Where now shall fancy's roving pinion rest?'Mid barren regions of the boundless West,Where silvery streams through silent valleys flowFrom mountains crested with eternal snow;Where reigns no creed its rival creed to bind,Where exiled faith a resting-place shall find,Where builds the eagle on the beetling heightAnd wings o'er freedom's hills unfearing flight.
The point in view of the leaders of Israel was the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, a portion of Mexican territory located in the tops of the mountains, in the very heart of the American desert. Discouraging as were all reports relating to this barren and inhospitable region, a thousand miles farther on over trackless plains and bleak mountains swarming with wild beasts and savages, these intrepid men resolved to go forward, trusting in God and braving every peril. At least it was a land of liberty, uninfested by mobs and heartless priests and politicians, and with the wintry sky above, and the frozen earth beneath, or in summer the burning rocks and waterless wastes around them, they felt safer far in the society of wild Indians and savage wolves, than in the midst of the Christian civilization they had left behind.
Far from the realms where civilization reigns,Where Freedom's bastards bind her sons in chains,They sought a home within the western wild,And fraternized the forest's dusky child;No fiercer found, less savage in the test,Than priestly tyrants trampling the oppressed.
Journeying towards the Missouri river they founded temporary settlements, or "traveling stakes of Zion," recruiting their strength with needed rest along the way, and putting in crops for their own use or for their brethren to reap who came after them. Two of these settlements were named Garden Grove and Mt. Pisgah, the latter over a hundred miles in the rear of the vanguard now resting on the Missouri river.
It was the design of the leaders to leave the main body of the people in these places, while they, with a picked band of pioneers, hastened on to the Rocky Mountains that season. But an incident now occurred which changed their plans and delayed the departure of the pioneers until the following spring.
Word was brought to head-quarters on the Missouri, that a United States army officer with a squad of soldiers had arrived at Mt. Pisgah, with a requisition for five hundred men, to be furnished by the Mormons, to enter the army and march to California to take part in the war against Mexico.
Imagination can alone picture the surprise, almost dismay, with which this startling news was received. What! the nation whose people had thrust them from its borders, robbed them of their homes and driven them into the wilderness, where it was hoped they might perish, now calling upon them for aid? And this in full face of the fact that their own oft reiterated appeals for help had been denied?
It was even so; five hundred able-bodied men, the flower of the camp, were wanted. And this in the heart of an Indian country, in the midst of an exodus unparalleled for its dangers and hardships, when every active man was needed as a bulwark of defense and a staff for the aged and feeble. For even delicate women, thus far, had in some instances been driving teams and tending stock, owing to the limited number of men available.
On the other hand, it was their country calling, and these sons and daughters of the pilgrims and patriots loved their country, loved its institutions and its laws, though the government of that country, in the hands of self-seeking demagogues and politicians, had been as a cruel step-mother rather than a tender parent to them.
What was to be done? What would the leaders decide to do? Such were the questions that flew like lightning through the camp, as these thoughts came rushing to mind. They were not left long unanswered.
On the 1st of July, Capt. James Allen, the recruiting officer, acting under orders of Col. S. F. Kearney at Fort Leavenworth, having arrived at "The Bluffs," went into council with Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Willard Richards, George A. Smith, John Taylor, John Smith and Levi Richards. Wilford Woodruff was at Mount Pisgah, where he had received Captain Allen and his party a few days before. The brethren were assured that the offer to accept the services of a battalion of Mormon soldiers in the Mexican war, was made by the government in kindness, and meant as a means of assistance to the community, whose young and intelligent men might thus proceed, at the government's expense, to the ultimate destination of their whole people, and look out the land and prepare the way for their brethren who came after them. This was the object, it was said, quite as much as to enlist their services in their country's cause.
Whether convinced or not that such was the case, the result of the council's deliberations was a resolve to raise the troops. Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, in the role of recruiting sergeants, at once set out for Mt. Pisgah, a distance of one hundred and thirty miles, to execute the order for the Battalion. Colonel Thomas L. Kane, that noble friend of the Mormon people, who had arrived at the Bluffs, thus summarizes the result: "A central mass meeting for council, some harangues at the more remotely scattered camps, an American flag brought out from the storehouse of things rescued, and hoisted to the top of a tree-mast, and, in three days, the force was reported, mustered, organized and ready to march."
The Mormon Battalion set out for the west about the middle of July.
The project of the Pioneers, of going to the mountains that season, was now of course abandoned, and the Camp of Israel prepared to go into "Winter Quarters." This was the name given to their settlement on the Missouri, the principal part of which was on the west side of the river, five miles above Omaha of to-day. It is now known as Florence. Seven hundred houses of log, turf and other primitive materials, neatly arranged and laid out with streets and byways; well supplied with workshops, mills and factories, and with a tabernacle of worship in the midst; the whole arising from a pretty plateau overlooking the river, and well fortified with breast-work, stockade and block-houses, after the fashion of the frontier;—such was Winter Quarters, the principal one of these so-called "traveling stakes of Zion." Here, in these humble, prairie settlements, surrounded by Indians, whose savage hearts God had wondrously softened into sympathy and friendship for His exiled people, the Camp of Israel, the residue of twenty thousand souls, which the Saints had numbered in Illinois, passed the winter of 1846.
Meanwhile, in September of that year, the remnant left in Nauvoo, between six and seven hundred souls, after a gallant defense of their city against the mob, which, in violation of every treaty, came upon them in overwhelming numbers, were driven from their homes at the point of the bayonet, and thrown, men, women and children, sick, dying and shelterless, upon the western shores of the Mississippi. And this—shades of the patriots!—while their brethren, the heroes of the Mormon Battalion, were marching to fight their country's battles on the plains of Mexico!
The "Word and Will of the Lord concerning the Camp of Israel in their journeyings to the West," was given through President Brigham Young at Winter Quarters on the 14th of January, 1847. It was the first written revelation sent out to the Church since the death of the Prophet Joseph. Agreeable to its instructions, the Saints began to prepare for their journey to the mountains.
Early in April the pioneers started from Winter Quarters. This famous band numbered one hundred and forty-eight souls, including three women and two children. Thepersonnelof the company as it left the Missouri River, was as follows:
1 Brigham Young. 2 Heber C. Kimball. 3 Orson Pratt. 4 Wilford Woodruff. 5 George A. Smith. 6 Willard Richards. 7 Amasa Lyman. 8 Ezra T. Benson. 9 John S. Fowler. 10 Jacob D. Burnham. 11 Joseph Egbert. 12 John M. Freeman. 13 Marcus B. Thorpe. 14 George Wardel. 15 Thomas Grover. 16 Barnabas L. Adams. 17 Roswell Stevens. 18 Starling Driggs. 19 Albert Carrington. 20 Thomas Bullock. 21 George Brown. 22 Jesse C. Little. 23 Phineas H. Young. 24 John Y. Greene. 25 Thomas Tanner. 26 Addison Everett. 27 Truman O. Angell. 28 Lorenzo D. Young. 29 Briant Stringham. 30 Albert P. Rockwood. 31 Joseph S. Schofield. 32 Luke Johnson. 33 John G. Holman. 34 Edmund Ellsworth. 35 Sidney Alvarus Hanks. 36 George R. Grant. 37 Millen Atwood. 38 Samuel Fox. 39 Tunis Reppelyee. 40 Eli Harvey Pierce. 41 William Dykes. 42 Jacob Weiler. 43 Stephen H. Goddard. 44 Tarlton Lewis. 45 Henry G. Sherwood. 46 Zebedee Coltrin. 47 Sylvester H. Earl. 48 John Dixon. 49 Samuel H. Marble. 50 George Scholes. 51 William Henrie. 52 William A. Empey. 53 Charles Shumway. 54 Andrew P. Shumway. 55 Thomas Woolsey. 56 Chancy Loveland. 57 Erastus Snow. 58 James Craig. 59 William Wordsworth. 60 William P. Vance. 61 Simeon Heyd. 62 Seely Owen. 63 James Case. 64 Artemas Johnson. 65 William C. A. Smoot. 66 Benjamin Franklin Dewey. 67 William Carter. 68 John G. Losee. 69 Burr Frost. 70 Datus Ensign. 71 Benjamin Franklin Stewart. 72 Horace Monroe Frink. 73 Eric Glines. 74 Ozro Eastman. 75 Seth Taft. 76 Horace M. Thornton. 77 Stephen Kelsey. 78 John S. Eldredge. 79 Charles D. Barnham. 80 Almon L. Williams. 81 Rufus Allen. 82 Robert T. Thomas. 83 James W. Stewart. 84 Elijah Newman. 85 Levi N. Kendall. 86 Francis Boggs. 87 David Grant. 88 Howard Egan. 89 William A. King. 90 Thomas P. Cloward. 91 Hosea Cushing. 92 Robert Byard. 93 George P. Billings. 94 Edson Whipple. 95 Philo Johnson. 96 Carlos Murray. 97 Appleton M. Harmon. 98 Willam Clayton. 99 Horace K. Whitney. 100 Orson K. Whitney. 101 Orrin Porter Rockwell. 102 Nathaniel Thomas Brown. 103 Jackson Reddin. 104 John Pack. 105 Francis M. Pomeroy. 106 Aaron Farr. 107 Nathaniel Fairbanks. 108 John S. Higbee. 109 John Wheeler. 110 Solomon Chamberlin. 111 Conrad Klineman. 112 Joseph Rooker. 113 Perry Fitzgerald. 114 John H. Tippitts. 115 James Davenport. 116 Henson Walker. 117 Benjamin W. Rolfe. 118 Norton Jacobs. 119 Charles A. Harper. 120 George Woodard. 121 Stephen Markham. 122 Lewis Barney. 123 George Mills. 124 Andrew S. Gibbons. 125 Joseph Hancock. 126 John W. Norton. 127 Shadrach Roundy. 128 Hans C. Hanson. 129 Levi Jackman. 130 Lyman Curtis. 131 John Brown. 132 Matthew Ivory. 133 David Powell. 134 Hark Lark (colored). 135 Oscar Crosby (colored). 136 Joseph Matthews. 137 Gilburd Summe. 138 John Gleason. 139 Charles Burke. 140 Alexander P. Chessley. 141 Rodney Badger. 142 Norman Taylor. 143 Green Flake (colored).
The above names, with the exception of the first eight (the Apostles) are given in their order, as divided into companies of tens.
The three women who accompanied the pioneers were Ellen Sanders, one of the wives of Heber C. Kimball; Clara Decker, a wife of Brigham Young; and Harriet P. Young, her mother, wife of Lorenzo D. Young. The children were Sobieski Young, son of Lorenzo, and Perry Decker, own brother to Clara Decker Young.
President Brigham Young was the leader of the company, which, as seen, numbered among its members seven others of the Twelve. Apostles Parley P. Pratt, Orson Hyde and John Taylor were absent on missions.
The object of the pioneers, as shown, was to explore the region of the Great Salt Lake, and if possible find a home for the Saints in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. A few leaves from Heber's pioneer journal will now be interesting. He writes:
"On the 5th day of April, 1847, I started with six of my teams and went out about four miles, where I formed an encampment with several others of my division. The same day I returned home and remained in Winter Quarters during the conference on the 6th. On the 7th and 8th I was still making preparations for my journey, and called my family together and spent some time in giving them instructions, blessing them and dedicating and consecrating them to the Most High God."
Horace K. Whitney, one of the pioneers and Heber's son-in-law, who was present at this family meeting, in his own journal says:
"Brother Kimball expressed his feelings at length. He said that any person who attempted to come into his family and sow discord among them, and promote disunion, and strive to alienate their minds from him in his absence, would be cursed. 'Don't you think so, Brother Whitney?' addressing my father. Father replied, 'Yes.' He further observed that there was not that person living in the world in whom he placed more confidence than he did in Bishop Whitney, and that there was no person in the world who would have so much influence in his (Brother K's.) absence as Bishop Whitney, and he recommended him to them as a worthy, good and exemplary man, to counsel them in his absence. He told his wife Vilate that if any person should presume to come into his house and speak against him, or any member of his family, while he was gone, to arise and command them to leave the house,in the name of Heber C. Kimball!"
"On the 8th," continues Heber, "Brother Parley P. Pratt arrived in Winter Quarters, having returned from his mission to England. Those of the Twelve who had departed, hearing of his arrival, returned, and in the evening we held a council at Dr. Richard's office; and it was a time of rejoicing with us to behold our beloved brother and companion in tribulation. He gave us a history of his mission, and of the success, peace and prosperity of the Saints in England. They had annihilated the Joint Stock Company, cut Reuben Hedlock and Ward off from the Church, who were the instigators of it, being the men we had left to preside there, and who had called the Elders of Israel from their duties of preaching life and salvation, and set them to preaching up joint-stockism to get gain. Now things have changed, and the Elders are all preaching the everlasting Gospel, and an entire reformation has commenced, and may the Lord God of Israel roll it forth until Israel shall be saved!
"On the 9th the Twelve started again on their journey. My son William carried out President Young, Bishop Whitney (who was going with us a few miles) and myself in my carriage. The whole camp, after our arrival, started out and went to within four miles of Pappea, being about fourteen miles from Winter Quarters, and camped for the night. I lodged in the wagon with President Young, as he had fitted up a wagon for him and me to lodge together through the journey.
"In the course of the evening Bishop Whitney and myself went some distance upon the prairie, where we bowed down before the Lord and both offered up our prayers to the Most High God in behalf of the pioneers and the Twelve, that they might be protected and upheld and sustained by the Almighty; that His angels might go before them to lead them to a land which the Lord should designate to be a resting place for His people Israel; also in behalf of our families, our wives and children, and all Israel that are left behind.
"In the forenoon of Sunday, the 11th, we arrived at the Elk Horn, which we crossed by means of a raft that had been constructed by some of the first pioneers that went on, at a point two and a half miles south of its junction with the Platte. Seventy-two wagons crossed the 'Horn,' three of which afterwards returned to Winter Quarters, leaving the others to go on with the pioneers. It was not our intention to have encroached on the Sabbath, but the camp were in a disordered state, some being on one side of the 'Horn,' and some on the other, and it was thought wisdom to get them together, lest they should be attacked by Indians and be unprepared for defense."
Leaving the Camp to pursue its journey towards the Platte river, the Apostles with Bishop Whitney now returned to Winter Quarters to greet Elder John Taylor, who had just arrived from Europe, bringing with him over two thousand dollars for the Church. From him they learned that Elder Orson Hyde was also on his way west. On the 15th, Heber, Brigham and others rejoined the Pioneers beyond the Elk Horn.
The camp was now organized as a military body, into companies of hundreds, fifties and tens, agreeable to "the word and will of the Lord," with the following as officers:
Brigham Young, Lieutenant-General; Stephen Markham, Colonel; John Pack and Shadrach Roundy, Majors; Captains of companies, Wilford Woodruff, Ezra T. Benson, Phineas H. Young, Luke Johnson, Stephen H. Goddard, Charles Shumway, James Case, Seth Taft, Howard Egan, Appleton M. Harmon, John Higbee, Norton Jacobs, John Brown, and Joseph Matthews. Thomas Bullock was appointed clerk, and Thomas Tanner captain of artillery. The "artillery" consisted of one cannon mounted on a pair of wheels, and taken along to frighten hostile Indians into a due regard for the rights of the pioneers, or to perform more serious execution if found necessary.
General Young instructed the camp as follows: The men were to travel in a compact body, every man to keep his loaded gun in his hand, or, if a teamster, in his wagon, ready for instant use; every man to walk by the side of his wagon unless sent by the officer in command, and the wagons to be formed two abreast, where practicable, on the march. At the call of the bugle, at five A. M., the pioneers were to arise, assemble for prayers, get breakfast, and be ready to start at the second call of the bugle at seven. At night, at half past eight, at the command from the bugle, each was to retire for prayer in his own wagon, and to bed at nine o'clock. Tents were to be pitched on Saturday nights, and the Sabbath kept.
Thus organized and equipped, the pioneers proceeded on their way, traveling up the north bank of the Platte. Towards the latter end of April they found themselves in the heart of the Pawnee Indian country.
"At one o'clock p. m. of April 21st," says Heber, "we stopped to feed beside a long narrow lake, close by the river. As soon as the wagons were formed in a semi-circle on the banks of the lake, a guard was placed to watch the Indians and take care of our teams. Many of the Indians had forded the river and followed us to where we stopped, among the number the grand chief of the Pawnee nation, 'Shefmolun.' He presented several certificates signed by travelers who had previously passed through the Pawnee country, all setting forth that the Pawnee chief was friendly and that they had made him presents of a little flour, powder, lead, etc. His object appeared to be to obtain something from the camp. I made him a present of some salt, some tobacco, etc, and President Young also gave him some powder, lead, salt and other articles. Many of the brethren also contributed a little flour, etc. But with all this the old chief did not appear satisfied. He seemed to intimate that he expected larger presents from such a large company, and also said he did not like us to travel through their country, he was afraid we would kill their buffalo and drive them off. This was interpreted by a young man of the tribe who could talk a little English. There was not the least appearance of hostility, but, on the contrary, all who came appeared friendly and pleased to shake hands with us. Brother Shumway says there are about twelve thousand of the Pawnees in this neighborhood, and it is reported there are as many as five thousand warriors among them. We have no fears, however, because their only object appears to be to plunder, and it is the calculation of the brethren to be on the alert and well prepared by night and by day.
"We continued our journey till half past five, and then formed the encampment on the banks of the Loup Fork of the Platte river. The brethren were called together and addressed by President Young in reference to what passed at the Pawnee village, their apparent dissatisfaction, etc., and he recommended that we have a strong guard over our horses and around the camp through the night. He then called for volunteers to stand guard, and about one hundred responded, and in the number nearly all the Twelve. President Young and myself both volunteered and stood the first part of the night, till one o'clock. It was very cold indeed, and about the middle of the night it rained again.
"Thursday, 22nd. Morning fine but cool. We have not been troubled by the Indians, and all is peace and quiet around the camp. The cannon was unlimbered last night and placed outside the wagons, ready for action in case of necessity. There were some merry jokes passed this morning on account of two of the picket guard losing their guns, and Colonel Markham losing his hat, during the night. It is reported that they were found asleep on their posts, and those who found them took their guns, etc., to stir up their minds by way of remembrance and to show what the Indians might do while they were sleeping on guard. It is easy to suppose that after the brethren have traveled twenty miles in the day, taken care of their teams, made fires and cooked their victuals, and stood guard night after night, that it will require some energy to keep themselves awake."
The Loup Fork was crossed with difficulty and considerable danger, owing to the quicksands. Heber and others leaped into the stream, at one time, to prevent some of the wagons being overturned. A couple of rafts were built, and the sands packing down more firmly as the horses continued fording, the passage was finally effected without accident or loss. During the next few days, however, several valuable horses were lost, two of them being killed by the accidental discharge of guns, and the others stolen by Indians.
Several of the brethren were shot at by Indians, while out hunting for the stolen animals.
The camp was quite complete in its equipment, industrial, military, literary and otherwise. Ever and anon, as often as the wagons needed repairs, Burr Frost the blacksmith and his assistants would put up their portable forge and reset the tires of wheels, etc. William Clayton and Willard Richards, scribes and historians, invented a machine to measure the distance. This was done by driving a nail into one of the spokes of a wagon wheel, which at every revolution was made to strike upon a saw projecting from the wagon. The circumference of the wheel being known, the number of its revolutions indicated the distance.
The country through which they were passing is thus described: "The country is beautiful and pleasing to the eye of the traveler, notwithstanding there is only the same kind of scenery from day to day, namely, on the left the majestic Platte, with its muddy waters rolling over the universal beds of quicksands, the river frequently hid from view by the many handsome cottonwood groves; before and behind, on the right and left, a vast level prairie, and on the right at a distance the continued range of majestic bluffs. There is a loveliness and beauty connected with the scenery from day to day, but the country is not at all calculated for farming purposes, not only on account of the scarcity of timber, but also on account of the sandy nature of the whole surface of land."
About the 1st of May the Pioneers reached Grand Island. Here the prairies swarmed with buffalo, in herds of tens of thousands. A grand hunt was indulged in by the brethren, most of whom had never seen a buffalo before, and after much exciting sport, ten of the animals were killed and brought to camp. The following sketch, descriptive of this, the first buffalo hunt of the Pioneers, is from the graphic pen of Horace K. Whitney:
"Some time before we arrived here, we saw through a spy-glass three buffalo grazing on the top of the bluff to our right, some five or six miles. Two or three footmen went out in pursuit, also three horsemen, viz., Porter Rockwell, Thomas Brown and Luke Johnson. Just before we arrived here we saw a large herd some distance in advance of us, also about five or six miles to our right. Brother O. Pratt counted seventy-four by the aid of his spy-glass. They are now quite visible from our present stopping place. It is about fifty yards across the channel to Grand Island at this place. We traveled about four miles and crossed a slough or pond, which 'puts up' from the river, about noon. Soon after, Porter, T. Brown and Luke Johnson returned. They had wounded, as they supposed mortally, two buffaloes, which, however, managed to get away from them. About one o'clock p.m., we descried, at the distance of five or six miles to our right, on the side of the hill or bluff, two or three herds of buffalo grazing. An immediate halt was made. A band of ten or twelve horsemen (hunters) speedily collected and made arrangements for the chase. They soon got ready and started. Brother Heber soon followed. The wagons traveled along slowly, being in full view of the chase. The horsemen took a circuitous route, in order to head the herd, but were prevented from doing so immediately by an unforeseen occurrence. An antelope passing by near us was shot at by one of the brethren (a footman) but the shot did not take effect. Directly the animal made towards the bluff, seeing which, two dogs went off in full chase. The three went right among the buffaloes which, alarmed at the appearance of the dogs, began to move off. Soon after, the horsemen made their appearance upon the brow of the hill.
"Now commenced a scene which defies all description. Every spy-glass that could be found in the camp was put into immediate requisition, and the scene became one of intense interest to us all, as spectators. As soon as the buffaloes discovered the approach of the hunters, they increased their speed (which before had been slow) to a full gallop, and, passing along the side of the hill were followed by the hunters in quick and hot pursuit, leaving a cloud of dust in their rear. Most of the hunters, by riding in among them, succeeded in getting a fair shot, although they did not all prove fatal, a number of the herd making their escape that were shot through the body. Brother Heber rode in among them, made a shot at one and brought him down. His horse, partly alarmed at the discharge of the gun, and partly at the sight of the animals, suddenly started and came very near throwing him. Porter rode up to one (by way of experiment) and shot him full in the forehead, but without making the least impression, the hide of the skullpiece being an inch thick, besides being covered with a large mass of coarse matted hair, as we discovered after the animals were brought in. The chase ceased about 4 p.m. and the hunters came up to us about 5 p.m. The fruits of the day's work were as follows: one bull, three cows, and six calves, making ten buffaloes. Five wagons were immediately unloaded to bring in the game. A little after dark they returned, and the meat was distributed, one quarter of an animal being given to each ten."
After this day's sport, President Young cautioned the brethren not to kill game wantonly, as it was displeasing to the Lord. Said he: "If we slay when we have no need, we will need when we cannot slay."
The advice was timely. A spirit of excessive levity had crept into the camp, dancing, card-playing and other games, some of them vain and foolish in the extreme, occupying most of the time of the brethren when they had stopped for rest.
Heber, noticing this tendency, reproved them and warned them of the evil results to which such things would lead. Next day, Saturday, May 28th, President Young addressed the camp in relation to the same subject. He sharply rebuked the offenders, and declared that he would not go one step farther in company with such a spirit as they then possessed. He appealed to them as men of God, to bear in mind their high and holy calling and the noble purpose of their mission. Apostle Orson Pratt and others also spoke, counseling the brethren to use their spare time in reading, and storing their minds with useful knowledge; to cease their profanity, loud laughter and excess of mirth, and fast and pray more, that the spirit of their mission might rest upon them.
A general reformation was the result. The brethren repented, and, confessing their faults, resolved to eschew the evils complained of. They faithfully kept their word, and a better feeling prevailed in the camp from that hour.
On the second of June the Pioneers arrived opposite Fort Laramie, 543 miles from Winter Quarters, which distance they had traveled in about seven weeks. Here they were joined by a small company of Saints from Mississippi, who had spent the winter in Pueblo. The first half of their journey to the mountains was now over.
The pioneers now crossed the Platte, hiring a flatboat for that purpose from Mr. Bordeaux, a Frenchman, the principal man at the fort. From him they learned that their old enemy, Governor Boggs, of Missouri, had recently passed over with two companies, on their way to California. True to his instincts and traditions, Governor Boggs had maligned the characters of the Mormons to Mr. Bordeaux, who answered that the Mormons could not be any worse than his party, who were quarreling and stealing all along the way.
Prior to crossing the river the pioneers had broken a new road over the plains for several hundred miles, along which tens of thousands of the Saints subsequently traveled. It was known for many years as the "old Mormon road," until the railroad came to cover it up and obliterate almost from recollection the toils and trials of the ox-team journeys of early days. But now the brethren were in the wake of the Missouri companies, traveling towards the land of gold.
At the Black Hills they were seven days in crossing the river. Having there overtaken the Missourians, they ferried them over, also, at the rate of $1.50 for each wagon and load, taking their pay in flour, meal and bacon at Missouri prices. By this time their stock of provisions was well-nigh exhausted. To have it thus replenished in the Black Hills, and at the hands of their old enemies, the Missourians, they regarded as little less than a miracle.
In this locality Heber discovered a fine spring of clear, cold water, which he named for himself, "Kimball's Spring."
The Missourians, who traveled on Sundays, while the pioneers rested and kept the holy day, were quarreling among themselves continually, and, not satisfied with this, began to insult and annoy their Mormon neighbors. One evening, as Heber and Ezra T. Benson were riding ahead of their company to look out a camping ground, six men, dressed as Indians, being clothed in white and blue blankets, suddenly sprang up from the grass, about half a mile to the left of the road, and mounting their horses started on. Seeing that the sight of their blankets failed to terrify the Mormon scouts, who continued leisurely on their way, one of the party left his companions and retracing a few steps, motioned with his hand for the brethren to go back. They kept on, however, and the pseudo savage and his comrades then scampered off and disappeared behind a ridge some distance ahead.
Heber and his companion rode on, and having gained the summit, were just in time to see the six Missourians, for such they were, ride into camp, no doubt to relate how badly they had scared the two "Mormons." The brethren treated the matter with silent contempt, though naturally a little indignant at the gratuitous insult offered them.
Independence Rock on the 21st of June; South Pass on the 26th. Two days later Colonel Bridger came into camp. In council with the Mormon leaders, he gave them some information, mostly of a discouraging character, in regard to the region towards which they were traveling, and in conclusion said that he would give a thousand dollars for the first bushel of wheat raised in Salt Lake Valley.
On went the heroic band, nothing daunted, wading rivers, crossing deserts and climbing mountains; trusting in God and their great destiny. It did not desert them. On the afternoon of Saturday, July 24th, 1847, their dust-covered wagons emerged from the mouth of the ravine now known as Emigration Canyon, and the Valley of the Great Salt Lake burst like a vision of glory upon their enraptured view.
Ah! marvel nothing if the eye may traceThe care-lines on each toil-worn hero's face,Nor yet, if down his cheek in silent show,The trickling tides of tender feeling flow;Tears not of weakness, nor of sorrow's mood,As when o'er vanished joys sad memories brood,Far richer fount those fearless eyes bedewed,They wept the golden drops of gratitude.
Wherefore! Ask of the bleak and biting wind,The rivers, rocks and deserts left behind,The rolling prairie's waste of moveless waves,A path of pain, a trail of nameless graves;The city fair where widowed lonelinessWeeps her lost children in the wilderness;
The river broad along whose icy bridgeTheir bleeding feet red-hued each frozen ridge;The Christian world that drove them forth to dieOn barren wilds beneath a wintry sky.
Would e'en the coldest heart forbear to sayGood cause had gratitude to weep that day?Or censure for a flow of manly tearsThat brave-souled band, immortal Pioneers?
Heber and Brigham entered the Valley together, on the ever memorable "Twenty-fourth," the day chosen by the Pioneers to celebrate their advent into the chambers of the mountains. As a matter of fact, however, Apostle Orson Pratt with Elder Erastus Snow and others, sent on from Bear River ahead of the main company to break a road over the mountains and through the canyons, had penetrated to and partly explored the Valley three days before. Heber remained behind with the President, who was ill, having contracted the mountain fever.
Arriving at the camp of Elder Pratt, they found that the brethren had pitched their tents beside two small streams of pure water, and were already engaged in ploughing and putting in crops. A shower of rain fell that afternoon.
The next day being the Sabbath, the usual services were held and the sacrament administered to the congregation. The speakers of the day were George A. Smith, Heber C. Kimball, Ezra T. Benson, Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt and Willard Richards. The main theme of the discourses, naturally enough, was the "land of promise" in the "mountains of Israel," unto which the God of Jacob had led the vanguard of His covenant people.
The several days ensuing were passed in exploring the land and planning future prospects.
"Monday July 26th," says Heber, "I rode out in company with President Young and the Twelve, to visit some of the high hills which lie a little north of here. We went on a high peak which President Young named 'Ensign Peak,' and from thence had a very pleasing view of the Valley, and a great portion of the Salt Lake. On returning, Elders Richards, Benson and myself bathed in the Warm Springs. We found it very pleasant and refreshing. Brother Mathews and John Brown have been across the Valley to the mountain west, and say it is about sixteen miles to the mountain, but there is no fresh water after leaving the outlet."
Next day, Tuesday the 27th, Elder Amasa Lyman, who with others had left the pioneer camp at Fort Laramie, to meet a detachment of the Battalion at Pueblo and lead them on to the Valley, arrived in advance of his company with Elders Rodney Badger, Roswell Stevens and Samuel Brannan, the last named from California. Says Heber; "I rode out again with President Young and some others to visit the Hot Springs, and counsel on the matter of some of the soldiers of the Battalion accompanying Brother Brannan to San Francisco. Some of the Utah Indians visited the camp during the day and the brethren traded with them. They appeared poor and barely clad. Some of the brethren have been to the mountains to get a log for a skiff.
"Wednesday 28th: Yesterday after riding around a little, we started for the Salt Lake and arrived in sufficient time to bathe in it. The water is much saltier than sea water, and it is supposed it would yield 35 per cent, of pure salt. This morning we started back to camp and at 8 o'clock in the evening I attended a general meeting, when the brethren were addressed by President Young on various subjects. We have selected a place for a city about half a mile north of here, and calculated to lay it off in ten-acre lots, each block to be divided into 8 lots of 1 1/4 acres each, exclusive of the streets.
"Thursday 29th. This morning I went in company with President Young to meet the soldiers and the Pueblo company. We met them in the canyon. The brethren seemed highly pleased to see us. We got back to camp about five o'clock.
"Friday 30th. This morning the Twelve met in council with the officers of the Battalion. In the evening the soldiers were called together and addressed by President Young. The meeting was opened by 'Hosannas,' and closed by requesting the brethren to build a bowery to hold our meetings under.
"Sunday, August 1st, Brother Markham says that there are already about fifty-three acres of land plowed and most of it planted with corn, beans, garden seeds, etc. There have been thirteen plows and three drags at work nearly all the week. At ten o'clock we assembled for meeting in the bowery. It was decided to build a stockade of adobies, and adobie houses, and a number of men were selected to commence making adobies to-morrow.
"We also took a vote to have all the wagons move up and form one camp at the east end of the city."
The foregoing excerpts from Heber's journal will suffice to show the nature of the initial labors of the pioneers in preparing a home for themselves and their brethren and sisters who were to follow them.
A renewal of covenants now took place, the leaders setting the example by being rebaptized. President Young baptized his brethren of the Twelve who were present, confirmed them, and sealed upon them anew their Apostleship. Heber C. Kimball then baptized and confirmed President Young. This event took place on the sixth of August.
In the afternoon of the day following the Apostles selected their inheritances, Heber C. Kimball taking a block north of the Temple, President Young a block east and running south-east, Orson Pratt a block south, Wilford Woodruff a block cornering the Temple block and adjoining Elder Pratt's, George A. Smith a block on the west, and the others lots in the near vicinity.
The same evening Heber baptized fifty-five members of the camp, in City Creek, for the remission of their sins; and the next day, August 8th, the remainder of the camp renewed their covenants by baptism.
At a special conference on the 22nd of August, a stake of Zion was organized, with Father John Smith as President. It was resolved that the city then being built should be called the City of the Great Salt Lake. The various creeks and canyons surrounding were also christened, and, on motion of Heber C. Kimball, the river to the west of the settlement was named the Western Jordan.
In the course of his remarks at this conference. Heber used the following prophetic language: "Brother Brigham is going to be greater than he was; he will be greater in strength, in beauty, and in glory. Call upon God and we shall increase here. Away with the spirit of alienation, and let us be united. This is a paradise to me. It is one of the most lovely places I ever beheld."
Having now established their feet, spiritually and temporally, upon this chosen land, the leaders and pioneers, with most of the returning members of the Battalion, harnessed their teams, and bidding farewell to their brethren and sisters who were to tarry, set out upon the return journey to Winter Quarters.
Several companies were now upon the road under the captaincy of such men as Parley P. Pratt, John Taylor, Edward Hunter, Daniel Spencer and Jedediah M. Grant. On the 4th of September, President Young and his company met Apostle P. P. Pratt and Captain Sessions, with their divisions, on the Little Sandy. Here the quorum of the Twelve held a council, and the President was under the necessity of rebuking two of the Apostles "for undoing what the majority of the quorum had done in the organization of the camps for traveling." Says President Woodruff in his journal: "President Young said he felt eternity resting upon him, and was weighed down to the earth with this work; and that Brother Kimball felt it also, more than any other man except himself. He should chastise any one of the quorum when out of the way. He had done it for our good, and had been constrained to it by the power of God.
"Brother Kimball then addressed President Young: 'I want you, Brother Brigham,' he said, 'to save yourself, for you are wearing down. I feel tender towards you, to live, and if I and my brethren do wrong, tell us of it, and we will repent.'"
On the Sweetwater, they met Apostle Taylor and his company, and were treated by them to a rich feast, prepared as a surprise to the returning pioneers.
The Indians had now commenced to be troublesome, prowling around the camps, stealing horses and cattle, and committing other petty depredations. An exciting though bloodless affray took place between them and the pioneers on the morning of the 21st of September. The brethren were just getting ready to start, when the alarm was given by the men who had been sent out to gather up the horses, that the Indians were "rushing" them—driving them off. The camp flew to arms, just in time to receive the onslaught of the savages, who, emerging from the timbers and firing their guns, charged upon them at full speed. There were at least two hundred mounted warriors. A return volley from the pioneers broke the Indian charge, and the brethren then gave chase, Heber C. Kimball and Wilford Woodruff leading the counter charge with impetuous zeal. Dashing almost alone at the swarming savages, the sight of their daring courage spread consternation among their foes, who broke and fled incontinently.
The old chief who had directed the attack now shouted to his band and proclaimed peace to the pioneers, telling them that he and his warriors were good Sioux, and had mistaken them for Crows or Snakes, with whom they were at war. The brethren thought it good policy to accept the excuse, transparent though it was, and to appear satisfied with the explanation. The chief proposed the smoking of the pipe of peace with them, and wanted the "big chief of his Mormon brothers" to go to his camp. This, however, was not deemed prudent, but Heber, Col. Markham and Apostle Woodruff went instead, hoping thus to recover their horses, eleven of which had been stolen that day, besides many others on the Sweetwater.
Heber and his companions were kindly received by the Indians, who were camped about five miles away, and smoked the pipe of peace with their leading men. Seeing some of the stolen animals in camp, Heber walked deliberately up to them, took their ropes out of the hands of the astonished savages, and coolly returned with them, amid the grunts and approving nods of his swarthy admirers. They named him "the bald-headed chief." Says he:
"I saw quite a number of horses that were stolen from us on the Sweetwater, but President Young suggested that we say nothing about these for the present; but when we should get to Fort Laramie to offer Mr. Bordeaux $100 to procure them for us; inasmuch as it was deemed inexpedient to take them by force, numbering as they did some eight hundred men, and their camp comprising upwards of one hundred lodges. It was chiefly through my own exertions that we recovered the most of the horses, and I verily believe that if I had had a few more men with me of sufficient energy and resolution, while at their camp, I could have secured all of the stolen horses."
It was President Young's wise policy to placate the Indians and win their friendship, for the sake of future emigrations.
At Fort Laramie, President Young, Apostle Kimball and others of the Twelve dined with Commodore Stockton, from the Bay of San Francisco, who was eastward bound.
Continuing on their way, the pioneers and Battalion "boys" arrived in safety at Winter Quarters on the 31st of October. Upon the joy of their meeting with their families and with the Saints, we need not dwell. They found that during their absence peace and prosperity had generally prevailed.
Another notable change in the eventful career of Heber C. Kimball. The quorum of the First Presidency, which had remained vacant since the death of Joseph, was now reorganized. Brigham Young, the chief Apostle of the Twelve, was chosen President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world, with Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his counselors.
The subject of the reorganization had been considered by the leaders soon after their return to Winter Quarters from the Valley, but it was not until the fifth of December that the matter assumed definite shape. At a feast and council held on that day at the house of Elder Orson Hyde, who had presided at Winter Quarters during the absence of the pioneers, the question was presented to the Apostles by President Young. Those present were then called upon, in their order, to express their views in relation to the subject, when Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards, George A. Smith, Amasa Lyman, and Ezra T. Benson spoke to the question. President Young closed.
Orson Hyde then moved that Brigham Young be President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that he nominate his two counselors to form the First Presidency. Wilford Woodruff seconded the motion, and it was carried unanimously.
President Young then nominated Heber C. Kimball as his first counselor, and Willard Richards as his second counselor, and the nominations were unanimously sustained.
This action of the Apostles in their council was sustained by the Saints in general conference assembled, on the 27th of December, 1847. The conference lasted four days and was attended by at least one thousand people. It was held in the new log tabernacle at Winter Quarters, a building erected especially for the purpose. The reorganization of the Presidency was confirmed at the October conference of the following year, in Great Salt Lake City.
Apropos of this event:—In a patriarchal blessing upon the head of Heber C. Kimball, given by the Patriarch Hyrum Smith, at Nauvoo, on the 9th of March, 1842, the following language occurs: "You shall be blest with a fulness and shall be not one whit behind the chiefest; as an Apostle you shall stand in the presence of God to judge the people; and as a Prophet you shall attain to THE HONOR OF THE THREE!"
On the 24th of May, 1848, the First Presidency organized the main body of the Saints on the Elk Horn, preparatory to the second journey to the Rocky Mountains. The camp consisted of six hundred wagons, the largest pioneer company that had yet set out to cross the plains. Under Brigham and Heber they were led in safety to Zion's mountain retreat, arriving in Salt Lake Valley in September, 1848.
The journey, however, was one of severe trial to President Kimball and his family. His daughter Helen, who had married Horace K. Whitney, eldest son of Bishop Whitney, had lost by death her first babe, a daughter, in the Spring of '47, while her husband was absent with the pioneers; and in the journey of '48, she lost her second born, a son, whom she considered as a little martyr. So great was the sorrow of the poor mother over this second calamity, that she was not only brought to death's door, but her reason was for a time overthrown. Vilate herself was prostrated by her daughter's deep distress, and it was only by dint of Heber's mighty faith and powerful will, that either of them were kept alive. Again and again he administered to the sufferers, praying that God would spare their lives, and declaring in prophetic words to them and the whole camp that they "should not die." Thus it was, throughout the entire journey to the mountains. That season of dire trouble Heber and his family ever after looked back upon as one of the extraordinary trials of his life.
But it also brought out the noble qualities of Vilate's sister wives, who daily administered strength and succor to the family. For Heber, prior to this, and even before leaving Nauvoo, had taken many wives, and like Abraham and Jacob of old, had become the head of a patriarchal house-hold. His family, at this time, including his adopted children and those dependent upon him for support, numbered over one hundred souls.
The residue of Heber C. Kimball's history is confined to the land which his wives and children now inhabit, and where much of it that may never be written by mortal pen is cherished as precious memories in the hearts of tens of thousands. From here on, we are more than ever compelled to cull from a superabundant variety of incidents the leading events of a life which now saw some of its best and busiest days.
During the remaining two decades of his mortal existence, his history, so inseparably interwoven with that of the great work to which he had given all his energy and heart's devotion, is largely the history, for the same period, of the development of this intermountain region. Though leaning in his temperament to the spiritual, he was also by nature a colonizer, with the elements of a great leader in his composition. Next to those of Brigham Young, will the name and fame of Heber C. Kimball live in the hearts of God's people and forever shine in the annals of Latter-day Israel as one of the foremost of that hardy and heroic band, who, under God, redeemed and beautified this barren waste, "making its wilderness like Eden, and its desert like the garden of the Lord."
Now came a series of trials differing from anything the Saints had yet experienced. Indeed, it seemed as if they were fated to literally "endure all things," and like the Master they served, the great Captain of salvation, be "made perfect through suffering." Hitherto they had been warred against by the powers of evil and their fellow-men. Now their opponents were the blind forces of nature, and creatures of another class.
The year 1848 was the year of the cricket plague. Myriads of these destructive pests, an army of famine and despair, rolled in black legions down the mountain sides and attacked the growing fields of grain. The tender crops fell an easy prey to their fierce voracity. They literally swept everything before them. Starvation with all its terrors seemed staring the poor settlers in the face.
They were saved by a miracle. In the midst of the work of destruction, when it seemed as if nothing could stay the devastation, great flocks of gulls suddenly appeared filling the air with their white wings and plaintive cries, and settled down upon the half ruined fields. At first it seemed as though they came but to destroy what the crickets had left. But their true purpose was soon apparent. They came to prey upon the destroyers. All day long they gorged themselves, and, when full, disgorged and feasted again; the white gulls upon the black crickets, like hosts of heaven and hell contending, until the pests were vanquished and the people were saved. The heaven-sent birds then returned to the lake islands whence they came, leaving the grateful people to shed tears of joy at the wonderful deliverance wrought out for them.
[Illustration: Brigham Young]
Still there was a season of scarcity. The surplus of the first harvests in the Valley had barely been sufficient to meet the wants of the emigration, which had commenced pouring in from the frontiers and from Europe; and now that the crickets had played such havoc with the crops, there was danger, in spite of the interposition of the gulls, of some suffering from hunger. This was only averted by the exercise of the highest wisdom and broadest charity, and the partial observance of the principle of the United Order, which the Saints had before sought to introduce, and still have it in their mission to establish. The people were put upon rations, all sharing the same, like members of one great family. Many, however, in order to swell their scanty store, went out and dug roots with the Indians, or cooked and ate the hides of animals with which they had covered the roofs of their houses.
It was during this time of famine, when the half starved, half-clad settlers scarcely knew where to look for the next crust of bread or for rags to hide their nakedness—for clothing had become almost as scarce with them as bread-stuffs—that Heber C. Kimball, filled with the spirit of prophecy, in a public meeting declared to the astonished congregation that, within a short time, "States goods" would be sold in the streets of Great Salt Lake City cheaper than in New York and that the people should be abundantly supplied with food and clothing.
"I don't believe a word of it," said Charles C. Rich; and he but voiced the sentiment of nine-tenths of those who had heard the astounding declaration.
Heber himself was startled at his own words, as soon as the Spirit's force had abated and the "natural man" had reasserted himself. On resuming his seat, he remarked to the brethren that he was "afraid he had missed it this time." But they were not his own words, and He who had inspired them knew how to fulfill.
The occasion for the fulfillment of this remarkable prediction was the unexpected advent of the gold-hunters, on their way to California. The discovery of gold in that land had set on fire, as it were, the civilized world, and hundreds of richly laden trains now began pouring across the continent on their way to the new El dorado. Salt Lake Valley became the resting-place, or "half-way house" of the nation, and before the Saints had had time to recover from their surprise at Heber's temerity in making such a prophecy, the still more wonderful fulfillment was brought to their very doors. The gold-hunters were actuated by but one desire; to reach the Pacific Coast; the thirst for mammon having absorbed for the time all other sentiments and desires. Impatient at their slow progress, in order to lighten their loads, they threw away or "sold for a song" the valuable merchandise with which they had stored their wagons to cross the Plains. Their choice, blooded, though now jaded stock, they eagerly exchanged for the fresh mules and horses of the pioneers, and bartered off, at almost any sacrifice, dry goods, groceries, provisions, tools, clothing, etc., for the most primitive out-fits, with barely enough provisions to enable them to reach their journey's end. Thus, as the Prophet Heber had predicted, "States goods" were actually sold in the streets of Great Salt Lake City cheaper than they could have been purchased in the City of New York.
Referring to this incident, in a sermon, a few years later, Heber says:
"The Spirit of prophecy foresees future events. God does not bring to pass a thing because you say it shall be so, but because He designed it should be so, and it is the future purposes of the Almighty that the Prophet foresees. That is the way I prophesy, but I have predicted things I did not foresee, and did not believe anybody else did, but I have said it, and it came to pass even more abundantly than I predicted; and that was with regard to the future situation of the people who first came into this valley. Nearly every man was dressed in skins, and we were all poor, destitute, and distressed, yet we all felt well. I said, 'it will be but a little while, brethren, before you shall have food and raiment in abundance, and shall buy it cheaper than it can be bought in the cities of the United States.' I did not know there were any Gentiles coming here, I never thought of such a thing; but after I spoke it I thought I must be mistaken this time. Brother Rich remarked at the time, 'I do not believe a word of it.' And neither did I; but, to the astonishment and joy of the Saints, it came to pass just as I had spoken it, only more abundantly. The Lord led me right, but I did not know it.
"I have heard Joseph say many times, that he was much tempted about the revelations the Lord gave through him—it seemed to be so impossible for them to be fulfilled. I do not profess to be a Prophet; but I know that every man and woman can be, if they live for it."
Though Heber did not "profess to be a Prophet," he was one nevertheless, and manifested the gift of prophecy, as is generally admitted, to a greater extent than any other man in the Church, excepting the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Brigham was in the habit of saying: "Heber is my Prophet." In a conversation with Col. Thomas L. Kane on the occasion of the visit of the latter to the Territory, at the time of the settlement of the "Utah War" troubles, President Young said: "Brother Kimball said in Nauvoo, 'If we have to leave our houses we will go to the mountains, and in a few years we will have a better city than we have here.' This is fulfilled. He also said, 'we shall have gold, and coin twenty-dollar gold pieces.' We came here, founded a city, and coined the first twenty-dollar gold pieces in the United States.[A] Seeing the brethren poorly clad, soon after we came here, he said, 'it will not be three years before we can buy clothing cheaper in Salt Lake Valley than in the States.' Before the time was out, the gold-diggers brought loads of clothing, and sold them in our city at a wanton price."
[Footnote A: Heber was one of the principal movers in procuring the stamp with which these gold pieces were coined.]
President Kimball's experience was now more than ever of a mixed and varied character; a natural concomitant of his position as a leader in the settlement of a new country. As first counselor to his chief, and only second to him in influence among the people, we find him taking part and helping to direct in all the important movements affecting the growth and prosperity of Zion.
In March, 1849, the Provisional Government of the State of Deseret was organized, pending the action of Congress on a petition for a Territorial Government. The election, held on the twelfth of that month, resulted in the unanimous choice of the following officers. Brigham Young, Governor; Willard Richards, Secretary; Newel K. Whitney, Treasurer; Heber C. Kimball, Chief Justice; John Taylor and N. K. Whitney, Associate Justices; Daniel H. Wells, Attorney-General; Horace S. Eldredge, Marshal; Albert Carrington, Assessor and Collector of taxes; Joseph L. Heywood, Surveyor of highways; and the Bishops of the several wards as magistrates.
Heber was also Lieutenant-Governor of the Provisional State ofDeseret.
At the October conference of 1849, his voice is heard introducing the subject of the Perpetual Emigration Fund, for the benefit of the poor Saints who were unable to gather to Zion. The sum of $5,000 was raised that season by voluntary donations, and Bishop Edward Hunter despatched to the frontier as general agent of the Church, to superintend the emigration.
At the session of the Legislature of Deseret, held in March, 1851, Heber C. Kimball was President of the Council branch of the Assembly, and, in September of the same year, a member of the Council of the first session of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah.
The corner stones of the Salt Lake Temple were laid on the sixth of April, 1853, the south-east corner stone being laid by the First Presidency, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, assisted by Patriarch John Smith. President Young delivered the oration and President Kimball offered the consecration prayer. This prayer is worth preserving in his history. It was as follows:
"O God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Thy Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we ask Thee to look upon us at this time in Thy tender mercy. Thou beholdest that Thy servants, Brigham and his council, have laid the corner stone of a holy house, which we are about to erect unto Thy name. We desire to do it with clean hands and pure hearts before Thee, and before Thine holy angels.
"We thank Thee that we are permitted to live in the flesh, and have a place upon Thy footstool, and partake daily of the bounties Thy hand bestows, for Thou art our father, and Jesus Christ is our elder brother.
"Inasmuch, O Lord, as we desire to erect a house to Thy name, and if it seemeth Thee good to come and take up Thine abode on the earth, that Thou mayest have a place to lay Thy head, we pray Thee to assist us to erect it in purity before Thee, and the heavenly hosts.
"We ask Thee to help us so to conduct ourselves, that all the holy Prophets, the angels of heaven, with Thee and Thy son, may be engaged continually for our welfare, in the work of salvation and eternal lives. Bless us in this attempt to glorify Thee. Bless this portion of the earth we dwell upon—even these valleys of the mountains, which we have consecrated unto Thee. Cause them to bring forth the productions of the soil in rich abundance. Bless the seeds that are placed therein by Thy servants and handmaidens. And inasmuch as they are disposed to do Thy work, and erect a temple to Thy name, which is their fixed purpose and determination, let the heavens be gentle over them. May the earth be sanctified for their good, and the seeds they throw into it yield to them an hundred fold in return. We pray Thee to bless such men and women—may the blessings of the Almighty richly attend them—and multiply them in their families, in their herds and flocks, in strength and in health, in salvation and in eternal lives.
"We also pray for those who do not feel favorably disposed to Thy work—may Thy blessings not attend them, but may they go backward and not forward, may they wither and not increase, and may the strength that they might have received, through their faithfulness to Thy work be multiplied and divided amongst these Thy servants who are determined to keep Thy commandments, and sanctify their affections unto Thee.
"Look upon Thy servant Brigham, O Lord, and let Thy Holy Spirit rest mightily upon him this day, and from henceforth. May he live to dictate the erection of Thy house, see the top stone brought on with rejoicing, and administer the keys of salvation and eternal life unto his brethren therein. Bless his council in common with him, may they live to a good old age, and glorify God in all their days; may they never want for food and raiment, for fathers and mothers, for wives and children, and for the power of Thy Spirit to inspire them, and those Thou hast given them.
"Pour out Thy Spirit upon Thy servants, the Twelve Apostles; may Thy power abide upon them, to qualify them for the responsible calling unto which Thou hast called them. Also, in connection with them, let Thy Spirit rest upon the Quorums of the Seventies, the High Priests, the Bishops, the High Council, the Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons; and upon every faithful member of Thy church in these valleys of the mountains, and in all the world.
"Now, O God, we dedicate this stone to Thee. May this spot be holy, and all that pertaineth to it. And inasmuch as there shall be an enemy, or a person that are evil-disposed towards Thy house, and they shall endeavor to lay snares for the feet of Thy people, may they be caught in their own net, be overwhelmed in their own dilemma, and have no power nor influence in the least to hurt Thy saints from this time henceforth forever. May the power of the Mighty God of Jacob fortify Thy servants, enabling them to execute righteousness before Thee the Lord our God.
"Hear us, O Lord, for we dedicate this, the south-east corner stone unto Thee, praying that it may sleep in peace, be preserved from decay, for it is the chief corner-stone of the house we shall rear to Thy name. May the same blessings attend the other three corner-stones, and all the works Thy servants shall set their hands to do, from this time henceforth and forever.
"Bless the architect, the superintendent, the foremen of the various departments, and all the laborers that shall raise a hand, or move a thing for the erection and perfection of this Thine house; and provide for them, their wives, their children, and all that pertains unto them, that they may want for no good or necessary thing, while they are engaged in Thy service, and from this time henceforth and forever.
"We dedicate ourselves unto Thee, with our wives, our children, our flocks, and our herds, with all the settlements and possessions that pertain to Thy people in these valleys of the mountains. And all the praise and glory we will ascribe to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."
In after years, President Kimball predicted, in relation to this temple, that when its walls reached the square the powers of evil would rage and the Saints would suffer persecution. The walls of the Salt Lake Temple "reached the square" in November, 1882, eight months after the passage by Congress of the celebrated "Edmunds law." One year later, in November, 1883, occurred the trial of Rudger Clawson for polygamy under the provisions of that law, in the Third District Court of Utah Territory. This, the first gun of the campaign, was the signal for the inauguration of an anti-Mormon crusade, which, for bitterness and cruelty, takes rank in the history of religious persecution with the deeds of the dark ages. Thus was fulfilled another prediction of the prophet Heber, fifteen years after his mortal eyes were closed in death.
The character of those early times, the condition of the people, and the part played by President Kimball as a public teacher, are further shown in the following selections from his sermons, in which he deals more or less with the temporal situation:
In August, 1853, we find him addressing the Saints in the Tabernacle as follows:
"I know you will prosper and live in peace in the mountains of the Great Salt Lake, and be perfectly independent. You will have food and raiment, houses and lands, flocks and herds, and everything your hearts can desire, that there is in heaven and on earth,if you but do as you are told. You will live in peace and God will be your defence.[A] * * I have said often, you may write blessings for yourselves, and insert every good thing you can think of, and it will all come to pass on your heads, IF YOU DO RIGHT." * * * * *
[Footnote A: In the same spirit, a few years later, Aug. 30. 1857, Heber uttered this stirring prophecy: "Wake up, ye Saints of the Most High, and prepare for any emergency that the Lord our God may have pleasure in bringing forth! We never shall leave these valleys—till we get ready; no, never: no, never! We will live here till we go back to Jackson County, Missouri. I prophesy that, in the name of Israel's God." The congregation shouted "Amen," and President Young said, "It is true."]
"The Lord can turn the nations as I can an obedient horse. They are governed and controlled by the Almighty as much as we are. What can they do against us? Why, nothing whatever, but if we do not do right they will be a scourge in the hands of God to scourge us, just as the Indians are at this time. * * There never would have been a disturbance if this people had done as they were told. There is not a settlement in these mountains but were instructed by Brother Brigham to build good forts and live in them. Have any of them built forts? * * The Indians are now upon us, and our brethren are scattered off, three, four and five families in a place, exposed to the Lamanites. * * * * * * *
"There are a few things I wanted to say. One is, TAKE CARE OF YOUR GRAIN; for it is of more worth to you than gold and silver. I know you will see harder times before another harvest than you have seen this season. There is enough, and we need never want bread, but if we do not take the right course we aresure to see sorrow, and THE GREATEST YOU HAVE EVER SEEN."
Mark the stress laid upon the subject of storing up grain for a day of famine. This theme forms almost the staple of President Kimball's sermons for the next three years. With the eye of faith he saw the famine afar off, and strove with all the power of his earnest and prophetic nature to impress this fact upon the minds of his hearers, that they might be prepared for the gaunt spectre's coming. But they heeded him not, to any general extent, and in due time suffered the consequences of their neglect.
A year later he touched on the subject of home manufactures:
"Will the time ever be that we can make our clothing? We nearly can at this time. I would like to see the people take a course to make their own clothing, make their own machinery, their own knives and their own forks, and everything else we need, for the day will come when we will be under the necessity of doing it, for trouble and perplexity, war and famine, bloodshed and fire, and thunder and lightning will roll upon the nations of the earth, insomuch that we cannot get to them, nor they to us."
The next is a retrospective glimpse:
"I was one of the first, in connection with President Young, who came to this valley when it was a desolate region, and we could not even get a chart from Fremont nor from any other man, from which to learn the course to this place. I was one who helped to pick out the road. When we got to the upper ferry of Platte River, half of our company had not a mouthful of bread. I recollect one day, I believe it was on the Platte, Brother Brigham said to me, 'Brother Heber, what do you think about it, do you think we shall go any further?' I knew he asked this question to try me. I replied, I wanted to go the whole journey and find some white sandstone and see what there was in the earth. There never was a day when I would not go with him until we found a location. I knew there was a place somewhere, though at times the prospect appeared dreary. But here it was on high. It is the best country I ever saw."