The Awakening of the Desert
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From the ravines now and then there came the dismal howl of a timber wolf, and the cry, hurled back from the echoing rocks, was repeated after a little delay, as if the wolf had been awaiting the returning sound, like enough to his own to be the voice of his hungry brother. The little stream continued to flow down the valley over its stony bed, rushing under overhanging willows, singing its own peculiar music, in which there was any melody that one's fancy might conceive.
Amidst these startling sounds we wandered through the gloom nearly a mile down the dark, rocky road where we decided that it was time to return. Before retracing our steps up the canyon we gave a short whoop, which as before was echoed back from the other side. To our astonishment the first echo was quickly followed by a soft, suppressed whoop and echo, evidently the voice of a girl. We repeated our call, but no voice then came back except our own. Renewed curiosity impelled us to follow the pathway farther down stream. The light of a campfire soon broke through the foliage, and it became evident that another party was in the valley. Approaching the group, we discovered to our great surprise and pleasure that it was the family of Dr. Brown from whom we had separated at Julesburg and who intended to remain in Denver. On their arrival at that mining camp, letters were received by the doctor urging him to proceed at once to Oregon where a friend had located at a place offering an excellent opportunity for a physician to practice his profession.
Echo Canyon, which proved to be so interesting to us and in which several days and nights were again spent later in the season, is twenty-three miles in length and increases in depth as it narrows down to its outlet into the valley of the Weber River. At a few points, narrow, steep ravines radiate from the main canyon, and in their walls a few small caves are found. From the summits above the valley the views obtained were superb.
At the break of day after our first night in Echo Canyon, we heard the approaching mail coach rattling along the stony road, making its best possible speed down the rapidly descending grade, turning short curves on the dizzy edge of cliffs over which a slight deviation would have hurled it upon the rocks below. A glimpse into the open windows, as the coach rolled by, revealed the passengers within half-reclining in various attitudes, doubtless weary with their long ride and evidently unconscious of the grand scenery through which they were plunging.
On the ninth of August we reached the station at the mouth of the canyon, and a general rush was made for the establishment in which we learned there was a telegraph office, the wires having been strung to Salt Lake several months previous to our visit. Many weeks had passed since we had received any intelligence from the busy world.
"What's the news from America?" asked Ben after we had entered the door.
"Here's the last Salt Lake paper," said the genial proprietor, as he laid the welcome sheet upon the counter.
We gathered closely around the journal, and all read the first headlines: "The Success of the Prussians Attributed to the Needle Gun."
"What have the Prussians been doing with Needle guns?" was asked.
"Fighting, of course," said the man behind the counter. "You probably haven't heard of the European war. Here are other papers," he added, as he laid them before us.
These disclosed the fact that on the third day of the preceding month (July,) a great decisive battle had been fought between the Prussians and the Austrians at Königgrätz in Bohemia, now called the battle of Sadowa, in which the Austrians had lost 40,000 men. But why had we not learned before leaving the states that war existed between those nations? Further investigation showed that the first message through the Atlantic cable, which had been quietly laid, was received on July 29th, and it announced that a treaty of peace had been concluded between Austria and Prussia, a surprise in that day of slow-going even in New York. On the same day telegrams of congratulation passed between Queen Victoria and President Johnson on the successful completion of the link between the two countries, and these were also quoted in the Salt Lake papers. News from Europe at the close of the Prussian war reached Salt Lake two weeks more quickly than was possible at the beginning of that conflict, which lasted only seven weeks. Thus it seemed that although we were ten weeks in travel farther from Europe than we were when we moved out from Nebraska City, we were twelve weeks nearer to it in time of communication than we would have been without the telegraph. As we passed along on the following days in sight of the cold, silent wires strung across that wild country, we were conscious that signals were probably flying through them that others could read, yet for us there was no message from home that we could see or hear. It was, therefore, remarked that if we could read the signals which then might be passing through space where there were no wires, or could understand even the call of the birds that nested in those rocks, and would soon migrate, we should be wiser than other men.
Our trail through the Wasatch Mountains zigzagged at acute angles to reach the canyons through which it must pass and in a manner which sometimes leaves the observant traveler bewildered concerning the direction in which he is going. The average immigrant simply follows such a trail in the abiding faith that it will come out somewhere.
From Echo our trail bore sharply to east of south, thence westward into Silver Creek Canyon, thence southward through that gorge, thence westward through Parley's Canyon, at all times following the sinuosities of mountain streams and crooked valleys.
Beyond a little flouring mill on the Weber River we pitched an attractive camp, where Fred found water on a mountain side.
Some experiences in Silver Creek and Parley's Canyon will be mentioned in connection with another trip through these ranges of mountains. On the morning of August 11th I stood guard from midnight on the western limits of the beautiful Parley's Park. At 2.45 a. m. as prearranged, the camp was roused that we might make an early start. At noon we lunched on a high cliff near the west end of Parley's Canyon, a point not reached by the present road. In the distance, the waters of Great Salt Lake sparkled in the sunlight and between it and us was spread that interesting valley, which once was an alkaline desert soon to be made to blossom as the rose. In its bosom was the new City of the Saints, which we entered near the close of the day.
CHAPTER XXIV
Why a Fair City Arose in a Desert
THE history of Utah is a history of the Mormons, but that history, as is well known, strikes its roots much further East. It is not the purpose of this story to give a chronicle of Mormonism, nevertheless, as some startling events have marked the birth of nearly every religious sect, a cursive glance at the beginnings of Mormonism seems necessary to introduce us into the atmosphere of Mormon life and make our later observations better understood. The brief account here given is largely the result of personal investigation and of conference with old citizens in the early centers of Mormon influence.
The revelation made to Joseph Smith on the hill Cumorah, near the village of Manchester, in the state of New York; the delivery to him by Moroni, a messenger from God, of the book written on plates of gold, also a key with which to translate the mystic characters engraved thereon, – all of which was alleged to have taken place in the year 1827, naturally became the subject of much comment, chiefly of an adverse nature.
A few persons accepted as a divine revelation the book as translated, which was finally crystallized into the Book of Mormon, now held by that people as a part of the Holy Word and equal in importance and authority with the Old and New Testaments.
After suffering many persecutions, during which the disciples of Smith gradually increased in numbers, the leaders of the New Church practically abandoned the state of New York, a number of them reaching Independence, Missouri, in the early part of the year 1831, where in obedience to another revelation they established a Zion, a term which appears to be adopted for their various centers of religious activity. Almost concurrently with the movement to Missouri, a colony of the scattered New York Saints settled in Kirtland, Ohio. In both of these Zions monthly journals were published to represent the interests and claims of the New Church. Temples were also built, the one in Kirtland being dedicated in 1836. Records show that the Saints held their property in common. In Independence and other towns in Missouri, soon after their settlement by the Mormons, numerous adherents of the new faith were mobbed, tarred and feathered. After continued tribulations, which in the severe winter of 1839 developed into open warfare, they were driven from the state, leaving their possessions chiefly in the control of their persecutors.
They were soon heard of in western Illinois, which they reached after being goaded at every step by the opposition and derision of the former settlers. Nauvoo, or the Holy City, as it was called by the Saints, became the center of their proselyting in that state. There they erected a temple, which in many respects was remarkable, partly because of the fact that it is said to have cost $1,000,000. It is described in detail in Times and Seasons, Vol. II. The cornerstone was laid on April 6, 1841. They also established a university and built several factories. Being industrious, they became prosperous and increased in numbers until, as stated in Smucker's Mormonism, their churches in and around Nauvoo embraced from ten to twenty thousand members. The Millennial Star, Vol. V, reports more than that number in attendance at the October conference in Nauvoo, in 1844.
During these years they claim to have been guided at all times by divine revelations, which were given to their leaders and are published in their journals. Having faith in the authority by which they were being led, they acted as a unit in all matters, and thus became a power to be reckoned with in the political affairs of the state. This subordination of local civil government to the head of a new religious sect, and especially to one which its adherents recognized as a theocracy, seemed contrary to the spirit of American institutions and was repugnant to the ideas of the early Illinois pioneers.
It was especially odious to those political leaders on whom the Mormons would not unite their votes. This situation intensified the hatred that had previously met them and they were soon confronted by fresh opposition. It would appear from the text of letters addressed by Smith to Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, prior to the election in 1844, that he was arrogant in a high degree. In those letters he demanded from the candidates a statement of what their attitude toward the Mormons would be in case of their election. Some journalists characterized the demand as insolent and yet suffragettes, labor unionists and other equally respectable leaders frequently make similar demands.
On the 12th of July, 1843, a revelation was said to have been made to Joseph Smith and was duly published. A copy is given by Bancroft, (page 160), sanctioning by divine authority the practice of polygamy. This declaration seemed to afford sufficient grounds for a renewed war of extermination. Then followed the bitter conflict between the citizens represented by mobs and the state militia on the one side, and the Mormons on the other side, which culminated in the assassination of Joseph Smith, the prophet, and Hyrum, his brother, by a mob of about one hundred and fifty disguised men, in the prison in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844, where they were awaiting trial on an indictment for treason. On July 25th, Governor Thomas Ford issued a proclamation to the people of the county (Hancock) denouncing mob violence. The governor's paper is given in The Star of October, 1844.
This event occurred during a carnival of crime and murder in the country around Nauvoo, all of which has given rise to such conflicting opinions that the investigator, after conversing with numerous witnesses and reading various journals of the time, cannot fail to conclude that both Mormon and Gentile desperadoes infested that part of the state. Edward Bonney, in a little volume entitled The Banditti of the Prairies, gives a thrilling record of crime which he, as an officer, assisted in bringing to light, and which resulted in the execution of a number of Mormon murderers, but I discovered that he himself was brought to trial under an indictment for issuing counterfeit money. A change of venue carried the case to a Gentile court, where he made a successful defense. Recrimination, robbery, riot, and organized resistance by both parties in this war continued until the final eviction of the Mormons from the state. Fourteen years had now passed since the New Church was organized by a few obscure men. At the time of the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith the Mormon enrollment of Nauvoo numbered thousands.
The history of other new religious faiths was repeated. Mormonism was strengthened by the persecutions through which its enemies aimed at its extermination.
"Strive with the half-starved lion for its prey —Lesser the riskThan rouse the slumbering spirit of wild fanaticism."In August, 1844, Brigham Young, in accordance with a revelation said to have been received by him, declared himself to be the successor of Joseph Smith, and in December he was elected by the great assembly at Nauvoo, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which was the name officially adopted for the new society. Sidney Rigdon was also an active candidate for the office. His defeat was humiliating. He was tried, convicted, and condemned.
Previous to the death of Smith there appears to have been but one organized separation from the parent church, but Young and Rigdon were not the only persons who laid claim to the mantle of the prophet, Smith. The succession was bitterly contested by James J. Strang, who aside from Brigham Young, was perhaps the first and most formidable aspirant for office, partly because of his powers of leadership, and partly because he declared that at the moment of Smith's death he received a revelation that vested in him divine authority to become leader of the Saints. But little seems to have been written concerning the remarkable career of this Mormon prophet, who for several years exercised a dictatorship over his few thousands of followers which in rigor hardly has a parallel in our history. Some letters from his followers, and among them those of Bishop George Miller, have come into my hands, and these give some history of the Strangite movement. Miller had been appointed by Young to organize the association to erect the Nauvoo house and temple, but finally joined Strang and opposed Young. Neither these letters nor the records in the historical society are so complete and convincing as are the statements of Strang's own people.
It has been my privilege to be granted several interviews with the one person who doubtless knows more than any other now living concerning the life of the so-called king and prophet, Strang, and of the autocratic rule of his island dominion. It was her husband, Thomas Bedford, who put the final quietus on that monarch's authority.
Sitting with her daughter and me in their neat little cottage in Northern Michigan, she modestly consented to give the full story, which they both stated had never before been given in detail even to her own children, but, as she said, the time had come when all the truth should be given, and some of that truth had to that time for various reasons been withheld.
Mrs. Bedford descended from hardy Connecticut stock, and at the age of seventy-six abounded in vigor, and yet she was serene in temperament. Her statements in reviewing the thrilling history of her experiences in the Northern Empire were clear and definite, and she never hesitated in giving either names or dates.
In the winter of 1844, Mrs. Bedford passed through the Endowment house at Nauvoo. After suffering with the Saints in their various vicissitudes of fortune and fate in Nauvoo and Nebraska, in the year 1850 and at the age of sixteen, she entered with her parents the Strang colony on Beaver Island and spent five years in that fellowship.
James J. Strang was born in Scipio, N. Y., in the year 1813, and was educated for the practice of law. He had been a Baptist until he became interested in Mormon affairs and at Nauvoo, when Smith was at the zenith of his authority, he was baptized into the Mormon Church and soon became an elder. His complexion was florid, his hair was red, and he wore a glass eye, but he was a convincing speaker.
As the result of an alleged revelation he established Zion at Spring Prairie (now Voree) Wisconsin, where (so he often stated to his disciples) he discovered eighteen metallic plates containing valuable history. It appears that these were never submitted to the inspection of his people.
In 1847 with a few followers he established a new Zion on Beaver Island, in Lake Michigan, to which point considerable additional Mormon immigration was attracted in 1849. It was his declared purpose to make this island the center of Mormon power. In 1850 the government of his colony was established on Mormon lines by the Union of the church and civil government, and on July 8th of the same year he was formally crowned King by George Adams, president of the twelve. I find this union of church and state to be authorized, and the argument therefor presented in Times and Seasons, 1844.
The assumption of civil authority by the Strangites resulted in much friction between the Mormons and their opponents, though not so serious as what arose from a similar cause in Illinois. The fact that the number of votes cast on Beaver Island was equal to its entire population seems to be conceded. It is, however, the inside life of that people that is of present interest.
Strang had one wife, named Mary, when his kingdom was established, but a revelation that he announced to his people decreed polygamy to be a divine institution. He accordingly added four wives to his household, the last two, Phœbe and Delia Wright, who were cousins, being taken on the same day, as the sequel of a picnic held by the Saints on an island in Pine Lake, which in memory of the happy event was called Holy Island, by which name it is still known. Two daughters from his second and third marriages were named respectively Eveline and Evangeline in honor of whom two important townships in Michigan still bear the name given by Strang.
Strang was the father of twelve children, four of whom were born after his death and were the children of his last four wives. They all lived together in the one home. John R. Forster in his report, 1855, on his survey of Beaver Island, which appears in Michigan Historical Society Reports, Vol. IX, states that Strang had six wives. My informant, who was thoroughly familiar with the family and home says that this statement is incorrect, but that Strang had said in her hearing that he would be a father to the fatherless and a husband to the widow, and one mourner did sojourn for a time in his hospitable log cabin.
Each of Strang's twelve apostles also took more than one wife, two of the apostles having three wives each.
All weddings were private, none but officers who were to perform the ceremony being present. The temple in which all these religious functions were performed, and where services were held was built of pine logs, hewed square.
In accordance with early Mormon teachings the use of tea, coffee, tobacco, and spirituous liquors was interdicted. The payment of tithes to the King, as well as the first fruits of field and flocks was required. One of the earliest edicts of the King prescribed the dress that must be worn by his people. The women were required to wear the style of costume which Miss Bloomer endeavored later to introduce. The men were commanded to wear an equally distinctive garb consisting in part of a short jacket, with no skirt or tail to the coat.
Mrs. Bedford states also that from infancy and during the first four years under Strang's dominion she religiously conformed to all the decrees of the church. One day, however, she was discovered in her home by the prophet when for a brief period she was wearing an ordinary dress. The Prophet King at once declared that the rule pertaining to dress must be enforced, or the people must walk over his dead body. The strong, independent spirit of the woman rose within her, and the beginning of the end had come. Bedford had previously been ordered to appropriate some fishing nets, which were the property of others. A boat had been stolen, and Bedford, who was a sturdy Englishman, would speak the truth, which reflected upon the integrity of certain of Strang's apostles, whereupon the King caused his officers to enforce upon Bedford a brutal punishment with whips. These were secured later and were sent to a museum in Detroit.
The rule of a tyrant is quite certain in time to be brought to an end by some lover of liberty and justice.
Night came down upon Bedford's home far back upon Beaver Island, and husband and wife conversed together concerning the wrongs and oppression of the King's despotic rule. Strang had preached that no bullet could enter his body.
"If you are going to shoot Strang go now and do it," said the indignant young wife, and Bedford went out into the darkness. It was long past the midnight hour of June 17th when the waiting wife heard a pounding at the barred door of their log cabin.
"Who is there?"
"Friends."
She stood with an axe in her hands prepared to defend herself, her children, and her home. Stating what defence she would make, if necessary, she told her visitors that she must know their names, before they would be admitted. On becoming assured that they were marines from the government steamer, Michigan, that her husband was aboard their ship, and that they had come to rescue her, she unbarred the door. A supper had been laid upon the table awaiting her husband's return, from which the sailors were glad to take refreshment.
Bundling her two little ones and a few light effects, they fled to the steamer before the King's officers reached the house.
Strang had been duly shot. In a few days a passing steamer carried him to Racine, from which place he was conveyed to Voree, where on July 8th he died from the effects of his wound.
Bedford was taken to Mackinac and placed in an unlocked jail with a friendly guard, but boldly returned with his wife to Beaver Island. There was no recognized leader. The spell was broken. The Saints scattered, some in one direction and some in another, as opportunity offered, by passing vessels. Women wept as each party embarked. It was well known that at whatever port they might be landed their peculiar dress, which marked them as disciples of the despised and now fallen prophet, would invite the searching gaze and contemptuous jeers of rude and unsympathetic onlookers. Such was in fact their fate. Thus was closed the chapter of the Strangite defection.
An old pioneer has related to the writer the story of the gallows, which was erected on the Michigan beach by the Mormons and which he cut down. Upon it was suspended the effigy of an obnoxious Gentile, which is preserved by its prototype to this day.
At the time of the dispersion of the Strangites Brigham Young had long since established himself as the hierarch of the Mormon Church, and to that master mind was delegated supreme authority in conducting a movement that has hardly a parallel in history.
The occasion for prompt, energetic, and sagacious leadership arose when in the autumn of 1845 armed mobs of so-called Illinois citizens descended upon Mormon settlements in the vicinity of Nauvoo and burned stacks of grain, and other property, also a score of homes, driving men and helpless women and children of Mormon families from their own farms out into the darkness. These brutal demonstrations were repeated by the destruction of mills, factories, and business property in Nauvoo, accompanied by demands that the Mormons must leave the country within sixty days.
These facts are confirmed by Bancroft, who also quotes many other authorities in verification. Governor Ford's proclamation which followed the riots, embraced the statement that prior to the outbreaks Hancock County, then occupied in part by the Mormons, was as free from crime as any county in the state of Illinois.