'V J ^^•^•^^^B^^*^^^^™
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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.