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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
IX. 
 
 JANUARY, 1918 
 
 No '. 
 
 THE 
 
 UTAH 
 
 AND 
 
 HI-TTOR.ICAII 
 MAGAZI/1E 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 -n 
 
 ^/ x/ 
 
 v~0 
 
 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY 
 BY THE 
 
 GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY 
 OF UTAH 
 
 60 EAST SOUTH TEMPLE ST. 
 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 
 
THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF UTAH 
 
 . Officers and Directors 
 ANTHON H. LUND, JOSEPH F. SMITH, JR., 
 
 President Secy.-Treas., 
 
 CHARLES W. PENROSE, JOSEPH CHRISTENSON 
 
 Vice-President Librarian 
 
 ANTHONY W. IVINS 
 HEBER J. GRANT 
 HYRUM G. SMITH 
 
 PUBLISHERS OF 
 
 The Utah Genealogical and 
 Historical Magazine 
 
 ANTHON H. LUND, NEPHI ANDERSON, 
 
 Editor Associate Edicor 
 
 Entered as second-class matter, October 1, 1910, at the post office, at Salt 
 Lake City, Utah, under the act of March 3, 1879. 
 
 CONTENTS JANARY, 1918. 
 
 I. THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS, By Andrew Jenson 1 
 
 II. THE ESSENTIAL VALUE OF GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH, By Joseph 
 
 F. Smith, Jun. - - - - 14 
 
 III. THE BENNION FAMILY OF UTAH, By Harden Bennion - 22 
 
 IV. THE PEERY GENEALOGY, Arranged by Annie Lynch - 31 
 V. BOOK REVIEW - - 42 
 
 VI. OUTLINES OF STUDIES AND ACTIVITIES FOR THE GENEALOGICAL SO- 
 CIETY FOR 1918 -------- 44 
 
 HELP BUILD UP THE WEST BY INSURING WITH THE 
 
 Home Fire Insurance Company of Utah 
 
 ORGANIZED 1886 
 
 Surplus to policy holders over - $900,000.00 
 
 Unsurpassed protection and prompt settlements of losses 
 
 HEBER J. GRANT & COMPANY 
 
 GENERAL AGENTS 
 Local Agents in all Towns SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 
 
DAVID HAROLD PEERY. 
 
-, 
 
 rtx-^ 
 
 THE 
 
 UTAH GENEALOGICAL 
 
 AND HISTORICAL MAGAZINE. 
 
 JANUARY, 1918. 
 
 THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 
 
 |?3 o - ( ^ H I 
 
 BY ANDREW^JENSON, PRESIDENT HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF UTAH 
 ASSISTANT CHURCH HISTORIAN. 
 
 As years roll on, and the west half of the United States of 
 America becomes more thickly settled, the achievements and la- 
 bors of the early pioneers of the great west become matters of 
 
 x. vital importance, and no one who visits Salt Lake City at the 
 
 -j. present time can afford to ignore the fact that the Latter-day 
 Saints were the first to raise the standard of Anglo-Saxon civiliza- 
 tion in the great intermountain region and elsewhere. Nobody 
 dare dispute the fact in the face of history that they were also emi- 
 nently successful as pioneers, for the many flourishing cities, 
 <j towns and villages with which that part of our great country 
 once known as the Great American Desert is now dotted, testifies 
 
 Q. abundantly of the energy, the union, the determination and suc- 
 cess of the " Mormon" pioneers. Viewing these things in the 
 light of history, the question naturally arises : Did the "Mor- 
 mons" have any experience as pioneers and founders of common- 
 wealths before they became the founders of Salt Lake City in the 
 heart of the great American desert. Endeavoring to answer that 
 question it becomes necessary to go back to the beginning of 
 "Mormon" history'. 
 
 X Nearly everybody knows that the Church of Jesus Christ of 
 
 Latter-day Saints was organized as a religious body in 1830 in 
 the western part of the State of New York, but it may not be 
 
 {2 so well known that said Church was only about a year old 
 when the members of that organization commenced their labors 
 as pioneers of the west. In the month of June, 1831, Joseph 
 Smith with a small body of men left the little village of Kirtland, 
 Ohio, as mis.sionaries, for the western boundary of the United 
 States, four men of the community having preceded them there 
 in the beginning of the same year. Arriving in Jackson County, 
 Mo., in July, 1831, Joseph Smith and his companions, together 
 
2 THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 
 
 with a number of families known in Church history as the Coles- 
 ville branch, commenced operations as a colonizing community 
 immediately east of where Kansas City now stand,s. There those 
 eastern people had quite an experience in establishing what we 
 may term a Yankee colony in a Slave-holding state of the Union. 
 They practically became the first farmers without slave labor in 
 that part of our great country and in a remarkably short time 
 they had a prosperous colony numbering about twelve hundred 
 people. In this colony was established a printing office which at 
 the time of its establishment was 120 miles further west than any 
 other printing office in the United States. The "Mormons" also 
 opened a successful store, built one or more mills and opened up 
 a number of flourishing farms on lands which they bought from 
 the United States govermene for $1.25 an acre. 
 
 I am not in this article dealing with the causes leading to the 
 breaking up of this first "Mormon" settlement in Missouri, but 
 will simply state that the colony only existed about two and one- 
 half years, when differences arose between them and some of the 
 older settlers (who were nearly all slave holders) and the "Mor- 
 mons" who, being eastern people, were mostly Abolitionists, but the 
 year 1833 witnessed the exodus of the "Mormons" from Jackson 
 County. 
 
 Their next experience as colonizers was on the flat lands lying 
 adjacent to the Missouri River and some of its tributaries on the 
 opposite side of the Missouri, mainly in Clay County, Mo. 
 There the "Mormons" again gained experience as pioneers and 
 were successful in turning the flat low lands in that part of the 
 country into fruitful fields. Much of their success there as well 
 as in Jackson County and also their future homes elsewhere must 
 be ascribed to their unity and that co-operation which is based 
 upon brotherly love and mutual help. 
 
 The experience of the Latter-day Saints in Clay County only 
 lasted about three years, when it became necessary, in order to 
 avoid trouble with their less industrious neighbors, for them to 
 move out into an open prairie country, lying about sixty miles 
 in a northeasterly direction from Liberty, Clay County. Those 
 who were anxious to have them move promised that if they would 
 be satisfied with that prairie country, where only a very few 
 people had settled up to that time, they could have a country or- 
 ganization of their own. It seems that up to that time the early 
 inhabitants of Missouri had avoided the cultivation of .prairie 
 land, believing that only such parts of the country which were 
 fertilized by the falling leaves of trees growing adjacent to the 
 Missouri and its tributaries were rich and productive enough to 
 warrant the husbandman putting his plow into the ground, but 
 the "Mormon" community, as soon as they had located in what 
 soon afterwards became Caldwell County, Mo., proved to the 
 rest of the inhabitants that the prairies were not useless, but that 
 
THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 3 
 
 good crops could be raised on these with careful cultivation. The 
 consequence was that the "Mormon" community was more suc- 
 cessful in Caldwell County, and also in ,some of the adjacent 
 counties, than they hitherto had been elsewhere, for soon the 
 community grew from 1200 souls to as many thousands and a 
 promising town called Far West which reached the 2000 mark so 
 far as inhabitants were concerned was founded on the prairies of 
 Caldwell, and the community found itself gaining rapidly in 
 wealth and comforts. 
 
 In the meantime another faction of the Church had experiences 
 as pioneers in Ohio, not far from where the city of Cleveland 
 now stands. Early in 1831 a number of the Saints located in 
 a little insignificant hamlet containing only a mill, a store and a 
 few farm houses, but soon they built a city containing about 
 1500 inhabitants with a beautiful Temple in the midst of it. In 
 this connection it may therefore be said that the "Mormons" be- 
 came the pioneer temple builders in North America, aside from 
 masonic temples, .so called, and other houses of worship. This 
 settlement known as Kirtland, Ohio, did not continue in the hands 
 of the Latter-day Saints more than about seven years, as com- 
 plications arose, and it became necessary in 1838 for the bulk of 
 the people to vacate, leaving their temple and improvements be- 
 hind, and migrate to Missouri, about a thousand miles further 
 west. 
 
 In the meantime trouble also arose between the "Mormons" 
 and the other settlers in Missouri. I am not here dealing with 
 the causes of this trouble, but I venture to say, that jealousy 
 based upon the fact that the "Mormons" seemed to be more 
 prosperous than their neighbors were at the bottom ol it, and yet, 
 it must be remembered that the religion of the Latter-day Saints 
 was in many respects so different from that of many of their 
 neighbors that persecutions on that ground easily arose, though 
 the "Mormons" from the beginning had adopted as their slogan 
 "to mind their own business." Suffice it to say that the early 
 part of 1839 found the Saints to the number of about 12,000 
 driven into exile, after a number of their people had been mur- 
 dered, much of their property destroyed and nearly all the rest 
 confiscated. On this occasion, the Saints, instead of turning 
 their faces westward, traveled about two hundred miles eastward 
 in order to get out of the state of Missouri, the so-called extermin- 
 ating order of Governor Lilburn W. Bogsrs having been issued 
 recommending either extermination or expulsion. 
 
 In the little town of Quincy, 111., the exiled Saints found tem- 
 porary shelter, the people of Quincy treating them most kindly 
 and taking immediate steps to relieve them of temporary wants. 
 
 But as the "Mormons" could never consent to live on charity, 
 or to receive aid when there was a possibility of them help- 
 ing themselves, they immediately fell back upon their former tac- 
 
4 THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 
 
 tics as colonizers. About fifty miles from Quincy, up the Missis- 
 sippi River, a little village known as Commerce had been founded 
 some years before by eastern people who came there well sup- 
 plied with money and property to found a settlement in the west, 
 but the place being very unhealthy these people instead of building 
 up a town on the banks of the Mississippi river built up a good 
 sized graveyard on the slope of a hill. The facts were these that 
 the place was so marshy and swampy that the inhabitants were 
 nearly all taken with malaria, mostly fever and ague, and the 
 mortality in consequence was very great indeed. Hence, when 
 the Saints through a committee appointed for the purpose inves- 
 tigated conditions for buying land upon which to locate another 
 settlement they found the few people left at Commerce willing to 
 sell on easy terms, and the consequence was that the ''Mormons" 
 located in that beautiful bend of the Mississippi River in Han- 
 cock County, 111., where they in the course of six years built 
 up Nauvoo, the beautiful, and that too in the days of their pover- 
 ty, plucked and peeled as they were on account of their sufferings 
 and persecutions in Missouri. Yet the facts are these that where 
 the comparatively wealthy people from the east could not build 
 up the village of Commerce, these persecuted "Mormons", 
 through their union of toil and systematic labor, built up a city 
 which, when it flourished the most, had about 20,000 inhabitants. 
 The city contained a beautiful temple, a number of manufacturing 
 establishments, public buildings, a printing office and many sub- 
 stantial private residences. Here the "Mormons" had exper- 
 iences as pioneers to drain swamps and turn them into fruitful 
 fields and to take other steps for improving conditions until, ac- 
 cording to the .statement of the late George A. Smith, Nauvoo be- 
 came as healthy as any other place in Illinois. Joseph the Proph- 
 et, the "Mormon" leader and the founder of the Church, took a 
 most active part in the building of Nauvoo which as years rolled on 
 became a most endearing spot to him. This is exemplified by 
 a remark he made when he left Nauvoo the last time alive to go to 
 Carthage. When he had gone as far as the Temple he turned 
 around and looked with admiration upon that building and then 
 upon the city at large, remarking: "This is the loveliest place 
 and the best people under the heavens ; little .do they know the 
 trials that await them." His bosom friend John Taylor, in his 
 beautiful composition known as "The Seer," in referring to Jo- 
 seph Smith and Nauvoo, says: 
 
 "The Saints, the Saints, his only pride, 
 For them he lived, for them he died. 
 Their joys were his, their sorrows too: 
 He loved the Saints, he loved Nauvoo." 
 
 It was not only Joseph Smith who thus loved Nauvoo and its 
 
THE '"MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 5 
 
 people, but that beautiful place became the pride of all its in- 
 habitants. Many years ago, when I first became acquainted with 
 the inhabitants of this intermountain country and when many early 
 Church veterans were yet alive, I often, in my endeavors to elicit 
 from them historical information concerning- early pioneer days, 
 listened for hours to some of those Nauvoo Saints relating- inci- 
 dents connected with that city ; and while they were telling of their 
 thrilling experiences there and their associations with the Prophet 
 Joseph, I would in many instances notice the tears coursing their 
 way down their weather-beaten cheeks, as the pleasant or sad 
 memories of the past touched their hearts. 
 
 After what I have said it will readily be seen that the Latter- 
 day Saints had much experience as pioneers, founders of settle- 
 ments and city builders before they came to these mountains, and 
 these experiences indeed stood them well in hand when it fell to 
 their lot to found this beautiful city in these Rocky Mountains. 
 
 It is a well known fact that the Saints were driven away from 
 Illinois in 1846, after they had witnessed the murder of their 
 Prophet and Patriarch and a number of others by the hands of 
 mobs. Early in February of that year (1846), the exodus of 
 about 25,000 people commenced by the advance guard crossing the 
 Mississippi river and forming a temporary encampment on Sugar 
 Creek, Lee county, Iowa. Thence the journey westward was con- 
 tinued through the southern counties of Iowa to the Missouri 
 river, a distance of about three hundred miles, and here again the 
 "Mormons" became pioneers in founding such settlements as Gar- 
 den Grove, Mt. Pisgah, Kanesville (the present Council Bluffs), 
 and quite a number of smaller settlements, in southwestern Iowa. 
 If our socialistic friends want to give an illustration of what true 
 Socialism, based on brotherly love, can accomplish, then let them 
 read the history of the "Mormons" after their expulsion from the 
 state of Illinois, and also of their movements after their arrival 
 in the Rocky Mountains. Let them post themselves as to how 
 the advance companies of what was termed the camps of Israel, 
 planted and sowed grain and vegetables at Garden Grove, Mt. 
 Pisgah, etc., for the later companies of their co-religionists to reap 
 the harvest. Let them read also of the covenant entered into by 
 the "Mormons" in Missouri in 1839 when the better-to-do mem- 
 bers of the community pledged themselves to spend their last 
 dollar in assisting their fellow-sufferers to leave the state of Mis- 
 souri. By what I have now written it will be seen that the Saints 
 were practically the pioneer settlers in certain parts of Iowa, this 
 being particularly the case in Pottawattamie couny in that state. 
 
 It was the intention, when the exodus from Nauvoo was com- 
 menced in 1846, that the advance companies of the "Mormons" 
 should arrive in the Rocky Mountains that year; but when the 
 first companies had reached the Missouri river a call came from 
 the United States government for five hundred men to be raised 
 
6 THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 
 
 among the "Mormons" to participate in the war, which had broken 
 out between the United States and Mexico. This delayed the 
 settlement of Salt Lake valley one year, for instead of going to 
 the mountains in 1846 the Saints, after the Battalion had left, 
 found it necessary to locate a temporary settlement on the west 
 bank of the Missouri river, which became known as Winter Quar- 
 ters. This meant that the "Mormons" became the first actual 
 white settlers in what is now the state of Nebraska, for up to that 
 time that part of our great country now included in said state 
 had been in the hands of the Omahas, Pawnees, Sioux and other 
 Indian tribes, and not only were the Saints the founders of that 
 first settlement in Nebraska, Winter Quarters, where the little city 
 of Florence now sands, but they also took an active part a few 
 years later in founding the city of Omaha where a "Mormon" 
 elder (Jos. E. Johnson) published the first newspaper ("The 
 Omaha Bee") ever published in that city. 
 
 I now revert to the Mormon Battalion which left the Potta- 
 wattamie country in Iowa in July, 1846, and marched to Fort 
 Leaven worth. Thence the real journey to California was com- 
 menced, and after traveling as far as Santa Fe, New Mexico, it 
 was discovered that a number of families who had accompanied 
 the Battalion that far were not able to undertake the other half 
 of the journey to California which led through dry and trackless 
 deserts ; hence it was decided that those families, together with a 
 number of the soldiers who during the first half of the journey 
 had shown signs of not being as strong as some of their com- 
 panions, should change their course of travel, and instead of con- 
 tinuing to California go north and winter on the Arkansas river. 
 This meant that the "Mormons" also became the first Anglo- 
 Saxon settlers in what is now the enterprising state of Colorado, 
 and it was not only these soldiers and "Mormon" families who 
 wintered at what is now the city of Pueblo in Colorado, but a 
 number of Saints who had left the Southern States in 1846 with 
 the intention of joining the pioneers on their journey to the Rocky 
 Mountains that year were compelled to winter with the detachment 
 of the Battalion, as the pioneers (as stated) did not proceed to 
 the mountains till 1847. 
 
 The following is culled from Capt. James Brown's account of 
 his detachment (sick detachment) of the Mormon Battalion who 
 spent the winter of 1846-47 at Pueblo : 
 
 "When the Mormon Battalion arrived in Santa Fe, and ordered 
 by General Doniphan to march to California, it was found upon 
 examination that there were those in the Battalion that were not 
 fit for service ; hence, they were detached and sent to the Arkansas 
 river near Bent's Fort to winter under my command. * * * * 
 We left Santa Fe on the 18th of October, 1846, on march for the 
 Arkansas, near Bent's Fort, a distance of three hundred miles, 
 with twenty days' rations without any bacon. Our beef was 
 
THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 7 
 
 broken-down oxen that had been driven from the States that 
 season (dry picking for the sick). We made from fifteen to 
 twenty miles per day, twenty-seven sick men not being- able to 
 travel a foot on the start, and no conveniences for the sick, only 
 in our baggage wagons, which were drawn by broken-down oxen. 
 Therefore the men who were well, in many instances, helped to 
 draw the wagons, but with the blessing of the Lord all made the 
 river. Milton Smith of Company C died the 27th of October, on 
 the march to Bent's Fort, with intermittent fever. He was a good 
 young man, and his death was much lamented by Company C. 
 Abner Chase of Company B -died the 3rd of November on our 
 march to Bent's Fort. He was worn out with chills and fever, 
 but was well attendedd to by his brother John D. and others. He 
 was buried in a beautiful grove a martyr for the kingdom of 
 God. My acquaintance with him was during his sickness and he 
 bore his suffering like a saint. * * * * 
 
 "We arrived at Bent's Fort on the 7th of November, left on 
 the 9th for Pueblo, seventy-five miles west, up the Arkansas river, 
 arrived in Pueblo on the 15th, where we made winter quarters. 
 There we found a company of Saints that had stopped for the 
 winter, and been left there by Elder Wm. Crosby from the South. 
 Elder Porter Dowdle was president. We made ourselves com- 
 fortable quarters for the winter, built a log tabernacle, 20x30 feet, 
 where we sang, prayed and preached and sometimes danced dur- 
 ing the winter. Joseph W. Richards, musician of Company A, 
 died the 21st of November, 1846, of quick consumption, in Pueblo. 
 I became acquainted with him after we left Santa Fe and I have 
 often wondered why the Lord took so fine and promising a young 
 man away in his youth. Notwithstanding he was worn out with 
 affliction, his countenance beamed with intelligence and hope of 
 eternal life. * * * He was calm as a summer's morning and 
 expired in a few minutes without a groan. He was laid in the 
 grave in perfect order, according to his request. He was beloved 
 of all the Saints that knew him. John Perkins, of Company C, 
 died in Pueblo the 19th of January, 1847, of consumption." 
 The following is copied from Bancroft's history of Colorado: 
 "The first American families in Colorado were a part of the 
 Mormon Battalion of 1846 who with their wives and children re- 
 sided at Pueblo from September ( 1846) to the spring and summer 
 of the following year (1847) when they joined the "Mormon" 
 migration to Salt Lake. A number of persons later living in 
 Utah were born at Pueblo in 1846-47. A number of houses were 
 erected by them for winter quarters and here were born, married 
 and buried a number of their people. Driven out of Illinois at 
 the point of the bayonet, seeking homes on the western side of 
 the continent, they had accepted service under the government 
 which had failed to protect them in their direst need for the sake 
 of being provisioned and having their families transported across 
 
8 THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 
 
 the continent. Of their strange history the winter in Pueblo was 
 but an incident." (Bancroft, p. 357.) 
 
 Going back a little in our story, I desire to 'draw attention also 
 to the fact that on the very day in February, 1846, that the actual 
 exodus of the "Mormons" from Nauvoo, Illinois, took place, a 
 ship named the Brooklyn sailed from the city of New York with 
 a company of 230 Saints on board, mainly farmers from the New 
 England States and citizens of some of the eastern cities. This 
 ship performed a wonderful voyage, doubling Cape Horn, touch- 
 ing at the island of San Fernandez (the base of the Robinson 
 Crusoe story), touching then at the Hawaiian Islands and finally 
 landing at the Bay of San Francisco July 31, 1846, nearly one 
 year before President Brigham Young and his pioneers entered 
 the valley of the Great Salt Lake. On the arrival of the Brooklyn 
 in California the "Mormons" who had made the voyage in that 
 ship found a small village called Yerba Buena, standing near the 
 Golden Gate. After landing, the Brooklyn people soon found 
 themselves outnumbering the native Californians and under their 
 manipulations and industry the little insignificant Spanish village 
 was changed to San Francisco, there being already a Catholic mis- 
 sion of that name in the vicinity. This change was brought 
 abou partly through the influence exercised by the California Star 
 which was practically the first newspaper published in California 
 in the English language. It was edited by Samuel Brannan, the, 
 "Mormon" Elder, who had led the Brooklyn company from New 
 York to California. Thus it can be claimed consistently that the 
 "Mormons" were the actual founders of San Francisco as well 
 as Salt Lake City and many other places in the "Great West." 
 
 A number of the Brooklyn company, as stated, were farmers 
 who naturally desired to carry on agriculture in California, and 
 in looking around for a suitable place to locate a farnrng colony 
 they selected a spot in the great San Joaquin valley, near the 
 junction of the Stanislaus river with the San Joaquin river, and 
 here the "Mormons" founded the first farming settlement in that 
 great valley which now contains seven of the most flourishing 
 counties in California. Later the same people that founded Salt 
 Lake City located the fine and flourishing settlement of San Ber- 
 nardino in Southern California. 
 
 The following is extracted from Hubert Howe Bancroft's "His- 
 tory of California," Vol. 5, page 548: 
 
 "It was on February 4th ( 1846) that the Brooklyn sailed from 
 New York with her load of emigrants. She was not a fast sailer, 
 but excellent preparations had been made for the comfort of the 
 passengers. Elaborate regulations had been drawn up for all the 
 details of routine conduct. There were ten deaths, and two births, 
 the infants being named Atlantic and Pacific. 
 
 "In each ocean a storm put all in danger. Once Captain Rich- 
 ardson gave up the vessel as lost ; but the 'Mormons' paid no heed 
 
THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 9 
 
 to such terrors, for were they not in the keeping of the Lord, and 
 bound for a land of promise? It is even claimed that faith some- 
 what strengthened them to bear the pangs of .sea-sickness. The 
 last storm struck the ship when she was near the latitude of Val- 
 paraiso and trying to make that port, driving her back nearly to 
 the cape. The first anchorage was at the island of Juan Fer- 
 nandez on May 4th. But here they got for nothing the supplies 
 that would have cost dear at Valparaiso. After five days they 
 continued their voyage, arriving at Honolulu on June 20th and 
 remaining there ten days, being hospitably welcomed and honored 
 by Mr. Damon with a kindly notice in the Friend. Here they met 
 Commodore Stockton, about to sail for Monterey, and learned 
 .something of the prospect that California would soon be occupied 
 by the United States. Much of the time 'during the remainder of 
 the voyage was spent in military drill, with a view to possible 
 hostility on the part of the Mexicans. The 'arrival in Yerba 
 Buena (San Francisco) was on July 31st. * * * * 
 "Thus San Francisco became for a time very largely a 'Mor- 
 mon' town. All bear witness to the orderly and moral conduct 
 of the Saints, both on land and sea. They were honest and indus- 
 trious citizens, even if clannish and peculiar. They had a few 
 months' provisions left on disembarking, but the'- uwed something 
 on their passage money. After camping for a time on a vacant 
 lot, some went to Marin county to work as lumbermen and thu; 
 pay their debts ; others were put in possession of the old mission 
 buildings ; all sought work at whatever tasks presented themselves, 
 making themselves generally useful ; while a party of twenty was 
 sent into the San Joaquin valley to prepare for the coming of the 
 Nauvoo Saints by the overland route. Many of them appear in 
 the town records of 1846-47 as the grantees of building lots. * * 
 
 "In January, 1847, Brannan began the publication of the Yerba 
 Buena California Star, using the material of the old "Prophet" 
 office ; and it was continued through this year and the next. It 
 was not issued as an organ of 'Mormonism,' but as a news- 
 paper. * * * * 
 
 "Brannan wrote from Yerba Buena on the 1st of January : 'We 
 have commenced a settlement on the River San Joaquin, a large 
 and beautiful stream emptying into the Bay of San Francisco ; 
 but the families of the company are wintering in this place, where 
 they find plenty of employment, and houses to live in ; and about 
 twenty of our number are up at the new settlement, which we 
 call New Hope, ploughing and putting in wheat and other crops, 
 and making preparations to move their families up in the spring, 
 where they hope to meet the main body by land some time during 
 the coming season. The site of New Hope was on the north bank 
 of the Stanislaus, about a mile and a half from the San Joaquin. 
 Wm. Stout was in charge of the party that went in a launch from 
 Yerba Buena to found the first settlement in San Joaquin county. 
 
10 THE "MORMONS'' AS PIONEERS. 
 
 A log house was built and a saw mill, eighty acres were seeded 
 and fenced, and in April the crops promised well, but not much 
 more is known of the enterprise except that it was abandoned in 
 the autumn. * * The reason for abandoning the enterprise 
 
 was * * * the receipt of news that the Church had decided 
 to settle at Salt Lake/ " 
 
 We will now return to the main camps of the exiled saints 
 which my narrative left at Winter Quarters in 1846. As soon 
 as possible the following spring (1847) a selection of men and 
 teams were made to push ahead as pioneers to the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, and thus it was that Brigham Young, together with 142 
 other pioneers, three women and two children left the Missouri 
 river for the Rocky Mountains in April, 1847. Having proceeded 
 about half way, four of their numbers left the main company at 
 Ft. Laramie with the intention of going south to the Arkansas 
 river to appraise the saints from Mississippi and the detachment 
 of the Mormon Battalion who had wintered there that the pio- 
 neers were passing. These four men intercepted the parties men- 
 tioned who had already left their encampments at Pueblo for Up- 
 per California. At Laramie also the pioneers were joined by a 
 small advance company of the Mississippi saints, Robt. Crow and 
 family and others, 17 souls altogether. After deducting the four 
 pioneers which had left, this increased the pioneer company to 161 
 souls. Continuing the journey as far as the upper crossing of the 
 Platte ten men of the .pioneer company were left to ferry the 
 California and Oregon emigrants (who were on their journey 
 westward) across the Platte. On the arrival of the Pioneers on 
 Green River a small company of the Battalion overtook the pio- 
 neers who when they arrived in the valley on July 22nd, 23rd, and 
 24th, numbered about 156 people. 
 
 Five days after the arrival of Brigham Young and his company 
 the detachment of the Mormon Battalion under the leadership of 
 Capt. James Brown entered the Valley. Immediately the pioneers 
 commenced to lay the foundation of our beautiful city which now 
 can boast of 100,000 inhabitants. Space does not permit me to 
 go into greater details, but I will simply state that about 1800 
 Latter-day Saints which crossed the plains and mountains in nine 
 well organized companies reached this valley the same year as the 
 original pioneers, not to speak of a number of the Mormon Bat- 
 talion who, after serving their term of enlistment, made their 
 way from Southern California northward and then across the 
 Sierra Nevada mountains and what is now the Nevada desert to 
 this valley. Thus it was that nearly 1800 people spent the winter 
 of 1847-1848 in what we now call Pioneer Square, but which was 
 originally known as the Old Fort, the beginning of Great Salt 
 Lake City, which in 1868 was changed to Salt Lake City, its pres- 
 ent name. From this beginning Utah's several valleys were sub- 
 sequently .settled. The year 1848 witnessed the arrival of thou- 
 
THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 11 
 
 sands of "Mormons" who had spent about two years on the fron- 
 tiers, and soon Ogden, Provo, Manti, and many other cities came 
 into existence. 
 
 Carson Valley, Nevada, which once constituted a part of Utah 
 became known to the "Mormon" people as early as 1847, when the 
 discharged soldiers of the Mormon Battalion passed through on 
 their way from California to this valley, and as early as 1851 the 
 first "Mormon" settlement, which was also the first Anglo-Saxon 
 settlement of any description in what is now the state of Nevada, 
 was founded in Carson Valley, or at a place known as Genoa. 
 Thus it is readily seen that the same class of people who were 
 the pioneers of Utah also became the pioneers of Nevada. 
 
 In 1855 Pres. Young sent out a colony about 400 miles north 
 into what was then Oregon and founded a settlement among the 
 Indians on a branch of Salmon River, and thus the "Mormons" also 
 became the first settlers of Idaho ; and though this settlement on 
 the Salmon River was broken up in 1858 the honor was .still re- 
 tained for the "Mormons" to locate the first permanent settlement 
 in Idaho, for the year 1860 witnessed the founding of Franklin 
 in Cache Valley which at the time of its settling was believed to 
 be in Utah, but which proved, after an accurate survey had been 
 made, to be about four miles north of the boundary line between 
 Utah and Idaho. 
 
 In 1854 a farming settlement known as Fort Supply was located 
 by the "Mormons" near Blacks Fort of Green River, a few miles 
 south of the original Fort Bridger. This was the first farming 
 settlement in what is now the state of Wyoming. 
 
 In Hubert Howe Bancroft's history of Wyoming, page 696, 
 the following is recorded: 
 
 "Bridger before engaging as guide with Gore had disposed of 
 his holdings on Green River to the Mormons who were the first 
 actual settlers to the number of 55 in what is now a portion of 
 Wyoming but was then considered to be in Utah. Ft. Supply 
 * * * was intended as a station where passing emigration 
 could be furnished with provisions. It was abandoned on the 
 advent of a command of U. S. troops in the vicinity. The occu- 
 pants retired to Salt Lake." 
 
 In giving these details I have been careful not to exaggerate, 
 but to tell the actual facts in order to show what the pioneer la- 
 bor done by the "Mormon" people means to this western country. 
 
 Ever since the founding* of Jamestown in Virginia In 1607 and 
 the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on Plymouth Rock in 1620 
 America has produced pioneers by the thousands and tens of 
 thousands, and the history of our country shows that these pio 
 neers ventured farther and farther west out among the Indians 
 or into unexplored or unclaimed countries, until the vanguard of- 
 Anglo-Saxon civilization stood about half way across the conti- 
 nent, looking westward toward the Great Plains, the Rocky 
 
12 THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 
 
 Mountains and the Great American Deseret, which, save for a few 
 forts and a few settlements founded in what was then Oregon, was 
 inhabited only by nomadic Indians. But Brigham Young and his 
 pioneers with one grand leap so to speak cut that great desert or 
 uninhabited waste in half by planting this city in the Great 
 American Desert, and thus it was that Great Salt Lake City be- 
 came the half way house between the Missouri river in the east 
 and the Pacific coast in the west, just as literally and effectually 
 as Palestine in the Orient is the half way house, so to speak, be- 
 tween the Great River Euphrates on the east and the beautiful 
 Nile on the west. By the founding of the American half way 
 house the emigrants from the east bound for California found it 
 possible to make the long journey across the continent with com- 
 parative ease, for if they on their arrival in the Great Salt Lake 
 Valley found themselves short of provisions, or impeded in their 
 progress by tired or worn out animals, they were able to replenish 
 their provisions and obtain fresh horses, mules and oxen to con- 
 tinue their journey to the coast, whither so many went in an early 
 day to seek their fortunes in the gold fields, or to establish colo- 
 nies on the Pacific coast. But not only were these overland trav- 
 elers able to obtain these supplies as they needed them, but they 
 found the "Mormons" an honest and upright people who treated 
 the travelers right and were not inclined to take advantage of the 
 situation. This meant so much to the "Mormons" by way of 
 contradicting the numerous falsehoods which had been circulated 
 by the enemies of the "Mormon" people at an early day. It must 
 be remembered that the pioneers of Utah lived in this valley about 
 four years before even a territorial form of government was 
 granted by the Federal government and during these years the 
 "Mormons" lived under laws enacted by themselves and were 
 ruled by officers of their own selections. It would have been as 
 easy for them to have built up a regular robbers roost in these 
 mountains, had they been so disposed, as to build up a Christian 
 community. We have at the Historian's Office numerous letters 
 written by non-"Mormons" who passed through this valley at 
 an early day, testifying of the good character of the Latter-day 
 Saints, but I shall in conclusion only mention one. 
 
 One of the gold diggers en route for California signing him- 
 self as "Stranger in Quest of Gold, "writes a long letter from Great 
 Salt Lake City, July's, 1849, to the "New York Tribune," of which 
 the following is an extract : 
 
 "The company of gold diggers, which I have the honor to com- 
 mand, arrived here on the 3rd inst. and judge our feelings when 
 after 1200 miles of travel through an uncultivated desert, and the 
 last one hundred miles of the distance through and among lofty 
 mountains and narrow and difficult ravines, w.e found ourselves 
 
 suddenly and almost unexpectedly in a comparative paradise. 
 * * * * 
 
 "Descending the table land which bordered the valley, extensive 
 
THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 13 
 
 herds of cattle, horses and sheep were grazing in every direction, 
 reminding us of that home and civilization from which we had so 
 widely -departed, for as yet the fields and houses were in the 
 distance. Passing over some miles of pasture lands, we at last 
 found ourselves in a broad fenced street, extending westward in a 
 straight line for several miles. Houses of wood or sundried brick 
 were thickly clustered in the vale before us some thousands in 
 number, and occupying a spot about as large as the city of New 
 York. They were mostly ,small, one story high and perhaps not 
 more than one occupying an acre of land. The whole space of 
 miles axcepting the streets and houses, was in a high state of 
 cultivation. Fields of yellow wheat stood waiting for the harvest 
 and Indian corn, potatoes, oats, flax and all kinds of garden vege- 
 tables, were growing in profusion. * * * 
 
 "At the first sight of all these signs of cultivation in the wilder- 
 ness, we were transported with wonder and pleasure. Some wept, 
 some gave three cheers, some laughed, a-nd some ran and fairly 
 danced for joy, while all felt inexpressively happy to find them- 
 selves once more amid scenes which mark the progress of ad- 
 vancing civilization. 
 
 "And the strangest of all was that this great city, extending 
 over several square miles, had been erected, and every house and 
 fence made within nine or tne months of the time of our arrival ; 
 while at the same time good bridges were erected over the prin- 
 cipal streams, and the country settlements extended nearly a 
 hundred miles up and down the valley. 
 
 "This territory, State, or, as some may term it, 'Mormon 
 Empire', may justly be considered as one of the great test pro- 
 degies of the age, and, in comparison with its age, the most gi- 
 gantic of all republics in existence, being only in its second year 
 since the first seed of cultivation was planted, or the first civilized 
 habitation commenced. If these people were such thieves and 
 robbers as their enemies represented them in the States I must 
 think they have greatly reformed in point of industry since com- 
 ing to the mountains. * * * 
 
 "I this day attended worship with them in the open air. Some 
 thousands of well dressed, intelligent looking people assembled, 
 some on foot, .some in carriages and on horseback. Many were 
 neatly and even fashionably clad. The beauty and neatness of 
 the ladies reminded me of some of our best congregations in New 
 York. They had a choir of both sexes, who performed extremely 
 well, accompanied by a band who played well on almost every in- 
 trument of modern invention. Peals of the most sweet, sacred 
 and solemn music filled the air, after which a solemn prayer was 
 offered by Rev. Mr. Grant of Philadelphia. * * * 
 
 "After this came a lengthy discourse from Mr. Brigham Young, 
 president of the society. * * * 
 
 "Every one seemed interested and pleased with his remarks 
 
14 THE "MORMONS" AS PIONEERS. 
 
 and all appeared to be contented to stay at home and pursue a 
 
 persevering industry, although mountains of gold were near them. 
 * * * 
 
 "The Mormons are not dead, nor is their spirit broken. And, 
 if I mistake not, there is a noble daring, stern, and democratic 
 spirit swelling in their bosoms, which will people these mountains 
 with a race of independent men and influence the destiny of our 
 country and the world for a hundred generations. In their relig- 
 ion they seem charitable, devoted and sincere; in their politics, 
 bold, daring, and determined; in their domestic circle, quiet, af- 
 fectionate and happy, while in industry, skill and intelligence 
 they have few equals and no superiors on the earth. * * * 
 
 "I had many strange feelings while contemplating this new 
 civilization growing up so suddenly in the wilderness; I almost 
 wished I could awake from my golden dream and find it but a 
 dream; while I pursued my domestic duties as quiet, as happy 
 and contented as this strange people." 
 
 THE ESSENTIAL VALUE OF GENEALOGICAL 
 RESEARCH. 
 
 A Discourse Delivered in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Sept. 23, 
 1917, "Genealogical Sunday," by 
 
 JOSEPH F. SMITH, JR. 
 
 On the 21st day of September, in the year 1823, Moroni, a 
 prophet who dwelt upon this continent some four hundred years 
 after the crucifixion of the Savior, appeared to the Prophet 
 Joseph Smith in an upper room in his father's home, and gave 
 him instruction concerning the establishment of the Church of 
 Jesus Christ in these latter days and revealed to him many things 
 pertaining to the Gospel and the fulfilment of prophecy that was 
 given to the ancient prophets in Israel. Today is the twenty-third 
 day of September and the nearest Sunday to the anniversary of 
 that event ; and therefore, according to custom, the day has been 
 set apart throughout the Church as Genealogical Day, and the 
 request has gone forth that the Saints in their meetings, in the 
 various wards and wherever they should happen to meet, should 
 devote a portion of their time to the question of the salvation of 
 the dead and the interests of the dead in matters of genealogy. 
 Among other things which that angel declared to Joseph Smith, 
 which makes this request of importance to us today is found in 
 the fourth chapter of Malachi, and I will read to you those verses, 
 not as they appear in the Bible but as they were quoted by the 
 angel to Joseph Smith: 
 
 "For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and