue, and the whole 
 land would be covered with desolation. Acting upon 
 this supposition, it was my duty to provide, as well as I 
 •'ould, for the event. I therefore took the two messengers 
 in custody back to Carthage, in order to gain time, and 
 make such arrangements as could be made, to prevent 
 any sudden explosion of Mormon excitement. I also 
 despatched messengers to Warsaw, to advise the citizens 
 
88 I-IFE IX UTAH; OR, THE MV.STKKIKS 
 
 of the event. But the })eople there knew all about it, 
 and, like myself, feared a general attack. The v/oraen 
 and children were moved across the nver, and a com- 
 mittee despatched that night to Quincy for assistance. 
 The next morning, by daylight, the ringing of the bells 
 in the city of Quincy announced a public meeting. The 
 people assembled in great numbers. The Warsaw com- 
 mittee stated to the meeting, that a party of Mormons 
 had attempted to rescue the Smiths out of jail ; that a 
 party of Missourians and others had killed the ])risoners 
 to prevent their escape ; that the Governor and his party 
 were at Nauvoo at the time, when intelligence of the fact 
 was brought there ; that they had bueii attacked by tlie 
 Nauvoo Legion, and had retreated to a house where they 
 were then closely besieged. That the Governor had sent 
 out word that he could maintain his position for two 
 days, and would be certain to be massacred if assistance 
 did not arrive by the end of that time. It is unneces- 
 sary to say that this entire story was a fnliri cation. The 
 effect of it, however, was that by ten o'clock on tlie 2Stk 
 of June, between two and three hundred men from 
 Quinc}', under command of Major Flood, embarked on 
 board a steamboat for Nauvoo, to a.vsist in raising the 
 siege, as they honestly believed. 
 
 " Upon hearing of the assassination of the Smiths, 1 
 was sensible that my connnand was at an end ; that my 
 destruction was meditated, as well as that of the Mor- 
 mons ; and that I could not reasonably confide longer in 
 one party or the other. I am convinced that it was the 
 expectation that the Mormons would assassinate me, on 
 the sujiposition that I had planned the murder of the 
 Smiths. Hence the conspirators committed their act 
 while I was at Nauvoo. 
 
 '' It was many days after the assassination of the Smiths 
 before the circumstances of the nuu'der became fully 
 knoAvn. It then ap])eared that, agreeably" to previous 
 orders, the j^of^se at Warsaw had mnrched on the morning 
 of the 27th of June, in the direction of Golden's Point, 
 with a view to join the force from Cartharje, the whole 
 body then to be marched into Nauvoo, When they had 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 89 
 
 gone eight miles, they were met by the order to disbaud ; 
 and learning, at the same time, that the Governor was 
 absent at Nauvoo, about two hundred of these men, many 
 of them disguised, by blacking their faces with powder 
 and mud, hastened immediately to Carthage. There they 
 encamped at some distance from the village, and soon 
 learned that one of the companies, left as a guard, had 
 disbanded and returned to their homes ; the other com- 
 pany, the Carthago Grays, was stationed by the Ca})tain 
 in the public square, a hundred and fifty yards from the 
 jail, whilst eight men were detailed by him, under the 
 command of Sei'geant Franklin A. Worrell, to guard the 
 prisoners. A communication Avas soon established be- 
 tween the conspirators and the c(jmpany ; and it was 
 arranged that the guard should have their guns charged 
 with blank cartridges, and fire at the assailants when they 
 attempted to enter the jail. General Doming, who was 
 left in command, being deserted by some of his troops, 
 and perceiving the arrangement with the others, and 
 having no force upon which he could rely, for fear of his 
 life, retired from the village. The conspirators came up, 
 jumped the slight fence around the jail, were fired upon 
 by the guard, which, according to arrangement, was over- 
 powered immediately, and tlie assailants entered the pri- 
 son, to the door of the room, where the two ]:»risoners 
 were confined, with two of their friends, who voluntarily 
 bore them company. An attempt was made to break 
 open the door ; but Joe Smith being armed with a six 
 barrelled pistol, famished by his friends, fired several 
 times as the door was bursted open, and wounded three 
 of the assailants. At the same time several shots were 
 fired into the room, by some of which John Taylor re- 
 ceived four wounds, and Hyrum Smith was instantly 
 killed Joe Smith now attempted to escape, by jumping 
 out of the second-story window ; but the fall so stunned 
 him that he was unable to arise, and, being ])laeed in a 
 sitting posture by the conspirators below, they despatched 
 him, with four balls shot through his body. 
 
 " Thus fell Jog Sniiith, the most successful impostor in 
 modern times ; a man wlio, tliough ignorant and coarse. 
 
90 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 had some great natural parts, whicli fitted liim for tem- 
 porary success, but whicli were so obscured and counter- 
 acted by the inherent corruption and vices of his nature, 
 that he never could succeed in establishing a system of 
 policy which looked to permanent success in the future. 
 His lusts, his love of money and power, always set him 
 to studying present gratification and convenience, rather 
 than the remote consequences of his plans. It seems that 
 no power of intellect can save a corrupt man from this 
 error. The strong cravings of the animal nature will never 
 give fair play to a fine understanding ; the judgment is 
 never allowed to choose that good which is far away, in 
 preference to enticing evil near at hand. And this may 
 be considered a wise ordinance of Providence, by which 
 the counsels of talented but corrupt men arc defeated in 
 the very act which promised success. 
 
 " It must not be suj)posed that the pretended Pi'ophet 
 practised the tricks of a common impostor ; that he wa,s 
 a dark and gloomy person, with a long beard, a grave, 
 and severe aspect, and a reserved and saintly carriage of 
 his person ; on the contrary, he was full of levity, even 
 to boyish romping ; dressed like a dandy, and, at times, 
 drank like a sailor, and sworo like a pirate. He could, 
 as occasion required, be exceedingly meek in his deport- 
 ment, and then again rough and boisterous as a highway 
 robber ; being always able to satisfy his followers of the 
 propriety of his conduct. He always quailed before 
 power, and was arrogant to weakness. At times he could 
 put on tlie air of a penitent, as if feeling the deepest hu- 
 miliation for his sins, and suffering unutterable anguish, 
 and indulging in the most gloomy forebodings of eternal 
 woe. At such times, he would call for the prayers of the 
 brethren on his behalf, with a wild and fearful energy 
 and earnestness. He was full six feet high, strongly 
 built, and uncommonly well muscled. No doubt he was 
 as much indebted for his influence over an ignorant people, 
 to the superiority of his physical vigor, as to his greater 
 cunning and intellect. 
 
 " His followers were divided into the leaders and the 
 led ; the first division embraced a numerous class of 
 
AND CHIMES OF MOUMONISM. 91 
 
 ft 
 
 brokeu-down, imprincijiled men of talent, to be found in 
 every country, who, bankrupt in cliaractcr and fortune, 
 had nothing to lose by deserting the known religion.s, 
 and carving out a new one of their own. They were 
 mostly infidels, who holding all religions in derision, be- 
 lieved they had as good a right as Christ or Mahomet, or 
 any of the founders of former systems, to create one for 
 themselves ; and, if they could impose it upon mankind, 
 to live upon the labour of their dupes. Those of the 
 second division wore the credulous, wondering part of 
 men, whose easy belief and admiring natures arc always 
 the victims of novelty in whatever shape it may come ; 
 who have a capacity to believe any strange and wonder- 
 ful matter, if it only be new, whilst the wonders of for- 
 mer ages command neither faith nor reverence ; they are 
 men of feeble purposes, readily subjected to the will of 
 the strong, giving themselves up entirely to the direction 
 of their leaders ; and this accounts for the very gi-eat in- 
 liucncc of those leaders in controlling them. In other 
 respects some of the Mormons were abandoned rogues, 
 who had taken shelter in Nauvoo, as a convenient place 
 for the headquarters of their villany ; and others were 
 good, honest, industrious people, who were the sincere 
 victims of artful delusion. Such as these were more the 
 proper objects of pity than persecution. With them, 
 their religious belief was a kind of insanity ; and cer- 
 tainly no greater calamity can befall a human being than 
 to have a mind so constituted as to be made the sincere 
 dupe of a religious imposture." 
 
 It were vain to attempt to describe the mingled feelings 
 of grief and rage which agitated the people of Nauvoo, 
 when the death of Joe Smith was announced there. 
 All his errors and tyrannies seemed to be obliterated 
 from their minds ; ho had " sealed the truth with hLs 
 blood," and stood henceforth a sainted martyr. The 
 spiritual wives of the dead Prophet filled the city with 
 their cries, but his lawful wife Emma was quiet and re- 
 •signed. When Joseph and Hyrum retreated across the 
 river to avoid the constable first sent from Carthage, she 
 had joined with the Apostle William Marks in writing 
 
92 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE lYSTERIES 
 
 them an indignant letter, in which she cliarged them as 
 " cowardly shepherds, who had left the sheep in danger 
 and fled." This statement rests upon the testimony of 
 Joseph F. Smith, hon of Hyrum, now an Apostle at Salt 
 Lake, who adds : " When Joseph saw that letter his great 
 heart almost bursted, and he said, ' If that is all my wife 
 and friends care for my life, then I don't care for it,' and 
 returned and gave himself up." 
 
 The whole people turned out, in deep mourning, and 
 with every demonstration of grief, and the remains of 
 Joseph and Hyrum were honored with a magnificent 
 funeral. Joseph was thirty-nine, and Hyrum fortj^-'four 
 years old. In the short space of fifteen years Joe Smith 
 and his coadjutors had brought forth a new Bible, or- 
 dained a new morality, established a new theology, and 
 founded a Church with missions in half the civilized 
 world. Organized in 1830, the Cliurch, at the time of 
 their deatli, numbered probably two hundred thousand 
 throughout the M^orld. The Mormons themselves claim- 
 ed half a million. But they have probably never ex- 
 ceeded the former number since that time. Under the 
 lead of Brigham Young they made tolerable progress for 
 a few years, but are certainly losing in numbers at 
 present. In the very germ of the new sect was 
 planted a fatal principle of progress in evil, which, 
 by its appeal to the vagaries and vices of men, gave 
 a predisposition to rapid rise and the assurance of 
 early decay. From a living and erring Prophet of per- 
 sonal prowess and prestige, the progress was regular and 
 natural to intrigue, grossness and materialism ; material- 
 ism and sanctified lust necessitated polygamy, and poly- 
 gatjiv has in the perfect order of nature proved the 
 mother of incest and blood atonement. From the wor- 
 ship of a human demigod of passion, under a light and 
 false mantle of religion, the descent was easy to the wor- 
 ship of only sensual forms and practices. There is 
 nothing more surprising in it than in the progress from 
 the serpent's egg to the deadly viper. Nor is it strange 
 that the sect increased rapidly ; every century, and 
 almost every generation, has witnessed the sudden rise of 
 
DEATH OF JOSEPH SMITH 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 95 
 
 a corrupt and law-defying sect ; and modern soc'^ty still: 
 presents am^le materials. As like produces like, and 
 everytlung its kind in nature, so tho evil-hearted and 
 credulous will be led to worse evil by any religion that 
 does r.ot convert and reform. The various sects, too, 
 have lost much of that burning a.id aggressive vigor 
 wliica distinguished their vise; and redemptive agencies 
 have not, in all respects, kept pace with sinful allurement, 
 and a fair field has ];een left for delusion. The minister 
 in many oases still travels on horseback, while the devil 
 goes by rail. With all the power of evangelical organi- 
 zation and gospel at work, Satan too often rides upon the 
 whiilwind of popular passion, and subsidizes by trick 
 ;ind prejudice the very enthusiasm of man's nature. 
 
 Tho Methodists, who formerly prided themselves on 
 a hearty simplicity and earnest work among the masses, 
 have too often attained to the elegant conservatism of 
 the Old Mother ; they are in some places fixed almost in 
 gilded formalism, and in others reduced to the preju- 
 diced foliowinff after traditions of religion, both lackinfj 
 much the kindling of the " fire from the altar." The 
 Baptists, who were also the hardy pioneers, have so en- 
 trenched themselves about as to be separated from other 
 denominations in sympathy, and almost from the world, 
 leaving themselves open, at least, to the charge of follow- 
 ing "the water-god of exclusive errorists." The Pres- 
 byterians, whose [universal suffi-age should be peculiarly 
 suited to the genius of our whole people, seemed to have 
 struck but a certain class of quietly reserved tastes ; and 
 they appear to the world as much interested in preserv- 
 ing the authority of an ancient Confession of Faith as in 
 vitalizing their republicanism for the conversion of the 
 people. The Campbellites have developed a controversial 
 spirit which may well be suspected of having gone beyond 
 a mere zeal for the truth. The Episcopalians, with an 
 organization essentially monarchical in foim, looking to 
 its dignitaries for authority and power, divided even here 
 as to the policy of carrying this principle further, cannot 
 yet be said to be fully naturalized as an American church. 
 All have attained to a more formal, or sober and intellec- 
 
^Q LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 tual sort of religion. Nor should we quarrel with this, 
 of itself. Intellectual men must have an intellectual 
 faith ; a mere emotional experience is quite impos. ible 
 to them, nor would it content them. Notwithstanding 
 this, the Unitarians, a sect whose faith is more purely 
 one of philosophy and taste, have t;hown little vitality in 
 extending their bounds. There is sti)l the great mass of 
 men who will be content with nothing short of a simple 
 religion, warmed with a generous enthusiasm ; and this, 
 in the hands or under the direction of corrupt or crazy 
 men, becomes a wild, fierce fiinaticism. Not that religion 
 should accommodate the vices of human nature ; but 
 while it reforms them it should give virtuous direction to 
 that enthusiasm which will otherwise rend and tear them. 
 It is not at all too late for another successful delusion. 
 Millions pant for novelty, for a personal god, for present 
 light and prophecy, for something harmonious entirely 
 with our own day and nation, more real, more tangible, 
 not a mere matter of two thousand years of church erudi- 
 tion and history, grand as they are in the triumphs of an 
 improving civilization. 
 
 In the midst of such excitement in the West came the 
 impostor, and to the lowest manifestation of this want 
 Mormonism was addressed. But Mormonism could never 
 be a success in America, because it controverted the in- 
 herent American idea ; it turned back to sensualism for 
 its inspiration, and to despotism for its model. Had it 
 been founded on progressive instead of retrograde ideas, 
 had it developed individuality and personal freedom, had 
 it claimed a higher consideration for the feminine in crea- 
 tion, and a more perfect independence for woman, had 
 it stepped forward, and not back, then it might have 
 helped to reform all America, and founded a permanent, 
 new order. 
 
 The religious public may then be re-assured ; Mormon- 
 ism is not the religion or sect which is to play havoc among 
 existing systems. But the signs of the times indicate a 
 new or modified phase of religion. We will have a 
 distinctly American Church. The Roman Empire Chris- 
 tianized made Roman Catholicism, which has been re- 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONLSM. 97 
 
 formetl. as its people have in the governments ; Russia 
 made the finished Greek system ; Italy is Ultramontane 
 Catholic ; England has the Establishment ; Scandinavia 
 has the Lutheran Church ; each nation has developed one 
 central, theological and ecclesiastical idea, and we are not 
 yet so fully completed and individualized, as to be with- 
 out the same want and yearning. Perhaps one of the 
 present sects will modify and advance to the needed 
 place ; or from the spirit of union in many, may come 
 the ascendant and satisfying one. The Church of the 
 future must be both intellectual and emotional ; it must 
 look to tlie future for its hope, and to our own land for 
 its governing polity, and not to worn out systems which 
 have proved too weak for earthly means ; as truth is 
 immortal it must look only for new developments of 
 truth ; it must purify the marriage relation, and recog- 
 nize the political and social independence of woman ; it 
 must helieve in sanctification, even if it does not claim to 
 have obtained it, ahd it must make unceasing war upon 
 every species of ojipression, and every form of intem- 
 perance. Such a Church must have more truth than 
 error, both in method and creed and, for it, a broad field 
 is open. 
 
 But Mormonism Avas a mushroom growth upon a rich 
 bed of decay, which sprang up merely because somethhig 
 better ims not itlanted, but had no enduring root. It 
 might flourish for half a century or more, upon the scum 
 of vice in America, and the ignorance of Europe, but 
 €0uld enjoy at best but a sort of living death, and must 
 soon wither and decay. 
 
98 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, TIIK MYSTERIES 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TWO YEARS OF STRIFE— EXODUS FROM ILLINOIS. 
 
 No Successor to the Prophet — David Hyrum Smith, the " Son of Pro- 
 mise " — Contest for the Leadership — Diplomacy of Brighara Young — 
 Curious Trials — All of Brigham's Opjjonents "cut off" — Troubles 
 Renewed — Fights, Outrages, Robberies and Murder — Another Elec- 
 tion and more Treachery —Singular "Wolf Hunt" — Capture and 
 'jMal of Smith's Murderers — Of the Mormon Rioters — Failure and 
 Defects of the Law — Further Outrages on Gentiles — Troubles in 
 Adams County — The "Oneness" — The People of Adams Drive out 
 the Mormons— Revenge by the Mormons — Murders of McBratney, 
 Worrell, Wilcox, and Daubeneyer — Retaliation, and Murder of Dur- 
 fee -The Mormons Ravage Hancock— Flight of the Gentiles — Militia 
 Called, and Hancock put under Martial Law — The Mormons Begin to 
 Licave Illinois — Fresh Quarrels— More Mormon Treachery — Bombard- 
 ment of Nauvoc, and Final Expulsion of the Mormons. 
 
 The hostility of the Gentiles suddenly )-elaxed, and a 
 brief period of repose followed. But it was necessary to 
 provide for the government of the Church. The theo- 
 cratic polity had been fully established by Joe Smith, 
 but no provision made for a successor. The Prophet had, 
 it is true, laid his hands on the head of his eldest son 
 Joseph, and ordained him a king and a priest in his stead, 
 and but a short time before his death he stated, " the man 
 was not born who was to lead this people, but of Emma 
 Smith — then promising him tiD heir — should be born a 
 son who would succeed in the Prc^sidency, after a season 
 of disturbance." This son named, from liis father's direc- 
 tion, David Hyrum, was born at the Mansion House, on 
 the 17th of November following. This is the " son of 
 promise," whom thousands of Mormons still regard as the 
 predestined leader, who is finally to bring them back to 
 Jackson County. 
 
 But an immediate leader was needed. Many had reve- 
 lations that Joseph would, like the Saviour, rise from the 
 dead, and some reported that they had seen him coursing 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 99 
 
 the air on a gi*eat wliite horse. But all these were finally 
 condemned by the pricstliood as "lying revelations." Wil- 
 liam Smith, the Prophet's only sui viving brother, claimed 
 the succession on that account. Sidney Rigdon, who was 
 one of the First Presidency, from his peculiar relations 
 to the Church, asserted the strongest claim. James 
 Strang had an immediate revelation that he was to lead 
 the people into Wisconsin. Lyman Wight received a 
 divine order to go to Texas, and Gladden Bishop, John E. 
 Page, Cutler, Hedrick, Brewster and others laid in their 
 claims. 
 
 On the loth of August, the Twelve Apostles, headed 
 by Brigham Young, addressed an " Encyclical letter to all 
 the Saints in the world," and the 7th of October, tho 
 Saints of Nauvoo and vicinity met in council to deter- 
 mine who should take control. Brigham had been absent 
 in Boston, and Rigdon, very busy among the people, had 
 succeeded in getting: a special convention called ; but Brifj- 
 ham arrived tho very day of the meeting, and signally 
 defeated Rigdon. The people voted that the government 
 should for the present b(! in the " College of Twelve Apos- 
 tles," which was in effect making Brigham chief ruler. 
 The next day Brigham made a savage address against 
 Sidney Rigdon, who, meanwhile, had a revelation that all 
 the wealthy members were to follow him to western . 
 Pennsylvania, and establish a new " stake" for the others 
 to gather to ! Brigham then denounced Rigdon and all 
 his revelations as from the devil, and moved that he be 
 " cut off'." Nearly a hundred voted in the negative, when 
 it was immediately resolved they were in a s})irit of apos- 
 tacy and they were "cut off*." It was then proposed 
 and unanimously carried, that " all who should here- 
 after defend Rigdon should bo cut off," which ended the 
 so-called election. Rigdon took a small band to Peim- 
 sylvania, and most of the other aspirants also took 
 off various sects, known in the Brighamite church as 
 " Gladdenites," " Strangeites," '^ Brewsterites," "Cutler- 
 ites," " Gatherers," etc. Most of these sects have fallen, 
 to pieces. The Times and Seasons, a weekly periodical, 
 had been established at Nauvoo soon after its settlement. 
 
100 LIFE III UTAH; OH, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 and in tlio fifth volume may be found n full account of 
 these curious trials. 
 
 Brigham Young now took entire control, hastened the 
 completion of the upper rooms of tlie Temple, and hur- 
 ried the people through their "endowments." These con- 
 sist of a mystical ceremony representing the various stages 
 in man's progrf^s, during which the candidates are initia- 
 ted and passed to the various degrees of the priesthood, 
 and sworn to obey all orders of their superiors. The 
 penalties for violation of these oaths are, according to the 
 uniform testimony of various apostates, " having the 
 throat cut," the " bowels slit across," the " heart plucked 
 out," or the " blood spilt upon the gi-ound," according to 
 the several degrees. Brigham consolidated his power 
 rapidly, but, by the opening of 1845, outside hostility 
 again began to be felt, and the leaders secretly resolved 
 to abandon Nauvoo. 
 
 The malcontents from the city, and those who had suf- 
 fered, would run away to anti-Mormon neighborhoods, 
 and stir np hatred against the Saints. Gentiles, who 
 owned property near Nauvoo, found it practically worth- 
 less, for they could sell it to no other Gentiles ; and in the 
 county ot large, ^here the Mormons settled around an 
 old resident, his society was gone ; he could have no 
 church nvY school privileges ; he «ould not affiliate or be 
 neighborly with +he new comers, and often suspected 
 them of trespass and constant annoyance. His land lost 
 half its value, and the near presence of foreigners of the 
 fanatic sect caused him to be forever on his guard. It 
 became a settled conviction in the minds of the people 
 that they could have no peaceful enjoyment of their pro- 
 perty while the Saints remained. Gentiles combined in 
 groups for society and protection, and the Mormons did 
 the same at command of the Church, to which they were 
 bound by such absolute oaths ; and this, of course, led to 
 local and sectional hatred, which, among people who 
 habitually wore arms, soon culminated in blood. Men 
 became afraid to stir abroad, except in squads ; riots and 
 regular skirmishes, amounting almost to pitched battles, 
 took place ; blood was shed, lives were lost, and the ex- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 101 
 
 asperation of both parties was raised to the highest 
 pitch. The Western press teemed with accounts of the 
 enormities of Nauvoo, no doubt, greatly exaggerated, but 
 still with considerable basis of truth. A horrible murder 
 was committed in Lee County, Iowa, and the perpetrators 
 were traced directly to Nauvoo. At least a dozen Mor- 
 mons swore positively that the accused were in that city 
 at the time of the murder ; and yet so contradictory was 
 their testimony and so plain the rest of the evidence, that 
 the murderers, two brothers named Hodges, were con- 
 victed and hanged at Montrose, Iowa. It w^is whispered 
 about that they woidd be rescued by a Mormon force, and 
 nearly every man in southern Iowa, then but eighty miles 
 wide, the rest to the Missouri being Indian country, at- 
 tended the executicn. This case excited all of Iowa as 
 well as Illinois afresh against Nauvoo. Conspicuous 
 among the journals of that period, in advocating the ex- 
 pulsion or extermination of the Mormons, were the San- 
 gamo Journal, Burlington Hawk-eye, Quincy Whig and 
 Warsaiu Signal. At the same time, the executive of the 
 State was accused openly of favoring the Mormons. Per- 
 haps no fact in Mormon history so fuUy illustrates the 
 blind unreason of the laity, or the corruption and treach- 
 ery of the leaders, as their treatment of the Governor, 
 Thomas L. Ford. He had been elected with the aid of 
 their votes, and had idways maintained that the cmsade 
 rgainst them was only for political effect ; ho had been 
 their friend in most difficult situations, and had even 
 strained the facts to make a sort of excuse for them ; he 
 had done all that was supposed necessary to .save the 
 Smiths, and had risked his popularity and life to bring 
 their murderers to punishment. And yet they are never 
 weary of heaping abuse upon him, because he did nov- 
 accede to other demands on their part ; they generally 
 accuse him of conniving at the murder of the Smiths, 
 and heap execrations upon his memory. It must be re- 
 membered, that Governor Ford wrote his history the year 
 after the Mormons left, that it is not so much a history cf 
 the State as a defence of his administration, that, politi- 
 cally, he was more of an enemy to the anti-Mormons of 
 
102 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 WoHtuni Illinois thiui to the Mormons, and consequently 
 inclined to make as favorable^ a showing as possible for 
 the latter. With this comment, or caution rather, I re- 
 turn to his account : 
 
 " About one year after the apostles were installed in 
 power, they abandoned, for the present, the project of 
 converting the world to the new religion. All the mis- 
 sionaries and members abroad were ordered hor iC ; it was 
 announced that the world had rejected the gospel by the 
 murder of the Prophet and P^itriarch, and was to be left 
 to perish in its sins. In the meantime, both before and 
 after this, the elders at Nauvoo quit preaching about 
 religion. The Mormons came from every part pouring 
 into the city ; the congregations were regularly called 
 together for worship, but instead of expounding the new 
 gospel, the zealous and infuriated preachers now indulged 
 only in curses and strains of abuse of the Gentiles, and 
 it seemed to be their design to fill their followers with 
 the greatest amount of hatred to all mankind, excepting 
 the * Saints.' A sermon was no more than an inflamma- 
 tory stump speech, relating to their quarrels with their 
 enemies, and ornamented with an abundance of proftmity. 
 From my own personal knowledge of this people, I can 
 say, with truth, that I have never known much of any of 
 their leaders who was not a,ddicted to proline swearing. 
 No other kind of discourses than these were heard in the 
 city. Curses upon their enemies, upon the country, upon 
 Government, upon all public officers, were now th ^ lessons 
 taught by the elders, to inflame their people with the 
 highest degree of spite and malice against all who were 
 not of the Mormon Church, or its obsequious tools. The 
 reader can readily imagine how a city of fifteen thousand 
 inhabitants could be wrought up and kept in a continual 
 rage by the inflammatory harangues of its leaders. 
 
 " In the meantime, the anti-Mormons were not idle ; 
 they were more than ever determined to expel the Mor- 
 mons ; and, being passionately inflamed against them, 
 they made many applications for executive assistance. 
 On the other hand, the Mormons invoked the assistance 
 of Government to take vengeance upon the murderers of 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. lOJi 
 
 the Smiths. The anti-Mormons asked the Governor to 
 violate the Constitution, whicli he was sworn to support, 
 by erecting himself into a military despot, and exiling the 
 Mormons. Tlie Mormons, on their part, in their news- 
 papers, invited the Governor to assume absolute power, 
 by taking a summary vengeance upon their enemies, by 
 shooting fifty or a hundred of them, witliout judge or 
 jury. Both parties were thoroughly disgu'^ted with Con- 
 stitutional provisions, restraining them from summary 
 vengeance ; each was ready to submit to arbitary power, to 
 the iiat of a dictator, to make me a king for the time being, 
 or at least that I might exarcise the power of a king, to 
 abolish both the forms and spirit of free government, if 
 the despotism to be erectei upon its ruins could only De 
 wielded for their benefit, and to take vengeance on their 
 enemies. 
 
 "Another election was to crymc oflfin August, 1844«, for 
 members of Congress, and for the Legislature ; and an 
 election was pending throughout the nation for a Prtsi- 
 dent of the United States. Th( war of party was never 
 more fierce and terrible than during the pendency of 
 these elections. As a means of allaying the excitement, 
 and making the question more manageable, I wfis most 
 anxious that the Mormons should not vote at this elec- 
 tion, and strongly advised them against doing so. But 
 Col. E. D. Taylor went to their city a few days before 
 the election, and the Mormons, being ever disposed to 
 follow the worst advice they could get, were induced by 
 him and others to vote all the Democratic candidates. 
 Col. Taylor found them very hostile to the Governor, and 
 on that account much disposed not to vote at this elec- 
 tion. The leading Whig anti-Mormons, believing that I 
 had an influence over the Mormons, for the purpose of 
 destroying it, had assured them that the Governor had 
 planned and been favorable to the murder of their Pro- 
 phet and Patriarch. The Mormons pretended to suspect 
 that the Governor had given some countenance to the 
 murder, or at least had neglected to take the proper pre- 
 cautions to prevent it. 
 
 " In the course of the fall of 1844, the anti-Mormon 
 H 
 
104 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 lesaders sent printed invitations to all the militia captains 
 in Hancock, and to the captains of riilitia in all the 
 neighboring counties in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, to be 
 present with their companies at a great wolf hunt in Han- 
 cock ; and it was privately announced that the wolves to 
 be hunted were the Mormons, and Jack Mormons.* Pre- 
 parations were made for assembling several thousand men, 
 with provisions for six days ; and the anti-Mormon news- 
 papers, in aid of the movement, commenced anew the 
 'most awful accounts of thefts and robberies, and medi- 
 tated outrages by the Mormons. The Whig press, in 
 every part of the United States, came to their assistance. 
 The Democratic newspapers and the leading Democrats, 
 who had received the benefit of the Mormon votes to 
 their party, quailed under the tempest, leaving no organ 
 for the correction of public opinion, cither at home or 
 abroad, except the discredited Mormon newspaper at 
 Nauvoo. But very few of my prominent Democratic 
 friends would dare to come up to the assistance of their 
 Governor, and but few of them dared openly to vindicate 
 his motives in endeavoring to keep the jieace. They 
 were willing and anxious for Mormon votes at elections, 
 but the}' were unwilling to risk their popularity with the 
 people, by taking a part in their favor, even when law 
 and justice, and the constitution were all on their side — 
 such being the odious character of the Mormons, the 
 hatred of the common people against theni and such 
 being the pusillanimity of leading men, in fearing to 
 encounter it. 
 
 " In this state of the case I applied to Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral J. J. Hardin of the State militia, and to Colonels 
 Baker and Merriman, all Whigs, but all of them men of 
 military ambition, .and they, together with Colonel Wil- 
 liam Weatherfor^, a Democrat, with my own exertions, 
 succeeded in raising about five hundred volunteers ; and 
 thus did these Whigs that which my own political friends, 
 with two or three exceptions, were slow to do, from a 
 sense of duty and gratitude. 
 
 A slang name applied to Gentilea who favor the Moraions. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 105 
 
 " With this little force under the command of General 
 Hardin, I arrived in Hancock County on the 2.'fh of Octo- 
 ber. The malcontents abandoned their design, and all the 
 leaders of it fled to Missouri. The Carthage Gray^ fled 
 almost in a body, carrying their arms along witli them. 
 During our stay in the county the anti-Mormons thronged 
 into the camp, and conversed freely with the men, who 
 were fast infected with their prejudices, and it Avas impos- 
 sible to get any of the officers to aid in expelling them. 
 Colonels Baker, Merriman, and Weatherford volunteered 
 their services if I would go with them, to cross with a 
 force into Missouri, to capture three of the anti-Mormon 
 leaders, for whose arrest writs had been issued for the mur- 
 der of the Smiths. To, this I assented, and procured a 
 boat which was sent do\v^n in the night, and secretly landed 
 a mile above Warsaw. Our little force arrived at that 
 j)lace about noon; that night we were to cross the Missouri 
 at Churchvillc, and seize the accused there en«araped with 
 a number of their friends ; but that afternoon Colonel Baker 
 visited the hostile camp, and on his return refused to par- 
 ticipate in the expedition, and so advised his friends. — 
 There was no authoi'ity for compelling men to invade a 
 neighboring State, and for this cause, much to the vexa- 
 tion of ra3'"self and others, the matter fell through. It 
 seems that Colonel Baker had already partly arranged the 
 terms for the accused to surrender. They were to be 
 taken to Quincy for examination under a military guard ; 
 the attorney for the people was to be advised to admit 
 them to bail, and they were to be entitled to a continuance 
 of their trial at the next Court at Carthage ; upon this, 
 two of the accused came over and surrendered themselves 
 prisoners. 
 
 " I employed able lawyers to himt u]) the testimony, 
 procure indictments and prosecute the offenders. A trial 
 was had before Judge Young in the summer of 1845. The 
 Sheriff and panel of jurors selected by the Mormon Court 
 were set aside for prejudice, a new panel was ordered and 
 elisors were appointed for this purpose ; but as more than 
 a thousand men had assembled under arms at the court 
 to keep away the Mormons and their friends, the jury wjis 
 
lOG LIFE IK UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 made up of these militar}'' followers of the court, who all 
 swore that they had n^ver formed or expressed an opinion 
 as to the guilt or innocence of the accused. The Mormons 
 had one principal witness, who was with the troops at 
 Warsaw, had marched with them until they were disband- 
 ed, heard their consultations, went before them to Car- 
 thage, and saw them murder the Smiths. But before the 
 trial came on they had induced him to become a Mormon; 
 and being much more anxious for the glorification of the 
 Prophet than to avenge his death, the leading Mormons 
 made him publish a pamphlet giving an account of the 
 murder, in which he professed to have seen a bright and 
 shining light descend upon the head of Joe Smith, to 
 strike some of the conspirators with blindness, and that 
 he heard supernatural voices in the air confirming his 
 mission as a Prophet ! Having published this in a book, 
 he was compelled to swear to it in court, which, of course, 
 destroyed the credit of his evidence. This witness was 
 afterwards expelled from the Mormons, but no doubt they 
 will clinsf to his evidence in favor of the divine mission of 
 the Prophet. Many other witnesses were examined who 
 knew the facts, but, under the influence of the demoraliza- 
 tion of faction, denied all knowledge of them. It has been 
 said, that faction ma}'- find men honest, but it scarcely ever 
 leaves them so. This was verified to the letter, in the 
 history of the Mormon quarrel. The accused were all 
 acquitted. 
 
 " At the next term the leading Mormons were tried and 
 acquitted for the destruction of the heretical press. It 
 appears that, not being interested in objecting to the Shcr- 
 iti'or jury selected by a court elected by themselves, they, 
 in their turn, got a favorable jury determined upon acquit- 
 tal; and yet the Mormon jurors all swore that they had 
 formed no opinion as to the guilt or innocence of their 
 accused friends. It appeared that the laws furflished the 
 means of suiting each party with a jury. The Mormons 
 couLl have a Mormon jury to be tried by, selected by 
 themselves ; and the anti-Mormon.s, by objecting to the 
 Sheriff and regular panel, could have one from tiie anti- 
 Mormons. Henceforth no leading man on either side 
 
AND CllLMES OF MORr.ONISM. U)7 
 
 could bo ari'ested without the aid of an army, a.s the men 
 of one ^nrty could not safely surrender to the other for 
 fear of bo' j murdered; when arrested by a military force, 
 the Con Mtution pmhibited a trial in any other county 
 without the consent of the accused. No one would be 
 conv! ted of any crime in Hancock ; and this put an end 
 to the administration of the criminal law in that distract- 
 ed county, government was at an end there, and the whole 
 community was ielivered up to the dominion of .a fright- 
 ful anarchy. If the whole State had been in the same 
 condition, then indeed would have been verified to the 
 letter what was said by a wit, Avhen he ex[)ressed an opin- 
 ion that the people were neither capable of governing 
 themselves, nor of being governed b}^ others." 
 
 Late in 1845, the Mormon Charters were revoked by 
 the Legislature, which act that body evidently considered 
 a cure for all the evils of Mormonisra. 
 
 " Nauvoo was now a city of about 15,000 Inhabitants, 
 and was fast increasing, as the followers of the Prophet 
 were pouring into it from all parts of the world ; and there 
 were several other settlements and villages of Mormons in 
 Hancock County. Nauvoo was scattered over about six 
 square miles, a part of it being built upon the flat, skirt- 
 ing and fronting on the Mississippi River, but the greater 
 portion of it upon the bluffs back, east of the river, The 
 great Temple, which is said to have cost a million of dol- 
 lars in money and labor, occupied a commanding position 
 on the brow of this bluff, and overlooked the country 
 around for twenty miles in Illinois and Iowa. 
 
 " The anti-Mormons complained of a large number of 
 larcenies and robberies. The Mormon press at Nauvoo 
 and the anti-Mormon papers at Warsaw, Qulncy, Spring- 
 field, Alton, and St. Louis, kept up a constant fire at each 
 other ; the anti-Mormons all the time calling upon the 
 people to rise and expel, or exterminate, the Mormons. — 
 The great fires in Pittsburg and in other cities about this 
 time, were seized upon by the Mormon press to counten- 
 ance the assertion that the Lord had sent them to 
 manifest his displeasure against the Gentiles, and to 
 hint that all other places which should countenance 
 
108 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 the enemies of the Mormons, might expect to be 
 visited by ' hot drops ' of the same description. This was 
 interpreted by the anti-Mormons to be a threat by Mormon 
 incendiaries to burn down all cities and places not friendly 
 to their religion. About this time also, a suit had been 
 commenced in the circuit court of the United States 
 against some of tne Twelve Apostles, on a note given in 
 Ohio. The deputy marshal went to summon the cefend- 
 arts. They were determined not to be served with pro- 
 cess, and a great meeting of their people being called, out- 
 rageously inflammatory speeches were made by the lead- 
 ers ; the marshal was threatened and abused for intend- 
 ing to serve a lawful process, and here it was publiclj^ 
 declared and agreed to l)y the Mormons, that no more pro- 
 cesses should be served in Nauvoo. Also, about this time, 
 a leading anti-Mormon by the name of Dr. Marshall, made 
 an a.ssault upon Gen. Doming, the Sheriff of the County, 
 and was killed by the Sheriff' in repelling the assault. The 
 Shei'iff was arrested and held to bail by Judge Young, for 
 manslaughter ; though, as he had acted strictly in self- 
 defence, no one seriously believed him to be guilty of any 
 crime whatever. But Dr, Marshall had many friends dis- 
 posed to revenge his death, and the rage of the people ran 
 very high, for which reason it was thought best by the 
 judge to hold the Sheriff to bail for something, to save him 
 from being sacrificed to the public fury. 
 
 " Not long after the trials of the supposed murderers of 
 the Smiths, it was discovered on the trial of a right of 
 property near Lima, in Adams county, by Mormon testi- 
 mony, that that people had an institution in their Church 
 called a " Oneness," which was composed of an association 
 of five persons, over whom one was appointed as a kind of 
 guardian. This one was trustee for the rest, was to own 
 all the property of the association; so that if it were levied 
 upon by an execution for debt, the Mormons could prove 
 that the property belonged to one or the other of the par- 
 ties, as might be required to defeat the oxecution. And 
 not long after this discovery, in the fall of 1845, the anti- 
 Mormons of Lima and Green Plains held a meeting to de- 
 vise means for the expulsion of the Mormons from their 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 100 
 
 neighborhood. They appointed some persons of their own 
 number to fire a few shots at tlie house where they were 
 assembled ; but to do it in such a way as to hurt none 
 who attended the meeting. The meeting was held, the 
 house was fired at, but so as to hurt no one ; and the anti- 
 Mormons 'Uddenly brcakinjj up their meeting, rode ail 
 over the country, spreading tiie dire alarm that the Mor- 
 mons hsd commenced the work of massacre and death. 
 
 "This startling intelligence soon assembLd a mob, which 
 proceeded to warn the Mormons to leave the neighbor- 
 hood, and threatened them with fire and sword if they 
 remained. A very poor class of Mormons resided there, 
 and it is very likely that the other inhabitants were an- 
 noyed beyond further endurance by their little larcenies 
 and rogueries. The Mormons refused to remove ; and 
 about one hundred and seventy-five houses and hovels 
 were burnt, the inmates being obliged to flee for their 
 lives. They fled to Nauvoo in a state of utter destitution, 
 carrying their women and children, aged and sick, ahmg 
 with them as best they could. The sight of these miser- 
 able creatures aroused the wrath of the Mormons at Nau- 
 voo. As soon as authentic intelligence of these events 
 reached Springfield, I ordered General Hardin to raise a 
 force and restore the rule of law. But whilst this force 
 was gathering, the Sherift* of the County had taken the 
 matter in hand. General Doming had died not long after 
 the death of Dr. Marshall, and the Mormons had elected 
 Jacob B. Backinstos to be Sherifi'inhis ])lace. Being just 
 now regarded as the political leader of the Mormons, Bac- 
 kinstos was hated with a sincere and thorough hatred by 
 the opposite party. 
 
 " When the burning of the houses commenced, the 
 great body of the anti-Mormons expressed themselves 
 strongly against it, giving hopes thereby that a posse of 
 anti-Mormons could be raised to put a stop to such incen- 
 diary and riotous conduct. But when they were called 
 on by the new Sherift", not a man of them turned out to 
 his assistance, many of them no doubt being influenced 
 by their hatred of the Sheriff. Backinstos then went to 
 Nauvoo, where he raised a posse of several hundred armed 
 
110 LIFE IN UTAH ; Oil, THE MYSTEllIES 
 
 Mormons, with which he swept over the coimtr}'', took 
 possession of Carthage, and established a permanent guard 
 tliere. Tlie anti-Mormons everywhere fled from their 
 houses before the Sheriff, some of them to Iowa and Mis- 
 souri, and others to the neighboring counties in Illinois. 
 The Sheriff wr.s unable or unwilling to brinrr any portion 
 of the rioter? to battle, or to arrest any of them for their 
 crimes. The posso came near surprising one small squad, 
 but they made their escape, all but one, before iney could 
 be attacked. This one, named McBratney, was shot down 
 by some of the posse in advance, by whom he was hacked 
 and mutilated as thoiii;h he had been murdered by the 
 Indians. 
 
 " The Sheriff was also in continual peril of his life from 
 the anti-Mormons, who daily threatened him with death 
 the first opportunity. As he was going in a buggy from 
 Warsaw in the direction of Nauvoo, he was pursued by 
 three or four men to a place in the road where some Mor- 
 mon teams were standing. Backinstos passed the teams 
 a few rods, and then stopping, the j)ursuers came up with- 
 in one hundred and fifty yards, when they were fired up- 
 on, with an unerring aim, by some one concealed not far 
 to one side of them. By this fii'e''^ Franklin A. Worrel 
 was killed. He was the same man who had commanded 
 the guard at the jail at the time the Smiths were assassi-' 
 nated ; and there made himself conspicuous in betraying 
 his trust by consenting to the assassination. It is believed 
 that Backinstos expected to be pursued and attacked, and 
 had previously stationed some men in ambush, to fire up- 
 on his pursuers. He was aftewards indicted for the sup- 
 posed murder, and procured a change of venue to Peoria 
 County where he was acquitted of the charge. About 
 this time also, the Mormons murdered a man by the name 
 of Daubeneyer, without any apparent provocation ; and 
 another anti-Mormon, named Wilcox, was murdered in 
 Nauvoo, as it was believed, by order of the twelve Apos- 
 tles. The anti-Mormons also committed one murder. 
 
 * It has fiince tranap'red that " Port" Rockwell fired the fat il shot ; and 
 the gun he used is still preserved as a ti iumi^haat relic, in Salt Lakb City. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. Ill 
 
 Some of them, under Backman, set fire to some straw 
 near a barn belonging to Durfce, an old Mormon of sev- 
 anty years ; and tlien lay ^n ambush until the old man 
 came out to extinguish the fire, when they shot him dead 
 from their place of concealment. The perpetrators of 
 this murder were arrested and brouijht before an anti-Mor- 
 man justice of the peace, and were acquitted, though their 
 guilt was sufficiently apparent. 
 
 " During the ascendancy of the Sheriff and the absence 
 of the anti-Mormons from their homes, the people who 
 had been burnt out of their homes assembled at Nauvoo. 
 from whence, with many others, they sallied forth and 
 ravaged the country, stealing and "plundering wliatever 
 was convenient to carry or drive away. When informed 
 of these proceeding3, I hastened to Jacksonville, where, 
 in a conference with General Hardin, Mnjor Warren, Judge 
 Douglas, and the Attorney General, Mr. McDougall, it was 
 agreed that these gentlemen should proceed to Hancock 
 in all haste, with whatever forces had been raised, few or 
 many, and put an end to these disorders. It was now ap- 
 parent that neither party in Hancock could be trusted 
 with the power to keep the peace. It was also agreed 
 that all these gentlemen should unite their influence with 
 mine to induce the Mormons to leave the State. General 
 Hardin lost no time in raising three or four hundred vol- 
 unteers, and when he got to Carthage he found a Mormon 
 guard in possession of the Court House. This force he 
 ordered to disband and disperse in lifteen minutes. The 
 plundering parties of Mormons were stopped in their 
 ravages. The fugitive anti-Mormons were recalled to 
 their homes, and all parties above four in number on either 
 side were prohibited from assembling and marching over 
 the country. 
 
 " Whilst General Hardin was at Carthage, a convention 
 previously appointed assembled at that place, composed 
 of delegates from the eight neighboring counties. The 
 people of the neighboring counties were alarmed lest the 
 anti-Mormons should entirely desert Hancock, and by that 
 means leave one c^ the largest counties in the State to be 
 possessed entirely by Mormons. This they feare<l would 
 
112 LIFK IN UTAH; OH, THE MYSTERIKS 
 
 bring tlie surrouudinfr counties into immediate collision 
 witl^ them. Tlicy had, therefore, appointed this conven- 
 tion to consider measures for the expulsion of the Mor- 
 mons. The twelve Apostles had now iDccome satisfied that 
 the Mormon", could not remain, or, if they did, the leaders 
 would be compelled to abandon the sway and dominion 
 they •exercised over them. They had now become con- 
 vinced that the kind of Mahometanism which they sought 
 to establish could never be maintained in the near vicin- 
 ity of a people whose morals and prejudices were all out- 
 raged and shocked by it, unless indeed they were pre- 
 pared to establish it by force of arms. Through the in- 
 tervention of General Hardin, acting under instructions 
 from me, an agreement was made between the hostile 
 parties for the voluntary removal of the gA*eater part of 
 the Mormons in the spring of 184G. 
 
 " The two parties agreed that, in the meantime, they 
 would seek to make no arrests for crimes previously com- 
 mitted ; and on my part, I agreed that an armed force 
 should be stationed in the county to keep the peace. The 
 presence of such a force and amnesty from prosecutions 
 on all sides were insisted on by the Mormons that they 
 might devote their time and energies to prepare for their 
 removal. General Hardin first diminished his force to 
 one hundred men, leaving Major William B. Warren in 
 command. And this force being further reduced durin.j 
 the winter to fifty, and then to ten men, was kept up un- 
 til the last of May, 1846. This force was commanded 
 with great prudence and efficiency during all this winter 
 and spring by Major Warren ; and with it lie was enabled 
 to keep the turbulent spirit of faction in check, the Mor- 
 mons well knowing that it would be supported by a much 
 larger force whenever the Governor saw proper to call for 
 it. In the meantime, they somewhat repented of their 
 bargain, and desired Major Warren to be withdrawn. 
 Backinstos was anxious to be again at the head of his 
 posse, to goster over the country and to take vengeance 
 on his enemies. The anti-Moimons were also dissatisfied, 
 because the State force preserved a threatening aspect to- 
 ward them as well as the Mormons. He was always ready 
 
AM) CHIMES OB^ MOUMONISM. 113 
 
 to enforce arrests of criminals for now offences on either 
 side; and tliis plcr.sed neither party. Civil war was upon 
 the point ox breakini^ out more than a dozen times during 
 the winter. Both parties com])hiined of Major Wan-en ; 
 hut T, well knowing that lie was manfully doing liis duty, 
 in one of the most ditKcidt and vexatious services, stead- 
 ily sustained him against the complaints on both sides. 
 Great credit is due General Hardin and Major Warren for 
 their services, which had the haj^piest results, and pre- 
 vented a civil war in the winter time, when much misery 
 would have followed it. 
 
 " During the winter of 1845~'4G, the Mormons made 
 the most ])rodigious ]">reparations for removal. All the 
 houses in Nauvoo, and even the Temple, were converted 
 into workshops ; and before spring more than twelve 
 thousand waggons were in readiness. The peojile from all 
 parts of the country flocked to Nauvoo to purchase houses 
 and farms, which were sold extremely low, lower than 
 the prices at a sheriff's sale, for money, waggons, horses, 
 oxen, cattle, and other articles of personal property, which 
 might be needed by the Mormons during their exodus in- 
 to the wilderness. By the middle of May it Avas estima- 
 ted, that sixteen thousand Mormons had crossed the Mis- 
 sissi,)pi and taken up their line of march westward ; leav- 
 ing behind them in Nauvoo a small remnant of a thou.';>- 
 and souls, eing those who were unable to sell their pro- 
 perty, or, having none to sell, were unable to get away. 
 
 " The twelve Apostles went first Avith about two 
 thousand of their followers. Indictments had been 
 found against nine of them in the Circuit Court of the 
 United States for the district of Illinois, at its December 
 term, 1845, for counterfeiting the current coin of the 
 United States. The United States Marshal had applied 
 to me for a militia force to arrest them ; but in pursuance 
 of the amnesty agreed upon, and consequent considera- 
 tions, I declined the application unless regularly called 
 on by the President acconling to law. The arrest of the 
 leaders would end the preparations for removal, and it 
 was notorious that none of them could be C(mvicted ; 
 for they always commanded evidence and witnessess 
 
114 \AFV: IN UTAH; Oil, TJIE MV'STERIES 
 
 enough to render conviction impossible. But with a view 
 to hasten their removal they were made to believe that 
 the President would order the regular army to Nauvoo 
 as soon as navigation opened in the sj)ring. This had its 
 intended effect ; the twelve with about two thousand fol- 
 lowers immediately crossed the Mississippi before the 
 breaking up of the ice. But before this, the deputy mar- 
 shal had sought to arrest the accused without success. 
 
 " Notwithstanding but few of the Mormons remained 
 behind, after June, 1840, the anti-Mormons were no less 
 anxious for their expulsion by force of arms ; being ano- 
 ther instance of a party not being satisfied with success not 
 brought about by themselves, and by measures of their 
 own. It was feared that the Mormons might vote at the 
 August election of that year; and that enough of them 
 yet remained to control the elections in the county, and 
 perhaps in the district for Congress. They, therefore, 
 took measures to get up a new quarrel with the remain- 
 ing Mormons. And for this purpose they attacked and 
 severely whipped a party of eight or ten Mormons, which 
 had been sent out in the country to harvest some wheat 
 in the neighborhood of Pontoosuc, and who had provok- 
 ed the wrath of the settlement by hallooing, yelling, and 
 other arrogant behavior. Writs were sworn out in Nau- 
 voo against the men of Pontoosuc, who were kept for 
 several days under strict guard until they gave bail. 
 Then, in their turn, they swore out writs for the arrest of 
 the constable and his posse who had made the first arrest, 
 for false imprisonment. The Mormon posse were no 
 doubt really afraid to be arrested, believing tliat they 
 would be murdered. This made an excuse for an anti- 
 Mormon posse of several hundred men; but the matter 
 was finally adjusted without any one being taken. A 
 committee of anti-Mormons was sent into Nauvoo, who 
 reported that the Mormons were making every possible 
 preparation for removal ; and the leading Mormons on 
 their part agreed that their people should not vote at the 
 next election. 
 
 "The August election soon came, and the Mormons all 
 voted the whole Democratic ticket. I have since been 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 115 
 
 informed by BaLbitt, the Mormon elder and nrjcnt for 
 the sale of Church property, tliat they were induced to 
 vote tijis time from tlie following considerations : 
 
 " The President of the United States had permitted 
 the Mormons to settle on the Indian lands on the Mis- 
 souri River, and had taken five hundred of them into the 
 service as soldiers in the war with Mexico ; and, in con- 
 sequence of these favors, the Mormons felt under obliga- 
 tions to vote for Democrats in support of the Administra- 
 tion ; and so determined were they that their su[>port of 
 the President sliould be efficient, that they all voted three 
 or four times each for a member of Conm'ess. 
 
 "This vote of the Mormons enrag<*d the Whigs anew 
 against them ; the probability that they might attempt 
 to remain permanently in the country, and the certainty 
 thjit many designing persons for selfish purposes were 
 endeavoring to keep them there, revived all the excite- 
 ment which had ever existed against that people. In 
 ])ursuance of the advice and under the direction ^f 
 Archiba'd Williams, a distinguished lawyer and a Whig 
 politicitm of Quincy, writs were again sworn out for the 
 arrest of persons in Nauvoo, on various chai'ges. But to 
 create a necessity for a great force to make the arrests, it 
 was freely admitted by John Carlin, the constable sent 
 in with the writs, that the prisoners would bo murdered 
 if arrested and taken out of the city. And now Laving 
 iiuled to make the arrests, the constable began to call out 
 the posse co'niitatus. This was about the 1st of Septem- 
 ber, 184G. The posse soon amounted to several hundred 
 men. The Mormons, in their turn, sAvore out several 
 writs for the arrest of leading: anti-Mormons. Hero was 
 writ against writ ; constable against constable ; law 
 against law, and posse against posse. 
 
 " Whilst the parties were assembling their forces, the 
 trustees of Nauvoo being new citizens, not Mormons,, 
 applied to the Governor for a militia officer to be sent 
 over with ten men, they supposing that this small force 
 would dispense with the services of the civil posse on 
 either side. There was such a want of confidence pn 
 all side, that no one would submit to be arrested by an 
 adversary, for fear of assassination. 
 
IIG MFK IN UTAH; Oil, TIIK MYSTERIES 
 
 " In looking arouiul over the State for a suitable otH- 
 cer, those upon whom I had relied in all previou.s emer- 
 gencies having gone to the Mexican war, the choice fell 
 upon Major Parker, of Fulton (!ounty. He was a Whig, 
 and was selected partly for that reason, believing that 
 now, as in previous cases, a Whig would have more inHu- 
 enco in restraining the anti-Mormons than a Democrat. 
 
 " The posse continued to increase until it numbered 
 about eight himdred men ; and whilst it was getting 
 ready to march into the city, it was rej)resentcd to me by 
 another committee that the new <'itizens of Nauvoo were 
 themselves divided into two ])arties, the one siding with 
 the Mormons, the other with their enemies, Tlie Mor- 
 mons threatened the disaliected with death, if thoy did 
 not join in defence of the city. For this reason, I sent 
 over M, Brayman, Esq., a judicious citizen of S])ringtield, 
 with suitable orders I'estraining all compulsion, in forcing 
 the citizens to join the Mormons against their will, and 
 generally to inquire into an*' report all the circumstances 
 of the quarrel. Soon after Mr. Brayman arrived there, 
 he persuaded the leaders on each side into an adjustment 
 of the quarrel. It was agreed that the Mormons should 
 immediately surrender their arms to some ])erson to be 
 appointed to receive them, and to be re-delivered when 
 they left the State, and that they v/ould remove from the 
 State in two months. This treaty was agreed to by 
 General Singleton, Colonel Chittenden and others on the 
 side of the Antis. and by Major Parker and some leading 
 Mormons on the other side. But when the treaty was 
 submitted to the anti-Mormon forces for ratification, it 
 was rejected by a small majority. General Singleton and 
 Colonel Chittenden, with a proper self respect, immedi- 
 ately withdrew from command ; they not being the first 
 great men placed at the head of affairs at the beginning 
 of violence, who have been hurled from their places be- 
 fore the popular frenzy had run its course. And with 
 them also great Archibald Williams, the prime mover of 
 the enterprise, he not being the first man who has got up 
 a popular commotion and failed to govern it afterwards. 
 Indeed, the whole history of revolutions and popular ex- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOIIMONISM. 117 
 
 citciiKMits leading to violcnco is full of instances like 
 these. iMr. Bray man, the same day of the rejection of 
 the treaty, rejtorted to nic that nearly one-half of the 
 antl-Moi'nions would abandon the enterprise and retire 
 with their late commanders, 'leavinfj a set of hair-brain- 
 ed fools to be flogged or to disperse at their leisure.' It 
 turned out, however, that the calculations of Mr, Bray- 
 man were not realized ; for when Singleton and Chitten- 
 den retired, Thomas S. Brockman was put in command of 
 the posse. This Brockman was a Ciimpbellite preacher, 
 nominally belonging to the Democratic party. He was a 
 large, awkard, uncouth, ignorant, semi-bai barian ; ambi- 
 tious of office, and bent upon acquiring notoriety. After 
 the a])pointment of Brockman, I was not enabled to hear 
 in any authentic shape of the movements on either side, 
 until the anti- Mormon forces had arrived near the suburbs 
 of the city, and were about ready to commence an attack. 
 The information which was received, wsis by mere rumor 
 of travellers, or by the newspapers from St. Louis. And 
 [ will remark that, during none of these difficulties, have 
 I been able to get letters and despatches from Nauvoo by 
 the United States mail, coming, as it was oblig(id to do, 
 through anti-Mormon settlements and Post Offices." 
 
 The Governor's account proceeds to state the efforts 
 and failures to raise an additional force of militia to quell 
 the disturbance ; that, if any had been raised, it would 
 have only operated to increase the excitement and the 
 anti-Mormon force ; that, it was his solemn conviction, 
 no sufficient force coi^ld have been raised to f^gat in favor 
 of the Mormons; that no force could have more than 
 temporarily suppressed the difficulties, and such was the 
 public prejudice against the Mormons, that, ten chances 
 to one, any large force of militia which might have been 
 ordered there would have joined the rioters, rather than 
 fought in favor of the Mormons. 
 
 " The forces under Brockman numbered about 800 
 men ; they were armed with the State arms, which had 
 been given up to them by independent militia companies 
 in the adjacent counties, Tlie.y also had five six-pounder 
 iron cannon, belonging to the State, which thev had ob- 
 
118 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 tained in the same way. The Mormon party and their 
 allies, bein<( some of the new citizens under the command 
 of Mfijor Clifford, numbered, at first, about two hundred 
 and fifty men, but were diminished b}*- desertions ajd 
 removals, befoi-e any decisive fighting took place, to about 
 one hundred and fifty. Some of them were armed with 
 sixteen shooting rifles, which experience proved ineffec- 
 tive in their hands, and a few of them with muskets. 
 They had four or five cannon, rudely and liastily made 
 by themselves out of the shaft of a steamboat. The 
 Mormons and their allies took position in the suburbs, 
 about one mile east of the temple, where they threw up 
 some breastworks for the protection of their artillery. 
 The attacking force was strong enough to have been 
 divided and marched into the city, on each side of this 
 battery, and entirely out of the range of its shot ; and 
 thus the place might have been taken without the firing 
 of a gun. But Brockinan, although he professed a desire 
 to save the lives of his men, planted his force directly in 
 front of the enemy's battery, but distant more than half 
 a mile ; and now both parties commenced a fire from their 
 cannon, and some few persons on each side approached 
 near enough to open a fire with their rifles and nmskets, 
 but not near enough to do each other material injury. 
 
 "In this manner they continued to fire at each other, 
 at such a distance, and with such want of skill, that there 
 was but little prospect of injury, until the anti-Mormons 
 had exhausted their ammunition, when they retreated in 
 some disorder to their camp. They were not pursued, 
 and here the Mormons committed an error, for all expe- 
 rience of irregular forces has shown that, however brave 
 they may be, a charge on them when they have once 
 commenced to retreat, is sure to be successful. Having 
 waited a few days to supply themselves with ammuni- 
 tion from Quincy, the Antis again advanced to the attack, 
 but without coming nearer to the enemy than before, and 
 that which, at the time, was called a battle, was kept up 
 three or four days, during all which time the Mormons 
 admit a loss of two men and a boy killed, and three or 
 four wounded. The Antis admit a loss, on their side, of 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 119 
 
 one man mortally, and nine or ten others not so danger- 
 ously, wounded. The Mormons claimed that they had 
 killed thirty or forty of the Anties. The Anties claimed 
 that they had killed thirty or forty of the Mormons ; and 
 both parties could have proved their claim by incontest- 
 able evidence, if their witnesses had been credible. But 
 the account which each party renders of its own loss 
 should be taken as the true one, unless such account can 
 be successfully controverted. During all the skirmishing 
 and firing of cannon, it is estimated that from seven to 
 nine hundred cannon balls, and an infinite number of 
 bullets, were fired on each side, from which it appears 
 that the remarkable fact of so few being killed and 
 wounded can be accounted for, onl}'-, by supposing great 
 unskilfulness in the use of arms, and by the very safe 
 distance which the parties kept from each other. 
 
 At last, through the intervention of an anti-Morinon 
 committee, of one hundred, from Quincy, the Mormons 
 and their allies were induced to submit to such terms as 
 the posse chose to dictate, which were, that the Mormons 
 should immediately give up their arms to the Quincy 
 committee, and remove from the State. The trustees of 
 the Church, and five of their clerks, were permitted to 
 remain for the sale of Mormon propei'ty, and the posse 
 were to march in unmolested, and to leave a sufficient 
 force to guarantee the performance of these stipulations. 
 
 "Accordingly the constable's posse marched in, with 
 Brockman at their head, consisting of about eight hun- 
 dred armed men, and six or seven hundred unarmed, who 
 had assembled, from all the country around, from niotives 
 of curiosity, to see the once proud city of Nauvoo hum- 
 bled, and delivered up to its enemies, and to the domina- 
 tion of a self-constituted and irresponsible power. They 
 proceeded into the city slowly and carefully, examining 
 the way, from fear of the explosion of a mine, many of 
 which had been made by the Mormons, by burying kegs 
 of powder in the giound, with a man stationed at a dis- 
 tance to pull a string communicating with the trigger of 
 a percussion lock, affixed to the keg. This kind of con- 
 trivance was called by the Mormons a ' hell's half-acre.' 
 I 
 
120 LIFE IN UTAH; Oil, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 When the posse arrived in tlie city, the leaders of it erected 
 themselves into a tribunal to decide who should be forced 
 away and who remain. Parties were despatclied to hunt 
 for Mormon arms and for Mormons, 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 Mormons 
 wei'e ordered to leave within an hour or tv/o 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 wjis 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 t>vo 
 instances, actually baj)tized 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. 
 
 " Althouiih the mob leaders, in the exercise of unbridled 
 power, were guilty of many enormities to the persons of 
 individuals, and though much personal property was 
 stolen, yet they abstained from n:iaterially injuring houses 
 and buildings. The most that was done in this way was 
 the stealing of the doors and sash of the windows from a 
 few houses by somebody ; each party equally alleging that 
 it was done by the other. 
 
 " The Mormons had been forced away from their homes, 
 unprepared for a journey. They and their women and 
 children 'had been thrown houseless upon the Iowa shore, 
 without provisions or the means of getting them, or to 
 get away 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 the armed ruffians, now exercising 
 the power of government. The best they could do was 
 to erect their tents on the banks of the river, and there 
 
• AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. Wt 
 
 remain to take their chances of perishing by hunger, or by 
 prevailing sickness. In this condition the sick° without 
 shelter, food, nourishment or medicines, died by scores. 
 The mother watched her sick babe, \ ithout hope, until it 
 died, and when she sank under accumulated miseries, it 
 was only to be quickly followed by her other children, 
 now left without the least attention ; for the men had 
 scattered out over the country, seeking employment and 
 the means of living. Their distressed condition was no 
 sooner known, than all parties contributed to their relief; 
 tho anti-Mormons as much as others." 
 
122 LIFL IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FROM THE NAUVOO EXODUS TO THE MORMON WAR IN 
 
 UTAH. 
 
 The Via Dolorosa of Mormon History — Through Iowa — Great suffering 
 — " Stakes of Zion" — Settlement in Nebraska— "Mormon Battalion" 
 - --Journey to Utah"-Founding of Salt Lake City-"Early accounts--- 
 Outrages upon California emigrants— Travellers murdered— Apostates 
 "missing "--Dangers of rivalry in love with a Mormon Bishop-- 
 Usurpations of Mormon Courts and officers--Federal Judges driven 
 out— Murders of Babbitt and Williams"-Flight of Judges Stiles and 
 Drummond— The Army set in motion for Utah--New officers appoint- 
 ed---Suspicious delay of the army-"The "Mormon war begim." 
 
 The last of the Mormons was exiled from the State which 
 had gladly received them seven years before, and we turn 
 to their march through Iowa — the Via Dolorosa of Mor- 
 mon history. A band of pioneers through Iowa leftNau- 
 voo the 20th day of January, 1846, and the same day the 
 High Council issued a circular announcing the general 
 intention to leave. Early in February, several thousand 
 Mormons crossed the Mississippi, many of them on the 
 ice, and started directly west, along a line near the north- 
 ern boundary of Missouri. They were divided into com- 
 panies often waggons each, under control of captains, and 
 this semi-military order was maintained throughout. As 
 the spring advanced, many of the able-bodied men scat- 
 tered to various places in Missouri and Iowa, seeking 
 employment of every kind, and the remaining men, with 
 a great band of women and children, pursued their way. 
 In that climate and at that season, their sufferings were 
 necessarily great. The high waters, wet prairie, damp 
 winds, and muddy roads of spring troubled them worse 
 than the frosts of winter, and sickness and death increased. 
 " All night," says a woman who made the journey, " the 
 waggons came trundling into camp with half frozen child- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOIIMONISM. 123 
 
 ren screaming witli cold, or crying for bread, and the same 
 the next day, and the next, the whole line of march. 
 
 " The open sky and bare ground for vvomen and child- 
 ren in February is a thing only to be endured when human 
 nature is put to the rack of necessity, and many a mother 
 hastily buried her dead child by the wayside, only regret- 
 ing she could not lie down with it herself and be at 
 pence." 
 
 On their way they established " Stakes," and when the 
 weather had sufficiently advanced, enclosed large fields 
 and planted them with grain for those who were to fol- 
 low after. The most noted of these " stakes" were Garden 
 Grove and Mt. Pisgah. They bridged the Nishnabatona, 
 Nodaway and Grand Rivers, besides many smaller streams, 
 and later, when the grass was grown, turned northward. 
 
 But the advance of the season seemed to increase the 
 amount of disease ; hundreds who had been frosfc-bitten 
 and chilled during the winter died along the way, and the 
 route was lined with graves. Still the zeal of the survi- 
 vors sustained them, and the cruel ambition of their leader 
 forced them on ; and though many deserted and turned 
 away to various Gentile settlements, a majority remained. 
 As successive parties left Nauvoo, the trains were spread 
 over a line of a hundred miles ; but, during the latter part 
 of the season they concentrated in the Pottawattomie 
 country, extending up and down the Missouri from Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. Here they built ferry boats, and a part crossed 
 the river. Preparations for the winter were made on both 
 sides; cabins were built, rude tents erected, and "dugouts," 
 dwellings half under ground, constructed. Man}'" young 
 men went back to the States, and hired out to work for 
 provisions, which were forwarded to the camp. Accord- 
 ing to other witnesses, a band of horse and cattle thieves 
 was organized under the control of Orson Hyde, and a 
 gang of counterfeiters sent into Missouri. In the July 
 previous they had been visited by Captain James G. Allen, 
 of the United States Dragoons, with whom Brigham 
 Young entered into negotiations to furnish a battalion for 
 the Mexican War. The Mormons were the more readv 
 to enter this service, as they expected to be discharged in 
 
124 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 California, where the Clmrch then intended to settle. 
 Five hundred men were enrolled in a few days, and 
 proceeded to Leavenworth, where they were mustered into 
 the service of the United States. An agent of Brigham 
 Young accompanied t^em thus far and received twenty 
 thousand dollars of their advanced bounty, which was 
 understood to be for the support of their ftimilies during 
 their absence. Several of them, since apostatized, testified 
 that none of it was ever so a})propriated. The battalion 
 was placed under the command of Colonel Philip Saint 
 George Cooke, and started forthwith on the noted over- 
 land march of General Kearny. 
 
 They marched two thousand and fifty miles to San 
 Diego, California, passing through the mountains of south- 
 ern Colorado and New Mexico, and across the " desert of 
 death." One company of them re-enlisted for a short 
 time in California, many apostatized and the rest made 
 their way to Salt Lake City. The main body of the 
 Saints meanwhile concentrated at what is now Florence, 
 six miles north of Omaha, which they called Winter 
 Quarters. Thero they built five hundred log houses, one 
 grist mill, and several "horse mills;" there the Church 
 was completely reorganized; the "Quorum of Three" re- 
 established, and it was unanimously resolved that " the 
 mantle of the Prophet Joseph had fallen on the Seer and 
 Revelator, Brigham Young;" who was accordingly chosen 
 to all the offices and titles of the dead Prophet. 
 
 On the eastern side of the Missouri, were still some tv/o 
 thousand waggons scattered in various camps, each bear- 
 ing the name of its leader. Many of these names remain 
 in the local nomenclature of that country, as Cutlers, Per- 
 kins, Millers, etc. At this time they were visited b}' 
 Colonel (since General) Thos. L. Kane, of Philadelphia, 
 who continued with them some time, crossed a portion of 
 the plains with them, and figured extensively in an im- 
 portant period of Mormon history. Elder John Hyde, the 
 noted a])Ostate, says that Kane there embraced Mormonism, 
 but this seems quite improbable. During the winter 
 Orson Pratt, Parley P. Pratt, and John Taylor went on a 
 mission to England, giving general notice to the Saints 
 
AND CRIMErJ OF MORMONISM. 125 
 
 ubi'oad, that the next " gatherin,!:^ place would bo in Upper 
 California." At a conference held before they left Nauvoo, 
 to determine their destination, Lyman Wighthad strongly 
 urged Texas, John Taylor proposed Vancouver's Island, 
 many were in fiivor of Oregon, and Brigham Young insisted 
 upon California. They finally fixed indefinitely upon 
 " some valley in the Rocky Mountains." 
 
 In accordance with this conclusion, the " Pioneer Band," 
 a hundred and forty-three men, driving seventy wagons,, 
 under the command of Brigham Young, left Winter Quar- 
 ters, April, ]4)th, 1847, and followed Fremont's Trail west- 
 ward up the Platte Riv^er. West of the Black Hills, they 
 diverged and followed a "trapper's trail" for four hun- 
 dred mi^s, and from Bear River westward, laid out a new 
 route through Emigration Canon to Jordan Valley. 
 
 The company entered the Valley 'luly 24th, now cele- 
 brated as "Anniversary Day." They found willows and 
 other scant vegetation about a rod wide along City Creek, 
 and this stream they dammed, and dug an irrigating ' 
 ditch. They planted a few potatoes, from which they 
 raised enough that year to serve for seed for a large plat, 
 thougli no bigger than chesnuts. They proceeded also to 
 lay out a city, and in October, Brigham Young and a few 
 others went back to Winter Quarters. The ])eople had 
 sufi'ered greatly with cholera, fever, and inflammatory 
 diseases, and the "Old Mormon Graveyard" at Florence 
 contains seven hundred graves of that winter, of which 
 two hundred are of children. Vast numbers had "fallen into 
 apostacy,"ortiirnedaway andjoined themselves to recusant *: 
 sects;and all their fair-weather friends had forsaken them. 
 But the little remnant were at least consolidated in sentiment 
 strengthened and confirmed together by mutual suffering, 
 firm and self-reliant ; and something over four thousand 
 made the journey to Salt Lake the following season. But 
 the small party left in the vaile}'" had raised but a scant 
 crop, and though the new comers had trar>sported all the 
 provisions they could, there was great scarcity. Every 
 head of a family issued rations to those dependent upon 
 him, and many children received, for months, " each one 
 biscuit a day and all the sajo roots the}' could dig." 
 
126 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 "Wolves, raw hides, rabbits, thistle roots, secjos, and every- 
 thing that would support life was resorted to. In 1849, 
 a plentiful crop was raised, furnishing enough for food 
 and a small surplus. February 20th, 1848, emigration 
 from Great Britain was re-commenced, after a suspension 
 of two years. On the 10th of November of that year, 
 the inhabitants of Nauvoo were awakened at an early 
 hour by a fire in the Mormon Temple, which was soon 
 beyond their control and in a short time everything was 
 destroyed but the bare walls. The city was largely occu- 
 pied by a colony of Icarians, French Communists, under 
 the lead of M. Cabet, and they had begun to refurnish 
 the building for a social hall and schoolroom. The Han- 
 cock Patriot of that date gives a full account of the mis- 
 fortune, showing conclusively that the building had been 
 fired by an incendiary. " But it is," says the Patriot, 
 " impossible to assign a probable motive. The destroyer 
 certainly had less worthy feelings than the man who fired 
 ■ the * E[)hesian Dome.' Admit that it was a monument 
 of folly and evil, it was at least a splendid and harmless 
 one." 
 
 Many have since supposed that it was fired by an 
 emissary from a rival city. The walls still stood in such 
 perfect preservation, that nearly two years after the citi- 
 zens determined to roof and finish it for an Academy ; 
 hut on May 27th, 1850, a violent hurricane sv/ept over 
 Iowa and Illinois and prostrated the structure, leaving 
 only a portion of the western wall, and now naught but 
 a shapeless pile of stones marks the spot. Mormon an- 
 nals give many interesting incidents of their first three 
 years in Utah, but this record can deal particularly only 
 with that portion of their history where they came in 
 immediate contact with the Gentiles. For two years 
 they seem to have had it all their own way ; if there 
 were Gentiles resident in Salt Lake City before 1849, 
 they were " braves before Agamemnon," history makes 
 no mention of them. Of course there were trappers and 
 mountaineers who occasionally visited the city, and a few 
 parties of emigrants passed that way even before the 
 great rush of '49. Lieutenant Ruxton's " Life in the Far 
 
^ AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 127 
 
 West" gives nn account of a visit to the new city, which 
 is both amusing and romantic, and M. Violet, the French 
 chief among the Shoshonees, visited the Mormon settle- 
 ments soon after their establishment. For three vears 
 the Mormons devoted all their energies to develo[)ing the 
 country and getting r( ady to live ; their extreme poverty 
 prevented their being either very enterprising in reaching 
 out towards their neighbors, or particularly anxious to 
 encroach on any one. Quite a number of Gentiles had 
 met with them in various places on the plains and accom- 
 panied them some distance ; but Colonel Thomas L. Kane, 
 who made most of the journey with them, and witnessed 
 their early efforts, has left the only account ap[)roaching 
 to exactness of these early years. The great rush of 
 gold hunters in 1849, was coeval with a season of plenty^ 
 and the associations seems to have been mutually bene- 
 ficial to Mormons and pioneers, but none of the latter ap- 
 pear to have halted in " Zion." They were in too eager 
 haste to gain the new Eldorado. As early as 184G a 
 few emigrants passed this way to the Pacific coast, and 
 the latter part of that _ycar one Hastings led a party by 
 a new route south of the Lake, since known as " Hastings- 
 Cut-off'." 
 
 It is estimated by those living at various military posts 
 on the overland route, that from five to ten thousand 
 emigrants from the United States had cros.scd to the 
 Pacific coast before the discovery of gold. Fort Bridger 
 had been occupied several years by Colonel J:;mes Brid- 
 ger, the oldest mountaineer in that region, who had been 
 engaged in the Indian trade there, and upon the head 
 waters of the Missouri and Columbia since 1819. Early 
 in 1849, General Wilson, newly appointed Indian Agent 
 for California, passed through Salt Lake City, making a 
 short stay, and late the same year Captain Howard 
 Stansbury, of the United States Topographical Engi- 
 neers, reached the city and remained till the next May. 
 This officer, with his assistant, Lieutenant Gunnison, set 
 out from Leavenworth, Kansas, on the 81st of May, 
 1849 ; travelling up the Blue River to its head, he cross- 
 ed over to the Platte and followed the main emigrant 
 route as far as Fort Bridger. 
 
12« LIFE IN U'rAlI; OR, TlIK MYSTERIES : ^ 
 
 I" 
 
 Tlienec ho endeavored to find a more direct route to 
 the head of the lalce than the one usually followed by 
 Fort Hall, in Idaho, which recjuircd a " northini(" of nearly 
 two def,^rec.s. In pursuance of this intention he followed 
 the " Mormon Iload" west to Bear River, then followed 
 down that stream northward, six miles to Medicine Butte, 
 from which he sought a route due west, but was obliged 
 to turn .again to the south and struck upon the head of 
 Pun^bars Creek, a tributary of the Wober. 
 
 Fron) this hollow he passed over another ridge to 
 Ogden Hole, long the rendezvous of the North-Avest Fur 
 Company, on account of its fine range for stock in winter. 
 From this place he passed out into the main valley, and 
 from the " bench" north-west of Ogden, on the 27th of 
 August, caught his first view of the Great Salt Lake. 
 Thinking, as he stated, that his success depended some- 
 what upon the good-will of the Mormons, he visited Salt 
 Lake City at once, and seems to have formed a very 
 favorable opinion. Ho acknowledges the courtesy and 
 assistance of the Mormons, " as soon as the true object of 
 the expedition was understood." His party were pro- 
 bably the first Gentiles who ever spent mere than a 
 month or two in Salt Lake City. Late in 1849, or early 
 in 1830, Messrs. Livingston and Kinkead, pioneer mer- 
 chants, opened a store in Salt Lake City, and from the 
 extent of their trade, the Saints seemed to have realized 
 handsomely on their sales to the California emigrants. 
 
 Captain Stansbury completed his survey of the Great 
 Salt Lake, and set out on his return to the States in 
 August, 1850 ; and soon after an immense emigration. 
 a])peared on their way to California. The association of 
 the preceding year seems to have created great confidence, 
 and nearly all these emigrants made a lengthy stay in 
 the Mormon settlements. For three years the Mormons 
 had been almost unheard of in the States, most of the 
 prejudice against them had died out, and had the policy 
 of the first year been pursued, mutual good-will would 
 have been established on a firm basis and the settlement 
 in Utah considered a real blessing. 
 
 But renewed prosperity, plenty and increasing num- 
 
, AND CHIMES 01'' MORMONISM. 120 
 
 bur.s liiul producod tlieir usual effects, nrro^'anoo, H])iritu!il 
 pride, and a desire to dominate over " tliu unbelievers," 
 nnd numerous difficulties arose. Late in the season a 
 large number of emigrants were persuaded that it was 
 unsafe to continue the westward route at that senson, and 
 concluded to remain all winter among the Mormons. 
 They represent that all was ])leasant until autunni was 
 too far advanced for them to leave even by the southern 
 route, after which a series of merciless exactions began, 
 and never ceased as long as the Mormon civil authorities 
 could lind pretence", for bogus legal actions, or the emi- 
 grants had anything of which they could bo strij)ped. 
 Those who had hired out to work for Mormons were re- 
 used their pay, and denied redress in the courts ; if difK- 
 culties arose, fines of from one to live hundred dollars 
 were imposed for the slightest misdemeanors; in all suits 
 botvreen Mormon and Gentile, the latter invariably paid 
 the costs ; they were openly reviled in coiu't by the Mor- 
 mon Judges, and in one peculiarly aggravating instance 
 Justice Willard Snow boasted to Gentiles in his court 
 that " the time v/as near at hand, when he would judge 
 Gentiles for life and death, and then he would snatch 
 their heads off like chickens in the door yard." 
 
 In one case an emigrant died near the Hot Springs, and 
 his three companions buried him and proceeded on their 
 way without notifying the city authorities. Complaint 
 was made that some city ordinance had been violated ; 
 they were pursued, taken back to the city, and every dol- 
 lar they had, as well as their v/aggon and all their stock, 
 were taken to pay their fine and costs. Another Gentile 
 was struck over the head with a board by Bill Hickman, 
 and returned the blow, for which he was arrested and 
 fined eighty dollars; the costs made up the amount to 
 more t.han two hundred dollars, but as he had but little 
 over half the sum, they kindly contented themselves with 
 taking all he had, and let him depart. Many who had 
 oomo in with a complete "outfit," finished their journey 
 on foot. When these emigi-ants reached the general ren- 
 dezvous on the Sacramento, they began to compare notes. 
 And as each new coir.er added to the evidence, it was 
 
130 LIFK IN UTATI; OR, TIIK MYSTKIUES 
 
 thoiiglit best to compile their statements to send to tlieir 
 eastern friends. Accordingly the affidavits of five hun- 
 dred of them were aelected, reduced to foriD, and, with 
 the" names ai)pended, published and circulated generally 
 in the East. 
 
 This book, of which a copy may be found in the State 
 library at Sacramento, contains statements of facts which 
 seem almost incredible, even with our present knowledge 
 of Mormon law and its administration ; but they rest on 
 the sworn testimony of rcliaV>lc men, who now reside in 
 Tuolumne, Amador, Placer, Nevada, Sierra, and other 
 mining counties of California. 
 
 This publication roused all the old bitterness of feeling 
 against the Mormons, which was not a little heightened 
 soon after l^y the shameless avowal on their part of poly- 
 gamy and incest cas features of their religion. Meanwhile, 
 by the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, in 1848, all that 
 section had passed from the dominion of Mexico to that 
 of the United States, and early in 1849, the Mormon 
 authorities called a convention " of all the citizens of that 
 portion of Upper California lying east of the Sierra Ne- 
 vada Mountains, to take into consideration the propriety 
 of organizing a Territorial or State Government." This 
 convention met at Salt Lake City on the 5th of March, 
 1849, and in a short session " ordained and established a 
 free and independent Government, by the name of the 
 State of Deseret," fixed the boundaries of the new State 
 and provided for the election of a Governor and all State 
 officers. On the 2nd of July following, the Legislature 
 of the new State met, elected a delegate to Congress, 
 adopted a memorial also to that body, in which they set 
 forth their loyalty, patriotism and material progress, pop- 
 ulation and other qualifications and asked for admission. 
 
 Congress, however, failed to see it precisely in that light, 
 and on the 9th of September, 1850, passed an Act to or- 
 ganize the Territory of Utah, of which President Fill- 
 more appointed Brigham Young Governor, In return for 
 this courtesy, Brigham soon after preached one of his 
 " live sermons," in which he said ; " Why, when that time 
 comes (the earthly reign of the Saints) the Gentiles will 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 131 
 
 come begging to us to bo our servants. I know several 
 men, high in of lice in the Nation, who would make good 
 S9rvants. I expect the President of the United States to 
 blade my hoots." This was, to say the least, unkind of 
 Brigham, At the same time, Lemuel C. Brandenburg was 
 appointed Chief Justice ; Perry E. Brochus, and Zerubba- 
 bel Snow (Mormon), Associate Justices ; Scth M. Blair 
 (Mormon), xVttorney General, and B. D. Harris, Secretary. 
 Thus the President had divided the offices pretty equally 
 between Saint and Gentile. The officers did not reach 
 Utah till July, 1851, at which time there were a few Gen- 
 ' tiles resident in Salt Lake City, mostly carpenters and 
 other artisans whose labor was just then in special demand, 
 emigrants who had failed at that point on their way to 
 the Pacific, and perhaps half a dozen California traders or 
 cattle dealers. The new Gentile officers soon found them- 
 .selves involved in difficulty ; Judge Brochus rashly at- 
 tempted to preach against polygamy, and, having his life 
 threatened, soon after left the Territory, followed in 1852, 
 by Secretary Harris, leaving the government once more 
 in the hands of the Mormons. Brigham Young a])pointed 
 his second counsellor, Willard Richards, to fill the vacant 
 Secretaryship, the sole remaining Judge Z. Snow and the 
 District Attorney being " good RIormons." 
 
 A few Spaniards, who had come into Ut;\h from the 
 South, were tried before Snow, and convicted '' of buying 
 Indian children for slaves," whether justly or not cannot 
 now be determined. The Indians were taken from the 
 Gentiles, and turned over to the " brethren," to make them, 
 according to prophecy, " a fair and delightsome people." 
 An Indian war soon after broke out, and occasional diffi- 
 culties continued through 1852, '53, and '54. In place of 
 the judges who had resigned. President Pierce appointed 
 Judges Leonidas Shaver and Lazarus H. Reed ; the for- 
 mer arrived in the fiill of '52, the latter in June, '53. 
 Judge Shaver was a " hail fellow, well met," and lived on 
 the best of terms with the Mormons for some time, but 
 at length a sudden quarrel occurred between him and 
 Brigham Young. He occupied a room in a house belong- 
 ing to Elder Howard Coray, but rented by a Mr. Dotson. 
 
132 LIFE IX UTAH ; Oli, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 One night ho retired in his "usual health, and the next 
 morning Avas found dead in his bed. The Church author- 
 ities ordered a thorougli investigation, and the Coroner's 
 jury of Mormons decided that he died of "some disease 
 of the head." One physician gave it as his opinion, that 
 the Judge had been greatly addicted to the use of opium, 
 and died in consequence of being suddenly deprived of 
 it ; and this is the popular belief among the Mormons. 
 Only one witness on this matter was ever examined in 
 the States, and she gave it as her opinion that he had 
 been poisoned, adding that she had heard Brigham Young 
 say: "Judge Shaver knew too much, 'and he dare not 
 allow him to leave the Territory." Being an apostate 
 Mormon, her evidence may be true or untrue. The Mor- 
 mons treated Judge Reed with marked courtesy, and after 
 a stay of one year he left with an exalted o])inion of them. 
 He went to his home in New York, intending to return, 
 but died very suddenly while there. 
 
 About this time, a young man named Wallace A. C. Bgav- 
 inan, a native of New York, arrived at Salt Lake from 
 New Mexico, with a company of Spanish traders. He 
 met Brigham Young and his " body guard" at Uta]i Lake, 
 and, according to his companion's account, had some diffi- 
 culty with the latter. On his arrival in the city, he v/as 
 arrested by Robert T. Burton on several charges. He 
 was kept in confinement several weeks, but no evidence 
 appearing against him was released. He started east at 
 once, but was shot and instantly killed in a canon but a 
 few miles from the city, " by Indians," according to the 
 Ivlormon account ; by Norton and Ferguson, " Danitcs,"' 
 according to the same witness above mentioned. As in 
 that case, it is now impossible to tell which story is true. 
 John F, Kinney, of Iowa, was appointed Chief Justice to 
 succeed Reed, and George P. Stiles, Associate Justice ; 
 Joseph Holman, of Iowa, Attorney General, and Almon 
 W. Babbitt, Secretary. In the spring of 1855, W. W. 
 Drummond, of Illinois, was also appointed Associate Jus- 
 tice. 
 
 In the fall of 1854, Colonel Steptoe, with about three 
 hundred men of the United States Arm;, , readied Salt 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOIIJIONISM. loS 
 
 Lake and sj^cnt the winter. At the .same time quite a 
 number of Gentiles, on their way to, or returning from. 
 California, wintered in the city. It is now known that 
 Colonel Stej)toe had been secretly commissioned Gover- 
 nor of Utah, by President Pierce, but, being of an uncau- 
 tious disposition, he attempted to practise polygamy on 
 a free and easy plan, not approved by the Saints, the 
 result of which was, that he was ingeniously trapped by 
 two of Brigham's " decoy women," and, to avoid exposure, 
 resigned his commission, and recommended Young's con- 
 tinuance in that office. Utah now began to be regarded 
 as the "Botany Bay of worn-out politicians;" if a man 
 was fit for nothing else, and yet had to be rewarded for 
 political services, he was sent to Utaii. 
 
 During all the period from 1852 to I80G numerous 
 ",Gladdenites " and other apostate and recusant Mormons 
 were frequently slipping away and crossing to California 
 and Oregon ; and many of these parties, as well as Trains 
 of Gentile emigrants, were harassed in various ways, 
 which could hardly be accounted for by Indian hostility. 
 Almon W. Babbitt, having quarrelled with Brigham, 
 started across the plains in 18.55, and was murdered " by 
 Indians who spoke good English ;" and, of this case, 
 Brigham said, " He lived a fool and died like a fool. 
 When officers undertake to interfere with affairs that do 
 not concern them, I will not be far off. He undertook 
 to quarrel with me, and soon after ivas killed hy the 
 Indians," 
 
 In 1852 Lieutenant Gunnison, M. Creuzfeldt, the bota- 
 nist, and eight of their party, were massacred near Sevier 
 ■ Lake, by Indians, as then reported ; but, soon after, es- 
 caped apostates stated that it was done by " painted 
 Mormons." In 1851 a Mr. Tobin came to Salt Lake with 
 a party, and while there was quite intimate with Brig- 
 ham's familj''. It is reported also that he was engaged 
 to Brigham's daughter, Alice Young. He returned in 
 185G, but had some difficulty and left. His party was 
 attacked at night on the Santa Clara, three hundred and 
 seventy miles south, manj of them wounded, and six of 
 their horses killed ; iiJut they escaped by abandoning their 
 baggage. 
 
 00 o 
 
134 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Not an arroiu ivas shot at them, their clothing was 
 pierced by bullets, the wounds were evidently from the 
 i)est make of rifles, and they all testify that the attacking 
 party spoke English. Other parties of recusant Mor- 
 mons were missed in Nevada ; several emigrants from 
 Missouri were last heard of near Salt Lake, and others 
 had their stock run off, where it was reasonably certain 
 there were no hostile Indians. 
 
 A recusant testifies that " one of the Missourians had 
 boasted of helping to drive the Saints from Jackson 
 County, and that he was kidnapped and murdered under 
 the old mint, by John Kay and other ' Danites ' " A 
 young man in Cache Valley had a difficulty with the 
 bishop, in regard to a girl whom the bishop wanted for a 
 ■" plural wife." The young man was seized in a caf>on by 
 two men with blackened faces, and by them mutilated 
 in an unspeakable manner. He afterwards went to San 
 Bernardino, California, and died insane. A similar diffi- 
 culty arose in a settlement on the Weber, and the young 
 man was found dead, having received two shots in the 
 back. One general difficulty exists in all these cases. 
 The witnesses were all apostate Mormons. While the 
 Avriter would not stigmatize a whole class, among whom 
 he has many pleasant acquaintances, and which contains 
 some thoroughly honest and reliable men, yet it must be 
 confessed that, of tliose w"ho have lived Mormons for a 
 term of years, the outside w^orld inust always remain in 
 doubt. 
 
 There were very few Gentiles in Salt Lake, their in- 
 terests required that they should know nothing outside 
 their business, and they generally took care to make no 
 inquiry. Hence little definite and positive proof of the 
 affairs of that period was laid before the Government ; 
 but these reports spread through tbo West and constantly 
 increased the bitterness against the Mormons. Had the 
 latter shown any willingness to throw light upon dis- 
 puted points, their case would have a much better appear- 
 ance. But their preaching constantly excited the people 
 to greater hostility against the Government, and their 
 courts and officers regularly thwarted every attempt of 
 
AND CHIMES OF MOllMONIS:.!. 135 
 
 the Federal officials to inquire into re])orteJ crimes, or 
 bring offenders to justice. In the fall of 185G, it became 
 no longer possible for the Federal Judges to maintain the 
 independence of their courts. The Mormons claimed 
 that the Territorial Marshal should select the jurors foi 
 Federal courts, when doing Territorial business, instead of 
 the United States Marshal. 
 
 Pending the decision of this question, James Ferguson. 
 Hosea Stout^ and other Mormon lawyers and officials, 
 entered the court-room, with an armed mob, and com- 
 pelled Judge Stiles to adjourn his court. Thomas Wil- 
 liams, a Mormon lawyer, who had an office with Judge 
 Stiles, protested against this action, for wliicli his life was 
 threatened, lie soon after tried to escape to California, 
 but was murdered on the way. 
 
 The records of the District Courts were soon after 
 stolen from Judge Stiles's office and, as he supposed at 
 the time, destroyed. Both the Gentile Judges soon after 
 left the Territory, reaching the States in the spring of 
 1857. The Mormons were now in open rebelliun. Con- 
 ofress was not in session, but President Buchanan and 
 War Serretary Floyd determined to send an armed force 
 with new officials. Accordingly, a force of nearly three 
 thousand men was sent forward from Leavenworth, under 
 the command of Gen. W. S. Harney, w]io was, while on 
 the plains, superseded by Col. Albert Sidney Johnston. 
 At the same time new men were appointed to all the 
 civil offices, as follows : Governor, Alexander Cumming ; 
 Chief Justice, D. K. Eckles ; Associate Justices, John 
 Cradlebaugh and Charles E. Sinclair, and Secretary, John 
 Hartnet. "» 
 
 The march of the column was delayed for various 
 reasons, and it was late in September before the army, 
 accompanied by the officials, crossed Green River and 
 entered the Territory. Meanwhile Captain Van Vliet, an 
 active and discreet officer, had been sent forward to pur- 
 chase provisions for tlie army, and assure the people of 
 Salt Lake of the peaceful intentions of tlie Government. 
 On his arrival there, he was amazed to find them prepar- 
 incr for war. . 
 
 *& 
 
 i- 
 
130 LIFR TN UTAH; OR, THE MySTKltlES 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ^ H THE BLOODY TERIOD. 
 
 Sounds of war in Utah— Popular excitement—Fears of the cliaaffected--- 
 Attempted flight— Murder of the Potter and Parish families— Massacre 
 of the Aiken party---Ast:^assination of Yates— Killing of Forbes— Brig- 
 ham ** Turns loose the Indians "—Mountain Meadow Massacre — 
 Horrible Barbarity of Indians and Mormons— Evidence in the case- 
 Attempt of Judge Cradlebangh— Progress of the ''Mormon War"— 
 DeHy of the army—Treachery or inefliciency ?-- Mormon Legirn— 
 Lieutenant General Well3---Brigham " Commands" the National 
 troops to withdraw— Army trains destroyed— Lot Smith, the Mormon 
 Guerilla— The " Army of Utah" in Winter Quarters—Colonel Kane 
 again---Nogotiations with Brigham — Governor Cumming "passed" 
 through the Mormon lines— "Peace Commissioners"— Mormon Exo- 
 dus—Weakness of ("umming— End of the War--Murders of Pike, the 
 Jones's, Bernard, Drown, Arnold, McNeil, and others— A change at 
 last. 
 
 We enter now upon the black chapter in the annals of 
 Utah — a period replete with crime and stained with inno- 
 cent blood. Occasional rumors of the march of the army 
 had reached Salt Lake early in the season, and on the 24th 
 of July, when the entire population were collected in Cot- 
 tonwood Park to celebrate " Annivers.ary Day," " Port" 
 Rockwell and' John Kimball appeared among them just 
 from the plains, and announced that the column was cer- 
 tainly destined for Utah. Brigham turned to those nearest 
 him and with a savage scowl remarked, " I said v/hen we 
 reached here that if the devils would only give us ten 
 years I'd be ready for them. They've taken me at my 
 word, and now they will see that I am ready." The news 
 spread rapidly through the settlements, producing every- 
 where fierce anger or a mixture of hope and dread, accord- 
 ing as the hearer wfis firm in the Mormon faith or secretly 
 dissatisfied. The Tabernacle and Ward Assembly Rooms 
 resounded with harangues in tierce denunciation of the 
 Government, and Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball 
 
A.ND CHIMES OB' MOUMONISM. 137 
 
 vied witli oaeli other in vile language and inflammatory 
 appeals. 
 
 Brigham repeatedly stated that " if any proved traitor, 
 or attempted to shield his own when the day came to burn 
 and lay waste, ho should bo sheared down; for judgment 
 should be laid to the line and righteousness to the plum- 
 met." The effect of such teaching upon a fanatical people 
 may well be imagined. A perfect reign of terror ensued. 
 Of those devoted to Brigham, every one was a spy upon 
 his neighbors, while tlie disaffected trembled at the storm, 
 and made efforts to escape. Two men by the name of 
 Parrish at Springville, just south of Utah Lake, had 
 declared their intention to start for California. The nisrht 
 before their intended departure their stock was run off, 
 and going to search for it they were murdered but a few 
 hundred yards from their dwelling, and after death their 
 bodies mutilated in a shocking manner. Two of their 
 neighbors, by the name of Potter, were killed at the same 
 time. One Yates, a mountaineer, passing westward was 
 assassinated in Echo Qifion, and a party of six from Cali- 
 fornia, under the command of a Mr. Aikin, were attacked 
 west of Salt Lake, and four of them instantly killed. The 
 other two were promised they " should be sent out of the 
 Territory by the southern route," and, in pursuance of that 
 promise, started south under guard. They were never 
 again heard of, and by the testimony of an apostate woman, 
 AUce Lamb, they were killed and their bodies thrown 
 into a large spring near the road. She adds that one was 
 only stunned by the first shot, when Porter Rockwell 
 stepped up, placed a pistol to his ear, and, adding, " This 
 never misses," literally blew out his brains. The Mormons 
 aver that this was a party of gamblers, that they carried 
 with them " powder to drug Mormon women," and that 
 "they deserved death anyhow;" and in all such cases 
 they have established the principle of assassination. In 
 this time of excitement, suspicion was proof About the 
 same time Brigham Young, preaching in the Tabernacle, 
 stated tint hitherto as Governor and Indian Agent, he 
 " had protected emigrants passing through the territory, 
 but now he would turn the Indians loose upon them." — 
 
138 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 This hint Wcis as good as a letter of marque to the land 
 pirates of southern Utah, and was not long in beirg acted 
 upon. Early in August, and before the excitement had 
 reached its greatest height, a large train on its way to 
 California reached Salt Lake City. Doctor Brewer, of the 
 United States Array, who saw this train last at O'Fallon's 
 Bluff, on the Platte, the 11th of June preceding, describes 
 it as " probably the finest train that had ever crossed the 
 plains. There seemed to be forty heads of families, many 
 women, some unmarried, and many childrtn. They had 
 three carriages; one very fine, in which ladies rode and to 
 which he made several visits as he journeyed with them. 
 There was something peculiar in tlie construction of the 
 carriage, its oi'naments, the blazoned stag's head upon the 
 panels, etc." This carriage was many years afterwards in 
 the possession of the Mormons. 
 
 In Salt Lake City several disailected Mormons joined 
 the train, and all proceeded by the southern route. The 
 train Avas last seen entire by Jacob Hamlin, Indian sub- 
 agent for the I'ah-Utcs, who lived at the upper end of the 
 Mountain Meadow. He met them at Corn Creek, eight 
 miles south of Fillmore, while on his way to Salt Lake 
 City. Thenceforward no more was hea,rd of the train ; it 
 was " lost," and a whole year had passed before uny news 
 of its fate reached the ofhcials. 
 
 Nor was it till many years afterwards, that all the; 
 damning facts in regard to its destruction were brought 
 to light. But when revealed, it stands forth pre-eminent 
 in shocking barbarity above all that has occurred in Ameri- 
 can history, scarcely equalled by aught in the old world, 
 and certainly not by anything in the history of our Eng- 
 lish race. The massacre of Glencoe pales in comparison. 
 
 Without going into detail of the witnesses examined, or 
 the evidence of each, suffice it to give events as they occur- 
 red, and as they were fully proved in various examinations 
 since made. Mountain Meadow is three hundred miles 
 from Salt Lake, on the road to Los Angelos, California. 
 The meadows are about five miles in length, and one in 
 width, on the " divide " between the waters of the Great 
 Basin and the Colerado. A very large spring rises near 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONISM. 139 
 
 the south end, by which the emigrants camped for a few 
 days, having been told by Hamlin that this was the best 
 place to rest and recruit their stock before entering upon 
 the Great Desert. Thirty fuur miles below the Meadow is 
 a Mormon settlement on the Santa Clara ; thirty miles 
 north is Cedar City, and eighteen miles east of that is the 
 town of Harmony. From the "divide" down to the Colo- 
 rado, are a few Pah-Ute Indians, and north to Fillmore, a 
 small tribe of Pah- Vents. The day after the emigrants 
 passed Cedar City, a grand council was called there by 
 Bishop Higbee and President J. C. Haight of that town, and 
 Bishop John D. Lee, of Harmony. They stated that they 
 had received a command from Salt I^ake City " to follow 
 and attack those accursed Gentiles, and let the arrows of 
 the Almighty drink their blood." 
 
 A force of sixty men was soon raised, and joined with 
 a much larger force of Indians, encircled the emigrants' 
 camp before daylight. The vrhite men had, meanwhile, 
 pa,inted and disguised themselves as Indians. A portion 
 crept down a ravine near the camp, and lired upon the 
 emigrants while at breakfast, killing ten or twelve. 
 
 The latter were com[)letely taken by surprise, but seized 
 their arms, shoved the waggons together, sunk the wheels 
 in the earth, and got in condition for defence. The idea 
 that enough of the Utes of that district could be got to- 
 gether to attack a train wath lifty armed men is too 
 absurd to be entertained for a moment, and the emisrrants 
 liad rested in the ease of fancied security. 
 
 But their resistance was far greater than the Mormons 
 had expected ; and there for an entire week, with their 
 women and children lying in the trenches they had dug, 
 they maintained tlie siege and kept the savages, as they 
 supposed at bay. And all of this time, as testified by Mrs. 
 Hamlin, wife of the Agent, the shots Avere constantly heard 
 at Hamlin's ranche, and parties of Mormons, bishops, elders, 
 and laymen, were coming and going to and from the ranche 
 eating and drinking there, and '^ intchlnrj quoits and 
 amusing themselves in various wayj." They had the 
 emigrants effectually secured, and could afford to divide 
 time and slaughter the Gentiles at their leisure. But at 
 
140 MFE 111 UTAH ; OK, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 the end of a week they grciv tired and resolved upon 
 strategy. The liring ceased, and while the weary and 
 heart-sick emigrants looked for relief, and hoped their 
 savage foes had given up the attack, they saw, at the 
 upper end of the little hollow in which they were, a waggon 
 full of men. The latter raised a white iiag, and it was 
 perceived that they were white men. A glad shout of 
 joy rang through the corral at the sight of men of their 
 own color, their protectors, as they had every reason to 
 believe. They held up a little girl dressed in white to an- 
 swer the signal, and the party entered. The waggon con- 
 tained J, C Haight, John D. Lee, and other dignitaries. 
 They accused the emigrants of having poisoned a ppring 
 on the ro{.d used by the Indians, which ATas denied. It 
 afterwards appeared in evidence tliat the spring ran so 
 strong that "a barrel of arsenic would not have poisoned it." 
 The Mormons said they were on good terms with the In- 
 dians,but the latter were very angry, and would not let the 
 emigrants escape. The Mormons would, however, intercede 
 for the latter, if desired. This offer was gladly accepted, 
 and after a few hours' absence the Mormons returned and 
 stated that the Indians gave as an ultimatum, that the 
 emigrants should give up all their property, 'particularly 
 their guns, and go back the way they came. The Mor- 
 mons promised in this case to guard them back to the set- 
 tlements. These hard terms were acceded to, and the 
 emigrants left theirwaggons and started northward on foot. 
 The women and children were in front, the men behind 
 them, and a Mormon guard of forty men in the rear. A 
 mile or so from the spring, the road runs through a thicket 
 of scrub oaks, where are also many large rocks, and here 
 a force of Indians lay in ambush. At an agreed signal, a 
 sudden fire was poured into the body of emigrants, and 
 then Mormons and Indians together rushed upon them, 
 shooting, cutting their throats, beating them to death with 
 stones and clubs and in a very few minutes a hundred 
 and twenty men, women and children, Americans, Chris- 
 tians, Gentiles, lay dead upon the ground, the miserable, 
 hapless victims of Mormonism. The Mormons and In- 
 dians fell upon the women, bit and tore the rings from 
 
AND CHIMES OF MOllMONIBM. 141 
 
 their fingers and ears, and trampled in the faces of the 
 dying. One young girl was dragged asiJe by President 
 Haiglit, and kneeling implored him for life. He violated 
 her with shameful barbarity, then beat out her brains 
 with a club. Another young woman was taken out of 
 the throng by John D. Lee. He afterwards stated he in- 
 tended to save her life and take her to his harem ; but 
 that she struck at him with a large knife, when he im- 
 mediately shot her through the head. Three men escaped. 
 One starved to death upon the desert, another was mur- 
 dered by the Indians ninety miles south, and the third 
 was killed upon the Colorado, by whom is not known. 
 Seventeen children were saved alive, who were supposed 
 to be too young to remember anything about the circum- 
 stance. But two of them did, and riterwards gave im- 
 portant evidence. 
 
 The children were first taken to Mrs. Hamlin's and after- 
 wards distributed among Mormon families in the neigh- 
 borhood ; one was shot through the arm and lost the use 
 of it. They were all recovered two years after and re- 
 turned to their friends in the States. The property was 
 divided, tl "> Indians getting most of the flour and ammu- 
 nition ; but they claim that the Mormons kept more than 
 their share. Much of it was sold in Cedar City atpuhlic 
 auction; itw.as there facetiously styled, " Property taken 
 at the siege of Sebastopol ;" and there is legal proof that 
 the clothing stripped from the corpses, spotted with blood 
 and flesh and shredded by bullets, was ])laced in the cel- 
 lar of the tithing office and ])rivately sold. As late as 
 18L-2, jewelry taken at Mountain Meadow was worn in 
 Salt Lake City, and the source it came from not denied. 
 
 Such was the Mountain Meadow Massacre ; and, to the 
 eternal disgrace of American justice, not one of tlie perpe- 
 trators has ever been punished according to law. But the 
 vengeance of heaven has not spared them. Some of the 
 young men in the Mormon party have since removed to 
 California, and others apostatized. They earnestly insist 
 that they were never informed that any killing W9,s in- 
 tended ; that they were told the only object was to turn 
 back the emigrants and prevent their carrying informa- 
 
142 LIFE IN UTAH; OK, THK MYSTERIKS 
 
 tion to California ; tliat no more than a dozen wliito men. 
 besides the Bisho))s and President, were in tlie secret, and 
 that these, with the Indians did all the killing. This is 
 the present helief of most of the Mormons, and they add 
 that Haight and Lee forged the order from Brigham 
 Young, which was produced in extenuation of the crime. 
 Two of the principal perpetrators arc now insane. John 
 D. Lee still resides in Harmony, no longer a bishop, and 
 one can scared}'' restrain a feeling of satisfaction at know- 
 ing that his life is one of miser}'. He is shunned and 
 hated even by his Mormon neighbors, he seldom ventures 
 beyond the square upon which he lives, his mind is dis- 
 tracted by an unceasing dread of vengeance, and his in- 
 tellect disordered. 
 
 Though a too lenicntGovernmcnt has failed of its duty, 
 yet, in the sufferings of a fearful mind, he anticipates the 
 hell his crimes deserve. Some months passed away before 
 it was even whispered in the northern district that white 
 men were concerned in this affair ; and to the credit of 
 the Mormon ])eople be it said, a gi-eat horror spread among 
 them at the report. A lady, then resident at Springville, 
 told me that the people of that place first learned of the 
 massacic the next spring, and the complicity of white 
 men was put b-^yond doubt, in her mind, by the confessioTi 
 of her cousin, who was in the party but claimed he did 
 not assist at the killing. " For weeks," she added : " 1 
 and the other women could not sleep for hearing the 
 screams and groans of the poor creatures in our ears. We 
 thought we saw signs in the sky. We trembled in dread. 
 We wanted to run away from the land, for we thought it 
 was curseil — that the vengeance of God would destroy 
 everybody in the southern district." The lady escaped to 
 Fort Bridger, and afterwards married a Gentile. The 
 superstitious fears, of which she speaks, still rest in man}' 
 minds; nor is it difficult to believe that, in the myster- 
 ious decrees of the moral order, the fearful stain must be 
 washed out in blood. The guilty have escaped earthly 
 justice ; but to the eye of faith an avenging Nemesis is 
 poised upon the mountains of southern Utah, and point- 
 ing to the plains below demands " blood for blood." 
 
AND C'lUMKS OK AlOUMONISM. 14J} 
 
 Olio question renicains : Did Drigluiin Young know 
 nught of, or givo command for, this massacre ? The strong 
 probability of course, is, that lie did lot. The majority 
 of the Mormons, wliile they admit ..lat the church offi- 
 cials were concerned, yet claim that they acted without 
 Brigham's knowledge, and his own family add, that when 
 news of the affair was brought him, he burst into tears 
 and said, "If anything could break up and destroy this 
 jjoople, that one act would do it." Against these opinions 
 there are many strong proofs ; the evidence of the Mor- 
 mons and Indians engaged in the atiair; the failure of 
 Brigham to give any account of it, whatever, in his next 
 report as Indian Superindendent ; the complete silence of 
 his organ, the Church paper, on the subject ; his sermon 
 " turning loose the Indians on emigrants ;" the fact that 
 John U. Lee is his son hy Mormon "adoption," and has 
 never been punished ; the testimony of tiie young Mor- 
 mons wlio esca[)ed from Harmony to California, and more 
 than all else, the overwhelming certainty that no fact of 
 great importance is entered upon without the advice and 
 consent of Brigham Young. An attempt was made by 
 Judge Cradlebaugh, in the autumn of 1859, ^o bring the 
 murderers to justice, which failed from causes to be here- 
 after fully explained — Mormon courts and juries. 
 
 I resume tlie regular history. On the loth of Septem- 
 ber, 1857, Brigham issued a proclamation putting the ter- 
 ritory under martial law ; all the militia and able-bodied 
 men were ordered " to hold themselves in readiness to 
 march at a moment's notice to repel invasion," and Licu- 
 tenant-General Daniel H. Wells was ordered with two 
 thousand men to " occupy the passes of the Wasatch 
 mountains, to defend their hearths and homes against the 
 violence of the army." Echo Canon was fortilied, and 
 orders issued to harass the Federal Army in every way, 
 by driving off stock, burning waggons and blocking up the 
 roads, but to take no lives till lurther ordered. Besides 
 several other papers, Brigham sent to the commander of 
 the United States forces the following remarkable docu- 
 ment : , , . 
 
144 LIFE IN UTAff. OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 " Goveunor's OrncE, Utah Teriutoky, 
 - Great Salt Lake City, September 29lh, 1857. 
 
 " Sir : By reference to the Act of Congress, passed Sep- 
 tember 9, 1850, organizing the Territory of Utah, pub- 
 lished in a copy of the Laws of Utaii, herewith, p. 140, 
 Chap. 7, you will find the following : 
 
 " 'Sec. 2. Arid be it further eruicted, That the execu- 
 tive power in and over said Territory of Utah shall be 
 vested in a Governor, who shall hold his office for four 
 years, and until his successor shall be appointed and 
 qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the 
 United States. The Governor shall reside within said 
 Territory, shall be Commander-in-Chief of the militia 
 thereof,' etc., etc. 
 
 " I am still the Governor and Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs for this Territory, no successor having been ap- 
 pointed and qualified, as provided by law, nor have I been 
 removed by the President of the United States. 
 
 " By virtue of the authoiity thus vested in me, I have 
 issued and forwarded you a co])y of my proclamation, 
 forbidding the entrance of armed forces into this Terri- 
 tory. This you have disregarded. I now further direct 
 that you retire forthwith from the Territory by the same 
 route you entered. Should you deem this impracticable, 
 and prefer to remain until spring in the vicinity of your 
 present encampment, Black's Fork, or Green River, you can 
 do so in peace, and unmolested, on condition that you de- 
 posit your arms and ammunition with Lewis Robinson, 
 Quartermaster-General of the Territory, and leave in the 
 spring, as soon as the condition of the roads will permit 
 you to march. And should you fjiU short of provisions, 
 they can be furnished you by making the proper applica- 
 tions therefor. 
 
 " General D. H. Wells will forward this, and receive any 
 communications you may have to make. 
 
 " Very respectfully, 
 
 "Brigham Young, 
 
 *^ Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Utah Terntory. 
 
 " To the Officer commanding the Forces now invading 
 Utah Territory." 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONISM. 145 
 
 It is difficult to believe that the Federal force.s were 
 handled with any skill whatever, the ofticial report in- 
 dicatinpf that troops and 8U[){)lies wore Rcattorcd without 
 order all the way from Green River to the head of Echo 
 Canon ; and tho following extract, from the ofticial re- 
 port, will show that the Mormon forces were " oboyin^r 
 orders :" 
 
 " Forts Bridger and Supply were vacated and burned 
 down. Orders were issued by Daniel H. Wells (Lieut.- 
 General, Nauvoo Legion) to stampede the animals of the 
 United States troops on their march, to set fire to their 
 trains, to burn the grafts and the whole country before 
 them and on their flatdcs, to keep them from sleeping, by 
 night surprises, and to block the roads by felling trees, 
 and destroying the fords of riveis. 
 
 "On the 4th of October, 1857, the Mormons, under 
 Captain Lot Smith, captured and burned, on Green lliver, 
 three of our supply trains, consisting of seventy-five 
 waggons, loaded with provisions and tents for the army, 
 and carried away several hundred animals." 
 
 Late in the fal, Ithe army halted at Fort Brldger, and 
 wintered at a place which was called Camp Scott. No- 
 vember 21st, the newly-appointed Governor, Gumming, 
 issued a proclamation, which might be summed uj) in a 
 little advice to the Mormons, " to go home and obey the 
 laws, and they would not be molested." 
 
 While matters were in statu quo, in January, 1858, 
 Colonel Kane, the old friend of the Mormons, proceeded 
 to California by sea, thence into Utah by the southern 
 route, and reaching Salt Lake City, opened negotiations 
 with Brigham Young. Soon after he was escorted by 
 Porter Rockwell and Daniel Kimball through the Mor- 
 mon army, and thence found his way to Fort Bridger, 
 and had a lengthy interview with the Federal ofiiciaLs, 
 The result was that Governor Gumming accompanied 
 him on his return, and was permitted to pass through the 
 Mormon forces to Salt Lake City. He was much flat- 
 tered with his reception, particularly by an illumination 
 in his honor of Echo Canon, which they passed in the 
 night. They were escorted by Kimball and Rockwell, 
 
140 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 and reached the city early in the spring ; the Mormons 
 hastened to assure him that " the rebellion in Utah was 
 a pure invention," and the records, which were supposed 
 to have been destroyed, were produced entire ! They had 
 only been concealed. 
 
 Such flattery and attention were bestowed upon the 
 Governor, that he was completely captivated, and such 
 earnest representations made, that he was soon convinced 
 the Mormons were an innocent and much abused people, 
 and was anxious to spare them all humiliation possible. 
 But he could not control the armv, which had orders 
 from the Secretary of War. He reported a " respectful 
 reception" to Washington, and on the 12th of April, Mr. 
 Buchanan appointed L. W. Powell, of Kentucky and 
 Ben McCulloch, of Texas, as " Peace Commissioners," and 
 by them sent a proclamation of pardon ! But Brigham 
 Young had given orders for a mo\e, and early in April, 
 20,000 people from the city and north of it started south, 
 they knew not whore, hut many supposed it was to Mex- 
 ico. Governor Gumming in vain implored them to re- 
 main. Old Mormons have often described to me how he 
 stood upon the streets, as the long trains rolled south- 
 ward, with the tears streaming from his eyes, and pro- 
 tested, " if he followed his feelings he would rather go 
 with thorn than remain Avith the apostates." Late that 
 month ho issued a proclamation offering " protection to 
 all illegally restrained of their liberty in Utah," but few 
 availed themselves of it. The latter part of May the 
 Peace Commissioners arrived, and had an interview with 
 the leading Mormons. The latter f^tipulated that the 
 army should not be stationed within forty miles of the 
 city ; that they should ])rotect private pi'operty ; should 
 march tlirough the city without halting, and must not 
 encamp till they passed the Jordan. They promised, on 
 their jiart, everything that was asked, and " accepted the 
 President's jiardon." 
 
 June 2Gth the Federal army marched through the 
 deserted city, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Cook, who, ac- 
 cording to Mormon account, "rode with his head un- 
 covered." 'J'heir permanent camp was at a point west of 
 
AND CHICKS OF ^lORMONISM. 147 
 
 Utah Lake, and forty miles south of tlie city, which was 
 named Camp Floyd. Late in the season the absent Mor- 
 mons returned to their homes in great poverty and desti- 
 tution, and the " Mormon war " was ended. The Federal 
 officials entered again upon their duties ; courts were 
 reopened, and attempts made to administer justice ; hut 
 no grand jury w^ould indict, and no petty jury convict, 
 and criminals went " scot free." The following cases 
 appear upon the record : 
 
 " During the sitting of Judge Sinclair's Court, the 
 Mormon Grand Jury promptly ftmnd a hill of indictment 
 against one Raljih Pike, a Sergeant in Company I, of the 
 loth Infiintry, United States Army, for an assault with 
 intent to kill, committed upon one Howard Spencer, the 
 son of a Mormon bishop, at the military reserve in Rush 
 Valley. Ujion capias issued, Pike was arrested and 
 brought to Great Salt Lake City. The day following, 
 August 11, 1858, about 12 o'clock, noon, as Pike was 
 entering the Salt Lake House, on Main Street, Spencer 
 stepped up to him from behind, saying, 'Arc you the man 
 that struck me in Rush Valley ?' at the same time draw- 
 ing his pistol, and shot him through the side, inflicting a 
 mortal wound. Spencer ran across the street, mounted 
 his horse, and rode off, accompanied by several noted 
 ' Danites.' Pike lingered in dreadful agony two days 
 before he died. The ' Deseret News,' in its next issue, 
 lauded young Spencer for his courage and bravery. 
 
 "A man by the name of Drown brought suit upon a 
 promissory note for $480, against the ' Danite ' captain. 
 Bill Hickman. The case being submitted to the court. 
 Drown obtained a judgment. A few days afterwards 
 Drown, and a com])anion named Arnold, were stopping 
 at the house of a friend in Salt Lake City, when Hick- 
 man, with some seven or eight of his baud, rode up to 
 the house, and called for Drown to come out. Drown 
 suspecting foul play refused to do so, and locked the 
 doors. The Danites thereupon dismounted from their 
 horses, broke down the doors, and shot down both Drown 
 and Arnold. Drown died of his wounds next morning, 
 and Arnold a few days afterwards. Hickman and his 
 band rode off unmolested 
 
148 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 "Thus, during a single term of the court hehl in a 
 Mormon community, the warm life-blood of three human 
 victims is shed upon tiie very threshold of the court; 
 and although the Grand Jury is in session no prosecu- 
 tion is attempted, and not one of the offenders brought 
 to justice." 
 
 Soon after, a deaf and dumb boy, named Andrew Ber- 
 nard, was killed in Weber Canon, as was pretty clearly 
 proved by " Ephe " H.anks, a noted "Danite;" and an 
 apostate named Forbes was found dead. The same year 
 one Henry Jones and his mother, living near Pondtown, 
 south of Utah Lake, were accused of horse-stealing by 
 their nei^iibors. They were attacked at night, and the 
 woman nstantly killed; the young m.m escaped and ran 
 some t'/o miles, pursued by the " Danites." He was finally 
 captured, and a pistol placed to his ear and discharged, 
 blowing his head to pieces. Both the bodies were placed 
 in their dwelling, a " dng-out '* half under the ground ; 
 the roof was then thrown down upon them, and covered 
 with dirt, making that their only grave. The next win- 
 ter a Mormon bishop of that locality killed ore of his 
 wives for alleged infidelity ; and one Franklin McNeil, 
 who had sued Brigham Young for false im[ risonment, 
 \/as shot dead in his own door. 
 
 A-nother abomination of that bloody period was not 
 brought to light till loncj after. 
 
 Ei-.rly in lHoS, while the army was yet at Fort Bridger, 
 eighty discharged teamsters started through the city to 
 Caliibrnia. An officer of the Nauvoo Legion was informed 
 that he would find a " trusty force," at a certain place, 
 with which to guard them through, and received the 
 followins: order : 
 
 , " Salt Lake City, April 9«A, 1858. 
 
 " The officer in command of escort is hereby ordered to 
 see that every man is well prepared with ammunition, 
 and have it ready at the time you see those teamsters a 
 hundred miles from the settlements. President Young 
 advises that they should be all killed, to prevent them 
 from returning to Bridger to join our enemies. Every 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 149 
 
 precaution should be taken, and sec that not one escapes. 
 Secrecy is required. 
 
 " By order of General Daniel H. Wells. 
 
 " James Fergusom, 
 ' . " Assistant Adjutant General." 
 
 The officer refused to execute the order, for which his 
 life was threatened. Ho took refuge at the Federal camp, 
 and was sent out of the Territory. The signature of 
 Ferguson is authenticated by two Mormons, formerly 
 merchants in Salt Lake City. Several years after, the 
 widow of Ferguson called upon a Federal Judge, who 
 had the writing in his possession. She stated that she 
 had heard the rumor that there was such a paper, and 
 desired to see it. 
 
 It was not given to her, but spread upon the desk for 
 her inspection. She read it through, turned deadly pale, 
 and rushed out of the room without saying a word. 
 Through 1858 and '59 various difficulties occurred ; Gov- 
 ernor Gumming did not sustain the judiciary in their 
 efforts, and finally an order was received from Washing- 
 ton, that the troops were not to be used as a posse to aid 
 the United States Marshal in making arrests. This, of 
 course, completely put an end even to the attempt to 
 administer justice. But the entrance of the army had 
 done good in a variety of ways ; stage and mail lines 
 had been established ; means of intelligence had been 
 multiplied, and a considerable Gentile influence esta- 
 blished, and we gladly turn away from the dark period 
 of crime and degradation, and enter upon the era in 
 which outside intluenco began to produce good effects 
 oven in Utah. 
 
150 IJl''E IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 CHAPTER VIl. 
 
 GENTILES IN UTAH. 
 
 A New Element — Livingston and Kinkead— " Jack-Mormonism at 
 Washington" — Ju(l<:,'3 Drunimoud — M. Juiea Reray— Gilbert and iSons 
 — Heavy Trade— Later Gentile Merchants — Walker Brothers— Bales 
 at Camp Floyd — "Crushing the Mormons" — Ilansohoff & Co. — Mor- 
 mon Outrages again — Murders of Brasslield and Ur. Robinson — Whip- 
 ping of Weston —Evidence in case of Robinson — Outrages on Lieut. 
 Brown and Dr. Williamson— Gentiles driven from tho Public Land — 
 Territorial Surveyor — Success of General Connor's Administration — 
 The Government Returns to the Old Policy — Murders of Potter and 
 Wilson— Horrible Death of " Negro Tom"— The Last Witness "put 
 out of the Way" — " Danites" again— Murder each Other— Death of 
 Hatch— Flight of Hickman— Forty-three Murders— Another change 
 of Officials— Doty— Durkee— Shameful Neglect of the Govemmeni^ 
 Flight of the Gentiles- Comparative Quiet Again— A better Day — The 
 Author Arrives in Utah. 
 
 A NEW element now enters into Utali affiiirn, and de- 
 mands attention. Tliere had previously been Gentiles 
 rc^sidcnt in Salt Lake, but before ] 8-58, they seem to have 
 created no special interest. The history of Gentile mer- 
 chants, from the earliest times to the present, exhibits a 
 singular record of " pluck" and enterprise, contending 
 .against tlie evei-varying complications of political and 
 religious fanaticism. The tirst Gentile merchants to make 
 a permanent csiablisliment in Salt Lake were Messrs. 
 Livingston and Kinkead, who begsvn business there in 
 1850, and taking the tide of Mormon prosperity at its 
 height, when the young colony liad just realized on the 
 California trade, their pi oiits were immense. At the date 
 they reached the city there woi-e no Efistern goods in the 
 Valley, and the first day their store was open they took 
 in $10,000 in gold ! Other merchants passed through 
 doing some trade, but none had done so well. The cus- 
 tom of these early merchants was to start from the Mis- 
 .souri with large stocks, which they opened at Salt Lake. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 151 
 
 remaining only one autumn and winter, trading for cattle, 
 grain and flour, which they took on to California the next 
 season. 
 
 From 1850 till 18G2, "jack-Mortnonism" ruled at Wash- 
 ington to a considerable oxtent, and the Gentiles of Utah 
 had but little help, either by protection or moral influ- 
 ence, from Federal appointees. Judge Kinney, who was 
 appointed Ciiief Justice in 1854, came that year to the 
 valley with his family and a large stock of goods. He 
 kept a hotel, sold goods, speculated in various ways, and 
 spared no pains to keep on good terms with his Mormon 
 customers ; afterwards he joined the Mormons, was bap- 
 tized in the holy Jordan — it is re; orted that he j)aid the 
 officiating priest $10 to have the job done in the night — 
 and represented the Territory one term in Congress. 
 
 For a short time he was the colleague of Judge Drum- 
 mond, the Government thus, by immorality on one side 
 and "jack-Mormonism" on the other, ])laying into the 
 hands of the Saints most effectually. Kinney had a diffi- 
 culty with Brigham Young early in 1855, as reported by 
 M.. Jules Remy, who visited Salt Lake that summer, and 
 Brigham declined the invitation of the b'renchman to dine 
 with him at Kinney's hotel, on that account. It is a sub- 
 ject of curious conjecture what soi't of an impression this 
 state of affairs made on the courtly Frenchman, accus- 
 tomed to see the re})resentative of the supreme power 
 treated with the utmost deference. Kinney left the next 
 year, retaining, however, the oflice and its emoluments 
 till 1857, and in 1860 was reappointed. 
 
 The entrance of Johnston's army, with the Government 
 contracts thereby rendered necessary, and the more com- 
 plete establishment of the overland stages, mark the be- 
 ginning of a new era in Gentile history ; here is a point 
 of departure, so to speak, between the old and the new, 
 separating ancient and modern history. Nearly all the 
 late merchants came in with that army, or following soon 
 after. 
 
 During the interval from 1853 to 1858, the Mormons 
 had fallen behind, and great destitution often prevailed, 
 particularly in the southern settlements. One year the 
 K 
 
152 LIFE IN UTAH J OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 cops were short from drouglit, and another they were en- 
 tirely destroyed by grasfclioppers ; during two seasons 
 there was no surphis except a little wheat which could 
 only be sold in barter for fifty cents per bushel ; one win- 
 ter thousands of the people subsisted largely upon sego 
 roots, and another, of unusual severity, a third of the 
 cattle throughout Utah died from exposure. In the period 
 known in Mormon chronicles as " The Reformation," the 
 Ward Teachers visited every family in their jurisdiction, 
 and made a thorough examination of their llonr barrels 
 and meat chests, taking away the surplus, where there 
 was any, to divide it among those who had none. In the 
 summer of 18.55, M. Jules Remy, French traveller and 
 satmit, and Mr. A. M, Brencliley, his English companion 
 and botanist, journeyed from Sacramento to Salt Lake 
 City, by the Central Nevada route and south of the 
 hke, and spent several weeks studying Mormon insti- 
 tutions. Their publication, a copy of which may be 
 found in the State Library at Sacramento, describes a 
 condition of extreme poverty in Utah ; provisions of all 
 sorts were at premium prices, and their tour of two months, 
 with the poorest accommodations, cost them more in gold 
 than a first-class tour of Europe would have done. Wheat 
 and a few other bare necessaries alone were tolerably 
 cheap. The season of 1856-57 might be justly denomin- 
 ated the " Winter of Mormon discontent." And it is re- 
 markable that during those two years were committed 
 most of those crimes which form so black a chapter in the 
 annals of Utah. 
 
 The entrance of Johnston's army proved a real god-send 
 to many, and being followed by a season of unusual fruit- 
 fulness, the Mormons were again rendered prosperous. The 
 firm of Gilbert & Sons was established in Salt Lake City 
 about that time, though one of the firm had done business 
 there before. This firm made large profits during the five 
 succeeding years, their sales on one particular day amount- 
 ing to $17,000 in gold. Coin was the only currency, all 
 large payments being made in the Mormon five-dollar 
 piece, a coin struck by the Church, which, however, con- 
 tained but $4.30 in gold. Another prominent firm of that 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 15 
 
 period was RansohofF & Co., long the leading Jewish firm, 
 who built the best stone store-house in the city. They 
 had extensive dealings with Brigham Young, who was for 
 a while on the best of terms with Gentile merchants, and 
 when Johnston's army left, and the camp property was sold, 
 Brigham borrowed S30,000 of Ransohofi'to invest in army 
 pork. Following the entrance of the army came a heavy 
 trade with Nevada, and not long afterwards considerable 
 with Colorado ; and at this period was the rise of the firm 
 of Walker Brothers, now, par excellence, the Gentile mer- 
 chant princes of Utah. The Walkers, four young and 
 middle aged gentlemen, were of Mormon pnrentage and 
 reared amongthe Saints; having, by great industry and en- 
 terprise, secured a small stock-in-trade before the entrance 
 of the army. The stores at Camp Floyd were sold early 
 in 1861, with immense profits to the Saints; iron, which 
 had retailed at a dollar per pound, became as plentiful as 
 in the East, and Brigham Young, Walker Brothers, and 
 other firms bought immense quantities of pork at one 
 cent per j)Ound, which they afterwards retailed at sixty. 
 Thus did Buchanan " crush the Mormons." The Overland 
 Mail service grew into greatness, furnishing another source 
 of profit, and the Gentile merchants shared largely in the 
 general prosperity. During 1859 and '60, though there 
 was hostility between Camp Floyd and the Mormon heir- 
 archy money was plenty ; sufficient supplies had been for- 
 warded to last the army ten years, and gi-eat quantities 
 of leather, gearing, cavalry equipments, clothing, blankets 
 and small stores were sold for one-tenth their value ; 
 Brigham was on the best of terms with the Gentile mer- 
 chants ; gifts and donations on both sides were common ; 
 there was for a time little or no social distinction between 
 Mormon and Gentile, and an era of general good feeling 
 prevailed. 
 
 The General Government soon returned to the old policy, 
 and with the return of Kinney, Judges Flenniken and 
 Crosby were appointed to succeed Sinclair and Cradle- 
 baugh, removed. In 1861, Governor Gumming left Utah, 
 and was succeeded by John W. Dawscn, o^Indiana, who 
 was soon entrapj)ed into " a base attempt on the virtue of 
 
154 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 a Mormon woman," and in consequence of many threats 
 precipitately fled the Territory. He was wayLaid, how- 
 ever, in Weber Canyon, and received a terrible beating, 
 which he richly deserved for his cowardice, and, if the 
 charge above be true, for his detestably bad taste. Not- 
 withstanding these differences with the officials, the Mor- 
 mons continued on good terms with the merchants, trade 
 was free, and the people rather prosperous. The opening 
 of the war signalled a sudden change ; the disloyalty of 
 the Mormons was only equalled by the disgust of the 
 Gentiles, and the whole gist of Morfhon sermons for a year 
 or two might have been compressed into that aggravating 
 after-prophecy, " Didn't we tell you so ?" With them it 
 was only the realization of what Joe Smith had prophesied 
 in 1832, and Sunday after Sunday the Tabernacle resound- 
 ed with the harancjucs of Briijham Young and Heber 
 Kimball, in fiendish exultation over the pros [)ect that "the 
 war would go on till nearly all the men. North and South, 
 would be killed, the rest would become servants to the 
 Saints, the women of the United States would come beg- 
 ging for the Mormon elders to marry them, and a general 
 cry would go up, 'come and help us to preserve the race 
 of man in this land.' " 
 
 Such was the stuff then preached by men who are now 
 prating loudly of their loyalty. It was hard for an Am- 
 erican to listen to it quietly, and but little else was heard 
 in Salt Lake for the first two years of the war. Early in 
 18G2, Judges Flenniken and Crosby left Salt Lake Cit3^ 
 If they did anj'thing while there to forward the cause of 
 truth, to add to the dignity of the government, to increase 
 the moral force of the Gentiles or protect the victims of 
 Brighamism, it appears not on the record. President Lin- 
 coln was advised by telegraph of their departure, and on 
 the 3rd of February, 1862, appointed Thomas J. Drake, of 
 Michigan, and Chas. V. Waite, of Illinois, to succeed them. 
 On, the 31st of March following, Stephen S. Harding, an 
 " original abolitionist," of Southern Indiana, was appoint- 
 ed Governor, and the new officials reached Salt Lake in 
 July of the same year. In October following, Colonel 
 (now General) P. Edward Connor arrived with fifteen 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONISM. 155 
 
 hundred men and establislied Camp Douglas. This ad- 
 ministration may well be styled the " golden age" of Gen- 
 tiles in Utah. For nearly four years General Connor 
 maintained the rights of American citizens, and protected 
 and assisted many hundred dissenting Mormons in their 
 escape from Utah. Their prompt action in protecting 
 American citizens and recusant Mormons from injury, to- 
 gether with the anti-polygamy features of Governor Har- 
 ding's first message, and the action of the Judges in ask- 
 ing Congress for an amendment to the Orffanic Act of the 
 Territory, excited the Brighamites to great anger for a 
 time ; the hostility increased, and when an unusually 
 largo number of miners came to winter in Salt Lake, Brig- 
 ham assumed entire control of Mormon trade, and flour 
 was put up at once from S3 to 8G per hundred in gold, 
 then equal to twice that amount in currency. Great was 
 the indignatioii at this move, but the miners could not help 
 themselves at that season and submitted, though their 
 curses were both loud and deep. The opening of spring 
 relieved this embargo, and the Mormons soon discovered 
 that though Camp Douglas was something of an eye-sore, 
 yet the presence of two regiments added materially to 
 their trade. The triumph of the Union arms through 
 18G4, the prompt payment of claims against the govern- 
 ment, and the appointment of rather more acceptable offi- 
 cials, convinced the Mormons that loyalty " would pay" 
 for awhile, and another era of free trade and tolerably 
 good feeling followed. The year 1864-65 were seasons 
 of prosperity to the Gentiles; Ransohoff & Co. cleared 
 large sums dealing in general supplies, and Walker Bro- 
 thers, who had meanwhile apostatized from Mormonism, 
 took rank as millionaires. 
 
 The era of free trade and good feeling was short and 
 the change sudden. In 1865 and 1806, all the California 
 and Nevada volunteers and most of the other troops were 
 withdrawn, and the hostility of the Church was manifes- 
 ted with tenfold more fierceness. All the Gentiles, who 
 had pre-empted land west of the city, were whipped, 
 ducked in the Jordan, or tarred and feathered, and their 
 improvements destroyed ; many were threatened and or- 
 
156 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, TIIK MYSTERIES 
 
 dercd out of the country ; Weston, of the Union Vedette, 
 was seized at night, taken to Temple Block and cruelly 
 beaten ; Brassfield was shot ; Dr. Robinson assassinated, 
 and general consternation seized upon the Gentile resi- 
 dents. Some of these events demand a more particular 
 account. 
 
 Squire Newton Brassfield, formerly a citizen of Califor- 
 nia, and more lately of Nevada, while sojourning tem- 
 porarily in Salt Lake City, formed the acquaintr.nce of a 
 woman who had been the polygamous wife of a Mormon, 
 named Hill, but hiul left him, repudiated this so-called 
 marriage and claimed that she was entitled at common 
 law to the possession of her children by this Hill, as the 
 offspring of an illegal marriage, or rather of no marriage 
 at all. She and Brassfield were married in legal form by 
 the U. S. Judge, H. P. McCurdy, on the 28th of March, 
 18GG ; a writ of habeas corpus was issued from the Uni- 
 ted States Court for the possession of her children, and 
 the trial set for the night of April the 3rd, but adjourned 
 till the Oth. Meanwhile Brassfield had taken a trunk 
 containing her clothing from her former residence, and 
 was arrested by the Mormon authorities on a charge of 
 grand larceny ! The ground assumed for this action was 
 that the clothing taken kxis the 2yrcpeiiy of her hucband. 
 It was alsD charged that he had resisted the officer at- 
 tempting to make the arrest — an offence universally con- 
 sidered worthy of death by the Mormons. In this case 
 also an appeal was had to the United States Court. On 
 the evening of April 6th, about 8 o'clock, while Brassfield 
 was passing along Second South Street, in the custody 
 of, or in company with, United States Marshal, J. K. 
 Hosmer, he was shot in tlie back hy a concecded assassin; 
 as near as could be determined, from an alley on the op- 
 posite side of the street. The assassin escaped, and no 
 especial effort was made to arrest him. The Gentiles 
 offered a reward of $4,500 for his apprehension ; the Mor- 
 mon press and speakers were either uon-committal on the 
 subject, or mildly sustained the assassin, and dared the 
 Gentiles to publish their names to the offered reward. 
 The possession of her two children was afterwards con- 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONISM. lo7 
 
 firmed to Mr.s. Brassfiold by the United States Court, and 
 she left the Territory with them. The following telegram 
 ■was at once forwarded to General Connor, still in com- 
 mand of the district, but temporarily absent in New 
 York : 
 
 (>RK.\T .Salt L.vkk City, April 8tli, ISaG. 
 
 Bngadler-Gciural P. E. Connor, MetvopoHtan Hotel, 
 New York : — I married S. N. Brassfield to a Mormon wo- 
 man, on the 28th ultimo. Brassfield was assassinated on 
 the night of Gth instant. I have been denounced and 
 threatened ])ublicly. Government officials here h.ave tele- 
 graphed to the Secretary of War to retain troops here un- 
 til others are sent to relieve them. Call on Secretary of 
 War, learn his conclusions and answer ; I feel unsafe in 
 person and property without protection, 
 
 H. P. McClTRDY, 
 
 Associate Justice, Supreme Court, U. T. 
 
 A similar despatch was forwarded by Colonel C, A. 
 Potter, who was ordered to retain troops until tlie regu- 
 lars arrived. 
 
 Dr. Robinson was assassinated on the night of the 22nd 
 of October. The following biography is taken from the 
 Union Vedette of October 25th, 18GG. 
 
 " The late Dr. J. K. Robinson, whose assassination last 
 Monday lias sent a thrill of horror to the heart of every 
 law abiding citizen of this Territory, was a native of 
 Calais, Maine, and was in his thirty-hrst year. He came 
 to Utah from California in the spri.ig of 1864;, as an Assis- 
 tant Surgeon of the United States volunteers, and, report- 
 ing to General Connor, was sent to Camp Connor at Soda 
 Springs, Idaho ; but, during the following winter, was or- 
 dered to Salt Lake, and took charge of the hospital at 
 Camp Douglas, and remained on duty there and in this 
 city until last winter, when he was mustered out of the ser- 
 vice, leaving a record in the army which stands without 
 a blemish. After leaving the service of his country, Dr. 
 Robinson settled down in this city and engaged in the 
 practice of his profession, in which he had taken the lead 
 
158 LIFK IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 among the practising physicians of Salt Lake, and has 
 occupied an equally prominent position in the advance- 
 ment of all religious and educational schemes of the city. 
 He was one of the most intimate friends and the room- 
 mate of the Rev. Norman McLeod, and co-operated with 
 him in all his measures for the advancement of the social 
 condition of the people of Utah. In this capacity he 
 had, up to the time of his death, tilled with great credit the 
 position of superintendent in the Gentile Sunday School. 
 On the afternoon of Mr. McLeod's departure for the 
 East in March last, he united Dr. Robinson in the bonds of 
 matrimony with Miss Nellie Kay, the accomplished daugh- 
 ter of the late Dr. Kay. No citizen of Salt Lake stood 
 higher, morally or socially, than Dr. Robinson ; we have 
 never heard of his having a personal enemy, or that he 
 ever infringed upon the legal or moral rights of any man 
 living, and the only conceivable cause for his assassination 
 is the fact that he saw fit to contest the title of a piece of 
 land with the city in the Supreme Court. No other cause 
 can be assigned, for had the object of the assassins been 
 plunder, they could have obtained it, as the Doctor had 
 upon his person a large sum of money and a valuable 
 gold watch, ^t'^/c7i had been u7itouched ivhoi the body was 
 found." 
 
 In common with many others, Dr. Robinson had held 
 that the Territorial Lecrislature had no rifijht to make 
 grants of public land, and the city no right to j)re-empt. 
 He, accordingly, filed a claim upon the land surrounding 
 the Warm Springs near the city, and erected some im- 
 provements which were torn down at mid-day by an 
 armed force of police. He appealed his case to the U. S. 
 Court, bringing an action of ejectment ; in the course of 
 the trial, his counsel raised the question that the city, 
 because of the non-performance of certain acts, had no 
 legal existence ; which was argued before Chief Justice 
 Titus, and by him decided in favor of the city. Dr. Rob- 
 inson then gave notice of his intention to appeal. On 
 the 11th of Octobei', a bowling alley belonging to the 
 Doctor was destroyed by a party of some twenty men 
 with blackened faces. For this a number of persons were 
 
AND CHIMES OF MOUxMONISM. 15.9 
 
 arrested, Chief of Police Burt nnd two suborilinates iden- 
 tified and l)Ound over by the Chief Justiee. Soon after, 
 Dr. Robinson calleil on Mayor Wells, in regard to the mat- 
 ter, was denied any answer and ordered to leave the house. 
 This affair was thus chronicled the next morning by the 
 Tclcfjraph, then edited by the late renegade Mormon, T. 
 B, H. Stenhouse : 
 
 "As Well Trained — The admiration forZchra, Napo- 
 leon and Leopard, on Friday night, was sinifled out by 
 the greater admiration for Dr. Ball-alley as he cleared 
 from the Mayor's house yesterday afternoon. His honor 
 had only to oj^en the door, direct his finger and the man 
 of pills and bluster vamoosed with a grace that fiiirly 
 eclipsed little Leopard under the admirable direction of 
 Bartholomew." 
 
 For several Sundays Brigham nnd other leaders had 
 preached the most inflammatory harangues in the Taber- 
 nacle, advising the people " if an} man attempted to pre- 
 empt their land to 'send him to hell across lots," and the 
 like. In more than one instance assassination was openly 
 counseled and threatened, and the people were ripe for 
 any desperate outrage. The second night after the above 
 publication, between the hours of eleven and twelve, a 
 man called at the house of Dr. Robinson, stated that " his 
 brother, John Jones, had had his leg broken and required 
 the Doctor 3 assistance ;" the Doctor started with the man, 
 they were joined by others, and a few steps away, at the 
 corner of Main and Third South Street, he was struck 
 two biows on the head, and innnediately shot through the 
 brain. One witness saw one of the assassins running 
 down the street westward ; two others saw three of them 
 running east vvard, and three was stion running southward, 
 'Snaking seven persons engaged in the murder. On the 
 investigation Mayor Wells swore that he was not informed 
 of the murder " till ten o'clock the day after ;" the police- 
 men swore there were but eight of them on duty that 
 night, of whom three were at the circus and " all the rest 
 at the City Hall ;" the Mormons examined swore there 
 had been no threats made, ana Stenhouse and one or two 
 
160 LIFE IN UTAH; OH, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 others refused to answer, most -of the questions asked. 
 The investigation utterly failed to show that Dr. Robin- 
 son had a personal enemy in the world and showed that 
 he had had difficulty with none hut the C'ty authorities. 
 Evidence subsequently developed has fixed the guilt of 
 this murder unmistakably upon the Mormon authorities. 
 The case of those Gentiles, who were driven from the 
 public land, presents a flagrant violation of the law. The 
 Legislature of Utah has passed an Act appointing a Ter- 
 ritorial Surveyor ; under its provisions any man can get 
 the Surveyor to run a line round a piece of public land, 
 then stick up stakes at the four corners, and he has a 
 claim upon the land. It has been the custom to pay no 
 regard whatever to the National hiws, in regard to the 
 public land. But should a Gentile attempt, under these 
 laws, to take up a piece of land thus surveyed, he would 
 be driven off. A number of the discharged volunteers, 
 among them a Surgeon Williamson and Lieutenant Brown, 
 entered upon some unoccupied land, west of the Jordan, 
 without a sign of an improvement upon it. While erect- 
 ing their cabins, some Mormons came out and claimed 
 the land. They informed the Mormons that they did not 
 wish to intrude on any other man's land, and if the hitter 
 would show they had taken up this land, or made any 
 improvements ui)on it, they would leave it. To this rea- 
 sonable request no reply wjis made, but that night some 
 twenty men, with blackened faces, came to their shanties 
 and captured both Brown and Williamson. They rolled 
 them both up in an old tent, and carried them towards 
 the Jordan. Lieutenant Brown, a cool and brave man, 
 simply said : " Well, gentlemen, all X have to say is, if 
 you intend to take my life, kill me like a man, and don't 
 drown me like a dog." Upon this one of the crowd 
 stepped up and remarked : " You shan't put that man in 
 there. I know his voice ; it's Lieutenant Brown, and 
 once, when he commanded the provost guard, I had trouble 
 with the soldiers, and he took my part and got me off. 
 I didn't know this was the man till he spoke." 
 
 After consultation the mob tore down theu* shanties 
 and released tlie men, on their promise to leave the 
 
AND CHIMES OF JIORMONISM. IGl 
 
 country. The other settlers w^j-e ducked in the Jordan, 
 and one of them shot through' the leg while swimming 
 the river. 
 
 The administration of Generj^l Connor had been almouo 
 a perfect success, and the American name was then re- 
 spected, and Gentile safety secured in the most remote 
 valleys of Utah ; outside influences of all kinds had 
 rapidly augmented, and a flourishing Gentile church, 
 school and j)aper had been established. But Brigham and 
 his tools had never ceased to work and intrigue at Wash- 
 ington for a change, and Johnson's administration proved 
 disastrous to Utah. In a few months after General 
 Connor was removed, and the troops withdrawn, there 
 were three atrocious murders and numerous outrages upon 
 Gentiles. 
 
 Soon after, three apostates, named Potter, Wilson and 
 Walker, were arrested at Coalville, in Weber Valley, on 
 a trumped-up charge of stealing a cow. This Potter was 
 a brother of those murdered at Springville in 1857, and 
 had been pursued with unrelenting hatred. Several 
 times he had been arrested on various charges, and as 
 ofteni acquitted. His death was now determined upon, 
 and one " Art " Hinckley, a " Danite " and Salt Lake 
 policeman was sent for. Evidence, aftorwards obtained, 
 shows that he was accompanied by another policeman, 
 and joined by parties at diflerent points on his way. 
 They proceeded to the school-house where the three men 
 were confined, and took them out. Walker suspecting 
 foul play, saw two of his guards level their guns at him, 
 when he dodged down, and the shots only slightly wounded 
 him in the neck. At the same instant the contents of a 
 heavily loaded shot-gun were fired into Potter's body. 
 Walker, being an agile man, escaped by jumping a near 
 fence, receiving another slight wound in so doing, and 
 made his way through canons and ravines to Camp 
 Douglas. Wilson also ran a little way, but was shot 
 dead. On the evidence of Walker the assassins were 
 arrested, but, by the connivance of Mormon olHcers, 
 escaped from the Territorial Marshal, who had them in 
 charga. The Mormon papers labored to expliiin the affair, 
 
102 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 stating that the prisoners were shot in attempting to 
 escape from custody ; but it is the testimony of all who 
 saw the corpse of Potter, that the gun must have been 
 almost touching his body when fired, and that his throat 
 was cut after death. This was no doubt in fulfilment of 
 the penalty in the Endowment oath. Walker remained 
 about Camp Douglas for some time, then suddenly dis- 
 appeared, and has since never been heard of. Shortly 
 after, a coloi-ed man, generally known as " Negro Tom," 
 who had been brought to tae Territory by the Mormons 
 as a slave, and lived many years in the family of Brigham 
 Young and other dignitaries, called upon some Federal 
 officials, and stated that he could give important evidence 
 in regard to some of these murders. A few days after, 
 his body was found upon the " bench," two miles east of 
 the city, horribly mangled, his tliroat cut from ear to ear, 
 and on his breast a large placard marked : 
 
 "Let White Women Alone." 
 
 In all such cases of assassination the Mormons can com- 
 mand abundant evidence that the victim has " insulted a 
 Mormon woman." Thus the last witness of these crimes 
 was removed, and the proof put beyond the reach of 
 earthly courts. 
 
 In the long list of murders and outrages, I have thus 
 far particularly noted only those upon Gentiles, or in 
 which Gentiles were specially interested. But it must be 
 said of tlie Mormons, uhat they have always treated their 
 own people worse than outsiders ; and while they only 
 molested those Gentiles who were particularly obnoxious, 
 or had property to reward their assassins, they have 
 visited apostates and dissenters with extreme vengeance. 
 It were a wearisome and disgusting task to recount all 
 memoirs of those who fled or attempted to flee from the 
 Territory, and the bloody fate which has overtaken many, 
 even of the tools of the Church, when suspected. One 
 incident, 1 owever, is so notorious in the early annals of 
 Utah, that, as an instance of the course often pursued, it 
 deserves to be notod. Chief among the cut-throats of 
 the earlier period, were three who merit an immortality 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 163 
 
 of infamy, viz. : "Port" Rockwell, " Ephe " Hanks, and 
 " Bill " Hickman. Closely associated with the last for 
 many years was one " Ike " Hatch ; but at length he grew 
 weary of his mode of life, and, confiding in Hickman, 
 announced his intention to cscaj^e from the Territory. 
 Soon after Hickman and Hatch started from Salt Lake 
 City on horseback for Provo, While crossing a small 
 stream on the road, lined with a thick growth of willows, 
 Hatch, who was in advance, was shot from behind, and 
 fell from his horse. Hickman at once galloped baok to 
 the city, and reported that they had been attacked by 
 Indians, and Hatch killed. The latter, however, had 
 strength to climb upon his horse and reach the city before 
 he died, and informed his father that he had been shot 
 by Hickman. The latter had the hardihood to attend the 
 funeral of Hatch, and actually assisted in shovelling the 
 dirt into the grave. While in this Avork, the father of 
 Hatch, overcome by sudden anger, aimed a blow at the 
 murderer with a spade, which would certainly have ended 
 his career, had not the blow been warded oil' by a friend 
 of Hickman, who was on the watch. This murder, as 
 well as several others by Hickman, is not even questioned 
 among the Mormons ; and yet this man was for years on 
 friendly and even intimate terms with Brigham Young ! 
 Hickman also fell under suspicion soon after the " Mor- 
 risite war," of which an account will hereafter be given, 
 and fled to Nevada. Wliile there, he vvas taken violently 
 ill, and sent for a " Josephite " Mormon preacher to ad- 
 minister absolution. It is reported that he then confessed 
 participation in no less thaii forty-three delibei'ate mur- 
 ders! He recovered, and is stii.' seen occasionally in 
 Utah. 
 
 The vigilant administration of General Connor, and the 
 firm position assumed by the Governor did not meet the 
 approval of the authorities at Washington. In 1803 
 Harding was removed and appointed Chief Justice of 
 Colorado, being succeeded as Governor by Hon. James 
 Duane Doty, who had for some time been Indian Super- 
 intendent for Utah. About the same time Judge Kinney 
 went to represent the Territory in Congress, and Avas 
 
164 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 succeeded as Chief Justice by Hon. John Titus, of Phila- 
 delphia. He was an able and impartial Judge ; but 
 seemed too often bound by precedents, and unwilling to 
 disturb the order of administration which had existed 
 from the first in the Territorial Courts, even when it was 
 clearly proved to be contrary to a just rendering of the 
 Organic Act. Dr. Frank Fuller, who had been Secretary 
 of the Territory, from 'Gl to '03, was succeeded, in the 
 autumn of the latter j^ear, by Mr. Amos Reed. Judge 
 Waite, after several ineflectual attempts to adniinister the 
 law, resigned in disgust in 18G4, and was succeeded by 
 Judge McCurdy, who gave place, in 1S67, for a Mormon 
 laivyer, named Hoge, aj^pointed by President Johnson. 
 Governor Doty filled the otlice with all the dignity and 
 efficiency possible to a man in such circumstances, almost 
 without command, and entirely without the moral sup- 
 port of the Government. He died in I8G0, and was suc- 
 ceeded by Hon. Charles Durkee, also of Wisconsin, who 
 retained the office till late in 18G9, and, a few weeks after 
 his removal, died at Omaha, Nebraska. He was quite 
 old, very feeble, without the poweror energy to command, 
 and was ex[)ressly instructed from Washington to pursue 
 a conciliatory policy; as he once informed the writer, he 
 " was sent out to do nothing," and it need only be added 
 that he succeeded admirably in doing it. 
 
 The Secretary, Reed, was succeeded in the autumn of 
 1860 by Edward P. Higgins, of Michigan, who filled that 
 office with marked ability till the spring of 1809. The 
 first half of that year he acted as Governor, in the ab- 
 sence of Durkee, and won golden opinions for the able 
 manner in which he performed the duties of that office. 
 His message to the Territorial Legislature is noted as 
 among the most able ever presented in Utah. 
 
 Soon after being relieved of his command, General Con- 
 nor took up his residence in Stockton, Rush Valley, forty 
 miles west of the city, where he has since been extensively 
 engaged in mining. 
 
 A general stampede of Gentiles from Utah seemed 
 likely to follow the withdrawal of all protection by the 
 Government; and soon after Robinson's death, the Gen- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 165 
 
 tile merchants, with two or three exceptions, joined in a 
 written proposal to Brigham, that they would all leave 
 the Territory, if ho or the Church would pay a nominal 
 price for their property. To this Brigham complacently 
 made reply that he " had not asked them to come, and 
 did not ask them to go ; they could stay as long as they 
 pleased." This excitement subsided like the rest, and a 
 whole year passed away without any serious outrages, or 
 unusual threats. The influence of the approaching rail- 
 road began to bo felt, resulting in another era of good 
 feeling. 
 
 The amount of travel increased, and with it the amount 
 of money ; trade was free, witli no distinction between 
 Mormon and Gentiles ; contracts on the railroad were 
 taken by both, and little distinction made in giving em- 
 ployment, and in July, 18G8, at a great railroad meeting, 
 Mormon, Jew and Christian fraternized in the Tabernacle, 
 and seemed to feel they had a common interest in the 
 country's prosperity. 
 
 And thus stood affairs in the early autumn of 1SG8, 
 when the author first entered the Territory. 
 
IGC I.IFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FIRST VIEWS IN UTAH. 
 
 Tlie real "American Desert" — No Myth — Bitter Creek— Green River — 
 Lone Rock— Plains of Bridger— Quaking Asp Ridge— Bear River— A 
 Mormon Autobiography — "Pulling hair ' — " Aristocracy" on the 
 Plains—" Mule-skinners" and " Bullwhackcrs" — 'J'he " Bullwhackers 
 Epic" — Cache Cave — Echo Canon— IMormon " fortilications" — Bragga- 
 docio—Storm in Weber Canon — Up the Weber — Parley's Park — A 
 Wife-stealing Apostle — Down the Canon — Majestic Scenery — First 
 View of the Valley— The " City of the Saintb." 
 
 On the morning of August 28th, 18G8, from the heights 
 east of Green River, then the eastern boundary of the 
 Territory, I took my lirs,t view of Utah. I had not reach- 
 ed it, as I did not leave it, without tribulation. In com- 
 pany with a Mormon " outfit" of sixteen men, ten waggons, 
 and sixty mules, I had made the wearisome journey from 
 North Platte across three hundred miles of the American 
 Desert at the dryest season of the year. The point of our 
 departure from the railroad was too far south for us to 
 reach the much sought Sweetwatei" route, and, after leav- 
 ing Bridger's Pass, we struck directly for the head of Bit- 
 ter Creek, down which wo travelled for three days, days 
 fixed in memor}'', but not dear. 
 
 A region of sand [. :d alkali, where the white dust lay 
 six inches deep in the road, and the whole Su ".e of the 
 valley looked like a mixture of dried soap and soda, this 
 part of the American Desert is certainly no Qnyth. On 
 the 2Gth of August we left that stream at Point of Rocks, 
 and travelled northward towards the upper crossing of 
 Green River. Thirty miles on our former course would 
 have brought us to the confluence of Bitter Creek and 
 Green River, but it was impossible to travel longer on the 
 former stream, the water of which resembles weak soap- 
 suds, and lias the effect upon the system of a mild infus- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 1G7 
 
 ion of aloes. The road, always bad at that sccison, was 
 rendered much worse by the graders everywhere present, 
 and at work upon the line of the railroad. The team- 
 sters we met, whether Saxon, Mexican, or Negro, all look- 
 ed of one color, a moving " pillar of cloud," and, .as they 
 shook the dust from their ears, seemed living examples of 
 the judgment, "Dust thou art," etc. 
 
 Special notice is due the " Twenty-mile Desert," where 
 for ten hours the train struggled wearily through a loose 
 bed of sand and soda, enveloped by a blinding white 
 cloud through which the driver could not see his lead 
 mules, and naught was heard but the cracking of whips, 
 the yells and curses of the teamsters and the "cry" of the 
 wheels in the soda, as they seemed to be groaning out the 
 unspeakable woes of the dumb animals. During this ex- 
 perience we often turned our eyes longingly toward the 
 mountain ranges which lay so cool and invitingly before 
 us. But a change came over the spirit of our dream, 
 when by our new route we had reached that elevated 
 region. 
 
 On the mornings of the 27th and 28th, we found ice a 
 quarter of an inch thick on the water in our buckets, and 
 the winds were so cold and piercing, that a heavy coat 
 and two woollen wrappers seemed inadequate protection. 
 Our route was in an irregular semi-circle, north, north- 
 west and west ; passing Lone Rock, a vast block of white 
 and yellow stone, standing in the centre of a high, level 
 plain, as if thrown by some convulsion of nature from a 
 tlat summit two miles distant. As we approached it up 
 the valley from the east, at some miles distance, it bears 
 an exact resemblance to a large steamboat com ins: on un- 
 der full head of steam ; seen from the side, it resembles a 
 vast Gothic cathedral, with spires at the four cornars, and 
 numerous turrets, doors and windows, while the mind 
 imagines the interior, with its ringing halls and resound- 
 ing corridors. Descending to the valley by a dangerous 
 " dugway," we forded Green River, a clear, pure stream, 
 here fifty yards wide and three feet deep, cold as ice- 
 water, flowing rapidly southward to its junction with 
 Grand River, where both form the Great Colorado. 
 L 
 
163 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 From Green River, another day's travel, nearly all the 
 way up hill, brought us upon another cold ridge, where the 
 vv^ater froze again. The next day was Sunday, but there 
 is no Sabbath on the plains unless a man dies, a mule gets 
 sick, or unusually good grass and water invite to a day of 
 rest in which case, Sunday comes any day of the week. 
 So we thawed the ice out of our pots and buckets, took a 
 little hot coffee, " damper," and pork, limbered up our 
 Joints and travelled on, this day crossing Ross's Fork. 
 
 Something in the air of these j)lains seems to furnish an 
 exemption from the usual penalties of cold and exposure. 
 I have often waded deep creeks or risen in the morning 
 wet and cold, but never experienced any ill effects from 
 it. The pure air of the region proves a perfect immunity 
 against its exposures and hardships. From Ross's Fork we 
 passed on to the high plains of Bridger, 7000 feet above 
 sea level, and cold and barren in proportion. Here John- 
 ston's a.rmy passed the winter of 1857-8, after they had 
 lost their cattle and supplies in Echo Canon, j.nd hero 
 Colonel Kane, a self-constituted ambassador from the Mor- 
 mons, found " the three heads of departments," Governor 
 Cumming, Colonel Johnston and Judge Eckles, when he 
 sought the army on his mission of peace. For the last 
 three days we have travelled in sight of the Uintah Range; 
 far to the south of us its snoAvy peaks glistened in the 
 morning sun-light with a cloud like silvery whiteness, 
 while lower down the dark blue green marked the timber 
 line, which lower still faded to a dull gvay, all presenting 
 as the day advanced a var3''ing panorama of light and 
 shade, showing in the distance like the shadowy picture 
 scenes of fairy land. 
 
 Our last cold night, August 31st, we spent on Quaking 
 Asp Ridge where Boreas sent down a bitter blast, deter- 
 mined to punish us for intrusion into his high domains. 
 With a double thickness of gunny-bags below our blank- 
 ets and waggon-cover above we slept soundly and warmly, 
 and while the wind whistle^ over my head I dreamed of 
 the sunny valley of the Ohio, its corn ripening in the 
 warm August night, while the yellow-brown blades rustle 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOIIMUNISM. I Of) 
 
 in tho soft breeze and sigh a lament for the departing 
 summer. 
 
 From this summit we travelled all day, constantly de- 
 scending along a narrow " dugway," between ridges lined 
 with quaking asp, or through narrow canons where over- 
 hanging rocks nearly shut out the sun light, emerging 
 finally into a beautiful valley with a genial climate and 
 luxuriant grass. 
 
 The next day we crossed Bear lliver, linding a rich 
 valley with some fine farms. All this valley appears 
 capable of cultivation, wliile the lower hills and slopes 
 abound in fine pasturage, and the region is evidently able 
 to sustain a considerable population. From Bear River 
 we moved on to Yellow Creek where we camped one night, 
 the next day reaching Cache Cave at the head of Echo 
 Canon, where we made a mid-day camp of four hours. — 
 Cache Cave is simply a hole in the rock, some fifty feet up 
 the hill side and running back forty feet into the clifi* 
 the inside covered with n^mes cut, scratched and painted. 
 Here we found the grass and water fine but no wood, not 
 even the sage brush which had thus far served our need ; 
 so we took to the plains and gathered the fuel known to 
 })lainsmcn as " bull chips," which made a very hot fire 
 when used in sufficient quantities, and, " barrin the idee," 
 served to cook a first-rate dinner. 
 
 As I am writing of a mode of travel now: rendered en- 
 tirely obsolete by the completed line of railroad, and of 
 characters and methods of life no longer mot with by the 
 ordinary traveller, some special account of daily fare of 
 those whose occupation has now lallen into disuse maybe 
 interesting to the general reader. In a few years more, 
 our aggressive commercial enterprise and comprehensive 
 civilization will have obliterated those routes along which 
 the mule and ox trains bore the trade and immigrants to 
 our great territories. The kind as well as routes of trade 
 will be rapidly modified, with new agencies and a vaster 
 scope. With the present generation will almost entirely 
 disappear whole classes of men who were met with every- 
 where in the Territories. Their occupation will be gone 
 iind there will be neither demand nor school for the train- 
 
170 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 ing of others. A hardy, bravo and rough race generally, 
 they were essential to their time, pioneers of a better day, 
 yielding their places slowly to new routes of commerce for 
 the world, their waggons disappearing before railroads, 
 which are Vcaster than plains or mountains. With repre- 
 sentatives of these men I was associated for the time. — 
 Thus far we had lived rather poorly on bacon, bread, 
 coffee without milk or sugar, and such molasses as is used 
 in the States as a medium for fly-poison. But Avest of 
 Green River wo entered a region abounding in jack-rab- 
 bits .and sage hens, with which our passengers kept us 
 pretty well su])plied. I had thought from its appearance 
 that the sage hen could not be eaten, but found it rather 
 palatable, tasting like the flesh of our domestic hen 
 strongly flavored with sage. The jack-rabbit is about 
 four times as large as the common " cotton tail, " and two 
 of them made an ample meal for our crowd of sixteen. For 
 biscuits the self-rising flour is used on th% plains ; but our 
 cooks are not even respectable amateurs, and half the time 
 our bread was " Missouri-bake," i. e., burnt on top and at 
 the bottom, and raw in the middle. - 
 
 The water supply was so irregular, too, that most of the 
 way wo made but one " route" per day, which implies no 
 dinner. To aggravate the case further, we often had not 
 enough at breakfast, and supper was our only full meal. 
 At night all were at leisure ; the mules were fed, turned 
 out and given in charge of the night herder ; the boys 
 gathered round the fire, while the cooks took their time 
 and prepared a bushel or more of biscuits, and we ate as 
 long as we pleased. But in the morning all was hurry ; 
 the mules were done eating before the men began ; the 
 " waggon boss" hurried the cooks, so they did not prepare 
 enough ; at the shout of " grub-pile," every man " went 
 for " his share in haste, and the fastest eater got the most. 
 When we got far enough to meet Salt Lake teams with 
 freshly dried peaches of this year's crop, we invested 
 largely therein, and our cooks made a number of peach 
 pies. 
 
 The materials were flour, bacon grease, peaches and the 
 molasses above mentioned, the pies being cooked in a tin 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOI MONISM. 171 
 
 plate inside of a baking kettle. Plalf a dozen of them as 
 curiosities would be a prize to a Ladies' Fair, or a rare 
 addition to a Medical Museum. Our favorite dinner, 
 when we could get the meat, was of fried ham and "sink- 
 ers," the latter peculiar to the plains. Here is the recipe : 
 Flour, ad libitum; water, <^uant. sujf.; soda, a spoonful, 
 if you have it, if not, a pinch of ashes. Make in thin 
 cakes, and fry ra|)i(lly in hot grease, with long handled 
 frying pan.s. "Death-halls" and " Stone-V)linders " are 
 made in the same way, with the addition to the first of 
 the molasses, and to the second pleilty of saleratus. 
 
 Lady readers M'ill give due credit for the above recipes, 
 as I believe they are not found in " Leslie." My fellow 
 passengers are worthy of notice. I had originally intended 
 on leaving the States to proceed directly by railroad and 
 stage to Salt Lake City ; but charges on the Union Pacitic 
 being then at the rate of ten cents ])er mile, on reaching 
 the then terminus at North Platte, I found myself labor- 
 ing temporarily under a serious attack of what Tom Hood 
 calls " impecuniosity," and under the necessity of finding 
 some cheaper, if less expeditious, mode of conveyance. 
 Freight had accumulated and teamsters were in demand. 
 So I took to the plains with the train of Naisbit and 
 Hindley, Mormon merchants of Salt Lake City, in the 
 capacity of a " mule skinner " for the trip, seated on the 
 back of my "near wheeler," and wielding a whip nearly 
 half as large as myself over the backs of three spans of 
 mules, viz. : " Brigham " and " Sally Ann," " Ponce " and 
 " Jule," " Kit " and Mexico." Whether the name of my 
 " off-leader " had any reference to one of the real Brig- 
 ham's numerous wives, I cannot say ; but such a reckless 
 system of asinine nomenclature would hardly indicate a 
 delicate respect for the Prophet on the part of these young 
 " Saints." Of our little party of sixteen, two drivers, the 
 night herder, and three passengers were Gentiles; the rest 
 Mormons, or, at least, "hickory Mormons," sons of Mor- 
 mon parents ; most of them tall, awkward and lank lads 
 of eighteen or twenty, with premonitory symptoms of 
 manhood breaking out on their chins, giving them as the}'" 
 never shaved, a very verdant and backwoods a[)pearance. 
 
172 LIFE IN UTAH; OK, TUE MYSTERIES 
 
 For the night wo joined blankets hy twos, sleeping on 
 gunny bags under the waggons. My partner was a tall, 
 lank Mormon, a native of Mississippi, — " a tough cuss 
 from Provo," his companions called him, who, after a few 
 days' travel grew quite confidential and told mc his whole 
 liistory. He joined the Confederate army at tlie first call, 
 fought till ho was tired, and allowed himself to be captur- 
 ed in Hood's retreat from Nashville ; took the amnesty 
 oath for which his " giil, in Massassipp, wouldn't have 
 nothin' more to say to him," when he took a huge disgust 
 at the States, and came out and joined the Mormons in 
 1SG5. He has " a house an' lot an' two good lookin' wives 
 in the Twentieth ward, and considers himself settled." I 
 should think he would. As an outsider, I had kept quiet 
 on the subject of polygamy ; but one evening when read- 
 ing an account of some Chicago social abomination, a 
 young Mormon remarked, " That is the benefit of poly- 
 gamy ; they have nothing of that sort." " Polygamy 
 would be all right, Bill," said another, " if they only 
 wouldn't pull hair. But the women will pull hair any 
 way you fix it." As the first home testimony I had re- 
 ceived on the "peculiar institution" of Utah, this could 
 hardly bo considered favorable. In our party were two 
 grandsons of the late Heber C. Kimball, not much of a 
 distinction when it is remembered that worthy left some 
 fifty children to keep his name in remembrance. I have 
 generally found all the younger generation of Mormons to 
 be infidels, and suspect it must be so with the youth of 
 any religion which has in it so little of the element of 
 spirituality ; certainly with the more intelligent of them. 
 From a gross, sensuous religion, the thinking mind glides 
 naturally into a cold and cheerless scepticism. 
 
 Our group of sixteen stood as follows : seven infidels, 
 mostly of Mormon parents; five "good Mormons;" two 
 Lutherans; one Catholic, and one Methodist. Religiously, 
 all are pretty much alike on the plains, but socially there 
 is even there an " aristocracy," and considerable " class 
 and caste" jealousy. The "mule-skinner" considers the 
 " bull whacker " quite beneath him, and will hardly asso- 
 ciate with him upon equal terms, while the latter, doubt- 
 
. AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 173 
 
 less looks upon the former as "stuck up' and proud. The 
 •"bull-whackers" liavc to drive very late, for which reason 
 they nuver seem so social and lively as the drivers in mul(^ 
 trains. All our work was done by dark, and gathered 
 around the camp-fire we would spend the evening hours 
 in lively song and merriment, varied by soaio with ar. 
 occasional dose o^ "Red Ja-ket," which is used on the 
 plains as an alterative, sanative, sedative and preventive. 
 On the wild mountain side or in the deep glen, by a sage 
 brush fire, one may imagine the roaring chorus from a 
 dozen pairs of strong lungs, over such a choice bit of poetry 
 as this : 
 
 " Oh, how liappy is tho man who haa hoard instruction's voine, 
 And turned a mule-skinner for liia first and early choice," etc. 
 
 Or such a bit of history as this : 
 
 " Obadier, he dreampt a dream, 
 
 Dreampt he was drivin' a ten mule team, 
 
 But when he woke he heaved a sigh, 
 
 Tho lead mule kicked e-o-wt the swing mule's eye." 
 
 Compared with these bold and joyous utterances, there 
 is quite u touch of the pathetic in 
 
 "THE BULL- WHACKER'S EPIC." 
 
 " Oh ! I'm a jolly driver on the Salt Lake City lino, 
 And I can lick tho rascal that yokes an ox of mine ; 
 He'd better turn him out, or you bet your life I'll try 
 To sprawl him with an ox-bow — * Root hog, or die.' 
 
 " Oh ! I'll tell you how it is when you first get on the road : 
 You've got an awkward team and a very heavy load ; 
 You've got to whip and hollow, (if you swear its on the sly,) — 
 Punch your teams along, boys — ' Root hog, or die.' 
 
 " Oh ! it's every day at noon there is something to do. 
 If there's nothing else, there will be an ox to shoe ; 
 First with ropes you throw him, and there you make him lie 
 While you tack on the shoes, boys — ' Root hog, or die.' 
 
 " Perhaps you'd like to know what it is we have to eat, 
 A little bit of bread, and a dirty piece of meat ; 
 A little old molasses, and sugar on tho sly. 
 Potatoes if you've got 'em — ' Root hog, or die.' 
 
174 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 " Oh ! there's many strange eights to be seen along the road^ 
 The antelopes and deer and the great big Scandy toad, 
 The buffalo and elk, the rabbits jump so high. 
 And with all the bloody Injuns — ' Root hog, or die.' 
 
 '' The prairie dogs in Dog-town, and the prickly pears, 
 And the buffalo bones that are scattered everywheres ; 
 Now and then dead oxen from vile Alkali, 
 Are very thick in places, where it's ' Root hog, or die. ' 
 
 '* Oh ! you've got to take things on the plains as you can, 
 They'll never try to please you, ' or any other man . ' 
 You go it late and early, and also wet and dry. 
 And eat when you can get it — ' Root hog, or die.' 
 
 " Oh, times on Bitter Creek, they never can be beat, 
 ' Root hog, or die ' is on every waggon sheet ; 
 The sand within your throat, the dust within your eye, 
 Bend your back and stand it, to ' Root hog, or die." 
 
 " When we arrived in Salt Lake, the 25th of June, 
 The people were surprise(J to see lis come so soon ; 
 But we are bold bull-whackers on whom you can rely, 
 We're tough, and we can stand it, to ' Root hog, or die. ' '' 
 
 It will be seen that the " sacred nine " llourish even on 
 the American Desert. 
 
 We were two days in passing the thirty miles down 
 Echo Canon, our progress being slow becfn^se the roads 
 were so badly cut up by the workmen o the railroad 
 track. Hundreds of English, Welsh Swedes and Danes, 
 were there at work on Brigham Young s contract, which 
 extended sixty miles through Echo and Yv^eber Canons. 
 Among them were many who had just come o-^-er, and 
 were working out their passage money, which the Church 
 had advanced from the Perpetual Emigration Fund. In 
 the wildest parts of the canon Ave halted for four hours 
 of a beautiful autumn day, every moment of which Avas 
 full of delight, in gazing upon the Avall-like cliffs, the 
 straw colored rocks, the deep rifts and caverns in ihe 
 mountain sides, and all the sublime scenery which has 
 made this place so noted. 
 
 The road here lay directly under a perpendicular cliff 
 of nearly a thousand feet in height, where great rocks, of 
 many tons weight, hung over the Avay ; others which had 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISST. 175 
 
 fallen ages ago, and rolled to the lower plain, stood liki,^ 
 vast table rocks in the valley's bed. Where I stood, I 
 could vicTv the southern slope of the hills for twenty 
 miles, and beyond them the white peaks of the Wintah 
 Range, bathed in clouds of clear and dazzling whiteness, 
 through which the sun was just breaking in glorious 
 majesty. It was the hour of morning service, and nature 
 here seemed yielding silent worship : 
 
 " But the sound of the church -going bell 
 These valleys and rocks never heard ; 
 Ne'er sighed at the sound of a kneli, 
 Or smiled when a Sabbath appeared." 
 
 A soft, sighing wind swept down the canon, and mourn- 
 ful murmurs issued from the rocky side-crevices, which 
 doubtless spoke often to the Indian as the spirits of his 
 fathers, calling from the happy hunting grounds. The 
 Greek poet would have heard in them the moanings of 
 imprisoned souls, seeking release from their rocky dun- 
 geons ; but to the Christian the whole scene brings to 
 solemn remembrance the time when " He stood and mea- 
 sured tlie earth ; the everlasting mountains were scat- 
 tered ; the perpetual hills did bow." 
 
 Below this point we passed the remains of the fortifi- 
 cations, or rather stone-piles, which the Mormons erected 
 in 1857, to stay the march of Jolmston's army, and a 
 little farther down the young Mormons pointed out a 
 rock, rising apparently seven or eight hundred feet above 
 the road, on the top of which a Mormon boy was shot 
 dead by his companion below, "just on a dare, and to see 
 if his gun would cany up chat high." This was the only 
 life lost by the Mormon forces during that memorable 
 " war." The sighw of these relics, which would have 
 fdded in checking ^c well-handled force about as much as 
 the canvas forts at Pekin, caused a warm discussion to 
 spring up among us. The " wretched awkwardness " of 
 the Federal cavalry was contrasted very unfjivorably 
 with the " fiery valor " of the Mormon youth, who oft'ercd 
 to lassoo the guns, rode fuU tilt down a point where a 
 blue-coat wouldn't venture, took a man prisoner, drank 
 
17() LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THIi MYSTEllIES 
 
 witli him and let liim go," etc., etc. " If the army had 
 been volunteers," was the general expression, ' they would 
 have been wiped out ; but we only felt pity for the 
 low Dutch and Irish, sent out here just to keep them 
 moving." 
 
 Somethin^X might have been deducted from this on the 
 score of jirejudice, but from other and less interested tes- 
 timony, I am compelled to conclude that the army of 
 Utah must have been " poor sticks," unless, as is probable, 
 there was a secret understanding that they were not to 
 force their wtty into the valley tlie first year. Of all the 
 evils with which the " masterly inactivity " of Buchanan's 
 Administration afflicted us, the Utah expedition of 1857, 
 and its results, were certainly not the least. To-day 
 three-fourths of the Mormons firmly believe that John- 
 ston's Army was compelled to retreat by the Mormon 
 guerilla chief, Lot Smith, and that they were only allowed 
 to come into the valley after a treaty had been made 
 with Brigham. When asked why the people vacated 
 their homes and went South when the army came in the 
 next year, if they had gained the victory, the promy)t 
 answer is : " It was the will of the Lord." This is the 
 explanation of all difficult points in Utah, and a very 
 convenient one it is. 
 
 On the 5th of September, we emerged from Echo into 
 Weber Canon, finding a pretty little settlement, in a spot 
 of great natural beauty, where we halted for rest and 
 feed. Scarcely had we formed corral and loosed our 
 mules, when a sudden change came over the western sky, 
 the afternoon sun was obscured by a muiky haze, the 
 Wasatch peaks were lost in sudden accumulations of 
 dense cloud, and, in a very few minutes, the whole scene 
 was shut out from our view by the rapidly gathering 
 storm. For a few minutes longer, the air where we stood 
 was in a dead calm, then a strong wind swept up the 
 green valley of the Weber, sharp, jagged lightning ran 
 along the mountain peaks and seemed to rebound from 
 clitf to cliflf evenly with the echoing thunder, and we 
 had barely time to secure the fastenings of our waggon 
 covers and take shelter within, when the storm was upon 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 177 
 
 US in all its fury. Blinding clouds of dust, driven by 
 fierce gusts of wind, were succeeded in an instant by 
 torrents of rain, alternating again with heavy winds 
 which threatened to hurl our waggons into the Weber. I 
 learned with surprise that this usually dry, mild climate, 
 was subject, during the summer and autumn, to sudden 
 and violent wind and thunder-storms. The rain continued 
 for an hour, sending great sluices down the mountain 
 gulches, and lashing the placid waters of Echo Creek into 
 a foaming, muddy torrent ; then ceased as suddenly as it 
 had risen ; and issuing from our retreats, we saw the dark 
 clouds rolling av/ay to the south-east, over the Uintahs, 
 and in another hour the sun was again shining brilliantly. 
 By evening the roads were pleasantly dry, and the stormy 
 afternoon was followed by a glorious sunset, and a night 
 of unusual clearness. We now changed our course to 
 the southward, following up Weber Canon, or rather 
 valley, for, in this part of its course, it is too wide to 
 merit the former name. The track of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad, which has run continuously with the old stage- 
 road from the head of Bitter Creek, and followed down 
 Echo (jufyon for twenty miles, at the mouth of Echo turns 
 in a direct W. N. W. course down Weber Canon, and by 
 that pass enters Salt Lake Valley, thirty-five miles north 
 of the city. The stage road turns south from Echo, fol- 
 lows up Weber to Sj)ring Creek, up that W. S. W. to 
 Parley's Park, across the Park and down Parley's Canon 
 W. N. W. into the city. 
 
 In Weber Valley we find ourselves, for the first time 
 in many hundred miles, in a cultivated and settled coun- 
 try, and the contrast is most pleasing to the eye, wearied 
 by miles of desert and mountain, with scant growth of 
 sage-bush, grease-wood, and desert cactus. Another Sun- 
 day's drive, the 6th of September, took us through Coal- 
 ville, point of coal supply for Salt Lake City, though 
 forty miles distant, with a high range of mountains be- 
 tween ; a rather neat but homely looking town, with a 
 few houses nicely built of beautiful white stone, shingled 
 or slated, but for the most part dwellings of rough hewn 
 logs, and pole roofs covered with dirt, and often grass and 
 
178 1-IFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 flowers growing on the top. None but Mormons live in 
 this valley, and I soon learned that the few houses, the 
 finish of which I admired, were the residences of the 
 Bishops and prominent Elders. Tlie settlements extend 
 along the little valley of two or three miles in width, 
 with higlf pastures beyond the cultivated lands, rolling 
 back to the mountains. Vegetation showed that growth 
 was slow, and the season late, as this valley is among 
 the highest in the Utah. Fields of oats near the rood 
 had just been harvested, and hay-making was still in 
 progress. 
 
 We next passed through Wanship, county-seat of 
 Summit County, and soon after left the valley, turning 
 to the riglit and following up Spring Creek Canon, to- 
 wards the summit. Nearly all day we travelled up hill, 
 passing towards evening over a sort of summit level and 
 then down a gentle slope into Parley's Park, a valley 
 or mountain plateau of some ten thousand acres, 7000 
 feet above sea-level and entirely surrounded by rugged 
 mountain ranges, except narrow outlets to the north and 
 west. This tract produces fine grass both for pasturage 
 and hay, but no grain. It was first owned by Heber C. 
 Kimball, who had wheat sown there for seven years in 
 succession. It grew well and headed out, but was invari- 
 ably " cut off in the flower" by the frosts of early Sep- 
 tember, whereupon Kimball stated that " it was not the 
 will of the Lord grain should grow there," and gave up 
 the experiment. The Park received its name in honor of 
 Parley P. Pratt, noted among the early apostles of Mor- 
 monisin, and brother of Orson Pratt, scholar, historian, 
 and astronomer, the Usman of the new faith. Parley 
 seems to have been a radical believer in polygamy, as he 
 was certainly thorough in its practice, having six wives 
 some time before liis death. But, not satisfied with these, 
 he converted a Mrs. Elinor McLean, wife of Hector Mc- 
 Lean, of Arkansas, and took her to Salt Lake City, and 
 married her. The enraged husband sought Pratt, when 
 on a mission in Kansas, in 1856, and literally cut him to 
 pieces with abowic knife. In Mormonism as in El Islam 
 the wives of the infidels are iawful prey to any believer 
 
AND CRIMES Or MORMON ISM. 
 
 17!) 
 
 who can win them ; while, at the same time, it is one of 
 the deadliest sins in their code for any other man to en- 
 tice away one of their " women," an unpardonable crime 
 for which they openly threaten and claim the right to in- 
 flict death. To convert a Gentile's wife to Mormonism is 
 
 FOUR WIVi:.S. 
 
 the highest achievement ; the reverse worthy ol death. 
 There is a great deal in the way one states things ; it 
 makes all the difference between " Danite" and Damnite. 
 Pratt was canonized among the " glorious martyrs" of the 
 Latter-dav faith, and his murder takes hijxh rank in the 
 
180 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 long list of " persecutions" they have laid up again.st the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 There is a small Mormon settlement on tb') south side 
 f)f the Park, near where an old fort stood, but all the 
 central portion is the property of Mr, Wm. Kimball, eldest 
 son of Heber, formerly an ardent Mormon, but now weak 
 in the faith, and sincerely trusting for inspiration in a 
 more ardent spirit, or at least a more exhilarating one, if 
 the testimony of his friends and nose be accepted. He 
 has, however, " kept the faith" by taking three wives ; 
 the youngest and handsomest lives with him in a large 
 stone hotel near the centre of the Park, on the stage road; 
 the second wife, apparently quite old, liv^es in a low log 
 house tv/o hundred yards from the hotel, and his legal 
 wife lives in the city, and, it is said, takes in spinning and 
 weaving for a living. The first and second wives had 
 each a son in our " outfit," Burton and Willie Kimball, 
 rather bright, intelligent boys, and for the night we en- 
 camped near their father's " ranche," procuring a plenti- 
 ful supply of milk, butter and eggs. I afterwards found 
 it to be quite common for hotel-keepers on the various 
 roads to have two or three wives ; sometimes an English 
 wife as housekeeper, a Danish wife as gardener, and if 
 there was a third, she did the spinning and weaving for 
 tlie family. 
 
 Thus all the requirmnents of a firsVclass establishment 
 are kept up, and servants dispensed with ; the " woman 
 question," "servant-gal-ism" and "division of labor" set- 
 tled by one master stroke, and profits deduced from poly- 
 gamy with more certainty than polygamy from the Pro- 
 phets. 
 
 From the Park we follow the stage road over a low 
 " divide" to the head of Parley's Canon, but made such 
 slow progress that we were compelled to encamp for a 
 night in the wildest part of the gorge, with barely room, 
 and ill but one place, to range the waggons in corral be- 
 tv/een the road and bed of the stream. 
 
 The view was one of indescribable beauty. On either 
 hand rose the dark green sides of the caiion, apparently 
 almost perpendicular, yet covered with masses of timber 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOKMONISM. 181 
 
 to the very summit ; while down the rocky flume, in the 
 lowest part of the canon, dashed the clear waters of the 
 creek, formed by melting snows but a few miles above. 
 From where we stand the gray crest of the summit seems 
 within pistol shot, and I am surprised to learn that it is 
 at least one mile in a direct line from my eye, and those 
 apparent steeps near the top are really gentle slopes cov- 
 ered with grass and bushes. The masses of timber which 
 stand out so boldly towards the lower part of the canon 
 appear to follow up the sides gulches in rapidly lessening 
 lines, sinking to rows of little saplings, and terminating 
 in a mere fringe at the top like ornamental shrubbery. 
 Yet those trifling looking poles are many of them from 
 one to two feet thick. To one whose early life has been 
 passed in a leveler prairie country, these mountain scenes 
 are an ever- varying source of surprise and delight, and he 
 only wonders why those whose home has been in the moun- 
 tains should ever leave them. Nor do they often. There 
 is a charm in the wild freedom of tbese heights which all 
 must acknowledge, nor is it much less so on the plains, 
 and though the mountaineer and plainsman may return 
 to eastern friends and the abodes of civilization, they as 
 often feel the irresistible longing to be back amid the un- 
 trained wildness of nature. 
 
 From this camp wo made another day's travel down 
 hill, all day by the side of the rushing stream, under 
 numerous hanfjinor rocks which seem to threaten Vlestruc- 
 tion to all who venture beneath ; now through frightful 
 " dugways" far up the hill sides, where a variance of three 
 feet would send team and driver to fragmentary destruc- 
 tion, and now far down in the deeps, where the enclosing 
 walls above almost shut out the sunshine. 
 
 Soon after noon we passed the last stage station in a 
 sort of open valley where a side canon connects Emigra- 
 tion and Parley's, but after a feAV more turns we enter a 
 deeper pass, of more wild and startling beauty. Finally we 
 reached the Caiion gates, a narrow pass, just wide enough 
 to aflbrd road room, with perpendicular walls several hun- 
 dred feet in height, where we emerged from the moun- 
 tains and came out into a hollow with sloping sides and a 
 
182 l-IFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIEH 
 
 freer outlook. About 4 p. M., I caught siglit for the first 
 time of the open valley aud blue hills far beyond, but for 
 an hour more we continued to wind along a " dugway," 
 and at length emerged upon an open " bench," where I 
 could seethe distant glimmer of Jordan and the "marshes/' 
 and the mountains west of Great Salt Lake, a faint, blue, 
 cloudy line, that in tlie silvery light of the declining sun 
 appeared fading away in infinite perspective. 
 
 Slowly descending from the "bench" to the valley, I 
 caught sight of the hill north of the city and the canon 
 from which issues City Creek ; then of Camp Douglass, 
 far to the right and three miles east of the city ; then of 
 the Arsenal, Tabernacle, Brigham's house, and the Thea- 
 tre, and at last the city appeared in full view, scattered 
 for miles over the slope, and looking in the distance and 
 haze of evening, like a collection of villages with groves 
 and orchards scattered among them. ^ Night overtook us 
 four miles out, where we formed corral in an open space 
 by the " uphill canal," so called, from which place on the 
 next morning, September 10th, we entered the city. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 183 
 
 ■ CHAPTER IX. 
 
 * 
 
 TWO WEEKS IN SALT LAKE CITY. 
 
 Viewa of the City — Temple Block— Bri^liam's Block— Theatre — Immi- 
 grants — Mormon Arguments— lloaaous for Polycjaiuy — '* Book of Mor- 
 mon " — First Mormon Sermon — '" Old " Joe Yona'^ — His Beauty (?) 
 — Hia Sermon — Mormon Stylo of Preaching — Order of Services — 
 First impressions rather favorable — Much to learn yet. 
 
 On first impressions Utah seems to me to have the per- 
 fection of climates, and Salt Lake City the finest natural 
 site in the West. Nor is this feclinL^ much lessened by 
 iongar stay. From a point on the hill just north of the city 
 and near the Arsenal one can take in at a view the lake, 
 the city, the mountains, and the valley for thirty miles 
 south and south-east. Fioni this point Jordan valley 
 appears, nearly in the shape of a horse shoe, with the 
 city just under the point of the northern termination of 
 the east side, and the lake lying across the open end. 
 But the southern point of the valley which seems to the 
 spectator here to close, only narrows at the canon of the 
 Jordan, anrl opens beyond that to contain the Utah Lake 
 district. i3eginning north-east of the city, and extending 
 south in the order named, arc City Creek, Red Butte, 
 Emigration, Parley's, Big Cottonwood and Little Cotton- 
 wood canons, all breakins: throufjh the Wasatch from the 
 east. From this point, too, every house in the city can 
 be seen ; the plat reseml)les the even squ;ires of a checker- 
 board, the rows of trees lining all the streets, and the 
 crystal streams of water which seem, in the distance, like 
 thi'eads of silver, combining to give a strange and fanciful 
 beauty to the scene. 
 
 Salt Lake City is situated in latitude 40' 4G' north, 
 and longitude 111° 53' west of Greenwich, nearly 4,'JOO 
 feet above sea level, and was laid out in 1847. The streets 
 
 M 
 
184 LIFE IN UTAH; 015, THE MYSTKllTES 
 
 arc at cx.nct right angles, running with the cardinal points, 
 and ninnliored every "wny iVoni Temple Block, which is. 
 in IJtMli, the starting point of all nicasiirenicnts, calcula- 
 tions and princijiles, whether of ecclesiastical, civil, poli- 
 tical or engineering. Its exact jilace is ascertained to be 
 as above given for the city. 
 
 The street bounding it on the east is called East Temple 
 Street, the next one First East Temple, or n)erely First 
 East, the next Second East, and thus on ; the same nomen- 
 clature is maintained in all the streets. North, South and 
 West. Each street is forty-four yards in width, with six- 
 teen feet pavements, leaving one hundred feet clear, and 
 each block exactly a furlong square, containing ten acres 
 divided into eight lots of an acre and a quarter each. Nine 
 squares are included in each ward, and there are twenty- 
 one wards, beginning with the tirst on the south-east 
 corner, and reckoned westward to the Fifth, then back- 
 ward and forward, honstropliedon, terminating with the 
 Twentieth on the north-east. The outer wards, however, 
 contain largo additional tracts extending the jurisdiction 
 of the city over wide limits. The greatest length of the 
 city proper is thus, from south-east to north-west, about 
 four miles, and its greatest width, from north-east to 
 south-west, a little over two miles. But a small portion, 
 hoAvever, of this largo area is thickly settled ; in two- 
 thirds of the city the scattered dwellings are mingled 
 with orchards, gardens, small pastures or grass-plats, and 
 even small wheat and corn fields, like a thickly settled 
 farming country or nursery ground, rather than a city; 
 and to this fact the place is indebted for no small share 
 of its beauty. Nine-tenths of the buildings are of adobes, 
 or sun dried brick, throughout the West, spelled and pro- 
 nounced dohies, which material corresponds nearly with 
 brick in the East, and, where plastered and stuccoed, makes 
 an elegant and durable building. 
 
 The western part of the city extends to the Jordan, 
 and the ground in that vicinity is rather low and, in 
 winter ard spring, marshy ; hence the finest residences 
 are nortii and east, and all the public buildings above 
 Third South Street. Leo us note a few of tliem, begin- 
 
AND CRIMES 01' MORMONISif. 185 
 
 ning, by invariable custom, at Temple Block, which in- 
 cludes the usual ten acres, containing the old and new 
 Tabernacles, the Endowment (locally known as Ondoo- 
 ment) House, and the foundation for the great Temple 
 which is to l)e. The old Tabernacle is a sort of nonde- 
 script building, oblong in shape, with a third of the room 
 underground, in the souch-west corner of the block, cap- 
 able of holding some 2,500 persons. The new Tabernacle 
 is, in its way, a curiosity ; there is certainly no idolatry 
 in the reverence paid to it, for it is like nothing else in 
 the heavens above, or the earth beneath, or probably the 
 waters under the earth. At first sight the prevailing 
 feeling in one of astonishment, which soon yields to curi- 
 osity as to who could have designed it. It is built in the 
 form of a complete oval, the major axis of wlii'^h is 250 
 feet in length, and the minor axis 150 feet. The lower 
 part, or foundation for the dome, consists of a succession 
 of forty-six pillars of red cut sand-stone, each about six 
 feet square, and ten feet high, all around the building ; 
 along the sides there are double doors between the pillars, 
 and at the ends a heavy partition ; on this structure the 
 dome or roof rests like the half of an egg-shell. The 
 latter is a vast frame-work, plastered within and shingled 
 without, raised along the centre sixty-five feet above the 
 floor. There is not a trace of the beautiful or impressive 
 about it ; it is simply a vast pile awkwardly put together, 
 and with twice the outlay of stone and mortar that 
 would have sufficed to provide the same room and accom- 
 modations in some other shape. As the grand worship- 
 ping hall of the Saints it is a curiosity ; as a work of art 
 a monstrosity. The Endowment House, where the secret 
 rites of Mormonism are performed, is an unpretentious 
 adobe building, in the north-west corner of the lot. I 
 cannot describe its interior, for the yjrofane Gentile may 
 not enter therein. But if the testimony of numerous 
 witnesses may be believed, it is fitted up with various 
 rooms, curtains, stages and scenery, for the performance 
 of a grand drama, representing the creation, fall of man, 
 coming of a redeemer, great apostacy and final restoration 
 of the true priesthood through Joseph Smith. 
 
18(> r>lFK* IN UTAH ; oil, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 The eastern half of Temple Block, fenced off from tile 
 western, contains only the foundation for the Temple, 
 which is to be finished in great s})lendor just before the 
 Saints return to Jackson County, Missouri. Ground was 
 first broken for the work in February, 1853, with impos- 
 ing ceremonies ; in the seventeen years that have since 
 elapsed, the edifice has reached a level with the ground, 
 from which those fjiroiliar with the " Rule of Three " may 
 calculate how long it will require for it to complete the 
 proposed height of ninetj^-nmc feet. The foundation is 
 unsurpassed in strength and finish ; of the finest moun- 
 tain granite of a bright gray or white, slightly flecked 
 with blue ; a building of such material v/ould indeed 
 outlast the anticipated thousand years of Millennial reign. 
 But work on it is slow, or rather it is .su:sp>ended ; the 
 stone is very hard, and must be brought some twenty 
 miles from the mountains, and only at rare intervals a 
 workman or two is seen picking away at one of the huge 
 masses which are scattered around by the ton. The 
 entire square is surrounded by a wall, the base of stone, 
 and the uj)per part of adobes, and plastered, twelve feet 
 high, with square iiirrets about every ten feet, and a 
 massive gateway under stone arches at the centre o: each 
 of the four sides. Crossing Ea.st Temple Street we reach 
 the *' Prophet's Block," two squares of ten acres each, the 
 western containing the Desereb Store, the office of the 
 Deserct Keius, otncial organ of the Church, the Tithing 
 House and yard, the Lion House, Bee Hive House, offices 
 and other buildings pertaining to the Prophet, Priest, 
 Seer, Revelator, in all the world, Grand Archee, First 
 President, and Trustee-in-trust of the Church of Jesus 
 Christ of Latter-dav Saints, all of which titles centre in 
 and are borne by Brigham Young. 
 
 The Lion House is an oblong building of three stories, 
 plain in style, but .{uite substantially built, and well 
 finished. Its cost is reported everywhere from thirty to 
 seventy thousand dollars. In the States it could have 
 been built for less than the former sum. Over the pil- 
 lared portico in front is a stone lion, a sad misapplication 
 of the emblem, by the w.ay, iis that royal brute is ever 
 
AND CHIMES OF J[0«MONISM. 187 
 
 content witli one mate. The bull would have been more 
 appropriate, but that is a matter of taste. The Bee Hive 
 House, a largo square building, just east of the former, 
 is surmounted by a stone carving in imitation of a bee- 
 hive. The entire area is surrounded by a vrall eleven 
 feet high, of boulders and cobble stones, laid in mortar, 
 with semi-circular buttresses at equal distances, The 
 eastern half of the enclosure contains vaiious buildings 
 of no special interest. Between the two lots is the main 
 entrance to City Creek Canon, which was " granted " to 
 Brigham Young by the first Territorial Legislature ; the 
 entrance is by a massive stone gateway under an arch, 
 upon whicli is perched an immense eagle, carved by a 
 M-ormon artist out of native wood — another perversion of 
 a sacred emblem, the royal bird being, like his brute com- 
 peer, a strict inonorjainid. 
 
 Just north of Brigham's grounds, on the first "bench," 
 is the block ov/ned by the late HeberC. Kimball, contain- 
 ing one superior mansion, and a number of smaller dwel- 
 lings, in which eleven of the Widows Kimball still reside. 
 The other seven live in various parts of the city, with 
 the families to which they belong. Some fourteen or six- 
 teen of Brigham's wives reside in th3 Lion House and 
 Bee Hive House ; the others live in different parts of the 
 city, or on his farms in the country. 
 
 From the canon back of Brigham's grounds issues City 
 Creek, which is there, by dam.s, diverted from its channel 
 and carried along the upper part of the city in a main 
 canal, from which side ditches convey the streams down 
 both sides of every street, furnishing irrigation to the gar- 
 dens, and pure water, in the u})pcr })art of the city for all 
 other purposes. Lower down, the loo.se black soil and the 
 wash of the streets render the water rather impure, though 
 it is used, and during the season when irrigation is not in 
 progress, is still tolerably clear. Next to Temple Block and 
 Brigham's, the Theatre is the institution of Salt Lake 
 City. It stands one square south (>t" Brigham's grounds, 
 At the corner of First South and First Ea.st streets; is 
 built of brick and rough stone, covered with stucco in 
 front, and its cost is variously estimated from seventy to 
 
188 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 two hundred thousand dollars. It was built while rail- 
 roads were yet a thousand miles distant, probably doub- 
 ling its cost. It will comfortabW seat two thousand per- 
 sons, and can be pracked with a few hundred more; the 
 proscenium is sixty feet deep, and the building the largest 
 of the kind west of Chicago. 
 
 Formerly the playing was done entirely by amateurs, 
 under the training of old London professionals turned 
 Mormons; then they played only on alternate nights, re- 
 hearsing one night and playing the next, pursuing their 
 ordinary calling by day. But at present there are profes- 
 sional [)layers among the Mormons, receiving a regular 
 salary, and assisted by "stars" from abroad. Just before 
 I reached Salt Lake, one of the " leading ladies" of the 
 home troupe. Miss Sarah Alexander, took a sudden de- 
 parture for California, where she is now engaged in her 
 profession; and quite lately another home "star," Miss 
 Asenath Adams, born and reared among the Saints, has 
 left to become the wife of a Gentile. Iler father, a bigoted 
 Mormon, has fully realized the text, " Train up a child 
 and away she goes." 
 
 The Parquet is usually occupied only by Mormons 
 and their families ; for a Gentile to be seen there is apt 
 to create a suspicion of "jack-Mormon" tendencies. The 
 resident Gentiles and visitors occupy the first or Dress 
 Circle, while the second and third circles are given up to 
 miners, transients, and boys, and even Indians often find 
 a standing " at the top of the house." 
 
 Next in interest to the theatre among public buildings, 
 are Social Hai', the Seventies' Hall and the Court House. 
 The last named is built entirely o^ adobes, but stuccoed 
 with exquisite finish and in perfect imitation of variega- 
 ted granite, making a building of fine and imposing ap- 
 pearance. On Main — Etst Temple— Street, the business 
 houses are all included Avithin two blocks ; among them 
 the stone storehouse of Ilansohofl:* & Co., the drug store of 
 Godbe &D Co., the large building of Walker Brothers, and 
 Masonic Hall building would take respectable rank in 
 eastern cities the same size. The finest bu.siness house in 
 the city is that of Wm. Jennings &; Co., now devoted to. 
 
AND (JUIMES OF MORMONISM. 181) 
 
 the uses of " Zion's Co-operative Association." There are 
 two well built hotels, the Revere House and Townsend, 
 and a number of private residences of considerable taste 
 and beauty. But it is easy to see after all, that the beaut}"" 
 of Salt Lake is largely by comparison. For twenty years it 
 was the only town between the Missouri and Sacramento ; 
 to reach it, men had to plod eleven hundred weary miles, 
 With mules or oxen, across alkali deserts, rugged moun- 
 tains, and barren flats ; to them it was the half-way place 
 for rest and recruiting, and no wonder its broad well 
 watered streets, its green, cool gardens and orchards, and 
 its neat white adobes, seemed a very tcrredrial Eden. No 
 wonder the Mormon emigrants who had made the weary 
 passage from Europe, broke forth into songs and shouts 
 of glad surprise, at sight of their " Zion." But now that 
 one can run out in three days from the well built cities 
 of the East, the contrast is lacking, the illusion is destroy- 
 ed, and early visitors are flatly accused of having " blown 
 the Salt Lake trumpet altogether too loud." 
 
 Twenty -three years ago, this region was a desert of 
 sage-brush, grease-wood and cactus, when on the 24th of 
 July, 1847, the "pioneers" first entered the valley. Their 
 material progress since shows that no human institution 
 can be an unmixed evil. 
 
 From a ramble through the city, I went to the noted 
 Warm Springs, just outside the city to the north-west ; 
 and without the faith of tlie Mormons, I can safel}'' agree 
 with them that this pool is " for the healing of the na- 
 tions." This is the season for " the emiirration" to arrive, 
 and returning to the city I found the poople excited over 
 the arrival of a train of fifty teams, bringing a large num- 
 ber of new and some old converts from England, Den- 
 mark and Switzerland. The train had unloaded in the 
 church corral, or tithing yard, a large walled enclosure in 
 the Prophet's Block ; I entered under an arched stone 
 gateway and viewed the new arrivals. Old, withered- 
 looking women, fat, clumpy-looking girls and middle-aged 
 " vrows " composed the female portion, and all evidently 
 of the poorest class. 
 
 Their friends, and the sisters, generally, had met them 
 
190 LIFE IN UTAH; OK, THE aJYSTERIES 
 
 with hearty hospitality, carrying in buckets of milk and 
 baskets ofi'ruit and provisions, to make a welcoming feast, 
 and the corral was a scene of feasting and merriment. — 
 But there were a few sad exceptions to the universal joy. 
 Many who had started with this outfit had died by the 
 way, and a few of the old peo])le were so worn out by the 
 long journey that it seemed they could not recover. I 
 wa.s particularly struck with the apj carance of one group. 
 An old English woman, whose features bore the imj ress 
 of exhausting travel, while her hands irdicated a lifetime 
 of unremitting toil, was lying on a pile of bedding, evi- 
 dently sinking with the weakness of fever. The young 
 women had gathered around her with every delicacy to 
 tempt the appetite, while a fair young Mormon girl sup- 
 ported the sinking head on her bosom, and presented a 
 spoonful of rii)e peach to the fevered lips. The dame 
 smilf \ while tears of weakness and joy ran from her eyes, 
 and .ii"d again and again to eat the proffered delicacy, 
 but in vain. Kature was exhausted by the long voyage. 
 The eyes that had so long and eagerly looked for "Zioa," 
 "werft soon to be dimmed, and the weary feet were hasten- 
 ing to an eternal rest. 
 
 In the universal hilarity that prevailed, the Mormon 
 girls were selecting companions from the arrivals, and 
 taking them to their homes for a few days' rest, the tra- 
 vel-worn and dusty, foreign-made garments contrasting 
 strangely with the dress of the young Saints. Female 
 beauty is scarce in Utah. One occasionally meets a line 
 looking woman, but there is four-fold the beauty in many 
 a Gentile town of 1,000 inhabitants that I can see in all 
 this city. Fine forms are not uncommon, and some of the 
 younger women are quite graceful in carriage, but beaut}' 
 of ex])ression is rare, and the reason is obvious. Facial 
 beauty is tiosthetic, the result of taste, sensibility and cul- 
 tivation, and, at least, a tolerable elevation of the moral 
 faculties. It will not result from a rude and coarse exist- 
 ence. Beauty of the- form is more purely physical, and 
 will naturally spring up anywhere, where woman is not 
 abused or overworked. Given a certain amount of fresh 
 air, moderate exercise and healthy food, and the correct 
 
ML»iO10.V XKlXfLa BillXG BUILX IN SALT LAKK CITV. 
 
V); 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOKMONISM. 19o 
 
 womanly it"n\ is the result. But beauty of tlio features 
 has more oi the ideal ; it is the product of a higher tone 
 of the mental and moral nature, and other things 
 being equal, the greatest number of line fjices will be 
 found in a virtuous and intelligent community. 
 
 The men were of the same brawny and red-faced 
 foreign type, white haired boys, and simple looking old 
 men, which every western man has so often seen ; a low- 
 browed, stiff-haired, ignorant and stolid race. In their 
 faces could be seen much of the earnest, sincere and quiet ; 
 but not of the intellectual, bright or quick of comprehen- 
 sion. Every traveller through the rural districts of Utah, 
 must have observed that, though individual Saints differ 
 somewhat, as other people do, yet there are certain pecu- 
 liar traits common to all. One of these is their almost 
 total lack of the humorous faculty or principle ; ])hreno- 
 logically speaking, they have no organ of wit and humor, 
 or if they have it is so uncultivated that it is pi-actically 
 dormant. 
 
 They will laugli heartily enough at a broad joke or coarse 
 jest, but seem quite unable to appreciate keen satire, irony, 
 or delicate wit, or to perceive the ludicrous in odd associa- 
 tions of ideas. The Mormon is often terribly in earnest, 
 but he is seldom funny. This defect is partly one of race, 
 partly ia lack of cultivation, but still more in the fact 
 that few people who can understand and appreciate an 
 absurdity would ever become Mormons. Hence we rarely 
 see among them the genial, humorous Irishman, the keen 
 witted Israelite, the intellectual Swiss, or the lively, and 
 versatile Frenchman ; but in their stead stolid Saxons and 
 plodding Scandinavians. Men are, to a great extent, born 
 to certain forms of religious belief; Boodhisra is essential- 
 ly Mongolian, Spiritism is of the Indian, Mahommedanism 
 has its peculiar subjects, and, though universal in its final 
 application, the present spirit and structure of Christianit}' 
 is Gothic and European. And the most gloomy forms of 
 error, which have sprung from a corru])t Christianity, find 
 their devotees among the most solemnly impressive and 
 stolid of the Eiu-opean races. Old residents tell me that 
 Artemus Ward's lecture in Salt Lake was, professionally 
 
194 LIFE IN UTAH ; OK, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 speaking, a perfect failnro, simply because* it was " cut too 
 line" for the latitude. A few laughed at his broadest 
 jokes, then for a solid hour while he was doing his funniest 
 the audience sat " like a bump on a log," not giving a 
 smile. It's a wonder it did not kill the sensitive author. 
 Mormonisni mijjht oiimnate with keen witted Yankees, 
 but it could, not long continue without a broad basis of 
 the North European races. 
 
 These v(^r,: -comers ^ook homely enough, but it is grati- 
 fying to observe the vast improvement even in the first 
 generation of the native-born. Whether it is the climate, 
 or better food, or exemption from the severe toil of 
 the poor in Europe, most of the young girls now " coming 
 on" in Utah exhibit a vast personal improvement over 
 their parents, and among the very youngest, whose families 
 have been here for twenty years, the little misses exhibit 
 promise of the trim, graceful form, the arched instep and 
 the light tripping step of the American girl. There are 
 many drawbacks in the social and domestic habits of 
 " this people," still nature is asserting her rights to some 
 extent. She demands beauty in the female fi)rm, and 
 even Mormonism cannot altogether prevent it. Of course, 
 the younger generation is more quick-witted and liberal, 
 hence the majority of young Mormons are free thinkers 
 and anti-polygamists. It is the old story of the hen 
 hatching swans, the vulture doves, or the caterpillar giv- 
 ing life to the brilliant butterfly. And this rapid im- 
 provement is notable in view of the perils of young life 
 in Utah, of which, more anon. 
 
 In my first rambles about the cit}^ I found the Mor- 
 mons rather communicative, and quite ready to enlighten 
 me as to the peculiar features of their faith ; indeed, 
 rather anxious to prove the superiority of their institu- 
 tions over those of the Gentile world. Of course, like all 
 new comers, I looked upon jiolygainy as the one great 
 evil, if not the only evil of Utah, and our discussions 
 most often turned upon that point. The first intelligent 
 Mormon, who gave me his views at length, was Mr. Victor 
 Cram, educated as a physician, in Boston, but now a 
 builder in Salt Lake City. As an " inside view," his ideas 
 
AND C'lllMKS OV MOIIMONISM. 1J).'> 
 
 are worthy of presentation on the venerable principle, 
 Audi alteram paiiem. "Wo have," said ho, " a popula- 
 tion of 200,000, three times the population for a new 
 State, and have had for years ; l>ut they won't admit us. 
 The fact is, wo are a little rebellious. This law of J 802 
 against polygamy, we don't abide by, and the people won't 
 do so !" 
 
 " And what do you think will bo the result ?" I asked. 
 
 " The result ? Why, it will be good when people get 
 enliglitend on this point. Then polygamy will become 
 popular throughout the world." 
 
 " But how do you justify it, or explain this ?" 
 
 "I take the ground, sir, that polygamy was absolutely 
 necessary to purify and regenerate mankind ; that such 
 was the tendency that in no long time the world would 
 have been depopulated, the human race become extinct, 
 without the gracious assistance of polygamy, which in- 
 evitable destiny God foresaw, and revealed to Joseph 
 Smith the mode of prevention." 
 
 He then proceeded in a lengthy detail of the causes 
 wliich were operating to weaken the re])roductive force of 
 nature, and destroy tlie young before they reached a 
 marriageable age. His views were unique and interest- 
 ing, but suffice it to say that he proved, to his own satis- 
 faction at least, that the human race was slowly and surely 
 tending to inevitable decay and complete extinction, 
 through the violation of a certain inter-sexual law, which 
 violation was causing: a decline among women and their 
 offspring ; that God revealed to Joseph Smith the means 
 of cure, which necessitated the employment of polygamy, 
 which would, in time, regenerate the human race, and re- 
 store it to primal strength and beauty. 
 
 "But how comes it," I asked, " that the Caucasian races 
 have gone on and increased for three thousand years in 
 single marriage ?" 
 
 '• Because they never run to that excess, and then this 
 new way of killing infants before they saw the light was 
 not known. But the present mode of living leads to ex- 
 cess, and America, the youngest nation, is going to lead all 
 the rest in that excess ; and when the old nations of 
 
196 lill'K IN UTAH ; 01{, THE MVSTEIIIES 
 
 Europe learn theso now tricks and get started on this road, 
 tlioy will go like a flock of sheep, and rnclt from the face 
 of the earth ; and without a radical corrective the race 
 would soon 1)0 extinct. 
 
 " Mind, I say," ho continued," theso are not the reasons 
 why wc practise polygamy. We do it solely because God 
 conimanded it, 'The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it,' 
 is our fiolo and only warrant, which we daro not diso- 
 bey ( ! !) ; but these arc merely a few of the reasons why 
 God commanded it, as wo think. Or to throw aside Cod's 
 ordinance, and take nature for it, these reasons are suffi- 
 cient to show why polygamy is .according to law and light 
 of nature ; why it is the natural order of things, and 
 why God s chosen people were the offspring of polygamous 
 mothers. Now, I took my second wife only last year 
 ni}'' circumstances did not enable me to do so before, and 
 tlie g')od effects of the arrangement are already observ- 
 able in my house, particularly in the son of my second 
 wife, which is a brighter, healthier and stronger child than 
 cither of my other eight children. And I challenge you 
 to go to any of our schools, and pick out at random a 
 dozen children of polygamous mothers, and then say on 
 your honor if they are not superior to the average child- 
 ren of single marriages," 
 
 This si.'cmed like a bold Qfl'cr, but one finds in time that 
 the Saints are very much given to the " bluff" game ; 
 nor will it bo thought strange that they arc nut the only 
 people who excuse their own sins by pointing out those 
 of others. 
 
 Without attempting to controvert his views, I accepted 
 the loan of copies of the " Book of Mormon," " Millennial 
 Star," and " Doctrine and Covenants," which I promised 
 to read at my earliest leisure. 
 
 My first Sabbath in Salt Lake was bright and clear, and 
 I determined on a visit to the Tabernacle. The early 
 morning I devoted to the " Book of Mormon ;" but two 
 hours more than satisfied me. Of all the dull, wearisome 
 and inconsequential books 1 ever dosed over, I am quali- 
 fied to say that wovk takes the lead. It is verbose, dif- 
 fuse and full of repetitions ; about the size of the Old 
 
A*ND CUIMKS OF ilOUMOMSM, 197 
 
 Testamout, every material inct in it could be cotinncssed 
 within tht' limits of a Tribune Almanac. The Saints 
 aver that it was composed by the angel Moroni, and de- 
 livered to Joseph Smitli. If so, I am sorry for Moron'i, sorry 
 that there wore no (grammars or "aids to composition" in his 
 "sphere," that he might have jTjiven us a work somewhat 
 wortiiy of criticism. The anti-Mormons, and a certam 
 widow Davidson, now resident in New York, aver that it 
 was written by her tirst husband, Solomon Spauldin^if, an 
 invalid cleri^yman, merely for Ids own amusement. If so, 
 ho w.'us easily amused. I sincerely ho])e, for the honor of 
 her husband, that .he good woman is mistaken, for if any 
 scholiir assisted in the production of that work, he must 
 have been very invalid, in mind Jis well as body. I can 
 understand how some peoj)le admire M. F. Tupper ; I c .n 
 even, in a dim, far-off way, appreciate those who iippre- 
 ciate Joha Tyler, Junior; but that men of even average 
 intelligence should discover literary excellence, divine 
 philosoi)hy or spiritual comfort in the " Book of Mormon," 
 is beyond my powers. 
 
 That a quarter of a million of the Imman race should 
 be led to stake their hopes for eternity on the divine au- 
 thenticity of such a work, is one of the most melancholy 
 evidences of the inherent weakness of the human intel- 
 lect. 
 
 Service was held in the New Tabernacle which will seat 
 eight or ten thousand people, but is quite a failure as far 
 as hearing is concerned. The interior being a perfect oval, 
 those in that portion nearest the stand and in the end 
 farthest from it can hear quite well, while all is confused 
 and indistinct in the central area, wdiich includes nearly 
 half the room. A canopy, or flat, some twenty feet square 
 had been erected over the speaker's stand to serve as a 
 sounding board, but helped the matter very little. 
 
 Brigham does not preach oftener than once or twice a 
 month, and did not favor us with his presence this morn- 
 ing; his brother, Joseph Young, preached the opening 
 sermon, and I have no hesitation in pronouncing him the 
 most inferior-looking man I ever saw in the pulpit, and I 
 have seen some hard specimens. He is very old, very 
 
198 LIFK IN UTAH ; Oil, THE xMYSTERIES 
 
 thin, very Aveak-eyed, and rather sallow; his general ap- 
 pearance suggested that he had just slept a month, heen 
 awakened by a thunder-storm and come away without 
 changing his clothes, washed in a mud puddle, and combed 
 his hair by crawling through the sage brush. And yet, he 
 has four wives. Let the homely take courage. The dis- 
 tinctive feature in Mormon sermons is their exceedingly 
 rambling and discursive nature ; touching here, there and 
 everywhere, on everything which concerns man's moral, 
 spiritual and material interests. The peculiar baldness of 
 their style is made ten-fold more apparent b;y the homely 
 words and phrases in which it is couched. Hints on stock 
 raisin*?, difj^ino: ditches, buildins: fences and making "dob- 
 ies," slip into the midst of moral disquisitions on " the 
 whole duty of man." 
 
 I could not discover what was the special subject of 
 Joseph Young's remarks ; he took no text, as they usually 
 do not, and fired away at all the sins of the congregation 
 very much on the " Donnybrook Fair" principle. Before 
 beginning his sermon proper, he called for general news 
 from any of the settlements, gave a list of foreign letters 
 which had arrived, and called for all returned mission- 
 aries to come into the stand and " give in their experience." 
 No one responding, he commenced by stating that " man 
 was a moral being ;" enlarged on the troubles of the 
 Saints ; confessed his ignorance of the reason why these 
 things were so, and began to "score" the young men for 
 laziness and bad habits generally. From this he branched 
 cfi' to tlie necessity of giving liberally to aid the poor 
 Saints in Europe to reach Utah : " They ought to come, 
 the Saints ought all to be here, for the devil is watching 
 where they are to take the spirit out of their minds, and 
 they ought to come here, and be treated with brotherly 
 love. But there is too much stubborness here ; the breth- 
 ren are all stubborn. The sisters are not quite so stub- 
 born." • ^ - 
 
 This last was news to me ; but he went oh to prove it 
 by a philosophical disquisition on the peculiar difference 
 between the masculine and feminine minds, which seemed 
 about an equal mixture of the ideas of Plato, Tennyson, 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 199 
 
 and Professor Fowler, and to have about as nnich relation 
 to the subject in hand, as it had to the next Presidential 
 election. He went on : 
 
 " Now some of you old men that come here early, feel 
 very much broke down. You're all stiff and crippled up, 
 and here's a lot of ' young sprouts,' as I call 'em, who'll 
 hardly work at all. I tell you, young fellows, it won't do. 
 You've got to stir around and labor mure. And these 
 young fellows ore so strong. Why, they are as elastic as 
 the rabbits on yon mountain ! While lots of these old 
 men can't stoop down to pick up a hoe. I tell you, as I 
 told ray folks this morning, just after family prayer, you 
 want knowledge of how to live in this world. Take care 
 of your bodies ! Don't eat so much of this green stuff!! 
 Keep your stomachs clean ! !! And some of you men are so 
 very inconsistent — in fact, I'm inconsistent myself some- 
 times. To ask God for health, and not take care of it. 
 Why do you ask God for such a thing ? Why, that's 
 your own business. God says, ' go ahead, and take care of 
 your stomachs and body, and I'll guarantee the rest.' 
 One thing I've noticed here so much ; nearly everybody 
 dies so sudden, and the old people, who have died lately, 
 almost seem as if they had just dropped dead. We have 
 no lingering diseases among us. Come to meeting in the 
 right spirit, and act in brotherly love and sisterly kind- 
 ness. And, finally, may God bless you all, brethren and 
 sisters, is my prayer, for Jesus' sake. Amen." 
 
 He was followed by Elder Wilford Woodruff, wliO gave 
 a rather able and connected address, on the dangers of 
 internal dissensions in states, nations, churches, and fami- 
 lies ; after which the choir sang, " Come let us anew our 
 journey pursue," with great force and beauty, and the 
 meeting adjourned. 
 
 In their mode of conducting prayer, singing and other 
 services, the Saints follow the Methodist order; they, 
 however, stand at prayer, but forbid written sermons ; 
 they have " experience meetings," and take tlie sacrament 
 every Sunday, excluding, of course, all but their own 
 people ; and, finally, they immerse, repeating it after every 
 "backsliding," interpret the Scriptures literally, preach 
 
200 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 long and loud of " one Lord, one fiiitli, one baptism," stig- 
 matize all others as "sectarians," and in their initial 
 princii^les follow the Campbellites. My second Sunday 
 in Salt Lake, I heard Orson Pratt deliver a rather learned 
 discourse on the various temples erected by " the Lord's 
 pecuHar pec>ple," embodying the idea that the last and 
 most glorious one was to be that of the Latter-day Saints, 
 to be set up in Jackson County, Missouri, "when the ful- 
 ness of time had come." 
 
 At the end of two weeks in Salt Lake City my impres- 
 sions are, on the whole, rather favorable. I find the city 
 quiet, apparently in good order, neat and pleasant to 
 dwell in ; though the people arc mostly ignorant and 
 bigoted, they did not appear contentious; I had been 
 treated with considerable courtesy, and began to conclude 
 the Mormons had been maligned, and often held long 
 arguments in favor of those whom I suspected to be a 
 much misrepresented and persecuted people. I had yet 
 much to learn.. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMUNISM. 20\ 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TRIP TO BEAR RIVER AND RETURN. 
 
 Northward afoot — Hot Springs — "Sessions Settlement'" — Polygamy 
 again — "Ephe Robe «s' young wife "— Parmington — Kaysville —Three 
 wives, and stone wa^'s between — "Let us have Peace" — Red Sand 
 Ridge — Ogden — Brigham City — Into the Poor District — Scandinavian 
 porridge- -English cookery — Rural life in Utah— Bear River, North — 
 Cache Valley and the Canon — " Professor" Barker, the "Mad Phil- 
 osopher"— A New Cosmogony — Mormon Science — "Celestial Ma- 
 sonry" — " Adara^' redivivus — A Modern "Eve" — Folly and Fanati- 
 cism — Mineral Springs — The country is, the city Mormon. 
 
 Fine weather was running to waste, and I. had seen no- 
 thing of Utah outside the city ; so on the afternoon of 
 September the 25th, I threw a few pounds of crackers, 
 dried beef, sugar and tea, into my valise, to serve in case 
 T should get beyond the settlements, and took my way 
 northward on foot, determined to see Mormondom in its 
 rural aspects. The nearest point on the Great Salt Lake 
 is about twelve miles from the city, and this road nowhere 
 approaches it nearer than two miles, but runs due north ; 
 with the Wasatch mountains to the east, and the lake to 
 the west, leaving a valley with an average width of five 
 miles. My route led me by the Warm Springs, already 
 mentioned ; three miles farther there is another, known 
 as the Hot Springs, from being twenty -six degrees higher 
 in temperature than the formei*. A stream of scalding 
 water, as large as a man's body, boils out of a rock at the 
 foot of the mountain, forms a hot pool two or three rods 
 in circuit, whence the branch runs across the road, and 
 westward into Hot Spring Lake. These springs will be 
 more fully described in another place. 
 
 The sun was near the horizon when I reached the high- 
 est point on the road, the sky which had been hazy all 
 day became clear, and glancing back towards the city 1 
 
 N 
 
202 LIFE IIT UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 saw her light coloured dwellings and green gardens glist- 
 ening in the evening sunlight, reminding one strangely of 
 pictures of Oriental scenes, while the gray peaks to the 
 east, the blue mountains to the south-west and the Lake 
 Island hills combined to form a grand circle of beauty 
 surrounding the modem " Zion." Seated on a projectin<^ 
 rock above the road, as the sun sank slowly behind the 
 islands, I tried again and again to convey some descrip- 
 tion of the scene to paper, and as often dropped book and 
 j^encil with a mixture of delight and despair. 
 
 Ten miles out brought me to Sessions Settlement, some- 
 times called Bountiful, where I spent the night at the 
 house of Mr. Perry Green Sessions, a Mormon elder and 
 returned missionary, who entertained me with some ac- 
 count of his experience in England and the Eastern States 
 " while laboring to build up Zion among those that are in 
 darkness." 
 
 From there, I continued my journey along the stage 
 road, now along the base of the mountains where cold 
 springs break in jets out of the rocks, and again far out 
 in the valley among corn and cane fields, or amid dwel- 
 lings surrounded by peach orchards, where the trees were 
 breaking under the load of ripening fruit, a sight 1 had 
 not seen for many years. A larger and finer orchard than 
 ordinary attracted my attention, and as the gate stood 
 invitingly open, I walked forward to where two women 
 sat beneath a tree preparing fruit for drying, and proposed 
 to purchase a dozen or two of peaches. Fruit in plenty 
 was oftered and all pay refused, and while I took a prof- 
 fered seat, the younger lady, a bright, lively, voluble 
 woman, entered at once into conversation by asking what 
 State I had come from. 
 
 " How do you know I am not a Utah man ?" I asked. 
 
 " Oh, I knowed you was a Gentile the minute you 
 stepped in at the gate, and you bet everybody kLOWs it 
 the minute they see you," was the reply. 
 
 Further conversation showed that the lady had quite a 
 history. She told me her father came to Salt Lake City 
 twenty-one years ago, and she was the third white child 
 born in the place. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 203 
 
 " But I couldn't see it in my way to marry a Saint, not 
 much ; though I was raised to believe in it, and do believe 
 in the religion all but that," 
 
 " Is your father a Mormon ?" I ventured to ask. 
 
 " Oh, 3-e3, and got four women ; only one wife, mind 
 you, that's my mother ; but four women who call them- 
 selves his wives. I never was raised to know anything 
 else, but when I was nineteen, father married me to a 
 Gentile, 'cause he couldn't help himself, I reckon. My 
 husband was raised next door to me and went to Cali- 
 fornia and stayed five years, and soon as he come back we 
 was married. I'a a stayed an old maid a thousand years 
 before I'd take a pluralist. Plurality's all well enough for 
 the men, but common sense shows that it don't suit 
 women." 
 
 " Why, then, do some of them hold up for it ?" 
 
 " Well, they think, they must to get salvation ; it's a 
 part of their religion, and sometimes they get along pretty 
 well. We never had any trouble in father's family. The 
 children all growed up just like brothers and sisters, and 
 treated each other so. Father always taught me to re- 
 spect his other women, and I always did so. 
 
 " But, law, I've seen such sights in other families. Why, 
 I've seen our neighbor's women just pull the hair right 
 out of each other's heads. There's so many men, when 
 they get a young wife, will let her abuse the old one, and 
 encourage her to do it. 
 
 " I've seen the man stand by, and say, ' Go in, kill her 
 if you can.' Now, there is Ephe. Roberts right over there," 
 — pointing to a stone house near the mountain, — "he 
 brought a real young delicate wife from New York, now 
 goin' on sixteen years ago, and she worked awful hard, I 
 tell you ; why I've known her to do all her own work 
 when Ephe. had three hands and the threshin' machine at 
 his house, and sometimes she worked out in the field, 
 bound wheat and raked hay, which, you know, is awful 
 hard on a delicate New York woman — 'taint as if shebeen 
 raised to it, like we folks, and after all, just last year, 
 Ephe. went and married another woman, a real young one, 
 not over twenty, and, don't you think, this spring she 
 
204 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 knocked Maria — that's his first wife — down with the 
 churn-dasher, and scalded her. Ephe. stood by, and just 
 said, 'go in, Luce ; kill her, if you can !' It all started 
 about a churn, too. Both wanted to use it at once. Maria 
 had it, and her butter was a little slow a comin', and they 
 got mad, and Luce struck her, and then snatched the ket- 
 tle right ofi' the stove, and then poured hot water on her 
 feet, so she fell down when she tried to run out. And 
 what was the result, finally ? Well, Maria left him ; of 
 course, she had to, or be killed. It's very nice, though, 
 for the men. I had n. dozen chances to marry old Mor- 
 mons, but law! I wouldn't give that for all of 'em. Why, 
 just turn things round, and let a woman have two or three 
 men, and see how they'd like that ! There wouldn't be 
 any murderin' done in these parts, oh, no! And, I reckon, 
 a woman has as fine feelin's as a man. I tell you, if my 
 husband ever joins 'em, or tries to get another wife, that 
 day I'll hunt another Gentile ; you bet !" The testimony 
 of "this witness," professionally speaking, was certainly 
 plain ; nor did she trouble me to cross-examine, but gave her 
 views freel3^ I note one singular fact in all similar cases : 
 During a long residence in Utah I ha^'e never, in a single in- 
 stance, talked ten minutes with a young lady of polygam- 
 ous family, that did not manage in some way to tell me, 
 she was the daughter of the first, or legal wi/c, if such was 
 the case. If silent on that point, it may safely be pre- 
 sumed they are of polygamous mothers. And in more 
 than one instance, I have known them to falsely claim 
 legitimate birth. 
 
 From this " apostate's" I journeyed on to Farmington, 
 eighteen miles north of the city, a beautiful town and 
 settlement of some two thousand inhabitants ; the resi- 
 dence of the Mormon hero, Lot Smith, who commanded 
 their guerilla force at the time it confronted Johnston's 
 army in Echo Canon, burned his waggons and drove 
 off his cattle. 
 
 I spent the night with a well-to-do Mormon, who occu- 
 pied a long, one-story stone house, divided into three 
 large rooms, with a kitchen in rear of each ; each room 
 was occupied by one of his three wives and her children. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 205 
 
 He seemed to be living at the time with the middle one, 
 where we took supper. The partition walls must have 
 been two feet thick, without any communication, each 
 wife with her progeny keeping strictly to her own depart- 
 ment. He was doubtless a "Grant man;" his motto seem- 
 ed to be " Let us have perxe." A " constitutional " the 
 next morning brought me to the next settlement, Kays- 
 ville by name, where I took breakftist with a Gentile who 
 had a Mormon wife. He was a Missourian, some fifty 
 years old, and belonged to the Church, he told me, ten or 
 fifteen years ago, but was "dis-fellowshippcd for not 
 payin' tithes." 
 
 He talked quite earnestly when he found I was from 
 the States, and gave his views on the entire subject with- 
 out troubling me to ask a question. " I never heard in 
 my life," said he, " that Christ and his Apostles rode 
 around the country in fine carriages with two span o' gray 
 hcsses, and made the people t'^in out provision enough to 
 keep him up, as we've had to do for the bishop here. — 
 Brigham Young pretends to be His successor, and at the 
 same time makes his brags that he never touches any- 
 thing he don't make money outen. Now, just look at 
 that Deseret Telegraph line. He had all the jieople pay 
 tithes and make donations for it, savin* it would be such 
 a nice thing for the people, and every settlement had to 
 furnish a certain number of poles ; and now they'll charge 
 you five dollars for sendin' ten words, be you Saint or 
 Gentile, And here after all, he's round makin' every 
 Saint, the poorest ov 'em, give so much to help to pay 
 these operators that come down to teach the girls along 
 through the Territory, how to work the wires. Now, 
 what comes o' that money ? it goes into Brigham's pockets. 
 But, pshaw, these people won't listen to you. Can't make 
 my wife believe a word o' that." 
 
 The good woman retorted with a wordy defence of the 
 Church and the Prophet, averring her firm belief in 
 everything Mormon, to which the husband listened with 
 a dry quizzical smile, and finally remarked : " Well, p'raps 
 I had better go back. Guess I vnll, and get me another 
 wife. Like dernation^ well to have a nice, trim, young 
 creature about twenty-five." 
 
 # 
 
200 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THK MYSTERIES 
 
 The wife, whose waist was after the pattern of a rum 
 barrel, and her feet models for a patent brick machine, 
 reddened a little and was silent. I think he will convert 
 her yet. 
 
 Tlie Deseret Telegraph line to which he referred, fol- 
 lov s L-Jiis road to the northern boundary of the Territory, 
 and south of the city extends nearly to Arizona, with side 
 branches connecting all the detached settlements; the 
 w'rcs centre in Brigham Young's office, and thus at a mo- 
 ment's notice he can send a warning of danger to five- 
 sixths of his people, and in twenty-four hours' time the 
 most isolated settlers could be ready to move. Whether 
 for good or bad purposes, it is a remarkable monument of 
 Mormon enterprise. I had intended to keep the Sabbath 
 at thi.^j point, but falling in with a farmer returning to 
 Cache Valley from the city, I rode some twelve miles with 
 him, passing over the Red Sand Desert. This is a ridged 
 piece of land jutting out from near the mouth of Weber 
 Canon, towards the lake, about ten miles long and eight 
 wide, and too high for ordinary irrigation. Most of the 
 land north of the city has one general character, a mix- 
 ture of gravel and loam, or of fine red sand and " dobie 
 earth," a peculiar whitish clay ; in its natural state it is tir, 
 barren as any part of the plains. 
 
 A piece of land is worthless unless water can be brought 
 upon it ; but with irrigation it produces equall}' with any 
 soil in the world. Leaving the ridge we descend into 
 Weber Valley, and in five miles reach the city of Ogden, 
 the most important in northern Utah ; containing with 
 its vicinity a po[)ulation of three or four thousand, and 
 now the point of junction of the Union Pacific, Central 
 Pacific and Utah Central (Bvigham's) Railroads. Thence 
 two days' sauntering, twenty-two miles, brings me 
 througli Willard Settlement to Brigham C/ity, some sixty 
 miles north of Salt Lake City. This is the county seat 
 of Box Elder Co., which contains at T)rescnt a Gentile 
 population of at least a thousand. 
 
 It has a beautiful location at the foot of the Wasatch, 
 at the mouth of a canon, which sends out a large stream 
 of pure, clear water, and a little north-east of the head of 
 
AND CUIMES OF 3I0UM0NISM. 207 
 
 Bear River Bay, the nortli-castern projection of Great Salt 
 Lake. From Bi-igham City, northward, the valley of Salt 
 Lake shows much less sign of cultivation and settlement 
 than below that point. Peach orchards entirely disap- 
 pear, apple-trees and grape vines are quite rare, stone- 
 houses and stucco-iinislied " dobies" are seen no more, and 
 their place is filled by rude log-cabins, with a very unin- 
 viting exterior and interior not over clean, inhabited 
 mostly by Welsh, Danes and Swedes. 
 
 The English inhabitants of the valley live quite well, 
 neaily as well as the corresponding class in our Western 
 States, though I have visited no part of America where 
 I found them so entirely English in dialect and manner 
 as here. Taking my meals wherever the hour overtook 
 me, I have found rich brown coffee, golden butter and 
 light white bread, in company with the broad English 
 accent, and have learned to associate the " hexasperated 
 haitch," with 'igh 'opes for a 'ungry man. 
 
 But if I stepped into a cabin and heard the Welsh or 
 Danish guttural, I asked some trivial favor and passed on 
 to the Britons, whom I consider the best part of the Mor- 
 mon people. A traveller should not bo an epicure, but I 
 acknowledge a weakness in that respect, and while 1 had 
 that glorious appetite, I hated to waste it on the suspi- 
 cious looking porridge, which is a standing dish among 
 the Scandinavian Saints. 
 
 A few of the American Mormons come up to the Eng- 
 lish standard, but in the country the majority fall below 
 it ; the^ constitute, however, so small a part of these peo- 
 ple, that I do not stop with them one time in five. They 
 are nearly all from New York and Pennsylvania, and be- 
 long to the original sect, all the late converts being for- 
 eigners. I see no Western people among them to s))eak 
 of I met one middle aged lady from Greene County, In- 
 diana, and when she learned I was from Pai'ke County, 
 adjoining, she was quite overcome, got me up the best 
 breakfast the cabin afforded, and talked and cried alter- 
 nately while I was eating it. Her parents joined the Mor- 
 mons while she was a young woman, and she had heard 
 from her old home but three or four times since. 
 
208 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTKRIEH 
 
 That region was attracting considerable interest, as the 
 probable site of the " great central city of" the future," 
 the town on the railroad which was to be, the most con- 
 venient spot for staging and freighting to Montana, Idaho, 
 Oregon and Washington, which would doubtless be a city 
 of great and permanent importance. But the railroad 
 was yet four hundred miles distant, and the location oi 
 the future city in great doubt. Many thought it would 
 be at the last crossing on Weber lliver, while others were 
 equally sanguine it would be in Curlew Valley, a hundred 
 miles west of Bear River. Meanwhile, work was pushed 
 forward rapidly; the Union Pacific Company had just let 
 contracts for a hundred miles of grading north of the 
 lake, teams were passing that way in considerable num- 
 bers, and graders' camps Avere thick along the route. 
 
 At the north crossing of Bear River I found a " home 
 station" of Wells, Fargo & Co.'s stages, where their branch 
 line to Boise City and into Oregon takes its start ; also a 
 fine hotel, bridge, store, and quite a little village. A few 
 miles above, Bear River, which has run around a long U 
 of three hundred miles from its source in eastern Utah, 
 " canyons" downward a thousand-feet in three miles, out 
 of Cache into Bear River Valley. 
 
 Seventy miles up the river, in Idaho, are the noted Soda 
 Springs; near them Camp Connor and a small settlement 
 of " Morrisites," a sect of recusant Mormons, a little more 
 crazy than the rest, but not quite so mean, who sought 
 the shelter of the military in their escape from Brigham- 
 ism. 
 
 My return trip from Bear River was varied by two in- 
 cidents worthy of special mention — a visit to the Mineral 
 Springs and an interview with the "mad philosopher" of 
 Utah. This eccencric genius merits more than a passing 
 notice. His name is J. W. Barker, generally called " Pro- 
 fessor," an Englishman by birth, who came to this coun- 
 try f nirteen years ago with a Mormon party. He claimed 
 to have discovered the primitive laws, which govern the 
 whole material universe, and that, in time, he would re- 
 fute all the theories of such philosoj)hers as Newton, La 
 Place, and Descartes, from whom he dissented in toto. 
 
 ■« 
 
AND CUIMKS OF MOKMUNISM. tiOJ> 
 
 True to liis convictions, as soon as lie had his fUniily com- 
 fortably settled, he full to work investigating, collecting 
 facts, analyzing and aiTanging specimens, and writing the 
 'prlncipia of his gi-eat work, the " Magna Charta of Uni- 
 versal Science," which was to annihilate all our present 
 ideas of gi-avity, light, and momentum, and usher in the 
 scientific millenniun:, at the; same time with the moral 
 regeneration of mankind. 
 
 For ten long, weary years, he has devoted every hour, 
 beyond those requisite for obtaining the bare necessaries 
 of life, to this research. He has travelled hundreds of 
 miles among the mines and canons, digging into drift, 
 wash dirt, gi'avel, quartz, and gold gulch and bar, till he is 
 known to the miners from Montana to Salt Lake. Night 
 after night he has watched the moon and stars, and calcu- 
 lated the slightest clianges of the atmosphere and mist, 
 and every observation has been faithfully recorded, and 
 assigned to its proper cause, in his new classification of 
 principles. Being an unlettered man, whose only knowl- 
 edge of geology was gained as an English miner, he has 
 worked his way against difficulties which woul-^ have 
 daunted any but a half-mad enthusiast ; has surrounded 
 himself with dictionaries and lexicons of science, and 
 hammered his way into the first principles of more than 
 one language, by the most exhaustive labor, I found the 
 " Professor" in a mountain nook which mi<;ht well excuse 
 a man for going mad over the works of nature. 
 
 Directly fronting his house, three majestic grey peaks 
 of the AVasatch range rise a mile above the level plain, 
 while a short distance in the rear of his farm spread the 
 azure Avaters of the Salt Lake, beyond which is the blue 
 line of the mountains on the promontory. 
 
 His painfully thin and gaunt appearance .showed that 
 he had hung over his books and burned the midnight oil 
 till the vital frame had shrunk ; but his manner was ear- 
 nest and his voice firm, while the corded muscles stood 
 out on a body without an ounce of fat, and seemed to run 
 over the bones like the wire puHeys of a metal clock. 
 He conversed pleasantly and quite intelligently on various 
 topics, till glancing at the mountain peaks I remarked 
 
210 I-IFE IN UTAH ; OK, THK MYSTKUIKS 
 
 that tlioy nuist have hoen thrown up by some great con- 
 vulsion of nature ; then his eyes lighted with a strange 
 fire as ho h»\stily replied: "They certainly were not 
 thrown u|) ; they were thrown down." Then holding 
 forth an hour on the origin of mountains, he invited me 
 to his study. A low rcv^m half underground in the rear 
 of his house, built of logs, had been rudely fitted up with 
 board, chest and table, block candle-holders attached to 
 the wall by wires, so as to bend out and in, and a few 
 chairs. The walls were completely covered with rude 
 maps and charts, and with long lists of words, which ho 
 stated he had to use often and did not know how to spell, 
 all copied from the dictionary in large capitals. 
 
 Producing a seat for me, and a large bowl of water for 
 himself, he entered on a three hours' exposition of his 
 views. He holds that all the fluid elements of nature 
 are resolvable into four gases ; that all the grosser ele- 
 ments are in like manner reducible to four simple solids ; 
 and from varying proportions of these iaw primitives are 
 derived all possible materials throughout the universe. 
 He contends also that the entire Newtonian theory of 
 gravity is erroneous and false to true science ; that there 
 is, in strictness of language, no .such principle as gravity 
 anywhere operating in creation ; that the terms refraction 
 and reflection are based on a total misconception of the 
 nature of light ; that all space outside of the atmosphere 
 contains a material medium, and that the atmosphere is 
 shown, by actual demonstration, to be eight thousand 
 miles thick, instead of forty-five. 
 
 He thinks that all nature is operated upon by four 
 simple, constant and regular laws, and that all we observe 
 are but combinations and inter-relations of these four, 
 which depend for their action simply on the will and 
 moving power of God. They operate in one course 
 through countless cycles of time, tending always to a 
 common centre, and, having run that course, are directed 
 in a returning course for other terms. The mental, moral 
 and spiritual world is but a microcosmical copy of the 
 material, consisting, too, of four subtle elements, mingled 
 with four grosser elements, and moved upon by infinite 
 
 T^ 
 
AND CHIMES OF MOUMONISM. ill 
 
 combinations of four siinj)le laws, directly referable t^i 
 the will of God. 
 
 The mountains are remains ()f precipitated Batcliites, 
 of which the earth has had many, the moon only remain- 
 ing; but, like all the others, it is a hollow globe, desti.ied 
 to fall upon and give final shape to the surface of the 
 earth. Tlie planets inside of our orbit have now no satel- 
 lites, but are hurrying on to their destiny on the face of 
 the sun ; while those outside of us liave many, and arc 
 coming in more slowly. We, on the earth, are approach- 
 ing the latter part of our career, and have bnrely time to 
 complete the moral regeneration of the race. 
 
 It is consoling to know that the grand smasli-up will 
 not take place till after the millennium. The old gentle- 
 man has just finished his great work, and required all 
 the information I could give him as to the cost and facili- 
 ties of getting it printed in the East. It consisted of 
 forty-six chapters, bound up in as many separate manu- 
 script volumes. Take him all in all, he is a curious case 
 of scientific insanity, well worthy the attention of Mr. 
 Beck, the learned writer on the subject. The " Profes- 
 sor " lectures in Salt Lake City occfusionally, and Orson 
 Pratt —professor and elder, and the learived man of the 
 city — has thought it worth while to reply to him through 
 the press. Wild and strange as this man's iJeas may 
 appear, he is but a type of hundreds in Utah. In science, 
 as in theology, Mornionism is at war with all existing 
 systems ; one-third of the whole people seem a little crazy 
 on some subject or other, and the wildest, most baseless 
 theory, the one fiirthest removed from natural causes, is 
 ever the one most likely to prevail. 
 
 Having cut loose from all recognized standards in 
 spiritual matters, they seem equally determined on the 
 supernatural, and extra human in medicine, science, astro- 
 nomy and natural history. I was once called upon by ft 
 Mormon, a little more crazy than ordinary, with an im- 
 mense chart of what he called " Celestial Masonry." For 
 the medical museum of a mad-house, it would have been 
 a priceless treasure. A canvas, three feet square, was 
 covered by the pictured folds of an enormous serpent,, 
 
212 LIFE IN UTAH; OK, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 iiionrf which were drawings of the various scenes, symbols ' 
 and implements of the new Masonry, divided for the 
 various degrees, of which there are twenty-seven ! All 
 the work had been done with colored crayons ; by " in- 
 spirational writing/' as the Mormon averred, the spirits 
 guiding his hand without his volition ; and as a work of 
 art, it showed remarkable style and finish. 
 
 Some three years ago, a " Josephite," or recusant Mor- 
 mon, who had adopted the new Mormon doctrine of 
 "transmission of spirts," conceived that he was Adam 
 sent back to the flesh , his wife, a little worse crazed, was 
 Eve ; but during the six thousand years of their separa- 
 tion, she had fallen away and become a prostitute. To 
 " purify her " he cut off all her hair, pulled out her teeth, 
 and, for the better convenience of locomotion, dressed her 
 in man's clothes, when both started on foot for the States, 
 A year afterwards they made their appearance at a 
 ranche in Colorado, nearly dead with hunger and fatigue ; 
 nor did it ever appear how they had reached here. From 
 there they came with a returning train to the Missouri, 
 where the authorities properly consigned them to the 
 lunatic asylum. 
 
 There is no refuge for the insane in Utah ; fortunately, 
 ])erhaps, for it might require a small war to settle who 
 should occupy it. Few are violent, but many are de- 
 ranged ; and the whole Territory would present a fine 
 field for the student in the jurisprudence of insanity. 
 
 The Mineral Springs are ten miles south of Bear River 
 Bridge, and seventy north of the city ; but I defer a 
 full description, which will be found under the proper 
 headincj. 
 
 In my trip to Bear River, and return, I journeyed 
 nearly two hundred miles among the rural Saints, and 
 observed their ways with all earnestness and curiosity. 
 The country Mormon is more religious than his city 
 brother, but less intelligent. He is a greater stickler for 
 the 3mall matters of his faith, but much less able to give 
 a reason why. He is more hospitable, generous and 
 social, but much more offensive in thrusting the unplea- 
 sant features of his faith upon you. But the greatest 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON ISM. 
 
 213 
 
 difference is among the women. The polygamous wife 
 in the city is in paradise compared with her sister in the 
 country, where farm labors and cares must be shared in 
 common. There the condition of woman is already fast 
 tending to what it is in other polygamous countries, and 
 there the degeneracy is soonest manifest. While the 
 men are enthusiastically devoted to their faith, I did 
 not see a single woman in the country who defended 
 poly gam}', though s!.rongly Mormon in everything else. 
 
 At least one-third the entire population of the valley 
 is from Great Britain, one-third or more from Sweden, 
 Norway and Denmark, while possibly one-sixth is Ameri- 
 can. As far as I know, all the posts of honor, indeed all 
 the easy and lucrative positions, are filled by Americans, 
 simply because the others are generally incapable. The 
 missionaries are largely of foreign birth, each being sent 
 back to his native country, after a few years' residence in 
 Utah. 
 
 Little more than a year afterwards, in visiting the 
 same section, I met with an experience in Brigham City, 
 which, though equally novel, was nothing like so plea- 
 sant. The Saints, who had seemed indifferent on my first 
 visit, were altogether too pointed in their attentions the 
 last time. 
 
 But I anticipate. I reached Salt Lake City the morn- 
 ing of (Jotober the sixth, in time for the " fall Conference " 
 of 1808. • 
 
214 LFFE IH UTAH; OR, THE MYSTEPJKS 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE CONFERENCE AND ITS RESULTS. 
 
 A Momiou masB-meeting — Faces and features — Great enthusiasm — A 
 living "martyr" — A Mormon hymn — The Poetess — A "president" 
 chosen — He recites the Church history — First view of Brigham — He 
 curses the Gentiles — A " nasty sermon" — Coarseness and profanity — 
 Bitterness of other speakers — Swearing in the pulpit — Exciting the 
 people — Their fren^iy and fanaticism — Hatred against the United 
 States — Foolish bravado — The author gains new light on Mormonism 
 — A subject to be studied — English and European Sects of like char- 
 acter — Division of the subject. 
 
 The semi-annual conference of the Churcli of Jesu.s 
 Christ of Latter-day Saints, convened on Tuesday morn- 
 ing, October 7th, in the new Tabernacle, and was, to me, 
 an occasion of great interest. Long before the hour of 
 meeting, indeed, from early dawn, all the roads leading 
 into the city were thronged by crowds from distant settle- 
 ments, going up to their half-yearly worship in "Zion." 
 As I returiied from Bear River, on the Sunday and Mon- 
 day preceding, I was passed ever}^ hour by long trains 
 of Saints from the northern and north-eastern parts of 
 the Territory, and, on reaching the city, found still larger 
 delegations from Utah Lake District, Provo, Fillmore, 
 San Pete, and St. George. 
 
 This occasion among the Saints is every way equal to 
 the yearly passover among the Jews, and every one who 
 can possibly leave home makes a visit to " Ziou," and 
 esteems it an honor and a privilege to do so. 
 
 I reached the building too late on Tuesday morning, 
 and, with n^any thousand others, was turned away for 
 want of room. The Saints seemed to consider it suffi- 
 cient happiness to stand around and gaze at the building, 
 iind think of what was going on inside ; but I was sus- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 21;") 
 
 tained by no such enthusiasm, and consoled myself by 
 getting an early dinner, preparatory to securing a seat ns 
 soon as the doors were opened in the afternoon. The 
 sight was well worth the trouble. From my seat near 
 the pulpit, and just at ono side, I could overlook the 
 whole vast sea of faces. The curtain in the rear had 
 been removed, and the entire oval, as well as the space 
 beside the organ, was completely filled by at least ten 
 thousand eager auditors. The rows of high seats on 
 either side of the pulpit were occupied by bishops and 
 elders from distant settlements, some three hundred in 
 all, while the four long seats constituting the pulpit, were 
 occupied by the First Presidency, consisting of Brigham 
 Young, Daniel H. Wells, and a vacant space for the late 
 Heber C. Kimball ; also by the Twelve Apostles, the 
 Heads of the Quorum of Seventies, the Church Secre- 
 tary, Plistorian and City Elders. It was the largest collec- 
 tion of the Saints I had yet seen, and I studied it with 
 much interest. 
 
 Occasionally I would see a fine cast of American fea- 
 tures, but nearly all the faces had that indescribable 
 foreign look, which all can recognize and none portray. 
 In companies of fifties and hundreds they had left their 
 distant homes at the call of the missionary, had given up 
 friends, property, country and religion, as they thought, 
 to follow Christ ; had tossed upon the waves in noisome 
 emigrant ships, had turned their backs upon the great 
 and fertile States, and traversed eleven hundred miles of 
 prairie, mountain and burning sand, "to build up the 
 kingdom of God in Deseret." And to these people, all 
 before them to-day was a glorious reality Feeling as 
 I did, that all this was but part of a great delusion, I 
 could not but reverence the intense faith of these de- 
 votees. 
 
 The meeting was called to order, after which the 
 Twentieth Ward choir sang, 
 
 ** My soul is full of peace and love, 
 I soon shall see Christ from above," etc. 
 
21ti rJFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Prayer was oftered by Elder Erastus Snow, followed by 
 a (_[uartette b" the Brigham City choir, 
 
 " Pray for the peace of Deseret," 
 
 after which Elder John Taylor addressed the meeting. 
 Taylor is one of the early converts to Mormonism, and 
 enjoys a high reputation among them, having been with 
 Joseph Smith in many trying scenes. With another 
 brother, he was with Joseph and Hyrum at the time they 
 were killed in Carthage jail, Hancock Co., Illinois. 
 
 According to the popidar Mormon account, as the mob 
 commenced firing, Joseph said to Taylor, " I shall pass 
 away, but you shall live to tell the tale to children's 
 children." At that moment HN'rum fell dead. Joseph 
 cried, " Oh, my dear brother Hyrum!" and sprang into 
 the window. A second volley was fired, when Joseph 
 exclaimed, " Oh, Lord, my God !" and fell into the street. 
 Of the same volley, four shots wounded Taylor in as 
 many places, and a fifth — an ounce ball from a yager 
 musket — struck him squarely in the breast, and buried 
 in an English lever watch, which had run without inter- 
 ruption for ten years, stopping the hands exactly at 5 
 o'clock, 10 minutes, 22 seconds, P.M., which is marked 
 among the Saints as the solemn hour of the Prophet's 
 death. On the fall of Joseph, the mob rushed around 
 the building, and the fourth brother, who was unhurt, 
 carried Taylor down staii-s, and to a place of safety. A 
 Mormon tradition adds that, at the same time, a gigantic 
 Missourian, with his face blackened, ran forward to cut 
 off Joseph's head, for which a reward had been ofifered ; 
 but as he knelt, knife in hand, on the boJy of the Pro- 
 phet, a flash of lightning darted, from the clear sky, be- 
 tween him and his victim, and shook the knife from his 
 grasp. This incident, which is the subject of a sensa- 
 tional engraving often seen in the Mormon dwellings, 
 rests upon the statement of one Daniels, the only witness 
 of the assassination not connected either with the Mor- 
 mons or the mob. He joined the Mormons soon after, 
 and, at the request of the Apostles, published his account. 
 He was afterwards " cut off" from the church, but thej'^ 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 217 
 
 still cling to his testimony. The watch, which marked 
 the hour so precisely, is kept as a sacred relic in the city. 
 Taylor, though shot nearly all to pieces, recovered entirely, 
 and is a healthy, venerable-looking old man of sixty 
 years. He gave a rather able address, reciting some of 
 the early trials, and urging the Saints to be industrious 
 and self-sustaining. 
 
 The choir then sang the following hymn, composed by 
 Miss Eliza K Snow, the Mormon poetess : — 
 
 "OUR PROPHET, BRIGHAM YOUNG," 
 
 " O God of life and glory ! 
 
 Hear Thou a people's prayer, 
 Bless, bless our Prophet Brigham ; 
 Let him thy fulness share. 
 He is Thy chosen servant — 
 
 To lead Thine Israel forth, 
 Till Zion, crowned with joy, shall be 
 A praise in all the earth. 
 
 #. 
 
 *■ 
 
 ■ i'.W.ii'lv 
 
 ' ' He draws from Christ, the fountain 
 
 Of everlasting truth, 
 The wise and prudent counsels 
 Which he gives to age and youth. 
 Thyself in him reflected 
 
 Through mortal agency, 
 He is Tliy representative 
 To set Thy people free. 
 
 '* Thou richly hast endowed him 
 
 With wisdom's bounteous store, 
 And Thou hast made him mighty 
 By Thy own Almighty power. 
 Oh, let his life be precious — 
 
 Bless Thou his brethren, too, • 
 Who firmly join him side by side, 
 Who're true as he is true. 
 
 ' ' Help him to found Thy kingdom 
 
 In majesty and power. 
 With peace in every palace 
 
 And with strength in every tower ; 
 And when Thy chosen Israel 
 
 Their noblest strains have sung 
 The swelling chorus there shall be 
 Our Prophet, Brigham Young." 
 
J 
 
 218 LIFE IN UTAH; OE, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 This authoress is one of the " spiritual wives" of Brig- 
 ham, which class of ladies usually retain their maidenly 
 appellation, sometimes merely adding that of the spiritual 
 husband. She is a very fine, intellectual-looking woman, 
 of forty or fifty years, and, from her appearance, seems 
 made to be loved. 
 
 On Wednesday morning Elder George A. Smith, cousin 
 of Joseph, was chosen as First Counsellor to Brigham 
 Young, in place of Heber C. Kimball, deceased. Daniel 
 H. Wells is Second Counsellor, and these three constitute 
 the First Presidency, at the head of all affairs of the 
 Church. 
 
 President Smith then gave a lengthy account of the 
 early history of the Church, from the time Joseph was 
 called to take the golden plates out of the Hill of Cu- 
 morah, in western New York, to the expulsion from Nau- 
 voo. He enlarged on their troubles in Kirkland, and 
 journey to Missouri. " There two priests organized a 
 mob, and the Lieutenant-Governor called out the militia. 
 The Saints were driven from Jackson County to Clay, 
 and from Clay to Caldwell, which they found occupied 
 by seven persons, all hunters. Far West was built as if 
 by magic. By August 1, 1838, they owned all of Cald- 
 well, and parts of neighboring counties when the mobs 
 came upon them again. The Governor called out fifteen 
 thousand men, but there was no law but mob law, whip- 
 l)ing men and ravisliing women. Women and children 
 wandered for fifteen days on the burnt prairie, and could 
 be tracked by the blood from their feet. Then the Saints 
 went to Illinois and built the beautiful city of Nauvoo, 
 and, while there, Joseph Smith went to see the President, 
 Martin Van Buren, who heard his petition through, and 
 then said : ' Your causs is just, but I can do nothing for 
 you.* Soon after this Joseph and Hyrum were arrested 
 and murdered. Then a combination was formed in nine 
 counties to expel us. 
 
 " We appealed to the Governors of the States, and were 
 told the law was on our side, but public opinion wa.s 
 against us, and we would have to leave. We finished our 
 temple with the trowel in one hand and rifle in the other. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOKMONISM. 219 
 
 Then our city was bombarded for three days, and we 
 retreated again. We commenced to cross the Mississippi 
 in the month of February on the ice. While lying on 
 the bank of the river the Lord sent quails into the camp, 
 that they could take them with the hand, which kept 
 the people from dying of hunger. In that condition they 
 remained till those who had gone west could return with 
 waggons and take them away ; but, before this was done, 
 many perished." 
 
 This history was continued at various times by all the 
 speakers, and in the most exaggerated and inflammatory 
 style. On Thursday morning I heard Brigham Young for 
 the first time. He is above medium height, well propor- 
 tioned, fine and portly-looking; with gray or light blue 
 eyes, light brown or golden hair, now sprinkled with gray, 
 clear, rosy skin, and sanguine temperament. His voice 
 is quite clear, and his enunciation distinct, with consider- 
 able of what is termed " presence," and electric effect 
 upon his congregation. But his style was coarse, in this 
 instance even vulgar beyond the bounds of description. 
 He was evidently either in an ill humor, or determined 
 to make the people so, indulging in reminiscences both 
 personal and public, which led him into violent denuncia- 
 tion of all outsiders. When he first arose 1 was some- 
 what impressed, and thought I saw one reason for his 
 supremacy, that he was indebted for his power over an 
 ignorant people, almost as muiih to his physical as to his 
 mental superiority. But when he had closed I was 
 utterly amazed, and it seemed incredible that one hun- 
 dred people could be found, much less a thousand times 
 that number, who should regard him as a " prophet of 
 the Lord." Afterwards, however, I had the pleasure of 
 hearing him when he was in a calmer mood, when he 
 appeared, to some extent at least, the prophet, priest and 
 king. 
 
 !b'or the rest of the Conference, which was mainly de- 
 voted to the discussion of a general movement to prevent 
 trade with the Gentile merchants, the speakers seemed to 
 vie with each other in bitterness, intemperance of lan- 
 guage, and hostility to Gentiles ; and all the good opi- 
 
220 LIFE IN UTAH ; 0«, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 nions of the Mormons I had hitherto formed were utterly 
 dissipated. For tiie first time in my life I heard the Gov- 
 ernment and people of the United States denounced, ridi- 
 culed, and cursed, and the very name of American made a 
 hissing and a by-word ; for the first time I heard profess- 
 ed preachers swearing in the pulpit, and such expressions 
 
 as " d d apostate" flung recklessly about by so-called 
 
 apostles and priests. The (Jonference closed, and its bad 
 effect was soon apparent. When I first arrived, there had 
 been an era of good feeling ; old bitterness appeared to be 
 passing away, and I was quite convinced that much I had 
 heard of the feud between Gentiles and Mormons was ex- 
 aggerated. 
 
 In this temper of the public mind the Conference met, 
 passed a decree of non-intercouise with the resident Gen- 
 tiles, and spared no pains to inflame the public mind. The 
 entire history of the Church was rehearsed, and in the 
 most intemperate style; every act of "persecution," every 
 slight and negle(;t was dwelt upon to the most minute 
 particulars, and matters of comparative indifference exag- 
 gerated clear out of truthful proportion. There was not 
 the slightest hint that the Mormons were anywhere in 
 the wrong, that there was the least palliation for their ene- 
 mies ; not even the charitable assumption that some few 
 of the latter believed themselves in the right. On the 
 contrary, every scrap of history began and continued with 
 the broad assumption, " We are the chosen people of God, 
 to whom He has spoken by the mouth of His Pi-ophet in 
 these latter days, and, being such, of course the world 
 hated us. There is, and must be eternal enmity between 
 God and the devil, so there was and must be between 
 Zion and the children of the de\il, to wit, the Missourians 
 and the Illinoisans." And these simple folks, who had 
 come up to the Tabernacle with quiet minds, at peace 
 with each other and all the world, left it with a burning 
 bitterness against all Gentiles ; and, as successive speak- 
 ers recounted their troubles in Missouri and Illinois, they 
 seemed wrought up to perfect frenzy. In Brigham's 
 
 " sermon" he threatened dire mischiefs upon the "d d 
 
 apostates," and expressed himself as " only sorry for one 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 221 
 
 thing, that God didn't tell us to fight the d d mobo- 
 
 crats," to which the Tabernacle resounded with shouts of 
 " Amen, Amen !" 
 
 Another speaker, George Q. Cannon, went much farther, 
 and seemed to exhaust all tiie resources of lingual ingen- 
 uity to provoke the people to mob violence, without di- 
 rectly advising it. The great objects of his animosity 
 were the Reporter — ( I entile paper — and the grammar 
 school of St. Mark's Associate Mission, the Gentile school 
 of the City. Cannon stigmatized the school as one of the 
 institutions of the devil set up in Zion, and then askeci*: 
 " Shall such an institution be allowed to go on and inno- 
 culate the minds of qur children with its damnable and 
 pernicious doctrines ?" Which was answered with a uni- 
 versal shout of "No!" "No." He hardly dared to directly 
 advise the people to attack or destroy the Reporter office, 
 but related a bit of history, with comments, which, if not 
 intended to indicate violence, had no force that I can per- 
 ceive. He said when he was a boy in Nauvoo, there was 
 a paper published there by some " apostates" called the 
 Expositor. it vilified the Saints, and scandalized their 
 wives and daughters till the City Council declared it a 
 nuisance. About that time the speaker was in the office 
 of the Mormon paper there, and heard Joseph and Hyrum 
 Smith talking about it. Hyrum said, " Rather than allow 
 ,it to go on, he would lay his body in the walls of 
 the building where it was issued." The speaker 
 then gave a glowing account of the martyrdom of Joseph 
 and Hyrum, and the many Saints who suffered on account 
 of the Expositor till the people were wrought into a 
 perfect frenzy. He then stated that " right here in the 
 midst of Zion a paper was issued, so much like that, he 
 could hardly tell them apart, and the times were so simi- 
 lar he almost imagined himself a boy again." Then read- 
 ing some extracts from the Reporter, and commenting in 
 an inflammatory style, he said : "In any other community 
 such a paper as this would be gutted inside of five days, 
 and its editor strung up to a telegraph pole." To which 
 the excited congregation responded, "Hear, hear," "Here 
 we are," etc. 
 
222 I.IFK IN UTAH; oil, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 I now began to imderstnnd wliat had at first secnied a 
 mystery to me ; that in every State where the Mormons 
 had lived, the people who had at first welcomed them 
 gladly, ended by hating and opposing them. Granting 
 that all the charges against them of petty thieving, coun- 
 terfeiting and trespass were untrue, such mad fanaticism 
 could not but destroy good neighborhood, and arouse all 
 other violent elements in opposition to their own. Mor- 
 monisni, which had hitherto been to me a mere amuse- 
 ment or matter of passing interest, now appeared a subject 
 W^orthy of serious and earnest investigation. 
 
 That a vast multitude of people should embrace a wild 
 scheme of religion is no new thing, perhaps no great won- 
 der; the foremost nations of Europe bavo witnessed great- 
 er displays of fiinatici.sm ; England had her Irvingites, 
 Muggletonians and devotees of Joanna Southcott ; Ger- 
 many was compelled to slaughter fifty thousand of the 
 fierce Anabaptists of Munster, followers of St. John of 
 Leyden ; while the convulsionists of France, and the self- 
 mutilating sects of Russia, have shown more unnatural 
 bigotry than the Mormons. But that a theocratic despot- 
 ism should spring up in a free republic ; that the cool and 
 practical Yankee should turn Prophet, and that, after two 
 thousand years of Christian progi'ess, men and women 
 should voluntarily turn back to polygamy, semi-paganism 
 and the " dead works " of a ceremonial law — this is cause 
 for inquiry. Let us then take a brief view of the most 
 characteristic features of Mormonism, arranging them for 
 convenience in the following order : 
 
 I. Mormon society and general views. 
 
 II. Analysis of Mormon theology. < 
 
 III. Theoretical polygamy — its history. 
 
 IV. Practical polygamy. v, 
 V. The Mormon theocrac}''. 
 
AND CiUMES OF MORMONISM. 223 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Difficulty at the outset — Extremes among witnesses— Prejudice on both 
 Bides — First impressions favorable — " Whitcd Sepulchres" — Classes 
 of Monnoiis — Brigham Young ; impostor or fanatic ? — The dishonest 
 class — The "earnest Mormons" — Disloyalty — Church and State — 
 Killing men to save their souls -Slavery of woman— Brigham the go- 
 vernment — Prophecy against the United Slates — "War" — "Seven 
 women to take hold of one man" — Another war expected — Blood and 
 thunder in store for the Gentiles — " The great tribulation" about due 
 — Popular errors — Witchcraft — " Faith-doctoring" — Zion in Jackson 
 County, Missouri — Comfortable prospect. 
 
 Before entering upon a subject so complex as Mormon 
 society and theology, it is necessary to warn the reader 
 that on many of its features it is difficult to write without 
 some warmth of feeling; and as to polygamy, quite impos- 
 sible to treat thereon without coarseness. In this part of 
 my work too, a special preface is appropriate, as our Am- 
 erican-Saxon is particularly deficient in those delicate 
 euphemisms which enable an author to describe that 
 which is vile, in language which is comparatively chaste, 
 or, at any rate, not shocking or offensive. In treating of 
 the gross materialism and perverted sexualism of the Mor- 
 mons, it has been thought best to speak plainly, that the 
 full effects of this new Mahommedanism may be seen and 
 read of all men. ,'.,., 
 
 A serious difficulty meets us at the very outset of an 
 examination into the affairs of Utah. The fair-minded 
 Gentile, who really desires to know the truth, must in 
 effect, resolve himself into a perambulating jury of one, 
 to try every fact presented by the strictest rules of legal 
 acumen. He will find three different accounts of, three 
 separate reasons for, and three opposite deductions from, 
 eveiy possible occurrence, viz.: the Mormon account 
 wholly presumed and one-sided ; the bitter anti- Mormon 
 account which would condemn all of an opposite creed 
 
224 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTEllIEH 
 
 without distinction, and the account of the moderate 
 Gentiles, who are in the best position to give n fair judg- 
 ment, but being necessarily distrusted by both the other 
 pai-ties, arc in a poor way to get at facts. 
 
 Two classes of writers have dealt with the Mormon 
 question ; the one .Sas described in glowing terms the 
 simple earnestness of the peo])lc, their devotion to an idea, 
 their foithfulness to their leaders, their industry, frugality, 
 temperance, and love of home ; the other has painted, in 
 dark colors, their horrible crimes, their lustful and debas- 
 ing doctrines, their depravity, treachery, disloyalty, petty 
 tyranny and social meanness. Paradoxical as it may ap- 
 pear, there is a measure of truth on both sides ; thous- 
 ands of the Mormon laity, ignorant, zealous and sincere, 
 have many of the virtues claimed for them, while the 
 gang of licentious villains who mould this pliable mass, 
 are guilty of tenfold more crimes than the world will ever 
 know. In all descriptions of life and manners in Utah, 
 this distinction is to be carefully kept in mind. It is a 
 noteworthy fact, too, that visitors who reach Salt Lake 
 City with no decided feelings either way, nearly always 
 form a more favorable opinion at first, than they have 
 after a few months' residence. I was slow in arriving at 
 the reasons for this, but there are good ones. 
 
 Men of quiet tastes arrive there from some border 
 towns, where the offscourings of Christendom are gath- 
 ered, and the apparent change strikes them with great 
 force. They are charmed with the quiet and order and 
 beauty that seem to prevail on every hand, and in all 
 conversations it is carefully impressed upon their minds, 
 that all this is the result of Brighamism and the institu- 
 tions set up under it. Much more is claimed than is true, 
 and the visitor finding things better than he expected, is 
 led to believe them better than they really are. But as 
 he progresses in knowledge, his views of this vaunted 
 " quiet, and order, and beauty," begin to change. He 
 finds that this quiet is the quiet of despotism — this order 
 is of the kind that " reigned in Warsaw" on a certain his- 
 toric occasion, when the heel of the tyrant was on fifty 
 thousand necks, and to murmur was to be crushed. 
 
AND CRIMES OV MOKMONISM. 225 
 
 PIo finds that tlie beauty is mostly of nature's making, 
 and as to the boasted virtue and honest)', it is about like 
 that of other similar communities — good, bad ajid indif- 
 ferent. There ought to be virtue in a coiiimunity where 
 no man is introduced to a woman, until he has been 
 thoroughly tested, and where the "dagger to the heart" is 
 the openly avowed penalty for the slightest infraction ; 
 and yet such are the defects of their social system that, 
 despite these dread penalties, virtue is not secured. Pub- 
 lic prostitution is, of course, comparatively unknown, but 
 that private immorality, and that of the most loathsome 
 character, prevails extensively, is Avell known to all who 
 care to inquire ; and is often riatly acknowledged by their 
 own speakers, one of whom said, in a public sermon, that 
 he could not preserve his own honor, " couldn't trust his 
 women out of his sight, and was bound to have 'em all in 
 one house, under his own eye." The resident finally learns 
 these fiicts, and learns, too, that things he considers gross 
 crimes are practised under the name of religion. 
 
 Then a reaction begins in his mind, and anger is ex- 
 cited more fiercely against crimes concealed in the name 
 of religion, than those which appear in true colors. And 
 this is the crime of Brighamism, that a class of swindling 
 fanatics can so put on the appearance of virtue as to de- 
 ceive both those within and without, their followers and 
 their visitors. At first, I thought I was alone in thus 
 changing my views ; but I find it to be the case, nine times 
 out of ten, with the fair-minded Gentile. Look at the 
 long list of visitors who have spoken or written, and it 
 will generally be found, the shorter their stay, the more 
 favorable their testimony. There is one point on which I 
 long refused belief, the existence of " Danites" or " De- 
 stroying Angels." I looked upon them as rather a bug-a- 
 boo of the Gentile mind. But the testimony is now un- 
 impeachable. I find their existence avowed in Brigham's 
 old sermons. I have met more than one man who had 
 narrowly escaped from them with life. I have it from the 
 statements of apostates, and more than all else, my per- 
 sonal friends, among the Mormons themselves, have avowed 
 and defended the order. To a young Mormon woman, 
 
226 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THK MYSTEllIES 
 
 who was laboring for my conversion, I said, in jest : " Do 
 you believe in these Danites ? Do you sustain such a 
 man as Bill Hickman in his murders ?" and, to my sur- 
 prise, the rc[»ly was : " That is his office, to cut oft' those 
 who violate a sacred obligation, for which there is no for- 
 giveness. That is the law of God." 
 
 When a man finds growing within him a sentiment of 
 hostility to a sect claiming to be religious, he does well to 
 consider carefully the grounds of such feeling, lest early 
 prejudice or sectarian bias be misleading him. Charges 
 against religious bodies arc to be received with caution, 
 and examined with more than legal distrust. We do well 
 to remember that the crimes of religious communities 
 have been exaggerated in every age of the world, and 
 hence extra caution is due to them in examining their 
 history. In this spirit I can truly say I approached Mor- 
 monism ; and when compelled to radically change my 
 views of them, while I felt a natural chagrin at having 
 been at first deceived, it was more in sorrow than in an- 
 ger that I found myself disenchanted. And this has been 
 the experience of the great majority who have made a 
 lengthy residence in Utah. For. a few weeks all seems 
 right ; but if any man fiatters himself that at the end of 
 six weeks he has seen more than the superficies of Mor- 
 mon society, he is wofully deceived. vVhen the first flush 
 of curiosity had subsided I ceased hunting for information 
 of those so falsely called " representative men ;" I began 
 to look among the people. I talked with the young and 
 extended my acquaintance among that class — most gen- 
 erally women — who have been wrecked in mind, body and 
 estate by the maelstrom of lust and fanatical fury, which 
 is ever raging in the Mormon capital. It is not easy to 
 get at these facts. The witnesses wall not speak while 
 there is the slightest doubt. They know not whom 
 to trust, and one must take .a decided stand, and be- 
 come himself an object of hatred and distrust to the 
 hierarchy, before he can safely be considered a friend to 
 its victims. But when a man has fairly cut loose from 
 the misrepresentations of the few, and begun to get the 
 facts from the mass, every day the odious features of Mor- 
 
AND CRIMEA OF MOllMONISM. 227 
 
 monism rise into clearer view, till he stands aghast to 
 think he ever had a good opinion of the system. The 
 Mormon Church, or rather community, may be divided 
 into four classes. 
 
 I. First are the leaders of all ranks, from the First Pres- 
 idency down through all the grades of apostles, seventies, 
 bishops, elders, priests, evangelists, missionaries and 
 teachers. 
 
 They are all bound to the Church by the strongest ties 
 of self-interest, as by it they live — many of them in splen- 
 dor and affluence. In such a state of facts we may well 
 question their sincerity, especially as some of them are 
 men of keen analytical talents, and far-reaching sagacity. 
 But whether they think it true or false, they nmst stand 
 or fall with the system. Some of them evidently believe 
 in it with all earnestness ; others, as evidently do not. 
 Their history and unguarded expressions show that. Still 
 a third class seem doubtful, and to this it must be con- 
 fessed Brigham Young belongs. Outsiders are strangely 
 divided in opinion regarding liim. His worst enemies, 
 while they charge him with every crime in the code, yet 
 often admit that he is sincere in his religious belief; 
 " but," say they, " his religion admits of the most atro- 
 cious crimes, if done to further good interests !" Others 
 look upon him as a heartless impostor, a sensual> deceitful 
 tyrant, and this I find to be the common view among 
 apostates, or recusant Mormons, who have suffered from 
 his acts. I am inclined to regard him as that strange 
 compound of impostor and fanatic, which history ha« 
 shown to be possible, as in the cases of the Florentine, 
 Savonarola, and the Jesuit, Loyola. Incredible as it may 
 appear to a mind and conscience yet undebauched, men 
 may and actually' do jiersuade themselves that they are 
 doing God's service while committing the most heinous 
 crimes, and 
 
 " Christians have burnt each other, quite persuaded 
 That all the Apostles would have done as they did." 
 
 II. The second class comprises those who have embraced 
 Mormonism from unworthy motives, and consists gener- 
 
228 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 ally of men with no fixed sentiments on any subject ex- 
 cept their own self-interest. They are men who have 
 been unfortunate or criminal in other communities, and 
 fled to Mormonism for a, refuge. Broken down mer- 
 chants, professional men, without character, and the "bilks" 
 and " dead beats" of other communities generally, who 
 have been deceived by the representations of progress 
 there, and expected to better themselves by casting in 
 their fortunes with a rising sect. And from this class 
 have originated many of the Mormon troubles, in times 
 past. They often become dissatisfied and turbulent, and 
 often apostatize, but have too little fixedness of sentiment, 
 and too much dullness of moral perception to be of any 
 value to either side. Sonie of them seek easy positions 
 under the hierarchy ; others, more desperate, sink lower, 
 and become the mere tools of the leaders to do all their 
 dirty and infamous work. Mutual guilt then make^ them 
 mutual spies, and conscious that their lives are in the 
 power of their jriasters, they live as guilty and miserable 
 slaves, with the assured knowledge that, at the slightest 
 disloyal move, their lives will pay the forfeit. More than 
 one of this class has met with a; bloody death, from the 
 simple fact that he knew too much, as I now know from 
 undoubted testimony. 
 
 III. The third class consists of those who became Mor- 
 mons sincerely, but from slight or insuflficient motives. 
 They united with the sect, with as much sincerity as they 
 were capable of, but with no clear understanding of what 
 was before them. Before embracing Mormonism, they 
 were generally afloat on religious subjects, or dissatisfied 
 with what they saw in their own churches, and had fallen 
 into the dangerous habit of suspecting all men of hypoc- 
 risy who showed much zeal for morality. I have met doz- 
 ens of this class who had been " lobby members" of the 
 Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Campbellite Church- 
 es ; that weak, feeble class of Christians who expect the 
 Church to pick them up and carry them to heaven, care- 
 fully lifting them over the rough places in the road, and 
 removing every annoying doubt which will rise in an 
 idle or rapid brain. 1 have heard them speak of their 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONISM. 22 J> 
 
 churches as "stationary," or "sleepy," never dreaming that 
 the fault was in themselves. They were the weak, dis- 
 contented disciples, without the fierce vigor and aggres- 
 sive spirit of the true Cliurch ; not having learned the 
 first principle of Cliristianity to be zealous, unselfish la- 
 borers. In this state of mind their attention is caught 
 and fancy captivated by the claim of a new revelation, of 
 holding direct communion with heaven, of walking every 
 day in new light received from without ; and also at the 
 thought of a distinctively American religion, with saints, 
 apostles, prophets, and martyrs, all of our own race and 
 time. This class are very enthusiastic on first reaching 
 the new " Zion," but often grow discontented, and fall 
 again into their doubting and querulous habits. But as 
 they did no'-, think their way into Mormonism, they can- 
 not think themselves out, and so they simply fioat. Some- 
 times they apostatize, but are no loss to the Church and 
 no gain to the Gentiles, from pure lack of intellectual 
 vigor. 
 
 IV. The fourth class consists of those who reallv be- 
 lieve in Mormonism with all its absurdities and contra- 
 dictions. They never doubt for a moment, that Joseph 
 Smith was sent direct from God, and that Brigham Young 
 is his successor. This chiss comprises about half of the 
 whole community, and they are the really dangerous ele- 
 ment. No miraculous story is too great for their belief, 
 if it have the stamp of "authority," and no oppression or 
 priestly tyranny seems to shake their faith for a moment ; 
 and, paradoxical as it may seem, in this class are found ail 
 the virtues of the Mormon community. They are indus- 
 trious, frugal (often from necessity), and reasonably tem- 
 perate. Their honesty, I think, has been overrated, and 
 Brigham and other leaders often say the same. Yet, one 
 may travel among them for weeks, as I have done, and 
 meet with nothing but kindness and hospitality. 
 
 But in their very virtues lies the greatest danger. Their 
 constancy to their leaders is wonderful, and their gullibil- 
 ity and capacity to swallow the marvelous, beyond belief; 
 so they constitute a mass of dangerous power in the hands 
 of corrupt and trecosonable men. These arc the men we 
 
230 MFE IN UTAH; Oil, THli MYSTERIES 
 
 ought to reach and try to save, and yet they are the verj^ 
 ones who are hardest to influence. They will not read 
 our books or papers (very many of tlicm cannot), nor lis- 
 ten for a moment to our arguments. They denounce 
 everything which is not approved by the bishop, and pro- 
 nounce the plainest facts of history false, if they clash 
 with the statements of " authority." Conversing once 
 with one such, a merchant of the city, I read the follow- 
 ing passage from the " Book of Mormon :" " We found 
 upon the land of promise (Central America), that there 
 were beasts in the forest of every kind, both the cow and 
 the ox, and the ass and the korm, and all manner of wild 
 animals, which were for the use of men." 
 
 "Now," said I, "your Prophet says the Nephites landed 
 in America six hundred years before Christ, and the last 
 of them perished about A. D. 500, and all this time they 
 had used the horse and the a.ss. Now, any history of 
 America will show that the horse was completely un- 
 known to the Indians till brought here by the Spaniards." 
 
 " O, pshaw !" was the reply, " I don't believe a word of 
 it ; it's a d — d lie, got up by some enemy of the truth." 
 
 "But," I urged, "go further tmck than Mormonism. 
 Take the letters of George Washington, and you will find 
 that he was the first man who ever imported the ass to 
 America ! Could the Nephites have had these animals, 
 and no trace of them be found ?" 
 
 "I don't believe George Washington, or any other man, 
 knows anything about it," said he ; " you examine and 
 you will find many of the so-called facts of history are 
 not facts. You may reatl every history written, and pick 
 out every fact against that book (Mormon), and when you 
 look into it you will find them all false." 
 
 This was the mode of reasoning adopted by a man of 
 extra intelligence for a Mormon. I have talked with doz- 
 ens of this sort, and no matter how clear on everything 
 else, they seem to go wild in their logic when Mormonism 
 was touched upon. "Do you actually believe," I asked 
 an old lady, " that the eaithly paradise will be in Jackson 
 County, Missouri ?" " Oh, yes," she said, " for the Lord 
 pointed out the exact place to Joseph, and said that Zion 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 231 
 
 should never be moved, and all the people of America 
 who do not repent will be destroyed now in a few years, 
 so there will bo but one man fi^r seven women. Those are 
 the very words, and everything Joseph and Isaiah (!) said 
 haa turned out just exactly as they said it would." 
 
 Such are the ideas impressed ujwn the minds of these 
 people. Numbers of them testify in the most positive 
 manner to miraculous cures performed upon themselves 
 or their friends, simply by the " laying on of hands" by 
 an elder or bishop. They devoutly believe that Stephen 
 A. Douglas failed politically, because he urged vigorous 
 measures against the Mormons, and that Frank P. Blair 
 is sinking for the same reason. The late war never would 
 have occurred, they think, if Johnston's army had not 
 been sent; .and as to thrashing the United States, they 
 consider it will be a mere " breakfast spell," when things 
 get in the right fix, and Brigham gives the word. At his 
 command they would fight the world in arms, or quietly 
 give up their all and migrate to any part of the world he 
 might designate. The most of this class will stick to 
 Mormonism as long as it has an existence, but the other 
 classes will fall away whenever it is to their interest to do 
 so. 
 
 But with mere moral distinctions the Government 
 and people of the United States have little to do. The 
 patriot and statesman will ask a more important ques- 
 tion : What is the state of public feeling among the 
 Mormons ? — how do they stand affected towards the 
 General Government ? In a full answer many influences 
 are to be considered. It must be remembered in starting, 
 that at least seven-eighths of all these people are foreign- 
 ers, and that of the lowest and most ignorant class ; 
 that they came direct from Europe to Utah, and know 
 absolutely nothing of the States and their people ; that 
 they merely have Mormonism grafted on to Europeanism, 
 and cannot be expected to become nationalized like their 
 countrj'men who settle in the East. Whatever distinc- 
 tively American feeling they have must, then, be looked 
 for in the influences there and the teachings of the 
 Church. These influences and teachings are all anti- 
 
232 T-iFE IN UTAH ; on, the mysteries 
 
 American. Mormonism teaches three doctrines directly 
 opposed to the spirit of the Constitution and our insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 1. The union of Churcli and State ; or rather the 
 complete absorption of the State in the Church; that the 
 former is a mere appendage of the latter for convenience 
 sake, and may be droj)ped whenever convenience no longer 
 calls for a state organization. 
 
 2. The shedding of a man's blood, for the remission of 
 his sins, even his sins against the Church, This is some- 
 times denied and sometimes advocated, but that it is a 
 doctrine of the Mormon Church is now beyond doubt. 
 Brigham openly says that the only reason why it is not 
 more generally advocated is, that it is " too strong a doc- 
 trine for the weak in faith ; the people are not fully pre- 
 pared for it," etc. Unwilling to leave this matter doubtful 
 in any mind, I clip the following extracts from published 
 sermons, the first from those of Jedediah M. Grant, de- 
 livered in the Tabernacle : 
 
 " Brethren and sisters, we want you to repent and for- 
 sake your sins. And you that have committed sins that 
 cannot be forgiven through baptism, let your blood he 
 shed, and let the smoke ascend, that the incense thereof 
 may come up before God, as atonement for your sins, and 
 that the sinners in Zion may be afraid." {Deseret Neius, 
 October 1, 185G.) 
 
 " We have been trying long enough with these people, 
 and I go in for letting the sword of the Almighty be 
 unsheathed, not only in word but in deed." (Ibid.) 
 
 " I say there are men and women here, that I would 
 advise to go to the President immediately, and ask him to 
 appoint a committee to attend to their case, and then let 
 a place be selected, and let that committee shed their 
 blood." (Deseret News, September, 1856.) , 
 
 Which was endorsed by Brigham, as follows : — 
 
 " There are sins men commit for which they cannot 
 receive forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to 
 come, and if they had their eyes open to see their condi- 
 tion, they would be perfectly willing to have their blood 
 spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONISM. 233 
 
 ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins ; whereas, if 
 such is not the case, tliey will stick to them and remain 
 upon them in tlie spirit world. I know when you hear 
 my brethren talk about cutting people off from the earth, 
 you consider it strong doctrine. It is to save them, not to 
 destroy them. It is true that the blood of the Son of 
 God was shed for our sins, but men can commit sins which 
 it can never remit. 
 
 " As it was in ancient days, so is it in our day ; the law 
 is precisely the same. There are sins that the blood of a 
 lamb or a calf cannot remit, but they must be atoned for 
 by the blood of man. That is the reason why men talk 
 to you as they do from this stand. They understand the 
 doctrine and throw out a few words about it." {Deseret 
 News, October 1, 1850.) 
 
 This is " sound Mormon doctrine," and that many have 
 been sacrificed under it, is well known in Utah. This is 
 one of the features of Mormonism I was slow to believe, 
 nor did I credit it without overwhelming proof ; but to 
 ]Dut the matter beyond doubt, more than one prominent 
 Mormon has avowed the doctrine to me, and defended it 
 as an ordinance of God. 
 
 Under this law. Potter and the Parish family, of Spring- 
 ville, were murdered when attempting to leave the Terri- 
 tory, and Potter and Wilson, of Weber Valley, were 
 assassinated in jail ; under the same law the Mormons 
 claim the right to slay all who commit adultery, " or vio- 
 late a sanctitied oath," and for this cause Elder John Hyde 
 was compelled to flee from the Territory, while his friends, 
 Margetts and Cowdy, were followed several hundred miles 
 and barbarously murdered. 
 
 8. The third anti-American feature of Mormonism is 
 the complete subserviency and mental slavery of woman, 
 not as to polygamy alone, though that is an outgrowth, 
 but in everything. 
 
 Their theology teaches that, " as Eve led Adam out of 
 Paradise, he must lead her back," and though they hesita- 
 tingly admit that she may secure " a salvation " without 
 man's help, she cannot secure "an exaltation." She must 
 have a husband " to lead her into the presence of God, and 
 P ' 
 
284 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 introduce her to that husband's glory." " She will not 
 necessarily go to hell, becauseshe is single,butshe never can 
 rise to the first glory." Such an atrocious and un-Christ- 
 ian idea can have but one tendency, to make woman merely 
 a creature for man's convenience and pleasure. Hence, 
 all our American ideas of dower, partition, equal descent, 
 and woman holding land in fee apart from her husband, 
 are unknown to the laws of Utah. Everything a woman 
 possesses at marriage becomes absolutely the property of 
 her husband. The feminine interest is nowhere provided 
 for, and, in looking over their laws, if they have any Com- 
 mon Law at all, it seems to be a transcript of that which 
 prevailed in the time of James I. The further we pursue 
 the investigation the more this tendency appears, till it is 
 plain to be seen there isnoneof what we call Americanism 
 there. The spirit exists neither in their birth, training nor 
 religion. To them Brigham is the Government, and Utah is 
 America. They know no other, and consider it the height of 
 presumption for the United States authorities to claim the 
 right to rule over them. True, they claim to be true Ameri- 
 cans just as the Abyssinians claim to be true Christians, 
 while it is evident neither understand their own words. 
 
 But there is another curious fact bearing on their views. 
 On the 25th of December, 1852, Joseph Smith delivered a 
 remarkable prophecy, detailing what was to happen to 
 America for her "persecution of the Saints." It was pub- 
 lished in The Seer, a Mormon periodical in Washington 
 City, of April, 1854, from which I copy : 
 
 "War! 
 
 " Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that 
 will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of 
 South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the 
 death and misery of many souls. The days will come 
 that wars will be poured out upon all nations, beginning 
 at that place ; for, behold, the Southern States shall be 
 divided against the Northern States ; and the Southern 
 States will call upon other nations, even the nation of 
 Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon 
 other nations, in order to defend themselves against other 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 235 
 
 nations ; and thus war sliall be poured out upon all na- 
 tions. And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves 
 shall rise up against their masters, who shall bo marshaled 
 and disciplined for war. And it will como to p;iss, also, 
 that the rem.nant which are left of the landfahaXi marshal 
 themselves and 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 tierce and vivid lightning, 
 also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the 
 wrath and indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty 
 God, until the consumption decreed hath made an end of 
 all n9,tions ; that the cry of tlie 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." 
 
 It will be perceived that of the thousar>d predictions in 
 relation to our civil war, Jose[)h's was among the most 
 shrewd, and certainly hit on two or three very curious 
 things. But he met with the difficulty common to all 
 Prophets in these days ; when he ran into particulars he 
 missed it seriously. With the benevolent design of saving 
 the country, Joseph offered himself for President, but, as 
 he was rejected, of course the evil is bound to come. — 
 With the Mormons this is the grand prophecy. War is to 
 go on, they say, till nearly all the men in the Union are 
 killed, and then the Saints are to return and set up "Zion" 
 in Jackson County, Missouri ; and the faithful, who have 
 meanwhile gathered, are to possess the whole land, and be 
 husbands to all the widows and fathers to all the orphans. 
 Then is- to come the time mentioned by Isaiah, when 
 *' seven women shall take hold of one man," and agree to 
 earn their own support, if they only may " be called by 
 his name to take away their reproach," which reproach, 
 of course, is childlessness; or, commercially speaking, 
 
 + The .Indians. 
 
23G LIFE IN UTAH; oil, Tin: mystektks 
 
 women will be at a lieavy discount, and men at GOO \)cr 
 cent, premium. 
 
 As near as I can detennine there liave been about ten 
 thousand commentaries written and preached on this 
 prophecy ; for the varying circumstances of every year, 
 and ahnost every week, require new elucidations of the 
 way it is all to come .about. The war, of course, settled 
 it all for awhile ; but that stopped so suddenly, they main- 
 tain it must soon break out again, and several of their 
 commentators concluded the last Presidential election 
 would signal its re-opening. What folly for any people 
 to pretend fealty to an institution which they claim is 
 going to eternal smash in ten years at the most. 
 
 It is a law of mind that what we prophesy often we 
 soon come to wish for : and, if there were no other cause, 
 the tendency of all their [)reaching and jirophesying is 
 to make them look eagerly for the downfall of our Gov- 
 ernment, It is a prime principle in their creed that all 
 mankind but themselves are on the swift road to ruin, 
 and they are never so well pleased as in listening to state- 
 ments in regard to " tlie gi'cat increase of crime and im- 
 morality in the States." I could not make one of them 
 angr}?- quicker than by persistently arguing that the 
 highest degree of prosjierity prevails in the East to-day, 
 and my best friends were ready to knock me down at the 
 statement that there were still more men than women in 
 the United States. 
 
 I showed them from the census that the men were in 
 a majority of 730,000 in 18G0 ; that by immigration we 
 gained several hundred thousand more men than women, 
 and did not lose, at the outside, more than 700,000 in the 
 war. They maintained that by authentic (?) Southern 
 histories, we lost in battle one million rebels and two 
 million Yankees ! How easy to make men believe what 
 they wish. All the " persecutions " these people talk so 
 much of, were caused by Southerners and Democrats, 
 and yet they are all rebel sympathizers and pro-slavery 
 politicians. They talk loud and long of their loyalty, 
 when there is anything to be gained by it ; but send 
 there a Federal judge or officer, who refuses to be Brig- 
 
AND CRIMIiS OF MOllMONISM. 237 
 
 ham's tool, and you soon hear their real feelings toward the 
 Union Just now tliey are only waiting, watching a few 
 weeks or months, till all shall go to destruction in the 
 Stnte, when they will return and occupy their terrestrial 
 heaven — Jackson County, Missouri, '"lius this vast mass 
 of ignorance has been wrought upc * and moulded by a 
 few leaders, till the people are ready for any desperate 
 enterprise those men may direct. The common people, 
 two-thirds of them at least, are naturally peaceable, too ; 
 but they are so terribly priest-ridden, that their best 
 qualities «are as dangerous as other men's worst. 
 
 Like the poor of all lands, they are constant in their 
 attachments ; but with the favorites they have chosen, 
 their constancy is a vice rather than a virtue. No doubt 
 a very large number would apostatize rather than suffer; 
 but half of them are so rooted and grounded in their 
 fiiith, that they will blindly follow their leaders, what- 
 ever course they take. 
 
 There are no free schools in Utah, ar 1 no organized 
 systems of instruction ; nevertheless the social and intel- 
 lectual condition of the people is far superior to what it 
 was ten or even five years ago. There is a general pre- 
 judice against the learned professions, particularly medi- 
 cine ; and a general feeling that the Saints are above the 
 necessity of such knowledge, — which idea is summed up 
 by Brigham Young, in these words ; " Study twenty 
 years in the world's knowledge, and God Almighty will 
 give the poorest Saint more knowledge in five minutes 
 than you get in all that time." In this social view, it 
 were an endless task to mention all the thousand forms 
 of popular error, the belief in witchcraft, dreams, evestra, 
 ghostly fancies and " faith -doctrine " which prevail among 
 them ; but it is worthy of remark, that there is certainly 
 no other place in America where retrogade ideas, as they 
 might be called, prevail so extensively as in Utah. Niue- 
 tenths of the Saints seem to have taken up one common 
 wail about everything outside Utah. Whether it is to 
 persuade themselves that they are really better than 
 other men, or to console themselves at the thought of 
 others' misery, it seems to be their meat and drink to 
 
238 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THK MYSTERIES 
 
 (lenigrato the character of the rest of mankind. Tliey 
 take up the wailing jeremiatl that there is so much more 
 crime in the country than formerly ; that people generally 
 arc so much more dishonest; that there are so few vir- 
 tuous women ; that the country is rapidly going to decay ; 
 that religion lias lost its power; that all political action 
 is wrong, slavery ought never to have been abolished, and 
 nothing should have been done as it has been for the last 
 twenty-five years. To quote history or statistics to the 
 contrary would be no proof at all to them ; they regard 
 all such as " Gentile lies." And thus, in the supreme 
 belief that they alone are " in the ark of safety," they 
 confidently wait for the " great tribulation " which is now 
 about due ; while thousands of them fully expect to live 
 to see the time when the American nation shall be a thing 
 of the past, and Mucaulay's New Zealander shall " sit on 
 London Bridge and muse on the decline and fall of the 
 British Empire." 
 
AND 'IIIMKS OF MORMONISM. 23i) 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ANALYSIS OP MORMON THEOLOGY. 
 
 Its origin — A theological conglomeraie — Mythology, Paganism, Moham- 
 medanism, corrupt Christianity anil Philosophy run mad — "P'irst 
 principles of the Gospel " — The live points of variance —Materialism 
 — No spirit — A god with "body, parts and passions " — Matter eternal 
 — No "creation " —Intelligent atoms — Pre-exiatent souls — High Times 
 in the Spirit Worlds — Birth of Spirits— They hunt for "Earthly 
 Tabernacles "—The "Second Estate"— Apotheosis— The " Third Es- 
 tate " — " Fourth Estate " — Men become (joda — " Divine generation " 
 — Earthly Families and Heavenly Kingdoms — Did man come from 
 the Sun ? — " Building up the Kingdom " — One day as a thousand 
 years— The time of the Gentiles about out — Great events at hand— 
 "Gog and Magog," et. al. — Gentiles, prepare to make tracks -Return 
 to "Zion," in Missouri — Christ's earthly empire— Great destiny for 
 Missouri — Tenets from Christianity — Baptism a " Saving Ordinance " 
 — Baptized twelve times — Office of the Holy Ghost — Strange fanati- 
 cism — Eclectic Theology — A personal yod — The homoonsian and the 
 homoioiisian — The Logos and the Aeon — Grossness and Vulgarity. 
 
 In their origin, the Mormons may be said to have been 
 an offshoot from the CampbelHtes ; Sidney Rigdon, the 
 author of their early doctrines, having originally left the 
 Baptists to join the former sect, from which he again 
 seceded and founded a sect in Ohio, locally known as 
 " Disciples." Of this band a portion went crazy as Mil- 
 lenarians, another part became Perfectionists, and the 
 remainder followed Rigdon, when he joined his fortunes 
 with those of Joe Smith, and assisted in founding Kirk- 
 land, Ohio. Under the early teachings of Brigham Young 
 they adopted the Methodist order of services. Their 
 missionaries, when abroad, at present, first preach prin- 
 ciples very similar to those of the Campbellites ; and 
 what the Mormons call " the first principles of the gospel " 
 are mainly those of that sect. But it is the smallest part 
 of Mormon theology which has its origin in any recog- 
 nized Christian system ; and by the successive additions 
 
2iO LIFE IN UTAH; OK, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 of Rigdon, Joe Smith, and Brigham Young, the labori- 
 ous philosophical speculations of Orson Pratt, and the 
 wild poetical dreams of his brother Parley P. Pratt, it 
 may well be said there is scarcely a known system of 
 religion, ancient or modern, but has contributed some 
 shred of doctrine to Mormonism, 
 
 It is now beyond the power of man to invent a new 
 religion. At this late day combination is all that is left 
 for the innovator, and the doctrinal points of Mormonism 
 are culled from three different sources, viz, : 
 
 I. Christianity, by a literal interpretation of the Bible, 
 particularly the prophecies. 
 
 II. Ancient mythology and various modern forms of 
 pagan philosophy. 
 
 III. The philosophical speculations of various schools ; 
 the whole modified and practicalized by revelation applied 
 to events of daily occurrence. 
 
 Thus has grown up a vast and cumbrous system which 
 is the standard Mormon theology, but of which each in- 
 dividual Mormon believes so much or so little as he can 
 comprehend. It were an endless task to pursue these 
 doctrines through all the variations, necessary to force 
 some sort of agreement, and the lifeless application of 
 perverted texts of Scripture. But the distinctive points 
 in which they differ from all Christian sects, may be 
 grouped under five heads : 
 
 I. Pure materialism ; but slightly different from 'the 
 atomic materialism of the Greek school. 
 
 II. The eternity of matter. 
 
 III. Pre-existence of the soul, and transmission of 
 spirits. 
 
 IV. A plurality of gods. 
 
 V. A plurality of wives, or " celestial marriage," 
 
 All these are blended in various ways, and depend 
 upon each other in a score of combinations and confused 
 inter-relations ; but, as far as possible, they are treated of 
 separately. 
 
 I. The Mormons hold that there is no such thino; as 
 spirit distinct from matter; that spirit is only matter 
 refined, and that spirits themselves are composed of purely 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONIS^I. 241 
 
 material atoms, only f ner than the tangible things of 
 earth, as air is finer and more subtle than water, while 
 both are equally material. "The purest, most refined 
 and subtle of all, is that substance called the Holy Spirit. 
 This substance, like all others, is one of the elements of 
 material or physical existence, and, therefore, subject to 
 the necessary laAvs which govern all other matter. Like 
 the other elements, its whole is composed of individual 
 particles. Each particle occupies space, possesses the 
 power of motion, requires time to move from one part of 
 space to another, and can in nowise occupy two places at 
 once, in this respect differing nothing from all other mat- 
 ter. It is widely diflfused among all the elements of 
 space ; under the control of the Great Eloheim it is the 
 moving cause of all the intelligences, by which they act. 
 It is omnipresent by reason of the infinitude of its par- 
 ticles, is the controling element of all others, and com- 
 prehends all things. By the mandate of the Almighty it 
 performs all the wonders ever manifested in the name of 
 the Lord. Its inherent properties embrace all the attri- 
 butes of intelligence and affection. In short it is the 
 attributes of the eternal power and Godhead."* 
 
 Gods, angels, spirits and men, the four orders of intel- 
 ligent beings, are all of one species, composed of similar 
 materials, differing not in kind, but in degree. God is a 
 jierfected man ; man is an embryotic or undeveloped god. 
 Orson Pratt has jmrsued this doctrine to its wildest ulti- 
 mate, and proves, to his own satisfaction, that every 
 original atom was endowed with a self-acting, indepen- 
 dent intelligence, and they merely " got together " of their 
 own volition. Thus, in the attempt to avoid the supposed 
 mystery of an instantaneous creation by the one Go(J, ho 
 has raised an infinity of unsolved problems, by making 
 every atom a god. 
 
 II. The eternity of matter is a logical outgi'owth of 
 materialism. In this view every atom now in being has 
 existed from all eternity past, and will exist for all eter- 
 
 *The quotations in this chapter are from Parley P. Pratt's "Key to 
 Theology," a standard ^\'ork among the LIormonH, and hy theiu considered 
 a.s inspired. - 
 
242 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 nity to come. There never could have been a " creation," 
 except to appropriate " matter unformed and void," and 
 change its form, impressing new conditions upon it. 
 
 New worlds are constantly being formed of the unap- 
 propriated material of the universe, and stocked with 
 spirits, after which faithful Saints rule over them and 
 become gods. 
 
 III. Closely allied with the last principle is that of the 
 pre-existence of souls ; and here we first meet with the 
 sexual principle which underlies all the remaining portion 
 of Mormonism. All the sexual passions exist in full force 
 in the different worlds, and animate the immortal gods 
 as fully as their human offspring. Countless millions of 
 spirits are thus born in the eternal worlds, and are await- 
 ing by myriads the physical processes by which they may 
 enter earthly tabernacles, and begin their second, or pro- 
 bati'nary state. " Wisdom inspires the gods to multiply 
 their species," and as these spiritual bodies increase, fresh 
 "worlds are necessary upon which to transplant them. 
 These spiritual bodies have all the organs of thought, 
 speech and hearing, in exact similitude to earthly senses. 
 But in this state they could not" advance ; it was neces- 
 sary for them to be subject to the moral law of earth, 
 that regeneratien might go on. Hence they *' seek ear- 
 nestly for earthly tabernacles, haunting even the abodes 
 of the vilest of mankind to obtain them." To bestow 
 these tabernacles is the highest glory of woman, and her 
 exaltation in eternity will be in exact proportion to the 
 number she has furnished. Man may pi each the gospel, 
 may reach the highest glories of the priesthood, may, in 
 time, even be a creator ; but woman's only road to glory 
 is by the physical process of introducing spirits to earth. 
 Hence, the larger her family the greater her glory ; any 
 means to prevent natural increase are, in the highest de- 
 gree, sinful, and violent means an unpardonable sin. 
 
 Of these spirits it is intimated some " did not keep 
 their first estate," and are to be thrust down and never 
 permitted to have earthly tabernacles, or propagate their 
 species. Those who reach this earth are in their " second 
 estate," and if faithful Saints will pass to their "thirl 
 estate," celestialized men, after which they become gods. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 243 
 
 IV. There is a vast multitude of (jods, dispersed 
 throughout all the worlds as kingdoms, ffimilies and na- 
 tions. There is, however, but one god regnant on each 
 world, who is to the inhabitants of that world the " only- 
 true and living God." But each god having a first-born 
 son, there is " One God and One Christ " to each world. 
 Thus " there are lords many and gods many," but to us 
 there is but one God, the Creator of the world, and the 
 Father of our spirits, literally begotten. He was once a 
 man of some world, and attained His high position by 
 successive degrees. "He is the Father of Jesus Christ, 
 in the only way known in nature, just as John Smith, 
 Senior, is the father of John Smith, Junior." 
 
 All the gods have many wives, and become the fathers 
 of the souls of men by divine generation. The gods are 
 in the exact form of men, of material substance, but 
 highly refined and spiritualized. A grand council of the 
 gods, with a president directing, constitute the designing 
 and creating power; but man, if faithful, will advance 
 by degrees, till endowed with the same creative power, 
 or strictly, formative will. All faithful Saints will be- 
 come gods, and, finally, have worlds given them to people 
 and govern. All their earthly wives and children will 
 belong to and constitute the beginning of their heavenly 
 kingdom, and they will rule over their increasing posterity 
 forever. 
 
 " When the earth was prepared, there came from an 
 upper world a Son of God, with His beloved spouse, and 
 thus a colony from Heaven, it may be from the sun, was 
 transplanted on our soil." Joseph Smith is one of the 
 gods of this generation and now occupies a high position 
 next to Christ, who in turn stands next to Adam. Above 
 Adam is Jehovah and above Jehovah is Eloheim, who is 
 the greatest god of whom we have any knowledge. His 
 residence is in the planet Kolob, near the centre of our 
 system, which revolves upon its axis once in a thousand 
 years, which are " with the Lord as one day." There were 
 six of our days in the first " creation" of this world, and 
 six of the Lord's days in the great preparation or course 
 of the world, each day lasting a thousand j^ears. There 
 
244 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 4 
 
 were two of these days to each dispensation. The Patri- 
 archal had two of these days ; the Mosaic in like manner 
 a day of rise and a day of decline ; the Christian dispen- 
 sation also had its two days of trial, but after St. John's 
 death, a great apostacy began, and for eighteen hundred 
 years the so called Christian world has been in darkness 
 and there has been no true priesthood upon the earth. 
 There have been no visions, revelations or miraculous gifts 
 from the Lord enjoyed among men. The various sects 
 knew something of the truth but not its fullness ; they 
 had the form of godliness but denied the power. 
 
 But this time of darkness is nearly completed ; the 
 dawn of the Lord's day is here, and the great Sabbath 
 vv'ill soon be ushered in. But a few more years are given 
 to the Gentiles, then the ijreat contest of Gof; and Majj^oo- 
 will set in, and nearly all the Gentile world be destroyed. 
 Those who remain will become servants to the Saints, 
 who will return and possess the whole land ; the widows 
 will come begging the Mormon elders to marry them, and 
 seven women will lay hold of one man. At the same 
 the remnant left of the Indians, who are descendants of 
 the ancient Jews, will be converted, have the curse re- 
 moved and become "a fair and delightsome people." The 
 way will be opened to the remainder of the " ten lost 
 tribes," who are shut up somewhere near the North Pole ; 
 old Jerusalem will be rebuilt by all the Jews gathering 
 to the Holy Land, and about the year 1890, the new Jer- 
 usalem will be let down from God out of Heaven and lo- 
 cated in Jackson County, Missouri, with the corner-stone 
 of the Great Temple " three hundred yards west of the 
 old court-house in Independence," where is to be the cap- 
 ital of Christ's earthly kingdom. The Saints will own all 
 the property of the country, and marry all the women 
 they desire ; the streets of their city will be paved with 
 the gold dug by Gentiles from the Rocky Mountains ; 
 noxious insects will be banished, contagious diseases cease, 
 the land produce abundantly of grain, flower and fruit, 
 and everything will be lovely in the new Jerusalem ! 
 
 Leaving the reader to smile or regret, as personal tem- 
 ])erament may incline, I hasten to a consideration of the 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 245 
 
 Ik 
 
 Mormon tenets nominally derived from the Christian 
 Bible. The Mohammedan portion of their faith atid 
 practice is reserved for the two succeeding chapters. 
 
 The Mormons steadily claim the Bible as the lirst foun- 
 dation of their belief; that they "believe all that any 
 Christians do, and a great deal more." Their tenets most 
 nearly resembling those of Christian sects, and which 
 they call the " First principles of the Gospel," are four in 
 number, ranked in order of time as follow : 
 
 1. Faith; 2. Repentance; 8. Baptism by immersion; and 
 4. Laying on of hands for the remission of sins, and the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost. They are explained at great 
 length in the " Doctrines and Covenants," the New Testa- 
 ment of Mormonism. This book is made up of revela- 
 tions, " selected (!) from those of Joseph Smith," and the 
 doctrinal lectures of various elders, particularly Sidney 
 Kigdon, with an addition containing the rules and disci- 
 pline of the Church. The " Lectures on faith and repen- 
 tance" contain nothing more than is familiar to every at- 
 tendant on the worship of Arminian sects. Baptism the 
 Mormons regard as " a saving ordinance," of actual and 
 material value ; and to such an extent do they carry this 
 doctrine, that they baptize again and again, after every 
 backsliding, and sometimes when there has been a period 
 of " general coldness" in the Church. At the time known 
 in Mormon annals as the "Reformation," when it was sup- 
 posed the Lord had sent drought and grasshoppers to punish 
 their backsliding, every adult member of the Church was 
 re-baptized. Nearly all the old members have been bap- 
 tized two or three times each, and Brigham Young, in 
 one of his sermons, mentions an old reprobate who had 
 been baptized no less than twelve times, and " cut off 
 thirteen times for lying." Brigham himself, who was 
 then much addicted to liquor, seems to have fiillen under 
 the power of his enemy soon after uniting with the 
 Church, thus rendering re-baptism necessary ; and a quiet 
 joke is current among the less reverent Saints, to the 
 effect that a noted Jew, named Seixas, then connected 
 with the Mormons, jocosely proposed to "leave him in 
 over night." 
 
24)6 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 But tho fourth tenet opens to view the whole of then* 
 divergence from Christian sects. The prime principle in 
 their faith which marks this departure is, that the office 
 of the Holy Ghost had been unknown on earth from the 
 death of the last Apostle to the calling of Joseph Smith ; 
 that the "mystic power," mentioned by St. John, had war- 
 red with the Saints and overcome them ; that the true 
 priesthood was then taken from the earth, and men, blindly 
 seeking the truth, divided into six hundred and sixty-six 
 sects, " the number of the beast," each having a little 
 truth, but none holding it in purity. 
 
 Joseph Smith, earnestly calling upon the Lord to know 
 which of the sects was in the right, was told that all 
 were alike gone astray, and was himself ordained by 
 heavenly messengers, first to the Aaronic and afterwards 
 to the Melchisedec priesthood. Thenceforth the Holy 
 Ghost was to be given to all true believers ; the " witness 
 of the spirit" was to be an absolute certainty, and all who 
 had truly embraced the new gospel were "to know for 
 themselves, and without a shadow of doubt" that it was 
 true. How strange and yet how natural, this constant 
 seeking by man for certainty as to tho affairs of the un- 
 seen world ! Hundreds of times I have listened to the 
 testimony of individual Mormons : " You believe you are 
 rifjht — I know this relififion is true. We have a witness 
 no other people can have — the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 In the old churches we always had our doubts; now we 
 know the correctness of this doctrine." Thus for a sea- 
 son. But man was not made for such absolutism ; it is 
 folly to seek a perfect certainty in that which is from its 
 very nature intangible and uncertain, and it will often 
 be found that the wildest and most unreasoning faith has 
 the most obstinate devotees. It is sufficient comment 
 upon the above " testimon}''/' to state the facts that no 
 Church ever organized has developed so many factions in 
 so short a time as Mormonism ; that the original organi- 
 zation has, from time to time, given rise to twenty -five 
 sects, of which half-a-dozen are still in existence ; that of 
 all who have ever embraced Mormonism, over seventy per 
 cent have apostatized, and that, at the present writing, 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 247 
 
 two powerful schisms are raging in the very bosom of the 
 Church. 
 
 At the same time with the Holy Ghost, all the " gifts" 
 of the first Church were to be restored ; prophecy, heal- 
 ing, miracles, speaking in tongues and the interpretation 
 of tongues were to acompany the new gospel and be its 
 powerful witnesses among men. Hence, all the miracles 
 which have followed the Latter-day work. The Mormons 
 are fond of quoting that text where all power is given to 
 the Church, and the enumeration of gifts with the state- 
 ment, " These signs shall follow them that believe." They 
 then triumphantly exclaim, "Where is the professed 
 Christian Church which has, or even claims thc-^e gifts ? 
 We have them in their fulness, and this is our testimony 
 that we are truly of the Lord." As far as human testi- 
 mony can prove anything on such a subject, they prove 
 numerous " miracles" in the way of healing various ail- 
 ments ; but I have heard of none that cannot be readily 
 accounted for from the effects of a " fervent and fooling 
 faith." The most common " miracle" is the cure of rheu- 
 matism dnd neuralgia by " laying on of hands," and 
 anointing with holy oil. The general rule of the Church 
 is to send for the nearest elders and bishops as soon as a 
 Saint is taken sick ; they " lay on hands," and anoint the 
 patient with " consecrated oil," lubbing it briskly on the 
 parts most affected. If the patient grows worse, other 
 dignitaries are sent for, more vigorous prayers are offered 
 up, and strenuous efforts made to arouse the " healing 
 virtue ;" but generally a physician is the last resort, a re- 
 ligious prejudice prevailing to some extent against the 
 profession. A resident physician of Salt Lake City in- 
 formed me that he was once called to see a woman in 
 labor, who had beeu suffering for twenty-four hours, and 
 was literally " greased from head to foot with the conse- 
 crated oil." It proved to be a very simple and by no 
 means unusual case, which he relieved in a few minutes, 
 at the very time the attendant women were emptying a 
 large horn of "consecrated. oil" upon the patient's head ; 
 the relief was followed by loud praises of the efficacy of 
 the " holy oil," and the woman is now a firm witness of 
 the " miracle." 
 
248 LIFE IN UTAH ; Oil, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 "Speaking in tongues" is not, as one would natural I y 
 suppose, the gift of speech in the vernacuhir of various 
 nations, such as attended the pentecostal season. That 
 would be altogether too linguistic and practical for these 
 latter days. It consists merely of uttering a rapid suc- 
 cession of articulate and connected sounds, not understood 
 by the speaker himself, but which arc explained by some 
 one liaving the " interpretation of tongues." The mode 
 is for the person who thinks himself endowed with this 
 gift to " stand uj), call upon the Lord in silent prayer for 
 a few moments, then open the mouth and utter whatever 
 words come to hand and the Lord will make them a lan- 
 guage." An interpreter will then be provided and the 
 hidden meaning made plain ; but no }>erson ever has both 
 
 This gift prevailed to a surprising extent among certain 
 fanatical sects in England, and was there charitably at- 
 tributed to an abnormal condition of the organs of lan- 
 guage ; but here is more naturally accounted for either by 
 imposture or the etfects of a wild fanaticism. I heard it 
 but once, and then merely repeated by a devotee! Mormon 
 as he had heard the "gifted" delivei" it, and, in a philological 
 inquiry, I should pronounce it a cognate branch of that 
 " dog-latin" which belongs to the erudition of school-boy 
 days. This exercise is a little too ridiculous, even for the 
 Mormons at present, and is rarely heard of; but in the 
 early years of their Church it was a frequent occurrence, 
 whole days of " speaking meetings" being devoted to it. 
 An old apostate, who was in the Church at Nauvoo, tells 
 me of having been present at one of those meetings where 
 the first doubts began to rise in his mind in regard to his 
 new faith. Having formerly been a trader among the 
 Choctaws, he suddenly arose and delivered a lengthy 
 speech on hunting in the language of that tribe, which 
 the interpreter rendered in a glowing and llorid account 
 of the glories to result from the completion of the Great 
 Temjile, then in progress. Lieutenant Gunnison, in his 
 admirable work, gives an account of one lad who had be- 
 come so noted in the " interpretation of tongues " that he 
 was generally called upon by tlie elders in the most diffi- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 249 
 
 cult cases, and seems to have felt under obligation 
 to give some sort of rendering and meaning to any speech, 
 however crude or whimsical. On one occasion, a woman, 
 with the "gift of tongues," suddenly rose in the meeting, 
 and shouted " mela, nieli, melee /" The boy was at 
 once pressed for an interpretation, and promptly gave the 
 rendition, " my leg, my thigh) my knee!" He was cited 
 before the Council for his profanity, but stoutly maintain- 
 ed that his interpretation was " according to the spirit," 
 and was released with an admonition. 
 
 Miss Eliza Snow, the Mormon poetess, was particularly 
 "gifted" in tongues; and, according to the account of 
 young Mormons, now apostatized, she was accustomed 
 often during their early journeyings, to rush into the 
 dwelling of some other woman, exclaiming : " Sister, I 
 want to bless you !" lay her hands upon the other's head, 
 and pour forth r strain of confused jargon, which was 
 supposed to be a blessing in the "unknovrn tongue." Such 
 jire the various " gifts," and to a people less blinded by 
 fanaticism, their practical eflfects among the Mormons 
 would be sufficient to disprove the claim for their divine 
 origin. To mention but one ; ^t is evident to any intelli- 
 gent observer that numerous deaths oocur annually in 
 Salt Lake City, simply from a disregard of hygienic laws 
 and a lack of proper medical treatment, with a blind reli- 
 ance upon treatment by "faith;" and notwithstanding 
 their splendid climate, the death-rate of the Mormons is 
 unusually large from those very classes of disease for 
 which any intelligent physician can afford immediate re- 
 lief. It is a remarkable fact that more women die in 
 child-birth in Salt Lake City than in any other of the 
 same size in America, and that for many years the death- 
 rate of infants was only exceeded by one Southern State, 
 Louisiana. 
 
 So much for their theology as it relates to earth ; I have 
 not been able to discover the exact soui-ce of their idesis 
 of heaven. They hold that there are three heavens : the 
 celestial, ten-estrial, and telestial, typified by the sun, 
 moon, and stars. The last two are of those who have 
 neither obeyed nor disobeyed the gospel ; some because 
 Q 
 
250 LIFK IN UTAH ; OU, THE MYSTEllIKS 
 
 they (lid not hear it, others from "invincible ignorance,'* 
 and still others because they were morally hindered in 
 various ways. To one cr the other of these heavens all sin- 
 cere people of whatever race or creed, who have never 
 heard the Gospel, but followed the light they had, will be 
 admitted, and there enjoy as much happiness as they arc 
 capable of. But if they have once heard the true Gospel 
 and refused to obey it, have persecuted the Saints or apos- 
 tatized and lost the spirit of God, " this testimony will go 
 with them through all eternity, and they can never enter 
 a rest." Their final destiny, however, is not revealed to 
 mortals. Woman, in and of herself, could never progress 
 to the highest place, " As Eve led Adam out of the garden 
 he must lead her back." If she wilfully remain single and 
 slights the great duty imposed upon her, she is useless in 
 the economy of creation, and therefore is condemned. But 
 many special provisions are made for the really worthy of 
 both sexes, by which the living may vicariously atone for 
 the dead who never heard the Gospel. Baptism for the 
 dead, and marrisge for the dead are chief among these 
 means. The former they found upon St. Paul's writings, 
 and under its provisions the Saint is often baptized for 
 some relative who died many yearn before in Europe, or 
 for some eminent personage. George Washington, Benja- 
 min Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are thus vicariously 
 members of the Mormon Church. 
 
 The celestial heaven is theirs only who have both heard 
 and obeyed the Gospel. In that happy state they enjoy 
 all that made this life desirable ; they eat, drink, and are 
 merry ; they are solaced by the embraces of their earthly 
 wives, and many more will be given them ; all material 
 enjoyments will be free from the defects of earth, and 
 pleasures will never pall. In time the most faithful will 
 become gods. 
 
 " They will ever look upon the elements as their home, 
 hence'the elements will ever keep pace with them in all 
 the degrees of progressive refinement, while room is found 
 in infinite space: 
 
 " While there are particles of unorganized element in 
 nature's storehouse : 
 
AND CRIMHS OF MOIIMONISM. 251 
 
 " While the trees of paradise yield their fruits, <»r the 
 fountain of life its river : 
 
 " While the bosoms of the gods glow with affection. — 
 While eternal charity endures, or eternity itself rolls its 
 successive ages, the heavens will multiply, and new 
 worlds and more people be added to the Kingdom of the 
 Fathers." 
 
 But there is still another class of persons who do not 
 quite live up to their privileges, and yet deserve a salva- 
 tion. Unmarried men and women, and those guilty of 
 various derelictions make up this class. They will never 
 l)rogress, but be angels merely ; messengers and servants 
 to those worthy of greater glory ; and " bachelor angels" 
 only, with no families, and compelled to go through eter- 
 nity without a mate. 
 
 Amusement and disgust possess us by turns as we 
 pursue these blasphemous speculations in regard to the 
 employment of the gods, or the vain attempt to supply 
 those points of knowledge which infinite wisdom has left 
 unrevealed. In this attempt the Mormons might well be 
 styl<^d eclectic theologians. They are Christians in their 
 belief in the New Testament, and the mission of Christ; 
 Jews in their temporal theocracy, tithing and belief in 
 prophecy ; Mahommedans in regard to the relations of 
 the sexes, and Voudoos or Fetichists, in their witchcraft, 
 good and evil spirits, fjiith doctoring and s\iperstition. 
 From the Boodhists they have stolen their doctrines of 
 apotheosis and development of god ; from the Greek 
 mythology their loves of the immortals and sp'rits ; they 
 have blended the ideas of many nations of polytheists, 
 and made the whole consistent by outdoing the material- 
 ists. In the labor of harmonizing all this with Christian- 
 ity, there is scarcely a schism that has ever rent the 
 Christian world, but has famished some scraps of doctrine. 
 They are Arians in making Christ a secondary being in 
 the Godhead — " the greatest of created things and yet a 
 creature;" they are Manicheans in their division of the 
 universe between good and evil spirits, and Gnostics in 
 their gross ascription of all human indulgences and enjoy- 
 ments, even polygamy, to the Saviour. Of the modern 
 
262 LIFE IN UTAH ; OU, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 sects, they have the order of service, " experience meet- 
 ings" and "witness of the spirit" of the Methodists ; the 
 " ^rst principles" of the Campbcllites, and the " universal 
 suffrage" of the Presbyterians; while their views on 
 baptism, the " perseverance of Saints," backsliding and 
 restoration, read like a desperate attempt to combine the 
 doctrines of the Campbellites, Methodists, and Cumber- 
 land Presbyterians. Finally, they are Millenarians in 
 their speedy expectation of Christ's earthly reign ; almost 
 Universalists in the belief that a very small portion of 
 mankind will finally fail of any heaven ; Spiritualists in 
 their faith that the unseen powers produce s})ecial and 
 actual visible effects on earth, though by natural laws, 
 and Communists in their system of public works. But it 
 is in regard to the personality and life of Christ that their 
 ideas seem most strange and blasphemous. They hold 
 that he was the literally begotten, that he had five wives 
 while upon earth, two of whom were Martha and Mary, 
 and thus actually violated the law under which He lived; 
 tii the same time they vaguely unite the views of the 
 Greek and Latin Fathers, holding Him both the Logos 
 and thu Aeon, the Mediator and the God-man. 
 
 The question which, for five centuries, agitated the 
 aaily Church as to the personality of Christ, the homo- 
 ousian and the homoiousian, the " same substance " or 
 the " similar substance," can have no place in their theo- 
 logy ; they have boldly evaded it by obliterating all 
 distinction, either in form, substance or development, 
 between God and man ; both are alike material, and differ 
 only in degree. Met at the outset by the difficulty of 
 comprehending God, they simplified it by making their 
 Deity a " perfected man." This part of their theology, 
 then, as far as it is the result of earnest and sincere 
 thought on the part of its devotees, merely presents itself 
 to ray mind as another one ofthe ten thousand schemes of 
 man to get away from that dogma which must be received 
 on faith, simply because it is utterly beyond the grasp of 
 •finite reason. For nearly two thousand years the Chris- 
 tian Church has presented for the world's acceptance a 
 Being,^ot all of earth, not all of heaven, yet perfect 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 253 
 
 earth and perfect licaven ; has asked the world to believe 
 in the God-Man, the Divine-Human, the liumanly inex- 
 phcable mystery of •' God made manifest in the flesh." 
 But man is unable, of his own reason alone, to receive 
 this truth ; and there is an intense desire in the natural 
 mind to know more of God and hidden things personally, 
 to see or hear them face to face. Man woukl pry into 
 the hidden m3^steries of Providence, which, wo are told, 
 "the angels desired to look into, and were not able;" at 
 the same time the carnal mind is unwilHng to use the 
 a|)pointed means whereby only this knowledge may be 
 obtained ; to study the written Word, to do the. works 
 therein commanded, and rise to that degree of moral 
 purity by which alone his conception of unseen things 
 can be heightened and made harmonious. He would be 
 gross, sensual and earthy ; and, at the same time, com- 
 prehend the pure and heavenly. The two are incompat- 
 ibk. Hence, dissatisfied with his own condition, and 
 without the moral energy to amend it, discontented with 
 the truth offered, yet unwilling to take the required course 
 to gain more truth, he seeks for some shorter, easier way, 
 some method more consonant with a corrupt nature, to 
 satisfy his mind, and, perhaps, quiet an awakened con- 
 science. This natural feeling of the human mind is seized 
 upon by imposters, sometimes " the man with a purpose," 
 and sometimes the dupe of their own fancies ; and hence 
 from age to age the ten thousand short lived sects, diverg- 
 ing now to the intensely material, and again to the ultra 
 spiritual, but still departing from the great central line of 
 the Church. 
 
 In our own day. Spiritualism complains that the Church 
 is too material, too earthy and secular ; that man finds 
 therein no supply for the wants of his spiritual nature, 
 and they seek therefor a corrective ; the Mormons, diverg- 
 ing to the opposite extreme, complain that the Church is 
 too speculative and mystical, too much given up to the 
 vague and intangible ; that tlieir God " without body, 
 parts or passions " is too far removed from human sym- 
 pathy, and for this they would find a corrective in the 
 most intense materialism. And this reaction once begun, 
 
254 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 the only limit or law to filthy imagination, is the range 
 or power of human fancy. The gross familiarity with 
 which fanatics of all hinds speak of the Suf rems Being, 
 the Moimon claim of the office of the Holy Ghost, their 
 polygamy, mcest and blood atonement, are a necessary 
 and logical result of this degrading conception of spiritual 
 things. Nowhere through the long detail of their tenets 
 is purity taught or hinted at. It is all pure selfishness, mere 
 grossness, sexualism deified, and the domain of the senses 
 made the empire of the universe. The Being, in whose 
 sight " the heavens are not clean," Avho " puts no trust in 
 His servants, and charged His angels with folly," who is 
 far above all taint of earthliness, has no place in such a 
 system. They have degraded the human conception of 
 Deity, till He has become, in their minds, "altogether 
 such a one as themselves." The heathen philosophers 
 of two thousand years ago, with only the unaided light 
 of reason, were infinitely their superiors ; and Plato's 
 Deity is as much more worthy of our adoration than 
 Brigham's, 'as the loftiest conceptions of a refined and 
 virtuous philosopher are above the impure imaginations 
 of a sensualist. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THEORETICAL POLYGAMY—ITS HISTORY. 
 
 Poetry of religious concubinage — Fanaticism and Sensualism — Two ex- 
 tremes—Origin of Polygamy — The great revelation— Its contradic- 
 tions and absurdities — Mormon argument — Real origin — Beginning of 
 Polygamy- A prostitute for religion's sake — Failures and Scandals — 
 War in tbe Church — Stealing a Brother's wife — Furore in consequence 
 — The Expositor — Its destruction— Death of the Smiths — Polygamy 
 practised secretly and denied openly — Brigham's marriages — Nine 
 years of concealment — Avowal at last— Argument in its favor— De- 
 moralization in the English Church — A climax of irnnatural obscenity 
 — The "Reformation" — Temporary decline in Polygamy— Hostility 
 of native Mormon girls — Outside influence— Difference of opinion — 
 It dies hard — Spiritual wives — Mystery and abomination. 
 
 The occasional references hitherto in regard to " Pre- 
 existence of the soul," " Sexual resurrection," " Progress 
 in eternity," and " Generation of the gods," have pre- 
 pared the reader somewhat for special consideration of 
 polygamy ; but it is necessary also to look into its earthly 
 history, and the reasons urged for its origin and continu- 
 ance. And in these reasons we are surprised to find how 
 captivating a veil of religious fancy may be thrown over 
 an institution naturally and inherently vile. Gross forms 
 of religious error seem almost invariably to lead to sen- 
 suality, to some singular perversion of the marriage rela- 
 tion or the sexual instinct ; probably because the same 
 constitution of mind and temperament which gives rise 
 to the one, powerfully predisposes toward the other, The 
 fanatic is of logical necessity either an ascetic or a sen- 
 sualist; healthy moderation is foreign alike to his specu- 
 lative faith and social practice. He either gives full rein 
 to his baser propensities under the specious name of 
 " Christiaa liberty," or, with a little more conscientious- 
 ness, swings to the opposite extreme, and forbids those 
 innocent gratifications, prompted by nature, and permitted 
 
25G LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 by God. Of tlie former class are the Mormons, Noyseites 
 of Oneida, the Antinomians, and the followers of St. John 
 of Ley den ; of the latter ^he Shakers, Harmonists, monks 
 find nuns, and a score of orders of celibate priests. 
 
 The Mormons are particular to declare that they never 
 would have practical polygamy, except in accordance with 
 an express revelation from God ; and though they occa- 
 sionally defend it on various physiological and scriptural 
 grounds, they always fall back upon the express command. 
 This revelation is said to have been given at Nauvoo, Illi- 
 nois, July 12, 1843. It was first published in the Deseret 
 News Extra, of September 14, 1852, and next in the 
 April number, 1853, of the Millennial Star, Liverpool, 
 England ; and is contained at full length in Burton's 
 " City of the Saints," and many other publications. It is 
 too long and discursive to quote entire, and I sectionize it 
 for convenient reference. 
 
 1. The revelation opens with this remarkable statement, 
 the Lord represented as speaking : 
 
 " Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant 
 Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired at my hand 
 to know wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abra- 
 ham, Isaac and Jacob ; as also Moses, David and Solomon, 
 my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of 
 their having many wives and concubines ; behold, and lo, 
 I am the I^ord and will answer thee as touching this mat- 
 ter," etc. 
 
 It will not escape notice, that as here stated Joseph had 
 asked the Lord about the matter. We cannot but won- 
 der whether it would have been revealed at all, without 
 this preliminary questioning. Many good Mormons think 
 it would not, and Mormon ladies frequently express a 
 pious regret that the Prophet ever asked about it ! The 
 section concludes by denouncing damnation upon all who 
 reject the new gospel. 
 
 2. This section states that, " All covenants, contracts, 
 bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, 
 associatio \s or exf)ectations that are not made and entered 
 into, and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise of him 
 who is anointed," are void in eternity, and only good for 
 this world. 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONISM. 2.57 
 
 It sets forth also with great verbosity of language, that 
 " God's house is a house of order." 
 
 3. The same principle is applied to the marriage cove- 
 nant, stating that all who are not married " and sealed 
 according to the new and everlasting covenant," are mar- 
 ried for this world only, and shall not be entitled to their 
 respective partners in eternity, but shall continue "angels 
 only, and not gods, kept as ministers to those who are 
 worthy of a far more exceeding and eternal v/eight of 
 glory." 
 
 4. Description of the future glory of those who keep 
 the new covenant : " Then shall they be gods because 
 they have no end ; there they shall be from everlasting 
 to everlasting, because they continue ; then shall they be 
 above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then 
 shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the 
 angels are suh]ect unto them. 
 
 5. To such are forgiven all manner of crimes, except 
 murder, " wherein they shed innocent blood," and blas- 
 phemy against the Holy Ghost. Apostacy, be it noted, is 
 the worst form of the latter sin. 
 
 G. This section explains the cases of Abraham and other 
 ancient polygamists at great length, concluding by citing 
 David as an example of how men lose their " exaltation" 
 by abusing their privileges : " In none of these things did 
 he sin against me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife, 
 and, therefore, he hath fallen from his exaltation and re- 
 ceived his position ; and he shall not inherit them out of 
 the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord." 
 
 7. Great power is conferred upon Joseph Smith to reg- 
 ulate all such celestial marriage % punish for adultery, and 
 take away the wives of the guii y and give them to good 
 men. 
 
 8. This section gives very full and explicit instructions 
 to Emma Smith, wife of Joseph, how to conduct herself 
 under the new dispensation ; that she " receive all those 
 that have hee,i given unto my servant Joseph, who are 
 virtuous and pure before me," and threatening her with 
 destruction if she do not. 
 
 9. The revelation changes abruptly and gives Joseph 
 
258 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Smith full directions how to manage his property ; par- 
 ticularly " let not my servant Joseph put his 'property out 
 of his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him," and 
 threatening severely all who injure him. 
 
 The reader, familiar with the old Revised Statutes of 
 Illinois, would be surprised to find the Lord talking so 
 much like a Justice of the Peace. 
 
 It). The revelation comes, at last, to the gist of the 
 matter and grants plurality of wives, in these words : 
 
 " And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood : 
 If any man espouse a virgin and desire to espouse an- 
 other, and the first give her consent ; and if he espoused 
 the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no 
 other man, then is he justified ; he cannot commit adul- 
 tery for they are given unto him ; for he cannot commit 
 adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to none 
 else ; and, if he have ten virgins given unto him by this 
 law, he cannot commit adultery for they belong to him 
 and are given unto him ; therefore is he justified. They 
 are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth 
 according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise 
 which was given by my Father" before the foundation of 
 the world ; and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, 
 that they may bear the souls of men ; for herein is the 
 work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified." 
 
 11. Heavy punishment is threatened to all women who 
 refuse, without good cause, to give their husbands second 
 wives ; concluding as follows : " And now, as pertaining 
 unto this law, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will reveal 
 more unto you hereafter ; therefore, let this suffice for the 
 present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen." 
 
 Such is the revelation. Space ftiils me to note all its 
 contradictions and absurdities. One, however, is worthy 
 of special remark. In the eighth section Emma Smith is 
 commanded to receive lovingly " all those that have been 
 given unto my servant Joseph." The past tense is used. 
 Thus the first revelation authorizing polygamy implies 
 that Joseph had already practised it. Stranger still, 
 polygani}'- is expressly forbidden by the " Book of Mor- 
 mon." 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORIIONISM. 259 
 
 In the third book and second chapter of that work, the 
 angel messenger is represented as saying to the Nephites 
 " But the word of God burdens me because of your gros- 
 ser crimes. For this people begin to wax in iniquity ; 
 they understand not the Scriptures, for they seek to ex- 
 cuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the 
 things that were written concerning David and Solomon, 
 his son. They, truly, had many, wives and concubines 
 which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord, 
 wherefore, hearken unto the word of the Lord, for there 
 shall not any man among j'ou have save it be one wife, 
 and concubines he shall have none, for I, the Lord God, de- 
 lighteth in the chastity of women." 
 
 It has exhausted all tlie ingenuity of Mormon writers 
 to reconcile this passage with the new revelation, but they 
 succeed in doing so sufficiently to satisfy their consciences. 
 The Mormon history relates that when the full force of 
 the new covenant was perceived the Prophet was tilled 
 with astonishment and dread. All the traditions of his 
 early education were overthrown, and yet he felt that it 
 was the work of the Lord. In vain he sought to be re- 
 leased from the burden of communicating the new doc- 
 trine to the world, and at lengtli obtained permission to 
 keep it secret, as yet, from all but the Twelve Apostles, 
 and a few other leading men. As the hour approached 
 when he was to meet them in council, horror and fear of 
 what might be the result overcame him, and he hastily 
 mounted his horse and fled from the city. But a mighty 
 angel met him on the road, stood in th<3 way with a drawn 
 sword, and with awful voice and offended mien bade him 
 return. 
 
 These i)retended forebodings were fully justified by the 
 event, for, in spite of the secresy maintained, the matter 
 was soon bruited .abroad, and thei^e wjls fearful conunotion 
 in "Zion." Old Mormons have told me that when they 
 first heard it they were horror-stricken at the thought, 
 and for years after could not believe the report. 
 
 When the matter was first broached in secret council, 
 William Law, First Counsellor to Joseph Smith, stood up 
 and denounced it as from the devil, and added : " If any 
 
260 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 man preaches that doctrine in my family, I will take his 
 life," This Law had a young and beautiful wife, for 
 whom Joseph was already intriguing, and his final suc- 
 cess with her and attempt to get her divorced from her 
 husband, caused the latter to apostatize, and had no small 
 share [in bringing [on the difficulties which resulted in 
 Joseph's death. 
 
 As might be expected, the men were the first converts. 
 Joseph and a few others began soon to act upon their new 
 privileges. Joseph seems to have been pretty successful, 
 and soon had half-a-dozen spiritual wives, though all was 
 still kept secret. While soliciting ladies to become "sealed" 
 to him, he made several unsuccessful attempts, which 
 caused great scandal. In particular, his doings were pub- 
 lished by Miss Martha H. Brotherton, who immediately 
 withdrew from the Church ; also by Miss Eliza Rigdon, 
 daughter of Sidney Rigdon, Mrs. Foster, and Mrs. Sarah 
 Pratt, first wife of Orson Pratt. 
 
 Great was the fury among the Saints at these revela- 
 tions, and every epithet a vile fancy could suggest was 
 heaped upon these ladies, for what were styled " their 
 perjured lies to injure the Prophet." One of them was 
 forced to sign a written retraction; another, discarded and 
 denounced by her Mormon parents, died of a broken heart. 
 Miss Brotherton escaped and returned to Boston, while 
 Foster, Higbee, and a few others, whose families had been 
 insulted, apostatized. For awhile the dissolution of the 
 Church seemed imminent, but the mingled boldness and 
 hypocrisy of the Prophet restored something like order, 
 and polygamy was indignantly denounced and repudi- 
 ated. 
 
 At this place in our narrative, having given the Mor- 
 mon account, it may be well to give the real origin of 
 polygamy. In the Mormon archives are a set of phreno- 
 logical charts, of the various Mormon leaders at Nauvoo, 
 taken by a prominent professor. In the chart of Joseph 
 Smith's head, in a scale running from one to twelve, 
 " amativeness," or sexual passion, is recorded at eleven ; 
 while that of Bennett, his " right hand man," is set down 
 at " ten — very full !" In the propensity which these are 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 261 
 
 held to indicate, was the real origin of polygamy. A 
 prominent Mormon says that Joseph Smith informed him 
 that, as early as 1832, he had preliminary revelations upon 
 the subject ; and it is a notorious fact, that almost from 
 the first the Prophet had used his powers of fascination 
 to triumph over the virtue of his female devotees, and had 
 anticipated polygamy in accordance with revelation, by 
 unauthorized promiscuous intercourse. His intrigues with 
 various women had involved the rising sect in constant 
 trouble at Kirkland and in Missouri ; and by the sworn 
 testimony of the best men Avho seceded from the Mor- 
 mons in Missouri, the Prophet had already established a 
 sort of polygamy. 
 
 Shortly after the settlement of Nauvoo also, Sidney 
 Rigdon had advanced his " spiritual wife" doctrine, which 
 regular Mormons now denounce as the great mystery of 
 abominations, " sent by the devil to bring dishonor upon 
 the true order of celestial marriage." Rigdon's theory of 
 " Spiritual wifery," as reported by old Mormons, was as 
 follows : 
 
 In the pre-existent state souls are mated, male and 
 female, as it is divinely intended they shall fill the mar- 
 riage relation in this life ; or, in more poetic phrase, "mar- 
 riages are made in heaven." But in the general jumble 
 of contradictions and cross-purposes attending man in 
 this state, many mistakes have been made in this matter; 
 A. has got the woman first intended fur B., the latter has 
 got C's true mate, and thus on, utterly defeating the 
 counsel of the gods in the pre-marriage of the spirits. 
 But the time had come for all this to be set right, and 
 though they might not put aside their present wives, 
 which would throw society somewhat out of gear, yet 
 Smith might, in addition, exercise the" privileges of hus- 
 band toward Brown's wife and vice versa. This seems to 
 have been merely the Mormon version of modern " free- 
 loveism," and from recent evidence it is quite probable it 
 also was practised to some extent in Nauvoo, thus making 
 polygamy equally free to men and women ; but it is quite 
 different, in theory at least, from the present " spiritual 
 wifeism" of the Mormons, as will presently appear. 
 
2(J2 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 But Kigdon's doctrines were both varying and danger- 
 ous, and he lacked the faculty of concealment; so he was 
 soon condemned, and his doctrines with him. 
 
 As the fii'st open hints of the new doctrine, in the 
 autumn of 1843, excited so much contention, and as the 
 indignation of the people of Illinois was justly feared, 
 orders were given to all the travelling elders to persist- 
 ently deny the doctrine. On the first of February, 1844, 
 the Times and Seasons, church paper at Nauvoo, con- 
 tained the following : 
 
 " Notice ! 
 
 " As we have lately been credibly informed, that an 
 Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day 
 Saints, by the name of Hyrum Brown, has been preach- 
 ing Polygamy, and other false and corrupt doctrines, in 
 the County of Lapeer, and State of ^lichigan : 
 
 "This is to notify him and the Church in general, that 
 he has been cut off' from the Church for his iniquity; and 
 he is further notified to appear at the Special Conference, 
 on the 0th of April next to make answer to these 
 charges. 
 
 "Joseph Smith, 
 "Hyrum Smith, 
 " Presidents of the Church." 
 
 The Gentiles appear not to have been well enough 
 posted on the subject to pay much heed to the " Notice," 
 but it excited no little commotion among the Mormons, 
 who had heard or received reports from others of the doc- 
 trine ; and on the day appointed a large number of the 
 disaffected, and a few resident G utiles, were present. 
 Hyrum Smith arose and stated that " great reports had 
 been bruited about of schism in Zion, and, no doubt, 
 many were present, hoping to witness dissension ; but all 
 such hopes were vain, the Lord had healed all backslid- 
 ings, there would be no charges made, and the day would 
 be spent in prayer and other exercises ;" and spent it was 
 accordingly. Six weeks afterwards, Hyrum found it 
 necessary to write as follows : • 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 2G3 
 
 "Nauvoo, March 15, 1844. 
 
 " To the Brethren of the CJnirch of Jesus Christ of Latlev- 
 Day Saints, living on China Creek, in Hancock County, 
 Gveetimj: 
 
 " Whereas Brother Ilichard Hewett has called on iiio 
 to-day, to know my views concerning some doctrines that 
 are j)reached in your place, and states to me that some of 
 your Elders say, that a man, having a certain j^Tiesthood, 
 may have as many wives as he pleases, and that doctrine 
 is taught here : I say unto you that that man tQuchcs false 
 doctrine, for there is no such doctrine taught here, neither 
 is there any such thing practised here ; and any man that 
 is found teaching privately or publicly any such doctrine, 
 is culpable, and will stand a chance to be brought before 
 the High Council, and lose his license and membership 
 also ; therefore, he had better beware what lie is about." 
 
 This letter will also be found in the 5th volume of the 
 Times and Seasons, page 474. But affairs had gone too 
 far ; a powerful schism broke out in the bosom of the 
 Church, and William Law, Dr. Foster, Chauncy L. liigbee, 
 Francis M. Higbee, and a number of other apostates com- 
 menced preaching openly against the Prophet, and estab- 
 lished at Nauvoo a paper called the Exjwsitor, devoted to 
 making war upon the new system. But they only issued 
 one number, which contained sixteen affidavits, mostly 
 from ladies, setting forth the licentious actions of Joseph 
 Smith and Brigham Young. Jose[»h was at that time 
 not only Prophet, Priest, and Revclator, but, also. Mayor 
 of the City and Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion. — 
 Such a daring publication in the stronghold of his powav 
 was not to be tolerated. So he ha.stily convened the City 
 Council, who, at his suggestion, declared the Expositor a 
 "public nuisance," and ordered that it be "at once abated." 
 The City Marshal and his posse forthwith attacked the 
 office and abated it in the literal meaning of that word, 
 and in the Mormon fashion, by breaking the press and 
 scattering the type. The publishers fled for their lives, 
 and, proceeding to Carthage, the county-seat of Hancock 
 
264 LIFE IN UTAH ; Oil, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 County, procuied warrants against several Mormons, 
 under the State law of Illinois, determined to test the 
 legality of such extensive jurisdiction by the Council. 
 Both the Smiths were finally arrested and murdered in 
 jail, as more fully related elsewhere. 
 
 After their death the policy of concealment was con- 
 tinued. In July, 1845, Parley P. Pratt, in the Millen- 
 nial Star, Mormon publication at' Liverpool, England, 
 denounced " spiritual wifery " as a " doctrine of devils 
 and seducing spirits ; but another name for whoredom, 
 wicked and unl\wful connection, and every kind of cor- 
 ruption, confusion and abomination ; " and in the follow- 
 ing year, the General Conference of Europe denounced 
 both the doctrine and practice in the strongest terms. In 
 May, 1848, the Millennial Star called for the vengeance 
 of heaven on all the liars who charged "such odious prac- 
 tices as spiritual wifeism andpolygism " upon the Church; 
 ending with the following : 
 
 " In all ages of the Church truth has been turned into 
 a lie, and the grace of God converted into lasciviousness, by 
 men who have sought to make a 'gain of godliness,' and 
 feed their lusts on the credulity of the righteous and un- 
 suspicious. * * * jNJext to the long-hackneyed and 
 bug-a-boo whisperings of polygism is another abomination 
 that sometimes shows its serpentine crests, which we 
 shall call sexual resurrectionism. * * * ^ 'pj^Q ^q(,_ 
 triries of corrupt spirits are always in close affinity with 
 each other, whether they consist in spiritual wifeism, 
 sexual resurrection, gross lasciviousness, or the unavoida- 
 ble separation of husbands and wives, or the communism 
 of property." 
 
 In July, 1850, Elder John Taylor held a discussion at 
 Boulogne, France, with three English clergymen. They 
 quoted from the anti-Mormon works then just published 
 by J. C. Bennett and J. B. Bowes, which charged poly- 
 gamy as a practice of the Church ; to which Taylor made 
 the following reply : " We are accused here of polygamy, 
 and actions the most indelicate, obscene and disgusting, 
 such that none but a corrupt heart could have contrived. 
 These things are too outrageous to admit of belief. There- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 265 
 
 fore, leaving the sisters of the ' white veil' and tlie 'black 
 veil,* and a.ll the other veils with those gentlemen to dis- 
 pose of, together with their authors, as they think best, I 
 shall content myself by reading onr views of chastity and 
 marriage from a work published by us, containing some 
 of the articles of our faith." He then read from the 
 "Doctrines and C:venants" which was adopted in full 
 conference the year after Smith's death, the following : 
 
 "4. * * * Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been 
 reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy ; 
 we declare that we believe that one man should have one 
 wife ; atid one woman hut one husband, except in case of 
 death, Avhen either is at liberty to marry again." 
 
 The italics are my own. As a specimen of Mormon 
 reasoning, it may hers be added, they now insist that, in 
 the above clause, " one wife " really meant, of course, 
 ^' one or more;" that the adversative "but" was added 
 in case of the woman to cut off any such free rendering 
 in her case, and that the clause was so worded " to spe- 
 cially deceive the Gentiles, and yet tell the exact truth." 
 They further add that, " under certain circumstances, the 
 Lord allows his priesthood to lie, in order to save His 
 people ; it would not do to give strong meat to little 
 children; they must first be fed with milk, and when they 
 get stronger they can have meat ; so with the truth, they 
 must be taught it little at a time." 
 
 The foreign Mormons were thus kept in perfect ignor- 
 ance of the matter, and were highly indignant when the 
 charge was made ; still, as it was practised, reports of it 
 were constantly made, and generally believed throughout 
 the United States. 
 
 Brigham Young soon became head of the Church, and 
 took for his second wife Lucy Decker Seely, who had 
 previously been divorced from Doctor Seely. Not long 
 after, at their winter quarters near Council Bluffs, Iowa, 
 he married Harriet Cook, whose son, Oscar Young, is the 
 first child in polygamy. He is now a young man of 
 twenty-two or three, bright, active and intelligent, and 
 -a great favorite with his Gentile friend-s, though a little 
 R 
 
2GG LIFE III UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 to be dreaded sometimes on account of his savage temper 
 when angry. 
 
 This marriage was followed by those of Clara Decker, 
 Clara Chase, Lucy Bigelow, Harriet Bowker, and Harriot 
 Barney. Mary Ann Angell Young, the original wife of 
 Brigham, still lives in a house of her own, just back of 
 the Lion House. She had five children — Brigham, Joseph, 
 John, Alice and Luna ; all are married «and living in Salt 
 Lake City. Brigham was at first a widower, and the two 
 daughters of his first wife, now middle-aged ladies, are 
 both married, and living in Utah. A few years after 
 leaving Nauvoo, Brigham married Emmeline Free, who 
 was for many years his favorite wife, and often styled, 
 among Gentiles, "the Light of the Harem." She was 
 finally discarded, some six years ago, for Amelia Folsom, 
 his youngest wife, and present favorite. It is, of course, 
 impossible to tell with exactness the number of his wives, 
 but those best informed place them at twenty-three actual 
 wives, and fifty-one spiritual. Miss Eliza Roxy Snow, 
 the Mormon poetess, is one of his spiritual wives, or 
 " proxy " women, and is married to him by proxy for 
 Joseph Smith, of whom she claims to have been the first 
 spiritual wife. 
 
 Meanwhile the Saints had become firmly fixed in Utah,, 
 where it seems that " Gentiles, their laws and mobs, would 
 annoy no more ;" and the necessity for concealment no 
 longer existed. So the doctrine was more and more 
 openly discussed, and, finally, on the 29th of August, 1852, 
 it was jjublicly announced, by Brigham Young, in a meet- 
 ing at Salt Lake City, where the revelation was for the 
 first time publicly read, and pronounced valid. The ser- 
 mons in its fiivor, by Orson Pratt and Brigham Young, 
 were first published, together with the revelation, in the 
 Deseret Neivs Extra, of September 14th, 1852. From 
 Young's iiddress I extract the followinor ; 
 
 " You heard Brother Pratt state, this morning, that a 
 Revelation would be read this cafternoon, which was given 
 previous to Joseph's death. It contains a doctrine 'a 
 small portion of the world is opposed to ; but I can de- 
 liver a prophecy upon it. Though that doctrine has not 
 
AND ClUMES OF MORAIONISM. 207 
 
 been prcached by the Elders, this people, have believed 
 in it for years. 
 
 " The original copy of this Revelation was burnt up. 
 William Clayton was the man who wrote it, from the 
 mouth of the Prophet. In the m ,antime it was in Bis- 
 hop Whitney's possession. He wished the privilege to 
 copy it, which brother Joseph granted. Sister Emma 
 (wife of Joseph Smith) burnt the original. The reason 
 I mention this is, because that the people, who did 
 know of the Revelation, supposed it was not now in 
 existence. 
 
 " The Revelation will be read to you. The jirinciple 
 spoken upon by Brother Pratt this morning, wo believe 
 in. Many others are of the same mind. They are not 
 ignorant of what we are doing in our social capacity. 
 They have cried out proclaim it ; but it would not do 
 a few years ago ; everything must come in its time, as 
 there is a time for all things, I am now ready to proclaim 
 it. 
 
 " This Revelation has been in my possession for many 
 years ; and who has known it ? None but those wlio 
 should know it. I keep a patent .lock on my desk, and 
 there does not anything leak out that should not." 
 
 The people of Utah were prepared for the announce- 
 ment, but polygamy was too " strong doctrine " for Eu- 
 rope, and, when first published there, in April, 1853, it 
 seemed that even then it would destroy the foreign 
 Church. In England, especially, the demoralization was 
 fearful; hundreds after hundreds apostatized, whole 
 churches and conferences dissolved ; talented knaves in 
 many instances, finding in this the excuse for going off 
 without surrendering the money-bags which they held. 
 The missions entirely disappeared in many parts of Eu- 
 rope, and, even in America, thousands of new converts, 
 who had not gone to "Zion," turn^^d away and joined the 
 Josephites, Gladdenites, Strangeites, and other sects of 
 recusant Mormons. 
 
 The Millenial Star remained silent on the subject for 
 weeks after publishing the Revelation, coming out at 
 length with a feeble defence of the system, from the pen 
 
268 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 of J. Jaques, p, leading Mormon poleriic. The fact was, 
 the people did not understand the new idea, they did not 
 see the spiritual necessities for it ; they had so far be- 
 lieved that Mormonism was simply an advance in Chris- 
 tianity, and could not feel that, " in this the fulness of time, 
 the ancient covenant was restored with all its privileges." 
 But in Utah a great rush was made for new wives ; old 
 men traded for young girls, and the uev/ order was hailed 
 as the great crowning joy and privilege of believers. 
 Polygamy continued extending until that period known 
 as the " Reformation," in 185o-oG, when the whole Church 
 was re-baptized, and a new point of de|)arture tal^en. 
 Then the new practice seemed, for awhile, to reach a 
 furious climax of unnatural and degrading obscenity. 
 The duty and importance of polj^gamy were presented 
 every Sunday ; hundreds of girls of only twelve or thir- 
 teen years were forced or persuaded into its practice; 
 and, in numerous instances, even younger girls were 
 " sealed " to old reprobates, with an agreement on the 
 part of the latter to wait until the girls were more ma- 
 ture, and suited to act the part of wives. Hundreds of 
 instances occurred which would be utterlv incredible at 
 present, were they not fully proved by many authentic 
 witnesses. Old men met openly in the streets and traded 
 daughters, and whole families of girls re married to 
 the same man. This was the pei'iod ,vdien polygamy 
 reached its worst manifestation, and, bad as it is now, 
 gross as many of its features still are, it was ten-fold 
 worse then. Women of my acquaintance at Salt Lake 
 City, who were children at the time, have told me of oc- 
 currences, during that period, which would indicate an 
 almost incredible reign of lust and fanaticism. Divorce 
 also became so common that tliese marriages scarcely 
 amounted to more than promiscuous intercourse. I met 
 one woman who had been divorced and re-mar.v''^d ' *x 
 times, and an old Mormon once pointed out to me a w - 
 man who had once been liis wife, and had been divorct. 1 
 and re-married nine times. In numerous instances a 
 young girl would be married to some prominent elder, 
 with whom she would reside a few months, after which 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 269 
 
 she would be divorced and married to another, and ngain 
 to another, " going the rounds," as the phrase was, of half 
 a dozen priests. 
 
 A general demoralization seemed to seize upon the com- 
 munity ; vulgarity of Ir.nguage, both in public address 
 and private speech, beeai-'.e so common that thousands of 
 Mormons were themselves disgusted, and a reaction set 
 in against such excesses. It would seem that Bi'igham 
 also became alarmed at the tendency, and, as he had been 
 greatl)^ annoyed by applications for divorce, commenced 
 exacting a heavy fee for the service. The period of com- 
 parative starvation which followed, during the winters of 
 1850-7, may have had something to do with checking the 
 prevailing tendency, but, certain it is, there has been no 
 such general license since. 
 
 The entrance of Johnston's army, too, indirectly pro- 
 duced a great effect ; stage and mail lines were fully esta- 
 blished ; Utah was brought into much closer relation with 
 the rest of the world, a considerable Gentile influence 
 began to manifest itself, sources of information were mul- 
 tiplied, and polj^gamy began to be unpopular with the 
 young wouien of Utah. In this regard, then, Mormon 
 history may be divided into three periods : 
 
 I. The monogamic period : from its origin till 1843, 
 during which time all their publications and sermons were 
 opposed to polygamy in their tone. 
 
 II. The transition period : from 1843 to 1852, when 
 polygamy was secretly taught and extended, but openly 
 denied and condemned. 
 
 III. The polygamic perio-^ : from 1852 to the present, 
 in all which time polygamy has been avowed and defended 
 as an essential pari of Mormon religion. The third [)eriod 
 might properly agum be divided into an era of rise, and 
 one of decline ; for it is evident that polygamy culmi- 
 nated iu all its worst features as early as 185G, since 
 which time it has been slowly on the decline, and even 
 without Government interference would hardly have en- 
 dured much more than another generation. In these last 
 statements I am aware that I differ from some, whose 
 evidence carries the weight of authority, )»articularly 
 
V 
 
 270 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Judges Dmke and Titus, and other United States officials, 
 who have lately testified before the Congi-essional Com- 
 mittee on Territories. Nevertheless, such is my conclusion 
 from a mass of evidence given by persons both in and 
 out of the Mormon Church, find from a careful examina- 
 tion of the records. That polygamy has declined in the 
 last five years is quite certain, from causes, both within 
 and without the Church ; it is now almost impossible to 
 induce a young girl brought up in Salt Lake City, or the 
 northern settlements, to enter that condition, and the in- 
 stances of plural marriages are confined almost entirely 
 to young women just brought from Europe. 
 
 Of their theology, as it relates to polygamy, but little 
 need be added. It is so thoroughly grafted into and in- 
 terwoven with their whole system, that at no point can 
 one be touched without attacking the other. Polygamy 
 is not, as recusant Mormons assert, a mere addition by 
 Brigham Young to the original fiiith ; it is a necessary 
 and logical outgrowth of the system. If Mormonism be 
 true, then pol^^gamy is right ; for " pre-existence of the 
 soul," " progression of the gods," and all other peculiar- 
 ities of the system depend, by a thousand combinations 
 and inter-relations, upon the ])lurality system. A man's 
 or woman's glory in eternity is to depend upon the size 
 of the family ; for a woman to remain childless is a sin 
 and calamity, and she cannot secure " exaltation," as the 
 wife of a Gentile or an apostate ; her husband's rank in 
 eternity must greatly depend upon the number of his 
 wives, and she will share in that glory whatever it is. 
 All this points unerringly to polygamy. Hence, also, the 
 last feature of this complex and unnatural relationship, 
 known as " spiritual wives," which is to be understood as 
 follows : Any woman having an earthly husband, of 
 whose final exaltation she is in doubt, may be " sealed 
 for eternity " to some prominent Mormo'i, who will raise 
 her and make her part of his final kingdom. In theory 
 this gives the spiritual husband no marital rights, but, as 
 stated by Elder Jolin Hyde, the noted apostate, " it may 
 well be doubted whether the woman, who can prefer 
 another man for iier pseudo-eternal husband, lias not 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 271 
 
 fallen low enough to sin in deed, as weU as tliouo-ht 
 against her earthly husband." ° ' 
 
 By "marriage for the dead," living women are sealed 
 to dead men, and vice versa, some one "standin^r proxy" 
 for the deceased. Thus, a widow and widower may each 
 prefer their first partners "for eternity," but like each 
 other well enough "for time;" in which case they are 
 first seale-d to each other "for time," then each, by proxy 
 for the departed, "for eternity," thus requiring three 
 separate ceremonies to settle the temporal and eternal 
 relations of all parties, who may in turn be divorced from 
 either by Brigham Young and the Probate Courts. So a 
 man may have a wife " for time," who belongs to some 
 man already dead " for eternity," in which case all the 
 children will belong to the latter in eternity, the living 
 man merely " raising up seed unto his dead brother " To 
 • such lengths of vain imaginings may a credulous people 
 'be led by artful imposters. ^ 
 
272 LIFE IN UTAH; OE, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 CHAATER XV. 
 
 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 
 
 Open evils and hidden sufferings — Miss S. E. Carmichael's testimony — 
 Mormon sophistry — The sexual principle — Its objects — Theory and 
 facts — Monogamist vs. Polygamist — Turk, Persian, and African vs. 
 the Christian White — The same effects in Utah — Jealousy and Misery 
 — Children of different wives — Cultivated indifference — Hatred among 
 children — Brighani's idea of parental duty — Arc the Mormon wo- 
 men happy ? — Submission and silence — Degradation of women — - 
 Mormon idea of politeness — Heber C. Kimball and his "cows" — 
 " My women "-—Slavery of sex — Moses and Mohammed outdone — 
 Incest— Marrying a whole family— Pobert Sharkey — Remorse and 
 suicide — Uncle and niece — Bishop Smith and his nieces — Mixture of 
 blood — Honible crimes — Half-brother and sister — The Prophet 
 "sold" — The doctrine of incest — " Too strong now, but the people 
 will come to it " — Now openly avowed — Brothers and sisters to marry 
 for a "pure priesthood" — Testimony of Wm. Hepworth Dixon — 
 Father and daughter may marry— Effects upon the young — Infant 
 mortality— Large average mortality — Fatal blindness— The growing 
 youth — Demoralization — Youthful depravity — No hope for young 
 men and women — Sojihistry and madness — Ancient sensualism to be 
 revived. 
 
 The worst period of polygamy has passed, but its evil 
 effects continue in full force to the present. At the out- 
 set I meet with a difficulty in describing its greatest 
 evils. As formcrlv stated, the virtues of Mormonism 
 are all easily seen, while its vices are, as much as pos- 
 sible, hidden, and this is peculiarly the case with poly- 
 gamy. 
 
 We can see its evils in a political point of view, in 
 their laws, to some extent in their society, in the mixture 
 of popuhition, and the blood of near kindred ; but who 
 can enter into the penetralia of the affections, weigh and 
 estimate woman's anguish, count the heart dro}>s of sor- 
 row, and say, here is so much misery, or there is so much 
 resiOTiation. 
 
 The last is by far the greatest evil of polygamy, and 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 273 
 
 though it may be felt, and, to some extent, seen, it can 
 never be described. 
 
 Miss Sarah E. Carraichael, now Mrs. Williamson, who 
 was reared at Salt Lake, says : " If I were a man, as I 
 ami a woman, I would stand in the halls of Congress, and 
 cry aloud for the miserable women of Utah, till the world 
 should hear and know the wrongs and miseries of poly- 
 gamy." The Mormons argue that the laws of nature, 
 physical nature, point out polygamy as the natural condi- 
 tion. There may be some argument in its favor in the 
 physical organization, but when we come to the soul and 
 mind, the mentnlity of woman points unerringly to mono- 
 gamy as her only possible state for domestic happiness ; 
 and any system which attempts to establish unity in the 
 household, by dividing one man's care and affection among 
 two or three women, is founded upon a total misconcep- 
 tion of the sexual pi'inciple. For why was that principle 
 30 deeply implanted in the human nature ? The Mor- 
 mons will tell us, " for the one purpose only, that men 
 might increase." But a sound philosophy, and the history 
 of mankind, show that this is but one of many reasons, 
 though necessary and important, yet not all, either of 
 man's duty or happiness. 
 
 In the nobler view this principle has at least three 
 manifestations, and three objects to fulfil. 
 
 First and lowest is a mere amativeness — the feeling 
 which the male animal has for the female — common to 
 man with the brutes. Its object is reproduction, its no- 
 bler uses, the perpetuation of our species. 
 
 But far above this is a second division of the great 
 principle, companionship, society, love of a congenial asso- 
 ciate. With it is connected the admiration for beauty, 
 grace and refinement, mutual help and protection, and 
 the interchange of kind offices. Its public benefits are 
 in the founding of f{imilies, and establiifliment of com- 
 munities, and by it alone can the State be established, on 
 aught approaching sure foundations. In this view then, 
 marriage is not, as certain theorists would ]iersuade us, 
 a matter strictly between the individuals ; the State has 
 the highest interest in its regulation, and justly deter- 
 
274 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 mines, from the experience of the past, what is best for 
 the stability of our institutions. But he who should stop 
 at this point in the inquiry, would have at last but a poor 
 and mean view of the sexual principle or the marriage 
 relation. 
 
 As man is not all animal, but also a member of a ftimily 
 and community, one helping and needing help, a citizen 
 and a debtor to the public weal ; so Jie is not all man, 
 not all citizen, communist or worker ; he is, in part, di- 
 vine, he has a nature in common with the angels. And 
 in this department of his nature, the great principle 
 maiaifests itself as a high and holy affection, a pure re- 
 gard for what is pure, a silent oxloration for that which is 
 divine in the human ; its exercise and reward alike are 
 in a complete intercommunion of soul, and interchange 
 of pure affection. 
 
 And its very essence is duality ; a divided affection is 
 utterly at war with " that sweet egotism of the heart 
 called love," that divine selfishness of choosinsf one being: 
 apart from all the world, perhaps the only form in which 
 selfishness is approved of God. -And the object of this 
 principle is a higher development of the whole man, male 
 and female; this is the most noble object t)f the marriage 
 relation, and by this alone is it sanctified. Can the wild- 
 est fanaticism or most earnest sophistry claim that aught 
 of this can be found in the polygamic order ? The Mor- 
 mon is but one-third married ; he has in such unions pro- 
 vided for but one-third, and that the lowest, basest part 
 of his nature. But, it may be said, this last is only a 
 theory. Let us then briefly examine a few facts. That 
 this indication is to be followed rather than the other, is 
 abundantly shown by a comparative view of polygamous 
 and monoixamous nations. The Indian and native Afri- 
 can know nothnig of the softer sentiments which make 
 life amiable and agreeable ; to them woman is merely a 
 superior beast of burden ; they can purchase as many 
 wives as their means command, and are, by nature, habit 
 and religion, thorough -going polygamists. Coming a lit- 
 tle higher to the partially civilized races, we find a great 
 improvement, but nothing like Christian ideas. The Hin- 
 
' AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 275 
 
 doo considers this such .a poor world for women, that it 
 is thought no particular harm to drown a femjile infant, 
 though a heinous ofience to thus dispose of a boy. Tlie 
 aame is true, to some extent, of the Persians, Turks, and 
 Mohammedan races, generally. Home, as understood by 
 us, is an unknown in.stitution ; the harem takes its place, 
 and polygamous customs have destroyed, to a great ex- 
 tent, the valor and energy of the men and the attractive 
 graces of woman. 
 
 In the march of progress, these nations are fast falling 
 behind and sinking beneath the hardy vigor of Western 
 Christians. History scarcely records an instance where 
 an organized nation of monogamists has fallen before 
 poly gam ists. 
 
 The monogamic Greeks, with a little army of forty 
 thousand men, overran all the proud empires of Southern 
 Asia ; the effeminate Persians and Hindoos could not 
 stand before the hardy valor of that people, Avho held, as 
 a fixed principle, that the dignity of woman is the 
 strength of the State. Monogamic Rome completed what 
 Greece had begun, in destroying the power of the Wtjs- 
 tern Asiatics. For six hundred years the honor and dig- 
 nity of the Roman matron were the subjects of unwearied 
 praise, till Rome herself was corrupted by the nations she 
 had conquered. The reign of the first Asiatic, who wore 
 the Imperial purple, marks the beginning of a great de- 
 cline, and Rome, in turn, fell before the hardy monoga- 
 mists of Northern Europe. The Mohammedans easily 
 overran Asia and Northern Africa, but in Europe their 
 course was soon checked. The hosts of Abderahman 
 melted like snow before the stout arms of the German 
 nations, who left the plains of Poictiers covered with the 
 corpses of three hundred thousand polygamists. 
 
 But it may be said these comparisons are unfair, as set- 
 ting civilized nations against semi-barbarians. But this 
 fact makes a better compari.son impossible, that the low- 
 est nation of monogamists is far above the highest of 
 polygamists. The white inhabitants of Utah are the only 
 branch of the Caucasian race that have adopted polygamy 
 within many hundred years. Of course we would look 
 
276 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 for certain results there, and if not seen at once, many 
 would conclude that Utah was an exception to the gen- 
 eral rule. But it is to be remembered that polyganiy has 
 been practised among them but twenty -seven years. 
 Nevertheless it has shown a marked and rapid tendency 
 towards evil ; and in many of its features probably worse 
 than in any Mohammedan country. 
 
 The first result to be noted is a universal, and worse 
 than Moslem jealousy, both among men and women. I 
 have the testimony of dozens, brought up in the midst of 
 the system, and several of them children of second wives, 
 that such a thing as a harmonious family of many wives 
 is unknown in their acquaintance. Others say there are 
 such, but all admit they are rare. I am speaking now of 
 the women and young people's testimony ; the men will 
 often claim the contrary, even when their own families 
 disprove it. Among my acquaintances in Salt Lake City 
 is a young lady, who is the daughter of a second wife, 
 whose history illustrates this matter very forcibly. Her 
 mother had lived in polygamy for fifteen years, and finally 
 became convinced that it was as- sinful as she had found 
 it misei-able. 
 
 The troubles of her mind brought on a mortal sickness 
 when she oalled her daughter to her bedside, and told her 
 that she had lived in misery, and was dying withoiit 
 hope ; that she was now convinced of her sin, and only 
 desired her daughter to escape from it. 
 
 The daughter, as required, took a solemn oath never to 
 enter polygamy. The motiier told her to be firm and her 
 mother's spirit would protect her. Soon after she died, 
 and, the daughter left her father's house, at the age of 
 fourteen, to reside with a relative who had apostatized, 
 and though twice taken back, is now permitted to live 
 there unmolested. The father stands high in the Mormon 
 Church, and still has four wives. Dui'ing the first month 
 of my stay in Salt Lake City, the second wife of a well 
 known Mormon left him, and went to work in a hotel. 
 After a short stay there, she took her child .and started to 
 Montana, when the husband took out a writ of habeas 
 corpus for the child ; the Sheriff overtook her thirty miles 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 277 
 
 North, when, seeing liim coming, she ran for the moun- 
 tains, distant half a mile. She was overtaken and the 
 child torn away from her, and brought to the city, which 
 of course, induced the mother to return. She was going 
 with some emigrants who dared not assist her, for fear of 
 Mormon vengeance. 
 
 Instances of like natui-e might be cited at will ; and it 
 is only too plain, that the system results in the utter de- 
 struction of domestic love and harmony. The Mormons 
 themselves hesitatingly acknowledge that the " thing 
 called love among the Gentiles" cannot exist under their 
 system ; but claim that they have instead, a purer feeling 
 of respect, support and friendship. 
 
 Hence, it is quite the custom among the Mormon lead- 
 ers, to speak of domestic affection and endearments with 
 a sort of sneer, or as something to be but rarely indulged 
 in, and rather unworthy of the manly character. 
 
 The Mormons claim that a man ^nay love equally half 
 a dozen women, a^- well as a mother may the same num- 
 ber of children, and that the women are satisfied with this 
 divided affection , but that this is not, and never can 
 be the case, I need say to no one who has the slightest 
 knowledge of the female heart. For a man to love six 
 women, equally well, is manifestly impossible; but it is 
 possible for him to be equally indifferent to all. And to 
 this does the teaching of the leaders directly tend ; rather 
 than create a jealousy, or show a marked preference for 
 one, they are to cultivate a mere equal respect for all. 
 Nor is it often possible for a man, whose care and .affec- 
 tion are divided between three or four women of varying 
 charms and tempers, to regard equally the children of all; 
 if he have common affection, the most affectionate child 
 will become his favorite, and engross his attention ; and 
 thus jealousy, far from being conrined to adults, rages 
 equally in the bosoms of the young. This is seen and 
 noticed in almost every family, and the story of Jacob's 
 partiality, and his children's jealousy, is repeated every 
 day in the year. So greatly do these troubles multiply 
 in the larger families, that in spite of their inclination to 
 secrecy, the parents are forced in bitterness of soul to 
 make known their grievances. 
 
278 LIFE IN UTAH; OK, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 In one sermon, preached while I was at Salt Lake,. 
 Brigham Young made tliis remark : " The women are 
 every day Cv^mphiining of what they have to suffer in 
 plurality. If it's any harder on them than it is on the 
 men, God help them. Many of them seem to think a man 
 in plurality has nothing to do but listen to tiieir troubles, 
 and run at their beck and call. I believe I have wives 
 that would see me damned rather than not get every little 
 furbelow they want." 
 
 But the smaller families are happy in comparison, and 
 it is within the walls of the larger harems, according to 
 all reports, that the demon of jealousy reigns supreme. 
 Female nurses of Salt Lake say that it is no uncommon 
 thing, in the better class of polygamous households, for a 
 child to be born to one wife and all the others to remain 
 sullenly in their rooms, unless specially called, apparently 
 without interest or concern for the result. 
 
 At first view it seems incredible that any woman should 
 be indifferent under such circumstances ; and yet we can 
 readily understand that a woman would be far from 
 pleased at the birth of a child -which vyas her husband's 
 but not hers. From the torment of such feelings there is 
 no refuge but in a cultivated indifference, and such seems 
 to be the ideal of all thorough Mormons in regard to the 
 affections. 
 
 Brigham Young himself is personally one of the coldest 
 of men. According to one who knows his habits, he 
 usually sleeps alone, in a small room behind his office ; 
 and a woman who lived many years in his family, tells 
 me she never saw him caress or pet but one of his chil- 
 dren. In speaking to one of my Mormon acquaintances, 
 Brigham gave the following as his idea of fatherly duty : 
 " I pay no attention to the children, but leave that to 
 their mothers, according to the law of nature. The bull 
 pays no attention to his calves." 
 
 In this sentence is embodied the social perfection of 
 polygamy, as it will be " when the Lord has healed the 
 Saints of all their old Gentilish traditions." The question 
 will, of course, be asked : Are the Mormon women hap- 
 py ? It must be remembered that only one-third or one- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOIIMONISM. 27i> 
 
 fourth of all the women in Utah arc in polygamy, either 
 as first or subsequent wives ; and, as to the rest, there is 
 no particular cause for unhappiness from that source, ex- 
 cept the constant dread that their husbands will take 
 additional wives. These exceptions noted, the testimony, 
 as far as it can be had, is universal, that Mormonism is a 
 " hard faith fur women." Again, it may be asked : What 
 do the women say about it ? Generally, they say noth- 
 ing. It is "sound Mormon doctrine," that the "first duty 
 of a woman is submission, and the second silence ;" and,, 
 certainly, the majority of Utah women would gain heaven 
 on those conditions. The most notii3eable fact to a Gen- 
 tile travelling through Mormon settlements is the strangely 
 quiet way in which women discharge their household 
 duties. 
 
 They stand behind the guest at the way-side hotel, 
 replenish the table and attend upon his wants, but never 
 enter into the conversation, venture not the slightest 
 observation or inquiry, and very rarely answer his ques- 
 tions in anything more than monosyllables. And those 
 questions are few, for it is almost, if not quite, a capital 
 crime in the Mormon code to "interfere with our women." 
 Such principles and such practice can tend only to the 
 degradation of woman ; and this I note as the second 
 great evil of polygamy. To Eastern minds it is quite im- 
 possible to convey a full comprehension of the many 
 ways, the thousand little expressions, the tone of public 
 and private manners, and the daily incidents in which is 
 manifested this general lack of respect for women. This 
 is so marked that it i» a common subject of talk, even 
 among themselves. Said a young Mormon woman, who 
 had just married a Gentile, to me : " I don't know half a 
 dozen men here who really respect their wives. It is a 
 constant wonder to us, the way the Gentiles treat their 
 women." 
 
 I have often been amused at the appearance of their 
 young women who were attending Gentile balls for the 
 first time. That a gentleman should bow so reverently to 
 his partner, that he should offer a lady his arm just to 
 cross the room, that he should esteem it a pleasure, rather 
 
280 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 than a favor, to bring a glass of water or the like, seems 
 to excite their amazement. Social lines were closely 
 drawn the winter of my stay i."> Salt Lake, and no young 
 woman could venture to associate with the Gentiles, with- 
 out losing her standing among Mormons entirely. Still, 
 many found their way into Gentile society, though if they 
 persisted in it, they were usually "cut off and dis-fellow- 
 shiped " by the Church authorities. 
 
 The fanaticism of the Mormons is so great that they 
 consider a woman " lost " if she associates with Gentile 
 men ; it is concluded at once that she can have no pure 
 motive in so doing, and among their own people they 
 possess the power to ruin a woman's character entirely. — 
 An old Mormon, at whose house I visited occasionally, 
 seldom failed to give me his views of the absurdity of our 
 common ideas of women. His favorite style was to give 
 me a burlesque representation of our mode of addressing 
 ladies, and when he got warmed up on the subject, it was 
 highly amusing to see him skip about the room, hat in 
 hand, bowing and grimacing to the chairs, and imitating 
 the dandified address of an exquisite. Most of the poly- 
 gamists habitually speak of their wives as " my women," 
 and in his jocular moments, while preaching, the late 
 Heber C. Kimball often spoke of his facetiously as "my 
 cows." 
 
 1 must say, however, that all of this is not due to poly- 
 gamy, but nmch of it to the women themselves. Nearly 
 all of them are of foreign birth, Enghsh, Welsh, Scotch 
 and Scandinavian, and of that class, too, among whom 
 men have never been accustomed to respect women very 
 highly. I am sure polj'^gamy could not have been estab- 
 lished in a purely American community, and the Mormons 
 themselves say that all the trouble and opposition comes 
 from the American or Irish wives, though there are but 
 few of the latter. 
 
 But the vileness of Mormon polygamy, which gives it 
 infar'ous pre-eminence over that of Jews, Turks, and 
 Hindoo.-^, is yet to be described, and consists in the grosser 
 forms of incest, the intermarriage of near relations. In 
 their general revolt against the ethics of ChristendoD:^, 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 281 
 
 and attempt to found a society upon the most primitive 
 models, they have disregarded alike the laws of Moses and 
 Mohammed ; and if they have any example in modern 
 times it must be in the Utes and Shoshonees who sur- 
 round them. To marry a mother and one or more of her 
 daucrhteijj is even thoucfht meritorious; and the Mormon 
 authorities often advise a man to marry sisters, as they 
 usually agree better than others. 
 
 Robert Sharkey, a merchant of Salt Lake City, married 
 three sisters, one of whom was divorced from her first 
 husband to marry him. They all lived in one house, and 
 quite happily, it is .said, for several years, when in some 
 strange manner, they all became convinced that polygamy 
 was wrong. One of the sisters started East, but soon re- 
 turned and endeavoured to make some arrangement for 
 him to put away the other two. There were di^culties 
 in the way, and Sharkey's trouble was so great on the 
 subject that his mind became disordered, and in August, 
 1868, he committed suicide by shooting himself through 
 the head. The widowed sisters still live together, and are 
 determined opponents of polygamy. Two of Brigham 
 Young's favored wives, Clara Decker and Lucy Decker 
 Seely, are sisters, the second having been the widow of 
 Dr. Isaac Seely, of Nauvoo, Illinois. One family within 
 my knowledge consists of two men and four women, the 
 men's first wives being sisters, and their second wives 
 €ach a sister of the other man, all living in one house. Or, 
 to state it mathematically : A. and B. first marry sisters, 
 then A. marries B's. sister, and B. A's sister. Here is no 
 marriage of blood relati-^ns, and yet it looks like a terrible 
 mixture somewhere. 
 
 The question arises for lawyers : Suppose each of the 
 women to have children, what akin are they respectively? 
 And which of them could lawfully marry according to 
 Leviticus and Chancellor Kent ? If polygamy continues, 
 these mixtures are nothing to what must take place in the 
 next generation, for without a chemical analysis no "her- 
 aldry Harvey" could ever succeed in finding the consan- 
 guineous circulation, to say nothing of the collateral. As 
 it now is, it seems as if half the children in the city are 
 
282 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 related in some way or other to the Kimballs, the Pratts 
 or the Youngs, and many to all three. If it stopped here, 
 some faint excuse might be made ; but the marriage of 
 uncle and niece has occurred often enough to establish it 
 as a Mormon custom. Bishop Smith, of Brigham City, 
 numbers tivo of his oivn brother's davghters among the 
 inmates of his harem, "sealed" to him by Brigham Young, 
 with a full knowledge of their relationship ; and in the 
 southern settlements several such cases exist. As already 
 stated, polygamy is but a mild affair north of Salt Lake 
 City, compared with the southern settlements ; and in the 
 latter are found all the worst features of Mormonism. 
 There the bishop is absolute, spiritual guide, temporal 
 governor and social tyrant ; there are collected the most 
 ignorant and degraded of the foreign converts ; the doc- 
 trines of Mormoni>m coincide fully with the people's natu- 
 ral habits of thought ; respect for woman, who is practic- 
 ally a slave, is a thing unknown, and the marriage of near 
 relatives is so common that to remark on it would itself 
 be considered remarkable. The marriage of first cousins is 
 common, but I have heard of no case of aunt and nephew. 
 The following affair seems too horrible for belief among any 
 people in America ; but is as well proved as any fact Ccan 
 be by human testimony, particularly that of tl^e woman 
 herself who went out of the Territory with a military 
 expedition fitted out under General Connor, 
 
 Some sixteen years ?<go, a young Scotchman came to 
 Salt Lake City in company with his half sister, who com- 
 menced keeping hou?" for him. After a time he went to 
 Brigham and professed a desire to marry the girl, citing 
 the example of Abraham and his half sister Sarai. Brig- 
 ham owned there was something in it. Abraham was 
 an example in favor of polygamy, and why not in this ? 
 He finally sent for the girl, and finding her handsome and 
 lively, solved the problem by marrying her himself; the 
 half brother yielded to the Prophet's superior claim, and 
 all was well. But in a few short weeks the lady's delicate 
 condition showed too plainly that the amorous half bro- 
 ther had anticipated marital rights, and Brigham found 
 himself in a fair way to have an heir de jure that was not 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 283 
 
 de sanguine. Here was a problem. It would never do 
 for the Prophet to acknf)wledge himself " sold," so he sent 
 for the brother, told him he had reconsidered the matter, 
 divorced the woman from himself, and delivered her to 
 the brother, who dutifully received her from the arms of 
 the Prophet. She lived with her half brother a few years 
 as his wife, ard bore him three childre!i, but finally saw 
 the degradation of her position, and left for the States. 
 This man still resides in Sait Lake City, is a prominent 
 citizen, and seems to have neither blame nor shame at- 
 tached to him. When I first heard of this and other 
 instances of a like nature, and heard the horrible doctrine of 
 incest attribuf cJ to the Mormons, I could not but think it 
 an invention of some bitter enemy of the sect • but since 
 then I have heard it fully avowed by the same prominent 
 Morm.on, whose testimony is given in cliapter ninth. Refer- 
 ring to the cases above, he said : " Tliat is the law of God 
 under the new dispensation. Things are allowed under 
 one dispensation which are not under others. As it was 
 with Abel and Abraham, so it will be again. The day 
 will soon come, when brothers and sioters will marry. 
 Shouldn't I prefer my own blood to any other ? Don't I 
 love my own blood best ? " Still another Mormon avers 
 that " to have a pure priesthood, we may in time have to 
 follow the example of the Joves in their nest, as Christ 
 meant it to be understood." This doctrine was first 
 advanced by Brigham from the pulj)it several years ago, 
 but was received with such undisguised manifestations of 
 surprise and disgust, that he ceased to ])ursue it further, 
 closing with the remark : "Well, it's a little too strong 
 doctrine for you now; but the time luill be, when you 
 will take it in fully. Since then the subject has generally 
 been avoided at " nead quarters," but cannot be altogether 
 denied. Brigham has never favored but one Gentile with 
 his views on the subject, viz.: Wm. Hepworth Dixcm, who 
 gives the following statement in his late work, entitled 
 " New America." 
 
 " Perhaps it would not be too much to say that in the 
 Mormon code there is no such crime as incest, and that a 
 man is practically free to woo and ' /ed any woman who 
 may take his eye. 
 
284 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTEKTES 
 
 " We have had a very strange ccnversation with Young 
 about the Mormon doctrine of incest. I asked him 
 whether it was a common thing among the Saints to 
 marry motlier and daughter ; and, if so, on what authority 
 tliey acted, since that kind of union was not sanctioned, 
 either by tlie command to Moses or by tlie 'revelation' to 
 Smith. When he hung back from admitting ii.ii such a 
 thing occurred at all, I named a case in one of ti.o city 
 wards, of wliich we had obtained some private knov ledge. 
 
 "Apostle Cannon said that in such case, the firS/ mar- 
 riage would be only a form ; that the elder female would 
 be understood as being a mother to lier husband and his 
 younger bride, on which I named my example, and in 
 which an elder of the Church had married an English 
 woman, a widow, with a daughter then of twelve; in 
 which the v/oman had borne ibur children to this hus- 
 band ; and in which this husband had married her daugh- 
 ter when she came of age. 
 
 " Young said it was not a common thing at Salt Lake. 
 
 " ' But it does occur T 
 
 " ' Yes,' said Young, ' it occurs sometimes.' 
 
 " On what ground is such a practice justified by the 
 Church ?" After a short pause, he said, with a faint and 
 wheedling smile : ' This is a part of the question of in- 
 cest. We have no sure light on it yet. I cannot tell you 
 .what the Church holds to be the actual truth ; I can tell 
 you my own opinion; but you must not publish it — you 
 must not tell it — lest I should be misunderstood and 
 blamed.' 
 
 " He then made to us a communication on the nature of 
 incest, as he thinks of this offence and judges it; but 
 what he then said I am not at liberty to print. As to the 
 facts which came under my own eyes, I am free to speak. 
 
 " Incest, in the sense in which we use the word — mar- 
 riage within the prohibited degrees — is not regarded as 
 a crime in the Mormon Church. 
 
 "It is known that in some of these saintly harems, the 
 female occupants stand to their lords in closer relationship 
 of blood than the American law permits. It is a daily 
 event in Salt Lake City for a man to wed two sisters, a 
 
AND CHIMES OF MOUMONISM. 285 
 
 brother's widow, and even a mother and daughter. In 
 one household in Utah, may be seen the spectacle of three 
 women, who stand toward each other in the relation of 
 child, mother and grand-dame, living in one man's harem 
 as his wives ! I asked the President, whether, with his 
 new lights on the virtue of breeding in and in, he saw 
 any objection to the marriage of brother and sister. 
 Speaking for himself, not for the Church, he said he saw 
 none at all. What follows, I give in the actual words of 
 the speakers : 
 
 " D. — ' Does that sort of marriage ever take place V 
 "Young. — * Never.' 
 
 " I).—' Is it prohibited by the Church V 
 " Young. — 'No; it is prohibited by prejudice.' 
 " Kimball. — * Public opinion won't allow it.' 
 "Young. — ' I would not do it myself, nor suffer any 
 one else, when I could help it.' 
 
 " D. — ' Then you don't prohibit, and you don't practise 
 
 itr 
 
 " Young. — ' My prejudices prevent me.' 
 
 " This remnant of an old feeling brought from the Gen- 
 tile world, and this alone, would seem to prevent the 
 Saints from rushing into the higher forms of incest. How 
 long will theirs Gentile sentiments remain in force ?' 
 
 " ' You will find here,' said Elder Stenhouse to me, talk- 
 ing on another subject, ' polygnmists of the third gener- 
 ation ; when these boys and girls grow up, and marry, 
 you will have in these valleys the true feeling of patriar- 
 chal life. 
 
 "'The old world is about us yet; and we are always 
 thinking of what people may say in the Scottish hills and 
 the Midland shires.' " 
 
 Morally, the reader may be shocked, but logically he 
 should be prepared for all this; for if we are to restore a 
 line of prophets and follow the example of the patriarchs, 
 then incest and polygamy are from the same high source. 
 The examples of Abraham and Sarai, half brother and 
 sister ; of L*)t and Judah an<l earlier worthies are to be 
 repeated. As one Mormon said to me, " the world could 
 never have been peopled without this practice, and the 
 
28G LfFK IN UTAH ; on, the MYSTEIlIliS 
 
 foremost nations of antiquity maintained it ;" and it is 
 darkly hinted at Salt Lake that lather and daughter may 
 form an allowable union. And why not ? If " the souls 
 in the spirit world wait earnestly for tabernacles," to fur- 
 nish them in a mere mechanical act, and may be performed 
 by one person as well as another. 
 
 Thus polj^gamy, incest and blood atonement grow a.s 
 naturally from Mormon theology as three branches from 
 the same stock. 
 
 The mind revolts from the pursuit of these digusting 
 details, and to the credit of the Mormon people be it said, 
 they are iar from being universal in api)roval of these 
 later doctrines. 
 
 Will it be credited after all this that the Mormons claim 
 to be the most virtuous people in the world ? Yet such 
 is the fact ; and they never weary of pointing to the pros- 
 titution of our gi'eat cities, claiming that it is their ap- 
 pointed destiny to remove all such evils, and make wo- 
 man universally pure. This, then, is the self-proclaimed 
 task of Mormonism ; to save a few by reducing all to a 
 level ; to abolish prostitution by legalizing concubinage ; 
 to promote conjugal purity by multiplying the husband's 
 temptations and opportunity, and to improve the condi- 
 tion of woman by making her a mere life-giving machine. 
 
 Perhaps the most saddening feature of Mormon poly- 
 gamy, is the effect it has had upon the young. The med- 
 ico-theologians of Utah claim that polygamy tend^ to a 
 more rapid increase of po])ulation, as well as to the phys- 
 ical and moral improvement of the species. The former 
 claiin may well be questioned, and that the latter is a 
 serious mistake, is plain to any un})rejudiced observer. 
 
 Salt Lake City already shows its bad effect on the off- 
 spring. The site is forty-three hundred feet above the 
 level of the sea, in a dry and bracing climate, equally free 
 from extremes of heat and cold ; and consequently it 
 should be one of the health 1g at cities in the world. 
 
 Exactly the reverse is the fact. The death rate, of all 
 ages, was for years a little more than twice that of the 
 State of Oregon, and greater than that of New York, or 
 any city north of the Gulf States. When wo co ne to 
 children, the disparity is still more fiightful. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 287 
 
 By actual statistics it is shown that tlie mortality among 
 children was, for many years, greater in Salt Lake City, 
 than any other in America, antl the death rate of Utah 
 only exceeded by that of Louisiana. The Mormons have 
 greatly exaggerated the population of the city, which 
 really contains a little less than eighteen thousand souls, 
 and in this small number tiie sexton's report for October, 
 18C8, the healthiest month in the year, and my first in 
 the city, gives the interments at sixty, of which forty-four 
 were children. Last year was unusually healthy, and yet 
 the death rate exceeds that of any other State or Terri- 
 tory west of the Mississippi. The Mormons explain this 
 by saying that their people are generally poor and ex- 
 posed to hardships, but much of that poverty is directly 
 traceable to their religion. Another sad fi«ct is the general 
 neglect of medical care, or rather a general tendency to 
 run to wild and absurd schemes of doctoring. They 
 claim that " laying on of hands and the prayer cf faith," 
 will heal the sick, and yet, no people within my knoAvl- 
 edge are so given to " Thomsonianism," steam doctoring," 
 "yarb medicine," and every other irregular mode of treat- 
 ing disease. 
 
 One day, during 'my residence there, three young chil- 
 dren died in the seventeenth ward of scarlet fever. In 
 neither case was a physician called; the Bishop came and 
 " laid on hands with the holy anointing," and an old wo- 
 man treated two of them with a mild palliative, sucIj as is 
 used for a sore throat. If the patient live after such treat- 
 ment, it is a. " miracle ;" if they die, " it is the will of the 
 Lord." Two-thirds of the polygainists do not and cannot 
 attend properly to their children. 
 
 The bishop of one ward, the fourteenth, has thirty chil- 
 dren living, and nearly twenty dead. Joseph Smith had 
 a dozen S| iritual wives ; but three sons survived him — all 
 of his legal wife. 
 
 When Heber Kimball was alive there were five men in 
 the city, who had together seventy wives ; they had, all 
 told, less than a hundred and fifty children. 
 
 A Mormon grave-yard is the most melancholy sight on 
 earth. One bishop of the city has seventeen children 
 
288 LIFE IN UTAH; OK, THE MYSTFUIES 
 
 buried in one row, and the longest grave is not over four 
 feet, If these men have but the common feelings of 
 humanity, how fearfully are they punished for the crime 
 of polygamy ! Brigham's children arc generally healthy, 
 except that the girls mostly have weak eyes, and two of 
 them are nearly blind ; but they are well fed, housed and 
 clothed. But such is the exception, and I could mention 
 a dozen men whose houses are full of women, but their 
 children are in the grave. 
 
 The Asiatic institution was never meant to flourish on 
 American soil, and has resulted here in a " slaughter of 
 the innocents," which is saddening to contemplate. As 
 only the most hardy survive, they generally grow up 
 robust and active ; but the effects of their social bias are 
 seen in a strange dulness of moral perception, a general 
 ignorance and apparently inherited tendency to vice. If 
 the testimony of Oscar Young, of the oldest son of the 
 Elder Stenhouse, mentioned above, and of numerous other 
 young Mormons, can be relied on, youthful demoraliza- 
 tion certainly begins at an earlier age in Salt Lake than 
 in any other places. In many cases of poor men in poly- 
 gamy, the husband, two wives and their children, occupy 
 the same room ; in many instances the husband and two 
 wives have but one bed, and when we consider the scenes 
 and conversation to which these children are witnesses, it 
 would seem that no exalted ideas of purity could ever 
 enter their minds. Taken from school at an early age, or 
 only permitted to enter it at all during a few winter 
 months, they are often put, in extreme youth, to herding 
 cattle on the " bench," or beyond Jordan ; there they hear 
 the slang of older youths, and, from hearing, learn to re- 
 peat, observe and imitate ; demoralization spreads, and 
 moral decay seizes upon the very bloom of youth. 
 
 From what they so often hear at home, they become 
 precociously prurient and premature observers of the 
 brute creation ; and, from personal observation and the 
 testimony of many young Mormons, I am convinced 
 there is no part of America where youthful vice, of the 
 peculiarly destructive and degrading kind, prevails so 
 extensively as in Salt Lake City. And this is but a 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONIKM. 281) 
 
 natural result ; for polygramy is tenfold more unnatural 
 with such a climate and race than in Southern Asia or 
 Africa. 
 
 Strange and paradoxical it is that, in a barr(;n land 
 and temperate or harsh clime, they have succeeded in 
 setting up a practice which social philosophy had de- 
 cided to belong only in regions of abundance, in volup- 
 tuous climes, where soft airs incline to sensual indul- 
 gence. 
 
 Stranger still, in the attempt to found a purely reli- 
 gious community, they have begun by utterly reversing 
 every idea which the experience of three thousand years 
 had proved to be valuable ; and in the very inception of 
 a young society, which was to be fresh, vigorous and 
 pure, have adopted the worst vices of an old and worn 
 out civilization. But, to them, these arguments are idle ; 
 * the mouth of the Lord hath commanded it ;" and it is 
 theirs not to study results, but to leave it with the Lord : 
 so, beholding all around them the furious revenges of 
 nature, on those who violate her most important law, 
 they shut their eyes to these fticts, and pronounce them 
 false ; and bearing in their own bodies the effects of phy- 
 siological sin, impiously claim a divine sanciion to violate 
 the laws of nature. 
 
 When, leaving the mere youth we come to young men 
 and women, we observe two curious effects of polygamy. 
 The first is a growing tendency to single life ; polygamy 
 to some extent necessitates celibacy, for the number of 
 the sexes being about equal, even in Utah, if one man 
 marries two wives, some other man must do without his 
 one. Polygamy is, in fact, the worst kind of robbery, and 
 for the twelve young women whom Heber C. Kimball 
 married after reaching Utah, some of them not over 
 eighteen, twelve young men must remain single. 
 
 This tendency is now greatly on the iticrease, particu- 
 larly among the girls, and it is a common remark with 
 them, that they will never marry till they can leave the 
 Territory. And this accounts, in part, for the second, a 
 general desire among the unmarrie^l, to get away and 
 settle ont of Utah. The world would be surprised at the 
 
2f)0 LIKE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 constant losses to their population from this source ; there 
 has been for years a constant leak from the Territory in 
 every direction, and, in one sermon, I heard Brigham 
 Young enumerate a score of places in California, Nevada, 
 Washington and Oregon, settled entirely by recusant Mor- 
 mons. In spite of a steady immigration from Europe of 
 from one to four tliousand per year, it is still a debatable 
 question whether the Mormons have gained faster than 
 by natural increase for the last five years. 
 
 Indeed, Utah offers but few induceirients for a young 
 Mormon, if he possess more than average intelligence or 
 enterprise ; and such, it will generally be found, make 
 their way to some other locality. Mucii has been claimed 
 by the Mormons for the virtue of their young women, 
 and more said against it by some of their opponents. 
 From the best evidence at my command, I think their 
 virtue will average as well, or nearly so, as that of any 
 very poor and ignorant peo})le ; but the fatal error of the 
 Mormons is, in allowing for no virtue except that by con- 
 straint and constant watching. No dependence whatc'^'^er 
 is placed upon the innate morarl sense, and apparently no 
 effort made to cultivate or strengthen it ; it is not sup- 
 posed that virtue is founded in aught but dread, and 
 every thorough going Mormon acts as if he expected his 
 daughters to go wrong the very first opportunity. 
 
 The jealousy of the men is even greater than that of 
 the women. Nine-tenths of them take it for granted 
 that a Gentile can have no good purpose in addressing a 
 Mormon girl ; and it is not uncommon to hear a Mormon 
 say, " I will shoot any Gentile I see walking with my 
 daughter." 
 
 It must be confessed, they have some foundation for 
 this harsh judgment, as in former years hundreds of Gen- 
 tiles merely came there to winter, and often left their 
 wives in the spHng ; and it is a sad fact that of all the 
 women who have left the Mormons, the majority have 
 turned out badly. When the Californian volunteers left 
 there, they took off" a great many with them, of whom 
 the majority were not married. The Mormons, of course, 
 attribute this to the immoral character of the Gentiles ; 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 291 
 
 but it is plainly attributable to their system of forced 
 virtue, by means of constraint and constant watching. 
 " The virtue tliat must be guarded is not worth the sen- 
 tinel ;" and these girls, who have been brought up in such 
 strictness and seclusion, with the idea that none of their 
 Mormon companions would dare attem[)t their virtue, are 
 but poorly prepared to encounter the seductive .arts we 
 know to be common in the Gentile world. If tiiere is 
 such a tiling as trust between the sexes in Utah, I have 
 witnessed no manifestation of it ; society has already as- 
 suir^ed the same air of jealous distrust, so often remarked 
 among the Moslems, while austerity and reserve are con- 
 sidered the noblest graces of woman. 
 
 It is gratifying to state, however, that the gi'ossness of 
 sentiment and language which prevailed ten years ago, is 
 slowly yielding to something better, and, plain spoken as 
 the Mormons now are, they would hardly listen quietly 
 to the indecent harangues once so common from Heber 
 C. Kimball. Though they constantly insist that they 
 care nothing for the Gentile world, antl will not be moved 
 by its opinions, yet the Mormons are being slowly im- 
 proved, in spite of themselves ; they have adopted Sun- 
 day schools, daily papers, and lyceums from the Gentiles 
 settled among them, and a more healthy sentiment is 
 struggling weakly against the tide of corruption. But 
 with all present mitigating features, polygamy still re- 
 mains the foulest blot upon America's fame, and the Mor- 
 mons still defy every law of God and man in their doc- 
 trines, and, to some extent, in their practice. Such, in 
 brief, is Mormonism. While all the world is striving to 
 move on to a higher, more spiritual plane of i^^ligious 
 truth, the}"" have turned back to the gross forms and sym- 
 bols of the time when religion w^as in its infancy. It is 
 as though the old mathematician should throw aside his 
 acquired learning, and go back to the sticks and balls 
 with which he learned to count. While the Christian 
 world is rejoicing that Christ has fi-eed us " from the yoke 
 which our fathers were not able to bear," they go back 
 two thousand years, and seek all their examples from a 
 barbarous age and a stiff-necked and rebellious people. 
 
292 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 And their practice is like their faith. Claiming a religion 
 which will elevate men to gods, they plead for examples 
 e base instincts of the brute creation ; with snow in 
 sight the year round, they pattern their domestic life after 
 that of inter-tropical barbarians, and vainly hope to pro- 
 duce the vigor of hardy North-men from the worst prac- 
 tice'^ of effeminate Asiatics. 
 
 ..,$,_ 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMON ISM. 293 
 
 • 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE MORMON THEOCRACY. 
 
 Absolutism — An ancient model— Three governments in Utah — Church 
 otBcials — First President — First Presidency — "The worst man in 
 Utah" — Quorum of Apostles— " The Twelve" — A dozen men with 
 fifty-two M'ives — President of Seventies — Patriarch — "A blessing for 
 a dollar " — Bishops —Division of the City and Territory — Their magis- 
 terial capacity — High Council — Judge and Jury — Ward teachers — 
 The confessional -The priesthood — Aaronic and ivielchisedec — Jivan- 
 gelists — Secret police or " Danites " — Civil government only an appen- 
 dage — Excessive power of the Mormon Courts — Perversions of law and 
 justice — Organic Act defective — Federal Judges— Their weakness and 
 disgrace — Verdict by ecclesiastical " counsel" — Verdicts dictated from 
 the pulpit — Probate Judges really appointed by Brigham Young — 
 Voting system — Marked ballots — "Protecting the ballot" — The 
 Hooper-McGroarty race — Plurality of offices as well as wives— Tyranny 
 of the Church — the Mormon vs. the American idea — The evils of which 
 Gentiles complain. 
 
 In government, as in doctrine and practice, the Mormons 
 have adopted the most ancient model. But it was not 
 quite possible even for them to entirely ignore the popular 
 element, hence they have pieced out their theocracy with 
 a shred of universal suffrage, proving themselves eclectic 
 in politics as well as theology. Government in Utah is to 
 be viewed in three relations, or rather, there are as many 
 distinct governments : — ■ 
 
 I. The recognized and openly acknowledged ecclesias- 
 tical government of the Mormon Church. 
 
 II. The secret and irresponsible government operated 
 by a few of the leading men. 
 
 III. The Territorial government, which was for years 
 but the mere convenient machine of the Church, and has 
 but lately stood forth in anything like its intended charac- 
 ter. 
 
 For the success of such an institution as Mormonism, 
 it was absolutely necessary there should be a recognized 
 
294 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 priesthood, through which channel alone, all commands 
 from heaven should come. If any man who " felt the mov- 
 ing of the Spirit " was at liberty to prophesy, prophets 
 ^'ould soon cease to have any honor. It was necessary, 
 too, that this priesthood should bear complete rule, and to 
 this end an ignorant laity was necessary. These condi- 
 tions have all been filled, and the Mormon Church stands 
 forth complete as a theocratic absolutism, I present in the 
 order of their rank, the various officers of the Church, and 
 the duties connected with them. 
 
 First President. 
 
 This officer stands at the head of all the affiiirs of the 
 Church, temporal and spiritual, financial and priestly ; 
 he alone has the power of " sealing," though in some cases 
 he may delegate it, and he only is acknowledged revela- 
 tor. This office, first filled by Joseph Smith, is now held 
 by Brigham Young, who is " Prophet, Priest, Seer, Reve- 
 lator in all the world. First President and Trustee-in -trust 
 of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," and 
 doubtless ex-qfficio the repository of any other needed 
 office or power. 
 
 To consider him in all these roles* would exceed my 
 present space ; his various powers will appear more fully 
 in the course of the work. Suffice it to say, that as Pro- 
 phet, he holds the " keys of the kingdom," and without 
 his permission none can enter the Church or he snvid; as 
 Kevelator, he unfolds to the people the will of God con- 
 cerning them ; as Seer, he is warned to avoid any danger 
 which may be in the future for him or his people, and, as 
 Priest, he " seals " men and women for eternity. In tem- 
 poral matters he is equally absolute. As President, he 
 orders all the concerns of the Church, appoints new bishops 
 and elders, and determines the political bearings of the 
 community ; as Trustee-in-trust, all the title to the Church 
 
 * Those who are curious to learn more fully of Brigham Young, and his 
 wives and children, will find this with much other valuable information, in 
 the ably written and only authentic work on the subject : The Mokmon 
 Prophet am) His Harem, Written by Mrb. ( \ V. Waite. Printed at the 
 Riverside Press, Cambridge, 186G. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 2f)5 
 
 property is in his name, he buys, sells, and conveys it 
 with no fixed system of rendering account ; as Treasurer 
 of the Perpetual Emigrating P'\nd, his draft alone can be 
 honored where the funds are or deposit. He claims an 
 is acknowledged by bis follower;., to be the Supreme Pon- 
 tiff of the world in {i^> spiritual matters, and entitled to 
 the obedience of al) Mormons. 
 
 True, there are various parties now rising up among the 
 Mormons, who claim that the President is entitled to their 
 obedience only ■within certain limits ; but they are gene- 
 rally held as heretics, " governed by an apostate spirit," 
 and all " good Mormons " claim that they are bound by 
 the orders of the Prophet, even to matters of life and 
 death. The doctrine has lately been still more authorita- 
 tively declared by the First President and his Counsellors, 
 that " it is apostacy to differ with the Priesthood — though 
 ever so honestly — a man may honestly ditier, and go to hell 
 for it." If there is any limit to his power, it is not ai)pa- 
 rent to the Gentile mind. 
 
 THE FIRST PRESIDENCY. 
 
 This consists of the First President and his First and 
 Second Counsellors, George A. Smith and Daniel H. Wells. 
 The first place was formerly filled by Heber C Kimball, 
 who died a short time before I entered the Territory, and 
 at the ensuing Conference, Smith was chosen to the place. 
 These last also have the title o;' President, they are the 
 Lieutenants and Prime Ministers of the President to do 
 all his commands, and are authorized to act in various 
 capacities in his absence. In addition, George A. Smith is 
 Church Historian, and Daniel H. Wells is Mayor, Justice 
 of the Peace and Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion. 
 He seems to bear about him less of the ecclesiastical cha- 
 racter than his colleague, and is generally denominated 
 'Squire Wells ; but he is probably the worst man in the 
 Hierarchy, being both a half-crazy fanatic and a blood- 
 thirsty bigot. . .^!l^^._- 
 
 QUORUM OF APOSTLES. 
 
 The body third in importance in the Church is the Col- 
 
296 
 
 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 lege or Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, They come much 
 nearer to the people than the First Presidency, as the 
 .whole Mormon territory is nominally divided between 
 them, and it is their duty to inspect their various dis- 
 tricts and see " that each stake is set in order." Indivi- 
 dual Apostles are often put in charge of foreign missions, 
 sent away to edit newspapers or magazines, or to preside 
 over some newly selected " stake " of the extending settle- 
 ments, in either of which cases, another Apostle is chosen 
 in place of the absent. Thus there are sometimes as many 
 as fifteen acting Apostles, but only the Twelve are entitled 
 to seats in the Quorum at one time. 
 
 I present the list as it stood during my residence in 
 Utah, and as an Apostle's dignity, like that of most other 
 officers, depends largely upon the number of his wives, I 
 give their number also : 
 
 Orson Hyde, 
 Orson Pratt, 
 John Taylor, 
 WiLFORD Woodruff, 
 Joseph F. Smith, 
 Amasa Lyman, v 
 Ezra Benson, 
 Charles Rich, 
 Lorenzo Snow, 
 - Erastus Snow, 
 Franklin Richard.?, 
 George Q. Cannon, 
 
 Ezra Benson died last summer, and his place had not 
 been supplied when I left Utah. With the exception of 
 John Taylor the Apos^tles are reported to be poor men ; 
 Orson Pratt particularly is in very moderate circumstances, 
 and Orson Hyde has the reputation of being " an invete- 
 rate beggar," in an ecclesiastical way of course. 
 
 First Apostle, 
 
 Five Wives. 
 
 Second 
 
 
 Four " 
 
 Third 
 
 
 Seven " 
 
 Fourth 
 
 
 Three " 
 
 Fifth' 
 
 
 Three " 
 
 Sixth 
 
 
 Five " 
 
 Seventh 
 
 
 Four 
 
 Eight 
 
 
 Seven " 
 
 Finih 
 
 
 Four " 
 
 Ten 
 
 
 Three " 
 
 Eleventh 
 
 
 Four " 
 
 Twelfth 
 
 
 Three " 
 
 president of seventies. 
 
 This office appears to rank next to that of an Apostle, 
 and arises as follows : The great working body of male 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMOXISM. 297 
 
 Mormons is divided into seventy Quorums, each havinj^ 
 nominally seventy members, though, in reality, they range 
 everywhere from ten to seventy. Each has a President 
 and these, collectively known as the Seventy, constitute a 
 grand missionary board, which has the general control of 
 all matters connected with propagating the faith. These 
 seventy Presidents have also a President, filling the office 
 under consideration. These offices have no special rank in 
 the Church, as an Apostle or leading elder may be but a 
 lay member in this order. 
 
 PATRIARCH. * 
 
 I place this office fifth in rank because, though of great 
 sanctity and honor, it is entirely spiritual, conferring no 
 power. His business is merely to grant " blessings," written 
 out and signed by him. The usual fee therefor is one 
 dollar, and the " blessings," as for as I have read any of 
 them, consist of vague and general promises that the reci- 
 pient will " be blessed if foithful." The first Patriarch in 
 the Church was " Old Father Smith," or Joseph, fotherof 
 the Prophet, who was succeeded by the latter's brother 
 Hyrum, he by "uncle" John Smith, cousin of Joe, and 
 he in turn by William Smith, son of " Hyrum the martyr." 
 To hold this office the only qualifications, which seem neces- 
 sary, are that one should be an " uncle " and a Smith, 
 neither of which is liable to fail for some time, 
 
 BISHOPS, 
 
 We now consider purely temporal officers, a set of men 
 who direct municipal regulations and are, as occasion de- 
 mands, either officers of the Church or Civil Magistrates. 
 
 Of these the most important is the bishop. Salt Lake 
 City is divided into twenty-one wards, each of which has 
 a bishop, and the entire Territory is in the same manner 
 conveniently divided into wards with a bishop over each. 
 They hear and " determine all complaints," and as they 
 are, under the peculiar statutes of Utah, also Probate 
 Judges in their respective counties, they govern Gentiles 
 in that character Thus, as spiritual guide in all mattersi 
 
298 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 of dispute among members of his flock, and civil magis- 
 trate, in all cases where Gentiles are concerned, the bishop 
 is equally " master of the situation," and fully a[)prised of 
 whatever is going on. Hence, also, his character as 
 informer. From his decision as Judge, the Gentile may 
 appeal to the Superior Court, at Salt Lake City ; from 
 his episcopal adjudications the Mormon cjvU appeal to 
 the 
 
 HIOH COUNCIL. 
 
 This body is composed of fifteen men, chosen from the 
 High Priests. Twelve act as a jury, of whom a majority 
 decide the case, and the other three pass sentence, or fix 
 the damages and costs. From this tribunal there is an 
 appeal to the First Presidency. The bishop is assisted in 
 his laboi*s by the • ' 
 
 WAKD TEACHERS. 
 
 Their duty is to visit all the people in their ward, 
 report all suspected persons, catachise every one as to 
 personal feeling, belief, etc., to report all irregularities, 
 heresies, false doctrine and schisip, and generally to act as 
 spies and informers. On these visitations every person is 
 obliged to formally subscribe to all the doctrines of the 
 Church, and many misdemeanors and even criminalities 
 are hushed up in the ward where they occur, without the 
 slightest knowledge thereof being made public. Hence, 
 much of the reputation for good order, claimed by the 
 Mormons. In one instance, which came to my knowledge 
 an atrocious rape, committed upon a girl thirteen years 
 old, was not known outside of th« ward where it occurred 
 until one year after, and it would probably not have been 
 then made known, had not the father of the girl aposta- 
 tized. In many cases boys of fifteen years fill the place 
 of Teacher, and are required to report the doings of their 
 fellows. All Mormons are solemnly sv^-orn to keep no 
 secrets from the Teachers, and on their monthly visits to 
 each family these have the right to see each person alone, 
 and hold a strict and nasty " confessional." This, with 
 the " Danite " or secret police system, makes of Mormon 
 society a united and tyrannized whole. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 299 
 
 THE PRIESTHOOD. 
 
 Thus far I have treated ratlier of the temporal offices, 
 but all officiating Mormons are divided into two bodies — 
 The Aarcnic and the Melckiscdec P,iesthood. The latter 
 is the superior, and in many respects includes the former ; 
 it is both spiritual and temporal, while the former is 
 exclusively temporal. A High Priest of the Melchisedec 
 order may always officiate in place of an Aaronic Priest ; 
 but without special ordainraent, the latter is always con- 
 fined to temporal affairs. All the higher officials belong 
 to the Melchisedec order. The tligh Priest ranks next to 
 the Apostle, and after him some order of Eiders, below 
 whom are simple Priests and ordinary Elders. In these 
 different ranks all Mormons are Priests of some sort, and 
 in religious cant speak of themselves as " Kings and 
 Priests of the most High God." 
 
 EVANGELISTS. 
 
 These, as the name implies, are propngandists. The 
 name seems to indicate" a kind of work rather than speci- 
 fic rank or office. 
 
 Such is the recognized ecclesiastical polity of the 
 Church. But lest this should not prove effective in all 
 cases, or some should grow restive under such restraint, 
 the Church has often used an order of secret police, popu- 
 larly known as " Danites." This order was first instituted 
 during the troubles in Missouri; it was remodeled in the 
 third or fourth year of their residence at Nauvoo, and has 
 been continued since. By some of the Mormons its exist- 
 ence is denied, by others defended on the score of self- 
 protection. That thousands of honest Mormons are igno- 
 rant of, and do not believe in, its existence, I am well 
 aware ; but that it has been, and to some extent is yet, 
 an active working force, is as clearly proved as any fact 
 can be. From the nature of the case but little can be 
 known of iis secret organization ; its work plainly appears 
 in the course of Mormon history. 
 
 With all their ecclesiastical organization, both public 
 
300 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 and private, much would have remained beyond their 
 power to compass without a civil government ; and the 
 manner in which they have used it, merely to further 
 Church policy, is a singular comment on the forbearance 
 of a republican ofovernment. 
 
 The most common perversion of right, and yet the most 
 difficult to be comprehended by residents in the East, is 
 the peculiar manner in w hich the laws and local courts of 
 the Territory are mad:) an engine of tyranny in the hands 
 of the ruling oligarchy. Like every other territory, Utah 
 has Federal District Courts and local Probate Courts ; but 
 unlike any other State or territory in the Union, the 
 powers and jurisdiction of the latter are made superior to 
 those of the former. Section 29, page 31 of the Territo- 
 rial Statutes, gives the Probate Courts general jurisdiction 
 in all matters, civil and criminal ; while section 1, of an 
 " Act in relation to Bills of Divorce and Alimony," gives 
 the Probate Courts exclusive jurisdiction over all such 
 cases, thus making them superior to the Federal District 
 Courts in such matters, and equal to them in every other 
 respect. 
 
 All this in opposition to the fact that the Organic Act 
 of Utah gives the Legislature no power to build up such 
 local courts, and in other territories this matter has been 
 settled by appeal to the Supreme Court, and by its deci- 
 sion the Probate Courts limited to probate matters and a 
 very limited civil jurisdiction. But the Organic Act 
 provides that the Probate or County Courts shall have 
 " such jurisdiction as shall bo prescribed by law," and 
 from this loose wording the Legislature claims the right 
 to give them jurisdiction over all subjects whatever. — 
 This anomaly in the judicial system is not without good 
 cause. The District Judges are United States officials, 
 and are supposed to be supporting the national authority; 
 the Probate Judges are simply the bishops or elders in the 
 different counties, over whom Brigham's power is absolute. 
 In former days, Brigham divorced whomsoever he saw 
 fit, on his own motion, and on payment of a fee of ten 
 dollars. He boasted once in a sermon, that he made 
 enough this way, " by their d — d foolishness, to keep him 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 301 
 
 in spending money." But of late years it has been thought 
 best to give some attention to forms of law ; and now, 
 though parties must first bo divorced by Brigham, or a 
 special deputy within the Church law, yet, after that, 
 they must have a legal divorce in the Probate Courts. Of 
 course, it never happens that Brigham's wishes are disre- 
 garded in the Probate. But this is their own affair ; it is 
 with their criminal jurisdiction that Gentiles have to do. 
 A case which occurred in a southern settlement, while I 
 was in Utah, illustrates in so forcible a manner their style 
 of getting rid of obnoxious citizens, that I set it forth 
 entire. 
 
 In 18G0, a lad of that district, of more than ordinary 
 intelligence, left for California, where he remained for 
 eight years, when he returned home with a considerable 
 amount of money, and, of course, with no disposition to 
 submit to the exactions of Mormonism. His parents being 
 Mormons, and that his native place, he properly belonged 
 to the class known as " hickory Mormons " or " Come- 
 outers." With plenty of money, and being well dressed, 
 he went into all their dances and social parties, became a 
 favorite with the Mormon girls, did not hesitate to express 
 his opinion about the bishops and elders, and, in short, 
 his example was, as the bishop said, " d — d demoializing." 
 One evening he accompanied a Mormon's daughter from 
 the village to her home in the country. On their way 
 was a narrow ravi ), about half way between two houses 
 which W3re just a furlong apart. The}'" remained some 
 minutes in this hollow, and were afterwards seen chatting 
 for h ilf an hour at her father's gate. Ore week afterwards 
 he was arrested on a charge of rape ! He was first taken 
 before a magistrate, where he demanded a jury of twelve 
 men, and was by them unanimously acquitted. Then the 
 bishop of the settlement, also a Probate Judge, issued a 
 bench warrant, pronounced all the proceedings before the 
 magistrate void, brought the young man before himself, 
 and, by the aid of her fiither, absolutely forced the girl to 
 testify against him, and upon evidence that would have 
 been laughed out of court in any State, pronounced him 
 guilty, and sentenced him to the penitentiary for ten 
 
302 LIFE IN UTAH ; Oil, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 years ! He was started at once for the prison in Salt 
 Lake City, but managed to inform Judge Strickland, a 
 lawyer of the city, who succeeded in having him brought 
 before Chief Justice Wilson, of the District Court, by 
 writ oi'haheas corjtufi, where the girl refused to testify to 
 anything criminating him, and ho was released. This 
 atrocious perversion of legal principles is practised all 
 over the country settlements by these bishops — judges, 
 who are directed in their proceedings by "authority," and 
 use their offices to drive out, or scare away all " Come- 
 outers " or recusant Mormons. If the accused is brought 
 to Salt Lake City, the United States officials are often 
 able t interfere ; but no matter how plain and direct the 
 evidence, as in the case above, nine-tenths of the Mormons 
 merely think it another case, in which a vile criminal is 
 let loose upon them by Gentile Judges. 
 
 As might be expected, the Brighamites are very tena- 
 cious of this great power in their hands, and threaten and 
 bluster whenever it is questioned. In a case tried before 
 Chief Justice Wilson, the power of the Probate Courts 
 was put in issue, and on the 20th of November, 18C8, 
 when this case was argued, Z. Snow, a Mormon lawyer, 
 and Attorney-General for Utah, said: "If his Honor de- 
 cided against such jurisdiction, blood would flow in the 
 streets of this City." From tho known character of 
 Jud^e Snow, it is highly probable he never would have 
 made such a statement but by express direction from 
 Brigham Young. The statement was made in open court, 
 in presence of the entire bar of the city, and a few mo- 
 ments after consultation with his associate counsel, also a 
 Mormon. Thy plain meaning of this was, that the Brig- 
 hamites intended to obey the law only when construed in 
 their favor, but otherwise to evade it, and, when safe, try 
 violence. Fair notice was thus given to all officials to 
 yield, or be crushed. Judge Snow also said that, until 
 within a few years, " United State Judges had not resided 
 here but a wary small portion of their time, though he 
 did not know why." 
 
 This hint opens to remembrance a melancholy view of 
 the dishonor to our Government through its officials in 
 
AND CRIMES OF M0RM0NI8M. 303 
 
 Utah. Not that Brighnm Younf^ lias tried violence in 
 many cases. Ho is far too wary for that. Brute force is 
 the last resort of a really astute mind, like that of Brig- 
 ham. Chicane is his natural weapon, and with it he has 
 completely circumvented the majority of the judges ; as- 
 sisted too often by the imbecile appointments from the 
 time of Fillmore until Lincoln's Administration, The 
 first Judge, Perry E. Brochus, was incautious in his 
 attacks upon polygamy, and, having been led to believe 
 that his life was in danger, left the Territory. Another 
 official was detected in immorality, and resigned to avoid 
 exposure; another disgraced his office, by taking a prosti- 
 tute upon the bench with him ; another impaired his 
 efficiency by secret drinking ; and still another allowed 
 himself to be completely entrapped by two of Brighara's 
 " decoy women." One of these delinquents was followed 
 into Weber Canon by a self-appointed committee of "Mor- 
 mon boys," and received at their hands a severe castiga- 
 tion. 
 
 It is a prime principle of the Mormon ftiith that their 
 affairs ought not to come before a Gentile Court at all ; 
 and if they must go there in a case where a Gentile is 
 interested, the jury should be governed by "counsel" in 
 making up their verdict. But there seem to have been 
 restive spirits, even in the most palmy days of the Church 
 government, who were often chastised from the Mormon 
 pulpit, as witness the following from a sermon delivered 
 in the Tabernacle, by Jedediah M. Grant, one of Brigham 
 Young's councillors, on Sunday, March 2nd, 1856. 
 
 " Last Sunday the President chastised some of the 
 Apostles and Bishops who were on the grand jury. Did 
 he fully succeed in clearing away the fog that surrounded 
 them, and in removing blindness from their eyes ? No ; 
 for they could go to their room and again disagree, though 
 to their credit be it said, a little explanation made them 
 unanimous in their action. But how is it with the little 
 jury ? Some of them have got into the fog to suck down 
 the words and eat the filth of a Gentile court, ostensibly 
 » court in Utah." This extract gives a sufficiently clear 
 idea of the jury system in Utah, and from all that has yet 
 
304 LIFE IN UTAH; OU, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 appeared the attempt to enforce any Federal statute by 
 Mormon juries, would simply amount to a solemn farce. 
 To render the matter worse, these Bishop-judges are not 
 elected by the people, but, under the provisions of the 
 Judiciary Act, are appointed by the Territorial Legisla- 
 ture, which means in effect by Brighan Young ; thus the 
 Judiciary are as completely under his management as the 
 officers of the ecclesiastical organization. One might 
 think there was still some chance for the people in voting, 
 and many are inclined to ask : If there is dissatisfaction, 
 or opposition to Brigham Young's government, can it not 
 make itself felt in the elections ? Even this outlet is effect- 
 ually barred by the following Section of " An Act regu- 
 lating elections," passed in Januarj'-, 1853 : 
 
 " Each elector shall ])rovide himself witli a ballot con- 
 taining the names of the persons he wishes elected, and 
 the offices he would have them fill, and present it neatly 
 folded to the judge of the election, who shall number it 
 and deposit it in the ballot-box. The clerk shall then 
 write the name of the elector and opposite thereto the 
 number of his vote." 
 
 With a sarcasm which is almost amusing, the Mormon 
 leaders call this a measure " to protect the freedom and 
 purity of the ballot." Thus artistically do they abolish the 
 free vote while they letain the ballot. " Thus," says the 
 English Captain Burton, their apologist, " they retain the 
 privilege of voting, while they avoid the evils of univer- 
 sal suffrage ; subjecting, as it always should be, the 
 ignorant many to the supervision of the intelligent few." 
 
 Under this system, Brigham Young's emissary can go 
 into any precinct in the Territory and discover just how 
 any man has voted at any election for the last fifteen 
 years ! And with this ignorant people, alive to spiritual 
 terrors, and knowing too well what temporal trouble may 
 be brought upon them, it is plain that the opposition must 
 be in a majority before it can venture to make itself 
 known. It cannot make a start to consolidate. It may 
 be worthy of note here, that all the officers of the Mor- 
 mon Church are proposedfor re-election or rejection, twice 
 every year, at the General Conferences, thus apparently 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOKMONISM. 305 
 
 tempering this theocratic absolutism with universal suff- 
 rage, women voting as well as men. But only three in- 
 stances have been known of persons daring to vote 
 against the known wishes of the Hierarchy ; and in each 
 case the offenders were promptly cited before the High 
 Council and required to explain, in deftiult of which they 
 were " cut off" as being in a " spirit of apostacy." Prac- 
 tically, one man in each settlement or ward might just as 
 well do all the voting. The Church puts her ticket in the 
 field, and the bishop directs the people to vote it, which 
 they do accordingly. 
 
 On one memorable occasion, it is said, a sort of spiritual 
 rebellion occurred in the Utah Lake district, where many 
 American converts reside, and the opposition candidate 
 to the Legislature was elected. On reaching Salt Lake 
 City the suc(;essful candidate was simply " counselled" to 
 resign, did so quietly, and the regular nominee was declared 
 entitled to the seat. Three years ago the Jew,'., Gentiles, 
 Apostates and recusant Mormons of the Thirteenth Ward, 
 in the city, found they had a majority, as nearly all of 
 these classes in the city lived in that ward. They elected 
 Bishop Wooley, a good Mormon, however, for Councilman, 
 against the regular nominee. The Bishop was at once 
 cited before Brigham, promptly resigned according to 
 " counsel," and the other candidate was admitted to the 
 seat. 
 
 When the celebrated and somewhat amusing Hoopcr- 
 McGroarty race, for delegate to Congress, took place, hun- 
 dreds who would have voted for an available Gentile 
 nominee, but who regarded McGroaty's candidacy as ca 
 mere burlesque, did not vote at all; consequently that 
 gentleman received less than two hundred votes, while, as 
 the Mormons did their best, Hooper received some fifteen 
 thousand. It is yet a standing joke in Utah to repeat 
 portions of McGroarty's speech, prepared to be delivered 
 before Congress ; he employed a lawyer to write it for 
 him, and while committing It to memory, he could never 
 talk ten minutes with a friend v/ithout running into his 
 speech, assuming an oratorical manner, and the plural 
 number, as if addressing Congress. 
 
306 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 The evils of this system of vocing are numerous, be- 
 sides the immense power it gives a few leaders ; but one 
 is particularly noticeable, the number and variety of offi- 
 ces held by the same man. In the town of Fillmore, the 
 old Ctipital, at one time one man held the offices of County 
 Clerk and Recorder, Town Clerk and Justice of the Peace, 
 Assessor and Collector of Internal Revenue, and ex officio 
 Overseer of the Poor. While I "vas in Salt Lake City, 
 one Robert T. Burton was Collect r of Internal Revenue 
 for the Territory, Sheriff of the County, Assessor and 
 Collector of Territorial and County taxes, and a General 
 in the Nauvoo Legion ; besides being a prominent elder 
 in the Church, the husband of three wives, and one of 
 the chiefs of the secret police. This Burton is the man 
 who led the posse to capture the Morrisites, a sect of re- 
 cusant Mormons, and, according to his own account, shot 
 four of those people after their surrender, and his con- 
 tinuance in the revenue office was a damning blot upon 
 the Johnson administration in Utah. He is in appear- 
 ance 
 
 "The mildest mannered man 
 That ever scuttled a ship or cut a throat." 
 
 But if there is truth in one-fourth the private memoirs of 
 apostates, he is a most cruel and blood-thirsty bigot. 
 
 All the various civil officers are at the same time lead- 
 ing dignitaries in the Mormon Church, active agents of 
 its will, chosen to their civil position solely on that ac- 
 count ; they consider the latter far inferior in importance, 
 and, in fact, subordinate in policy to their Church digni- 
 ties, and knowing little, if any, law, they are guided by 
 ecclesiastical authority and " counsel." 
 
 Let one travel wherever he will through the outer set- 
 tlements, he rarely if ever hears the people speak of the 
 Probate Judges as judges ; it is always " the bishop de- 
 cided so and so." With them he is always acting in his 
 character as bishop, never as judge. !Nor need we be 
 surprised at this ; it is the natural conflict under such a 
 system, between the theocratic, the ecclesiastical, and the 
 popular, t} e democratic and laical. The American idea 
 is that power is derived from the people, is merely dele- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 307 
 
 gated to the officer, and rests upon the just consent of the 
 governed. The Mormon idea is exactly the reverse ; 
 power and authority come from above, and operate down- 
 ward through all the grades ; the official is not responsible 
 to those below him — to them he is the voice of God — but 
 to those above him ; from them he derives his authority, 
 aud to them he must render an account. 
 
 In the woids of a Mormon poiemic, " It is not consis- 
 tent that the people of God should organize or be subject 
 to man-made governments. If it were so, they could 
 never be perfected. There can be but one perfect govern- 
 ment — that organized by God ; a government by apostles, 
 prophets, priests, teachers and evangelists ; the order of 
 the original Church, of all churches acknowledged by 
 God." I am thus minute in my statements, because so 
 many people in the East have an idea that polygamy is 
 the only great evil of Mormonism. There are many evils 
 felt more than that ; in fact, polygamy in itself is but a 
 slight annoj'ance to the Gentile residents in Utah. 
 
 Mormonism was an unmitigated evil before they had 
 polygamy ; the priests ruled the ignorant people with 
 spiritual terrors, and that made them dangerous neigh- 
 bors and troublesome citizens wherever they lived. Prob- 
 ably some of these other evils grew out of or have been 
 strengthened by polygamy, but that of itself troubles 
 other residents very little. It is that the Territory is 
 ruled by a Church, that civil and legal measures are car- 
 ried by ecclesiastical policy rather than law ; that resi- 
 dents, not Mormons, are subjected to all the annoyances 
 of petty tyranny ; that in their business and social life 
 they are constantly subjected to the secret espionage of 
 the Church ; that they are hampered in business by 
 church hostility, and the imposition of excessive taxes ; 
 that friends and fellow-countrymen have been secretly 
 murdered, and the Church prevents them from obtaining 
 justice ; in short, they are exposed to the tyranny of an 
 unopposed majority, and that majority controlled by a 
 small and compact hierarchy, working out its Star-cham- 
 ber decrees against liberty by secret and, to the peoi)le, 
 irresponsible agents. 
 
308 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 It is this that grinds the feelings of American citizens, 
 not polygamy, though that is a great moral and social 
 evil. The Mormon people, as a mass, are naturally dis- 
 posed to Jeal justly, but, unfortunately, the people are 
 ciphers, and it seems to be [the policy of their leaders to 
 keep them in a constant state of irritation and hostile 
 feeling towards all outsiders, and to the Government of 
 the United States. 
 
 Thus it is the union of Church and State, or rather 
 the absolute subservience of the State to the Church, the 
 latter merely using the outside organization to carry into 
 effect decrees already concluded in secret council, that 
 makes Mormonism our enemy. Missouri and Illinois 
 found, at dear cost, that no State could tolerate a Church 
 exercising an absolute temporal jurisdiction, within the 
 State, but independent of and often hostile to it ; domi- 
 nating and directing the action of courts within its influ- 
 ence, subverting free institutions, and exercising a greater 
 right over the consciences of its subjects than is claimed 
 by the laws of the State. In short, it is not the social, 
 immoral, or polygamic features that so chiefly concern us, 
 but the hostile, the treasonable and the mutinous. The 
 law against polygamy should be strictly enforced, as every 
 other law of the Government ; but it is idle to say, as so 
 many do, that that is the only objection to the Mormons, 
 or to the admission of Utah as a State. If polygamy 
 were blotted out to-morrow, we could never admit Utah 
 in her present condition. Such a State organization 
 would be opposed to every principle of our political 
 structure, and our Constitution was never meant to recog- 
 nize the temporal government of a Church. Happily the 
 present Administration have recognized many of the needs 
 of Utah, and begun by removing all polygamists and 
 Mormon sympathizers from office, filling their places with 
 good men. Much remains to be done by the Executive 
 and Congress, but it is gratifying to note that something 
 of a reform has set in, and that Utah is no longer what 
 it was through three Administrations, " the Botany Bay 
 of worn-out politicians." 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 RECUSANT SECTS OF MORMONS. 
 
 Repression not unity — Great break up at Nauvoo — Sidney Rigdon's 
 Church — J. J. Strang— Cutler, Brewster, and lieddrick : "The Ga- 
 therers "—The "Truth-teller"— Lyman Wight in Texas— San Ber- 
 nardino Mormons — Apostacy, Spiritualism and insanity — Brigham 
 supreme in Utah — First Secession, the " Gladdcnites " — Persecution 
 and murders — Blood-atonement introduced — Second Secession, the 
 " Morrisites" — War with the Sect — Massacre of the " Morrisites" — 
 Governor Harding's adventure — General Connor protects the recus- 
 anti — Soda Sjirings — Another Prophet — The "infant Christ"— Be- 
 ginning of the Josephites — Emmd and her sons — The " Re-organized 
 Church" — First Mission — Mission of the "Smith boys" — Excite- 
 ment at Salt Lake — Priestly lying — The Godbe Schism — Liberal 
 principles — Hopeful indications — After Brigham, Who ? — Orson 
 Hyde?— Daniel H. Wells?— George A. Smith ?— Probable future of 
 the Church. 
 
 But all this hedging about with officials, and double-lock 
 of civil, ecclesiastical and secret governments, has not 
 always held the Mormons in perfect unity, or prevented 
 schism and revolt. Perfect conformity in religion can 
 only be secured by the rack, the stake, and tlie dungeon 
 of the inquisition ; Mormonism carried within its bosom 
 the gems of disintegration, long latent though they might 
 be, and the original organization has, from time to time, 
 given rise to no less than twenty-five sects, ites and isms, 
 of which six or seven, besides the main branch under 
 Brigham, still preserve a sort of moribund existence. 
 Like the non-juring bishops of Anglican history, seces- 
 sion once begun constantly repeated itself; the recusant 
 and deposed priests in turn denounced and deposed all 
 who questioned their prophetic right, and each of the 
 sects solemnly points to all the others, as blind and erring 
 apostates, whose feet are treading on the straight line to 
 hell. During the life of Joe Smith there seem to have 
 been no organiaed secessions, though many apostacies. 
 
310 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE ^lYSTERIES 
 
 The living oraole could be consulted, with no dispute as 
 to the meaning of his wo ^s , Joe Smith Mormonism was 
 true or none was, and there was no other alternative. But 
 his death cut off the source of infallible interpretation, and 
 opened the way at once for a variance in doctrine. Some 
 account has already been given of the struggle for seces- 
 sion, and it only remains to briefly note the course of the 
 diverging sects, in the ever shifting phases of their pseudo- 
 theology and protean forms of error. Of all the scatter- 
 ing sects no other had a leader with the executive ability, 
 the iron nerve, and the cruel, remorseless ambition of 
 Brigham Young ; aud, in consequence, as fast as they came 
 in contact with purer faiths, most of their organizations 
 dissolved and fell away. 
 
 Sidney Rigdon led a large colony, and that of the best 
 material, to Pennslyvania ; but there was not sufficient 
 ignoi.mce in the laity, or secretive cunning in the leader, 
 and little by little they scattered among the Gentiles, a 
 few only, with Apostle \Vm. Marks at their head, return- 
 ing to the Brighamite Church, from which they after- 
 wards turned away to 5'^oung Joe Smith, J. J. Strange 
 had multitudinous revelations, that Wisconsin was to be 
 the next " gathering place " of the Saints, and a few 
 thousand followed him to the unsettled portion of that 
 new State. He afterwards settled the remnant on Beaver 
 Island, in Lake Michigan, and maintained some organi- 
 zation till his death ; no pro])het arising after him, some 
 of his flock went " hunting for Zion " in Iowa and Mis- 
 souri, some went to Salt Lake, more went back to the 
 " re-organized Church " at Piano, Illinois, and many went 
 crazy. 
 
 The small party which followed William Smith, only 
 surviving brother of the Prophet, to Northern Illinois, 
 soon dissolved. Elder Brewster took another party to 
 Western lowa^ and Bishop Heddrick, a considerable sect 
 into Missouri, both of which fell to pieces on the death 
 of the leaders ; but the remnants have lately got together 
 under a new prophet, and formed the sect known as i 
 " Gatherers." They are attempting to gather and settle 
 again in Jackson County, and are numerous enough to 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 311 
 
 have an orgfan called " The Truthteller" a weakly peri- 
 odical, published in Western Missouri. Bishop Cutler 
 also led off a small party in Northern Towa, and, after 
 his death, most of them returned to the " Re-organized 
 Church." 
 
 When the Church set out from Nauvoo, the Apostles 
 issued orders to Elder Sam Brannan, then in New York^ 
 to proceed with a party by sea to their intended destina- 
 tion in California. He accordingly sailed soon after in 
 the ship Brooklyn, with a body of two hundred and forty- 
 six foreign converts, and $60,000 in gold, the property 
 of the Church ; but, arriving at San Francisco (then 
 Yerba Buena), when the country was first attracting 
 attention, he, and most of his party, apostatized and re- 
 mained there. He invested the Church funds in real 
 estate, and became one of San Francisco's wealthiest citi- 
 zens ; but has since repaid the money to the Church with 
 interest. 
 
 Soon after, Bishop Lyman Wight led another large 
 party to Texas, where they increased greatly, and were 
 for some years highly prosperous. They at first acknowl- 
 edged allegiance to the Twelve Apostles, but when Brig- 
 ham took the reins they grew restive ; when pol^^gamy 
 was avowed, Wight solemnly "cut-off" the Salt Lake 
 Mormons, and no long time after, was himself cut off by 
 death, and his flock scattered for want of a shepherd. 
 
 Soon after the founding of Salt Lake City, a large col- 
 ony of Mormons was also established in San Bexnaidino 
 County, California ; but they were too far from headquar- 
 ters, to be governed either by Apostles or "Danites," and 
 soon became entangled in the politics and public interests 
 of the State. Orders were issued for their return to Utah, 
 a few obeyed, and the remainder " lost the spirit and fell 
 into apostacy." But it is a fixed fact, that ninety-nine 
 out of a hundred who have believed Mormonism for ten 
 years, are ever after unfit for any sensible faith ; apostates 
 from Mormonism are generally infidels or visionaries, 
 Millenarians, Adventists or Lunatics ; and the San Ber- 
 nardino schismatics, in a body, embraced Spiritualism. 
 From the unseen world a revelation was received, that a 
 
312 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 youth of one of the old Mormon families would in time 
 be called a prophet, and unite the whole Church ; but un- 
 fortunately the young man died soon after, and San Ber- 
 nardino was left without a prophet. A few returned to 
 the parent organization, and a few to the " Re-organized 
 Church ;" insanity prevails to an amazing extent among 
 the remainder, who long contributed from twelve to twenty 
 additions, per year, to the insane asylum at Stockton ; and 
 it is reported, that institution now contains a hundred of 
 the sect, and would have five hundred more if it were not 
 full. 
 
 Deducting all preliminary secessions, nearly 20,000 fol- 
 lowed the Twelve Apostles from Nauvoo, of whom less 
 than 10,000 ever reached Utah. Throughout their Iowa 
 pilgrimage bands and parties fell away like sparks from a 
 flying meteor, and almost every " stake " soon became a 
 village of recusant Mormons ; Garden Grove, Mount Pis- 
 gah. Council Bluffs, Florence and Columbus were origi- 
 nally settled by these apostates, and considerable bodies 
 gathered to Nebraska City, Omaha and other river towns, 
 Dr. Isaac Galland died in extreme poverty in Iowa, and 
 nearly all the old Nauvoo allies of Joe Smith ended their 
 days in the gutter, the penitentiary or the poor house. 
 But thousands of those who had honestly embraced Mor- 
 monism, and abandoned it only when convinced of the 
 imposture, became valuable citizens among the Gentiles. 
 
 In all these branch organizations there was no isolation 
 from the world, no repressive power, and no one man to 
 seize the reins and drive ruthlessly forward, regardless 
 alike of the sufferings of his people and the lives of his 
 enemies ; hence, inherent weakness increased, and they 
 fast decayed. But in Utah Brigham was absolute ; he 
 had perfect isolation, and talent without the troublesome 
 adjunct of a conscience, and there despotism has been a 
 success. Nevertheless, even in Utah there have been no 
 less than four distinct and organized attempts to throw off' 
 the yoke of Brigham, and " return to a more perfect faith." 
 None of these bodies have professed a desire to break up 
 the Church, only to purify it. 
 
 The first was by the sect known as " Gladdenites." It 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 313 
 
 will be remembered that Gladden Bishop was condemned 
 at Nauvoo ; but he soon after came back to the Church, 
 and other recusants were beginning to return, when, in 
 1852, polygamy was avowed, and to this and other new 
 features the Gladdenites were opposed. Their mission in 
 Salt Lake City was headed by one Albert Smith, from 
 Saint Louis, and seems to have made sufficient progress 
 to stir up the Brighamites, who have left about the only 
 history we have of the Sect in Utah. The following ex- 
 tract from a " sermon" by Brigham will clearly indicate 
 how this movement was crushed : 
 
 " I will ask, What has produced your persecutions and 
 sorroAv ? What has been the starting-point of all your 
 afflictions ? They began with apostates in your midst ; 
 those disaffected spirits caused others to come in, worse 
 than they, who would run out and bring in all the devils 
 they possibly could. That has been the starting-point 
 and grand cause of all our difficulties, every time we were 
 driven. I am coming to this place, — I am coming nearer 
 
 home Do we see apostates among us now ? 
 
 We do. 
 
 " When a man comes right out like an independent 
 devil, and says, ' Damn Mormonism and all the Mormons,' 
 and is off with himself to California, I say he is a gentle- 
 man by the side of a nasty, sneaking apostate, who is 
 opposed to nothing but Christianity. I say to the former, 
 ' Go in peace, sir, and prosper if you can.' But we have 
 a set of spirits here, worse than such a character. When 
 I went from meeting last Sabbath, my ears were saluted 
 with an apostate, crying in the streets here. I want to 
 know if any one of you who has got the spirit of Mormon- 
 ism in you, tlie spirit that Joseph and Hyrum had, or 
 that we have here, would say, ' Let us hear both sides of 
 the question. Let us listen and prove all things.' What 
 do you want to prove ? Do you want to prove that an 
 old apostate, who has been cut off from the Church thir- 
 teen times for lying, is any thing worthy of notice ? 1 heard 
 that a certain picture-maker in this city, when the boys 
 would have moved away the waggon in which this apostate 
 was standing, became violent with them, saying, ' Let this 
 
 U 
 
314 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 man alone ; these .are Saints that you are persecuting." 
 [Sneeringly.] 
 
 " We want such men to go to California, or anywhere 
 they choose. I say to those persons, 'You must not court 
 persecution here, lest you get so much of it you will not 
 know what to do with it. Do NOT court persecution.' 
 We have known Gladden Bishop for more than twenty 
 years, and know him to be a poor, dirty curse. Here is 
 sister Wilate Kimball, brother Heber's wife, has borne 
 more from that man than any other woman on earth could 
 bear ; but she won't boar it again. I say again, you Glad- 
 denites, do not court persecution, or you will get more 
 than you want, and it will come quicker than you want it, 
 
 " I say to you, Bishops, do not allow them to preach in 
 your wards. Who broke the roads to these valleys? Did 
 this little nasty Smith and his wife ? No. They staid 
 in St. Louis while we did it, peddling ribbons, and kiss- 
 ing the Gentiles. I know what they have done here — 
 they have asked exorbitant prices for their nasty, stink- 
 ing ribbons. [Voices, ' That's true.'] We broke the roads 
 to this country. 
 
 " Now, you Gladdenites, keep your tongues still, lest 
 sudden destruction come upon you. I say, rather than 
 that apostates should flourish here, I will unsheathe my 
 bowie-knife, and conquer or die. [Great commotion in 
 the congregation, and a simultaneous burst of feeling, as- 
 senting to the declaration.] Now, you nasty apostates, 
 clear out, or 'judgment will be laid to the lire, and right- 
 eousness to the plummet.' [Voices generally, ' Go it, go 
 it.] If you say it is all right, raise your hands. [All 
 hands up.] Let us call upon the Lord to assist us in this 
 and every other good work."* 
 
 It must be remembered that all these sermons are quo- 
 ted exactly as reported by the Mormons themselves and 
 printed in the Church paper, that Brigham carefully re- 
 vises them before they are printed ; and that they are 
 frequently so pared down and modified, with most of the 
 oaths and obscenity struck out, that it is difficult for 
 
 * March 27, 1853. Jour, of Dis., vol. i, p. 82. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 315 
 
 the hearer to recognize the published form. In another 
 part of the above harangue, Brigham warns tlie Gladden- 
 ites that they " were not playing with shadows, but were 
 trying to fool with the voice and hand of the Ahiiighty, 
 and would find themselves badly mistaken." The effect 
 of such preaching was horrible, an^i that some of the 
 Gladdenites tvere murdered outright is beyond a doubt. 
 But the Church authorities seem to have been fearful that 
 a spirit of rebellion might still lurk in the minds of the 
 people, and determined to stamp out the last traces of 
 apostacy. To this end, the doctrine of " blood-atone- 
 ment' was introduced and preached regularly for many 
 years. This doctrine was urged particularly with a wild 
 and savage earnestness by Jedediah M. Grant, who, it is 
 but charity to suppose, was insane on the subject ; a 
 bloody-crazy wretch, legitimately succeeded by Daniel H. 
 Wells. Like the latter, he was First Counsellor to Brig- 
 ham, Mayor of the city and Chief of the secret police ; 
 and like him, too, he regarded murder as a holy act, if 
 done in accordance with the rites of the Church ; and 
 there is testimony that some of these unfortunate apos- 
 tates were actually sacrificed in the Endowment House, 
 " to atone for their sins and save their souls." Young 
 Mormons, who were children then, have often told me of 
 hearing this J. M. Grant preach his favorite doctrine of 
 blood-atonement, with furious mien and gestures, and 
 actually foaming at the mouth in the intensity of frantic 
 rage. If any should doubt the possibility of men going 
 to such lengths in a bloody doctrine, let them peruse this 
 extract from one of Grant's sermons, delivered March 12, 
 1854, as recorded in the Mormon publication, the Deseret 
 News ; and remember, too, that it is only the mildest pos- 
 sible language which is published, compared with that 
 actually used. 
 
 " Then what ought this meek people who keep the com- 
 mandments of God do unto them ? ' Why,' says one, ' they 
 ought to pray to the Lord to kill them! I want to know 
 if you would wish the Lord to come doivn and do all your 
 dirty work ? Many of the Latter-day Saints wiU pray, and 
 
31G LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 petition, and supplicate the Lord to do a thousand things 
 they themselves would be ashamed to do. 
 
 3|C V * TT V * JK 
 
 "When a man prays for a thing, he ovght to he milling 
 to perform it himself. But if the Latter-day Saints should 
 put to death the covenant-breakers, it would try the faith 
 of the very meek, just, and pious ones among them, and 
 it would cause a great deal of ivhining in Israel. 
 
 " Then there was another odd commandment. The Lord 
 God commanded them not to pity the person whom they 
 killed, but to execute the law of God upon perscms worthy 
 of death. This should he done hy the entire congregation, 
 SHOWING NO PITY. I have thought there would have to 
 be quite a revolution among the Mormons before such a 
 commandment could be obeyed completely by them. For 
 instance, if they can get a man before the tribunal admi- 
 nistering the law of the land, and succeed in getting a rope 
 around his neck, and having him hung up like a dead dog, 
 it is all right. But if the Church and Kingdom of God 
 should step forth and ex.'cute the laiu of God, 0, what a 
 burst of Mormon sympathy it would cause ! / ivish we 
 were in a situation favorable to our doing that which is 
 justifiable before God, vnthout any contaminating influ- 
 ence of Gentile amalgamation, laws, and traditions ; that 
 the People of God "might lay the axe to the root of the tree, 
 and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit might he 
 hewn down. 
 
 " What ! do you believe that people would do right and 
 keep the law of God by actually putting to death the 
 transgressors ? Putting to death the transgressors would 
 exhibit the law of God, no matter by whom it was done. 
 That is my opinion. 
 
 " You talk of the doings of different Governments — the 
 United States, if you please. What do they do with trai- 
 tors ? What mode do they adopt to punish traitors ? Do 
 traitors to that Government forfeit their lives ? Examine 
 also the doings of other earthly Governments on this 
 point, and you find the same practice universal. I am not 
 aware that there are any exceptions. But people will look 
 into books of theology, and argue that the people of God 
 
AND C'llIMES OF MORMONISM. 317 
 
 have a right to try people for fellowships, but they have 
 no right to try them on ))roperty or life. That makes 
 the devil laugh, saying : I have got them on a hook now; 
 they can cut them off, and I will put eight or ten spirits 
 worse than they are into their tabernacles, and send them 
 back to mob them," 
 
 Brigham follows up this reasoning with a plain declara- 
 tion that none can expect finally to escape, and sooner or 
 later the vengeance of the Church will overtake them. 
 But he uses a different phraseology, as follows : 
 
 " There is not a man or woman who violates the cove- 
 nants made with their God, that will not be required to 
 pay the debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that 
 out, your own blood must atone for it ; and the judgments 
 of the Almighty will come sooner or later, and every man 
 and woman will have to atone for breakinjx their cove- 
 nants." 
 
 With these plain directions to an ignorant and fanatical 
 people, from those they looked upon as the incarnate voice 
 of God, the fate of the Gladdenites is easily foreseen. 
 Those who could, escaped to Cjilifornia ; the others re- 
 canted or " atoned," and we hear no more of them after 
 1854. 
 
 Second in order of time was the Sect known as " Mor- 
 risites," whose history is substantially as follows: 
 
 Joseph Morris was a native of Manchester, England, and 
 came to Utah among the early converts. Like thousands 
 of others, he thought that the pure truth delivered by 
 Joseph Smith had been corrupted, and conceived the 
 design of effecting a grand reformation in the Church. 
 According to his own account, while engaged in reflection 
 on the subject, he was one day in the pastures beyond 
 Jordan, when he was favored with a glorious vision, and 
 by command of Christ, Enos (son of Seth), John the Bap- 
 tist, and the archangel Michael, who constitute the triune 
 mission of Mormonism, appeared and endowed him with 
 the holy priesthood, as the true successor of Joseph Smith. 
 
 On announcing his mission, he was at once an object 
 of interest to all persons at South Weber, his residence, 
 some thirty miles north of this city, and in a short time 
 
318 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 had converted to his views Bishop Cook, of Weber settle- 
 ment, his brother, John Cook, and several others. 
 
 Persecution by his neighbors soon followed, and his life 
 was frequently threatened ; but little attention was paid 
 to the matter by the regular authorities, as Mori'is was an 
 exceedingly simple and illiterate m.in, who was thought 
 incapable of giving the slightest trouble. Meanwhile, he 
 continued to receive voluminous revelations, and, under 
 the supposed influence of the Holy Spirit, composed two 
 letters directed to Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, 
 which he took to the city and delivered in persor. Brigham 
 treated the matter lightly at first, but it soon grew so 
 serious that John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, both 
 apostles, were sent to Weber to investigate the matter. 
 They called a Church meeting, in executive session, on the 
 11th of February, 1861, when Taylor rose and demanded 
 whether there was a man in that ward who claimed to be 
 a prophet, and if so, whether he had any followers ? To 
 the consternation of the Brighamites seventeen persons, 
 with Bishop Cook at their head, arose and avowed their 
 belief that "Joseph Morris was sent of God, and was the 
 true priestly successor of Joseph Smith." It is to be noted 
 that the Morrisites never denied the right of Brigham to 
 be First President, by election, and temporal head of the 
 Church; but they claimed that he was " neither a pro- 
 phet, nor the son of a prophet." 
 
 A violent discussion followed, in which an old man 
 named Watts said that the Morrisites " ought to be cut off 
 under the chin and laid away in the brush," for which he 
 was sterrdy rebuked by Bishop Cook. After the customary 
 " admonition," by Taylor and Woodruff, all the adherents 
 of Morris were formally excommunicated, and " delivered 
 over to the bufFetings of Satan for a thousand years." 
 Morris established his church by baptizing five persons in 
 the Weber River, on the 6th of April, 1861, exactly thirty- 
 one years from the first baptism by Joseph Smith. Con- 
 verts flocked rapidly from all parts of the Territory, and 
 the new sect soon numbered three hundred. It never ex- 
 ceeded five hundred. Morris employed two scribes to 
 take down his revealed gospel, and his followers now 
 
AND CRIMES OP MORMONISM. 319 
 
 liavo six volumes of them, each containing two or three 
 hundred manuscript pages. 
 
 The spring review of 1802 of the Nauvoo TiCgion, the 
 Territorial militia, came on, and the Morrisites refused to 
 drill, for which several of them were arrested and fined 
 $G0 and $80 each. Other troubles arose between them 
 and the surrounding Mormons, about which there is great 
 <;onflict of testimony. I have the story from those of the 
 Morrisites now at Camp Douglas, from various Brig- 
 hamites, and from official papers and testimony left by 
 Judges Waite, Drake, and Titus. The Sect occupied a 
 portion of the Weber Valley, with their town made in a 
 sort of encampment in a circular hollow, below which 
 was their cultivated land. They had all things in com- 
 mon, and every new convert divided his surplus property 
 among the needy, while their common cow-herd was 
 attended by a detailed herder among the mountain hol- 
 lows. Intelligent Mormons, then resident on the Weber, 
 tell me they took a large number of cattle from their 
 neighbors, and committed other depredations ; which the 
 Morrisites deny, saying that they only retaliated where 
 they had been robbed. At length one Jones seized a load 
 of flour belonging to the Morrisites at a mile near Salt 
 Lake, and detained it and the two boys in charge, fis he 
 alleged, in satisfaction for injuries done him. 
 
 The Morrisites sent out a strong posse, retook the load, 
 and brought Jones and two confederates, as prisoners to 
 their camp. Meanwhile, the Sheriff had appeared, and 
 purposed to arrest all those who could not, or would not 
 pay the fines assessed for refusal to drill, but he was re- 
 fused admission to the settlement. Complaint was at once 
 made to Chief Justice Kinney, who issued writs for the 
 arrest of the leading Morrisites, and Eobert T. Burton, 
 Sheriff of Salt Lake County, attempted to serve them, but 
 returned to the city unsuccessful. The Nauvoo Legion 
 was at once ordered out, with several cannon, and placed 
 under Burton's command. On their way they were joined 
 by reinforcements from Ogden,Kaysville, and Farmington, 
 till early on the morning of June 13, 18G2, they arrived 
 before the Morrisite Camp, with a thousand well armed 
 
320 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 men, and five pieces of artillery. They captured the Mor- 
 risites' cow-herd, killing such as they desired for beef, and 
 sent the boys attending it into the camp, with Burton's 
 proclamation, calling for surrender. The camp, or fort, 
 consisted of a few houses made of willows, woven together 
 and plastered, and covered waggons, surrounded by some 
 rude fortifications. Morris called his men together, when 
 they received another note to remove the women and 
 children, as firing would begin in one hour. In about 
 twenty minutes a cannon was fired, of which the ball 
 entered the fort, killing two women, and carrying away 
 the jaw of another. 
 
 Meanwhile, Morris had donned his priestly robe, and 
 taken his divining rod, and was waiting for a revelation 
 as to what course should be taken. After an hour or two 
 of fanatic supplication, no revelation was received; and 
 as the Brighamites had begun to surround the camp, the 
 Prophet divided his forces, placed a band at each of the 
 weak points, and assumed the responsibility of fighting. 
 His camp was upon a knoll in the hollow of the Weber, a 
 mile or so below the present railroad station of Uintah, 
 while the Brighamite posse occupied the adjacent slopes. 
 The latter soon opened a general fire upon the camp, when 
 the Morrisites at once flew to arms and the battle began. 
 The cannon and long range rifles of the Brighamites com- 
 pletely raked the fort, to which the Morrisites could only 
 reply with their ducking-guns and a few Spanish sco2)etees,, 
 which inflicted only slight wounds. The cannon, too, 
 were often loaded with small balls, which tore down the 
 wicker-work and pierced the sandy hillocks, wounding 
 the women and children who had taken refuge behind 
 them. Still these deluded people would not surrender, 
 and for three days, fighting with the desperate energy of 
 religious fanaticism, maintained the unequal battle. At 
 intervals, during that time, they often called on Morris to 
 intercede with the Lord for tlieir deliverance, to which he 
 made reply : " If the Lord will, we shall be delivered and 
 our enemies destroyed ; but let us do our duty." On the- 
 evening of the third day, some one raised a white flag ;. 
 when Morris saw it, he said : " Your faith has gone, and 
 the Lord has forsaken us. I can now do nothing more," 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOKMONISM. 321 
 
 They threw down their arms and the Legion marched 
 in. Amid the wildest confusion the men and women 
 were separated, and the former placed under guard. Few 
 of the women could speak English, and all expected no- 
 thing but destruction. Burton shot Morris, his lieutenant 
 Banks, and two women, after the arms were given up, 
 while the soldiers plundered the houses, took all the 
 watches, jewellery and money, and ! destroyed all they 
 could not carry away. Here, too, there is great conflict 
 of testimony. Some of the boys who were with the 
 Brighamite forces say that Morris ordered his men to take 
 their arms and fight again, for which he was shot. Still 
 others say that Banks was only slightly wounded, and 
 called for water, when a cup was handed to him by the 
 Brighamite surgeon. Dr. Jeter Clinton ; that he drank of 
 it and expired in a few minutes. The Morrisites are con- 
 fident he would have recovered, if he had not been poison- 
 ed, The following affidavit will give most clearly the 
 Morrisite version of the affair : 
 
 " United States of America, Territory of Utah, ss. 
 
 " Alexander Dow, of said Territory, being duly sworn, ' 
 says : 
 
 " In the spring of 18G1, 1 joined the Morrisitos, and was 
 present when Joseph Morris was killed. The Morrisites 
 had surrendered, a white flag, was flying, and the arms 
 were all grounded and guarded by a large number of the 
 posse. 
 
 " Robert T. Burton and Judson L. Stoddard rode in 
 among the Morrisites. Burton was much excited, and 
 said : ' Whe:e is the man ? I don't know him.' Stoddard 
 replied, ' That's him,' pointing to Morris. Burton rode his 
 horse upon Morris, and commanded him to give himself 
 up in the name of the Lord. Morris replied: 'No; never, 
 never.' Morris said he wanted to speak to the people. — 
 Burton said, 'Be d — d quick about it.' Morris said, — 
 ' Brethren, I have taught you true principles' — he had 
 scarcely got the words out of his mouth, when Burton 
 fired his revolver. The ball passed in his neck or shoulder. 
 
t 
 
 322 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Burton exclaimed, ' There's your Prophet.' He fired again, 
 saying, 'What dj you think of your Prophet now?' 
 
 "Burton thei turned suddenly and shot Banks, who 
 was standing five or six paces distant. Banks fell. Mrs. 
 Bowman, wife of James Bowman, came running up, crying, 
 *0h ! you blood-thirsty wretch !' Burton said, 'No one 
 shall tell me that and live,' and shot her dead. A Danish 
 woman then came running up to Morris, crying, and Bur- 
 ton shot her dead also. Burton could have easily taken 
 Morris and Banks prisoners, if he had tried. I was stand- 
 ing but a few feet from Burton all the time. And further 
 saith not. 
 
 "Alexander Dow." 
 
 " Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 18th day of 
 April, A.D., 1863. 
 
 " Tharles B, Waite, 
 
 " Associate Justice, Utah Territory." 
 
 All the loose property of the Morrisites having been 
 " confiscated," the dead bodies of Morris, Banks and eight 
 others were thrown into a waggon, with Morris' robe, 
 crown and rod, and succeeded by the captured Morrisites, 
 they were guarded to the city. Young and old turned 
 out to see them, with mingled emotions of glee and horror, 
 and the bodies of Morris and Banks, lying for several 
 days in the City Hall, were visited by great crowds, eager 
 to see the noted " schismatic." The vast majority of these 
 people regarded it simply as the proper punishment due 
 to one who had " set himself up to teach heresy in Zion, 
 and oppose the Lord's anointed." During the entire 
 battle two Brighamites and ten Morrisites were killed, 
 and a very large number wounded. 
 
 Ninety-three of the Morrisites were at once arraigned 
 before Judge Kinney, but there was so much popular 
 excitement, and as it was probable more would die of their 
 wounds, he proceeded to place them all under bonds of 
 $1,500 each, for their appearance in April, 1863, Only 
 five of them would sign the bond ; few of the rest could 
 speak English, and those who could protested against the 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 323 
 
 entire proceedings, and aiinoimced their determination "to 
 lie in jail till the Devil's thousand years were out," before 
 they would even by implication confess that they were 
 treated legally. 
 
 But ^ the five signers still owned considerable property 
 Judge Kinney ruled that, as in a sort of community, they 
 could bind all the rest, as their representatives. When 
 the April term (18G3) came on, twenty oi' them were out 
 of the territory, and one was dead, but most of the rest 
 appeared. Kinne}'' said tliat " their absence made no dif- 
 ference ; he was glad to see that so many had appeared ;" 
 and proceeded to enter a fine of one hundred dollars each 
 against the present, dead ana absent. In addition, several 
 leaders were put on trial, and sentenced to the penitenti- 
 ary for from five to fifteen years each. 
 
 In June, 18G2, Kinney was the only United States 
 Judge in Utah, and the compliant tool of the Brighamites. 
 But Governor Hardinjj and Judores Waite and Drake had 
 arrived in time to hear the trial of the Morrisites, and 
 were convinced that great injustice had been done them, 
 or even if they were guilty of resistance to legal process, 
 the law had been strained to infiict a cruel and unusual 
 punishment. It was known, too, as it is now, that sen- 
 tence to a long imprisonment in Utah, simply means DEATH, 
 if the keepers in charge are so instructed. Petitions began 
 to circulate for their pardon, signed by Gentiles and some 
 of the Mormons who relented at such severity. Quite an 
 excitement was created by these attempts, and Governor 
 Harding was warned by the more violent Brighamites not 
 to interfere with the sentence of law. Bishop WooUey 
 called upon the Governor with an earnest remonstrance 
 against the proposed pardon, adding in conclusion, " Gov- 
 ernor, it stands you in hand to be careful. Our people 
 are much excited ; they feel it would be an outrage to 
 pardon these men, and if it is done they might proceed to 
 violence," etc., etc. 
 
 To this truly Mormon attempt at intimidation the Gov- 
 ernor responded with his usual firmness. While the peti- 
 tion, with names attached, was still in his possession, not 
 acted upon, the Governor was aroused from sleep one 
 
324 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 night, between midnight and morning, by a furious knock- 
 ing at the door ; it was opened by his son, Attila, who 
 acted as his private secretary, and there presented himself 
 a stranger of rough aspect, who demanded peremptorily to 
 " see the Gov'n'r." No representations of the unseasona- 
 bleness of the hour appeared to move him ; he insisted 
 that his business was too important fox delay ; he had 
 ridden thirty miles over bad roads, could not arrive sooner 
 and must return at once. With precautions against sur- 
 prise they admitted him to the Governor's room, and he 
 at once began : *' I understand that yoa have a petition 
 for the pardon of some of the Morrisites — that you won't 
 act on it because you don't think there are enough o' Mor- 
 mon names on it—or Mormons that are well known. An 
 you say some Mormons want to sign it, want 'em pardon- 
 ed, but are afeard to sign. Gi' me that paper an' 111 show 
 you one Mormon that's not afeard to sign — an' one that's 
 purty well known, too. An' I've rid thirty miles this 
 night on purpose to sign it." The petition was procured 
 and handed to him, and after a rapid survey of the names, 
 he seized the pen and in broad, sprawling Roman capitals, 
 extending entirely across the sheet, inscribed the well 
 known name, 
 
 BILL HICKMAN. ( 
 
 It was indeed the redoubtable " Danite " captain. 
 
 " There," said he, holding it off at arm's length, " there 
 is a Mormon name they all know, an' they can read it 
 without specks. Talk o' bein' afeard o' Brigham Young ! 
 I tell you Brigham Young is a good deal more afeard o' 
 Bill Hickman than Bill Hickman is afeard o' Brigham 
 Young." Thus speaking he departed as unceremoniously 
 as he came, nor did any further explanation 'of this singu- 
 lar affair ever reach the Governor. After a short impris- 
 onment, the Morrisites were pardoned ; no violence was 
 attempted or threatened against Governor Harding, but 
 another singular occurrence took place soon after. 
 
 One beautiful evening, while the bright sun of Utah 
 was sinking behind the Lake island hills, into a " sea of 
 glass, mingled with fire," tipping, with a golden glory, 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONISM. 325 
 
 the gray peaks of the Wasatch, two women might have 
 been seen descending the hill from the Morrisite settle- 
 ment near Camp Douglas, and seeking the residence of 
 the Governor. The elder was a brawny and sunburned 
 Danish woman, of most coarse and common clay, who 
 assisted tlie other's steps till they stood before the Gover- 
 nor. The younger woman was of a frail and delicate 
 aspect, that indicated either long sickness and privation, 
 or a nervous organization worn to exhaustion by excite- 
 ment ; her dark, sunken eyes glowed with a strange, un- 
 earthly fire, and the blue veins of her forehead stood out 
 from a skin of marble whiteness, while her long, delicate 
 fingers clasped and entwined with intense earnestness as 
 she told her mission. It was the widow of Banks, the 
 murdered Morrisite. She had, according to her faith, 
 been in communion with the soul of her husband, and 
 thence received knowledge of a plot against the Gover- 
 nor, not to take his life, but to place him in the same 
 category with Steptoe and Dawson. She related all the 
 particulars of the proposed attempt, with that convulsive 
 trembling, that dilation and upward roll of the eye, and 
 that unearthly hollow tone, so familiar to those who have 
 investigated the phenomena of mesmerism and psych- 
 ology, in their purely physical effects upon the nervous 
 female. " Oh, Governor, Governor," she exclaimed, her 
 thin, siyirituelle form quivering with intense feeling, 
 " friend and saviour of our people ! Beware, beware. 
 The spirit of the Lord and his martyred prophet is upon 
 me, to warn you of this danger. It will come to you in 
 the form of a beautiful woman ; but be guarded, and if, 
 within a fortnight, you are introduced to a fair woman, 
 who presents a gi'eat temptation to you, think of this 
 warning, and do not yield." The Governor, being gallant 
 as Avell as brave, was taken somewhat aback by the fact 
 that the seer had so well anticipated the temptation best 
 calculated to overcome him ; but the rest of the story is 
 best related in his own words : 
 
 " Well, I wondered how the woman got her informa- 
 tion, but, as the boys say, I 'wa'n't afeard,' I rather 
 liked the idea. A few days after, the ' temptation ' came. 
 
326 ' LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 I was called from my room to receive some company in 
 the parlor, and was there introduced to tivo ladies, whose 
 beauty exceeded anything I had seen in Salt Lake. They 
 remained to tea with my landlady, after which we had a 
 delightful evening. The youngest and most beautiful 
 (I withhold the name given by the Governor) made her- 
 self particularly agreeable to me, and was my partner in 
 several games at cards. When the time for starting came, 
 it was pretty plainly intimated, by my landlady, that I 
 was to see the lady home. 
 
 " But this was not my programme. As she stood pul- 
 ling at her gloves, evidently waiting for me to ' make a 
 break,' I stepped forward, shook hands with her, and 
 merely said, ' Ladies, I should be pleased to act the com- 
 plimentary, but I understand it is not the custom among 
 your people for Gentiles to escort the women of the Saints. 
 So I bid you good evening.' I then retired to my room. 
 I afterwards learned, beyond doubt, that this was the 
 beginning of a scheme which, if carried out, would have 
 seriously compromised me." Whether the Governor's 
 virtue or his astuteness enabled him to escape the evil, 
 the writer will not pretend to say; but it is rather cu- 
 rious how the Morrisite woman received her first impres- 
 sions of such a plot, for we cannot doubt that it was a 
 previous mental impression acting upon her peculiar tem- 
 perament which Jed to her dream or " vision," whichever 
 it was. 
 
 Meanwhile, the bonds of the absent Morrisites were 
 declared forfeited by Judge Kinney, and execution issued 
 against the property of those still in Utah, who had any, 
 to collect the penalty. Abraham Taylor, a prominent 
 Morrisite, had his property in the City, worth $3,000, 
 levied upon and announced for sale. He applied to Judge 
 Waite, who found, on examination, that the records of 
 the court showed no judgment against the delinquents, 
 which fact he represented to Judge Kinney, and applied 
 for an injunction against the officer. The application 
 was refused by Judge Kinney, who stated that, " if there 
 was no judgment, he could render one, as the Court had 
 not permanently adjourned, but only to meet again on 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 327 
 
 his own motion." Taylor's homestead was put up at 
 once, and sold to one Joseph A Johnson, Clerk of Judge 
 Kinney's Court, for $200, and the family literally forced 
 into the street. They remained a few days in the street, 
 in front of the house, then took refuge at Camp Douglas. 
 
 After General Connor arrived with two regiments of 
 California volunteers, and established Camp Douglas, the 
 Morrisites gathered there ; and, in May, 181)3, the General 
 sent eighty families of them, including over 200 persons, 
 to Soda Springs, Idaho, where they now have a flourish- 
 ing settlement. Abraham Taylor, one of their leaders, 
 remained at Camp Douglas, and, in 18GG, by Major Chas. 
 H. Hempstead, his attorney, filed a bill in the United 
 States District Court, Judge Titus presiding, praying for 
 restitution of his propej.ty ; and, after two years of delay 
 and chicanery by the Mormon lawyers, and some of the 
 hardest swearing that ever " reeked to heaven," at the 
 October term, 18G8, a decree was made in his favor bv 
 Judge Wilson, giving him possession of his old homestead, 
 with rents for live years. The popular Mormon idea of 
 justice may be seen from the fact, that three-fourths of 
 the people looked upon this decree as a gross outi'age on 
 a Utah citizen by a United States Judge, and a severe 
 act of " persecution." 
 
 Taken all in all, the Morrisites deserved a bettei' fate. 
 True, their religion was a wild compound of materialism^ 
 spiritism,' diabolism and deism run mad, but their code 
 was far better than that of the Brighamites. 
 
 Another prophet named Davis arose among them in 
 Idaho, but, before his Church was v/ell established, he 
 had a revelation that all the rest were to deed their pro- 
 perty to him as trustee, and practise communism, which 
 soon weakened his prophetic hold. Not long after, they 
 got some sort of revelation that a little child among them 
 was to be their future Christ, and kept the child " set 
 apart," and dressed in white, for some time ; but lately 
 their organization has broken up, and many of them re- 
 moved to Nevada. 
 
 The most successful of all the recusant and anti-poly- 
 gamous sects, is that under the leadership of young Joseph 
 
328 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Smith, self-styled the " Re-organized Church of Latter- 
 Day Saints," but generally known as " Josephites." It 
 %vill be remembered that Joseph Smith, the Prophet, ob- 
 tained gratis, from Dr. Galland, most of the land upon 
 which Nauvoo was built. After the revelation for his 
 people to gather there, he sold them the lots at high prices, 
 and realized an immense fortune, reported as liigh as one 
 million dollars by the best informed. With this he paid 
 all his old debts in Ohio, lived in considerable style, sup- 
 ported a dozen women, and still left a considerable fortune, 
 mostly in houses and lots, in Nauvoo. Spiritual wives 
 having no legal rights in Illinois as in Utah, all this pro- 
 perty was held by his widow Emma, who refused to 
 emigrate, and remained with her three sons, Joseph, Jr., 
 William Alexander, and David Hyrum, in Nauvoo. The 
 oldest and youngest had been in turn blessed and dedi- 
 cated to the leadership by their father, the latter before 
 his birth ; and when the Strangites organization had dis- 
 solved, Strang's successor went " hunting for Zion " in 
 Northern Iowa, where he met the remnants of the Cut- 
 lerites, and, together, they decided that " Young Joe was 
 the man," formed a church and made overtures to him 
 accordingly. He responded that he had received no 
 " call," but expected one ; the Church rapidly augmented 
 from the debris of the scattered sects, and, finally, in 
 18C0, Young Smith was " called as a Prophet," and the 
 " Re-organized Church " was set up, with head-quarters 
 at Piano, Illinois. They number twenty or thirty thou- 
 sand in the West, and have flourishing missions in Great 
 Britain and Scandinavia. In July, 1863, E. C. Briggs 
 and Alex. McCord, their first missionaries to Utah, reached 
 Salt Lake, and created quite a sensation ; Brigham inti- 
 mated to them that their lives were in danger, and re- 
 fused them the use of any public building in the city. But 
 General Connor was then in command at Camp Douglas, 
 with a small provost guard in the city, and the Brighamites 
 dared not try violence; Briggs visited the people at their 
 homes, and preached wherever Gentiles would open their 
 houses to him, and soon had many converts. Nearly two 
 hundred of these left the Territory in 1864, under a mill- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 329 
 
 tary escort, furnished by General Connor, and, since that 
 time, many more have left Utah, and their missions there 
 include over five hundred members. 
 
 But all the excitement connected with Brioffjs' visit 
 was as nothing to that of last summer, when it was an- 
 nounced that William Alexander and David Hyrum, 
 " sons of the Prophet and Martyr," had reached Salt Lake 
 to advocate the reformed faith. They obtained Indepen- 
 dence Hall, tlie only public building belonging to tlie 
 Gentiles, for their meetings ; and, on their first service, it 
 was crowded by the Mormons, among them most of the 
 widows of Heber C. Kimball, and the wives of Brigham 
 Young. Unabh to dispute the revelation in favor of 
 David, the Brighamites maintain that he " is now in 
 apostacy, and when he embraces the true faith and comes 
 in the right way, they will receive him." This they con- 
 fidently believe he will yet do. Tlie evident absurdity 
 of dictating to a foreordained Prophet, in just what way 
 he shall come, does not seem to affect their views. The 
 Brighamites were startled clear out of their propriety,, 
 abandoned their silent policy, and organized a series of 
 meetings in opposition to the " Smith boys." But Brig- 
 ham was entirely too shrewd to take the lead, and put 
 forward Apostle Joseph F. Smith, son of " Hyrum the 
 Martyr," to manage the opposition meetings. The writer 
 attended most of the meetings, and fully realized the force 
 of the maxim in regard to gleaning the truth from the 
 disagreement of rogues. Tlie controversy was one of 
 that peculiar kind where both parties " know they are 
 right," and can prove all they wish by abundant testi- 
 mony. 
 
 The Brighamites can prove, beyond a doubt, that Joseph 
 Smith practised polygamy, while the Josephites can prove, 
 by equal personal and documentary evidence, that he 
 denied and reprobated the doctrine till the last day of his 
 life. Sixteen women, swore most i)ositively, and allowed 
 their affidavits to be published in the Expositor, at Nau- 
 voo, that Joe Smith made proposals to them to become 
 his concubines ; twelve women, now in Salt Lake City, 
 make affidavit that they were the spiritual wives of 
 V 
 
330 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Smith at Nauvoo ; Jose[)h F., son of Hynim Smith, testi- 
 fies that he knew certainly of his father having more 
 than one wife, and hundreds of old Mormons testify that 
 Joe and Hyrum taught them the doctrine, and sealed 
 them to extra wives. 
 
 The proof on the other side is equally clear, as already 
 detailed,* making the question one which can never be 
 settled by evidence, which means eternal controversy. A 
 Gentile would find an easy way out of th ; dilemma, by 
 considering Joe Smith a lying impostor; but that would 
 never do for these sects, each of which claims to be his 
 only true Church. The Brighamites, however, flatly 
 acknowledge that all these denials were made ; freely 
 admit that their Prophet often found it necessary to lie 
 to save his life, and generally state that their " religion 
 occasionally makes it necessary for the priesthood to lie," 
 all of which their history abundantly proves to be the 
 case. But the " Smith boys " accomplished little in Utah. 
 They were not the men to organize a revolution ; they 
 were in no respect shrewd enough to contend with the 
 leading Brighamites, nor half crazy and violent enough 
 to excite the people ; they were, in fact, hopelessly me- 
 diocre. Their position was weak and untenable; their 
 claims for tlieir father easily disproved, and their propo- 
 sitions inherently absurd. The writer, from personal 
 acquaintance with William and David, is disposed to es- 
 teem them highly as citizens, and respect them as honest 
 in their aims ; but would respectfully ask : If you " purify 
 the Church," if you blot out polygamy, incest, blood- 
 atonement, " Adam-worship," and " Danites," what will 
 you have left ? How much Mormonism will there be in 
 your Church ? 
 
 The " Re-organized Church " has a number of period- 
 icals, and a lengthy " Confession of Faith," from which 
 I extract those tenets distinguishing them from the Brig- 
 hamites : 
 
 "We believe in being subject to kings, queens, presi- 
 dents, rulers, and magistrates ; in obeying and honoring 
 the law. ,_..., _.._ ;_ ,. 
 
 *See Chapter XIV. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM, 331 
 
 "We believe that the Church in Utah, under the pre- 
 dency of Brigham Young, have apostatized from the true 
 order of the Gospel. 
 
 "We believj that the doctrines of polygamy, human 
 sacrifice, or killing men to save them, Adam being God, 
 Utah being Zion, or the gathering place for the Saints, 
 are doctrines of devils, instituted by wicked men, for the 
 accomplishment of their own lustful desires, and with a 
 view to their personal aggrandizement. 
 
 " We believe in being true and loyal to the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, and have no sympathy or 
 fellowship for the treasonable practices or wicked abomi- 
 nations endorsed by Brigham Young and his followers." 
 
 Young Joe has had but two revelations, both very 
 mild, and seems to be slow in the business of Prophet. 
 But whoever leads off the ignorant of Utah must out- 
 brigham Brigham, must go to gi^eater lengths of fanati- 
 cism, and have copious revelations daily. This accounts 
 in part for Morris' success ; he was as crazy as any of his 
 followers. 
 
 The last revolt against the power of Brigham is headed 
 by several prominent men in Salt Lake City, among them 
 Wm. S. Godbe, Henry Lawrence, W. H. Shearman, and 
 Tullidge. This sect has been long in growing, con- 
 sisting of those who supported the Utah Magazine as 
 the organ of independent thought ; but it was not till 
 last autumn that the leaders boldly announced the policy 
 of opposition to the excessive temporal government of 
 the priesthood. The First Presidency promptly con- 
 demned the Utah Magazine, and Brigham issued a general 
 order forbidding all true Saints to patronize or read it. 
 The Editor and proprietors were cited before the High 
 Council, and, refusing to recant and ask pardon, were 
 summarily " cut off." A few who voted against this ex- 
 cision were called upon to explain their votes, and, fail- 
 ing to do so, were also " cut off." The schism increased, 
 the new party contained some wealthy and influential 
 men, and in a short time they had established a new 
 weekly paper, the Mormon Tribune, to promulgate their 
 views. They call their new organization the " Church of 
 
332 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES » 
 
 Zion," and, at last accounts, numbered nearly five thou- 
 sand in the Territory. Their i)latform lays down the 
 principles, that the Piiesthood are only teachers, and have 
 no right to control the peo[)le in all their social and busi- 
 ness relations ; that the mines should be developed, and 
 trade free and unrestricted with all classes ; that tithing 
 should consist of a tenth of all one's increase, and not a 
 tenth of his yearly proceeds, and many other liberal jnin- 
 ciples. This is, so far, the most sensible and promising 
 set of principles from any of the recusant sects. They 
 . still claim to be good Mormons, maintain polygamy, and 
 .every man's right to revelation. Many of the leaders 
 are spiritualists ; most are evidently honest in their views, 
 and it is to be hoped they are sufficiently crazy to outdo 
 Brigham in fanaticism, and csirry the matter through. 
 .The present year will probably witness strange changes 
 •. at Salt Lake. Granted that Mormonism is to work out 
 its own destiny, without governmental interference, the 
 question at once ai-ises : After Brigham, what ? Who 
 will be his successor ? There is rio one in the Church 
 who can entirely fill his place, and five or six probable 
 aspirants, of whom one is about as well fitted as another. 
 According to precedent, in the case of Brigham himself, 
 Orson Hyde, President of the Twelve Apostles, would 
 succeed ; but he is a blundering and impulsive scamp, 
 mean enough for the place, but lacking in discretion. He 
 is, besides, rather old, and has apostatized once. Daniel 
 H. Wells is next in rank, but his bloodthirsty fanaticism 
 •would involve the people in war in a short time. Orson 
 Pratt is the most learned of the Apostles, but is a dream- 
 ing astronomer, quite impractical. George A. Smith is 
 an easy going, good-natured sensualist ; unscrujjulous 
 enough for the place, perhaps, but without executive 
 ability. Should Brigham die at an early day, the strong 
 probability is that the Church would divide into at least 
 three bodies. Many of the English and Americans would 
 follow David Hyrum Smith ; the most enlightened and 
 liberal would enter the " Church of Zion," and the ignorant 
 mass would follow the lead of the Twelve Apostles as be- 
 fore, eventually coming under the rule of one. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON ISM. 
 
 833 
 
 ^ Having brought down our history to near the present 
 time, let us take a brief view of the material interests 
 and resources of Utah. The notes in the two succeeding 
 chapters are the result of a year's travel and residence in 
 Utah, aided by a ^tudy of the best authorities, to which 
 due credit is given in parsing. 
 
 f» 
 
 • *; 
 
334 LIFE IN UTA.H ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 CHAPTER XVTII. 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 
 
 Territorial limits — '' Basins " — " Sinks" — " Flats" — Rain and evapora- 
 tion — Elemental action and reaction — Potamology — Jordan — Kay's 
 Creek— Weber — Bear River — Cache Valley — Timber — Blue Creek — 
 Promontory — Great Desert — Utah Lake —Spanish Fork — Salt Creek — 
 Tin.panogos — Sevier River — Colorado System — Fish — Thermal and 
 ChemicuJ Springs— Healing Waters — Hotwater plants — Analysis by 
 Dr G-ile — Mineral Springs — Salt beds — Alkali flats — Native Salts— 
 Great Salt Lake — First accounts — Fremont— Stansbury — Amount 
 of salt — Valleys— Rise of the Lake — Islands — Bear Lake — " Ginasti- 
 cutis " — Utah Lake — Climate — Increase of rain — Singular pheno- 
 mena — Fine air — Relief for pulmonary complaints. 
 
 Utah is included between the 37th and 42nd parallels of 
 North latitude, and meridians 109 and 114 west from 
 Greenwich ; deducting, however, from the north-east 
 corner a section of one degree of latitude by two of longi- 
 tude, lately attached to Wyoming. Its greatest length is 
 thus, from north to south, five full degrees, and its width 
 from east to west, five of the shorter meridianal degrees ; 
 the whole area divided nearly equally between two geo- 
 graphical sections, viz : the valley and drainage of the 
 Colorado and its affluents, the Green and Grand rivers, 
 and the district known as the Great or Interior Basin. 
 This remarkable section, containing the western half of 
 Utah, all of Nevada, and a part of southeastern California, 
 includes all that portion of the continent extending north 
 and south between the parallels 37 and 42, and from east 
 to west from near the meridian 111, Greenwich, to the 
 Sierra Nevadas, which tend northwesterly from the meri- 
 dian of IIG, to that of 121 : an irregular parallelogram 
 four hundred miles in extent, from north to south, and five 
 hundred miles from east to west. The term " basin," is 
 only applicable to the whole tract, in view of the fact, 
 that its waters have no outlet to the ocean, for the general 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 335 
 
 level of the lower tracts is as high as average mountain 
 ranges, and the so-called valleys are little more than moun- 
 tain flats ; the entire section is thus composed of a succes- 
 sion of heights, basins, and mountain plateaus. A " suc- 
 cession of basins," because many of the traverse ranges 
 are of on equal height with those on the borders ; dotted 
 also in the most level portions with detached hills and 
 knobs, relieved at rare intervals by fertile vales, spotted 
 again by vast deserts of sand and alkali or brackish lakes — 
 
 a region 
 
 " Now of frozen, now of fiery alps, 
 Rocks, fens, bogs, dens and shades of death." 
 
 Wherever the mountains are high enoufdi to furnish 
 melting snow throughout the summer, large streams flow 
 down their sides, and fertile tracts are found along their 
 base, caused by the percolation of moisture from above ; 
 but in general at any great distance from the foot of the 
 mountains W3 find barrenness, and throughout the Great 
 Basin a large tract without mountains is invariably a 
 desert. Most of the mountain streams sink before con- 
 necting with any other body of water, in many places 
 among the foot-hills before reaching the plain ; others 
 spread out and supply natural irrigation to a mile or two 
 of land, producing broad savannas of coarse, rank gi'ass, 
 little oases quite attractive in themselves and delightful 
 in comparison with the sterility beyond, ^'ong the foot 
 of some ranges the traveller, every mile or so,'crosses a con- 
 siderable stream, rushing clear and strong from the moun- 
 tain hollows, but two or three miles down the plain not a 
 channel or trace of water is to be found, the thirsty soil, 
 warm sun, and drying air, having exhausted the scant 
 liquid ; and it is only in very wet seasons that any of 
 these streams form lakes. In other localities a move plen- 
 tiful sup]:)ly and the cool shadow of long ranges give rise 
 to streams of sufficient size to be called rivers, of which 
 the best known in Utah are the Jordan, Bear Biver, Se- 
 vier, Ogden and Weber ; and bordering these larger streams 
 are valleys of great fertility, comprising the agricultural 
 wealth of the Territory. Many of the smaller streams 
 
336 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 form long, shallow lagoons or marshes near the centres or 
 at the points of lowest depression in the basins, generally 
 called " sinks," in which term is embodied an empirical 
 explanation of the disappearance of the water, by those 
 ignorant of the ftict, that in nature's laboratory action and 
 reaction are equal, and that the fall of rain and snow in 
 an enclosed basin must be exactly counterbalanced by 
 evaporation. In most cases the water supply is so scant 
 that these "sinks " become entirely dry in summer, and are 
 then known as " mud flats," of which, the most extensive 
 are in Western Nevada. A smaller number contain some 
 water all the year, of which a few rise to the dignity of 
 lakes. With no outlets, and receiving all the chemical 
 material brought down by the wash of their " feeders," 
 they are of necessity ei^ her very saline in character, or 
 brackish and impregnated with iron. 
 
 Throughout the Great Basin certain general features 
 are observable ; the mountain ranges mostly run north and 
 south, and the longer valleys lie in the same direction. 
 But in this particular man has not been able to accom- 
 modate himself to nature, and the course of civilization as 
 well as empire has made it necessar}^ for the roads to run 
 east and west. One may go fi-om Montana to Arizona, 
 and travel in valleys nearly all the way, seldom crossing 
 anything more than a low " divide," but from east to west 
 each range must be crossed at certain points, for which 
 cause the old road south of the Lake was a perfect zig-zag, 
 selecting the most feasible valleys, avoiding the mountains 
 wherever possible, or " canyoning " u\) on one side and 
 down the other, diverging grefat distances from the direct 
 line, and running to almost every point of the compass. 
 
 The " rim of the Basin " is uncontinuous, formed by 
 various ranges. On the north are the broken chains of the 
 Oregon sj^stem, from 8,000 to 10,000 feet high, sending 
 out many spurs and traverse ridges. On the western 
 border the Sierra Nevadas average 10,000 feet, and some 
 peaks tower far above that altitude. On the south are 
 the lower sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains, mere 
 " divides," separating the waters of the Basin from those 
 of the Colorado ; and on the east is the main Uintah range 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 337 
 
 known by various names, with several portions rising to 
 9,000 or 10,000 feet. Thus the surface configuration of 
 Utah is a great depression in a mountain land, a trough, 
 so to speak, elevated 4,000 or 5,000 feet above sea level ; 
 
 ' subtended on all sides by mountain ranges 8,000 to 10,0C0 
 feet h'gh, and subdivided by transverse ranges ; in the 
 geologic age, a sweet water inland sea, in aboriginal times, 
 the home of the most abject savages — long a region of mis- 
 conception and fable — then the chosen home of a strange 
 religion, and but yesterday found to be of use and inter- 
 est to the civilized world. Leaving the mountain ranges 
 
 ' which bound the great basin, there is a general breaking 
 down, so to speak, towards the interior ; most of the trans- 
 verse ranges run north and south, terminating in bold 
 headlands towards the south, though none are of sufficient 
 length and continuous height to constitute a well defined 
 system. Few of these ridges present regular slopes, but 
 are formed of acute and angular cappings, superimposed 
 upon flatter prisons ; and frequently after ascending two- 
 thirds from the base, the upper part becomes wall-like and 
 insurmountable. Of these interior peaks, or terminal head- 
 lands, the most noted are the Twin Peaks, south-east of 
 Salt Lake City, ascertained by Orson Pratt and Albert 
 Carrington to be 11,600 feet in height ; Mount Nebo, 8,000 
 feet ; the Wasatch spur, near Salt Lake City, averaging 
 6,000 feet, and the Oquirrh range, which terminates in a 
 bold headland at the south end of the Lake, locally known 
 as the West Mountain, lying twenty miles west of Salt 
 Lake City. 
 
 The Salt Lake Basin, including many adjacent and con- 
 necting valleys, was evidently an inland sea, as shown by 
 the " bench formation," a system of water-marks along the 
 mountains, points of successive subsidence of the waters; 
 while many of the detached mountain peaks were as 
 evidently islands, similar to those now rising above the 
 surface of the Lake. According to some, the dry land was 
 formed by successive upheavals ; according to others, by 
 ages of evaporation. If the latter theory be correct, it 
 must have been through a "dry cycle" of many thousand 
 years, and if, as many suppose, the " dry cycle " has ended 
 
338 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 and the rain zones are changing so as to again include this 
 section, we may look for a still greater rise in the Lake 
 surface than that of the last dozen years. 
 
 The river system of Utah is curious, but unimportant 
 as to navigation. The noted Jordan, an exact counterpart 
 of its Eastern namesake, has its origin in Utah Lake, and 
 by a course of fifty miles, a little west of north, discharges 
 the surplus waters of that body into Great Salt Lake. It 
 is quite evident, however, from mere inspection, that a much 
 greater quantity of water is poured into Utah Lake from 
 its many mountain affluents than flows out through the 
 Jordan ; a small portion may escape by percolation, but 
 at that elevation and in that drying air more is accounted 
 for by evaporation. This stream has an average width of 
 eight or ten rods ; through the upper part of its course 
 and in Jordan Canon it is swift and shallow, in the lower 
 valley and near the City more sluggish, with a depth 'of 
 ten feet or more. 
 
 Passing around the Lake eastwardly, the next stream 
 of any note is Kay's Creek, furnishing plentiful irrigation 
 to the farms of Kay's Ward, besides which, there are 
 numerous streams of smaller size which break out of the 
 Wasatch range, are diverted into irrigating canals, and by 
 a thousand rills through the farms find their way to the 
 marshy lands near the Lake. 
 
 The main stream from the east is the Weber, which has 
 its rise some sixty miles east of Salt Lake City, in the 
 highest valley of Summit County ; thence, flowing to the 
 north, is .swelled by the waters of East Branch, Silver, 
 White, Clay and Echo Creeks, then turning northwest 
 breaks through the Wasatch range, gives form and name 
 to Weber Canon, enters the valley thirty-three miles north 
 of Salt Lake C'ty, and forming a large U, with the bend 
 sharply to the north, enters the Lake. Bear River rises 
 in the same county, and but a little east and north of the 
 Weber, and running nearly two hundred miles down a 
 northern slope, between two spurs of the Uintah Moun- 
 tains, forms a great U in Idaho, then turning southwest, 
 " canyons" through another spur of the Uintah, into Cache 
 Valley, the north-eastern section of the Territory and 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 831> 
 
 home of 10,000 Mormons ; then " canyons" downward 
 three miles, with a fall of 1000 feet, out of Cache into 
 Bear River Valley, through which it runs to the head of 
 Bear River Bay, the last twenty miles of its course the 
 only navigable river in Utah. 
 
 From tlie mouth of Bear River Caiion to the head of 
 the Bay, is about thirty-five miles in a direct line, the 
 valley maintaining an average width of fifteen miles 
 down to Corinne, where it widens imperceptibly into Salt 
 Lake Valley. 
 
 Bear River runs through the finest lumber region in 
 Utah, of which it is the natural outlet, and many thous- 
 and logs have been already sent down to Corinne, where a 
 saw-mill and sash factory are now in operation. 
 
 The Malad joins Bear River a few miles above Corinne, 
 between which place and the promontory there arc a few 
 springs breaking out of the mountains, constituting but 
 one stream large enough to have a name. Blue Cre^k. 
 West of the promontory a few springs run together in 
 the midst of a horrible desert and form Indian Creek, 
 w^hich sometimes reaches the lake in wet seasons. Thence, 
 around the head of the lake and down the entire western 
 shore, for one hundred miles, there is no stream large en- 
 ough to have a name, and but one furnishing running 
 water in all seasons. 
 
 On the south-west a small creek from Tooelle valley 
 reaches the lake, completing the list of affluents to that 
 body. Next in importance are the feeders of Utah Lake, 
 of which the principal are. Salt Creek from the south, 
 Spanish Fork from the east, and Timpanogas from the 
 north-east, which, with the addition of several smaller 
 streams, furnish at least twice as much water to that 
 " gem of the desert," as the Jordan carries off*. Tlie only 
 other stream of any importance is the Sevier River, which 
 rises near the southern boundary of Utah, in Fish Lake, 
 runs a hundred and fifty miles to the north, then bends to 
 the west around the point of L*on Mountain, receiving the 
 small supplies of Salt Creek, San Pete, Chicken Creek, 
 and Meadow Creek, then taking a south-west course, is lost 
 in the " big sink" of Sevier Lake Desert. V^''ost of the 
 
340 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Iron Mountain range are a score of "sinking creeks,"^ 
 among them Pioneer, Chalk, Cove and Corn Creeks, which 
 are fed by the melting snows of the mountains, furnish 
 scant irrigation to a small strip of land, and are "lost" in 
 the .Great Desert of south-western Utah. 
 
 Below the " divide," the only sti'eams of note are the 
 Rio Virgen and its affluents, which belong to the Colo- 
 rado system. Most of the larger streams abound in fish, 
 among which mountain trout are particularly worthy of 
 note ; their waters, on issuing from hills, are of great clear- 
 ness and purity, and it is only where small streams have 
 run some distance across the plain that they are, in local 
 phrase, " alkalied." 
 
 The rivers depend for their existence upon the moun- 
 tains, and without tliose gorges, which supply melted 
 snow during spring and summer, there would be no run- 
 ning water. 
 
 Kext to the " sinking " rivers of Utah, the thermal and 
 chemical springs constitute a remarkable feature. They 
 are found in almost every part of the Territory, but prin- 
 cipally along the road from Salt l^iake City northward. 
 All along the foothills of the Promontory range, in the 
 mountains south-west of Utah Lake, and between the city 
 and Bear River, are fountains of strong bpne, discharging 
 in many instances large volumes of water ; there are sul- 
 phurous pools at the southern extremity of Salt Lake 
 Valley ; in one of the Islands in the lake are springs of 
 every character, and in places along the Wasatch, hot, 
 cold and chalybeate, are found side by side. 
 
 First in fame, and probably in medical value, are the 
 Warm Springs in Salt Lake City. Issuing in large vol- 
 ume from the mountain side, the water is conveyed in 
 pipes to a regular bathing house on one side, and to a 
 plunge pool on the other, constituting, in my opinion, the 
 most praiseworthy of Mormon institutions. 
 
 The following analysis is by Dr. Gale, assistant of Cap- 
 tain Stanbury, in 1850. One hundred parts of the water, 
 whose specific gravity was 7.0112, gave solid contents of 
 1.0(j8,08»7, divided as follows : 
 
AND GRIMES OF MORMONISM. 341 
 
 Sulpluirettcd hydrogen 0.038,182 
 
 Carbonate of lime 6.075,000 
 
 " magnesia 0.022,770 
 
 Chloride of calcium 0.005,700 
 
 Snlphate of soda 0.004,000 
 
 Chloride of sodium 0.801,600 
 
 1,068,087 
 
 The usual temperature is 102.° 
 
 Three miles north of the city the Hot Springs boil out 
 from a rock at the foot of the mountain, forming a hot 
 pool two or three rods in circumference) whence the branch 
 runs westward and forms the Hot Spring Lake, a body of 
 sulphurous water some two miles long, and about half as 
 wide, having an outlet into the Jordan. At several places 
 around the margin o^ this singular lake, small jets of hot 
 water boil up with great force ; the air in the neighbor- 
 hood is loaded with vapors, and immediately over the 
 spring is almost stifling. Gazing into the small pool, 
 formed by tlie spring, the eye is charmed by the variety 
 of fanciful growths, the confervae on the rocky bottom. 
 Every conceivable form of vegetation is to be seen ; 
 leaves, plants, flowers and fernlike stems, all of the purest 
 emerald. But all are deceptions, mere imitations of plants 
 formed by the chemical material on the points of stone. 
 The temperature of this spring is 128°; its speciflc gravity 
 1.0130, and one hundred parts yield solid contents 1.0G02, 
 divided, according to Dr. Gale, as follows: 
 
 Chloride of sodium 0.8052 
 
 " magnesia 0.0288 
 
 " calcium 0.1096 
 
 Sulphate of lime 0.0806 
 
 Carbonate of lime 0.0180 
 
 Silica 0.0180 
 
 1.0602 
 
 The most noted mineral springs are seventy miles north 
 of Salt Lake City, near the north crossing of Bear River; 
 they are hot and cold, impregnated with iron or with sul- 
 phur, some twenty in number, and all rising within a few 
 feet of each other. Three springs, the first very hot and 
 
342 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE lO'STERIES 
 
 sulphurous, the second moderately warm and tasting of 
 iron, the third of cold, pure water, rising within a space 
 of three feet. The waters, all flowing into the same chan- 
 nel, do not mix at once, but run apparently in separate 
 strata for several hundred yards, the hot metallic water 
 often running under the clear, cold water ; nor is it until 
 the sudden bends in the channel have thrown the streams 
 violently from side to side, that they mingle in a fluid of 
 uniform temperature. South of Salt Lake City, along the 
 Jordan, are found hot pools which send out very little 
 water, and in other places are chalybeate springs, coating 
 the earth and rocks with oxide of iron. There are also 
 chemical springs on one or two of the Islands in the lake. 
 
 The great salt beds of the Basin are in Nevada, but in 
 southern Utah is a peak known as the " Salt Mountain," 
 from which that mineral can be cut in solid blocks, in its 
 pure crystalized state. 
 
 Of the mud flats, impregilated with soda, and the alkali 
 deposits, there is a decided surplus, particularly a man 
 has been unable to devise any use for such a quantity of 
 those chemicals in that shape. It is thought the presence 
 of alkali increases the cold, nor does it seem possible to 
 eradicate it from the soil. A slight admixture is thought 
 to be beneficial to vegetation, but wherever there is en- 
 ough to " flower out " upon the surface, it is death to all 
 vegetation — even the hardy sage brush. Saltpetre is 
 found, though rarely ; sulphur is rather too common ; 
 borax is found in moderate amount ; petroleum has lately 
 been discovered " in paying quantities," and the native 
 alum was analysed and pronounced good by Dr. Gale. 
 From his report a hundred grammes of the freshly crys- 
 talized salt gave : 
 
 Water.. 70.3 
 
 Protoxide of manganese .'. 08.9 
 
 Alumina 04.0 
 
 Sulphuric acid 18.0 
 
 Of the vast chemical wealth of the Territory but little 
 is known, and next to nothing has been utilized, but in a 
 general view the entire Basin seems a vast laboratory of 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 343 
 
 nature, where all the primitive processes have been car- 
 ried out on a scale so extensive as to make man's domin- 
 ion, at first sight, seem forever impossible. 
 
 First in interest among the large bodies of water, is 
 the Great Salt Lake, the " Dead Sea of America," which 
 lies toward the north-west corner of Utah Territory, 4,200 
 feet above sea-level, and twelve miles, at the nearest point 
 from Salt Lake City. It is in the form of an irregular 
 parallelogram, of which the major axis, running N. W. 
 by N., is seventy miles in length, and the minor axis forty 
 miles ; the different projections, however, greatly increase 
 the area, which is laid down by Captain Stansbury at 90 
 by 40 miles, in round numbers. The first mention in 
 history of this wonderful Lake, is bj'- Baron Hontan, 
 French Governor of Newfoundland, who made a voyage 
 west of the Mississippi, in the year 1690, and sailed for 
 six weeks up a river, probably the Missouri, according to 
 his description. Here he found a nation of Indians called 
 the " Gnacsitares," probably one of the now extinct Man- 
 dan tribes. These Indians brought to him four captives 
 of a " nation, far to the west, whom they called Mozeem- 
 leks," of whom the Baron says : 
 
 " The Mozeemlek nation is numerous and puissant. 
 These four captives informed me that at a distance of one 
 hundred and fifty leagues from where I then was, their 
 principal river empties itself into a salt lake of three hun- 
 dred leagues in circumference, the mouth of which is two 
 leagues broad ; that there are a hundred towns, great and 
 small, around that sort of sea, and upon it they navigate 
 with such boats as you see drawn on the map, which map 
 the Mozeemlek people drew me on the bark of trees ; that 
 the people of that country made stufi's, copper axes, and 
 several other manufactures, which the Outagamis and 
 other interpreters could not give me to understand as be- 
 ing altogether unacquainted with such things," etc., 
 etc., etc. 
 
 These captives may have been of theUte nation, or more 
 probably, the serai-civilized races of Mexico had colonies 
 there at that time, as indicated by the ruins found south 
 of the Lake. The next mention of the Lake is in a work 
 
344 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 published in America in 1772, entitled " A do.scri])tion of 
 the Province of Cnrolana, by tlie Spaniards called Florida, 
 and by tlie French , called Louiaiane," in which are recited 
 the native accounts of " a lake many leagues west of the 
 mountains, in which there is no living creature, but 
 around its sliore the spirits inhabit in great va])ors, and 
 out of that lake a great river dlsembor/iu's into the South 
 Sear 
 
 The " spirits" will be readily recognized in the Hot 
 Springs, but it is singular that both accounts should give 
 the Lake an outlet. Not long afterwards the Lake be- 
 came well known to hunters and trapi)ers, and in 1845 
 Colonel Fremont, then on his second ex[)edition, made a 
 sort of 'flying survey, which was scientifically completed 
 in 1849-50, by Captain Howard Stansbury. In geologic 
 ages the lake was doubtless an iidand sea, which lias de- 
 clined to its ])resent limits ; but it is singular that since 
 Stansbury's survey, the lake surface has risen at least 
 twelve feet, of which eight feet were gained in the years 
 1805-GG and '07. The natural result has been to greatly 
 weaken the saline character of the water. Thei'e is a 
 wide-spread misapprehension on this subject, it being 
 customary for Eastern lecturers to state tliat " three gal- 
 lons of the water will make one of salt." The hiijchest 
 estimate, however, that by L^Yemont, only gave twenty- 
 four per cent, of salt, and the water was taken from the 
 north-west corner, the most saline portion of the lake. 
 Dr. Gale lound one hundred parts of the water to con- 
 tain solid contents 22.282, distributed as follows : 
 
 Chloride of sodium (common salt) 20.196 
 
 Sulphate of soda 1.834 
 
 Chloride of magnesium 0.252 
 
 Chloride of calcium a trace 
 
 22.282 
 
 But it is quite evident that an analysis at this time 
 would show much less, probably not more than 18 per 
 cent, of solid matter, perhaps even less in the Eastern 
 part, and not over 12 or 14 per cent, in Bear River Bay, 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 345 
 
 the least saline arm of the Lake. Those engaged in 
 making salt on Spring Bay, certainly the most saline, 
 state that in 18C9 it required six gallons of water to make 
 one of salt. Even with this reduction, it has no superior 
 but the Dead Sea water, of wliicli one hundred parts give 
 solid contents 24.580, while the Atlantic ocean only aver- 
 ages three and a half per cent, of its weight, or about 
 half an ounce to the pound. At the spring floods the 
 Lake often rises several feet, and retiring in the summer, 
 leaves vast deposits of crystalized salt. In places, large 
 bayous could easily be filled during the summer by wind- 
 mills upon the Lake shore, making millions of tons of 
 salt at a trifling outlay. Considering the area of the 
 Lake, 90 by 40 miles, and its average depth ten feet, this 
 would give a little over a thousand billion solid feet of 
 water, or at the rate above mentioned, 4,800,000,000 tons of 
 salt ! Estimating the population of the earth at 1 200 
 millions, this would be enough to supply them all, as well 
 as domestic animals, for a thousand years. All through 
 the slopes northwest of the lake and down the western 
 shore, are a number of springs running pure brine, and 
 east of the Promontory, all the wells dug within five 
 miles of the Lake have yielded salt water at a short 
 depth. 
 
 If any one doubts the statement that the waters of the 
 Lake are taken up by evaporation, and inclines to the 
 hypothesis of an underground outlet, he can easily con- 
 vince himself by dipping a basin of the water and ex- 
 posing it for a few moments to the action of sun .and wind ; 
 the drying air and the direct rays of the sun will evapor- 
 ate it in an incredibly short space of time. 
 
 Very beautiful effects are produced by taking shrubs 
 of dwarf oak or pine, and dashing the salt water over 
 them at intervals of a few minutes, allowing the salt to 
 form on the leaves in thin filmy crystals. The ingenuity 
 of man seems in a fair way to utilise even the immense 
 saline deposits in and near the Lake. The newly discov- 
 ered process of reducing native ore, in which salt is ex- 
 tensively used, bids fair to be generally adopted, and, as 
 there is valuable ore all over Nevada and three-foui'ths of 
 
 w 
 
346 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTEKIES 
 
 Utah, the day may not be distant when we will need all 
 of this useful pre.servative, which is poured out here in 
 such j)rofusion as to seem a waste on the part of nature. 
 Whence comes this salt ? The mountain rains and melt- 
 ing snows carry the washings of the " salt mountains" of 
 southern Utah to Utah Lake, where they are impercepti- 
 ble to the taste, but aL e carried down by the Jordan ; 
 united with the contributions of Bear River and the brine 
 springs of Promontory, they are subjected to the conden- 
 sing process of nature in Great Salt Lake. If there were 
 an underground outlet, a few months' discharge, with the 
 constant reception of fresh water, would make it as fresh 
 as Utah Lake. Standing on the shore of Great Salt Lake, 
 one may observe the whole process of nature in rain for- 
 mation, he may see the mist from the lake rise to a cer- 
 tain height, then form in light fleecy clouds which sail 
 away to the mountains, where they are caught by project- 
 ing peaks and higher currents of air, and forced into den- 
 ser masses, and at times he may observe them pouring 
 upon the heights, the water which will run back and 
 mingle with the mass at his feet, completing thus the 
 cycle of moisture which Solomon remarked in the exactly 
 similar phe lomena of the Dead Sea; " All the rivers run 
 into the sea, yet the sea is not full ; to the place whence 
 they came, thither the waters return." 
 
 The country bordering Great Salt Lake presents almost 
 every possible variety of soil, but little or no change in 
 climate. 
 
 First to the south lies Jordan Valley, which is generally 
 meant when the people speak of Salt Lake Valley, forty 
 miles long by about twelve in breadth ; all the eastern 
 half is valuable for agi-iculture, and most of the western 
 for grazing. Proceeding northward a strip of salt marsh 
 and low pasture land, near the Lake, is bounded on the 
 east by a strip of fertile land from one to five miles wide, 
 back of which are considerable pastures, even some dis- 
 tance up the mountain side. The same is true of Bear 
 River Valley and the eastern slope of the Promontory, 
 the former consisting of a fertile tract from ten to fifteen 
 miles in width ; but crossing Promontory to the west the 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON ISM. 347 
 
 change is sudden, and we find at the north-west corner of 
 the Lake a valley of alkali flats and salt-beds of inde- 
 scribable barrenness. The entire western shore is a perfect 
 desert ; a salt and arid waste of clay and sand, of the 
 consistency of mortar in wet weather and a bed of stifling 
 dust in dry ; not even the sage brush and gretisewood find 
 life in the poisonous soil, and near the Lake thousands of 
 acres lie glistening in the sun, bare white with salt and 
 alkali. Running water is found in but one place, and 
 even the scant springs are separated by journeys of fifty 
 miles. It is comfortable to reflect that a further rise of 
 five feet in the Lake surface would bring it upon this des- 
 ert, with an area of seventy miles square to cover, and 
 requiring at least ten times as much water for a rise of 
 one foot as it did ten years ago. Along the shore the at- 
 mosphere is bluish and hazy, and Captain Stansbury 
 observes that " it is a labor to use telescopes for geodetic 
 purposes, and astronomical observations are very imper- 
 fect." In the body of the Lake are several islands and 
 projecting rocks, designated in the order of their size, as 
 follows : 
 
 1. Antelope, also called Church or Mormon Island, 
 having been appropriated by the corporation or Church 
 of Latter-day Saints, for their stock, a sort of consecrated 
 Q&itle-corral, " for the Lord and Bro. Brigham." 
 
 At the nearest point it is about twenty miles north- 
 west of Salt Lake City ; for many years the channel 
 between it and the eastern shore was fordable, and is still 
 occasionally ; it contains a number of green valleys, and 
 some springs of pure water. 
 
 In the shape of an irregular diamond, with a sharp 
 western projection from the northern point, it is sixteen 
 miles long, with an extreme width of seven miles ; it con- 
 tains many ridges and detached peaks, the highest 3,000 
 feet above the lake, and, consequently, 7,200 above sea- 
 level. Near the north-eastern coast is a rock, called Egg 
 Island, and on the most eastern cliff, " they say " there is 
 a cave, with remarkable blue grottoes, of which " mon- 
 strous stories" have been told. 
 
 2. Stansby Island is the second largest in the Lake, 
 
848 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 lying south-west :f Antelope, near the western shore, 
 with which it is connected, at rare intervals of low water, 
 by a sand-pit. It is about half the size of Antelope Island, 
 and consists of a single ridge, twelve miles in length, and 
 rising three thousand feet above the lake. It is of some 
 use for grazing purposes, and is frequented by ducks, 
 geese, plover, gulls and pelicans. 
 
 ?.. Carrirgton Island, so named from the Mormon engi- 
 neer, Albert Carrington, who assisted Captain Stansbury 
 in his survey, is an irregular circle with a single central 
 peak ; it contains no springs, but abounds in a great va- 
 riety of plants and flowers. It lies a little north-west of 
 Stansbury, and west of the north point of Antelope Island, 
 near the western shore. 
 
 4. Fremont Island lies between Antelope and Promon- 
 tory Point, nearer the last, and just below the point where 
 Bear River Bay opens into the central part of the lake. 
 It is shaped somewhat like a half moon — abounds in 
 plants, particularly the wild onion, but is destitute of 
 wood and water. Colonel Fremont named it Disappoint- 
 ment Island, having been led to believ^, before visiting it, 
 that it abounded in " trees and shrubbery, teeming with 
 game of every description ; " Stansbury gave it its pre- 
 sent name, and it is sometimes locally known as " Castle 
 Island," suggested probably by the turretted formation of 
 its principal peak. 
 
 5. Dolphin Island lies far up towards the north-western 
 corner, a mere rocky knoll. 
 
 G. Hat Island, |south-east of Gunnison, and another 
 small island in the vicinity, are probably part of the same 
 reef The deepest sounding in the Lake, forty feet, is 
 found between Stansbury and Antelope Islands. The lat- 
 ter is also rich in minerals, marble of the finest quality, 
 and roofing slate, being readily obtained in large quanti- 
 ties. Boats could run directly alongside of the quarries 
 and load with the greatest convenience. A considerable 
 boating interest will yet be built up on the Lake, in which 
 these islands will play an important part. On the east- 
 ern shores of the Lake are cultivated farms, populous 
 towns, mines of all valuable metals ; on the island are 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 3i9 
 
 valuable tracts of pasturage, and, at the foot of the sur- 
 rounding mountains, are medicinal springs, hot and cold, 
 sulphur, iron and soda. The summer air of the Lake is 
 light, saline and health-inspiring; the scenery unsurpassed, 
 and abounding in views of memorable beauty. The ro- 
 mance of this Mare Mortwmn has survived the investiga- 
 tions of science, and, from a region of misconception and 
 fable, the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake has become the 
 Switzerland of America. 
 
 Besides the noted " Dead Sea," the Great Basin is well 
 provided with lakes, such as they are, of which those in 
 Utah constitute an irregular chain from north to .south. 
 
 Bear Lake, a mere " tarn " among the mountains, ex- 
 tending from Cache Valley into Idaho, is chiefly notable 
 as the home of the " Bear Lake Monster," a nondescript, 
 with a body half seal, half serpent, and a head somewhat 
 like a sea lion, which has often been seen and described 
 by Indians and Mormons, but never by white Christians, 
 that I have heard of. It has never been pro])erly classi;^ 
 fied or named, as it is invisible when scientific observers 
 are at hand, but, from the description current among 
 the latter-day Philosophers, I judge it to be a relic 
 of that instinct species generally denominated the " Gi- 
 nasticutis." 
 
 The Sweetwater reservoir, LTfcah Lake, is fed by large 
 streams from the western slopes of the Uintah range, its 
 circumference, exclusive of offsets, being estimated at 
 eighty miles. This singular analogue of the Sea of Gali- 
 lee, receives the waters from the southern mountains, 
 containing a few grains of salt to the gallon, and, after 
 furnishing space for considerable evaporation, discharges 
 them, by way of Jordan, into Great Salt Lake. Sevier, 
 Preuss, Nicolet, and Little Salt Lake, in like manner, 
 receive and furnish " sinks " for the waters from the Iron 
 Mountain range, and the southern branch of the Wasatch, 
 none of these lakes communicating with any other, but 
 each dependent on a distinct water system. Only the 
 larger streams form lakes, the smaller are either evaj)or- 
 ated or sink in ponds and puddles of black mire ; the 
 waters in places reappear or pass underground to feed the 
 larger lakes. 
 
350 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 The deserts of Utah consist of alkali flais, barren sand 
 or red earth, resulting, in most instances, merely from the 
 lack of water, for where this can be supplied in sufficient 
 abundance, the alkali is, in no long time, washed away ; 
 and many of the sandy districts, once thought to be irre- 
 claimably barren, have been proved quite fertile by irri- 
 gation. It is quite evident, also, that a change has been 
 going on for many years, reclaiming large tracts in the 
 vicinity of the mountains. Tracts, entirely barren a 
 score of years ago, after receiving the wash of higher 
 lands, present a scant growth of grease-wood, which is 
 succeeded in time by white sage-brush, and that in turn 
 by the ranker growth of blue sage-brush, each step mark- 
 ing an increase of fertility in the soil. Large tracts are 
 found entirely barren of vegetation, others that have ad- 
 vanced to the grease- wood stage, still others to the growth 
 of sage-brush. In many places the transition is evident, 
 and, from the testimony of early explorers, certain tracts 
 have completed the entire circuit of increasing fertility 
 within the memory of man. 
 
 Utah is in the parallel of the Mediterranean, but the 
 elevation renders it more bleak, though not liable to sud- 
 den vicissitudes of temperature ; the changes in any one 
 "winter are quite moderate, but the difference between 
 successive winters is ofter much greater than in any other 
 part of the United States. Cattle have been wintered in 
 Cache Valley, Ogden Hole, and other sections, entirely 
 upon the range, and without shelter ; on the other hand, 
 there have been winters in which all tlie settlements were 
 isolated, when snow fell almost every day, with a high 
 wei?terly wind, sometimes so high that spray was carried 
 from the lake into the city. 
 
 The first two winters the Mormons spent in the valley 
 were unusually mild, cattle living along the streams 
 without feed; the third winter and that of ] 854-55 
 were exceedingly harsh, and the people being unused to 
 make provisions therefor, many hundred cattle perished 
 in the snow. 
 
 Twenty years ago, rain very seldom fell between May 
 and October ; in 18G0 it continued quite showery, even 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 351 
 
 to the first of July, and, at present, some rain may be 
 counted on with certainty every month in the season. 
 The change is attributed, by one class of philosophers, to 
 a gradual change of the rain zones ; by the Mormons, to 
 their prayers and piety, and the favor of Heaven, but is 
 probably due to cultivation and planting. The same phe- 
 nomenon is observed in western Nebraska and Kansas, 
 and in upper Egypt. The Indians say " thq pale face 
 brings his rain with him." The summer, as marlicd by 
 the thermometer, is hot, but the great elevation, the light- 
 
 ^ ness and dryness of the air, the cool winds from the 
 canons, and the complete absence of malaria, render it 
 delightful and wholesome. 
 
 At the north end of the lake they have the sea-breeze, 
 the mountain air and the refreshing zephyrs from the 
 plains. During the last summer the thermometer usually 
 rose eight or ten degrees from sun-rise till noon ; the 
 greatest mid-day heat was not o^^pressive, and the morn- 
 ings and evening, cooled by the mountain airs, were de- 
 liciously soft and pure. 
 
 The most disagreeable feature of this section is the 
 dust-storms and thunder-storms, which, during the last 
 season, though not frequent, were severe. Showers are 
 expected when the clouds come from the west and south- 
 west ; from the east they will cling to the hills, Culti- 
 vation and in'igation giving greater facilities for evapora- 
 tion, the process of nature in the cycle of moisture is 
 quickened, the particles of water make the circuit oftener, 
 and more frequent showers are the result. It is evident 
 this climate of cool, dry air in the winter, moderate dry- 
 ness and extreme tenuity in the summer, and stimularng 
 rarity at all seasons, is suited to all healthy and must 
 sickly constitutions. Paralysis is rare, consumption al- 
 most unknown — the climate lacks that humidity which 
 
 - developes the predisposition — asthma and phthisis meet 
 with immediate relief, and, from my personal experience, 
 it is evident that the air tends to expand, strengthen and 
 give tonic force to the lungs. But rheumatism and neu- 
 ralgia are by no means uncommon ; as in other bracing 
 climates, they affect the poor, and those from any cause, 
 
352 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 insufficiently fed, housed or clothed, during the winter. 
 For all who would avoid humidity, either in soil or air ; 
 who seek relief from pulmonary diseases or dyspepsia, 
 the climate is unsurpassed ; but for inflammatory diseases 
 the good effects of this climate are still open to debate. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 353 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MATERIAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 
 
 Amount of arable land — Its nature and location — Increased rainfall — 
 Causes — Probable greater increase— Mode of irrigation — Aquarian 
 Socialism — No room for competition — Alkali — Some advantages — 
 Yield of various crops — " Beet sugar" — Sorghum syrup — Mormon 
 improvements (?) — Grossly exaggerated — True Wealth of Utah — Min- 
 ing and grazing — Bunch-grass — Mountain pastures— Sheep and goats 
 — " Fur, fin and feather " — Trapping and hunting — Camivora — Rumi- 
 nants — Buffalo — None in the Basin — Shoshonee tradition — Game, 
 fowl — Amphibia — "Sandy toad" — Seri^ents — Fish — Oysters in Salt 
 Lake — Insects — "Mormon bedbugs" — Advantages from the dry air 
 — Insectivora — Crickets — Grasshoppers or locusts ? — Indians of Utah 
 I — Rapid extinction — " Diggers " — " Club-men " — Utes — Shoshonees 
 — Their origin — Mormon theory — Scientific theory — Chinese annals — 
 Tartars in America — Mormon settlers — Twenty-three years of 
 "gathering" — Much work, slow progress — Reasons — Inherent weak- 
 ness of the system — Great apostacy — Their present number — Exag- 
 geration — Enumeration of settlements and population — Nationality — 
 Total military force--Future of the Territory. 
 
 Of the entire area of the Great Basin, probably one half 
 is a complete desert to begin with ; one-tliird is of value 
 for grazing purposes, and the remaining one-sixth agricul- 
 tural land. 
 
 Most of the complete desert is in Nevada, and at least 
 three-fourths of the fertile land in Utah. In the entire 
 basin are numbered thirty-five considerable valleys con- 
 taining cultivable land, of great, or, at least, average fer- 
 tility, of which the best known are the Jordan or Salt 
 Lake, Bear River, Sevier, Cache Tovelle, Ruby, Malad, 
 Carson, and Humboldt Valleys. Of these, all those in 
 Utah are fully occupied by the Mormons, except Bear 
 River, on which they have but a few settlements, and 
 those along the mountains eastward. The entire basin 
 thus contains about as much good land as the State of 
 Indiana, and three or four times as much of little or no 
 value. 
 
354 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 Even the most fertile valleys contain occasional desei't 
 tracts, generally of small extent, of which tiacts, Bear 
 River and Cache Valleys contain the least. The Sevier 
 Valley is peculiar in its features ; the fertile tracts are 
 apparently i#cher than in the more northern valleys, but 
 the deserts much more barren and desolate in appearance; 
 the traveller, in places, traversing an arid waste tive or ten 
 miles in width, the bare, gray sand unrelieved even by 
 white sage-brush, and then at a sudden tuin of the road 
 into a mountain cove, or a depression in the land, finding 
 a few thousand acres of beauty and fertility. 
 
 Towards the upper part of its course, that valley presents 
 a rare picture of romantic beauty. Wood and water are 
 abundant, game plenty, and the soil very rich along the 
 foot of the mountains. The agricultural system of Utah 
 would present many novel features to an eastern farmer, 
 and at first view the difiiculties would seem to him insur- 
 mountable. 
 
 The most marked feature of the interior plains is the 
 scarcity of timber ; for, with the exception of a few scant 
 willows along two or three of the streams, the whole val- 
 ley of Salt Lake was originally as bare of trees as if blasted 
 by the breath of a volcano. 
 
 The nearest timber to Salt Lake City, fit foi fuel, is 
 fifteen miles distant, and that up City Creek Cailon, which 
 belongs to Brigham Young, by act of Territorial Legisla- 
 ture ; and he requires every third load to be left at his 
 corral. So, most of the fuel used in the city comes from 
 canons twenty or twenty-five miles distant, and ranges 
 from twelve to thirty dollars per cord. 
 
 This evil has been greatly increased by their stripping 
 the heights more bare every year, and many conjecture 
 that this prevents the former heavy accumulations of snow, 
 which, in turn, blows into the valley worse each winter, 
 and may in time even lessen the source of the streams, 
 which are chiefly supplied by the melting snow. 
 
 Planting trees, except in orchards or along the streets, 
 has been entirely neglected. Unlike the farmers of Iowa 
 and Nebraska, who purpose to grow their own fire-wood, 
 there is, not to my knowledge, an artificial grove in the 
 entire valley. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 355 
 
 True, the trees would require occasional irrigation, but 
 ■with the facilities afforded by the many little streami 
 crotising the "bench," one man could easily attend to seve- 
 ral thousand acres, and though his returns would be slow, 
 they would in time be ample. The suggestion may some- 
 time be found practicable. 
 
 The second drawback is want of water, or rather of rain, 
 for l)here is plenty of the article in streams which are the 
 source of supply. 
 
 At the first settlement of Utah there were periods ot 
 five or six months without rain, but of late years there 
 has been a great change in that respect, and last sununar 
 rains were so frequent along the streams that many tracts 
 required no irrigation at all. This is probably due to the 
 same cause as the similar phenomenon in other places; 
 but the change has probably been greater here, as irriga- 
 tion, distributing the water so generally over the land ia 
 ditches and through fields, has presented a greater scope 
 for solar evaporation, the great right hand of "cloud-com- 
 pelling Jove." 
 
 This has increased the fall of rain, which must, ia 
 turn, add to the productive force of nature, till in time 
 irrigation will be needless for the small grains and 
 cereals. ^ 
 
 Under the present system, each settlement becomes a 
 sort of " socialistic community" as to its water supply. — 
 Enough of families must make a settlement together in 
 some convenient valley, to construct a dam further up the ' 
 caiion, from which reservoir a main canal is carried 
 through the settlement, and from this side canals and 
 ditches convey the water among the farms, and thence 
 into fields, and by tiny rivulets between the rows of vege- 
 tation. 
 
 The various crops are watered from one to three times 
 per week, according to their nature, duiing the dry season. 
 The greatest labor is in establishing a settlement, and open- 
 ing these sources of public supply, but thereafter, the whole 
 settlement turns out each spring, at tlie call of the Water- 
 Marshal, and a few days' work gets all in order. 
 
 Hence the settlement must move as a unit in this case. 
 
356 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 and every man claims a supply of water according to the 
 money or labor contributed to the first construction. 
 
 For many years, in certain settlements, the Water-Mar- 
 shal turned the supply to different districts at different 
 hours, and the proprietors in each district further divided 
 the time when each might take water ; day and night 
 during the dry season, being devoted to the work. In 
 some settlements, and in the city, fines as high as sixty 
 dollars were imposed for " stealing water," that is, for 
 turning it on one's fields out of the prescribed time. But 
 with the increase of rain and heavy dews which now 
 water " the garden of the Lord and modern Zion," this 
 aquatic penuriousness has ceased to be necessary, and 
 there are but few if any localities where one may not 
 " take water " at any hour. 
 
 The gi'eat expense is in getting the system started ; 
 after that it need not be as great as the losses attendant 
 on waiting for rain in other regions, or having too |much 
 of it at a time. Herein also is an important politico- 
 religious feature of the system ; no Gentile can start in 
 with a new settlement, formed as it is by a " call " from 
 the Church authorities, and he cannot, of course, go it 
 alone. Gentiles could only settle by entire neighborhoods 
 together, or in some place buy out a Saint whose water- 
 rights are already established, and run with the land. For 
 these and other reasons, one rarely meets with a Gentile 
 outside of the towns. 
 
 Alkali is another enemy of the Utah farmer. A mode- 
 rate infusion is thought to be an advantage, but in many 
 places it is so thick as to "flower out" like a heavy frost 
 or light snow on the surface ; there it is fatal to most crops, 
 and many think it will not yield to the longest continued 
 cultivation. Some crops will flourish, where it is abun- 
 dant, others are ruined by the slightest sprinkle. The 
 common pie-plant entirely loses its acidity, and the sor- 
 ghum cane is completely " alkalied." 
 
 But the principle of compensation in nature applies 
 even here, and the Utah farmer has some marked advan- 
 tages. There are neither droughts nor freshets — both 
 considerable items to an Illinois farmer; the latter are 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 357 
 
 unknown, and the former of no consequence in the prac- 
 tice of irrigation. In the summer of 186G, there occuiTed 
 a furious wind and rain storm in the locality of the 
 writer's residence in the States, which destroyed corn, 
 wheat and fruit, to the value of fifty thousand dollars in 
 one township. This amount would have irrigated for 
 many years, a tract in Utah as large as that township. 
 
 Wheat for many seasons has required but one or two 
 waterings, and in 1867 the average yield, according to 
 Mormon statistics, was seventeen bushels per acre. With 
 Hour at eighteen dollars per barrel, and last year it 
 was sometimes above that, this would pay well for 
 irrigation. 
 
 Barley and potatoes yield very heavily, and have here- 
 tofore sold at enormous prices. But the last year there 
 has been a great decline in prices. The land produces all 
 the small grains, especially wheat, oats and barley, in 
 great abundance ; a little Inaian corn is raised, but the 
 climate is not favorable ; nearly all the fruits and vegeta- 
 bles of the temperate zone, pumpkins, beets and carrots — 
 in Gentile slang, " Mormon currency " — in gi-eat size and 
 plenty. Peaches of fine flavor, and in great quantity, are 
 grown in almost every valley. Salt Lake Valley and the 
 lower tracts adjacent being most favorable. But I do not 
 fully appreciate the apples of Salt Lake; they seem 
 insipid, stunted in some places and overgrown in others, 
 and decidedly " pithy." The lower part of Bear River 
 Valley and the slopes leading thereto, have all the natural 
 indications for one of the finest fruit countries in the 
 world, the easy changes of the winter and spring being 
 peculiarly favorable. 
 
 Beets and onions grows to an unusual size, which sug- 
 gested, in 1853, the idea of making beet sugar. The 
 " inspired priesthood," headed by " Brother Brigham," 
 entered into the matter with zeal ; one hundred thousand 
 dollars were expended upon the building and machinery, 
 but the Lord must have " spoken to the Prophet with an 
 uncertain voice ;" for the experiment failed utterly ; on 
 account of the alkali, the Mormons say ; for want of good 
 management, say the perverse Gentiles, who sometimes 
 
368 LIFE IN UTAH; Oil, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 add that the Saints made a fiery article of "Valley Tan" 
 whiskey out of the useless material. But other sweets 
 abound ; there is great profit in sorglium, and one farmer 
 near Kaysville reports that last year he made one hundred 
 and five gallons from one-third of an acre, and two hun- 
 dred gallons per acre throughout his field. At the low- 
 price of one dollar per gallon, this will pay for iiTigation. 
 But cane farmers must avoid the alkali lands. Of farm 
 improvements there is little to be said. The impression 
 prevails quite generally that the Mormons are remarkably 
 industrious. I have impartially endeavored to find the 
 evidence, but, with due regard for others' opinions, I fail 
 to see it. They have built houses, bams and fences, but 
 such as they were absolutely forced to have in order to 
 live at all. If there is a single farm-house between Salt 
 Lake City and Bear River, which shows an advanced idea 
 of architecture, I do not remember it. 
 
 If there is any particular development of taste, outside 
 a few of the cities, any adornment which shows an aspir- 
 ation for the higher and more beautiful, or any improve- 
 ments indicating comprehensive gi-asp and energy of 
 thought, I have missed them in my travels. The Mormon 
 converts are drawn from the most industrious races of 
 Europe ; it was impossible for even Mormonism to entire- 
 ly spoil them, and they have done nearly as well, perhaps, 
 as any other people would have done under the same 
 circumstances. 
 
 Compared with the same races in the Western States, 
 the Swedes. Norwegians, Danes and English, of Iowa or 
 Minnesota, the latter have made as much progress in five 
 years after settlement as the Mormons in ten or twenty. 
 But on the credit side of the estimate for the latter, we 
 must set down the fact of their great distance from civili- 
 zation, the natural barrenness of much of their country, 
 the grasshoppers, crickets, wild beasts and Indians with 
 which they had to contend ; the spiritual despotism 
 under which they labor ; their poverty and their ignor- 
 ance of this mode of farming ; on the debit side, the 
 advantages from overland travel, and neighboring mining 
 regions, which enabled them to obtain fabulous prices for 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 359 
 
 their grain, the general advantages of a new country in 
 " fur, fin and feather," the rare healthfulness of their 
 climate, the unlimited range for stock and the benefits of 
 unity in their labor system. 
 
 The wonder is that they settled there at all ; having 
 settled there, they have done less in the way of improve- 
 ment than their countrymen in other sections in half the 
 time. 
 
 But the true wealth of the territory is in grazing and 
 mining. The range is practically unlimited and the 
 mountain bunch-gi'ass is the best in the world for cattle. 
 This valuable and rather anomalous provision of nature 
 seems to be indigenous to the interior plains of the Rocky 
 MouL . ins. It is first found, I believe, on the western 
 slope of the Black Hills, and extends to the eastern slope 
 of the Sierra Nevadas. West of that boundary it gives 
 place to other seeded grasses of the Pacific slope, and to 
 the " wild oats " of California, which are supposed to have 
 been introduced by the Spaniards. Millions of acres are 
 rendered valuable by the presence of bunch-grass, vdiich, 
 without it, could hardly be traversed by cattle. As the 
 name indicates it grows in clumps, and to an eastern eye 
 would appear as if it sought the most barren spots, 
 flourishing even upon slopes of sandy and stony hills. 
 Like winter wheat it remains green and juicy under the 
 snow ; it usually commences gi'owing in February or 
 March, and continues till May or June, when it dries up 
 and appears to die, but in the form of a light straw con- 
 tains abundant nutriment. In places, during autumn and 
 after shedding the seed, it puts forth a green shoot, appar- 
 ently within the old withered stalk ; with the advance of 
 summer the best is found higher up the mountains, and it 
 thus furnishes food the year round. 
 
 It yields a small pyriform seed, which is greedily 
 devoured by cattle, and has remarkable fattening proper- 
 ties, giving an excellent flavor to the beef. It is often a 
 subject of remark, how little food will fatten cattle upon 
 the elevated prairies, and interior plateaus of the West ; 
 the exceeding purity, dryness and rarity of the air, by 
 perfecting the processes of digestion and assimilation, no 
 doubt accounts for this. 
 
360 LIFE IN UTAH; Oil, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 The same has been observed of the highlands of Central 
 Asia. From the same (causes cattle endure a, greater 
 degree of cold without shelter, and the plains can be made 
 to produce abundant forage for winter. The finest, juciest, 
 tenderest steaks of home growth, appear daily u[)on the 
 tables of the Utah publicans, and there is scarcely a limit 
 to the possible supply. By greater improvement in 
 irrigation, and by the increase of rain, Utah will in time 
 have great agricultural wcaltli, but stock raising will be 
 her best paying interest. 
 
 Facilities for grazing are practically unbounded, the 
 valleys supply plentiful pasturage in winter, and as spring 
 advances and the snow line recedes up the hills, cattle 
 will find fresh pastures. . 
 
 In the valleys of Green, Grand and CoKiodo rivers are 
 many thousand square miles of the finest enmtry in the 
 world for wool growing ; on all the mountain slopes west 
 of Bear River grass grows luxuriantly, .and the higher 
 portions of Sevier Valley contain millions of acres of 
 grazing land, the natural home of the Merino sheep and 
 Cashmere goat ; the climate and elevation are exactly 
 suitable for the production of the finest wools ; all the 
 facilities for manufacturing exist along the lower cours j 
 of the mountain streams, and the day will come when the 
 finest of shawls and other fabrics will be produced in 
 Utah, rivalling the most famous productions from the 
 highlands of Persia and Hindostan. 
 
 Of " fur, fin and feather," the Great Basin is rather 
 deficient, in an economical view. There are minks, 
 ermines, American badgers, wolverines, woodchucks, 
 musk-rats, beavers and otters, the last two rare in other 
 parts, but still found in such plenty on the upper tribu- 
 taries of Bear River, as to make trapping profitable. The 
 principal cavnivora are the cougar, cat-o-mountain, large 
 and small wolf, and a variety of foxes. Of the ruminants 
 we find the antelope, deer, elk and Rocky Mountain 
 sheep. The buffalo is seldom found west of Laramie 
 plains, not at all in the Great Basin, though the Indians 
 have a tradition that they were once very numerous even 
 to the Sierra Nevadas, and old hunters and travellers 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 30 1 
 
 speak of finding traces of their former existence there. 
 Iho SlioshoncL.s give the following account of their 
 baiiishincnt : When the butfalocs herded in great numbers 
 in these valleys, the crickets were less in number than now, 
 but being the weakest of all the animals, the}^ had the 
 ear of the (Jreat S[)irit when oppressed. The butialoos, in 
 crowding to the rivers to drink, trani|)led upon the 
 crickets and did not heed their cries, u[)on which the 
 latter complained to the Great Spirit, who by a sweeping 
 decree changed all the buffaloes to a small race of crickets, 
 leaving nothing of the buffalo ])ut the milt ! It is a sin- 
 gular fact that the crickets found in the basin contain a 
 " milt " or spleen, exactly similar in shape to that of the 
 bovine f/e?i'as. 
 
 Of game birds there are several varieties: quail or 
 partridges ; two varieties of grouse, the most connnon 
 called the sage-hen ; the mallard duck is found in great 
 plenty on the lower part of Bear River and Jordan, and 
 is particularly abundant on the Sevier ; while brant, cur- 
 lew, plover and wild geese are much more numerous than 
 the appearance of the country would indicate. Of use- 
 less anhnals and reptiles tbjie are quite enough to give 
 variety to animated nature. That purely western Ameri- 
 can phenomenon, half toad, half lizard, locally ki^ovvn as 
 the " horned toad" or " sandy toad," scientifically ranked 
 Phrynosoma, is found on all the high, dry plains. Its 
 scaly body and inability to jump jjrevents its ranking 
 strictly among " batrachians." It is found on the highest 
 and driest ridges, is calloused on the belly like an alliga- 
 tor, its back is thickly studded with horny points about 
 a quarter of an inch in length, it has legs like a common 
 toad but runs swiftly like a lizard. 
 
 Of serpents, there are rattlesnakes, water snakes and 
 swamp adders, and a few others, all very rare. The fishes 
 are perch, pike, bass, chub, mountain trout, and a species 
 of salmon trout, of which thirty-pound specimens have 
 been caught. There are very few molluscs, periwinkles 
 or snails. There has been much discussion of a project 
 to plant oysters in Salt Lake at the various river mouths, 
 but the scheme seems ^o have been abandoned. Probably 
 
362 LIFE IN UTAH; OE, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 it would not succeed, from the extreme density of the 
 lake water, which is often driven some distance up the 
 rivers by high vvinds. 
 
 In view of the desirableness of any country as a place 
 of residence, the entomology is no inconsiderable item. 
 Utah, in regard to insect life, is subject to great extremes. 
 On entering the Territory from the east, the visitor's first 
 impression would be that both animal and insect life were 
 rare. On the road from Green River to Salt Lake Citv, 
 particularly in the early part of the season, there are few 
 stock flies, few scavengers and few large birds ; trouble- 
 some insects are rare, even in the valleys, and unknown 
 on the upland desert; but in other localities there is a 
 surplus, and after longer residence one finds enough of 
 them to be troublesome. 
 
 In Salt Lake City the flies are probably worse, both as 
 to number and peculiarities, than in any other city in 
 America, but fortunatel;y their time is very short. Dur- 
 ing the spring and early summer they are rarely seen ; in 
 August they begin to multiply, " coming in with the emi- 
 gration," according to local phrase, meaning the Mormon 
 emigrants, who formerly completed the journey across 
 the plains by the latter part of July. 
 
 From the middle of August till cool weather they are 
 perfectly fearful, certainly much worse than they need be 
 if pro|>er cleanliness were practised ; large, flat-headed, 
 light- winged and awkward, they light and crawl over the 
 person in the most anno3ang manner, not yielding, like 
 " Gentile flies," to a light brush or switch, but requiring 
 literally • ■ be swept otf. No other part of the Territory 
 I have visited, is half so bad in this respect as Salt Lake 
 City, and the southern valleys seem peculiarly free from 
 this pest. 
 
 Fleas are, in western phrase, " tolerable bad," but bed 
 bugs are intolerable ; both in numbers and voracity those 
 of Utah beat the world, particularly in the country 
 towns, and among the poorer chisses of foreign-born Mor- 
 mons. In certain settlements their ravages are incredible, 
 and Mormon bed bugs seem as much worse than others as 
 their human companions. Like the latter, too, they seem 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 3G3 
 
 to regard the Gentile as fair [)rey. More than once, in 
 some secluded valley, has the writer retired to rest (inten- 
 tionally) with reckless confidence, and after an hour of 
 fierce resolution to hold out against any amount of blood 
 letting, has risen from his couch with a full appreciation 
 of Byron's beautif d line : 
 
 " No sleep till morn — " 
 
 I have given the worst side of affiiirs first, and in othei- 
 respects the resident is rather free from annoyance. Mos- 
 quitoes are bad in very few places ; tliree-fourths of the 
 country is entirely exempt, lacking humidity enough to 
 produce them. With stock flies the case is much the 
 same; in places along Bear River, and other streams 
 where the current is sluggish they are troublesome, 
 though such places are rare. In places around the Lake 
 gnats are troublesome, and Captain Stansbury speaks of 
 encountering on the western shore dense swarms of small 
 black flies, of which he says : " An incredible number 
 perfectly covered the white sand near the shore, changing 
 its color completely — a fact only revealed as the swarms 
 rose upon being disturbed by our footsteps. They, too, 
 had apparently been driven in by the storm ; for I after- 
 wards discovered that they were as thick upon the water 
 as the land, moving over its surface with great ease and 
 swiftness. In the shallows left by the receding waters, I 
 noticed also quite a number of ants (the first I had seen) 
 drowned seemingly by the over-fiow. Both of these in- 
 sects furnished food for the gulls and snipes which are 
 almost the only birds found along this shore. Across the 
 little bay ran a broad streak of froth oi* foam, formed by 
 the meeting of counter currents, and driven in by the 
 wind. Passing through it I found it iilled with the small 
 black flies, in the midst (jf which wei'o flocks of gulls, 
 floating upon the water and industriously engaged in 
 picking them up, precisely na a chicken would pick up 
 grains of corn, and with the same rapidity of motion." 
 
 With the exceptions noted, the whole of Utah is re- 
 Boarkably free from insects ; there are few, if any, of the 
 
364 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 thousand varieties of wood-borers, apJiides, terebrce, cur- 
 culio, weevil, wheat-fly, and the numberless insects that 
 infest the grass and the bark of trees in low^er alti- 
 tudes ; they are either totally wanting, or found so seldom 
 as to be innoxious. In consequence there are very few 
 birds ci' the insect-eating kinds, and no particularly dan- 
 gerous reptiles. Of insects destructive to vegetation the 
 cricket was once very troublesome, but ceased to be so at 
 least ten years ago, though the grassho[)per still makes 
 occasional visits, as in all the Territories. The question 
 has been raised in Utah, whether this insect, locally 
 known as grasshoiiper is nat really a locust — perhaps the 
 locust '.mentioned in Scripture. But an examination 
 shows it to be congeneric wath the insect scientitically 
 c^ssignated the oedipoda miguatoria, which is certainly 
 of the grasshopper species, though known in the East by 
 the En-^lish name of " migratory locust." 
 
 The grasshopper of l]v.ah is not so long and thin, light- 
 bodied and "cli|)per-built" as that of Nebraska and Kansas, 
 but fully as destructive to vegetation ; though of late 
 years its ravages have bv^en contined to certain limited 
 localities. Though numerous enough in Salt Lake City 
 the past season to constitute a " visitation," they did very 
 little damage — " poisoning the skin of apples" to a slight 
 extent. 
 
 From gi'asshoppers to Indians may seems to the Eastern 
 mind an abrupt transition ; but the original inhabitants of 
 Utah merit a brief notice. All the old accounts represent 
 the Indians of the Great Basin as the lowest and most 
 degraded of their race, and one is surprised in the chron- 
 icles of only thirty years ago to rea-l of tribes, or rather 
 bands and parts of tribes, now totally extinct. 
 
 The " Club-men," a race of savage and filthy cannibals, 
 were once quite numerous in all the central and western 
 valleys, but are now entirely extinct ; and many of the 
 races mentioned by M. Violet, who lived among the Sho- 
 shonees thirty-five years ago, are no longer to be found. 
 
 From these and other facts, it is very probable that all 
 the Indians known as " diggers" were mere outcasts from 
 other tribes, or the remnants of more noble tribes con- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON' ISM. 305 
 
 quered in war, which had been forced into the Basin as a 
 place of refuge. 
 
 Their tribal organization broken up ; their former 
 hunting grounds foi'bidden them ; and themselves com- 
 pelled to subsist only on the meanest and least nourish- 
 ing fare, they degenerated rapidly in morale and physique, 
 at the same time that they decreased in number. 
 
 They subsisted chiefly upon roots dug from the ground, 
 the seeds of various plants indigenous to the soil, ground 
 into a kind of flour betvy-een flat stones ; and upon lizards, 
 crickets, and fish at some seasons of the year. Thus 
 lacking the food which furj^ishes proper stimulus to the 
 brain and nmscles, each succeeding generation sank lower 
 in the scale of humanity ; the generative powers declined 
 under a regimen of exposure and scant nourishment ; few 
 children wei"e born and fewer reared to maturity, and the 
 kindness of nature's law forbade increase where life pro- 
 mised naught but exposure and misery. Of such races 
 the numerical decline must have been steady and rapid, 
 and their numbers only maintained by the successive ad- 
 ditions fi'om the supei"'or races north and east. A little 
 above these, in the scale of humanity, are the Utes or 
 Utahs, inliabiting nearly all the southern part of the 
 Great Basin, and extending into Colorado as far as the 
 boundary of the Arajjahoes, with whom they are almost 
 continually at wai-. The word Ute or Utah signifies, in 
 their language, " man," " dwelhir," or " resident," and by 
 the additions of other syllables, we have the three grand 
 divisions of that race : Pi-Utes, Gosha-Utes, Pah- Utes, 
 which may be freely translated " mountaineers," " valley 
 men," and " dwellers liy the water," those ]>refixes respec- 
 tively indicating " mountain," "valley," and "water." Of 
 all these the bravest are the mountain Utes, among whom 
 we might include the Uintahs; but the Indians of the 
 lower countries are rather cowardly, and dangerous only 
 by theft or treachery. Far superior to any of these are 
 the Shoshonees or Snakes, found all along the northern 
 border of Utah, and extending thence north-east to the 
 Bannacks and westward into Idaho and Nevada. 
 
 They have a complete tribal organization, and some- 
 
366 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 thing like government and council among themselves ; 
 own horses and cattle, and display some ingenuity in their 
 dwellings, and in the construction of fish weirs and traps 
 of willow bushes. Tliey feel also something like pride 
 of race, and to call a Shoshonee a " digger," is more of aR 
 insult than to stigmatize a very light mulatto as a 
 
 nigger. 
 
 The origin of the Indians has been a subject of frequent 
 inquiry among American antiquarians. Some forty years 
 ago, an idea was broached, and for awhile prevailed quite 
 extensively, that they were the descendants of the " lost 
 tribes" of ancfent Israel, and that veracious chronicle, the 
 " Book of Mormon," has traced their descent from a Jew- 
 ish family, who left Jerusalem six hundred years before 
 Christ. But if we are to draw our arguments from any 
 recognized human source, from language, features, cus- 
 toms, habits or traditions, there are no two races on earth 
 of whose kinship there is so little proof 
 
 The features may be greatly altered by climate, customs 
 may change with circumstances, and two thousand years 
 may he long enough to pervert the radical principles of a 
 people's religion ; but language, not as to single words but 
 as to grammatical construction and derivation, has ever 
 been considered the surest test of ethnological relation- 
 ship ; and every fact in the language of the Jews and 
 those of various Indian tribes disproves the theory of a 
 common origin. To cite but one : languages are divided 
 into primitive, and derivative or compound ; the latter 
 showing by their combinations a derivation from older 
 tongues, and the former maintaining their simple forma- 
 tion, consisting of a certain number of radical syllables. 
 
 A jirimitive language is never derived from a* compound 
 one, the latter is from the former. 
 
 The Indian languages are all primitive, showing no de- 
 rivation from any older langaage, even the occasional 
 words of similar sound being evidently accidental, and 
 not nearly so numerous as those of the same form in the 
 Greek and the language of the South Sea cannibals. The 
 Hebrew, on the contrary, is a derivative language, the 
 outgrowth of older Semetic dialects, and by its finish and 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOIIMONISM. 367 
 
 complex structure, the language of the Psalms shows that 
 mankind had even then at least two thousand years of 
 progress and cultivation in language. Such a speech may- 
 be corrupted in the mouths of a barbarous peoj)le, but 
 can never return to its primitive type ; through a thou- 
 sand variations and centuries of corruption and foreign 
 intermixture, though constantly debased, it will become 
 more complex and farther from its radical formation. In 
 all other branches of the inquiry, a parallel between the 
 Jews and Indians is found only in two, or at most, three 
 points of their religion ; both believe in one God, an all 
 pervading Spirit, and in sacrifices ; the latter belief they 
 share v/ith nearly all the races of men, and the former 
 with many of them. M. Violet, a Frenchman who came 
 to California forty years ago, and spent many years among 
 the Shoshonees, investigjated their languajxe and traditions 
 with much care, and came to the conclusion tliat they 
 were descendants of the Mantcheux Tartars. His reasons 
 are good, and subsequent discoveries confirm the probable 
 truth of his theory. The lately discovered Chinese annals, 
 which give an account of the expeditions sent out by the 
 Tartar Kublai Khan, about the year 1280, A.D., which 
 visited California, Mexico, Central America and Peru, 
 show that they then recognized the fact that the country 
 had been previously settled by men of another l)ranch of 
 their race. But it is not necessary to suppose all the In- 
 dians descended from one branch of the Tartars : the pas- 
 sage of the North Pacific being a proved fact, no doubt 
 several difierent invasions of our western coast took place 
 dating, jierhaps, even as far back as the fourth generation 
 after Noah, who, it is generally agreed, settled China, and 
 who may he supposed to have known something about 
 navigation. 
 
 Of the first discovery and exploration of the Great 
 Basin, this is not tho proper place to treat ; but after the 
 Indians, in the order of time, came the Mormons. They 
 were the first white residents, and their history is the 
 history of the Territory. Since July 24th, 184-7, this has 
 been their gathering place, the Territory of " the Lord 
 and Brother Brigham ;" a coniiecrated land of salt, alkali 
 
3G8 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 and religious concubinage ; where their morals were to be 
 cured, and their spiritual interests preserved. 
 
 When we consider how many million people there are 
 in the world to whom Mormonism is the natural religion, 
 how full modern society is of the material for such a 
 church, that it promises a heaven exactly after the natural 
 heart of man, and with the least sacrifice of human pride, 
 lust and passion ; when we add to this their vast and 
 comprehensive missionary system, compassing sea and land 
 to make one proselyte ; and the still more i)Owerful fact 
 that Mormonism comes to the poor of the old world not 
 merely with the attractiveness of a new religion, but with 
 the certainty of assisted emigration to America, a land 
 described to them as flowing with milk and honey, we 
 would naturally expect their recruits to be numbered by 
 tons of thousands annuall3^ 
 
 That Utah has not filled up and overflowed lu.lf a 
 dozen times with the scum of Europe, can only be ac- 
 counted for by some inherent weakness in the system it- 
 self 
 
 This weakness shows itself in two ways : inability to 
 secure a class who would add real dignity and stre: ,'th 
 to a new commonwealth, and the constant loss tlirough a 
 steady and ever increasing apostacy. Unfettered Ameri- 
 can enterprise planted half a million people in Iowa in 
 ten years ; the vast machinery of the Mormon emigra- 
 tion system, the excitement of religious fanaticism, the 
 utmost zeal of a thousand missionaries preaching temporal 
 prosperity and eternal salvation to an ignorant people, 
 backed by the assurance of a speedy passage to a new 
 country, and aided by the advantages of an organization 
 at once ecclesiastical and secular, have succeeded in 
 twenty-three years in fixing an uncertain population of a 
 hundred thousand in Utah. The Mormon system of ex- 
 aggerating their numbers is well known. At the death 
 of Joe Smith, they numbered nearly 200,000 throughout 
 the world ; their own statistics showed half a million — 
 {Times and Seasons, Millennial Star, etc.) 
 
 If they have half the latter number now, it is not 
 shown by their published statistics. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOIIMONISM. 3G9 
 
 Their missionaries in the Eastern Stfites give their 
 strength in Utah, in round numbers, at 200,000. When 
 Brigham Young was last questioned on that point, by a 
 well-known politician last summer, he put the number at 
 120,000. 
 
 A Judge of the U. S. Court who has travelled exten- 
 sively through the Territory, with good opportunities for 
 judging, estimates the total population of Utah at 85,000, 
 probably a little too low. Toui ists usually state the pop- 
 ulation of Salt Lake City in round numbers, at 25,000. 
 There are in that city a little less than 1,800 houses, of all 
 sizes, counting the barely habitable ; allowing ten per- 
 sons to the dwelling, we have 18,000, a very full estimate. 
 Gentile communities average five persons to the dwelling, 
 but in Utah we must double to allow for infants and 
 extra wives. The population of the Territory may be 
 estimated with tolerable certainty from the census of for- 
 mer years, and well-known fticts. By i-eference to the 
 U. S. census of 18G0, it appears there were then in Utah 
 20,225 males and 20,018 females; total 40,273. 
 
 The rate of increase in ten years throughout the United 
 States is less than forty per cent.; if we allow the ex- 
 cessive ratio of 150 per cent, in Utah, it would make the 
 population this year 100,000. It will not escape observa- 
 tion in passing that the males slightly out-number the fe- 
 males, not exactly indicating ])olygamy as the natural 
 law. The latest report we have at hand is that of Mr. 
 Campbell, Mormon superintendent of common schools, for 
 the year 1863, in which appears the following : 
 
 Number of boys between six and ei<fliteen 3,950 
 
 Number of girls, between four and sixteen 3,662 
 
 Total 7,612 
 
 We cannot suppose from any known law of population 
 that the children between four and eighteen tuere less than 
 one-sixth of the whole people. This would give us 4G,000 
 nearly, for 1863, a very moderate increase over 18G0. It 
 is hardly reasonable to suppose that the Mormons have 
 increased wo re than 100 per cent, in seven years. Here 
 
370 LTFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 again wo ace that the boys slightly outnumber the girls, 
 which will make it rather difficult for some of them to 
 get wives, if polygamy lasts through that generation. 
 From personal observation and the best information ob- 
 tainable, I sum up the Mormon population of Utah, be- 
 ginning on the north, as follows : 
 
 Cache and Bear Lake Valleys , 13,000 
 
 Thence to Brigham City 2,000 
 
 Brighani City 2,000 
 
 West of Bear River 1,000 
 
 Thence to Ogden 1,000 
 
 Ogden and vicinity 4,000 
 
 Kaysville and vicinity 1,600 
 
 Farniington and vicinity 2,500 
 
 Centreville 1,500 
 
 Bountifnl (Session's Settlement) 2,000 
 
 Weber Valley to Echo 2,500 
 
 Coalville, Wanshij) and Upper Weber 4,000 
 
 Tt)tal north of Salt Lake City 37,000 
 
 Salt Lake City and near vicinity 20,000 
 
 Thence to Utah Lake /,000 
 
 Provo 4,000 
 
 Remainder of Utah Lake district 8,000 
 
 Sevier and San Pete Valleys 3,000 
 
 Provo to St. George 6,000 
 
 St. George and vicinity 3,000 
 
 Sonthern settlements 7,000 
 
 Tooille and Ruby Valleys 4,000 
 
 AVest of the last named (?) 1,000 
 
 Grand total 100,000 
 
 The population extends along an irregular line, or rather 
 are, five hundred miles from north and south ; a band 
 fifty miles wide would include all the settlements, except 
 a few immediately west, east and north-east of Salt Lake 
 City ; nor have I made any deduction on account of the 
 southern settlements, now known to be in Nevada and 
 Arizona, or the few in the southern edge of Idaho. 
 
 Of the entire ])opulation, the adult portion is made up 
 very nearly as follows: from Groat Britain, one-half; 
 from Sweden, Norway and Denmark, one-third ; a dozen 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 371 
 
 or twenty eacli frow\ Ireland, Italy, Franco and Prussia ; 
 a few Oriental ; five Jews ; a score or two of Kanakas ; 
 and the remainincr one-seventh or eiixhth, American. The 
 children, of course, are nearly all natives. While the 
 foreigners are as seven or eight to one in the hody of the 
 Church, the Americans ../e about six to one in the Presi- 
 dencies, Quorum of Apostles, leading Bishops and Elders, 
 showing, pretty conclusively, the " ruling race." We are 
 bound to say that our fellow-countrymen are smart, if 
 they are rascally. 
 
 The entire Mormon people probably include nearly ten 
 thousand men capable of bearing arms, of whom those 
 in the northern settlements, and the American portion 
 generally, know something of drill and the use of fire- 
 arms ; of the Scandinavians, their skill ma}'- be judged 
 from the fact that a thousand or more of them were 
 driven out of Sevier Valley by three hundred Mountain 
 Utes, twenty-two of the latter, in one battle, defeating a 
 hundred and fifty militia. But the English and xVmerican 
 Saints in the north, disj)layed considerable bravery under 
 Lot Smith, and other leaders, in 1857, when Buchanan 
 " crushed the Mormons," 
 
 Whether they are still confident of their ability " to 
 thrash the United States," cannot well be known. After 
 a careful statement of its resources, Lieut. J. W. Gunni- 
 son, assistant to Cai)t. Stansbury, estimates that the entire 
 Territory is capable of sustaining a population of one 
 million persons, entirely by grazing and agriculture. 
 
 The area is but half as large as at that time, and, from 
 my knowledge of fertile land still unoccupied, I am con- 
 vinced that this estimate will apply })roportionably at 
 present. Thus, Avithin the present limits of Utah may be 
 developed a State, with a population of half a i illion 
 engaged in agriculture, grazing, and domestic manufacture, 
 and a quarter of a million more engaged in mining. But 
 long before that occurs, the Territory must undergo a 
 political and social change, and Mormonism give way to 
 Christianity, progress and entei'prise. 
 
372 LIFE n; utah; oh, the mystekies 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MORMON MYSTERIES— THEIR ORIGIN. 
 
 The Endowment — Actors — Scenery and dress — rre-reqiiisites — Adam 
 and Eve, the Devil and Michael, Jehovah and Eloheini — A new ver- 
 sion — Blasphemons assumptions — Terrible oaths — B.arbarous penalties 
 — Origin — Scriptures and Paradise Lost- Eleusinian mysteries — 
 *' Morgan's Free-masonry " — The witnesses — Probabilities — T'heir rea- 
 sons—Changes. 
 
 THE ENDOWMENT. 
 
 Dramatis Persona', 
 
 Elohkim, or Head God Brigham Young, 
 
 Jehovah George A. Smith, , 
 
 Jesu« Daniel H. Wells, 
 
 Michael George Q. CaunoM, 
 
 Satan W. W. Phelps, 
 
 Apostle Peter Joseph F. Smith, 
 
 Apostle James John Taylor, 
 
 Apostle John Erastus Snow. 
 
 Eve Miss Eliza R. Snow. 
 
 Clerk, WasJiers, ulttendauts, Sectarians, Chorus and Endoimes. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE FIRST (pRE-EXISTENT) ESTATE. 
 
 The candidates present themselves at the Endowment 
 House, provided with clean clothes and a lunch ; tliey are 
 admitted to the outer office, and their .accounts with the 
 Church verified by the clerk. Their names, ages, and the 
 dates of their conversion and baptism are entered in the 
 register ; their tithing receipts are carefully inspected, 
 and, if found correct, an entry thereof is made. This 
 last is an indispensable before initiation. Evidence is 
 also presented of faithful attendance on public service, 
 and at the " School of the Prophets." If any husband 
 and wife appear who have not been sealed for eternity, a 
 
SCENES IN THE ENDOWMENT CEREMONIES. 
 
 1. Preparation— Washing and Anointing. 2. Eloheim Cursing Adam and Eve- 
 Satan Driven out 3. Trial of Faith -The "Searching Hand." 4. Oath to Avenge 
 the Death or Joseph Smith 5. The "Blood Atonement." 
 
...■iS> 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 375 
 
 note is made of the fact, tlie ceremony to be performed 
 in the initiation. They then remove their shoes and, pre- 
 ceded by the attendants, who wear slippers, with mea- 
 sured jmd. noiseless step, enter the central ante-room, a 
 narrow hall separated by white screens from two other 
 rooms to the right and left ; the right one is for men, and 
 the left for women. 
 
 Deep silence prevails, the attendants communicating 
 by mysterious signs or very low whispers ; a dim light 
 pervades the room, mellowed by heavy shades; the faint 
 plash of pouring water behind the scenes alone is heard, 
 and the whole scene is calculated to cast a solemn awe 
 over the ignorant candidates, waiting with subdued but 
 nervous expectancy for some mysterious event. After 
 a few moments of solemn waiting, the men are led to 
 their washing-room on the right, and the women to the 
 left. The female candidate is stripped, placed in the 
 bath, and washed from head to foot by a woman set apart 
 for the purpose. Every member is mentioned, with a 
 special blessing. 
 
 " Washer : — Sister, I wash you clean from the blood 
 of this generation, and prepare your members for lively 
 service in the way of all true Saints. I wash your head 
 that it may be prepared for that crown of glory awaiting 
 you as a faithful Saint, ^nd the fruitful wife of a priest 
 of the Lord ; that your brain may be quick in discern- 
 ment, and your eyes able to perceive the truth and avoid 
 the snares of the enemy ; your mouth to show forth the 
 praise of the immortal gods, and your tongue to pro- 
 nounce the true name which will admit you hereafter 
 behind the veil, and by which you will be known in the 
 celestial kingdom. I Vv'ash your arras to labor in the 
 cause of righteousness, and your hands to be strong in. 
 building up the kingdom of God, by all manner of pro- 
 fitable works. I wav'*h your breasts that you may prove a 
 fruitful vine, to nourish a strong race of swift witnesses, 
 earnest in defence of Zion ; your body, to present it an 
 acceptable tabernacle when you come to pass behind the 
 veil ; your loins, that you may bring forth a numerous 
 race, to crown you with eternal glory and strengthen the 
 
370 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 heavenly kingdom of your husband, your master and 
 crown in the Lord. I wash your knees, on which to pros- 
 trate 3'^ourself' and humbly receive the truth from God's 
 holy priesthood ; your feet, to run swiftly in the ways of 
 righteousness, and stand firm upon the appointed places; 
 and now I pronounce you clean from the blood of this 
 generation, and vour body an acceptable temple for the 
 indwelling of the Holy Spirit." 
 
 A similar washing is performed upon the male candi- 
 didate in his own room, and a blessing pronounced upon 
 his bqdy in like manner. 
 
 He is then passed through y slit in the curtain to the 
 next compartment forward ; as he passes, an apostle 
 whispers in his ear " a new name, by which he will be 
 known in the celestial kingdom of God." 
 
 Reaching the second room, the candidate is anointed 
 with oil, which has been previously blessed and consecrated 
 by two priests, poured upon his head from a horn, or from 
 a mahogany vessel shaped to resemble one. The oil is 
 rubbed into his hair and beard, and upon each of his limbs, 
 which are again blessed in order. At the same time the 
 women are anointed in their own washing room. The can- 
 didate is then dressed in a sort of tunic, or close-fitting 
 garment, reaching from the neck to the heels. This, or a 
 similar one, blessed for the purpose, is always to be worn 
 next to the body, to protect the wearer from harm and 
 from the assaults of the devil. Many Mormons are so 
 strenuous on this point, they remove the garment but a 
 portion at a time when changing, partly slipping on the 
 new before the old is entirely off. It is generally believed 
 that Joe Smith took off his tunic the morning he wmt to 
 Carthage, to avoid the charge of being in a secret society ; 
 and that he would not have been killed, if he had retained 
 it. Over the tunic comes the ordinary underclothing, and 
 above a robe used only for this purpose; it is made of fine 
 linen, plaited on the shoulders, gathered around the waist 
 with a band, and falling to the floor behind and before. 
 On the head is placed a cap of fine linen, and on the feet 
 light cotton shippers. 
 
 At this point begins, in the adjoining room, the prepa- 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMONISM. 377 
 
 ratory' debate in the grand council of the gods, as to 
 whether they shall make num. Eloheim, Jehovah, Jesus 
 and Michae^ intone a drama in blank verse, representing 
 the successive steps in the creation of the world. Eloheim 
 enumerates the works of each day, and commends them 
 all ; at the close of each, all the others unite in a respon- 
 sive chorus of surprise and praise at the glory and beauty 
 of the work, concluding : — 
 
 " Ehiheim. Now all is done, and earth with animate life is glad. 
 The stately elephant to browse the forest, the ramping lion in the 
 mountain caves, gazelles, horned cattle and the fleecy flocks spread 
 o'er the grassy vales ; behemoth rolls his bulk in shady fens by 
 river banks, among the ooze, and the g^eat whale beneath the 
 waters, and fowl to fly above in the open firmament of heaven. 
 Upon the earth behold bears, ounces, tigers, i)aras, and every ci'cep- 
 ing thing that moves upon the ground. Each after his kind shall 
 bring forth and multiply upon the earth ; and yet there lacks the 
 master work, the being in the form and likeness of the gods, erect 
 to stand, his Maker praise, and over all the rest dominion hold." 
 
 '•Jehuvah, Jesus, Michael and Eloheim. Let us make man, in 
 image, form and likeness as our own ; and as becomes our sole com- 
 plete representative on earth, to him upright, dominion give and 
 power over all that flies, swims, creeps, or walks upon the earth." 
 
 The attendants have meanwhile placed the candidates 
 on the floor and closed their eyes, when the gods enter 
 j,nd manipulate them limb by limb, specifying the office of 
 each member, and pretending to create and mould. They 
 then slap upon them to vivify and represent the creative 
 power, breathe into their nostrils " the breath of life," and 
 raise them to their feet. They are then supposed to be 
 " as Adam, newly made, completely ductile, mobile in the 
 maker's hand." 
 
 II. 
 
 SECOND ESTATE. 
 
 Men file into the next room, with paintings and scenery 
 to represent the Garden of Eden. There are gorgeous 
 curtains and carpets, trees and shrubs in boxes, paintings 
 of mountains, flowers, and fountains, all shown in soft 
 light and delicate tints, together presenting a beautiful 
 
378 LIFE IX UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 . and impressive scene. While they move around the garden 
 to measured music, another discussion ensues between tho 
 fjods ; Miclinel proposes various animals, in turn, to be the 
 intimates of man, which are successively rejected by 
 Jehovah, Jesus and Eloheim. The men aie then laid re- 
 cumbent, with closed eyes, in pantomime a rib is extracted 
 from each, out of which, in the adjoining room, their 
 wives are su]:>posed to be formed ; the men are then com- 
 manded to awake, and see their wives for the first time 
 since parting in the entry, dressed nearly like themselves. 
 They walk around the garden by couples, led by the 
 officiating Adam and Eve, wiien Satan enter.s. He is 
 dressed in a very tight-fitting suit of black ve.vct, consist- 
 ing of short jacket and knee-breeches, with black stock- 
 ings and slippers, the last with long d<»ub]e points ; he, 
 also, wears a hideous mask, and pointed helmet. He ap- 
 proaches Eve, who is separated from Adam, and begins to 
 praise her beauty ; after which lie proffers the " tempta- 
 tion."' (Here there is a difference in the testimony. John 
 Hyde says, the " fruit offered consisted of some raisins 
 lianging on a shrub ;" one lady states that the temj)tation 
 consists of gestures and hints " not to be described ;" while 
 another young lady, after implying that Adam and Eve 
 were nearly naked, merely adds : " I cannot mention the 
 nature of the fruit, but have left more unsaid than the 
 imagination held with the loosest possible rein would be 
 likely to picture . . . the reality is too monstrous for humau 
 belief, and the moral and object of the whole is socially 
 to unsex the sexes." A third lady states that the fruit 
 consisted merely of a bunch of grapes, and .adds : " Those 
 conducting the ceremonies explained tons beforehand that 
 this portion of the affair should be conducted with the 
 men and women entirely naked ; but that, in consequence 
 , of the prejudice existing in the minds of individuals against 
 that method of proceeding, coupled with ihai'n'x tliat we 
 -i were not yet sufficiently perfect and pure-minded, and 
 • that our enemies would use it as a weapon against us, it 
 was considered necessary that we should be clothed." It 
 is quite probable the ceremony is frequently changed.) 
 Eve yields and partakes of the " fruit :" soon after she 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 
 
 379 
 
 Is joined by Adam, to whom she offers the same ; he first 
 hesitates, but overcome by her reproaches, also eats. They 
 grow delirious from its effects, join hands, embrace, and 
 dance around the room till they sink exhausted. 
 
 A loud chorus of groans and lamentations is lieard be- 
 hind the curtain, followed by a sudden crash as of heavy 
 thunder ; a rift opens in a curtain painted to represent a 
 dense wood, and in the opening appears Eloheim, behind 
 hini a brilliant light ; he is clothed with a gorgeous dress, 
 bespaagled with brilliants and brights stripes to dazzle the 
 eyes. 
 
 " Ekhcim. Where art thou, Adam, 
 
 Erst created first of all earth's tribes, 
 
 And wont to meet with joy thy coming Lord ?" 
 
 " Adam. Afar I heard Thy coming, 
 
 In the thunder's awful voice, 
 Thy footsteps shook the earth, 
 And dread seized all my frame,. 
 I saw my.self in naked shame, 
 Unfit to face Thy Majesty." 
 
 " Eloheim. How knew'st thou of thy shame ? 
 My voice thou oft lias heard, 
 And feared it not. What hast thou done ? 
 Hast eaten of that tree 
 To thee forbid ?" 
 
 " Adam. Shall I accuse the partner of my life 
 Or on myself the total crime avow ? 
 But what avails concealment with earth's Lord ? 
 His thoughts discern my inmost hidden sem^. 
 The woman Thou gav'st to be my help 
 Beguiled me with her perfect charms, 
 By Thee endowed, acceptable, divine, 
 She gave me of the fruit, and I did eat." 
 " Eloheim. Say, woman, what is this that thou hast done ?" 
 
 H 
 
 Eve. The serpent me beguiled and I did eat." 
 
 Eloheim then pronounces a curse — literally copied from 
 the Scripture — upon the serpent, or rather Satan, who fell 
 upon the ground, and with many contortions wriggles out 
 «t" the room. A curse is next pronounced upon Eve, and 
 then upon Adam, paraphrased from the Scripture. They 
 
• 
 
 380 LIFE IN UTAH; OU, TIE MYSTERIES 
 
 fall npon the ground, beat their breasts, rend their clothes, 
 and bewail their lost and sinful condiiion. 
 
 " Elvheim. Now is man fallen indeed. The accursed jiower which 
 firpt made ^va^ m Heaven, hath practised fraud on eanh. By 
 Adam's tranfcigression ehould all be under sin ; the iDoral nature 
 darkened, and none oould know the truth. But cries of pcuitenoo 
 have reached ir^y ears, and Higher Power shall redeem. Up )n this 
 earth 1 place My holy priesthood. To them as unto Me in humble 
 reverence bow. Man, fallen by Satan's wiles, shall by obedience 
 rise. Behold, the Woman's Seed shall biuise the Serpent's brad ; 
 from her a race oi'oceed endowed on earth with power di^fine. To 
 them shall ni?vn subv^ it, and regain the paradise n(<w lost through 
 disobedience. With power divino the priesthood is endowed, but 
 not in fulness now. Obey them as the Incarnate Voice of God, and 
 in time's fullness Wt man's Seed shall all that's lopt restore to man. 
 By woman, tirst fallen, Adam fell ; from Woman's Seed the priest- 
 hood shall arise, redeeming man ; and jnan in turn shill Eve exalt, 
 restoring her to the paradise by her first lost. Meanwhile go forth, 
 ye faUen ones, with only nature's light, and seek for truth." 
 
 The attendants now place upon each of the initiates a 
 small sqvtare apron, of white linen or si'k, with certain 
 emblematical marks and green pieces resemblnig fig leaves, 
 worked in and handsomely embroidered. 
 
 The candidates then Ivneel and join in a solemn oath, 
 repeating it slowly after Adam : That they will preserve 
 the secret inviolably, under penalty of being brought to 
 the block, and having their blood spilt upon the ground 
 in atonement for their sin ; that they will obey and sub- 
 mit themselves to the priesthood in all things, and the 
 men in addition, that they will take no v/oman unless 
 given them by the Presidency of the Church. A grip and 
 3, key-word arc then communicated, and the First Degree 
 of the A aronie Priesthood is conferred. Mari is now sup- 
 posed to have entered into life, where the light has be- 
 come as darkness. They pass through a narrow opening 
 into the next r<wm, which is alnMJst dark, heavy curtains 
 shutting out all but a few rays of light. Here they stumble " 
 about, lall against blocks and furniture ; persons are heard 
 calling, " here is light," " tl,ere is light," etc., and a con- 
 test o-oes on among those who call themselves Methodist, 
 Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, etc. The curtains are con- 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 381 
 
 stantly agitated, and being darkly painted with liideoua 
 figures, discover a thousand chimerical shapes. The secta- 
 rians seize hold of the initiates and pull them violently 
 about, till the latter are quite exhausted. Satan now 
 enters, commends the sectarians, laughs, chuckles and is 
 quite delighted ; the latter recommence their struggle for the 
 initiates, when a sudden fall of curtains throws in a fiill 
 blaze of light, and Peter, James and John descend into the 
 room. They order the devil to withdraw: he falls upon 
 the ground, foams, liisses and wriggles out, chased and 
 kicked by the Apostle Peter. 
 
 The initiates are then ranged in order to listen to a 
 lecture — 
 
 '^ Peter. Brethren and Sisters, light is now come into the world, 
 and the way is opened unto men ; Satan hath desired to sift you 
 as wheat, and great shall be his condemnation who rejects this 
 light. — (The ceremony is explained up to this point.) — The holy 
 priesthood is once more established upon earth, in the person of 
 Joseph Smith and his successors. They alone have the power to 
 seal. To this priesthood, as unto Christ, all respect is due ; obedi- 
 ence implicit, and yielded without a murmur. Ho who gave life 
 has the right to take it. His representatives the same. Yovi are 
 then to obey all orders of the priesthood, temporal and spiritual, 
 in matters of life or death. Submit yourselves to the higher powers, 
 as a tallowed rag in the hands of God's priesthood. You are now 
 ready to entar the kingdom of God. Look forth upon the void and 
 tell me what ye see." (Curtain is raised.) 
 
 " Adam and Eve. A human skeleton." 
 
 ^^ Peter. Rightly have ye spoken. Behold all that remains of 
 one unfaithful to these holy vows. The earth had no habitation 
 for one so vile. The fowls of the air fed upon his accursed flesh, 
 and the fierce elements consixmed the joints and the marrow. Do 
 ye still desire to go forward 1 " 
 
 ''Adam. We do." 
 
 The initiates then join hands and kneel in a circle, slowly 
 repeating an oath alter Peter. The penalty is to have the 
 throat cut from ear to ear, with many agonizing details. 
 The Second Degree of the Aaronic Priesthood is then 
 conferred, and the initiates pass into the third room in the 
 middle of which is an altar. 
 
382 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 III. 
 THIRD ESTATE. 
 
 Emblematic of celestial ized men. 
 
 '*' Michael. Here all hearts are laid open, all desires revealed,, 
 and all traitors are made known. In council of the gods it hath 
 been decreed that here the faithless shall die. Some enter here, 
 ■with evil intent ; but none with evil intent go beyond this veil or 
 return alive, if here they practise deceit. If one among you kncws 
 aught of treachery in his heart, we charge him now to speak, while 
 yet he may and live. Brethren, an ordeal awaits you. Let the 
 pure have no fear ; the false-hearted quake. Each shall pass under 
 the Searching Hand, and the Spirit of the Lord decide for hia 
 own." 
 
 The initiates are placed one by one upon the altar, 
 stretched* at full length upon the back, and the officiating 
 priest pa.sses an immense knife or keen-edged razor acrost> 
 their throats. It is understood that if any are false at 
 heart, the Spirit will reveal it, to their instant death. Of 
 course, all pass. They again clasp hands, kneel and slowly 
 repeat after Jehovah, another oath." The penalty for its 
 violation is to have the bowels slit across and the entrails 
 fed to swine — with many horrifying and disgusting de- 
 tails. Another sign, grip and key word are given, and the 
 First Degree of the Melchize'lek Priesthood is conferred, 
 being the third degree of the Endowment. Copies of the 
 Bible, " Book of Mormon" and " Doctrine and Covenants" 
 are placed upon the altar, and another lecture delivered. 
 The initiates are now instructed that they are in a saved 
 condition, and are to go steadily on in the way of salva- 
 tion ; but that temporal duties demand their first care, 
 chief among which is a positive, immediate duty to avenge 
 the death of the Prophet and Martyr, Joseph Smith. The 
 account of his martyrdom is circumstantially related, after 
 which the initiates take a solemn oath to avenge his 
 death ; that they will bear eternal hostility to the Gov- 
 ern men t of the United States for the murder of the 
 Pro j hot ; that they renounce a!l allegiance they may have 
 held to tlie Government^ and hold themselves absolved 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOUMOXISM. 383 
 
 from all oaths of fealty, past or future ; that thoj- will do 
 all in their power towards the overthrow of that Govern- 
 ment, and in event of failure teach their children to pur- 
 sue that purpose after them. Another oath of fidelity 
 and secresy is administered, of which the penalty is to 
 have the heart torn out and fed to the fowls of the air. 
 The initiates are now declared acceptable to God, taught 
 a new form of prayer, " in an uifknown tongue," and the 
 Second Degree of the Melchizedek Priedhood is conferred. 
 They are then passed " behind the veil," a linen curtain, 
 to the last room. 
 
 IV. 
 
 FOUIiTH ESTATE. 
 
 The kingdom of the Gods. 
 
 The men enter first, and the ofiiciating priest cuts cer- 
 tain marks on their garments and a slight gash just above 
 the right knee. Then, at the command of Jlloheim, they 
 one by one introduce their women to the room. Very 
 few instances have occurred of women beincr admitted to 
 these rites before marriage. " Sealing for eternity" is 
 then performed for all who have previously been only 
 " married for time." 
 
 The initiated then retire, resume their regular dress, 
 get a lunch and return to hear a lengthy address, explain- 
 ing the entire allegory, and their future duties consequent 
 on the vows they have taken. The entire ceremony and 
 address occupy about ten hours. 
 
 Such is the Endowment, as reported by many who have 
 passed through it. The general reader will readily re- 
 cognize that portion which is paraphrased from the 
 Scriptures and Milton's Paradise Lost. The general out- 
 line is evidently modelled upon the Mysteries or Holy 
 Dramas of the Middle Ages, with, perhaps, an attempt to 
 reproduce portions of the Eleusinian Mysteries of Ancient 
 Greece. Much of it will be recognized as extracted from 
 ** Morgan's Free-masonry Exposd," by those familiar with 
 that work ; and the origin of this is quite curious. When 
 Smith and Rigdon first began their work they were in 
 
384 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 great doubt what to preach ; a furious religious excite- 
 ment was prevalent in the West, and portions of argument 
 in regard to all the isms of the day may be found in the 
 " Book of Mormon." But Anti-Masonry was just then 
 the great political excitement of New York, and the in- 
 fant Church was ejisily drawn into that furious and base- 
 less crusade, which already ranks in history as one of those 
 unaccountable popular frenzies which occasionally disturb 
 our politics, rising from no one knows where, and subsid- 
 ing as apparently without cause. Smith's " New Trans- 
 lation" of the Old Testament is full of Anti-Masonry ; 
 the fifth chapter of Genesis as he has it, which is added 
 entire to our version, is devoted entirely to the condem- 
 nation of secret societies, and sets forth particularly how 
 they were the invention of Cain after he " flfd from the 
 presence of the Lord." But the Brighamites declare the 
 time has not yet come to publish or circulate this Bible ; 
 and it is only quoted b}'- the Josephites, who use this 
 chapter to condemn the Endowment. Some years after, 
 however, the Mormons all became Masons, and so con- 
 tinued till they reached Nauvoo ; there Joseph Smith 
 out-masoned Solomon himself, and declared that God had 
 revealed to him a great key -word, which had been lost, 
 and that he would lead Masonry to far higher degrees, 
 and not long after their cliarter was revoked by the Grand 
 Lodge. How much of Masonry proper has survived in 
 the Endowment, the writer will not pretend to say ; but 
 the Mormons are pleased to have the outside world con- 
 nect the two, and convey the impression that this is 
 " Celestial Masonry." 
 
 But the experience of the Mormons has fully proved— 
 if any proof were needed — that among so many ready to 
 take viJe and abominable oaths, some would be found 
 equally ready to violate them. Of those apostate Mor- 
 mons who communicated some portions of the matter to 
 the writer, he is convinced their account is correct, and is 
 at liberty to say no more ; but it may be of interest to 
 the reader to know how others justify the breaking of 
 such solemn vows, even at considerable risk to themselves. 
 John Hyde, the most noted of all apostates, and esteemed 
 
AND CHIMES OF MORMON ISM. 3S5 
 
 a very honouraljle man, gives his reasons at length, sum- 
 ming 11 p as follows : 
 
 First, As no one knew what were the oaths previous io 
 hearing them, and no one after Iiearing, could rtfusa to 
 take them, they arc not binding in justice. Secondly, 
 As the obligations also involved other acts of obedience 
 as well as secrecy, nnd as I do not intend to obey those 
 other obligations, it can be no more improper to break the 
 oath of secrecy than the oath of unlimited obedience. 
 Thirdly, \s the obligations involved treason against the 
 United States, it becomes a duty to expose them. Fourth- 
 ly, The promise of Endowment being a principal bait 
 held out to the Mormons, to get them to Salt Lake, it is 
 well they should know what it is worth. Fifthly, It is 
 better to violate a bad oath, than to keep it. 
 
 In ethics Mr. Hyde's first reason is worth all the rest ; 
 the third can hardly be admitted, as he was a resident of 
 England, unnaturalized in America, and the last would 
 apply with equal force to any oath, and in the mouth of 
 any man. But Elder Hyde has only exemplified the 
 usual course of apostate Mormons ; from a material and 
 gross extreme he has blundered to the opposite ultimate 
 of vague mysticism, and is now preaching Swedenbor- 
 gianism in England. If he live twenty years, he will 
 probably again recant, relapse into complete infidelity, or 
 become a Millenarian, Spiritualist or lunatic. 
 
 Are we to believe the testimony of apostates, and do 
 these things really occur ? 
 
 My own opinion is, that the account is substantially 
 correct, for many reasons : that the witnesses agree where 
 collusion is impossible ; the relation is in many instances 
 by persons utterly incapable of inventing or constructing 
 such a plot ; apostates universally have a horror or fear 
 of speaking about it, and never do until they are safe 
 beyond the power of the Church ; all that can be observed 
 by outsiders corresponds with these accounts, and parti- 
 cularly the fact that there is a close agreement and perfect 
 analogy between the known doctrines of the Church and 
 the outlines of the drama. 
 
 Such is one of the means employed by the Mormon 
 
38G LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 leaders to weld their people into perfect unity ; and to 
 such a feast of blasphemy and horrors do they invite tho 
 world, in their seductive 
 
 MISSIONARY HYMN, 
 
 " Lo ! the Gentile chain is broken ; 
 
 Freedom's banner waves on high ; 
 List, ye nations ! by this token 
 
 Know that your redemption's nigh. 
 
 "See, on yonder distant mountain, 
 
 Zion's standard wide unfurl'd ; 
 Far above Missoiu-i's fountain, 
 
 Lo ! it waves for all the world. 
 
 " Freedom, peace, and full salvation 
 
 Are the blessings guaranteed ; 
 Liberty to every nation, 
 
 Every tongue, and every creed. 
 
 "Come, ye Christian sects and Pagan, 
 ^ Pope, and Protestant, and Priest ; 
 
 Worshippers of God or Dagon, 
 Come ye to fair Freedom's feast 
 
 *' Come, ye sons of doubt and wonder, 
 
 Indian, Moslem, Greek, or Jew ; 
 All your shackles burst asunder. 
 
 Freedom's banner waves for you. * 
 
 " Cease to butcher one another. 
 Join the covenant of peace ; • 
 
 Be to all a friend, a brother, 
 Tliia will bring the world release. 
 
 " Lo ! our King, the great Messiah, 
 Prince of Peace, shall come to reign ? 
 
 Sound again, ye heavenly choir, 
 Peace on eanh, good-will to men." 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 387 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PRESENT CONDITION AND rROSPECTS. 
 
 Co-operation — The " bull's eye " signs — Inherent weakness of the aya- 
 tein — Immediate effects on the Gentiles — Final result to the Saints — 
 Founding of Corinne— Its bright prospects — Trip to Sevier — The de- 
 serted city — New Silverado— Mines and mining — A new interest in 
 Utah — Rich discoveries — Hindrances— Grant's administration in Utah 
 — Better men in the Revenue De])artment — Experience of Dr. J. 1*. 
 Taggart — More "persecution" — The Judges — The Governor— Con- 
 gressional Legislation — " Cullom Bill " — Probable effects— Guesses at 
 the future — Another exodus — " Zion " in Souora, 
 
 Early in October, 1868, the writer took up his residence 
 in Salt Lake City, and the hitter part of the same month, 
 took editorial control of the Salt Lake Reporter, the only 
 Gentile paper in Utah. But the hostility of the Church 
 had become so great, that the trade of Gentiles was 
 ruined, and one by one they were forced to sell out and 
 leave the city. As already noted, the October Confer- 
 ence of 1868 passed a wholesale decree of non-intercourae 
 with resident Gentiles, forbidding any Mormon to buy of, 
 employ, or in any way countenance them. The day of 
 assassinations was thought to be passed, but Brigham still 
 hoped to keep out the Grentiles, and their hated princi{)le8, 
 by ruining their trade. But, as the Gentile merchants 
 generally sold the cheapest, hundreds of the Saints found 
 it impossible to distinguish one store from another, to 
 remedy which difficulty came another " decree " from 
 Brigham, and soon after, over every Mormon store was 
 seen, in Haming blue and gold, 
 
 "HOLINESS TO THE LORD 
 
 (The All-seeing Eye) 
 
 ZION'S CO-OPERATIVE M?:RCANTILE ASSOCIATION." • 
 This effectually " corralled " the trade for a time, but, 
 
388 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 ■v^ith that strange fatality observable in men accustomed 
 to having their own way, which, in the very nature of 
 things, compels them to go further and further, till {.hey 
 at last reach a point beyond popular endurance, Brigham 
 determined that the Mormon firms should yield also, and 
 the entire business of the Territory become co-operative 
 in fact. Measures were taken to establish a store in each 
 ward and settlement, while the entire community com- 
 bined in a large wholesale estjxblishment with a stated 
 capital of $1,000,000. It was purposed to have an agent 
 constantly residing in the eastern cities, with surplus cash 
 in his safe, to be ready to watch the markets, and 
 buy always at the best advantage. In many of the set- 
 tlements co-operative stores were soon started, and, as the 
 people there do whataver the bishops tell them, it was 
 easy to get the scheme in operation. By their religion 
 and habits of unreasoning obedience, without a why or 
 wherefore, the Mormons were aa well prepared for co- 
 operation as any people could be ; and it was reasonable 
 to suppose the new scheme would be almost a perfect 
 success, that two or three j'^ears, at least, would be re- 
 quired for it to wear out. But it soon developed an 
 inherent weakness. The Mormon merchants were, of 
 course, no better pleased than the Gentiles, to have their 
 business ruined, and there were still a few of the laity 
 who would not "jump as the bell wether jumped," and 
 risk their necks in the operation. The history of co- 
 operative movements shows that, Avhere applied to manu- 
 facturing purposes, th^y have, in the majority of case^', 
 succeeded ; but in merchandizing, nine times out of ten, 
 they have failed. And the reason is obvious. In the 
 case of the manufacturers, a few nien combine their skill 
 and labor to create wealth ; every man knows something 
 of the business, and has an understanding eye on its 
 management ; if one can do nothing but drive pegs, he 
 understands that, all that he has to do, and contributes 
 his share to the success of the concern. Every member 
 knows, at a glance, the intrinsic value of the company's 
 articles, ready, at a moment's notice, to turn salesman, 
 and {is their business is all selling and no buying, except. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 889 
 
 procuring the rude materials, they have but half the op- 
 portunity for mistakes. All these features are lacking to 
 the merchant co-operators. Their business must be done by 
 agents ; not one in a hundred of the 'partners understands 
 the principles involved. Merchandizing require" the 
 unity and controlling energy of one directing iiiu .1; one 
 average merchant or two can show a bett'^r sc of books 
 than a committee of fifty first-class mcrciiants ; a debat- 
 ing society cannot centralize its energies. They do not 
 create, they only manipulate wealth ; the buying of ne- 
 cessity equals the selling, giving twice the opportunicy 
 for mistakes. If there is but one vote to each member, 
 a small aggregate of capital overrules a very large interest ; 
 if there is a vote to every share, the small holders are 
 partially disfranchised, and, of course, dissatisfied ; dis- 
 sensions must naturally result, and a thousand men can- 
 not reasonably he exj)ected to have less tlian a dozen 
 plans, either one of which would be good by itself And 
 herein the Brighauiites showed their strict consistency, 
 by maintaining that the business must be managed by 
 an inspired priesthood, that there 7)iust be no dissension 
 or difference of opinion, and that it " ivas apostacy to 
 dissent " from the business plans of that priesthood ; for 
 if such a business ever becomes a success, it must be by 
 direct inspiration from the Almighty, requiring prompt 
 obedience, and without question ; it must be " yea and 
 amen," without an attempt to piece it out with mere 
 human wisdom. When the Lord condescends to run a 
 " dollar store," we may expect co-operation to be a per- 
 fect success. The end is not yet, but enough has tran- 
 spired to show that co-operation in Utah is not exempt 
 from the usual weakness. 
 
 It was on this principle of business management by 
 the priesthood, that the Godbeites first took their stand 
 in opposition to Brigham Young. They maintained that 
 the priesthood should only guide in spiritual matters, 
 while every man should manage his private business to 
 suit himself. To this the First Presidency jointly made 
 reply: "It is our prerogative to dictate to this | eople'in 
 everything, even to the ribbons the women shall wear. 
 
390 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 It is apostacy to oppose or differ with the plans of the 
 priesthood in temporal matters." 
 
 Of course the immediate effects of the " decree of non- 
 intercourse " were to produce gi'eater bitterness between 
 Saint and Gentile. Legally it was a move which they 
 had a sort of right to make, but it was decidedly against 
 good neighborhood ; no particular violence was for a 
 while attempted, and both parties contented themselves 
 with a little quiet cursing. Social ostracism seemed to 
 be complete ; the " loyal " Brighamite and the straight- 
 out Gentile seldom met, except in enfoi'ced cases, and, 
 when they did, either sat in sullen silence, or their con- 
 versatica was a mixture of the " rile " and "knagg," both 
 exasperating and unprofitable. During the winter of 
 18G8-'C9 the Gentile residents of Salt Lake City num- 
 bered nearly eight hundred, of all ages and sexes, .among 
 whom we include that portion of the apostates who fully 
 associated with and were recognized as Gentiles. This 
 estimate I rrake from an inspection of the subscription 
 list of the Daily Reporter, the roll of membership of the 
 Gentile (Episcopal) Church, the members of St. Mark's 
 Grammar School and Sabbath School, the roll of the 
 Hebrew Benevolent Society, including every Jew in the 
 city, and the membership of the Masonic and Odd Fellow 
 Lodges, besides having been personally acquainted with 
 almost every one of them. Besides these, there were, 
 one day with another, several hundred transients in the 
 city, consisting of visitors, railroad men temporarily out 
 of employment, teamsters, miners, and travellers, stopping 
 from one week to three months. Early in March the 
 number began to decrease rapidly ; Gilbert and Sons de- 
 parted for other points ; Ransohoff and Co. sold out to 
 the co-operative institution ; Corinne was laid out on the 
 25th of March, and, in two months thereafter, received a 
 large accession of Salt Lake men, and by the 1st of June 
 there were probably less than three hundred Gentiles in 
 the city. The arrival of the newly appointed officials, 
 their families and deputies increased the number a little ; 
 but the general depression in business has acted upon all, 
 and there is no encouragement for new comers either 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 391 
 
 Saint or Gentile. The Gentile power seems to have con- 
 solidated in the nortj-ern counties, along the railroad, and 
 though the jirocess may be slow, will eventually liberalize 
 that section of Mormonism. 
 
 CORINNE stands forth in fame as the first and only 
 Gentile town in Utah ; though the progress of the rail- 
 road has caused settlements, of a hundred or so each, at 
 Bear River, Wasatch, Echo City, Uintah, and Indian 
 Creek. Corinne is sixty miles north and twelve west of 
 Salt Lake City, occupying the same relative place on 
 Bear River, the other does on the Jordan. It is at the 
 railroad crossing of Bear River, midway between th3 
 Wasatch Mountains and the sjiur known as Promontory, 
 some eight miles from the lake, and in the centre and 
 richest portion of Bear River Valley. The western half 
 of this valley, unoccupied, except by one small village 
 of three hundred Danish Mormons, contains half a mil- 
 lion acres of the very finest farming land ; of this, one- 
 fourth is cultivable without irrigation, and the rest could 
 be made fruitful by moderate watering, while an extensive 
 stock rangp of the richest kind extends westward and 
 northward. The elevation is 4,300 feet above sea-level, 
 1,000 feet less than that of Denver, 2,000 less than Che- 
 yenne, 3,300 greater than Omaha, surrounded north, east 
 and west by lofty mountain ranges, and on tlie south by 
 the Great Salt Lake. It is thus the central point of a 
 beautiful valley, fifteen by twenty miles in extent, with 
 a location unsurpassed for natural beauty. 
 
 The City was laid out March 2oth, 18G9, by Mr. John 
 O'Neill, Engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad ; at the 
 first sale of lots by General J. A. Williamson, Land Agent 
 of the Railroad Company, the sales amounted to S2 1,000, 
 and in a few weeks a fiourishing town had sprung up. — 
 Corinne is the natural centre of the Rocky Mountains ; 
 the most convenient spot on the railroad for a point of 
 departure to Helena and Virginia City, Montana, and, the 
 point of supply for Idaho and Northern Utah. Bear River 
 is navigable thence to the lake for steamers of a hundred 
 tons ; and Salt Lake and Jordan equally so to within 
 three miles of Salt Lake City. North and east of Corinne, 
 
392 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, I'HE MYSTERIES 
 
 in Utah, is already a resident population of fifteen or 
 twenty thousand, whose natural trading point is at that 
 place ; the constant efforts of the Church authorities are 
 directed to preventing thp.t trade from reaching there; but 
 it is already coming, to some extent, and must steadily 
 increase as liberal ideas prevail in that section. Corinne 
 is an anomaly in politics, a government within a govern- 
 ment, a little republic in the midst of a theocracy ; a free 
 city in the territory of an absolute monarch. For a few 
 months the town was governed by Councillors chosen 
 "without a charter ; this organization was allowed to lapse, 
 and the Mormon County authorities were acknowledged ; 
 finally, within the last few weeks, tlie Territorial Legisla- 
 ture granted a regular charter, and the city is now fully 
 organized under it. Corinne has a little of the "wicked- 
 ness " incident to new railroad towns, but thus far of a 
 remarkably peaceful character ; morally she is an excep- 
 tion to railroad towns ; the political and religious anti- 
 podes of Salt Lake City, she is on her good behavior. A 
 church and school have been successfully established, and 
 this gem of the mountains, Queen -city of the Lake, has 
 started with a good reputation. 
 
 While sojourning pleasantly at Corinne, last August, 
 rumors reached me of an immense silver district on the 
 Sevier River, two hundred miles south of Salt Lake City. 
 Little was known for a certainty of that region ; the spot 
 was far beyond the settlements in the edge of the Indian 
 country, and the route thither lay through ohe most be- 
 nighted region of Polygamia. For these and other reasons, 
 I felt that the Sevierites needed a historian. The man 
 was ready and the hour was propitious. Peace had been 
 made the preceding year with the Uintahs, and the route 
 was just safe enough to not quite destroy the spice of a 
 slight danger. Messrs. Salisbury & Gilmer, successors in 
 fame to Wells, Fargo & Co., had just established a tri- 
 weekly line of coaches to Fillmore, running within a hun- 
 dred miles of the new Silverado, and on the morning of 
 September 1st, I took a seat in their best "outfit" and 
 was soon rolling southward through the richest portion of 
 Jordan Valley. Twenty-five miles south of the city a spur 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 393 
 
 of the Wasatch juts out from the east, almost joining the 
 West Mountain, leaving a small gap known els the " Nar- 
 rows," or canon of the Jordan ; here the stage road follows 
 a " dug-way " around the hill, several hundred feet a' ove 
 the river, where there is never two feet to spare between 
 the wheels and a slope almost perpendicular. Thence we 
 descend over a long slope, with a succession of beautiful 
 views, into the Valley east of Utah Lake, the Galilee of 
 modern Saints; we pass the flourishing settlements of 
 Lehi, Battle Creek, and American Fork to the city of 
 Provo, second oldest town in the Territory. From there 
 anight stage brought us to Levan or Chicken Creek, a 
 hundred and fifteen miles south of the city, where the 
 main road bears off to the right of Iron Mountain, while 
 to the left, a trail through a high, uninhabited valley, 
 leads to the Sevier, near the head of which are the mines. 
 We were now out of even Mormon civilization, and the 
 remaining ninety-five miles were necessarily divided into 
 two stages, thirty miles to old Fort Gunnison, now a small 
 Mormon settlement, and sixty-five through the valley 
 formerly settled but deserted during the Indian war. The 
 miners have established an express over this route, mak- 
 ing one trip per week, and the driver and myself were 
 soon on the way, travelling for the rest of the day through 
 a region literally alive with small game ; jack-rabbits, 
 sage-hens, and small fowl were abundant on the high 
 plain, and ducks fairly swarmed about every pond in the 
 lower valleys. We spent the night at Fort Gunnison, a 
 veritable "walled town and city of refuge. The place is a 
 square of some thirty acres, surrounded by a stone wall 
 with huge gates on the four sides ; within is an awkward 
 collection of dobie .and log houses, mud huts, stone sta- 
 bles, " dug-outs," and willow corrals, inhabited by Eng- 
 lish, Danes, cattle, dogs, and fleas, the latter predominat- 
 ing. It may have been that the poor people could do no 
 better on account of Indian troubles, but as I walked 
 about this singular town it seemed to me the place rested 
 under the curse and shadow of a barbaric superstition. 
 The stone walls with houses built against them and tow- 
 ers for sentinels ; the dirty children resembling Arabs 
 
394 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, TIIK MYSTEIIIBS 
 
 more than Caucasians ; the heavy gates tlirown open ta 
 receive the " evening herd " of cattle, and the general a^'r 
 of desert life pervading the ])lace seemed so unlike any 
 American scene, that 1 almost expected to find I was in 
 the midst of that Oriental life from whic'. iVJormonism 
 has drawn so many of its features. 
 
 From Gunnison a few hours brought us to the noted 
 ** Salt Mountain," a series of ridges from which crystalized 
 bait can be cut in immense blocks ; aro md the points rise 
 numerous springs of pure brine, and a lit-tlc furiher on, 
 where a stream of pure water gushes out ^ a rugged 
 canon, is the city of Salina, now completely deserted. 
 
 From this point we traversed an unbroken desert for 
 ten miles, its bare, gray surface unrelieved save by an 
 occasional clump of scant grease-wood or cactus. Beyond 
 this a spur of the mountains runs out nearly to the river, 
 and turriing this point we were delighted at the sight of 
 Glenn's Cove, a semi-circle of beauty and fertility extend- 
 ing back into an opening in the mountains, containing at 
 least six miles square of land, well watered and fruitful. 
 Hovintr throuij:!! the low meadows where the natural grass 
 grew to the height of a man's head, and then over a tract 
 of farm-laud, we entei'cd the beautiful town of Glenn 
 City. Situated in such a place, with the water of a dozen 
 mountain springs coursing through the streets, this had 
 evidently been a town of considerable pretensions. The 
 streets were laid off with the cardinal points ; the houses 
 were well constructed of lumber, stone and dobies ; the 
 gardens had been enclosed with stone walls of extra finish, 
 and the ditches lining the streets paved with that care and 
 beauty which marks the settlements of the better English 
 Mormons ; while the cool shade and agreeable rustle of 
 the rows of trees lining the walks, seemed to invite the 
 desert-weary traveller to repose in coolness and comfort. 
 But there were none to enjoy this beauty; tall "pig- weed" 
 and rank wheat-grass filled the streets, the stone walls 
 were broken down and overrun by wild vines, the irriga- 
 ting ditches in places overflowed and rippled unchecked 
 through front jards and gardens, and the cool winds from 
 the canons sighed mournfully through the deserted habit- 
 ations. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMON ISM. 395 
 
 Involuntarily I looked for the cemetery, for it seemed 
 that a ]>lague must hiive smitten the city; but there was 
 no unusual record of death tliere. Beyond the city lay 
 untilled lields, with ploughs in places rusting in the fur- 
 rows, and still further deserted ranches and meadows, ap- 
 parently sleepin;^ in the hazy air of autumn. While the 
 driver rested his team for an hour, I looked tiirouixii the 
 place, for it almost seemed to me the people were hidden 
 in the houses ; but when I entered the larr^ost residence I 
 found tlie floor broken through and an Indian arrow stick- 
 ing in the wall. In another well built house, I observed- 
 a child's cradle, still unbroken, near the fire-place, and be- 
 side it the mildewed remnants of a dress and bonnet and 
 baby's shoes ; melancholy traces of the attack and flight 
 when the fearful mother caught up her child and fled be- 
 fore the avengincj arrows of the " Lamanites." 
 
 Fifteen miles further we passed Alma ; a town covering 
 thirty acres in a square ; enclosed by a massive stone wall, 
 with towers at the corners, arranged with port-holes and 
 sentry posts. But walls and towers were useless without 
 skilful men to man them ; the savages drove away the 
 cattle of the settlement in broad da}' light, and soon after 
 the place was abandoned. The whole number of Black 
 Hawk's band of Mountain Utes, who drove the whites 
 out of this valley, is reported to have been less than five 
 hundred ; and though peace had been made with him for 
 a year, the Saints were slow to return. 
 
 At Marysvale, the last town on the route, we found 
 three returned families ; and here we left the river and 
 travelled six miles up a gulch tc the westward, which 
 brought us to Bullion City and the mines. I spent seve- 
 ral days in this strange mountain community, consisting 
 of some two hundred miners isolated from the world, and 
 made a thorough examination of the district. I found an 
 awkward condition of atiTairs. There are, without doubt, 
 immense quantities of silver ore there ; the facilities for 
 working the mines, in the way of timber and water, are 
 unequalled ; but there are no placer diggings, all quartz ; 
 and the miners were men of limited means who had rushed 
 in from Nevada, each working enough " to hold his two 
 z 
 
396 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 hundred feet," tut none able to buy and bring in a quartz- 
 niill. The various leads extend for some miles along both 
 sides of the gulch, " cro})ping out" in some instances for 
 three or four thousand feet. That there is immense min- 
 eral wealth in this district is beyond a doubt; but it is 
 far from transportation, and no bullion returns have yet 
 beenmade to convince capitalists of its richness, or (Teate 
 a " rush." The Mormons manage to hinder progi-ess there 
 in various ways, and development is slow. But I think 
 it highly probable these will, in time, be among the most 
 valuable mines in the We^t. 
 
 Gold mining has been successfully established in Bing- 
 ham Canon, twenty miles west of Salt Lake City, and in 
 Rush Valley some farther west ; within the last few 
 months rich deposits have been discovered, and these 
 places are attracting great attention. Other valuable dis- 
 coveries have been made in Cottonwood Canon, and with 
 the opening of the present seascm the mining interests of 
 Utah become, for the first tinjo, important. 
 
 The accession of General Grant to the Presidency was 
 looked forward to with great interest by the Gentiles, in 
 the expectation that some reform would be inaugurated 
 in Utah ; nor were these hopes entirely without realiza- 
 tion. 
 
 The new Administration hastened to remove the of- 
 ficers who had disgraced the Revenue Service for four 
 years, ap])ointing 0. J. Hollister, Esq., Collector, and Dr. 
 J, P. Taggart, Assessor, in place of Burton and Chetlainc 
 removed. Of Burton, I have already spoken ; of Chet- 
 laine it need only be said that he was a personal friend 
 and rather intimate associate of Brigham Young, often 
 accompanying him in his trips about the Territory, and 
 that he made no attempt whatever to assess the Church 
 income. I am of 0[nnion, however, that the serious 
 charges against him in other respects are untrue. 
 
 Chief Justice Wilson had been appointed some time 
 before by President Johnscm, and retained his position. 
 The Mormon Associate Justice, Hoge, was succeeded by 
 Hon. 0. F. Strickland, who had resided several years in 
 Utah and Montana, and is eminently qualified for the 
 
AND CRFMES OF MOUMONrsit. 307 
 
 position. TIio Judge has had great practice in the peculiar 
 teclinicalitie.s of Mormon law, and enters upon his duties 
 endowed with valuable experience. The veteran, Judge 
 Drake, who had served seven years in Utah, gave place 
 to Hon. (J. F. Havvley, of Illinois, as Associate' Justice, 
 who has already taken a high position among the few 
 United States officials who have upheld the dignity and 
 maintained the honor of the Governincnt even in Utah. 
 
 The 0])inion of Associate Justices Strickland and 
 Havvley; lately delivered, dissenting from Chief Justice 
 Wilson, in the case of Hoiuard, Ih'(innir/aih and La 
 Valle, has attracted great attention in the Territories, and 
 is regarded as an authentic exposition of Federal law in 
 Territorial courts. 
 
 But it was in the Revenue Department that the first 
 collision arose with Brigham. The foUov/inir extract from 
 the coriespondence of an Eastern Journal, exhibits the 
 clearest view of all the facts and deductions therefrom : 
 
 "An attempt has recently been made in Salt Lake 
 City b}'- Dr. Taggart, the new Assessor cf Internal Rev- 
 enue, to assess a tax upon the income of the Mormon 
 Church, which is known to amount to a hirge sum annual- 
 ly. In this effort he has met with the most determined 
 and persistent opposition from Brigham and his subor- 
 dinates. Singular as it may seem, the wealthy ' Church of 
 Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' has never yet paid 
 the Government tax upon its income. The former As- 
 sessor, Chetlaine, was known by the 'Gentiles' of Salt 
 Lake City to be the mere tool of Brigham Young. 
 
 " He accompanied Brigham upon his royal progress 
 through the Territory, and upon one occasion, when at- 
 tending an evening meeting of the Mormons, accepted an 
 invitation to a seat upon the platform, with the Bishop 
 and his two counsellors, known violaters of the anti-Poly- 
 gamy law. When, however, he is removed and a man. 
 like Dr. Taggart steps into his position, determined to dis- 
 charge the duties of his office without fear or favor, the 
 Mormons salute him with howls of rage, and threats of 
 persecution. . . • . " 
 
 "The lirst act of Assessor Taggart, upon assuming 
 
398 LIFE IN UTAH; OH, TIIK MYSTKUIES 
 
 office, wjis to assess the Government tax upon the total 
 amount of scrip issued by the Corporation of Salt Lake 
 City, $19(),()()0. The Treasurer of the Corporation had 
 made his returns regularly to the former Assessor each 
 month, with the tax calculated at one-twc;lfth of one per 
 cent, upon the circulation, as required of bankers, and 
 General Chetlaine accepted them as proper and correct. 
 Section 6, of the Internal Revenue Act of Mai'ch 3, 18G5, 
 requires the assessment of 10 per cent, upon the issue of 
 all corporations of cities, &c., the Act not recognizing those 
 bodies as legitimate bankers. The tax iipon $190,000 at 
 10 per cent, is $19,000; the tax upon $190,000 at one- 
 twelfth of one per cent, is $158.83, leaving the sum of 
 18,841,09, of which the Government would bo defrauded, 
 did not the present Assessor enforce payment. The 
 profits made upon this issue of $190,000 are really a part 
 of the revenues of the Mormon Church, the members of 
 the Corporation of Salt Lake City being nominated by 
 Brigham, and their election being secured by him under 
 the present anti-republican form of .voting in Utah. In 
 the early part of last August, Dr. Taggart forwarded to 
 Brigham Young a set of blanks, at the same time request- 
 ing him, as Trustee of the Church, to make a proper 
 return of its income for 18G8. Brigham became greatly 
 incensed at this, and at first flatly refused to comply, but 
 sent in reply the following Jocument: ' We, the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, do not recognize any such 
 organization as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 
 Saints, or any such officer as the Trustee-in-Trust of said 
 Church. We, the Government of the United States, 
 have obliterated such church and ofiicer from existence 
 by legislative enactment of July 1st, 1862.' No signature 
 was appended to this. The meaning intended to be con- 
 veyed was doubtless this : That the anti-Polygamy Act 
 was theoretically intended to wipe the Trustee-in-Trust 
 and ' Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' out of 
 existence, although practically it had failed in its object ; 
 and therefore the Government could not assess and collect 
 a tax upon the income of that ecclesiastical corporation. 
 This communication from Brigham was treated with the 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOUMONISM. 399 
 
 ■contempt "wliich it deserved — no notice being taken of it. 
 The Assessor declared, however, that, if proper and 
 correct returns were not made witliin tiic time limited by 
 law, ho should proceed to make the assessment himself 
 from the best information which ho could obtain, and 
 should also hand the affair over to the United States 
 District Attorney. Upon the last day allowed by law, 
 Brigham made a return stating the total income of the 
 Church for 1864 to be $440. The return was signed by 
 Brigham Young in his private capacity. The blank oath 
 was filled up and purported to have been sworn to before 
 the Deputy Assessor, a Mormon, though Brigham had 
 been in the habit of having his private income-returns 
 sworn to by one of his clerks, who, he said, knew more 
 about it than he did himself. 
 
 " The papers were immedi.itely turned over to the 
 United States District Attorney, who prepared an ela- 
 borate ojiinion, demonstrating that the Mormon Church 
 Corporation was as much liable to have its income taxed 
 as Trinity or any church corporation, subject, of course, 
 to the legal exemptions. The various sources of revenue 
 of the Mormon Church were also clearly and succinctly 
 given. The papers were then forwarded to the Commis- 
 sioner at Washington to await his opinion and instruc- 
 tions, and there they now remain. 
 
 "The Mormon Church Corporation has dealt extensive- 
 ly in the buying and selling of horses and cattle. For 
 years this business has been carried on by its agents, but 
 no license was taken out by any of them as cattle brokei'S 
 until the new Assessor informed them of his intention to 
 prosecute, if they were not immediately obtained. The 
 authorities own and run a distillery and a wholesale and 
 retail liquor store, which are carried on ostensibly in the 
 name of the Corporation of Salt Lake City, but really are 
 part of the Church, and the profits all go into the Church 
 treasury. By means of this distillery the Government 
 has been defrauded of thousands of dollars, which should 
 have been paid in th^ sliape of S2 upon every gallon of 
 whiskey manufactured. Brigham gives as the reason for 
 not including the tithing in the income returns, that the 
 
400 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 payment of it is voluntary and optional, and therefore i& 
 merely a gift and not taxable. Unfortunately, however, 
 for Brigham, the facts do not bear out his assertion. A 
 few months past a labc^ring man obtained work on the 
 grade of the Utah Central Railroad, now being built by 
 Brigham. After earning $50 he concluded to leave work, 
 and accordingly asked for his time, which was given to 
 him. Upon arriving in Salt Lake City he hastened to 
 Brigham's office to obtain his money. The clerk hunted 
 over the Church books, and found that the man owed $48 
 tithing for 18G8. That amount was accordingly deducted, 
 and the balance, $2, handed over to him, notwithstanding 
 his earnest protestations that his family were actually in 
 need of the money to purchase food. Non-payment of 
 tithing is visited upon the offending members with-all 
 the prosecutions which the resources of the Mormon 
 Church enable it to employ. The Mormons esthnate the 
 total population of Utah at 130,000 souls. These figures 
 include only the Mormons. Of this number at least 
 30,000 are required by the rules of the Church and un- 
 doubtedly do pay tithing. Averaging their earnings at 
 $500 a year, a low estimate, w^e have $15,000,000 as the 
 aggregate. This, of course, is not in money exclusively, 
 but in produce. The tithing on this would be $150,000. 
 At least five of the leading Mormon merchants pay a 
 tithing of $10,000 each a year. The income from the 
 whiskey distillery and liquor store cannot fall short of 
 $1 00,000 ; the rents and profits of real estate are about 
 $25,000 more, besides other a«rces of revenue^not to be 
 ascertained. ^1^ 
 
 ' RBCAPITVLATIOX. " 
 
 \ ; Tithing from 30,000 people ^150,000 
 
 ■ ^ Five Mormon merchants 50,000 * 
 
 Church distillery and liquor store 100,000 
 
 Rents and profits of real estate 25,000 - 
 
 Total $325,000 
 
 Deduct exemption 50,000 
 
 $275,000 
 ** This leaves upward of a quarter of a million of dol- 
 
 i 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMCNISM. 401 
 
 lar subject to the Government tax, and the probabilities 
 are that the Church income is more than double this 
 amount, as lofiny sources of revenue are not stated. Out 
 of this and other taxes upon the private incomes of the 
 Mormon leaders, the Government has been systematically 
 defrauded year after year, through the connivance of an 
 Assessor who executed his duties in the interests of Brig- 
 ham Young. The present officer has commenced with a 
 determination to do his whole duty, and it is to be hoped 
 that he will receive the support of the Government in his 
 efforts to collect the public revenues." 
 
 Dr. Taggart proceeded to collect the evidence showing 
 the amount of tithing, and the fact that it was a require- 
 ment of Mormon discipline and the great test of standing 
 and fellowship in the Church ; and at the present writing, 
 he is in Washington, to lay the whole before the Depart- 
 ment. It now begins to look as if Brigham Youn^ would 
 be compelled to pay his income tax, the same as any other 
 speculator. Of course, all this is regarded as " rank per- 
 secution" by the Mormons ; as is the enforcement of any 
 law which does not happen to suit their convenience. 
 
 It is sufficient comment on the " wonderful industry of 
 the Mormons," of which we have heard so much, to state 
 the plain facts, that there is no other community of a 
 hundred thousand in America but has paid twice as much 
 revenue as Utah ; the Territories of Colorado and Mon- 
 tana, with half the population, have each paid nearly 
 twice as much to the Treasury, and added from ten to 
 forty times as much to the national circulation, and, not- 
 withstanding the fearful demoralization of mining camps, 
 have, in the end, produced a better race of men and wo- 
 men. 
 
 General J. Wilson Shaeffer was appointed Governor, to 
 succeed Durkee ; he was formerly the Quartermaster in 
 General Butler's department, and is reputed in every 
 respect well qualified for oh"i difficult and delicate posi- 
 tion. Thus far, however, he has not shown his adminis- 
 trative talents in Utah, but remains in Washington, 
 awaiting the action of Congress in regard to Utah, 
 
 The history of " Federal relations" in Utah presents a 
 
402 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 strange mixture of the sad and ludicrous. The first law 
 against polygamy, that of July, 18G2, wa". ^utterly in- 
 operative, as the Act of Congress failed to provide any 
 means of cnforv-ing it. Two years ago. Senator Cragin 
 introduced a mucn better Bill, providing for all needed 
 reforms in the J udiciary and voting S3'stem ; but it was 
 " referred and smothered in Committee." Next wiis Hon. 
 James Ashley's Bill, introduced in January, 1S09, provid- 
 ing for a division of the Territory, and annexing half or 
 more to Colorado, one-third to Nevada, and a small por- 
 tion each to Idaho and Wyoming. This would have been 
 the merest political quackery, a virtual backing down on 
 the part of the Government. Nature makes the bound- 
 aries of future states in the New West, and this is pecu- 
 liarly the case with Utah ; it is exactly fitted for one 
 State, and has the area and resources for the comfortable 
 suppoit of half a million people. Nevada is already as 
 large as New England, and between it and the habitable 
 valleys of Utah are interposed broad deserts and rugged 
 mountains, foiming a ten-fold greater natural boundary 
 than the Mississippi or the Hudson. . Equally plain is the 
 natural division between Utah and Colorado, and crimi- 
 nals from Southern Utah, if an attempt were made to 
 execute the law, would have to be dragged eight hundred 
 miles, around three sides of a mountainous parallelogram, 
 to reach the Federal court at Denver. This Bill, too, was 
 justifiably " smothered in Committee." Last is the Bill 
 introduced by Hon. S. M. Cullom, Chairman of the House 
 Committee on Territories, pending befoie Congress as this 
 work goes to })ress. It pjovides for giving the United 
 States Marshal his appropriate pov/er ; for restricting the 
 Mormon Probate Courts to Probate and a limited civil 
 jurisdiction as in other Territories ; for dividing the Ter- 
 ritory anew into Judicial districts, and for the proper 
 support and protection of the Courts ; that only citizens of 
 the United States shall serve as jurors, that none who 
 uphold or practise polygamy shall sit on the trial of that 
 crime, and for many other needed reforms. It is reason- 
 ably certain this Bill will pass both Houses, and, by the 
 time this meets the eye of the reader, become a law. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 403 
 
 The first effect will in all prob.ability be, that the actual 
 polygamists will at once retire from the northern sections 
 and concentrate in the south ; below the Utah Lake region 
 the Bill could not probably be enforced by the courts, for 
 many years ; but the northern section would shortly be 
 relieved of the only class who cause any trouble, for the 
 practical poh'gamists there do not exceed one in six. 
 
 The writer will not attempt to forecast the future of 
 Mormonism. It is evidently on the decline, and without 
 interference could hardly outlast thirty years ; but, with 
 its immense local power, could do much harm in that 
 period. On account of this decline, many have argued 
 that the Government should take no further measures to . 
 enforce its laws in Utah ; but, with due deference to their 
 opinions, this seems to me a very unstatesman-like view 
 of any subject. What would be thought of a court which 
 should decide against punishing a thief or murderer, " be- 
 cause, if left to iiimself, he will die in twenty or thirty 
 years anyhow !" If a Church is at liberty to violate the 
 laws for religion's sake, which an individual may not do ; 
 and if the Government has no resource, in this case or 
 any other which may arise in the future, but to wait 
 until time and internal corruption iiave worn out the 
 criminal organization, it is certainly a novel jmnciple in 
 political ethics. 
 
 The opportune death of Brigham Young would simplify 
 matters somewhat ; but there is still a mass of thirty or 
 forty thousand who would stick together under new 
 leaders, and continue the Church for another quarter 
 of a century. Or, in case the Government attempts to 
 enforce its laws and the Mormon Presidency gives the 
 command to move, at least one-third of the peo}>le would 
 follow them into Arizona and Sonora ; but the really 
 valuable portion would remain in Utah and become first- 
 rate citizens. The Church is constantly planting settle- 
 ments further south in Arizona ; they now control one 
 county in that Territory, and are within three hundred 
 miles of Sonora, which, it is popularly believed among 
 them, would be their destination, if compelled to abandon 
 Utah, The Hierarchy could take at least thirty thousand 
 
404 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 devoted followers with them, and between the Mexicans, 
 Apaches and Mormons, we should have little to choooe. 
 
 The history of all the diverging sects has clearly 
 demonstrated one fact : wherever the Mormons have come 
 in close contact with considerable numbers of Gentiles, it 
 has invariably resulted in a great apostacy, a fight or an 
 exodus. By the usual rule we should expect in Utah, 
 first a little flurry of war, then an exodus of one-third or 
 more of the people, and general apostacy of the rest: and 
 to this conclusion do present indications point. 
 
 Meanwhile, various redeeming agencies are powerfull}^ 
 though somewhat quietly, at work in Utah, which are of 
 sufficient importance to merit a separate chapter. 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONLSM. 405 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 REDEEMING AGENCIES. 
 
 The Church-First attempt- Rev. Norman McLeod-Dr. J K Robin- 
 son-Second attempt, Father Kelley-I.ast uttempt-The t^iscoral 
 
 ?.;-«r^^,V''?,r'^'''"o needed-Mission of Rev. Georce W Foote- 
 Diffi*;!.! lesof the situation- Nun<ber and occupation^ of Genti es- 
 viT r^Vr'^r^^'-S^''^^^^ newHpapers-The%V/% 7'a"-The 
 InKrand%^mV/''n"'™;r?- «• ^^">' ^^^ fouii^ler-MeslrB 
 
 The Christian Church, tlie school and the newspaper are 
 but just established, with fair prospects in Utah: but 
 already they have «' complished considerable It is some- 
 what surprising that such a field for missionary labor was 
 neglected so completely and so long. For at feast fifteen 
 years the voice of the Christian minister was never 
 heard in Salt Lake City. 
 
 If there were Chaplains among the troops of Johnston's 
 army, they seem to have left no record of their presence 
 or made any attempt to work among the Mormons The 
 first missionaiy effort was by the Rev. Norman McLeod, 
 Chaplain of the Cahfornia volunteers, at Camp Douglas ' 
 Late in 1853 he began to preach in a room on Main 
 street, and afterwards raised money to build Independence 
 Hali A large part of the funds was advanced by a literary 
 society then existing among the Gentiles, and that build- 
 ing has never been considered so much a church as a lec- 
 ture and assembly room ; it is, however, held by trustees 
 lor The First Congregational Churcli of Utah." It is 
 still burdened, I believe, by a debt of near $2,000. Rev 
 McLeod established a Sabbath School, of which Dr J k' 
 Robinson was for some time Superintendent: he also 
 dehvered a series of lectures on various subjects, particu- 
 
40G LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 larly polygamy, whicli excited great interest. The bent of 
 Mr, McLeod's mind seems to have been towards contro- 
 versy, and many of his lectures and sermons were highly 
 polemic in character, exciting no little wrath among the 
 Mormons and some discussion among the Gentiles. 
 Whether this aggressive policy, or one more mild and 
 persuasive, would better reach the case, is still a debatable 
 question. In the autumn of 186G, Mr. McLeod went east 
 to raise funds for building a church ; during his absence 
 Dr. Robinson was assassinated, and as McLeod's life 
 was openly threatened, he deemed it best not to return. 
 The second attempt to found a mission was by Father 
 Kelly, a Roman Catholic, in the summer of 18CG. He 
 spent some time in Salt Lake City, managed to keep 
 on good terms with the Mormons and from various sources 
 raised money enough to purchase a lot, which is still 
 owned by the Catholic Church ; but he found few Catho- 
 lics in the district, formed no church and left little 
 permanent record. 
 
 The third and last missionary effort was under the 
 auspices of Bishop Tuttle, in charge of the Diocese, 
 including Utah. In April, 18G7, at his request. Reverends 
 George W. Foote and Thomas W. Haskins set out for 
 Salt Lake City, where they arrived in May and commenced 
 services at once. They found but two communicants of 
 their own faith — Episcopal — and onl}^ twenty of all other 
 Christian denominations. From that day to this regular 
 services have been held in Independence Hall, and 
 a flourishins: church established. During the two and a 
 half years of their ministry a hundred and one persons 
 have been baptized by them, of whom thirty-four were 
 adults, and many of Mormon antecedents. Ninety com- 
 municants have been admitted as regular members, of 
 whom sixty-six still retain their standing in Salt Lake 
 City ; the others have either removed or died. Ail 
 denominations have united to a great extent in support of 
 this Church and Sabbath School ; the Jews also attend 
 and contribute, probably the only place in America where 
 such is the case. 
 
 The Sabbath School was begun with a few members, 
 
AND CRIMES OF ]^10RM0NISM. 407 
 
 and, in consequence of orders from the authorities of the 
 Mormon Church, some of this small number were soon 
 after withdrawn. But others soon took their place, and, 
 in spite of open hostility and private malice, the school 
 increased and spread, a powerful lever for good. At dif- 
 ferent times a little over three hundred children have been 
 instructed in the school, and the teaching, whether in the 
 case of Mormon or Gentile youth, has been attended with 
 marked and beneficent results. This school is still grow- 
 ing, and its light of Christian knowledge is a bright spot 
 in the centre of polygamic heathenism. 
 
 The Grammar School of St. Mark's Associate Mission, 
 the first Gentile school in Utah, was opened in July, 1867, 
 by Rev. Thomas W. Haskins and Miss Foote, sister of the 
 minister, with sixteen scholars. The Mormon leaders 
 again forbade their people to allow their children to 
 attend, but the attractions of free tuition prevailed with 
 many ; the school has steadily increased, both in numbers 
 and scholarship, till it now has a hundred and forty 
 pupils, and is compelled to refuse all others until enlarged 
 accommodations can be secured. From first to last four 
 hundred children have been instructed in the school. It 
 is now purposed to provide more teachers, and steadily 
 raise the grade of scholarship until young men can take a 
 regular collegiate, or at least a regular academic, course. 
 A fixed rate of tuition is charged, but all unable to pay 
 are received as free pupils, of whom there are sixty in the 
 school. This is the nearest approach to a free school at 
 present in Utah. 
 
 As yet there is no Christian church edifice erected in 
 Salt Lake City ; but it is hoped there soon will be a build- 
 ing worthy of the cause, with ample accommodations for 
 a school, and Rev. Geo. W. Foote is now in the East 
 raising funds to that end. The mission and school have 
 also had the assisting care of Rev. Henry Foote, who has 
 lately removed to Boise City, Idaho. The gentlemen in 
 charge of this mission have thought it best to raise no 
 personal controversy. Whether it was an outgrowth of 
 their personal disposition, or of the conservative policy of 
 their Church, or that they hoped to avoid the bitter 
 
• 408 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 animosity whicli existed against Rev. McLeod, they liavo 
 steadily refrained from aught like personal controversy 
 or a direct attack upon the Mormon leaders, contenting 
 themselves with "preaching Christ and Him crucified," 
 and planting principles which should in the liearts of 
 hearers work out in a love and desire for the truth. It 
 was but reasonable to suppose such a policy would at 
 least disarm personq,! hostility, and that men would not 
 curse though they might not agree. But vainly would 
 one hope by fair words to neutralize the venom of the 
 serpent's fang; the blind adder will strike, simply because 
 it is his nature, though charmed *' never so wisely," and 
 Mormonism when o])posed flies to weapons of slander and 
 vituperation, as well as against the persuasive reasoner as 
 the fierce-polemic. If these gentlemen hoped to be spared 
 McLeod's expei ience, they have been .Iisa[)pointed ; every 
 epithet a vile fancy could suggest has been heaped upon 
 them from the Mormon prese- and pulpit, and the madness 
 of bigotry has not hesitated at slandering the ladies who 
 assisted at their noble work. It was perhaps as well that 
 this shouW be so ; Christian ladies- of such character could 
 receive no stain from such a source, and this action merely 
 made plain the inherent bla -kness of the real Mormon 
 heart. But surely, if there be one deep, dark pit in the 
 regions of the damned, which Divine Justice h.ns reserved 
 as too awful for the fate of common sinne-rs, it is in wait- 
 ing for those who have used the priestly profession to 
 attack the reputation of woman. • 
 
 Preaching was begun at Corinne early in 1809, earnest 
 endeavors were made to secure funds for a buildinir. 
 which was completed and dedicated in July of the same 
 year. Neat and "npretentious, not lai-gc but commodious, 
 it is an ornament co the city and worthy of note as the 
 first Christian church edifice in Utah. Sabbath School 
 has been established and regularly continued, while a day 
 school, as a branch of the Salt Lake Grammar School, was 
 established last autumn and continued during the winter, 
 '-•- to be resumed at an early day. It is taught in the Church, 
 by Miss Nellie Wells, formerly an assistant in the Salt 
 Lake City School ; it numbers some forty scholars, and as 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. 409 
 
 the first entirely Gentile school in Utah, deserves a pl.ace 
 in history. 
 
 The residence and occupation of the Gentiles are not 
 such as to encourage either sehoolsor churches, they being 
 miners, herders, scattered traders, or transient residents. 
 
 The mines of Utah develop slowly, but it is reasonably 
 certain there is mineral wealth there, if they can find it 
 or properly get at it. Utah is in the mineral belt, there 
 arc paying mines all around it, the foi-mation of the coun- 
 try corresponds exactly with those where injmense wealth 
 of gold and silver is found; some important discoveries 
 have been made, and more will be. Sevier, Bingham, 
 Cottonwood, Rush Valley and Stockton mines have not, 
 altogether, developed enough as yet to create a " rush," or 
 make any one suddenly rich ; but in several places steady 
 industry has been found profitable, and with better facili- 
 ties for transporting ore and machinery, with more ex- 
 perience and further discoveries, the latter will come in 
 time. 
 
 Any present estimate of the number of Genv/iles in 
 Utah is necessarily somewhat conjectural. As they are 
 practically disfranchised, they run no ticket and record 
 no vote ; they have but one organized church society, and 
 very few are within reach of that ; they have never held 
 a convention en Tnasse, or had an efficient organization to 
 give us any data; and finally, they are scattered over 
 half the Territory, with very irapeifect understanding or 
 communication. From the best evidence at hand, I esti- 
 mate as follows : 
 
 r ane 1,000 
 
 Oguen, Uintah, Echo, Wasatch and Bear River, 
 
 (100 each) 500 
 
 SaltLake City 500 
 
 Camp Douglas 400 
 
 Bingham, Cottonwood and Rush Valley (100 each) 300 
 
 Sevier mining district 300 
 
 Scattering 500 
 
 Total 3,500 
 
 Deducting soldiers and U.S. officials, this would leave 
 
■ft. 
 
 410 LIFE IN UTAH; OR, TUE MYSTERIES 
 
 three thousand citizens. Of the entire number, at least 
 two-thirds are voters, nearly all the non-voters being in 
 Corinnc and Salt Lake City. With the lowest increase 
 we may reasonably expect in the coming summer, with the 
 least settlement of railroad men absolutely necessary at 
 the Junction, with no increase among the miners, and . 
 with little, perhaps very little, help from those of the 
 Josephites, and other recusant Mormons who dare say 
 their souls are their own, the Liberals ought to cast a vote 
 of at least four thousand at the coming August election. 
 They will do so, if a proper organization is eiiected. 
 
 As to the legal vote of the Mormons, it is beyond the 
 power of Statistics to determine. At the last election of 
 Hooper their vote amounted to 15,0G8 ; it could just as 
 well have amounted to 1,500,008. It was only a question 
 of a few cyphers, which do not amount to much anyhow. 
 Deducting all those who were under age, all voted for by 
 proxy, all unnaturalized or illegally naturalized by the 
 Probate Court, all those disqualitied by the Act of Con- 
 gress of July 1st, 1862, all the double voting and false 
 ballots, and the cypher would be moved the other way, 
 leaving a legal vote of 1,568. 
 
 There have been, at different times, three Gentile papers 
 published in Utah. 
 
 With Johnston's army came one Kirk Anderson, wiio 
 soon after established a weekly paper called the Valley 
 Tan. It ran through 1858 and all or nearly all of 1859, 
 then failed for want of support. Little is known of this 
 paper, except from the bound files still in the Reporter 
 office ; but it seems to have been edited a portion of its 
 existence by Mr. Anderson, and at another time by a Mr. 
 McGuire. 
 
 The first daily paper, the Union Vedette, was established 
 at Camp Douglas late in 1863, with Gen. P. E. Connor as 
 proprietor. At the beginning, the work was done by 
 enlisted men of the California and Nevada volunteers, 
 anc^^he editing by various officers of that command. The 
 main object of the Vedette seems to have been to give daily 
 telegraphic reports from the seat of war, which were eagerly 
 sought after by all the Gentiles. The Mormons then had 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOEMONISM. 411 
 
 but one paper, the Weel'hj Dcseret Keics, almost as old as 
 the 'J'orritoiy, but much too dull and prosy to meet the 
 new demand for intellectual stimulus. The Veddte was 
 established with the concurrence of Gen. Wright, then in 
 command of the Department, with a view to the publica- 
 tion of official orders, and in the ho{)e of disseminating 
 more correct information on the military and civil policy 
 of the Government among the Mormons. 
 
 In addition to the old feeling between Mormon and 
 Gentile the Vedette had to deal with questions of loyalty, 
 the volunteers being intensely devoted to American insti- 
 tutions, and the Mormons only differing from Southern 
 rebels in the fact that they were not openly in arms. The 
 paper soon become quite popular and obtained a wide cir- 
 culation in Montana and Idaho, as well as Utah. In the 
 autumn of 18G5 it was removed into Salt Lake City and 
 enlarged. Some of the officers still wrote occasionally for 
 it, but the editorial control was in the hands of civilians, 
 Rev. Norman McLeod and 0. J. Goldrick. The contro- 
 versial spirit, which was of a questionable benefit in Mr. 
 McLeod's sermons, was much more fitting in the columns 
 of the Vedette, which increased in popularity and ran well 
 for one year. Several other persons contributed also to 
 it; ]iages during that time. The office ''hen changed hands, 
 and Mr. Shoaff, a printer from California, became nominal 
 owner and editor. J3ut the Vedette had passed the height 
 of its prosperity and in five months was reduced one-half 
 in size, receiving but indifferent support at that. Shoaff . 
 soon after left, handing over the p^per to Judge Daniel 
 McLaughlin and Mr. Adam Aulbach, who again enlarged 
 it to the former size. Forashort time the concern flourished, 
 but Judge McLaughlin departed for Cheyenne, after which 
 the paper rapidly declined and soon was compelled to sus- 
 pend. During Shoaff 's administration the financial em- 
 barrassment of the concern had increased to such an extent 
 that all the surplus material was so^d, and two other offices 
 were mainly outfitted therefrom, viz : The Utah Magazine 
 and the Sweetwater Mines. ■ - --- 
 
 Early in 1808 Mr. S. S. Saul arnved from California 
 and deeming the location favorable purchased the remain- 
 AA 
 
 0s' " 
 
412 LIFK IN UTAH; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 ing material, and on tlie 11th of May the same year, 
 issued the first number of the Salt Lake Reporter, daily 
 only. The first five months of its existence the paper was 
 very small and but poorly supported; it was edited hap- 
 hazard by several difierent persons, and regularly by no 
 one. A newspaper more than any other enterprise re- 
 quires the controlling energy of one directing mind ; steady 
 mediocrity is better than variable talent; above all it 
 must have a fixed policy, and one common place worker, 
 a mere plodder though he be, is far ])etter than half a 
 dozen brilliant but irregular geniuses. But it is doubtful 
 if any newspaper could have succeeded during that period, 
 no matter what talent might have been employed. 
 
 On the 10th of September, 18G8, tho writer entered 
 Salt Lake City, and on the 19th of October took editorial 
 charge of the Reporter, in whicli position he continued 
 for eleven months, until September 1869. On the first of 
 December he joined with Messrs. Adam Aulbach and John 
 Barrett in the purchase of the entire office, which partner- 
 ship continued for eight months, with real pleasure to the 
 writer, but with little pecuniary profit. A weekly edition 
 was commenced in February 18Gy, which is still continued, 
 with increasing circulation and popularity. In the spring 
 of 18G9, the office was removed to Corinno and Utah sub- 
 stituted in the title for Salt Lake. Early in September the 
 writer retired, and soon after the office passed into the 
 hands of Messrs. Huyck and Merrick, the present proprie- 
 
 tOl'S. 
 
 During my editorial labors I frequently had occasion 
 to discuss the action of Mormon Courts, and particularly 
 after our removal to Corinne. Our County Judge was 
 the Bishop Smith, already mentioned as the husband of 
 two of his nieces ; in an article on county aflTairs I allud- 
 ed to that fact with considerable severity, more, perhaps, 
 than strict equity in journalism would allow. Soon after 
 quitting the editorial p(jsition I was summoned to attend 
 court at Brigham City, and while passing from the court 
 room to the street received a violent blow on the back of 
 the head, which prostrated me almost senseless upon the 
 ground. Whether more than one took part I do not 
 
AND CRIMES OF MOIIMONISM. 413 
 
 know; all I distinctly remember is a confused rush and 
 trampling of heavy boots, and when I revived I was 
 being raised by my friends, who were taking stock of my 
 condition generally. My collar bone was broken in two 
 places, and my scalp badly torn, besides minor injuries ; 
 altogether, it "was a narrow escape. There were but 
 half a dozen Gentiles present, from whom I learned that 
 the principal assailant was a son of the Judge ; but I did 
 not see and could not now identify him. The attack was 
 probably caused by my strictures upon his father and the 
 Probate Courts. There was nothing to be done about it, 
 however ; it was one of those incidents to which news- 
 paper men arc liable anywhere, which are of frequent 
 occurrence to Gentiles in Utah, and for which there is no 
 remedy there. 
 
 Shortly before, a young apostate Mormon in Bear Lake 
 Valley, acting as clerk for Mr. Frederick Kiesel, a Gentile 
 merchant, was killed outright in a way that pretty clearly 
 indicated the direction of ,the Church authorities ; and 
 not long after a Mr. Phelps, a young Gentile in Salt Lake 
 City, was attacked at night by the secret police, shot 
 through the shoulder, and narrowly escaped with his life. 
 He had the good fortune, however, to kill one of his as- 
 sailants. Such occurences are rare now, as compared with 
 ten or fifteen years ago, still they happen often enough to 
 make Gentiles apprehensive and not anxious to remain, 
 which is doubtless the effect desired. The most efficient 
 government could not altogether prevent this, but much 
 more might be done than is. 
 
 I was wounded on the 1st of November, but in that 
 healthful air recovered sufficiently to travel by December 
 Ist, when, after fifteen months' residence, I left the Terri- 
 tory, for a short time at least. As editor for one year of 
 the only Gentile paper in Utah, in closing these sketches 
 a few words may be pardoned to one speaking it may be 
 egotistically of himself, while occupying a delicate and 
 difficult position. 
 
 '- Of my intercourse with the Gentiles of Utah, I have 
 none but the most pleasant recollections. An utter 
 stranger, quite an invalid, and in a condition where per- 
 
"/ ■ 
 
 414 LIFE IN UTAH ; OR, THE MYSTERIES 
 
 sonal friendship was almost a necessity, I received from 
 the first at their hands the most courteous and respect- 
 ful attentions. My keenest sympathies were enlisted 
 for a people, exiled as it were in the very centre of tlieir 
 country, claiming the name and protection of American 
 citizens, but subject to a worse than Russian despotism ; 
 practically disfranchised and without representation in 
 any Legislative body. My social intercourse with them 
 has been of the most pleasant character, and if at any 
 time I have complained of an inefficient pecuniary sup- 
 port for my work, I now perceive that it was due to the 
 pressure of adverse circumstances beyond their control. 
 It is a source of pride and deep satisfaction that my 
 editorial management met with the hearty approval of 
 those in whose judgment I most confided, and that the 
 MepoHer is now upon a footing that renders its continu- 
 ance reasonably certain ; for I shall ever feel a pride that 
 I once directed its policy. 
 
 As for the Mormons, I came among them with but few 
 ideas about them, and my first impressions were rather 
 favorable. My first friends were all Mormons, with whom 
 I journeyed across four hundred miles of the plains ; and 
 those persons are still my friends ; they have extended 
 me courtesies which I duly appreciate ; I have " eaten 
 their salt and warmed at their fires." But not all their 
 kindness or personal friendship could blind me to the 
 monstrous defects of their social system, or the odious 
 features of a church tyranny ; and if my feelings soon 
 changed towards the hierarchy, it was only from the best 
 of evidence. That evidence has constantly accumulated 
 until language fails me to convey my utter detestation of 
 their system. That the people are frugal, industrious or 
 honest will avail them but little, while ianaticallv devoted 
 to such a power. If, in the bitterness of heated contro- 
 versy, injustice has inadvertantly been done to any pri- 
 vate person, none will regret it more, or be more ready 
 to make amends, and though some unpleasant experiences 
 have fallen to my lot, I am not conscious of special ani- 
 mosity against the body of the people. And when a score 
 of years shall have passed, and the principles for which 
 
AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM. . 415 
 
 we have contended are seen in their fruition, Lam quite 
 sure many who have cursed the writer will at least ^ive 
 
 t^oXtlff ''""T^^' "^^ ^^T^^ ^^^^'^ still be some 
 who dissent from the measures he has advocated, when 
 
 the fierce alembic of time has proved which was correet, 
 
 and the test of experience has shown what was reallv 
 
 nT.iZ'\^T'''y ^^"v^*^^^ I^^^P^^' I trust they wS 
 not remember their wrath forever. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 • ...iA