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 CITY OF THE SAINTS, containing views and descrip- tions of principal points of intrest in Salt Lake City, also brief sketches of history and religion of the Latter-day Saints 25 FROM KIRTLAND TO SALT LAKE, an account of the journeyings, of the Latter-day Saints from the organization of the Church to the present time, by James A. Little, 262 pages, (illustrated) lea- ther, extra gilt. 2.3<: leather, gilt, 2.00; cloth, .. l.:>u FORTY YEARS AMONG THE INDIANS, by Daniel W. Jones, 400 pages, leather gilt, 3.00; leather, 2.50: cloth 2. no WHITNEY'S HISTORY OF UTAH. Sold on subscription only. FOR SALE BY GEORGE Q. CANNON & SONS CO., SALT LAKE CITY, OR A. H. CANNON, P. O. Box N, OGDEN, UTAH. A BRIEP HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. From the Birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith to : : lime, * & Paper, postpal I - 5 Cloth, postpaid,. .y ' Leather, postpaid,. . "' " Leather gilt, postpai :" : .00 HAND BOOK Or REFERENCE * <* To the History, Chronology, Religion and Country of Latter-day Saints, J* J* Including the- REVELATION ON CELESTIAL MARRIAGE Cloth, postpaid, 50 cts. THE CITY OF THE SAINTS. Containing views and descriptions of principal points of interest in SALT LAKE CITY AND VICINITY ALSO- SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY AND RE- LIGION or THE mrreR-DAY SAINTS. Cloth, postpaid, ;<