BANCROFT LIBRARY 
 
hlFE 
 
 BRIGHT YOUNG 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 
 
 GEORGE Q, GANNON & SONS CO., PUBLISHERS. 
 
 1893. 
 
LIFE.0F BRI6HAM Y0aN6. 
 
 " When questions pregnant with great events pressed hard, he was 
 able to build upon the firm foundation of wisdom and justice, forecast the 
 future, meet the. demands of the present, and then in a breath show his 
 confidence in God, his freedom from care, by caressing the lips of innocent 
 childhood and tenderly winning the love of babes." Moses Thatcher. 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: 
 
 GEO. Q. CANNON & SONS CO., PUBLISHERS. 
 
 1893. 
 
COPYRIGHT APPLIED FXDR. 
 
, 
 
 ifc- 
 
 LB-iSr 1 /t4 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE following pages contain a brief outline of the 
 leading events in the career of Brigham Young, the 
 Founder of Utah. It has been a difficult task to con- 
 dense, into the compass of a few pages, the story of a 
 life so full of important history as was his, and neces- 
 sarily the result of such an effort must be imperfect. 
 
 Disclaiming originality, save in the arrangement, 
 the author has woven the fabric of his interesting theme 
 from the threads of a score of historical works. Facts 
 have been culled especially from Tullidge's "Life"; of 
 Brigham Young; or Utah and Her Founders," and 
 "History of Salt Lake City;" Whitney's "History of 
 Utah," Vols. 1 and 2; Bancroft's "History of Utah;" 
 "Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt;" Cannon's "Life of 
 Joseph Smith," and "History of the Mormons;" 
 Jenson's "Historical Record;" "Death of President 
 Young;" "The Contributor," and other book?. 
 
 The aim has been to make this '"Life" reliable and 
 accurate, in matters of fact; and the purpose, to interest 
 the new generation of citizens in the great founder of 
 our Territory, a man whose genius is apparent in every 
 city and village of our prosperous commonwealth. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 July, 1893. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 1. GENERAL SKETCH. 
 
 .*. 9 
 
 II. THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. 
 
 FROM BIRTH TO BAPTISM 13 
 
 MEETING THE PROPHET 15 
 
 WITH ZION'S CAMP 18 
 
 CHOSEN AN APOSTLE . . . . 19 
 
 A PILLAR OF STRENGTH TO THE PROPHET 21 
 
 THE FLIGHT TO ILLINOIS 26 
 
 FULFILLING A PROPHECY 31 
 
 ACROSS THE WATER 32 
 
 IN NAUVOO. THE MARTYRDOM 37 
 
 III. LEADER OF THE MODERN EXODUS. 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG SUCCEEDS JOSEPH SMITH 44 
 
 BOGUS BRIGHAM 49 
 
 PERSECUTIONS AND ADVICE 52 
 
 COMMANDED TO LEAVE THE STATE 55 
 
 THE EXODUS ~ . 56 
 
 THE PRESIDENT'S WISDOM AND WATCHCARE 60 
 
 THE MORMON BATTALION 64 
 
 WITH THE PIONEERS 69 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE PIONEER JOURNEY 76 
 
 EXPLORATION AND RETURN TO THE MISSOURI. . : 83 
 
 CHOSEN PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH. . 89 
 
Till CONTENTS. 
 
 IV. THE FOUNDING OF UTAH. 
 
 IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS 93 
 
 THE GOLD EXCITEMENT 95 
 
 COLONIZATION 98 
 
 APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF UTAH 103 
 
 LEADING EVENTS OF THE TERM 113 
 
 REAPPOINTED GOVERNOR 120 
 
 THE CALAMITIES OF 1856 122 
 
 THE UTAH WAR 125 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG'S LOYALTY AND ENTERPRISE 139 
 
 PERSECUTION AND ARREST 148 
 
 ONE DAY IX THE PENITENTIARY 163 
 
 HIS CLOSING YEARS 166 
 
 PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS .. 170 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 I. GENERAL SKETCH. 
 
 IN time it will be acknowledged that among the 
 great historical characters of our country no person occu- 
 pies a more distinct position than Brigham Young. Born 
 in our own country, his acts are as distinctively American 
 as are those of any other hero who has ever aided in the 
 furtherance of our national prosperity, from the father of 
 his country to the saviors of the Union. 
 
 In the Old World, men who have taken an active 
 part in the struggles of their time, towering above their 
 fellows, have generally risen to eminence by means of 
 either the royalty of birth or that of education.. On this' 
 continent, on the contrary, occasions have demanded 
 men, and these have been found, ready at call to answer 
 the summons of their day. They have been poor, often 
 uneducated, but they were practical, popular, fervent, and 
 just the men for their work. To such natures the people 
 have instinctively turned for aid in the hour of need. 
 Brigham Young was a man of this class. He was a man 
 of the age, and when the appeal for aid was sounded, he 
 was on hand as if by design of destiny to answer to the 
 2 
 
10 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 requirements. His parents being poor, he had no oppor- 
 tunity for an early education, and in youth gave no 
 special promise of that strength of will and force of 
 character which he afterward so abundantly exemplified in 
 his leadership of the Mormons. 
 
 But like the great Jewish deliverer, Moses, who, flee- 
 ing from the wrath of his king, departed to the desert of 
 Midian to fit himself by study and meditation for the 
 strenuous tasks of after life, so Brigham Young, the 
 liberator of modern Israel, had his period of preparation. 
 He was over thirty years of age when he adopted the 
 faith of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and it was during the 
 trying time of twelve years, from his baptism, in 1832, 
 until his return to Nauvoo upon receiving the tidings of 
 the martyrdom, that every surrounding vicissitude tended 
 to prepare him for his future life-work. 
 
 Called to be an Apostle three years after his initia- 
 tion into the Church, he six years thereafter, upon the 
 apostasy of Thomas B. Marsh, and the death of David 
 W. Patten, became the president of his quorum, being 
 thus practically placed next to the Prophet, who ever 
 held him very dear. He extended the missionary field 
 among the red men, with whom he must afterward so 
 carefully and wisely deal; he built temples, studied and 
 officiated therein; defended his Prophet leader during 
 the dark days of the Kirtland apostasy; passed through the 
 bloody scenes of Missouri, leading his scattered and 
 driven people, amidst poverty, sickness and death, to 
 safety and rest in a neighboring friendly State; and 
 finally crossed the Atlantic to assist in planting the gos- 
 pel standard in Great Britain, where he set in motion the 
 tide of emigration which has brought joy to the hearts of 
 ten thousand poor. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 11 
 
 Thus did the all-wise Power which shapes our des- 
 tinies surround Brigham Young with the educating muta- 
 tions and influences that should fit him for his after 
 career as deliverer, leader, law-giver, diplomat, colonizer, 
 statesman. 
 
 It is in what may be termed the second period of his 
 life that his capacity and power so abundantly are made 
 manifest As if it were designed by Providence that he 
 should not be present to prevent the martyrdom, he was 
 on a mission in the East when he heard of the sad death 
 of the Prophet, and upon his arrival in Nauvoo the 
 inhabitants of the fated Mormon city by natural impulse 
 turned to him for help. He silenced their divisions, 
 calmed their fears, inspired them with courage and hope, 
 until the multitude felt and confessed that the spirit 
 which had moved Joseph in his work was living in Brig- 
 ham Young. 
 
 With matchless will and energy he laid hold of the 
 stupendous exodus .of a people, and, amidst indescribable 
 suffering and hardship, piloted them through the deserts 
 and over the mountains to a new home in the wilderness. 
 
 In the crowning period of his career he founded, in 
 this new retreat, a commonwealth, to which he invited 
 thousands of the poor from the four corners of the earth, 
 rescued them from poverty and raised them to indepen- 
 dence, taught them honesty, thrift, industry, patriotism 
 for their adopted country, and, with the keen foresight of 
 a statesman, showed them how to develop the hidden 
 resources of their surroundings. He founded hundreds of 
 cities and towns, and completed for his people an organi- 
 zation unsurpassed in the annals of history. 
 
 For more than thirty years he was their spiritual 
 guide and their temporal leader, and dying he left upon 
 
12 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 them and their institutions the impress of his master 
 mind and character. 
 
 Thus we have a brief outline of the marvelous work 
 which Brigham Young performed. The question may 
 naturally arise in the mind of the reader, Whence the 
 origin of this wisdom, this ability? Was it the result of 
 his own study and meditation, or was it brought about 
 by the power and inspiration of the Almighty? We 
 must in this matter consider his own testimony. For all 
 he did, he gave to. God the glory. He was a strong 
 believer in the divine mission of Joseph Smith, and testi- 
 fied with firmness that he himself was inspired of the 
 Lord. As well deny the fabric which we see, as reject 
 the positive statement of the builder that he was of God 
 instructed. 
 
 If men count his work as the mere result of human 
 intellect, they deny the declaration of the man himself, 
 who performed it, and refuse to accept the settled belief 
 of the thousands who aided him in its accomplishment. 
 
 It detracts nothing from his fame that he did not 
 originate the doctrines, designs and theories which he 
 enunciated, carried on, and brought to a successful issue. 
 He was a fulfiller of prophecy, the chosen instrument of 
 God fame enough. It is natural that a man like Brigham 
 Young, and a cause such as he represented, had and has 
 enemies his closing years were embittered by them but 
 even the most virulent of these must admit that he was a 
 man of unusual mental force, courageous, undaunted, in 
 his calling successful. 
 
 Whatever may 'be the outcome of the doctrines which 
 he promulgated, whatever the fate of the people for whose 
 prosperity and welfare he devoted his life's energies, so 
 much success has attended him and them that he will 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 13 
 
 ever be regarded as one of our nation's great men, one 
 of its most wonderful characters. 
 
 II. THE PERIOD. OF PREPARATION. 
 
 FROM BIRTH TO BAPTISM. 
 
 The years intervening between the birth of the great 
 Mormon leader and his return to Nauvoo, just after the 
 martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith, may be regarded 
 as the time during which an all-wise Creator prepared 
 him by a variety of trying experiences for effectively 
 accomplishing his great after achievements. Let us take 
 a hasty view of the leading incidents of this period. 
 
 Brigham Young was born in the daybreak of the 
 nineteenth century, June 1st, 1801, in Whitingham, 
 Windham County, Vermont. His father, John, was born 
 March 7th, 1763, in Hopkmton, Middlesex County, 
 Massachusetts, and at an early age enlisted in the Ameri- 
 can Revolutionary Army, serving under General Wash- 
 ington. His grandfather, Joseph Young, served in the 
 French and Indian war. 
 
 In a family of five sons and six daughters Brigham 
 was the ninth child. The family removed to Whiting- 
 ham in 1801, where his father continued his occupation 
 of farming, remaining in that region for three years. In 
 1804 they removed to Sherburn, Shenango County, New 
 York. Their financial circumstances were such that the 
 
14 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 children could only be given a common school training, 
 and Brigham received only a limited amount of that. 
 He assisted his father on the farm, engaging in the 
 arduous labors common to establishing settlements in a 
 new and heavily timbered region of country. At the age 
 of sixteen, by permission of his father, he began business 
 for himself, earning his sustenance as best he could. 
 Like every thoughtful youth, he adopted a trade, through 
 which, by the sweat of his brow, he was taught the 
 nobility of labor. He learned how to work as carpenter, 
 joiner, painter and glazier, in the last of which occupa- 
 tions he was an expert craftsman. 
 
 Up to this time, though trained by his parents to 
 lead a moral life, he had taken little interest in religion, 
 but the family were Methodists, and he naturally inclined 
 to their belief, joining that sect when he was twenty-two 
 years of age. 
 
 On the 8th of October, 1824, he married Miriam 
 Works, in Aurelius, Cayuga County, New York. In this 
 place he labored for a number of years, in his chosen 
 vocation, gaining an experience that was of untold value 
 to him when later he stood with his people amidst the 
 undeveloped resources of the wilderness. In the spring 
 of 1829 he moved to Mendon, Monroe County, New 
 York, where his father then resided. It was here, in the 
 spring of 1830, that he first saw a copy of the Book of 
 Mormon, which had been left at the home of his brother 
 Phineas, by Samuel H. Smith, a brother of the Prophet. 
 
 Mormonism was at this time taking root in the 
 western part of New York and in northern Pennsylvania, 
 and Elders occasionally came preaching in his neighbor- 
 hood. It was not, however, until after a visit to a branch 
 of the Church in Columbia, Pennsylvania, in January, 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 15 
 
 1832, in company with Heber C. Kimball and his brother 
 Phineas, formerly a reformed Methodist preacher, but 
 now a convert to Mormonism, that he was deeply 
 impressed with the principles of the new religion upon 
 which he now carefully and prayerfully reflected. In this 
 state of mind he hastened to Canada to repeat the tid- 
 ings to his brother Joseph, who was then preaching the 
 Methodist faith. Singular enough, he also accepted the 
 testimony, when they returned together and promptly 
 united themselves with the Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter-day Saints. Brigham was baptized on the 14th 
 day of April, 1832, by Elder Eleazer Miller, being that 
 evening, also by the same person, confirmed and ordained 
 an Elder. His faithful wife followed him into the waters 
 of baptism some three weeks thereafter, but she did not 
 live long to enjoy the blessings of the gospel, for on the 
 8th of September following she died, leaving him two 
 daughters one two years of age and the other seven. 
 
 About this time many people were baptized in and 
 about Mendon, and Brigham, with his friend Heber C. 
 Kimball, who had also joined the Church, ordained to 
 the ministry, rendered efficient service to the cause there- 
 about. 
 
 2. MEETING THE PROPHET. 
 
 In the meantime a revelation had been given, 
 through the mouth of the Prophet Joseph Smith, calling 
 upon Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer 
 and Ziba Peterson to go into the wilderness through the 
 western States, and to the Indian Territory, to preach the 
 gospel .to the Indians and present to them the Book of 
 Mormon. It had already been conceived by Joseph "that 
 
16 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 the West, and not the East, was the field of Mor- 
 monism's greater destiny," and he looked in that direc- 
 tion for a Zion which was to be "called the New 
 Jerusalem a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of 
 safety for the Saints of the Most High God." Hence the 
 sending of these first missionaries to the West. 
 
 The Elders left New York late in October, 1830, to 
 fill their missions. On their way they tarried in Kirt- 
 land, then a city of probably two thousand inhabitants, 
 where they preached the gospel. They were very success- 
 ful, and within three weeks after their arrival one hundred 
 and twenty-seven souls were baptized, which number soon 
 grew to over a thousand, many of whom afterward 
 became noted in the chronicles of the Church. The loca- 
 tion of the City of Zion, referred to above, had not yet 
 been declared, but it was understood generally that it 
 would be situated "on the borders by the Lamanites, " or 
 Indians. Before proceeding further west, the Elders 
 reported their labors and success to the Prophet, and he 
 soon realized that Kirtland would be a suitable resting 
 place for the Saints, a Stake of Zion, where the Church 
 could remain until it should gather strength to build this 
 central city. Accordingly, before the close of the year 
 the word went forth to his followers in the East to dis- 
 pose of their possessions, remove West, and "assemble 
 together on the Ohio." The Prophet himself arrived for 
 the first time in Kirtland in February, 1831. Having set 
 the branch in order, and at a general conference June 
 6th, called a number of Elders to bear the gospel to the 
 Missouri frontiers, he departed for that region June 
 19th. He went to Jackson County, Missouri, and selected 
 the country about Independence as the location upon 
 which was to be built the "City," the New Jerusalem. 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 17 
 
 The Center Stake of Zion was afterward dedicated, 
 August 9th, for the gathering of Israel. Having thus 
 selected the site, he returned to Kirtland. 
 
 In the spring following the Prophet made a second 
 visit to Missouri, returning to Kirtland early in May, 
 1832. It was shortly after this latter visit that he first 
 met his destined successor, Brigham Young, who, with 
 his brother Joseph and Heber C. Kimball, had come to 
 greet him. The visiting Elders found him engaged in 
 manual labor chopping wood in the forest. They were 
 kindly welcomed, and Brigham rejoiced in receiving a 
 sure testimony, by the spirit of prophecy, that Joseph 
 was a true Prophet. They spent the evening in speaking 
 of the gospel and the things of the Kingdom of God. 
 Called upon to pray, Brigham spoke in tongues, the 
 language which he used being pronounced the pure 
 Adamic by the Prophet, who likewise said, "It is of 
 God; and the time will come when Brother Brig^iam 
 will preside over this Church." The latter remark, how- 
 ever, was not uttered in the visitors' hearing. 
 
 After a brief visit, Brigham and his brother Joseph 
 went on foot to Canada to again engage in the ministry, 
 the former making two trips thither. He was successful 
 in preaching, baptizing, and in organizing branches; and 
 in July, 1833, had his first experience as leader, conduct- 
 ing several families of converts to Kirtland. Thereafter, 
 he went once more to Mendon, where he and his two 
 daughters dwelt with his friend Heber C. Kimball, under 
 whose roof-tree had been his home since the death of his 
 wife. That fall they all removed to Kirtland, where he 
 labored at his trade, preaching as opportunity offered. 
 
18 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 3. WITH ZIOX'S CAMP. 
 
 While he was thus engaged in the East, the Saints 
 in Missouri, now numbering over twelve hundred souls, 
 were driven, in November, 1833, from their homes in 
 Jackson County, by a murderous mob. Whipped, plun- 
 dered and robbed of their possessions, they sought shel- 
 ter across the river in the neighboring county of Clay. 
 
 It was in order to counsel with the Prophet, and to 
 take some measures for the relief and restoration of the 
 people thus harassed and exiled that Parley P. Pratt and 
 Lyman Wight came to Kirtland early in the spring of 
 the year 1834. The result of their visit was a further 
 mission East by these and other Elders, for reasons set 
 forth in the 101st and 103rd Sections of the Doctrine and 
 Covenants; and finally the assembling of about two hun- 
 dred men, with twenty wagons laden with supplies, to 
 carry provisions to the Saints in Missouri, to reinforce 
 and strengthen them, and if possible to influence the 
 Governor to restore to them their rights. They were 
 also to "redeem Zion," or in other words, seek to regain 
 possession of the lands from which the Saints had been 
 driven in Jackson County. This company of men were 
 organized as a military body, led by the Prophet in per- 
 son as general. Such was the expedition known as Zion's 
 Camp. On the 5th of May one hundred men departed 
 from Kirtland for Missouri, and the remainder, to the 
 number of two hundred and five, were recruited on the 
 way. Without being able to attain the ends for which 
 it was organized, the little army was disbanded soon 
 after arriving at its destination. 
 
 Brigham Young was one of the members of this now 
 famous company. He acted as a captain of ten, and 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 19 
 
 with his good nature and faith often cheered his asso 
 ciates during the trials encountered on the way. He and 
 his brother Joseph were the singers of the Camp, and 
 often relieved and enlivened the tedium of the journey 
 by their spirited songs. Before departing, the Prophet 
 promised Brigham and his brother Joseph that if they 
 would go with him, keeping his counsels, they should be 
 led thither and back, and not a hair of their heads 
 should be harmed. The covenant was made and as 
 faithfully kept both returning unharmed. In July, Brig- 
 ham returned to Kir.tland, where he spent the remainder 
 of the year in labor on the temple, in finishing the print- 
 ing office and schoolroom, and assisting in the various 
 industries which the Saints, ever busy, were establishing 
 in Kirtland, the "land of Shinehah. " . 
 
 4. CHOSEN AN APOSTLE. 
 
 If it be conceded that Zion's Camp failed in accom- 
 plishing the ostensible purposes for which it was 
 organized, it cannot be denied that it was a success in 
 trying the mettle of its members. A journey of over two 
 thousand miles on foot, in rain and mud, exposed to 
 sickness and death, is sufficient to prove the tempera- 
 ment, courage and fortitude of any person who may 
 engage in it. It may be possible that this was one of 
 the objects the Prophet had in view, as might be inferred 
 from the next important measure which he^was inspired 
 to adopt the choosing of Twelve Apostles. This quorum 
 is next in authority to the council of the First Presi- 
 dency, which was composed of the following persons at 
 that time: Joseph Smith, Jr., President; Sidney Rigdon, 
 First Counselor; Fredrick G. Williams, Second Counselor- 
 
20 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 On the 14th of February, 1835, the survivors of 
 Zion's Camp were called together, and from their num- 
 bers were chosen, by the three witnesses to the Book of 
 Mormon, Twelve Apostles, each of whom was blessed 
 and set apart by the First Presidency. Brigham Young 
 was selected as one of the Twelve, and according to 
 seniority ranged third in the quorum; Thomas B. Marsh 
 and David W. Patten came before him, and following 
 him, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, William E. 
 McLellin, Parley P. Pratt, Luke Johnson, William 
 Smith, Orson Pratt, John F. Boynton, and Lyman E. 
 Johnson. 
 
 Soon after the first and the second quorums of Seven- 
 ties were likewise chosen from the surviving members of 
 Zion's Camp. 
 
 Early in May the Twelve started upon their first 
 mission to the Eastern States. The duties devolving 
 upon them was to preach, baptize, advise the scattered 
 Saints to gather westward, and to collect means for the 
 purchase of lands in Missouri, and for the completion of 
 the Kirtland Temple. Brigham Young, in addition, seems 
 to have been called specially to preach to the Indians. 
 "This," said the Prophet, "will open the doors to all the 
 seed of Joseph." The mission was successfully per- 
 formed; and he returned to spend the fall and winter in 
 Kirtland, where, "besides engaging in the ministry, he 
 superintended the painting and finishing of the temple. 
 A portion of time was spent in study, in the various 
 schools established by the Prophet, for, as in after years 
 he became the fulfiller of Joseph's prophecies, so now as 
 ever he was a faithful believer in the benefits to be 
 derived from following the Prophet's educational 
 precepts: 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 21 
 
 "Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; 
 seek learning even by study and also by faith." 
 
 "It is impossible to be saved in ignorance." 
 
 "A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge." 
 
 "The glory of God is intelligence." 
 
 In spite of the neglect of his early teaching, he thus 
 took advantage of his present opportunities until he 
 became a proficient student in many of the useful 
 branches of learning. 
 
 On the 27th day of March, 1836, the temple at 
 Kirtland was dedicated. It was a day of great rejoicing, 
 and thereafter many miraculous manifestations were here 
 revealed, some of which are recorded in the 110th Sec- 
 tion of the Doctrine and Covenants. In this holy place 
 the Twelve some time afterward held the "solemn 
 assembly," receiving their washings and anointings, the 
 "washing of feet" being administered to Brigham by 
 Joseph himself. 
 
 Having thus received his blessings, he was again 
 called upon to perform a mission, this time to the 
 Eastern States, traveling, during the summer of 1836, 
 through New York, Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode 
 Island, returning in the fall to sustain the Prophet 
 through the period of financial ruin and apostasy now 
 threatening Kirtland like the dark clouds of a mighty 
 storm. 
 
 5. A PILLAR OF STRENGTH TO THE PROPHET. 
 
 A few words now concerning the Church in Missouri: 
 Having dwelt in Clay County about three years in amity, 
 the Saints were peacefully requested by a committee of 
 leading citizens to "seek some other abiding place, where 
 the manners, the habits and customs of the people would 
 
22 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 be more consonant with their own." Some strange 
 reasons were assigned for this entreaty: the} 7 had done 
 nothing wrong, they were at peace with all, but "their 
 religious tenets were so different from the present 
 churches of the age;" they were eastern men, whose man- 
 ners, habits, customs and even dialect were essentially 
 different from the Missourians; they were non-slave- 
 holders;" and they had a variety of other faults, amplified 
 by their enemies in Jackson County, which true or false 
 rendered them objectionable to the old residents; and so, 
 for the sake of friendship, to be in a covenant of peace 
 with the citizens of Clay County, and to show gratitude 
 to those who had befriended them, the Saints resolved, at 
 a great sacrifice of property, to comply with the requisi- 
 tion and leave the county. 
 
 In September, 1836, they began moving to their new 
 location in the Shoal Creek region, in Ray County, north- 
 east of Clay, which was then a wilderness. In answer 
 to their petitions, the legislature incorporated the Shoal 
 Creek region and some adjoining lands in December of 
 that year, and thus Caldwell County was created, in 
 which large numbers of the Saints now settled, founding 
 the city of Far West, in the winter of 1836-7. 
 
 And how were affairs progressing in Kirtland, mean- 
 while? A spirit of speculation enveloped the whole 
 community, playing havoc with the faith of the Saints 
 and of the leading Elders. All kinds of schemes were 
 adopted to amass wealth, and as a result there followed 
 in quick succession evil surmisings, fault-finding, dis- 
 union, dissensions, apostasy, and finally financial ruin. 
 The disaffected members became bitterly hostile to the 
 Prophet, as if he were the cause of the very evils which 
 he struggled most to avoid, and which were brought 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 23 
 
 upon the people because they would not heed his coun- 
 sels. In this serious apostasy which occurred, about 
 one-half of the Apostles, one of the First Presidency and 
 many leading Elders became disloyal to Joseph, declaring 
 him to be a "fallen prophet." 
 
 On the 1st of June, 1873, while these radical changes 
 were in progress, the Lord revealed to Joseph that some- 
 thing must be done for the salvation of the Church. 
 That something was the sending of Elders to preach the 
 gospel in foreign lands. Accordingly, Heber C. Kimball 
 was chosen and set apart to preside over a mission to 
 England, with Orson Hyde as his companion. Brigham 
 Young's cousin Willard Richards,* was called to accom- 
 pany them. Heber was very desirous that Brigham 
 should go also; his faithfulness entitled him to the dis- 
 tinction and honor of being among the first to proclaim 
 the gospel in a foreign nation, but the Prophet answered: 
 
 "No; I want him to stay with me. I have something 
 else for him to do. " 
 
 The wisdom of this decision was subsequently made 
 manifest. 
 
 Four other Elders joined those already named, and 
 together they sailed from New York on the 1st day of 
 July, 1873, to fill their mission. They were very success- 
 ful, and when they departed for America on the 12th day 
 of May, the following year, they had organized twenty- 
 six branches of the Church, with a membership of about 
 two thousand souls. The opening of this mission was 
 
 *Willard Richards, afterward one of the leading men of the Church, was 
 the first of the renowned Richards family to join the Saints. In the fall of 
 1836 he came to Kirtland, staying at his cousin's home while he investigated 
 the gospel. He was baptized on the last day of that year. 
 
24 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 one of the most important events in the history of the 
 Latter-day Saints. 
 
 But while the cause was thus prospering abroad, 
 apostasy, persecution, confusion and mobocracy bore rule 
 in Kirtland. 
 
 On one occasion a large number of leading Elders 
 among them several Apostles, and some of the witnesses 
 to the Book of Mormon held a council in the upper 
 room of the temple, their object being to depose the 
 Prophet and appoint David Whitmer President of the 
 Cfiurch. Brigham Young, who had on other occasions 
 frustrated their plans, and exposed their evil designs, 
 was present also, and by a characteristic speech defeated 
 their scheme. He says: "I rose up, and told them in a 
 plain and forcible manner that Joseph was a Prophet; 
 and I knew it; and that they might rail at and slander 
 him as much as they pleased, they could not destroy the 
 appointment of the Prophet of God; they could only 
 destroy their own authority, cut the thread ^vvhich bound 
 them to the Prophet and to God and sink themselves to 
 hell. Many were highly enraged at my decided opposi- 
 tion to their measures and Jacob Bump (an old pugilist) 
 was so exasperated that he could not be still. Some of 
 the brethren near put their hands on him and requested 
 him to be quiet; but he writhed and twisted his arms 
 and body saying 'how can I keep my hands off that man?' 
 I told him if he thought it would give him any relief he 
 might lay them on. The meeting was broken up without 
 the apostates being able to unite on any decided 
 measures of opposition. This was a crisis when earth 
 and hell seemed leagued to overthrow the Prophet and 
 Church of God. The knees of many of the strongest men 
 in the Church faltered. " 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 25 
 
 In this siege of darkness Brigham Young thus ever 
 stood close by Joseph and with all the wisdom and power 
 of his strong mind put forth his utmost energies to sus- 
 tain his Prophet-leader and to unite the quorums of the 
 Church, proclaiming publicly and privately that he knew 
 by the power of the Holy Ghost that Joseph was a 
 Prophet of the Most High God and that he had not 
 transgressed or fallen as the apostates declared. It was 
 now 1 readily perceived why Joseph desired Brigham to 
 remain with him. 
 
 "It was well for Joseph and for Mormonism in 
 general that he decided to keep by him at that time the 
 lion heart and intrepid soul of Brigham Young. Firm as 
 a rock in his fealty to his chief, he combined sound judg- 
 ment, keen perception, with courage unfaltering and 
 sublime. Like .lightnings were his intuitions, his 
 decisions between right and wrong; like thunder his 
 denunciations of what his soul conceived was error. A 
 man for emergencies, far-sighted and inspirational; a 
 master spirit and natural leader of men. 
 
 "Well might Joseph brave almost to rashness 
 whose genius, though lofty and general in its scope, was 
 pre-eminently spiritual, while Brigham 's was pronouncedly 
 practical, wish to have near him at such a time, just 
 such a man. In that dark hour, the cfarkest perhaps 
 that Mormonism has seen, when its very foundations 
 seemed crumbling, when. men supposed to be its pillars 
 were weakening and falling away, joining hands secretly 
 or openly with its enemies, the man Brigham never 
 faltered, never failed in his allegiance to his leader, 
 never ceased defending him against his accusers, and as 
 boldly denouncing them betimes for falsehood, selfish- 
 ness and treachery. His life was imperilled by his bold- 
 
 3 
 
26 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 ness. He heeded not, but steadily held on his wa) r , an 
 example of valor and fidelity, a faithful friend, sans peur 
 et sans reproche* 
 
 The persecution continuing became so violent that 
 on the morning of December 22nd, 1837, threatened with 
 assassination, Brigham was forced to flee, followed three 
 weeks later on his way to Missouri by the Prophet and 
 Elder Rigdon. Following a variety of occurrences, in 
 which Brigham was constantly a staunch support, com- 
 fort, and pillar of strength to Joseph the persecuted 
 leaders reached Far West about the middle of March. 
 1838. 
 
 6. THE FLIGHT TO ILLINOIS. 
 
 The Saints in Missouri seem not to have escaped 
 entirely the disaffections of Kirtland. After arriving in 
 Far West, the Prophet decided on priming the Church 
 of its dead branches, and on continuing the work of 
 "setting in order." The presiding leaders had been 
 suspended from office, and were subsequently excommuni- 
 cated. At the April conference, in 1838, a reorganization 
 of the Church in Far West took place, and Thomas B. 
 Marsh, Brigham Young and David W. Patten, were 
 chosen to preside over the Church in Missouri. Under 
 their direction, many prominent men were severed from 
 the organization, none being spared who would not 
 speedily repent of their wiong-doings. The vacancies 
 thus produced in the quorums, were filled by calling 
 other faithful men to occupy the places of those who were 
 deprived of membership. 
 
 Whitney's History of Utah, Vol. I, p 137. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 27 
 
 During that spring and summer, a few months of 
 comparative peace were enjoyed by the Saints and their 
 leaders, pending which time there was a general migra- 
 tion of Mormons from Ohio to Missouri; but the tran- 
 quility was only a calm before the storm of outrage, 
 robbery, murder, massacre and expulsion, which was 
 soon to break over the people, with appalling fury. 
 
 There were now in this State about twelve thousand 
 souls belonging to the Mormon Church, most of whom 
 resided in Caldwell County. Many, however, dwelt in 
 neighboring counties. Their troubles began in the early 
 part of August, during the progress of the State election. 
 A mob sought to prevent the Mormons from voting; then 
 followed perplexity and agitation, and from the first out- 
 break in Gallatin, Daviess County, the difficulties spread 
 until the people of the whole region thereabout were bent 
 upon a general anti-Mormon uprising, incited by fiery 
 speeches from priest, politician and apostate, and by 
 articles in the local press. "The result is too well known 
 to need more than mere mention. The Mormons armed 
 and tried to defend themselves; there was the Crooked 
 River battle, then the calling out of the exterminating 
 army of Governor Boggs, whose mission was to drive 
 the Mormons out of Missouri; the horrors of Haun's Mill 
 (Brigham's brother, Joseph, was among those who dwelt 
 there); the disarming of the Mormons; the march upon 
 and the surrender of Far West; the treaty of the traitor, 
 Colonel Hinkle, with General Lucas; and the shootings, 
 ravishings, and murders, inflicted by the army. A chapter 
 of woes, indeed, such as has few parallels in history, 
 ending with banishment from home. 
 
 Brigham thus refers to the scenes in Far West : "I 
 saw Brothers Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. 
 
28 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 Pratt, Lyraan Wight and George W. Robinson delivered 
 up by Col. Hinkle to General Lucas, but expected they 
 would have returned to the city that evening or the 
 next morning, according to agreement, and the pledge 
 of the sacred honor of the officers that they should be 
 allowed to do so, but they did not' so return. The next 
 morning General Lucas demanded and took away the 
 arms of the militia of Caldwell County, assuring them 
 that they should be protected; but as soon as they 
 obtained possession of the arms, they commenced their 
 ravages by plundering the citizens of their bedding, 
 clothing, money, wearing apparel, and everything of 
 value they could lay their hands upon, and also 
 attempted to violate the chastity of the women in the 
 presence of their husbands and friends. The soldiers shot 
 down our oxen, cows, hogs and fowls at our own doors 
 taking part away and leaving the rest to rot in the street. 
 They also turned their horses into our fields of corn. " 
 
 He was present and heard the noted speech of 
 General Clark, which gave the Mormons no hope for 
 mercy; they were compelled to sign away their property 
 at the point of the bayonet, to defray the expenses of the 
 so called war, fifty-seven of the Mormon leaders, among 
 whom was the Prophet Joseph, were betrayed as prisoners 
 into the hands of the mob, and the whole community 
 were ordered to flee immediately out of the State. 
 
 During these troubles Thomas B. Marsh, the Presi- 
 dent of the Twelve, apostatized; and David W. Patten 
 was killed in the battle of Crooked River, October 25th, 
 which left Brigham Young President of the Apostles. 
 The First Presidency being in prison, it now devolved 
 upon him to take charge of the Church, which he did, 
 danlning and directing the exodus of the Saints to 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 29 
 
 Illinois. It was in the midst of these onerous duties and 
 trials that he exhibited qualities of mind disclosing his 
 executive talent as a great leader. He called his leading 
 brethren together to know how they regarded the work, 
 whether they still knew it was of God, declaring that his 
 faith remained unshaken. He proved his assertion by 
 his works, and planned for others that they might do the 
 same. He manifested earnest zeal and prompt activity 
 in assisting the poor. Meetings were held in January 
 and February, 1839, at which a committee was appointed 
 to solicit aid for the destitute. In one of these gather- 
 ings he offered the following resolution, which was 
 adopted, and the covenant was faithfully kept by all 
 interested. Nearly four hundred persons besides the 
 committee afterward signed a similar document: 
 
 "Resolved. That we this day enter into a covenant 
 to stand by and assist each other, to the utmost of our 
 abilities, in removing from this State, and that we will 
 never desert the poor who are worthy, till they shall be 
 out of the reach of the general exterminating order of 
 General Clark, acting for and in the name of the State." 
 
 His activity in behalf of his afflicted brethren and 
 friends gave offense to the mob, and once more he was 
 forced to flee for his life. With his family he departed 
 from Missouri in February, leaving his landed property 
 and household goods in the hands of the mobbers. Pro- 
 ceeding to Illinois, he settled in the course of three 
 weeks in Quincy. Here, on the 17th of March, he held 
 a meeting with the Twelve and some of the Saints, the 
 object being to devise means to assist the poor from 
 Missouri. His record says: 
 
 "A letter was read to the people from the committee, 
 on behalf of the Saints at Far West, who were left desti- 
 
30 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 tute of the means to move. Though the brethren were 
 left poor and almost stripped of everything, yet they 
 manifested a spirit of willingness to do their utmost, 
 offering to sell their hats, coats and shoes to accomplish 
 the object. We broke bread and partook of the sacra- 
 ment. At the close of the meeting $50 was collected in 
 money, and several teams were subscribed to go and 
 bring the brethren. Among the subscribers was the 
 widow of Warren Smith, whose husband and two sons 
 had their brains blown out at the massacre at Haun's 
 Mill. She sent her only team on this charitable mission." 
 
 In this meeting also he explained to the Saints the 
 conditon of the Church and the situation of the scattered 
 members, advising the people to settle in companies so 
 that they might be "fed by the shepherds; for without, 
 the sheep would be scattered. " Several of those who had 
 proved unfaithful were excommunicated from the Church. 
 Thus with his master spirit he aided in uniting the 
 people, and in keeping them strong and firm in the faith, 
 during their subjection to supremest trial. And their 
 burdens were truly heavy. "That winter from ten to 
 twelve thousand Latter-day Saints, men, women and 
 children, still hounded and pursued by their merciless 
 oppressors, fled from Missouri, leaving in places their 
 bloody footprints on the snow of their frozen pathway. 
 Crossing the ice of the Mississippi, they cast themselves, 
 homeless, plundered and penniless, upon the hospitable 
 shores of Illinois."* 
 
 Brigham Young worked like a hero, m connection 
 with his brethren Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor, and 
 members of the committee, to lighten the burdens of 
 
 Whitney's History of Utah, Vol. 1, p 167. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 31 
 
 these exiles. His big heart offered soothing sympathy to 
 the bereaved, the widow and the fatherless, and his 
 untiring exertions lessened the sorrows and afflictions of 
 the destitute. 
 
 7. FULFILLING A PROPHECY. 
 
 On the 26th day of April, 1838, a revelation was 
 given through Joseph the Prophet, commanding the 
 Saints to re-commence laying the foundation of a temple 
 in Far West, one year from that date. About this time 
 also the Twelve were called to proclaim the gospel 
 "across the great waters," and were to meet upon the 
 temple grounds upon this occasion, to take formal leave 
 of Far West prior to their departure abroad. 
 
 But, as we have learned, the Saints were expelled from 
 Missouri. It was as much as an Apostle's life was worth 
 to be seen in the region. The Missourians had sworn 
 that at least this prophecy should not be fulfilled. Under 
 these circumstances some of the Elders urged that the 
 Lord would not require the Apostles to obey this com- 
 mand. Brigham Young thought otherwise, and laid 
 great stress upon the fulfillment of the prophecy, as did 
 the Twelve who were with him. He was now in charge, 
 and was not willing that anything resting in his care 
 should fail. He said: "I told them the Lord had spoken 
 and it was our duty to obey, and leave the event in His 
 hands, and He would protect us." Hence, notwithstand- 
 ing the danger, he proceeded to the spot, with Heber C. 
 Kimball, Orsop Pratt, John E. Page and John Taylor. 
 They held the conference, ordained Wilford Woodruff 
 and George A. Smith to the Apostleship, severed thirty- 
 one persons from the Church, offered prayer, laid the 
 
32 THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 corner-stone of the temple as commanded, and took 
 formal leave of the Saints, very early in the morning of 
 the 26th of April, 1839, before the mob were awake. 
 
 Thus was a prophecy fulfilled which the mobbers had 
 boasted should surely fail. 
 
 8. ACROSS THE WATF.R. 
 
 Continuing their labors, lands were purchased in 
 Iowa, and in Hancock County, Illinois, upon which the 
 Saints as they escaped from Missouri now settled. 
 Brigham Young dwelt in Montrose, Lee County, Iowa, 
 when the Prophet, after nearly six months' cruel 
 imprisonment, arrived among the Saints in Quinc) 7 . 
 Leaving that city May 9th, 1839, Joseph with the Twelve 
 now founded Nauvoo, at a place then called Commerce, in 
 Illinois. Here again the weak and poverty-stricken 
 Saints gathered in the course of the summer. 
 
 While the site of the new city was beautifully located 
 a part of the land sloping to the river was moist and 
 miery, making it a fit place for the dreaded malaria. 
 The physical condition of the exiled Saints made them 
 an easy prey to disease, and it was not long after their 
 arrival when fever and ague broke out in their midst, 
 until nearly all were afflicted. There were sick in every 
 house few persons if any, were exempt. The Prophet 
 himself did not escape, but he arose, however, and by 
 the power of his faith in God stayed the pestilence. This 
 incident of miraculous healing is referred K) by Brigham 
 Young, who says: 
 
 "Joseph arose from his bed, and the power of God 
 rested upon him. He commenced in his own house and 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 3B 
 
 door-yard, commanding the sick in the name of Jesus 
 Christ to arise and be made whole; and they were healed 
 according to his word. He then continued to travel from 
 house to house, and from tent to tent, upon the bank of 
 the river, healing the sick as he went, until he arrived at 
 the upper stone house, where he crossed the river in a 
 boat, accompanied by several of the quorum of the 
 Twelve, and landed in Montrose. He walked into the 
 cabin where I was lying sick, and commanded me in the 
 name of Jesus Christ to arise and be made whole. I 
 arose and was healed, and followed him and the brethren 
 of the Twelve into the house of Elijah Fordham, who 
 was supposed by his family and friends to be dying. 
 Joseph stepped to his bedside, took him by the hand, 
 and commanded him in the name of Jesus Christ to arise 
 from his bed and be made whole. His voice was as the 
 voice of God. Brother Fordham instantly leaped from his 
 bed, called for his clothing and followed us into the 
 street. We then went into the house of Joseph B. 
 Nobles, who lay very sick, and he was healed in the 
 same manner. And when, by the power of God granted 
 unto him, Joseph had healed the sick, he re-crossed the 
 river and returned to his home. This was a day never 
 to be forgotten." 
 
 It was during the reign of such an epidemic that 
 Brigham Young and seven of' the Twelve left to fill the 
 foreign mission to which they had been appointed in 
 Missouri. Themselves weak, ailing, penniless, their 
 families afflicted and almost destitute, they yet had faith 
 enough in the cause to perform their duty. With all his 
 children sick, and in the poorest of financial circum- 
 stances, Brigham left his home in Montrose, on the 14th 
 of September, 1839, being carried to the house of Heber 
 
34 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 C. Kimball, where, his strength failing him, he was com- 
 pelled to remain, nursed by his wife, till the 18th. At 
 this date he, with his friend Heber, whose circumstances 
 were no better, resolutely departed for England, visiting 
 Kirtland and other places on the way, preaching as they 
 went. 
 
 Such indomitable courage had the men who were 
 unwittingly training to conquer in even greater conflicts. 
 
 On the 19th of March, 1840, Brigham Young, Heber 
 C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, George A. 
 Smith and Reuben Hedlock, sailed from New York, on 
 the Patrick Henry, arriving in Liverpool April 6th, 1840 
 the tenth anniversary of the birthday of the Church. 
 John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff Hyrum Clark and Theo- 
 dore Turley had previously landed on January llth. On 
 the 14th day of April, after all the missionary Apostles 
 had arrived a conference was held at Preston. At this 
 gathering Brigham Young was chosen President of the 
 Twelve, Willard Richards was ordained an Apostle, the 
 plan of labor was discussed and decided upon and the 
 Elders were appointed to their various mission fields. 
 
 With unwearying zeal Brigham superintended the 
 organization of branches, established an emigration 
 agency and a publishing house, and in other ways gave 
 organic- form to the great British Mission. He began the 
 publication of the Millennial Star assisting Parley P. 
 Pratt in editing the same; he was one of a committee to 
 compile the Mormon hymn book, and to print the Book 
 of Mormon, and he traveled extensively to obtain means 
 for the publication of these works. 
 
 A letter concerning their labors, which he wrote to 
 the Prophet Joseph soon after the conference, will illus- 
 trate his regard for the counsels of his leader a respect 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 35 
 
 which he always in after time demanded as well as com- 
 manded from his own followers: 
 
 To President Joseph Smith and Counselors. 
 
 "DEAR BRETHREN: You no doubt will have the 
 perusal of this letter and the minutes of our conferences; 
 they will give you an idea of what we are doing in this 
 country. 
 
 "If you see anything in or about the whole affair 
 that is not right, I ask in the name of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that you would make known unto us the mind of 
 the Lord and His will concerning us. 
 
 "I believe that I am as willing to do the will of the 
 Lord, and take counsel of my brethren, and be a servant 
 of the Church, as ever I was in my life; but I can tell 
 you I would like to be with my old friends; I like my 
 new ones, but I cannot part with my old ones for them. 
 
 "Concerning the hymn book: when we arrived here 
 we found the brethren had laid by their old hymn books, 
 and they wanted new ones; for the Bible, religion and 
 all is new to them. 
 
 "I trust that I will remain your friend through life 
 and in eternity 
 
 "As ever, 
 
 "BRIGHAM YOUNG." 
 
 Besides the labors mentioned above, he unlocked 
 the door of emigration, forwarding the first Saints from 
 Europe to swell the numbers in the New World. The 
 first company, consisting of forty souls, sailed in the 
 ship Britanna, June 6th, 1840; and the second consisting 
 of two hundred souls in the ship North America, Septem- 
 ber 8th of the same year. He traveled in the various 
 districts holding conferences preaching the gospel to the 
 people, visiting London and other important cities. 
 Like his fellow-Apostles, he was greatly prospered,, 
 their success being nothing less than marvelous. 
 
36 THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 On the 20th day of April, 1841, he with five of his 
 companions and a company of one hundred and thirty 
 Saints, set sail for New York on board the ship Rochester. 
 There were many friends at the dock to waft them 
 farewell, and to bid them a pleasant voyage to their 
 native land. Parley P. Pratt remained to preside over 
 the mission. 
 
 Concerning the work performed while they were on 
 this errand, Brigham's journal testifies: 
 
 "It was with a heart full of thanksgiving and grati- 
 tude to God, my Heavenly Father, that I reflected upon 
 His dealings with me and my brethren of the Twelve 
 during the past year of my life which was spent in Eng- 
 land. It truly seems a miracle to look upon the contrast 
 of our landing and departing from Liverpool. We 
 landed in the spring of 1840, as strangers in a strange 
 land, and penniless, but through the mercy of God we 
 have gained many friends, established churches in almost 
 ^very noted town and city of Great Britain, baptized 
 between seven and eight thousand souls, printed 5,000 
 Books of Mormon, 3,000 hymn books, 2,500 volumes of 
 the Millennial Star and 50,000 tracts, emigrated to Zion 
 1,000 souls, establishing a permanent shipping agency, 
 which will be a great blessing to the Saints and have left 
 sown in the hearts of many thousands the seeds of eternal 
 life which shall bring forth fruit to the honor and glory 
 of God; and yet we have lacked nothing to eat, drink or 
 wear; in all these things I acknowledge the hand of 
 God." 
 
 On the 1st day of July the Apostles arrived in 
 Nauvoo and were cordially welcomed by the Prophet 
 Joseph, who received the following revelation on the 9th: 
 
 "Dear and well-beloved Brother Brigham YDung, 
 
THE LIFE OF BHIGHAM YOUNG. 37 
 
 verily thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Brigham, 
 it is no more required at your hand to leave your family 
 as in times past, for your offering is acceptable to me; 
 
 "I Jiave seen your labor and toil in jourenying for 
 my name. 
 
 "I therefore command you to send my word abroad, 
 and take special care of your family from this time, 
 henceforth, and forever. Amen. " 
 
 9. IN NAUVOO. THE MARTYRDOM. 
 
 In Nauvoo the cause was prospering. The people in 
 Iowa and Illinois treated the Saints with kindness and 
 consideration, and counted them worthy citizens. The 
 city was rapidly growing, and there sprang into existence 
 beautiful homes, surrounded by lovely gardens. It 
 promised to be the largest city in the State. The popula- 
 tion increased steadily, and with it, the industries that 
 come into being in the midst of a thrifty people. Once 
 or twice their old enemies had made efforts to arrest the 
 Prophet and some of the leaders to answer to imaginary 
 charges. Some annoyance was thus caused, but 
 Missourians obtained little sympathy, and just then met 
 with no success. Peace and good-will seemed at length 
 to rest in soothing comfort over the Saints. 
 
 In the winter of 1840-1, the legislature granted a 
 most liberal charter to Nauvoo, and political parties 
 sought the affiliation of the Mormons, since they held the 
 balance of power. With the return of Brigham Young 
 and the Apostles from England, the prosperity of the 
 growing city was greatly accelerated. The University- 
 was organized as provided for in the charter, as was also 
 
38 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 the Nauvoo Legion, of which latter military organization 
 Joseph Smith was chosen the Lieutenant-General. The 
 corner-stone of the temple was laid in April, 1841, and 
 in May following, the Prophet called upon the people 
 in the scattered Stakes in all the regions about to 
 gather to Nauvoo, the object being to assist, by concen- 
 trating their energy and enterprise, in the erection of the 
 temple and other public works. The result was that the 
 Saints flocked into the city from all directions, and 
 Nauvoo the Beautiful soon numbered twenty thousand 
 souls. The fame of Joseph Smith had spread over both 
 continents. He and his people were now at the height 
 of their prosperity. The great newspapers sent represen- 
 tatives to write about the "modern military prophet" 
 and his followers. At this time, in answer to newspaper 
 appeals, the Articles of Faith were written, and the 
 whole world was informed in other writings and inter- 
 views concerning the history and belief of the Saints. 
 
 The movement on the part of the Prophet of concen- 
 trating the Saints in Nauvoo \fas construed to mean that 
 he desired to rule in politics. The result was a new 
 organization, styled the Anti-Mormon Party, whose object 
 is clearly expressed in its name. With this, fresh diffi- 
 culties began, for the people. The Prophet was arrested 
 on old charges, arid complaints of various kinds were 
 lodged against the Saints and their leaders. Then came 
 Bennett, with his vile slanders, coupled with the efforts 
 of apostates to bring trouble upon the people and the 
 Prophet. 
 
 Their nefarious exertions were like the faint rum- 
 blings of a coming storm. 
 
 Before this time the Prophet had hinted time and 
 time again at his own death, seeming to realize that it 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 39 
 
 was not far off. Brigham, as ever before, continued to 
 be his near friend. He had taken a prominent part in 
 the affairs of Nauvoo since his return from England, meet- 
 ing with the Prophet in important councils both religious 
 and political so that by this means he became thoroughly 
 educated in Joseph's policy and doctrines. Temporal 
 affairs had not escaped his attention. He arranged once 
 to -aid Joseph in obtaining the necessaries of life, when 
 in poverty owing to his long continued imprisonment in 
 Missouri, and on another occasion when the Missourians 
 came to Illinois to arrest Joseph, raised hundreds of 
 dollars to help in frustrating their plans. With Brigham 
 Young at his side, whom his intuition seemed to have 
 singled out as his successor, as the coming leader, 
 Joseph felt secure. 
 
 The success which had attended the Saints in their 
 now beloved Nauvoo, and the establishment of the gos- 
 pel doctrines in America, must have given the Prophet 
 comforting joy, but he felt that there was still a greater 
 destiny for his people. They were not yet in their place 
 of rest. He still had visions of the West, concerning 
 which a remarkable prophecy is recorded that he uttered 
 in Montrose, Lee County, Iowa, August 6th, 1842. It 
 reads: "I prophesied that the Saints would continue to 
 surfer much affliction, and would be driven to the Rocky 
 Mountains. Many would apostatize; others would be put 
 to death by our persecutors, or lose their lives in con- 
 sequence of exposure and disease; and some would live 
 to go and assist in making settlements and building 
 cities, and see the Saints become a mighty people in the 
 midst of the Rocky Mountains." 
 
 From this time on there was not much peace. A 
 variety of charges were heaped upon the Prophet. He 
 
40 . THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 was many times arrested, tried and set free, there being 
 no cause for action against him. Lies were circulated 
 by enemies in the Church and out,, libeling his moral 
 conduct and teachings. As the elections came on, the 
 Mormons, voting for their friends, made still more 
 enemies among their political opponents. 
 
 In the midst of this turmoil, in the winter of 1843-4 r 
 the Prophet Joseph Smith entered the political arena . as 
 candidate for the Presidency of the United States. 
 His nomination was made January 29, 1844, and 
 sustained at a State convention the following May. He 
 then issued a platform setting forth his views on the 
 policy and powers of the Federal Government, in which, 
 are found many excellent features. 
 
 It was to promulgate his views on government, and to 
 secure his election that Brigham Young and several 
 Apostles and Elders went to the Eastern States in April 
 and May of 1844. 
 
 With this new step the Anti-Mormon element became 
 more furious than ever; and in addition there arose 
 schisms and apostasies in the Church. Apostates estab- 
 lished the Expositor, a paper designed to attack the 
 character of the Prophet and citizens of Nauvoo. The 
 paper was destroyed after its first issue by the outraged 
 citizens by order of the Mayor who was at that time the 
 Prophet Joseph. Then followed outrage upon outrage by 
 the mob who were now formed into a well-organized 
 body. They crowded upon the city and at length Joseph 
 declared Nauvoo under martial law and called upon the 
 Legion to defend it. In a speech to that body he again 
 foreshadowed his own death and pointed to the West as 
 the resting place of his people. 
 
 Governor Ford now called out the army, transforming 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 41 
 
 the mob into a militia, and demanded that the Prophet 
 and those engaged in the destruction of the Expositor 
 come to Carthage to be tried for riot, also that the mar- 
 tial law at Nauvoo be abolished. 
 
 His orders were obe) T ed, as it was never the inten- 
 tion of the people to disobey constituted authority. The 
 Prophet hesitated about giving himself up, and started, 
 on the night of June 22nd, with his brother Hyrum, 
 Willard Richards, John Taylor and a few others, for 
 the Rocky Mountains. He was, however, intercepted 
 by his friends, and induced to abandon his project, 
 being chided with cowardice and with deserting his 
 people. This was more than he could bear, and so he 
 returned, saying: "If my life is of no value to my 
 friends, it is of no value to myself. We are going back 
 to be slaughtered. " 
 
 On the following day the Legion, by order, delivered 
 up their arms, and the Prophet and his friends went to 
 Carthage on the 24th day of June. On the 27th, not- 
 withstanding the pledged protection of the State, Joseph 
 and his brother Hyrum were martyred by a heartless 
 mob, in Carthage jail. 
 
 It seems at this day strange that Brigham Young 
 should have been sent away during this trying period. 
 Providence doubtless designed it, for if he had been in 
 Nauvoo when that message was sent for the return of 
 the Prophet, he would have prevented the martyrdom. 
 He loved Joseph too much' to permit the counsels of 
 sure death to prevail; rather he would have heaped 
 contempt upon the heads of the unwise counselors, and 
 instead provided Elders to aid the Prophet in his flight. 
 
 He said as much afterward: "If the Twelve had 
 been here we would not have seen him given up; he 
 
42 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 should not have been given up. He was in your midst 
 but you did not know him; he has been taken away for 
 the people are not worthy of him." 
 
 But this was not to be. The deed was done. 
 Brigham and not Joseph was to be the founder of Utah. 
 Heavy grief filled the hearts of the Saints, sorrow and 
 deep mourning rested over the betrayed and stricken 
 people. 
 
 The Twelve had been summoned home on the 20th 
 of June before the Prophet's death, but it was not until 
 the 6th of August, 1844, that they all arrived in Nauvoo. 
 
 Brigham Young and Orson Pratt were in New 
 Hampshire when they first learned of the assassination. 
 The sad news startled them, but like a flash came to 
 Brigham Young the knowledge that the Twelve possessed 
 the authority of the Priesthood, and were now the head of 
 the Church. Joseph had previously given to him his en- 
 dowments, bestowed upon him the keys of the Priesthood, 
 and had instructed him and his brethren of the Twelve that 
 whatever might befall, they now had the authority to go 
 on and build up the Kingdom of God, and perform all 
 the ordinances of the gospel. So it was the farthest 
 from their thoughts to let the Church die, as its 
 enemies doubtless hoped it would. The power and 
 spirit of his calling rested upon Brigham Young in this 
 supreme moment: "The first thing I thought of," said 
 he, "was whether Joseph had taken the keys of the 
 Kingdom with him from the earth. Brother Orson 
 Pratt sat on my left; we were both leaning back in our 
 chairs. Bringing my hand down on my knee, I said, 
 the keys of the Kingdom are right here with the 
 Church. " 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 43 
 
 Who held these keys? was the question that was 
 discussed in Nauvoo upon their arrival in that city, 
 August 6th, 1844. 
 
 God had taken Brigham Young through a school of 
 experience, in the past twelve years, that made him 
 equal to the stupendous burden that now rested upon his 
 shoulders. The Saints must be comforted, held together, 
 be persuaded that the authority and power to lead the 
 Church is with the Twelve. There were besides the 
 foreshadowing of their great future to be realized the 
 grand program of colonization to be enacted. The 
 native abilities of the chief Apostle, enlarged and 
 strengthened by training, made him equal to the task. 
 He was the man for the place, ready at the appointed 
 hour. Hardships, sufferings, trials, toil had been his 
 portion, but these had tempered him mentally and physi- 
 cally to endurance. His mind was keen, far-reaching, 
 profound; inherently he possessed attributes that make 
 leaders, counselors, commanders: time and experience 
 had developed these qualities. 
 
 He was now in his forty-fourth year, in the full 
 vigor of manhood, strong in mind and body. He had 
 shown himself great in faith, in powers of organization, 
 executive ability and government; and his greatness was 
 largely the fruit and product of the training which he 
 had received in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught by 
 the departed leader and Prophet. 
 
44 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 III. LEADER OF THE MODERN EXODUS. 
 
 1. BRIGHAM YOUNG SUCCEEDS JOSEPH SMITH. 
 
 Utah was founded by a colony of religious exiles 
 who were driven thither, as the Puritans to America, 
 by persecution. The migration of the Latter-day Saints 
 to the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains has often been 
 compared to the flight of the children of Israel, and so 
 their pilgrimage may well be called The Modern Exo- 
 dus.* Brigham Young was not only the Moses of the 
 Latter-day Israel, but also the Joshua, since he both led 
 his followers to their land, and established them therein. 
 Briefly let us outline the scenes of the journey and the 
 acts of the leader. 
 
 As we have seen, several weeks passed after the 
 martyrdom, before Brigham Young- and the Twelve 
 
 *" The colonies which this wonderful state-founding community has sent 
 to the West, since that tidal wave rose in the exodus from Nauvoo, will stand 
 as the most marked example of organic colonization which has occurred in 
 the growth and spread of the American nation." Tullidge's History of Salt 
 Lake City, p. 4. 
 
 " There is no parallel in the world's history to this migration from 
 Nauvoo. The exodus from Egypt was from a heathen land, a land of idol- 
 aters, to a fertile region designated by the Lord for His chosen people, the 
 land of Canaan. The pilgrim fathers in flying to America came from a 
 bigoted and a despotic people a people making few pretensions to civil or 
 religious liberty It is from these same people who had fled from old-world 
 persecutions that they might enjoy liberty of conscience in the wilds of 
 America, from their descendants and associates, that other of their descen- 
 dants, who claimed the right to differ Irom them in opinion and practice, were 
 now fleeing." Bancroft's History of Utah. p. 217. 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 45 
 
 returned to Nauvoo. Pending their arrival there was 
 great anxiety among certain Elders to have a leader, a 
 trustee-in-trust, or a president appointed. Others 
 wished a reorganization of the Church. 
 
 Sidney Rigdon, who as a counselor to the martyred 
 Prophet, came all the way from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 
 whither he had gone to escape the turmoils of Nauvoo, 
 to present his claims to the Presidency, to lay his plans 
 to have the Church accept him as its "guardian." In 
 conjunction with Wm. Marks, President of the Nauvoo 
 Stake of Zion, he arranged for various meetings in 
 which he laid his claims before the people, telling them 
 of his calling, and the visions which he had received, 
 indicating that he was the man to lead the Church, the 
 man of whom the prophets had sung and written and 
 over whom they had rejoiced. 
 
 The Apostles were arriving one by one, and there 
 was a general desire to wait until they all should come 
 before taking action, hut this was not the wish of the 
 aspirants to position. The first meeting was held on 
 the 4th of August, in the Grove. Rigdon spoke, and by 
 a strange circumstance chose for his text words which 
 were very appropriate, as subsequent events proved, in 
 showing the sentiments of the people towards him: 
 "For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are 
 your ways- my ways, safth the Lord." 
 
 The people felt like sheep without a shepherd, and 
 that plotters were among them seeking to get control of 
 the fold. There was doubting and uncertainty among 
 the Saints. A special meeting for choosing a guardian was 
 called for August 8th, notwithstanding leading Elders 
 objected to such haste. These were the conditions that 
 prevailed when President Young and the Twelve arrived 
 
46 THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 in Nauvoo on the 6th of August, 1844. Their coming 
 created a feeling of relief among the Saints. The 
 Apostles lost no time in learning the true state of affairs, 
 and it was not long till it became apparent to the people 
 that the chief had come. A council of the Priesthood 
 was called the next day, in which Brigham asked Rigdon 
 to present his claims to leadership. He did so, and was 
 answered by the President in such a way that no doubt 
 was left in the minds of those who heard as to who had 
 the authority. Said Brigham: "Joseph conferred upon 
 our heads- all the keys and powers belonging to the 
 Apostleship which he himself held before he was taken 
 away, and no man or set of men can get between Joseph 
 and the Twelve in this world or in the world to come. 
 How often has Joseph said to the Twelve, I have laid the 
 foundation and you must build thereon, for upon your 
 shoulders the kingdom rests." 
 
 The advertised public meeting was held thereafter 
 on the 8th. It was one of the most important assemblies 
 the Saints have ever attended. Rigdon occupied one 
 hour and a half, followed by President Young. The 
 words of the former, notwithstanding his natural elo- 
 quence, fell upon cold ears. "The Lord hath not chosen 
 you," could be read in the faces of the multitude. The 
 people turned instinctively to Brigham Young; it was the 
 first time they had heard him since his return, and the 
 effect was electrical. His voice, appearance, and the 
 wisdom and clearness with which he pointed out the 
 order of the Priesthood, all indicated the man whom 
 God had selected to guide his Israel. Rigdon was re- 
 pudiated, and the congregation said one to another: 
 The spirit of Joseph rests upon Brigham." 
 
 "A more wonderful and miraculous event than was 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 47 
 
 wrought that day in the presence of that congregation 
 we never heard of," writes George Q. Cannon. "The 
 Lord gave his people a testimony that left no room for 
 doubt as to who was the man He had chosen to lead them. 
 
 * * On that occasion President Brigham Young 
 seemed to be transformed, and a change such as that we 
 read of in the Scriptures as happening to the Prophet 
 Elisha, when Elijah was translated in his presence, seemed 
 to have taken place with him. The mantle of the Prophet 
 Joseph had been left for Brigham Young. * * * 
 In his remarks to the congregation, he alluded to the fact 
 that instead of himself and brethren finding them mourn- 
 ing the death of their great leader, as Israel did the de- 
 parture of Moses, they found them holding meetings to 
 chose his successor. But if they wished to obtain the 
 mind and will of the Lord concerning this subject, why 
 did they not meet according to the order, and have a 
 general assembly of the several quorums, which constitute 
 the spiritual authorities of the Church, a tribunal from 
 whose Decision there was no appeal? In a moment the 
 few words he spoke upon this subject threw a flood of 
 light upon it. The Elders remembered then the proper 
 order. He desired to see an assembly of the quorums at 
 2 o'clock that afternoon, every quorum in its place and 
 order, and a general meeting also of the members. " 
 
 This was witnessed in the afternoon when the multi- 
 tude again met. President Young addressed the congre- 
 gation; his commanding voice sounded over the vast 
 assembly: "Attention all." He showed them their situa- 
 tion. The Twelve were appointed by the finger of God; 
 they stand next to the Prophet and are as the First Presi- 
 dency: if any man is appointed to lead the Church the 
 Twelve must ordain him. Any other course would 
 
48 THE LIFE OF BBIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 scatter the Saints. "I have spared no pains to learn 
 my lessons of the kingdom in this world and in the 
 eternal worlds; and if it were not so I could go and live 
 in peace; but for the gospel and for your sakes I shall 
 stand in my place. * Does this Church 
 
 want it as God organized it? or do you want to clip the 
 power of the Priesthood and let those who have the keys 
 of the Priesthood go and build up the kingdom in all the 
 world, wherever the people will hear them? If there is 
 a spokesman, if he is a king and priest, let him go and 
 build up a kingdom to himself; that is his right and it is 
 the right of many here, but the Twelve are at the head 
 of it. * * * If ten thousand men rise up and 
 say they have the Prophet Joseph Smith's shoes, I know 
 they are imposters. * I tell you in the name 
 
 of the Lord, that no man can put another between the 
 Twelve and the Prophet Joseph. Why? Because 
 Joseph was their file leader and he has committed into 
 their hands the keys of the kingdom in this last dispen- 
 sation, for all the world; do not put a thread between 
 the Priesthood and God. * * * We have a 
 head, and that head is the Apostleship, the spirit and 
 power of Joseph, and we can now begin to see the 
 necessity of that Apostleship. * * * The Twelve 
 can manage the affairs of the Church and direct all 
 things aright." And so he continued, pointing out the 
 order of succession and authority, the import of the 
 revelations and the laws of the Church which were for- 
 gotten by the people, or hidden from them in the excite- 
 ment of the hour. 
 
 Always bright and gifted, Brigham was on this, as on 
 other great occasions, most uncommonly endowed with 
 power. It required a strong mind to hold the people, 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 49 
 
 but hi.s determination was equal to the occasion. He 
 was not a man of many smooth words, but what he/said 
 was full of force and meaning. That afternoon, Sjdney 
 Rigdon was like a child in the presence of a wise man; 
 he said not a word. 
 
 Before the deciding vote was taken, Brigham said, 
 among other things: "Brother Joseph, the Prophet, has 
 laid the foundation for a great work, and we will build 
 upon it; you have never seen the quorums built one upon 
 another. There is an almighty foundation laid, and we 
 can build a kingdom such as there never was in the 
 world. * * * I do not ask you to take my counsel 
 or advice alone, but every one of you act for himself. 
 * I want every man before he enters into a 
 covenant to know what he is going to do; but we want 
 to know if this people will support the Priesthood in the 
 name of Israel's God. If you say you will, do so." 
 
 The greatest number said that they would so sustain- 
 the authorities; Brigham Young and the Twelve were 
 upheld, and the Church was saved. The enemies of the 
 Saints were soon impressed with the fact that "the 
 blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." Mor- 
 monism promised to grow with greater force than ever 
 before. A great character had arisen to fill the place of 
 the Prophet. Upon the foundation laid a kingdom was 
 to be built whose equal "there never was in the world." 
 
 2. BOGUS BRIGHAM. 
 
 But while this was the case, the Anti-Mormons also 
 seemed bent upon carrying out their plans which were to 
 drive the Saints away, harass or utterly destroy them. 
 They were not satisfied with having martyred thejProphet 
 
 I 
 
50 THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 and Patriarch. They seemingly wished tcTtreat all the 
 leaders in a like manner and were determined to scatter 
 the people. 
 
 The forced exodus to the West was near at hand. 
 Before the Saints should forsake their homes once more, 
 they wished to enjoy the sacred blessings of the temple, 
 and were therefore counseled to bend all their energies 
 oipon completing the edifice. And this they did, often 
 amidst sore persecutions from their enemies. The leaders 
 were in constant danger of being ensnared, and were fre- 
 quently compelled to go into hiding to avoid arrest, 
 emerging from concealment when danger was temporarily 
 over. 
 
 It was under such circumstances that the "Bogus 
 Brigham" arrest occurred. The President, the Twelve 
 and other Elders were in the temple when a marshal and 
 his posse came to the door to arrest Brigham Young. 
 William Miller, who much resembled him, threw on a 
 cloak at the request of Brigham and went down to the 
 entrance of the building, mutely surrendering to the 
 elated officers. People who appreciated the joke, stood 
 about the carriage weeping and questioning, but Miller 
 made no reply and soon the vehicle containing the prize 
 was on the way to Carthage, where the prisoner was to 
 be tried on some fabricated charge, or perhaps treated to 
 powder and ball as was Joseph and Hyrum. The sequel 
 to the rich ruse is thus told by President Young himself: 
 When they arrived within two or three miles of 
 Carthage, the marshal, with his posse, stopped. They 
 arose in their carriages, buggies and wagons, and, like 
 a tribe of Indians going to battle, or as if they were a 
 pack of demons, yelling and shouting, exclaimed, 'We've 
 got him; we've got him; we've got him.' 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 51 
 
 "When they reached Carthage, the marshal took the 
 supposed Brigham into an upper room of the hotel, and 
 placed a guard over him, at the same time telling those 
 around him that he had got him. Brother Miller re- 
 mained in the room until they bade him come to supper. 
 While there parties came in, one after the other, and 
 asked for Brigham. Brother Miller was pointed out to 
 them. So it continued, until an apostate Mormon, by 
 the name of Thatcher, who had lived in Nauvoo, came 
 in, sat down and asked the landlord where Brigham was. " 
 
 ''That is Mr. Young,' said the landlord, pointing 
 across the table to Brother Miller. 
 
 ' 'Where? I can't see any one that looks like Brig- 
 ham,' Thatcher replied. 
 
 "The landlord told him it was that fleshy man 
 eating. 
 
 " 'Oh, h 1' exlaimed Thatcher, 'that's not Brigham; 
 that's Wm. Miller, one of my old neighbors.' 
 
 "Upon hearing this the landlord went, and tapping 
 the sheriff on the shoulder, took him a few steps to one 
 side, and said: 
 
 ' 'You have made a mistake. That is not Brigham 
 Young. It is Wm. Miller, of Nauvoo.' 
 
 "The marshal, very much astonished, exclaimed: 
 'Good heavens, and he passed for Brigham. ' He then 
 took Brother Miller into a room, and turning to him, 
 said: 'What in h 1 is the reason you did not tell me 
 your name?' 
 
 ''You have not asked me my name,' Brother Miller 
 replied. 
 
 1 'Well what is your name? said the sheriff, with 
 another oath. 
 
 " 'My name is William Miller.' 
 
52 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 " 'I thought your name was Brigham Young. Do you 
 say this for a fact?' 
 
 "'Certainly I do,' returned Brother Miller. 
 
 " 'Then,' said the marshal, 'why did you not tell me 
 that before?' 
 
 "'I was under no obligation to tell you, ' replied 
 Miller. 
 
 "The marshal in a rage, walked out of the room, 
 followed by Brother Miller, who walked off in company 
 with Lawyer Edmonds, Sheriff Backenstos and others, 
 who took him across lots to a place of safety; and this 
 is the real birth of the story of 'Bogus Brigham,' as far 
 as 1 can recollect." 
 
 3. PERSECUTIONS AND ADVICE. 
 
 Governor Ford came to Nauvoo, on the 27th of 
 September, 1844, ostensibly to bring the murderers of 
 the Prophet Joseph to justice, for what else could he 
 do, seeing that he had plighted the protection of the 
 State? 
 
 On this same day Brigham Young received his com- 
 mission as Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion. 
 On the 28th, the Legion was reviewed before the Gover- 
 nor, some of the members coming without arms evidently 
 to remind him of the disarmament which had taken 
 place before the martyrdom. 
 
 Soon after this time, Lieutenant-General Young 
 received an order from the Governor directing him to 
 keep a sufficient force of the Legion on hand to guard 
 the court, and protect it -from evil persons who might 
 wish to oppose the prosecution of the murderers of Jos- 
 eph and Hyrum. The instructions accompanying this 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 53 
 
 order were very strange. The Lieutenant-General was 
 cautioned that the order was "one of great delicacy to 
 execute." "If it should be the means of getting up a 
 civil war in Hancock, I do not know how much force I 
 could bring to the aid of the government," continues His 
 Excellency. Calling the Legion to service might bring 
 war between the factions, and hence, the order was more 
 in the shape of "a permission to use the Legion, than a 
 compulsory command." 
 
 This affair is significant in that it shows that the 
 Mormons were legally in the right. But with the Gov- 
 ernor, it was not policy to do right, if the Mormons 
 should gain anything thereby and their enemies be placed 
 within the law. Brigham Young and the Legion could 
 have protected the Mormons, (this could also have been 
 done by Joseph and the Legion) and besides maintained 
 the Governor in case of a civil war; but this would have 
 placed Illinois under the domination of the Mormons 
 which His Excellency would under no consideration 
 consent to, hence his remark that' his order was one of 
 "great delicacy to execute." The whole thing really 
 meant nothing, it was a sham just as the trial of the 
 Prophet's murderers proved to be. 
 
 It was clearly apparent that no law could touch the 
 Mormons, and so their enemies adopted the policy of 
 out-lawing them. In January, 1845, the Legislature, 
 yielding to the popular clamor, repealed the charter of 
 the City of Nauvoo. (The Saints in April of this year 
 changed the name to The City of Joseph, in honor of 
 the Prophet.) There was now no protection whatever 
 for the Mormons. On the 8th of April, 1845, Governor 
 Ford wrote to President Young advising him to "get 
 off by yourselves" where "you may enjoy peace." He 
 
54 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 counseled him likewise in confidence to migrate with his 
 people to California. 
 
 It was unnecessary that the Governor should so 
 advise. The course to be pursued in seeking a resting 
 spot, a place of refuge in the West, beyond the Rocky 
 Mountains, had already been decided upon by Brigham 
 Young, and preparations to carry the plan into effect had 
 begun. The Saints could and did rely on him as one 
 who never knowingly deviated from a fixed purpose. 
 Believing Joseph Smith to be inspired, he followed in 
 his footsteps, and built upon the foundation laid by 
 him. Far be it from him to fail in the execution of any 
 plan which had been outlined by the Prophet, either in 
 temporal or spiritual things. "As a designer Joseph 
 Smith was without a peer among his fellows; as an 
 executor Brigham Young without a parallel. Each was 
 the other's complement, and neither career alone, in the 
 eternal fitness of things would have been complete*. " 
 
 But the advice was offered nevertheless, and Gover- 
 nor Ford was not alone in giving it, as Senator Douglass 
 and others had expressed similar views. 
 
 The advice would soon be heeded. Before parting 
 from their homes the Saints through a committee of 
 which Brigham Young was the chairman, memorialized 
 the President of the United States, and also all the 
 Governors of the country, asking for aid and sympathy 
 in their exile, and also setting forth the wrongs which 
 they had endured in Missouri and Illinois. This action ac- 
 quainted the nation with the grievances of the afflicted 
 people, but their appeals went unheeded, and unanswered, 
 too, save in a single instance. 
 
 *Whitney's History of Utah, Vol. I., p, 239. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 55 
 
 4. COMMANDED TO LEAVE THE TATE. 
 
 In May, 1845, a faint effort was made to bring the 
 murderers of the Prophet and his brother Hyrum to jus- 
 tice, but after a trial, they were "honorably acquitted," 
 a fair criterion of the sentiments entertained by the 
 citizens and the courts against the Mormons, and a 
 sample of the "justice" of those days. 
 
 The acquittal of the assassins so emboldened the 
 mob element, that no sooner was it generally known 
 than fresh outrages, burnings and persecutions, were 
 inflicted upon the defenseless Saints. Their houses were 
 fired and the people driven from place to place, until, 
 fearing massacre, the Saints in the outlying settlements 
 fled to Nauvoo for protection. The whole State was in 
 great excitement. 
 
 It was at this juncture that Governor Ford called 
 out the State militia to restore order. General Hardin 
 was sent to Hancock County October 1st, 1845, for this 
 purpose; and, having proclaimed peace to the people 
 and commanded the mob to obey authority, he next held 
 a conference with the Mormon leaders in which he asked 
 them to leave the State, the movement to begin in the 
 spring. The requisition was made by representatives 
 from nine counties of the State assembled at Carthage. 
 Brigham Young and his people agreed to the demand, 
 knowing full well that there was no alternative between 
 exodus and extermination by massacre. General Hardin 
 ivished to know what guarantee would be given that the 
 Mormons would fulfill their part of the agreement, to 
 which President Young replied with cutting strictness: 
 "You have our all as a guarantee; what more can we 
 .give beyond the guarantee of our names?" But the 
 
56 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 General afterward, in writing. requested a written 
 statement setting forth the facts and intentions stated to 
 him by the Mormons, in order that he might lay them 
 before the Governor and the people of the State. 
 
 In reply President Young and the Council at Nauvoo 
 sent them a copy of the propositions previously sub- 
 mitted to the committee from Quincy, in answer to a 
 similar request. They added that preparations to remove 
 were made previous to the recent disturbances. They 
 were fully determined to move in the spring, indepen- 
 dent of the contingency of selling their property. The 
 first company would comprise from five to six thousand 
 souls. Others would follow, and all were determined to 
 remove to some distant point where they shoald neither 
 infringe nor be infringed upon. They requested the 
 good citizens to help them sell their property which 
 they would not sacrifice, give away, or surfer to be illeg- 
 ally wrested from them, whether they found pur- 
 chasers or not. Concluding they said: "If these testi- 
 monies are not sufficient to satisfy any people that we 
 are in earnest, we will soon give them a sign that can not 
 be mistaken we will leave them!" 
 
 5. THE EXODUS. 
 
 As rapidly as possible preparations were made to 
 move westward, pursuant to the agreement made. Land 
 was disposed of, leased or exchanged for animals and 
 wagons; and such household property as could not be 
 taken, was sold, or left for sale in the care of agents. 
 
 The Saints had made great efforts to complete the 
 Temple, so that they might enjoy its holy ordinances 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 57 
 
 before setting out upon their journey. It was so far 
 completed in October, 1845, that a three days' conference 
 was held in it; and during December of that year and 
 the following January, Brigham Young and other of the 
 Apostles administered to many hundreds of the people 
 therein. The holy building, had been all but completed 
 in the midst of renewed persecution, and the administer- 
 ing of the ordinances of endowment took place while 
 preparations were being made to evacuate the city. 
 
 The exodus began on the 4th of February, 1846, 
 Charles Shumway being the first person to cross the 
 river on his way west. The ferries, over the Mississippi 
 were afterward kept busy night and day, until the river 
 froze over, when crossing was continued on the ice. The 
 first camp was on Sugar Creek, nine miles west into 
 Iowa. There the advance companies pitched their tents, 
 until the leaders and the remainder should arrive. 
 Brigham Young, who, with the Twelve, directed all the 
 movements, crossed over and arrived at the camp on the 
 15th. It was now bitterly cold. Already great suffering 
 had been endured. The poor exiles, with their sick 
 families, camped in the snow, scraping it from the 
 ground to make their beds, or slept in the cold wagons 
 almost in sight of their comfortable homes from which 
 they had been driven. Snow, storm, savages, and the 
 untrodden wilderness lay before them. 
 
 Well might it be said that "there is no parallel in 
 the world's history to this migration from Nauvoo. " 
 
 The first night out "nine wives became mothers; 
 nine children were born in tents and wagons in that 
 wintry camp. How these tender babes, these sick and 
 delicate women were cared for under such conditions, is 
 left to the imagination of the sensitive reader. How 
 5 
 
58 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 these Mormon exiles, outcasts of civilization, carrying 
 their aged, infirm and helpless across the desolate plains 
 and prairies, were tracked and trailed thereafter by the 
 nameless graves of their dead, is a tale which, though 
 often attempted, has never been and never will be fully 
 told."* 
 
 It was under such circumstances that the labor of 
 temporary organization, by Brigham Young, began at 
 Sugar Creek. Getting into a wagon, his voice rang out 
 over the congregation: "Attention, the whole Camp of 
 Israel!" There stood the law-giver and commander, kind 
 and great in the midst of suffering: undaunted, self- 
 possessed in affliction's sorest trial. Then followed prac- 
 tical, plain instructions as to the order and arrangement 
 of the camp; with a tone of authority, tempered with 
 love and firmness, he told the people that, "we will have 
 no laws we cannot keep, but we will have order in the 
 camp. If any want to live in peace when we have left 
 this place, they must toe the mark." 
 
 The companies now consisted of about four hundred 
 wagons, but there were not enough teams to make a rapid 
 journey. After having petitioned the Governor of Iowa 
 for protection while passing through his Territory, 
 President Young and the Apostles made a farewell visit 
 to Nauvoo, and while there held a parting service in the 
 Temple, giving needed counsel to the remnant of the 
 Saints who were to remain a short season, but whose 
 destiny it was to surfer even more than their comrades 
 who had gone before. Returning to the Camp on Sugar 
 Creek, President Young gave orders to advance on the 
 1st day of March, and by noon of that day the Cam 
 
 'Whitney's History of Utah, Vol. I. p. 249. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 59 
 
 began to move. As a parting thought, he wrote in his 
 diary: "Our homes, gardens, orchards, farms, streets, 
 mills, bridges, public halls, magnificent Temple, and 
 other public improvements, we leave as a monument of 
 our patriotism, industry, economy, uprightness of pur- 
 pose, and integrity of heart, as a living testimony of the 
 falsehood and wickedness of those who charge us with 
 disloyalty to the Constitution of our country, idleness and 
 dishonesty." 
 
 That day the Camp traveled five miles. Then from 
 day to day the weary march was slowly continued in 
 mud, snow and rain. The exiled people, strengthened by 
 a higher Power, pressed on in search of a new home, in 
 some unknown place among the mountains, where mobs 
 could not molest. 
 
 Shoal Creek, in the Chariton River region, was 
 reached on the 27th of March. In this place the Camps 
 were delayed about three weeks by freshets, and in the 
 mean time a more complete organization was effected. 
 Companies of "hundreds," "fifties," and "tens" were 
 formed, and captains appointed over them. The journey 
 was thereafter continued, and at various points in Iowa, 
 between the two great rivers, temporary settlements were 
 made, chief among which were Garden Grove and Mount 
 Pisgah, where farming operations were engaged in for 
 the benefit of those who should follow after. 
 
 About June 15th, Brigham Young, with the vanguard 
 of the migrating trains, reached the Missouri, followed 
 by the main body in July. They stopped at a place on 
 the east side of the river, which they named Kanesville, 
 now known as Council Bluffs. Soon a part crossed to 
 the west side of the river pitching their tents upon the 
 Indian lands. The Saints in both places were heartily 
 
60 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 welcomed by the Pottawatomie and the Omaha Indians. 
 Later in the season, in what is now Florence, was 
 founded the celebrated Winter Quarters, with a popula- 
 tion of about four thousand souls. 
 
 It was the intention of the Mormon leader to hasten 
 onward that summer and fall with a band of pioneers to 
 explore the Rocky Mountains. The muster for volun- 
 teers, for this purpose, was in progress at Mount Pisgah, 
 under the direction of Apostle Woodruff who had recent- 
 ly returned from England, when the Mormon nation of 
 twelve thousand souls, thus stretching across the whole 
 of Iowa, was startled by a call for volunteers for a Mor- 
 mon battalion to do battle for their country against 
 Mexico. 
 
 This event changed the plans, and the people were 
 compelled to remain in Winter Quarters, and in the 
 other settlements in Iowa, over winter. 
 
 6. THE PRESIDENT'S WISDOM AND WATCHCARE. 
 
 The magnitude of an undertaking of thus transplant- 
 ing a whole people, many of whom were without even 
 the common necessities of life, from prosperous homes to 
 a wilderness, may better be imagined than described. 
 Numbers of these people, upon beginning their journey, 
 had only enough supplies for themselves and their animals, 
 for a few days. Brigham Young and the Twelve started 
 with provisions enough for a year, but in a few weeks this 
 had all been distributed to the needy and the suffering 
 in the Camp. There were many things to hinder the 
 progress of the train in their onward course. Amidst 
 cold, exposure, sickness, hunger, and their attendant 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 61 
 
 hardships, it is little wonder that dissatisfaction' at times 
 broke out, that some persons in the camp became un- 
 manageable. It is a wonder, however, that so little dis- 
 union existed, that such satisfaction prevailed. The 
 people, of course, had their faults and weaknesses, but 
 it must be remembered they were surrounded by circum- 
 stances where these were sure to be made apparent. 
 
 Upon Brigham Young rested the whole responsibility 
 of providing, adjusting, organizing and planning. His 
 annoyances, perplexities and anxieties were severe, and, 
 indeed, wore so heavily upon him that in one public 
 meeting he' is said to have remarked that he could 
 scarcely keep from lying down and sleeping to await the 
 resurrection. 
 
 But such feelings were not long at a time entertained 
 by him. His jovial spirit soon returned to kindle new 
 life in his followers, and his wise counsels and firm de- 
 meanor, as well as his just decisions, engendered peace 
 and harmony among them. 
 
 He understood fully human nature, and realized that 
 work is necessary to contentment and happiness. Labor 
 was therefore provided. During the stay in Winter 
 Quarters, a grist mill was erected which the Saints 
 scarcely expected would be of much benefit to them, but 
 it gave the men employment, and kept them from the 
 worst of all evils, idleness. In addition to building the 
 mill and digging the race, and providing shelter for their 
 families, a council house was erected. Willow baskets, 
 washboards and half-bushel measures, were extensiv.ely 
 manufactured. The women, besides attending to their 
 household duties, were occupied in spinning, knitting, 
 and making leggings from skins of animals. Some of 
 the men, in the various camps, took work on farms, split 
 
62 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 rails, cleared timber, fenced land, and husked corn. 
 The whole community were thus engaged in creating re- 
 sources on the way, and were as happy as they were busy. 
 The President counseled, directed, and with uncommon 
 care watched over the migrating thousands. He super- 
 intended the work with a zeal and watch-care unequalled. 
 Says the camp journalist: "He sleeps with one eye open 
 and one foot out of bed, and when anything is wanted, 
 he is on hand." His care "was extended," says Tullidge, 
 "to every family, every soul; even the very animals had 
 the master friend near to ease and succor them. A 
 thousand anecdotes could be told of that journey to illus- 
 trate this. "When traveling, or in camp, he was ever 
 looking after the welfare of all. No poor horse or ox 
 even had a tight collar or a bow too small but his eye 
 would see it. Many times did he get out of his vehicle 
 and see that some suffering animal was relieved."* 
 
 Understanding the good effect that a happy mind has 
 on the body, he was not averse to amusements, and fre- 
 quently permitted dancing, and other recreation to a 
 proper extent, since such diversion tended to lighten 
 present toils, and to assuage the troubles of the past 
 to make the most of joy and the least of sorrow. The 
 camp was thus made measurably free from useless re- 
 pining. "We were happy and contented," says John 
 Taylor, "and the songs of Zion resounded from wagon 
 to wagon, reverberating through the woods." They had 
 a brass band along, Captain Pitt's, that frequently 
 cheered the drooping spirit by strains of music. 
 
 "On the night of March 1st, when the first camp 
 was pitched beyond Sugar Creek, after prayer they held 
 
 *Tullidge's History of Salt Lake City, p. 21. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 63 
 
 a dance, and as the men of Iowa looked on they won- 
 dered how these homeless outcasts from Christian civil- 
 ization could thus praise and make merry in view of their 
 near abandoning of themselves to the mercies of savages 
 and wild beasts."* In the song and the dance the Saints 
 praised the Lord. When the night was fine, and supper, 
 which consisted of the most primitive fare, was over, 
 some of the men would clear away the snow, while others 
 bore logs to the camp-fires in anticipation of the jubilee 
 of the evening. Soon, in a sheltered place, the blazing 
 fires would roar, and fifty couples, old and young, would 
 join, in the merriest spirit, to the music of the band or 
 the rival revelry of the solitary fiddle. As they journeyed 
 along, too, strangers constantly visited their camps, and 
 great was their wonderment to see the order, unity and 
 good feeling that prevailed in the midst of the people. 
 By the camp fires they would linger, listening to the 
 music of the song; and they fain had taken part in the 
 merriment had not those scenes been as sacred worship 
 in the exodus of a God-fearing people, f 
 
 "After the completion of the council house, (in Win- 
 ter Quarters) arrangements were made for a number of 
 dancing parties and festivals to be held in it, and Presi- 
 dent Young proposed to show them how to go forth in 
 the dance in a manner acceptable before the Lord. He 
 did so by offering up prayer to God at the opening and 
 closing of the exercises and permitting only modest de- 
 portment and decorum throughout. J 
 
 That winter his wisdom in dealing with the Indians 
 
 *Bancroft's History of Utah, p. 220. 
 fTullide's History of Salt Lake City, p. 21. 
 JGeo. Q. Cannon, in Jrtvenile Instructor. 
 
64 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 was revealed. Living on Indian lands, and being fre- 
 quently annoyed by the red men who stole their cattle, 
 a conflict easily could have been provoked; but Brigham 
 took great pains tu instruct the people as to the just and 
 proper manner of treating the Indians. The result was 
 a good feeling between the savages and the Mormons. 
 His policy towards the Indians, of feeding instead of 
 fighting them, was then adopted, and to his honor ever 
 after maintained. 
 
 The Saints' spiritual welfare, the moving motive of 
 their exodus, was not neglected, frequent meetings being 
 held, in which the people were stirred to diligence in re- 
 ligious duties. Thus the temporal and the spiritual 
 joined hands; the wanderers both watched and prayed; 
 religious zeal had a companion in common sense, all 
 combining to keep the Mormon pilgrims cheerful and 
 healthy in mind. With the body and the intellect 
 feasted on pleasant thoughts and themes, peace and har- 
 mony prevailed in the "Camps of Israel." 
 
 7. THE MORMON BATTALION. 
 
 That there should be consternation in camp at Mt. 
 Pisgah, on the 26th of June, 1846, when Captain J. Allen 
 made his call for volunteers, is not surprising; the peo- 
 ple were by this time so accustomed to persecution, that 
 it was little wonder they thought the United States army 
 was upon them, when they heard of the officer's arrival. 
 
 The Brannan compact, then probably known at Mt. 
 Pisgah, was one cause that tended to confirm this idea: 
 About the time that the Saints left Nauvoo, Elder Samuel 
 Brannan sailed vith two hundred and thirty-five Mor- 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 65 
 
 mons, on the ship Brooklyn, for California, intending 
 to join those who left Nauvoo somewhere on the Pacific 
 Coast. Before sailing from New York, Brannan entered 
 into a peculiar agreement with one A. G. Benson, who 
 represented a company of Washington sharpers, requiring 
 the Mormons to transfer to said Benson & Company the 
 odd numbers of all the lands and town lots which they 
 might acquire in the country where they should settle 
 for be it known, the Saints were leaving the United 
 States to pass into the dominions of Mexico, which then 
 extended over the whole West to the Pacific Ocean. 
 Brannan was prevailed upon to sign such an agreement, 
 and he forwarded it to the Mormon leaders for their ap- 
 proval and signatures, with the information that if they 
 did not sign the document, President Polk would issue a 
 proclamation setting forth that it was the intention of 
 the Mormons to take sides with either Mexico or Great 
 Britain, which latter country then claimed Oregon, in 
 the impending struggle against the United States, inter.- 
 cept them, and order them to be disarmed and dispersed. 
 But if they did sign, then they were to be allowed to 
 proceed unmolested. When this strange document came 
 to President Young, he called a council of the Twelve, 
 (Sugar Creek, Feb. 17, 1846,) resulting in the emphatic 
 rejection of the proposition/ without even a reply. "We 
 concluded that our trust is in God, and we look to Him 
 for protection," said they, and, added President Young,. 
 "This was a plan of political demagogues to rob the 
 Latter.-day Saints of millions and compel them to submit 
 to it by threats of Federal bayonets." 
 
 But is the threat to be carried out? was the question 
 that. naturally arose in the minds of the people when the 
 officer appeared in Mount Pisgah. 
 
66 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 His appearance, however, was not due to the Bran- 
 nan letter, but resulted from a very different cause. War 
 broke out between our country and Mexico, in April, 
 1846. Just previous to this time, and shortly after the 
 Saints left Nauvoo, Brigham Young had sent Elder Jesse 
 C. Little to Washington to try to obtain aid, if possible, 
 from the nation, to assist them in their march. It was 
 thought that they might be permitted to freight govern- 
 ment provisions and stores to Oregon and other Pacific 
 Coast points. Elder Little succeeded to such an extent 
 that assistance was about to be granted, when the break- 
 ing out of the war with Mexico determined President Polk 
 upon the design of hurriedly taking possession of Cali- 
 fornia, and of using the migrating Mormons for this 
 purpose. This project was matured and about to be 
 carried out, when it was changed through the influence 
 of Senator Thomas Benton, an old Missouri enemy of 
 the Mormons. Another plan was then adopted, which 
 involved a call for five hundred Mormon volunteers to 
 form a part of the force which was to invade New Mex- 
 ico and California, under General Kearney, the com- 
 mander of the army of the West, then at Santa Fe. 
 When the Commander received the President's order, he 
 detailed Captain Allen to proceed to the camps of the 
 Saints, muster the battalion, and march them to Fort 
 Leavenworth there to be armed and prepared for ser- 
 vice, then to follow the trail of General Kearney and the 
 main army. 
 
 Thus originated the call for the Mormon Battalion. 
 To this day there is a difference of opinion as to 
 whether it was meant for the good, or for the destruction 
 of the Mormons. It is plainly evident that the Saints 
 in that day viewed it in the latter light. The leaders 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 67 
 
 looked upon it as a test of the loyalty of the Mormons to 
 their country; and so, when the recruiting officer came 
 to President Young, at Council Bluffs, and laid his 
 errand before him, (for it was a question of too much 
 importance to be considered by the authorities at Mount 
 Pisgah, with a view to giving an answer, or even to 
 expressing an opinion, until the chief Apostle was con- 
 sulted,) he promptly replied: "You shall have your 
 battalion, Captain Allen, and if there are not young men 
 enough, we will take the old men, and if they are not 
 enough, we will take the women. " 
 
 Let us remember the circumstances that surrounded 
 this people; the story of their recent treatment from the 
 citizens and the government of Illinois; the scenes of 
 Missouri, and then it can be more fully understood with 
 what nobility of mind the Mormons responded to the 
 call of their country what patriotism inspired them. 
 Taking up the key words of their leader, "You shall 
 have your battalion, " leading Elders cheerfully responded 
 to the call. Men were sent to all the camps to summon 
 to 'headquarters, the old men and the boys to supply the 
 place of the men the strength of the people who were 
 enlisted in the battalion. When all were gathered in 
 Council Bluffs, President Young, at a meeting in the 
 bowery, July 15th, 1846, delivered to the congregation 
 an earnest speech, in which he told his people "not to 
 mention families today; we want to conform to the re- 
 quisition made upon us, and we will do nothing else until 
 we accomplish this thing. If we want the privilege of 
 going where we can worship God according to the dic- 
 tates of our consciences, we must raise the battalion. I 
 say, it is right; and who cares for sacrificing our comfort 
 for a few years? * * * I want to say to 
 
68 ' THE LIFE OF BBIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 every man, the Constitution of the United States, as 
 framed by our fathers, was dictated, was revealed, was 
 put into their hearts by the Almighty, who sits enthroned 
 in the midst of the heavens; although unknown to them 
 it was dictated by the revelations of Jesus Christ, and I 
 tell you, in the name of Jesus Christ, it is as good as 
 ever I could ask for. I say unto you, magnify the laws. 
 There is no law in the United States, or in the constitu- 
 tion, but I am ready to make honorable. " 
 
 Colonel Thomas L. Kane, who was present at the 
 time of the muster, says of the event: "A central mass 
 meeting for council, some harangues at the remotely 
 scattered camps, an American flag brought out from the 
 store-house of things rescued and hoisted to the top of a 
 tree mast, and in three days the force was reported, 
 mustered,, organized and ready to march." 
 
 *There was no sentimental affectation at their leave-taking It was the 
 custom, whenever the larger camps rested for a few days together, to make 
 great arbors or boweries, as they called them, of poles, and brush, and wattl- 
 ing, as places of shelter lor their meetings of devotion or conference. In one 
 of these, where the ground had been trodden firm and hard by the worship- 
 ers, was gathered now the mirth and beauty of the Mormon Israel. If any- 
 thing told that the Mormons had been bred to other lives it was the appear- 
 ance of the women as they assembled here. Before their flight they had sold 
 their watches and trinkets as the most available recourse for raising ready 
 money; and hence, like their partners, who wore waistcoats cut with useless 
 watch pockets, they, although their ears were pierced and bore the marks of 
 rejected pendants, were without ear-rings, chains or brooches. Except such 
 ornaments, however, they lacked nothing most becoming the attire of decorous 
 maidens. The neatly darned white stockings, and clean white petticoat, the 
 clear-starched collar and chemisette, the something faded, only because too 
 well washed, lawn or gingham gown, that fitted modestly to the waist of its 
 pretty wearer these, if any of them spoke of poverty, spoke of a poverty that 
 had known better days. With the re?t attended the Elders of the Church 
 within call, including nearly all the chiefs of the High Council, with their 
 wives and children. They, the bravest and most trouble-worn, seemed the 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 69 
 
 There was a farewell ball in the bowery* that after- 
 noon, in which the hours were merrily chased away, then 
 the parting; and on the 16th the advance companies of 
 that famous band of five hundred and forty-nine souls, 
 began their- journey for Fort Leavenworth. Their 
 exploits on the long march, their discoveries in Cali- 
 fornia, and their early settlement in Utah, are matters 
 of history. 
 
 8. WITH THE PIONEERS. 
 
 Space does not permit more than mere reference to 
 the troubles of the remnant at Nauvoo who, in the fall 
 of 1846, were driven from their homes, at the point of 
 the bayonet, after an unsuccessful effort at defending 
 themselves. Their fate was even worse than that of their 
 brethren and sisters who preceded them into the wilder- 
 ness. They numbered about six hundred and forty per- 
 sons. "Dreadful, indeed," says Col. Thomas L. Kane, 
 
 most anxious of any to throw off the burden of heavy thoughts Their lead- 
 ing off the dance in a double cotillion was the signal which bade the festivity 
 to commence. 
 
 Light hearts, lithe figures, and light feet had it their own way from an early 
 hour till after the sun had dipped behind the sharp sky-line of the Omaha 
 hills Silence was then called, and a well-cultivated mezzo soprano voice, 
 belonging to a young lady with fair face and dark eyes, gave with quartette 
 accompaniment, a little song, the notes of which I have been unsuccessful in 
 repeated efforts !o obtain since a version of the text touching to all earthly 
 wanderers : 
 
 "By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept ; 
 
 We wept when we remembered Zion.' 1 
 
 There was danger of some expression of feeling when the song was over 
 for it had begun to draw tears, but, breaking the quiet with his hard voice, an 
 Elder asked the blessings of heaven on all who, with purity of heart and 
 brotherhood of spirit, had mingled in that society, and then all dispersed, 
 hastening to cover from the falling dew. THOMAS L. KANK. 
 
70 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 "was the suffering of these forsaken beings, bowed and 
 cramped by cold and sunburn, alternating as each weary 
 day and night dragged on. They were, almost all of 
 them, the crippled victims of disease. They were there 
 because they had no homes, nor hospital, nor poor-house, 
 nor friends to offer them any. They could not satisfy 
 the feeble cravings of their sick; they had not bread to 
 satisfy the fractious hunger-cries of their children. 
 Mothers and babes, daughters and grandparents, all of 
 them alike, were bivouacked in tatters wanting even 
 covering to comfort those whom the sick shiver of fever 
 was searching to the marrow." 
 
 We have already touched, in a few words, upon the 
 condition of the Saints who remained, during the winter 
 of 1846-7 in Winter Quarters and in Iowa. It was, of 
 course, President Young's intention to have them press 
 west, as early as possible in the spring. He received 
 "The word and will of the Lord concerning the 
 Camp of Israel in their journeyings to the West," on the 
 14th day of January, 1847; from this revelation, the first 
 through him that was ever written, we may form a con- 
 ception of the character of the preparations that were to 
 be made for the continued exodus. It is to be found in 
 the 136th section of the book of Doctrine and Covenants, 
 and we quote from the 2nd verse to the 33d, inclusive: 
 
 Let all the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter-day Saints, and those who journey with them, be 
 organized into companies, with a covenant and promise 
 to keep all the commandments and statutes of the Lord 
 our God. 
 
 Let the companies be organized with captains of 
 hundreds, captains of fifties, and captains of tens, with a 
 president and his two counselors at their head, under the 
 direction of the Twelve Apostles; 
 
THE LIFE OF BBIGHAM YOUNG. 71 
 
 And this shall be our covenant, that we will walk in 
 all the ordinances of the Lord. 
 
 Let each company provide themselves with all the 
 teams, wagons, provisions, clothing, and other necces- 
 saries for the journey that they can. 
 
 When the companies are organized, let them go to 
 with their might, to prepare for those who are to tarry. 
 Let each company with their captains and presidents 
 decide how many can go next spring; then choose out a 
 sufficient number of able-bodied and expert men, to take 
 teams, seeds, and farming utensils, to go as pioneers to 
 prepare for putting in spring crops. 
 
 Let each company bear an equal proportion, accord- 
 ing to the dividend of their property, in taking the poor, 
 the widows, the fatherless, and the families of those who 
 have gone into the army, that the cries of the widow and 
 the fatherless come not up into the ears of the Lord 
 against this people. 
 
 Let each company prepare houses, and fields for 
 raising grain, for those who are to remain behind this 
 season, and this is the will of the Lord concerning his 
 people. 
 
 Let every man use all his influence and property to 
 remove this people to the place where the Lord shall 
 locate a Stake of Zion; 
 
 And if ye do this with a pure heart, in all faithful- 
 ness, ye shall be blessed; you shall be blessed in your 
 flocks, and in your herds, and in your fields, and in your 
 houses, and in your families. 
 
 Let my servants Ezra T. Benson and Erastus Snow 
 organize a company; 
 
 And let my servants Orson Pratt and Wilford Wood- 
 ruff organize a company. 
 
 Also, let my servants Amasa Lyman and George A. 
 Smith organize a company; 
 
 And appoint presidents and captains of hundreds, 
 and of fifties, and of tens, 
 
 And let my servants that have been appointed go and 
 
THE 
 
 5RIGHAM 
 
 teach this my will to the Saints, that they may be ready 
 to go to a land of peace. 
 
 Go thy way and do as I have told you, and fear not 
 thine enemies; for they shall not have power to stop my 
 work. 
 
 Zion shall be redeemed in mine own due time, 
 
 And if any man shall seek to build up himself, and 
 seeketh not my counsel he shall have no power, and his 
 folly shall be made manifest. 
 
 Seek ye and keep all your pledges one with another, 
 and covet not that which is thy brother's. 
 
 Keep yourselves from evil to take the name of the 
 Lord in vain, for I am the Lord your God, even the God 
 of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and 
 of Jacob. 
 
 I am he who led the children of Israel out of the land 
 o-f Egypt, and my arm is stretched out in the last days to 
 save my people Israel. 
 
 Cease t contend one with another, cease to speak 
 evil one of another. 
 
 Cease drunkenness, and let your words tend to edify- 
 ing one another. 
 
 If thou borrowest of thy neighbor, thou shalt return 
 that which thou hast borrowed; and if thou canst not 
 repay, then go straightway and tell thy neighbor, lest he 
 condemn thee. 
 
 If thou shalt find that which thy neighbor hast lost, 
 thou shalt make diligent search till thou shalt deliver it 
 to him again. 
 
 Thou shalt be diligent in preserving what thou hast, 
 that thou mayest be a wise steward; for it is the free gift 
 of the Lord thy God, and thou art his steward. 
 
 If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with 
 music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God with 
 supplication, that your souls may be joyful. 
 
 Fear not thine enemies, for they are in mine hands, 
 and I will do my pleasure with them. 
 

 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 73 
 
 My people must be tried in all things, that they may 
 be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, . 
 even the glory of Zion,. and he that will not* bear 
 chastisement, is not worthy of my kingdom. 
 
 Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling 
 himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his 
 eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened 
 that he may hear, 
 
 For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten 
 the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the 
 ungodly. 
 
 In this we have at once an outline of proceedings 
 for the journey, as well as a moral code, and a guide to 
 proper conduct, indicating its author to be a great 
 planner, a wise law-giver, and a faithful religious direc- 
 tor. But, says one, these were not President Young's 
 instructions; they came to him by revelation. This is 
 exactly the view he took. He gave to God all the glory, 
 which made himself none the less great. His rule of 
 action was to learn the will of God and do it. While he, 
 himself, possessed wonderful powers of organization, 
 government, execution, was a statesmen in the highest 
 sense of the word, displaying, besides, superior, common- 
 sense ability in religious affairs he always maintained 
 that what he was, and whatever greatness he possessed, 
 was due to the revelations of God to the gospel of Jesus 
 Christ. He said many times that Mormonism, which is 
 the true gospel, founded upon revelation, made him. 
 
 In conformity with the instructions given, the 
 Saints began to comply with the requirements. Every 
 preparation was made for an early departure from Winter 
 Quarters, which, at this time, had grown into a flourish- 
 ing city of twenty-two wards, with a bishop presiding 
 over each. Again the Mormons were to leave their 
 
74 THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 homes, to seek others in the wilderness, a thousand 
 .miles away, somewhere in the mountains. 
 
 On the 7th day 'of April, immediately after confer- 
 ence, the pioneers started from Winter Quarters. Heber 
 C. Kimball, having preceded them on the 5th, was now 
 camped at Cutler's Park, a distance of four miles west. 
 This became the nucleus camp of the pioneer company. 
 On the 8th another movement brought the company 
 beyond the Elk Horn. 
 
 On two occasions after starting, President Young 
 returned to Winter Quarters to greet Parley P. Pratt 
 and John Taylor, who returned on different days from 
 their English missions. He left the affairs on the 
 Missouri in charge of these Apostles, appointed a special 
 committee to superintend the emigrations, and then 
 joined the camp. During the next few days following 
 the 17th of April, when the Camp was about sixty miles 
 west of the starting point, President Young thoroughly 
 organized the pioneers into a military company, with 
 captains of divisions and officers, himself being Lieu- 
 tenant-General. 
 
 The whole company consisted of 143 men, 3 women, 
 and 2 children 148 souls. They had seventy-two wagons, 
 ninety-three horses, fifty-two mules, sixty-six oxen and 
 nineteen cows, besides seventeen dogs and some chickens. 
 They carried a cannon to over-awe the Indians. There 
 were blacksmiths, mechanics, farmers and builders, so 
 that the band was ready not only to fight its way 
 through, but also to construct it; and when they should 
 reach a place which God should designate as their 
 journey's end, they were prepared to colonize, settle and 
 build up the county, and till the earth. A clerk, and 
 historians were chosen Thomas Bullock, Willard Rich- 
 ards and William Clayton, filling these positions. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 75 
 
 Some of President Young's instructions to the 
 camp indicate his master ability in organization and 
 discipline. He arranged for the men to travel in a 
 compact body, each with his loaded gun in hand, or, if 
 a teamster, in his wagon, ready for instant use. Each 
 man was to walk beside his wagon under orders not to 
 leave it without permission. Wherever practicable, two 
 wagons were to travel abreast. At the call of the bugle 
 at 5 o'clock in the morning, all were to arise, assemble 
 for prayers, feed teams, get breakfast, and be ready to 
 start at the second call of the bugle, at 7 o'clock. At 
 8:30 in the evening the bugle sounded, and each was to 
 retire for prayers in his own wagon, and was expected 
 to be in bed by 9 o'clock. The Sabbath was to be 
 observed. The night was divided into two watches, 
 and twelve men were to stand guard at a time. The 
 usual method of forming corrals, by locking the fore-wheel 
 of each wagon in the hind wheel of the one ahead, with 
 the tongues out, was adopted. The animals grazed at 
 times some distance away, but were generally kept in the 
 circular or oblong enclosure of the wagons. 
 
 With this organization and equipment, and with 
 these and other instructions, the Pioneers wended their 
 way west, the journey of a thousand miles or more being 
 made mostly on foot. 
 
 Interspersed with many a thrilling incident and many 
 a manifestation of the goodness and mercy of God, their 
 dfeary march was continued, until that memorable 24th 
 of July, when, from an elevation of the Wasatch, the 
 founder of Utah, sick with fever, gazed with wonder and 
 admiration upon the Great Salt Lake Valley upon the 
 panorama of sage brush, mountains, valley, lake and hills, 
 spread out before him the future home of the Mormons. 
 
76 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 9. INCIDENTS OF THE PIONEER JOURNEY. 
 
 For three months and seventeen days, this company 
 of sturdy pioneers kept on their westward course. They 
 followed the Platte River for hundreds of miles, passing 
 along its north bank. President Young and his band 
 preferred the north side of the river, notwithstanding they 
 were compelled to break a new road, because they and 
 the Saints who should follow them would thus escape 
 coming in contact with the quarrelsome Missourians, 
 their old time enemies, many companies of whom, on 
 their way west, were passing on the south side, which was 
 the regular route, and upon which grass was more plenti- 
 ful and the Indians less troublesome. The way thus 
 pioneered was traversed by thousands who followed them 
 to the valleys of the mountains, and for years was known 
 as the "Old Mormon Road." The engines of the Union 
 Pacific now thunder along the course of the river, through 
 the fruitful fields of Nebraska, on a grade which covers 
 this old "trail" for several hundred miles. 
 
 On April 21st, the pioneers were visited by a band 
 of Pawnee Indians, who were very pressing in their de- 
 mands for presents. The camp doled out to them of its 
 scanty store, but could not satiate their desire for more. 
 The Indians rode away unsatisfied, and the pioneers 
 passed the cold and stormy night with some apprehen- 
 sions of an attack. The old cannon was made ready for 
 use and placed in position on the outside of the camp, in 
 case of assault, but the morning found the camp in the 
 enjoyment of peace. It was during this night that some 
 of the guards, weary with the previous day's march, fell 
 asleep at their posts, awakening to find their guns and 
 head-coverings taken away by their sportive companions. 
 Their chagrin was their only reproof. 
 
THE LIFE OF BBIGHAM YOUNG. 77 
 
 Loup Fork, a treacherous tributary of the Platte, 
 was crossed with much difficulty. A leather boat, the 
 "Revenue Cutter," brought as a wagon box from Winter 
 Quarters, was used at this crossing. Rafts, also, were 
 constructed to carry the loaded wagons over the treacher- 
 ous beds of quicksand. Whitney relates an incident 
 occurring just prior to their crossing this river, which 
 illustrates the fair and honest nature of President Young, 
 as well as his eager desire to have no act committed that 
 would in any way expose the pioneers to the suspicion 
 of the government: "Some of the pioneers had picked 
 up a few plowshares and other pieces of iron lying 
 around the site of a government station which had 
 recently been burned to the ground during an incursion 
 of the hostile Sioux. President Young would not per- 
 mit this appropriation of property except upon the 
 score of the government's indebtedness to James Case, 
 one of the company, who had been employed as an Indian 
 farmer. Those who took the iron were required to 
 settle for it with Father Case, who was in turn directed 
 to report to the proper authorities the amount he had 
 thus collected on account. " 
 
 Reaching Grand Island about the first of May, the 
 pioneers engaged in a buffalo hunt. In those days the 
 prairies swarmed with these now almost extinct animals, 
 and as many as fifty thousand had been seen in a day. 
 The chase resulted in the killing of one bull, three cows 
 and six calves, which were brought in wagons into 
 camp, and the meat was distributed equally among the 
 companies. At that time it was customary for travelers 
 to kill game without restraint. It was not unusual to 
 see acres of ground covered with carcasses, wool and 
 other remains of the slaughter. After the chase, Presi- 
 
78 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 dent Young took occasion to instruct his men not to kill 
 uselessly. Said he: "If we slay when we have no need, 
 we will need when we cannot slay." This was in keep- 
 ing with his views on economy, and his ideas of utility. 
 Every created thing, in his eyes, had a mission to perform. 
 It was a sin to divert anything from its termination of 
 usefulness, from its profitableness to some valuable end. 
 In a sermon, he said on one occasion: "If a man is 
 worth millions ci bushels of wheat and corn, he is not 
 wealthy enough to suffer his servant girl to sweep a 
 single kernel of it into the tire; let it be eaten by some- 
 thing, and pass again into the earth, and thus fulfill the 
 purpose for which it grew." 
 
 Continuing, the pioneers reached a place on the 
 21st of May, where they erected a guide-board, 409 miles 
 from Winter Quarters, and according to Fremont 132 
 miles from Laramie. Such marks were frequently 
 erected to guide future emigrations. General Young 
 went daily with his staff of men marking out the route. 
 The distance was measured with an original road meter, 
 invented by Wm. Clayton. The first half of the great 
 journey was completed about June 1st, when they 
 arrived opposite Fort Laramie, the chief trading post on 
 the overland route 543 miles from Winter Quarters. 
 Here they were reinforced by a company of the invalid 
 detachments of the Mormon Battalion, and by some 
 Saints from Mississippi, which increased their numbers 
 to two-hundred and sixty-five. Four men, with Apostle 
 Amasa M. Lyman as leader, were selected to go to 
 Pueblo, to bring the main body of the Mississippi Saints 
 to Laramie, then over the mountains in the pioneer trail. 
 President Young and several of the Apostles crossed 
 over the river to the Fort to confer with the authorities. 
 
THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 79 
 
 They were kindly received, hired a boat for $15 to help 
 them in crossing the river, and learned from the princi- 
 pal man of the place James Bordeaux that the old Mor- 
 mon enemy, ex-Governor Boggs, of Missouri, had passed 
 that way some days before. He had warned Bordeaux 
 to look well after his animals when the Mormons came 
 along. The gentleman was not greatly prejudiced, how- 
 ever, for he said that no company could be worse than 
 Boggs'. He afterward remarked that the Mormons were 
 the best behaved company that had come that way. 
 
 After crossing the river, a few days were consumed 
 in repairing wagons, etc., and on the 4th day of June 
 the journey was resumed. Two companies of Mis- 
 sourians, continually quarrelling, overtook and passed 
 the pioneers. Speaking about their contentions, Presi- 
 dent Young uttered a prophecy when he said: "They 
 curse, swear rip and tear, and are trying to swallow up 
 the earth; but though they do not wish us to have a 
 place on it the earth might as well open and swallow 
 them up; for they will go to the land of forgetfulness, 
 while the Saints though they surfer some privations here, if 
 faithful will ultimately inherit the earth, and increase in 
 power, dominion and glory." Today it would not be 
 known that they ever crossed the plains, only for the 
 records of the Mormons; and but for the mention of his 
 name in the annals of the Saints Governor Boggs would 
 be fprgotten. 
 
 Beyond the Black Hills the pioneers again crossed 
 to the north side of the river, consuming a week in so 
 doing. President Young had sent previously a detach- 
 ment of 'men ahead with the Revenue Cutter to help other 
 companies over, and this work was progressing when the 
 main body reached the ferry. For their services, the 
 
80 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 ferrymen received from the Missourians $1.50 for each 
 wagon and load, taking flour in pay at Missouri prices. 
 Thus were the Mormon pioneers in an unexpected man- 
 ner and at a time when they were most in need, given 
 bread by their old enemies. "It looked," says President 
 Wilford Woodruff, "as much of a miracle to me to see 
 our flour and meal bags replenished in the Black Hills 
 as it did to have the children of Israel fed with manna 
 in the wilderness." President Young considered this a 
 fit place to establish a permanent ferry for the benefit of 
 those who should come after, and so he detailed nine 
 men to stay for this purpose, instructing them to divide 
 their earnings among the needy in the next company, to 
 be careful of the lives of those who were to be ferried 
 over, to attend to their prayers, and to come with the 
 next company of Saints from Winter Quarters. 
 
 On the 19th of June the journey was continued, and 
 on the 26th South Pass was reached, where began the 
 western descent of the Rockies. A short distance west from 
 this place they met the scout and trapper, Major Moses 
 Harris, from whom they gained some information, not at 
 all encouraging, of the valley of the Great Salt Lake. As 
 a place of settlement, he rather favored Cache Valley, 
 (so called by trappers who cached their furs from the 
 Indians in this region,) as it was a "fine place for win- 
 tering cattle." On the 28th they arrived at Little 
 Sandy, where they met Colonel James Bridger, who 
 furnished additional information concerning the valley of 
 the Great Salt Lake. His account was even less en- 
 couraging than the accounts already received. He thought 
 it unwise to bring a large colony into the Great Basin 
 until it could be proven whether grain would grow there 
 or not; and he it was who offered to give a thousand 
 
THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 81 
 
 dollars for the first ear of corn ripened, or for the first 
 bushel of wheat produced in the Salt Lake Valley. 
 
 Reaching Green River on the 30th of June, the 
 pioneers were met by Elder Brannan, who had crossed 
 the snow-covered Sierras from his colony of Saints in 
 California. He informed President \oung that they had 
 reached the Bay of San Francisco July 31st, the year 
 previous, and were now settled on the San Joaquin River. 
 He tried to induce the President to join his company, 
 but neither the adverse reports of the mountaineers, nor 
 Brannan's flattering description of the riches of the 
 California coast, could change the determination' of Presi- 
 dent Young to settle in the divinely appointed resting 
 place of the Saints, in the midst of the mountains, on 
 the shores of the Great Salt Lake. To the natural man 
 this did not appear to be the wisest course, but Brigham 
 Young saw with the eyes of inspiration, and the wisdom 
 of his decision was revealed in after years. 
 
 After crossing Green River the pioneers sacredly 
 observed the "Glorious Fourth," it being Sunday, and 
 continuing reached Fort Bridger on the 7th of July, 
 where preparations were made for the rough mountain 
 journey before them. Leaving Fort Bridger on the 9th, 
 they met Miles Goodyear, another mountaineer, near 
 Bear River. His report of the valley was no more 
 favorable than the others peviously received. 
 
 On the 13th President Young was stricken with 
 mountain fever, and fell behind the company. The next 
 day Orson Pratt was instructed to organize a picked 
 company to precede the pioneers. They were to select 
 a trail over the mountains to Great Salt Lake, since it 
 had been learned that the route through Weber Canyon 
 was impassable owing to high waters. They proceeded 
 
82 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 down the Weber, and turning followed an old almost imper- 
 ceptible trail toward East Canyon. With much labor 
 they passed up that gorge for several miles, then turned 
 west up a ravine until they reached Big Mountain, from 
 the summit of which, on the 19th of July, Orson Pratt 
 and John Brown, first of all the pioneers, saw a glimpse 
 of the Great Salt Lake Valley. Messengers kept the 
 rear companies informed of the movements of the van- 
 guard, and the latter were notified that it was the impres- 
 sion of President Young to have Pratt's company bear 
 to the north, upon emerging from the mountains, and 
 stop at the first place suitable for putting in crops. 
 These instructions were followed, and resulted in the 
 selection of the site of the present Salt Lake City. 
 
 The pioneers now traveled in three detachments. 
 On the 23rd President Young reached the Big Mountain 
 summit, from which, reclining in Apostle Woodruff's 
 carriage, he caught a first glimpse of the visible portions 
 of the valley. What a picture! What sentiments 
 filled the heart of the Founder of Utah, as he gazed, full 
 of earnest thoughts, on the scene before him. A resting 
 place at last. Awakening from his reverie, he burst 
 forth: "Enough. This is the right place. Drive on." 
 
 That day a messenger from the advance camps 
 brought the news that the valley had been explored as 
 far as possible, and that the choice of a spot for putting 
 in crops had been made. 
 
 The next day Pioneer Day, July 24th President 
 Young entered into the valley. Apostle Wilford Wood- 
 ruff gives the following account of the entrance, and of 
 the prophetic visions of their minds which he among 
 the last on earth of all that noble train has lived to see 
 fulfilled: 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 83 
 
 "July 24th. This is one of the most important days 
 of my life and in the history of the Church of Jesus 
 Christ of Latter-day Saints. After traveling six miles 
 through a deep ravine ending with the canyon we came 
 in full view of the valley of the Great Salt Lake the 
 land of promise held in reserve by God as a resting 
 place for his Saints. We gazed in wonder and admira- 
 tion upon the vast valley before us, with the waters 
 of the Great Salt Lake glistening in the sun, mountains 
 towering to the skies, and streams of pure water run- 
 ning through the beautiful valley. It was the grandest 
 view that we had ever seen till this moment. Pleasant 
 thoughts ran through our minds at the prospect that, not 
 many years hence, the house of God would be estab- 
 lished in the mountains and exalted above the hills, 
 while the valleys would be converted into orchards, vine- 
 yards, and fruitful fields, cities erected to the name of 
 the Lord, and the standard of Zion unfurled for the 
 gathering of the nations. President Young expressed 
 his entire satisfaction at the appearance of the valley as 
 a resting place for the Saints and felt amply repaid for 
 his journey. While lying upon his bed, in my carriage, 
 gazing upon the scene before us, many things of the fu- 
 ture, concerning the valley, were shown to him in vision. " 
 
 10. EXPLORATION AND RETURN TO THE MISSOURI. 
 
 Brigham Young arrived at the camp in Salt Lake 
 Valley about noon, July 24th, 1847. 
 
 The valley was not the most attractive spot that one 
 could gaze upon, when the Mormons first entered it; and 
 there was some disappointment among the pioneers when 
 the President announced that it was the place which he 
 had previously beheld in vision, the place where "he 
 
84 THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 had seen the tent settling down from heaven and rest- 
 ing, and a voice said unto him, 'here is the place where 
 my people Israel shall pitch their tents.'" But the con- 
 fidence of the pioneers in their leader soon dispelled their 
 disheartening doubts and impressions, and in time their 
 thrift and the blessings of the God of Israel, converted 
 the treeless waste into a fruitful garden. 
 
 It was now late in the year, hence, all haste was 
 made to till the earth. No time must be lost, if a harvest 
 were to be realized that season. Apostle Woodruff 
 neither ate nor drank until he had planted the half 
 bushel of potatoes which he had brought with him. 
 After the ground had been planted, the little stream was 
 diverted from its course, and its waters were spread over 
 the planted ground to give it "a good soaking." the 
 first lesson in irrigation, an art since so famous among 
 the settlers of the West. Thus ended the first 24th of 
 July. 
 
 The following day was the Sabbath, and the 
 pioneers, under the broad canopy of heaven, gathered in 
 the circle of their encampment to praise God for their 
 deliverance. Not a soul had died on the journey. Those 
 who spoke were satisfied with their situation and with 
 the future prospects. The sacrament was partaken of. 
 Apostle Orson Pratt called attention to the prophecies of 
 Isaiah concerning modern Israel. He declared the Mor- 
 mons were fulfilling the predictions of the ancient seers. 
 God was to "hide his people in the chambers of the 
 mountains" and in the last days was to "establish his 
 house on the tops of the mountains, and exalt it above 
 the hills." 
 
 But President Young, always practical, dwelt upon 
 themes, though possibly less poetic, just as true, useful, 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. ' 85 
 
 and religious. Too feeble to stand, he sat in his arm 
 chair, and laid down the law. "He told the brethren," 
 says Apostle Woodruff, "that they must not work on 
 Sunday; that they would lose five times as much as they 
 would gain by it. None were to hunt or fish on that 
 day; and there should not any man dwell among us who 
 would not observe these rules. They might go and 
 dwell where they pleased but should not dwell with us. 
 He also said, no man should buy any land who came 
 here; that he had none to sell, but every man should 
 have his land measured out to him for city and farming 
 purposes. He might till it as he pleased, but he must 
 be industrious, and take care of it. " He then directed 
 the organization of three exploring parties, to explore 
 the country north, west and south, for he wished every 
 nook and corner known to the settlers. Said he: "It is 
 necessary that we should learn the facilities of the 
 country and be able to report to our brethren whose 
 eyes are turned towards us. But I can tell you before 
 you start that you will find many facilities for settlements 
 all around us, and you will all return feeling satisfied 
 that this is the most suitable place, and the place for us 
 to make our commencement. Here is the place to build 
 our city. " 
 
 On the morrow, the farmers began their planting, 
 and the exploring parties early set about their labors. 
 The President headed one party which went north. 
 They ascended the peak north of Salt Lake City, climbing 
 the hills west of City Creek canyon. "A good place to 
 raise an ensign to the nations," said President Young, 
 .and the peak to this day is called Ensign Peak. From 
 day to day the exploring labors went on. Black Rock, 
 the Great Salt Lake, (which Brigham was the first to 
 
86 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 bathe in,) the Warm Springs, the Jordan and surround- 
 ing country, were visited, but all were satisfied that the 
 location on the banks of City Creek was the place to 
 found their city, as the prophet had remarked. 
 
 On the 28th of July, after a council meeting, 
 President Young and the Twelve proceeded to a spot 
 midway between the two branches of City Creek, where 
 he struck the ground with his cane, exclaiming: "Here 
 will be the temple of our God * The city 
 
 can be laid out perfectly square, north and south, east 
 and west." The great temple in Salt Lake City, the 
 corner stone of which was laid April 6th, 1853, and 
 which was dedicated April 6th, 1893, covers this same 
 spot of ground. It was then decided that the building 
 of the city should begin at that point. The size of the 
 blocks (ten acres), the width of the streets (eight rods), 
 and their intersection at right angles, were also decided 
 upon, and the plan of building the city was adopted. 
 The whole proceeding was ratified by the people, at a 
 meeting that evening. The general plan adopted here 
 became a guide for the founding of all the cities of the 
 Saints thereafter. At the meeting, the President took 
 occasion to address the people on a variety of subjects of 
 a temporal nature. He said that he was determined to 
 have all things in order, and that "righteousness should 
 be practiced in the land." Thus was Salt Lake City 
 begun. 
 
 The next day President Young with others went t> 
 meet 140 men of the Battalion detachment, and about 
 100 Mississippi Saints who had come with them from 
 Pueblo. 
 
 Returning with this needed re-enforcement, President 
 Young was kept busy counseling and advising the people 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 87 
 
 and planning for their welfare. In the early part of 
 August the Twelve were baptized, followed later by the 
 people generally, all of whom renewed their covenants by 
 baptism. Boweries for public meetings were erected, the 
 "Old Fort" was projected and built, eighty-three acres of 
 ground had been plowed and planted, the survey of the 
 city was begun, logs were hauled from the canyon and 
 building begun, further exploration was engaged in, salt 
 - was discovered by the lake, the land of the city was 
 divided among the Apostles for an inheritance for them 
 and their friends, and so the work went steadily on. 
 A company of seventy-one men returned to Winter Quar- 
 ters, on the 17th of August. 
 
 On the 22nd, a general, special conference was held, 
 at which the settlement, on motion of President Young, 
 was christened Great Salt Lake City. Other important 
 business affairs were considered. A Stake of Zion was 
 organized, and the western Jordan and the creeks in the 
 neighborhood were named. It was the intention that 
 President Young and the pioneers should return to 
 Winter Quarters that fall, and this conference was neces- 
 sary that the people might be instructed by the leaders, 
 in relation to themselves as well as to those who were 
 now on the way, and who would soon enter the valley. 
 The great colonizer's parting injunction shows his keen 
 insight into the future, the wisdom of his plans, and reveals 
 in him the architect of the new Zion and its institutions: 
 "It is necessary that the adobe yard (the stockade) 
 should be secured so that Indians cannot get in. To 
 accommodate those few who shall remain here after we 
 return it would only be necessary to build one side of the 
 fort, but common sense teaches us to build it all round. 
 By and by men of means will be coming on, and they 
 
88 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 will want rooms, and the men who build them will then 
 be entitled to their pay. Make your walls 4^ feet high, 
 so that they can keep the cattle out, build your houses so 
 that you will have plenty of fresh air in them or some of 
 you will get sick after being used to sleeping in your 
 wagons so long. We propose to fence in a tract of land 
 thirty rods square, so that in case of necessity the cattle 
 can be brought inside and the hay also be stacked there. 
 In the spring this fence can be removed and a trench be 
 plowed about twenty feet from the houses to enable the 
 women to raise garden vegetables. I want to engage 
 50,000 bushels of wheat and the same amount of corn and 
 other grain in proportion. I will pay you $1.25 per 
 bushel for wheat and 50 cents for corn. Why cannot 
 I bring glass for you and you raise corn for me? Raise 
 all the grain you, and with this you can purchase sheep, 
 cows, teams, etc., of those who come here later on. We 
 desire you to live in that stockade until we come back 
 again, and raise grain next year. 
 
 Such of the pioneers and Battalion men as had fami- 
 lies on the Missouri were selected to go with President 
 Young on his return to Winter Quarters. On the 26th 
 of August, the company numbering 108 men, thoroughly 
 organized, bade "good-by to all who tarry," and pro- 
 ceeded east. The Saints, numbering over 1500 souls, 
 with over 600 wagons, who had departed from Winter 
 Quarters according to the instructions received through 
 President Young, were met in detachments by the pion- 
 eers on their eastward journey. From him they learned 
 for the first time where they were going. This gave them 
 new courage, and they set their faces with . fresh deter- 
 mination to gain the new Zion in the mountains. They 
 were organized as directed, and the emigration committee 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 89 
 
 had them in charge, Apostles P. P. Pratt and John 
 Taylor haivng general supervision. Their companies 
 began arriving in Salt Lake Valley in the latter part of 
 September, and in the early part of October, all the 
 trains had reached the city in safety. 
 
 The return trip of the pioneers, though full of hard- 
 ships, was gladdened by many happy meetings with their 
 friends. On the Platte, the party had a great many of their 
 animals stolen, and would have lost all had it not been for 
 the cunning of a very intelligent horse, owned by the 
 President. This animal would not be driven away, but 
 circled out far beyond the thieving Indains, followed by 
 many of the other horses, returning to camp with its 
 companions, in spite of the efforts of the savages to drive 
 them away. 
 
 On the 31st of October, they marched in order into 
 Winter Quarters, the streets being crowded with loving 
 friends to greet them. Well might President Young 
 say: "We were truly rejoiced once more to behold our 
 wives, children, and old friends, after an absence of six 
 months, having traveled over 2,000 miles 
 and accomplished the most important mission in this 
 last dispensation." 
 
 Prosperity had attended the people on the Missouri. 
 
 11. CHOSEN PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Up to this time Brigham Young had led the people 
 as President of the Twelve Apostles, and there had been 
 no First Presidency since the death of the Prophet Joseph 
 Smith. A general organization now took place prepara- 
 
 7 
 
90 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 tory to the migration contemplated in the spring. On 
 the 5th of December, 1847, a council of the Twelve 
 Apostles decided to fill the vacant quorum; accord- 
 ingly, at a general conference held on the east side of 
 the Missouri the headquarters of the Church being still 
 on the frontiers the First Presidency was re-organized. 
 Brigham Young* was sustained as the President of the 
 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the 
 world, with Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards his 
 counselors. This was done on the 27th day of December. 
 This action of the Apostles and Saints on the Missouri 
 was ratified at a conference, held in the Fort Bowery in 
 Great Salt Lake City, on the 8th of October the year 
 following, just after President Young's second arrival in 
 the valley. 
 
 'Lively preparations were made, early in 1848, for 
 the departure of the main body of the Saints from Winter 
 Quarters. In the latter part of May the organization was 
 completed, on the Elk Horn which became the rendez- 
 vous for the west-bound pilgrims; and in the early part 
 of June President Young, having first given the people 
 instructions to be observed on the way, broke camp and 
 set out on his second journey to the mountains. The 
 emigration consisted of three divisions, numbering 2,417 
 souls, with 822 wagons. He had general charge of all 
 
 * "While in adversity there were none more steadfast, it must be admitted 
 that there were few in whom success developed so little of-pride and \ ain glory. 
 From this time forth Brigham Young was to the Saints as a Prophet yea, and 
 more than a Prophet ; one on whom the mantle had fallen not unworthily. 
 By his foresight he had saved his people from dispersion, and perchance his 
 faith from annihilation. Hounded by a mob, he had led his followers with 
 consummate tact throughout their pilgrimage, and in the wilderness as yet 
 almost untrodden by man had at length established for them an abiding 
 place "Bancroft's Utah, p. 271. 
 
THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 91 
 
 the companies, and special charge of the first and largest 
 company which numbered 1,229 souls, with 397 wagons. 
 
 The chief body of the Mormons was thus moving to 
 their new home, after having enjoyed, or rather endured, 
 a temporary rest in the wilderness of something over two 
 years. Winter Quarters was now almost deserted. 
 Kanesville, on the other side of the river, became a point of 
 outfit and departure for Mormon emigrations, which now 
 began from the old world, and continued for several years 
 thereafter. Some of the leaders remained there to look 
 after important Church business, while others were called 
 on foreign missions. Before parting from them, President 
 Young blessed them all, as well as those who were to ac- 
 company him to the valley; and among the consoling re- 
 marks which he uttered was this, that the Saints would 
 never be driven from the Rocky Mountains. He and the 
 Apostles had also issued an epistle, calling upon the 
 Saints to gather to Zion, and upon the peoples of the 
 nations to help them build a house to the name of the 
 God of Jacob, a city of rest "a habitation for the 
 oppressed of every clime."* 
 
 The first company of Saints under President Young 
 arrived in Great Salt Lake City on September 20th 1848, 
 and in the course of a month thereafter all the trains had 
 arrived. 
 
 During the absence of their leader the pioneer 
 Saints had undergone many vicissitudes. The winter had 
 been mild but food had been scarce. Thistle tops, sego 
 and parsnip roots, constituted the vegetable diet. Skins 
 in some instances served for clothing. The wild animals 
 had annoyed them some, but the worst plague of all 
 
 * Millennial Star, vol. x, p. 81. 
 
92 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 was the swarms of crickets which, in the latter part of 
 May, had invaded their fields and gardens, threatening 
 a famine. The gulls came and thus saved the crops from 
 total destruction. 
 
 The new companies now swelled the population to 
 about five thousand people about one-fourth of the exiles 
 from Nauvoo. At last the Saints had made their escape 
 from bondage and persecution to their promised land of 
 freedom. Dreary though it was, in it they loved to dwell. 
 Now a barren desert, under their thrift, it was soon to 
 "blossom as the rose." It is a marvel of the age that so 
 many people, poor and defenseless, in the wilderness, 
 without support, should have accomplished such a 
 journey, over wild mountains, exposed to roaming bands 
 of savages, almost without the loss of life. 
 
 To Brigham Young's ability as organizer, to his skill 
 as a leader, to his perfect tact, to his power of command- 
 ing from the people a harmonious concert of purpose and 
 action this miracle is due. 
 
 Brigham Young said that this capacity and potency 
 were special gifts from God. 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 93 
 
 IV. THE FOUNDING OF UTAH. 
 
 1. IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 In connection with the spiritual and temporal welfare 
 of the people, there were at this period three great 
 problems that presented themselves: these were coloniza- 
 tion, organization and government. 
 
 The great founder's first thoughts and acts were 
 turned to the task of providing for the prosperity and 
 well-being of the people whom he had led through the 
 wilderness into the mountains. Their temporal necessities 
 must be supplied, and with these the proper spiritual food, 
 must be administered; for it must be borne in mind that 
 their mission and main aim were purely religious. It is 
 useless to teach religious sentiment to a people whose 
 stomachs are empty; no man ever realized this more than 
 did Brigham Young. He took a common-sense view of 
 religion considered it a guide in temporal as well as 
 spiritual things. Hence, temporal comforts, or at least 
 temporal necessities, were first to be provided. They were 
 an absolute foundation for spiritual welfare, but the two 
 went hand in hand. Neither was ever neglected. A 
 change indeed, would this one idea alone work among 
 the masses of the world, if the well-fed ministers con- 
 sidered this question in the same light, acted upon it, and 
 took hold of it with their coats off, as did the founder of 
 Utah. 
 
 Heretofore, the Saints had lived almost exclusively 
 
94 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 in one body, in one city. Now, as the gathering thou- 
 sands, from the States and from Europe, came to the new 
 Zion, to build and to scatter about in the chambers of 
 the mountains, there arose necessity for a profitable and 
 uniform scheme of colonization; and with it was required 
 a system of church government to be evolved from the 
 outlines drawn by the Prophet Joseph, and which should 
 tend to unity and harmony among the Saints. 
 
 But it was clear from the first that an ecclesiastical 
 organization alone, would not long sufficiently meet the 
 requirements of the community. It was, therefore, 
 Brigham Young's desire to have a separate political 
 organization, so that the new commonwealth might 
 become a part of the great Union, whose citizens, it is 
 true, had driven the Mormons into the wilderness of a 
 foreign land, but whose loyal sons and daughters the 
 Latter-day Saints were still, as they have continued to 
 remain. In addition, people of other faiths began to 
 appear among them, and thus arose the necessities for 
 political organization and a civil government. 
 
 Then there was the policy to be pursued towards the 
 Indians. There arose, also, a score of detail questions 
 demanding attention, as well in the ecclesiastical and 
 social and religious, as in the political and financial 
 government of a whole people; a people, too, many of 
 whom had been educated with a diversity of ideas con- 
 cerning the aims and objects of life. 
 
 When we remember that much of this detail labor 
 actually devolved upon, was planned and superintended 
 by one man, we may form an idea of the stupendous work 
 executed by Brigham Young, the Founder of Utah. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 95 
 
 2. THE GOLD EXCITEMENT. 
 
 The first consideration attracting President Young's 
 attention after his arrival in the valley, in the fall of 
 1848, was the small supply of food. The people were 
 now stirred to activity. Over five thousand acres of land 
 were plotted for fencing and cultivation. Over eight 
 hundred were sowed in winter wheat. The Council 
 House was projected, and a proposition was made to 
 bring the waters of the Big Ccttonwood to the city. And 
 thus were the Saints kept busy until the approach of 
 winter. 
 
 The crop, upon which the new arrivals had measur- 
 ably depended, was a partial failure, and before the 
 unusually severe winter of 1848-9 was over the people 
 suffered greatly for food. Extreme hunger was prevented 
 by their unity and brotherly feeling. They assisted each 
 other, and divided their scanty store in community 
 fashion. 
 
 In those early days money was not to be obtained, 
 hence products served as medium of trade instead of 
 cash. The great inconvenience of thus bartering is 
 plainly apparent. The Mormon Battlion men, who were 
 among the first to discover gold in California, brought 
 with them, on returning to the valley in 1848, bags of 
 gold dust, but the use of the loose metal was very incon- 
 venient, entailing trouble and loss in weighing. To' 
 obviate this President Young issued a paper curreny, in 
 January, 1849, taking the loose gold as security. He and 
 Thomas Bullock, his clerk, did the first type-setting in the 
 valley, for this primitive currency. Some time after, dies 
 were made, the gold dust was coined, and the money 
 locally used until superseded by legal tender, when the 
 coins were disposed of as bullion to the federal mints. 
 
96 THE LIFE OF BBIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 But the question of a circulating medium was not as 
 difficult to solve as the problem of gold digging which 
 now confronted the Mormons. Under the scarcity and the 
 actual want existing among them, it was little wonder 
 that some of the Saints should wish to better their con- 
 dition by going to the gold fields of California, which 
 had set aflame the civilized world. Several families 
 departed for the mines in the early days of 1849, and 
 others had caught the gold fever. In an epistle to the 
 Saints, President Young and the Apostles sternly 
 rebuked this outbreak. "The true use of gold," said 
 they, "is for paving streets, covering houses, and making 
 culinary dishes; and when the Saints shall have preached 
 the gospel, raised grain and built up cities enough the 
 Lord will open up a way for a supply of gold to the 
 perfect satisfaction of His people. Until then, let them 
 not be over-anxious, for the treasures of the earth are in 
 the Lord's storehouse, and He will open the doors there- 
 of when and where He pleases. " President Young 
 counselled "all the Saints to remain in the valleys of 
 the mountains, make improvements, build comfortable 
 houses, and raise grain." He had previously said to 
 the returned Battalion men: "If we were to go to San 
 Francisco and dig up chunks of gold, or find it in the 
 valley, it would ruin us." In a Sabbath address he told 
 the Saints: "I hope the gold mines will be no nearer than 
 eight hundred miles. * Prosperity and 
 
 riches blunt the feelings of man. If the people were 
 united, I would send men to get the gold who would 
 care no more about it than the dust under their feet, and 
 then we would gather millions into the Church. Some 
 men don't want to go after gold, but they are the very 
 men to go." 
 
THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 97 
 
 It required the judgment of such a man as Brigham 
 Young to break the heated fever. A general migration 
 from Salt Lake City to the gold fields at that time 
 would have been more fatal to the Church than the 
 mobbings of Missouri and Illinois repeated. Well was 
 it for Mormonism that the great majority of its 
 adherents followed the wise counsel of their leader, 
 remained content in the valley to build up their cities 
 and towns, to plant their farms and tend their stock. 
 
 Great Salt Lake City became the resting place, 
 the "half-way house" for the thousands of adventurous 
 spirits, from all nations of the earth, who, colony after 
 colony, came pouring in a mad rush to the paradise of 
 gold in the West. Their trains of merchandise, provi- 
 sions, implements, and the blooded but jaded and worn 
 out stock, were "sold for a song," or exchanged in Utah 
 for fresh animals to carry them more hurriedly to their 
 destination; and so the wagon loads of goods and other 
 wealth so greatly needed by the all but destitute set- 
 tlers intended for California, remained in Utah to 
 enrich its poor poulation. The prophecy of President 
 Young, made soon after the exodus from Nauvoo, that 
 in a few years the Saints would be more prosperous than 
 ever, was fulfilled; likewise was the prophetic utterance 
 of Heber C. Kimball, made in 1848, when the people 
 scarcely knew where to get the next scanty meal, or 
 skins for their nakedness, that within three years 
 "States goods" would be sold cheaper in Salt Lake 
 Valley than in New York. These prophecies were thus 
 fulfilled in an unexpected way to the very letter. 
 
 From the opposition which President Young mani- 
 fested against the people's going to the California mines, 
 it went abroad that he was opposed to mining for its own 
 
98 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 sake. This is not true. He was averse to it in those 
 early days because he saw what a demoralizing effect the 
 thirst and flight for gold would have upon the Saints; 
 this same reason explains his attitude on mining in 
 Utah in later years. He was anxious and willing that 
 mines should be opened, but desired that this should be 
 postponed until the people should have grown strong 
 enough to withstand successfully its allurements and 
 temptations, as well as its evil influences. 
 
 3. COLONIZATION. 
 
 The peopling of the Great Basin with Latter-day 
 Saints was uppermost in the mind of the great colonizer, 
 Brigham Young, and from this time on every effort was 
 made to extend the borders of the Territory, by the 
 formation of new cities and towns in various parts of 
 the country. At the close of 1849 there were about 
 thirty thousand converts in Great Britain, the missionary 
 work having continued in that land during the exodus 
 of the Saints in America. It was a part of the coloniza- 
 tion plan to gather these to Zion as soon as possible. 
 The first company of emigrants, under Orson Spencer, 
 arrived in Salt Lake Valley from England that fall, hav- 
 ing been about eight months on the way. Others fol- 
 lowed. Up to this time the converts from England had 
 paid their own way. They had been selected from 
 among the well-to-do classes; but there were now many 
 poor among those who remained, as well as among the 
 scattered Saints on the frontier, in Iowa and Missouri. 
 It was for the purpose of aiding these and others of their 
 class to the valley that the Perpetual Emigrating Fund 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 99 
 
 was established, in October, 1849, through the instru- 
 mentality of Brigham Young. A large sum of money 
 was obtained for this fund, and Bishop Edward Hunter 
 was sent to the frontier to put its provisions into opera- 
 tion, and to take charge of the next season's emigration. 
 At the same time many prominent Elders were called to 
 various parts of the earth on missions to France, 
 Scandinavia, Italy, Great Britain, Lower California and 
 the Society Islands. This fund, which was kept in 
 operation thereafter for upwards of forty years, proved 
 to be an efficacious medium in the colonization of Utah, 
 and was the means of assisting many thousand persons 
 from a state of poverty in the Old World ,to the acquisi- 
 tion of pleasant homes and the comforts of life in the 
 New. The Saints who were thus helped were to refund 
 the amount borrowed to help others, as it was considered 
 a loan rather than a gift. The fund was thus made "per- 
 petual." Generally the amounts were returned; but 
 some neglected this, ether^willingly or through their finan- 
 cial embarrassments, and at the fifty-year-Jubilee Con- 
 ference, in 1880, when one-half of the amount due the 
 fund was remitted to the worthy needy, the outstanding 
 accounts amounted to over one and a half million dollars. 
 Hand in hand with the efforts at colonization went 
 the labors of organization. No colony was left without 
 its ecclesiastical authorities who, in the nature of things, 
 became the rulers in religious and secular matters. 
 President Young arranged and explained the duties of 
 the various quorums of the Priesthood,* and never per- 
 mitted any of these 1-ong at a time to be incomplete. 
 
 * The Church is governed by the Holy Priesthood, of which there are 
 two grand heads the Melchisedek,. or higher, and the Aaronic, or lesser. 
 
100 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 As early as February 12, 1849, the ecclesiastical 
 organization of Salt Lake City was perfected. The 
 quorum of Apostles was filled by the calling and ordina- 
 tion of Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, 
 andFranklin D. Richards to the Apostleship. Then on 
 the following two days a Stake organization was effected, 
 and the city was divided into nineteen ecclesiastical 
 wards, with a Bishop over each. Until the introduction 
 of a regular civil government these officers, and others 
 that were appointed as new settlement was made, held 
 secular or temporal administration over the people. 
 The public labors were performed under their direction, 
 they were the administratois of all temporal affairs, the 
 judges among the people; and under their supervision 
 the work of founding and building cities went on, under 
 the general direction of Brigham Young, and under the 
 immediate instructions of the Presidents of Stakes.* 
 
 Some of the settlers, soon after the arrival of the 
 pioneers, went north, principally for the purpose of find- 
 ing range for their stock. What is now Cache and Box 
 Elder Counties were explored. Davis County was 
 
 The former holds the right of presidency, the right to receive revelation for 
 the guidance of the Church, and to hold the keys of all its spiritual blessings, 
 and includes the quorums of Apostles, Seventies, High Priests, and Elders* 
 also Patriarchs. The latter, holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and 
 the right to minister in outward ordinances, or temporal affairs, and includes 
 Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons. See Doc. and Cov., section III. 
 
 * A Stake is a division of the Church, presided over by a council of three 
 High Priests, and in Utah generally corresponds geographically to the divi- 
 'sion of counties, while in other states and territories, it often embraces larger 
 districts. The stakes are divided into wards, in each of which a Bishop and 
 his two counselors exercise supervision. Wards are subdivided into districts, 
 where presiding elders or teachers look after the interests of the Church 
 members. 
 
THE LIFEOF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 101 
 
 settled in the fall of 1847; Ogden,* by James Brown, 
 early in 1848. In January of that year he purchased the 
 Miles Goodyear claim, which included the greater por- 
 tion of the present Weber County. 
 
 All these movements were in keeping with the 
 instructions which the explorers received from their 
 leader upon the first arrival of the pioneers, and were 
 agreeable to his grand scheme of colonization. 
 
 Other districts in the south were penetrated. The 
 Sanpete country was explored in 1848, by Isaac Morley 
 and others; and in June, 1849, the Ute Chief Walker 
 visited Salt Lake City to invite the Mormons to settle 
 that region, so that they might teach the Indians how to 
 farm. "Within six moons," answered President Young, 
 "I will send you a company." The promise was kept, 
 and the site of the city Manti was laid out by him in 
 November of that year. 
 
 The Country about Provo River, now Utah County, 
 was early explored, and was settled in the spring of 
 1849. Many cities and towns were soon after founded in 
 this vicinity. 
 
 In the fall of 1849 the country west of Salt Lake 
 was explored. President Young named it Tule, owing 
 to the abundance of reeds found there. The clerk wrote 
 it Tooele, and the region is so called today. 
 
 Parley P. Pratt and George A. Smith explored the 
 country further south resulting in the settlement of 
 colonies in what is now Sevier, Iron and other counties. 
 
 * The site for Ogden City was selected on the 3rd day of September, 1849, 
 by President Young, but it was not until the 28th day of August of the follow- 
 ing year that he and others laid out the city, of which Hon. Lorin Farr 
 became the practical founder. 
 
102 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 Then followed exploring parties and colonies to all 
 parts of the Territory. Care was always taken that the 
 various crafts would be represented in each colony and 
 that they should provide themselves with plenty of 
 provisions, stock, implements and other necessaries. 
 Instead of building near about the central city it was 
 President Young's -wiser plan to occupy the whole coun- 
 try at a sweep. Thus as we have seen whenever it was 
 deemed necessary explorers were sent out to select sites 
 for new settlements and having decided upon their loca- 
 tions volunteers under organized Elders were called for 
 to settle upon them and build them up. 
 
 When it is remembered how much of wild, barren 
 savage Utah was thus redeemed within two years after 
 the arrival of the pioneers, by men scarcely rested from 
 their toilsome journey over the plains, the work appears 
 marvelous; and we are at. once impressed with the wis- 
 dom, foresight, energy and ability of the man rather 
 the genius who could so skillfully direct this work, him- 
 self also taking active part therein, and so successfully 
 plan for the government, safety and welfare of these 
 communities.* Under Brigham Young, the people 
 became so trained in redeeming the waste places, that 
 to this day the Latter-day Saints view the colonization 
 of new regions almost as a religious duty. At present 
 they occupy the country extending for over a thousand 
 miles from Old Mexico to Canada, and their numerous, 
 thrifty cities and villages are found in the valleys of the 
 
 * " The settlers, with their marvelous energy and thrift, made more 
 progress and suffered less privation in reclaiming the waste lands of their 
 wilderness than did the Spaniards in the garden spots of Mexico and Central 
 America, or the English in the most favored regions near the Atlantic 
 seaboard." Bancroft's Utah, p. 330. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 103 
 
 mountains, in nearly every State and Territory of the 
 mighty West. The impress of the colonizing genius of 
 Brigham Young is still manifest in their midst; its 
 power has made them the most successful pioneers and 
 empire founders of our country. 
 
 4. APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF UTAH. 
 
 The early settlers, as we have seen, were at first 
 ruled by Church authority, and there was little need of 
 civil government, until people of other faiths began to 
 mingle with the Saints. Besides, up to the spring of 
 1849, when the political history of Utah properly begins, 
 the people had been so busy with providing themselves 
 with food, with exploring the country, and with selecting 
 suitable places for homes, that there had been little time 
 for politics. 
 
 The war with Mexico was ended. The Mormons had 
 given their aid to wrest from that country the vas't 
 region from which was afterward formed the States and 
 Territories of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, 
 and Arizona. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was 
 signed February 2nd, 1848, by the terms of which this 
 great western territory was ceded to the United States. 
 The Mormons were well nigh the only occupants of the 
 new domain, and they were hopeful and energetic 
 enough to believe that in time they could subdue and 
 occupy the country which they had pioneered. 
 
 Under these conditions, President Young summoned 
 a convention of "all the inhabitants of that portion of 
 Upper California lying east of the Sierra Nevada moun- 
 tains." This convention assembled in Salt Lake City, 
 
104 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 March 4th, 1849, and their deliberation resulted in the 
 expressed determination to petition Congress to form a 
 territorial government. A committee was also selected 
 to draft a constitution under which the people might 
 govern themselves, until Congress should take action 
 and otherwise provide by law. On the 10th of March 
 the constitution was adopted and a Provisional Govern- 
 ment was organized under the name of the State of 
 Deseret. * 
 
 The election of officers for this Provisional Govern- 
 ment took place on the 12th of March, resulting in the 
 choosing of Brigham Young as Governor; Willard 
 Richards, Secretary; Horace S. Eldredge, Marshal; 
 Daniel H. Wells Attorney-General; besides an Assessor 
 and Collector, a Treasurer, and a Supervisor of Roads; 
 also three judges, Heber C. Kimball, Chief Justice, and 
 John Taylor and Newel K. Whitney Associates. The 
 Bishops of the several Wards were elected as magis- 
 trates. The Nauvoo Legion the militia was also 
 organized with Daniel H. Wells Major-General. It was 
 not long till the troops were called into action to protect 
 the settlers from Indian depredations in Southern Deseret 
 into which region, as we have seen, the .colonists were 
 now moving. A legislature, or General Assembly of the 
 State of Deseret, consisting of a Senate and House of 
 Representatives, was also elected, with powers and duties 
 denned. 
 
 Concerning the justice and fairness extended to all 
 classes under this form of rule with Brigham Young as 
 Proivsional Governor which, it must be remembered, 
 
 *" And they did also carry with them deseret which, by interpretation, 
 is a honey bee." Book of Mormon, Ether, Chap. II, par. 3. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 105 
 
 . 
 
 was purely Mormon, not yet sanctioned by the authority 
 of Congress, we have some striking illustrations in those 
 valuable and impartial works: "Stansbury's Expedition," 
 and Gunnison's "The Mormons." 
 
 Captain Stansbury* says: "The jurisdiction of the 
 'State of Deseret' had been extended over and was 
 vigorously enforced upon all who came within its borders, 
 and justice was equitably administered ab'ke to 'Saint' and 
 'Gentile' as they term all who are not of their per- 
 suasion. Their courts were constant}- appealed to by 
 companies of passing emigrants, who, having fallen out 
 by the way, could not agree upon the division of their 
 property. The decisions were remarkable for fairness 
 and impartiality, and if not submitted to, were sternly 
 enforced by the whole power of the community. Appeals 
 for protection from oppression, by those passing through 
 their midst, were not made in vain; and I knew of at 
 least one instance in which the marshal of the State was 
 despatched, with an adequate force, nearly two hundred 
 miles into the western desert, in pursuit of some mis- 
 creants who had stolen off with nearly the whole outfit 
 of a party of emigrants. He pursued and brought them 
 back to the city, and the plundered property was restored 
 to its rightful owner. In their dealings with the crowds 
 of emigrants that passed through their city, the Mormons 
 were ever fair and upright, taking no advantage of the 
 necessitous condition of many, if not all of them. 
 * * In the whole of our intercourse with them, which 
 
 * Captain Howard Stansbury of the U. S. Army Corps of Topographical 
 Engineers, came to Salt Lake City on the 28th of August, 1849, wintered 
 there, and remained with his expedition in the territory for a whole year, 
 exploring and surveying the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, also Utah Lake 
 and its vicinity. He also explored a route from the Valley to Fort Hall. 
 
106 THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 lasted rather more than a year, I cannot refer to a single 
 instance of fraud or extortion to which any of the party 
 was subjected." 
 
 Lieutenant John W. Gunnison* says: "A large 
 branch of the great emigration overland to California 
 passed through the Mormon settlements, which is the best 
 route across the country. Of the parties organized in 
 the States to cross the plains, there was hardly one that 
 did not break into several fragments, and the division 
 of property caused a great deal of difficulty. Many of 
 these litigants applied to the courts of Deseret for 
 redress of grievances, and there was every appearance of 
 impartiality and strict justice done to all -parties. Of 
 course there would be dissatisfaction when the right was 
 declared to belong to the one side alone; and the losers 
 circulated letters far and near, of the oppression of the 
 Mormons. These would sometimes rebel against the 
 equity decisions, and then they were made to feel the full 
 majesty of the civil power. For contempt of court they 
 were most severely fined, and in the end found it a los- 
 ing game to indulge in vituperation of the court, or 
 make remarks derogatory to the high functionaries. 
 
 "Again, the fields in the valley are imperfectly 
 fenced, and the emigrants' cattle often trespassed upon 
 the crops. For this, a good remuneration was demanded. 
 A protest would usually be made, the case then taken 
 before the Bishop, and the cost be added to the ori- 
 ginal demand. Such as these were the instances of terri- 
 ble oppression that have been industriously circulated as 
 unjust acts of heartless Mormons upon the gold emigration. 
 
 * Lieutenant John W. Gunnison, afterward Captain, assisted Captain 
 Stansbury.; Some years later, October 25th, 1853, while encamped on the 
 Sevier, he was killed by the Ind'ians. . 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 107 
 
 "But provisions were sold at very reasonable prices, 
 and their many deeds of charity to the sick and broken- 
 down gold-seekers, all speak loudly in their favor, and 
 must eventually redound to their praise. Such kindness, 
 and apparently brotherly good will among themselves had 
 its effect in converting more than one to their faith and the 
 proselytes deserted the search for golden ore, supposing 
 they had found there pearls of greater price.". 
 
 According to the decision of the convention, which 
 was held in March, to petition for a territorial govern- 
 ment for the citizens of the Great Basin, a memorial, 
 signed by Brigham Young and 2270 others, was sent 
 to 'Congress, April 30th, asking for a "territorial govern- 
 ment of the most liberal construction authorized by our 
 excellent federal constitution, with the least possible 
 delay, " which was carried to Washington by Dr. J. M. 
 Bernhisel. 
 
 On July 2nd, 1849, the General Assembly of Deseret 
 met at Salt Lake City; and by joint agreement of its two 
 houses, it was dcided to pray for the admission of 
 Deseret as a State of the Union. ' A new memorial was 
 consequently then prepared. Almon W. Babbit was 
 elected delegate to Congress, and was sent to Washing- 
 ton, bearing the memorial and the constitution of the 
 proposed State. 4 Mr. Babbit presented his documents to 
 Congress, with his credentials as delegate from the Pro- 
 visional State of Deseret, through Senator Stephen A. 
 Douglass, on the 27th of December of that year; but his 
 petition was denied, and he was, of course, not admitted 
 to Congress. Instead, after a <lelay of nine months, Con- 
 gress passed a bill entitled, "An act to establish a 
 territorial government for Utah," providing for the 
 organization of Utah Territory, which was signed by 
 
108 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 President Millard Fillmore and went into force on the 
 9th of September, 1850. The President appointed 
 officers for the Territory as follows: Brigham Young, 
 Governor; B. D. Harris, Secretary; Joseph Buffington, 
 Chief Justice; Perry C. Brocchus and Zerubbabel Snow, 
 Associate Justice; Seth M. Blair, Attorne)'; and Joseph 
 L. Heywood, Marshal. 
 
 The news of the organization of the Territory and 
 the appointment of a Governor and other officers, did 
 not reach the Valley until January 27th, 1851, being even 
 then unofficially conveyed by way of San Francisco, 
 through New York newspapers which were brought to 
 Salt Lake by Mr. Henry E. Gibson. In the meantime 
 the Provisional Government continued to bear sway. 
 
 President Young was on one of his preaching tours in 
 the north, having organized several bishoprics in Davis 
 County and Ogden City, and formed the Weber Stake of 
 Zion with Lorin Farr as President, when the news of his 
 appointment reached him through General Daniel H. 
 Wells, with, military escort, who met him in Davis 
 County, and accompanied him to Salt Lake City "amid 
 firing of cannon and other demonstrations of rejoicing. " 
 
 Viewing the source from which the news was ob- 
 tained, as reliable, he took the oath of office on the 3rd 
 day of February, 1851, and at once entered upon his 
 duties as Governor of Utah Territory. 
 
 His first labor was to make arrangements, to change 
 the provisional, to the territorial form of government and 
 on the 5th of April, 1851, the General Assembly of the 
 State of Deseret* was dissolved, and the State merged 
 into the Territory of Utah. 
 
 *Arnong the more important of the many acts of the Provisional Assembly 
 may be mentioned the creation of Salt Lake, Weber. Utah, Sanpete, Juab, and 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 109 
 
 Governor Young issued a proclamation on the 1st of 
 July, 1851, calling for the election of a Territorial 
 Legislature, and for a Delegate to Congress, the election 
 to be held on the first Monday of August. Since he was 
 also Superintendent of Indian Affairs, he established 
 three Indian Agencies. On the 8th of August, by virtue 
 of the authority given him in the organic act, he defined 
 three judicial districts, assigning a judge to each, and 
 naming the time and place of holding court. At the 
 election, Dr. Bernhisel was chosen delegate, and was the 
 first man to represent Utah in Congress. 
 
 Judges Brandebury* and Snow came to Salt Lake City 
 in the summer, but Judge Brocchus did not arrive until 
 August. There was only small remuneration in a Utah 
 judgeship in those days. It is said that Judge Brocchus 
 came west with a view of being returned to Congress by 
 the Mormons, and was greatly disappointed when he 
 learned that a Delegate had already been elected. How- 
 ever this may be, he soon became dissatisfied with his 
 position, and succeeded also in disaffecting Judge Brande- 
 bury and Secretary D. B. Harris, and in creating a 
 .breach which may be said to be the beginning of the long 
 controversy between the federal judges and the Mormons. 
 At a special conference of the Church, held early in 
 September, the federal officials, Mormon and Gentile, 
 all being assigned a place on the stand with President 
 
 Tooele counties, and the granting of a charter to the University of Deseret, in 
 the winter of 1849-50; and the passing of ordinances incorporating Great Salt 
 Lake City (January 9th), Ogden City, the City of Manti, Provo City and 
 Parowan City (February 6th), and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 
 Saints, in 1851 (February 8th). 
 
 *Joseph Buffington declined to serve as Chief Justice, and so Lemuel H. 
 Brandebury was appointed in his stead. 
 
110 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 Young and the leaders in the community, were invited 
 to be present. The object of inviting them was doubt- 
 less to encourage harmony and good feeling between them 
 and the community. They all attended, but the dissatis- 
 fied Judge Brocchus, when invited to speak, took occa- 
 sion to harangue the people for two hours relative to 
 their disloyalty and demerits, drifting at length into the 
 subject of polygamy, and insulting the ladies by reference 
 to their lack of chastity, expressing a hope that they 
 would "become virtuous." These base and groundless 
 insinuations were more than the congregation could bear, 
 and the speaker was hooted, and would doubtless have 
 been severely punished by the exasperated citizens, had 
 it not been that the Governor held them in restraint. 
 
 Before dismissing the meeting, President Young 
 severely rebuked the Judge, however, declaring him to be 
 "either profoundly ignorant or perversely wicked." 
 Subsequently, the Judge was cordially invited to attend 
 a meeting where he would be given an opportunity to 
 retract his offensive remarks, which the legal gentleman 
 flatly refused to do. Then followed a long correspond- 
 ence between the two on the subject, published in the 
 New York Herald, in which President Young so severely 
 scored the official that the latter at length made no 
 further reply, but, privately acknowledging his defeat, 
 authorized the Governor to apologize for him to the 
 community. The whole affair created a great sensation 
 over Utah, in the East, being there thoroughly ventilated 
 by Jedediah M. Grant, Mayor of Salt Lake City, in a 
 series of pungent letters published in pamphlet form, 
 and scattered broadcast.' 
 
 Soon after this episode, Governor Young was in- 
 formed that the Secretary, together with Judges Brande- 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. Ill 
 
 bury and Brocchus, intended to return to Washington. 
 This they did, setting forth on their journey on Septem- 
 ber 28th, Secretary Harris carrying with him the Terri- 
 torial seal, the records and documents, as well as the 
 $24,000.00 which had been appropriated by Congress for 
 the per diem and mileage of the Legislature, all of which 
 were returned to the proper national authorities. 
 
 The "runaway judges and secretary," for so they 
 were called, duly reported their labors, taking care to 
 say that they were compelled to leave Utah on account 
 of the lawless acts and seditious tendencies of Brigham 
 Young and the majority of the citizens. It is recorded 
 by Mr. Stenhouse that this trio, in addition to their 
 report, said that "polygamy monopolized all the women, 
 which made it very inconvenient for the federal officers- 
 to reside there." This so disgusted the Government and 
 Congress that Daniel Webster, who was then Secretary 
 of State, orderd the officials back to their deserted posts, 
 or to resign. They chose the latter and were thus forced 
 to retire. They had not looked for such an outcome. About 
 this time grave charges were circulated in the press about 
 the character of Governor Young, and harsh things were 
 said against the President for appointing him. Col. 
 Thomas L. Kane did good service for Governor Young, 
 who was thus attacked in the Buffalo Courier, The 
 article was sent to President Fillmore, who demanded an 
 explanation from Col. Kane, since he had endorsed the 
 gubernatorial appointment. The Colonel replied as 
 follows to the President: 
 
 "I have no wish to evade the responsibility of 
 having vouched for the character of Mr. Brigham Young, 
 of Utah, and his fitness for the station he now occupies. 
 I reiterate, without reserve, the statement of his excellent 
 
112 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 capacity, energy and integrity, which I made you prior 
 to his appointment. I am willing to say I volunteered to 
 communicate to you the facts by which I was convinced 
 of his patriotism, and devotion to the interests of the 
 Union. I made no qualification when I assured you of 
 his irreproachable moral character, because I was able to 
 speak of this^from my own intimate personal knowledge. 
 
 "If any show or shadow of evidence can be adduced 
 in support of the charges of your anonymous assailant, 
 the next mail'from Utah shall bring you their complete 
 and circumstancial refutation. Meanwhile I am ready to 
 offer this^assurance for publication in any form you care 
 to indicate, and challenge contradiction from any re- 
 spectable authority." 
 
 Other officers were selected by Governor Young to 
 fill temporarily the vacancies occasioned by 'the "runa- 
 ways," and -he made a full explanation of the affair to 
 the President of the Unied States. In August, 1852, 
 followed the appointment of new officers as follows: 
 Lazarus H. Reed, Chief Justice; Leonidas Shaver, 
 Associate Justice; Benjamin G. Ferris. Secretary. 
 Judge Snow served out his term. 
 
 The next federal officials were Chief Justice John F. 
 Kinney, August 24th, 1853; Associate Justice George P. 
 Stiles, August 1st, 1854; Judge W. W. Drummond, 
 September 12th, 1854. The latter two were chiefly 
 instrumental] in bringing about the egregious blunder 
 known as the "Utah War." 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 113 
 
 5. LEADING EVENTS OF THE TERM. 
 
 Thus~we have a faint political outline of the first 
 term of Brigham Yourig's incumbency as Governor. 
 From 1850 to 1854 many significant events occurred in 
 the local history of the people, in all of which the wisdom 
 and the directing mind of the great leader were manifest. 
 Little was done without his counsel, and he was not only 
 adviser and director, but he was the inaugurator of the 
 most important movements for the public welfare. 
 
 One of these was the petition for a railroad. As 
 before mentioned, the Saints did not seek isolation that 
 they might build up an independent nation; they rather 
 sought relief from persecution in temporary although 
 compulsory separation. Never did they falter in their 
 fealty, nor seek to be anything other than loyal Ameri- 
 cans, with hearts set for their country's prosperity and 
 good. They sought to be one with the people of the 
 Union, and desired a closer communion with them. To 
 this end, as early as March 3rd, 1852, the Governor and 
 Legislative Assembly of Utah petitioned Congress for the 
 construction of a national central railroad to the Pacific 
 coast, also for a telegraph line. The closing words of 
 their memorial are: "The road therein proposed would 
 be a perpetual chain or iron band which would effectually 
 hold together our glorious Union, with an imperishable 
 identity of mutual interest, thereby consolidating our 
 relations with foreign powers in times of peace, and our 
 defense from foreign invasion by the speedy transmission 
 of troops and supplies in times of war. The earnest atten- 
 tion of Congress to this important subject is solicited by 
 your memorialists, who in duty bound will ever pray." 
 When Dr. Bernhisel submitted the memorial to 
 
114 THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 Congress, he was smiled at, and told that he was far 
 ahead of this age. He replied by humorously inviting 
 his colleagues to take a ride over the road when it 
 should be completed, and visit him in Salt Lake City. 
 Twenty years later, some of them actually came to Salt 
 Lake City, an accomplishment doubtless more hurriedly 
 made possible by the petitions and the assistance of the 
 Mormons. 
 
 Again, in Governor Young's message to the Legisla- 
 ture, December 12, 1853, he devotes much space in urging 
 the building of a Pacific railroad. He said: "We 
 recognize in the Pacific Railway a work worthy the attention 
 of a great and enterprising people; and pass where it will, 
 we cannot fail to be benefited by it. Its accomplishment 
 cannot fail by reason of furnishing so rapid a convey- 
 ance, to carry influence and power from one extremity of 
 the Union to the other, and make her the arbiter of the 
 world. I have therefore thought 
 
 proper to call your attention to the subject, hoping that 
 the interest which is known to exist in favor of this 
 route, will not permit it to suffer for the want of proper 
 representation to Congress." Then followed a great mass 
 meeting on January, 1854, in which the people took steps 
 to memorialize Congress for the construction of a railway 
 via Salt Lake to the Pacific. In 1869 the hopes of the 
 citizens were realized, and Brigham Young lived to aid 
 in the construction of the great highway. 
 
 During the four years referred to, the growth and ex- 
 tention of the cities and villages continued. Dramatic 
 and educational interests were encouraged. Public 
 buildings and stores were erected. Grist and saw mills 
 were busy in all parts. Home manufacturing institutions 
 sprang up in various places, encouraged by legislative 
 
THE LIFE "OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 appropriation and protection. President Young was 
 deeply interested in this subject, as in the progress of all 
 the material interests of the country. In his legislative 
 message of January, 1852, he said: /'Deplorable 
 indeed must be the situation of that people whose sons 
 are not trained in the practice of every useful avoca- 
 tion, and whose daughters mingle not in the hive of 
 industry. Produce what you consume; draw from the 
 native elements the necessaries of life; permit no 
 vitiated taste to lead you into indulgence of expensive 
 luxuries, which can only be obtained by involving 
 yourselves in debt. Let home industry produce every 
 article of home consumption." 
 
 On the 6th of April, 1853, the corner stone of the 
 now completed great temple was laid by President Young 
 assisted by his counselors, Heber C. Kimball and Willard 
 Richards; forty years later, April 6th, 1893, the building 
 was dedicated by President Wilford Woodruff, assisted by 
 his counselors, George Q Cannon and Joseph F. Smith.* 
 
 Colonization was continued. At the October con- 
 ference, 1853, many were called to strengthen the settle- 
 ments in Iron, Tooele, Sanpete, Box Elder and Juab 
 counties. 
 
 The Indian question called for careful diplomacy. 
 The first troubles with the red men occurred in 1850-1. 
 Then followed a period of. peace until 1853, when the Ute 
 war broke out. The conflict was doubtless instigated by 
 
 *An incident in connection with the breaking of the ground for the 
 foundation is worthy of mention. This work was done in February, the 
 President being present* The ground was frozen, and hence broke in n large 
 crust. As the men were raising the first piece of earth a silver dollar fell upon 
 it The sight of coin in those days was a rarity, and the appearance of the 
 silver at the time and place, contributed doubtless by an unknown witness of 
 the proceedings, was considered a good omen. 
 
116 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 New Mexican traders, who came to Utah and supplied 
 the Indians with firearms, ammunition, horses, etc., 
 taking in exchange Indian women and children who were 
 subsequently sold into slavery. 
 
 Governor Young proclaimed against this practices 
 and from his message to the Legislature we learn his 
 views on slavery: "My own feelings are that no property 
 can or should be recognized as existing in slaves, either 
 Indian or African." The slave traders did not fancy this 
 declaration, and other opposition of . a similar nature. 
 They became revengeful, and stirred up the savages, 
 against the residents of Utah. Other causes of the war 
 there doubtless were. One of these was the unwise and 
 wicked course of passing emigrants, who often shot the 
 Indians without cause. The war began in Payson on the 
 18th of July, and spread from there to many parts of the 
 Territory. Col. George A. Smith was given command of 
 the militia south of Salt Lake City, and his instructions 
 for the defense of the settlements plainly outline the 
 Indian policy of Governor Young: All the inhabitants 
 were to be gathered into forts, their stock coralled, and 
 surrounded with armed guards. A conciliatory course 
 towards the red men was to be maintained, and no offen- 
 sive warfare or acts of retaliation were to be permitted. 
 Vigilant watch was to be kept, and if Indians were 
 caught committing depredations they were to be pun- 
 ished. The people were to look out for surprises, keep 
 in after dark, keep themselves secure, and not permit any 
 sense of security to lull them into a spirit of carelessness. 
 It took a great deal of sacrifice to carry these instructions 
 into effect, but where this was not done, it generally 
 ended in more loss than would have been realized if the 
 wise counsel of the Governor had been followed. One 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 117 
 
 settlement in Sanpete was slow in getting" ready. The 
 result was that two hundred head of their cattle were run 
 off by the Indians. The people sent a messenger to the 
 Governor to report the affair and to get his advice. His 
 reply was: "Inasmuch as you have no oxen and cows 
 to trouble you, you can go to harvesting and take care 
 of yourselves. " 
 
 Shortly after the breaking out of hostilities Governor 
 Young sent Chief Walker the following letter, strongly 
 breathing the spirit of his life-long policy toward the red 
 men: "It is cheaper to feed the Indians than to fight 
 them," a motto which experience proved to be correct, 
 and which has saved much property and many lives in 
 Utah: 
 
 GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, JULY 25, 1853. 
 Captain Walker: r^ ^^ 
 
 I send you some tobacco for you to smoke in the moun- 
 tains when you get lonesome. You are a fool for fight- 
 ing your best friends, for we are the best friends, and 
 the only friends you have in the world. Every body else 
 would kill you if they could get a chance. If you get 
 hungry send some friendly Indian down to the settle- 
 ments and we will give you some beef-cattle and flour. 
 If you are afraid of the tobacco which I send you, you 
 can let some of your prisoners try it first, and then -you 
 will know that it is good. When you get good-natured 
 again I would like to see you. Don't you think you 
 would be ashamed? You know that I have always been 
 your best friend. 
 
 BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 Governor Young, in a tour of the south, in the spring 
 of 1854, made it a point to obtain a meeting with Chief 
 Walker and some of the native tribes. Presents were 
 distributed and the pipe of peace was passed around. 
 He succeeded by wise diplomacy in effecting a treaty 
 
118 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 with the savages, which ended the trouble. As a result 
 of the conflict, about twenty whites, and a large number 
 of Indians, were killed, while the people and the terri- 
 tory together suffered a loss of about $300,000. 
 
 Chief Walker died in January, 1855, urging upon 
 his braves to live in peace with the Mormons, whom he 
 had truly learned to regard as his friends. 
 
 With the chief were buried two others, who had 
 been killed, as was the custom, to be his companions to 
 the happy hunting grounds. This reminds us of an inci- 
 dent which occurred in one of President Young's travels. 
 He, with his train of thirty carriages, had been on a visit 
 south, and returning were met by bands of Walker's 
 Indians, who showed signs of an attack. They drew their 
 bows, gesticulating and yelling, until it was considered 
 unsafe to continue. Walker was. encamped across the 
 valley about sixteen miles south of Nephi. President 
 Young ordered his carriages to cross directly over to the 
 Indian camp, and his whole train drove directly into it, 
 settled down and stayed for the night. It happened that 
 Walker had a very sick child, that the medicine man had 
 given up to die. To the interpreter Chief Walker said 
 he wished a white man out of President Young's party 
 to accompany the child through the valley of death. 
 Remonstrated with, he became more emphatic in his 
 demands, when the interpreter went to the President 
 and told him what was wanted. Going to the chief, 
 President Young told him to send away his medicine 
 man, he was no good. He then asked permission to 
 administer to the child, which was granted. The child 
 was immediately healed, and doubtless grew up to be a 
 true brave. President Young's party were allo'wed to 
 proceed unmolested, and the incident created a lasting 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHA&f YOUNG. 119 
 
 favorable impression in the mind of the Indian chief, 
 who was thereafter more friendly than ever before. 
 
 The practice of polygamy among the Mormons was 
 not generally made known until the year 1852. At a 
 conference of the Church, in Salt Lake City, on the 29th 
 day of August, it was first publicly avowed. The system 
 of a plurality of wives was long before this time prac- 
 ticed by the Saints, in Nauvoo, Winter Quarters and in 
 Utah. The revelation on celestial marriage was given 
 to Joseph the Prophet, July 12th, 1843, but it was not 
 made public generally until this August day, when it was 
 read to the Saints, who accepted it as the word of God, 
 and as a tenet of their faith. Then followed the pro- 
 mulgation of the doctrine by missionaries to the whole 
 world. Afterward -it became the leading question for 
 contention between the officers of the government and 
 the Mormons, until the practice was finally suspended by 
 a manifesto of President Wilford Woodruff, dated Sep- 
 tember 24th, 1890. At the following October Conference 
 the Church accepted his declaration concerning plural 
 marriages as authoritative and binding, and the doctrine 
 is now neither taught nor practiced. Whatever may be 
 said on the subject, Brigham Young was a firm believer 
 in the doctrine, and, as in other matters, showed his 
 faith by his works. To him its practice was a duty 
 which he felt as incumbent upon him as any other of the 
 teachings or revelations of the Prophet Joseph. In its 
 practice, as in all things else, he followed the program 
 outlined by his prophet leader, and he was honest 
 therein. 
 
120 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 6. REAPPOINTED GOVERNOR. 
 
 Politically, the years 1852-3 were not of great 
 interest. At the approach of the expiration of Governor 
 Young's term of office, President Franklin Pierce was 
 asked to re-appoint him, but, owing doubtless to the evil 
 imputations against his character, circulated by Secre- 
 tary Ferris and others, the President at first declined to 
 do so. 
 
 In August, 1854, Lieutenant-Colonel E. J. Steptoe 
 arrived in Utah, with a detachment of troops, on his way 
 to California. To him the President tendered the 
 Governorship of Utah. The Colonel respectfully 
 declined the honor, and, with leading citizens of the 
 Territory, memorialized the President to re-appoint 
 Governor Young to that office. The petition sets forth 
 that "he is decidedly the most suitable person that can 
 be selected." He possesses the entire confidence of the 
 people of the Territory, without regard to party or sect; 
 is "a tried pillar of Republican institutions," a "warm 
 friend and able supporter of constitutional liberty," and 
 "he possesses in an eminent degree every qualification 
 necessary for the discharge of his official duties," both 
 as Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs. 
 
 This memorial, signed alike by leading Mormons 
 and Gentiles, army officers and federal officials, was 
 forwarded to Washington in December, and resulted in 
 the re-appointment of Brigham Young as Governor. 
 
 No better selection could have been made. The 
 Founder of Utah was a good Governor, and his peoples' 
 interests, as well as those of the Territory and nation, 
 had been faithfully served by him. He may have taken 
 vigorous action in the execution of certain ideas of h*s 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 121 
 
 own that displeased or offended his enemies, but in his 
 day, and with his surroundings, such a course was 
 necessary. "Had Brigham Young been otherwise than 
 as God and nature made him, could he have done so 
 well the work assigned him by destiny? Do weak men 
 conduct exoduses and conquer deserts? Do they hold 
 in check the merciless savage, build cities and temples 
 and enthrone civilization in the midst of solitude and 
 sterility? Utah's great pioneer was a man of iron. He 
 had to be, in order that his work might not be poorly 
 or but partly done. And yet he possessed what no 
 tyrant ever did the love of his people, to a marvelous 
 degree. No despot was ever loved like Brigham Young. 
 No leader at his death was ever more sincerely mourned 
 by his followers. It was not a 'trembling submission' 
 that was paid to him in life: it was not an affected 
 sorrow that was manifested at his death. They regarded 
 him as a prophet, it is true; but they also knew him to 
 be a superior man, and loved and trusted him accord- 
 ingly."* 
 
 If Governor Young had shown what some of the 
 federal officials called disrespect to federal authority, it 
 was because of the worthlessness of the government's 
 representatives. f There were noteworthy exceptions, and 
 they were generally in harmony with the Governor, sent 
 to Utah to uphold the majesty of the law, and not 
 
 *Whitney's History of Utah, p. 535, Vol. 1. 
 
 'fSpeaking of the federal judges, up to and including Drummond, Ban- 
 croft, in his History of Utah, says, page 492: "If it was true that the 
 magistrates appointed by the United States were held in contempt, there was 
 sufficient provocation. Two of them, as we have seen, deserted their post, a 
 third was probably an opium ea f er, a fourth a drunkard, a fifth a gambler and 
 a lecher." 
 
122 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 because he disregarded the institutions or laws of his 
 country. These he ever honored and upheld. He was 
 the means of instituting such order and justice in Utah, 
 in his day, as were never equalled in any other western 
 State or Territory in our frontier history. 
 
 "Possessing unbounded influence, he used his power 
 most temperately, and his whole aim was to promote the 
 welfare of the people."* He had his faults, but his 
 personal reputation was above reproach; like all strong 
 a*nd great men, he had bitter enemies, but the unerring 
 judgment of time will prove that they were wrong and 
 he was right, for truth triumphs in the end. 
 
 7. THE CALAMITIES OF 1856. 
 
 The people of Utah were subjected to a period of 
 want, in the early months of 1856, caused by the pre- 
 vious season's crop being destroyed by grasshoppers and 
 drouth. Besides the winter of 1855-6 was very severe, 
 causing death to thousands of cattle, thus adding to the 
 hardships endured by the settlers. Even the most well- 
 to-do were compelled to add sego and thistle roots, and 
 other wild plants, to their scanty rations of meal and 
 vegetables. For some years President Young had 
 advised the people to store grain and provisions in the 
 days of plenty against a time of scarcity. When the 
 calamity was approaching he said in a sermon: "For one, 
 I have seen months and months in this city when I 
 could have wept like a whipped child to see the awful 
 stupidity of the people in not realizing the blessings 
 
 Cannon's History of the Mormons, p. 6. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 123 
 
 bestowed upon them in grain; I could have wept to see 
 this people trample on the mercies of their -benefactor in 
 bestowing the fruits of the earth upon them in such 
 plenty. If the Lord is now disposed to teach us a 
 lesson, and make us thereby wise men and wise women, 
 and prudent in all our ways, all I have to say is, amen, 
 it is all right." 
 
 But some had heeded his advice, among whom were 
 many of the leaders, who were thus prepared to help in 
 the hour of need, while others had ignored the counsel. 
 Had it not been for the aid which the leaders rendered, 
 and the community of feeling prompting to liberality 
 and sameness, the condition of the destitute would have 
 been appalling; but all shared alike, 'and to their lasting 
 credit be it said that sue :or was not withheld from the 
 poor and hungry multitude, who weie often fed without 
 price. 
 
 Besides sharing freely what he had with the Saints, 
 President Young devised various plans to engage labor 
 for the people, in manufacturing and mining enterprises. 
 He encouraged the people to work and be happy, and 
 resign themselves to the will of God. He urged them to 
 plant and sow and to be just as satisfied if they raised 
 nothing as if they raised an abundance. This course, he 
 said would reconcile them to the providences of the 
 Almighty, and in this they would find happiness, even 
 in severest adversity. 
 
 To add to their troubles, the Indians, becoming 
 hungry and mean, precipitated another war, which was 
 known as the Tintic war. It caused the death of twelve 
 of the settlers in Utah. Indian depredations on the 
 plains were also numerous that year. 
 
 But the year's greatest calamity befel the late hand- 
 
124 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 cart companies. There were in all five companies of 
 emigrating Saints, mostly from England, who had 
 decided to cross the plains on foot that year, traversing 
 deserts, wading rivers, climbing mountains, a distance of 
 thirteen hundred miles to Salt Lake City. Three com- 
 panies arrived in the valley after a three months' journey, 
 comparatively in good condition; but the last two were 
 caught in the snows and the storms of an early winter. 
 After suffering starvation and untold hardships their 
 remnants finally arrived in the valley, the last delayed 
 company, composed of six hundred persons, having lost 
 more than one-fourth of their numbers by death. All 
 would have shared the same fate save for the promptness 
 of President Young in organizing parties which were 
 sent to their relief. His actions, in this matter, earned 
 the plaudits of friend and foe alike. It was at the 
 October Conference that he first heard of their plight. 
 His son Joseph A. was sent to their assistance, with 
 orders to take all the provisions, clothing and vehicles 
 he could obtain, and press on to the rescue. Writing on 
 the subject after, Mr. John Chislett, in his description 
 of the handcart companies, says: "Brigham at once 
 suspended all conference business, and declared that 
 nothing further should be done until every available team 
 was started out to meet us. He set the example by 
 sending several of his best mule teams, laden with pro- 
 visions. Heber C. Kimball did the same, and hundreds 
 of others followed their noble example. People who 
 had come from distant parts of the Territory to attend 
 conference volunteered to go out to meet us, and went 
 at once. The people who had no teams gave freely of 
 provisions, bedding, etc., all doing their best to help us." 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 125 
 
 8. THE UTAH WAR. 
 
 While these disasters fell upon the people at home, 
 there were agencies at work which were to result in still 
 additional trouble. These were nothing less than misrep- 
 resentations of enemies, which ended at length in the 
 sending of an army to Utah to quell an imaginary 
 rebellion. 
 
 One of the agents that helped to bring about the 
 Utah war, or Buchanan's Expedition, was a mail con- 
 tractor named W. F. M. Magraw, who had been con- 
 ducting a service to Salt Lake City from Missouri. On 
 the 3rd of October, 1856, he sent a letter to President 
 James Buchanan, in which he makes some unsupported 
 assertions of Mormon treason, tyranny, rapine, indiscri- 
 minate bloodshed, robbery, etc. ,The reason assigned for 
 his writing was "to prevent, if possible, scenes of law- 
 lessness, which, I fear, will be inevitable unless speedy 
 and powerful preventatives are applied. " But evidently 
 the real cause of his fear was that a Mormon, Mr. Hiram 
 Kimball had been awarded the government mail contract 
 over his former route. 
 
 Added to this, and like a link in a chain of seeming 
 conspiracy, followed the resignation of Judge W. W. 
 Drummond, dated March 30, 1857. It must be remembered 
 that after the "runaway judges" had gone to Washing- 
 ton, Judge Snow was left alone to conduct the business 
 of the courts. He was overcrowded with work, and to 
 lighten his burdens the legislature, in 1852, passed an 
 act giving the probate courts "power to exercise original 
 jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, and as well in 
 chancery as in common law, when not prohibited by 
 legislative enactment." Up to the time that Associate 
 
126 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 Justice Stiles and Drummond were appointed, in the fall 
 of 1854, the district judges had tacitly admitted the juris- 
 diction of the probate courts, and even confirmed their 
 jurisdiction; but these new judges made a direct issue 
 by ignoring the authority of the lower courts and their 
 officials, declaring that the powers granted to them by 
 the act of 1852 were of no effect.* Judge Drummond 
 asserted that the laws of the Territory were founded in 
 ignorance, and he sought to abrogate some of the most 
 important of them. This same judge came to Utah with 
 a harlot, whom he seated by his side on the judicial 
 bench, leaving a wife and family unsupported in Illinois. 
 He was indignantly opposed to the peculiar institution 
 of the "ignorant and unvirtuous Mormons," whose family 
 system of a plurality of /wives was to them a part of their 
 religion. He was a worthless man. In the history of 
 Utah, Mr. H. H. Bancroft says of him: "Gambler and 
 bully, he openly avowed that he had come to Utah to 
 make money, and in the presence of the Chief Justice 
 declared, 'Money is my God. ' When first he appeared 
 in court, he insulted the community by rr.ocking at their 
 laws and institutions. He also declared 
 
 that he would set aside the finding of the probate courts 
 in all cases other than those which lay strictly within 
 their jurisdiction." 
 
 For these moral reasons, no less than for his judicial 
 course, he became very unpopular, concluding at length 
 to leave his post. Pretending to depart for the purpose 
 of holding court in Carson County, now Nevada, he went 
 home instead by way of California, where he wrote his 
 
 *The complications thus arising were continued for twenty years, until 
 Congress settled the matter by passing the Poland Bill, June 23, 1874. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 127 
 
 resignation to the Attorney-General, also a letter giving 
 his reasons for taking such a step. In this communica- 
 tion, he conjures up many wicked lies and groundless 
 accusations. He says, among other things, that "there 
 is a secret oath-bound organization among all the male 
 members of the Church to resist the laws of the country. 
 * There is a set of men, set apart by 
 
 special order of the Church, to take both the lives and 
 property of persons who may question the authority of 
 the Church. The records, papers, etc., 
 
 of the Supreme Court have been destroyed by order of 
 the Church, with the direct knowledge and approbation 
 of Governor B. Young, and the federal officers grossly 
 insulted for presuming to raise a single question about 
 the treasonable act. The federal officers 
 
 of the Territory are constantly insulted, harassed, and 
 annoyed by the Mormons, and for these insults there is 
 no redress. * * The federal officers are 
 
 daily compelled to hear the forms of the American 
 Government traduced, the chief executives of the nation, 
 both living and dead, slandered and abused from the 
 masses, as well as from all the leading members of the 
 Church, in the most vulgar, loathsome and wicked 
 manner that the evil passions of men can possibly 
 conceive." He then, besides, charges the Governor with 
 improperly pardoning criminals, and advising jurors 
 beforehand, so that no charges but his are obeyed. The 
 murder of Captain Gunnison and others he lays to the 
 Mormons; the judiciary, he considers, is treated as a 
 farce, the "officers are insulted, harassed and murdered 
 for doing their duty." In closing, he suggests that, "if 
 there vras a man put in office as Governor of that terri- 
 tory, who is not a member of the Church (Mormon), 
 
128 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 and he supported with a sufficient military aid, much 
 good would result from such a course." 
 
 As soon as these charges were made known in Utah, 
 they were duly answered and shown to be false; but it 
 appears, nevertheless, from subsequent events, that his 
 evil reports were believed, acted upon, and were the 
 basis upon which the President committed his great 
 blunder in sending an army to Utah. 
 
 There was another alleged aggravation which is 
 referred to in connection with the war. President Young 
 had contemplated the establishment of a great carrying 
 company, between the Missouri and the Great Basin, to 
 promote emigration to the west, and commercial inter- 
 course and rapid mail communication between the east 
 and the isolated Saints. This projected company was 
 organized in January, 1856, when the enterprise was set 
 on foot. The Government mail contract, which Mr. 
 Kimball had received, became the basis of its operations, 
 since President Young was desirous that all diligence 
 should be used in keeping faith with the Government. 
 Stations were now established at convenient distances 
 across the plains, at great expense. But no sooner were 
 these settlements formed than the Indian agents in the 
 neighborhood, possibly fearing the limitation of their 
 trade with the savages, construed their erection as an in- 
 vasion of the Indian lands. Then followed letters to the 
 Indian Department at Washington, with exaggerated 
 complaints of this Mormon invasion. 
 
 In addition to these accusations, the federal oftcials 
 contributed, by letters and affidavits, in creating preju- 
 dice against the people. Governor Young was charged 
 with dishonesty in Indian affairs, and with expending 
 improper!}' the Government funds appropriated for the 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 129 
 
 Indians. Many other- trivial complaints, false as they 
 were trivial, were 'set afloat, among which was the absurd 
 charge, still believed by the ignorant, that he read all the 
 letters that came to or went out of Utah. 
 
 Upon these false or grossly exaggerated charges and 
 complaints, President Buchanan, led also, it has been 
 said, by a rebellious desire to scatter the forces of the 
 Union, in case of a rupture with the South on the slavery 
 question, which was then the burning topic of the day, 
 without further investigation, decided that a rebellion 
 existed in Utah; and he took steps to invade the Territory 
 with the United States army, the plan being to keep the 
 Mormons in ignorance of the proposed invasion. Accord- 
 ingly, Brigham Young was superceded as Governor by 
 Alfred Gumming, who was to be installed and maintained 
 in place by the force which was ordered to march to 
 Salt Lake City, ostensibly as posse comitatus, to sustain 
 his authority. 
 
 An army of 2,500 well-equipped men was ordered to 
 march to the Territory, under command of Brigadier- 
 Geneal W. S. Harney, who was afterward succeeded by 
 Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston. General Harney, under 
 date of June 29, 1857, was thoroughly instructed as to how 
 to proceed. His soldiers were made to believe that a 
 genuine rebellion existed, and with this understanding 
 began their march. As stated, the Mormons were not 
 aware of the approach of the army. There had been no 
 mail to Utah from the east for upwards of six months, 
 owing to Mr. Magraw's failure to close his contract. 
 
 Agents of the Young Express Company, who had 
 now taken the first mail to Missouri from Salt Lake City, 
 on the Kimball contract, were the first to learn definitely 
 of the proposed expedition, since the postal agent at 
 
130 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 Independance, declined to deliver the return mails for 
 Salt Lake City to them, stating that he had instructions 
 from Washington to that effect. A rumor that the 
 Government had ordered an army to Utah, that Brigham 
 Young had been superceded as Governor, and that a full 
 set of officials were accompanying the troops to Salt Lake 
 City, had reached the agents before, and they had now 
 seemingly obtained an official confirmation. It was then 
 that they decided to break up the various stations of the 
 express company, and f take the property with them to 
 the west. This they did, reaching Fort Laramie July 
 17th. Here it was decided to leave a portion of the 
 party to take charge of and bring forward the property, 
 while Messrs. A. O. Smoot, Judson Stoddard, and Orin 
 Porter Rockwell, were selected to press on in advance 
 to the Valley to tell the news. They reached Salt Lake 
 City on the evening of July 23rd, having made the dis- 
 tance, five hundred miles, in five days and three hours. 
 The next day was Pioneer Day, July 24th. The 
 alleged rebellious Mormons, with song and dance and 
 innocent amusement, were celebrating their advent into 
 the Valley ten years before. The mam body of celebra- 
 tors had chosen a spot for this purpose at the head of 
 Big Cottonwood Canyon, near a beautiful lake in the 
 Wasatch mountains. Here they patriotically hoisted 
 the good old flag, rejoicing under its folds, little dream- 
 ing that their country was in arms against them. The 
 amusements were at their height on that beautiful July 
 morning, when the three before-mentioned travel-stained 
 messengers eagerly made their way up the canyon road 
 to the merry camp. They went direct to the tent of 
 President Young, and informed him of the startling news. 
 He faced the fact with that resoluteness and coolness 
 
THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 131 
 
 that were characteristic of his great mind that stamped 
 him with the seal of greatness. He de^berately called a 
 council of the leading Elders, presenting the subject 
 before them in a few words. No excitement prevailed, 
 and it was not until time for evening prayers that the 
 whole camp were informed of the character of the alarm- 
 ing message conveyed by the travelers. In addressing 
 the people, the President said: "Liars have reported 
 that this people have committed treason, and upon their 
 misrepresentations the President has ordered out troops 
 to assist in officering this Territory. If those officers are 
 like many who have previously been sent here, and we 
 have reason to believe they are, or they would not come 
 where they know they are not wanted, they are poor, 
 broken-down political hacks, not fit for the civilized 
 society whence they came, and so they are dragooned upon 
 us for officers. * * * I feel that I won't bear 
 such treatment, * * * tor we are just as free 
 as the mountain air. * This people are 
 
 free; they are not in bondage to any government on 
 God's foot-stool. We have trangressed no law, neither 
 do we intend to do so; but as for any nation coming 
 to destroy this people, God Almighty being my helper it 
 shall not be." 
 
 While it was the seeming aim of the Government 
 to use the army only for sustaining the civil officers, 
 President Young's experience with military bodies in 
 Missouri and Illinois, had led him to lose confidence in 
 their asserted designs, and to be suspicious of their 
 intents. Besides, why had not the officers been sent 
 without the army? There had been no resistance to the 
 civil authorities heretofore, why was it now necessary to 
 put them in place with the aid of troops? The real 
 
132 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 object was evidently hidden. It was the extermination 
 of the Mormons, the spoliation of their homes and 
 possessions, their complete annihilation. So thought 
 Brigham Young, and he dealt accordingly with the 
 stubborn facts as they presented themselves. He was 
 not willing to witness over again the scenes of Far West 
 and Nauvoo, and so decided to resist the army, at least 
 to begin with, until the Government might awaken to its 
 folly; if that failed, then to lay waste the country as 
 when he found it, and seek elsewhere for home, peace 
 and liberty. Hence some of his remarks to his people, 
 in his sermons: 
 
 "They say that the coming of their army is legal, and 
 I say it is not. * * * I am not going to permit troops 
 here for the protection of the priests and the rabble in 
 their efforts to drive us from the land we possess. * * * 
 I am sworn, if driven to extremity, to utterly lay waste this 
 land in the name of Israel's God, and our enemies shall 
 find it as barren as when we came here." 
 
 And the design would have been carried out, had it 
 been found necessary. 
 
 On September 17th, the Governor declared the 
 Territory under martial law, and forbade any armed force 
 from entering it under any pretense whatever. At the 
 same time, he sent a messenger east to Col. Thomas L. 
 Kane, with a document in which he explained to the 
 national authorities his motives in taking this step. He 
 hoped by this means that they might be led to see the 
 error and make an amicable adjustment of the difficulty. 
 Col. Kane was asked to see the President and lay the 
 matter before him. 
 
 The army, under Col. Johnston, left Leavenworth on 
 the 17th of September, reaching Fort Laramie October 
 
THE LIFE OF BIIIGHAM YOUNG. 133 
 
 5th. From this point on they met resistance. The Nau- 
 voo Legion was thoroughly organized under command of 
 Lieutenant-General Daniel H. Wells, and by order of 
 Governor Young took the field to prevent the entrance of 
 the troops into the Valley. Then followed the Echo 
 Canyon campaign, in which nearly 2,500 men, young and 
 old, gathered to confront the invading army; the burning 
 of Fort Bridger and its supplies; and the destruction by 
 fire of the Government trains by Lot Smith. Finally the 
 invading troops, crippled, starved and frozen, were 
 forced to go into winter quarters on Black's Fork; dis- 
 couraged and well-nigh annihilated, and that without the 
 shedding of blood, -it was plain to them that their expedi- 
 tion was a failure. Excepting a guard, the Utah militia 
 returned to their homes early 'in December. So matters 
 rested until spring, when it was fully expected that the 
 conflict would begin anew. To this end preparations 
 went on in Utah.* Governor Young, in his message to 
 the legislature, referred at length to the situation, justify- 
 ing his course, in which that body acquiesced. The citizens 
 and the legislature, in January, 1858, memorialized Con- 
 gress and the President, setting forth the true state of 
 affairs in Utah, and asking for constitutional rights. 
 
 At Washington public sentiment was greatly excited 
 against the Mormons; but many of the nation's leading 
 papers and citizens were no less unstinted in their 
 
 *Mingling with the song of joy, the paean of praise, welling up from the 
 hearts of a people who felt as sensibly as did Israel of old after passing the 
 Bed Sea, that Jehovah had delivered His people and engulfed their foes 
 could be heard the clink of steel, the sound of hammer and forge, and other 
 notes of 'dreadful preparation/ fashioning weapons for the coming conflict, as 
 fully expected as it was thoroughly unfeared "Whitney's History of Utah, 
 Vol 1. p. 662. 
 
134 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 condemnation of the President and his cabinet for com- 
 pelling the Saints to assume the position they had taken, 
 and for deciding upon mere hearsay that they were in 
 rebellion. The President began to see his blunder, and 
 seemed anxious to rectify his error, as far as it could be 
 done without the loss of dignity. 
 
 About this time Col. Kane visited Washington, 
 offering his services to President Buchanan, as mediator 
 in the pending quarrel, with a view to having the con- 
 troversy peaceably settled. This he did upon request of 
 President Young, made the summer before. The result 
 was his appointment to Utah, as private envoy of the 
 Government. Purely instigated by humanitarian 
 motives, he departed to fill his difficult mission, sailing 
 from New York, January 5th, 1858, and arriving by way 
 of San Francisco in Salt Lake City on the 25th of 
 February following. 
 
 Having been ushered into the presence of Governor 
 Young, he stated his errand and asked for a private 
 interview which was granted. He learned that Governor 
 Young was willing as ever to receive loyally the new 
 Governor without the army; but was not willing that the 
 troops should accompany him or be quartered in any 
 city or settlement of the Territory. 
 
 Alter a few day's rest, Col. Kane departed'over the 
 deep snows to consult with Governor Cumming at 
 Black's Fork. The new Governor was willing to accede 
 to the arrangements, convinced as he was of the wisdom 
 of the embassador's course; and he therefore left with 
 Col. Kane and two servants for Salt Lake City, being 
 escorted by Utah cavalry after leaving the federal lines. 
 Arriving in Salt Lake City on the 12th of April, he was 
 there, as everywhere on the way, treated with great 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 135 
 
 respect, and acknowledged as Governor. This arrange- 
 ment did not please General Johnston, who seemed de- 
 sirous to fight, but the counsels of peace prevailed never- 
 theless, not however ' without some trouble which 
 ended in lasting enmity between the Governor and the 
 General. Upon the arrival of the new Governor, he and 
 President Brigham Young had a very cordial meeting, 
 and the former was duly installed in his new position. 
 
 His noble peace mission now ended, Col. Kane 
 returned to report his success in Washington.* 
 
 President Young had said to Captain Van Vliet, the 
 first Government representative who came to Utah on 
 the war question, when that official referred to the 
 ability of the Government to send enough re-enforce- 
 rn^nts to overcome all opposition: "We are aware that 
 such will be the case, but when those troops arrive 
 they will find Utah a. desert. " There were now two 
 reasons why the great Mormon leader was preparing to 
 keep his word: first, he had no faith in the promises of 
 the army: "You might as well tell me that you can 
 make hell into a powder house as to tell me that they 
 intend to keep an army here and have peace. " 
 Secondly, he wished to attract the attention of the 
 world to the sacrifice and the wrongs inflicted upon his 
 people, in order to change public opinion in their 
 
 *" Some years later General Kane, for he was then a General, having 
 been promoted for gallant service in defence of the Union during the Civil 
 War, again visited Utah and for several months was the guest of President 
 Young. On more than one occasion, in the east, he valiently used pen and 
 tongue in behalf of the territory and its people. His name is a household 
 word in a multitude of homes in the Rocky Mountains, and his pure example 
 of friendship and patriotism will ever burn brightly, a beacon and a guiding 
 star, before the eyes of Utah's ons and daughters." Whitney's History of 
 Utah. Vol. 1., p. 674. 
 
136 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 favor. It was indeed a marvelous sight. Thirty 
 thousand people about to leave their homes, so dearly 
 earned, with guards left to fire them, if the hostile 
 army should invade their land. It was not long till 
 the press of the nation and of Europe saw their heroism 
 and devotion, and declared that sincerity thus attested 
 is not a thing to be sneered at. The tide had turned. 
 
 The Governorship was now disposed of. What 
 was to be done with the army? Evidently the Mormons 
 thought it would invade their cities, and hence the 
 move south. The new Governor strove in vain to 
 induce the people to remain and to return to their 
 homes. Though he pled with them as a father, they 
 would not believe him when he insisted that there was 
 no longer any danger, and promised them protection. 
 Said President Young: "We know all about it, Governor. 
 We have on just such occasions seen our disarmed men 
 hewn down in cold blood, our virgin daughters violated, 
 our wives ravished to death before our eyes. We 
 know all about it, Governor Gumming. " 
 
 Three weeks after his arrival Governor Gumming 
 made a report to the Secretary of State, Lewis M. Cass 
 setting forth the true condition of affairs in Utah. His 
 report gives the lie to all the accusations of Judge 
 Drummond, and he declared that Governor Young 
 "evinced a willingness to afford me every facility I may 
 require for the efficient performance of my administra- 
 tive duties." Referring to the "move," he said: "The 
 people, including the inhabitants of this city, are mov- 
 ing from every settlement in the northern part of the 
 Territory. The roads are everywhere filled with wagons 
 loaded with provisions and household furniture, the 
 
THE LIFE OF BBIGHAM YOUNG. 137 
 
 women and children often without shoes and hats, driv- 
 ing their flocks they know not where. They seem not 
 only resigned but cheerful. 'It is the will of the Lord,' 
 and they rejoice to exchange the comforts of home for the 
 trials of the wilderness. Their ultimate destination is 
 not, I presume, definitely fixed upon. 'Going south, 
 seems sufficiently definite for the most of them, but 
 many believe that their ultimate destination is Sonora. 
 Young, Kimball, and most of the influential men have 
 left their commodious mansions without apparent regret, 
 to lengthen the long train of wanderers. The masses 
 everywhere announce to me that the torch will be applied 
 to every house indiscriminately throughout the country' 
 so soon as the troops attempt to cross the mountains." 
 
 In the meantime a peace commission, sent by Presi- 
 dent Buchanan to treat with the Mormons, met with 
 President Young and his associates, who had returned 
 from the south to Salt Lake for that purpose on the 
 llth and 12th of June. These commissioners had a full 
 and free pardon to offer to the people, for past seditions 
 and treasons. In reply, President Young stated his 
 position as follows: 
 
 "I thank President Buchanan for forgiving me, 
 but I really cannot tell what I have done. I know one 
 thing, and that is, that the people called Mormons are 
 a loyal and law-abiding people, and have ever been. 
 Neither President Buchanan nor anv one else can con- 
 tradict the statement. It is true Lot Smith burned some 
 wagons containing government supplies for the army. This 
 was an overt act, and if it is for this that we are to be 
 pardoned, I accept the pardon. * * * Now let me 
 say to you Peace Commissioners, we are willing those 
 troops should come into our country, but not to stay in 
 10 
 
138 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 our city. They may pass through it, if needs be, but 
 must not quarter less than fort} 7 miles from us. If you 
 bring your troops here to disturb this people, you have 
 got a bigger job than you or President Buchanan have 
 any idea of. Before the troops reach here this city will 
 be in ashes, every tree and shrub will be cut to the 
 ground, and every blade of grass that will burn shall be 
 burned. Our wives and children will go to the canyons, 
 and take shelter in the mountains, while their husbands 
 and sons will fight you; and, as God lives, we will hunt 
 you by night and by day, until your armies are wasted 
 away. No mob can live in the homes we have built in 
 these mountains. That's the program, gentlemen, 
 whether you like it or not. If you want war, you can 
 have it; but if you wish peace, peace it is; we shall be 
 glad of it." 
 
 The army entered Salt Lake Valley June 26th, 
 deeply moved by the desolation which the}- witnessed all 
 about them. One month prior to this time Mrs. Gum- 
 ming, on entering the city, was so moved by the sight 
 that she burst into tears of sympathy for the migrating 
 Saints. 
 
 The troops, true to their pledge, preserved excellent 
 order, and marched to Cedar Valley, thirty- six miles 
 south of Salt Lake City, where they founded Camp 
 Floyd, and where the} 7 remained until 1860, at which 
 time the majority were called to Arizona and New 
 Mexico. During their stay, the fear of Brigham Young 
 was shown not to be entirely groundless, for on several 
 occasions they showed their hatred to the Mormons, and 
 there were some instances of gross misconduct on their 
 part. The Camp was abandoned in 1861, when the 
 remnant of the soldiers went east to participate in the 
 
THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 139 
 
 Civil War. Colonel Johnston, who had denounced the 
 loyal Saints as rebels, taking sides with the South became 
 himself a rebel. 
 
 Early in July, 1858, President Young and the Mormon 
 leaders returned to their homes followed later by the 
 whole community who now came back to re-inhabit their 
 cities and habitations which had been placed upon the 
 altar of sacrifice but this time not required of them. 
 
 So ended the Utah War. It was "an ill advised 
 measure," says the historian Bancroft, "on the part of 
 the United States Government. The Utah War cost 
 several hundred lives and at least $15,000,000 at a time in 
 the nation's history when men and money could least be 
 spared, and accomplished practically nothing save that it 
 exposed the President and his Cabinet to much well- 
 deserved ridicule." 
 
 Through the wise manipulations and the consummate 
 strategy of President Young the Mormons won through 
 it the respect and esteem of a large portion of the out- 
 side world and a thousand favorable echoes from the 
 press which recognized the bravery and patriotism of the 
 inhabitants of Utah. 
 
 9. BRIGHAM YOUNG'S LOYALTY AND ENTERPRISE. 
 
 "We have always been loyal and expect so to con- 
 tinue," said the Mormon leader to the Peace Commis- 
 sioners. But notwithstanding the assertion and the 
 practice as well, there seems to have prevailed a contrary 
 idea in the minds of certain missionary judges and some 
 Governors who came to "regenerate" Utah after this 
 period. These would not so consider the people or 
 
140 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 their leader. Perhaps their sentiments in this respect 
 grew out of the fact that Brigham Young still continued 
 to be the leader of the community though he was not the 
 Governor in a civil capacity. But it is more likely that 
 their feelings were engendered by their pre-formed bitter 
 prejudice against everything Mormon and often to hide 
 their own sins and corruption. But history and facts 
 bear witness that the Saints were and are law-abiding and 
 loyal. 
 
 General Johnston would not understand this. He 
 left the Territory in March, 1860, without ever having 
 seen President Young. Such a visit was not worth his 
 time he doubtless considered; but many of the army 
 officers, upon invitation, paid their respects to the great 
 colonizer, and before departing for the east they presented 
 him with the flag-staff used at Camp Floyd, a significant 
 sign of their changed opinions concerning his loyalty. 
 The interesting memento of the war, or, rather the happy 
 close of the war, was used by the President, at his resi- 
 dence, many years for floating the national banner. 
 
 The year of the outbreak of the great Rebellion 
 witnessed the people of Utah loyally celebrating the 4th 
 of July, an expressive event indicative of their love for 
 the Union since the Mormons were suspected, and even 
 accused, of favoring secession, or of desiring to establish 
 a separate nation. 
 
 The Overland Telegraph Line was completed to Salt 
 Lake City an the 17th of October, 1861, and on the 18th 
 President Young was courteously tendered the first use of 
 the wires, which he accepted. He congratulated the 
 President of the company, at Cleveland, Ohio, upon the 
 completion of the line, closing with these patriotic words: 
 
 "Utah has not seceded, but is firm for the Constitu- 
 
THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. . 141 
 
 tion and laws of our once happy country, and is warmly 
 interested in such useful enterprises as the one so far 
 completed. " 
 
 Replying, President J. H. Wade, of the Telegraph 
 Company, said among other things that the message was 
 "in every way gratifying, not only in the announcement 
 of the completion of the Pacific Telegraph to your enter- 
 prising and prosperous city, but that yours, the first 
 message to pass over the line, should express so unmis- 
 takably the patriotism and Union-loving sentiments of 
 yourself and people. " Governor Frank Fuller sent a 
 message the same day to President Abraham Lincoln, 
 who was inaugurated in March of that year, showing that 
 he also shared in the sentiments of the Saints: "Utah, 
 whose citizens strenuously resist all imputations of dis- 
 loyalty, congratulates the President upon the completion 
 of an enterprise," etc. The great Lincoln, in behalf of 
 the Government, reciprocated the congratulations. 
 
 On the 24th of October, President Young sent the 
 first message over the completed line to San Francisco. 
 Utah was now in instant communication with the world. 
 A new era was dawning upon the Saints, of which the 
 telegraph was the signal. Their leader saw that this and 
 the inevitable approach of the railroad, of which the line 
 was a forerunner, would bring a new and manifest destiny 
 to his people; but being himself a man foreordained by 
 the Divine will to his condition, it was not difficult for 
 Brigham Young to adapt himself to any change that 
 might come by the revolution of progress. But as in 
 other matters heretofore, the path which he marked out for 
 his followers did not suit his enemies. Under the new 
 era, he worked zealously for the welfare of the people as 
 he had ever done at any previous time. It was in a new 
 
142 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 way, perhaps, in a way to correspond with the altered 
 condition of affairs, but for their prosperity and happi- 
 ness, nevertheless. 
 
 On the 1st of July, 1861, the Salt Lake Theater was 
 opened. President Young was its projector and owner, 
 which indicates that he was a patron of and believer in 
 the legitimate amusement. As was the c^se with all the 
 public edifices of that time, its design bears the stamp of 
 his rare architectural genius, the prolific variations of 
 which are manifest no less in the Temple, (completed 
 April 6th, 1893), the Tabernacle (finished October, 1867), 
 and other public and private buildings, where it was the 
 moving power of formation, than in his own words on 
 the subject: "I have built a great many houses both for 
 myself and for others. I have never built two houses 
 alike, and I do not expect to in time or eternity, but I 
 mean to improve every time I begin." 
 
 From the completion of the Overland, or perhaps 
 long before, came the idea, to President Young, of bind- 
 ing the cities and towns of Utah together with a local 
 telegraph line. The need was apparent; the settlements 
 of the Saints were extended in all directions. All the 
 leading Elders looked to him for counsel, for advice in 
 everything that pertained both to temporal and spiritual 
 affairs. Such a line was projected in 1861, but work 
 thereon was not actively prosecuted until 1865, when a 
 circular was sent to the leading Elders, in all parts of 
 the Territory, asking them to get the poles, to gather 
 means for purchasing the wires, select the route, erect 
 the poles, find young men to go to Salt Lake City to 
 learn telegraphy. From each settlement, teams were 
 called for to go after the wire. The call met with a 
 hearty response from all quarters. The people went to 
 
THE LIFE OF BBIGHAM YOUNG. 14.3 
 
 work with a will, and by the fall of 1866, sixty-five 
 wagons laden with wire arrived in Utah, and by Decem- 
 ber 1st the line between Ogden and Salt Lake City was 
 completed, and the first message sent over it by Presi- 
 dent Young. By the middle of January, 1867, 500 miles 
 of wire had been laid at a cost of $150.00 per mile. 
 From that time on offices were rapidly opened in all 
 
 I parts of the Territory. On the 23rd of October, 1871, 
 the line was extended to Pioche, Nevada, (originally 
 included in Utah, and first settled by the Mormons) for 
 which the thanks of the citizens were sent to President 
 Young whose public-spirited enterprise, in placing them 
 in communication with the outer world, made them feel 
 that they had escaped from barbarism to civilization. 
 The building of this telegraph is a striking example of 
 his ability to direct men and their labors. 
 
 His enterprise and far-sightedness was even more 
 fully exemplified in the building of the Union Pacific 
 and in- the construction of local branch railways, a few 
 years later. As early as 1847, he not only thought that 
 the building of a trans-continental iron-way was feasible, 
 but actually marked out the route over which such a 
 road would pass. That the track of the Union Pacific is 
 
 .laid, for hundreds of miles, on the route that he 
 pioneered, is proof of his mind's comprehensiveness and 
 penetration on this question; and that competent autho- 
 rities have pronounced it the best that could be selected 
 is an evidence of his sound judgment in civil engineer- 
 ing. He told Mr. Reed, one of the early exploring 
 engineers of the Union Pacific, that the best route for a 
 railroad would be up the Platte River to the junction of 
 the North and South Platte, then up the North Platte 
 to the Platte Bridge, over the hills to the Sweetwater to 
 
144 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 South Pass, through the Pass and then by the most 
 direct route to Green River, thence up the Muddy and 
 by way of Bear River to Echo Canyon, and then down 
 the Weber. 
 
 How near he marked out the future path of the iron 
 steed across the plains, the traveler may judge for himself. 
 And yet it must be remembered that when he chose the 
 pioneer route he had never crossed the country. In its 
 choice, as in the selection of a spot for the central city 
 of his people, he was led by a Higher Power than he 
 himself possessed, call it intuition, apprehension, ready 
 insight, or by its right name, the inspiration of the Spirit 
 of God. 
 
 A prejudice existed in the minds of some people in 
 the east in regard to the feelings of the Mormons and 
 their leader in having a railroad pass through Utah, the 
 former asserting that the latter were opposed to it. As 
 we have seen, however, the Mormons were the first, 
 long before the project was seriously considered by 
 others, to favor it. As a standing and irrefutable 
 testimony that its advent was desired by them is the 
 fact that President Young took a contract to complete 
 the grading of the highway from the head of Echo 
 Canyon to Salt Lake Valley. In this contract, which, 
 amounted to about two and a quarter million dollars, 
 and from which the distinguished contractor is said to 
 have realized about $800,000.00, was included the heavy 
 stone work of the bridge abutments, and the cutting of 
 the tunnels in Weber Canyon. Notwithstanding that 
 the company, which was to pay a certain per cent, of the 
 amount monthly, as the work progressed, failed at first 
 to live up to their promises, the contract was faithfully 
 executed; and it was acknowledged by railroad men that 
 
THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 145 
 
 nowhere on the line could the grading compare in com- 
 pleteness and finish with the work done by the people of 
 Utah." 
 
 On the 8th of March, 1869, the Territory, gathered 
 at the City of Ogden, greeted the arrival of the iron horse 
 with shouts of, "Utah bids you welcome." "Hail to 
 the great national highway." 
 
 Two months and two days later, at Promontory, on 
 the northern shore of the Great Salt Lake, the last rail 
 was laid, the last spike was driven that welded into one 
 the Union and the Central Pacific Railroads. The 
 American continent was banded by a pathway of iron. 
 The guns boomed in the west, the bells tolled in the 
 east, and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf flashed the 
 joyful 'electric tidings of the marriage of the two oceans, 
 which clasped hands and gave their nuptial kiss in Utah, 
 the land of the Mormons. 
 
 Only seven days after this event, May 17th, 1869, 
 ground was broken near Ogden for the construction of 
 the Utah Central Railroad. President Young cut the first 
 sod with a spade, while it is customary to break ground 
 with a pick. He said that he believed in using the most 
 suitable tool. He was president of the company, which 
 was organized on March 8th, 1869. The road was built 
 by the people, and was purely a Mormon enterprise. 
 The last spike was driven by President Young on the 
 10th of January, 1870, amid the rejoicing of thousands of 
 people, when he had read an address, in which he called 
 attention to the poverty of the Saints on their arrival in 
 the valley, with no friend save God, and yet without 
 assistance they had built homes, cities, farms, dug canals, 
 water ditches, subdued the country, fed the stranger, 
 clothed the naked, emigrated the poor, making them 
 
146 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 comfortable and even rich, fed and clothed the Indians, 
 and now built a railroad. The Territory was not the 
 first dollar in debt. "Who has helped us to do all this? 
 I will answer this question. It is the Lord Almighty. 
 What are the causes of our success in all this? Union 
 and oneness of purpose in the Lord." 
 
 Rolling stock and material to the value of $600,000 
 were obtained on account of amounts due President Young 
 from the Union Pacific, and thus was the road equipped. 
 Then followed the building of the Utah Southern, 
 (May, 1871), and the Utah Northern, (September 1871,) 
 in the construction of which the President took a leading 
 and directing part. 
 
 The sagacity of President Brigham Young is made 
 plain in the commercial history of Utah. The early pros- 
 perity of commerce in the Territory may be assigned to a 
 train of providential circumstances. The famine of 1856 
 had left the people almost destitute, but the establishment 
 of Camp Floyd was a financial blessing to the people. Its 
 evactuation was the basis for the "start" which the 
 merchants received in 1861. At that time over four 
 million dollars worth of merchandise was sold to dealers 
 for about $100,000.00. Thereafter, great progress was 
 made in merchandising and there were merchants with 
 almost unlimited credit in the east. But all the profits 
 were going to individuals, and it was the spirit of the 
 Saints to be alike, to share equal, to be in a degree 
 socialistic. This was the view that the Prophet Joseph 
 had taken in Kirtland, which ended in financial trouble. 
 In material affairs, President Young could take no other 
 view the welfare of the whole people first, individuals, 
 who would necessarily thrive with the community, after; 
 that was the spirit of his teachings, and it was not con- 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 147 
 
 sidered best for individuals to engage in merchandising 
 since it tended to class distinction. The whole commun- 
 ity were to be equal trade was necessary, but it must 
 be carried on for the benefit of all. The President could 
 observe that as the railroad approached great financial 
 and social changes would take place. To guard the 
 money interests of the people, as well as to insure their 
 temporal supremacy, he saw that there must be union in 
 temporal as well as in spiritual things. Hence his an- 
 nouncement, early in 1868, "that it was advisable that 
 the people of Utah should become their own merchants." 
 
 Then followed the organization of Zion's Co-operative 
 Mercantile Institution, which began business early in 
 1869. President Young's interest for the whole people 
 came in contact with the self-interest of the few, and this 
 came nearly causing a serious rupture with the merchants 
 of those days, and was really a leading cause of the 
 "Godbeite" schism but the policy of the leader tri- 
 umphed, and no person today will question the value that 
 co-operation has been to the Mormons, not only in dollars 
 and cents, but, financial supremacy and prestige. 
 
 The parent house of Z. C. M. I. in Salt Lake City 
 was organized, followed by the establishment of several 
 important branches, besides co-op, stores in nearly every 
 settlement, some of which, however, either through bad 
 management or through the financial panic of 1873 
 went under. The parent institution has an enormous 
 trade,* and with kindred institutions constitutes the 
 
 *"That the institution has met with success in a commercial sense equal 
 to the brightest hopes of its founders will not be disputed when it is stated 
 that during its twenty-one years' existence, including the year 1891, its sales 
 aggregated the enormous sum of $69,146,881.06, and that up to the 5th 
 of May, 1892, it had paid in cash and stock dividends $2,059,874.07." 
 Whitney's History of Utah, Vol. 2., p. 293 
 
148 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 temporal bulwark of the Mormons. It has helped 
 materially to preserve them as a community; it has 
 earned for them a financial influence abroad, while it has 
 maintained a uniformity in prices, and has been a ballast 
 to trade at home; it has held the money resources of the 
 people within themselves, and in a great measure it has 
 insured the social unity of the Saints. Carried out 
 strictly as President Young intended, the idea would 
 have strengthened each of these bonds to a much greater 
 degree; and today the Mormons would have been more 
 on an equality, more united, and a stronger and happier 
 community than they are; though, even as matters exist, 
 their parallel in these respects, cannot be found on the 
 face of the earth. 
 
 10. PERSECUTION AND ARREST. 
 
 Not long at a time was President Young left in 
 peace. His days seem to have been full of persecution. 
 The power which he wielded over the people did not 
 please his enemies, who often constituted themselves a 
 missionary band to break it down. Of course, they 
 failed, but their efforts were not without annoyance to 
 him at a time when his past splendid work should have 
 served as a bulwark of peace to him. 
 
 The anti-polygamy law, passed by Congress in 1862, 
 was considered unconstitutional by the Saints After 
 they had made every effort to prove it so, it was finally 
 decided by the highest authority in the land that it was 
 in accord with the Constitution, when, as we have seen, 
 the practice of polygamy was suspended by them. As 
 early as 1863 there was an effort made to arrest the 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 149 
 
 President on the charge of violating the law of 1862. 
 Governor Harding, aided by the federal judges, at that 
 time began his raid upon the people and their institution 
 of marriage. His career, however, was soon cut short 
 by removal, owing to the friendly attitude of President 
 Lincoln, who was a believer in the policy of letting the 
 Mormons alone. 
 
 Early in the fall of 1862 Colonel Connor had come 
 to Utah from California with several hundred troops, 
 purposely to protect the mail route over the plains, but 
 upon arrival he discovered that this had already been 
 done by Mormon volunteers, for whom the Government 
 had called on President Young; he found, thereupon, 
 that his mission was to watch and overawe the Mor- 
 mon people, the loyalty of whose leaders the Secretary of 
 war had discovered some pretext for doubting. The 
 Colonel had about 700 men, who had enlisted to fight 
 Southern rebels. He founded Camp Douglas, and is 
 credited with being the "father of Utah mining." He 
 did some good service with his troops in fighting Indians 
 on Bear River. His presence in the Territory seems to 
 have inspired Governor Harding to change his friendly 
 policy towards the Mormons. There is no doubt that 
 Colonel Connor, who years after became very friendly 
 towards President Young, offering at one time to go his 
 bail for a million dollars, was at this time in sympathy 
 with the Governor, and now that there was talk of 
 arresting the President, there were also rumors of the 
 troops capturing him "to run him off to the States for 
 trial." This caused him to have armed guards about 
 his home, and likewise engendered a very bitter feeling 
 between the citizens and the soldiery, so much so that a 
 collision at one time seemed imminent. To avoid this, 
 
150 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 President Young, at the proper time, permitted himself 
 to be taken before Justice Kinney, where he was bound 
 over. The grand jury failed to indict, owing to lack of 
 evidence, and thus ended that trouble, not, however, 
 without creating rumors in the east of another Utah war. 
 
 The part that the Governor took caused his dis- 
 missal, and for this President Lincoln gained the lasting 
 friendship of the Mormon people. 
 
 A period of political peace and good feeling now 
 followed, broken only by the desire of Colonel Connor to 
 establish a military in lieu of a civil government in 
 Utah, a scheme that utterly failed, and was followed by 
 kind sentiments between the citizens and soldiers. 
 
 President Lincoln died on the 14th of April, 1865, 
 and the Mormons mourned the loss of the best friend 
 they have ever had in the nation's presidential chair. 
 Solemn public services were held in the Tabernacle on 
 the day of the beloved leader's interment. New difficul- 
 ties now arose, or were about to arise. 
 
 In the summer of 1865, Hon. Schuyler Colfax, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives, visited Utah. 
 He was tendered a cordial reception and demonstration 
 of welcome in Salt Lake City. During his stay he had 
 an interview with President Young, in which the subject 
 of polygamy came up for consideration. Mr. Colfax 
 hoped that the system would be abandoned, that the 
 Church would receive a new revelation putting a stop to 
 the practice. In such an event Utah would be admitted 
 as a State of the Union, otherwise no such admission 
 was possible. This was his friendly advice, repeated to 
 the public. 
 
 President Young defended the system from the scrip- 
 tures, maintaining it was not only biblical, "but had, 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 151 
 
 within proper limits, a sound moral and philosophical 
 reason and propriety." The discussion between them 
 "was general and sharp, though very good natured. " ,'.. 
 
 The following day was Sunday, and. the President 
 had consented to preach in the bowery before his visitors, 
 on the "Distinct Doctrines of Mormonism." This he 
 did. The speech did not please the Colfax party, nor in 
 fact the people, for it was a failure for some cause. Judg- 
 ing from the speech, the literary man of the party, Mr. 
 Bowles, a Boston journalist, concluded that while Brig- 
 ham Young was "a shrewd business man, an able organ- 
 izer of labor, a bold, brave person in dealing with all 
 the practicalities of life," he was "in no sense an 
 impressive or effective speaker. " In the latter judgment, 
 the critic was mistaken, for President Young was really 
 "an effective and impressive speaker" on most occasions, 
 but this time he was not half himself. Burton having 
 heard him on one occasion, in his "City of the Saints" 
 testifies of this: "The discourse began slowly, word 
 crept titubantly after word, and the opening phrases were 
 hardly audible; but as the orator warmed, his voice 
 rose high and sonorous, and a .fluency so remarkable 
 succeeded falter and hesitation, that although the 
 phenomenon is not rare in strong speakers the latter 
 seemed almost to have been a work^of art. The manner 
 was pleasing and animated, and the matter fluent, im- 
 promptu, and well turned, spoken rather than preached. 
 The gestures were easy and rounded, 
 not without a certain grace, though evidently untaught." 
 
 The Colfax party left for the west on June 19th. The 
 result of their visit was a better understanding of the 
 Mormons, with whom they were well pleased in all 
 respects, save -in their practice of polygamy, with which 
 
152 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 they were deeply disgusted. The Speaker's determina- 
 tion as to the stand which the government should take 
 against it found vigorous administrative effect when 
 later he became Vice-President of the United States, and 
 the close and confidential adviser of the great warrior 
 President, Ulysses S. Grant. To this visit, and the deter- 
 mination formed, may be traced the beginning of the 
 judicial persecution that came upon President Young and 
 his people in 1870-1-2-3-4-5, not to say the inhuman 
 feeling that nearly resulted in determining the adminis- 
 tration to send the army to Utah, to sweep the practice 
 away by the bayonet. 
 
 President Grant was inaugurated on March 4th, 1869, 
 and the policy to let the Mormons alone was from now 
 on abandoned by the administration. Having settled the 
 slavery question, the President determined to solve the 
 Mormon problem, termed the "twin relic," by special 
 legislation and judicial machinery, or, these failing, by the 
 sword as the first had been determined. There were 
 persons who were responsible for his unfriendliness to the 
 Saints, first among whom was Vice-President Colfax, 
 whose advice to abandon polygamy, given some years 
 previously, the Saints had not heeded; secondly, the 
 Rev. J. P. Newman, a Methodist minister, the so-called 
 intellectual warrior Chaplain of the Senate, who came 
 from Washington to discuss polygamy with the Mormon 
 leader; and thirdly, the establishment, in 1870, of the 
 Liberal Party in Utah, the misrepresentations of which 
 backed the agitations and designs of the others. 
 
 Vice-President Colfax once more visited Utah, in 
 1869, but declined the hospitality of the people. Evi- 
 dently, he came to view the field once more before 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 153 
 
 beginning vigorous action, before deciding whether to let 
 the courts, officered by bitter foes to the Mormons, or the 
 army, with their bayonets, decide the fate of the Saints. 
 It was about- this time that the Godbeite, or "new 
 movement" began in Salt Lake City. A number of 
 disaffected Mormons began to oppose President Young, 
 and what they termed his "one man power," his temporal 
 leanings, exemplified in the organization of Z. C. M. I., 
 the building of railroads and other secular enterprises. 
 These Elders were at length excommunicated, and their 
 withdrawal threatened a dangerous schism in the Church. 
 Mr. Colfax, whose visit occurred about three weeks 
 prior to the excommunication, heard of the prospective 
 schism, and considered it a good sign; he therefore 
 took pains to meet with the leaders of the movement, 
 and it is maintained by them that the answer which 
 Mr. Stenhouse, one of the heretics, gave to the Vice- 
 President's question: "Will Brigham Young fight?" 
 averted another Mormon war, or at least tempered the 
 spirit of the Vice-President to such an extent that he 
 decided that the Government should foster the schism, 
 and let it take the place of the army for the present. 
 Mr. Stenhouse's answer was: "For God's sake, Mr. 
 Colfax, keep the United States off." The seceding 
 Mormon Elders asked to be let alone to solve the 
 problem, with the countenance and favor of the Govern- 
 ment. "But this very movement against the parent 
 Church," says the Historian Tullidge, "composed of 
 Apostate Mormon Elders and leading Salt Lake mer- 
 chants, prevented the interposition of the military arm., 
 and greatly changed and modified the original intentions 
 of the Government, as inspired by Vice-President 
 Colfax, and determined by President Grant." 
 
154 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 From this new movement grew in time the Liberal 
 Party, a party composed entirely of non-Moromns and 
 apostates, whose bitter and unscrupulous warfare against 
 the Saints is almost without a parallel in the history of 
 political strife. Only the calm and cool judgment of 
 President Young and the patience and self-control of 
 the Mormons, averted a bloody and disastrous conflict. 
 The troubles which the members of this party, always 
 aided by conspirators at the seat of Government, were 
 enabled to bring upon the whole people, will some day 
 appear as one of the strangest chapters in our national 
 history. 
 
 It was not long after the visit of Mr. Colfax that 
 the Cragun and Cullom bills were introduced into Con- 
 gress, but their animus over-reached itself, and on this 
 account, as well as a visit of Mr. Godbe, the leader of 
 the "new movement," to President Grant and Senator 
 Cullom, they failed of passage. 
 
 Then followed Dr. Newman's evangelical crusade, 
 his correspondence with President Young, in which the 
 latter's tact and intelligence, as well as superiority, is 
 beautifully illustrated, and the Doctor's defeat by 
 Apostle Pratt. The whole had the effect of setting the 
 minister more than ever against the Mormons; and since 
 he was a dear, personal friend of President Grant, the 
 reverend gentleman did much to promote the bitter 
 judicial crusade against the Saints that followed. 
 
 The Grant-Colfax administration, as stated, now 
 decided to abandon to some extent the proposed military 
 subjugation of the Territory, but to go to war in deadly 
 earnest against Mormonism through appointed federal 
 officers. To begin with the proper men were found in 
 J. Wilson Shaffer, and Chief Justice James B. McKean 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 155 
 
 the most determined foes that Utah ever had. Their 
 mission was not alone to depose Brigham Young, but it 
 was to overthrow Mormonism, "a mission," Judge 
 McKean is said to have remarked, "as high above my 
 mere duty as judge as heaven is above the earth." Says 
 the historian Whitney: "They not only strained every 
 energy of their souls, every function of their offices and 
 every power of the law, but where the law fell short they 
 eked it out with legislation of their own, usurping 
 powers and functions that did not pertain to their 
 offices, and by acting as arbitrary despots covered them- 
 selves and the cause they represented with more or less 
 reproach. These facts were apparent not only to the 
 Mormons, but to many Gentiles as well. We speak 
 more particularly of Judge McKean, whose career in 
 Utah was much the longer." 
 
 The administration sent out soldiers to act as a 
 "moral force" in the protection of Gentiles and 
 apostates, and so that the "oppressed" might find a 
 shield. Camp Rawlins, near Provo, was thus formed. 
 
 The first move on the part of the Governor was to 
 forbid the muster of the territorial militia, he being, by 
 virtue of his office, Commander in Chief of the Nauvoo 
 Legion. Without authority of the Legislature and con- 
 trary to law, the Governor took it upon himself, also, 
 to dismiss Lieutenant-General Daniel H. Wells, and 
 appoint P. E. Connor Major-General of the militia of 
 Utah. Then he issued a proclamation disarming and 
 practically disbanding the Mormon militia. He was 
 carrying out his threat to depose President Young as 
 Governor de facto of Utah. He had said upon arriving: 
 "Never after me shall it be said that Brigham Young is 
 Governor of Utah." He considered that the Mormon 
 
156 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 militia, instead of being under the control of the Gover- 
 nor, was under the authority of the Church or Brigham 
 Young, hence his attack. The Provo riot and other 
 unlawful acts followed, so that a constant agitation was 
 continued. 
 
 On the 31st of October, 1870, the Governor died, 
 but his successors followed in his footsteps. In the 
 summer of 1871 George L. Woods became Governor. 
 He pursued the same policy as his predecessors towards 
 the militia. The acting Governor under him, Secretary 
 Black, commanded "that all persons except United 
 States troops desist from participating in or attempting 
 to participate in any military drill, muster or parade, of 
 any kind, at any place within said territory, from and 
 after this date (June 30. 1871), or until it shall be other- 
 wise ordered and commanded by the Governor and Com- 
 mander in Chief of the militia of the Territory of Utah." 
 The command was brought out from the fact that some 
 of the militia were asked to participate in a Fourth of 
 July celebration, which was thus forbidden them. 
 
 Judge McKean had not failed to fill his part of the 
 program, and the disbanding of the militia was but a 
 prelude, doubtless considered necessary for safety, to 
 the judicial invasion of the people's rights brought 
 about by his high-handed acts. He made the dead 
 Cullom bill his guide and law, disgracing his office "in 
 a manner to which the world can furnish no parallel," 
 until the Supreme Court of the United States reversed 
 his decisions.* At length every step was ready for the 
 
 * In reviewing Jtidge McKean's administration, George Caesar Bates, Esq., 
 United States District Attorney for Utah, says: "Appointed through the 
 Jesuitical influence of the Methodist Church, and sustained by the combined 
 bigotry of the land, his downfall only came through the sheer recklessness 
 of his despotic and brutal career. 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 157 
 
 consummation of the climatic act of the Judge's ambi- 
 tion the indictment, arrest and trial of President Brig- 
 ham Young. He, with other leading Mormons, was to 
 be tried, not for polygamy under the Congressional act 
 of 1862, but for lewd and lascivious cohabitation under a 
 territorial law which he, himself, as Governor, had 
 approved, and which, of course, was never intended to 
 apply to plural marriages. 
 
 The Utah Penitentiary, a Territorial institution, was 
 taken and placed in the hands of the United States 
 Marshal. Jurors for the fall term of the Third District 
 Court had been chosen in an illegal way, be it said 
 no Mormons being admitted. Everything being thus in 
 readiness even the "moral force" of the army was not 
 lacking. President Young was arrested on Monday, 
 October 2nd, 1871. He was ill at the time, and could 
 not leave his home, hence, through the kindness of the 
 Marshal, he was allowed to remain there, being per- 
 mitted to answer to the call of the court as soon as he 
 was able. He appeared on the 9th, and was admitted 
 to bail in the sum of $5,000.00.* Defendant's counsel 
 
 " A careful search of the records will reveal how, through such instru- 
 mentalities as those of packed grand and petit juries, a corrupt judge, a pre- 
 tended United States District Attorney, appointed by that judge, and the 
 states evidence of an atrocious murderer, who purchased his own imm.mity 
 from justice by his perjury, it was intended to consummate the judicial 
 murder of Brigham Young, Mayor Wells, of Salt. Lake City, Hosea Stout, 
 Joseph A. Young and other leading Mormons, on charges the most absurd 
 and untrue." t 
 
 *0f his appearance, the Salt Lake Tribune, his bitterest enemy, said : 
 11 There can be no doubt that the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter-day Saints made several very good points yesterday. His being there 
 a quarter of an hour before Judge McKean, patiently waiting his coming, 
 was very wisely arranged and looked well on an occasion which opes a 
 
158 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 plead that "he can only be indicted for the crime afore- 
 said by a Grand Jury duly selected, drawn, summoned 
 and impaneled according to the laws of the Territory of 
 Utah. That said Grand Jury, by whom said pretended 
 indictment was found, was not drawn according to said 
 law; but an open venire was issued." 
 
 A motion was made to quash the indictment on the 
 ground that it contained sixteen counts for the same 
 offense. Then came arguments pro and con which con- 
 tinued for several days, when Judge McKean finally 
 rendered a decision on the various points in question, a 
 decision that created a profound sensation. Why? 
 Because in it was this extraordinary announcement: "It 
 is therefore proper to say, that while the case at bar is 
 called The People vs. Brigham Young, its other and real 
 title is, Federal Authority vs. Polygamic Theocracy." 
 
 So it seemed that notwithstanding the complaint, he 
 was arrested not for unlawful cohabitation not for a 
 personal crime, but for polygamy, the grand offense of 
 the whole people, and yet he was to be tried under a 
 law for adultery. "In short," says the Historian Whitney, 
 "instead of an action brought by the public prosecutor 
 against Brigham Young, as a person, it was, according 
 
 series of circumstances destined to form a chapter of history. His appearance 
 in court too his Jquietude, and an altogether seeming absence of a spirit 
 chafing with rage at being brought to trial, evidently made a good impression. 
 * * * It is evident that President Young thus coming to court, and 
 his resolution to abide every trial, and contest the charges brought against 
 him, constitutionally through his counsel, was the very wisest course he 
 could have taken. * * * Perhaps there was more respect and 
 sympathy felt for Brigham Young wl.en he left the court room, feeble and 
 tottering from his recent illness, having respectfully sat in the presence of his 
 judge three-quarters of an hour after bail had been taken, than ever there 
 was before in the minds of the same men." 
 
THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 159 
 
 to Judge McKean, a crusade inaugurated by the United 
 States Government against the Church of Jesus Christ 
 of Latter-day Saints. It was this that created the sensa- 
 tion; and not only in Utah among the Mormons, but in 
 other parts of the country the extraordinary language of 
 the Chief Justice was commented upon and severely 
 criticised." 
 
 On October 16th, the defendant having plead not 
 guilty, further proceedings were postponed to give both 
 sides an opportunity to prepare. It was understood the 
 case would not be called up before the following March 
 term. In the meantime other indictments charging lead- 
 ing Mormons with murder, were ground out by the grand 
 jury, on the false testimony of the notorious Bill Hick- 
 man. Daniel H. Wells was thus arrested. President 
 Young was indicted under this charge, on the 28th of 
 October, but he departed for his yearly visit to Southern 
 Utah soon thereafter and was therefore not arrested. 
 He was accused of being accessory to the murder of one 
 Richard Yeates, November 15, 1857, during the 
 "Buchanan War." 
 
 When he left Salt Lake City, first obtaining the 
 counsel of his attorneys, for the south, he was not aware 
 of this indictment, which had secretly lain in the Judge's 
 pocket for a month, and departed expecting to return in 
 time to answer to the charge of lascivious cohabitation 
 in March. Consequently it was a matter of grave sur- 
 prise to all when, on the 20th of November, his case was 
 suddenly called for hearing. His attorney asked for a 
 postponement, basing his request on the promise of the 
 court implying a grant of time until the opening of the 
 March term. The prosecuting attorney wished to proceed, 
 however, and finally persisted in demanding a forfeiture 
 
160 THE LIFE OF BEIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 of the bond, notwithstanding counsel for defense declared 
 he would be ready for trial on reasonable notice. The 
 prosecuting attorney argued that the defendant had 
 absconded, intimating that it was owing to the murder 
 indictment. He then demanded the forfeiture of the bond 
 as a legal right. At last it was agreed to set the time for 
 hearing for December 4th. 
 
 Meanwhile it was published throughout the land that 
 President Young had fled from justice, and extravagant 
 tales were told of his conduct and whereabouts, that 
 evidently being the object of calling the case so early and 
 suddenly. 
 
 On the day set for the trial, a new district attorney, 
 Mr. Bates, was present and took his oath of office. The 
 case was brought up, but the defendant not being present, 
 it was decided to re-call and press it for trial on the 9th 
 of January. 
 
 President Young, hearing that he had been indicted, 
 came frorr. St. George, of his own accord, and without 
 warning, to answer to the charges, appearing before the 
 Judge, in court, on the 2nd day of January, 1872. His 
 accuser were greatly surprised, it is said, at the sudden 
 return of the alleged fugitive from justice; their surprise, 
 however, was more in the nature of a disappointment. 
 Their object in making themselves and the nation 
 believe that he had fled, was of course to call in question 
 his courage and honor, which they succeeded in doing, 
 not to the desired extent, in certain quarters. But here 
 he stood, the lion of the hour, to confound his enemies, 
 and their wicked aspersions upon his noble character. 
 He "had returned to surrender himself to his persecutors, 
 to face in open court his accusers and stand trial before 
 a biased judge and a hostile jury upon the charges that 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 161 
 
 had been laid at his door. Yes, it was even so; in spite 
 of every prediction and expectation of his enemies to the 
 contrary, the Mormon leader had come back, as he in- 
 tended doing when he departed; though his return, in 
 order to redeem his pledge, to relieve his bondsmen, and 
 to honor the requisition of the law, was fully two months 
 earlier than he had anticipated at starting. Nearly 400 
 miles in mid-winter, traveling almost the entire distance 
 by team, through mud and sleet, through frost and snow 
 and winter's biting blasts, he had come to confront and 
 confound his foes." 
 
 His attorney asked that he be admitted to bail, to 
 which the U. S. Attorney replied that it was left with 
 the discretion of the court, but if bail were accepted, he 
 (the attorney) would ask that it be fixed at $500,000.00. 
 This amount was $400,000.00 more than was required of 
 Jefferson Davis, by the Chief Justice of the United States, 
 for the high crime of treason, and President Young's 
 attorney protested. 
 
 Judge McKean gave his decision, in which he said: 
 The defendant now at the bar is reputed to be the owner 
 of several houses in this city. If he shall choose to put 
 under the control of the Marshal some suitable building 
 in which to be detained, it will be for the Marshal to 
 decide whether or not he will accept it. It is at the 
 option of the defendant to say whether or not he will 
 make such an offer, and equally at the option of the 
 Marshal to say whether or not he will accept it. In any 
 event, where or however the defendant may be detained, 
 the Marshal will look to it that his every comfort be pro- 
 vided for, remembering that the defendant is an old man. 
 I decline to admit the defendant to bail." 
 
 In charge of the U. S. Marshal, President Young 
 
162 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 passed out greeted on every hand by the mulititude who 
 pressed forward to see the noble veteran, or grasp his 
 hand in friendly sympathy. The Marshal permitted him to 
 remain a prisoner in his own home, where he was guarded 
 by deputies, treated with due courtesy, and permitted 
 every reasonable comfort. 
 
 On January 9th, the day set for the trial, the U. S. 
 District Attorney, at the suggestion of the Attorney 
 General, asked for a continuance of all court business, 
 because there was no money to carry on the work. The 
 court accordingly ordered all criminal and civil causes, 
 that were to be tried before juries, continued until the 
 second Monday in March. 
 
 The charges never came to trial. Before President 
 Young's cases were reached, the Supreme Court of the 
 country, in the famous Englebrecht liquor case, decided, 
 April 15th, 1872, that the jury in that case "was not 
 selected and summoned in conformity with law. " This 
 applied to nearly all other cases which Judge McKean 
 and the crusaders had busied themselves with for the 
 past twenty months. On the 80th of April, the assistant 
 district attorney of the Third District Court moved the 
 release of all persons held under indictments found by 
 grand juries impaneled under the illegal method. This 
 was granted. President Young was previously, on 
 April 25th, given his freedom, on a writ of habeas cor- 
 pus before Judge Elias Smith of the Probate Court of 
 Salt Lake County. 
 
 Thus ended these indictments against the Mormon 
 leader, to the great chagrin and dishonor of his enemies. 
 
THE LIFE OF BBIGHAM YOUNG. 163 
 
 11. ONE DAY IN THE PENITENTIARY. 
 
 But Judge McKean still seemed determined to wreak 
 his vengeance on the Founder of Utah. The opportunity 
 offered itself, but it cost the Judge his place. It pro- 
 voked his own doom. 
 
 On the 28th of July, 1873, the famous Ann Eliza 
 Webb Young, the alleged "nineteenth" wife of President 
 Young, planted a divorce suit in Judge McKean's court. 
 She set forth that defendant, Brigham Young, was in 
 receipt of an income of about $40,000.00 per month, and 
 asked that $1,000.00 per month be set aside for her 
 support. The case remained in court for nineteen 
 months, when, on February 25th, 1875, the Judge 
 directed that defendant pay the plaintiff $3,000.00 to aid 
 in prosecuting her suit for divorce, and that he also pay 
 her the further sum of $500.00 per month for the main- 
 tenance of herself and her two children, to begin from the 
 date of the filing of the complaint. Ten days were 
 given the defendant to pay the first amount, and twenty 
 days in which to pay the accumulated alimony, amounting 
 now to $9,500.00. The defendant hesitated in complying 
 with the order, appealing to the Supreme Court. 
 
 At the expiration of the time, plaintiff's counsel ob- 
 tained an order of attachment requiring the defendant to 
 come into court and show cause why he should not be 
 punished for contempt. On the llth of March, President 
 Young appeared personally to make answer. Through 
 his attorney, he disclaimed all intention to disregard or 
 treat contemptuously the order of the court, and prayed 
 to be discharged until the appeal to the Supreme Court 
 had been determined. His counsel also asked that de- 
 fendant, being in poor health, might be pormitted to 
 
164 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 
 
 withdraw, on his own recognizance or on a bond, while 
 the arguments were being heard. This the Judge 
 refused, because he desired, evidently that the victim of 
 his foreordained program should be present when the 
 issue came. After the arguments, which, with the pre- 
 liminaries, lasted three hours, the Judge delivered his 
 decision adjudging the defendant guilty of contempt, 
 inflicting a fine of $25.00, and ordering him to be im- 
 prisoned twenty-four hours. 
 
 After the rendering of the decision the $3,000.00 
 was paid to the plaintiff's counsel, and the unparalleled 
 outrage of sending the defendant to prison was indig- 
 nantly, but without demonstration, witnessed by the 
 excited citizens. 
 
 The imprisonment of a man seventy-four years of 
 age, in ill health, for an offense which was not intended, 
 and under a decision subsequently determined to be 
 illegal, was pronounced by all, regardless of party, as a 
 mean, unmagnanimous act. But the Judge evidently 
 wished to humiliate the man he hated. In this he failed, 
 for President Young, with the calm dignity so character- 
 istic of him, maintained his composure, was not in the 
 least disconcerted, nor in the slightest uneasy or excited. 
 With a quiet demeanor, indicating his superiority, he 
 left the court in custody of an officer, drove to his 
 residence, ate his dinner, supplied himself with bedding, 
 and was then conveyed, accompanied by many friends, 
 through a heavy storm, to the penitentiary. Here he 
 was at first placed with thieves and criminals, but after- 
 wards given a private room where he passed the night 
 in comparative comfort. Next day, March 12th, he was 
 liberated and escorted to the city amid a multitude of 
 friends. 
 
THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 165 
 
 The press of the country strongly condemned the act 
 6f Judge McKean. He had been prosecuting polygamists 
 for adultery, and now, by his decision in this case, he 
 acknowledged a polygamous marriage as legal, by grant- 
 ing alimony. It was more than even the administration, 
 which should have removed the Judge when the Supreme 
 Court checked his former illegal methods by reversing 
 his decisions, could tolerate, and on the 16th announce- 
 ment was made that President Grant had appointed a 
 new Chief Justice, Judge McKean having been removed 
 because of his fanatical and extreme conduct, and 
 because of several acts of his which the President con- 
 sidered ill-advised, tyrannical, and in excess of his powers 
 as Judge. Thus sank Judge McKean never to rise again, 
 except to be detested in the memory of a people for 
 whom he harbored a deadly hate. That feeling has 
 today given way to pity and forgiveness, even as Presi- 
 dent Young was magnanimous enough to forgive and pity 
 him when he subjected the great founder to what .the 
 zealous missionary Judge supposed was a great humilia- 
 tion. 
 
 Of the Ann Eliza case it need only be said that 
 when it came to trial at last, April 20th 1877, Judge 
 Shaeffer decreed the polygamous marriage between the 
 two to be null and void, and he directed "that all orders 
 for temporary alimony which had not been complied 
 with, paid or collected, be revoked and annulled, and 
 assessed the cost of the suit against the defendant." 
 
166 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 12. HIS CLOSING YEARS. 
 
 The days of Brigham Young were drawing to a 
 close. Until the last, however, he was busy with work 
 for the advancement and welfare of the Latter-day 
 Saints. Up to the end, he was interested in the coloni- 
 zation of the country. Utah was now dotted in all parts 
 with thriving settlements of Latter-day Saints. In 1873, 
 a move was made to colonize Arizona. Missionaries from 
 all parts of the Territory of Utah were called for this 
 purpose, and they met in Salt Lake City on the 8th of 
 March to receive the needed instructions of the great 
 and experienced colonizer. It was not long thereafter- 
 until organized companies were seen wending their way 
 south. On being asked concerning this move, by some 
 publisher from the east, President Young thus explains 
 the motive: "We intend establishing settlements in 
 Arizona, in the country of the Apaches, persuaded that 
 if we become acquainted with them we can influence 
 them to peace in accordance with President Grant's 
 Indian policy, and open up that country to the settle- 
 ment of the whites. Our cities, towns and villages now 
 extend about four hundred miles in that direction, and, 
 in view of the railroad crossing that country, we hope 
 to be prepared to assist in its construction, and when 
 completed bring a large portion of our emigration that 
 way to settle the country." 
 
 The colonizers at first met with failure, but their 
 efforts resulted in the experience which finally led to 
 success, and at present Arizona contains several Stakes 
 and many thriving settlements of the Latter-day Saints. 
 
 The founder of Utah was a strong advocate and a 
 rm friend of education, -in its true sense. "Every 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 167 
 
 accomplishment, " said he, "every polished grace, every 
 useful attainment in mathematics, music, and in all scien.ce 
 and art belong to the Saints, and they should avail them- 
 selves as expeditiously as possible of the wealth of 
 knowledge the sciences offer to every diligent and 
 persevering student." Besides aiding in the establish- 
 ment of the Deseret University, he was the founder of 
 two of the leading educational institutions in the Terri- 
 tory the Brigham Young Academy of Provo, and the 
 Brigham Young College of Logan. The former dates its 
 history from October 16, 1875, on which day the founder 
 executed a deed of trust of certain buildings and grounds 
 in Provo City, to a board of seven trustees, with provi- 
 sions for perpetuating the organization. To aid in 
 sustaining the institution thus founded, he conveyed 
 other premises to the trustees, on his birthday in 1877. 
 
 On July 24th, 1877, he deeded to the trustees of the 
 Logan institution, which was that day founded, a tract . 
 of land consisting of 9642 acres, located south of Logan 
 City, the rents, profits and issues of which were to be 
 used for the support of the Brigham Young College. .U**UIM< 
 
 He was inspired to organize the Young Men's and^ 
 Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations, and to 
 give the key note to the work expected of them, which 
 work began in the summer of 1875, and which has grown 
 until these societies of the young now number among 
 their members tens of thousands of the sons and daugh- 
 ters of the Mormons. He took the liveliest interest in the 
 Sunday schools, and the children who greeted him with 
 honor whenever he appeared in the settlements of the 
 Saints were his pride and joy and his dear friends. 
 There are tens of thousands who have stood in line to 
 greet him, who now revere his memory, and otljjer sixty 
 
168 THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 thousand, nqw in childhood, who have learned to love 
 his name.* 
 
 He lived to see completed, and to dedicate, the first 
 temple in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. In April, 
 1877, he saw the temple at St. George fully dedicated 
 and prepared for the administration of holy ordinances 
 for the living and the dead, himself setting it in order. 
 
 He devoted his last days to the completion of the 
 organization of the Church, setting in order the Priest- 
 hood, and organizing the various Stakes of Zion, accord- 
 ing to the pattern revealed from heaven, thus giving a 
 government to the Latter-day Saints which is the admira- 
 tion of all who make it a study. He finished this work 
 on the Sunday preceding his death. He showed the 
 people the beauty, helpfulness, and harmony of their 
 religion, and in his constant and untiriffg labors among 
 them, he made the gospel a "living force, full of power 
 and marvelous beauty "a perfect law of liberty, compre- 
 hending lite and light, justice and judgment." He 
 visited in all seasons and weathers, instructing, counsel- 
 ing, advising, correcting and encouraging his people, on 
 all kinds of subjects, simple and profound, temporal and 
 spiritual, both in public and private. Whether in 
 matters affecting the common affairs of life, or those 
 involving the dearest interests of humanity, in his inter- 
 course with the people, he was ever kind and patient, 
 manifesting deep wisdom and fatherly solicitude. Thus 
 
 *"When questions pregnant with great events pressed hard, he was 
 able to build upon the firm foundation of wisdom and justice, forecast the* 
 future, meet the demands of the present, and then in a breath show his 
 confidence in God, his freedom from care, by caressing the lips of innocent 
 childhood and tenderly winning the love of babes." Moses Thatcher. 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 169 
 
 he endeared himself to the Saints, in whose hearts love 
 has deeply enshrined his memory. 
 
 Honored and beloved, ripe in age, surrounded by his 
 family, to cheer, wait upon, and administer to him, he 
 passed peacefully to rest. He died at 4 o'clock p.m., 
 August 29th, 1577. He said to those around him: "You 
 are so good," and his last words were, "Joseph, Joseph, 
 Joseph." "His departure was like the falling asleep of 
 a little infant. No tremor, no contortions; but as peace- 
 ful and as quiet, as still as if it were indeed the most 
 gentle slumber. " 
 
 Over 25,000 persons viewed his remains lying in 
 state in the Tabernacle, and over 30,000 came from all 
 parts of the Territory to attend the funeral ceremonies 
 which were held on the 2nd of September, 1877. It was 
 a fine, calm Sabbath day, and the sun shone with beauty 
 from a cloudless, lovely sky. Memorial services were held 
 everywhere throughout the Territory and wherever 
 colonies of the Saints existed. 
 
 His mortal remains rest in a private cemetery, on 
 an elevation a short distance north-east of the Eagle 
 Gate, commanding a splendid view of Salt Lake City, and 
 the valley south and wect. There is no monument over 
 his unpretentious grave, possibly from the fact that "Brig- 
 ham Young needs no monument to perpetuate his name 
 and character, save that which he himself, by his own 
 works and virtues, has reared in the hearts of his people." 
 
 His spirit is with God who gave it; the stamp of 
 his genius, his work, his master mind, his public-spirited- 
 ness, is sealed upon every enterprise in the common- 
 wealth: his goodness, greatness and large-heartedness, 
 upon every heart which knew, or which has learned to 
 know him. 
 12 
 
170 THE LIFE OF BKIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 President Brigham Young was the father of fifty-six 
 children, and left seventeen wives, sixteen sons, and 
 twenty-eight daughters, to perpetuate his name and 
 greatness in the earth. As a husband and father, he was 
 kind and loving. His family were as deeply devoted to 
 him as he was to them, and their affection for him 
 speaks in loud praise of his kindness, goodness and 
 fatherly care. 
 
 In stature, he was a little above the medium height. 
 In personal appearance, he was stately, having a compact 
 and well-knit frame, inclined to portliness. His fea- 
 tures were a pleasant study, regular, sharp, well-formed, 
 with clear grey eyes, a broad forehead, a changeable 
 expression varying according to circumstances from a 
 smile which revealed a heart full of deep sympathy, love 
 and affection, to a stern, cold look indicating strong will, 
 self-reliance, and a master at rebuke, the "Lion of the 
 Lord," as he was often called. Says Apostle Moses 
 Thatcher: "If he was compelled to disappoint anyone, 
 how kindly he could explain the reason for so doing! 
 And yet, with all his tenderness, how terrible was his 
 rebuke when moved upon by the Holy Ghost." Of his 
 manner and address, Bancroft says that "he was easy 
 and void of affectation, deliberate in speech, conveying 
 his original and suggestive ideas in apt though homely 
 phrase." Mrs. Lippincott (Grace Greenwood) says of 
 his appearance, in the Tabernacle at a mass meeting, 
 that she was greatly surprised: "I could not recognize 
 the picture so often and elaborately painted. I did not 
 see a common, gross-looking person, with rude manners, 
 nd a sinister, sensual countenance, but a well dressed, 
 
THE LIFE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 171 
 
 dignified old gentleman, with a pale, mild face, a clear 
 gray eye, a pleasant smile, a courteous address, and 
 withal a patriarchal, paternal air, which of course he 
 comes rightly by. In short I could see in his face or 
 manner none of the profligate propensities and the dark 
 crimes charged against this mysterious, masterly, many- 
 sided and many-wived man." 
 
 His actions toward the sufferers of the great 
 Chicago fire illustrated his broad practical philanthropy 
 with as much force as when, in the exodus, with his 
 sick child in his arms, he shared his scanty rations with 
 the women and children who held out heir hands for 
 bread. When the news of this startling conflagration 
 reached Salt Lake City, his response with that of his 
 people to the call for relief was as hearty as it was 
 generous. In the midst of severe persecution, brought 
 about by Judge McKean, he set his own difficulties 
 aside, and headed the subscription list of Utah's relief 
 offering to the Chicago sufferers, amounting to about 
 $20,000, with a donation of $1,000. Says Grace Green- 
 wood, who was in the city of the Saints at the time: 
 "There is to me, I must acknowledge, in this prompt 
 and liberal action of the Mormon people, something 
 strange and touching. It is Hagar ministering to Sarah; 
 it is Ishmael giving a brotherly lift to Isaac." 
 
 In language, President Young was outspoken and 
 plain; he never minced matters with anyone, high or 
 low, nor treated the simplest honest member of the 
 Church with less deference than the greatest of the many 
 distinguished men and women who called upon him 
 from all parts of the earth. He spoke openly, and none 
 could mistake his meaning. Says Judge Hosea Stout: 
 "He does all his sly deeds before the assembled 
 
172 THE LIFE OF BBIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 multitude. I defy any man to produce 
 
 one solitary example of chicanery or double-dealing in 
 his character or career." Burton says : "His manner is 
 at once affable and impressive, simple and courteous, 
 shows no sign of dogmatism, impresses the stranger 
 with a certain sense of power." 
 
 He 'had an excellent .memory, and was a good judge 
 of character. His mind was as capable of grasping and 
 deciding upon great questions as it was fitted to direct in 
 the smallest details of life's everyday affairs. Says Apostle 
 Thatcher: "The scope of his mind seemed limitless. * 
 He could speak the language of the stars, 
 discourse eloquently regarding the organization of worlds; 
 and then in simple terms direct how to plow and plant, 
 reap and sow." At his funeral, President George Q. 
 Cannon said that "he has been . the brain, the eye, the 
 ear, the mouth and hand for the entire people of the 
 Church. Nothing was too small for his 
 
 mind; nothing was too large. His mind was of that 
 character that it could grasp the greatest subjects, and 
 yet it had the capacity to descend to the minutest 
 details." 
 
 His sermons were as practical and full of common 
 sense, as his demeanor was calm and devoid of extrava- 
 gance and affectation. He discussed upon the highest 
 philosophy and upon doctrine the most profound, but in 
 the same sermon, taught his hearers how to beautify their 
 homes, how to build cities, how to redeem the desert. 
 The embodiment of his religion was to do good here upon 
 this earth, and he put his doctrine into practice. "The 
 Lord does not thank you for j'our alms, "said he, "long 
 prayers, sanctimonious speeches and long faces, if you 
 refuse to extend the hand of benevolence and charity to 
 
THE LIFE OF BtflGHAM YOUNG. 173 
 
 your fellow-creatures, and lift them up, and encourge and 
 strengthen the feeble. " 
 
 The people, from whom he sprung, and with whom 
 he had always mingled, sought his advice for its wisdom 
 and moderation, and loved him for his hearty, genial, lofty 
 soul, no less than for his conscientious course and deep 
 convictions of right and justice, "He has had to settle 
 difficulties with thousands, and where is the man, Mormon 
 or anti-Mormon, who ever appealed to him for the 
 decision of a case but was satisfied with the result?" 
 
 He had faults, because he was mortal and doubtless 
 these appeared grave to his enemies, who were many and 
 bitter; but his virtues swallowed them up, and time is 
 reducing the animus* of his diminishing foes to give place 
 to the admiration of his increasing hosts of friends. 
 Ranking among the immortal benefactors of his race, his 
 defects need no apologies, as his character needs no 
 chiseled monument to mark its greatness. 
 
 In the whole mountain region of the west, we see 
 the traces of his marvelous genius and his still more 
 wonderful' influence on the minds of his people, their 
 organizations and institutions. He stamped his opinions 
 on his day and age, and succeeding generations, gazing 
 through the clarifying glasses of time, will know the truth 
 even better than we, and link his name with the greatest 
 and the noblest characters of earth. 
 
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