Chapter 47The Mission of Governor Shaffer and Judge McKean1870–1877Governor ShafferFollowing the removal of Governor Harding in 1863, Utah was blessed for a time with the presence of governors who were inclined to attend to the duties of their office without much interference with “Mormonism.” Governors James Duane Doty and Charles Durkee had held the office and S. A. Mann, secretary of the territory, served as acting governor following the resignation of Governor Durkee in 1869, until the appointee of President Ulysses S. Grant arrived in the territory in the spring of 1870. This was J. Wilson Shaffer of Illinois, who proved to be the most bitter and bigoted anti-“Mormon” governor Utah ever had. He was in his forty-third year when he came to Utah, and was suffering from consumption, contracted while serving in the Civil War. He was a man of determined will, and evidently was sincere in his conviction that the “Mormons” were more than “rebels,” who needed the drastic treatment which by some was considered proper and necessary treatment for the South, during the days of reconstruction. He came to Utah with a bias against the Latter-day Saints which nothing short of a miracle could remove. “Never after me, by ——,” said he, “shall it be said Brigham Young is governor of Utah.” In this expression he displayed his ignorance of the conditions in Utah—a mistake made by many others—that because the Latter-day Saints hearkened to the counsels of President Young who, as their inspired leader, directed them as members of the Church, he was usurping the prerogatives of the executive. If these men had been broad enough they might have seen that President Young respected the civil authority at all times, even when sorely abused and tried by the petty acts of presumptuous and bigoted officials, who did all in their power to annoy and humiliate him before the people.Removal of Secretary Mann and Judge WilsonThe anger of Governor Shaffer was kindled against Secretary Mann because he, as acting governor, signed the woman suffrage bill and endeavored to show some just consideration for the majority of the people. Likewise he displayed feelings of resentment against Chief Justice Charles A. Wilson because he would not subvert the law in favor of the anti-“Mormon” “ring” to the disadvantage of the people. Wilson was accused of exercising too much leniency towards the “Mormons,” so he, like Secretary Mann, was removed through the influence of the governor.The Coming of Judge McKeanTo succeed the deposed officials, Vernon H. Vaughan was sent to Utah as secretary of the territory and Judge James B. McKean to be chief justice. O. F. Strickland and C. M. Hawley were also appointed associate justices to fill vacancies which existed. Judge McKean, like Governor Shaffer, was a relentless anti-“Mormon,” bigoted and narrow. He came to Utah with a “mission,” said he, “as high above my mere duty as a judge, as the heaven is above the earth.” That “mission” was the overthrow of “Mormonism.” However, Judge McKean is gone, and “Mormonism” still survives and prospers.Influence on Schuyler Colfax and Rev. NewmanThe appointment of these bigoted and narrow-souled officials was largely due to the influence of Vice-President Schuyler Colfax and Rev. John P. Newman. The former had visited Utah on two occasions; first in 1865, when he was speaker of the house of representatives, and again in 1869, when he was holding the office of vice-president in the administration of U. S. Grant. He was associated with an organized “ring” of anti-“Mormon” agitators and politicians, who were bent on the destruction of “Mormon” dominion in Utah. On each visit he had shown marked opposition to the Church. Rev. Newman was President Grant’s minister, and was also chaplain of the United States Senate.Governor Shaffer and the MilitiaBy act of the Utah Legislature in 1852, the militia, under the title of the “Nauvoo Legion,” met in annual muster. In keeping with the law, Lieutenant General Daniel H. Wells issued an order August 16, 1870, calling for a three days’ muster, for the purpose of inspection, drill and camp duty. Governor Shaffer was absent from the territory at the time, but as soon as he returned he issued a counter order forbidding any muster, or drill, or gathering of any military organization within the territory, except upon his orders. He also illegally appointed Patrick E. Connor major general of the militia, and William N. Johns, colonel and assistant adjutant general, and directed that all arms and munitions belonging to the territory, or to the United States, then in possession of the militia, be delivered to Colonel Johns, without delay. Through misrepresentation, the government had sent troops to Utah to act as “a moral force” in protecting Gentiles and apostates. The action of the governor practically destroyed the militia, and by aid of the government troops, he endeavored to establish a military power to intimidate the Latter-day Saints, and lessen the power of the “Mormon” leaders.Request of General WellsAgainst this high-handed outrage, General Wells wrote, requesting the governor to suspend his order until the 20th of November to enable Adjutant General Hiram B. Clawson to make a complete report according to law, of the condition of the militia. Governor Shaffer answered General Wells, October 27, 1870, in an insulting letter denying the request. General Wells answered this attack in an open letter which was published in theDeseret News.The Provo RiotThe governor’s attitude in disregarding all local civil law and authority, bore bitter fruit. The peace officers were rendered helpless in the performance of their duties, and the rabid part of the community manifested a spirit of contempt and defiance for the law. The city ordinances were broken with impunity, and the violators were protected by the governor and judges. The spirit prevailed among a certain class that the “Mormons” had ruled in Utah long enough and it was stated that the authorities at Washington were to make a change. There was to be a revolution and the minority was to assume the reins of government.One week after the governor’s proclamation disarming the militia, a mob of about forty United States soldiers, who were stationed at Fort Rawlins, near Provo, made a raid on that town. Late at night. September 22, they went to the home of Alderman William Miller, fired several shots into the building, smashed in the doors and windows, and took Miller a prisoner. Similar rioting occurred at the homes of Alderman Elijah F. Sheets and Counselor A. F. McDonald. The home of the latter was ransacked and his substance scattered in the yard and street. The doors and windows of the co-operative store, and those of the meetinghouse, were broken, and the rioters attempted to burn the latter building. Armed with needle guns they captured a number of citizens and paraded them through the streets prodding them with their bayonets. The reason for this deed was that the citizens of Provo had refused to sell liquor to the troops.Governor Shaffer’s Letter to General De TrobriandSeveral days after the riot occurred Governor Shaffer wrote to General De Trobriand, commander at Camp Douglas, censuring him for the outrage and trying to place upon his shoulders the responsibility for the raid, for which he was in no wise responsible. His command and that at Fort Rawlins, were separate and distinct units. The general answered the governor’s letter—which was evidently written for political effect and to injure the commander because he had shown some kindness to the “Mormon” people—with some sharpness, showing that the governor and not the general had been derelict of duty. If the governor expected to profit by his communication, which was evidently the case for he gave it to the press before the general received it, very little benefit was derived from it.The Rioters PunishedThe commander at Fort Rawlins, Major Osborne, as well as General De Trobriand, greatly regretted the unfortunate and unprovoked attack made by the soldiers. The matter was taken up in a proper way by the military department of the Platte, and the guilty parties were duly punished.Death of Governor ShafferMonday, October 31, 1870, Governor J. Wilson Shaffer died in Salt Lake City. He came to Utah in March and had served as governor about seven months, but during that time had shown extreme bitterness against the majority of the people in all his official acts. The day of his death a dispatch came from Washington appointing Vernon H. Vaughan, the territorial secretary, to succeed him, who in turn was succeeded by George A. Black, as secretary. Mr. Black had been Governor Shaffer’s private secretary.“The Wooden Gun Rebellion”In November, 1870, at the regular time for the military musters, which had been prohibited by Governor Shaffer, about one hundred men assembled on the Twentieth Ward Square, many of them carrying wooden guns. Governor Vaughan was absent at the time and Secretary Black was acting governor. He had eight of the men, viz: Andrew Burt, Charles R. Savage, William G. Phillips, James Fennemore, Charles Livingston, George M. Ottinger, Archibald Livingston and John C. Graham, arrested. They were taken before Judge Hawley who bound them over to await the action of the grand jury on the ground that it appeared that probably they had committed a crime in disregarding Governor Shaffer’s order. They were placed under heavy bonds, and as they refused to give bail, were given over to the military authorities at Camp Douglas. They were kindly treated by the officers and both “Mormon” and non-“Mormon” merchants looked after their wants, furnishing them with many delicacies while they remained prisoners. The grand jury, when it met, refused to indict them, and they were released. This incident became popularly known as “The Wooden Gun Rebellion.”The Return of Martin HarrisAugust 30, 1870, Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, arrived in Salt Lake City. He had been absent from the Church since the days of Kirtland; but had never during all those years denied his testimony. He now came back humbly to the Church, and was baptized by Elder Edward Stevenson and confirmed by Elder Orson Pratt. He died at Clarkston, Cache County, July 10, 1875, when nearly ninety-three years of age. A few hours before his death he discoursed on the Book of Mormon and reiterated the truth of the visit of the angel and bore testimony to the divine origin of the Book of Mormon.The Pratt-Newman DiscussionDuring the consideration of the Cullom Bill by Congress, Rev. John P. Newman, pastor of the Metropolitan Methodist Church in Washington, and chaplain of the senate, delivered a number of lectures trying to prove that “God’s law condemns the union in marriage of more than two persons.” His lectures were published in the New YorkHerald, and replies were made to them by Elder Orson Pratt. It was suggested by Edward L. Sloan, acting editor of the Salt LakeDaily Telegraph, a paper owned by “Gentile” interests, that the reverend gentleman was wasting his ammunition by preaching against plural marriage in Washington. It would be better for him to come to Utah where the question was a live issue, and discuss the issue with Orson Pratt, or some other “Mormon” elder. Mr. Newman, construing this as a challenge from President Brigham Young, came to Utah in the summer of 1870, armed cap-a-pie and with banners flying. He immediately informed President Young that he was here to accept his challenge to discuss the plural marriage question. President Young advised him that he had issued no such challenge. After the exchange of a number of spirited letters the reverend doctor issued a challenge to President Young to discuss the question, “Does the Bible Sanction Polygamy?”It was evidently notoriety and worldly applause Mr. Newman was seeking, and he was quite surprised and disappointed when President Young, in accepting the challenge, appointed Orson Pratt or John Taylor, whichever Mr. Newman might prefer, to take his place in the discussion. He came to meet the chief and not a subordinate. Nevertheless, after some parleying the debate was held. Elder Orson Pratt taking the affirmative of the question. The discussion began August 12, 1870, at 2 p.m. and continued during the two following days. Moderators were chosen, but the merits of the discussion were left to the public to decide. The press of the country took up the discussion, after the debate was over, and the consensus of opinion throughout the land was that Elder Pratt had proved too skilful for Dr. Newman.Comments of the PressThe Washington correspondent of the New YorkSunstated that the reverend doctor was “out of his depth” in the discussion, and that it was “plain that the apostle carried too many guns for the chaplain of the Senate.” The BostonBanner of Lightdeclared that “The Dr. Newman, who went forth from Washington to Salt Lake City to take Mormonism by storm by flourishing his Orthodox Bible in its face, has had to come away after a pretty severe tilt with one of the leading elders, leaving his Bible behind him. Elder Pratt took his Bible out of his hands and opened it again and again to pages that taught and upheld the polygamy doctrine, reading off whole volleys of historical texts that went to establish the leading Bible characters, esteemed Saints by Orthodoxy, as regular Mormons. Dr. Newman crawfished amazingly on this part of the argument and was at last rather glad to abandon it to his Mormon opponent.” Other papers declared that force alone could settle the “Mormon Question.”Usurpation of AuthorityWhat the anti-“Mormon” political “ring” failed to accomplish by congressional enactment, they assumed to obtain through the actions of the governor and the judges. Judge McKean and his colleagues ignored the territorial laws enacted in 1852, which were still on the statutes, and denied to the probate courts all jurisdiction except in matters of probate. Likewise the duties of the territorial marshal and the territorial attorney general had been taken from them and placed in the hands of the United States marshal and the United States attorney. This, however, was done before the coming of McKean, but he and his associates confirmed that action. The result of these illegal proceedings was packed juries, absurd and contradictory rulings, the law becoming a mockery and justice a travesty.The Englebrecht CaseAugust 27, 1870, three days before the arrival of Chief Justice McKean, an incident occurred in Salt Lake City which was ultimately to have much to do with the overthrow of his tyrannical and fanatical power. This was the legal abatement by the police of a liquor establishment conducted by Paul Englebrecht, Christian Rehemke and Frederick Lutz. These men had been repeatedly fined for infraction of the law; but on each occasion had appealed their case on the ground that the city had no jurisdiction in the case. Expecting protection from the district courts, which they had ample reason to believe would be given, the firm continued to do an illegal liquor business without a city license. On the date mentioned, the police emptied all the liquor into the ditch and destroyed all the vessels that were used in its sale.For this action suit was brought against the officers on complaint of Mr. Englebrecht, and they were placed under bonds to await the action of the grand jury on a criminal charge.An Illegal JuryJudge Strickland ordered the grand jurors for that term of court selected by the United States marshal upon a writ of open venire, when the law provided that the county clerk in the presence of other officials should select them by lot. The attorneys for the city officers challenged the proceedings and filed a motion to that effect. Judge Strickland ruled that the third district court was a United States court and subject to the acts of Congress, and not the laws of the territory, the challenge was overruled and the jurors accepted. The accused men were indicted and then convicted for “a wilful and malicious destruction of property,” and were ordered to pay damages in the sum of $59,063.25, which was three times the price of the property destroyed. The supreme court of Utah affirmed the decision and an appeal was taken to the supreme court of the United States. Of this action we will speak later.Indictment Against President YoungWhen these perverters of the law had things arranged to their liking they prepared to conduct a crusade against the Church. President Young was indicted by this hand-picked grand jury for “lewd and lascivious cohabitation.” He was later admitted to bail by Judge McKean in the sum of five thousand dollars.“A System on Trial”Arguments were made before the court to quash the indictment, which consumed several days, but Judge McKean rendered a decision in which he said:“Let the counsel on both sides, and the court also keep constantly in mind the uncommon character of this case. The supreme court of California has well said, ‘Courts are bound to take notice of the political and social conditions of the country they judicially rule.’ It is therefore proper to say, that while the case at bar is called ‘the People versus Brigham Young,’ its other and real title is ‘Federal Authority versus Polygamic Theocracy.’ The government of the United States, founded upon a written Constitution, finds within its jurisdiction another government claiming to come from God—imperium in imperio—whose policy and practices are, in grave particulars, at variance with its own. The one government arrests the other, in the person of its chief, and arraigns it at this bar. A system is on trial in the person of Brigham Young. Let all concerned keep this fact steadily in view; and let that government rule without a rival which shall prove to be in the right.”The motion being overruled the defendant pleaded not guilty, and further proceedings were postponed for future action. Among the attorneys defending President Young were Thomas Fitch and Charles H. Hempstead, non-“Mormons.” The latter was formerly captain of the California volunteers and editor of theVedette, the first anti-“Mormon” paper in Utah. He resigned the office of United States district attorney because of the wicked and malicious methods in which the federal courts in Utah were conducted, and became legal counsel for President Young.Throughout the entire country the attitude and remarks of Judge McKean were severely criticized for attempting to prosecute the Church in the case of Brigham Young and punish him for the alleged “evils of a system.”Unexpected Calling of the CaseHaving been given to understand that his case would not be called until the spring term of court, President Young, who was in ill-health, went to St. George to spend the winter. His leading attorney, Thomas Fitch, also departed for the East. No sooner had Judge McKean learned of the departure of President Young than he set the date for the trial for the 20th of November. Attorney Hempstead protested, and asked for further time on the ground that it was not understood that the case would be called. Mr. Baskin, the prosecutor, demanded a forfeiture of the bond because the defendant was not present, but Judge McKean granted a stay until December 4, and later to the 9th of January, 1872. It was published by the Associated Press that Brigham Young had forfeited his bond and had fled from justice, and every lie imaginable to his injury was presented to the people of the United States. Although he was sick and it was bitter winter weather, President Young, over the protest of his brethren, returned to Salt Lake City, to face trial before the unfriendly court. In the meantime, however, Mr. Baskin who had been improperly appointed district attorney, was replaced by George C. Bates.Other AccusationsOn the statement of William A. Hickman, a self-confessed murderer, who had been excommunicated from the Church for his crimes, charges were made against Brigham Young, Daniel H. Wells and others, as accessories to Hickman’s crimes. President Young knew that he would also face this charge when he returned to Salt Lake City. Nevertheless he returned, and on the 2nd day of January, appeared in court to the astonishment of his enemies and asked to be admitted to bail. District Attorney Bates was willing that bail should be given if it should be fixed at the unreasonable sum of five hundred thousand dollars, but Judge McKean refused on any terms to release the defendant. However, out of consideration for the condition of his health he permitted him to be a prisoner in his own house guarded by deputy marshals. Daniel H. Wells, who was mayor of Salt Lake City, had previously been admitted to bail in the sum of fifty thousand dollars. This was looked upon as an act of Providence —almost a miracle. A quarrel arising between the judge and the district attorney, both went to Washington and the trial of the accused brethren was postponed.The Englebrecht DecisionThe case never came to trial, for from the supreme court of the United States there came a decision which overturned the rulings of the tyrannical judges. It was the decision in the Englebrecht liquor case. The dispatch announcing it, which came over the wire April 15, 1872, was as follows: “Jury unlawfully drawn: summons invalid; proceedings ordered dismissed. Decision unanimous. All indictments quashed.” This decision put an end to these petty persecutions for the time, and about one hundred and twenty individuals, many of whom had been imprisoned many months, were released.The Poland LawIn 1874, Congress passed a measure repealing certain Utah statutes relating to the territorial marshal and attorney general, and vesting their duties in the federal officers. The probate courts were also limited in their jurisdiction to matters of estates, guardianship and divorce. This, in part, is what the anti-“Mormon” element had been contending for in Utah. While this legislation was much less radical than that previously proposed, yet it curtailed the civil and political rights of the people, which had guaranteed their protection against tyranny in the past.The Case of Ann Eliza Webb YoungIn July, 1873, a divorce suit was filed before Judge McKean, by Ann Eliza Webb Young, against President Brigham Young. This woman, a plural wife, besides asking for a decree of separation also sued for alimony pending the litigation, and for permanent support for herself and two children by a former marriage. The case dragged along until February, 1875, when Judge McKean ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff three thousand dollars attorney’s fees and five hundred dollars a month for her support and the education of her children. President Young was given ten days in which to pay the fees, and twenty days to pay the alimony, which amounted for the nineteen months to nine thousand five hundred dollars.An appeal was taken to the supreme court of the territory, but before a decision could be reached the time limit had expired, and the defendant was again dragged before the remarkable tribunal of Judge McKean to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt of court. He denied that he had any intention of showing contempt and was merely seeking the benefit of an appeal. Judge McKean held that he was guilty of contempt and sentenced him to twenty-four hours’ imprisonment in the penitentiary. He was accompanied to prison by a number of friends and spent the night in comparative comfort in a room adjoining the warden’s quarters.Removal of Judge McKeanThe news of this strange trial and the actions of Judge McKean spread throughout the country. There was a great deal of unfavorable comment. The San FranciscoBulletinsaid: “When Judge McKean assumes that this woman is the wife of Young, makes an interlocutory degree granting her three thousand dollars to maintain a suit for divorce, when there never was a legal marriage, and commits Young for contempt because he hesitates long enough to raise the question of the legality of the order, he burns some strange fire on the altar of justice.” A Chicago paper stated: “This summary method of dealing with the Prophet looks very much like persecution, and will awaken sympathy for him instead of aiding the cause of justice.” Even the President of the United States, who had stood by Judge McKean through all his dealings, when others protested and favored his removal, was forced to take some action. Five days after he sent President Young to prison, Judge McKean was removed from office for “several acts,” which the dispatch stated, were deemed “ill advised and tyrannical, and in excess of his powers as a judge.”The Case of George ReynoldsIn 1874, George Reynolds, the private secretary of President Brigham Young, and a man of honor and integrity, was indicted for violation of the bigamy law of 1862. This was to be a test case. The “Mormon” people felt confident that the law was unconstitutional as it restricted them in the exercise of their religion and plural marriage had been commanded by the Lord. Elder Reynolds hearing of his indictment voluntarily appeared in court, and gave himself up for trial. He was convicted and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and to pay a fine of five hundred dollars. An appeal was taken to the supreme court of the territory, and the case was dismissed on the ground that the grand jury which found the indictment was an illegal jury.The Second Reynolds TrialA second trial was held in 1875, before Alexander White, chief justice of Utah. Judge White manifested a determination to be severe, and when a verdict of guilty was rendered, he sentenced Elder Reynolds to pay a fine of five hundred dollars and serve a term of two years in the penitentiary at hard labor. The supreme court of Utah confirmed the decree, and an appeal was taken to Washington.Death of President George A. SmithSeptember 1, 1875, President George A. Smith, first counselor to President Brigham Young, died at his residence—the Historian’s Office—in Salt Lake City. He was ordained to the apostleship at the temple lot in Far West, April 26, 1838, when in his twenty-second year. He passed through the trials and vicissitudes of the Church from the days of Kirtland. He was Church historian and recorder from 1854 until the time of his death. In the fall of 1872 he took a mission to Europe and Asia, accompanied by Elder Lorenzo Snow and others, and visited the various missions and Jerusalem, where he rededicated the land for the return of the Jews. While absent he was sustained as trustee-in-trust for the Church.Dedication of the St. George TempleThe forty-seventh general conference of the Church was held in the St. George Temple in April, 1877. President Young, his counselors, the apostles and many leading brethren were present. The St. George Temple was dedicated on the 6th, President Daniel H. Wells offering the dedicatory prayer. This was the first temple to be erected in the Rocky Mountains, and the first which the Saints had been privileged to build without molestation by enemies. Work for both the living and the dead commenced in the building following the dedication and has continued to be performed ever since.Death of President YoungAugust 29, 1877, President Brigham Young, then in his seventy-seventh year, passed away after a brief illness, at his home in Salt Lake City, surrounded by his family. On the 19th, he organized the Box Elder Stake of Zion, at Brigham City, which marked the close of his public ministry. The last words he uttered were “Joseph, Joseph, Joseph!” He was thinking of—perhaps conversing with—the Prophet Joseph Smith. September 2, the funeral services were held in the tabernacle, and there were gathered there to pay their respects and to mourn, the many thousands of modern Israel.Brigham Young, the ProphetBrigham Young, the great pioneer and colonizer—but greater still the prophet of the Lord—was sincerely loved by the righteous and equally hated by the wicked. His life was one of trials and tribulations. Few were the days he spent in peace; many were the days he suffered and labored for the love of his fellow-men. He died misunderstood, save by the little band of devoted Saints who suffered with him and shared his hopes, his aspirations, and the assurance which was his of eternal life in our Father’s Kingdom.
The Mission of Governor Shaffer and Judge McKean
1870–1877
Following the removal of Governor Harding in 1863, Utah was blessed for a time with the presence of governors who were inclined to attend to the duties of their office without much interference with “Mormonism.” Governors James Duane Doty and Charles Durkee had held the office and S. A. Mann, secretary of the territory, served as acting governor following the resignation of Governor Durkee in 1869, until the appointee of President Ulysses S. Grant arrived in the territory in the spring of 1870. This was J. Wilson Shaffer of Illinois, who proved to be the most bitter and bigoted anti-“Mormon” governor Utah ever had. He was in his forty-third year when he came to Utah, and was suffering from consumption, contracted while serving in the Civil War. He was a man of determined will, and evidently was sincere in his conviction that the “Mormons” were more than “rebels,” who needed the drastic treatment which by some was considered proper and necessary treatment for the South, during the days of reconstruction. He came to Utah with a bias against the Latter-day Saints which nothing short of a miracle could remove. “Never after me, by ——,” said he, “shall it be said Brigham Young is governor of Utah.” In this expression he displayed his ignorance of the conditions in Utah—a mistake made by many others—that because the Latter-day Saints hearkened to the counsels of President Young who, as their inspired leader, directed them as members of the Church, he was usurping the prerogatives of the executive. If these men had been broad enough they might have seen that President Young respected the civil authority at all times, even when sorely abused and tried by the petty acts of presumptuous and bigoted officials, who did all in their power to annoy and humiliate him before the people.
The anger of Governor Shaffer was kindled against Secretary Mann because he, as acting governor, signed the woman suffrage bill and endeavored to show some just consideration for the majority of the people. Likewise he displayed feelings of resentment against Chief Justice Charles A. Wilson because he would not subvert the law in favor of the anti-“Mormon” “ring” to the disadvantage of the people. Wilson was accused of exercising too much leniency towards the “Mormons,” so he, like Secretary Mann, was removed through the influence of the governor.
To succeed the deposed officials, Vernon H. Vaughan was sent to Utah as secretary of the territory and Judge James B. McKean to be chief justice. O. F. Strickland and C. M. Hawley were also appointed associate justices to fill vacancies which existed. Judge McKean, like Governor Shaffer, was a relentless anti-“Mormon,” bigoted and narrow. He came to Utah with a “mission,” said he, “as high above my mere duty as a judge, as the heaven is above the earth.” That “mission” was the overthrow of “Mormonism.” However, Judge McKean is gone, and “Mormonism” still survives and prospers.
The appointment of these bigoted and narrow-souled officials was largely due to the influence of Vice-President Schuyler Colfax and Rev. John P. Newman. The former had visited Utah on two occasions; first in 1865, when he was speaker of the house of representatives, and again in 1869, when he was holding the office of vice-president in the administration of U. S. Grant. He was associated with an organized “ring” of anti-“Mormon” agitators and politicians, who were bent on the destruction of “Mormon” dominion in Utah. On each visit he had shown marked opposition to the Church. Rev. Newman was President Grant’s minister, and was also chaplain of the United States Senate.
By act of the Utah Legislature in 1852, the militia, under the title of the “Nauvoo Legion,” met in annual muster. In keeping with the law, Lieutenant General Daniel H. Wells issued an order August 16, 1870, calling for a three days’ muster, for the purpose of inspection, drill and camp duty. Governor Shaffer was absent from the territory at the time, but as soon as he returned he issued a counter order forbidding any muster, or drill, or gathering of any military organization within the territory, except upon his orders. He also illegally appointed Patrick E. Connor major general of the militia, and William N. Johns, colonel and assistant adjutant general, and directed that all arms and munitions belonging to the territory, or to the United States, then in possession of the militia, be delivered to Colonel Johns, without delay. Through misrepresentation, the government had sent troops to Utah to act as “a moral force” in protecting Gentiles and apostates. The action of the governor practically destroyed the militia, and by aid of the government troops, he endeavored to establish a military power to intimidate the Latter-day Saints, and lessen the power of the “Mormon” leaders.
Against this high-handed outrage, General Wells wrote, requesting the governor to suspend his order until the 20th of November to enable Adjutant General Hiram B. Clawson to make a complete report according to law, of the condition of the militia. Governor Shaffer answered General Wells, October 27, 1870, in an insulting letter denying the request. General Wells answered this attack in an open letter which was published in theDeseret News.
The governor’s attitude in disregarding all local civil law and authority, bore bitter fruit. The peace officers were rendered helpless in the performance of their duties, and the rabid part of the community manifested a spirit of contempt and defiance for the law. The city ordinances were broken with impunity, and the violators were protected by the governor and judges. The spirit prevailed among a certain class that the “Mormons” had ruled in Utah long enough and it was stated that the authorities at Washington were to make a change. There was to be a revolution and the minority was to assume the reins of government.
One week after the governor’s proclamation disarming the militia, a mob of about forty United States soldiers, who were stationed at Fort Rawlins, near Provo, made a raid on that town. Late at night. September 22, they went to the home of Alderman William Miller, fired several shots into the building, smashed in the doors and windows, and took Miller a prisoner. Similar rioting occurred at the homes of Alderman Elijah F. Sheets and Counselor A. F. McDonald. The home of the latter was ransacked and his substance scattered in the yard and street. The doors and windows of the co-operative store, and those of the meetinghouse, were broken, and the rioters attempted to burn the latter building. Armed with needle guns they captured a number of citizens and paraded them through the streets prodding them with their bayonets. The reason for this deed was that the citizens of Provo had refused to sell liquor to the troops.
Several days after the riot occurred Governor Shaffer wrote to General De Trobriand, commander at Camp Douglas, censuring him for the outrage and trying to place upon his shoulders the responsibility for the raid, for which he was in no wise responsible. His command and that at Fort Rawlins, were separate and distinct units. The general answered the governor’s letter—which was evidently written for political effect and to injure the commander because he had shown some kindness to the “Mormon” people—with some sharpness, showing that the governor and not the general had been derelict of duty. If the governor expected to profit by his communication, which was evidently the case for he gave it to the press before the general received it, very little benefit was derived from it.
The commander at Fort Rawlins, Major Osborne, as well as General De Trobriand, greatly regretted the unfortunate and unprovoked attack made by the soldiers. The matter was taken up in a proper way by the military department of the Platte, and the guilty parties were duly punished.
Monday, October 31, 1870, Governor J. Wilson Shaffer died in Salt Lake City. He came to Utah in March and had served as governor about seven months, but during that time had shown extreme bitterness against the majority of the people in all his official acts. The day of his death a dispatch came from Washington appointing Vernon H. Vaughan, the territorial secretary, to succeed him, who in turn was succeeded by George A. Black, as secretary. Mr. Black had been Governor Shaffer’s private secretary.
In November, 1870, at the regular time for the military musters, which had been prohibited by Governor Shaffer, about one hundred men assembled on the Twentieth Ward Square, many of them carrying wooden guns. Governor Vaughan was absent at the time and Secretary Black was acting governor. He had eight of the men, viz: Andrew Burt, Charles R. Savage, William G. Phillips, James Fennemore, Charles Livingston, George M. Ottinger, Archibald Livingston and John C. Graham, arrested. They were taken before Judge Hawley who bound them over to await the action of the grand jury on the ground that it appeared that probably they had committed a crime in disregarding Governor Shaffer’s order. They were placed under heavy bonds, and as they refused to give bail, were given over to the military authorities at Camp Douglas. They were kindly treated by the officers and both “Mormon” and non-“Mormon” merchants looked after their wants, furnishing them with many delicacies while they remained prisoners. The grand jury, when it met, refused to indict them, and they were released. This incident became popularly known as “The Wooden Gun Rebellion.”
August 30, 1870, Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, arrived in Salt Lake City. He had been absent from the Church since the days of Kirtland; but had never during all those years denied his testimony. He now came back humbly to the Church, and was baptized by Elder Edward Stevenson and confirmed by Elder Orson Pratt. He died at Clarkston, Cache County, July 10, 1875, when nearly ninety-three years of age. A few hours before his death he discoursed on the Book of Mormon and reiterated the truth of the visit of the angel and bore testimony to the divine origin of the Book of Mormon.
During the consideration of the Cullom Bill by Congress, Rev. John P. Newman, pastor of the Metropolitan Methodist Church in Washington, and chaplain of the senate, delivered a number of lectures trying to prove that “God’s law condemns the union in marriage of more than two persons.” His lectures were published in the New YorkHerald, and replies were made to them by Elder Orson Pratt. It was suggested by Edward L. Sloan, acting editor of the Salt LakeDaily Telegraph, a paper owned by “Gentile” interests, that the reverend gentleman was wasting his ammunition by preaching against plural marriage in Washington. It would be better for him to come to Utah where the question was a live issue, and discuss the issue with Orson Pratt, or some other “Mormon” elder. Mr. Newman, construing this as a challenge from President Brigham Young, came to Utah in the summer of 1870, armed cap-a-pie and with banners flying. He immediately informed President Young that he was here to accept his challenge to discuss the plural marriage question. President Young advised him that he had issued no such challenge. After the exchange of a number of spirited letters the reverend doctor issued a challenge to President Young to discuss the question, “Does the Bible Sanction Polygamy?”
It was evidently notoriety and worldly applause Mr. Newman was seeking, and he was quite surprised and disappointed when President Young, in accepting the challenge, appointed Orson Pratt or John Taylor, whichever Mr. Newman might prefer, to take his place in the discussion. He came to meet the chief and not a subordinate. Nevertheless, after some parleying the debate was held. Elder Orson Pratt taking the affirmative of the question. The discussion began August 12, 1870, at 2 p.m. and continued during the two following days. Moderators were chosen, but the merits of the discussion were left to the public to decide. The press of the country took up the discussion, after the debate was over, and the consensus of opinion throughout the land was that Elder Pratt had proved too skilful for Dr. Newman.
The Washington correspondent of the New YorkSunstated that the reverend doctor was “out of his depth” in the discussion, and that it was “plain that the apostle carried too many guns for the chaplain of the Senate.” The BostonBanner of Lightdeclared that “The Dr. Newman, who went forth from Washington to Salt Lake City to take Mormonism by storm by flourishing his Orthodox Bible in its face, has had to come away after a pretty severe tilt with one of the leading elders, leaving his Bible behind him. Elder Pratt took his Bible out of his hands and opened it again and again to pages that taught and upheld the polygamy doctrine, reading off whole volleys of historical texts that went to establish the leading Bible characters, esteemed Saints by Orthodoxy, as regular Mormons. Dr. Newman crawfished amazingly on this part of the argument and was at last rather glad to abandon it to his Mormon opponent.” Other papers declared that force alone could settle the “Mormon Question.”
What the anti-“Mormon” political “ring” failed to accomplish by congressional enactment, they assumed to obtain through the actions of the governor and the judges. Judge McKean and his colleagues ignored the territorial laws enacted in 1852, which were still on the statutes, and denied to the probate courts all jurisdiction except in matters of probate. Likewise the duties of the territorial marshal and the territorial attorney general had been taken from them and placed in the hands of the United States marshal and the United States attorney. This, however, was done before the coming of McKean, but he and his associates confirmed that action. The result of these illegal proceedings was packed juries, absurd and contradictory rulings, the law becoming a mockery and justice a travesty.
August 27, 1870, three days before the arrival of Chief Justice McKean, an incident occurred in Salt Lake City which was ultimately to have much to do with the overthrow of his tyrannical and fanatical power. This was the legal abatement by the police of a liquor establishment conducted by Paul Englebrecht, Christian Rehemke and Frederick Lutz. These men had been repeatedly fined for infraction of the law; but on each occasion had appealed their case on the ground that the city had no jurisdiction in the case. Expecting protection from the district courts, which they had ample reason to believe would be given, the firm continued to do an illegal liquor business without a city license. On the date mentioned, the police emptied all the liquor into the ditch and destroyed all the vessels that were used in its sale.
For this action suit was brought against the officers on complaint of Mr. Englebrecht, and they were placed under bonds to await the action of the grand jury on a criminal charge.
Judge Strickland ordered the grand jurors for that term of court selected by the United States marshal upon a writ of open venire, when the law provided that the county clerk in the presence of other officials should select them by lot. The attorneys for the city officers challenged the proceedings and filed a motion to that effect. Judge Strickland ruled that the third district court was a United States court and subject to the acts of Congress, and not the laws of the territory, the challenge was overruled and the jurors accepted. The accused men were indicted and then convicted for “a wilful and malicious destruction of property,” and were ordered to pay damages in the sum of $59,063.25, which was three times the price of the property destroyed. The supreme court of Utah affirmed the decision and an appeal was taken to the supreme court of the United States. Of this action we will speak later.
When these perverters of the law had things arranged to their liking they prepared to conduct a crusade against the Church. President Young was indicted by this hand-picked grand jury for “lewd and lascivious cohabitation.” He was later admitted to bail by Judge McKean in the sum of five thousand dollars.
Arguments were made before the court to quash the indictment, which consumed several days, but Judge McKean rendered a decision in which he said:
“Let the counsel on both sides, and the court also keep constantly in mind the uncommon character of this case. The supreme court of California has well said, ‘Courts are bound to take notice of the political and social conditions of the country they judicially rule.’ It is therefore proper to say, that while the case at bar is called ‘the People versus Brigham Young,’ its other and real title is ‘Federal Authority versus Polygamic Theocracy.’ The government of the United States, founded upon a written Constitution, finds within its jurisdiction another government claiming to come from God—imperium in imperio—whose policy and practices are, in grave particulars, at variance with its own. The one government arrests the other, in the person of its chief, and arraigns it at this bar. A system is on trial in the person of Brigham Young. Let all concerned keep this fact steadily in view; and let that government rule without a rival which shall prove to be in the right.”
“Let the counsel on both sides, and the court also keep constantly in mind the uncommon character of this case. The supreme court of California has well said, ‘Courts are bound to take notice of the political and social conditions of the country they judicially rule.’ It is therefore proper to say, that while the case at bar is called ‘the People versus Brigham Young,’ its other and real title is ‘Federal Authority versus Polygamic Theocracy.’ The government of the United States, founded upon a written Constitution, finds within its jurisdiction another government claiming to come from God—imperium in imperio—whose policy and practices are, in grave particulars, at variance with its own. The one government arrests the other, in the person of its chief, and arraigns it at this bar. A system is on trial in the person of Brigham Young. Let all concerned keep this fact steadily in view; and let that government rule without a rival which shall prove to be in the right.”
The motion being overruled the defendant pleaded not guilty, and further proceedings were postponed for future action. Among the attorneys defending President Young were Thomas Fitch and Charles H. Hempstead, non-“Mormons.” The latter was formerly captain of the California volunteers and editor of theVedette, the first anti-“Mormon” paper in Utah. He resigned the office of United States district attorney because of the wicked and malicious methods in which the federal courts in Utah were conducted, and became legal counsel for President Young.
Throughout the entire country the attitude and remarks of Judge McKean were severely criticized for attempting to prosecute the Church in the case of Brigham Young and punish him for the alleged “evils of a system.”
Having been given to understand that his case would not be called until the spring term of court, President Young, who was in ill-health, went to St. George to spend the winter. His leading attorney, Thomas Fitch, also departed for the East. No sooner had Judge McKean learned of the departure of President Young than he set the date for the trial for the 20th of November. Attorney Hempstead protested, and asked for further time on the ground that it was not understood that the case would be called. Mr. Baskin, the prosecutor, demanded a forfeiture of the bond because the defendant was not present, but Judge McKean granted a stay until December 4, and later to the 9th of January, 1872. It was published by the Associated Press that Brigham Young had forfeited his bond and had fled from justice, and every lie imaginable to his injury was presented to the people of the United States. Although he was sick and it was bitter winter weather, President Young, over the protest of his brethren, returned to Salt Lake City, to face trial before the unfriendly court. In the meantime, however, Mr. Baskin who had been improperly appointed district attorney, was replaced by George C. Bates.
On the statement of William A. Hickman, a self-confessed murderer, who had been excommunicated from the Church for his crimes, charges were made against Brigham Young, Daniel H. Wells and others, as accessories to Hickman’s crimes. President Young knew that he would also face this charge when he returned to Salt Lake City. Nevertheless he returned, and on the 2nd day of January, appeared in court to the astonishment of his enemies and asked to be admitted to bail. District Attorney Bates was willing that bail should be given if it should be fixed at the unreasonable sum of five hundred thousand dollars, but Judge McKean refused on any terms to release the defendant. However, out of consideration for the condition of his health he permitted him to be a prisoner in his own house guarded by deputy marshals. Daniel H. Wells, who was mayor of Salt Lake City, had previously been admitted to bail in the sum of fifty thousand dollars. This was looked upon as an act of Providence —almost a miracle. A quarrel arising between the judge and the district attorney, both went to Washington and the trial of the accused brethren was postponed.
The case never came to trial, for from the supreme court of the United States there came a decision which overturned the rulings of the tyrannical judges. It was the decision in the Englebrecht liquor case. The dispatch announcing it, which came over the wire April 15, 1872, was as follows: “Jury unlawfully drawn: summons invalid; proceedings ordered dismissed. Decision unanimous. All indictments quashed.” This decision put an end to these petty persecutions for the time, and about one hundred and twenty individuals, many of whom had been imprisoned many months, were released.
In 1874, Congress passed a measure repealing certain Utah statutes relating to the territorial marshal and attorney general, and vesting their duties in the federal officers. The probate courts were also limited in their jurisdiction to matters of estates, guardianship and divorce. This, in part, is what the anti-“Mormon” element had been contending for in Utah. While this legislation was much less radical than that previously proposed, yet it curtailed the civil and political rights of the people, which had guaranteed their protection against tyranny in the past.
In July, 1873, a divorce suit was filed before Judge McKean, by Ann Eliza Webb Young, against President Brigham Young. This woman, a plural wife, besides asking for a decree of separation also sued for alimony pending the litigation, and for permanent support for herself and two children by a former marriage. The case dragged along until February, 1875, when Judge McKean ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff three thousand dollars attorney’s fees and five hundred dollars a month for her support and the education of her children. President Young was given ten days in which to pay the fees, and twenty days to pay the alimony, which amounted for the nineteen months to nine thousand five hundred dollars.
An appeal was taken to the supreme court of the territory, but before a decision could be reached the time limit had expired, and the defendant was again dragged before the remarkable tribunal of Judge McKean to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt of court. He denied that he had any intention of showing contempt and was merely seeking the benefit of an appeal. Judge McKean held that he was guilty of contempt and sentenced him to twenty-four hours’ imprisonment in the penitentiary. He was accompanied to prison by a number of friends and spent the night in comparative comfort in a room adjoining the warden’s quarters.
The news of this strange trial and the actions of Judge McKean spread throughout the country. There was a great deal of unfavorable comment. The San FranciscoBulletinsaid: “When Judge McKean assumes that this woman is the wife of Young, makes an interlocutory degree granting her three thousand dollars to maintain a suit for divorce, when there never was a legal marriage, and commits Young for contempt because he hesitates long enough to raise the question of the legality of the order, he burns some strange fire on the altar of justice.” A Chicago paper stated: “This summary method of dealing with the Prophet looks very much like persecution, and will awaken sympathy for him instead of aiding the cause of justice.” Even the President of the United States, who had stood by Judge McKean through all his dealings, when others protested and favored his removal, was forced to take some action. Five days after he sent President Young to prison, Judge McKean was removed from office for “several acts,” which the dispatch stated, were deemed “ill advised and tyrannical, and in excess of his powers as a judge.”
In 1874, George Reynolds, the private secretary of President Brigham Young, and a man of honor and integrity, was indicted for violation of the bigamy law of 1862. This was to be a test case. The “Mormon” people felt confident that the law was unconstitutional as it restricted them in the exercise of their religion and plural marriage had been commanded by the Lord. Elder Reynolds hearing of his indictment voluntarily appeared in court, and gave himself up for trial. He was convicted and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and to pay a fine of five hundred dollars. An appeal was taken to the supreme court of the territory, and the case was dismissed on the ground that the grand jury which found the indictment was an illegal jury.
A second trial was held in 1875, before Alexander White, chief justice of Utah. Judge White manifested a determination to be severe, and when a verdict of guilty was rendered, he sentenced Elder Reynolds to pay a fine of five hundred dollars and serve a term of two years in the penitentiary at hard labor. The supreme court of Utah confirmed the decree, and an appeal was taken to Washington.
September 1, 1875, President George A. Smith, first counselor to President Brigham Young, died at his residence—the Historian’s Office—in Salt Lake City. He was ordained to the apostleship at the temple lot in Far West, April 26, 1838, when in his twenty-second year. He passed through the trials and vicissitudes of the Church from the days of Kirtland. He was Church historian and recorder from 1854 until the time of his death. In the fall of 1872 he took a mission to Europe and Asia, accompanied by Elder Lorenzo Snow and others, and visited the various missions and Jerusalem, where he rededicated the land for the return of the Jews. While absent he was sustained as trustee-in-trust for the Church.
The forty-seventh general conference of the Church was held in the St. George Temple in April, 1877. President Young, his counselors, the apostles and many leading brethren were present. The St. George Temple was dedicated on the 6th, President Daniel H. Wells offering the dedicatory prayer. This was the first temple to be erected in the Rocky Mountains, and the first which the Saints had been privileged to build without molestation by enemies. Work for both the living and the dead commenced in the building following the dedication and has continued to be performed ever since.
August 29, 1877, President Brigham Young, then in his seventy-seventh year, passed away after a brief illness, at his home in Salt Lake City, surrounded by his family. On the 19th, he organized the Box Elder Stake of Zion, at Brigham City, which marked the close of his public ministry. The last words he uttered were “Joseph, Joseph, Joseph!” He was thinking of—perhaps conversing with—the Prophet Joseph Smith. September 2, the funeral services were held in the tabernacle, and there were gathered there to pay their respects and to mourn, the many thousands of modern Israel.
Brigham Young, the great pioneer and colonizer—but greater still the prophet of the Lord—was sincerely loved by the righteous and equally hated by the wicked. His life was one of trials and tribulations. Few were the days he spent in peace; many were the days he suffered and labored for the love of his fellow-men. He died misunderstood, save by the little band of devoted Saints who suffered with him and shared his hopes, his aspirations, and the assurance which was his of eternal life in our Father’s Kingdom.
Chapter 48Church Colonization and Progress1847–1877A Great People in the MountainsBy the time President Brigham Young’s administration came to a close, the Latter-day Saints had become a great people in the Rocky Mountains. They were destined still to grow in numbers, spread over greater territory, conquer more deserts, and develop spiritually and temporally in keeping with the progress of the times; but even then (1877) they had built up many settlements, spread over a vast area, and accomplished a wonderful work in the reclamation of the arid west.The Planting of ColoniesBefore the Saints had been in the Salt Lake Valley a year many parties were sent out, principally to the north and to the south, to form new settlements. Within two years from the time Salt Lake City was founded colonies had been planted in the uttermost parts of the territory. Exploring parties were sent out in advance, and when a site was selected a large company of volunteers followed to make the permanent settlement. In these colonies care was taken to have a proper representation of craftsmen, that the needs of the settlers might be supplied. Skilled carpenters, masons, millwrights, blacksmiths, cobblers, as well as tillers of the soil, went into these unbroken wastes and made them blossom by their industry. Each individual was given a specific duty to perform, and did it unselfishly, according to the plan which had been arranged. Ploughs, seeds and the required animals for ploughing, ditch building and other labor, were provided, and the labor was done on the co-operative plan. All shared alike, according to their individual needs. They were happy, notwithstanding the rigorous toil required to subdue the desert places.Unparalleled ProgressIt has been written of them, that they “made more progress and suffered less privation in reclaiming the waste lands of the wilderness than did the Spaniards in the garden spots of Mexico and Central America, or the English in the most favored region near the Atlantic seaboard.” But let it be understood this was not accomplished by them without severe trial and suffering.Their Perfect OrganizationThe reason they were able to obtain such excellent results is that they had a perfect organization, and were loyal and obedient to the authority over them. This naturally resulted in complete co-operation and unity of purpose, with a minimum of individual selfishness. They had not come to the Rocky Mountains for the sake of worldly aggrandizement, but for the establishment of permanent homes, and the exercise of their religious freedom in peace according to the dictates of their conscience.Proselytes from EuropeBetween the years 1847 and 1856, fifty-nine companies of emigrants, comprising seventeen thousand souls, sailed from European shores, bound for Utah. Five thousand others had previously emigrated, making a total of about twenty-two thousand persons from abroad, who had joined the Church through the preaching of the Gospel. They were principally from the British Isles, Scandinavia, Germany and Switzerland, with a small sprinkling from France, Italy and other nations. They came from the factories and the mines of Great Britain, the fisheries and the dairy farms of Scandinavia, the workshops of Germany, the vineyards of France and Italy—from various pursuits and occupations in which many of them were unable, in the old world, out of the scanty pittance they received as wages, to save enough to buy a passage across the sea. Of the emigration from the old country between 1850 and 1860, it was estimated that 28 per cent were common laborers; 14 per cent, miners, and about 28 per cent mechanics. From the ranks of the remaining thirty per cent there came many merchants, doctors, professors, skilled engineers, artisans, and artists.Character of the ConvertsOccasionally there was one who had joined the Church who was in possession of an abundance of this world’s goods, and big enough to share with his less fortunate neighbor, for the converts were not confined to the poor and the needy, the unlearned and the ignorant. In fact very few of the latter class received the Gospel message. The converts were gathered from all nations, but they were not the scum, the moral outcasts, the undesirables among the nations, but the very bones and sinews, the life’s blood, the brawn, without which the nations would perish from the earth. This class, despised and trodden under foot from time immemorial by the haughty, the proud, the titled nobility; but upon whom, nevertheless, the aristocratic population depend for their very existence, is the salt of the earth—that class which the scriptures say, in the day of the Savior’s ministry, had the Gospel preached to them and heard it gladly.The pioneer immigrants, who established the state of Utah, belonged to the great industrial class, honest, though generally poor, which laid the foundation of our nation. Among the early members of the Church were many who fought in freedom’s cause and who were descendants of the early colonial families of New England and the border Atlantic States.What the Gospel Did for Them“Mormonism” took hold of the dependent thousands of poor from all parts of the earth and made them virtually independent by placing them on farms, and otherwise furnishing them with remunerative employment, by which they became financially free. The year that President Young died, the population of Utah Territory was approximately one hundred and forty thousand, and of that number over forty thousand were of foreign birth. Men from the looms of England, the factories of Germany, and various other dependent vocations, in the towns and cities of Europe, were under the necessity of changing the nature of their lives. These men, unaccustomed to the severity of the labor required in farming were sent out to reclaim the desert wastes, and to till the soil in an uninviting land; yet they were successful, and were transformed into prosperous farmers, stockraisers, blacksmiths, husbandmen, and were made free landholders —a thing they never dreamed of becoming while residing in the crowded centers of Europe.The Amalgamation of Many PeoplesNotwithstanding they were gathered from the four quarters of the earth, with all their different customs and habits of life, their new surroundings, coupled with their unity of religious views, soon welded them together into one race and people. The Gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith teaches unity. Those who embrace it, whatever their views may have been before, soon learn to think alike; their aims are the same, their desires mutual, and all are brought to a common understanding. Such are the effects of the Gospel upon them that they forget their nationality and are absorbed by their new environment, and truly become a part of the soil on which they dwell.Benefits from the AmalgamationAs England was made great through the mingling of Norman, Saxon and Dane with the native tribes of Britain, so also have the “Mormon” people benefited through the amalgamation of the races. Through the preaching of the Gospel “Mormonism” has drawn on the best nations; has sifted and gathered from them their very best people, and due to the peculiar circumstances that prevail, the unity of faith and aspiration the Gospel inspires, it is moulding out a new and superior race. The “Mormon” people are strong mentally, spiritually, morally, as well as physically. Battling with the elements and contending with many difficulties have made them such. They came to the valleys of the mountains “with songs of everlasting joy” to obtain inheritances for themselves and children after them that shall endure forever, in a land of liberty, known to them as being “choice above all other lands.”Frugality and Co-operationThe early settlers were taught to produce as far as possible, all that they consumed; to be frugal and not wasteful of their substance; to draw from the elements the necessities of life and avoid all vitiated tastes which would lead them into excessive indulgence. Home industry was the watchword, and the people of necessity were called upon to be producers. Their clothing, though plain, was durable and the workmanship of their own hands. In the days of the pioneer, and until comparatively recent times, the spinning wheel and the loom were to be seen in the homes of the Saints.Co-operation and community interests did much for the people in those early days. Houses were built, canals were dug, fields were ploughed and planted, and reservoirs were constructed on the co-operative principle for the welfare of the people. There was no money to be had, and such was the concern of the individual for the progress of the community that his time was given gratis in the making of public and civic improvements. He realized that he was bound to reap his portion of the benefits derived from his toil.1Changed Conditions of TodayToday it is largely the case, that a man who gives his time, even though it be in some labor from which he is bound to receive his portion of the reward, feels that he must receive some monetary remuneration for the time he spends. And thus, due to the modern labor conditions and the closer contact with the outside world, with all its customs, theories and established institutions, this excellent and neighborly custom of co-operation, which existed in the days of President Brigham Young, has almost entirely passed away.Division of Lands and WaterPresident Young taught the doctrine that a man should have as much farm land as he could properly cultivate, and not more. The lands were divided among the people on that principle. From the beginning it was also established that the water from the mountain streams should belong to the people and not to private individuals. This doctrine proved extremely beneficial. Where private individuals have been permitted to file on the canyon streams, it has been a detriment to the majority of the people who are dependent upon such streams.A Farsighted PolicyThe farsighted policy of President Young was the means of placing the people in their own homes where they could dwell “safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree.” As late as the year 1896, the year Utah was admitted into the Union, there were 19,816 farms and of that number 17,584 were free from encumbrance of mortgage and debt. Unfortunately, since the advent of the automobile and other modern conveniences and amusements, such a condition does not exist today.The Recreation of the PeopleAlthough the Latter-day Saints were forced to labor diligently and there was no place for idlers among them, they found time for proper recreation. President Young realized the necessity of recreation and amusement and knew their proper place. The Sabbath day was sacredly observed. There was no conflict between duty and pleasure and the labors of the people were faithfully performed. He encouraged the drama and other educational diversions in which the routine of the daily lives of the people was broken. He built the Salt Lake Theatre, which was begun in 1861 and opened to the public in March 1862. Before that time the Social Hall, which was built in 1852, was used for such entertainment. There was much local talent among the people, which was augmented by visits to the territory of the great artists of those times. The dance —not, however, as it is conducted in these modern days—was likewise encouraged. All amusements were opened and closed with prayer; and the presence of the great Pioneer and his associates at these entertainments, not only lent encouragement to the recreation, but was an influence which established proper decorum and conduct. Their amusements were all innocent and uplifting. The main thought of President Young was to couple education with the recreation of the people, and have all entertainments controlled by the influence of the Spirit of the Lord.Importance of Education RealizedThe education of the youth of the Church was a matter which received constant attention, nor was there anything that was considered of greater importance. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “the glory of God is intelligence,” and from the organization of the Church, schools have been conducted for the members who were instructed to obtain “out of the best books words of wisdom” by study and by faith.In February 1850, the legislature of the provisional government chartered the University of Deseret (now the University of Utah) somewhat on the lines of the charter of the University of Nauvoo. It was provided that $5000.00 be appropriated annually by the legislature for the support of the University. This was a very large sum for that day, to be provided by the handful of people for the support of such an institution. It was also provided that primary, or district schools should be supported. While this action was taken by officers of the provisional government, and later ratified by them as officers of Utah Territory, yet they were all members of the Church, with President Young taking the initiative in the educational movement.In the spring of 1851, district school houses were built in most of the wards of Salt Lake City. These buildings were used for the general ward gatherings of the Saints, and daily schools were held in them.The Beginning of Church SchoolsIn later years, after the territory had increased in population, other schools were established. President Young founded a number of Church schools. Among these were the Brigham Young Academy (now the Brigham Young University) at Provo, one of the leading institutions of learning in the state; the Brigham Young College at Logan, and the Latter-day Saints University (now High School) at Salt Lake City.2In addition to these schools the auxiliary organizations3also were organized for the training and education of the members of the Church and have aided materially in this direction.Territorial ExpansionAt the close of the first decade after the settlement of Utah, colonies of the Latter-day Saints extended from Fort Limhi on the north, to Cedar City, on the south, a distance of about five hundred miles; and from Fort Supply on the east to Carson Valley on the west, about four hundred miles. The population of this area was about fifty thousand people, nearly all members of the Church.Fort LimhiIn the summer of 1855, a colony was sent to the north where they founded Fort Limhi (now called Lemhi) on Salmon River. This was the most northerly settlement of the Saints, about three hundred and seventy-five miles from Salt Lake City. The settlement was continued until 1858 when it was abandoned for the reason that it was too far away and the colonists were constantly harassed by hostile Indian tribes.On the Rio VirginIn 1861, a large number of Saints were called to go from the middle and central counties of Utah to settle on the Rio Virgin and Santa Clara Rivers. They located and founded the city of St. George, and other towns on the upper Rio Virgin. The following year other members of the Church were called to go to that southern country to lend strength to the settlements. That year they raised about one hundred thousand pounds of cotton in the “Dixie” of the West, showing that this industry was a possibility.San BernardinoAt a much earlier date (1851), Elders Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich, with about five hundred souls from Utah, journeyed to southern California, where in September of that year they built the town of San Bernardino. This continued to be a flourishing settlement until 1858, when the people were called back to Utah owing to the coming of Johnston’s Army, and was never again occupied as a permanent settlement by the Saints.Bear Lake ValleyIn the fall of 1863, Bear Lake Valley was settled by a colony under the leadership of Elder Charles C. Rich, who made that country his home until his death, November 17, 1883. Cache Valley had previously been occupied and settlements founded as early as 1856.The Muddy MissionEarly in the year 1871, the Saints who had gone to the far south and settled on the Muddy River in 1865, abandoned their homes, due to oppressive taxation levied against them by the new state of Nevada, which had been created out of the western portion of the territory of Utah. Subsequently, however, these settlements were re-established.In this manner were the valleys of the mountains occupied by the Latter-day Saints through the inspiration and wisdom of President Brigham Young. Many of these settlements have grown into thriving and populous centers with a future before them of still wider and greater expansion.Organization of StakesAt the time of the death of President Young in 1877, there were organized in the Church twenty Stakes of Zion,4namely, in the order of their creation: Salt Lake, Weber, Utah, Parowan, Cache, Juab, Millard, Beaver, Bear Lake, Sevier, St. George, Kanab, Panguitch, Davis, Tooele, Morgan, Sanpete, Summit, Wasatch and Box Elder. Two others, St. Louis and Carson Valley, had been discontinued. The wards in the Church on that date were approximately two hundred and fifty.The MissionsDuring the administration of President Young, missionary labors were performed in the various States of the Union, and in the following foreign lands: Canada, British Isles, India, Australia, Palestine, Society Islands, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Hawaii, Italy, Switzerland, Iceland, Chile, Germany, Siam, Gibraltar, South Africa, Malta, West Indies, New Zealand, Holland, Austria, Finland and Mexico. In some of these fields little was accomplished; from others there have been gathered to Zion many thousands of the scattered house of Israel, and principally of the tribe of Ephraim, according to the predictions of the ancient prophets. This has been especially true of the Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Teutonic races.Notes1.We have a marvelous combination of physiographic conditions and social organizations in the development of Utah under the guidance of Mormonism. The agriculture pursued was irrigated agriculture, which for its success is dependent upon a compact society, well knit together. Individualism was out of the question under these conditions, and in Mormonism we find precisely the cohesive strength of religion needed at that juncture to secure economic success.Agriculture was made the foundation of the economic life, and consciously so. Brigham Young discouraged mining and adventurous pursuits, because he had a theory of socio-economic development in accordance with which agriculture should come first, manufacturing second, and mining later. It was essential that food should be produced first of all, and also there was a desire that settled habits should be acquired. Another peculiarity of the situation, namely, that the land could be made to yield a harvest only by means of irrigation, has just been mentioned, and the Mormons thus became the pioneers of modern irrigation in the United States. (Dr. Richard R. Ely, inHarper’s Magazine, 1903)2.For the school year ending in June 1922, the Church appropriated the sum of $750,000 for the maintenance of Church schools.3.For auxiliary organizations, seeappendix.4.For list of stakes, seeappendix.
Church Colonization and Progress
1847–1877
By the time President Brigham Young’s administration came to a close, the Latter-day Saints had become a great people in the Rocky Mountains. They were destined still to grow in numbers, spread over greater territory, conquer more deserts, and develop spiritually and temporally in keeping with the progress of the times; but even then (1877) they had built up many settlements, spread over a vast area, and accomplished a wonderful work in the reclamation of the arid west.
Before the Saints had been in the Salt Lake Valley a year many parties were sent out, principally to the north and to the south, to form new settlements. Within two years from the time Salt Lake City was founded colonies had been planted in the uttermost parts of the territory. Exploring parties were sent out in advance, and when a site was selected a large company of volunteers followed to make the permanent settlement. In these colonies care was taken to have a proper representation of craftsmen, that the needs of the settlers might be supplied. Skilled carpenters, masons, millwrights, blacksmiths, cobblers, as well as tillers of the soil, went into these unbroken wastes and made them blossom by their industry. Each individual was given a specific duty to perform, and did it unselfishly, according to the plan which had been arranged. Ploughs, seeds and the required animals for ploughing, ditch building and other labor, were provided, and the labor was done on the co-operative plan. All shared alike, according to their individual needs. They were happy, notwithstanding the rigorous toil required to subdue the desert places.
It has been written of them, that they “made more progress and suffered less privation in reclaiming the waste lands of the wilderness than did the Spaniards in the garden spots of Mexico and Central America, or the English in the most favored region near the Atlantic seaboard.” But let it be understood this was not accomplished by them without severe trial and suffering.
The reason they were able to obtain such excellent results is that they had a perfect organization, and were loyal and obedient to the authority over them. This naturally resulted in complete co-operation and unity of purpose, with a minimum of individual selfishness. They had not come to the Rocky Mountains for the sake of worldly aggrandizement, but for the establishment of permanent homes, and the exercise of their religious freedom in peace according to the dictates of their conscience.
Between the years 1847 and 1856, fifty-nine companies of emigrants, comprising seventeen thousand souls, sailed from European shores, bound for Utah. Five thousand others had previously emigrated, making a total of about twenty-two thousand persons from abroad, who had joined the Church through the preaching of the Gospel. They were principally from the British Isles, Scandinavia, Germany and Switzerland, with a small sprinkling from France, Italy and other nations. They came from the factories and the mines of Great Britain, the fisheries and the dairy farms of Scandinavia, the workshops of Germany, the vineyards of France and Italy—from various pursuits and occupations in which many of them were unable, in the old world, out of the scanty pittance they received as wages, to save enough to buy a passage across the sea. Of the emigration from the old country between 1850 and 1860, it was estimated that 28 per cent were common laborers; 14 per cent, miners, and about 28 per cent mechanics. From the ranks of the remaining thirty per cent there came many merchants, doctors, professors, skilled engineers, artisans, and artists.
Occasionally there was one who had joined the Church who was in possession of an abundance of this world’s goods, and big enough to share with his less fortunate neighbor, for the converts were not confined to the poor and the needy, the unlearned and the ignorant. In fact very few of the latter class received the Gospel message. The converts were gathered from all nations, but they were not the scum, the moral outcasts, the undesirables among the nations, but the very bones and sinews, the life’s blood, the brawn, without which the nations would perish from the earth. This class, despised and trodden under foot from time immemorial by the haughty, the proud, the titled nobility; but upon whom, nevertheless, the aristocratic population depend for their very existence, is the salt of the earth—that class which the scriptures say, in the day of the Savior’s ministry, had the Gospel preached to them and heard it gladly.
The pioneer immigrants, who established the state of Utah, belonged to the great industrial class, honest, though generally poor, which laid the foundation of our nation. Among the early members of the Church were many who fought in freedom’s cause and who were descendants of the early colonial families of New England and the border Atlantic States.
“Mormonism” took hold of the dependent thousands of poor from all parts of the earth and made them virtually independent by placing them on farms, and otherwise furnishing them with remunerative employment, by which they became financially free. The year that President Young died, the population of Utah Territory was approximately one hundred and forty thousand, and of that number over forty thousand were of foreign birth. Men from the looms of England, the factories of Germany, and various other dependent vocations, in the towns and cities of Europe, were under the necessity of changing the nature of their lives. These men, unaccustomed to the severity of the labor required in farming were sent out to reclaim the desert wastes, and to till the soil in an uninviting land; yet they were successful, and were transformed into prosperous farmers, stockraisers, blacksmiths, husbandmen, and were made free landholders —a thing they never dreamed of becoming while residing in the crowded centers of Europe.
Notwithstanding they were gathered from the four quarters of the earth, with all their different customs and habits of life, their new surroundings, coupled with their unity of religious views, soon welded them together into one race and people. The Gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith teaches unity. Those who embrace it, whatever their views may have been before, soon learn to think alike; their aims are the same, their desires mutual, and all are brought to a common understanding. Such are the effects of the Gospel upon them that they forget their nationality and are absorbed by their new environment, and truly become a part of the soil on which they dwell.
As England was made great through the mingling of Norman, Saxon and Dane with the native tribes of Britain, so also have the “Mormon” people benefited through the amalgamation of the races. Through the preaching of the Gospel “Mormonism” has drawn on the best nations; has sifted and gathered from them their very best people, and due to the peculiar circumstances that prevail, the unity of faith and aspiration the Gospel inspires, it is moulding out a new and superior race. The “Mormon” people are strong mentally, spiritually, morally, as well as physically. Battling with the elements and contending with many difficulties have made them such. They came to the valleys of the mountains “with songs of everlasting joy” to obtain inheritances for themselves and children after them that shall endure forever, in a land of liberty, known to them as being “choice above all other lands.”
The early settlers were taught to produce as far as possible, all that they consumed; to be frugal and not wasteful of their substance; to draw from the elements the necessities of life and avoid all vitiated tastes which would lead them into excessive indulgence. Home industry was the watchword, and the people of necessity were called upon to be producers. Their clothing, though plain, was durable and the workmanship of their own hands. In the days of the pioneer, and until comparatively recent times, the spinning wheel and the loom were to be seen in the homes of the Saints.
Co-operation and community interests did much for the people in those early days. Houses were built, canals were dug, fields were ploughed and planted, and reservoirs were constructed on the co-operative principle for the welfare of the people. There was no money to be had, and such was the concern of the individual for the progress of the community that his time was given gratis in the making of public and civic improvements. He realized that he was bound to reap his portion of the benefits derived from his toil.1
Today it is largely the case, that a man who gives his time, even though it be in some labor from which he is bound to receive his portion of the reward, feels that he must receive some monetary remuneration for the time he spends. And thus, due to the modern labor conditions and the closer contact with the outside world, with all its customs, theories and established institutions, this excellent and neighborly custom of co-operation, which existed in the days of President Brigham Young, has almost entirely passed away.
President Young taught the doctrine that a man should have as much farm land as he could properly cultivate, and not more. The lands were divided among the people on that principle. From the beginning it was also established that the water from the mountain streams should belong to the people and not to private individuals. This doctrine proved extremely beneficial. Where private individuals have been permitted to file on the canyon streams, it has been a detriment to the majority of the people who are dependent upon such streams.
The farsighted policy of President Young was the means of placing the people in their own homes where they could dwell “safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree.” As late as the year 1896, the year Utah was admitted into the Union, there were 19,816 farms and of that number 17,584 were free from encumbrance of mortgage and debt. Unfortunately, since the advent of the automobile and other modern conveniences and amusements, such a condition does not exist today.
Although the Latter-day Saints were forced to labor diligently and there was no place for idlers among them, they found time for proper recreation. President Young realized the necessity of recreation and amusement and knew their proper place. The Sabbath day was sacredly observed. There was no conflict between duty and pleasure and the labors of the people were faithfully performed. He encouraged the drama and other educational diversions in which the routine of the daily lives of the people was broken. He built the Salt Lake Theatre, which was begun in 1861 and opened to the public in March 1862. Before that time the Social Hall, which was built in 1852, was used for such entertainment. There was much local talent among the people, which was augmented by visits to the territory of the great artists of those times. The dance —not, however, as it is conducted in these modern days—was likewise encouraged. All amusements were opened and closed with prayer; and the presence of the great Pioneer and his associates at these entertainments, not only lent encouragement to the recreation, but was an influence which established proper decorum and conduct. Their amusements were all innocent and uplifting. The main thought of President Young was to couple education with the recreation of the people, and have all entertainments controlled by the influence of the Spirit of the Lord.
The education of the youth of the Church was a matter which received constant attention, nor was there anything that was considered of greater importance. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “the glory of God is intelligence,” and from the organization of the Church, schools have been conducted for the members who were instructed to obtain “out of the best books words of wisdom” by study and by faith.
In February 1850, the legislature of the provisional government chartered the University of Deseret (now the University of Utah) somewhat on the lines of the charter of the University of Nauvoo. It was provided that $5000.00 be appropriated annually by the legislature for the support of the University. This was a very large sum for that day, to be provided by the handful of people for the support of such an institution. It was also provided that primary, or district schools should be supported. While this action was taken by officers of the provisional government, and later ratified by them as officers of Utah Territory, yet they were all members of the Church, with President Young taking the initiative in the educational movement.
In the spring of 1851, district school houses were built in most of the wards of Salt Lake City. These buildings were used for the general ward gatherings of the Saints, and daily schools were held in them.
In later years, after the territory had increased in population, other schools were established. President Young founded a number of Church schools. Among these were the Brigham Young Academy (now the Brigham Young University) at Provo, one of the leading institutions of learning in the state; the Brigham Young College at Logan, and the Latter-day Saints University (now High School) at Salt Lake City.2In addition to these schools the auxiliary organizations3also were organized for the training and education of the members of the Church and have aided materially in this direction.
At the close of the first decade after the settlement of Utah, colonies of the Latter-day Saints extended from Fort Limhi on the north, to Cedar City, on the south, a distance of about five hundred miles; and from Fort Supply on the east to Carson Valley on the west, about four hundred miles. The population of this area was about fifty thousand people, nearly all members of the Church.
In the summer of 1855, a colony was sent to the north where they founded Fort Limhi (now called Lemhi) on Salmon River. This was the most northerly settlement of the Saints, about three hundred and seventy-five miles from Salt Lake City. The settlement was continued until 1858 when it was abandoned for the reason that it was too far away and the colonists were constantly harassed by hostile Indian tribes.
In 1861, a large number of Saints were called to go from the middle and central counties of Utah to settle on the Rio Virgin and Santa Clara Rivers. They located and founded the city of St. George, and other towns on the upper Rio Virgin. The following year other members of the Church were called to go to that southern country to lend strength to the settlements. That year they raised about one hundred thousand pounds of cotton in the “Dixie” of the West, showing that this industry was a possibility.
At a much earlier date (1851), Elders Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich, with about five hundred souls from Utah, journeyed to southern California, where in September of that year they built the town of San Bernardino. This continued to be a flourishing settlement until 1858, when the people were called back to Utah owing to the coming of Johnston’s Army, and was never again occupied as a permanent settlement by the Saints.
In the fall of 1863, Bear Lake Valley was settled by a colony under the leadership of Elder Charles C. Rich, who made that country his home until his death, November 17, 1883. Cache Valley had previously been occupied and settlements founded as early as 1856.
Early in the year 1871, the Saints who had gone to the far south and settled on the Muddy River in 1865, abandoned their homes, due to oppressive taxation levied against them by the new state of Nevada, which had been created out of the western portion of the territory of Utah. Subsequently, however, these settlements were re-established.
In this manner were the valleys of the mountains occupied by the Latter-day Saints through the inspiration and wisdom of President Brigham Young. Many of these settlements have grown into thriving and populous centers with a future before them of still wider and greater expansion.
At the time of the death of President Young in 1877, there were organized in the Church twenty Stakes of Zion,4namely, in the order of their creation: Salt Lake, Weber, Utah, Parowan, Cache, Juab, Millard, Beaver, Bear Lake, Sevier, St. George, Kanab, Panguitch, Davis, Tooele, Morgan, Sanpete, Summit, Wasatch and Box Elder. Two others, St. Louis and Carson Valley, had been discontinued. The wards in the Church on that date were approximately two hundred and fifty.
During the administration of President Young, missionary labors were performed in the various States of the Union, and in the following foreign lands: Canada, British Isles, India, Australia, Palestine, Society Islands, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Hawaii, Italy, Switzerland, Iceland, Chile, Germany, Siam, Gibraltar, South Africa, Malta, West Indies, New Zealand, Holland, Austria, Finland and Mexico. In some of these fields little was accomplished; from others there have been gathered to Zion many thousands of the scattered house of Israel, and principally of the tribe of Ephraim, according to the predictions of the ancient prophets. This has been especially true of the Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Teutonic races.
1.We have a marvelous combination of physiographic conditions and social organizations in the development of Utah under the guidance of Mormonism. The agriculture pursued was irrigated agriculture, which for its success is dependent upon a compact society, well knit together. Individualism was out of the question under these conditions, and in Mormonism we find precisely the cohesive strength of religion needed at that juncture to secure economic success.Agriculture was made the foundation of the economic life, and consciously so. Brigham Young discouraged mining and adventurous pursuits, because he had a theory of socio-economic development in accordance with which agriculture should come first, manufacturing second, and mining later. It was essential that food should be produced first of all, and also there was a desire that settled habits should be acquired. Another peculiarity of the situation, namely, that the land could be made to yield a harvest only by means of irrigation, has just been mentioned, and the Mormons thus became the pioneers of modern irrigation in the United States. (Dr. Richard R. Ely, inHarper’s Magazine, 1903)
1.We have a marvelous combination of physiographic conditions and social organizations in the development of Utah under the guidance of Mormonism. The agriculture pursued was irrigated agriculture, which for its success is dependent upon a compact society, well knit together. Individualism was out of the question under these conditions, and in Mormonism we find precisely the cohesive strength of religion needed at that juncture to secure economic success.
Agriculture was made the foundation of the economic life, and consciously so. Brigham Young discouraged mining and adventurous pursuits, because he had a theory of socio-economic development in accordance with which agriculture should come first, manufacturing second, and mining later. It was essential that food should be produced first of all, and also there was a desire that settled habits should be acquired. Another peculiarity of the situation, namely, that the land could be made to yield a harvest only by means of irrigation, has just been mentioned, and the Mormons thus became the pioneers of modern irrigation in the United States. (Dr. Richard R. Ely, inHarper’s Magazine, 1903)
2.For the school year ending in June 1922, the Church appropriated the sum of $750,000 for the maintenance of Church schools.
3.For auxiliary organizations, seeappendix.
4.For list of stakes, seeappendix.