'V J ^^•^•^^^B^^*^^^^™
Bwiailffi
^^1
W, D. Brewster, FEB 11 1886
THE
MORMON PROBLEM,
10 % American
WITH AN APPENDIX,
CONTAINING FOUR ORIGINAL STORIES OF MORMON
LIFE, FOUNDED UPON FACT, AND A GRAPHIC
AND THRILLING ACCOUNT OF THE
MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE.
BY REV. C. P. LYFORD,
Minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for Four Years a Missionary in
AUTHOR OF "TITHING," "THE PRIESTHOOD," AND " BRIGHAM YOUNG'S RECORD OF BLOOD."
" I live above the law, and so do this people." — BRIGHAM YOUNG.
Mormon Journals of Discourses, vol. i, p. 381.
NEW YORK: PHILLIPS & HUNT.
CINCINNA TI: CRANSTON <&* STOWE.
1886.
Copyright, 1886, by PHILLIPS & HUNT,
NEW YORK.
Bancroft Library
r
TO THE MEMORY
OF THE LATE HON. JAMES B. McKEAN,
CHIEF-JUSTICE OF UTAH, AND
" THE NOBLEST ROMAN OF THEM ALL,"
THIS VOLUME
X* afftctionattln iDclJtratfii
BY THE AUTHOR.
PRE.FACE.
THE defenders of Mormonism will find enough to do in explaining away, if they can, the citations of Mormon authorities and the facts of Mormon history contained in this volume. I commend them to the task.
To all others the work is submitted as an effort to throw light upon a question of national interest and importance, and to assist the citizens of this country in determining the measure of their responsibility in the matter. Of these indulgence is craved for the imperfections of the book, and a Careful considera- tion of its contents is asked.
The work is the result of thirteen years of careful study and research, four of which were spent in Utah ; and the author trusts that his sources of information have been sufficiently extensive and reliable to entitle his conclusions to the study and confidence of the people.
PREFACE. 5
"We are entitled to add, that we have presented but a moiety of the data at hand, and have purposely condensed our presentation of the case within narrow limits, where volumes could be written con- cerning each point established. Yolumes would accomplish nothing if the facts presented should
prove unavailing.
C. P. L.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE QUESTION STATED 7
II. THE EXTENT OF THE EVIL 16
III. THE REMEDIES PROPOSED 28
IY. THE " THEOCRACY " 38
Y. CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS 76
VI. CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED 98
VII. A NATIONAL BROTHEL 124
VIII. THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED 155
IX. ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES 1 74
APPENDIX :
"LIVING IT OUT" 193
THE " COUNCIL OP DAN " 212
THE QUESTION SUBMITTED 232
A GENTILE IN UTAH 246
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE OP 1857.. . 271
THE
MORMON PROBLEM.
CHAPTER I.
THE QUESTION STATED.
No question of public interest has been so univers- ally misunderstood as the Mormon question. The most popular misapprehension relates to the single crime of polygamy.
That feature of Mormonism is so revolting to our natures, so offensive to the moral sense of the age, and so completely at war with all our instincts and with the best interests of society, that it has the most impressed itself upon the public mind.
The references in the platforms of political parties, the papers emanating from the chief magistrates of the nation, and almost all discussion upon the floor of Congress relating to Mormonism, have been coniined to this evil ; and nearly all legislative enactrnent thus far has had for its sole end the suppression of this
8 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
practice. With but few exceptions, the press lias pre- sented no other issue than polygamy.
The popular idea is, that with this evil suppressed the duty of the nation would be accomplished. Judge Goodwin, of Salt Lake City, has well said : " Ask nine out of every ten men in the country what there is objectionable in the Mormon faith and in Mormon practices, and the answer will be, that ' polygamy is preached and practiced.7 But behind polygamy there is in the Mormon creed a deadly menace to free gov- ernment few suspect. And yet this is true. The Mormons have a ' celestial kingdom of God,' and a 4 kingdom of God on earth.' This latter means the rule of its people in temporal things ; and the dream of the Mormon leaders is, that under this rule the governments of the earth will one by one be brought, until the whole world shall be subjugated." This " kingdom " in America is the most important fact to Americans ; but it is entirely overlooked in the gen- eral feeling that polygamy alone demands notice. This latter view has been strengthened by the utter- ances of those who, in the midst of other great inter- ests, and burdened with responsibilities of public af- fairs that have absorbed attention and called for the most diligent application of their powers, have con-
THE QUESTION STATED. 9
tented themselves with the study of this feature of Mormonism to the exclusion of the history and domi- nation of the hierarchy that has established it within our borders and maintained its practice. It has been further strengthened by the writings and addresses of those who have made but a superficial study of the matter ; who have spent a week or perhaps a month in Salt Lake City, and possibly have been feasted and banqueted and hoodwinked by the Mormon rulers themselves, until they have gone away impressed with their hospitality and convinced that, excepting for this gross iniquity, they are a much-abused people. Be- sides, many of the most important publications upon the subject have been from the pens of female writ- ers, and many of the most effective speakers have been those who were formerly victims of plural mar- riage. They have, naturally enough, written and spoken chiefly of that from which they have suffered the most ; and the sympathies and emotions of the nation have been stirred by their recitals, until every other phase of the question has been ignored.
The Mormon rulers have, undoubtedly, favored this exclusive attention to the doctrine and practice of polygamy. So long as the public mind is concentrated upon that alone they are left undisturbed in the great
10 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
work of extending and building up their " kingdom," in the misgovernment and robbery of their victims, and in the furtherance of their political schemes.
While Congress has been debating and legislating, and while the people have been crying aloud, and while the courts have been operating for the suppres- sion of polygamy, the Mormon priesthood has been busy in gathering its converts by tens of thousands from the ends of the earth for the purpose of colo- nizing them throughout the vast mountain region of which Utah constitutes the center ; it has created its monopolies and erected its bulwarks of defense against the appliances of Christian civilization ; and it would to-day sooner relinquish altogether the practice of polygamy than its system of tithing or its exercise of absolute power over its deluded followers.
In fact, the great danger at the present hour is that it will abandon polygamy for a time — and for a pur- pose. Let the Mormon Conference, at its next ses- sion, or in the near future, declare, by the passage of a resolution, that it will yield to the national will and submit to the law in this particular, and the danger is that the public mind would be so appeased thereby that Utah would be admitted as a State, and then — the dominant power in Utah could revive polygamy and
THE QUESTION STATED. 11
its other practices, and snap its fingers in the face of the Federal Government. In the pretended penitence and submission of a few of the most prominent Mor- mon leaders and life-long polygamists there are al- ready indications of this movement.
Let it be understood, once and for all^that polyg- amy, dark, debasing, and unlawful as it is, is not the greatest evil or the chief difficulty in Utah. Before our task is completed we shall endeavor to convince the reader of these pages that it is a greater crime and a more fearful and blighting curse than one can un- derstand who has not long resided where he has had personal observation of its results ; but it will also appear that there is that which a thousand times more demands the attention of our citizens and of their representatives in the national legislature. Many years ago a federal judge, in addressing a grand jury convened in the city of Provo, Utah, uttered these truthful words :
" Polygamy is the merest nothing compared with the bloody despotism which forced it upon and per- petuates it among the people." Suffice it for the present to say, that probably not more than one eighth of the Mormon people practice polygamy, and that it would soon cease to exist if it were left
12 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
to itself and to the civilizing and Christianizing influences that surround it and would soon over- whelm it.
The Mormon question is not a religious question.
It is true that a Church organization exists; that it has its priesthood, its forms of religious worship, and its doctrines that, right or wrong, command the assent of its followers. Mormonism is, in a sense, a religion, and the Mormon people claim to con- stitute a Church. But, as such, the American people have never been called upon to meddle with it. The battle in Utah between truth and error and between true worship and that which is false must be fought upon other moral battle-fields; the Govern- ment must not interfere. And here has arisen an- other misapprehension.
One of the ablest writers of the day, during the pendency of the " Edmunds bill," published in sub- stance the following :
"The Mormon problem is the most profound and difficult of any with which the American people have ever been called to deal. The constitutional guarantees of religious liberty to American citizens render it next to impossible that more stringent leg- islation should be had."
THE QUESTION STATED. 13
Many statesmen and many religious and political journals have taken the same view. " We cannot interfere with a Church or with the religion of any people," say they. The Mormon hierarchy, quick to discern its advantage, has profited thereby. "We will worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience. We must and will live our relig- ion," they cry in their own defense.
If the so-called " Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints " were a Church, and nothing more — if it claimed and exercised churchly prerogatives, and nothing more — and if Morrnonism were a system of religion or of irreligion, and nothing else — the discus- sion would be at an end.
The Government of the United States, in its legis- lative or other departments, cannot restrain either true or false prophets. It cannot abolish a true or a false religion ; nor can it prohibit belief in absurd doctrines or monstrous superstitions; nor yet can it interpose to prevent false worship or the practice of unreasonable religious rites and duties in Utah or elsewhere. It has never been called upon to do so by the friends of Americanism in Utah, or by non- Mormons in the States. But if Mormonism is openly and avowedly a system of civil government, entirely
14 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
hostile to the United States Government — if it puts itself in opposition to our laws and institutions, and more especially, if it is, in theory and in practice, an organized system of crime and outlawry — and if, in addition, it proves to be a system of foul social abom- inations, that strike at the very corner-stone of the great fabric of society and are destructive of the sanctity of homes, then, we submit, the "constitu- tional guarantees of religious liberty to Amer- ican citizens " cannot be brought forward in its de- fense.
That it is all this and much more, these pages shall abundantly show.
The real question at issue is this : Shall a so-called Church establish a " kingdom " in the heart of this Republic? Shall it maintain therein a worse than military or other despotism ? Shall it arbitrarily govern a Territory to the exclusion, so far as is pos- sible, of all rightful authority ? And shall organized outlawry exist within our borders, under cover of a pretended religion, and receive the protection that is due to religious liberty ? Or is it the prerogative of the American Government to throttle and remove such a monstrosity ?
This is the real " Mormon question," and it is pass-
THE QUESTION STATED. 15
ing strange that, with all the known facts of Mormon history and with all the light that has been thrown upon the subject from so many sources, so great a number of well-informed citizens and public men can be found who can only see the Church and the religious side of that question.
16 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
CHAPTEE II.
THE EXTENT OF THE EVIL.
1. Its Numerical Strength.
The growth of Mormonism has been without a par- allel in the history of any religious or irreligious movement. In 1826 Joseph Smith claimed to have discovered the gold plates on which, it was alleged, were engraved the contents of the Book of Mormon. In 1830 the Church was organized in Seneca County, New York, with but six members. On the 14th of April, 1847, a party of one hundred and forty-eight, led by Brigham Young, started for the Rocky Mount- ains, and, on the 24th of July, 1847, entered Salt Lake Yalley. In 1860 there had come to be forty thousand Mormons in Utah. In ten years the num- ber had increased to eighty-seven thousand. In ten years more, namely, in 1880, there were one hundred and twenty-five thousand in Utah, with about twenty- five thousand more in the adjacent States and Terri- tories. There are at least one hundred thousand more in their mission-fields and conferences through
THE EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 17
out the world. So that in the little more than fifty years since the Church was organize*}, a man who came forward with a lie in his mouth and a ctolen manuscript in his hand to proclaim one of the most monstrous delusions of all time, has obtained a fol- lowing of more than a quarter of million of souls.
From this stand-point the outlook for the future is most alarming. Fifty years ago the Church began its work with six members — now it numbers two hun- dred and fifty thousand : then, the first convert and dupe mortgaged his farm to publish the first edition of the Book of Mormon ; now, a million dollars is col- lected annually through the tithing system : then, the handful of believers were without character, reputa- tion, or influence ; now, the leaders are, many of them, men of learning and eloquence, directing a powerful press and publishing interest, and taking their place with the representatives of the nation : then, they were confined in their operations to one or two townships ; now, their ecclesiastical organization is in every land, and their labors proceed in every center of population and among all the races of the earth. If from such a beginning such results have been reached, what shall follow from a skillful use of
existing resources during the next fifty years? A 2
18 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
divine who, when he speaks, has the ear of the nation, recently said that " Mormonism is dying out of itself ; " but it was never increasing so rapidly as now. Converts in large numbers are being made in the United States, while every year ship-loads of Mormon immigrants are brought to these shores ; and within the last three years nearly ten thousand have arrived. Let the " prophet " utter the word of com- mand and one hundred thousand more would speed- ily gather in the " Promised Land." Whatever else Mormonism may mean, it means tremendous vitality and enormous proportions at no far-distant day.
2. Its Political Strength.
The Mormon vote is solid. Whether it be in Utah or in other Territories and States, it is always a unit in support of Church interests. There are no divisions, no disaffection, and no jealous strifes. In every political campaign in Utah there is only one issue — the supremacy of the " Church " on the one hand, and the supremacy of Americanism on the other. All classes and shades of belief are ranged on one side or the other of that question, and all minor questions are swallowed up in this. The result is, that every member of the Territorial Legislature is a high digni-
THE EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 19
tary of the Church ; all local and municipal govern- ment is under the same control ; and it comes to pass that in America a Church absolutely governs a Terri- tory, and that, as it shall hereafter appear, in the in- terests of immorality and crime.
It matters not by what methods this result is ob- tained, it is enough for our present purpose that it is obtained. The fact before us is, that a few priestly rulers control the suffrages of the masses for the maintenance of a perfect despotism.
In Utah the sway is absolute, and is sure to remain so until the power of the hierarchy is overthrown. The Territory would make two States of the size of New York. In Idaho the priesthood holds the bal- ance of political power, and probably also in Nevada, Wyoming, and Arizona, and is fast coming to have that advantage in New Mexico, Colorado, and Mon- tana. It is the policy of the Church to colonize no more adherents in Utah, but, upon their arrival, they are sent out into the rich and inviting valleys of all the surrounding country. The scheme is to render themselves secure against all the approaches of Amer- ican law and institutions, by obtaining a controlling political power over this vast domain; and at the present ratio of increase, the first presidency of the
20 THE MOKMON PKOBLEM.
oligarchy will soon be able to determine the result of an election in an area of territory eight times as great as the whole of New England. The prize to be given to any party for admitting Utah as a State is, first? two votes in the Senate ; second, that of several mem- bers of the lower House ; third, the electoral vote ; and fourth, the controlling political influence in no less than eight new States and Territories. In the " North American Eeview " for March, 1881, Judge Goodwin, of Salt Lake City, declares that if the rem- edy is postponed for fifteen years longer, nothing less than an exhausting civil war will suffice to overcome this enemy of republican government ; and Governor Murray, of the same Territory, cries aloud in the ears of the people : " I warn the country of the dangers that beset the Government in this irrepressible con- flict."
3. Its Ecclesiastical Strength.
The priesthood of the Mormon Church is com- posed of nearly all the holy orders ever mentioned : Prophets, patriarchs, apostles, bishops, elders, dea- cons, teachers, and the like. It has its " first presi- dency," its " seventies," its innumerable " quorums," "councils," and "stakes of Zion."
Its system of espionage and of government is per-
THE EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 21
feet. Take any Mormon town : In every block of buildings is the " Teacher." It is his duty to keep himself thoroughly informed as to the religious faithfulness, domestic life, business affairs, political attitude, and personal plans and purposes for the future of every one residing in that block. He may enter every house, question and cross-question every inmate thereof, demand the most explicit statements, and insist upon truthful answers to all his inquiries. In every ward of the city (all Mormon towns are incorporated as cities) is the "Ward Bishop." He has the same supervision of the ward that the several teachers have in their blocks of buildings, and to him the teachers report. Over the whole town is the " Pre- siding Bishop " (always the mayor) with his council. To him the ward bishops report. Over all the towns, that is, over the entire territory, is the " First Presi- dency" at Salt Lake City, to whom the presiding bishops report ; so that from the teacher in the block of buildings up to the head of the Church in Salt Lake City there is a complete chain through wliicli knowledge of the affairs of any individual in the territory may be immediately communicated, and in return the will of the priesthood may be at once conveyed. That will is to be instantly obeyed. We
22 THE MORMON PEOBLEM.
give a few examples from Mormon authorities as to their claim to supreme authority.
Heber C. Kimball, in a sermon preached during the so-called reformation in Utah, said : " Brigham Young is my God and your God, and the only God you will ever see if you do not obey him. Joseph Smith was God to the inhabitants of the earth when he was among us, and Brigham is God now."
"This strain," the Church historian adds, "was caught up by the elders of the Church and reiter- ated, from Orson Hyde down to 'the most ignorant teacher, and to question it was to be put under the ban."*
At another time this same "apostle" thus deliv- ered himself :
" If Brother Brigham should get a revelation from God concerning his servant Heber, it would be : 1 Let my servant Heber do all things whatsoever my servant Brigham shall require at his hands, for that is the will of his Father in heaven.' If that is the will of God concerning me, what is the will of God concerning you? It is the same."f "When I triHe with the priesthood I trifle with the Almighty. I
* " Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 294.
f " Mormon Journals of Discourses," vol. ii, p. 153.
THE EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 23
forfeit my salvation and every blessing I possess." * To me the word comes from Brother Brigham as the word of the Lord, whether it is written or not." f
While the author was in Provo, Utah, Brigham Young said, in a sermon preached in that city, "I say unto you, that the priesthood have a right to dictate unto you even in setting up a stocking, as to the shape of the heel and length of the toe."
The Mormon golden Aile is : " Mind your busi- ness, pay your tithing, and OBEY THE PBIESTHOOD."
It would be easy to produce similar statements by the volume. They embody the corner-stone of the whole Mormon system. They have been the burden of all public teaching from its earliest day until the present time. "As the angels of God obey in heaven, so must men obey in all things on earth." " As the soldier obeys the command of his superior officer, so must Latter Day Saints obey the officers of the army of the living God," etc.
A poor and credulous people, mostly unacquainted with self-government, must stand in great terror of such an organization — upon the favor amd patronage of which their subsistence and very life depends !
* li Mormon Journals of Discourses," vol. ii, p. 156. f Ibid., p. 159.
24 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
It is also very readily seen with what facility petitions to the Federal Government, protests against Congressional enactments, and popular expressions in favor of polygamy are obtained. "As the angels obey in heaven, so must the Latter Day Saints obey on earth." It is the secret of the much -boasted " Mormon unity." " We vote as a unit, we speak as a unit, we pray as a unit, and, if needful, we can die together," said one of their orators ; to which it might be added, that under the state of affairs now existing in that unhappy Territory nothing else is possible. The people, outside the priesthood, are generally poor. The most of them are far from native land, and all feel that there is an impassable gulf between them and society. The majority could not get as far as Omaha, if they should try. Moreover, they be- lieve that they are in the " kingdom of God " in Utah, and have no desire to leave. The rank and tile of the Mormon people are honest, self-sacrificing victims of a great delusion, and are entirely within the grasp of a merciless hierarchy.
The field of operations and the extent of prose- lyting effort conducted by this organization are, in view of the purpose of the same, somewhat appalling. We take pleasure in presenting a statement made
THE EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 25
in a religious journal by a well-informed writer, Pro- fessor George N. Marden, of Colorado. He says :
"To-day the Mormon Church has as many mis- sionaries as has the American Board.. In one year (1881) they sent out one hundred and eighty -nine, besides seventy-nine to Arizona, to spy out and secure fche best land in that Territory for colonization purposes. One day last April (1883) sixty-one Mor- mon missionaries were at the Grand Central Hotel, New York, and sailed the day following. On the 16th of October thirty more left Salt Lake City in a Pullman car. Within eight months of last year about three thousand Mormon proselytes arrived at New York.
"The Mormons have missions in England, Scot- land, Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Swe- den, Norway, Switzerland, Malta, Gibraltar, Hindu- stan, Australia, Siam, Ceylon, China, Chili, Guinea, the West Indies, the Sandwich Islands, New Zea- land, Iceland, on the banks of the Nile, and even in the Holy Land. Twenty- seven nationalities were represented in one of their recent public celebrations. More converts were sent to Utah in the last two seasons, since the passage of the Edmunds Bill, than in any four years previous. Rural districts in the
26 THE MOKMON PHOBLEM.
Carolinas, Georgia, and Tennessee have yielded many. The " Book of Mormon " is now printed in many tongues, and periodicals are issued in at least eight languages. . . . Some of the best portions of Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, Idaho, and Colo- rado are under Mormon control. . . .
"All the Protestant Evangelical Church jnembers in Wyoming do not numerically equal one sixth part of the Mormon Church members of that Territory. Arizona has thirty times as many Mormons as Prot- estant Evangelical Church members. In Colorado only one denomination, the Methodist, exceeds the Mormon. In Idaho the leading denomination is the Presbyterian, but for every Presbyterian there are fifteen Mormon Church members in that Territory. Congregationalists have in Arizona two churches, the Mormons have thirty-five. In Colorado Congrega- tionalists have twenty-four churches, Mormons have thirty-three. In Wyoming the proportion is as four to thirty-two, while in Idaho is one Congregational church over against forty-two Mormon churches. It will surprise many to learn that in the list of forty- four religious denominations, named by the census, only seventeen exceed the Mormons in membership, while, if measured by the number of priests or minis-
THE EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 27
ters, only four denominations of this country exceed the Mormons"
It is very evident, from all these facts, that Mor- monism, whatever else it is, is no weakling, and is in no way "dying out."
The methods employed by this organization in furthering its ends in Washington, and in the great commercial and business centers, shall form the sub- ject of another chapter in its proper place.
28 THE MORMON PEOBLEM.
CHAPTER III.
THE REMEDIES PROPOSED.
WHAT shall be done for the extirpation of Mor- monism? has been a question occupying the atten- tion of the. American people for many years.
It was thought by many that when the railroad reached Utah it would give the death-blow to Mor- monisrn. It gave it, instead, new life and vigor. It put it in close communication with the mercantile interests of the world. It enabled it to erect the great commercial monopoly known as u Z ion's Co-op- erative Mercantile Institution," a monopoly that ena- bles it to control in its behalf a large degree of the influence of the business world. It rendered the transportation of its proselytes across the great plains and through the passes of the mountain region an easy matter. It greatly enhanced the value of Mor- mon property. It made a market for the products of Mormon toil by developing the mining interests of the Territories, so that Salt Lake City became a cen- ter of trade for the support of that great industry.
THE EEMEDIES PROPOSED. 29
It gave them an opportunity to practice their cajol- ery and flattery, and their arts of subornation, upon many men of letters and of public influence through- out the world. In a word, it enabled the hierarchy to successfully pursue its scheme of empire.
It was believed by many that the influx of Gentile population would cause the disintegration of the " kingdom." But so carefully guarded was the Church against the approach of "Babylonish" multitudes, that it was not adversely affected thereby. In Salt Lake City, where there is a population, in round num- bers, of thirty thousand, of which the " Gentile " por- tion is perhaps about one fourth, non-Mormons find it possible to engage successfully in all the various avocations ; this is true also of the mining towns and settlements ; but in nearly all the Territory besides so complete is the monopoly in favor of Zion, that Gen- tiles are practically excluded. We give an illustra- tion. In the city of Provo, where the author resided three years, the license fee exacted of " outsiders " for selling intoxicating drinks was one hundred dollars per month. The city contained about five thousand inhabitants, of which only about one hundred, includ- ing " apostate Mormons," were non-Mormons. As only the latter would patronize a Gentile, it was im-
30 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
possible for one to succeed in the traffic. At first sight this might appear like an effort to restrict the sale of liquor and restrain the vice of intemperance. But a Church liquor store — a branch of Zion's Co- operative Mercantile Institution — kept bj a Church official, and adding its profits largely to the revenues of the Church, was kept without any license fee what- ever being paid. In like manner almost every indus- try was monopolized in the interests of Zion.
Many writers have claimed that the introduction of Gentile fashions would render Mormon family life, where plural marriage existed, so expensive that it would necessarily be abandoned. ~Not a few of the journals of the country have seriously argued that the millinery store would overcome polygamy. But the Mormon theory and practice is, that polygamous wives must not only support themselves in great measure, but contribute largely to the income and property of their liege lords.
Others thought that the death of Brigham Young would so weaken Mormonism that it w^ould die. That event gave Mormonism added strength and a new lease of life. Brigham had become weak and child- ish, and yet arrogant, in his old age. He was contin- ually bringing Zion into embarrassing situations by
THE REMEDIES PROPOSED. 31
his perverse opposition to the plans of his younger and wiser associates. For years previous to his death they had felt that his removal would be a blessing to the cause. It proved to be so. A much abler and, if possible, a more unscrupulous man, succeeded him. The younger blood of the Church began to flow through the body politic. The burden, which had be- come well-nigh unbearable to the priesthood, was re- moved when the yoke of Brigham Young's intolerant supremacy fell off. When John Taylor, and a few others of the more obdurate and crime-hardened rulers shall pass away, and the younger and more careful men, who have learned wisdom by contact with the outside world and by business life, shall suc- ceed them in " holding the keys of the kingdom," then shall additional prosperity come to that kingdom.
It is claimexl by others that schools and churches and libraries and the other appliances of Christian civilization will ultimately uproot the evil.
If these were sufficient, the process would still be too slow. Before these can succeed, without other interference, immigration from foreign mission fields alone will establish such an empire of priestly domin- ion as to defy these agencies. But the missionaries of Utah will bear us witness that but comparatively few
32 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
converts are made from the ranks of Mormonism. The accessions to Gentile Churches come largely from " apostates " and Gentiles themselves.
As a more effective remedy many urge, " Let the sword and musket be used." But if these were to be relied on without other aid, we make bold to say that they would not be effective. Nothing but a war of extermination would make the measure successful. Even such a war would be of long continuance. A handful of Modoc Indians, in the Lava Beds, held the whole United States Government at bay for a long period. The Mormon leaders could, to-day, command an armed and well-drilled force of twenty thousand men in the defiles of the Rocky Mountains, with their fruitful valleys and their homes behind them. Be- sides, there does not at present exist such a state of things in Utah as would justify the shedding of blood ; and, more than all, the remedy can easily be found in the use of peaceful measures.
The remedy that we have to submit to the citizens of the United States, and to justify in these pages, is not new. It has been submitted in substance by three Presidents ; it has been urged in the national legislature by able senators and representatives; it has been the theme of nearly all writers and speakers
THE REMEDIES PROPOSED. 33
who have been thoroughly conversant with the Mor- mon question for several years. It has been the ter- ror of the Mormon priesthood and the subject of their gloomy forebodings by day and by night. To avoid it they would sacrifice polygamy without hesitation ; and to resist it, when it shall seriously threaten them, all their resources will be employed. It would prove the utter dissolution of the " kingdom," the overthrow of their power, and the end of their crimes. Where other measures have proved to be as mere paper pel- lets falling harmlessly in the air, this would be a thunder-bolt shattering their whole stronghold to atoms, and Mormonism, with its oppressive tyranny, its subversion of government, its nullification of law, and its foul abominations, would
" Go down 'neath the tramp of old King Time, To sleep with his gray-haired years."
It remained for President Arthur, in his message to Congress in 1883, to put it in its clearest and strongest form before the world. And when his rec- ommendation was ignored, still convinced, after long and patient study of the question, that it was the only adequate remedy for this appalling evil, in his annual
message of 1884 he reiterated his views, and for the 3
34: THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
second time strongly urged their adoption. The pas- sage is here given in his own language :
" I am convinced, however, that polygamy has he- come so strongly intrenched in the Territory of Utah that it is profitless to attack it with any but the stoutest weapons which constitutional legislation can fashion. 1 favor, therefore, the repeal of the act upon which the present government depends, the assumption ~by the national legislature of the entire political con- trol of the Territory, and the establishment of a Com- mission with such powers and duties as shall be delegated to it l)ii law" *
O «7
"I again recommend, therefore, that Congress as- sume complete political control of the Territory of Utah, and provide for the appointment of Commis- sioners, with such governmental powers as in its judgment may justly and wisely be put into their hands." f
The ground upon which this stringent legislation is urged is the suppression of polygamy. Bat when it shall appear that Utah is the seat of a vast con- spiracy against the United States Government by the establishment therein of a treasonable "theocracy" — that Mormonism is but another name for a great
* Message of December, 1883. f Message of December, 1884.
THE EEMEDIES PROPOSED. 35
ecclesiastical empire — and further, that the contem- plated legislation is not merely for the suppression of polygamy, but also of a general system of organized crime and outlawry, then will its urgency and reason- ableness be increased a thousand fold.
That these additional reasons exist the reader shall be fully convinced by complete and unanswerable evidence. Indeed, the stronger testimony shall be from the Mormon leaders themselves, and from well- authenticated facts of Mormon history. The evi- dence shall come, not from a few erratic writers or speakers, but from the very highest authorities ; the facts of history cited shall not relate merely to times of excitement and fanatical enthusiasm, but shall cover the whole period from the first inception of the system until the present day.
It is frankly conceded that the legislation would be stringent ; but such a constitutional commission would not be without precedent, as every citizen knows. It is also as frankly conceded that it is un- usual ; but so is the state of affairs in Utah unusual. It is not un-American, unless it be un-American to maintain in the Territories of the United States re- publican government as against a usurping priestly despotism, and the supremacy of American law as
36 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
against an original band of outlaws whose hands are full of blood.
If it be urged that the remedy proposed would make the innocent suffer with the guilty by depriv- ing them of self-government, the answer is, in part, that they are already deprived of it by a tyrannical hierarchy ; the answer is further, that the innocent in Utah are exceedingly anxious thus to suffer, and that the provisional government need only exist until such time as the Territory should be Americanized ; and that greater good would result ultimately to all. So, when in some locality the yellow fever is raging all communication with the outside world is sus- pended, even those not affected by the malady are made to suffer thereby ; and so when, under certain circumstances, the unusual but not un-American expedient of placing a large district under martial law is resorted to, until the emergency necessitating it ceases to exist.
There is something suspicious in the zeal with which some men contend for the ordinary constitu- tional methods of dealing with these plotters of trea- son and these "holy and everlasting murderers," merely because they call themselves "Latter Day Saints;" and something exceedingly marvelous in
THE REMEDIES PROPOSED. 37
the persistency with which all facts that render extraordinary and vigorous measures constitutional, are forever put out of sight.
It is upon the strength of these facts, which shall now be adduced, that we make our appeal unto the American people, and in the name of justice and on behalf of the oppressed manhood and degraded womanhood of Utah, ask that this offensive monstros- ity of the Rocky Mountains be at last overthrown and cast out.
38 THE MOEMON PKOBLEM.
CHAPTER IY.
THE THEOCRACY.
WE submit, first of all, the following proposition and the evidence supporting it, as constituting, in part, the basis of our appeal.
FIKST PROPOSITION : The Mormon Church is avow- edly a Theocratic kingdom, claiming throughout its entire history to le independent of and superior to all human government, and especially hostile to the Government of the United States, its institutions and laws.
Its rulers and officers, it is claimed, are appointed directly by the Almighty, with full power to rule as God rules in heaven. Its laws, as enacted by its priesthood in the territorial legislature or in muni- cipal councils, come through divine inspiration, and all its regulations and methods are by direct revela- tion from above.
" We are a government unto ourselves," they cry. " What right has any human government to meddle with us, and what obligation are we under to recog-
THE THEOCRACY. 39
nize the authority of men who attempt to lord it over us ? "
That we have not overstated the Mormon position we will now abundantly show from their own highest authorities.
THE EVIDENCE : As the Mormon rulers speak of the Church as the "kingdom of God," it may be well to give their own understanding of that term.
Parley P. Pratt, one of the twelve apostles, pub- lished an " inspired " volume, entitled " The Voice of Warning." One chapter is devoted to the " King- dom of God." On pages 66 and 67 he says :
" Now when we speak of the kingdom of God, we wish it to be understood we mean his organized gov- ernment on the earth. . . . Four things are required to constitute any kingdom in heaven or on earth ; namely : first, a king ; secondly, commissioned officers duly qualified to execute his ordinances and laws; thirdly, a code of laws by which the subjects are governed ; and, fourthly, subjects who are governed. Where these exist in their proper order and regular authority there is a kingdom. In this respect the kingdom of God is like all other kingdoms."
On page Y4: he lays great stress upon the fact that the laws to be obeyed "are all things which Jesus
40 THE MORMON PEOBLEM.
commands liis disciples (the priesthood) to teach," thus destroying all obligation to recognize codes of human origin.
Such a kingdom the Mormon rulers claim to have. God is the king ; the president of the Church is his vicegerent ; the various orders in the priesthood con- stitute his officers : the laws emanating from the same, the only code they are bound to observe ; and the people are the subjects. All other authority is usurpation, and the enforcement of any other law is rebellion against God ; and to resist the same, so far as is possible and safe, becomes one of the first re- ligious duties.
But it is better to use the exact language of their own writers. Orson Pratt, another of the twelve apostles, and long recognized as the ablest of their number, published a work upon this subject of civil government and the relations of the Mormon Church to earthly governments, entitled " The Kingdom of God." In part i, page 1. we have the following :
" The kingdom of God is an order of government established by divine authority. It is the only legal government that can exist in any part of the universe. All other governments are illegal and unauthorized. Any people attempting to govern themselves l)ij laws
THE THEOCRACY. 41
of their own making, and 1>y officers of their own appointing r, are in direct rebellion against the 'king- dom of God" That expresses the Mormon idea. To overthrow " rebellion " and maintain the supremacy of the kingdom is the first duty of the saints.
If other authority is demanded in support of this view, it is to be found throughout all Mormon writ- ings. The " Mormon Journals of Discourses " contain the inspired utterances of the priesthood in the Tab- ernacle. They were published, as delivered, in the Church organ, the " Deseret News," and then gath- ered and bound in volumes to be preserved for the edification and guidance of the saints. They are ac- knowledged as of equal authority with the Bible, the 44 Book of Mormon," the " Doctrines and Covenants," or any other of the inspired works. In vol. vii, p. 141, we have the following from Brigham Young himself:
" Our ecclesiastical government is the government of heaven, and includes all governments in earth and hell. It is the fountain, the mainspring, the source of all light, power, and government that ever did or ever will exist. It circumscribes the governments of this world"
" You may call that government ecclesiastical or by whatever term you please ; yet there is no true gov-
42 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
ernment on the earth hut the government of God or the holy priesthood. . . . There is no other true government in heaven or upon earth." *
" People have reason to fear a bogus or spurious theocracy. . . . The wickedness of the children of men is what influences them to fear. They are not afraid of their own laws, because they originated with themselves; but when that which is said to be the kingdom of God, or the theocracy of heaven, is upon the earth, many of the inhabitants tremble and fear that it is not correct." f And then follows the argu- ment to show that theirs is the true theocracy.
Higher authority cannot be given — volumes could not make it more explicit — and yet there is scarcely a Mormon publication that is not full of this doc- trine. It runs through sermons, addresses, hymns, prayers, newspapers, catechisms, and Sunday-school instruction, and every channel of public teaching. It permeates all their literature, and is the constant theme of private discourse. We quote from a relia- ble " Gentile" writer, Mr. J. H. Beadle, who has given most diligent application and research in the matter of Mormon history. He says : " It was de-
* " Mormon Journals of Discourses," vol. vii, p. 142. f Ibid., pp. 147, 148.
THE THEOCRACY. 43
dared by the propliet in full tabernacle, that the Lord had given all the mountains and valleys to the saints from British America to Mexico, and from Kansas to California, and the willing were called upon a mission to go up and possess it. ... The boundaries of
or l
Zion were finally defined to be a strip eight hundred miles wide and of the length of the nation. Here was to be the new people on the mountains, as seen in the vision of Isaiah ; here was the little stone cut without hands, to grow and roll forth till it overturned all the kingdoms of the earth ; here the young saints were to grow up l free as gods in mountain air ; ' here a hardy race, uniting both the Nephite and Lamanite (Indian) seed of Israel, was to multiply with a rapid- ity unknown to the barren Gentile, and hot with zeal and glowing in this hope the young missionaries went forth gladly, singing the i battle hymn ' of the Mor- mon theocracy." *
The scheme has never been abandoned, and, failing in other means, those relied upon to-day are immigra- tion and political conquest. Orson Pratt, in his great sermon on "Theocracy," delivered in 1859, reaches some of his loftiest flights of eloquence in the devel- opment of this great scheme, and in advocacy of this
*Scribner's Magazine, March, 1877.
44 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
"kingdom." Omitting his rhetorical passages, and his historical arguments, we present a few statements revealing the theory : * " The form of government given to man immediately after the creation was the- ocratic ; that is, the Creator became the great Law- giver. He appointed the officers of that government, established his own authority, and arranged all things after his own drder, which is eternal. . . . Nearly seventeen long centuries rolled over the heads of the Gentile nations in Asia, Europe, and Africa, and such a thing as the kingdom of God was entirely unknown among them. It did not exist either in a concen- trated or scattered form. Instead of a theocratical "government, or one of divine origin, you could behold nothing but empires, absolute and limited monarch- ies, kingdoms, principalities and dukedoms, repub- lics and heterogeneous masses of conflicting and rev- olutionary elements thrown together. . . . On this western hemisphere the kingdom of God was estab- lished. ... They went forth preaching, prophesy- ing, working miracles, receiving revelations, and ad- ministering with authority divine laws, divine ordi- nances, calling, appointing, and ordering in every de- partment of the kingdom ; inspired officers, holding divine authority to judge, to execute laws, to govern
THE THEOCRACY. 45
in all things according 'to the mind of the King of heaven, whom they saw and whose voice they heard, and whom they obeyed in all the affairs of govern- ment. This was a theocracy indeed — a national the- ocracy established in its pure form. . . . Govern- ments ! Yes, they have multiplied governments upon governments. There are scores of them to be found in Europe, and scores to be found in Asia and Africa of all sorts and forms, from the proud monarchy that crushes the liberty and hopes of millions down to the petty chieftain who degradedly wanders with his little band of fifty, all pretending to be governed by some sort of principles. . . . The kingdom of God could not be set up without calling officers and inspir-. ing men and revealing laws, while this Republic elects its own officers and makes its own laws. The Amer- ican Congresses do not pretend to inspiration. The Speaker, who occupies the highest and most honor- able station in the lower House, is not a prophet. lie does not deliver the word of the Lord as law ; neither does the honorable President of the Senate say, ' Thus saith the Lord ; ' but all the deliberations and enact- ments of that illustrious body are the results of human wisdom. They would not suffer a prophet of God to come into their midst and dictate the laws that should
4:6 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
be adopted by the nation. . . . My object has been this morning to show you the times and the seasons of establishing a theocracy upon the earth, and per- haps to say something of its final triumph. ... I expect a literal fulfillment of that prophecy relating to the saints of the last days arising like a small stone unconnected with the image and disunited from all forms of government, both civil and ecclesiastical. I look for such a kingdom to arise with a separate form of government, and to continue and prevail and pro- gress until the dominion and the greatness of the do- minion under the whole heavens shall be given to the saints of the Most High. I look for that to be ful- filled literally. . . . This mountain kingdom could not be found in the low countries of America, but in some high, elevated region. There is no country that could better answer the terms of the predicted loca- tion sthan that elevated region bordering upon the great Rocky Mountain chain. A kingdom in that high region might well be called a mountain kingdom, and might be thus designated by the inspired Dan- iel. . . . Accordingly, on the 6th day of April, 1830, the latter-day kingdom of God commenced in its organization, consisting of only six members, in the town of Fayette, Seneca County, State of New
THE THEOCRACY. 47
York. "Was this in reality the kingdom of God ? Yes. It was its beginning," etc. *
These statements sufficiently show the purpose of Mormonism, and the doctrine of the hierarchy as to civil government. Every-where it is a " kingdom," a "theocracy." "The only legal government on earth," and superior to all earthly governments.
We proceed to show particularly its attitude toward the Government of the United States. To do this, with any degree of fairness, it will be neces- sary to draw from each period of Mormon history.
We begin with the year 1838, only eight years after the first organization, and nine years before the exodus from the States to Salt Lake Valley. At that time Thomas B. Marsh, first president of the twelve apostles, but then an apostate, made an affi- davit in Eay County, Missouri, from which the fol- lowing is taken :
"They have among them a company, considered true Mormons, called the Danites, who have taken an oath to support the heads of the Church in all things that they say or do, whether it be right or wrong. . . . The plan of said Smith, the prophet, is to take
* "Mormon Journals of Discourses," vol. vii, p. 210.
48 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
this State ; and he professes to his people to intend taking the United States, and ultimately the whole world. This is the belief of the Church, and my own opinion of the prophet's plans and intentions. The prophet inculcates the notion, and it is believed by every true Mormon, that Smith's prophecies are superior to the laws of the land. I have heard the prophet say, that he would yet tread down his ene- mies and walk over their dead bodies ; that if he was not let alone he would be a second Mohammed to this generation, and that he would make it one gore of blood from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean ; that, like Mohammed, whose motto, in treat- ing for peace, was c the Alcoran or the sword,' so should it be eventually with us, i Joseph Smith or the sword.' These statements were made during last summer. The number of armed men at Adam- Ondi-Ahman was between three and four hundred."
"THOMAS B. MAESH.
"Sworn to and subscribed before me the day herein written. HENRY JACOBS,
" J. P., Kay Co., Missouri."
This testimony was corroborated by another of the twelve apostles, Orson Hyde, as follows :
THE THEOCRACY. 49
" The most of the statements in the foregoing dis- closure I know to be true ; the remainder I believe to be true. ORSON HYDE.
" Sworn to and subscribed before me on the day above written. HENRY JACOBS, J. P."
To these affidavits is appended a certificate of seven persons, a committee on the part of the people of Ray County, who assure the world that Marsh was the president of the twelve apostles, that Hyde was one of the twelve, that they had left the Church and abandoned the faith of the Mormons from a con- viction of their immorality and impiety.*
We have chosen this statement, not only because of its early date and high authority, but because it represents so fully the sentiment of the hierarchy in all the subsequent years. Readers of Mormon liter- ature will find in all that has appeared from the suc- cessors of Joseph Smith, whether it be by tongue or pen, the constant echo of these words : " We intend taking the whole United States, and ultimately the whole world.'' Of course the intelligent and crafty leaders of the Mormon people do not expect to real- ize any such wild and absurd dream, but it is the
* " Rocky Mountain Saints," pp. 89, 90.
50 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
means used to slacken the bonds of obedience to national authority and law, and the inspiration used to strengthen their ignorant and credulous followers in their scheme of building up a theocratic kingdom of their own in the mountain country.
This, then, is the openly declared purpose of that Church, in its early history, which so many writers and statesmen declare must receive the protection provided in the constitutional guarantees of religious liberty to American citizens.
From the abundant material at hand we select the following, relating to the early history of the " kingdom " in Utah.
Among the documents on file in the State depart- ment in Washington relating to the territory of Utah are the reports of Chief-Justice Branderburg, Associate-Justice Brocchus, and Secretary Harris, with numerous accompanying papers. These officers were appointed by President Fillmore, on the passage of the act of Congress organizing Utah as a Terri- tory; but on arriving at their post of duty they found such an extraordinary state of affairs existing, to borrow the language of their report, u as to render the performance of our duties not only dangerous, but impracticable, and a longer residence in the Terri-
THE THEOCRACY. 51
tory incompatible with a proper sense of self-respect, and the high regard due to the United States." Associate-Justice Brocclms did not arrive in the Ter- ritory till August 17, and being charged by the managers of the Washington Monument Association to ask of the people of Utah a block of marble or other stone to place in that column as an offering at the shrine of patriotism, he took the opportunity presented by the gathering of the saints a few weeks later, to address them on the subject. We are told further :
" The address was entirely free from any allusions, however remote, to the peculiar religion of the com- munity, or to any of their domestic or social customs. It contained not a single expression of bravado or unkindness, or harsh rebuke, or any sentiment that could have been tortured into a design on the part of the speaker to inflict wantonly a wound upon the hearts of his hearers. His remonstrances against the false opinion that existed, and the hostile feelings resulting from them were calm and dispas- sionate, and in good faith intended to affect the salu- tary purpose of producing peace and concord be- tween the various branches of the Government and good- will toward the United States."
52 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
But the speaker missed his mark. The audience were indignant at this outsider for presuming to lect- ure them upon their duties; and when Brigham Young arose to reply to the unregenerate censor the fury of the people became so intense that they would have torn him to pieces if their inspired leader had not restrained them. He denounced Judge Broc- chus, in the tempestuous manner he was wont to assume, as profoundly ignorant or willfully wicked. He strode the stage with the air of the " Lion of the Lord," declaring himself " a greater man than ever George Washington was;" that he knew more than George Washington did ; that he was the man that could " handle the sword," and finished up with the threat that " if there is to be any more discussion it will be followed by pulling of hair and cutting of throats. I know," exclaimed he, "that the United States did not murder our wives and chil- dren, burn our houses, and rob us of our property ; but they stood by, and saw it done, and never opened their mouths, the scoundrels."
" By this time," says the report, " the passions of the people were lashed into a fury like his own. To every sentence uttered there was a prompt and determined response, showing, beyond a doubt,
THE THEOCRACY. 53
that all the hostile and seditious sentiments we had previously heard were the sentiments of the people."
The officers whose report we are considering were afterward treated in the same manner. They tell us that visiting the Mormon Church one Sabbath (Secretary Harris had ceased to attend, to avoid hear- ing the Government aspersed and denounced), the two judges were invited to take their seats upon the stand.
"Professor" Spencer being the preacher, could not let the opportunity slip to void his rheum upon the federal officials. Among other abusive things, he said:
" The laws and policy of the Government are intended to oppress the poor." And, turning his eyes upon his victims, he further declared : " The Government of the United States is a stench in the nostrils of Jehovah, and no wonder the Latter Day Saints wish it down. We can save it by theocracy, but rather than save it any other way, we'll see it d—d first!"
Worthy successors of the " Second Mohammed ! " But we " must not interfere with a Church nor with the religion of any people."
54 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
This last occasion of Tabernacle worship is like that first attended by Chief -Justice M'Kean upon his arrival in Utah. He said that his presence in the Gentile seats was detected by Elder Carrington, while delivering an harangue, and he soon found occasion to expound the Constitution. Said the holy apostle :
" There is not the dotting of an i or the crossing of a t in that instrument which justifies the presence of these federal officials among us. They hold office by usurpation ; their official acts are tyranny ; and it is an outrage upon American citizens to be made subject to their misrule."
Here Brigham Young broke in to inquire, in pip- ing tones : " Do you love them, Brother Carrington ?" " Do I love them ? " cried the indignant orator ; " I hate the very ground the infernal scoundrels stand upon ! "
The " Journals of Discourses " afford rich reading to the student of Mormonism. "When the saints were a thousand miles from the nearest approach to civ- ilization, and were alone by themselves and expected to remain so, their rulers were bold to speak their sentiments and declare their purposes. No need of repression of views or caution -as to measures then.
THE THEOCRACY. 55
They had gathered in the mountains and founded their kingdom. Their followers were gathering from the four quarters of the earth. They found them- selves well-nigh independent of the Federal Govern- ment, or at least able to control it in their interests by the arts they had learned so well to employ. Their avarice and greed of power and lust — the three predominating principles of Mormon ism — being fed to satiety, no wonder that they were confident of final success in their schemes of empire. So far from their spirit or design weakening, it waxed stronger. Let the following, from Brigham Young, again testify. The sermon was preached at the time of a presiden- tial campaign in the States :
" Each party wishes to elect a president of the United States. We design to elect Jesus Christ for our president. I say, as the Lord lives we are bound to become a sovereign State in the Union, or an independent nation by ourselves. The sound of Mormonism is a terror to the townt, counties, States, the pretended republican governments, and to all the world. Why? Because, as the Lord Al- mighty lives, and the prophets have ever written the truth, this work is destined to revolutionize the world, and bring all under subjection to the law of
56 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
God, who is our Lawgiver. Jesus Christ will be president, and we are his officers, and they will have to leave the ground ! " *
It was in keeping with all this that their people made the 'valleys of the mountains resound with such hymns as this:
" Go ! call on the great men of fame and of power, The king on his throne, and the brave in his tower, And inform them all kingdoms must fall but the one As clear as the moon and as fair as the sun." f
But it may be claimed that these are but the sentiments of a few fanatical leaders, and do not represent fairly either the view or the attitude of the Church.
"We pass, then, to a period twenty years subsequent to the time when Joseph Smith proclaimed himself as "a second Mohammed," with the purpose of taking, first Missouri, then the United States, and ultimately the whole world. In the year 1858 Pres- ident Buchanan issued a proclamation from which we make the following extract, as showing the de- velopment of this " Church," which must be so carefully protected:
* "Journals of Discourses," vol. iv, pp. 38, 40, 41. f " Mormon Hymn Book," p. 274.
THE THEOCRACY. 57
" The great mass of settlers in Utah, acting under the influence of teachers to whom they seem to have surrendered their judgment, refuse to be controlled by any other authority. They have been often ad- vised to obedience, and those friendly counsels have been answered with defiance. Officers of the civil Government have been driven from the Territory for no offense but an effort to do their sworn duty. Others have been prevented from going there by threats of assassination. Judges have been violently interrupted in the performance of their functions, and the records of the courts have been seized and destroyed or concealed. Many other acts of un- lawful violence have been perpetrated, and the right to repeat them has been openly claimed by the lead- ing inhabitants, with at least the silent acquiescence of nearly all the others. THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE LAWFUL GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN so VIOLENT THAT NO OFFICER BEARING A COMMISSION FROM THE ClIIEF MAGISTRATE OF THE UNION CAN ENTER THE TERRI- TORY, OR REMAIN THERE, WITH SAFETY. Indeed, Slicll
is believed to be the condition to which a strange system of terrorism has brought the inhabitants of that region, that no one among them COULD EXPRESS
AN OPINION FAVORABLE TO THIS GOVERNMENT, OR EVEN
58 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
PROPOSE TO OBEY ITS LAWS, WITHOUT EXPOSING HIS LIFE AND HIS PROPERTY TO PERIL."
It was twelve years after this that Brigham Young said to an immense audience in the Tabernacle, the words being taken down at the time and reported to the author by Rev. G. M. Pierce :
" They worried the* life out of the Prophet Joseph at Nauvoo, and finally secured his murder. They tried it on me there, and are now at the same thing here. I have no wish to be troubled in this kind of a way. I give them fair warning now. If any of these so-called officers of the law try to arrest me and bring me before the cussed hounds the Government has sent out here to lord it over us, I'll send them to hell 'cross lots, so help me God ! "
And again :
" All these United States officials are a set of preju- diced scoundrels, and I don't want any more of their decisions ; they'd better be careful, or they'll have to get out of this place — yes, I'll put them out myself — send them home by a short cut." *
It is impossible to turn to any period of Mormon history when such utterances did not abound. They express the ever-living and ever-present spirit of this
* " Salt Lake Videtto," Jan. 12, 1868.
THE THEOCRACY. 59
theocracy toward the United States Government, its officials, and its laws. Lovely Zion ! Fostering trea- son, defying all national law and authority, building up a system of oppression, robbery, and crime, loath- some and foul — " Turkey in America, the dark ages in the nineteenth century " — it is well thou didst find a home in this country ! No other civilized nation would have so tolerated the loathsome iniquity, or produced so many to demand that it be sheltered as a Church and a religion.
But if these copious extracts, show the attitude of the " kingdom " toward our nation during the past, it is still more important to observe its position at the present day.
We go back only five years. The Mormon Church is assembled in " Conference " at Salt Lake City. John Taylor has succeeded Brigham Young in the presidency, and the time has come to declare his sen- timents, as the head of the theocracy, concerning the Federal Government. Accordingly he took the plat- form and said :
"The people of the rest of the country are our enemies. They do not understand us, we do not un- derstand them. We should pray for them, but we must not yield to them. They think we are foolish,
60 THE MORMON PKOBLEM.
and we think they are foolish ; they think we are a pack of rascals, but we have the best of them, for we Jcnow they are a pack of rascals. God is greater than the United States, and when the Government conflicts with Heaven we will be ranged under the banner of Heaven and against the Government.
" The United States says we cannot marry more than one wife ; God says different. We had no hand in the business ; Joseph Smith had no hand in it ; Brigham Young had no hand in it ; I had no hand in it. It was all the work of God, and his laws must be obeyed. If the United States says different the saints cannot obey it.
" "We do not want to rebel against the United States. Rebellion is not on the programme ; but we will wor- ship God according to the dictates of our own con- science.
" We want to be friendly with the United States, if the Government will let us ; but not one jot or tit- tle of our rights will we give up to purchase it.
" I would like the good God in heaven to prevent them from making laws that we cannot keep ; but when adulterers pass a law forbidding polygamy the saints cannot obey it. Polygamy is a divine institu- tion. It has been handed down direct from God.
THE THEOCRACY. 61
The United States cannot abolish it. No nation on earth can prevent it, nor all the nations of the earth combined.
" I defy the United States ; I will obey God. These are my sentiments, and all of you who sympathize with me in this position raise your right hands."
Instantly every person in the hall, save one, raised his hand. Mothers, with innocent infants in their arms, raised their little hands, thus pledging them to treason. The prophet called for the negative, and there was but one hand raised in favor of the law. The vicegerent of God smiled on his fellow-saints, and then raised his right hand with extended fingers, and, bending over, hissed out these words : " There'll ~be plenty of pitching in ~by and ly" *
Why should it be thought a thing incredible that the saints should pull down and dishonor the Ameri- can flag on the fourth day of July of this present year, 1885 ? Or that General Howard should find it nec- essary to warn the chief executive of the nation that there was imminent danger of a hostile demonstra- tion on the subsequent twenty-fourth day of that month ?
When has there been a president, prophet, or apos- * Report in " Salt Lake Tribune," Jan. 10, 1880.
62 THE MOEMON PROBLEM.
tie of that delectable kingdom that has not proclaimed a theocracy and advocated treason ? We have already quoted largely from every president the Church has ever had, from all its chief apostles, and from every period of its development, and we ask the reader if there appears any divergence whatever from the orig- inal idea proclaimed by the second Mohammed ? Church, forsooth ! Rather let it be claimed that the protection of the Constitution must be extended to a band of armed and plotting conspirators against the nation ! Only four years ago Bishop Henry Lunt, of Cedar City, Utah, gave to a correspondent of the "San Francisco Chronicle" the following statement. "We especially commend it to the attention of the people :
" Like a grain of mustard was the truth planted in Zion, and it is destined to spread through all the world. Our Church hns been organized only fifty years, and yet behold its wealth and power. This is our year of jubilee. We look forward with perfect confidence to the day when we will hold the reins of the United States Government. That is our present temporal aim ; after that we expect to control the continent.
"Do not be deceived; we are looking after that.
THE TIIEOCKACY. 63
We do not care for these Territorial officials sent out to govern us. They are nobodies here. We do not recognize them. Neither do we fear any practical interference by Congress. We intend to have Utah recognized as a State. To-day we hold the balance of political power in Idaho, we rule Utah absolutely, and in a very short time we will hold the balance of power in Arizona and Wyoming. A few months ago President Snow, of St. George, set out with a band of priests for an extensive tour through Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Ari- zona, to proselyte. We also expect to send mission- aries to some parts of Nevada, and we design to plant colonies in Washington Territory.
" In the past six months we have sent more than three thousand of our people down through the Sevier Valley to settle in Arizona, and the movement still progresses. All this will help build up for us a political power which will, in time, compel the hom- age of the demagogues of the country. Our vote is solid, and will always remain so. It will be thrown where the most "good will be accomplished for the Church. Then in some great political crisis, the two present political parties will bid for our support. Utah will then be admitted as a polygamous State,
64: THE MORMON PROBLEM.
and tlie other Territories we have peacefully subju- gated will be admitted also. "We will then hold the balance of power, and will dictate to the country. In time, our principles, which are of sacred origin, will spread throughout the United States. We possess the ability to turn the political scale in any particular community we desire. Our people are obedient. When they are called by the Church, they promptly obey. They sell their houses, lands, and stock, and remove to any part of the country the Church may direct them to. You can imagine the results which wisdom may bring about, with the assistance of a Church organization like ours. It is the completest one the world has ever seen. We have another ad- vantage. We are now and shall always be in favor of woman suffrage. The women of Utah vote, and they never desert the colors of the Church in a polit- ical contest. They vote for the tried friends of the Church, and what they do here they will do every- where. Our principles and our institutions spread."
His statement as to the ecclesiastical organization is interesting :
" First, there is a president, and he has two coun- selors. Second, there are twelve apostles. The president is one of them, and there are eleven others.
THE THEOCRACY. 65
Each of them receives a salary of §1,500 per annum. The president wields an authority equal to that of the other eleven. Third, there are seven presidents, designated as the presidents of the seventies. Fourth, come other seventies, with seven presidents over each, and a president over each of the sevens. Fifth, come the seventies, each body of which consists of seventy elders. There are eighty of these seventies in Utah, and they are compelled to report at least an- nually. These constitute the general authorities of the Church. Sixth, is the head patriarch of the Church. This dignity is hereditary when the candi- date is worthy. The head patriarch resides at Salt Lake City, and blesses the people by the laying on of hands. The present incumbent of that sacred posi- tion is John Smith, the nephew of Prophet Joseph Smith. Seventh, there is a presiding bishop, who attends to the collection of tithes. Eighth, Zion is divided into twenty-three stakes, each of which has a president. Each stake is subdivided into wards, and each ward into districts. Each district has a quo- rum of teachers, whose business it is to visit each family periodically, and look after the spiritual wel- fare of its members. Ninth, come the priests and
deacons. In the world the priests preach and baptize, 5
66 THE MOKMON PKOBLEM.
but do not lay on hands. The wisdom of man could never have devised a Church organization like that. Out of a total population of one hundred and fifty thousand there are thiity thousand children in Utah under eight years of age. "We have a Sunday-school organization, known as the Deseret Sunday-School Union, of which George Q. Cannon is superintend- ent ; he is our delegate to Congress. Then we have a perpetual immigration fund, in charge of President Albert Carrington. With this we assist in gathering our converts to these valleys. All nations are here represented."
What lends additional interest to the view of the Church here presented is, the fact that it is composed almost wholly of foreigners. Judge Goodwin, of Salt Lake City, says :
" With the death of Brigham Young the American leadership of the Mormons ceased. Taylor is an En- glishman, Cannon is an Englishman, and almost all the leaders are of foreign birth. The Mormon Church is 3 foreign kingdom, hostile in all its features to a repub- lican form of government ; it is guided and controlled by foreigners, and depends upon foreigners and the children of foreigners for future expansion and power. It is absolutely un-American in all its attri-
THE THEOCRACY. 67
butes. It is a theocracy, managed by a plebeian aris- tocracy, for intellectually the whole organization is of a low order." *
At the present time of writing (October, 1885) the Mormon Conference is in session, and the daily press is teeming with Associated Press dispatches containing its treasonable statements. Its chief officers vie with each other in denouncing the Government at Wash- ington, in proclaiming their renewed hostility to the same, and in defying and threatening its representa- tives among them, particularly the judges who are executing the law ; and they are doing so with an amount of venom and vituperation beyond any thing quoted in the preceding pages. It is unnecessary to encumber this chapter with further utterances of the kind.
But it may be urged that all this is but the senti- ment of the " Church," and that sentiments do not constitute treason in this country ; that we cannot deal summarily with a Church, no matter what senti- ments it may hold or teach. True. But it is not de- manded that the " Church " as such should be dealt with at all. It is only demanded that it be frustrated in the attempt to establish within our borders an
*" North American Review," March, 1881.
68 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
avowedly treasonable system of civil government, ever hostile, both in sentiment and in action, to the rightful Government, and that it be dispossessed of the power by which it maintains a priestly despotism over an entire Territory, to the exclusion, in a great degree, of national authority, and in defiance of the rights of American citizens. Unhappily for the de- fenders of Mormonism, it has not confined itself to treasonable theories and sentiments. There has never been an hour since its organization, in 1830, that the " theocracy " has not been in open antagonism to the nation or its laws. The facts cited by President Buchanan, in the proclamation already quoted, consti- tute more than sentiment; and so also do the main facts of the entire history of the saints. Let us see what is the record of this people " that must not be inter- fered with on account of their religion." Mr. Bea- dle, in the article before referred to, has given a con- cise summary. "We reproduce it here for the benefit of those sympathizers with a "persecuted Church that claims the protection of the nation." It is truthful and accurate in every particular.
" Since Joseph Smith translated the ' Golden Bible' into what he called English, the Church has been engaged in no less than three regular wars with
THE THEOCRACY. 69
States or with the nation, and in minor conflicts al- most innumerable, during which, and the forced marches attendant on them, more than a thousand people have lost their lives. ... If we include neighboring wars, local raids, and extraordinary mobs, the Mormons as a body have been in open conflict with Government and with people no less than thir- teen times ; and that these were no make-believe fights may be judged from the fact that in one mas- sacre in Missouri eighteen Mormons were killed and as many wounded ; while in another, in Utah, a hun- dred and thirty-one Gentiles were murdered !
" Here is a suggestive record : the Latter Day Saints have settled in twelve different places in the United States, and have invariably become embroiled with their neighbors, unless the latter abandoned the vicinity en masse. In New York, while the Church was yet confined to two families, they kept three townships in an uproar with quarrels and lawsuits, and sixty neighbors of the prophet united in a depo- sition that they would not believe him or any of his party on oath. The second settlement was ia Ohio, where the Church had thirty lawsuits with one man, and issued $40,000 in .paper money, which was never redeemed ; and, after a general free fight, the leading
70 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
men fled to Missouri, pursued two hundred miles by the sheriff.
"In their first settlement in Missouri — Jackson County — they came into conflict with the older set- tlers and were driven out after several had been killed on both sides. In Clay County they abode one year, when the inhabitants unanimously ' re- quested ? them to move, and they did so, this time without a fight. Settling in the upper counties they lived at peace until numerous enough to come into contact with their neighbors, when a .general war ensued and they were driven from the State into Illinois. There they had three years of peace, then three years of irregular wrar, ending with their expul- sion at the point of the bayonet. A faction, under James Strang, settled in "Wisconsin, had trouble with the people, and located on Beaver Island, in Lake Michigan. There they came into contact with the lum- bermen, and Strang was killed and his people scat- tered. Another detachment settled in San Bernardino, California, and, after numerous difficulties, abandoned the place and went to Salt Lake. Meanwhile the main body had settled in Utah, where, as soon as they became strong enough, they drove out the fed- eral judges, and went to war with the United States.
THE THEOCRACY. 71
A colony settled in Carson Valley, Nevada, then a part of Utah, about the time it was settled from Cal- ifornia. In two years open war broke out ; the hos- tile armies, under the facetious title of ' civil posses,' encamped over against each other ten days without coming to battle. This conflict was finally settled by the withdrawal of the saints from the country. Meanwhile a colony sent to Lemhi, Idaho, became embroiled with their neighbors and were obliged to leave ; and another on Green River (now in "Wyoming), after a battle with the old mountaineers there settled drove the latter out, and enjoyed pos- session till Johnston's army came. The record pre- sents a uniform course."* Rather active "senti- ments " are these.
Space would fail to record the subsequent acts of hostility in Utah ; sometimes threatening a collision with armed forces, sometimes seeking to secure illegal ends by unwarranted civil processes, and always seeking to subvert federal law and nullify the influence of American institutions. We chal- lenge the world to point to a single year since 1830 when that hierarchy has been at harmony with national authority and law, not merely as regards
* "Scribner's Magazine," July, 1877.
Y2 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
polygamy, -but as regards also the wholesome re- straints that are necessary for the maintenance of federal jurisdiction in the Territories and the indi- vidual rights of American citizens. Public lands have been unlawfully appropriated times without number. Public timber has been defiantly taken in vast quantities. For seven years a reign of terror existed in Utah. It is to-day necessary to keep an armed force within easy marching distance of Salt Lake City ; let that force be withdrawn with the knowledge by the hierarchy that it would not be called into requisition again, and there would very soon be terrific strife and bloodshed throughout Utah.
Now let us suppose that by some means the Meth- odist Episcopal Church had got control of the Ter- ritory of New Mexico ; that every member of the Territorial Legislature was a high dignitary of the Church ; that all local and municipal government was composed of Methodists, to the exclusion of all others ; that it should create monopolies in every branch of business that would practically exclude outsiders ; that it should defy all other au- thority, denounce all national law, oppose all federal officers in the discharge of their duties, interfere with
THE THEOCRACY. 73
the courts to prevent tlie punishment of Berime, rob and oppress the people, and withal set up the mon- strous claim to be the only rightful government on the face of the earth — how many' writers and legisla- tors could be found who would urge in their defense the constitutional guarantees of religious liberty to American citizens? The outraged sense of the nation would demand that its treasonable attitude and prac- tices should be rebuked and its unwarrantable power should be annihilated. And if the Church should, with all its other crimes, practice polygamy to a certain extent, yet that would not be allowed to ab- sorb all interest and receive all attention in the appli- cation of remedies. But the unaccountable and in- credible yet actual fact as to Utah and the Mormon Church to-day is, that with all this history and record before the Government at Washington, it seems to be unconscious of all save polygamy, and fashions its legal weapons against that one crime. It may do so until doomsday, but until the absolute power of the theocratic despotism that is behind polygamy is broken, polygamy will flourish and the kingdom will advance.
In this chapter we have, we trust, adduced suffi- cient evidence to fully establish the proposition made
74 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
in the beginning of the chapter ; and yet not a tithe of that at hand has been used. Before we proceed to the crimes and lawlessness of Mormonism we ask the American people, upon the strength of that already submitted, to brush away the sophistries that have gathered around the Mormon question, and de- mand that their servants at "Washington guarantee and maintain a republican form of government in the Territories — any Church under the heavens to the contrary notwithstanding.
We may fitly conclude this brief "setting forth of the kingdom " (to use a Mormon phrase) by the Mormon battle-hymn of the theocracy :
" 1. Israel, awake from thy long silent slumber Shake off the fetters that bound thee so long ; Chains of oppression ! we'll break them asunder And join with the ransomed in victory's song f Arise, for the time has come Israel must gather home ; High on the mountains the ensign we see; Fallen is the Gentile power, Soon will his reign be o'er, Tyrants must rule no more — Israel is free !
" 2. Tremble, ye nations of Gentiles, for yonder The hosts of the despot in battle array,
THE THEOCRACY. To
"With engines of war shake the earth with their thunder, The bright sword is drawn, and the sheath thrown away. Sound the alarm of war, Through nations near and far, Let its dread tones be heard o'er land and sea, Zion shall dwell in peace, Israel will still increase, Liberty ne'er shall cease, Israel is free !
" 3. Come to the land of the mountain and prairie,
Gather in strength to our home iu the West; Free are her sons as the breeze round the aerie, Birthplace of prophets and home of the blest. Come, let us haste away, Here we'll no longer stay ; Zion, thy beauties we're yearning to see. Saints, raise the heavenly song, Join with the ransomed throng, Angels the notes prolong, Israel is free ! " *
* "Mormon Hymn Book," pp. 89, 90.
76 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
CHAPTER V.
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS
SECOND PROPOSITION : The charge that we here make is, not that a few of the Mormon people have occasionally been led to the commission of crime, but that crime is a part of the Mormon system ; that the priesthood is organized for purposes of lawlessness, in connection with its primary scheme of empire • that the right to commit crimes against society, and crimes of the most atrocious character, in the inter- ests of that scheme, has been boldly asserted and taught by the Mormon leaders j that murder especially has the sanction of the so-called religion • that its prac- tice is even enjoined as a religious duty, and, under certain circumstances, as the only way of saving the souls of men • in short, that the Mormon hierarchy is an organized band of law-breakers.
Let none turn away from this statement with any feeling of incredulity. It would not aid the cause of Americanism in Utah to make rash and unfounded charges. We shall not do so ; neither shall the fact,
CBIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 77
that Mormon ism is defended and protected in this country on religious grounds, deter us from stating and demonstrating the exact truth in the matter. "We simply ask the candid attention of the reader to the evidence that shall appear.
THE EVIDENCE : We cannot, without extending the limits of the chapter beyond what would be proper, enter largely into the details of early Mormon his- tory. A brief summary of pertinent facts will an- swer, in support of which we may appeal to every work that has been written relating to the rise and progress of the great delusion, and also to the local histories of those portions of the country concerned.
It is a fact, established beyond question, that Joseph Smith himself was, in his early life, a " thoroughly disreputable character." The author has conversed with many who knew him well in the early days of Mormonism in Manchester, N. Y., and the uniform testimony is to the effect that he and many immedi- ately connected with him were given to " sheep steal- ing " and other petty crimes. A work recently pub- lished by a member of the famous " Spalding" fam- ily, and entitled " New Light on Mormonism," shows, beyond any possible doubt that remained, that the manuscript which gave rise to the movement was
78 THE MORMON PKOBLEM.
stolen and palmed off upon the world as of divine origin. Tims was Mormon ism conceived in crime and born of fraud.
At the first place of gathering in Ohio the people in the vicinity were kept in a perfect state of turmoil by the depredations of these newly arisen " saints," and it was here that the great scheme of a bogus bank and unredeemed paper money, together with other unlawful and fraudulent plans, was concocted and carried into effect. The history of the saints in Mis- souri is bat little else than a record of crime. Mur- der, arson, pillage of the Gentiles, were constant oc- currences. It was here that the " Danite Band," re- ferred to in the previous chapter, was organized. Thomas B. Marsh, who first revealed its existence, in the same deposition said : " On Saturday last, I am informed by the Mormons, they had a meeting at Far West, at which they appointed a company of twelve, called the Destruction Company, for the purpose of burning and destroying, and that if the people of Buncombe came to do mischief they were to burn Buncombe ; and if the people of Clay and Kay made any movement against them, this destroying company were to burn Liberty and liichmond."
These " Danites," " Destruction Companies/"
CEIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 79
" Lord's Avengers," " Destroying Angels," etc., enter into all Mormon history. Strange officiary of a Church, claiming constitutional protection ! Here in Missouri, war, mobbing, rioting, neighborhood broils, etc., were every-day occurrences, as communism, forgery, and dishonest dealing had been common in Ohio. Mormon writers and speakers are always re- ferring to these days as the time of their persecution. But why such persecution of a Church and a religion? The only reason that can be given why the Mormon Church was driven from one State to another, and finally across the plains and out of sight among the Rocky Mountains is, that its crimes and abominations made it an unbearable stench in the nostrils of society.
Next we have its history in Illinois. Read the proclamations of governors, the records of the courts, the published accounts of the gathering and conflicts of armed bodies, the turmoils and depredations upon property, and ever - multiplying troubles with the people and with the authorities, and then ask : What have we here for a Church ?
One of the most reliable works relating to this sub- ject says :
"Hundreds of licentious villains, cut-throats, and
80 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
robbers made tlieir way into Nauvoo, were baptized into the Church, as a convenient cover for their crimes, and made that their secret head-quarters. Property stolen far up the river, or east of the city, was run through and hastily concealed in the western bayous, or hastily disposed of to innocent purchasers, so that the owners generally found it among the Mor- mons. The criminals were, in many instances, traced directly to Nauvoo ; but, once within the charmed circle, all power to punish them was gone. Their se- cret confederates were ready to swear them clear, and too often the cry of i persecution' was sufficient." *
When we come to Mormon history in Utah we behold a scheme of lawlessness more extensive in its scope, more specific and definite in its purpose, and more unrelenting in its character than was ever true of the Thugs of India.
The facetious term of u milking the Gentiles" expressed the doctrine and duty of confiscating, for the "kingdom," the property of rebellious sin- ners, and especially any thing and every thing be- longing to the Government of the United States. "The tithing system" was but a grand scheme by which the avaricious rulers of Zion absorbed a
* " Mysteries and Crimes of Mormomsm," p. G5.
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 81
large share of the scanty earnings of their credulous followers, and amassed fabulous wealth thereby. The man is still living in Salt Lake City who gave Brigham Young credit at his store for the first pair of boots he purchased after his arrival there ; but Brigham died worth many millions. The following will show how he and his associates acquired their im- mense possessions : While the author was a resident of Salt Lake City, a lady whom he knew to be as reliable as any person living visited his home, and, with tears streaming down her face, made the fol- lowing statement : " My husband came here with $75,000 in gold. Brigham Young has got jt all. He has got my home. I can show his own receipts for $12,000 tithing. I had some mining property ; they are getting that all away from me. I was reared in luxury, but I am working to-day in a kitchen, and my children cry for bread."
The author was also called upon one day to visit a family that was in extreme destitution ; let him, in fancy, be accompanied to that home by the reader of these pages. As we enter the first of the two small rooms, we find it cold, cheerless, and without furni- ture save two beds with scanty covering. There is
no ceiling between the floor and the rafters, which 6
82 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
are covered with. mud roofing. 'Large cracks at the junctions of the walls readily admit the wintry blast. "We step into the adjoining room. It, too, is cheer- less and desolate, with only a few pieces of broken furniture. In one corner is a little fire struggling to maintain its hold upon the bits of board and old shin- gles laid thereon. Around this is grouped a com- pany of cold, shivering, half-naked children. The mother is moving about the room, sad, dejected, and giving evidence of abstinence and want. She has been deserted by her " prince and saviour " for a more youthful and attractive bride. Nevertheless, by great effort she is able to keep her little ones about her. But now, mark you, when she takes her basket of eggs to buy bread for those hun- gry children, one tenth must first go to that pam- pered autocrat who styles himself the "head of the holy priesthood." When she is able to get together a few pounds of butter for the market, that she may buy fuel to warm their shivering bodies, one tenth of it must go to him who builds his hundred thou- sand (Jollar houses for his multitudinous concubines. When by her loom she has earned a few dollars in money, one tenth of it must go to 'that avaricious old man who counts his investments by the million —
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 83
must go to him for the " maintenance of the priest- hood." The merciless grasp of the priesthood upon these poor people leaves no alternative; they must yield this tribute to their oppressors or be put under the ban — which means to be unemployed, to starve, possibly to suffer death.
But in this chapter we charge the Mormon priest- hood with elevating murder to the dignity of a relig- ious duty, and teaching and practicing the doctrine of human "sacrifice for sins. And we will now make good the charge.
It must be borne in mind that the Mormons have never published a complete formula of the faith and doctrines held by them. Those that claim to be such are inharmonious and incomplete. We must rather look for this to the teachings of the priesthood, as found in their published sermons and addresses and other authorized publications. But it is universally claimed by them that these utterances are inspired, and are as authoritative in matters of doctrine as are those of Isaiah or St. Paul. We shall, then, give somewhat copious extracts from the "Journals of Discourses," as showing that the doctrine is not obscure or uncertain. With the Mormon people it is known as the doctrine of " Blood Atonement."
84 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
We begin with Brighain Young. In a sermon preached in the Tabernacle, February 8, 1857, he used for a text one of the divinest utterances of our Lord : " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." He said :
" When shall we love our neighbors as ourselves ? In the first place, Jesus said that no man hateth his own flesh. It is admitted by all that every per- son ]oves himself. Now, if we do rightly love ourselves we want to be saved and continue to exist ; we want to go into the kingdom and enjoy eternity, and be troubled no more with sorrow or death. This is the desire of every person who believes in God. Now, take a person in this congregation who has knowledge with regard to being saved in the kingdom of God and our Father, and being exalted — one who knows and understands the principles of eternal life, and sees the beauty and excellency of the eternities before him compared with the vain and foolish things of the world — and suppose that he is overtaken in a gross fault, that he has committed a sin that he knows will deprive him of that exaltation which he desires, and that he cannot attain to it without the shedding of his blood, and also knows that by having his blood shed he will atone for that
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 85
sin and be saved, and exalted with the gods, is there a man or won*an in this house but would say, ' Shed my blood that I may be saved and exalted with the gods ? J
" All mankind love themselves ; and let those prin- ciples be known by an individual and he would be willing to have his blood shed. This would be loving ourselves even unto an eternal exaltation. Will you love your brothers or sisters likewise when they have a sin that cannot be atoned for without the shedding of their blood ? That is what Jesus Christ meant. I could refer you to plenty of instances where men have been righteously slam in order to atone for their sins.
"I have seen scores and hundreds of people for whom there would have been a chance if their lives had been taken and their blood spilled on the ground as a smoking incense to the Almighty, but who are now angels to the devil until our elder Brother, Jesus Christ, raises them up, conquers death, hell, and the grave.
"I know a great many men who have left the Church for whom there is no chance whatever for exaltation, but if their blood had been spilled it would have been better for them.
86 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
" The ignorance and wickedness of the nations for- bid tins principle being in full force, but the time witt come when the law of God will le in full force. This is loving our neighbor as ourselves. If he needs help, help him ; if he wants salvation, and it is neces- sary to spill his blood on the earth in order that he may be saved, spill it.
" Any of you who understand the principles of eter- nity, if you have sinned a sin requiring the shedding of blood (except the sin unto death), and should not be satisfied or rest until your blood should be spilled, that you might gain that salvation you desire, — that is the way to love mankind. Now, brethren and sis- ters, will you live your religion ? How many hun- dreds of times have I asked that question ? Will the Latter Day Saints live their religion ? " *
Now we insist that the people of this country shall not pass by, as a little thing, this kind of public teach- ing. It represents that " religion " which has for so many years received constitutional protection. It is the doctrine of the Latter Day Saints. It comes from the lips of him whom the Mormon people regard as being the vicegerent of the Almighty. It is not enough to say that such preaching is not common
* "Journals of Discourses " vol. iv, pp. 219, 220.
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 87
with them. It is. We will give a sufficient number of examples to show that it has not been confined to one period or to one man. It is not enough to say that the doctrine is not now practiced. It is at the pres- ent day to a certain extent ; it has made every page of Mormon history red with blood ; and if it is not so commonly preached to-day, the faith of the "saints" with reference to it is found in the expression just quoted : " The wickedness and ignorance of the na- tions forbid this principle being in full force, but the time will come when the law of God wrill be in full force."
In another sermon preached by Brigham Young, he says :
" There are sins which men commit for which they cannot receive forgiveness in this world or in that which is to come ; and if they had their eyes open to their true condition they >-ovld Lv perfectly willing to have their 61ood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins, and the smoking incense would atone for their sins ; whereas, if such in not the case, they will stick to them and remain with them in the spirit world. I know when you heax my brethren telling about cutting people off from /!»<j earth you consider
88 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
it strong doctrine ; but it is to save them, not to de- stroy them.
" It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through the fall, and those committed by men, yet man can commit sins whiclj it can never remit. As it was in ancient days, so it is in our day : and though the principles are taught publicly from this stand, the people do not understand them ; yet the law is precisely the same. There are sins that can be atoned for by an offering upon an altar, as in ancient days ; and there are sins that the blood of a lamb or of a calf or of turtle-doves cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man. That is the true reason why men talk to you as they do from this stand ; they understand the doctrine, and they throw out a few words about it. You have been taught the doctrine, but you do not understand it." *
Again he shouted to the people :
" The time is coming when justice will be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet ; when we shall take the old broadsword and ask, ' Are you for God ? ' and if you are not heartily on the Lord's side you will be hewn down." f
* Tabernacle Sermon, September 21, 1856, f " Journals of Discourses," vol. iii, p. 226.
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 89
At one time there was a disaffection from the Mor- mon ranks, under the leadership of a man by the name of Gladden, and whose followers were called " Glad- den ites." The following is a sample of Brigham's gospel to them and other apostates :
" Now, you Gladdeuites, do not court persecution, or you will get more than you want, and it will come sooner than you want it. Keep your tongues still, lest sudden destruction come upon you. I say rather than that the apostate should flourish here, I will unsheath my bowie-knife and conquer or die. [Great commo- tion in the congregation, and a simultaneous burst of feeling assenting to the declaration.]
" Now, you nasty apostates, clear out, or judgment will be laid to the line and righteousness to the plum- met. [Voices generally, u Go it, go it ! "] If you say it is all right, raise your hands. [All hands up.] Let us call upon the Lord to assist us in this and every good work." *
But at another time he put the whole Mormon the- ory in a nut-shell when he shouted to an immense audience, and, through the official press of his Church, to all the world, these words : "/ live above the law, and so do this people ! " f
* " Journals of Discourses," vol. i, p. 82. f Ibid., p. 361.
90 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
We ask the attention of the citizens of this Re- public to these words ; let our national legislators ponder them ; let them not be passed over lightly by any, for the whole principle of Mormonism is there. Did ever any leader of banditti, or of pirates of the seas, more boldly avow the character of himself, his cause, or his followers ?
During the so-called " Reformation " in Utah (covering a period of seven years), this doctrine was preached almost exclusively. Prophets and apostles, bishops and elders, went forth as flaming heralds to press home the great truth. Especially did one prophet, who seemed to be a sort of a son of thunder among the rest, distinguish himself. His name was Jedediah M. Grant, but he was familiarly called " Jeddy." As he is held to be the brightest of all their shining lights during that period, we may give a few extracts from his sermons, and then proceed to consider the record of events transpiring under the inspiration of such a gospel.
During the time that this illustrious prophet was " counselor " to Brigham, and the " third man in the kingdom," he preached a sermon on the subject of " covenant breakers." He said : " Then what ought this meek people, who keep the commandments of
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 91
God, to do unto them ? i Why,' says one, ' they ought to pray the Lord to kill them.' I want to know if you wish the Lord to come down and do all your dirty work ? . . . When a man prays for a thing he ought to be willing to do it himself. But if the Latter Day Saints should put to death the covenant breakers, it would try the faith of the very meek, just, and pious ones among them, and it would cause a great deal of whining in Israel.
" There was another old commandment. The Lord God commanded them not to pity the person whom they killed, but to execute the law of God upon persons worthy of death. This should be done by the entire congregation, showing no pity. I have thought there would have to be quite a revolution among the Mormons before such a commandment could be obeyed completely by them. The Mormons have a great deal of sympathy. For instance, if they can get a man before the tribunal ad ministering* the law of the land, and succeed in getting a rope around his neck and having him hung up, like a dead dog, it is all right. But if the Church and kingdom of God should step forth to execute the law of God, O, yhat a burst of Mormon sympathy it would cause ! I wish we were in a situation favorable to our doing that
92 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
which is justifiable before God, without any contam- inating influence of Gentile amalgamation laws and traditions ; that the people of God might lay the ax at the root of the tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit might be hewn down.
"What! do you believe that people would do right, and keep the law of God, by actually putting to death the transgressors? Putting to death trans- gressors would exhibit the law of God, no matter by whom it was done. That is my opinion.
" You talk of the doings of different governments — the United States', if you please. What do they do with traitors? What mode do they adopt to punish traitors? Do traitors to that Government forfeit their lives ? Observe, also, the doings of other earthly governments on this point, and you will find the same practice universal. I am not aware that there are any exceptions. But people will look into books of theology and argue that the people of God have a right to try people for fellowship, but they have no right to try them for property or life. That makes the devil laugh, saying, ' I have got them on a hook now; they can cut them off and I will put eight or ten spirits worse than they are into their tabernacles, and send them back to mob them.' "
CEIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 93
On one occasion he urged that unow is the ac- cepted time and now is the day of salvation " in these words : u I say that there are men and women here that I would advise to go to the president immedi- ately, and ask him to appoint a committee to attend to their case ; and then let a place be selected and let that committee shed their blood."
In another sermon he said : "I would advise some of you men here to go to President Young and confess your sins, and ask him to take you outside the city and have your blood shed to atone for your sins." *
As to the outside world} the inhabitants thereof were to receive still less merciful treatment. It was a favorite expression with Brigham that " they should be cut off," at the same time drawing his hand sig- nificantly across his throat; or they ought to be " used up," or they should be " sent to bed," pointing downward to the earth. "Woe unto the unhappy Gentiles concerning whom Brigham made such re- marks in the presence of a member of the Danite band. They were sure to be found at an early day, if found at all, dead ; " killed by the Indians," or from other " accidental causes." For many years it was the open doctrine of the saints that none should be
* " Rocky Mouutain Saints," p. 294.
94: THE MORMON PROBLEM.
allowed to remain in the " kingdom of God " unless he became a subject of that kingdom. " Does the Almighty allow devils to live in heaven?" cries Brigham ; " then why should we allow the dirty devils of the world and apostates to dwell in Zion ? Did not Moses kill an Egyptian and put him under the sand ? " said he ; " and have not we, the only people of God, just as good a right to kill a ' Baby- lonian' arid put him under the sod if the interests of Zion demand it ? "
The "Danite Band" was particularly organized to prey upon the "ungodly Gentile world." A brief account of the organization may be of interest.
A reliable historian, referring to the period when Apostle Marsh made the affidavit already given in a previous chapter, says :
"At or about the time of Marsh's statement, Dr. Avard was in full fellowship with Joseph Smith. He was with the prophet at the house of Adam Black, the justice of the peace, and introduced him to that dignitary. He was subsequently believed by the Mormons to be in the confidence of the heads of the Church. He organized the brethren into companies of tens and fifties, appointed captains over each company, gave signs and grips by which they
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 95
should know each other by day or by night, binding themselves by the most sacred oaths to preserve in secrecy their works of darkness." * After a charac- teristic harangue to the companies about the " king- dom," Avard said :
" My brethren, as you have been chosen to be our leading men, our captains, to rule over this last king- dom of Jesus Christ, who have been organized after the ancient order, I have called upon you here to-day to teach you and instruct you in the things that pertain to your duty, and to show you what your privileges are and what they soon shall be.
"Know ye not, brethren, that it will soon be your privilege to take your respective companies and go out on a scout on the borders of settle- ments, and take to yourselves spoils of the ungodly Gentiles?
" For it is written : ' The riches of the Gentiles shall be consecrated to my people, the house of Is- rael ; ' and thus waste away the Gentiles by wasting and plundering them of their property; and in this way ye will build up the kingdom of God, and roll forth the little stone Daniel saw cut out of the mountain without hands, till it shall fill the whole
* "Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 91.
96 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
earj^L. For this is the very way God destines to build up his kingdom in the last days.
" If any of us should be recognized, who can harm us ? For we will stand by each other and defend each other in all things. If our enemies swear against us, we can swear also. Why do you startle at this, brethren ?
"As the Lord liveth, I would swear a lie to clear any of you ; and if this would not do, I would put him or them under the sand, as Moses did the Egyp- tian, and in this way we will consecrate much unto the Lord and build up his kingdom. And who can stand against us ? And if any of us transgress, we will deal with him among ourselves; and if any of this Danite society reveals any of these things, I will put him where the dogs cannot bite him." *
Thus originated the famous "Danite" society. Its name was derived from the following passage of Scripture : " Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horee heels, so that his rider shall fall backward." Gen. xlix, 17. Brig- ham Young in one place makes this reference to it : " If men come here, and do not behave themselves, they will not only find the Danites, whom they talk * "Rocky Mountain Saiuts," p. 92.
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS. 97
so much about, biting the horse heels, but the scoun- drels will iiiid something biting their heels. In my plain remarks I merely call things by their own names." *
The work of this society appears in every period of Mormon history. With such an organization, backed and supported by the inspiration of the doc- trine just cited, and by the absolute power of an unscrupulous hierarchy, what may we not expect to find ?
A brief review of some of the fiendish outrages of this " Church of Latter Day Saints" will be given in the next chapter.
* "Deseret News," vol. vii, p. 143.
98 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
CHAPTER VI.
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS— CONTINUED.
FKOM DOCTRINE TO MATTEK-OF-FACT : In the year 1876 it was the author's' privilege to deliver a lecture in Salt Lake City, entitled " Brigham Young's Rec- ord of Blood." He did not take the stories of crime that were current and passed from mouth to mouth among the old inhabitants of Utah ; he gathered from reliable histories, from the records of courts, the proclamations of public officers, the charges of judges to grand juries, and from the confessions of criminals themselves ; and he was able to get together a record of over six hundred murders, committed by the Mor- mon priesthood or under its dictation. Of this truly appalling record the " Salt Lake Daily Tribune," of January 25, 18T6, says :
" It is, perhaps, the most severe arraignment of the Mormon priesthood ever made in a public discourse. His facts are gathered from authorities whose credi- bility is not to be doubted, and many of the assassi- nations he so hurriedly recapitulates are still matter
GRIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 99
of notoriety in the localities where the bloody deeds were perpetrated. The Mormon scribes and their jack-Mormon aiders and abettors, of whom John Cod- man is a shining example, have a great fondness for resorting to figures to show that deeds of violence are less frequent in the Latter Day community than in any other pioneer population of equal number. Such a statement is glaringly untrue, as a comparison of figures will show. It is estimated that no less than six hun- dred murders have been committed by the Mormons, in nearly every case at the instigation of their priest- ly leaders, during their occupation of this Territory. Giving a mean average of fifty thousand persons professing that faith resident in Utah, we have a murder committed every year to every twenty-five hundred of population. The same ratio of crime ex- tended to the population of the United States, would give sixteen thousand murders every year, and to the British isles twelve thousand eight hundred murders annually. The records of crime in these two coun- tries show a minute fraction of this ratio.
" But these figures do not show the full enormity of the case. In every country a certain proportion of ignorance exists, which takes revenge upon soci- ety in an outgrowth of violence and crime. But the
100 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
efforts of the Government in all these countries are directed to dispel this ignorance by the diffusion of education, and repress crime by punishing criminals. But in Utah the shedding of blood is urged upon an ignorant and fanatical people, by teachers who claim infallibility, as a religious duty.
" Federal judges and other officers of the law, who have honestly and fearlessly set about the task of bringing known criminals to justice, have been par- alyzed with the discovery that the whole community were in sympathy with these offenders, and that no amount of evidence would induce juries to indict or convict.
" Such was Judge Bradlaugh's experience when he held court in Provo, as the speaker showed in his nar- rative. And such was Judge M'Kean's experience when Mr. Baskin, acting as prosecuting attorney, pro- cured indictments for murder against Brigham Young, Daniel II. Wells, and other chief priests and rulers. Day after day the court-house was thronged with armed and fanatical ruffians, whose object was, by threats and intimidations, to deter the court from pro- ceeding with its duty.
" And at Beaver, at the trial of John D. Lee, the sympathy of the populace was with the prisoner. A
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 101
ewarm of glowering faces was present in the court- room during the trial, threats were made upon the street of violence to the United States marshal and the chief witnesses for the prosecution, and the city of Beaver band serenaded the red-handed assassin in his cell.
" Under such circumstances the tendency to vio- lence is constantly on the increase, and, with the crazy notion dinned into the ears of an uninquiring com- munity at every religious gathering that the whole unregenerate human race is doomed to speedy destruc- tion in order that God's chosen people may attain to universal dominion, it is easy to understand how a fanatical sect may be readily taught to believe that the ' using up ' a few hundred obnoxious individuals is only aiding the Lord in his work, and that murder and spoliation are the most acceptable offerings that can be made to an offended Deity.
" The object of the preacher, as he makes known in his lecture, is not so much to bring the attention of the audience to the long catalogue of crime that reddens the annals of Utah, as to arouse the attention of the American people to the flagitious character of the Mormon priesthood, and the dangerous and blood- thirsty nature of the doctrines they inculcate. Out-
102 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
side of Utah it is popularly supposed that the filthy practice of polygamy is our only social bane, whereas the truth is, that serious and debasing as are the ef- fects of this twin relic of barbarism, this is the least of our evils. So foul a crime could never be toler- ated by any people possessed of a healthy and correct sentiment ; but as this is only a symptom of the re- ligio-moral disease which affects ' this people,' that would die with the restoration of health to the body politic."
The author may be pardoned for presenting at such length an article containing personal allusions ; but it is also a calm and dispassionate review of an appalling page of history, written at the time when, and among the people where, the record of crime had been pre- sented and sustained, and where the most searching scrutiny of all the facts and evidences relating thereto had been challenged.
Suppose as much could be truthfully written of any religious denomination in any of the States, how long would that denomination receive the protection due to religious liberty as guaranteed in the Consti- tution of the United States ? We shall now give a few of these instances of religious murder.
The first to be mentioned is, of course, that most
CHIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 103
horrid and damning of all Mormon crimes — the Mountain Meadows massacre. It is needless to go into the details of the affair here.* A few years ago, at the trial of John D. Lee, first at Beaver and tiien at Salt Lake City, every fact and circumstance relating to it was given to the people.
The heroic defense of the besieged men ; the shoot- ing of little girls dressed in white who were sent for water ; the treachery by which they were all decoyed from camp ; the soul-sickening scenes of that terrible butchery ; the distribution of the spoils and the dis- appearance of the children, were there narrated.
\^liat the writer now wishes to do in relation to it is, to enter his protest in the name of God and of humanity against the manner in which that massacre has been passed over by the American people, for no better reason than that the crime was committed by a " Church" and under cover of religion. There is no question concerning this fact. The testimony at the trials above alluded to, and all the facts of history relating to it, leave no question. John D. Lee acted under the orders of his superior officer in the Mormon militia. No officer in Utah would ever dare to issue orders in a matter of such paramount importance
* See Appendix.
lOi THE MOKMON PKOBLEM.
without authority, which must emanate in the first instance from the head of the Church. At that time the subordination and discipline of all officers of the priesthood, ecclesiastical, civil, and military, was com- plete. 'No act of importance whatever was per- formed without due authority. Besides, it was seen that George A. Smith, " the second man from God and the first from Brigham," visited the towns along the route in advance of the emigrants ; that he called together and consulted in secret with the Church authorities and militia; that these same Church authorities and militia went out immediately to do their bloody work, and at once reported to Brigham Young ; at which his poor soul was stirred to its depths and he wept ! When Lee was first ar- rested, the populace honored and cheered and sere- naded him, and when, on the first trial, he was not found guilty, the Mormon people were wild with
At the time of the trial the author resided in Utah ; and he had it from the very highest author- ity that Brigham Young, being anxious to draw public attention from himself and from the priest- hood, and to fix the responsibility of the crime upon an individual, sent word to the attorney de-
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 105
fending Lee to convey to the jury by some means the knowledge that he, Brigham, desired the convic- tion of Lee. But the lawyer, caring more for his honor and reputation than for the authority of Brig- ham Young, refused. At the second trial, however, no such impediment was allowed to exist, and Lee, the merest tool. of the priesthood, was thrown as a sop to justice, while the really responsible parties to the crime went scot-free, and the American people were satisfied, though upward of one hundred and twenty lives had been taken!
It was altogether the most atrocious crime ever committed in this country ; and after the most thor- ough and patient study of all the facts, and after constant communication for years with people living in the vicinity, the writer entertains no doubt what- ever that the responsibility lies wholly at the door of the three men constituting at the time the " first presidency " of the Church. " But we must not meddle with a Church, nor with the religion of any people ! "
Bill Hickman, commonly called in Utah the <fDanite Chief," in his Confessions presents a list of murders committed by him and his band, at the dictation of Brigham Young, that can scarcely be
106 THE MOKMON PKOBLEM.
equaled in the annals of human atrocity. It is well known that in Utah his statements are received as reliable, and the most common remark there with reference to it is — " He has not told half of what he might tell ; " indeed, these were his own words to the Writer.
From hisTbook of " Confessions " we quote only a few cases. We instance the bloody murder of Hatch, by order of Brigham, who said, " that was a good deed, let who would do it" (p. 83); of "Vaughn," after whose death Brigham said, " Take the property and divide it among yourselves;" of poor Hartley, of whom Hickman says : " I saw Orson Hyde looking very sour at him, and after he had been in camp an hour or two, Hyde told me he had orders to have him used up." He then mentions in detail the man- ner of the murder, committed under the eye of Hyde, and receives his commendation and that of Hosea Stout (p. 97).
Mrs. Smith, who wrote the book entitled " Fifteen Years Among the Mormons," and published fourteen years before Hickman's " Confession," gives a heart- rending account of this deed and of her meeting with Hartley's widow, whom she describes as " the most heart-broken creature I ever saw."
. CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS— CONTINUED. 107
It is almost impossible for one to read the accounts of this horrid murder without being moved to tears. We may mention also in this list the killing of " Yates." Hickman says :
""We met Joseph A. Young, a son of Brigham. He hailed me, and said his father wanted that man Yates killed." He thus describes the killing : " No person was to be seen, when Col. Jones, Hosea Stout, and another man, came to my camp-fire, and asked if Yates was asleep. I told them he was : upon which his brains were religiously knocked out with an ax. He was covered up with his blankets, and left lying in his blood " (p. 124). Of like manner was the killing of "Buck," "M'Neal," "Drown," the poor old man " Arnold," etc. As one lays down the book of Hickman, he can but admire the zeal with which certain legislators and journalists defend the people who "will worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience."
One of the most reliable works on the history of Utah is that of Mr. Stenhouse, entitled " The Eocky Mountain Saints." In it may be found chap- ter after chapter containing the most horrifying accounts of deeds of violence. We can cite but a few cases.
108 THE MORMON PKOBLEM.
On page 298 three cases of mob-violence by ther priesthood are given. The details we do not care to give in these pages. On pages 469 and 470 he speaks of one Jones and his mother, both shot at Payson by order of the priesthood ; of a wife and mother whose throat was deliberately cut to save her soul ; of an elder shot dead in his garden, etc. But the most shocking of the crimes recited by him was the murder of the Parrishes arid of Potter at Spring- field. An old man and his son and one other were about to leave the kingdom. They were decoyed out at night and shot and butchered. The historian says: "The facts of this deed of blood clearly exhibit it as a religious murder ; the details are sickening, and leave no room for questioning why the deed was done — they were apostates."
Judge Cradlebaugh, in the address to the grand jury at Provo which investigated this murder, says : " The court has had occasion to issue bench-warrants to arrest persons connected with the Parrish murder, and has had them brought before it and examined ; the testimony represents an unparalleled condition of affairs. It seems the whole community were engaged in committing that crime. Facts go to show it. There seems to be a combined effort on the part of
CKIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 109
1lhe community to screen the murderers from the punishment they have deserved." *
This same historian gives a detailed account of the murder of one " Brassfield," • and says: "that the shooting was premeditated, and the intention known to others, there can be no doubt. No effort was made to arrest the perpetrator of the crime." f Then follows an account of the assassination of Dr. Kobinson, of Salt Lake City. He had formed an intention of securing the warm springs north of the city, and founding a hospital. The property was highly prized by Brigham Young, and hence the doctor was decoyed from his home at night, and coolly shot in the street. In a sermon in the Taber- nacle soon after this (December 23, 1860) Brigharn Young said : " If they jump my claims here I shall be very glad to give them a pre-emption right that will last them till the last resurrection." Gen. Hazen was sent to Utah to examine into the state of affairs and report to Congress. In his report he labors to befriend the Mormons, but of the murder- of Robin- son and Brassfield he says :
"They were committed under Church influences;
* " Deseret News," vol. ix, No. 4. f " Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 615.
110 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
there are principles taught in that Church leading to such murders." He recommends "the seizure of prominent Mormon officials and their incarceration in the Missouri penitentiary till this and other crimes are by them fully divulged." * But the author supposes that Congress still held to the determination " not to meddle with a Church, or with the religion of any people ; " and so the blood of those murdered men still cries aloud unto Heaven.
Next comes the long list of crimes collected by Mr. Beadle. We can here give only two or three of the cases cited by him.
The first is the murder of that brave, fearless, and independent man, Wallace A. Bowman. The Mor- mon account was, that it was done by the Indians ; but the clear testimony of his companion was, that it was done by the Danites.f While residing in Utah the author conversed with parties who were in pos- session of all the facts, and in the whole record of the crimes of the priesthood he has hardly ever found any thing more devilish. We quote the following also from this work (p. 192) :
" Almon K Babbitt, having quarreled with Brig- ham, started across the plains in 1845 and was mur- * " Yidette," April 8, 1867. f " Life in Utah," p. 170.
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS— CONTINUED. Ill
dered ' by the Indians,' who spoke good English ; and of this case Brigham said : 4 He lived like a fool and died like a fool ; he undertook to quarrel with me and soon after was killed by the Indians.' "
Lo, the poor Indians ! If they were guilty of one hundredth part of the crimes attributed to them by Brigham Young, they would be worse fiends than ever the most rabid Indian hater estimated them to be. They have always been the most convenient scape-goat for the Mormon priesthood.
Mr. Beadle also says: "In 1852 Lieutenant M. Creuzfeldt, the botanist, and. eight of the party, were massacred near Sevier Lake by Indians as then reported ; but soon after escaped apostates said it was done by painted Mormons." Then follows a long list of other crimes which cannot here be noticed.*
Next we have the work of Mrs. Young, entitled "Wife No. 19." We shall use here only two or three of the cases of churchly crimes from the many chapters of the same that it contains. Speak- ing of a cousin that had married a Gentile she says (p. 195):
" My aunt and her husband were devout Mormons, and they grieved over their daughter as one dead. *"Life in Utah," chap. v.
112 THE MOKMON PKOBLEM.
"My uncle, the girl's father, even grew desperate in his despair. He consulted Brigham, arid the proph- et's reply was : i Put Hatten out of the way. It is a sin and shame to have so good a woman dragged around the world by a Gentile.' That was sufficient. In a few days came the startling news that Hatten had been killed by the Indians. He had gone to Fillmore on a visit, from which he was destined never to return. The young wife was almost heart-broken at the sudden loss of her husband, but she did not dream what his real fate was until long afterward. She supposed he had fallen a victim to Indian cru- elty, as the reports told her ; but when, after many years, she learned the bitter truth, she fairly hated the religion that had made a martyr of her husband, and brought sorrow and affliction to her. She could not get away from it, however;" and Heber C. Kim- ball finally got her.
She says further, of the murder of the Joneses of Payson : " One night there was a great commotion in the streets of the town ; pistol shots were heard ; no one dared to venture out to learn the cause. In those days it was dangerous to seek to know more than the priesthood chose to tell. The next morning put an end to the suspense. It was proclaimed every-where
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 113
that the Joneses had been killed, and their dead bodies, shockingly mutilated, were placed in a wagon and exposed to the crowd by being driven through the streets, attended by a jeering, taunting mob, who could not cease their insults though their victims were still in death. There were plenty of women who looked at them and who gloried in their death as a deed of service to the Lord." * She closes this ter. rible chapter, at which I have but just glanced, with these words : " As far as I am concerned, I do not hesitate to say that I believe all these murders lie at his [Brigham Young's] door, and that he will have to be personally responsible for them. His hands are red with innocent blood, his garments dyed with it, and no * atonement' can ever wash out the damning spots." f
Parties in Utah are familiar with the case of three men at Coalville, who were shot on the trumped-up charge that they were attempting to escape ; and of the arrest of their murderers and their examination. They were committed for trial, but upon arriving at the penitentiary they were allowed to go free, stating that "they were men of families; that it being harvest-time, they were needed at home;
* " Wife No. 19," p. 197. \ *>M>i P- 19°-
114: THE MOKMON PKOBLEM.
and if they were wanted by his Honor at any time they could be sent for." *
The Morrisite massacre, where men, women, and children were shot down in cold blood, has become so familiar to the world that I need not dwell upon it. A little company had gathered in the bowery for prayer. Suddenly the voice of supplication was drowned by the roar of a cannon, the projectile from which tore away the lower jaw of a child and the shoulder of a woman. Then the carnage began, and Colonel Burton covered himself with glory by this wanton massacre of the helpless. But I will not describe it at length. It was another of those cases when the brave " anointed of the Lord " drew " his bowie-knife to conquer or die."
It is needless to continue this list. The writer has data enough at hand to fill a volume with these horrid recitals. They are the fruits of the monstrous doc- trines heretofore quoted ; they constitute in part the arbitrary and unscrupulous methods employed by a merciless priesthood in the pursuit of its plan of tem- poral dominion. The author has himself had a share in the experiences of imperiled Gentiles in Utah. While a missionary there, he endeavored to be peace- *"Vidette."
CKIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 115
f ul ; it was for the interest of his work and for his own interest that he should be — but he had entered the Territory for the purpose of assisting in the work of introducing churches, schools, Sunday-schools, li- braries, and the like ; because that was his mission, it was sometimes necessary for his friends to take tire- arms and guard his residence. On one occasion his house was filled with armed men, for that purpose, for thirteen nights in succession. Four times he es- caped attempts at assassination, of which he has per- sonal knowledge, and once was compelled with his wife to face a Mormon mob. He has tasted, at least, the fruits of the " latter day gospel."
Before closing this chapter we present the opinions and statements of certain public men who have been called to administer law and government in Utah.
The first is from the charge, of Judge Cradlebaugh to the grand jury at Provo, March, 1859. After re- ferring to the murder of the Parrishes and of Potter and to the Mountain Meadows butchery, he says :
"At the same place there was another person killed, Henry Fobbs. When here he made his home at Par- tial Terry's, where his horse and revolver were stolen. He made his escape, tried to get to Bridger, was caught, brought back, and murdered, and that is the
116 THE MOKMON PKOBLI;M.
last of Henry Fobbs. No investigation lias been made ; liis body lias been removed several times, so that now, perhaps, it cannot be found." The judge follows with a list of other crimes committed at the instigation of the priesthood.* A few days later, when this same grand jury had failed to investigate these crimes, Judge Cradlebaugh thus addresses them :
" I might call your attention to the fact, that when , officers seek to arrest persons accused of crimes they are not able to do so ; the parties are secreted and screened by the community.
" Scarcely had the officers arrived in sight of the town of Springville, before a trumpet was sounded from the walls before the town. This was, no doubt, for the purpose of giving the alarm. The officers leave the town, and in a short time a trumpet sounds again from the wall, announcing that the danger is over. "Witnesses are screened, others are intimidated. An officer of the court goes to Springville, meets the bishop of the town, asks him about a certain person for whom he has a writ. He [the bishop] tells him he has gone to Camp Floyd, while the fact is the per- son is in sight in the streets. We have here a bishop lying to prevent criminals being brought to justice. * " Deseret News," vol. ix, No. 2.
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 117
Such conduct goes to show that the community there do not desire to have criminals punished ; it shows that the men before mentioned were murdered by counsel; that it was done by authority. The testi- mony goes to show that the persons committing these murders are officers in that community, and that they have been promoted for committing these hellish crimes. You have had sufficient time to examine these cases. More than two days ago you had all the testimony before you in the Parrish case, and, for some cause or other, you refuse to do any thing." *
Ah ! Judge, the " cause " was that first cause of nearly all the crime and human wretchedness in Utah, who sat in the " Lion House " in the midst of his enslaved victims, and called himself the prophet of God, and upon whom the great men of our own land so often waited to " do him homage," as he said.
Thirteen years later Judge Strickland, in the same place, thus addresses another grand jury. After enu- merating a dozen bloody deeds occurring in his dis- trict, he says :
" Gentlemen, there is existing in this Territory a most peculiar and startling state of affairs to which I deem it my duty to call your attention. My neigh-
* "Deseret News," vol. ix, No. 4.
118 THE MOEMON PBOBLEM.
bors, living in the immediate vicinity of an assassina- tion, have said to me, on my asking if they had heard of a man being killed, l We know nothing about it ; no man gets killed in this country who does not deserve it;' and, turning away, went about their avocations without asking who was killed, or why the deed was committed. Gentlemen, the obeying of that peculiar injunction, ' Do as you are told, and mind your own business,' has furnished many a wild beast with a supper of human flesh. Polygamy is the merest nothing compared with the bloody despot- ism which forced it upon and perpetuates it among the people — a despotism so strong that many persons are afraid to make an examination of or make inqui- ries about a murder committed at their own door." *
At the conclusion of the trial of the somewhat noted Robinson murder case in Salt Lake City, Gov. John B. "Weller made the following remarks :
" There are a number of respectable men in this city who dare not go on your streets of a night. Nor are they men who are afraid of shadows. They have shown their courage upon the field of battle in defense of the honor of their country, and would not shrink from meeting any of them single-handed in
* " Salt Lake Tribune," Jan. 12, 1872.
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 119
the light of day ; but they do not choose to meet an organized band of assassins at midnight. Is it not hard that here in an American Territory, over which Congress has complete jurisdiction, citizens who have periled their lives to sustain the supremacy of our laws, are compelled to remain in their homes at night to escape the hands of priestly murderers ? " *
Let it be remembered that these are not the words of partisans, but the official utterances of presidents, governors, judges, and public men of the very high- est credibility. Neither has there been a federal officer in Utah for the last ten years that has not constantly found it necessary to report, in one way or another, the same things, unless we except the very few who have come under Mormon influence.
Now take all the array of facts. The inception and early history of Mormonism ; its early depreda- tions and acts of lawlessness ; the fraud and rapine and plunder practiced up to the time of the exodus to Salt Lake Yalley; the organization and purpose of the Danite band ; the infamous doctrines of blood atonement and human sacrifice for sin ; the unparal- leled record of blood ; the official utterances of public men with reference to the same ; the inhuman spirit
* Stenhouse's " Rocky Mountain Stunts."
120 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
and fiendish cruelty of the system toward apostates and enemies of the faith — and what have we here for a Church f
In all the annals of history can a blacker or more atrocious and appalling record as to any band of law- breakers be found ?
What if all that has here been written could be said of the Presbyterian or the Baptist or the Congrega- tional Churches? The country would not tolerate them. No wasting of sympathy or pleading of " con- stitutional guarantees " then ! But of this great scheme of treasonable theocracy and of lawlessness and crime in the Rocky Mountains, called Mormon- ism, men are found writing and pleading as for a perse- cuted company of religionists, or content themselves with the imprisonment of a leader now and then for six months, or the payment of the paltry sum of three hundred dollars for an act of immorality !
It is not enough, we repeat, that it be said that these crimes are not as common to-day. We have shown what the system is, what its record is, what its purpose is for the future. If some desperate and in- corrigible criminal were abroad, the perpetrator of a hundred murders and the avowed enemy of society every-where, it would not be enough that he should
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 121
not commit a murder every day ; it would at least be demanded that he should be deprived of the power to do harm when a more favorable opportunity should occur, even though he were to go unpunished for the crimes of the past. The Mormon rulers are guilty of more murder and robbery and licentiousness and other crimes than any other set of criminals on earth, and many of them ought to be hung as high as Haman, or else, in all decency, we ought to abolish hanging in this country. Away with all sickly sentiment and talk about a Church and religion ! We appeal to the record we have so briefly outlined.
Let us suppose that all the horse-thieves of the country should gather in Arizona. They assume the government of the Territory, make and administer its laws and conduct its affairs, all in the interests of horse-thieving. If they should shrewdly organize as a Church, adopt certain tenets, and practice certain forms of worship, then how many would urge that " the constitutional guarantees of religious liberty to American citizens rendered them secure, and the mat- ter of dealing with them the most profound problem of the age \ " On this ground, if a band of road agents, in attacking a train, should commence with the doxology, close with the benediction, call it a prayer- meeting,
122 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
and assume the name of a Church, they would be free from all legal interference, and the matter of dealing with them successfully would puzzle the heads of our wise law-makers for half a century.
Judge Andrews, of the New York State Court of Appeals, in a letter to the author, of recent date, well
" I don't think that vice, under the guise of relig- ion, can demand constitutional protection any more than could the devotees of paganism demand that its hideous rites should be permitted in this country un^ der the plea that the Constitution protects freedom of religious worship." Pre-eminently wise and sound opinion ; and yet a company of men whose whole his- tory is one of defiance of law, whose scheme is that of priestly empire, among whose doctrine is that of kill- ing men to save them, and who have offered up upon their altars hundreds of human lives in sacrifice for sin and in furtherance of their purpose — a body of men whose history is darker and more hideous than that of any pagans of which we have knowledge, are left to their own ways for half a century, or are only molested now and then by a trivial prosecution for " unlawful cohabitation."
Away with all this nonsense ! "We submit that the
CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS — CONTINUED. 123
provisions of the Constitution as to religion are not a bar to such stringent legislation as may be needful to suppress this red-handed gang of law-breakers.
All this misgovern raeut and crime exists in a Ter- ritory over which Congress has complete jurisdiction, and where neither the doctrine nor the fact of State- rights stands in the way.
124: THE MORMON PROBLEM.
CHAPTER VII.
A NATIONAL BROTHEL.
THIRD PROPOSITION : With all that has been writ- ten on the subject of polygamy, the people have yet no adequate idea of what exists in the heart of this country. No writer or speaker dare attempt to por- tray the worst features of the system ; moreover, it requires a long residence in the locality where it pre- vails to know it thoroughly. Some facts which prove that the so-called "Zion," so far from being a " Church" in any legitimate sense, is rather a vast national brothel, shall "be fully stated in this chap- ter • and it is our purpose to present such facts as are not very generally known to the public.
Before doing so, however, we beg the reader's in- dulgence while we give, for the benefit of those who have not visited Utah, a brief view of the region where this great evil is located.
Utah derives its name from the Indian tribe inhab- iting it, and signifies, " those who dwell in mount- ains." It is an immense basin, the rim of which is
A NATIONAL BBOTIIEL. 125
composed of the mountains of Oregon extending into Idaho and Montana on the north; on the east and south by the Rocky Mountains ; and on the west by the Sierra Nevadas. The basin undoubtedly once contained a great inland sea. The " bench " forma- tion, a system of water-marks, is found in all the val- leys, while detached and parallel blocks of mountains, trending almost invariably north and south, were, in geological ages, rock islands rising above the waters. The habitable portions of the Territory are a series of valleys extending from Salt Lake Valley on the north, through the Territory to Arizona. On the east of the valleys lie the Wasatch Mountains, the most westerly range of the great Rocky Mountain chain, bold, precipitous, and without timber or vege- tation, save patches here and there of scrubby pines and the mountain shrubbery of the region ; on the west the Oquirrh range, which belongs rather to the Sierra Nevadas.
These valleys are productive in the highest degree — the soil, when touched by water, seeming to cause every thing for the subsistence of man to spring forth almost as if by magic. We say when touched by water, for, excepting on the river bottoms, every foot of land must be cultivated by means of artificial
126 THE MOKMON PJJOBLEM.
irrigation, and without this nothing whatever can be produced. But the frequent storms in the mount- ains, together with the melting snows and the springs and streams, furnish an abundant supply, which comes pouring down in creeks and rivers into the tributaries of Salt Lake— which lake drains all that region for a hundred miles in every direction, and yet has no visible outlet.
The climate is one of the most desirable that can be found in the world. The winters, in the valleys, are very brief and mild. In the spring, until about the first of May, the early rains occur ; after this but very little rain falls till the first of November — an almost uninterrupted period of bright sunshine and blue sky ; and then scarcely a day of disagreeable weather till the last of December.
The atmosphere, like the earth, becomes exceed- ingly dry. An ink-bottle left unstopped is quickly emptied of its contents ; a handkerchief dipped in water and thrown over a line is dry almost instantly ; and meats and fish can be readily cured in the sun without becoming tainted.
The effect of all this upon the atmosphere, as a medium of vision, is most remarkable. Objects thirty miles away do not seem to be more than six miles
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 127
distant, and those six miles removed do not seem to be more than one, of which the writer could give many most amusing instances.
In such an atmosphere the rays of the sun fall ' upon you with intense heat, and the earth reflects them back again with almost equal effect ; but at evening the mountains assert their prerogative, and send down the cool, refreshing air thereof to the re- lief of those who dwell in the valleys.
The natural scenery of Utah is unexcelled. Tour- ists universally agree that no mountains upon the globe furnish grander or more beautiful scenes than the Wasatch range. Some of the canyons of this range seem to have been formed by great convulsions of nature tearing the rocks asunder, and forming passage-ways for the tidal waves of civilization into the beautiful valleys beyond. They are reproduced at intervals of from five to ten miles throughout the entire length of the chain, and present over and over again all the wonders and glories of the Yosemite.
As you enter them you often look up perpendicu- lar walls to heights of six or eight thousand feet. On your right you may see the old castles of Europe reproduced among the very clouds — towers, battle- ments, and domes, lightning-scarred and storm-worn
128 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
— the homes of the storm-kings and the caverns where tempests have birth. On your left is a peak crowned with eternal snow, and yonder is one upon whose brow the winds have woven a misty wreath. Pres- ently a water-fall comes dashing from a height of six thousand feet, and, losing itself in misty spray at the bottom, appears much as if the angels were pouring cascades of diamonds down to earth; while at the next step you may behold a festoon of vines and mountain flowers swinging in the breeze, as though the fairies had strung a hammock half-way to heaven. O, those grand old mountains ! One can never weary in exploring their wonders, or with attempting to de- scribe them when once he has beheld them.
As to the valleys that nestle among these mount- ains, it is not exaggeration to say, that protected from storms as they are by the mountains about them, free from malarial or other unhealthful influences, and setting like gems of beauty in their rugged surround- ings, more desirable places for the abode of man can- not be found upon the globe.
How deplorable is the fact that in the midst of such scenes, and in the very heart of a Christian nation, is located an institution so vile that it might put to shame the condition of things in the interior of Africa. We
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 129
proceed to give some account of American polygamy, as it is lield and practiced in this natural habitation of wonder and of beauty, and which transforms the same into a national brothel.
Aside from the moral aspects of this question, and viewed only in its legal aspects, polygamy in Utah is but one of the crimes in which the hierarchy stands involved.
When, in 1862, Congress enacted a law making polygamy in the Territories a crime, Brigham Young responded by shaking his clenched fist in the air and crying, " I will stuff polygamy down the throat of Congress ; " and for many ^ears he did so in the person of that vilest and most dangerous of all the priesthood, George Q. Cannon, and despite the efforts of anti-polygamists to save the nation from such a disgrace.
"When, a few years ago, the Edmunds bill passed Congress, Brigham Young's worthy successor, John Taylor, shouted in words already quoted, u I defy the United States — there will be plenty of pitching in by and by."
With the supreme contempt for " human law " and for national authority that has always characterized
them, they have to this hour proclaimed their hostil- 9
130 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
ity to courts, judges, officers of the law, and all citi- zens opposing the abomination ; in a word, polygamy is a part of the system of Mormon lawlessness, and properly belongs to their record of crimes.
That it is the foulest social abomination that ever cursed the world or degraded woman shall now be shown.
THE EVIDENCE : The Mormon theory as to the Godhead is, that God the Father has a body like our own ; that he is a polygarnist, having a great number of wives ; that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was one of these, and that he sent her to earth and loaned her to Joseph for a time and^or a purpose; which purpose being fulfilled, he took her back to himself, and that she is now one of his wives again in the spirit world. Much more might be detailed, but is passed over as not fit for publication in these pages, nor indeed in any other, professing even the slightest degree of de- cency, much less of purity and the teaching of good morals.
The doctrine is presented by its teachers under the sanction of eternal damnation. The " revelation " on " celestial marriage " says : " I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant, and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned ! "
A NATIONAL BKOTHEL. 131
In the sermon last referred to Mr. Pratt cried : " It is either polygamy and celestial glory on the one hand, or monogamy and eternal damnation on the other hand, and there is no alternative saith the Lord God Almighty I "
He said that there was only one way of escape in the last day for a man who, having received the reve- lation, had not kept it, and who appeared at the judg- ment with but one wife. He said :
" If, during the life of that man, he had gone out into all the earth and approached every woman he could possibly find and solicited her hand in plural marriage, and all had refused ; if then he had taken his wife with him and she had joined her labors with his and they had both done their very utmost to persuade some woman to come to the rescue and all had refused — then that couple might be saved, ' yet so as by fire.' "
The popular impression that a Mormon can only take as many wives as he can support is not correct. In fact, the Mormon theory is, that the wives should not only support themselves, but assist also in sup- porting their husbands. In the sermon referred to Mr. Pratt again said :
" The young ladies in Zion refuse to marry in the
132 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
Church when solicited, even by our elders and bish- ops, because, they say, they have now, already, all the wives they can support ; and they turn to the Baby- lonians ; whereas they ought to say, ' Yes, I can sew, I can weave, I can raise fruit, and garden produce, and chickens — I can help support you, ye men of God, and I will marry you ; ' so should they become queens in heaven and attain unto an eternal exalta- tion."
One feature of the Mormon doctrine of polygamy, but little understood in the States, is that denomi- nated " spiritual wifehood." To understand it fully, one must remember that in the Mormon faith the marriage relation is of a dual character — it relates to time and also to eternity. To be married simply for time is one thing. Death dissolves that relation. But to be sealed as a spiritual wife for eternity is quite another thing ; death does not dissolve that tie, and the parties thus sealed are to be husband and wife forever. JSTow let it be supposed that A and B are both Mormons, with any convenient number of wives. Among the wives of B is one that A desires to be his. It would at first appear that her marriage with B is a bar to any union with A. But the spirit- ual wifehood scheme obviates the difficulty. For it
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 133
is almost universally the case that a man's own wives are not sealed to him as spiritual wives ; they may, therefore, be sealed to other men. So A proposes to the wife of B, and she consenting, is sealed to him as a spiritual wife forever. Now this last union with A, it is claimed, is more sacred and more important than her marriage with B. Her union with B is of a grosser nature — that with A is spiritual and holy. Her relation with B is for the brief period of this mortal life — her relation ^th A is for all the endless ages of God ; therefore, according to Mormon doc- trine, she is more the wife of A, her spiritual hus- band, than she is of B, her temporal husband. Of course I can only say in print that the scheme answers the purpose for which it was devised.
But when I say further, that men thus marry with families all over the Territory, and that the act is often reciprocal among them, it lets a flood of light in upon " the Church and religion " that is so loud in its demand for constitutional protection. Brigham Young, for instance, had nineteen wives, but it will never be known what a multitude of spiritual wives he had, scattered throughout Utah. In fact, this spiritual wifehood was an element in Mormonism, that preceded by several years open polygamy itself.
134 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
It is in evidence, that long before the pretended revelation on celestial marriage, several of the sisters admitted that they were the spiritual wives of Joseph Smith. Spiritual wifedom was the real parent of polygamy with the Mormon leaders.
~ A still darker feature of this doctrine of polygamy is that infernal scheme known among the saints as " proxy marriage." Let us give as clear a statement of it as it may be proper to do.
To understand it, one must know that the Mor- mons hold that there are a great number of gods; that they are all polygamists ; that among them is Adam, who, it is claimed, is the particular god that presides over this world, simply because he is the father of the whole human family. And they pray to and worship Adam.
In like mariner the head of every polygamous family will eventually come to be a god, with a world and kingdom of his own to rule, the extent and glory of which shall be in proportion to the number of his wives and children. The greater the number of his posterity, the more glorious his celes- tial kingdom.
Now, let it be supposed again that A is a Mormon with eight or ten wives and thirty or forty children.
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 135
One day a prophet or an apostle comes to him from John Taylor, and says : " We have had a revelation from God : you are required to go on a foreign mission ; you will proceed to Sweden and remain, making converts to the faith, for a term of eight years." That is the end of it ; he must go, the same as. the soldier must march when he gets the word of command from his superior officer. But he cannot take his little family of forty or fifty with him on such a missionary tour; and his future kingdom must be more limited, and its glory diminished, because
eight years of his life becomes a total loss, so far
»
as increasing the number of his posterity is con- cerned. Feeling that under these and similar cir- cumstances an eternal injustice would be done a man absent from his family, and doing, perhaps, the work of the Lord, he is represented at home as a husband by proxy — by a "bishop," or one of the "twelve apostles," or some other that the wife might select or the president of the Church or of that " stake of Zion" might appoint for the purpose !
But this is not all of this proxy-marriage business. Mrs. Stenhouse, formerly the wife of a Mormon elder, in one of her books describes how this relation- ship may be extended. To illustrate :
136 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
A's father may have died with but one wife. His glory would, therefore, be very limited in the world to come. But A, as proxy for his father, may, as a dutiful son, have sealed to him a dozen or fifteen or twenty or any number of wives, and beget children by them, and they shall all, wives and children, be accredited to his father in the hereafter. But his duty does not end there. He must not be unmindful of his grandfather, nor of his great-grandfather, nor of his other ancestors as far back as he chooses to go. He may take unto himself wives and raise up children as proxy for them, ad infinitum ! *
Nor is this all. One of A's wives may have been sealed to B, who afterward died. Now C may be- come a proxy for B, and raise up children for him, while A is yet living. Mrs. Stenhouse gives the following case :
" It is well known in Utah that two sisters, Mrs. B. and Mrs. J., were ' sealed ' wives to Joseph Smith, while they were still wives to Mr. B. and Mr. J. To the latter a son was born long after Mrs. J. was sealed to Joseph, and since these two sisters have been in Salt Lake City, the one has added a son and the other a daughter to Joseph's
* "Lady's Life Among the Mormons," pp. 168, 170.
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 137
family register, through the kindness of Brigham Young and Ileber C. Kimball, who became proxy husbands to the ' widows of the prophet,' and while they were yet the wives of B. and J. Subsequently Brigham dismissed Mr. J. from marital relations with his wife, and sent him to Europe with the comforting assurance that he could get another wife, while he (Brigham) continued as proxy to her for Joseph." *
It is unnecessary to go on with these disgusting details. Enough has been produced to show that those who fancy that polygamy in Utah simply means that certain men have more than one wife, have a very limited knowledge of the subject. The fact is, that what few restrictions and limitations as to sexual intercourse exist in polygamous family relations, are completely broken down by these modifications of the system, and almost unlimited license receives the sanction of divine revelation. Well may the Mor- mon rulers boast that there is an absence among them of that form of the "social evil" that exists in the large cities of the States. With them the social evil is domesticated and Christianized, and the " Church " becomes what we have designated it in the heading of this chapter— "A National Brothel."
* "Rocky Mountain Saints," pp. 186, 187.
138 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
The published sermons upon polygamy and the almost numberless essays, discussions, and other arti- cles in Mormon literature, are simply- presentations of the doctrine, accompanied with arguments and appeals. But the most fervid imagination cannot conceive of the utter vileness and obscenity with which the lesser lights in the priesthood preach the same in the ward meeting-houses and in private dis- courses. In the presence of mixed congregations of men, women, and children, the most revolting and disgusting language is often used, and is received sometimes with laughter, as though it were exceeding- ly ludicrous, and sometimes with applause, as though it were convincing and unanswerable. The writer once saw a tract composed of extracts of sermons, by Brigham Young and others, that in the h'lthiness of. the language used would put to shame the vilest denizens of the lowest slums in New York city. Some reporter had taken down the words at the time, and secretly published them as samples of pul- pit teaching in the more remote districts.
Religion is supposed to constitute the highest stand- ard of morals that a people may have. And when their gospel sanctions such a system, and enjoins such practices as the way of life and salvation, it can
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 139
readily be imagined what the result must be with such a population as has been gathered around the standards of Mormon faith. That there are multi- tudes of honest and sincere people in the Mormon Church — indeed, that this is generally true of the rank and file of the Church — the author gladly con- cedes. Nevertheless, they are a credulous and igno- rant people, or they wrould not be there ; they have been gathered largely from the lowest classes in the Old World ; and it is not strange that when their very religion is used as the most powerful means of their degradation, they should descend to the lowest depths. There prevails in every community in Mor- mondom the utmost laxity in the tone of society and in the moral sentiment of the people. The influence of the system pervades every-where, and permeates, in a greater or less degree, all grades and classes among the faithful.
The writer was once present at a social gathering in Provo, composed mostly of Mormons, but with a limited number of Gentiles also present. The con- versation turning upon certain religious discourses that had been delivered by a ward bishop, became exceedingly loose ; whereupon a lady present, re* membering that it might be offensive to those not
14:0 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
accustomed to the ways of " Zion," tossed her head in the direction of the Gentiles, and flippantly ex- claimed :
" Never mind — never mind — this is Utah, you know!" As though that were sufficient to excuse any fact that would not be tolerated elsewhere. She but expressed the ever-prevalent feeling among all circles, "this is Utah, you know," and the expression is a clew to the unrestrained sentiment which such a foul and revolting institution begets.
The reader will ask, "How do these polygamous families live ? " or, rather, " What is the condition of family life with them ? " That depends upon many circumstances.
The visitor to Salt Lake City does not see the worst phases of polygamous life. The wealthier and better classes are largely gathered there, and much of comfort, and sometimes of magnificence and luxury, is to be found in the home-life of these higher grades of believers. Occasionally a prominent member of the priesthood may be found whose wives are in different parts of the Territory. Brigham Young used to boast that he had a wife in every important town in Utah ! and that wherever he went he was never away from home ; an arrangement, he claimed,
A NATIONAL BROTHEL.
exceedingly convenient for a man with the infirmities of old age upon him. "Always an open house and a wife waiting to care for him," he said.
Others locate their wives in different parts of the same town ; others still place them in the long, low, tenement-houses that were once so common in Salt Lake City. These houses were constructed in a pecul- iar manner. They were one-story buildings, divided into small tenements by partitions that had no doors in them. It was said that it was not conducive to the peace and harmony of family life that the wives should be able to have access to each other inside the buildings ; and when they did get together at times, outside, they made it exceedingly lively among them- selves.
But it is not unfrequently the case that all live together under the same roof, and in every sense as one family. Especially is this true of the poorer classes, and in the interior towns and settlements of the Territory. The writer knew a family that lived in such a home as he will now describe : The house was constructed of logs, and contained but two rooms about fourteen feet square ; overhead some rough boards had been placed upon the timbers, making a little loft beneath the roof ; outside a small shed had
142 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
been constructed where fuel was stored in winter, and a stove placed in summer ; and in that house lived a man with eight wives and over twenty chil- dren ! There was a bed in each of the two rooms, trundle-beds beneath, and cots overhead, while some of the children slept constantly in the barn. But this home was luxurious as compared with certain homes that he saw in Utah. Sometimes an excava- tion had been made in a hill and lined with rough boards, a rude door-frame constructed, and a door hung therein containing one or two lights of window- glass, and in such a "dug-out" a man might be found living with one or two or three wives, and all the children. Plenty of such homes may still be found in Utah. The reader can imagine, or, rather, he cannot imagine, what kind of training and discipline prevails in such homes, and what kind of moral in- fluences prevail there. It has been frequently said that the condition of the Indians in the mountains was preferable to that of many of these families — and it is true. The author was conversing recently with a lady, who is the wife of a missionary at Gaboon, on the west coast of Africa, where they have resided many years. Upon describing these Mormon homes to her, she said: "I know of nothing equal to that
A NATIONAL BROTH KL.
in Africa!" But, then, this is a "Church" and a "religion" entitled to constitutional protection in America !
It were an easy task to fill volumes with these accounts of wretchedness and infamy in Utah. We once knew of an instance where a man married a woman, her daughter, and granddaughter, and took the three to the same house to live as his wives. The marriage of half-brothers with half-sisters — the children of the same father by different wives — has occurred, and in fact nothing possible among men has been too vile and degrading to enter into this part of the " latter day religion."
The question is often asked, " Are these people happy ? " They will affirm that they are ; it is an easy matter to obtain the signature of thousands of polygamous wives to any document setting forth the beauty and divinity of the system ; or to obtain a popular gathering to give expression to the same sentiments. One of the ablest and most eloquent advocates of polygamy the writer ever met was the wife of a ward bishop in Provo ; and yet it became known to him that her life was the most wretched, and that she constantly had personal encounters with her associate wives, and sometimes fought them with
THE MOEMO^ PROBLEM.
great ferocity. Mast not her " advocacy " have pro- ceeded either from fear or a debased mind ?
One day a plural wife stopped for a moment at the door of the parsonage in Provo, as she was returning from church, weeping bitterly. She was asked the occasion of her sorrow. Said she: "I have got to take a severe whipping when I get home. Bishop Scott has just said in his sermon, < If your wives do not obey you, beat them till they do ; they will soon give in.' I was so unfortunate as to disobey my hus- band this morning and he is very angry with me. I saw him looking significantly at me when the bishop made that remark ; I shall get a cruel beating — and I suppose I had better hurry along and take it — it will be the sooner over." And yet that woman would defend polygamy before the world. Mrs. Froi- sette, president of the " Antipolygamy Society" of Salt Lake City, has collected some very striking illus- trations of the true character of polygamic life. The following was related at a meeting of that society :
"A neighbor of mine, the first wife of a promi- nent Mormon living at present in Salt Lake City, came into my house some little time ago with her otherwise intelligent and handsome face sadly dis- figured by a black eye. Being aware that the celes-
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 145
tial order of marriage sometimes occasions peculiar occurrences in the household, we refrained from making any allusion to the matter until she apolo- gized for it saying, 'This is one of the fruits of our holy religion.' We asked for an explanation, which was given in the following words : ' You know that my husband has lately married my servant-girl, and they are billing and cooing like turtle doves. Noth- ing in the house is good enough for her, and I have so far forgotten my duties as a Mormon wife as to be unwilling to recognize her as the entire mistress of the house, which, as it happens, is mine and not my husband's ; it and every thing in it was given me by my father. Yesterday she graciously informed me that if I behaved myself I might remain, other- wise she would turn me out of the house. Unfortu- nately I had the audacity to resent this remark, and was commencing to give her a dose of her own medi- cine by putting some of her things out-of-doors, when my husband came home. For this exhibition of -a wrong spirit he whipped me severely, leaving the marks you see. Upon leaving the room he re- marked, 4I am determined to live my religion if it kills us all.' " *
* "Women of-Mormonism," pp. 181, 182. 10
14:6 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
One other illustration of this nature shall suffice to show the domestic bliss of this " celestial " insti- tution.
A son had been born to the first wife of a polyg- amous husband. He developed a wonderful ferocity of nature, became a law-breaker, committed several murders, and was finally lynched by an infuriated mob. The heart-broken mother was visited by an elder of the Church. After a few sympathizing words had been spoken she arose, and, looking the elder straight in the eye, she said :
" ' You are responsible for the fate of my poor boy ; you and the infernal doctrine of polygamy. It was you who persuaded my husband to take another wife, to " live up to his privilege," as you termed it. We had lived happily till that time, but polygamy made our home like the abode of Satan. For months before the birth of that boy I felt as if I wanted to kill his father's second wife, the woman who had de- stroyed our home and robbed me of my husband- s love. Murder, and nothing but murder, was in -my heart all the time. I never looked at her but I wanted to kill her. There were times when I would willingly have yielded up my own life if I could have had the satisfaction of seeing her dead first,
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 147
and by my hand. That poor unfortunate boy has only paid the penalty of his father's sin and his mother's sorrow.' Then, raising her withered hand on high, she exclaimed : 1 1 pray God that the curse of an injured wife and bereaved mother may follow you all the days of your life, for it was you who led my husband into polygamy.' " *
We have said that the Mormon "Church" is a national brothel. Also let it be said, that it is a national slaughter-house of all that is dear and sacred and pure among men; where woman's nature is crushed, and women's hearts are broken, and homes are trampled upon, and sighs and sorrows and tears are begotten.
And yet, as the author writes, these filthy birds of carrion and beasts of prey are gathered together in " Conference " and are howling their defiance at the United States, because, forsooth, a few of their num- ber are being fined three hundred dollars, or are im- prisoned for six months for a minor offense.
Happy ! Of all the heart-broken, God-forsaken looking creatures on the face of the earth a company of the plural wives of Utah are the most so. Home has become to them but another name for hell. Life
* " Women of Mormonism," pp. 203, 204.
148 THE MORMON
lias become to them a season of miseries and agonies. Debasement and pollution and filthiness have become their every-day experiences ; and here in America, this Christian land and boasted Republic, where the people rule and every man is a sovereign, woman is ruthlessly trampled in the dust, a victim of merciless cruelty and lust ! And all because a treasonable and murderous gang of law-breakers and canting hypo- crites have proclaimed themselves a " Church," and have set up the claim in these infernal practices " to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences ! r " How LONG, O LORD, HOW LONG ? "
It should be stated that there are three classes of
0 polygamous wives in Utah.
The first are those to whom the vileness of the system is not distasteful. They are few in number, comparatively, yet they are there. Gathering con- verts from the lowest elements of society, some of this class have been gathered. To this class, also, belong those Mormon women who, having been so long de- based in nature by association with the abomination, have become assimilated with it. Tkese are the bold, brazen, unblushing female advocates of polygamy, who deliver addresses in its behalf at public meet- ings called for the purpose, and who are found so
*± NATIONAL BROTHEL. 149
often in print in its defense. Lost to all sense of the refinement and purity of womanly nature, they join with their polluted destroyers, and praise and advo- cate a cause that has already degraded them in senti- ment and feeling to the lowest depths.
The second class is comprised of those who have been led to believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet ; that the " revelation on celestial marriage " came from God, and that polygamy is a divine institution. By far the greater part of plural wives belong to this class. They are sincere Mormons. They regard Mormonism as a new dispensation of religion, and Utah and the Church as the true kingdom of God. They have suffered more and sacrificed more for the sake of their religion than any people since the days of the early Christians. They know all the degrada- tion that polygamy entails upon them ; they feel all its weight of woe, and drain to the dregs its bitterest cup of sorrows ; but they regard these things as mat- ters of discipline and chastisement, and try to bear their sufferings for the kingdom of God's sake, be- lieving that their " light affliction which is but for a moment," will work for them " a far more exceed- ing and eternal weight of glory." They are waiting patiently for death to end their wretched career and
150 THE MOKMON FKOBLEM.
take them to their eternal exaltation. They are de- serving of all womanly pity and commiseration, and of all the assistance that the strong arm of the Gov- ernment can bring to them.
The third class are those who see polygamy as it really is, who look upon it in its true light, and who loathe it and hate it with all the intensity of hate of which human nature is capable. But they can no more escape from it than the martyr can 'escape from the stake to which he is chained, and where he is to be burned.
They are there, without friends, without money,
with families of children ; the most of them are far
**•
from early homes and associations ; they have a feel- ing that, even could they escape, they would bear the reproach and curse of their degradation among their sisters wherever they might go. They have no other alternative than to suffer; and they, too, are long- ingly waiting for death to open their prison-doors and set them free.* And still the accursed iniquity goes on !
It is doubtless true that more polygamous mar- riages have occurred in Utah during the last ten years than in any ten years previous. Polygamous * See Appendix, " Living It Out."
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 151
Mormonism is effectively pushing its work through- out the Union. In the Western, Eastern, and Middle States missionaries are stealthily at work every day in the year. The most of the Southern States are being districted into Mormon Conferences, and pros- elytes in large numbers are being made continually. In the mission fields of the Old World the success of the work is surprising. There the repulsive doc- trines of Mormonism are concealed, and the poor classes are told that if they will embrace the faith and come to Utah they shall be furnished ready money for the purpose ; that when arrived there land will cost them nothing, and homes next to nothing ; that the earth will cause every thing to abound for their subsistence with but little labor ; that they will find themselves in the "kingdom of God," where God rules, angels minister, and prophets and apostles work miracles, etc. All this is a very acceptable gospel to those who hear it ; they become converts, emigrate to America, put themselves under the rule of the hierarchy, and proceed to " build up the kingdom."
Thus many hundreds of the young girls and mid- dle-aged women of those countries are sacrificed annually upon the altars of American lust. O the
152 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
eternal infamy and shame that come to us because of this unsurpassed and unsuppressed traffic in human virtue and human souls !
The facts are all known at Washington ; good care lias been taken every year that the Government and the people should be fully enlightened. It would be an easy matter for the Government, and for the Churches also, to send representatives to these mis- sion fields and Conferences abroad to make known to the people affected thereby the true character of Mor- monism, and thus dry up at the fountain-head the springs of supply ; but nothing is done. And, worse than all, the dominant hierarchy that holds its seat of power in Utah and sways its scepter over what is al- ready an empire, is left from year to year in almost undisturbed possession of its power. Again we cry, "How long, O Lord, how long?" Ay, the cry is also, " How long, ye American people, how long?"
The people alone can, in this matter, answer their own prayers and work out the purposes of their own will. Neither God nor angels, earthly or heavenly powers, can do it for them.
And let them remember the insolent challenge that John Taylor hurled at the nation in the address
A NATIONAL BROTHEL. 153
already quoted, when he raised his clenched hand and cried : " I defy the United States ! "
We close the chapter with portions of one or two of the hymns of tin's American Church concerning polygamy :
" Is there no hope ? There is ! While men
Rush on from bad to worse, Jehovah speaks, lest all the earth
Be smitten with a curse : He who one talent liath abused,
Hear it I ye sons of men, Shall lose it, and it shall be given
To him who improves ten.
" Through him who holds the sealing power,
Ye faithful ones who heed Celestial laws, take many wives,
And rear a righteous seed. Though fools revile, I'll honor you,
As Abraham, my friend ; You shall be gods, and shall be blest
With lives that never end."
" The time the prophet saw is on the wing, When seven women to one man shall cling, Not for the lack of clothing or of bread, But for a husband — a man — a head I To obviate reproach and share his name, For to be single then will be a shame ;
154: THE MORMON PROBLEM.
For war will strew its victims o'er the plain, And maddened men rush heedless to be slain ; A man shall be more precious in the land Than golden wedges from the Ophir strand.
" If you perchance among the worthies stand, And seven women claim your saving hand, Do not reject the six and save the one, And boast of magnanimity when done."
" Then, 0, let us say —
God bless the wife that strives And aids her husband all she can
To obtain a dozen wives."
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 155
CHAPTER VIII.
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED.
THESE things have not been done in a corner. Ever since the first gathering of the saints in Ohio the utmost publicity has been given to the treason- able designs of the leaders, and also to their career of crime. How much has been done by the nation to restrict the same ?
First of all Millard Fillmore, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed Brigham Young, the head of the openly proclaimed " kingdom," the blackest scoundrel and the greatest villain and crim- inal in all the land, Governor of Utah !
In 1857 an army was sent to Utah to subdue re- bellion, but was rendered ineffective by the diplomacy of Mormon leaders, through whom the Government was outwitted and a substantial victory secured for the Mormon cause. The whole thing proved to be worse than a ridiculous farce.
In 1862 a law was passed by Congress making polygamy a crime punishable by proper penalties ;
156 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
but the courts were left under the control of the priesthood, and the law remained practically a dead letter. If, in 1861, Congress had pronounced against the right of secession and then dropped the whole matter, it would have been a parallel case.
In 1871 the Poland bill was passed, but not until every stringent feature had been amended out of it in the Senate.
Then came the Edmunds bill a few years later, and now in operation as a law. It is aimed solely at polygamy ; leaves the government of the Territory, and all local and municipal government entirely in the hands of the hierarchy, and puts no restriction upon the spread and building up of the theocracy. It was a step in the right direction. It has had a fine moral effect. It is the occasion of a great deal of discomfort to the saints, but does not greatly weaken this treasonable and criminal organization in its steady and unrelenting purpose to establish a theocratic empire. As has already been stated, not more than one eighth of the Mormons are living in polygamy. Then, the law only touches here and there one of these ; besides, nearly all the convictions are for a minor offense ; and, finally, the penalties inflicted are comparatively light. Meanwhile the
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 157
theocracy grows with great rapidity, and the despot- ism and robbery and general lawlessness continue.
Bills have been introduced at every session of Congress containing all needed provisions, only to be kept passing from House or Senate to committees and back again, or to be taken from one House to an- other with amendments, or to be otherwise delayed till the session should close and no vote be had.
Tli is kind of dalliance has been the history of all attempted stringent legislation for Utah for the last twenty years.
National conventions have inserted clauses in their platforms in opposition to Mormonism, and presi- dents have annually referred to the evil in their mes- sages, all to the great amusement and contempt of the Mormon hierarchy.
There is some cause for all this. The press lias, almost without exception, been on the right side of the question. Public sentiment has been a unit on the subject. The facts of Mormon history have been proclaimed from the housetop — and still noth- ing effective has been reached in all these years ! After years of patient study and research, the author has arrived at the settled conclusion that two facts lie at the bottom of all this hesitation and inefficiency,
158 THE MOKMON PKOBLEM.
namely, Mormon patronage in our great commercial centers, and Mormon gold at Washington; and lie will now attempt to justify that conclusion.
Actual facts are the most convincing, and these alone shall be used.
In one of our large cities one of the heavy capital- ists of the place, a public man and afterward a mem- ber of Congress, had promised certain important favors in aid of missionary and Church work in Utah. Suddenly, to the great surprise of all, he withdrew his promise. It was afterward found, that just at that time he secured large contracts and or- ders in his line of merchandise from Zion's Co-oper- ative Mercantile Institution. This squelched him. He had made a little speech at a public meeting on the Mormon question, and, although he had requested the reporters present not to publish his remarks, still his attitude drew upon him the attention of the agents and friends of the hierarchy in that place, and they well knew how to manage him. He was too important a man, and carried too great an influ- ence, to be allowed to stand actively committed against them. The same and kindred methods are pursued in every large city in the Union.
The writer had occasion, at one time, in one of our
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 159
largest cities, to get certain matters in relation to Utah into the daily papers of the city. Two of the papers refused to open their columns ; one consented to publish the facts offered by the non-Mormons, but at so late a day that it could do no good. Finally, one of the principal editors of a fourth paper kindly said to the writer, with whom he had been made ac- quainted by an influential friend : " I may as well tell you that I know that the columns of the city papers are closed for a time to that subject." " That sub- ject " was a correct version of Judge M'Kean's decis- ion in the Ann Eliza Young divorce suit, concerning which the Mormons had concocted and executed a cunning conspiracy to put Judge M'Kean in a false light, and secure his removal from the bench, as shall be more fully related hereafter. The stockholders of these papers had been " seen," at that important juncture of Utah affairs, by the agents of the Mormon priesthood.
Now as to the use of Mormon gold at Washington. We select the occasion of the passage of the Poland bill above referred to. After being debated, amended, and delayed by all possible parliamentary tactics, it finally passed the lower House and went to the Sen- ate during the very last hour of the session. It was
160 THE MORMON PKOBLEM.
there attacked by a senator, who would only withdraw his assaults on it on the acceptance of certain amend- ments, which utterly destroyed its force as against the Mormon hierarchy. The bill contained certain minor provisions which its friends thought best to save ; and rather than lose these, together with the whole moral effect of the measure, the amendments were accepted, the bill as passed was returned to the lower House for concurrence, and finally passed that body in the very last moments of the session. But, as the priesthood expressed themselves with reference to it, " the sting had been extracted by the honorable senator."
It transpired that the senator referred to was the attorney for the Central Pacific Railroad, which road had just received important benefits and concessions from Brigham Young. The road had instructed its attorney thus to reward "the Lord's vicegerent." This attorney was alone responsible for the defeat of the practical measures contained in the Poland bill. It was also a matter of public report that while that bill was pending a draft of $100,000 went from Brig- ham Young to Washington, and was traced in the banks.
The writer was once informed by a man who had been intimate in the councils of Brigham Young, that
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 161
when, at one time, a stringent measure was pending in Washington, a u council " was called, and the mat- ter was discussed. Brigham listened for awhile, and then sneeringly said : " Gentlemen, you need give yourselves no uneasiness on the subject ; I have drawn a goodly draft upon the tithing fund."
One thing is sure. Whenever any effective bill providing for the limitation of the power and govern- ment of the priesthood is introduced into Congress, one or two members in each House are always found to " stave off legislation " by parliamentary tactics or otherwise; and this fact, taken in connection with Brigham Young's public boast, is significant; the boast was, " I can put one hand in one pocket, and then put Congress in the other."
Only one or two influential members in each House are all that is needed to protect the interests of the theocracy. These are always at hand ; and, through their efforts, the much-needed legislation has been de- feated— by delay and by amendments.
We now offer evidence that is still more positive and conclusive :
Mrs. Ann Eliza Young had brought suit in Judge M'Kean's court against Brigham Young for divorce and alimony; averring in the complaint that she was
132 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
his wife. In his answer to the complaint Brigham admitted that he had married the plaintiff, but set up the claim that the marriage was illegal. Judge M'Kean decided that, having admitted a marriage, Brigham must prove in court that it was illegal ; and, until he did so, that is, pending litigation, he decreed that Brigham should pay a certain amount monthly as alimony. The Judge claimed that he could not accept the pleading of Brigham as evidence, nor yet could he take judicial knowledge of current reports; having admitted that a marriage had taken place, the defendant must show, by competent evidence, that it was not legal. The decision was sound beyond ques- tion, and was sustained by each of Judge M'Kean's successors, until the suit was terminated — the only change made by any of them being a reduction of the amount of alimony decreed. But Brigham was dis- mayed. To be obliged to prove before all his people, that polygamous wives were no wives at all, filled him with terror ; but to part with his money made him furious. He refused to do either, and Judge M'Kean promptly imprisoned him for contempt. The Mor- mons were utterly confounded. NevCr before had hope so utterly died within them ; their prophet and leader, who had sworn that if " the officers of the
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 163
law tried to arrest him, lie would " send them to hell across lots," was in prison. The hand of the law was heavy upon them ; the tide of affairs was against them ; and many who had been supposed strong in the faith were beginning to talk of their coming dissolution as an organized power. Judge M'Kean had a grip upon the throat of Monnonism that has never been equaled.
But all at once the message flashed across the wires : " Judge M'Kean is removed."
The Mormons went wild with joy. Loud and long were their triumphal shouts, and they made Utah ring with the refrain :
" The Lord hath triumphed gloriously !
The horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea."
The priesthood had caused the false report to be sent abroad, and took good care that it should be so laid before the Government, and heralded in the press, that Judge M'Kean in his decision had recog- nized polygamy as valid marriage. The non-Mor- mons in Utah burdened the mails and heated the wires with evidence that this was false ; but all to no effect.
Finally, the author, who was then in the States, visited Washington, being delegated by the non- Mormon people of Utah to give a correct version of
164: THE MORMON PROBLEM.
all the facts to the President. He took counsel in the matter with one of the most prominent members of the Senate, who made to him this remarkable state- ment, under promise that no names should ever be given to the public:
"Your visit will accomplish nothing. Nothing that the people of Utah can do will result in any good. I happen to know that Judge M'Kean's decision had nothing whatever to do with his removal. I was with the President when he was visited by Senator
and Senator , and they jointly requested
him, as a personal and political favor, to remove Judge M'Kean and appoint his successor. The President, just at this time, is none too strong in the Senate ; in view of o.ther great public interests he feels that he cannot quarrel with two senators over a Territorial judgeship ; he has removed the judge at their request, and the judicial decision has been falsi- fied to him and to the world as a pretext for the removal."
Subsequent events corroborated the statement.
One of the two senators was the same that secured the defeat of the practical features of the Poland bill, and, as the Mormons put it, "extracted the sting from it." The other had been considered in
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 165
Utah for years as a paid attorney of Brigham Young to look after the interests of Mormonism at Washing- ton. We are not trifling with this matter ; we did not intend to when we began this chapter ; it is no trifling affair. Let none lift their hands in holy horror at these charges; particularly let not the aiders and abettors of Mormonism at the seat of Government affect too much indignation. They might as well understand that the time has come when the American people know that Mormon gold is more potent at Washington in preserving this trea- sonable and bloody scheme of priestly dominion and crime, than public sentiment is to crush it. *
Other agencies are carefully selected by the priest- hood to hold public sentiment in check, and keep it under control.
Able writers are employed to wield their pens in defense of Mormonism, and occasionally in the maga- zines and other current literature their productions appear. These studiously seek to draw attention from the real issues involved in the Mormon ques- tion, and to conceal the enormities of the system. At the time when the Mountain Meadows massacre was under discussion in the press, and the horrid details were being published to the world, one of
166 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
these writers contributed a magazine article in which he justified the priesthood, and charged upon the victims that they deserved death because of dis- orderly conduct while passing through the Terri- tory. It ought to have been enough that these unhappy people were butchered as they were, with- out attempting to traduce them after they had been in their graves eighteen years. Recently this same writer has published a pamphlet setting forth the loy- alty and law-abiding character of the Mormons — and that in the light of their own statements and history ! So, occasionally, newspaper articles are contributed, and sometimes editorial matter appears, manifestly for the purpose of misleading the pubh'c mind. These writers are the paid servants of the hierarchy.
There is still another method employed for this purpose. It was formerly the custom, and it still is to some extent, to keep a close watch of all incom- ing railroad trains; and when men of wealth, or public or literary men, or those occupying positions of public trust came to Utah, they were immediately taken in hand by the priesthood. They were wel- comed to Zion with more or less eclat, according as their prominence and influence might warrant. They were accorded the supreme privilege of a private.
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 167
interview with Brigliam Young ; they were taken on excursions to the mountains, feasted, entertained, and finally sent away with protestations of undying esteem. These men were sure to be heard of after- ward in defense of Morinonism. Possibly it never occurred to them that they could as consistently have become the guests of a bagnio, or been entertained by a gang of burglars and cut-throats.
Besides all these methods, the representatives of the Mormon priesthood are every-where. The writer, while on his lecturing tours, lias found the mission- aries stealthily at work all over the country ; he has been confronted by their elders in unlooked-for places ; he has found that a system of espionage and reporting prevails throughout the land ; no event can transpire in any part of the nation affecting the interests of the theocracy that is not at once known in the secret councils of the hierarchy. The Mor- mon priesthood is one of the deepest laid and most cunningly devised institutions of the kind the world ever produced, and but few have the remotest idea of its vast proportions. The leaders of Mormonism understand full well that they are engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with all Christendom, and they have planned accordingly.
168 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
But, notwithstanding these facts, the responsibility for the existence and perpetuity of this gigantic evil lies upon the people. The Territories are governed by the sisterhood of States. Senators and Represent- atives at Washington are, after all, the servants of the people. They have full power. They could, at a single day's session, repeal every law a Mormon legislature has ever passed, take away their charter, wrest all government from their hands, break down every monopoly, enact healthy laws, and provide for free government in the Territories. Influenced by partisan motives, or hindered by Mormon gold, or led by secret agencies of the kingdom, they may not use the power, probably will not in the future as they have not in the past, unless the people speak ! So long as the masses are content to let the iniquity go on, or are satisfied with a few troublesome prose- cutions in Utah, or rest with now and then entering a feeble protest, nothing will be done. Do but let the people speak as they have done in other matters, and needed results will follow. The passage of the Edmunds bill affords an illustration. Those well in- formed upon the Mormon question knew full well that it was not even a half-way measure ; but it was something. It was thought that it might prove a
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 169
stepping-stone to something more effective ; at any rate it was the best that we could get at the time. Churches and clergymen began to move in the mat- ter; mass-meetings were held in every part of the land ; petitions and resolutions were poured in like a flood upon Congress; the press felt the quicken- ing of the national conscience and the stirring of its blood, and it began to thunder. For awhile the mountain at Washington duly labored, and then the mouse was born! At last we had a measure that would give a little discomfort to a few of these blood-red ruffians of the Rocky Mountains.
Thank Heaven ! And Heaven be praised when the time shall come that the American people shall annihilate this monstrous curse and disgrace !
That time will come when the people begin again to move. Let mass-meetings again be held in every city, village, and town. Let the clergy and others see that they are held. Let the various Christian and philanthropic organizations co-operate. Let the press lead or follow as it may choose — it can choose to do either — but let it move with all its vast power against this enemy of civilization, and again there shall be a stir at Washington.
It is the lasting infamy and disgrace of our
170 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
country that this great theocratic organization of ruffians has grown up and practiced its immoralities and pursued its career of crime in a land ruled by the people.
There is probably no other Christian government that would have tolerated the abomination half the length of time. The Queen's government would stamp it out in a day. The hand of Bismarck would fall heavily upon it. Even Turkey would not tol- erate such an openly avowed treasonable organization, that was plotting the overthrow of the government, and that gloried in an unparalleled record of crime. But in America! boasted land of liberty arid mo- rality, where every man is a sovereign, the accursed thing has been left to advance with rapid strides. And all because the veriest cut-throats in the world presume to say, " We will worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience ! " No, not alto- gether because of that ; because, also, certain of our own citizens join in the sentiment, and say : " We must not interfere with a Church, or with the relig- ion of any people, for the Constitution guarantees religious liberty. We will only seek to strike from the tree a single leaf that quivers upon its branches, namely, polygamy."
THE RESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 171
RECAPITULATION.
Let us review the argument. In this volume we have endeavored to state the Mormon question. It has been shown that it was not a question chiefly of polygamy in Utah, or of religion or irreligion in the Territories, but rather a question of free American government as against that of a priestly oligarchy.
We have seen the unparalleled growth and the present alarming proportions of Mormonism. From its numerical, political, and ecclesiastical strength, and from its vast resources, we have seen how great is the danger that threatens us in the future.
We have reviewed the remedies relied upon to eradicate the evil, especially that which has received the approbation of those best acquainted with the state of affairs in Utah, including three chief mag- istrates of the Union in succession.
We have found the Mormon Church to be a men- ace to free government, and an attempt at a purely theocratic kingdom in this Republic ; that it has been so proclaimed by every one of its leaders from its first inception until the present hour; that this senti- ment has been avowed in its sermons, sung in its hymns, and breathed in its prayers ; while it is also
172 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
the burden of all its literature. We liave traced its open acts of hostility to the Government and its laws at every step, its utter defiance of national authority, and its contempt of federal officers.
We have seen that it was an organized system of crime and lawlessness, created for purposes of fraud and plunder, and advocating and practicing the mon- strous doctrines of religious murder and human sacri- fice for sin; and we have found in connection with it a record of blood that, all things considered, is hardly equaled in the annals of human atrocity.
It has been demonstrated to be a vast national brothel, and a slaughter-house of human hopes, and of all that is dear and precious in human homes. We have seen it perfecting a system of unlimited license in the gratification of lust, while it has mercilessly trampled woman beneath its feet, and justifying its course as the only way of life and salvation, and un- der the sanction of the penalty of eternal damnation.
We have seen the dalliance of the nation with this evil, and have examined the methods and agencies employed by the dominant priesthood to protect its interests and further its ends. Particularly have we seen it raising a million of dollars annually for this purpose, and to propagate its work, and using the
THE EESPONSIBILITY FIXED. 173
same without stint when circumstances have re- quired.
We have inquired as to the responsibility for the existence and perpetuity of the gigantic evil, and have found it to rest upon the people ; and to the people we now submit the question, ask for their verdict, and demand that judgment be pronounced.
174: THE MOEMON PKOBLEM.
CHAPTER IX.
ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES.
THERE is an element in this Mormon question that does not concern the Government, but which con- cerns the Churches very much. It relates to the supremacy of truth over error and of our holy Chris- tianity over the hearts and lives of the unhappy people of Utah.
The first thing that confronts a Christian mission- ary in Utah is the prevalence of an absurd system of religious doctrines — such as the plurality of gods ; the propagation of offspring by the deities ; the pre- existence of human souls ; baptism for the remission of sins, personally and by proxy ; the frequent repe- tition of the ordinance for the frequent sins com- mitted ; Adam-worship ; celestial kingdoms for polyg- amous families ; the acceptance of the Book of Mor- mon (Mark Twain has truthfully described it as " Chloroform in Print "), of " Doctrines and Cove- nants," and of whatever trash a lecherous priesthood may be pleased to pronounce divinely inspired. To
ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES. 175
supplant these errors, and successfully present the pure and elevating principles of religion, is no easy task. You are met at the very outset by the Mor- mon people with the claim that you are as yet in the very alphabet of religion, while they have graduated into the highest departments. The author was once visited at his home by a sincere and zealous Mormon, who came for the purpose of converting him to Mor- monism. He came at early morning and labored faithfully the entire day — we giving up the day to his efforts. He announced his purpose with great diffidence ; his task was " a heavy cross," but he de- clared that " he loved my soul and could not bear any longer to see me perish in the darkness of Babylonish night." I assured him that I respected his motives, had often felt burdened with the same interest for his people, and with the same duty to men in other places. I made him welcome, and one by one we discussed for a whole day the doctrines of the Mor- mon faith. FTe regarded me as being under a great delusion ; and the only argument that I used with effect upon him, was an appeal to matter of fact as regarded the fruits of Mormonism in Utah when put in comparison with the fruits of true godliness in other places.
176 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
Here was a Mormon of far more than average intelligence who would listen to a missionary, but on whom both argument and appeal were entirely lost.
Another illustration was afforded in the great dis- cussion some years ago, in the Tabernacle, between the Kev. Dr. Newman and Orson Pratt, on the bib- lical sanction of polygamy. Beyond any question Dr. Newman made the most of the Bible argument against polygamy, and utterly defeated his antagonist ; but in the estimation of the masses in Utah he him- self was defeated, and for two reasons : first, no argu- ment could have weight with his auditors upon that subject, inasmuch as one cannot argue with fanatics ; and, secondly, because he addressed himself to his audience as he would have done in Washington or New York city. He shot over the heads of his hearers, while his antagonist, knowing the people better, adapted himself to them, and though lame in argument and greatly beneath the learned and eloquent doctor in ability, carried off the palm.
The next obstacle that meets you is the monstrous superstitions of the people. The priesthood claim infallibility, and the people concede it to those coarse, vulgar, and repulsive men. They claim, also, power to work all manner of miracles, and the people be-
ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES. ITT
lieve it. I have heard scores of Mormons relate their experiences in being " healed," and heard them give the most marvelous accounts of miracle-working pow- er. Occasionally the claim involves the priesthood in some difficulty, but the credulity of their victims is usually sufficient to extricate them. "We give a case in point :
A Norwegian had lost a leg. In his native land he was met by a Mormon missionary who told him that if he would embrace the Mormon faith, come to Utah, and present himself before the prophet of the Lord, the lost member should be restored. He be- came a convert, " obeyed counsel," and in due time presented himself before Brigham Young. He told the prophet what had been promised him, and meekly claimed the fulfillment.
Brigham was not embarrassed, but, viewing him for a moment with great complacency, he said : " Yes, my brother, I can restore to you your lost leg. But let us see if it would be wisdom to do so. You believe in the resurrection of the human body at the last day. Yery well. The limb of which you have been deprived will then be restored. If I also should give to you another, that would necessa- rily be a part of you, and would remain — so that you 12
178 THE MOKMON PROBLEM.
would be burdened with three legs forever. What would be to you a temporary comfort would be- come an unbearable burden to you to all eternity ! Go, my brother, and praise God that he has en- dowed his prophet with wisdom above all human wisdom."
The " brother " departed deeply impressed, and stronger in the faith than ever.
As a further illustration of the mental and moral acumen of these people, take the ridiculous supersti- tion as to the " Order of Enoch." The Mormons claim that the Bible account of the translation of Enoch is incomplete ; that when he was taken a large city, known as the city of Enoch, ascended with him, and that a large section of country surrounding the city accompanied the same. They say that this city and adjoining country occupied the place now filled with the waters of the Gulf of Mexico ; that in due time the city with its inhabitants, and all the adjacent territory, shall return to their former place, and the waters of the gulf shall recede into the ocean ; and that all who have joined the Order of Enoch shall then be gathered into the city and live with Enoch in great splendor for a thousand years. The members of this order are to convey all their property, both
ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES. 179
real and personal, to the president thereof, who is also the president of the Church. They are to bind themselves to unpaid labor for the benefit of the or- der. They are to dress in the coarsest and plainest apparel, and live upon the plainest food that will give a subsistence. The entire proceeds of their labor is to go into the treasury of the order, and whatever they require to meet the necessities of life can only be drawn from that treasury upon the order of the proper officer.
. Now, as ridiculous as all this may appear, yet it is only about twelve years since Brigham Young and his associates entered upon a special campaign in Utah, having for its object the extension of the order throughout the kingdom ; public meetings were held in every city, town, and ward ; the greatest excite- ment prevailed, and the " Lord's Vicegerent " came very near getting possession of nearly all the prop- erty of the saints. He undoubtedly would have done so but for the storm of ridicule with which the move- ment was met by the Gentile press of Salt Lake City and vicinity and by the non-Mormon people gener- ally in all that region.
Wow, what can be said of the intellectual status of a people capable of being thus deluded ? In fact, the
180 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
more monstrous the humbug proposed by the priest- hood, the more ready their followers have seemed to accept it. The author has heard so much about the intelligence and morality which Mormoriism tends to promote, that, had he not been possessed of personal knowledge of the facts, he would have been led to believe that the " latter day Zion " was a great im- provement upon the world's civilization ; but the fact that any people can read and then accept the " Book of Mormon" as an inspired volume, is a sufficient commentary upon their intelligence.
In fact, it was only about twenty years ago that the hierarchy introduced a new alphabet, and made the effort to supersede the Roman alphabet altogether ; school books were published in the new character, and children were taught to use it. The object was to cut off their people from all connection with En- glish literature. Utah is wholly indebted to the Mis- sion Churches for free schools, and, in fact, for any schools whatever of reputation and efficiency. The literature of the Church is another indication of the intellectual status of the people. I challenge the most zealous advocate of Mormonism to mention a single book that has been produced by the saints that would be read in any intelligent community. In a
ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES. 181
word, ignorance and superstition are among the most prominent characteristics of the saints.
Still more has been said in praise of the moral con- dition of the Mormon people ; and it has been still more untruthfully said. Such a system as Mormon- ism cannot beget a high grade of moral excellence among any people, still less among the classes that have been gathered as converts from the slums of the Old World. Mormonism breeds immorality as nat- urally and as inevitably as carrion breeds pestilence, or a malarious district breeds fever. It has especially .been claimed that temperance is one of the crowning virtues in Utah. It is not true. Church liquor stores, bearing the sign of Z. C. M. I., with the All- seeing Eye and " Holiness to the Lord " inscribed thereon, can be found every-where throughout the kingdom. The author once saw a prophet, one of their bright and shining lights, standing on a street- corner holding to a lamp-post, swinging a bottle of whisky around his head and calling the saints around him to drink. The next Sabbath he administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at Provo, and, after the service, went into the hay-field to do an after- noon's work.
He also saw Porter Rockwell, one of the Danite
182 THE MOEMON PIIOBLEM.
chiefs, stand upon the street in Provo, and for more than half an hour he shouted at the top of his voice the most blasphemous oaths and the filthiest and most obscene language that mortal ever uttered. He had become enraged by the running away of his pair of horses while he was drinking and carousing in a ho- tel. The saints gathered about him in large num- bers, and laughed and applauded and cheered till the disgusting spectacle ended. And when Porter Rock- well died he was extolled and eulogized by the Mor- mon orators as one of the most excellent saints in all the earth.
There is to-day more of profanity, more of drunk- enness, more of Sabbath-breaking, and vastly more of licentiousness among the Latter Day Saints than can be found in any community of equal numbers in any civilized country on the globe. There has been so much of praise and flattery of the saints, bought and paid for with Mormon gold and published to the world as fact, that it is time somebody told the exact truth ; and I appeal to the non-Mormon people of Utah in support of what I have here written. I have not been describing the condition of things among a select circle of the better class of Mormons in Salt Lake City ; nor the rosy .side of Mormon life
ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES. 183
which the transient visitor beholds, but the general condition as to morals in the Territory.
What adds to the difficulty of missionary labor is, the fact that this condition of things has the tolera- tion, if not the sanction, of the prevalent religion. These people have been instructed by their leaders that they are exempt from the prohibitions of God's moral law, and are at liberty to do very much as they please ; and that the sins and vices in which they indulge are not inconsistent with the way of life, nor displeasing to God as regards his favored people.
But the greatest difficulty of all is, the utter de- struction of all confidence and belief in religion that occurs in almost every case when a man abandons Mormonism.
Soon after Mrs. Stenhouse u apostatized," the writer chanced to meet her on board a railway train. He said to her that he hoped she would find a Church home with some of the Gentile Churches in Salt Lake City. She replied instantly : " Do not mention religion to me, please. It has been the curse of my life ; it has crushed me to the earth and broken my heart ; I do not feel that I can bear to hear it men- tioned for twenty years to come. After a little I
184 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
may feel differently, but for awhile I must have a rest:''
She expressed, I think, the general feeling of apos- tates when they relinquish their hold upon the Mor- mon faith. They cannot for a time turn to any other faith ; all faith is lost for awhile. In the case just re- ferred to, the religious yearnings of the lady's nature revived again, and she found rest at last in the fellow- ship and communion of a Christian Church.
Outside the Mormon Church there is still an- other class demanding the interest and sympathy of the Christian Church; we refer to the Gentiles of the Territory. In Salt Lake City there are, perhaps, about seven or eight thousand. A few are scattered among the valleys of Utah, and the mining towns and camps are populated almost wholly by them. They are men of noble hearts and generous natures, looking with supreme contempt upon any kind of a religious fraud, and ready to assist with their money and in any other way in promoting the work of Christian civilization. If some of them are given to vices and to the reprehensible customs that prevail on the frontier, still they do not at the same time profess to be " saints," nor claim to be the only people of God on earth. They are open to convic-
ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES. 185
tion and are susceptible to Christian influences. The author once held a religious service on the Sabbath day in a drinking saloon and gambling hell in the Oquirrh mountains, and saw his audience in tears as the recollections and associations of other days were revived by the exercises. At the close of the service they voluntarily gave him a collection of one hundred and twenty-five dollars in aid of his school at Provo.
At another time a man who kept a saloon at Provo heard some Mormons concoct a plan to take the writer out of his pulpit on the next Sabbath evening and mob him. Whereupon he gathered some of his associates, went down to the church armed to the teeth, gathered about the preacher while he preached, escorted him home, and protected him through the night. The next morning he said: "Parson, we can't preach and we can't pray ; I am afraid we don't know much about religion any way ; but if there is any fighting to be done, we can do a heap! You go on with the preaching and with the school, and we'll see you through ! " and they did, in many a stormy time afterward. Concerning all these classes —the mountaineers, the miners, the business and pro- fessional men of Utah — the Christian Church bears a heavy responsibility ; it is that of saving them from
186 THE MOKMON PEOBLEM.
the infidelity which the religions fraud in their midst tends to create, and from the vices that attend in a greater or less degree all frontier life.
But, after all, the great hope for Utah in the future lies with the children and the young people. These are more easily reached and benefited. The Christian schools are doing a work, more fruitful for good than any other agency ; and the great demand in Utah is for such schools. If twenty more free schools could be at once established in as many central locations, be manned with teachers who could also hold relig- ious services and perform Christian missionary work, and be abundantly sustained, they would, in the opinion of the writer, accomplish more good than three times that number of churches without schools. What a field in which the philanthropists of the nation may employ their wealth in doing good !
All hail to the noble men and women who have so nobly engaged in the work of Christian missions in Utah ; who have, in the midst of such dark sur- roundings, given themselves to this work. In trials and privations, in sacrifices and hardships almost un- precedented, in peril of life and in dangers seen and unseen, "they "have stood at their posts until their work has at last gained a foothold from which it shall
ADDRESS TO THE CHURCHES. 1ST
«*•
never be dislodged. Let the nation but do its duty, and the Churches of America shall surely reclaim and save Utah.
No work of this kind is deserving of more sym- pathy and aid. Utah is a foreign mission lield come to our own shores. No tedious voyages to distant lands to reach it ; no wasting of years in mastering languages and dialects in order to cultivate it ; but containing all the darkness and sin and wretchedness that exist in any field beyond the seas. Shall there be less of effort to Christianize the very heart of our own country than we would give to the same people were they located in a foreign land ?
The author once beheld a glorious sight in Utali. It was late in the autumn, and what seldom occurs in that country occurred that day — a dense cloud settled down upon the valleys. A little party of us ascended one of the highest mountains, and the cloud was very far below us. The whole earth was completely hid- den from our view, save the tops of the mountains, which seemed to be islands of solid rock floating in mid-air. We are accustomed to look upon the side of clouds that the sun does not shine upon, and only now and then see a silver lining, or at morning and evening the painting of his matchless colors ; but
188 THE MORMON PROBLEM.
4
these heavens were below us. At times it was like a floor of variegated marble stretching away, on every side, to the extent of our vision. At times it was as the mingling of all the colors of a gorgeous sunset, and the cloud, flashing back the rays of the sun, seemed like a sea of glass mingled with fire ; above us was the clear sky. We thought that the angels must have looked upon the scene with admiration. But when we descended again into the valley it was dark almost as night, and cold and drear. We wished that the sunlight above might penetrate the cloud, and flood the valley with its splendors.
Utah is to day enveloped in a cloud of darkness and oppression and crime more dense than that we looked upon from the mountain-top. As the light of our Christian land falls upon it, it reflects back no splendors. It is needed that the burning rays of the Sun of Kighteousness should penetrate the cloud and dispel it. For this may the prayers of the Church ascend, and for this all needed aid be given !
NOTE.— See page ISO.
The following is from Orson Pratt :
" The fleshly body of Jesus required a mother as well as a father. Therefore the father and mother of Jesus, according to the flesh, must have been associated together in the capac- ity of husband and wife ; hence the Virgin Mary must have been for the time being the lawful wife of God the Father. We use the term lawful wife, because it would be blasphemous in the highest degree to say that he overshadowed her or begat a child of her unlawfully. ... It was also lawful in him, after having thus dealt with Mary, to give her to Joseph, her espoused husband. Whether God the Father gave Mary to Joseph for time only, or for time and eternity, we are not informed. Inasmuch as God was the first husband to her, it may be that he only gave her to be the wife of Joseph while in this mortal state, and that he intended after the resurrec- tion to again take her as one of his own wives, to raise up immortal spirits in eternity."*
The theory is further, that Jesus, wnile upon earth, was a polygamist, having many wives, of which Mary and Martha were two ; and that at Cana of Galilee, where he wrought his first miracle by turning water into wine, he was himself mar- ried to another. We quote again from Orson Pratt :
*' One thing is certain, that there were several holy women * " The Seer," p. 158.
190 THE MORMON PROBLEM — NOTE.
that greatly loved Jesus — such as Mary, and Martha her sister, and Mary Magdalene. If all the acts of Jesus were writ- ten, we, no doubt, should learn that these women were his wives." *
The following is from Orson Hyde, president of the twelve apostles :
" Jesus was the bridegroom at the marriage of Cana of Gal- ilee. Now there was actually a marriage; and if Jesus was not the bridegroom on that occasion, please tell who was. We say it was Jesus, who was married to be brought into the relation whereby he could see his seed, before lie was crucified. I shall say here, that before the Saviour died he looked upon his own natural- children as we look upon ours. He saw his seed, and immediately after that he was cut off from the earth, "f
The writer once heard Orson Pratt, in a sermon two hours long, use language like this :
" How blessed it will be in the last day to see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, with all their wives and all their children ; the prophets, with all their wives and all their children ; Jesus Christ and Peter and John, with all their wives and all their children ; Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and you and I, with all our children, enter into the kingdom of heaven, and sit down to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and go no more out forever."
* kt The Seer," p. 159. t " Journals of Discourses," vol. ii, pp. 79-82.
APPENDIX.
NOTE.
THE four stories which follow are founded wholly upon fact. They were written and published some time previous to the preparation of this book for the press, which accounts for any slight repetition of matter contained in the preceding pages.
I insert them in this volume because they afford so clear an illustration of many facts referred to in the body of
the work.
C. P. L.
LIVING IT OUT.
A STORY OF MORMON LIFE.
THE habitable portions of Utah consist of a chain of beautiful valleys, beginning with Salt Lake Valley on the north and extending southward to Arizona. At a point about twenty-five miles below Salt Lake City the mountains close in on either side, leaving only a narrow pass through which comes the Jordan River from Utah Lake, and through which the Utah South- ern Railroad and the general highway to the whole southern part of the Territory have been constructed. Passing through this defile the traveler will find, however, that the mountains immediately stretch away again on either hand, leaving another valley about eighty miles in length by thirty wide. This is by far the most lovely part of Utah. On its eastern side rises the bold and precipitous Wasatch range, while on its western side may be seen the more acces- sible summits of the Oquirrh mountains. In its very
center lies Utah Lake, a body of fresh water about 13
194 THE MOKMON PKOBLEM — APPENDIX.
thirty miles in length by seven in width, abounding in the finest California mountain trout, and affording a place of rendezvous for the innumerable flocks of ducks, wild geese, brant, and other water-fowl of that region. The surface of the valley is as smocth and level as that of the lake itself, except that from either side there is a gentle slope toward the center, by which the great abundance of water coming from the mountains is easily utilized in irrigating the land. The soil is thus made productive in the highest de- gree ; fruits of great variety, and exceedingly rich and delicious, abounjl ; the little farms of the Mor- .mon settlers yield, with but little cultivation, bounti- ful crops of wrheat, rye, barley, and potatoes, while the foot-hills of the mountains afford ample pastur- age for immense flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. There is probably no spot on the globe where a more desirable climate can be found, and certainly none where a greater variety of grand and beautiful scenery may be enjoyed. Viewed from some one of the high peaks of the Wasatch mountains, it presents a scene of inexpressible loveliness, and seems almost like a patch of the " sweet fields of living green " with their " rivers of delight " let down from paradise to earth.
LIVING IT OUT. 195
The valley contains about twenty thousand souls, of which, at the time the events here related occurred, not more than one hundred were non-Mormons. These were located chiefly in the " cities " of Ameri- can Fork, Provo, Springville, Spanish Fork, and Pay- son, owning and cultivating the lands from these cen- tral points, while a few of the farming population resided upon their farms, and were scattered here and there at considerable distances from each other.
In the midst of these surroundings some of the darkest deeds in Mormon history have been perpe- trated. It was in this valley that the Aiken brothers were shot " till every muscle in their bodies ceased to quiver" — one of the most atrocious of Mormon murders, an account of which, gathered from reliable sources, I propose soon to give to the world. It was at Provo that one Brown was riddled with buck-shot as he walked the street, not more than a block from my own residence, his offense being insubordination to the priesthood. It was here, also, that poor Carter, with whom I was intimately acquainted, was hunted to his death for having knowledge of damaging facts concerning Mormon citizens, of which it was sup- posed that he was willing to testify in a court of jus- tice. Here also the Parrish family were slain, the
196 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
exact spot where they met their death, as well as the manner of their taking off, having!) een described to me by an old apostate Mormon. At Spring ville, six miles farther south, the Potters were killed in " blood atonement" for their sin ; and at Payson, twrelve miles still farther south, one Jones was murdered, and his uncoffined body dragged through the streets in a wagon surrounded by a hooting mob, as related in the book of Mrs. Ann Eliza Young. It was of this beautiful valley that an old " apostate " Mormon said to me, after I had delivered a lecture on u Brigham Young's Record of Blood : " " Young man, you may read every book, search the records of courts, review the proclamations of public officers, get the confes- sions of criminals themselves, and ransack creation for facts — but if the sage brush fields and canyons around us could speak, they would tell of deeds of blood of which the world will never know."
I had taken up my residence at Provo, and under great difficulties had begun the work of establishing in the valley churches, schools, libraries, and other appliances of Christian civilization, as others were doing in other parts of the Territory. It was about the time that the appalling facts concerning the Mountain Meadows massacre first began to appear in
LIVING IT OCT. 197
the newspapers, and public opinion in the States was somewhat stirred against the Mormons, and the lead- ers and rulers in the Church felt that it would not answer to add to their record of crime by further "cutting off" those who would not submit to them. Their policy was rather to make our work so hard and difficult of success that we should become dis- couraged, abandon it, and leave the Territory. Par- ticularly did they use their utmost endeavors to excite the people to the highest degree of bitterness and prejudice against us; so that while we did not hesi- tate, and indeed found it absolutely necessary, to deal unsparingly with the monstrous system of crime and outrage which had so long protected itself under the name of religion ; yet we also found it necessary to use great caution in antagonizing the home life that prevailed around us, lest we should defeat the end we sought of bringing upon these homes Chris- tianizing influences. Nevertheless, occasions would arise when it was not in human nature to be silent, and when, come what would, one could not be inact- ive. It was of such an occasion that I propose now to give an account.
I had gone up the valley to Payson for the purpose of holding my first religious service in that town.
198 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
Indeed, it was the first service of any kind other than that of the Mormon Church, ever held there. I was accompanied from Provo by my wife and a party of four or five ladies and gentlemen who were to assist in the meeting that it was proposed to hold, and whose presence it was thought would be a protection to me, particularly as one of them was a judge of the Supreme Court of Utah. The meeting was to be held in a hall owned by an " apostate," who had pur- chased it for the express purpose of affording a place of gathering for those who might wish at any time *to meet in the interests of Americanism in Utah. As we arrived about an hour before the time ap- pointed for the service, we availed ourselves of the parlors of a little Mormon hotel that stood just across the street from the hall.
While waiting here for the hour to pass, I saw a woman frequently approach the window from the outside and earnestly watch our little party, carefully scanning each person in turn, and who, when found that she was observed, would dodge out of sight for a time, only to come again after a few minutes had elapsed. As more or less of excitement and interest had been awakened in the town by this appointment, I thought it could be nothing more than curiosity
LIVING IT OUT. 199
aroused in the mind of some Mormon woman to see a party of " Gentiles," and especially a Gentile preacher, who had visited the place for the purpose announced.
At last the time arrived for us to go to the hall, and I arose and stepped from the parlor, when the woman whom I had noticed entered the front door and approached me in an excited manner, asking if I was the " preacher." I answered that I was. "Well," said she, "I desire a short interview with you and your party: I must see you and tell you what I have to say, or I shall die."
I said : " My good woman, what you ask is impos- sible. This is our first visit to your town; this is the first meeting of the kind ever held here; it is now time to commence the service ; the Mormon people are somewhat excited and curious, and their eyes are upon us from every quarter ; at the close of the service the carriage will be in waiting at the door to convey us immediately to Provo; we cannot attend to any matter at this time, save the work we came to perform."
" I tell you," said she, " that I must see you, or I shall die," and, as a look of piteous appeal came into her face she cried, " I ask you to save my life, and
200 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
perhaps my soul. If I cannot see you here I must come to Provo to-morrow. I must have assistance from some source or I am lost ; I can't live and I wont live, and in all this world I have no friend to help me." She had caught hold of my coat with both her hands; the tears were streaming down her face ; she was evidently in the deepest distress, and, turning to the ladies of our party, she appealed most earnestly to them for sympathy and aid. We finally agreed to meet her the next day at the parsonage in Provo.
At the conclusion of our service we started im- mediately for our home in that Mormon stronghold. Our meeting had been successful ; we were in the best of spirits ; the night was exquisitely fine ; there had not been a cloud in that sky for many months :
" The moon's silver hair lay uncurled, Down the broad-breasted mountains away."
The cool delicious air, entirely free from moisture and untainted by any malarial or other poisonous exhalation from mother earth, was most exhilarating ; but a little distance away the grand old mountains stood, like sentinels to some and prison walls to others in that valley, but with hearts of gold and
LIVING IT OUT. 201
veins of silver, and sending down refreshing currents of atmosphere to all, were a constant source of inspi- ration and blessing. Notwithstanding all this, I could see but little else than that piteous, friendless, heart- broken look of appeal ; could hear but little save that cry of distress : " I ask you to save my life, and per- haps my soul." The woman became the theme of our conversation, as she was the object of our interest and curiosity.
We assembled the next day at the parsonage at the appointed hour, and Awaited the arrival of the stage. It came in due season, and the woman alighted and entered the house. We had now a better opportu- nity of observing her. She was very plainly dressed, but womanly in her bearing. She was avidently about forty years of age, and her countenance, and especially her eye, indicated more than average intel- ligence ; but there was a look of utter misery blended with that of some fierce resolution in her face. Presently she said :
" I have come eighteen miles to-day to tell you my story, and to ask if there is any help for me. Twenty years ago I lived in Illinois. I was an only daughter, and without other near relatives than my father and mother, who have both since died. I married a gen-
202 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
tleman whom I had known for several years. He had previously embraced the Mormon faith, and pro- posed to come to Utah. My parents bitterly opposed my marriage. But I loved this man. I would have married him if he had became a Mohammedan. I would have married him to go to the ends of the earth writh him. I would have married him if all the earth had cursed me for it. I exacted of him only one promise, namely, that while I lived he should never take another wife. He solemnly gave me the promise before God, and I would have trusted him if all the angels of heaven had told me that he would break it. For nineteen years he kept it. I had no reason to regret my course. He cared for me ten- derly and I was very happy. But about a year ago, the blow that falls cooner or later upon so many trusting hearts, fell upon me. I think it was in part the debasing influence of his religion, of the prevail- ing state of society, and of the general wickedness of this unhappy Territory. Still I think he would have withstood these if he had been let alone. But the priesthood were eternally dinging into his ears the duty of " celestial marriage," as they termed it, and that, too, under the penalty of eternal damnation. At last they laid their commands upon him. He must
LIVING IT OUT. 203
obey or disobey. He knew that to disobey would mean a foreign mission field for years; or to be dispossessed of his property, and deprived of all favor and patronage of the Church, which meant starva- tion ; or to be put under the ban every way and be driven to Arizona or some other remote and desolate locality.
"I would have been torn with wild beasts or would have sunk to the flames of hell to endure their torments, before I would have broken his heart. But he yielded. About a year ago he brought to my home his second wife. Then all his manhood rapidly disappeared. No man can live in polygamy and be a man. In one year my husband had become a mere beast. His new wife is young and handsome. She receives all his attention. She is the woman of the house ; I am a mere servant. She takes her ease ; I do her washing and my own, cook all her meals, and perform all the drudgery. My husband is dead to me. He will listen to no appeal and is touched by none of my sufferings. My husband's manner indicates that if I annoy him further by my com- plaints he may beat me. If he strikes me I know I shall go raving mad. I can't endure this any longer; I wont endure it. If there is any way out for me,
20J: THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
tell me. If there is none, I swear by the God above me to find a way out through the gates of death, before I am a day older."
The woman shook violently ; her countenance had become wild, and her eyes glowed like those of a wild beast brought to bay. There was no trifling here. She meant every word she said ; she was evidently a woman, and all her womanhood stood ready to de- fend itself from further degradation. I have no 'doubt that she would have committed suicide within twenty-four hours had we turned her away. I was greatly embarrassed. My work was almost impossible of success. The persecution and trouble that arose from the Mormon priesthood and their tools were well-nigh unbearable. I was not there to champion the cause of distressed Mormon wives and make war upon their family relations, except as I could do it in a more general way. But I felt, as this poor des- olate creature stood before us without a friend on earth to assist her, that if we turned our backs upon her we could never look our Master in the face. I so expressed myself, and my friends agreed with me. There were but two other gentlemen present, and from their circumstances they could not take the matter in hand, and therefore I did so.
LIVING IT Our. 205
It was a clear case for a divorce and alimony. This woman was a legal wife. Her husband was living openly with another woman. All the facts could be clearly enough established. Her husband had some property, so that such an amount of ali- mony might be decreed as, joined with what she might be able to earn in various ways, would make her and her three children comfortable. A home could be provided for her at Provo, where there were a few non-Mormon families.
It so occurred that there was present that day in the city a prominent attorney from Salt Lake City. LTpon being made acquainted with the facts he read- ily agreed to take charge of the case without com- pensation. The proper officers also consented to serve the necessary papers without fees, and the action was duly brought.
Thereupon was a stir in Mormondom. The priest- hood feared the influence of the woman's example and determined to counteract it. They seemed to hold me responsible for the steps that had been taken, and labored zealously to impress their people that I had come among them to stir up strife and alienate hus- bands and wives, and interfere with their happiness and prosperity.
206 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
Orson Pratt, the " great apostle " and special advo- cate of polygamy came to Provo and delivered a ser- mon, in which he. assailed the denomination I repre- sented, most vehemently denounced me personally, and attacked my work with great bitterness. He then proceeded to defend " celestial marriage," and declared " that these vile Gentiles and inhabitants of Babylon, who came among them to destroy their families and ruin their souls, should be taught that there was no room for them among the people of God."
The next Sabbath I reviewed his statements in my own pulpit, answered his arguments on polygamy as best I could, cited the past history of the Mormons as it related to those who differed from them, and in reply to his denunciations gave them my defiance, expressing my determination thereafter to give and take as hard blows as could be delivered.
Then followed more direct efforts at intimidation. The poor woman came in great trepidation to my residence one day and informed me that her husband had taken down his gun, loaded it with buckshot, and had sworn that he would shoot me at sight if I did not advise her to withdraw the suit from the courts. She said that while she was willing to imperil her
LIVING IT OUT. 207
own life, she was not wilfing to put other lives in peril, and declared that she was ready at once to have proceedings stopped if I desired it. I fear that I am not blessed with overmuch physical courage, but I well knew that if I showed any disposition to yield to threats, in that or any other matter, my work in Utah was done. I therefore told her to return to her home and tell her husband " to blaze away at the first opportunity. But," I added, "tell him to make sure of his aim at the first fire, for I, too, have a talent for shooting that I have consecrated to God, and I hope to use it effectively in his service if occasion requires."
Failing in these measures they turned upon the poor victim who was seeking her escape from a living death. I never knew precisely how she was made to suffer, nor how much she was called to endure, for she esteemed it all so lightly that she would never complain or open her lips to in- form me.
Meanwhile the time drew near for the trial of the cause in Judge M'Kean's court in Salt Lake City. The attorney had thoroughly prepared the case so that there was not the least obstacle in the way of a successful issue, when a most incredible and amazing
208 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
thing transpired. The woman appeared at the par- sonage and demanded that I should have the suit withdrawn and all proceedings stopped! I was re- ligiously (I trust) mad.
I said to her, with much feeling of indignation : "What does this mean? You came to us with threats of suicide ; at some expense and at great trouble we undertook your cause and have fought your battle; and now, just upon the eve of vic- tory, you come and insist that it shall all be undone. What does it all mean? I demand to know."
For the first time since that first night at Payson she wept, and in her agony sunk upon the floor. She answered : " You have a right to know the reason for my conduct, and you shall. It means just this : the priesthood have threatened to kill my children if I proceed, and they will / I prefer to go hack and live it out"
I expostulated with her. I told her that she well knew that this was merely a threat to frighten her from her course, as they had so many times attempted to frighten me and others. I begged of her not to yield herself up to such a life of utter misery, now that she was so near to liberty. I assured her that
LIVING IT OUT. 209
the court and her friends would see that her children were protected.
But she answered, " You do not know the Mormon priesthood as I know it. I have lived in Utah nearly twenty years. I know what I say, and I tell you that if I do not yield now, my children are doomed. I can't be the destroyer of my children. I prefer to go back and live it out."
There was no fire in her eye now. There was a look upon her face of utter, heart-breaking grief. I once came upon a wretch who was beating his wife, and as she lay at his feet, in abject terror and un- speakable sorrow, and looked up in his face, I beheld very much the same expression as I now saw upon the face of this woman. She did not attempt to an- swer any thing more that was said to her, but, when I had finished, thanked me for what I had done, left a message of gratitude for all who had aided her, and went away. I still hoped to save her, and my heart was so stirred with pity and with sorrow for the poor helpless and defenseless sufferer that I resolved to make one more effort.
I knew an old Mormon, who in his heart had come to despise the whole system, but who did not deem it
best as yet to break away from the Church. He was 14
210 THE MOKMCXN PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
in favor with the priesthood, and from his long ex- perience possessed the means of obtaining informa- tion not otherwise accessible. I gave him an account of the whole matter, and asked him to ascertain how far the wretched mother had occasion for her fears. After a time he came to me and said that the wom- an's apprehensions were well grounded ; that it had been determined in " council " to make an example of her case; that one of the prophets had publicly prophesied in Payson that "the hand of the Lord would be laid in judgment, first upon the children of this misguided wife and mother, and then upon her- self ; " and finally that the notorious Porter Rockwell, the Danite, had been commissioned to make the prophecy good. That settled it. I knew Porter Rock- well, and I knew that he could kill the children in very pastime. The suit was withdrawn.
Some time since I received a letter from Utah from which I make the following extract :
"You remember Mrs. , in whose behalf you
interested yourself at one time. She died last" week. She said to me a little before she breathed her last, ' You know very well that I die of a broken heart ; but I have saved my children ; bring them to me.' They came to her bedside, one ten, one twelve, and
LIVING IT OUT. 211
one fourteen years of age. She took each by the hand and asked them to promise over their mother's dying form that they never would enter upon plural marriage. They did so. Then she lay back upon her pillow, and said, 'The hand of death, precious death, sweet death, hath opened the gates for me at last.' These were her last words."
212 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
THE COUNCIL OF DAN,
A STOKY OF MORMON CRIME.
IN the early autumn of 1857, and just as Johnston's army was entering Utah, a company of gentlemen started from California for the " east." They were men of abundant means, and had made provision for a most comfortable journey through the mountains and over the plains. They had a fine outfit of horses, mules, equipments, guns, pistols, etc., and carried with them about thirty thousand dollars in gold.
It was their purpose, after visiting their friends and the homes of their earlier life, which they had left only five or six years previous, to locate some- where in the new States lying west of the Missouri River, and engage in farming, stock raising, and other speculative pursuits. The party was composed of six persons : the Aiken brothers, a man known as " Colonel," one named Buck, and two others. They were in high spirits. They knew the journey that lay before them, for they had crossed the continent
THE COUNCIL OF DAN. 213
by the overland route to California, They had suc- ceeded in their quest of fortune, and were now re- turning home with a feeling of pride, as they contem- plated meeting their friends of former days. One of them, at least, had an adventure in Salt Lake City on the trip out that promised to yield him special happi- ness when he should again reach that place on the re- turn trip ; of which we shall hear from his own lips farther on.
They had heard of the troubles in Utah, but as they were quiet and respectable men, and intended to stop in that Territory but a little time and to take no part whatever in the events there transpiring, they anticipated no difficulty on account of the Mor- mons.
The overland journey, with its perils, its pleasures, and its excitements, has been so often described, that it is not necessary to give the reader any account of it ; besides, our story does not relate to the joiirney, but to what befell the party that made it as they reached the abode of the Latter Day Saints. Suffice it to say, that on the Humboldt they fell in with a train, and journeyed with the emigrants till they reached the Utah settlements. Here they pushed on for a day more rapidly, and at night camped some.-
214 THE MOEMON PBOBLEM — APPENDIX.
what in advance of the train, and not far from the then small city of Ogden.
Here we will leave them for the present, to give an account of a meeting that was held in the " En- dowment House " at Salt Lake City, about one wreek before the party reached the point where they were now encamped.
In order to rightly understand the character of this meeting, and in fact to appreciate what resulted from it, some knowledge of the organization known as the " Mormon priesthood ." is necessary.
Then, as now, its agents and representatives were in every part of the world, and to-day the Mormon priesthood is the most cunningly devised, perfectly constructed, and powerful organization of the kind on earth. I am aware that to those not acquainted with the facts this will appear as an exaggerated state- ment ; but it is, nevertheless, true.
Among its other agencies for crime and lawless- nesss was the famous " Danite " band. It was to do the bloody work of this holy priesthood. It was com- manded, at the time of which we write, by the noto- rious " Port Rockwell," probably the most infamous of all the Mormon assassins. The stories of his crime, as related by the old settlers of Utah, are revolting
THE COUNCIL OF DAN. 215
beyond description. I saw him in the year 1875 in the city of Provo. He was about sixty years of age, and his long, white hair hung about his shoulders, and his copious white beard reached to his waist. His countenance was wrinkled and grizzly, and the most inhuman that I had ever seen (always excepting that of John Taylor, now the president of the Church).
Well, this "adder in the path" commanded the Danite Band, and receive^ his orders from the " Council of Dan," now duly convened in the Endow- ment House, to which we return.
This council was composed only of the three mem- bers of the first presidency, one patriarch, one proph- et, one of the twelve apostles, and the president of the "seventy," seven in all. It determined upon all the more important crimes that were to be perpetrated by the Danites, such as the Mountain Meadows mas- sacre, the Morrisite butchery, the taking off of the Potters, of the Parrishes, of Bowman, of Dr. Robin- son, of the Gunnison part}', and the destruction of such malcontents as Gladden and others. The details of these crimes were always left to be arranged by sub- ordinate councils, and the execution thereof to the Danites and such of the faithful as they should call
216 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
to their assistance ; but the ordering of the crime, in the first instance, was always by this body. When convened for such a purpose they never made any pretense as to religious duty or divine inspiration or churchly prerogative, as they did when in subordi- nate councils, or when they had to control the credu- lous masses of their people. There was no talk about " blood atonement," and no covering of the contem- plated crime with any religious mask. These men
knew each other, and each understood that the motives
- underlying their whole system were simply avarice,
lust, and greed of power. They generally looked their business square in the face, like any other gang of ruffians. It was so in the present instance.
Brigham Young was in the chair, and stated the business before them. " The Aiken party, of whose departure from California we had information, must now be approaching the Territory, and the question arises if they shall be allowed to pass through it to the States. It is composed of six men. They are men of intelligence and observation. They will tarry for a time, doubtless, in our midst. In reaching the States they will pass through the lines of Johnston's army, and can, if they choose, both with the invading force and witli the United States Government, have
THE COUNCIL OF DAN. 217
influence and impart information that will be damag- ing to our kingdom. Shall they be cut off ? "
As soon as he had ceased speaking the apostolic member of the council, a man noted for great blunt- ness of speech, arose and replied :
" There is no use in wasting time in discussing this matter. Either they must pass on to the States, or remain in Utah, or return to California — or we must otherwise dispose of them. To allow them to reach the States would be dangerous to our interests ; to keep them in Utah would be folly ; to return them to California would be madness. "We know the other alternative, expect to do it, and what's the use in fool- ing ? We have undertaken to establish a kingdom on this continent. We knew very well what that meant when we started in, and we know now."
Then others made concurrent remarks, but it re- mained for the chair to brace the company up for the whole business by this statement :
" The party has some of the finest horses and mules that ever entered Utah. They are armed with weapons that would grace any of the officers or mem- bers of the ' Nauvoo Legion ; ' and they have a large sum of money that would mightily replenish — tie treasury of the Lord" he said, sarcastically, and
218 THE MORMON PROBLEM— APPENDIX.
laughing immoderately. Nothing ever stirred Brig- ham Young like the scent of money and the sight of gold.
Then the apostle arose and submitted the follow- ing : " Inasmuch as Utah is now under martial law, it is hereby decreed that the Aiken party be arrested as spies as soon as they shall reach Ogden, their goods be confiscated, and the members thereof be incarcer- ated for a time in the city prison, and then be turned over to the tender mercies of Porter Rockwell and his subordinates ; and that directions as to details shall be further given from the usual sources." The chair said : " Let all who favor the decree make the usual sign," and instantly each member drew his right hand quickly across his throat.
Brigham then stood upon his feet, and, surveying for a moment his accomplices in so many bloody deeds, said : " I hereby declare the decree adopted, and seal and approve the same," making the same sign as the others.
The " Council of Dan " thus, adjourned. Ah ! little company of brave and happy men pushing through the mountains and toiling over the desert, you will never view the magnificent scenery of Weber and Echo canyons, or hunt antelope upon the
THE COUNCIL OF DAN. 219
Laramie Plains ; you will never visit the homes of your childhood, nor look upon the faces of the friends you love. When that council had adjourned there was not power enough in the United States Govern- ment to save you !
Let not the public for one moment think that in this account a single fact has been exaggerated. Speak, George Q. Cannon ! Speak, Mayor Smoot ! Speak, John Taylor, president of the " Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!" and tell the worjd if a single sentence in the foregoing is mislead- ing. And let none suppose that the account of the atrocious crime that followed is either false or in any degree colored. It came, word for word as here nar- rated, from the lips of one of the perpetrators.
It was about one week subsequent to the conven- ing of this council that our travelers reached the point near Ogden where we last beheld them, and went into camp for the night. They had prepared and taken their evening meal, and were now seated upon their blankets around the roaring fire of burn- ing sage-brush, smoking their pipes and discussing their proposed visit to Salt Lake City, when the " Colonel," who had remained silent for some time, exclaimed :
220 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
" Boys, I have a mind to reveal to you a secret of my own, and make you acquainted with certain facts that possibly it might be well for you to understand during our sojourn in this delectable kingdom. Pos- sibly I may need your advice and your assistance, and, therefore, it is best to have an understanding now."
" Why, what the dickens is the matter now ? " cried Buck. " Do you contemplate a coup d 'etat, by which Brigham Young shall be deposed and you enthroned King of Zion ? "
" Or do you expect to stampede his wives to the States ? " added the younger Aiken.
" Or will you be baptized for your sins, and for your grandfather's sins, and for the sins of all your ancestors, join the " Order of Enoch," and go on a foreign mission?" said another.
" O quit your nonsense," he answered ; it's serious enough business, and may be more serious before I am through, and here goes for a clean breast of it. When I came across the plains, six years ago, I trav- eled from the Platte with a Mormon train to Salt Lake City. In one of the families that had been brought from the Middle States was a beautiful woman about nineteen years of age, of a quick and
THE COUNCIL OF DAN. 221
intelligent mind, and carrying the charm of pure, tender, and graceful womanhood. "We were thrown much together, and, as a natural consequence, fell in love with each other. The Mormons were not blind to what was transpiring, but rather encouraged us, hoping through her influence to make a convert of me, and secure the addition of myself to the Church. But while she was not strong in the faith I was an utter unbeliever ; and so there was no attraction for me beyond that of the charming girl whom I had come to love in my heart of hearts. Before we reached the city we were betrothed, and had pledged to each other our vows of fidelity for the future. I could not abide with the Mormons at Salt Lake City, and she could not depart with me ; besides, I knew that my life in California was to be an adventurous one, and could not foresee what the end might be. So it was agreed between us that I should go on and seek my fortune, while she should in faithfulness to me await my return, and, if possible, proceed with me to the States and find our home in the midst of more congenial surroundings. Well, from that day to this it has not been possible that a word of corre- spondence should pass between us. I do not know whether she is dead or alive ; but if the latter, I'll
222 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
wager my head that she is hopefully waiting for me, and will joyfully welcome me. I intend to find her upon our arrival in Salt Lake City. If she cannot return with me to the States under the existing state of things, I'll wait till she can. If that time does not soon come, I'll settle in Mormondom until it arrives ; and then, boys, I carry back to the East a richer prize by far than is contained in the combined contents of that strong box there among the traps."
To say that his companions were surprised would be to express it but feebly. But they knew the " Colonel," and understood that he had, with his usual reserve, only very moderately expressed either his regard for his beloved or his purposes concerning her. And while they feared that the affair might in some way lead to complications and trouble with the Mormon authorities, yet there was no help for it, and they were not the men to desert their comrade. So in the end they pledged him their aid, and, wrapping themselves in their blankets, were soon fast asleep.
In the morning, as they were eating their breakfast, chatting, joking, rallying the " Colonel," and express- ing to him their belief that the " Lion of the Lord " had, long before this, carried off his " Helen," and ad- vising him to first seek her within his regal hall, what
THE COUNCIL OF DAN. 223
was their surprise and consternation to find them- selves suddenly surrounded by a company of Mormon militia, and made prisoners !
Not a word of explanation was given ; to their repeated demands no answer was returned. They were ordered immediately to pack their goods, mount, and proceed, unarmed and under escort, to Salt Lake City.
Arrived there, the horses, mules, equipments, and all their money was taken to the tithing house and confiscated ; and before the sun had disappeared in the west they were thrown into prison under the charge of being spies.
The next day the emigrant train came along and vouched for the men, but without avail; their money and their " cattle" were too tempting a prey. With- out examination, without trial, and with no power to resist, the whole party were kept in prison for several weeks.
During this time the " Colonel" received a visit from his betrothed. The arrest of these men as spies was a matter of publication in the city papers, and she had read an account of it. From the descriptions given, and from the fact that they had come from the Pacific coast, she was led to believe that he for whom
224: THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
she had so devotedly waited was one of the number. By some means she obtained permission to visit the prison ; the recognition was instantaneous, and the lovers were in each other's arms.
It is not necessary for the purposes of this narrative to describe at length the interview ; besides, we are not writing a love story, but rather a story of blood. She informed him that her parents were both dead ; that they had left her some little property, which had been seized, however, by Brigham Young under some pretext of guardianship, and she had never been able to recover a dollar of it. She was now sustaining herself by working in the kitchen of a Mormon hotel in the city, and had been persecuted almost to death by a bishop who desired to make her his wife. O how gladly would she have accepted the protection of the "Colonel's" arm or fled with him to the States. But with a breaking heart she informed him of her grave apprehensions for his life ; " for," said she, " it is known to me that the i Council of Dan ' had been convened just previous to your arrest. I do not ex- pect to ever see you again, arid as for myself may God help me!" and she sobbed convulsively.
Poor soul ! Orphaned, reduced to poverty, in the midst of lustful human beasts, with but one friend
THE COUNCIL OF DAN. 225
on earth, and he in prison, the world holds but little hope of happiness for thee ! In a little time they were torn apart, and were destined never to meet again in this world.
After many weeks it was announced that the men were to be returned to California under escort. Only four of them, however, were taken from the prison, two remaining, who were afterward assassinated at the point of the mountains. The escort of the four men, of whom the " Colonel" was one, consisted of "Porter Rockwell," "John Lot," and "One-eyed Miles," three-of the blackest-hearted villains that ever served the " Lord's prophet " in the Rocky Mountains.
They had been preceded as far as the village of ]Srephi by George A. Smith, who also performed a similar service just previous to the Mountain Meadows massacre. Arrived at Nephi he at once assembled the priesthood, and boldly proclaimed the decree. Some dissented, and opposed the cold-blooded plot. But they were easily silenced. "For," said Smith, " we have had a revelation from God. The interests of Zion demand that this work be done. Besides, has not God, by his servant Brigham, declared that to kill men when it is necessary, is as justifiable as it is
to pray for them when that is necessary. And then 15
226 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
these men are the enemies of God and the Church ; their own blood can alone atone for their sins ; we kill them to save them, not to destroy them." The result of the council was the appointment of sixteen men to " use up " the Aiken party.
Meanwhile the doomed men with their " escort " had reached Nephi, and at midnight a team was fitted out and the sixteen men were driven rapidly to the southward. The next evening, just as the vic- tims were camping at the Sevier River, a party drove up from the opposite direction and asked permission to camp with them. The plot of the murder was well planned. The Aiken party never suspected that these men were assassins, who had been in Nephi the night before. They were pleased to have company, and the camp-fires were built side by side. The Mormons outnumbered their victims four to one, yet were too cowardly to make the attack until sleep ren- dered the poor victims helpless ; then they pounced upon the sleeping, defenseless fellows, and struck them on the head with king-bolts, clubs, and iron bars. The " Colonel " bounded up, and, bruised and bleeding as he was, escaped in the bushes. A second one of the Aiken boys sprang to his feet, but was shot down. The other two were brained where they
THE COUNCIL OF DAN. 227
lay. The three lifeless bodies were thrown into the river, and the brother who was shot down revived when he came in contact with the cold stream. Poor fellow, a night of horror awaited him which was worse than a thousand deaths. Crawling over the cruel, pebbly bottom of the river, drenched, bleeding, and half-dead, the man reached the willows near the camp. Here he lay shivering with fear, and heard the murderers boast of the brutal deed. Summoning all his strength the wounded man crawled away through the bushes and started back to Nephi. It snowed lightly during the previous day, and that night there was a bitter, biting frost. Aiken had on nothing but his pants and shirt. The crisp snow and sharp stones cut his feet until he could hardly endure the pain. Weak from loss of blood, dazed and stunned by blows on the head, cold, deserted and lonely, weary and worn-out, the man traveled all night long. Naught but thoughts of a murdered brother lying mangled and unburied in the black waters of the Sevier, gave him strength to press forward to where he vainly hoped for assistance. Just at dawn he completed his twenty-six-mile journey, and fell ex- hausted at the foot of a little hill in the outskirts of Nephi. He had fallen in front of a house, and from
228 THE MOKMON PKOBLEM — APPENDIX.
the inmates lie learned that one of his comrades had likewise escaped, and had ascended the hill only a few moments before. Wild with hope that it was his brother, he struggled to his feet and staggered onward. In spite of all his efforts he fell heavily four or live times, and could not rise until he had lain still and rested for a few moments. When he reached the hotel he found the " Colonel " instead of his brother. The poor, half -murdered men uttered not a word, but locked in each other's arms, fell swooning to the ground. Even the Mormons who looked upon the scene were affected to tears. Cold-blooded assas- sination awaited them after all. Thoughtlessly they told that they recognized some of the murderers. The hotel was guarded day and night by the Mor- mons lest the victims should escape. The hotel keeper was in league with the assassins. His team had hauled the murderers to the Sevier. When three weeks had passed, the wounded men had so far re- covered as to wish to return to Salt Lake City. The hotel keeper refused to let them go until his bill was paid. They had escaped with nothing but a gold watch and a silver-mounted Colt's revolver. Their money and valuable property were lying in the tithing office — in God's store-house. They offered
THE COUNCIL OF DAX. 229
the hotel keeper the watch, worth two hundred and fifty dollars, for their bill, but he demanded the revolver instead. As he took the revolver, Aiken said : " There goes our last friend. We'll never leave this valley alive." Disarmed, wounded, and utterly helpless, these men were put in a wagon and driven to an old stable a few miles out of Nephi. The driver backed his wagon close up to the stable, and unhitched his horses, saying he wanted to feed them. The hind end of the wagon had been taken out before starting, and as soon as the horses were out of the way a volley of buckshot fired from the stable fairly riddled the bodies of the two Calif ornians. The party of cowardly wretches concealed in the stable continued to fire until every muscle in the victims' bodies ceased to quiver. They then stripped off the clothing, and threw the bodies into one of those round springs or natural wells which seem to have no bottom. Thus was consummated the work of the Council of Dan.
In the year 1875 I was called to visit a poor family in Provo, consisting of a mother and five children. She was a widow of a Mormon bishop that God had mercifully taken out of the world a year or two pre- vious. It was in winter time. The home was an old
230 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
tumble-down shanty, the floor of which was the bare earth, and through the walls of which you could see in any direction. The children were hovering about a scanty fire. They looked hungry and destitute. The mother was emaciated and feeble, her life being nearly worn-out by her sufferings. She tried to sustain herself and her children by cultivating a garden, raising a little fruit, and producing eggs and poultry. But every tenth dozen of eggs, and every tenth head of cabbage, and every tenth bushel of fruit, had to go to the tithing office. Years previous to this, against her will, but driven almost to insanity by her persecutions, she had married the bishop. In her heart she loathed him and the monstrous system of fraud and crime that he represented ; but almost bereft of her reason, and all hope of happiness long since dead within her, melancholy and despair had taken hold of her, and she had thrown herself into his clutches as she would more gladly have thrown herself to a furious beast. She said her fondest hope now was to die.
I referred to the crimes of Mormonisrn and of the awful weight of guilt that rested on these holy and everlasting murderers.
She answered : " Many years ago I stole a horse
THE COUNCIL OF DAN. 231
from a stable in Salt Lake City and rode a night and a day to save a party from being massacred on the Sevier River. But I arrived too late." Then her eyes became fixed with a far-away look, and "she was silent for many minutes. She was violently agitated, and sobbed and wept most bitterly, and was well-nigh overcome by her feelings, which she finally controlled only with great effort. Then she said : " I wonder if there is any God." She was the " Colonel's " former fiance.
232 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPEXDIX.
THE QUESTION SUBMITTED,
THE STOKY OF AN APOSTATE MORMON.
" I AM an apostate Mormon. I feel very much, in stating it, as I should in saying that I was an apos- tate horse-thief. All this talk that the Mormons make before the world about ' religion,' and a ' Church/ and ' worshiping God according to the dictates of their own conscience,' etc., is bosh ; and all that we hear and read from statesmen, editors, and public men about the ' constitutional guarantee of religious liberty to American citizens,' as consti- tuting a barrier to stringent legislation on the Mor- mon question, is simply disgusting. Why, stranger, there is not a page of Mormon history that is not a record of crime. There has not been a day during the past fifty years that Mormonism has not been a monstrous conspiracy against the United States Gov- ernment, its officers and laws. From its first incep- tion it has been organized ruffianism, and as a system of immorality has been the foulest that ever cursed the world.
THE QUESTION SUBMITTED. 233
" The priesthood will swear a man to eternal hos- tility to United States authority, boldly proclaim a kingdom in the heart of a Republic, cut a man's throat to save his soul, massacre a hundred at a time, institute and maintain a reign of terror, drag woman- hood in the muddiest cess-pool of sin, and yet presume to offer as their defense from year to year the stereo- typed plea, < We will worship God according to the dictate of our own conscience ; ' and an intelligent nation will accept such a plea for half a century and talk about ' constitutional difficulties ! '
" You ask me how I got my eyes open, and how I came to apostatize. It is quite a story, stranger, but if you will make yourself comfortable and give these peaches and melons a fair trial, you shall have it. It sort of does me good to talk freely. There was a time in Utah when those of us who felt the yoke of the priesthood would get together, make a pretense of going a hunting, and penetrate into the mountains eight or ten miles for the express purpose of finding a safe place to swear, and curse Brigham Young and the whole gang. If we had a quiet little talk in our own homes, even at midnight, it was likely to be published in full in the i Deseret News ' the next morning. It is a perfect luxury to be
234: THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
able to open your heart without being afraid of i dis- cipline ' at the hands of the priesthood."
This man, whose story I am now writing, had become a convert to Mormonism in the old country. He came to Utah, and after an eventful history, as will be seen from his narrative, abandoned the "Church" and boldly proclaimed his independence from priestly despotism. He became possessed of a small farm near one of those wonderful canyons in the Wasatch mountains, from whence came a river that afforded an ample supply of water for the in- habitants of the valley.
I had been following the river during the forenoon enjoying the grand sport of fly-fishing for the mam- moth trout that it contained, and, when near to his house, had struck a magnificent specimen that weighed upon landing him exactly eight pounds and a half. The fish fought a furious battle, and my slender rod weighed only eight ounces, but I had a long " riff " of clean water and a fair chance to work, and in just one hour and twenty minutes I had captured my prey. O, but he was a beauty, as he lay upon the pebbly bank of the river gasping and struggling in his defeat ; and I was weary enough after the excite- ment had passed off. So when this farmer, who had
THE QUESTION SUBMITTED. 235
witnessed the sport and came running to enjoy it with me. invited me to come up to his house and take a rest and try a little fruit, I was right glad to accept the invitation. Our conversation, naturally enough, reverted to the inevitable topic ; and before I left I had heard one of the most remarkable and in- teresting stories of Utah life that ever reached my ears in that Territory. I resume his account of it, and give it in his own words. " You must know," said he, " that one of the hardest things for a man to do is to admit that he has been tremendously hum- bugged. At least it was for me. I had been a sin- cere believer in Mormon ism, as thousands of the rank and file of the Church are to-day. I really believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet ; that he had found the gold plates ; and that through him God had opened a new dispensation of religion in America.
"Upon our arrival in this country we were re- quired to give a bond to repay our passage money with interest in five equal annual installments. I was a little surprised at this, but I soon learned that it was by this means that the emigration fund was to be kept replenished, and so become a perpetual agency in bringing to these shores those who should become converts in the old country.
236 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
" But what surprised me the most was, what T saw the condition of the people to be in this Territory. I had expected to see the kingdom of God and the people dwelling in a sort of earthly paradise ; but the very first Sabbath a man was pointed out to me as a bishop of the ' Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.' He stood before a drinking saloon in the city, with both hands in his pockets, and chewing tobacco so vigorously that the juice was running down from the corners of his mouth. He was un- shaved, uncombed, and was dressed in shabby cloth- ing. As I looked about among the people I saw poverty and immorality on every hand. The most horrid profanity was common, even in the sacred desk at the Tabernacle ; Church liquor stores abounded, and the people drank more whisky than any class of people I had ever seen. Sabbath-break- ing was universal. I saw the bishop of Provo, after preaching, go into the field with his men on the Sabbath and work as though to make up lost time. There was a coarseness and looseness in society that were shocking, and if an}7 remonstrance was offered to these things the people would laugh and say, * O this is God's kingdom, you know ! '
"I had never seen so much stolid ignorance. I
THE QUESTION SUBMITTED. 237
went into a school one day and found it taught by a very illiterate person who was just then giving a lesson in geography that would have made a South Sea Islander laugh.
"Well, stranger, it was hard for me to reconcile all this with the 'kingdom of God,' and before I had been in Utah a month I found myself saying within my own mind, 4 If I had known that it was like this, I would not have come.' But I tried to regard it all as an abuse of the system rather than the real fruit of Mormonism.
" Finally I came to this valley to locate. I do not know whether it was because I considered it the most inviting portion of the Territory, or whether it was because pretty Margery Blake lived here. You see I had known Margery in the old country, and possi- bly my desire to follow her to America had facilitated the work of the missionary in making a convert of me. At any rate I was mighty glad to get near to Margery, and I fancied that she was happy when I came. I bought a piece of land not far from her father's little farm, paid the small amount of money I had, and engaged to pay the balance in small but regular installments.
" I worked away as hard as ever I could, and was
238 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
getting along very well, both with my land and with my Margery, when something peculiar happened. There was an attorney in Provo by the name of Mil- dew. If ever a man was rightly named it was he. Of all the villainous, unscrupulous beings, destitute of humanity and full of diabolical traits, that I had ever met, he was the worst. The c Gentiles ' have always called him ' Uriah Heep' — I have understood because of some despicable character of that name in a novel.
" He was a shining light among the prophets., and a man of great power and high standing with the priesthood. Well, I was credibly informed that he had got his eye on Margery, and was likely to have her in spite of every thing that she or any one else could do, for it was very difficult to thwart one of the priesthood of his standing in those days. He had several wives already. In one instance he had brought a suit for a divorce in behalf of a prepos- sessing woman, secured the decree, and when she could not pay him for his services as attorney act- ually proposed to accept her hand in payment. He sort of levied upon her, and she confessed judgment, and married him.
"Now he was after my Margery. She was keenly
THE QUESTION SUBMITTED. 239
alive to her danger, and was horror-stricken. She would have married me at once, but so great was the influence of Mildew that her parents were afraid to offend him by granting their consent, and not one of the priesthood would perform the ceremony against his will. I knew that it was likely to bring disas- ter to all concerned, if I opposed this man in his schemes. He could command the Danites to do his service, and was sure to be protected by the head of the Church at Salt Lake City. I did not care so much for myself in not provoking him to wrath, but I did care for Margery and her people. However, it was not in human nature to sit down and see the scoundrel Mildew triumph in such a matter as that. So I proposed to Margery to fly with me to Salt Lake City and be married by a Gentile missionary that had come to reside there. Once married, I trusted to myself and the help of the good God to defend us both. After some persuasion she consent- ed. It was arranged that in the early part of the day I should take my gun, and, mounting my horse, should ride out upon the ' bench ' north of the city, as though I were in pursuit of game. The jack-rab- bits were very plenty, and we were accustomed to hunt them on horseback, and shoot them from the
240 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
saddle while the horse was running. I knew that in this way I could pretend to be hunting, and grad- ually make my way without attracting attention toward Salt Lake City.
" In like manner Margery was to take one of her father's horses and ride once or twice about town, as she very often did, and then gradually draw away toward the shore of the lake, and, reaching it, follow along the shore to the northward.
" We were to meet at the ' Point of the Mountain,' and proceed from thence together. We were entirely successful. We reached the place about sundown, and proceeded joyfully to Salt Lake City. We were married, Margery and I, and were very happy. The next day we returned to Provo. From the fact that we were both absent, and that Margery had been seen by a fisherman on the lake, making her way toward the place of our meeting, it was well enough known what our object had been, and so no one was surprised when we proclaimed our marriage. Her parents had not opposed our union, and we neither expected nor experienced any trouble from them. But I suspect- ed great trouble from Mildew, and Margery greatly feared it. How astonished were we, then, when in a few days he came to our home, laughingly congratu-
THE QUESTION SUBMITTED.
lated us both, and assured us of his friendship. We were rejoiced beyond measure; we had anticipated such direful consequences to her father, who was struggling with a heavy debt, and to ourselves in one way or another, from our bold defiance and inde- pendent action, that we were only too glad to make friends with him, and, if possible, secure his good- will.
" I knew, of course, of the doctrine and practice of polygamy, but I had come to regard it, as I had by this time all the doctrines of Mormonism, with utter indifference. I could not help knowing that the whole thing was a monstrous fraud, but the sub- ject had ceased to interest me, and I resolved, for Margery's sake and for all concerned, to comply out- wardly with the requirements of the Church, so far as I could, and wait for a better day to dawn upon Utah.
" One day I returned from the mountains, whither I had gone to secure venison for our table, and found Margery in great distress. When I urged her to disclose to me the cause of it, she answered, l Mildew has been here and requested my consent to be sealed to him as a spiritual wife.'
" Well, Mildew had solicited this relation with my 16
24:2 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
wife! She was fairly on fire with resentment and indignation, and yet was overcome with grief and a feeling of humiliation. As for myself, I felt that if I could get my hands upon him, I should tear him in pieces. I was wild with rage, and furious with my desire to meet the scoundrel. But my wife held me under restraint until I had become more cool and self-possessed, and finally exacted a solemn promise from me to do nothing violent. I went, however, to the man the next day, and standing be- fore him looked him steadily in the eye, and told him that if he ever presumed to speak to my wife again I would as surely kill him as I was a living man. Not daring to trust myself in his presence a single instant, I turned and left him.
" That night armed men broke into my house, seized and blindfolded me, and when they had taken me away drew over me a large coarse sack, tied it securely, and threw me into the river. When I had nearly drowned they drew me out and let me remain on the bank for a time, when I was again thrown into the water as before. This operation was repeat- ed three times, the villains meanwhile discussing the question of killing me or allowing me to live. Then I was carried rapidly away, taken to Salt Lake
THE QUESTION SUBMITTED. 24:3
City, and thrown into the penitentiary on some trumped-up charge, and left there without an exam- ination or trial of any kind for eight months, with- out being able to get a single word of tidings from my wife.
" At last I secured my liberty and hastened to my home. I learned that on the night of the outrage my wife had fled to her father's house, and from the fearful shock she had received a long and dangerous illness had followed. Upon her partial recovery the miserable wretch who had occasioned all our trouble renewed his importunities, and even went so far as to suggest that most damning feature of the whole system of polygamy, proxy marriage. This infamous creature had proposed that relationship as my repre- sentative, and urged his suit the more as I might never return to her.
" When I did return to my poor broken-hearted and invalid wife and learned these facts, I tell yon, stranger, I should have become a murderer — but an- other hand had done the work that I now fairly cov- eted. Mildew was shot through the head on the street one day by a desperado that he had in some way wronged.
"My little home was broken up. Several pay-
244 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
merits had become overdue, and Mildew had secured the foreclosure and sale of the premises. There was not much regard paid to law with the favorites of the priesthood in those days, and one's property could be taken away from him arbitrarily without any refer- ence to justice or equity. So, after a time, I took my faithful wife and went to one of the mining towns in the Tintic District. I was moderately suc- cessful, and, after awhile, returned with enough to secure this little home.
" But my experiences had settled my relations with the Church. I ' apostatized,' and openly proclaimed my utter abhorrence of the whole thing.
" And so, stranger, you have got my story. If you should tell it to the world they would say that it was fiction ; but I wonder, if every day's history of Utah was written, if the world would not deem it more strange than any fiction that ever came from human pen.
" O how little this country knows of the great abomination that here exists under the cover of relig- ion ! And so it keeps on talking about ' constitu- tional guarantees,' i worshiping God according to the dictates of the conscience,' and the like, while the abomination spreads.
THE QUESTION SUBMITTED.
"Stranger, can you see that mountain summit away at the right there ? It is crowned with eternal snow, and sometimes, when the sun shines upon it, it appears like a crown of gold. Over that range at the northward lie the Cotton-wood Canyons, with their vast deposits of the precious metals, and away at the south-west is the Tintic District, with its exhaustless mines of silver and copper. This valley itself is as perfect a home as Adam's Eden, so far as God can make it so. Is it not absurd that a band of ruffians, by setting up a claim to religious rights and Church prerogatives, are permitted by the Government to make it so vile, and the abode of so much misery and bondage and crime ? Stranger, when you go to the States again suppose you ask the question there " — and I told him I would. And I hereby keep the promise.
246 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
A GENTILE IN UTAH.
A STORY OF THE MORMON PRIESTHOOD.
I AM a Gentile lawyer in Salt Lake City. I have had fifteen years' experience in Utah, and I propose to give some account of my observations during that time. I do not discuss the s|ate of affairs here from a partisan or even Christian stand-point. It is with a feeling of genuine regret that I am compelled to write that I am not a Christian. I am not an infidel, but I greatly fear that I am not far removed from that unhappy state. If I were compelled to state the causes that have operated to hold me from a religious profession and life, I should put them in two words : deportment and fraud. The first relates to my life in the States — the second to my surroundings here. Before coming here to practice my profession among the " Saints," I resided in a lovely village in one of the New England States. When I say lovely, I mean lovely on account of situation ; in other respects it was not lovely. It was a quaint old town. There
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 247
was but little of the spirit and enterprise of modern business life in it ; the people, or at least a majority of them, were very quiet, very respectable, and very comfortably situated as regards worldly possessions. They proposed to take life easily, to be immensely wise and dignified, and, if possible, to compare favor- ably with the aristocrats of the land. It was per- fectly amusing to see them cultivate the manners of the millionaires of the great cities, while perhaps they were really possessed of greater happiness than those whose spirit and customs they followed. Well, the churches took very much the character of the town, and the preachers of the churches. They greatly overdid the matter of dignity and gentility. When assembled on the Sabbath day I could think of but little else, as I beheld them, than old Mr. Turveydrop in " Bleak House." They overwhelmed me with de- portment. Now, I am very well aware that in a matter so majestic and divine as religion and religious worship there should be manifested a commendable degree of order and solemnity and propriety. But these people impressed me with the fact that they really cared to manifest but 'little else. They would enter the church and be seated, participate in the forms of service, and retire, not so much in a spirit
248 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
of reverential and humble worship, as with a sense of painful apprehension that they might not manifest the proper degree of deportment. The pastors, witli one or two exceptions, would enter the pulpit with an evident feeling that they were now the supreme embodiment and incarnation of deportment. They would raise their eyes about half-way to the ceiling, look first to the right of the pulpit, then to the left, and finally arise and with great, very great, method of speech and pronunciation, and with affected spirit and bearing, proceed with the service.
O how I did long for a little of pathos and soul- stirring appeal, and a little of that which should awaken the emotions of my nature, as they would be awakened by orators upon the platform and else- where ! And how I did wonder if these embassadors of God would ever impress the people with the fact that God was love, and that his house should be a place of sunshine and benediction, while in his wor- ship all hearts- should unite with a spirit very much like that which pervades the company that worships in heaven.
But it was so cold and distant and formal and un- feeling, with such a magnificent display of deport- ment, that I never came under the influence of a de-
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 249
votional spirit, and never was attracted to the cross. I cannot help thinking now, that if some one of these had spoken occasionally as their Master did when, stretching out his hands to a weary world, he cried, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest : take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls: for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light— I say, that if that message, in its sweetness and power, had oftener fallen upon my ears, I might have been led to abhor sin and find the bosom of God. I am not attempting to defend myself or reason upon my course, but only to state the facts in my case.
Well, after a time I escaped from this ministry of deportment and came to Utah, only to find the next manifestation of religion one of fraud.
I found a treasonable theocratic despotism estab- lished in these beautiful valleys under the name of a Church. I found oppression, licentiousness, murder, and all manner of lawlessness existing under the guise of religion ; while for half a century a Christian nation had allowed it all to thrive and advance under what was claimed to be the constitutional guaranty of religious liberty. Then I suppose that the general
250 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
influences of frontier life have not been helpful to me, and so it comes to pass that, despite the instruc- tions of my earlier years, I am not a Christian.
And yet I have some interest in the religious side of this Mormon question. I am profoundly con- vinced that this Territory can never be fully Amer- icanized except by churches and schools, and all the appliances of civilization that can go with these. Nevertheless these agencies can never overthrow Mormonism without the help of the National Legis- lature.
The schools are making rapid progress, but before the children are educated and developed as true American citizens, Mormonism, at its present rate of increase, will become such an institution of strength that neither the Church nor the Nation can well grapple with it.
The remedy lies in such legislation by Congress as will demolish the government that the so-called Church has established over the Territory, and by which Church the American Government and laws are nullified. The difficulty lies in obtaining this legislation. But I will proceed to relate my story.
In the year 1873 there lived in Provo Yalley a young man by the name of liarter. He belonged to
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 251
a family of " apostates." Two of his uncles were among the vilest of polygamists and most subservient subordinates of the priesthood ; but the father, a person of more manhood than his two brothers, had defied the Church and apostatized. His sons had followed him ; and now the whole family were under the ban, and were having a hard struggle to maintain themselves with any degree of comfort. Young llarter was particularly obnoxious to the priestly rulers for the following reason :
It was well known that many who had personal knowledge of the Mountain Meadows massacre re- sided in this valley, and that some who participated in that horrid butchery were among them. There was an old deserted building standing in Provo known as the " haunted house." It was claimed that soon after the massacre a quantity of goods belonging to the victims had been stored here, and that the few children who had been spared were for a time kept in this building; and that years afterward lights were often seen in the various rooms, and shrieks and cries like those uttered by the men and women as they were slain could be heard proceeding therefrom. Hence the building was known and avoided as the haunted house. It was an adobe structure, and had
252 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
been long unoccupied. A year or two previous to the date before given, young Harter was returning from a visit to his betrothed one night, and thought as he was about to pass this house that he heard voices therein. He was a brave and manly fellow, and su- perior to any superstitious fears regarding the local- ity ; so he secreted himself under one of the open windows and listened. He had been there but a few moments when he heard the conversation between certain members of the priesthood who had met there to discuss the facts concerning the massacre that were just beginning to find publicity through the press, and the measures that would probably follow for the detection and punishment of the guilty parties. The conversation implicated Brigham Young, George A. Smith, and others in high authority, and several sub- ordinates residing in Prove, among them a certain "•elder " of the city. Harter was discovered, but saved himself by flight, and for his protection caused it to be known that he had come into possession of important facts that could be used in the courts if the perpetrators of the crime should be brought to trial. His idea was, that by stating so much of what he knew without designating any of the individuals concerned, they would fear to assassinate him, lest
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 253
by so doing they would attract attention to such a method of removing witnesses, and also implicate themselves as interested in removing him for such a purpose. He was only partially right in his conject- ures as to this means of safety ; for while he was not killed, repeated efforts were made to involve him in broils, and expose him to quarrels with men among whom the pistol and knife were more frequently re- sorted to in settling disputes than blows. But he suc- ceeded in avoiding such encounters and went about his work in the mines, carrying with him the secret that had so unexpectedly come into his possession. It must be said of him that he was at times given to strong drink. He did not indulge to the extent of excessive intoxication, but, in common with the great mass of people about him, he was not entirely free from the debasing habit. One day he met a few of his mining associates at the Church liquor store in Provo, and imbibed rather freely with them, indulging in con- siderable hilarity. The company finally emerged from the building and gathered in front of it, when a member of the city police, who was also a member of the priesthood, came up and proposed to arrest him. He had his hand upon a pistol that he carried in his belt, probably intending to shoot him in case
25tt THE MOIIMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
of resistance to the arrest, and thus dispose of the dangerous witness. But Barter was too quick for him. Instantly drawing a Colt's navy revolver he leveled it at the officer's head, and cried :
" Stop where you are ! For two years my steps have been dogged every-where. You and your masters have done your utmost to involve me in some pre- tended crime or quarrel or other difficulty, so as to afford a pretext for my arrest or for shooting me out- right. I know I have been drinking, but I am not drunk nor have I been disturbing the peace. Before night you can find half a dozen of your priesthood on this street more drunk and boisterous than I. You intended to arrest me, and, if I made a show of re- sistance, to murder me, and thus get me and my dan- gerous secret out of the way. But I've got the drop on you. I wont stand this thing any longer. You intend to hound me down, and the matter has got to culminate sooner or later. It might as well be settled now. Advance another inch, and I swear by the Almighty God I'll shoot you in your tracks."
His eyes were fairly flaming ; his lips became firmly pressed upon his set teeth ; his form was as rigid and motionless as marble ; and the long glittering pistol, pointing square in his opponent's face, did not vacil-
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 255
late. Take care, you subservient tool of a gang of sneaking and everlasting murderers ! it is dangerous for you to stir a liair's-breadtli. Do but incline your head ever so little toward that persecuted and outraged man, and your complicity in crime will have its reward, regardless of your hackneyed claim that you will worship God according to the dictates of your own conscience ! Do riot move a muscle, unless it be to draw backward, and that quickly ! But he did move, and attempted to move forward, and fell upon the ground shot through the head by Harter.
Instantly upon firing the pistol he sprung from the crowd and rushed to his father's house, before which a saddled horse happened to be standing. Springing into the saddle he darted away toward the mountains, and before any were in readiness to pur- sue had reached the river, a mile distant. Here he dismounted and fastened the horse in the midst of the deep shrubbery and undergrowth which covered the river bottom, and also secreted himself, so that neither the horse nor himself could be seen. A few moments afterward a half-dozen or more came rush- ing on in pursuit; but who, supposing that lie had continued his flight to the mountains, never for a mo- ment thought to stop and examine the vicinity of the
256 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
river. Ilarter lay concealed until night, when he turned the horse loose and was glad to see that he betook himself immediately up the river to the foot- hills, which had been his former pasturage grounds. Here he was found a few days afterward, thereby strengthening the impression that the fugitive had fled to the mountains. No one supposed that he had stopped so near the town, and so it was with com- parative safety that lie effected his purpose ; this was, to return to the city, obtain money and provisions, and, if possible, take leave of his affianced wife, to whom he was deeply devoted.
He crawled upon the earth until he reached a safe distance from the road, and then he proceeded boldly to her father's house. He succeeded in calling her from the house without arousing the family. The interview was deeply affecting. He said to her that he had no excuse for the deed beyond the facts that she already knew ; that he had simply come to take his final leave of her, and that beyond any doubt he would soon be in his grave. "For," said he, "although I shall do my very best to escape, the chances are exceedingly small ; I shall, doubtless, be arrested ; my trial will follow, and my conviction is sure ; then the end will come speedily. If by any
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 257
•
means I should escape the worst penalty of the law, it will make but little difference. For two years the Mormon priesthood have been hunting me down. Had I not shot this man to-day he would have shot me ; he counted upon resistance on my part, and had his hand upun his pistol with the purpose, plainly revealed in his face, to use it as he advanced upon me. I have been a doomed man ever since I came into possession of that fatal secret that impli- cated certain rulers of the Church in the massacre of twenty years ago. They have at last driven me to an act that places me in their power. There is no hope for me. Sooner or later, by fair means or foul, by process of law or otherwise, I must die. You and I both know too much of the Mormon priesthood to hope for my life now."
No one can understand the distress of the poor girl. She knew that every word that her lover said was true. She understood that he had killed a man that day, but she knew also that he really did so in defense of his own life as against a long existing conspiracy to deprive him of it. She well knew how generous and noble he was in nature, how true in heart, and how incapable, under other circumstances,
of harming any one ; moreover she loved him with 17
258 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
•
all her soul. And yet from the moment that he left her, although alive, still he was dead. Her living- love, and yet dead ! There is no sorrow like it in this world. She could not hope to be near him in his last hour. He might perish in his attempted flight, might be shot down by officers of the law, or might be executed after due trial. She might be denied the poor comfort of knowing and visiting his grave. Forth from her presence he must now go to meet his doom alone. The suffering woman could not endure it, and at last she fell unconscious upon the ground. Then he left her, with such bitterness in his soul as but few mortals ever know on earth.
During the interview Harter informed her that for two or three days he should remain concealed at a certain point on the river, and bade her inform his father. She did so, and the following day food and money were taken to him. He tarried here, in fact, nearly a week. One night he took a boat from the river bank and drifted down the current and out upon the lake. Then he took the oars and pulled vigorously to its southern extremity near Payson, where he sunk the boat in shallow water and struck out across the country, intending to make his way through to Southern California. Finding this, how-
GENTILE IN UTAH. 259
ever, to be impracticable, he returned to the boat, and raising it from the bottom proceeded in it to the foot of the lake in the northern part of the valley, from which point he attempted to make his way into Nevada. But every avenue of escape from the Ter- ritory was swarming with the spies of the priesthood. One night, as he was entering the canyon through which the old emigrant route lay, a lasso was thrown from an overhanging cliff, and falling around his body was drawn taut, securely fastening both his arms to his sides. He was immediately drawn up the ragged sides of the precipice, and in a few min- utes, bruised and bleeding, found himself in the hands of his enemies.
It is not necessary to give in detail what fol- lowed, more than to say that Harter was brought to Provo, waived examination, and was held by the grand jury for trial at the next session of the district court.
Meanwhile I had, with two associates, been retained by his father for the defense. We found it possible to establish several important facts, to wit : that Harter was particularly hated and persecuted by the leaders of the Church ; that on several occasions omi- nous hints, and even threats concerning his taking off,
260 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
had been indulged in ; that his victim had been spe- cially directed to keep him under surveillance, and that at the time of the tragedy the murdered man was in the act of drawing a pistol as he advanced upon Harter. Under ordinary circumstances it would be expected that a favorable verdict could be obtained. But the difficulty in the case did not lie in the evidence; the trouble was with the jury system which prevailed in Utah.
It was well known to us that juries were controlled almost wholly by the priesthood, regardless of evi- dence. If a man committed a crime in the interests of " Zion," though a score might testify to the fact, he could not be found guilty ; and when it became necessary to convict and punish a man for an offense against the Mormon leaders, no amount of favorable testimony could save him. A United States district attorney once told me, that he had in his possession evidence enough to hang the first presidency of the Church twenty times over, but that one might as well go among a gang of horse- thieves and try one of the number for horse stealing, with his comrades for a jury, as to attempt to convict a Mormon high in authority for a crime committed in the inter- ests of Mormonism. How, then, could we hope to
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 261
save poor Harter when for two years the whole priestly organization had determined upon his removal ?
It was just at this time that the " Poland bill " was pending in Congress. It provided for a new election law, regulated the jurisdiction of courts which a Mormon Legislature had arranged to suit itself, and contained such a revision of the jury system as would exclude all biased jurors, whether a cause to be tried had reference to Church affairs or not. The greatest interest was taken in it by all non-Mormons in Utah. Every arrangement was made to place before Con- gress the fullest information as to the anomalous state of affairs in that Territory. An able delegate from Montana reviewed, upon the floor of the House of Representatives, the unwarranted legislation of the Church dignitaries during the entire history of the Territorial government. He clearly set forth the fact, that in the heart of this Republic a priestly oligarchy had built up a theocratic despotism, and fortified their position by the enactment of such laws as gave them all power, until such a code of criminal and civil laws existed, and such methods of local government prevailed, as could not be found in any civilized coun- try on earth. The measures of the proposed law were
262 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
shown to be wise, just, and American, and their adoption was strongly urged.
I was particularly interested on account of Hart- er. I knew that if the Pola'nd bill became a law, the chances for acquittal in his case would be increased a thousand-fold ; and I was also anxious that this lim- itation should be placed upon Mormon power, and this blow at absolute and lawless despotism should be delivered. I did not see how Congress could fail to do this. At this time, in the matter of elections, a system of marked ballots prevailed by which the priesthood could ascertain precisely how every subor- dinate and every layman voted, and thus a relentless priestly censorship was established over the ballot- box. As to the courts, even probate courts, consti- tuted by Mormon government, had jurisdiction in divorce suits and in criminal and civil causes. As to the jury system, a polygamist could sit on a jury when a Mormon was to be tried for polygamy; in fact, there was a subversion of all rightful government and law, and the Poland bill had been framed with a view to the correction of these evils. It seemed to me, as it did to others, that it must become a law. Then appeared the wonderful resources of the hierarchy. Through the management of two representatives the
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 2G3
bill was long delayed in committee ; then when it was reported to the House it was delayed by long debate and finally sent back to the committee; then it was returned to the House, and experienced an- other long delay through the efforts of these two men ; at last, and after these members had exhausted all parliamentary tactics to prevent, it came to a vote and passed the House and went to the Senate. Here a senator was found who bitterly opposed it, and would only withdraw his opposition upon the accept- ance of certain amendments that removed the most stringent features of the bill. It had now come to be the last day, and even the last hour, of this session of Congress. This man had it in his power to delay action until the adjournment should be reached, and the bill thereby fall to the ground. Its friends thought that the moral effect of any legislation would be a little gain, and so, rather than wholly fail, the amendments were agreed to, and the bill returned to the House for concurrence within fifteen minutes of final adjournment. It passed that body as it came from the Senate and became a law, but it was power- less fo**good in Utah.
Here is the answer to the oft- repeated question, " Why does not our National Legislature break the
2C4 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
Mormon power ? " The fact is, that since the law of 1862 against polygamy, which did not touch the root of the evil, none but weak and inefficient measures have been allowed to become laws. The Mormon hierarchy does not attempt to buy up the whole American Congress ; but it does manage to secure in each House one or two prominent members, who, by parliamentary methods, delay action, secure amend- ments, etc., till each session adjourns and nothing effective has been done. Head the whole history of attempted legislation for Utah for the last twenty years ! Presidents have many times recommended adequate remedies for the great evil ; measures enough have been introduced at every session ; Con- gress has always had full power to repeal every im- proper and unconstitutional act of a Mormon Legisla- ture, and to erect such a government over the Terri- tory of Utah as the interests and well being of Amer- icanism demanded ; public opinion has all been on one side, and the press has almost universally supported that opinion ; and yet year after year every effective measure has been fought off until it has fallen to the ground ! Weak and inoperative laws have once or twice been secured directed chiefly against that inci- dent of Mormonism — polygamy, while the mighty
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 205
despotism and treasonable system of crime and law- lessness has been allowed to grow.
I now return, for this time, to my story. I said that I was not a Christian, and yet I have had to minister as a Christian to one of the purest souls that ever graced this world. Some days after Ilarter had been committed for trial his betrothed waited upon me at my office, and at the close of a sorrowful in- terview asked if I could furnish her with a Bible. She had never seen one. She knew nothing of its teachings and nothing of its creeds or doctrines. She had been instructed in the tenets of the Mormon faith and was acquainted with its absurd superstitions and claims ; but her heart had intuitively repelled all these, while she had a confused idea of God and her relations with him. She had heard that the Bible was the foundation of the faith of the Christian world, and of that better type of civilization and condition of society of which the young people of Utah were beginning to have some indistinct knowledge. And so, after she had learned from me what she could as to the condition of her lover, she tearfully requested a copy of the word of God. I furnished it gladly, and she went away. A little before the trial she came to me again, bringing it with her. She had almost de-
266 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
voured it ; she had read the entire book through once and the New Testament several times. From it she evolved the truth that she had a Father in heaven who loved and pitied her, and unto whom she might open her heart in prayer. She had particularly feasted her mind with the portraiture of the Sav- iour's character and with his tender and loving words. She was charmed and fascinated with the purity and refinement of all its teachings concerning human character and life, an'd with the transporting views it opened to her of the life to come. She turned to a passage, and read : " The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former tilings are passed away." Her face glowed as writh the light of eternity's sun while she read it, and she said, with earnestness, " O how different, how very different from this dark and troubled world it will be ! "
Then she turned to another passage, and read : " If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it." She repeated the words "any thing, any thing" and turn-
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 267
ing her eyes fully upon me, she -asked, "Does it mean that ? " Now I had never before been called upon to expound the Scriptures as a religious instructor and guide to a hungry soul ; it did not belong to my pro- fession ; I did not feel qualified ; and besides, as I have already intimated, I was not a firm believer in these things myself. But for all the world I could not have thrown any doubt concerning her only source of comfort and hope into her troubled mind. So I answered that those were undoubtedly the words of the S.on of Man, and that" the language seemed to be very plain. " But," she said, " it says ' any thing, any thing? Can I ask 'any thing,' even the life of my darling yonder in the prison, upon the strength of this promise ? " I was now in a fearful dilemma ; I had but little hope that Harter could be acquitted, and I frankly told her so. But I added, " I suppose that we must interpret that passage in the light of the whole Bible, and not the whole Bible in the light of that one passage. The book teaches that there are some things that God himself cannot do. It is very evident that he does not always control men. He has committed unto men the fearful responsibility that goes with the power of voluntary action. Men may do as they please, although they are accountable
2G8 THE MORMON PROBLEM— APPENDIX.
to him. And, moreover, I suppose that we mortals, limited as we are in knowledge, and only in the in- fancy of our own being, can only reasonably ask those things that accord with the infinite wisdom and far- reaching purpose of God. I think, therefore, that the text you have quoted is to be understood in such a modified and limited sense. A child, for instance, might ask of its mother a razor as a toy, and feel deeply grieved that it should be denied. And yet there would be a moral impossibility as to the request, arising from the very goodness of the mother's heart; and the sorrow she gave to her child would be an infinitely greater blessing than to have conferred the coveted toy."
That is the nearest I ever came to being a. preacher, and I do not know if my sermon would meet the ap- proval of the divines. But it satisfied and comforted my visitor. She only answered : " I could not ask of God that my darling should go unpunished. I might ask it of man, but when I come to talk with God it is different. I know that he ought not to have killed that man, for it was by no means certain that his own life was in immediate danger. But if I might dare to ask that his life might be spared, that he might so have opportunity, and by God's grace the disposition,
A GENTILE IN UTAH. 269
to learn from this book before lie dies, I should be so happy."
She went away, and I subsequently learned that she gave herself to constant reading of the Scriptures and prayer until the end was reached. It came soon enough. Harter had been indicted for murder in the first degree. As already intimated, our defense was " justifiable homicide." My associates were able and experienced attorneys; every possible effort was made to save the unfortunate man, and we did succeed in obtaining a verdict for manslaughter.
I have always believed that the priesthood were afraid of public opinion in dealing with Harter, and managed to convey their wish for such a verdict to the jury through the prosecuting attorney. I know that the conviction of Lee, the unfortunate" tool of the priesthood in the Mountain Meadows massacre, was obtained in precisely this way. Brigham Young threw Lee as a sop to justice, to satisfy the public demand and to turn public attention from himself.
Harter received his verdict with indifference. He said to me that sooner or later they would kill him, and his only satisfaction with the verdict arose from the fact that his assassination would be less painful to his friends than his execution under sentence of the
270 THE MORMON PROBLEM— APPENDIX.
law. His sentence was twenty years' imprisonment in the penitentiary at Salt Lake City. He was duly confined, and remained in prison for about eight months, when the following events occurred :
One day a basket of delicious fruit was conveyed to Harter from his friends, as had, in fact, been con- stantly allowed during his confinement. But upon examining this basket, a block of a key and a file were found carefully concealed at the bottom. Harter sup- posed it had been put there by his friends, and he was in no mood to remain a prisoner, if he could escape. About the same time a fellow-prisoner told Harter that he also had received from outside friends implements whereby they could get free; and, con- ferring together, they laid their plans, and in due time carried them into effect. They succeeded easily in getting outside the prison walls, when Harter was shot down by men lying in ambush for the purpose.
The implements had been secreted in the basket by the prison officials ; the confederate was one of their own spies ; and the whole affair had been planned by the priesthood to give opportunity for killing Harter. It was one of their old methods of removing obnox- ious men, and by it they had at last got rid of the dangerous witness.
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACKE. 271
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE
OF 1857.
THE following is probably the most complete and truthful account of this dreadful event ever pub- lished. It was furnished the " Chicago Tribune " by a special correspondent in January, 1875. It is alto- gether too valuable an historic paper to be lost. The details were gathered with the utmost care, and are related with the strictest regard for accuracy. Many of these details I have also heard from old residents of Utah, some of whom had personal knowledge of the same. I have thought it best to present the whole story to the world in this form, as given by the nar- rator, with only a few slight abbreviations.
AUTHENTIC HISTORY OF THE HORRIBLE SLAUGHTER OF ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE EMIGRANTS.
One cannot gain an intelligent idea of any great event without knowing the causes by which it was produced. Waterloo could never be understood if only the incidents of the battle were narrated.
272 THE MOEMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
The causes which led to the Mountain Meadows massacre are interwoven with the fundamental prin- ciples of the strange religion of the Mormons. Place yourself in sympathy with these principles, and you can obtain a faint conception of the motives which actuated those whose hands bear the dreadful stain. Plunder, lust, and personal animosity would never have prompted men to commit such a cruel, merciless slaughter, had not the teachings of a fanatical relig- ious belief sanctioned the crime.
The good precepts of the Mormon faith render the people generous, kind, hospitable. The black precepts are all embodied in this one fiendish act.
AT THE OUTSET
let me state that I have no desire to make history. My duty is not to create events, but to record them. Where authorities cannot be cited — where I have not the names of authentic men to corroborate state- ments— I shall always mention the fact. Some of the incidents are probably fictitious ; of such I shall state that they are only rumors : yet I shall record no ru- mors which are not believed by those who ought to know the truth.
Seventeen years of mysterious darkness overshad-
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 273
ows the crime, and where the truth cannot be sep- arated from the falsehoods, both will be given, and time and the courts of justice will distinguish be- tween them. I have received the following " causes " f rom the lips of Mormons. From the " first presi- dency " down to the humblest farmer, I have dili- gently sought out reasons. While they all attempt to soften the wiry edge of- public opinion by men- tioning the provocations which brought on the deed, I must bear witness that
THE MORMONS REPUDIATE THE CRIME.
From no one have I obtained a single word of approval, or aught that could be construed into a sanction, of the massacre. For several weeks I have been mingling with all the various ranks and classes, and, in justice to myself, I must emphatically deny that this- great crime ought to rest upon the shoulders of the people. No denunciation can be too severe for those who planned and urged on the crime; but do not infer that all this people are guilty.
The revelations of Joseph Smith made the Mor- mons the one chosen people of God. " Gentiles" and "Babylonians^" are terms which indicate that
outsiders have no rights which ought to be respected.
J«
THE MOKMON PKOBLEM — APPENDIX.
As the Israelites, the ancient people of God, dealt with the Egyptians, the Philistines, or the tribes that opposed them, so, if necessary, might the Mormons deal with " outs." This " cause " had much to do with the massacre. A prayerful assemblage were " counseled " to the deed, and prayerful men led on the slaughter. From John D. Lee's conversation I have no doubt the story is true which says " he waved his sword above his head after the massacre, and shouted : ' This day has the name of Israel's God been glorified ! ' '
AVENGING A PROPHET'S BLOOD.
Joseph Smith is regarded by the Mormons as the Saviour is by other Christian denominations. The Mormons believe in Jesus Christ, but not more firmly than in this latter day prophet. Both suffered mar- tyrdom at the hands of infuriated mobs. The mur- derers of Joseph Smith are regarded with the same intense hatred that would attach to those of our Saviour, had he been crucified in this age and day. One part of the great emigrant-train came from the portion of Missouri from which the Mormons had been driven, and at least one person claimed to have been at Illinois when the prophet was killed. It is
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 275
currently believed that one of the emigrants swung a pistol above his head, and swore that it helped kill " Joe Smith," and was then loaded for " Old Brig- ham." I have asked Mormons whether their religion would exonerate the man who should kill the des- perado that boasted of murdering the prophet, and they bluntly answered " Yes."
AN APOSTLE'S MURDERERS.
A well-known tenet of the Mormon faith is, that husbands may forsake wives, and wives may desert husbands, for religon's sake. To gain admission into the one true Church is worth infinitely more than family ties. At Cedar City a gray-haired man was pointed out to me, with the boastful assertion : " There is a man who left a wife and four children in England, that he might join the Mormons in Utah." The results of this accursed doctrine are prominently connected with the bloody events of the massacre.
Parley P. Pratt was a bright and shining light among the early Mormons. He was one of the " Twelve Apostles," and his influence was power- ful and wide spread. He practiced the doctrine he preached, and one of his wives, Eleanor M'Lean, was the wife of an Arkansas man. Deserting her hus-
276 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
hand and children, she eloped to Utah with Apostle Pratt. Pining for her children, she induced Parley P. Pratt to return to Arkansas to obtain them.
Yet the Mormons see nothing criminal in Parley P. Pratt' s action, and follow, with dire vengeance, the friends of M'Lean. Pratt was a martyr. His autobiography is selling rapidly through Utah at present. The wife, Eleanor Pratt, died three weeks ago in Salt Lake City, and a young man, who was her son and M'Lean's, followed with the mourners. The emigrant train contained several persons who came from M'Lean's neighborhood. At least one man was believed to have been interested in the killing of Apostle Parley P. Pratt. You see the connection.
The very groundwork of the Mormon theocracy rests upon unbounded reverence for President Young, their prophet, seer, and revelator. It is charged that the emigrants wove his name into vul- gar songs, which were chanted through the streets.
PROFANITY — POISONING SPRINGS — CHICKEN-STEALING.
There is, or was, a Territorial law prohibiting profanity. Some of the emigrants were said to be terribly profane, and upon entering a town invaria- bly inquired : " Where is your d — d old bishop, or
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 277
president?" Their profanity at last caused the au- thorities to attempt to arrest them at Cedar City. Resistance was made, and the authorities were com- pelled to abandon the attempt.
Again, it is told that a teamster, in passing through the streets of Cedar, brought his heavy whiplash down among Widow Evans's chickens and killed two. Lee says, that while camped two miles beyond the town they tore down and burned fifteen rods of fence, and turned their stock upon the standing grain.
It is rumored that at Corn Creek they poisoned a beef, or a spring, or a running stream, and the In- dians suffered from the effects. One Indian is said to have died, and the rest were terribly incensed against the emigrants. A bishop informs me that Indian runners were sent all over Southern Utah to arouse the tribes to vengeance.
THE GREAT CAUSE,
however, was, that Albert Sidney Johnson's army was entering Utah, and that Mormons were marshal- ing to oppose him with force and arms. The United States was considered as an enemy, and its subjects were treated as foes. Practically, the Territory was under martial law, and the Nauvoo Legion drilled
278 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
regularly each week. Here was the richest and most powerful company that ever traveled the Southern route to California. Their wagons, teams, and loose stock, alone, amounted to over $300,000, and they had the costliest apparel and jewelry.
The wildest excitement prevailed, and murders were frequent. Driven from place to place in the East, the Mormons resolved to tight for Utah.
BLOOD ATONEMENT
is said to have had its share in urging on the deed. Certain disaffected Mormons joined the train to go to California. When their bodies were found after the massacre it is said they were clothed in their endow- ment shirts. From these causes, gleaned from the sayings of Mormons, a little idea may be gained of the reasons which actuated the murderers.
The emigrants were charged with having their hands crimsoned with the blood of Joseph Smith and Parley P. Pratt; they were said to be quarrelsome, abusive, profane, chicken-thieves ; they threatened war, and poisoned springs ; and they grossly insulted leading Mormons, and harbored apostates.
I give all the reasons I ever heard assigned, be- cause, when the provocation is all summed up, there
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 279
is not sufficient cause to justify the dashing out of a single babe's brains.
THE OTHER SIDE.
In rebuttal, abundant proof can be furnished to show that the company was orderly, highly respect- able, and composed principally of quiet, Sabbath- loving, Christian people. They held religious serv- ices each Sunday, and reverenced the teachings of God's holy word. Eli B. Kelsey traveled with them from Fort Bridger to Salt Lake City, and he spoke of them in the highest terms. Jacob JIamlin, an honest old Indian interpreter, who has four wives, twenty children, and eighteen grandchildren, said to me of this train : " They seemed like real old- fashioned farmers." A resident of Parowan told me he had visited them often, and became well acquainted with them, and he had never seen a company of bet- ter people.
ENTERING SALT LAKE,
they found, to their great surprise, that nothing could be procured of the Mormons for love or money. Their cash, their cattle, their immense wealth, could not purchase provisions enough to keep them from starving. Trains were always accustomed to obtain a fresh outfit at Salt Lake prior to crossing the deserts
280 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
intervening between Utah and California. Brigham Young may not have been guilty of the after events, but, beyond the perad venture of a doubt, he is re- sponsible for whatever suffering may have been en- dured because of an insufficiency of food. He was Governor of Utah, one of the Territories of the United States, and certainly he ought to have per- mitted citizens of the Union to purchase necessary provisions while passing peaceably through his con- tines. As it was, they would have died of starvation had they not been massacred, though there was an unusually abundant harvest that year. As a climax to this inhospitable reception they were peremptorily ordered to break camp and move away from Salt Lake City.
THE SOUTHERN ROUTE
to California was the only one that could be traveled at that season, as the Sierras would be covered with impassable snow-barriers. Slowly they passed down through the villages .that blossomed at the foot of the Wasatch range, expecting to reach Los Angeles by the San Bernardino route. The corn had ripened, and the wheat had been harvested. Every granary was filled to bursting, and yet money could not pur- chase food. At American Fork, Battle Creek, Provo,
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 281
Springville, Spanish Fork, Payson, Nephi, and Fill- more, they received the same harsh refusal to their requests for trading or buying. They were ordered away from at least two places where they were halt- ing to rest and refresh their weary cattle. All emi- grants who have traveled through Utah to California remember liow friendly and hospitable the Mormons usually were to passing trains. The unusual policy pursued toward these people leads to the inevitable conclusion that some very important order had been issued from head-quarters. Sure enough we find that
THE AVENGER
had preceded them in the person of George A. Smith, now Brigham's first counselor, and the second man in the theocracy. Riding swiftly, his fleet horse far outstripped the slow-moving emigrant-train. At ev- ery settlement he preached to the Mormons, and gave strict orders to sell no food or grain to emigrants, under pain of excommunication. To the earnest, sincere Mormon, death is preferable to being " cut off" from the privileges of his religion. At least three men have told me that George A. Smith gave these orders. The enormity of the crime is apparent when we remember that certain death awaited these
282 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
poor emigrants in the shape of starvation. Even the Mormon side of the story differs but little. I received it from a zealous defender of the Mormon religion, and give it in the very words of the honest old man. He enjoys the highest confidence of Brig- ham Young, and gives me full permission to use his name.
AT CORN CREEK
George A. Smith and his companion met the emi- grants, and camped side by side with them. Only a little stream intervened between the train and the camp-fire of the man who carried the fatal instruc- tions. The emigrants even solicited advice from Smith as to where they could find a suitable spot to encamp and recruit their teams previous to crossing the desert. He and his companion referred them to Cane Spring, the identical place where they were attacked !
The Indians at Corn Creek furnished them with thirty bushels of corn ! Prior to this no aid or kind- ness had been received from any quarter, save when some Mormon, braver than his fellows, would clandestinely steal into camp at dead of night, bear- ing whatever he could in his arms. The Indians befriended them ! That, too, at the very spot, Corn
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 283
Creek, where the emigrants are said to have been poisoned by the Indians !
ABOUT THAT POISONING.
Lee says they poisoned a spring, and that from drinking its waters, or from some other cause, an ox became poisoned and died. The flesh of this ox was given to the Indians, and one or two of them died. The Widow Tomlinson, just this side, also had an ox poisoned, and, in attempting to save the hide and tallow, the poison entered her system and she lost her life. Her son came very near dying also.
The story is doubted by even the Mormons. Re- lating, or rather reading it from my note-book to the honest old man who camped beside the emigrants, and who ought certainly to have known the truth, he said : u Don't say that I told you that I think it is true, but I don't know. And," continued he, " if you publish that story, folks will disbelieve all you write."
The United States officials, with Deputy United States Marshal Rogers and a competent military surgeon at the head-quarters, gave the most thorough examination to the spring alleged to have been poi- soned, and this is their report : " It sends out a
284 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
stream as large as a man's body, and a barrel of arsenic would not poison it."
ON SHOET ALLOWANCE.
At Beaver the emigrants met witli the same cold treatment. They were actually compelled to place themselves on short allowance, although traveling through a land flowing with milk and honey. Paro- wan is a walled town. The train was refused permission to even enter its streets, and was forced to leave the road and pass around the town. The only theory ever advanced for this strange proceed- ing is, that fatal preparations had already been made inside the walls of Parowan. Some say that the militia were even then assembled under Colonel William H. Dame.
PREPARING FOR THE MASSACRE.
From the sworn affidavits of those who partici- pated in the slaughter, it is conclusively established that Brigadier- General George A. Smith, Colonel William H. Dame, Lieutenant-Colonel I. C. Haight, and Major John D. Lee held a council of war at Parowan. They determined upon the place, the manner, and all the minor details of the massacre.
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 285
Where the California road crosses the Santa Clara canyon the crime was to be perpetrated. Shut in between the perpendicular walls of rock, the very wagons were to be piled up as a blockade to prevent the escape of a single soul. To make doubly sure, however, Ira Hatch was sent, with others, beyond the canyon to the " Muddy," to cut off stragglers. Guards were also placed at Buckhorn Springs, nearly seventy miles this side of the Meadows, and at all the springs and watering-places near Cedar City and Parowan. These guards would be certain to dis- cover and shoot down any fugitives who might have escaped.
THE UTAH MILITIA
received a positive military order to report for duty. The very language of this written order was, that they must come " armed and equipped as the law directs, and prepared for field operations." A highly respectable gentleman tells me that he hap- pened to be lying on one side of a high adobe wall while the order was being read to two men on the other side. He did not dare leave for fear of being discovered, and was forced to listen to the conversa- tion. They were directed to be in readiness within one hour, with forty rounds of ammunition. These
286 THE MOKMON PKOBLEIL — APPENDIX.
two men knew the import of their instructions, and sat down and cried like children at the thought of the horrible deed they were compelled to perform. They both said they would rather leave the Territory and desert homes and families than to engage in the bloody work. To refuse to comply with the order, however, was certain death, for the guards stationed at the watering-places rendered escape impossible.
IS BKIGHAM YOUNG IMPLICATED?
Thousands of people are asking this question. There is no evidence in existence, so far as is known, to criminate him as being accessory before the fact, unless it is connected with his military position. It was claimed, all the way through, that orders had come from head -quarters. He was commarider-in- chief of the Utah militia, and it hardly seems possible to suppose that the militia would be detailed to do such sanguinary work without some sanction from Salt Lake City.
BEADY FOE THE SLAUGHTER.
From Cedar City the emigrants proceeded south- west to the Meadows, a distance of about forty miles. Camping at the Meadows, they were quietly resting
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 287
their cattle and gaining strength to cross the desert. Suddenly, unexpectedly, at day-break on Monday morning, September 10, 1857, they were attacked by Indians.
At the very first fire seven were killed and fifteen wounded. Thoughtless of danger, totally unprepared, and, in fact, while most of them were yet asleep, they fell hopelessly before the bullets of their unseen foes. Had they possessed less bravery, less determination, the entire party would have been massacred on the spot. With a promptness unparalleled in all the his- tory of Indian warfare, these emigrants wheeled their wagons into an oblong corral, and, with shovels and picks, threw up the earth from the center of the cor- ral against the wagon wheels. In an incredibly short space of time they had an excellent barricade. An eye-witness says that it was done with such remark- able celerity that the plans of the painted assassins were completely frustrated.
THE ORIGINAL PLAN
had been, as before stated, to attack them at Santa Clara canyon, but the Indians became too impatient. These " battle-axes of the Lord " had responded to the call of the Indian agent, John D. Lee, and the
288 THE MOEMON PROBLEM— APPENDIX.
liberal promises they had received caused the prema- ture attack. The large herds and the rich spoils — the blankets, clothing, and trinkets — the guns, pistols, and ammunition — a portion of all of which was to be theirs, induced them to make the attack at Cane Spring. They intended to kill as many as possible at the iirst fire, and then charge upon the remainder. The charge never was made. There were crack marks- men in the train, and in a few moments there were
THREE WOUNDED INDIANS.
The redskins had crept up close to the train, and lay concealed along the banks of the creek, in the little hollows, and behind the low sage-brush. They never dreamed of a repulse. Disconcerted by the prompt, decisive action of the emigrants, they incau- tiously exposed their bodies. One account says they actually charged upon the guard ; but, at all events, one was slightly wounded in the shoulder and two were shot in the left thigh. There was not an inch difference in the location of the wounds of the last two. The bones were crushed to splinters, and both Indians died. Prior to their death they were con- veyed to the camp near Cedar, and Bishop Higbee anointed their wounds with consecrated oil ! It may
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 289
not be generally known that this oil is blessed and set apart for the healing of the sick. Instead of calling a physician, many of the Mormons, to this day, no matter what may be the nature of the disease, pour on this oil, and attempt to effect a cure by prayer and
THE LAYING ON OF HANDS.
It is true biblical doctrine, and it is claimed that wondrous cures are effected througli the instrumen- tality of faith. Bishop Higbee went out to the camp after these murderers had been brought from the Meadows, anointed the wounded limbs, went through all the process of " laying on of hands," and fervently prayed that the Lord Jesus would heal them. My informant says : " I stood by and watched his mo- tions and listened to his prayers."
Leaving the emigrants safely intrenched behind their hastily-improvised fortifications, let us return to President Haight at Cedar. He had preached from the pulpit before the train arrived in his town that the people were not to trade with the Gentiles. One man heard that a young gentleman by the name of William A. Aden was with the train. Aden's father had once, in Tennessee, saved the life of this Mormon,
and, out of gratitude, he befriended the young man 19
290 THE MOKMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
in some way. Soon afterward a party of Mormons came up to the gate of the disobedient brother and struck him over the head with a club. His skull was cracked, and, although he is still living, his mind is seriously impaired. The murderer of young Aden boasts that the latter was
HIS FIES'l VICTIM.
Aden and a companion were returning to the settle- ments, probably to attempt to obtain assistance or food. At all events, they met Bill Stewart and a companion at Pine Creek, seven miles this side of the Meadows. Stewart had a revolver, and his compan- ion, a boy, had a shot-gun. The former said he would shoot one, and told the boy he must kill the other. As good as his word, Stewart sent a bullet crashing through Aden's brain, while the horse of his unsuspecting victim was quietly drinking at a little creek. The boy's courage failed, and the other emi- grant escaped to the train.
A HARDENED VILLAIN.
Years after the murder, Stewart and a Mormon friend were passing the spot, and the former related the circumstance. The friend asked what had been done with the body, and Stewart pointed to a clump
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 291
of bushes as the place where it had been concealed. " Is it there now ? " asked the traveler. " I don't know," coolly responded Stewart; "let's go and see!" Accordingly they went, and the horrified friend tells me that to this day he shudders to think how Stewart went to the spot and brutally kicked about the poor bleached bones, and examined the fragments of clothing and scattered -locks of hair.
Aden's gray-haired father advertised for his lost son, and offered a reward of one thousand dollars for information of his whereabouts. Surely it was a kind Providence that kept him in ignorance of the fact that the boy's body was food for wolves, and that for years the whitened bones bleached unburied. He has since learned that his son was with the emigrants, but probably he never knew that his boy was the first victim, and that he was killed by a Mormon who still lives in Cedar City. I would not dare publish this horrible tale, did I not have it direct and positive from the lips of highly- respectable gentlemen whose oaths are ready to back their assertions.
AN INDIAN RUNNER
came into Cedar the first night, and reported tin unsuccessful assault. The Mormons immediately
292 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
started to the Meadows to assist. Haiglit told a certain man that orders had come from head-quarters to massacre every one of them. The man's boy, now grown to middle age, overheard the remark, and is my authority. The same person says he saw eight or ten men start out about nine o'clock that night. They were armed with shot-guns, Kentucky rifles, flint-locks, and every imaginable fire-arm, and went under military orders. Major John D. Lee had command of the forces which started from Cedar City, and, finding these inadequate, sent back to Cedar and Washington for re-enforcements.
Sworn affidavits tell us that when the auxiliaries arrived, the entire command was assembled about half a mile from the intrench ments of the fated emigrants, and were there coolly informed that the whole company was to be killed, and only the little children who were too young to remember any thing, were to be spared. (See Fanny Stenhouse's "Tell It All," p. 329.)
But the order could not be immediately carried out because of the
DETERMINED RESISTANCE
of the emigrants. The Meadows are a mile and a half long and a mile wide, but the mountains which
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 293
form the high rim of the little basin converge at the lower end and form a wild, rugged canyon. Just at the mouth of this canyon is Cane Spring. Some con- fusion has arisen among authorities by confounding this spring with another " Cane " Spring, two and a half miles south. There was but one attack, and that was made at the Meadow Spring, then called " Cane," because of the peculiar rush, resembling canebrake, which grew near its waters. My authority is the man who was the owner of the ground then and now. A mound some two hundred feet long by one hundred wide rose from the Meadows about thirty rods above the spring, and completely shut out the view. Low hills with deep ravines came down on either side, and completely hemmed in the party. Bullets from every side of the
DEATH PEN
swept the inclosure, and whistled through the wagon covers. Such cattle as were inside the corral were shot down, and the herds outside were stampeded. Yet for seven or eight days they bravely held out, and seemed to be masters of the situation. Water was their great need. A little babbling brook mur- mured along not forty feet away, and the fine, clear
294 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
spring was not more than two rods off, but yet they suffered indescribably from thirst.
THE MORMONS WERE PAINTED AND DISGUISED
to appear like their savage allies. Not content with the superior advantages which nature had given to their position, they threw up breastworks of stone on the adjacent hill-sides. From behind these their rifles could sweep the little grassy plain below without a single portion of their body being exposed. Every attempt to obtain water, either day or night, awak- ened a score of deadly reports from .the arms of the concealed foe. It was supposed at first that none but the men were in danger. A woman, who stepped outside the corral to milk a cow, fell pierced with bullets. Two innocent little girls were sent down to the spring. Hand in hand, tremblingly, these dear little rosebuds walked toward the spring. Their ten- der little bodies were fairly riddled with bullets.
THE OLD BREASTWORKS
still remain in places, and no one can visit the spot without being surprised that the emigrants held out so long. Behind the mounds, and just beyond the low foothills and the mound, are level flats concealed from the emigrants' view. Here the Mormons and
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 295
Indians were pitching horseshoes, and amusing them- selves in various ways. The cowards well under- stood that cruel, pitiless hunger and burning thirst were their powerful allies inside that corral. Wagon- loads of provisions were arriving from Cedar for the besiegers, and each day lessened the scanty stock of the emigrants. Who can picture the torments of mind and body which those poor people suffered? In a bleak, desolate country, hundreds of miles from help, surrounded by painted fiends, and dying of thirst and starvation, how deep must have been the gloom !
THREE SPIES
had been sent with the train from Cedar. Ostensibly they were apostates going to California, but in reality they were sent to learn the strength of the party, the scarcity of provisions, etc. I heard the names of these men, but did not note them down when my informant gave them, and may be mistaken. I think they were Elliot Wilden or Willets, a man by the name of Reeves, and Bill Stewart. They are well known in Southern Utah as " the three boys." They were unable to accomplish any thing after the siege began, and so escaped to the Indians. They dressed in savage costume, put war-paint on their
296 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
faces, and throughout the black days of the horrible siege and butchery, they played a bloody part.
A CRY OF DISTRESS.
One thrillingly horrible incident gives a vivid idea of the anguish of the emigrants. It shows that the brave, true hearts of those Arkansas men scorned death and danger if only a little hope could be seen of saving their wives and babies. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday passed. The weary hours of fear and suffering dragged slowly by. The whiz- zing arrows, the whistling bullets, the cheers and ribald laughter of the coarse, brutal assassins, told how blood-thirsty were the besiegers. Thursday night the emigrants drew up a petition, or an humble
PRAYER FOR AID.
It was addressed to any friend of humanity, and stated the exact condition of affairs. It told that on the morning of the 10th the train was attacked by Indians, and that the siege had continued uninter- ruptedly. There was reason to believe, it stated, that white men were with the Indians, as the latter were well supplied with powder and weapons. In case the paper reached California, it was hoped that assist-
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 297
ance would be sent to their rescue. Then followed a list of the emigrants' names, each name was followed by the age, place of nativity, latest residence, posi- tion, rank, and occupation of its owner. The number of clergymen, physicians, farmers, carpenters, etc., was given. Among other important particulars, the number of
FREEMASONS AND ODD-FELLOWS
•
was stated, with the rank, and the name and number of the lodge of which they were members. It was a forlorn hope, this letter — a sad despairing cry of dis- tress. It is the only expression that ever came from within that cwral, but it giyes such a thrilling pict- ure of their torture and mental anguish as nothing else could. Seventeen years have elapsed since that signal of distress was made. Yet it is not too late to answer. There is many a strong heart in the world to-day that will feel its pulses thrill faster when it hears that these men, in their strong death agony, appealed for aid to their brethren of the mystic tie. The paper, also, contained an itemized list of their property, such as wagons, oxen, horses, etc.
"Who should attempt to break through the line, and bear this letter to California ? It was a desperate
298 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
undertaking, but it was the last hope. Yolunteers were called for, and three of the bravest men that ever lived stepped forward and offered to attempt to dash through the enemy, and cross the wilderness and desert. Before they started, all knelt in the corral, and the white-haired old Methodist pastor prayed fervently for their safety. In the dead of night they passed the besiegers, but Indian runners were immediately placed on their track.
FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES.
They traveled until completely exhausted. An Indian chief, named Jackson, boasts of having killed the first, having found him lying on his back asleep, between the Clara and the Kio Virgin. The savage crept stealthily up to the sleeping' man, placed the flinty arrow-point just above the collar bone, drew back the bow-string, and sent the shaft down into the sleeper's throat. Springing to his feet, he ran nearly forty yards before he fell, faint and dying. There is every reason for supposing that he lived long enough to be tortured. In after years my informant was taken by Jackson to the remains. The skull and larger bones were charred and burned, and the smaller ones were wholly reduced to ashes. Whether
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 299
tortured or not, his body was burned by his fiendish murderers.
THE LETTER WAS FOUND
on a divide, near the murdered man. Jackson dis- covered it, and gave it to my informant, who kept it safely for months. Happening to show it one day to a man who was a leader in the massacre, he promptly^ destroyed it. The honest old Mormon, however, is perfectly acquainted with the nature of its contents, and has no sympathy with the tragedy or its perpe- trators. In his simple, straightforward style he said : " I believe that, if the Masons and Odd-fellows knew how many of their brethren were in the train, they wouldn't let the accursed murderers go unpun- ished." He is willing at the proper time to testify to the contents of the letter.
The two other emigrants traveled forty miles far- ther and came to the Virgin Hills. Here the In- dians overtook and surrounded them. The deadly arrows wounded one, and both were captured. The Indians stripped them stark naked, and gave them to understand that they must
RUN FOR LIFE!
Both started, but the one was so badly wounded that he could not run. The other bounded away with
300 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
the swiftness of a deer. The fleetest runners were engaged in the pursuit, and, to use the language of my informer, " he ran right away from them." Even the shower of arrows missed his flying body, save one, which struck his arm, inflicting a severe wound. Meantime, savages had gathered around the fainting jrform of the man who could not run, and had tied him to a stake. Fagots were soon blazing around his quivering body, and he died amid all the excruci- ating agony known to savage torture.
HUNTED TO THE DEATH.
The third and last — naked, wounded, without weapons, food, fire, or drink, without map, compass, or guide — made his way across the desert, fifty-four miles ! The Yagas Indians, another band of Piutes, discovered him in such a weak, exhausted state, that they pitied him. Yes, these hostile savages pitied the condition of the white man wno was fleeing from the cruelty of white men. They gave him a pair of pants and moccasins, and let him have some musquit bread. The musquit is a thorny shrub, one species of which has a pod containing a sort of bean. These beans are ground by the Indians in stone mortars, and from them is made an inferior kind of bread.
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 301
He was able to travel eighteen miles farther to what is known as Cottonwood. Here he met two young gentlemen from California, Henry T. Young and Can Young. They gave him a horse and some clothing, and bade him Godspeed to California. He started off, but soon came riding back and overtook them. He was so weary and feverish, and his arm pained so dreadfully, that he feared that he could not make the trip. He wanted to return with them to Salt Lake, and would run the risk of being known. They had gone but a little way when they met the Indians tracking him.
THE CRUEL BLOOD-HOUNDS
seemed bound that not one of the doomed emigrants should live to tell the tale. Instantly recognizing him, the Indians would have fired at once, but for the efforts of the Young brothers. These gentlemen drew down their rifles, and kept the Indians at bay. Hardly had they traveled two miles before they met more Indians and Ira Hatch, the interpreter. Ira told the Young boys that they were " all right," but that the man must die. No sooner had he said the word than the Indians discharged a shower of arrows at the poor fellow. Pierced by a score of the sharp
302 THE MOKMON PKOBLEM — APPENDIX.
headed arrows, lie fell from his horse. The Young brothers had all they could do to preserve their own lives. The last they saw of the fugitive, he was crawling away on his hands and knees, and an old Indian was stabbing at his throat with a butcher's knife. It seems that one of the savages put an end to the torture by striking the man on the head with a stone, crushing his skull. Thus perished the forlorn hope of the emigrants.
FALSE SIGNALS.
The besiegers found it impossible to take the train by storm or by fair means. Evidently the poor victims had resolved to perish fighting rather % than deliver up their wives and daughters into the hands of brutal villains. But lo ! an emigrant train is seen coming down the meadows bearing a white flag ! Ah, what tumultuous hopes crowded the breasts of that famishing, perishing people. It is said they cried for joy, and danced and embraced each other, and gladly rushed out to meet their supposed friends. They were armed friends, too, as soon turned out, for they were no less than John D. Lee and the officers of the Utah militia. How sweet it must have been, after those terrible days and nights, to have seen the
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 303
STARS AND STRIPES,
and to know that the militia of a Territory of the United States was come to their rescue ! Brigham Young, the great governor of Utah, commander-in- chief of the military forces, was supposed to have sent them to deliver them, and how perfectly safe it was to accept shelter under his protecting arm ! The " In- dians " were awed by the very presence of the Mor- mons, and had ceased firing. Surely the painted savages were perfectly controlled by their white su- periors! .How kindly and tenderly these officers talked. Lee is said to have wept like a child as he sympathized with their sufferings. How providential it was that such tender-hearted Christian gentlemen should have learned of their dreadful situation, and have come to their aid ! A man so eloquent ! so smooth-tongued as was good Mr. Lee ! A man who was himself Indian Agent, and for whom the Indians had the most marked respect ! A major, too, in the militia!
LAY DOWN THEIR ARMS?
Certainly they would. If protection could so easily be guaranteed by these philanthropic gentlemen and their regiment, what reason for letting their wives and little ones die of starvation ?
304: THE MOKMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
Lee was too politic to make many promises at first. He must consult with the " Indians." Having just arrived, he had not an opportunity of learning their terms or intentions! Accordingly he went back and pretended to hold a council. Was there ever such base perfidy? Were white men — prayerful, God- fearing white men — ever guilty of such unprincipled treachery ? Well might such a dastardly coward hide in a chicken-coop when the officers came to arrest him ! Again he came, bearing once more the white flag, that pure
SYMBOL OF PEACE AND TRUTH.
An angel from heaven would not have been a more blessed sight to those tired, anxious, tearful eyes. They laid down their trusty rifles that had been their strong defense. Taking off their belts, they deliv- ered up their good revolvers and faithful bowie- knives.
John D. Lee is as smooth a talker as I ever heard. While I listened to him last week in Beaver jail, I kept constantly thinking of how he talked those emi- grants out of the intrenchments from which powder and ball could not dislodge them. Only fifteen had been killed in eight days. The corral was a bulwark
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 305
of safety, but the honeyed words of a white man won their hearts.
A GUARD OF SOLDIERS,
well armed, were drawn up to escort them in safety. The men inarched on first, then the women, and lastly the children. Did nothing whisper to those brave hearts the horrible fate in store for them and their dear ones? Was there no pang of regret at stepping out of that strong fortification ? Certainly not. Here was the American flag, the dear old flag, and, rallying beneath its folds, they felt that the strong arms of the Union enfolded them. And now,
GOD HELP THEM!
As I write the events of the massacre I almost shriek with terror. It is too terrible to believe or talk about ; but seventeen years of silence and peace is quite as much as those scoundrels deserve, and I shall write every incident. I shall write each one without divesting it of a single horror that it re- ceived as it came direct from the lips of eye-wit- nesses.
SUDDENLY, AT A GIVEN SIGNAL,
the troops halted, and down the line passed the fatal
order, "Fire I" 20
306 THE MOKMON PEOBLEM — APPENDIX.
It was given by John D. Lee, and was repeated by the under-officers. The poor, pitiful emigrants gave one
AGONIZING SHRIEK,
and fell bleeding to the earth. The Indians lay am- bushed near the spot, and joined in the slaughter when they saw the white men begin. Sworn statements of participators say the militia fired volley after volley at the defenseless, unarmed men who had intrusted their lives to the militia's keeping. It is the most heart- less, cold-blooded deed that ever disgraced the pages of history. The cowardly assassins could not have performed one single act that would have added to the blackness of their perfidy. They feigned friend- ship and sympathy, and induced these brave men to lay aside every weapon, and then shot them down like dogs! The venerable, gray-headed clergyman, the sturdy farmers, the stalwart young men and the beardless youth, all were cut down, one by one, and above their dead bodies waved the stars and stripes !
BUT THIS WAS NOT ALL.
The women were not all killed just yet! Many fell by their husbands and fathers and brothers ; but others were not permitted to die yet. It was by deliberate, predetermined forethought that the women
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 307
were separated from their husbands' sides as they left the corral. Men who had proved themselves fiends had yet to prove themselves brutes. And they did so !
O, God ! had not the weary, terror-stricken women' and maidens suffered enough to have merited at least a speedy death ? It seems not. Their pure bosoms could not quiver 'neath the plunge of the cold steel blade, nor their white throats crimson before the keen knife's edge, until they had suffered the tor- ments of a thousand deaths at the hands of their brutal captors. Yet this was done in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and the cruel, heartless beasts are living peacefully in the midst of the Amer- ican nation.
There were two or three
SICK WOMEN,
who were unable to walk out from the corral. They were driven up to the scene of the massacre, shot, stripped of their clothing, and their bodies thrown from the wagon with the others.
Some of the younger men refused to join in the dreadful work. Jim Pearce was shot by his own father for protecting a girl who was crouching at
308 THE MOKMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
his feet! The bullet cut a deep gash in his face, and the furrowed scar is there to-day.
Lee is said to have shot a girl who was clinging to his son. A score of heart-rending rumors are afloat about the deeds of that hour ; but there is no proof adduced, and as yet, nothing can be proven. One rumor, however, comes from a girl who lived in Lee's own family for years. She told Mr. Beadle, the au- thor of several valuable works, that one young woman drew a dagger to defend herself against John D. Lee, and he killed her on the spot.
A HOREIBLE STOKY
is believed by several people in southern Utah with whom I conversed. I give it for what it is worth : A young mother saw her husband fall dead. He lay with his face upward and the purple life-blood crim- soned his pallid cheeks. She sprang to his side just as a great brutal ruffian attempted to seize her. Lay- ing her tiny babe on her husband's breast she drew a small dirk-knife, and like a tigress at bay confronted the vile wretch. He recoiled in terror, but at the next instant a man stepped up behind the brave woman and drove a knife through her body. With- out a struggle she fell dead across her husband's feet.
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 309
Picking up the dirk she had dropped, the fiend de- liberately pinned the little babe's body to its father's, and laughed to watch its convulsive death struggles.
There, it is all over ! The brawny muscled men lie stark and cold, and their sweet, saintly wives have finally passed beyond the reach of their tormentors.
BUT THE CHILDREN I
The orders were to kill all except those who were too young to remember. Bill Stewart and Joel White were " set apart " to kill all the rest. My in- formant was first told the following by an Indian who witnessed the transaction, and afterward heard it from white men. The old Indian cried while telling it. My informant has testified to the fact that the statement is just as he received it :
" The little boys and girls were too frightened, too horror-stricken, to do aught but fall at the feet of their butchers and beg for mercy. Many a sweet little girl knelt before Bill Stewart, clasped his knees with her tiny white arms, and with tears and tender pleadings besought him not to take her life. Catch- ing them by the hair of the head, he would hurl them to the ground, place his foot upon their little bodies, and cut their throats ! "
310 THE MORMON PEOBLEM — APPENDIX.
THE AWFUL SCENE.
A man who saw the field eight days after the massacre related to me the following : Men, women, and children were strewn here and there over the ground, or were thrown into piles. Some were stabbed, others shot, and still others had their throats cut. The ghastly wounds showed very plainly, for there was not a single rag of clothing left on man, woman, or child, except that a torn stocking clung to the ankle of one poor fellow. The wolves and ravens had lacerated every one of the corpses except one. There was one hundred and twenty-seven in all, and each bore the marks of wolves' teeth except just one. It was the body of a handsome, well-formed lady, with beautiful face, and long flowing hair. A single bullet had pierced her side, and stilled the beatings of her heart. It seemed as if the gaunt, merciless wolves had deemed her too noble and queen-like for their fangs to mar.
THE HEAPS OF SLAIN.
Most of the bodies had been thrown into three piles, distant from each other about two and a half rods. Old and young, matron and maid, white-haired men and tiny suckling babes, boys and girls, all were thrown indiscriminately together.
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACEE. 311
One young woman lay in the sage-brush in a hol- low or sag one hundred and seventy -five yards south- west from the main body. She was badly mutilated by the wild beasts, but it was plainly to be seen that her head had -been half cut off !
There were
NO SCALP MARKS.
Indians would certainly have taken scalps or burned bodies if savage revenge had been the only thought. The closest examination was made, and not the slightest traces of the seal ping-knife could be dis- cerned.
Two months afterward, a single Mormon — all honor to the man — gathered up the bones and placed them in the very hollow the emigrants had dug inside the corral. lie acted upon his own responsibility, and went alone and unaided. He did the very best he could, but the task was horribly disagreeable, and the covering of earth which he placed over the bodies was necessarily light. The ravenous wild beasts soon dug up the bones, and they became scattered all over the ground. The kind-hearted old Mormon deserves none the less credit, and all good men will pray God to bless him for doing what he could for the bones of the murdered party.
312 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
There lias been much doubt as to the number of the slain. This man tells me that just one hundred and twenty-seven skulls were found. This does not include Aden's, nor the three killed on the desert. The total number of the emigrants massacred, so far as is known, is one hundred and thirty-one. Two children are said to have been murdered afterward, making one hundred and thirty-three.
THE BLOODY GARMENTS.
A boy who lived in Cedar City tells me that every night during the battle, and for a short time after the slaughter, wagons and men were hurrying through the streets at all hours of the darkness. Supplies and re-enforcements were constantly being sent out to the Meadows. A distillery had been established at Cedar, and its owner was with the militia. It is said he fur- nished large quantities of liquor to the soldiers. He was exceedingly enthusiastic over the bloody work.
The garments of the mangled dead were partly divided among the Indians, and a part was brought to the Cedar City tithing office. This boy — seven- teen years have made him a man — tells me that he slept in the tithing office, with two other boys, on the night the gory spoils were brought into town.
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 313
A HAUNTED TITHING OFFICE.
Klingon Smith had come in during the early part of the night, and had lain down in an adjacent room without seeing the boys. Early in the evening, sev- eral blood-stained garments had been thrown on the floor and piled in the cellar. At some time in the night the wagons arrived with the remainder of the plundered goods. There were large quantities of them. The cellar was partly filled, besides the huge stack of articles in the main office. Bedding, clothing, pans, cooking utensils, chains, yokes, and, in fact, every thing that could be taken from a body of wealthy emigrants, were stored in God's holy tithing office ! This edifice is sacredly dedicated to the Lord, and to the produce and gifts which are donated by his holy people. After such unhallowed use had been made of the building, it is hardly strange that even un- superstitious people should have deemed the house haunted. After the murderers had gone away, sud- denly the room and cellar resounded with groans, cries, sobs, shrieks, and death-screams. This boy says that he and his comrades will testify that such was the case. Klingon Smith heard the ghostly din, and, after listening for a time, he dashed wildly from
314: THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
the house, out into the night. He locked the door after him, and the boys were prisoners.^ Shut in with gory spoils, they would have gone stark mad ere morning but that the house was unfinished, and a por- tion of the roof had not been nailed down. They man- aged to clamber up and escape. " Do you still believe that supernatural groans and cries were heard that night in the tithing office ? " I asked. " No," replied he. " I don't believe — I know there were ! " Two months afterward the spoils were sold at
PUBLIC AUCTION.
Bishop John M. Higbee acted as auctioneer. Prior to the sale the people had been urged to give up all the articles that had fallen into their hands ! The insatiate greed of the leaders is shown by the fact that sermons were preached on the enormity of the crime of Ananias and Sapphira in withholding a part of their goods from the Lord. Just what the Lord wanted with Mountain Meadows spoils did not appear.
Every article that could be obtained was disposed of to the highest bidder — bake-ovens, frying-pans, pails, saws, chisels, augers, axes, log-chains, ox-bows, bedding, etc. " I saw John D. Lee selling oxen at private sale."
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 315
THE BIDDING KAN HIGH.
The payment was to be made in wheat after har- vest, and the bidding was accordingly very high. Every article brought nearly or quite its value. I saw a gentleman who bought some carpenter's tools. They were of excellent metal, and he has always regretted that he did not bid on more of them ; be- cause, first, he needed the tools, and, secondly, the articles were never paid for. A few people did pay cash down for whatever they bought, and the money went to the tithing office. Before the harvesting was done, Gen. A. S. Johnston had entered Utah, the wild- est excitement prevailed, Salt Lake City had been deserted, people had nocked from all parts of the Ter- ritory to the southern settlements, and payment for the goods of the murdered emigrants was never demanded.
OBLITERATING TRACKS.
As Bishop Higbee stood auctioneering the spoils, he was careful to erase or destroy all traces of names. It was quite evident that the friends of the deceased should not be permitted to trace them to Cedar City. Many fine books were sold, and if the fiy-leayes con- tained names or writing, they were carefully torn out or the writing erased.
316 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
All accounts of the sale were kept in a certain book, which is said to have been burned the next year. Probably nothing remains to-day but the tes- timony of witnesses to show how rich, how immense, was the plundered property of the people who were massacred. Much was never offered for sale. It was distributed among the perpetrators.
QUARRELING OVER SPOILS.
It may have been a plan of the Almighty to bring the circumstances to light, but certain it is there was much quarreling, bitterness, and heart-burnings over the division of the property. Haight and Lee quar- reled. The Indians complain to this day that they were badly used. The people were greatly dissatis- fied over their portion, claiming that the leaders — Lee, Haight, Dame, and Higbee — took the lion's share.
Some of the participants were partially rewarded. A man who had but one cow before suddenly had four or five, and one who had a poor wagon previous to the massacre was discovered to have an excellent new one.
LEE TELLS THE CRIME.
John D. Lee was the first to disclose the horrible news. It seems to have gnawed so hard at the old
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 317
man's heart that he could not conceal it longer. He traveled up through the Territory and told, every- where, that the Indians had massacred a train ! The world believed the tale, and no hearts shuddered with more intense horror than those of the Mormon people. A marked peculiarity of this strange people is, that they seldom ask questions. The Mormons deserve to be as celebrated for their secretiveness as the Yankees are for their inquisitiveness. A Mormon can travel through the whole of southern Utah and never be asked his name, occupation, or destination. They strictly mind their own business ; for this reason news travels
HOW THE TRUTH WAS TOLD.
At last it was whispered that white men helped the Indians. No one believed it at first. The ter- rible rumors began to multiply rapidly. The secret which is shared by scores of people cannot be kept a secret long if it involves such horrible bloodshed. A large train passed through to California soon after the massacre, and learned some things. Friends in the States became worried over the mysterious si- lence of their loved ones, and advertised. Aden's father was one of these. Trains from Arkansas and
318 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
Missouri asked what had suddenly become of their old friends and neighbors. A party of young Mor- mons first brought the news to California. They heard the story in southern Utah, and gave it very correctly. Next came the confession of Spencer, a Mormon school teacher, who became quite a mono- maniac on the subject. He talked constantly of the part he had enacted in the frightful tragedy.
CONFESSIONS BECAME FREQUENT.
J. M. Young, another participant, told the entire history of the deed. About this time the "Deseret News" devoted an editorial to the subject of the massacre, and bitterly denied Mormon complicity. The statement of the old Mormon chieftain, Kanosh, was next made public. The white Mormons had dealt unfairly with this red brother in dividing the spoils, and he gave full particulars of the affair. I am under obligations to Mr. J. H. Beadle for the information in this paragraph.
RESTING AT LAST.
We know little about death, yet our ideas of the
"Sweet rest in heaven"
are .certainly not connected with bleaching bones which the gaunt wolves gnaw nightly. Mayhap the
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 319
daisies and violets will never grow above our graves, and, perchance, no sorrowing tears will ever fall on the sod above our heads ; yet we all hope for peace- ful, quiet resting-places. These poor emigrants were denied even this slight boon. Their bodies were given as a prey to the beasts of the field and the vultures of the air ; and the rain and snow, the storm and sleet, bleached and whitened the bones when the wolves had finished. In August, 1858, Government sent Brig. Gen. Carleton to bury the bones, and ordered Dr. Forney, the Indian Agent, who super- seded Brigham, to collect the surviving children. Two companies of dragoons camped on the spot nine or ten days.
GHASTLY RELICS.
They found bones scattered for two hundred yards. The skulls bore no marks of scalping-knives, and whole heads of women's hair were found, tied just as when the owners were murdered. For convenience, the women who crossed the plains often bound up their hair with shoe-strings or strong cords, and many bunches were found thus tied together. There were also found old wagon-boxes, broken and splintered pieces of boards, and fragments of clothing, shiv- ered arrows, and flinty barbs that had lain buried in
320 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
human flesh until liberated by wolf-fangs. Many of the bones had been partially concealed in the dust and mud along the creek
SQUADS OF MEN
were sent thirty miles to get the little ones from the Mormon families in which they were placed. Seven- teen were found — fifteen girls and two boys. Their ages varied from four to thirteen years. Most of them had received names from the Mormons, and knew no others.
TESTIMONY OF THE CHILDREN.
It was a great mistake to suppose children would not remember. Impress such a scene of horror upon a child's mind, and time would have little power to erase the memory of the deed. One girl was nearly thirteen years old. Her testimony was clear and unwavering, and firmly established facts that had before been doubted. Two boys, named John Cal- vin and Myron Tackett, aged respectively nine and seven, were brought to Salt Lake City, and placed under the charge of a most estimable lady until arrangements could be made for sending them to Arkansas. John would often tell how he
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 321
PICKED ARROWS FROM HIS MOTHER'S BODY
as fast as the Indians would shoot them into her flesh. He saw his grandfather, grandmother, aunt, father, and mother murdered.
Many of the children saw Mormon women wearing their mother's dresses. Haight's wives and Lee's wives were often seen in Cedar City wearing silks and satins that came from the Mountain Meadow women. Jewelry and ornamental articles found their way through almost all the southern settlements. John Calvin says that Lee drove his father's gray horses for a few days, and then a bishop obtained pos- session of them. Mrs. Worley went to the States with these children, and most of them were placed in the care of friends or relatives. Seventeen years have elapsed, but some of these children would be valuable witnesses should the murderers be brought to trial.
Philip K. Smith, an apostate bishop, fled to Pioche, and made a full and complete affidavit of the events of the massacre. He was present, and engaged in the bloody work. Two others went, like Smith, to a justice of the peace, and made lengthy affidavits of the particulars.
When the facts became notoriously public Lee and 21
322 THE MORMON PROBLEM — APPENDIX.
Haight were cut off from the Church. Brigham Young, on his southern trips, used always to asso- ciate with these worthies, however, and a southern bishop says Haight has since been restored. Lee rode through the streets of Kauarra last April in the president's carriage, sat beside Brigham in the pulpit, and was Brigham's host at Harmony. Lee tells me, that, although "cut off," he considers himself as much of a Mormon as ever.
SKULKING COWARDS.
From Beaver and Cedar a general stampede has been made since the sitting of the Grand Jury in the Second District. Haight and Higbee are in the neighborhood of Kanab, below St. George. Bill Stewart is in the same locality. MTarlane, the Cedar City postmaster, has not dared to make an appearance at home except on one evening, when he came from the south in the stage just after dark. He was closely muffled and disguised, and left in half an hour. He is said to have been very active during the massacre.
THE MONUMENT .
is a heap of large stones gathered from the neighbor- ing hill-sides. It is an irregular pile, twenty feet
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 323
long and seven feet wide. It is highest in the mid- dle, and slopes, like the roof of a house, to each side. It is only three or four feet high, and hears no cross or inscription. The first monument and cross were totally destroyed, and when rebuilt by the United States soldiers, the cross was again demolished.
Perhaps the perpetrators disliked the inscription, " Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." Poor fools ! The sentiment is to-day stamped upon thousands of American hearts, and, while vandals destroy the poor wooden cross above the murdered emigrants, they only succeed in impressing the wrord "Vengeance" more deeply upon the hearts. May Gad speed the triumph of justice !
A. M. P. O.
THE END.