XIII. To Carson Valley

XIII. To Carson Valley

Before resuming the Itinerary, it may be advisable briefly to describe the various tribes tenanting this Territory.

We have now emerged from the Prairie Indians, the Dakotah, Crow, Kiowa, Comanche, Osage, Apache, Cheyenne, Pawnee, and Arapaho. Utah Territory contains a total of about 19,000 souls of two great kindred races, the Shoshonee or Snake, and the Yuta, called Uche by the Spaniards and Ute by the Anglo-American trappers. Like the Comanche and Apache, the Pimas, the Lipans, and the people of the Pueblos, they are of the Hispano-American division, once subject to the Conquistadores, and are bounded north by the Pánák[228] (Bannack) and the once formidable Blackfeet. The Shoshonee own about one third of the Territory; their principal settlements lie north of the Great Salt Lake, and on the line of the Humboldt or Mary River, some 400 miles west, and 100 to 125 south of the Oregon line. They number about 4500 souls, and are wildest in the southeast parts of their motherland. The Yuta claim the rest of the Territory between Kansas, the Sierra Nevada, New Mexico, and the Oregon frontier. Of course the two peoples are mortal foes, and might be well pitted against each other. The Snakes would form excellent partisan warriors.

[228] The Panak is a small tribe of 500 souls, now considered dangerous: the greater part resides in Oregon, the smaller about ninety miles in the N.E. of the Territory, where they hunt the bison and the elk. For thirty years they have traded with Fort Bridger, and when first known they numbered 1200 lodges. “Horn,” their principal chief, visited the place in April, 1858. Mr. Forney, the late Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Utah Territory, granted them a home in the lands of Washaki, and they have intermarried and lived peaceably with the Shoshonee.

The Shoshonee number fourteen tribes regularly organized; the principal, which contains about 12,000 souls, is commanded by Washaki, assisted, as usual, by sub-chiefs, four to six in number. Five bands, numbering near 1000 each, roam about the mountains and kanyons of Great Salt Lake County, Weber, Bear, Cache, and Malad Valleys, extending eighty miles north from the Holy City. These have suffered the most from proximity with the whites, and no longer disdain agriculture. One band, 150 to 180 in number, confines itself to the North Californian Route from Bear and Malad Valleys to the Goose-Creek Mountains. Seven bands roam over the country from the Humboldt River to 100 miles south of it, and extend about 200 miles from east to west: the principal chief, Wanamuka, or “the Giver,” had a band of 155 souls, and lived near the Honey Lake.

The Yuta claim, like the Shoshonee, descent from an ancient people that immigrated into their present seats from the northwest. During the last thirty years they have considerably decreased according to the mountaineers, and have been demoralized mentally and physically by the emigrants: formerly they were friendly, now they are often at war with the intruders. As in Australia, arsenic and corrosive sublimate in springs and provisions have diminished their number. The nation is said to contain a total of 14,000 to 15,000 souls, divided into twenty-seven bands, of which the following are the principal:

The Pá Yuta (Pey Utes) are the most docile, interesting, and powerful, containing twelve bands;[229] those in the west of the Territory, on the Humboldt River, number 6000, and in the south 2200 souls; they extend from forty miles west of Stony Point to the Californian line, and northwest to the Oregon line, and inhabit the valley of the Fenelon River, which, rising from Lake Bigler, empties itself into Pyramid Lake. The term means Water Yuta, that is to say, those who live upon fish which they take from lakes and rivers in wiers and traps of willow, preferring that diet to roots, grass-seed, lizards, and crickets, the food of the other so-called Digger tribes.

[229] These are, 1. Wanamuka’s; 2. San Joaquim, near the forks of that river in Carson Valley, numbering 170; 3. Hadsapoke, or Horse-stopper band, of 110, in Gold Kanyon, on Carson River; 4. Wahi or Fox band, on Big Bend of Carson River, 130 in number; 5. and 6. Odakeo, “Tall-man band,” and Petodseka, “White-Spot band,” round the lakes and sinks of the Carson and Walker Rivers, numbering 484 men, 372 women, and 405 children; 7. Tosarke, “Gray-head band,” their neighbors; 8. Tonoziet, “Woman-helper band,” on the Truckee River, below Big Meadows, numbering 280 souls; 9. Torape, or “Lean-man band,” on the Truckee River, near Lone Crossing, 360 souls; 10. Gonega, the “Dancer band,” 290 souls, near the mouth of the Truckee River; 11. Watsequendo, the “Four Crows,” along the shores of Pyramid Lake, 320 souls; 12. The second Wanamuka’s band, 500 in number, along the shores of the Northern Mud Lake.

[THE GOSH YUTA, ETC.]

Gosh Yuta, or Gosha Ute, is a small band, once protégés of the Shoshonee, who have the same language and limits. Their principal chief died about five years ago, when the tribe was broken up. A body of sixty, under a peaceful leader, were settled permanently on the Indian farm at Deep Creek, and the remainder wandered 40 to 200 miles west of Great Salt Lake City. Through this tribe our road lay; during the late tumults they have lost fifty warriors, and are now reduced to about 200 men. Like the Ghuzw of Arabia, they strengthen themselves by admitting the outcasts of other tribes, and will presently become a mere banditti.

Pavant, or Parovan Yuta, are a distinct and self-organized tribe, under one principal and several sub-chiefs, whose total is set down at 700 souls. Half of them are settled on the Indian farm at Corn Creek; the other wing of the tribe lives along Sevier Lake, and the surrounding country in the northeast extremity of Fillmore Valley, fifty miles from the city, where they join the Gosh Yuta. The Pavants breed horses, wear clothes of various patterns, grow grain, which the Gosh Yutas will not, and are as brave and improvable as their neighbors are mean and vile.

Timpenaguchyă,[230] or Timpana Yuta, corrupted into Tenpenny Utes, who dwell about the kanyon of that name, and on the east of the Sweetwater Lake. Of this tribe was the chief Wakara, who so called himself after Walker, the celebrated trapper; the notorious horse-stealer proved himself a friend to the Latter-Day Saints. He died at Meadow Creek, six miles from Fillmore City, on the 29th of January, 1855, and at his obsequies two squaws, two Pa Yuta children, and fifteen of his best horses composed the “customs.”

[230] In the Yuta language meaning “water among the stones.”

Uinta Yuta, in the mountains south of Fort Bridger, and in the country along the Green River. Of this tribe, which contains a total of 1000, a band of 500, under four chiefs, lately settled on the Indian reservations at Spanish Fork.

Sampichyă, corrupted, to San Pete Utas; about eighty warriors, settled on the Indian farm at San Pete. This and the Spanish-Fork Farm number 900 inhabitants.

Elk-Mountain Yutas, who are set down at 2000 souls, by some even 3000; they wander over the southeast portion of the Territory, and, like the Uinta Yutas, are the most independent of white settlers.

Weber-River Yutas are those principally seen in Great Salt Lake City; they are a poor and degraded tribe. Their chief settlement is forty miles to the north, and, like the Gosh Yutas, they understand Shoshonee.

Among the Yutas are reckoned the Washoe, from 500 to 700 souls. They inhabit the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, from Honey Lake to the West Fork of Walker’s River in the south. Of this troublesome tribe there are three bands: Captain Jim’s, near Lake Bigler, and Carson, Washoe, and Eagle Valleys, a total of 342 souls; Pasuka’s band, 340 souls, in Little Valley; and Deer Dick’s band, in Long Valley, southeast of Honey Lake. They are usually called Shoshoko,[231] or “Digger Indians”--a term as insulting to a Shoshonee as nigger to an African.

[231] It is said to mean “one who goes on foot.”

Besides the Parawat Yutas, the Yampas, 200-300 miles south, on the White River; the Tabechyă, or Sun-hunters, about Tête de Biche, near Spanish lands; and the Tash Yuta, near the Navajoes: there are scatters of the nation along the Californian road from Beaver Valley, along the Santa Clara, Virgen, Las Vegas, and Muddy Rivers to New Mexico.

The Indian Bureau of Utah Territory numbers one superintendent, six agents, and three to six farm-agents. The annual expenditure is set down at $40,000; the Mormons declare that it is iniquitously embezzled, and that the total spent upon the Indians hardly exceeds $1000 per annum. The savages expect blankets and clothing, flour and provisions, arms and ammunition: they receive only a little tobacco, become surly, and slay the settlers. It is understood that the surveyor general has recommended to the federal government the extinction of the Indian title--somewhat upon the principle of the English in Tasmania[232] and New Zealand--to grounds in the Utah Territory, and the establishment of a land-office for the sale of the two millions of acres already surveyed. Until the citizens can own their farms and fields under the existing pre-emption laws, and until the troublesome Indians can be removed by treaty to reservations remote from white settlements, the onward march of progress will be arrested. The savage and the civilized man, like crabbed age and youth, like the black and gray rat, can not live together: the former starves unless placed in the most fertile spots, which the latter of course covets; the Mormons attempt a peace policy, but the hunting-grounds are encroached upon, and terrible massacres are the result. Here, as elsewhere, the battle of life is fiercely fought. It has been said,

“Man differs more from man Than beast from beast.”

Yet every where we trace the mighty resemblance.

[232] Van Diemen’s Land, in the days of Captain Flinders (A.D. 1800, two generations ago), had a population of 100,000 souls, now well-nigh annihilated by strong waters and corrosive sublimate. Neither man nor woman was safe in the vicinity of a native tribe; the Anglo-Scandinavian race thus found it necessary to wipe out a people that could not be civilized--a fair instance of the natural selection of species. And New Zealand now threatens to walk the path of Tasmania.

[THE INDIAN FARMS.]

The three principal farms which now form the nuclei of future reservations are those at Spanish Fork, San Pete, and Corn Creek. The two latter have often been denuded by the grasshopper; the former has fared better. Situated in Utah Valley, under the shelter of lofty Nebo, it extends northward within four miles of the Sweetwater Lake, and on the northeast is bounded by the Spanish-Fork Creek, rich in trout and other fish. It was begun five years ago for the Yutas, who claim the land, and contains a total of 13,000 acres, of which 500 have been cultivated; 900 have been ditched to protect the crop, and 1000 have been walled round with a fence six feet high. Besides other improvements, they have built a large adobe house and two rail corrals, and dug dams and channels for irrigation, together with a good stone-curbed well. Under civilized superintendence the savages begin to labor, and the chiefs aspire to erect houses. Yet the crops have been light, rarely exceeding 2500 bushels. San Pete Farm, in the valley and on the creek of the same name, lies 150 miles south of Great Salt Lake City; it supports, besides those who come for temporary assistance, a band of thirty souls; 200 acres have been planted with wheat and potatoes, two adobe houses and a corral have been made, and irrigating trenches have been dug. Corn-Creek Farm, in Fillmore Valley, was begun about four years ago; 300 acres have been broken up, several adobe houses have been built for the Indians and the farm agent, with the usual adjuncts, corral and fences. The crickets and grasshoppers have committed sad havoc among the wheat, corn, and potatoes. It is now tenanted by a Pahvant chief. The Uinta Farm is near Fort Bridger. Those lately opened in Deep Creek and Ruby Valleys have this year lain fallow in consequence of Indian troubles; the soil, however, is rich, and will produce beets, potatoes, onions, turnips, and melons. It is proposed to place the Pa Yutas and Washoes in the Truckee Meadows, on the lands “watered by the majestic Kuyuehup, or Salmon-Trout River,” where, besides fish and piñon forests, there are 15,000 acres fit for cultivation and herding. The Indian agents report that the cost will be $150,000, from which the Mormons deduct at least two 0’s.

[THE YUTAS.]

The Yuta, though divided into many tribes and bands, is a distinct race from its prairie neighbors, speaking a single langue mère much diversified by dialect. They are a superstitious brood, and have many cruel practices--human sacrifices and vivisepulture--like those of Dahomey and Ashantee. Their religion is the usual African and Indian fetichism, that germal faith which, under favorable influences and among higher races, developed itself by natural means--or as explained by a mythical, distinct, and independent revelation--into the higher forms of Judaism, Christianity, and El Islam. In the vicinity of the Mormons many savages have been baptized, and have become nominal Saints. They divide white men into Shwop or Americans and Mormons. Their learned men have heard of Washington, but, like the French peasant’s superstition concerning Napoleon, they believe him to be still alive. They have a name for the Book of Mormon, and have not learned, like their more civilized Eastern neighbors, to look upon it as the work of Mujhe Manitou, the bad god, who, like Wiswakarma of the Hindoos, amuses himself by caricaturing and parodying the creatures of the good god. They are not cannibals--the Wendigo is a giant man-eater of a mythologic type, not an actual anthropophage--but, like all Indians, especially those of New England, they “feel good” after eating a bit of the enemy, a natural display of destructiveness: they will devour the heart of a brave man to increase their courage, or chop it up, boil it in soup, engorge a ladleful, and boast they have drunk the enemy’s blood. They are as liable to caprice as their Eastern neighbors. A prisoner who has distinguished himself in battle is as often dismissed unhurt as porcupined with arrows and killed with cruel tortures; if they yield in ingenuity of inflicting pain to the Algonquins and Iroquois, it is not for want of inclination, but by reason of their stupidity. Female captives who fall into their hands are horribly treated; I was told of one who, after all manner of atrocities, scalping included, escaped with life. They have all the savage’s improvidence; utility is not their decalogue. Both sexes, except when clothed by a charitable Mormon, are nearly naked, even in the severest weather; they sleep in sleet and snow unclothed, except with a cape of twisted rabbits’ furs and a miserable attempt at moccasins, lined with plaited cedar bark: leggins are unknown, even to the women. Their ornaments are vermilion, a few beads, and shell necklaces. They rarely suffer from any disease but rheumatism, brought on by living in the warm houses of the whites, and various consequences of liver complaint, produced by overgorging: as with strong constitutions generally, they either die at once or readily recover. They dress wounds with pine gum after squeezing out the blood, and their medicine-men have the usual variety of savage nostrums. In the more desert parts of the Territory they are exceedingly destitute. South of Cedar City, even ten years ago they had fields of wheat and corn of six acres each, and supported emigrants; some of them cultivate yearly along the stream-banks peas, beans, sweet potatoes, and squashes. They live upon the flesh of the bear, elk, antelope, dog, wolf, hare, snake, and lizard, besides crickets, grasshoppers, ants, and other vermin. The cactus leaf, piñon nut, and various barks; the seed of the bunch-grass and of the wheat or yellow grass, somewhat resembling rye; the rabbit-bush twigs, which are chewed, and various roots and tubers; the soft sego bulb, the rootlet of the cat-tail flag, and of the tule, which, when sun-dried and powdered to flour, keeps through the winter, and is palatable even to white men, conclude the list of their dainties. When these fail they must steal or starve, and the dilemma is easily solved, to the settler’s cost.

The Yutas in the vicinity of the larger white settlements continually diminish; bands of 150 warriors are now reduced to 35. Some of the minor tribes in the southern part of the Territory, near New Mexico, can scarcely show a single squaw, having traded them off for horses and arms; they go about killing one another, and on kidnapping expeditions, which farther diminish the breed. The complaint which has devastated the South Sea Islands rages around the City of the Saints, and extends to the Rio Virgen. In six months six squaws were shot by red Othellos for yielding their virtue to the fascinations of tobacco, whisky, and blankets; the Lotharios were savage as well as civilized. The operation of courting is performed by wrapping a blanket round one’s beloved; if she reciprocates, it is a sign of consent. A refusal in these lands is often a serious business; the warrior collects his friends, carries off the recusant fair, and, after subjecting her to the insults of all his companions, espouses her. There is little of the shame which Pliny attributes to the “Barrus.” When a death takes place they wrap the body in a skin or hide, and drag it by the leg to a grave, which is heaped up with stones as a protection against wild beasts. They mourn till the end of that moon, allow a month to elapse, and then resume their lamentations for another moon: the interval is gradually increased till the grief ends. It is usual to make the dead man’s lodge appear as desolate as possible.

The Yuta is less servile, and, consequently, has a higher ethnic status than the African negro; he will not toil, and he turns at a kick or a blow. The emigrant who addresses him in the usual phrase, “D-- your eyes, git out of the road or I’ll shoot you!” is pretty sure to come to grief. Lately the Yutas demanded compensation for the use of their grass upon the Truckee River, when the emigrants fired, killing Wanamuka the chief. After the death of two or three whites, Mayor Ormsby, of the militia at Carson Valley, took the field, was decoyed into a kanyon by Indian cunning, and perished with all his men.

To “Chokop’s” Pass. 8th October, 1860.

The morning was wasted in binding two loose tires upon their respective wheels; it was past noon before we were en route. We shook hands cordially with Uncle Billy, whose generosity--a virtue highly prized by those who, rarely practicing, expect it to be practiced upon them--has won for him the sobriquet of the “Big-hearted Father.” He had vainly, however, attempted to rescue my silver pen-holder, whose glitter was too much for Indian virtue. Our route lay over a long divide, cold but not unpicturesque, a scene of light-tinted mountain mahogany, black cedar, pure snowy hill, and pink sky. After ten miles we reached the place where the road forks; that to the right, passing through Pine Valley, falls into the gravelly ford of the Humboldt River, distant from this point eighty to eighty-five miles. After surmounting the water-shed we descended over bench-land into a raw and dreary plain, in which greasewood was more plentiful than sage-bush. “Huntingdon Valley” is traversed by Smith’s Fork, which flows northward to the Humboldt River; when we crossed it it was a mere rivulet. Our camping-ground was at the farther end of the plain, under a Pass called after the chief Chokop; the kanyon emitted a cold draught like the breathing caves of Kentucky. We alighted at a water near the entrance, and found bunch-grass, besides a little fuel. After two hours the wagon came up with the stock, which was now becoming weary, and we had the usual supper of dough, butter, and coffee. I should have slept comfortably enough upon a shovel and a layer of carpet-bags had not the furious south wind howled like the distant whooping of Indians.

To the Wilderness again. 9th October.

The frosty night was followed by a thaw in the morning. We hastened to ascend Chokop’s Pass by a bad, steep dugway: it lies south of “Railroad Kanyon,” which is said to be nearly flat-soled. A descent led into “Moonshine,” called by the Yutas Pahannap Valley, and we saw with pleasure the bench rising at the foot of the pass. The station is named Diamond Springs, from an eye of warm, but sweet and beautifully clear water bubbling up from the earth. A little below it drains off in a deep rushy ditch, with a gravel bottom, containing equal parts of comminuted shells: we found it an agreeable and opportune bath. Hard work had begun to tell upon the temper of the party. The judge, who ever preferred monologue to dialogue, aweary of the rolling prairies and barren plains, the bald and rocky ridges, the muddy flats, saleratus ponds, and sandy wastes, sighed monotonously for the woodland shades and the rustling of living leaves near his Pennsylvanian home. The marshal, with true Anglo-American impetuosity, could not endure Paddy Kennedy’s “slow and shyure” style of travel; and after a colloquy, in which the holiest of words were freely used as adjectives, participles, and exclamations, offered to fight him by way of quickening his pace. The boys--four or five in number--ate for breakfast a quarter of beef, as though they had been Kaffirs or Esquimaux, and were threatened with ration-cutting. The station folks were Mormons, but not particularly civil: they afterward had to fly before the savages, which, perhaps, they will be pleased to consider a “judgment” upon them.

Shortly after noon we left Diamond Springs, and carried on for a stretch of seven miles to our lunching-ground, a rushy water, black where it overlies mud, and bluish-green where light gravel and shells form the bottom: the taste is sulphury, and it abounds in confervæ and animalculæ like leeches and little tadpoles. After playing a tidy bowie-knife, we remounted, and passed over to the rough divide lying westward of Moonshine Valley. As night had closed in, we found some difficulty in choosing a camping-place: at length we pitched upon a prairillon under the lee of a hill, where we had bunch-grass and fuel, but no water. The wind blew sternly through the livelong night, and those who suffered from cramps in cold feet had little to do with the “sweet restorer, balmy sleep.”

To Sheawit Creek. 10th October.

[SHEAWIT CREEK.]

At 6 A.M. the mercury was sunk only to 29° F., but the elevation and rapid evaporation, with the fierce gusty wind coursing through the kanyon, rendered the sensation of cold painful. As usual on these occasions, “George,” our chef, sensibly preferred standing over the fire, and enwrapping himself with smoke, to the inevitable exposure incurred while fetching a coffee-pot or a tea-kettle. A long divide, with many ascents and descents, at length placed in front of us a view of the normal “distance”--heaps of hills, white as bridal cakes, and, nearer, a sand-like plain, somewhat more yellow than the average of those salt-bottoms: instinct told us that there lay the station-house. From the hills rose the smokes of Indian fires: the lands belong to the Tusawichya, or White-Knives, a band of the Shoshonees under an independent chief. This depression is known to the Yutas as Sheawit, or Willow Creek: the whites call it, from Mr. Bolivar Roberts, the Western agent, “Roberts’ Springs Valley.” It lies 286 miles from Camp Floyd: from this point “Simpson’s Road” strikes off to the S.E., and as Mr. Howard Egan’s rule here terminates, it is considered the latter end of Mormondom. Like all the stations to the westward, that is to say, those now before us, it was burned down in the late Indian troubles, and has only been partially rebuilt. One of the employés was Mr. Mose Wright, of Illinois, who again kindly assisted me with correcting my vocabulary.

[THE WHITE-KNIVES.]

About the station loitered several Indians of the White-Knife tribe, which boasts, like the old Sioux and the modern Flatheads, never to have stained its weapons with the blood of a white man. They may be a respectable race, but they are an ugly: they resemble the Diggers, and the children are not a little like juvenile baboons. The dress was the usual medley of rags and rabbit furs: they were streaked with vermilion; and their hair--contrary to, and more sensibly than the practice of our grandfathers--was fastened into a frontal pigtail, to prevent it falling into the eyes. These men attend upon the station and herd the stock for an occasional meal, their sole payment. They will trade their skins and peltries for arms and gunpowder, but, African-like, they are apt to look upon provisions, beads, and tobacco in the light of presents.

A long march of thirty-five miles lay before us. Kennedy resolved to pass the night at Sheawit Creek, and, despite their grumbling, sent on the boys, the stock, and the wagons, when rested from their labor, in the early afternoon. We spent a cosy, pleasant evening--such as I have enjoyed in the old Italian days before railroads--of travelers’ tittle and Munchausen tattle, in the ingle corner and round the huge hearth of the half-finished station, with its holey walls. At intervals, the roarings of the wind, the ticking of the death-watch (a well-known xylophagus), boring a home in the soft cotton-wood rafters, and the howlings of the Indians, who were keening at a neighboring grave, formed a rude and appropriate chorus. Mose Wright recounted his early adventures in Oregon; how, when he was a greenhorn, the Indians had danced the war-dance under his nose, had then set upon his companions, and, after slaying them, had displayed their scalps. He favored us with a representation of the ceremony, an ursine performance--the bear seems every where to have been the sire of Terpsichore--while the right hand repeatedly clapped to his lips quavered the long loud howl into broken sounds: “Howh! howh! howh! ow! ow! ough! ough! aloo! aloo! loo! loo! oo!” We talked of a curious animal, a breed between the dog and the bear, which represents the semi-fabulous jumard in these regions: it is said to be a cross far more savage than that between the dog and the wolf. The young grizzly is a favorite pet in the Western hut, and a canine graft is hardly more monstrous than the progeny of the horse and the deer lately exhibited in London. I still believe that in Africa, and indeed in India, there are accidentally mules bimanous and quadrumanous, and would suggest that such specimens should be sought as the means of settling on a rational basis the genus and species of “homo sapiens.”

Mose Wright described the Indian arrow-poison. The rattlesnake--the copperhead and the moccasin he ignored--is caught with a forked stick planted over its neck, and is allowed to fix its fangs in an antelope’s liver. The meat, which turns green, is carried upon a skewer when wanted for use: the flint-head of an arrow, made purposely to break in the wound, is thrust into the poison, and when withdrawn is covered with a thin coat of glue. Ammonia is considered a cure for it, and the Indians treat snake-bites with the actual cautery. The rattlesnake here attains a length of eight to nine feet, and is described as having reached the number of seventy-three rattles, which, supposing (as the theory is) that after the third year it puts forth one per annum, would raise its age to that of man: it is much feared in Utah Territory. We were also cautioned against the poison oak, which is worse than the poison vine east of the Mississippi. It is a dwarf bush with quercine leaves, dark colored and prickly like those of the holly: the effect of a sting, of a touch, or, it is said, in sensitives of its proximity, is a painful itching, followed by a rash that lasts three weeks, and other highly inconvenient consequences. Strong brine was recommended to us by our prairie doctor.

Among the employés of the station was an intelligent young mechanic from Pennsylvania, who, threatened with consumption, had sought and soon found health in the pure regions of the Rocky Mountains. He looked forward to revisiting civilization, where comforts were attainable. In these wilds little luxuries like tea and coffee are often unprocurable; a dudeen or a cutty pipe sells for a dollar, consequently a hollowed potato or corn-cob with a reed tube is often rendered necessary; and tobacco must be mixed with a myrtaceous leaf called by the natives “timaya,” and by the mountaineers “larb”--possibly a corruption of “l’herbe” or “la yerba.” Newspapers and magazines arrive sometimes twice a year, when they have weathered the dangers of the way. Economy has deprived the stations of their gardens, and the shrinking of emigration, which now dribbles eastward, instead of flowing in full stream westward, leaves the exiles to amuse themselves.

To Dry Creek. 11th October.

[ST. MARTIN’S SUMMER.--“DRY CREEK.”]

We arose early, and found that it had not “frosted;” that flies were busy in the station-house; and that the snow, though thick on the northern faces, had melted from the southern shoulders of the hills--these were so many indices of the St. Martin’s, or Indian summer, the last warm glow of life before the cold and pallid death of the year. At 6 A.M. we entered the ambulance, and followed a good road across the remains of the long, broad Sheawit Valley. After twelve miles we came upon a water surrounded by willows, with dwarf artemisia beyond--it grows better on the benches, where the subsoil is damper, than in the bottoms--and there we found our lazy boys, who, as Jim Gilston said, had been last night “on a drunk.” Resuming our way, after three miles we reached some wells whose alkaline waters chap the skin. Twenty miles farther led to the west end of the Sheawit Valley, where we found the station on a grassy bench at the foot of low rolling hills. It was a mere shell, with a substantial stone corral behind, and the inmates were speculating upon the possibility of roofing themselves in before the winter. Water is found in tolerable quantities below the station, but the place deserved its name, “Dry Creek.”

A fraternal recognition took place between Long Jim and his brother, who discovered each other by the merest accident. Gilston, the employé, was an intelligent man: at San Francisco he had learned a little Chinese, and at Deep Creek he was studying the Indian dialects. He had missed making a fortune at Carson Valley, where, in June or July, 1859, the rich and now celebrated silver mines were discovered; and he warned us against the danger of tarrying in Carson City, where revolvers are fired even into houses known to contain “ladies.” Colonel Totten, the station-master, explained the formation of the gold diggings as beds of gravel, from one to 120 feet, overlying slate rock.

Dry-Creek Station is on the eastern frontier of the western agency; as at Roberts’ Creek, supplies and literature from Great Salt City east and Carson City west are usually exhausted before they reach these final points. After a frugal feed, we inspected a grave for two, which bore the names of Loscier and Applegate, and the date 21st of May. These men, employés of the station, were attacked by Indians--Panaks or Shoshonees, or possibly both: the former was killed by the first fire; the latter, when shot in the groin, and unable to proceed, borrowed, under pretext of defense, a revolver, bade good-by to his companions, and put a bullet through his own head: the remainder then escaped. Both these poor fellows remain unavenged. The Anglo-American, who is admirably protected by the officials of his government in Europe, Asia, and Africa, is systematically neglected--teste Mexico--in America. The double grave, piled up with stones, showed gaps where the wolves had attempted to tunnel, and blue-bottle flies were buzzing over it in expectation. Colonel Totten, at our insistence, promised that it should be looked to.

The night was comfortably passed at Dry Creek, under the leeward side of a large haystack. The weather was cold, but clear and bright. We slept the sleep of the just.

To Simpson’s Park. 12th October.

[SIMPSON’S PARK.]

At the time of the cold clear dawn, whose gray contrasted strongly with the blush of the most lovely evening that preceded it, the mercury stood at 45° F. Shortly after 8 A.M. we were afield, hastening to finish the long divide that separates Roberts’ Creek Valley from its western neighbor, which, as yet unchristened, is known to the b’hoys as Smoky Valley. The road wound in the shape of the letter U round the impassable part of the ridge. Crossing the north end of Smoky Valley, we came upon rolling ground, with water-willows and cedars “blazed”--barked with a gash--for sign-posts. Ensued a long kanyon, with a flat sole, not unlike Egan’s, a gate by which the swift shallow stream had broken through the mountains: in places it was apparently a cul de sac; in others, shoulder after shoulder rose in long perspective, with points and projections behind, which an enemy might easily turn. The granite walls were of Cyclopean form, with regular lines of cleavage, as in the Rattlesnake Hills, which gave a false air of stratification. The road was a mere path along and across the rivulet bed, and the lower slopes were garnished with the pepper-grass and the everlasting bunch-grass, so truly characteristic of the “Basin State.” Above us, in the pellucid sky, towered the eagle in his pride of place; the rabbit ran before us from the thicket; the ground-squirrel cached himself in the sage-bush; and where distance appeared, smokes upcurling in slow, heavy masses told us that man was not far distant. A second divide, more abrupt than the former, placed us in sight of Simpson’s Park--and such a park! a circlet of tawny stubble, embosomed in sage-grown hills, the “Hiré” or “Look-out,” and others, without other tree but the deformed cedars. The bottom is notorious for cold; it freezes even in June and July; and our night was, as may be imagined, none of the pleasantest.

The station-house in Simpson’s Park was being rebuilt. As we issued from Mormondom into Christendom, the civility of our hosts perceptibly diminished; the judge, like the generality of Anglo-Americans, did unnecessary kow-tow to those whom republicanism made his equals, and the “gentlemen,” when asked to do any thing, became exceedingly surly. Among them was one Giovanni Brutisch, a Venetian, who, flying from conscription, had found a home in Halifax: an unfortunate fire, which burned down his house, drove him to the Far West. He talked copiously of the Old Country, breathed the usual aspirations of Italia una, and thought that Garibaldi would do well “se non lo molestano”--a euphuism accompanied by a look more expressive than any nod. The station was well provided with good miniés, and the men apparently expected to use them; it was, however, commanded by the neighboring heights, and the haystacks were exposed to fire at a time of the year when no more forage could be collected. The Venetian made for us some good light bread of wheaten flour, started or leavened with hop-water, and corn-bread “shortened” with butter, and enriched with two or three eggs. A hideous Pa Yuta and surly Shoshonee, whom I sketched, loitered about the station: they were dressed in the usual rabbit-skin cape, and carried little horn bows, with which they missed small marks at fifteen paces. The boys, who were now aweary of watching, hired one of these men for a shirt--tobacco was not to be had, and a blanket was too high pay--to mount guard through the night. Like the Paggi or Ramoosee of Western India, one thief is paid to keep off many: the Indian is the best of wardens, it being with him a principle not to attack what the presence of a fellow-tribesman defends.

To Reese’s River. 13th October.

Simpson’s Park lies 195 miles from Carson City, where we might consider the journey at an end; yet the cold of night did not allow us to set out before 10 A.M. Our route lay across the park, which was dotted with wheat-grass and broom-like reeds rising from a ground saupoudré like salt. Presently we began to ascend Simpson’s Pass, a long kanyon whose sloping sides and benches were dotted with the green bunch-grass. At the divide we found the “Sage Springs,” whose position is too elevated for the infiltration of salt: they are consequently sweet and wholesome. Descending by a rugged road, we sighted every where on the heights the fires of the natives. They were not symbols of war, but signals--for which smokes are eminently adapted--made by tribes telegraphing to one another their being en route for their winter quarters. Below us, “Reese’s River” Valley might have served for a sketch in the African desert: a plain of saleratus, here yellow with sand or hay, there black with fire, there brown where the skin of earth showed through her garb of rags, and beyond it were chocolate-colored hills, from whose heads curled blue smokes of volcanic appearance.

Bisecting the barren plain ran a bright little stream, whose banks, however, had been stripped of their “salt grass:” pure and clear it flows over a bed of gravel, sheds in a northerly direction, and sinks at a distance of about twenty miles. From afar we all mistook the course, deceived, as travelers often are, by the horizontality of the lines. Leaving on the right the road which forks to the lower ford, we followed that on the left hand leading to the station. There can not be much traveling upon these lines: the tracks last for years, unaffected by snow: the carcasses of animals, however, no longer mummified as in the Eastern prairies, are readily reduced to skeletons.

The station-house in the Reese-River Valley had lately been evacuated by its proprietors and burnt down by the Indians: a new building of adobe was already assuming a comfortable shape. The food around it being poor and thin, our cattle were driven to the mountains. At night, probably by contrast with the torrid sun, the frost appeared colder than ever: we provided against it, however, by burrowing into the haystack, and, despite the jackal-like cry of the coyote and the near tramping of the old white mare, we slept like tops.

To Smith’s Creek. 14th October.

Before 8 A.M. we were under way, bound for Smith’s Creek. Our path stretched over the remainder of Reese’s River Valley, an expanse of white sage and large rabbit-bush which affords fuel even when green. After a long and peculiarly rough divide, we sighted the place of our destination. It lay beyond a broad plain or valley, like a huge white “splotch” in the centre, set in dirty brown vegetation, backed by bare and rugged hills, which are snow-topped only on the north; presently we reached the “splotch,” which changed its aspect from that of a muddy pool to a yellow floor of earth so hard that the wheels scarcely made a dent, except where a later inundation had caused the mud to cake, flake, and curl--smooth as ice without being slippery. Beyond that point, guided by streams meandering through willow-thickets, we entered a kanyon--all are now wearying of the name--and presently sighted the station deep in a hollow. It had a good stone corral and the usual haystack, which fires on the hill-tops seemed to menace. Among the station-folks we found two New Yorkers, a Belfast man, and a tawny Mexican named Anton, who had passed his life riding the San Bernardino road. The house was unusually neat, and displayed even signs of decoration in the adornment of the bunks with osier-work taken from the neighboring creek. We are now in the lands of the Pa Yuta, and rarely fail to meet a party on the road: they at once propose “shwop,” and readily exchange pine nuts for “white grub,” i. e., biscuits. I observed, however, that none of the natives were allowed to enter the station-house, whereas in other places, especially among the Mormons, the savages squeezed themselves into the room, took the best seats near the fire, and never showed a symptom of moving.

To Cold Springs. 15th October.

[“OLE HELLION.”--COLD-SPRINGS STATION.]

After a warmer night than usual--thanks to fire and lodging--we awoke, and found a genial south wind blowing. Our road lay through the kanyon, whose floor was flush with the plain; the bed of the mountain stream was the initiative of vile traveling, which, without our suspecting it, was to last till the end of the journey. The strain upon the vehicle came near to smashing it, and the prudent Kennedy, with the view of sparing his best animals, gave us his worst--two aged brutes, one of which, in consequence of her squealing habits, had won for herself the title of “ole Hellion.” The divortia aquarum was a fine water-shed to the westward, and the road was in V shape, whereas before it had oscillated between U and WW. As we progressed, however, the valleys became more and more desert, the sage more stunted, and the hills more brown and barren. After a midday halt, rendered compulsory by the old white mare, we resumed our way along the valley southward, over a mixture of pitch-hole and boulder, which forbids me to forget that day’s journey. At last, after much sticking and kicking on the part of the cattle, and the mental refreshment of abundant bad language, self-adhibited by the men, we made Cold-Springs Station, which, by means of a cut across the hills, could be brought within eight miles of Smith’s Creek.

The station was a wretched place, half built and wholly unroofed; the four boys, an exceedingly rough set, ate standing, and neither paper nor pencil was known among them. Our animals, however, found good water in a rivulet from the neighboring hills, and the promise of a plentiful feed on the morrow, while the humans, observing that a “beef” had been freshly killed, supped upon an excellent steak. The warm wind was a pleasant contrast to the usual frost, but, as it came from the south, all the weather-wise predicted that rain would result. We slept, however, without such accident, under the haystack, and heard the loud howling of the wolves, which are said to be larger on these hills than elsewhere.

To Sand Springs. 16th October.

In the morning the wind had shifted from the south to a more pluvial quarter, the southeast--in these regions the westerly wind promises the fairest--and stormy cirri mottled the sky. We had a long stage of thirty-five miles before us, and required an early start, yet the lazy b’hoys and the weary cattle saw 10 A.M. before we were en route. Simpson’s road lay to our south; we could, however, sight, about two miles distant from the station, the easternmost formation, which he calls Gibraltar Gate. For the first three miles our way was exceedingly rough; it gradually improved into a plain cut with nullahs, and overgrown with a chapparal, which concealed a few “burrowing hares.” The animals are rare; during the snow they are said to tread in one another’s trails after Indian fashion, yet the huntsman easily follows them. After eight miles we passed a spring, and two miles beyond it came to the Middle Gate, where we halted from noon till 5 15 P.M. Water was found in the bed of a river which fills like a mill-dam after rain, and a plentiful supply of bunch-grass, whose dark seeds it was difficult to husk out of the oat-like capsules. We spent our halt in practicing what Sorrentines call la caccia degl’ uccelluzzi, and in vain attempts to walk round the uncommonly wary hawks, crows, and wolves.

Hitching to as the sun neared the western horizon, we passed through the Gate, narrowly escaping a “spill” down a dwarf precipice. A plain bounded on our left by cretaceous bluffs, white as snow, led to the West Gate, two symmetrical projections like those farther eastward. After that began a long divide broken by frequent chuck-holes, which, however, had no cunette at the bottom. An ascent of five miles led to a second broad basin, whose white and sounding ground, now stony, then sandy, scattered over with carcass and skeleton, was bounded in front by low dark ranges of hill. Then crossing a long rocky divide, so winding that the mules’ heads pointed within a few miles to N., S., E., and W., we descended by narrow passes into a plain. The eye could not distinguish it from a lake, so misty and vague were its outlines: other senses corrected vision, when we sank up to the hub in the loose sand. As we progressed painfully, broken clay and dwarf vegetation assumed in the dim shades fantastic and mysterious forms. I thought myself once more among the ruins of that Arab village concerning which Lebid sang,

“Ay me! ay me! all lone and drear the dwelling-place, the home-- On Mina, o’er Rijam and Ghool, wild beasts unheeded roam.”

Tired out and cramped with cold, we were torpid with what the Bedouin calls El Rakl--la Ragle du Désert, when part of the brain sleeps while the rest is wide awake. At last, about 2 30 A.M., thoroughly “knocked up”--a phrase which I should advise the Englishman to eschew in the society of the fair Columbian--we sighted a roofless shed, found a haystack, and, reckless of supper or of stamping horses, fell asleep upon the sand.

To Carson Lake. 17th October.

[SAND-SPRINGS STATION.]

Sand-Springs Station deserved its name. Like the Brazas de San Diego and other mauvaises terres near the Rio Grande, the land is cumbered here and there with drifted ridges of the finest sand, sometimes 200 feet high, and shifting before every gale. Behind the house stood a mound shaped like the contents of an hour-glass, drifted up by the stormy S.E. gale in esplanade shape, and falling steep to northward or against the wind. The water near this vile hole was thick and stale with sulphury salts: it blistered even the hands. The station-house was no unfit object in such a scene, roofless and chairless, filthy and squalid, with a smoky fire in one corner, and a table in the centre of an impure floor, the walls open to every wind, and the interior full of dust. Hibernia herself never produced aught more characteristic. Of the employés, all loitered and sauntered about désœuvrés as cretins, except one, who lay on the ground crippled and apparently dying by the fall of a horse upon his breast-bone.

[CARSON LAKE.]

About 11 A.M. we set off to cross the ten miles of valley that stretched between us and the summit of the western divide still separating us from Carson Lake. The land was a smooth saleratus plain, with curious masses of porous red and black basalt protruding from a ghastly white. The water-shed was apparently to the north, the benches were distinctly marked, and the bottom looked as if it were inundated every year. It was smooth except where broken up by tracks, but all off the road was dangerous ground: in one place the horses sank to their hocks, and were not extricated without difficulty. After a hot drive--the glass at 9 A.M. showed 74° F.--we began to toil up the divide, a sand formation mixed with bits of granite, red seeds, and dwarf shells, whose lips were for the most part broken off. Over the fine loose surface was a floating haze of the smaller particles, like the film that veils the Arabian desert. Arrived at the summit, we sighted for the first time Carson Lake, or rather the sink of the Carson River. It derives its name from the well-known mountaineer whose adventurous roamings long anticipated scientific exploration. Supplied by the stream from the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, it is just such a lake as might be formed in any of the basins which we had traversed--a shallow sheet of water, which, in the cloudy sky and mitigated glare of the sun, looked pale and muddy. Apparently it was divided by a long, narrow ruddy line, like ochre-colored sand; a near approach showed that water on the right was separated from a saleratus bed on the left by a thick bed of tule rush. Stones imitated the sweep of the tide, and white particles the color of a wash.

Our conscientious informant at Sand-Springs Station had warned us that upon the summit of the divide we should find a perpendicular drop, down which the wagons could be lowered only by means of lariats affixed to the axle-trees and lashed round strong “stubbing-posts.” We were not, however, surprised to find a mild descent of about 30°. From the summit of the divide five miles led us over a plain too barren for sage, and a stretch of stone and saleratus to the watery margin, which was troublesome with sloughs and mud. The cattle relished the water, although tainted by the rush; we failed, however, to find any of the fresh-water clams, whose shells were scattered along the shore.

Remounting at 5 15 P.M. we proceeded to finish the ten miles which still separated us from the station, by a rough and stony road, perilous to wheel conveyances, which rounded the southern extremity of the lake. After passing a promontory whose bold projection had been conspicuous from afar, and threading a steep kanyon leading toward the lake, we fell into its selvage, which averaged about one mile in breadth. The small crescent of the moon soon ceased to befriend us, and we sat in the sadness of the shade, till presently a light glimmered under Arcturus, the road bent toward it, and all felt “jolly.” But,

“Heu, heu! nos miseros, quam totus homuncio nil est!”

A long dull hour still lay before us, and we were approaching civilized lands. “Sink Station” looked well from without; there was a frame house inside an adobe inclosure, and a pile of wood and a stout haystack promised fuel and fodder. The inmates, however, were asleep, and it was ominously long before a door was opened. At last appeared a surly cripple, who presently disappeared to arm himself with his revolver. The judge asked civilly for a cup of water; he was told to fetch it from the lake, which was not more than a mile off, though, as the road was full of quagmires, it would be hard to travel at night. Wood the churl would not part with: we offered to buy it, to borrow it, to replace it in the morning; he told us to go for it ourselves, and that after about two miles and a half we might chance to gather some. Certainly our party was a law-abiding and a self-governing one; never did I see men so tamely bullied; they threw back the fellow’s sticks, and cold, hungry, and thirsty, simply began to sulk. An Indian standing by asked $20 to herd the stock for a single night. At last, George the Cordon Blue took courage; some went for water, others broke up a wagon-plank, and supper after a fashion was concocted.

I preferred passing the night on a side of bacon in the wagon to using the cripple’s haystack, and allowed sleep to steep my senses in forgetfulness, after deeply regretting that the Mormons do not extend somewhat farther westward.

To Fort Churchill. 18th October.

[FORT CHURCHILL.]

The b’hoys and the stock were doomed to remain near the Carson Lake, where forage was abundant, while we made our way to Carson Valley--an arrangement not effected without excessive grumbling. At last the deserted ones were satisfied with the promise that they should exchange their desert quarters for civilization on Tuesday, and we were permitted to start. Crossing a long plain bordering on the Sink, we “snaked up” painfully a high divide which a little engineering skill would have avoided. From the summit, bleak with west wind, we could descry, at a distance of fifty miles, a snowy saddle-back--the Sierra Nevada. When the deep sand had fatigued our cattle, we halted for an hour to bait in a patch of land rich with bunch-grass. Descending from the eminence, we saw a gladdening sight: the Carson River, winding through its avenue of dark cotton-woods, and afar off the quarters and barracks of Fort Churchill. The nearer view was a hard-tamped plain, besprinkled with black and red porous stones and a sparse vegetation, with the ruddy and yellow autumnal hues; a miserable range of low, brown, sunburnt rocks and hills, whose ravines were choked with white sand-drifts, bounded the basin. The farther distance used it as a foil; the Sierra developed itself into four distinct magnificent tiers of snow-capped and cloud-veiled mountain, whose dissolving views faded into thin darkness as the sun disappeared behind their gigantic heads.

[FIGHTING LAWYERS.]

While we admired these beauties night came on; the paths intersected one another, and, despite the glow and gleam of a camp-fire in the distance, we lost our way among the tall cotton-woods. Dispersing in search of information, the marshal accidentally stumbled upon his predecessor in office, Mr. Smith, who hospitably insisted upon our becoming his guests. He led us to a farm-house already half roofed in against the cold, fetched the whisky for which our souls craved, gave to each a peach that we might be good boys, and finally set before us a prime beefsteak. Before sleeping we heard a number of “shooting stories.” Where the corpse is, says the Persian, there will be the kites. A mining discovery never fails to attract from afar a flock of legal vultures--attorneys, lawyers, and judges. As the most valuable claims are mostly parted with by the ignorant fortunate for a song, it is usual to seek some flaw in the deed of sale, and a large proportion of the property finds its way into the pockets of the acute professional, who works on half profits. Consequently, in these parts there is generally a large amount of unscrupulous talent. One gentleman judge had knived a waiter and shot a senator; another, almost as “heavy on the shyoot,” had in a single season killed one man and wounded another. My informants declared that in and about Carson a dead man for breakfast was the rule; besides accidents perpetually occurring to indifferent or to peace-making parties, they reckoned per annum fifty murders. In a peculiar fit of liveliness, an intoxicated gentleman will discharge his revolver in a ballroom, and when a “shyooting” begins in the thin-walled frame houses, those not concerned avoid bullets and splinters by jumping into their beds. During my three days’ stay at Carson City I heard of three murders. A man “heavy on the shoulder,” who can “hit out straight from the hip,” is a valuable acquisition. The gambler or professional player, who in the Eastern States is exceptionably peaceful, because he fears the publicity of a quarrel, here must distinguish himself as a fighting-man. A curious story was told to illustrate how the ends of justice might, at a pinch, in the case of a popular character, be defeated. A man was convicted of killing his adversary after saying to the by-standers, “Stoop down while I shoot the son of a dog (female).” Counsel for the people showed malice prepense; counsel for defense pleaded that his client was rectus in curia, and manifestly couldn’t mean a man, but a dog. The judge ratified the verdict of acquittal.

Such was the state of things, realizing the old days of the Californian gold-diggings, when I visited in 1860 Carson City. Its misrule, or rather want of rule, has probably long since passed away, leaving no more traces than a dream. California has been transformed by her Vigilance Committee, so ignorantly and unjustly declaimed against in Europe and in the Eastern States of the Union, from a savage autonomy to one of the most orderly of the American republics, and San Francisco, her capital, from a den of thieves and prostitutes, gamblers and miners, the offscourings of nations, to a social status not inferior to any of the most favored cities.

Hurrah again--in! 19th October.

This day will be the last of my diary. We have now emerged from the deserts of the Basin State, and are debouching upon lands where coaches and the electric telegraph ply.

After a cold night at the hospitable Smith’s, and losing the cattle, we managed to hitch to, and crossed, not without difficulty, the deep bed of the Carson River, which runs over sands glittering with mica. A little beyond it we found the station-house, and congratulated ourselves that we had escaped a twelve hours’ durance vile in its atmosphere of rum, korn schnapps, stale tobacco, flies, and profane oaths, not to mention the chance of being “wiped out” in a “difference” between a soldier and a gambler, or a miner and a rider.

[FORT CHURCHILL.]

From the station-house we walked, accompanied by a Mr. O.--who, after being an editor in Texas, had become a mail-rider in Utah Territory--to the fort. It was, upon the principle of its eastern neighbors, a well-disposed cantonment, containing quarters for the officers and barracks for the men. Fort Churchill had been built during the last few months: it lodged about two companies of infantry, and required at least 2000 men. Captain F. F. Flint (6th Regiment) was then commanding, and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Swords, a deputy quarter-master general, was on a tour of inspection. We went straight to the quarter-master’s office, and there found Lieutenant Moore, who introduced us to all present, and supplied us with the last newspapers and news. The camp was Teetotalist, and avoided cards like good Moslems: we were not, however, expected to drink water except in the form of strong waters, and the desert had disinclined us to abstain from whisky. Finally, Mr. Byrne, the sutler, put into our ambulance a substantial lunch, with a bottle of cocktail, and another of cognac, especially intended to keep the cold out.

The dull morning had threatened snow, and shortly after noon the west wind brought up cold heavy showers, which continued with intervals to the end of the stage. Our next station was Miller’s, distant 15 to 16 miles. The road ran along the valley of Carson River, whose trees were a repose to our eyes, and we congratulated ourselves when we looked down the stiff clay banks, 30 feet high, and wholly unfenced, that our journey was by day. The desert was now “done.” At every few miles was a drinking “calaboose:”[233] where sheds were not a kettle hung under a tree, and women peeped out of the log huts. They were probably not charming, but, next to a sea voyage, a desert march is the finest cosmetic ever invented. We looked upon each as if

“Her face was like the Milky Way i’ the sky, A meeting of gentle lights without a name.”

[233] The Spanish is calabozo, the French calabouse. In the Hispano-American countries it is used as a “common jail” or a “dog-hole,” and, as usual, is converted into a verb.

At Miller’s Station, which we reached at 2 30 P.M., there really was one pretty girl--which, according to the author of the Art of Pluck, induces proclivity to temulency. While the rain was heavy we sat round the hot stove, eating bread and cheese, sausages and anchovies, which Rabelais, not to speak of other honest drinkers, enumerates among provocatives to thirst. When we started at 4 P.M. through the cold rain, along the bad road up the river bed, to “liquor up” was manifestly a duty we owed to ourselves. And, finally, when my impatient companions betted a supper that we should reach Carson City before 9 P.M., and sealed it with a “smile,” I knew that the only way to win was to ply Mr. Kennedy, the driver, with as many pocula as possible.

Colder waxed the weather and heavier the rain as, diverging from the river, we ascended the little bench upon which China-town lies. The line of ranches and frame houses, a kind of length-without-breadth place, once celebrated in the gold-digging days, looked dreary and grim in the evening gloom. At 5 30 P.M. we were still fourteen miles distant from our destination. The benches and the country round about had been turned topsy-turvy in the search for precious metal, and the soil was still burrowed with shaft and tunnel, and crossed at every possible spot by flumes, at which the natives of the Flowery Land still found it worth their while to work. Beyond China-town we quitted the river, and in the cold darkness of night we slowly began to breast the steep ascent of a long divide.

We had been preceded on the way by a young man, driving in a light cart a pair of horses, which looked remarkable by the side of the usual Californian teams, three pair with the near wheeler ridden. Arriving at a bad place, he kindly called out to us, but before his warning could be taken a soft and yielding sensation, succeeded by a decided leaning to the right, and ending with a loud crash, announced an overturn. In due time we were extricated, the pieces were picked up, and, though the gun was broken, the bottle of cocktail fortunately remained whole. The judge, probably and justly offended by my evil habit of laughing out of season, informed us that he had never been thrown before, an announcement which made us expect more “spills.” The unhappy Kennedy had jumped off before the wheels pointed up hill; he had not lost a hoof, it is true, on the long march, but he wept spirits and water at the disappointing thought that the ambulance, this time drawn by his best team, and laden with all the dignities, had come to grief, and would not be fit to be seen. After 100 yards more another similar series of sensations announced a repetition of the scene, which deserved the epitaph,

“Hic jacet amphora vini.”

This time, however, falling down a bank, we “came to smash;” the bottle (eheu!) was broken, so was the judge’s head, while the ear of the judgeling--serve him right for chaffing!--was cut, the pistols and powder-flasks were half buried in the sand, a variety of small objects were lost, and the flying gear of the ambulance was a perfect wreck. Unwilling to risk our necks by another trial, we walked over the rest of the rough ground, and, conducted by the good Croly, found our way to “Dutch Nick’s,” a ranch and tavern apparently much frequented by the teamsters and other roughs, who seemed, honest fellows! deeply to regret that the accident had not been much more serious.

Remounting after a time, we sped forward, and sighted in front a dark line, but partially lit up about the flanks, with a brilliant illumination in the centre, the Kursaal of Mr. Hopkins, the local Crockford. Our entrance to Penrod House, the Fifth Avenue of Carson City, was by no means of a triumphal order; Nature herself seemed to sympathize with us, besplashing us with tears heavier than Mr. Kennedy’s. But after a good supper and change of raiment, a cigar, “something warm,” and the certainty of a bed, combined to diffuse over our minds the calm satisfaction of having surmounted our difficulties tant bien que mal.

CONCLUSION.

[CONCLUSION.]

The traveler and the lecturer have apparently laid down a law that, whether the journey does or does not begin at home, it should always end at that “hallowed spot.” Unwilling to break through what is now becoming a time-honored custom, I trespass upon the reader’s patience for a few pages more, and make my final salaam in the muddy-puddly streets, under the gusty, misty sky of the “Liverpool of the South.”

After a day’s rest at Carson City, employed in collecting certain necessaries of tobacco and raiment, which, intrinsically vile, were about treble the price of the best articles of their kind in the Burlington Arcade, I fell in with Captain Dall, superintendent of the Ophir mines, for whom I bore a recommendation from Judge Crosby, of Utah Territory. The valuable silver leads of Virginia City occupied me, under the guidance of that hospitable gentleman, two days, and on the third we returned to Carson City, viâ the Steam-boat Springs, Washoe Valley, and other local lions. On the 24th appeared the boys driving in the stock from Carson Lake: certain of these youths had disappeared; Jim Gilston, who had found his brother at Dry-Creek Station, had bolted, of course forgetting to pay his passage. A stage-coach, most creditably horsed, places the traveler from Carson City at San Francisco in two days; as Mr. Kennedy, however, wished to see me safely to the end, and the judge, esteeming me a fit Mentor for youth, had intrusted to me Telemachus, alias Thomas, his son, I resolved to cross the Sierra by easy stages. After taking kindly leave of and a last “liquor up” with my old compagnons de voyage, the judge and the marshal, we broke ground once more on the 25th of October. At Genoa, pronounced Ge-nóa, the county town, built in a valley thirteen miles south of Carson, I met Judge Cradlebaugh, who set me right on grounds where the Mormons had sown some prejudices. Five days of a very dilatory travel placed us on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada; the dugways and zigzags reminded me of the descriptions of travelers over the Andes; the snow threatened to block up the roads, and our days and nights were passed among teamsters en route and in the frame-house inn. On the 30th of November, reaching Diamond Springs, I was advised by a Londoner, Mr. George Fryer, of the “Boomerang Saloon,” to visit the gold diggings at Placerville, whither a coach was about to start. At “Hangtown,” as the place was less euphoniously termed, Mr. Collum, of the Cary House, kindly put me through the gold washing and “hydraulicking,” and Dr. Smith, an old East Indian practitioner, and Mr. White, who had collected some fine specimens of minerals, made the evenings pleasant. I started on the 1st of November by coach to Folsom, and there found the railroad, which in two hours conducts to Sacramento: the negro coachmen driving hacks and wagons to the station, the whistling of the steam, and the hurry of the train, struck me by the contrast with the calm travel of the desert.

At Sacramento, the newer name for New Helvetia--a capital mass of shops and stores, groggeries and hotels--I cashed a draught, settled old scores with Kennedy, who almost carried me off by force to his location, shook hands with Thomas, and transferred myself from the Golden Eagle on board the steamer Queen City. Eight hours down the Sacramento River, past Benicia--the birthplace of the Boy--in the dark to the head-waters of the glorious bay, placed me at the “El Dorada of the West,” where a tolerable opera, a superior supper, and the society of friends made the arrival exceptionably comfortable.

I spent ten pleasant days at San Francisco. There remained some traveler’s work to be done: the giant trees, the Yosemite or Yohamite Falls--the highest cataracts yet known in the world--and the Almaden cinnabar mines, with British Columbia, Vancouver’s Island, and Los Angelos temptingly near. But, in sooth, I was aweary of the way; for eight months I had lived on board steamers and railroad cars, coaches and mules; my eyes were full of sight-seeing, my pockets empty, and my brain stuffed with all manner of useful knowledge. It was far more grateful to flaner about the stirring streets, to admire the charming faces, to enjoy the delicious climate, and to pay quiet visits like a “ladies’ man,” than to front wind and rain, muddy roads, arrieros, and rough teamsters, fit only for Rembrandt, and the solitude of out-stations. The presidential election was also in progress, and I wished to see with my eyes the working of a system which has been facetiously called “universal suffering and vote by bullet.” Mr. Consul Booker placed my name on the lists of the Union Club, which was a superior institution to that of Leamington; Colonel Hooker, of Oregon, and Mr. Tooney, showed me life in San Francisco; Mr. Gregory Yale, whom I had met at Carson City, introduced me to a quiet picture of old Spanish happiness, fast fading from California; Mr. Donald Davidson, an old East Indian, talked East Indian with me; and Lieutenants Macpherson and Brewer accompanied me over the forts and batteries which are intended to make of San Francisco a New-World Cronstadt. Mr. Polonius sensibly refused to cash for me a draught not authorized by my circular letter from the Union Bank. Mr. Booker took a less prudential and mercantile view of the question, and kindly helped me through with the necessaire--£100. My return for all this kindness was, I regret to say, a temperate but firm refusal to lecture upon the subject of Meccah and El Medinah, Central Africa, Indian cotton, American politics, or every thing in general. I nevertheless bade my adieux to San Francisco and the hospitable San Franciscans with regret.

On the 15th of November, the Golden Age, Commodore Watkins, steamed out of the Golden Gates, bearing on board, among some 520 souls, the body that now addresses the public. She was a model steamer, with engines and engine-rooms clean as a club kitchen, and a cuisine whose terrapin soup and deviled crabs à la Baltimore will long maintain their position in my memory--not so long, however, as the kindness and courtesy of the ancient mariner who commanded the Golden Age. On the 28th we spent the best part of a night at Acapulco, the city of Cortez and of Doña Marina, where any lurking project of passing through ill-conditioned Mexico was finally dispelled. The route from Acapulco to Vera Cruz, over a once well-worn highway, was simply and absolutely impassable. Each sovereign and independent state in that miserable caricature of the Anglo-American federal Union was at daggers drawn with all and every of its next-door neighbors; the battles were paper battles, but the plundering and the barbarities--cosas de Mejico!--were stern realities. A rich man could not travel because of the banditti; a poor man would have been enlisted almost outside the city gates; a man with many servants would have seen half of them converted to soldiers under his eyes, and have lost the other half by desertion, while a man without servants would have been himself press-gang’d; a Liberal would have been murdered by the Church, and a Churchman--even the frock is no protection--would have been martyred by the Liberal party. For this disappointment I found a philosophical consolation in various experiments touching the influence of Mezcal brandy, the Mexican national drink, upon the human mind and body.

On the 15th of December we debarked at Panama; horridly wet, dull, and dirty was the “place of fish,” and the “Aspinwall House” and its Mivart reminded me of a Parsee hotel in the fort, Bombay. Yet I managed to spend there three pleasant circlings of the sun. A visit to the acting consul introduced me to M. Hurtado, the Intendente or military governor, and to a charming countrywoman, whose fascinating society made me regret that my stay there could not be protracted. Though politics were running high, I became acquainted with most of the officers of the United States squadron, and only saw the last of them at Colon, alias Aspinwall. Messrs. Boyd and Power, of the “Weekly Star and Herald,” introduced me to the officials of the Panama Railroad, Messrs. Nelson, Center, and others, who, had I not expressed an aversion to “dead-headism,” or gratis traveling, would have offered me a free passage. Last, but not least, I must mention the venerable name of Mrs. Seacole, of Jamaica and Balaklava.

On the 8th of December I passed over the celebrated Panama Railway to Aspinwall, where Mr. Center, the superintendent of the line, made the evening highly agreeable with conversation aided by “Italia,” a certain muscatel cognac that has yet to reach Great Britain. We steamed the next morning, under charge of Captain Leeds, over the Caribbean Sea or Spanish Main, bound for St. Thomas. A hard-hearted E.N.E. wind protracted the voyage of the Solent for six days, and we reached the Danish settlement in time, and only just in time, to save a week’s delay upon that offensive scrap of negro liberty-land. On the 9th of December we bade adieu with pleasure to the little dungeon-rock, and turned the head of the good ship Seine, Captain Rivett, toward the Western Islands. She played a pretty wheel till almost within sight of Land’s End, where Britannia received us with her characteristic welcome, a gale and a pea-soup fog, which kept us cruising about for three days in the unpleasant Solent and the Southampton Water.

APPENDICES.

I. EMIGRANT’S ITINERARY,

Showing the distances between camping-places, the several mail-stations where mules are changed, the hours of travel, the character of the roads, and the facilities for obtaining water, wood, and grass on the route along the southern bank of the Platte River, from St. Joseph, Mo., viâ Great Salt Lake City, to Carson Valley. From a Diary kept between the 7th of August and the 19th of October, 1860.

+-----+-----------------------------------+------+------+------+-----+ | No. | | | | | | | of | | | | Ar- | | |Mail.| |Miles.|Start.|rival.|Date.| +-----+-----------------------------------+------+------+------+-----+ | 1. |Leave St. Joseph, Missouri, in N. | | | | | | |lat. 39° 40′, and W. long. 94° 50′.| | | | | | |Cross Missouri River by steam | | | | | | |ferry. Five miles of bottom land, | | | | | | |bend in river and settlements. Over| | | | | | |rolling prairie 2000 feet above sea| | | | | | |level. After 6 miles, Troy, capital| | | | | | |of Doniphan Co., Kansas Territory, | | | | | | |about a dozen shanties. Dine and | | | | | | |change mules at Cold Spring--good | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |water and grass. |20-24 | 9 30 | 3 | 7 | | |Road from Fort Leavenworth (N. lat.| | | | | | |39° 21′ 14″, and W. long. 94° 44′) | | | | | | |falls in at Cold Spring, distant 15| | | | | | |miles. | | | | | | |From St. Jo to Cold Spring there | | | | | | |are two routes, one lying north of | | | | | | |the other, the former 20, the | | | | | | |latter 24 miles in length. | | | | | | 2. |After 10 miles, Valley Home, a | | | | | | |whitewashed shanty. At Small Branch| | | | | | |on Wolf River, 12 miles from Cold | | | | | | |Spring, is a fiumara on the north | | | | | | |of the road, with water, wood, and | | | | | | |grass. Here the road from Fort | | | | | | |Atchinson falls in. Kennekuk | | | | | | |Station, 44 miles from St. Joseph. | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |Sup and change mules. |22-23 | 4 | 8 | 7 | | 3. |Two miles beyond Kennekuk is the | | | | | | |first of the three Grasshopper | | | | | | |Creeks, flowing after rain to the | | | | | | |Kansas River. Road rough and stony;| | | | | | |water, wood, and grass. Four miles | | | | | | |beyond the First Grasshopper is | | | | | | |Whitehead, a young settlement on | | | | | | |Big Grasshopper; water in pools, | | | | | | |wood, and grass. Five and a half | | | | | | |miles beyond is Walnut Creek, in | | | | | | |Kickapoo Co.: pass over corduroy | | | | | | |bridge; roadside dotted with | | | | | | |shanties. Thence to Locknan’s, or | | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |Big Muddy Station. | 25 | 9 | 1 | 7, 8| | 4. |Seventeen miles beyond Walnut | | | | | | |Creek, the Third Grasshopper, also | | | | | | |falling into the Kansas River. Good| | | | | | |camping-ground. Ten miles beyond | | | | | | |lies Richland, deserted site. | | | | | | |Thence to Seneca, capital of | | | | | | |Nemehaw Co. A few shanties on the | | | | | | |N. bank of Big Nemehaw Creek, a | | | | | | |tributary of the Missouri River, | | | | | | |which affords water, wood, and | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |grass. | 18 | 3 | 6 | 8 | | 5. |Cross Wildcat Creek and other | | | | | | |nullahs. Seven miles beyond Seneca | | | | | | |lies Ash Point, a few wooden huts, | | | | | | |thence to “Uncle John’s Grocery,” | | | | | | |where liquor and stores are | | | | | | |procurable. Eleven miles from Big | | | | | | |Nemehaw, water, wood, and grass are| | | | | | |found at certain seasons near the | | | | | | |head of a ravine. Thence to | | | | | | |Vermilion Creek, which heads to the| | | | | | |N.E., and enters the Big Blue 20 | | | | | | |miles above its mouth. The ford is | | | | | | |miry after rain, and the banks are | | | | | | |thickly wooded. Water is found in | | | | | | |wells 40-43 feet deep. Guittard’s | | A.M. | NOON.| Aug.| | |Station. | 20 | 8 | 12 | 8 | | 6. |Fourteen miles from Guittard’s, | | | | | | |Marysville, capital of Washington | | | | | | |Co., affords supplies and a | | | | | | |blacksmith. Then ford the Big Blue,| | | | | | |tributary to Kansas River, clear | | | | | | |and swift stream. Twelve miles W. | | | | | | |of Marysville is the frontier line | | | | | | |between Kansas and Nebraska. Thence| | | | | | |to Cotton-wood Creek, fields in | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |hollow near the stream. | 25 | 1 | 6 | 8 | | 7. |Store at the crossing very dirty | | | | | | |and disorderly. Good water in | | | | | | |spring 400 yards N. of the road; | | | | | | |wood and grass abundant. Seventeen | | | | | | |and a half miles from the Big Blue | | | | | | |is Walnut Creek, where emigrants | | | | | | |encamp. Thence to West Turkey or | | | | | | |Rock Creek in Nebraska Territory, a| | | | | | |branch of the Big Blue: its | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |approximate altitude is 1485 feet. | 26 | 6 | 11 | 8 | | 8. |After 19 miles of rough road and | | | | | | |musquetoes, cross Little Sandy, 5 | | | | | | |miles E. of Big Sandy; water and | | | | | | |trees plentiful. There Big Sandy | | | | | | |deep and heavy bed. Big Sandy | | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |Station. | 23 | 12 | 4 | 9 | | 9. |Cross hills forming divide of | | | | | | |Little Blue River, ascending valley| | | | | | |60 miles long. Little Blue fine | | | | | | |stream of clear water falling into | | | | | | |Kansas River; every where good | | | | | | |supplies and good camping-ground. | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |Along the left bank to Kiowa. | 19 | 6 | 10 | 9 | | 10. |Rough road of spurs and gullies | | | | | | |runs up a valley 2 miles wide. Well| | | | | | |wooded chiefly with cotton-wood, | | | | | | |and grass abundant. Ranch at | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |Liberty Farm, on the Little Blue. | 25 | 11 | 3 | 9 | | 11. |Cross divide between Little Blue | | | | | | |and Platte River; rough road, | | | | | | |musquetoes troublesome. Approximate| | | | | | |altitude of dividing ridge 2025 | | | | | | |feet. Station at Thirty-two-Mile | | | | | | |Creek, a small wooded and winding | | | | | | |stream flowing into the Little | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |Blue. | 24 | 4 | 9 | 9 | | 12. |After 27 miles strike the Valley of| | | | | | |the Platte, along the southern bank| | | | | | |of the river, over level ground, | | | | | | |good for camping, fodder abundant. | | | | | | |After 7 miles Fort Kearney in N. | | | | | | |lat. 40° 38′ 45″, and W. long. 98° | | | | | | |58′ 11″: approximate altitude 2500 | | | | | | |feet above sea level. Groceries, | | | | | | |cloths, provisions, and supplies of| | | | | | |all kinds are to be procured from | | | | | | |the sutler’s store. Beyond Kearney | | | | | | |a rough and bad road leads to | | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |“Seventeen-Mile Station”. | 34 |10 30 | 8 | 10 | | 13. |Along the south bank of the Platte.| | | | | | |Buffalo chips used for fuel. Sign | | | | | | |of buffalo appears. Plum-Creek | | | | | | |Station on a stream where there is | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |a bad crossing in wet weather. | 21 | 9 30 | 1 15 | 10 | | 14. |Beyond Plum Creek, Willow-Island | | | | | | |Ranch, where supplies are | | | | | | |procurable. Road along the Platte, | | | | | | |wood scarce, grass plentiful, | | | | | | |buffalo abounds; after 20 miles | | | | | | |“Cold-Water Ranch.” Halt and change| | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |at Midway Station. | 25 | 2 30 | 8 | 10 | | 15. |Along the Valley of the Platte, | | | | | | |road muddy after rain, fuel scarce,| | | | | | |grass abundant, camp traces every | | | | | | |where. Ranch at Cotton-wood | | | | | | |Station, at this season the western| | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |limit of buffalo. | 27 | 9 | 1 45 | 11 | | 16. |Up the Valley of the Platte. No | | | | | | |wood; buffalo chips for fuel. Good | | | | | | |camping-ground; grass on small | | | | | | |branch of the Platte. To Junction- | | | | | | |House Ranch, and thence to station | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |at Frémont Springs. | 30 | 6 15 | 11 | 11 | | 17. |Road passes O’Fallon’s Bluffs. | | | | | | |“Half-way House,” a store and | | | | | | |ranch, distant 120 miles from Fort | | | | | | |Kearney, 400 from St. Joseph, 40 | | | | | | |from the Lower Crossing, and 68 | | | | | | |from the Upper Crossing of the | | | | | | |South Fork (Platte River). The | | NOON.| P.M. | Aug.| | |station is called Alkali Lake. | 25 | 12 | 5 | 11 | | 18. |Road along river; no timber; grass,| | | | | | |buffalo chips, and musquetoes. | | | | | | |Station at Diamond Springs near | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |Lower Crossing. | 25 | 6 |10 15 | 11 | | 19. |Road along river. Last 4 miles very| | | | | | |heavy sand, avoided by Lower | | | | | | |Crossing. Poor accommodation at | | | | | | |Upper Ford or Crossing on the | | | | | | |eastern bank, where the mail passes| | | | | | |the stream en route to Great Salt | | | | | | |Lake City, and the road branches to| | P.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |Denver City and Pike’s Peak. | 25 | 11 | 3 15 | 12 | | 20. |Ford Platte 600 yards wide, 2·50 | | | | | | |feet deep, bed gravelly and solid, | | | | | | |easy ford in dry season. Cross | | | | | | |divide between North and South | | | | | | |Forks, along the bank of Lodge-Pole| | | | | | |Creek. Land arid; wild sage for | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |fuel. Lodge-Pole Station. | 35 | 6 30 |12 45 | 12 | | 21. |Up Lodge-Pole Creek over a spur of | | | | | | |table-land; then, striking over the| | | | | | |prairie, finishes the high divide | | | | | | |between the Forks. Approximate | | | | | | |altitude 3500 feet. On the right is| | | | | | |Ash Hollow, where there is plenty | | | | | | |of wood and a small spring. The | | | | | | |station is Mud Springs, a poor | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |ranch. | 25 | 3 | 5 45 | 12 | | 22. |Route lies over a rolling divide | | | | | | |between the Forks, crossing Omaha, | | | | | | |Lawrence, and other creeks, where | | | | | | |water and grass are procurable. | | | | | | |Cedar is still found in hill- | | | | | | |gullies. About half a mile north of| | | | | | |Chimney Rock is a ranch where the | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |cattle are changed. | 25 | 8 |12 30 | 13 | | 23. | Road along the south bank of North| | | | | | |Ford of Platte River. Wild sage the| | | | | | |only fuel in the valley: small | | | | | | |spring on top of first hill. Rugged| | | | | | |labyrinth of paths abreast of | | | | | | |Scott’s Bluffs, which lie 5 miles | | | | | | |S. of river, in N. lat. 41° 48′ | | | | | | |26″, and W. long. 103° 45′ 02″. | | | | | | |Water found in first ravine of | | | | | | |Scott’s Bluffs 200 yards below the | | | | | | |road, cedars on heights. To | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |station. | 24 | 1 30 | 5 30 | 13 | | 24. |Road along the river; crosses | | | | | | |Little Kiowa Creek, a tributary to | | | | | | |Horse Creek, which flows into the | | | | | | |Platte. Ford Horse Creek, a clear | | | | | | |shallow stream with a sandy bottom.| | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |No wood below the hills. | 16 | 6 30 | 8 30 | 13 | | 25. |Route over sandy, and heavy river | | | | | | |bottom and rolling ground, leaving | | | | | | |the Platte on the right: cotton- | | | | | | |wood and willows on the banks. | | | | | | |Ranch at Laramie City kept by M. | | | | | | |Badeau, a Canadian, who sells | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |spirits, Indian goods, and outfit. | 26 | 6 |10 20 | 14 | | 26. |After 9 miles of rough road cross | | | | | | |Laramie Fork and enter Fort | | | | | | |Laramie, N. lat. 42° 12′ 38″, and | | | | | | |W. long. 104° 31′ 26″. Altitude | | | | | | |4519 feet. Military post, with | | | | | | |post-office, sutler’s stores, and | | | | | | |other conveniences. Thence To | | | | | | |Ward’s Station on the Central Star,| | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |small ranch and store. | 18 |12 15 | 4 | 14 | | 27. |Rough and bad road. After 14 miles | | | | | | |cross Bitter Cotton-wood Creek; | | | | | | |water rarely flows; after rain 10 | | | | | | |feet wide and 6 inches deep; grass | | | | | | |and fuel abundant. Pass Indian shop| | | | | | |and store. At Bitter Creek branch | | | | | | |of Cotton-wood the road to Salt | | | | | | |Lake City forks. Emigrants follow | | | | | | |the Upper or South road over spurs | | | | | | |of the Black Hills, some way south | | | | | | |of the river, to avoid kanyons and | | | | | | |to find grass. The station is | | | | | | |called Horseshoe Creek. Residence | | | | | | |of road-agent, Mr. Slade, and one | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |of the worst places on the line. | 25 | 5 | 9 30 | 14 | | 28. |Road forks; one line follows the | | | | | | |Platte, the other turns to the | | | | | | |left, over “cut-off;” highly | | | | | | |undulating ridges, crooked and | | | | | | |deeply dented with dry beds of | | | | | | |rivers; land desolate and desert. | | | | | | |No wood nor water till end of | | | | | | |stage. La Bonté River and Station; | | | | | | |unfinished ranch in valley; water | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |and grass. | 25 |10 45 | 2 45 | 15 | | 29. |Road runs 6 miles (wheels often | | | | | | |locked) on rugged red land, crosses| | | | | | |several dry beds of creeks, and | | | | | | |springs with water after melting of| | | | | | |snow and frosts in dry season, | | | | | | |thence into the Valley of the | | | | | | |Platte. After 17 miles it crosses | | | | | | |the La Prêle (Rush River), a stream| | | | | | |16 feet wide, where water and wood | | | | | | |abound. At Box-Elder Creek Station | | | | | | |good ranch and comfortable camping-| | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |ground. | 25 | 4 | 9 | 15 | | 30. |Along the Platte River, now shrunk | | | | | | |to 100 yards. After 10 miles, M. | | | | | | |Bissonette; at Deer Creek, a post- | | | | | | |office, blacksmith’s shop, and | | | | | | |store near Indian Agency. Thence a | | | | | | |waste of wild sage to Little Muddy,| | | | | | |a creek with water. No | | | | | | |accommodation nor provisions at | | A.M. | NOON.| Aug.| | |station. | 20 | 8 30 | 12 | 16 | | 31. |After 8 miles cross vile bridge | | | | | | |over Snow Creek. Thence up the | | | | | | |river valley along the S. bank of | | | | | | |the Platte to the lower ferry. To | | | | | | |Lower Bridge, old station of | | | | | | |troops. To Upper Bridge, where the | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |ferry has now been done away with. | 18 | 1 15 | 4 15 | 16 | | 32. |Road ascends a hill 7 miles long; | | | | | | |land rough, barren, and sandy in | | | | | | |dry season. After 10 miles, red | | | | | | |spring near the Red Buttes, an old | | | | | | |trading-place and post-office. Road| | | | | | |then leaves the Platte River and | | | | | | |strikes over high, rolling, and | | | | | | |barren prairie. After 18 miles, | | | | | | |“Devil’s Backbone” Station at | | | | | | |Willow Springs; wood, water, and | | | | | | |grass; good place for encampment, | | | | | | |but no accommodation nor | | | | | | |provisions. On this stage mineral | | | | | | |and alkaline waters dangerous to | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |cattle abound. | 28 | 6 30 |12 50 | 17 | | 33. |After 3 miles, Green Creek, not to | | | | | | |be depended upon, and Prospect | | | | | | |Hill, a good look-out. Then, at | | | | | | |intervals of 3 miles, Harper’s, | | | | | | |Woodworth’s, and Greasewood Creeks,| | | | | | |followed by heavy sand. At 17 | | | | | | |miles, “Saleratus Lake,” on the | | | | | | |west of the road. Four miles beyond| | | | | | |is “Independence Rock,” Ford | | | | | | |Sweetwater, leaving the “Devil’s | | | | | | |Gate” on the right. Pass a | | | | | | |blacksmith’s shop. Sage the only | | | | | | |fuel. Plante or Muddy Station; | | | | | | |family of Canadians; no | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |conveniences. | 33 | 2 30 | 9 15 | 17 | | 34. |Along the winding banks of the | | | | | | |Sweetwater. After 4 miles, “Alkali | | | | | | |Lake” S. of the road. Land dry and | | | | | | |stony; stunted cedars in hills. | | | | | | |After 12 miles, the “Devil’s Post- | | | | | | |office,” a singular bluff on the | | | | | | |left of the road, and opposite a | | | | | | |ranch kept by a Canadian. Mail | | | | | | |station “Three Crossings,” at Ford | | | | | | |No. 3; excellent water, wood, | | A.M. | A.M. | Aug.| | |grass, game, and wild currants. | 25 | 7 | 11 | 18 | | 35. |Up a kanyon of the Sweetwater. Ford| | | | | | |the river 5 times, making a total | | | | | | |of 8. After 16 miles, “Ice Springs”| | | | | | |in a swampy valley, and one quarter| | | | | | |of a mile beyond “Warm Springs.” | | | | | | |Then rough descent and waterless | | | | | | |stretch. Descend by “Lander’s Cut- | | | | | | |off” into fertile bottom. “Rocky | | | | | | |Ridge Station;” at Muskrat Creek | | | | | | |good cold spring, grass, and sage | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |fuel. | 35 | 5 45 |12 45 | 19 | | 36. |Up the bed of the creek, and, | | | | | | |ascending long hills, leave the | | | | | | |Sweetwater. After 4 miles, 3 | | | | | | |alkaline ponds S. of the road. | | | | | | |Rough path. After 7 miles, | | | | | | |“Strawberry Creek,” 6 feet wide; | | | | | | |good camping-ground; willows and | | | | | | |poplars. One mile beyond is | | | | | | |Quaking-Asp Creek, often dry. Three| | | | | | |miles beyond lies M‘Achran’s | | | | | | |Branch, 33 × 2. Then “Willow | | | | | | |Creek,” 10 × 2; good camping- | | | | | | |ground. At Ford No. 9 is a Canadian| | | | | | |ranch and store. A long table-land | | | | | | |leads to “South Pass,” dividing | | | | | | |trip between the Atlantic and | | | | | | |Pacific, and thence 2 miles to the | | | | | | |station at “Pacific Springs;” | | | | | | |water, tolerable grass, sage fuel, | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |and musquetoes. | 35 | 7 45 | 3 | 20 | | 37. |Cross Miry Creek. Road down Pacific| | | | | | |Creek; water scarce for 20 miles. | | | | | | |After 11 miles, “Dry Sandy Creek;” | | | | | | |water scarce and too brackish to | | | | | | |drink; grass little; sage and | | | | | | |greasewood plentiful. After 16 | | | | | | |miles, “Sublette’s Cut-off,” or the| | | | | | |“Dry Drive,” turns N.W. to Soda | | | | | | |Springs and Fort Hall: the left | | | | | | |fork leads to Fort Bridger and | | | | | | |Great Salt Lake City. Four miles | | | | | | |beyond the junction is “Little | | | | | | |Sandy Creek,” 20-25 × 2; grass, | | | | | | |timber, and good camping-ground. | | | | | | |Eight miles beyond is “Big Sandy | | | | | | |Creek,” clear, swift, and with good| | | | | | |crossing, 110 × 2. The southern | | | | | | |route is the best; along the old | | | | | | |road, no water for 49 miles. Big | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |Sandy Creek Station. | 33 | 8 |12 50 | 21 | | 38. |Desolate road cuts off the bend of | | | | | | |the river; no grass nor water. | | | | | | |After 12 miles, “Simpson’s Hollow.”| | | | | | |Fall into the Valley of Green | | | | | | |River, half a mile wide, water 110 | | | | | | |yards broad. After 20¹⁄₂ miles, | | | | | | |Upper Ford; Lower Ford 7 miles | | | | | | |below Upper. Good camping-ground on| | | | | | |bottom; at the station in Green | | | | | | |River, grocery, stores, and ferry- | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |boat when there is high water. | 32 | 1 45 | 6 30 | 21 | | 39. |Diagonal ford over Green River; a | | | | | | |good camping-ground in bottom. | | | | | | |Follow the valley for 4 miles; | | | | | | |grass and fuel. Michel Martin’s | | | | | | |store and grocery. The road leaves | | | | | | |the river and crosses a waterless | | | | | | |divide to Black’s Fork, 100 × 2; | | | | | | |grass and fuel. Wretched station at| | A.M. | NOON.| Aug.| | |Ham’s Fork. | 24 | 8 | 12 | 22 | | 40. |Ford Ham’s Fork. After 12 miles the| | | | | | |road forks at the 2d striking of | | | | | | |Ham’s Fork, both branches leading | | | | | | |to Fort Bridger. Mail takes the | | | | | | |left-hand path. Then Black’s Fork, | | | | | | |20 × 2, clear and pretty valley, | | | | | | |with grass and fuel, cotton-wood | | | | | | |and yellow currants. Cross the | | | | | | |stream 3 times. After 12 miles, | | | | | | |“Church Butte.” Ford Smith’s Fork, | | | | | | |30 feet wide and shallow, a | | | | | | |tributary of Black’s Fork. Station | | | | | | |at Millersville on Smith’s Fork; | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |large store and good accommodation.| 20 | 2 | 5 15 | 22 | | 41. |Road runs up the valley of Black’s | | | | | | |Fork. After 12 miles, Fort Bridger,| | | | | | |in N. lat. 41° 18′ 12″, and W. | | | | | | |long. 110° 32′ 23″, on Black’s Fork| | | | | | |of Green River. Commands Indian | | | | | | |trade, fuel, corn; little grass. | | | | | | |Post-office, sutler’s store, | | | | | | |grocery, and other conveniences. | | | | | | |Thence rough and rolling ground to | | | | | | |Muddy Creek Hill; steep and stony | | | | | | |descent. Over a fertile bottom to | | | | | | |Big Muddy and Little Muddy Creek, | | | | | | |which empties into Black’s Fork | | | | | | |below Fort Bridger. At Muddy Creek | | | | | | |Station there is a Canadian, | | | | | | |provisions, excellent milk; no | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |stores. | 25 | 8 30 |12 15 | 23 | | 42. |Rough country. The road winds along| | | | | | |the ridge to Quaking-Asp Hill, 7900| | | | | | |(8400?) feet above sea level. Steep| | | | | | |descent; rough and broken ground. | | | | | | |After 18 miles, Sulphur Creek | | | | | | |Valley; stagnant stream, flowing | | | | | | |after rain; ford bad and muddy. | | | | | | |Station in the fertile valley of | | | | | | |Bear River, which turns northward | | | | | | |and flows into the east side of the| | | | | | |lake; wood, grass, and water. Poor | | | | | | |accommodations at Bear River | | NOON.| P.M. | Aug.| | |Station. | 20 | 12 | 5 30 | 23 | | 43. |Road runs by Needle Rocks; falls | | | | | | |into the Valley of Egan’s Creek. | | | | | | |“Cache Cave” on the right hand. | | | | | | |Three miles below the Cave is Red | | | | | | |Fork in Echo Kanyon; unfinished | | | | | | |station at the entrance. Rough | | | | | | |road; steep ascents and descents | | | | | | |along Red Creek Station on Weber | | | | | | |River, which falls into Salt Lake | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |south of Bear River. | 36 | 8 15 | 2 30 | 24 | | 44. |Road runs down the Valley of the | | | | | | |Weber. Ford the river. After 5¹⁄₄ | | | | | | |miles is a salt spring, where the | | | | | | |road leaves the river to avoid a | | | | | | |deep kanyon, and turns to the left | | | | | | |into a valley with rough paths, | | | | | | |trying to wheels. Then crosses a | | | | | | |mountain, and, ascending a long | | | | | | |hill, descends to Bauchmin’s Creek,| | | | | | |tributary to Weber River. Creek 18 | | | | | | |feet wide, swift, pebbly bed, good | | | | | | |ford; grass and fuel abundant. The | | | | | | |station is called Carson’s House; | | P.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |accommodations of the worst. | 22 | 4 30 | 7 45 | 24 | | 45. |Ford Bauchmin’s Creek 13 times in 8| | | | | | |miles. After 2 miles along a small | | | | | | |water-course ascend Big Mountain, | | | | | | |whence first view of Great Salt | | | | | | |Lake City, 12 miles distant. After | | | | | | |14 miles, Big Kanyon Creek. Six | | | | | | |miles farther the road leaves Big | | | | | | |Kanyon Creek, and after a steep | | | | | | |ascent and descent makes Emigration| | | | | | |Creek. Cross Little Mountain, 2 | | | | | | |miles beyond Big Mountain; road | | | | | | |rough and dangerous. Five miles | | | | | | |from Emigration Kanyon to Great | | | | | | |Salt Lake City. Road through “Big | | A.M. | P.M. | Aug.| | |Field” 6 miles square. | 29 | 7 | 7 15 | 28 | +-----+-----------------------------------+------+------+------+-----+

GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, N. lat. 40° 46′ 08″ W. long. 112° 06′ 08″ (G.) Altitude 4300 feet.

The variation of compass at Temple Block in 1849 was 15° 47′ 23″, and in 1860 it was 15° 54′, a slow progress toward the east. (In the Wind-River Mountains, as laid down by Colonel Frémont in 1842, it was E. 18°.) In Fillmore Valley it is now 18° 15′, and three years ago was about 17° east; the rapid progression to the east is accompanied with extreme irregularity, which the people attribute to the metallic constituents of the soil.

Total of days between St. Jo and Great Salt Lake City. 19 Total stages. 45 Distance in statute miles. 1136 From Fort Leavenworth to Great Salt Lake City. 1168

ITINERARY OF THE MAIL-ROUTE FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO SAN FRANCISCO.

+-----+-----------------------------------+------+------+------+-----+ | No. | | | | | | | of | | | | Ar- | | |Mail.| |Miles.|Start.|rival.|Date.| +-----+-----------------------------------+------+------+------+-----+ | 1 |Road through the south of the city,| | | | | | and |due south along the right bank of | | | | | | 2. |the Jordan. Cross many creeks, | | | | | | |viz., Kanyon Creek, 4¹⁄₄ miles; | | | | | | |Mill Creek, 2¹⁄₂; First or Great | | | | | | |Cotton-wood Creek, 2; Second | | | | | | |ditto, 4; Fork of road, 1¹⁄₄; Dry | | | | | | |Creek, 3¹⁄₂; Willow Creek, 2³⁄₄. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |After 22-23 miles, hot and cold | | | | | | |springs, and half-way house, the | | | | | | |brewery under the point of the | | | | | | |mountain. Road across Ash-Hollow or| | | | | | |Jordan Kanyon, 2 miles. Fords | | | | | | |river, knee deep; ascends a rough | | | | | | |divide between Utah Valley and | | | | | | |Cedar Valley, 10 miles from camp, | | | | | | |and finally reaches Cedar Creek and| | | |Sept.| | |Camp Floyd. | 44 | 10 30| 9 30 | 20 | | 3. |Leaves Camp Floyd; 7 miles to the | | | | | | |divide of Cedar Valley. Crosses the| | | | | | |divide into Rush Valley; after a | | | | | | |total of 18·2 miles reaches Meadow | | | | | | |Creek; good grass and water. Rush | | | | | | |Valley mail station 1 mile beyond; | | | |Sept.| | |food and accommodation. | 20 | 10 30| 9 30 | 27 | | 4. |Crosses remains of Rush Valley 7 | | | | | | |miles. Up a rough divide called | | | | | | |General Johnston’s Pass. Spring, | | | | | | |often dry, 200 yards on the right | | | | | | |of the road. At Point Look-out | | | | | | |leaves Simpson’s Road, which runs | | | | | | |south. Cross Skull Valley; bad | | | | | | |road. To the bench on the eastern | | | | | | |flank of the desert. Station called| | | | | | |Egan’s Springs, Simpson’s Springs, | | | | | | |or Lost Springs, grass plentiful, | | A.M. | |Sept.| | |water good. | 27 | 9 30 | 4 30 | 28 | | 5. |New station; road forks to S.E., | | | | | | |and leads, after 5 miles, to grass | | | | | | |and water. After 8 miles, river | | | | | | |bottom, 1 mile broad. Long line | | | | | | |over desert to express station, | | | | | | |called Dugway; no grass, and no | | | P.M. |Sept.| | |water. | 20 | 12 | 5 30 | 29 | | 6. |Steep road 2¹⁄₂ miles to the summit| | | | | | |of Dugway Pass. Descend by a rough | | | | | | |incline; 8 miles beyond the road | | | | | | |forks to Devil’s Hole, 90 miles | | | | | | |from Camp Floyd on Simpson’s route,| | | | | | |and 6 miles S. of Fish Springs. | | | | | | |Eight miles beyond the fork is | | | | | | |Mountain Point; road winds S. and | | | | | | |W., and then N. to avoid swamp, and| | | | | | |crosses 3 sloughs. Beyond the last | | | | | | |is Fish-Spring Station, on the | | | | | | |bench--a poor place; water | | | | | | |plentiful, but bad. Cattle here | | | | | | |drink for the first time after Lost| | P.M. | A.M. |Sept.| | |Springs, distant 48 miles. | 28 | 6 30 | 3 30 | 29 | | 7. |Road passes many pools. Half way | | | | | | |forks S. to Pleasant Valley | | | | | | |(Simpson’s line). Road again rounds| | | | | | |the swamp, crossing S. end of Salt | | | | | | |Plain. After 21 miles, “Willow | | | | | | |Creek;” water rather brackish. | | | | | | |Station “Willow Springs” on the | | | | | | |bench below the hills, at W. end of| | A.M. | |Sept.| | |desert; grass and hay plentiful. | 22 | 10 | 3 30 | 30 | | 8. |Road ascending the bench, turns N. | | | | | | |to find the pass. After 6 miles, | | | | | | |Mountain Springs; good water, | | | | | | |grass, and fuel. Six miles beyond | | | | | | |is Deep-Creek Kanyon, a dangerous | | | | | | |ravine 9 miles long. Then descends | | | | | | |into a fertile and well-watered | | | | | | |valley, and after 7 miles enters | | | | | | |Deep-Creek mail station. Indian | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |farm. | 28 | 8 | 4 | 1 | | 9. |Along Willow Creek. After 8 miles, | | | | | | |“Eight-Miles Springs;” water, | | | | | | |grass, and sage fuel. Kanyon after | | | | | | |2¹⁄₂ miles, 500 yards long and | | | | | | |easy. Then 19 miles through | | | | | | |Antelope Valley to the station of | | | | | | |the same name, burnt in June, 1860,| | | | | | |by Indians. Simpson’s route from | | | | | | |Pleasant Valley, distant 12·5 | | | | | | |miles, falls into the E. end of | | | | | | |Antelope Valley, from Camp Floyd | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |151 miles. | 30 | 8 | 4 | 3, 4| | 10. |Road over the valley for 2 miles to| | | | | | |the mouth of Shell-Creek Kanyon, 6 | | | | | | |miles long. Rough road; fuel | | | | | | |plentiful. Descends into Spring | | | | | | |Valley, and then passes over other | | | | | | |divides into Shell Creek, where | | | | | | |there is a mail station; water, | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |grass, and fuel abundant. | 18 | 6 | 11 | 5 | | 11. |Descends a rough road. Crosses | | | | | | |Steptoe Valley and bridged creek. | | | | | | |Road heavy, sand or mud. After 16 | | | | | | |miles, Egan’s Kanyon, dangerous for| | | | | | |Indians. Station at the W. mouth | | P.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |burned by Indians in October, 1860.| 18 | 2 | 6 | 5 | | 12. |Pass the divide, fall into Butte | | | | | | |Valley, and cross its N. end. | | | | | | |Bottom very cold. Mail station half| | | | | | |way up a hill; a very small spring;| | | | | | |grass on the N. side of the hill. | | P.M. | A.M. | Oct.| | |Butte Station. | 18 | 8 | 3 | 6 | | 13. |Ascend the long divide; 2 steep | | | | | | |hills and falls. Cross the N. end | | | | | | |of Long Valley, all barren. Ascend | | | | | | |the divide, and descend into Ruby | | | | | | |Valley; road excellent; water, | | | | | | |grass, and bottom; fuel distant. | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |Good mail station. | 22 | 8 | 1 45 | 7 | | 14. |Long divide; fuel plenty; no grass | | | | | | |nor water. After 10 miles the road | | | | | | |branches to the right hand to | | | | | | |Gravelly Ford of Humboldt River. | | | | | | |Cross a dry bottom. Cross Smith’s | | | | | | |Fork of Humboldt River in | | | | | | |Huntingdon Valley; a little stream;| | | | | | |bunch-grass and sage fuel on the W.| | | | | | |end. Ascend Chokop’s Pass, Dugway, | | | | | | |and hard hill; descend into | | | | | | |Moonshine Valley. Station at | | | | | | |Diamond Springs; warm water, but | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |good. | 23 | 8 | 1 45 | 8, 9| | 15. |Cross Moonshine Valley. After 7 | | | | | | |miles a sulphurous spring and | | | | | | |grass. Twelve miles beyond ascend | | | | | | |the divide; no water; fuel and | | | | | | |bunch-grass plentiful. Then a long | | | | | | |divide. After 9 miles, the station | | | | | | |on Roberts’ Creek, at the E. end of| | | | | | |Sheawit, or Roberts’ Springs | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |Valley. | 28 | 8 | 1 45 | 10 | | 16. |Down the valley to the west; good | | | | | | |road; sage small; no fuel. After 12| | | | | | |miles, willows and water-holes; 3 | | | | | | |miles beyond there are alkaline | | | | | | |wells. Station on the bench; water | | | | | | |below in a dry creek; grass must be| | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |brought from 15 miles. | 35 | 6 30 |12 30 | 11 | | 17. |Cross a long rough divide to Smoky | | | | | | |Valley. At the northern end is a | | | | | | |creek called “Wanahonop,” or | | | | | | |“Netwood,” i. e., trap. Thence a | | | | | | |long rough kanyon to Simpson’s | | | | | | |Park; grass plentiful; water in | | | | | | |wells 10 feet deep. Simpson’s Park | | | | | | |in Shoshonee country, and, | | | | | | |according to Simpson’s Itinerary, | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |348 miles from Camp Floyd. | 25 | 8 15 | 2 25 | 12 | | 18. |Cross Simpson’s Park. Ascend | | | | | | |Simpson’s Pass, a long kanyon, with| | | | | | |sweet “Sage Springs” on the summit;| | | | | | |bunch-grass plentiful. Descend to | | | | | | |the fork of the road; right hand to| | | | | | |the lower, left hand to the upper | | | | | | |ford of Reese’s River. Water | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |perennial and good; food poor. | 15 | 10 | 2 | 13 | | 19. |Through the remainder of Reese’s | | | | | | |River Valley. After a long divide, | | | | | | |the Valley of Smith’s Creek; | | | | | | |saleratus; no water nor grass. At | | | | | | |last, the station, near a kanyon, | | | | | | |and hidden from view. The land | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |belongs to the Pa Yutas. | 28 | 7 20 | 2 45 | 14 | | 20. |Ascend a rough kanyon, and descend | | | | | | |to a barren and saleratus plain. | | | | | | |Toward the south of the valley over| | | | | | |bench-land, rough with rock and | | | | | | |pitch-hole. “Cold Springs Station” | | | | | | |half built, near stream; fuel | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |scarce. | 25 | 8 15 | 4 15 | 15 | | 21. |At the west gate, 2 miles from the | | | | | | |station, good grass. After 8 miles,| | | | | | |water. Two miles beyond is the | | | | | | |middle gate; water in fiumara, and | | | | | | |grass near. Beyond the gate are 2 | | | | | | |basins, long divides, winding road | | | | | | |to “Sand Springs Valley;” bad | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |water; little grass. | 35 | 9 50 | 2 30 | 16 | | 22. |Cross the valley, 10 miles to the | | | | | | |summit, over slough inundations and| | | | | | |bad road. Summit shifting sand. | | | | | | |Descend 5 miles to Carson Lake; | | | | | | |water tolerable; tule abundant. | | | | | | |Round the S. side of the lake to | | | | | | |the sink of Carson River Station; | | | | | | |no provisions; pasture good; fuel | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |scarce. | 25 | 11 | 9 | 17 | | 23. |Cross a long plain. Ascend a very | | | | | | |steep divide, and sight Sierra 50 | | | | | | |miles distant. Descend to Carson | | | | | | |River. Fort Churchill newly built. | | A.M. | P.M. | Oct.| | |Sutler’s stores, etc. | 25 | 9 30 | 7 15 | 18 | | | | | | | Oct.| | 24. | Carson City | 35 | 11 |10 30 | 19 | | | | | | | | | |Carson City lies on the eastern | | | | | | |foot of the Sierra Nevada, distant | | | | | | |552 statute miles, according to | | | | | | |Captain Simpson, from Camp Floyd. | | | | | | |The present itinerary reduces it to| | | | | | |544, and, adding 44 miles, to a | | | | | | |total of 588 from Great Salt Lake | | | | | | |City. | | | | | +-----+-----------------------------------+------+------+------+-----+

ITINERARY of Captain J. H. SIMPSON’S Wagon-road from Camp Floyd to Genoa, Carson Valley, Utah Territory. Explored by direction of General A. G. JOHNSTON, commanding the Department of Utah, between the 2d of May and the 12th of June, 1859.

+----------------------------------------+-------+------+------+-----+ | | Inter-| From | Total| | | |mediate| Camp | from | | | | Dis- | to | Camp | No. | | |tances.| Camp.|Floyd.| of | | Places. | Miles.|Miles.|Miles.|Camp.| +----------------------------------------+-------+------+------+-----+ |Camp Floyd, wood and grass in vicinity. | | | | | |Meadow Creek. | 18·2 | 18·2 | 18·2| 1 | | | | | | | |Cross Meadow Creek (Rush Valley), mail | | | | | |station ¹⁄₄ mile. | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |Spring ¹⁄₄ mile to the right of General | | | | | |Johnston’s Pass, just after passing the | | | | | |summit. This spring furnishes but little| | | | | |water, even in the spring, and in the | | | | | |summer would be most probably dry. | 8·9 | 9·9 | 28·1| 2 | | | | | | | |Simpson’s Springs, mail station. | 16·2 | 16·2 | 44·3| 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Summit, Short-cut Pass. | 21·6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |1·6 miles below summit. | 1·6 | 23·2 | 67·5| 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Tolerable grass skirting a low range of | | | | | |rocks on the right of the road. | 7·8 | | | | | | | | | | |A little grass; sage in valley. | 4·8 | | | | | | | | | | |Devil’s Hole; water slightly brackish. | 6·7 | | | | | | | | | | |Fish Springs, mail station. | 5·4 | 24·7 | 92·2| 5 | | | | | | | |Warm Springs. | 3·4 | | | | | | | | | | |Grass in considerable quantity of good | | | | | |character. | 26·4 | 29·7 | 121·9| 6 | | | | | | | |Alkaline spring to the right of the | | | | | |road; water not drinkable. | 1· | | | | | | | | | | |Sulphur springs; water abundant and | | | | | |palatable. | 1·5 | 2·5 | 125· | 7 | | | | | | | |Spring, Pleasant Valley, mail station. | 13·4 | 13·4 | 138·4| 8 | | | | | | | |East side of Antelope Valley. | | 12·5 | 150·9| 9 | | | | | | | |Spring Valley; good grass on the west | | | | | |bench and slopes. | | 19· | 169·9| 10 | | | | | | | |Cross a marsh; road takes up a fine | | | | | |stream; grass all along. | 3·5 | | | | | | | | | | |Leave Creek. | 3·5 | | | | | | | | | | |Spring, copious; grass fine. | 2·8 | | | | | | | | | | |East side of Steptoe Valley, mail | | | | | |station. | 1·3 | 11·1 | 181·0| 11 | | | | | | | |Steptoe Creek; dry in summer. | 6·5 | | | | | | | | | | |Mouth of Egan Kanyon. | 6·8 | 13·3 | 194·3| 12 | | | | | | | |Spring; source of Egan Creek. | 1·8 | | | | | | | | | | |West side of Butte Valley. Mail station;| | | | | |a very small spring, barely sufficient | | | | | |for cooking purposes, near the top of | | | | | |the hill; grass on the N. side of same | | | | | |hill. | 16·2 | 18·1 | 212·4| 13 | | | | | | | |Spring 1 mile west side of summit of | | | | | |range. | 12· | 12· | 224·4| 14 | | | | | | | |Ruby Valley, mail station. | 9·2 | 9·2 | 233·6| 15 | | | | | | | |Smith’s Fork, Humboldt River, | | | | | |Huntingdon’s Creek. | 14·4 | | | | | | | | | | |Small mountain stream. | 3·3 | 17·6 | 251·2| 16 | | | | | | | |Spring left of the road. | 1·2 | | | | | | | | | | |Near west foot of Cho-kupe Pass. | 5·8 | 7·1 | 258·3| 17 | | | | | | | |Spring in Pah-hun-nupe Valley. | 7·8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Do. west side of Pah-hun-nupe Valley. | 5·6 | 13·3 | 271·6| 18 | | | | | | | |She-a-wi-te (Willow) Creek. | 14·9 | 14·9 | 286·5| 19 | | | | | | | |Bed of Nash River; water in pools, | | | | | |probably not constant. | 11·6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Small spring; grass on mountain side, 2 | | | | | |miles off. | 5·9 | 17·5 | 304· | 20 | | | | | | | |Wons-in-dam-me, or Antelope Creek. | 7· | 7· | 311· | 21 | | | | | | | |Creek. | 4·3 | | | | | | | | | | |Creek west side of valley. | 9·5 | 13·7 | 324·7| 22 | | | | | | | |Wan-a-ho-no-pe (Netwood trap) Creek. | 13·6 | | | | | | | | | | |Wan-a-ho-no-pe (Netwood trap) Creek. | 4·6 | 18·2 | 342·9| 23 | | | | | | | |Simpson’s Park, according to | | | | | |topographer, Lieutenant Putnam, and | | | | | |guide, Colonel Reese. | 4·9 | 4·9 | 347·8| 24 | | | | | | | |Small spring in Simpson’s Pass (same | | | | | |authority). | 3· | | | | | | | | | | |Ford of Reese’s River. | 8·2 | | | | | | | | | | |Reese’s River. | 2·6 | 13·8 | 361·6| 25 | | | | | | | |Leave Reese’s River. | 3·4 | | | | | | | | | | |Small spring to the left of the road, | | | | | |just before reaching the summit of the | | | | | |Pass. | 10· | | | | | | | | | | |Lieutenant J. L. Kirby Smith’s Creek. | 7·8 | 21·2 | 382·8| 26 | | | | | | | |Engleman’s Creek. | 1·6 | | | | | | | | | | |Lieutenant Putnam’s Creek. | 8·6 | 10·2 | 393· | 27 | | | | | | | |Lieutenant Putnam’s South Fork. | 2·7 | | | | | | | | | | |Rock Creek. | 3· | | | | | | | | | | |Rock Creek. | 3·1 | 8·7 | 401·7| 28 | | | | | | | |Rock Creek Sinks. | 1·7 | | | | | | | | | | |Spring-water kegs should be filled for 2| | | | | |days. Camp from this in alkaline flat. | 5·4 | | | | | | | | | | |Gibraltar Gate. | 0·6 | | | | | | | | | | |Creek joins Gibraltar Creek. | 4·2 | | | | | | | | | | |Middle-Gate Spring. | 3·2 | 14·7 | 416·4| 29 | | | | | | | |West Gate. | 3·5 | | | | | | | | | | |Dry wells; alkaline valley; very poor | | | | | |camp; water and grass alkaline, and | | | | | |little of either. Rabbit-bush fuel. | 21·0 | 24·5 | 440·9| 30 | | | | | | | |Creek connecting the two lakes of | | | | | |Carson. Road can be shortened some eight| | | | | |or ten miles by striking across the head| | | | | |of Alkaline Valley after getting about | | | | | |nine miles from Camp 30, and then | | | | | |proceeding directly to the shore of | | | | | |Carson Lake. It is not necessary to go | | | | | |so far north as the connecting creek | | | | | |referred to. | | 16·6 | 457·5| 31 | | | | | | | |Leave Carson Lake. | 9·7 | | | | | | | | | | |Walker’s River. | 21·5 | 31·2 | 488·7| 32 | | | | | | | |Walker’s River. | | 10· | 498·7| 33 | | | | | | | |Walker’s North Bend. | | 6·3 | 505· | 34 | | | | | | | |Small spring, not sufficient for a large| | | | | |command; grass ¹⁄₂ mile south. | 14·1| | | | | | | | | | |Carson River. | 1·9 | | | | | | | | | | |Carson River. | 3·0 | 19·0 | 524· | 35 | | | | | | | |Pleasant Grove; cross Carson River and | | | | | |get into Old Emigrant Road. Mail | | | | | |station. | 9·0 | 9·0 | 533· | 36 | | | | | | | |China Town. Gold diggings. | 7·4 | | | | | | | | | | |Carson City. East foot of Sierra Nevada.| 11·6 | 19·0 | 552· | 37 | | | | | | | |Genoa. East foot of Sierra Nevada. | 12·9 | 12·9 | 564·9| 38 | +----------------------------------------+-------+------+------+-----+

+----------------------------------------+-----+-----+------+------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | No. | | | | | | of | | | | | Places. |Camp.|Wood.|Water.|Grass.| +----------------------------------------+-----+-----+------+------+ |Camp Floyd, wood and grass in vicinity. | | | W | | |Meadow Creek. | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |Cross Meadow Creek (Rush Valley), mail | | | | | |station ¹⁄₄ mile. | | | | | | | | | | | |Spring ¹⁄₄ mile to the right of General | | | | | |Johnston’s Pass, just after passing the | | | | | |summit. This spring furnishes but little| | | | | |water, even in the spring, and in the | | | | | |summer would be most probably dry. | 2 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Simpson’s Springs, mail station. | 3 | W | W | G | | | | | | | | | | Wil-| | | |Summit, Short-cut Pass. | | low | | | | | | | | | | | | | | very | |1·6 miles below summit. | 4 | Sage| |little| | | | | | grass| | | | | | | |Tolerable grass skirting a low range of | | | | | |rocks on the right of the road. | | | | G | | | | | | | |A little grass; sage in valley. | | S | | G | | | | | | | |Devil’s Hole; water slightly brackish. | | | W | | | | | | | | |Fish Springs, mail station. | 5 | Ctw | W | G | | | | | | | |Warm Springs. | | GW | W | G | | | | | | | |Grass in considerable quantity of good | | | | | |character. | 6 | | | G | | | | | | | |Alkaline spring to the right of the | | | | | |road; water not drinkable. | | | | | | | | | | | |Sulphur springs; water abundant and | | | | | |palatable. | 7 | W,S | W | G | | | | | | | |Spring, Pleasant Valley, mail station. | 8 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |East side of Antelope Valley. | 9 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Spring Valley; good grass on the west | | | | | |bench and slopes. | 10 | GW | W | G | | | | | | | |Cross a marsh; road takes up a fine | | | | | |stream; grass all along. | | | | | | | | | | | |Leave Creek. | | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Spring, copious; grass fine. | | W | W | G | | | | | | | |East side of Steptoe Valley, mail | | | | | |station. | 11 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Steptoe Creek; dry in summer. | | | | | | | | | | | |Mouth of Egan Kanyon. | 12 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Spring; source of Egan Creek. | | W | W | G | | | | | | | |West side of Butte Valley. Mail station;| | | | | |a very small spring, barely sufficient | | | | | |for cooking purposes, near the top of | | | | | |the hill; grass on the N. side of same | | | | | |hill. | 13 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Spring 1 mile west side of summit of | | | | | |range. | 14 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Ruby Valley, mail station. | 15 | GW | W | G | | | | | | | |Smith’s Fork, Humboldt River, | | | | | |Huntingdon’s Creek. | | | | | | | | | | | |Small mountain stream. | 16 | GW | W | G | | | | | | | |Spring left of the road. | | GW | W | G | | | | | | | |Near west foot of Cho-kupe Pass. | 17 | GW | W | G | | | | | | | |Spring in Pah-hun-nupe Valley. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | S,W | | | |Do. west side of Pah-hun-nupe Valley. | 18 | GW | W | G | | | | | | | |She-a-wi-te (Willow) Creek. | 19 | S,W | W | G | | | | | | | |Bed of Nash River; water in pools, | | | | | |probably not constant. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Small spring; grass on mountain side, 2 | | | | | |miles off. | 20 | S,W | W | G | | | | | | | |Wons-in-dam-me, or Antelope Creek. | 21 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Creek. | | S,W | W | G | | | | | | | |Creek west side of valley. | 22 | S,W | W | G | | | | | | | |Wan-a-ho-no-pe (Netwood trap) Creek. | | | | | | | | | | | |Wan-a-ho-no-pe (Netwood trap) Creek. | 23 | S,W | W | G | | | | | | | |Simpson’s Park, according to | | | | | |topographer, Lieutenant Putnam, and | | | | | |guide, Colonel Reese. | 24 | S,W | W | G | | | | | | | |Small spring in Simpson’s Pass (same | | | | | |authority). | | | | | | | | | | | |Ford of Reese’s River. | | | W | G | | | | | | | |Reese’s River. | 25 | | W | G | | | | | | | |Leave Reese’s River. | | | W | G | | | | | | | |Small spring to the left of the road, | | | | | |just before reaching the summit of the | | | | | |Pass. | | | | | | | | | | | |Lieutenant J. L. Kirby Smith’s Creek. | 26 | GW | W | G | | | | | | | |Engleman’s Creek. | | | W | | | | | | | | |Lieutenant Putnam’s Creek. | 27 | S,W | W | G | | | | | | | |Lieutenant Putnam’s South Fork. | | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Rock Creek. | | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Rock Creek. | 28 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Rock Creek Sinks. | | | | | | | | | | | |Spring-water kegs should be filled for 2| | | | | |days. Camp from this in alkaline flat. | | | W | | | | | | | | |Gibraltar Gate. | | | W | | | | | | | | |Creek joins Gibraltar Creek. | | | | | | | | | | | |Middle-Gate Spring. | 29 | S,W | W | G | | | | | | | |West Gate. | | | | | | | | | | | |Dry wells; alkaline valley; very poor | | | | | |camp; water and grass alkaline, and | | Rab.| | | |little of either. Rabbit-bush fuel. | 30 | bush| W | G | | | | | | | |Creek connecting the two lakes of | | | | | |Carson. Road can be shortened some eight| | | | | |or ten miles by striking across the head| | | | | |of Alkaline Valley after getting about | | | | | |nine miles from Camp 30, and then | | | | | |proceeding directly to the shore of | | | | | |Carson Lake. It is not necessary to go | | | | | |so far north as the connecting creek | | Dry | | | |referred to. | 31 | rush| W | R,G | | | | | | | |Leave Carson Lake. | | | W | R,G | | | | | | | |Walker’s River. | 32 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Walker’s River. | 33 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Walker’s North Bend. | 34 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Small spring, not sufficient for a large| | | | | |command; grass ¹⁄₂ mile south. | | S,W | W | G | | | | | | | |Carson River. | | | | | | | | | | | |Carson River. | 35 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |Pleasant Grove; cross Carson River and | | | | | |get into Old Emigrant Road. Mail | | | | | |station. | 36 | W | W | G | | | | | | | |China Town. Gold diggings. | | | W | | | | | | | | |Carson City. East foot of Sierra Nevada.| 37 | | W | G | | | | | | | |Genoa. East foot of Sierra Nevada. | 38 | W | W | G | +----------------------------------------+-----+-----+------+------+

(Signed), J. H. SIMPSON, Capt. Top. Engineers.

To Brevet Major F. J. Porter, Assist. Adj. Gen., Dept. Utah, Camp Floyd.

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE MORMON TEMPLE.

[Extracted from the Deserét News.]

The following is a brief detail of the temple, taken from drawings in my office in Great Salt Lake City.

The Temple Block is 40 rods square, the lines running north and south, east and west, and contains 10 acres. The centre of the temple is 156 feet 6 inches due west from the centre of the east line of the block. The length of said house east and west is 186¹⁄₂ feet, including towers, and the width 99 feet. On the east end there are three towers, as also on the west. Draw a line north and south 118¹⁄₂ feet through the centre of the tower, and you have the north and south extent of ground-plan, including pedestal.

We depress into the earth at the east end to the depth of 16 feet, and enlarge all around beyond the lines of wall 3 feet for a footing. The north and south walls are 8 feet thick clear of pedestal; they stand upon a footing of 16 feet wall on its bearing, which slopes 3 feet on each side to the height of 7¹⁄₂ feet. The footing of the towers rise to the same height as the side, and is one solid piece of masonry of rough ashlars, laid in good lime mortar.

The basement of the main building is divided into many rooms by walls, all having footings. The line of the basement floor is 6 inches above the top of the footing. From the towers on the east to the towers on the west, the face of the earth slopes 6 feet; 4 inches above the earth on the east line begins a promenade walk from 11 to 22 feet wide around the entire building, and approached by stone steps as the earth slopes and requires them. There are four towers on the four corners of the building, each starting from their footing of 26 feet square; these continue 16¹⁄₂ feet high, and come to the line of the base string course, which is 8 feet above the promenade walk. At this point the towers are reduced to 25 feet square; they then continue to the height of 38 feet, or the height of the second string course. At this point they are reduced to 23 feet square; they then continue 38 feet high to the third string course. The string courses continue all around the building, except when separated by buttresses. These string courses are massive mouldings from solid blocks of stone.

The two east towers then rise 25 feet to a string course or cornice. The two west towers rise 19 feet, and come to their string course or cornice. The four towers then rise 9 feet to the top of battlements. These towers are cylindrical, having 17 feet diameter inside, within which stairs ascend around a solid column 4 feet in diameter, allowing landings at the various sections of the building. These towers have each five ornamental windows on two sides above the basement. The two centre towers occupy the centre of the east and west ends of the building, starting from their footings 31 feet square, and break off in sections in line with corner towers, to the height of the third string course. The east centre tower then rises 40 feet to the top of battlements; the west centre tower rises 34 feet to the top of battlements. All these towers have spires; the east centre tower rises 200 feet, while the west centre tower rises 190 feet. All these towers at their corners have octagon turrets, terminated by octagon pinnacles 5 feet diameter at base, 4 feet at first story, and three feet from there up. There are also on each side of these towers two buttresses, except where they come in contact with the body of the main building. The top of these buttresses show forty-eight in number, and stand upon pedestals. The space between the buttresses and turrets is 2 feet at the first story. On the front of the two centre towers are two large windows, each 32 feet high, one above the other, neatly prepared for that place.

On the two west corner towers, and on the west end a few feet below the top of battlements, may be seen in alto-relievo and bold relief the great dipper, or Ursa Major, with the pointers ranging nearly toward the north star. (Moral: the lost may find themselves by the priesthood.)

I will now glance at the main body of the house. I have before stated that the basement was divided into many rooms. The central one is arranged for a baptismal font, and is 59 feet long by 35 feet wide, separated from the main wall by four rooms, two on each side, 19 feet long by 12 feet wide. On the east and west sides of these rooms are four passages 12 feet wide; these lead to and from by outside doors, two on the north and two on the south. Farther east and west from these passages are four more rooms, two at each end, 28 feet wide by 38¹⁄₂ long. These two thin walls occupy the basement. All the walls start off their footings, and rise 16¹⁄₂ feet, and there stop with groin ceiling.

We are now up to the line of the base string course, 8 feet above the promenade or steps rising to the temple, which terminates at the cope of the pedestal, and to the first floor of said house. This room is joined to the outer courts, these courts being the width between towers 16 feet by 9 in the clear. We ascend to the floors of these courts (they being on a line with the first floor of the main house) by four flights of stone steps 9¹⁄₂ feet wide, arranged in the basement work, the first step ranging to the outer line of towers. From these courts doors admit to any part of the building.

The size of the first large room is 120 feet long by 80 feet wide; the height reaches nearly to the second string course. The room is arched over in the centre with an elliptical arch, which drops at its flank 10 feet, and has 38 feet span. The side ceilings have one fourth elliptical arches, which start from the side walls of the main building 16 feet high, and terminate at the capitals of the columns, or foot of centre arch, at the height of 24 feet. The columns obtain their bearings direct from the footings of the said house; these columns extend up to support the floor above. The outside walls of this story are 7 feet thick. The space, from the termination of the foot of the centre arch to the outer wall, is divided into sixteen compartments, eight in each side, making rooms 14 feet by 14, clear of partitions, and 10 feet high, leaving a passage of 6 feet wide next to each flank of the centre arch, which is approached from the ends. These rooms are each lighted by an elliptical or oval window, whose major axis is vertical.

The second large room is one foot wider than the room below; this is in consequence of the wall being but 6 feet thick, falling off 6 inches on the inner and 6 on the outer side. The second string course provides for this on the outer side. The rooms of this story are similar to those below. The side walls have nine buttresses on a side, and have eight tiers of windows, five in each tier.

The foot of the basement windows are 8 inches above the promenade, rise 3 feet perpendicular, and terminate in a semicircular head. The first-story windows have 12 feet long of sash to the top of the semicircular head. The oval windows have 6¹⁄₂ feet length of sash. The windows of the second story are the same as those below. All these frames have 4¹⁄₂ feet width of sash. The pedestals under all the buttresses project at their base 2 feet; above their base, which is 15 inches by 4¹⁄₂ feet wide, on each front is a figure of a globe 3 feet 11 inches across, whose axis corresponds with the axis of the earth.

The base string course forms a cope for those pedestals. Above this cope the buttresses are 3¹⁄₂ feet, and continue to the height of 100 feet. Above the promenade, close under the second string course on each of the buttresses, is the moon, represented in its different phases. Close under the third string course or cornice is the face of the sun. Immediately above is Saturn with his rings. The buttresses terminate with a projected cope.

The only difference between the tower buttresses and the one just described is, instead of Saturn being on them, we have clouds and rays of light descending.

All of these symbols are to be chiseled in bas-relief on solid stone. The side walls continue above the string course or cornice 8¹⁄₂ feet, making the walls 96 feet high, and are formed in battlements interspersed with stars.

This roof is quite flat, rising only 8 feet, and is to be covered with galvanized iron or some other metal. The building is to be otherwise ornamented in many places. The whole structure is designed to symbolize some of the great architectural work above. The basement windows recede in from the face of the outer wall to the sash frame 23 inches, and are relieved by a large cavetto, while on the inside they are approached by stone steps.

Those windows above the base recede from the face of the wall to the sash frame 3 feet, and are surrounded by stone jambs formed in mouldings, and surmounted by labels over each, which terminate at their horizon, excepting the oval windows, whose labels terminate as columns, which extend from an enriched string course at the foot of each window to the centre of the major axis. My chief object in the last paragraph is to show to the judgment of any who may be baffled how those windows can be come at, etc., etc. All the windows in the towers are moulded, and have stone jambs, each being crowned with label mouldings. The whole house covers an area of 21,850 feet.

For farther particulars, wait till the house is done, then come and see it.

(Signed), TRUMAN O. ANGELL, Architect.

III. THE MARTYRDOM OF JOSEPH SMITH.

BY APOSTLE JOHN TAYLOR.

Being requested by George A. Smith and Willford Woodruff, Church historians, to write an account of events that transpired before and took place at the time of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, in Carthage jail, in Hancock County, State of Illinois, I write the following principally from memory, not having access to any public documents relative thereto farther than a few desultory items contained in Ford’s “History of Illinois.” I must also acknowledge myself considerably indebted to George A. Smith, who was with me when I wrote it, and who, although not there at the time of the bloody transaction, yet from conversing with several persons who were in the capacity of Church historians, and aided by an excellent memory, has rendered me a considerable service. These and the few items contained in the notes at the end of this account is all the aid I have had. I would farther add that the items contained in the letter, in relation to dates especially, may be considered strictly correct.

After having written the whole, I read it over to the Hon. J. M. Bernhisel, who, with one or two slight alterations, pronounced it strictly correct. Brother Bernhisel was present most of the time. I am afraid that, from the length of time that has transpired since the occurrence, and having to rely almost exclusively on my memory, there may be some slight inaccuracies, but I believe that in the general it is strictly correct; as I figured in those transactions from the commencement to the end, they left no slight impression on my mind.

In the year 1844, a very great excitement prevailed in some parts of the counties of Hancock, Brown, and other neighboring counties, in relation to the “Mormons,” and a spirit of vindictive hatred and persecution was exhibited among the people, which was manifested in the most bitter and acrimonious language, as well as by acts of hostility and violence, frequently threatening the destruction of the citizens of Nauvoo and vicinity, and utter annihilation of the “Mormons” and “Mormonism,” and in some instances breaking out in the most violent acts of ruffianly barbarity; persons were kidnapped, whipped, prosecuted, and falsely accused of various crimes; their cattle and houses injured, destroyed, or stolen; vexatious prosecutions were instituted to vex, harass, and annoy. In some remote neighborhoods they were expelled from their homes without redress, and in others violence was threatened to their persons and property, while in others every kind of insult and indignity was heaped upon them, to induce them to abandon their homes, the county, or the state.

These annoyances, prosecutions, and persecutions were instigated through different agencies and by various classes of men, actuated by different motives, but all uniting in the one object, prosecution, persecution, and extermination of the Saints.

There were a number of wicked and corrupt men living in Nauvoo and its vicinity who had belonged to the Church, but whose conduct was incompatible with the Gospel; they were accordingly dealt with by the Church and severed from its communion; some of these had been prominent members, and held official stations either in the city or Church. Among these was John C. Bennett, formerly Mayor; William Law, Councilor to Joseph Smith; Wilson Law, his natural brother, and general in the Nauvoo Legion; Dr. R. D. Foster, a man of some property, but with a very bad reputation; Francis and Chauncey Higbee, the latter a young lawyer, and both sons of a respectable and honored man in the Church, known as Judge Elias Higbee, who died about twelve months before.

Besides these, there were a great many apostates, both in the city and country, of less notoriety, who, for their delinquencies, had been expelled from the Church. John C. Bennett and Francis and Chauncey Higbee were cut off from the Church; the former was also cashiered from his generalship for the most flagrant acts of seduction and adultery; and such was the scandalous nature of the developments in their cases, that the high council before whom they were tried had to sit with closed doors.

William Law, although councilor to Joseph, was found to be his most bitter foe and maligner, and to hold intercourse, contrary to all law, in his own house, with a young lady resident with him, and it was afterward proved that he had conspired with some Missourians to take Joseph Smith’s life, and was only saved by Josiah Arnold, who, being on guard at his house, prevented the assassins from seeing him. Yet, although having murder in his heart, his manners were generally courteous and mild, and he was well calculated to deceive.

General Wilson Law was cut off from the Church for seduction, falsehood, and defamation; both the above were also court-martialed by the Nauvoo Legion and expelled. Foster was also cut off, I believe, for dishonesty, fraud, and falsehood. I know he was eminently guilty of the whole, but whether these were the specific charges or not, I don’t know, but I do know that he was a notoriously wicked and corrupt man.

Besides the above characters and “Mormonic” apostates, there were other three parties. The first of these may be called religionists, the second politicians, and the third counterfeiters, blacklegs, horse-thieves, and cut-throats.

The religious party were chagrined and maddened because “Mormonism” came in contact with their religion, and they could not oppose it from the Scriptures; and thus, like the ancient Jews, when enraged at the exhibition of their follies and hypocrisies by Jesus and his apostles, so these were infuriated against the Mormons because of their discomfiture by them; and instead of owning the truth and rejoicing in it, they were ready to gnash upon them with their teeth, and to persecute the believers in principles which they could not disprove.

The political party were those who were of opposite politics to us. There were always two parties, the Whigs and Democrats, and we could not vote for one without offending the other; and it not unfrequently happened that candidates for office would place the issue of their election upon opposition to the “Mormons,” in order to gain political influence from religious prejudice, in which case the “Mormons” were compelled, in self-defense, to vote against them, which resulted almost invariably against our opponents. This made them angry; and, although it was of their own making, and the “Mormons” could not be expected to do otherwise, yet they raged on account of their discomfiture, and sought to wreak their fury on the “Mormons.” As an instance of the above, when Joseph Duncan was candidate for the office of Governor of Illinois, he pledged himself to his party that, if he could be elected, he would exterminate or drive the “Mormons” from the state.[234] The consequence was that Governor Ford was elected. The Whigs, seeing that they had been outgeneraled by the Democrats in securing the “Mormon” vote, became seriously alarmed, and sought to repair their disaster by raising a kind of crusade against that people. The Whig newspapers teemed with accounts of the wonders and enormities of Nauvoo, and of the awful wickedness of a party which could consent to receive the support of such miscreants. Governor Duncan, who was really a brave, honest man, and who had nothing to do with getting the “Mormon” charters passed through the Legislature, took the stump on this subject in good earnest, and expected to be elected governor almost on this question alone. The third party, composed of counterfeiters, blacklegs, horse-thieves, and cut-throats, were a pack of scoundrels that infested the whole of the Western country at that time. In some districts their influence was so great as to control important state and county offices. On this subject Governor Ford says the following:

[234] See his remarks as contained in his History of Illinois, p. 269.

“Then, again, the northern part of the state was not destitute of its organized bands of rogues, engaged in murders, robberies, horse-stealing, and in making and passing counterfeit money. These rogues were scattered all over the north, but the most of them were located in the counties of Ogle, Winnebago, Lee, and De Kalb.

“In the county of Ogle they were so numerous, strong, and well organized that they could not be convicted for their crimes. By getting some of their numbers on the juries, by producing a host of witnesses to sustain their defense by perjured evidence, and by changing the venue of one county to another, by continuances from term to term, and by the inability of witnesses to attend from time to time at distant and foreign counties, they most generally managed to be acquitted.”[235]

[235] Ford’s History of Illinois, p. 246.

There was a combination of horse-thieves extending from Galena to Alton. There were counterfeiters engaged in merchandising, trading, and store-keeping in most of the cities and villages, and in some districts, I have been credibly informed by men to whom they have disclosed their secrets, the judges, sheriffs, constables, and jailers, as well as professional men, were more or less associated with them. These had in their employ the most reckless, abandoned wretches, who stood ready to carry into effect the most desperate enterprises, and were careless alike of human life and property. Their object in persecuting the “Mormons” was in part to cover their own rascality, and in part to prevent them from exposing and prosecuting them; but the principal reason was plunder, believing that if they could be removed or driven they would be made fat on Mormon spoils, besides having in the deserted city a good asylum for the prosecution of their diabolical pursuits.

This conglomeration of apostate Mormons, religious bigots, political fanatics, and combination of blacklegs, all united their forces against the “Mormons,” and organized themselves into a party, denominated “anti-Mormons.” Some of them, we have reason to believe, joined the Church in order to cover their nefarious practices, and when they were expelled for their unrighteousness only raged with greater violence. They circulated every kind of falsehood that they could collect or manufacture against the Mormons. They also had a paper to assist them in their propagations called the “Warsaw Signal,” edited by a Mr. Thomas Sharp, a violent and unprincipled man, who shrunk not from any enormity. The anti-Mormons had public meetings, which were very numerously attended, where they passed resolutions of the most violent and inflammatory kind, threatening to drive, expel, and exterminate the “Mormons” from the state, at the same time accusing them of all the vocabulary of crime.

They appointed their meetings in various parts of Hancock, M‘Donough, and other counties, which soon resulted in the organization of armed mobs, under the direction of officers who reported to their head-quarters, and the reports of which were published in the anti-Mormon paper, and circulated through the adjoining counties. We also published in the “Times and Seasons” and the “Nauvoo Neighbor” (two papers published and edited by me at that time) an account, not only of their proceedings, but our own. But such was the hostile feeling, so well arranged their plans, and so desperate and lawless their measures, that it was with the greatest difficulty that we could get our papers circulated; they were destroyed by postmasters and others, and scarcely ever arrived at the place of their destination, so that a great many of the people, who would have been otherwise peaceable, were excited by their misrepresentations, and instigated to join their hostile or predatory bands.

Emboldened by the acts of those outside, the apostate “Mormons,” associated with others, commenced the publication of a libelous paper in Nauvoo, called the “Nauvoo Expositor.” This paper not only reprinted from the others, but put in circulation the most libelous, false, and infamous reports concerning the citizens of Nauvoo, and especially the ladies. It was, however, no sooner put in circulation than the indignation of the whole community was aroused; so much so, that they threatened its annihilation; and I do not believe that in any other city in the United States, if the same charge had been made against the citizens, it would have been permitted to remain one day. As it was among us, under these circumstances, it was thought best to convene the City Council to take into consideration the adoption of some measures for its removal, as it was deemed better that this should be done legally than illegally. Joseph Smith, therefore, who was then mayor, convened the City Council for that purpose; the paper was introduced and read, and the subject examined. All, or nearly all present, expressed their indignation at the course taken by the “Expositor,” which was owned by some of the aforesaid apostates, associated with one or two others: Wilson Law, Dr. Foster, Charles Ivins, and the Higbees before referred to, some lawyers, store-keepers, and others in Nauvoo who were not “Mormons,” together with the “anti-Mormons” outside of the city, sustained it. The calculation was, by false statements, to unsettle the minds of many in the city, and to form combinations there similar to the anti-Mormon associations outside of the city. Various attempts had therefore been made by the party to annoy and irritate the citizens of Nauvoo; false accusations had been made, vexatious lawsuits instituted, threats made, and various devices resorted to to influence the public mind, and, if possible, to induce us to the commission of some overt act that might make us amenable to the law. With a perfect knowledge, therefore, of the designs of these infernal scoundrels who were in our midst, as well as of those who surrounded us, the City Council entered upon an investigation of the matter. They felt that they were in a critical position, and that any move made for the abating of that press would be looked upon, or at least represented, as a direct attack upon the liberty of speech, and that, so far from displeasing our enemies, it would be looked upon by them as one of the best circumstances that could transpire to assist them in their nefarious and bloody designs. Being a member of the City Council, I well remember the feeling of responsibility that seemed to rest upon all present; nor shall I soon forget the bold, manly, independent expressions of Joseph Smith on that occasion in relation to this matter. He exhibited in glowing colors the meanness, corruption, and ultimate designs of the “anti-Mormons;” their despicable characters and ungodly influences, especially of those who were in our midst; he told of the responsibility that rested upon us, as guardians of the public interest, to stand up in the defense of the injured and oppressed, to stem the current of corruption, and, as men and saints, to put a stop to this flagrant outrage upon this people’s rights. He stated that no man was a stronger advocate for the liberty of speech and of the press than himself; yet, when this noble gift is utterly prostituted and abused, as in the present instance, it loses all claim to our respect, and becomes as great an agent for evil as it can possibly be for good; and notwithstanding the apparent advantage we should give our enemies by this act, yet it behooved us, as men, to act independent of all secondary influences, to perform the part of men of enlarged minds, and boldly and fearlessly to discharge the duties devolving upon us by declaring as a nuisance, and removing this filthy, libelous, and seditious sheet from our midst.

The subject was discussed in various forms, and after the remarks made by the mayor, every one seemed to be waiting for some one else to speak. After a considerable pause, I arose and expressed my feelings frankly, as Joseph had done, and numbers of others followed in the same strain; and I think, but am not certain, that I made a motion for the removal of that press as a nuisance. This motion was finally put, and carried by all but one; and he conceded that the measure was just, but abstained through fear.

Several members of the City Council were not in the Church. The following is the bill referred to:

Bill for Removing of the Press of the “Nauvoo Expositor.”[236]

“Resolved by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, that the printing-office from whence issues the ‘Nauvoo Expositor’ is a public nuisance; and also all of said ‘Nauvoo Expositors’ which may be or exist in said establishment; and the mayor is instructed to cause said establishment and papers to be removed without delay, in such manner as he shall direct.

“Passed June 10th, 1844.

GEO. W. HARRIS, President pro tem. “W. RICHARDS, Recorder.”

[236] Des. News, No. 29, Sept. 23, 1857, p. 226.

After the passage of the bill, the marshal, John P. Green, was ordered to abate or remove, which he forthwith proceeded to do by summoning a posse of men for that purpose. The press was removed or broken, I don’t remember which, by the marshal, and the types scattered in the street.

This seemed to be one of those extreme cases that require extreme measures, as the press was still proceeding in its inflammatory course. It was feared that, as it was almost universally execrated, should it continue longer, an indignant people might commit some overt act which might lead to serious consequences, and that it was better to use legal than illegal means.

This, as was foreseen, was the very course our enemies wished us to pursue, as it afforded them an opportunity of circulating a very plausible story about the “Mormons” being opposed to the liberty of the press and of free speech, which they were not slow to avail themselves of. Stories were fabricated, and facts perverted; false statements were made, and this act brought in as an example to sustain the whole of their fabrications; and, as if inspired by Satan, they labored with an energy and zeal worthy of a better cause. They had runners to circulate their reports, not only through Hancock Co., but in all the surrounding counties; these reports were communicated to their “anti-Mormon” societies, and these societies circulated them in their several districts. The “anti-Mormon” paper, the “Warsaw Signal,” was filled with inflammatory articles and misrepresentations in relation to us, and especially to this act of destroying the press. We were represented as a horde of lawless ruffians and brigands, anti-American and anti-republican, steeped in crime and iniquity, opposed to freedom of speech and of the press, and all the rights and immunities of a free and enlightened people; that neither persons nor property were secure; that we had designs upon the citizens of Illinois and of the United States, and the people were called upon to rise en masse, and put us down, drive us away, or exterminate us as a pest to society, and alike dangerous to our neighbors, the state, and commonwealth.

These statements were extensively copied and circulated throughout the United States. A true statement of the facts in question was published by us both in the “Times and Seasons” and the “Nauvoo Neighbor,” but it was found impossible to circulate them in the immediate counties, as they were destroyed at the post-offices or otherwise by the agents of the anti-Mormons, and, in order to get the mail to go abroad, I had to send the papers a distance of thirty or forty miles from Nauvoo, and sometimes to St. Louis (upward of two hundred miles), to insure its proceeding on its route, and then one half or two thirds of the papers never reached the place of destination, being intercepted or destroyed by our enemies.

These false reports stirred up the community around, of whom many, on account of religious prejudice, were easily instigated to join the “anti-Mormons,” and embark in any crusade that might be undertaken against the “Mormons;” hence their ranks swelled in numbers, and new organizations were formed, meetings were held, resolutions passed, and men and means volunteered for the extirpation of the “Mormons.”

These also were the active men in blowing up the fury of the people, in hopes that a popular movement might be set on foot, which would result in the expulsion or extermination of the “Mormon” voters. For this purpose public meetings had been called, inflammatory speeches had been made, exaggerated reports had been extensively circulated, committees had been appointed, who rode night and day to spread the reports and solicit the aid of neighboring counties, and at a public meeting at Warsaw resolutions were passed to expel or exterminate the “Mormon” population. This was not, however, a movement which was unanimously concurred in. The county contained a goodly number of inhabitants in favor of peace, or who at least desired to be neutral in such a contest. These were stigmatized by the name of “Jack Mormons,” and there were not a few of the more furious exciters of the people who openly expressed their intention to involve them in the common expulsion or extermination.

A system of excitement and agitation was artfully planned and executed with tact. It consisted in spreading reports and rumors of the most fearful character. As examples: On the morning before my arrival at Carthage I was awakened at an early hour by the frightful report, which was asserted with confidence and apparent consternation, that the “Mormons” had already commenced the work of burning, destruction, and murder, and that every man capable of bearing arms was instantly wanted at Carthage for the protection of the county.

We lost no time in starting; but when we arrived at Carthage we could hear no more concerning this story. Again, during the few days that the militia were encamped at Carthage, frequent applications were made to me to send a force here, and a force there, and a force all about the country, to prevent murders, robberies, and larcenies which, it was said, were threatened by the “Mormons.” No such forces were sent, nor were any such offenses committed at that time, except the stealing of some provisions, and there was never the least proof that this was done by a “Mormon.” Again, on my late visit to Hancock County, I was informed by some of their violent enemies that the larcenies of the “Mormons” had become unusually numerous and insufferable. They admitted that but little had been done in this way in their immediate vicinity, but they insisted that sixteen horses had been stolen by the “Mormons” in one night near Lima, and, upon inquiry, was told that no horses had been stolen in that neighborhood, but that sixteen horses had been stolen in one night in Hancock County. This last informant being told of the Hancock story, again changed the venue to another distant settlement in the northern edge of Adams.[237]

[237] Ford’s History of Illinois, p. 330, 331.

In the mean time legal proceedings were instituted against the members of the City Council of Nauvoo. A writ, here subjoined, was issued upon the affidavit of the Laws, Foster, Higbees, and Ivins, by Mr. Morrison, a justice of the peace in Carthage, the county seat of Hancock, and put into the hands of one David Bettesworth, a constable of the same place.

Writ issued upon affidavit by Thomas Morrison, J. P., State of Illinois, Hancock County, ss.

“The people of the State of Illinois, to all constables, sheriffs, and coroners of said state, greeting:

“Whereas complaint hath been made before me, one of the justices of the peace in and for the County of Hancock aforesaid, upon the oath of Francis M. Higbee, of said county, that Joseph Smith, Samuel Bennett, John Taylor, William W. Phelps, Hyrum Smith, John P. Green, Stephen Perry, Dimick B. Huntington, Jonathan Dunham, Stephen Markham, William Edwards, Jonathan Holmes, Jesse P. Harmon, John Lytle, Joseph W. Coolidge, Harvey D. Redfield, Porter Rockwell, and Levi Richards, of said county, did, on the 10th day of June instant, commit a riot at and within the county aforesaid, wherein they with force and violence broke into the printing-office of the ‘Nauvoo Expositor,’ and unlawfully and with force burned and destroyed the printing-press, type, and fixtures of the same, being the property of William Law, Wilson Law, Charles Ivins, Francis M. Higbee, Chauncey L. Higbee, Robert D. Foster, and Charles A. Foster.

“These are therefore to command you forthwith to apprehend the said Joseph Smith, Samuel Bennett, John Taylor, William W. Phelps, Hyrum Smith, John P. Green, Stephen Perry, Dimick B. Huntington, Jonathan Dunham, Stephen Markham, William Edwards, Jonathan Holmes, Jesse P. Harmon, John Lytle, Joseph W. Coolidge, Harvey D. Redfield, Porter Rockwell, and Levi Richards, and bring them before me, or some other justice of the peace, to answer the premises, and farther to be dealt with according to law.

“Given under my hand and seal at Carthage, in the county aforesaid, this 11th day of June, A.D. 1844.

THOMAS MORRISON, J. P.” (Seal.)[238]

[238] Des. News, No. 30, Sept. 30, 1857, p. 233.

The council refused not to attend to the legal proceedings in the case, but, as the law of Illinois made it the privilege of the persons accused to go “or appear before the issuer of the writ, or any other justice of peace,” they requested to be taken before another magistrate, either in the city of Nauvoo or at any reasonable distance out of it.

This the constable, who was a mobocrat, refused to do; and as this was our legal privilege, we refused to be dragged, contrary to law, a distance of eighteen miles, when at the same time we had reason to believe that an organized band of mobocrats were assembled for the purpose of extermination or murder, and among whom it would not be safe to go without a superior force of armed men. A writ of habeas corpus was called for, and issued by the municipal court of Nauvoo, taking us out of the hands of Bettesworth, and placing us in the charge of the city marshal. We went before the municipal court, and were dismissed. Our refusal to obey this illegal proceeding was by them construed into a refusal to submit to law, and circulated as such, and the people either did believe, or professed to believe, that we were in open rebellion against the laws and the authorities of the state. Hence mobs began to assemble, among which all through the country inflammatory speeches were made, exciting them to mobocracy and violence. Soon they commenced their prosecutions of our outside settlements, kidnapping some, and whipping and otherwise abusing others.

The persons thus abused fled to Nauvoo as soon as practicable, and related their injuries to Joseph Smith, then mayor of the city, and lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion; they also went before magistrates, and made affidavits of what they had suffered, seen, and heard. These affidavits, in connection with a copy of all our proceedings, were forwarded by Joseph Smith to Mr. Ford, then Governor of Illinois, with an expression of our desire to abide law, and a request that the governor would instruct him how to proceed in the case of the arrival of an armed mob against the city. The governor sent back instructions to Joseph Smith that, as he was lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion, it was his duty to protect the city and surrounding country, and issued orders to that effect. Upon the reception of these orders Joseph Smith assembled the people of the city, and laid before them the governor’s instructions; he also convened the officers of the Nauvoo Legion for the purpose of conferring in relation to the best mode of defense. He also issued orders to the men to hold themselves in readiness in case of being called upon. On the following day General Joseph Smith, with his staff, the leading officers of the Legion, and some prominent strangers who were in our midst, made a survey of the outside boundaries of the city, which was very extensive, being about five miles up and down the river, and about two and a half back in the centre, for the purpose of ascertaining the position of the ground, and the feasibility of defense, and to make all necessary arrangements in case of an attack.

It may be well here to remark that numbers of gentlemen, who were to us strangers, either came on purpose or were passing through Nauvoo, who, upon learning the position of things, expressed their indignation against our enemies, and avowed their readiness to assist us by their council or otherwise; it was some of these who assisted us in reconnoitering the city, and finding out its adaptability for defense, and the best mode of protection against an armed force. The Legion was called together and drilled, and every means made use of for defense; at the call of the officers both old and young men came forward, both denizens from the city and from the outside regions, and I believe at one time they mustered to the number of about five thousand.

In the mean time our enemies were not idle in mustering their forces and committing depredations, nor had they been; it was, in fact, their gathering that called ours into existence; their forces continued to accumulate; they assumed a threatening attitude, and assembled in large bodies, armed and equipped for war, and threatened the destruction and extermination of the “Mormons.” An account of their outrages and assemblages was forwarded to Governor Ford almost daily, accompanied by affidavits furnished by eyewitnesses of their proceedings. Persons were also sent out to the counties around with pacific intentions, to give them an account of the true state of affairs, and to notify them of the feelings and dispositions of the people of Nauvoo, and thus, if possible, quell the excitement. In some of the more distant counties these men were very successful, and produced a salutary influence upon the minds of many intelligent and well-disposed men. In neighboring counties, however, where “anti-Mormon” influence prevailed, they produced little effect. At the same time, guards were stationed around Nauvoo, and picket-guards in the distance. At length opposing forces gathered so near that more active measures were taken; reconnoitering parties were sent out, and the city proclaimed under martial law. Things now assumed a belligerent attitude, and persons passing through the city were questioned as to what they knew of the enemy, while passes were in some instances given to avoid difficulty with the guards. Joseph Smith continued to send on messengers to the governor (Philip B. Lewis and other messengers were sent). Samuel James, then residing at La Harpe, carried a message and dispatches to him, and in a day or two after Bishop Edward Hunter and others went again with fresh dispatches, representations, affidavits, and instructions; but as the weather was excessively wet, the rivers swollen, and the bridges washed away in many places, it was with great difficulty that they proceeded on their journeys. As the mobocracy had at last attracted the governor’s attention, he started in company with some others from Springfield to the scene of trouble, and missed, I believe, both Brothers James and Hunter on the road, and of course did not see their documents. He came to Carthage, and made that place, which was a regular mobocratic den, his head-quarters; as it was the county-seat, however, of Hancock County, that circumstance might, in a measure, justify his staying there.

To avoid the appearance of all hostility on our part, and to fulfill the law in every particular, at the suggestion of Judge Thomas, judge of that judicial district, who had come to Nauvoo at the time, and who stated that we had fulfilled the law, but, in order to satisfy all, he would counsel us to go before Esquire Wells,[239] who was not in our Church, and have a hearing. We did so, and after a full hearing we were again dismissed.

[239] Now a member of the First Presidency.--Ed.

The governor on the road collected forces, some of whom were respectable; but on his arrival in the neighborhood of the difficulties he received as militia all the companies of the mob forces who united with him. After his arrival at Carthage he sent two gentlemen from there to Nauvoo as a committee to wait upon General Joseph Smith, informing him of the arrival of his excellency, with a request that General Smith would send out a committee to wait upon the governor and represent to him the state of affairs in relation to the difficulties that then existed in the county. We met this committee while we were reconnoitering the city, to find out the best mode of defense as aforesaid. Dr. J. M. Bernhisel and myself were appointed as a committee by General Smith to wait upon the governor. Previous to going, however, we were furnished with affidavits and documents in relation both to our proceedings and those of the mob; in addition to the general history of the transaction, we took with us a duplicate of those documents which had been forwarded by Bishop Hunter, Brother James, and others. We started from Carthage in company with the aforesaid gentleman at about 7 o’clock on the evening of the 21st of June, and arrived at Carthage at about 11 P.M. We put up at the same hotel with the governor, kept by a Mr. Hamilton; on our arrival we found the governor in bed, but not so with the other inhabitants. The town was filled with a perfect set of rabble and rowdies, who, under the influence of Bacchus, seemed to be holding a grand saturnalia, whooping, yelling, and vociferating as if Bedlam had broken loose.

On our arrival at the hotel, and while supper was preparing, a man came to me, dressed as a soldier, and told me that a man named David Carn had just been taken prisoner, and was about to be committed to jail, and wanted me to go bail for him. Believing this to be a ruse to get me out alone, and that some violence was intended, after consulting with Dr. Bernhisel, I told the men that I was well acquainted with Mr. Carn, that I knew him to be a gentleman, and did not believe that he had transgressed law, and, moreover, that I considered it a very singular time to be holding courts and calling for security, particularly as the town was full of rowdyism.

I informed him that both Dr. Bernhisel and myself would, if necessary, go bail for him in the morning, but that we did not feel ourselves safe among such a set at that late hour of the night.

After supper, on retiring to our room, we had to pass through another, which was separated from ours only by a board partition, the beds in each room being placed side by side, with the exception of this fragile partition. On the bed that was in the room which we passed through I discovered a man by the name of Jackson, a desperate character, and a reputed, notorious cut-throat and murderer. I hinted to the doctor that things looked rather suspicious, and looked to see that my arms were in order. The doctor and I both occupied one bed. We had scarcely laid down when a knock at the door, accompanied by a voice, announced the approach of Chauncey Higbee, the young lawyer and apostate before referred to.

He addressed himself to the doctor, and stated that the object of his visit was to obtain the release of Daniel Carn; that Carn he believed to be an honest man; that if he had done any thing wrong, it was through improper counsel, and that it was a pity that he should be incarcerated, particularly when he could be so easily released; he urged the doctor, as a friend, not to leave so good a man in such an unpleasant situation; he finally prevailed upon the doctor to go and give bail, assuring him that on his giving bail Carn would be immediately dismissed.

During this conversation I did not say a word. Higbee left the doctor to dress, with the intention of returning and taking him to the court. As soon as Higbee had left, I told the doctor that he had better not go; that I believed this affair was all a ruse to get us separated; that they knew we had documents with us from General Smith to show to the governor; that I believed their object was to get possession of those papers, and, perhaps, when they had separated us, to murder one or both. The doctor, who was actuated by the best of motives in yielding to the assumed solicitude of Higbee, coincided with my views; he then went to Higbee, and told him that he had concluded not to go that night, but that he and I would both wait upon the justice and Mr. Carn in the morning.

That night I lay awake with my pistols under my pillow, waiting for any emergency. Nothing more occurred during the night. In the morning we arose early, and after breakfast sought an interview with the governor, and were told that we could have an audience, I think, at 10 o’clock. In the mean time we called upon Mr. Smith, a Justice of the Peace, who had Mr. Carn in charge. We represented that we had been called upon the night before by two different parties to go bail for a Mr. Daniel Carn, whom we were informed he had in custody, and that, believing Mr. Carn to be an honest man, we had come now for that purpose, and were prepared to enter into recognizances for his appearance, whereupon Mr. Smith, the magistrate, remarked “that, under the present excited state of affairs, he did not think he would be justified in receiving bail from Nauvoo, as it was a matter of doubt whether property would not be rendered valueless there in a few days.”

Knowing the party we had to deal with, we were not much surprised at this singular proceeding; we then remarked that both of us possessed property in farms out of Nauvoo in the country, and referred him to the county records. He then stated that such was the nature of the charge against Mr. Carn that he believed he would not be justified in receiving any bail. We were thus confirmed in our opinion that the night’s proceedings before, in relation to their desire to have us give bail, was a mere ruse to separate us. We were not permitted to speak with Carn, the real charge against whom was that he was traveling in Carthage or its neighborhood; what the fictitious one was, if I then knew, I have since forgotten, as things of this kind were of daily occurrence.

After waiting the governor’s pleasure for some time we had an audience; but such an audience! He was surrounded by some of the vilest and most unprincipled men in creation; some of them had an appearance of respectability, and many of them lacked even that. Wilson, and, I believe, William Law, were there, Foster, Frank and Chauncey Higbee, Mr. Mar, a lawyer from Nauvoo, a mobocratic merchant from Warsaw, the aforesaid Jackson, a number of his associates, among whom was the governor’s secretary, in all some fifteen or twenty persons, most of whom were recreant to virtue, honor, integrity, and every thing that is considered honorable among men. I can well remember the feelings of disgust that I had in seeing the governor surrounded by such an infamous group, and on being introduced to men of so questionable a character; and had I been on private business, I should have turned to depart, and told the governor that if he thought proper to associate with such questionable characters, I should beg leave to be excused; but coming as we did on public business, we could not, of course, consult our private feelings.

We then stated to the governor that, in accordance with his request, General Smith had, in response to his call, sent us to him as a committee of conference; that we were acquainted with most of the circumstances that had transpired in and about Nauvoo lately, and were prepared to give him all information; that, moreover, we had in our possession testimony and affidavits confirmatory of what we should say, which had been forwarded to him by General Joseph Smith; that communications had been forwarded to his excellency by Mr. Hunter, James, and others, some of which had not reached their destination, but of which we had duplicates with us. We then, in brief, related an outline of the difficulties, and the course we had pursued from the commencement of the troubles up to the present, and handing him the documents, respectfully submitted the whole. During our conversation and explanations with the governor we were frequently rudely and impudently contradicted by the fellows he had around him, and of whom he seemed to take no notice.

He opened and read a number of the documents himself, and as he proceeded he was frequently interrupted by “that’s a lie,” “that’s a God damned lie,” “that’s an infernal falsehood,” “that’s a blasted lie,” etc.

These men evidently winced at an exposure of their acts, and thus vulgarly, impudently, and falsely repudiated them. One of their number, Mr. Mar, addressed himself several times to me while in conversation with the governor. I did not notice him until after a frequent repetition of his insolence, when I informed him “that my business at that time was with Governor Ford,” whereupon I continued my conversation with his excellency. During the conversation the governor expressed a desire that Joseph Smith, and all parties concerned in passing or executing the city law in relation to the press, had better come to Carthage; that, however repugnant it might be to our feelings, he thought it would have a tendency to allay public excitement, and prove to the people what we professed, that we wished to be governed by law. We represented to him the course he had taken in relation to this matter, and our willingness to go before another magistrate other than the Municipal Court; the illegal refusal of our request by the constable; our dismissal by the Municipal Court, a legally constituted tribunal; our subsequent trial before Squire Wells at the instance of Judge Thomas (the circuit judge), and our dismissal by him; that we had fulfilled the law in every particular; that it was our enemies who were breaking the law, and, having murderous designs, were only making use of this as a pretext to get us into their power. The governor stated that the people viewed it differently, and that, notwithstanding our opinions, he would recommend that the people should be satisfied. We then remarked to him that, should Joseph Smith comply with his request, it would be extremely unsafe, in the present excited state of the country, to come without an armed force; that we had a sufficiency of men, and were competent to defend ourselves, but that there might be danger of collision should our forces and that of our enemies be brought into such close proximity. He strenuously advised us not to bring any arms, and pledged his faith as governor, and the faith of the state, that we should be protected, and that he would guarantee our perfect safety.

We had at that time about five thousand men under arms, one thousand of which would have been amply sufficient for our protection.

At the termination of our interview, and previous to our withdrawal, after a long conversation and the perusal of the documents which we had brought, the governor informed us that he would prepare a written communication for General Joseph Smith, which he desired us to wait for. We were kept waiting for this instrument some five or six hours.

About 5 o’clock in the afternoon we took our departure with not the most pleasant feelings. The associations of the governor, the spirit that he manifested to compromise with these scoundrels, the length of time that he had kept us waiting, and his general deportment, together with the infernal spirit that we saw exhibited by those whom he had admitted to his councils, made the prospect any thing but promising.

We returned on horseback, and arrived at Nauvoo, I think, at about 8 or 9 o’clock at night, accompanied by Captain Yates in command of a company of mounted men, who came for the purpose of escorting Joseph Smith and the accused in case of their complying with the governor’s request, and going to Carthage. We went directly to Brother Joseph’s, when Captain Yates delivered to him the governor’s communication. A council was called consisting of Joseph’s brother Hyrum, Dr. Richards, Dr. Bernhisel, myself, and one or two others, when the following letter was read from the governor:

Governor Ford’s Letter to the Mayor and Common Council of Nauvoo.

“Head Quarters, Carthage, June 21st, 1844.

“To the Hon. the Mayor and Common Council of the City of Nauvoo:

“GENTLEMEN,--Having heard of the excitement in this part of the country, and judging that my presence here might be necessary to preserve the peace and enforce the laws, I arrived at this place this morning. Both before and since my arrival, complaints of a grave character have been made to me of certain proceedings of your honorable body. As chief magistrate, it is my duty to see that impartial justice shall be done, uninfluenced by the excitement here or in your city.

“I think, before any decisive measure shall be adopted, that I ought to hear the allegations and defenses of all parties. By adopting this course I have some hope that the evils of war may be averted; and, at any rate, I will be enabled by it to understand the true merits of the present difficulties, and shape my course with reference to law and justice.

“For these reasons, I have to request that you will send out to me, at this place, one or more well-informed and discreet persons, who will be capable of laying before me your version of the matter, and of receiving from me such explanations and resolutions as may be determined on.

“Colonel Elam S. Freeman will present you this note in the character of a herald from the governor. You will respect his character as such, and permit him to pass and repass free from molestation.

“Your messengers are assured of protection in person and property, and will be returned to you in safety.

“I am, gentlemen, with high considerations, most respectfully your obedient servant,

THOMAS FORD, Governor and Commander-in-Chief.”[240]

[240] Des. News, No. 33, Oct. 21, 1857, p. 257.

We then gave a detail of our interview with the governor. Brother Joseph was very much dissatisfied with the governor’s letter and with his general deportment, and so were the council, and it became a serious question as to the course we should pursue. Various projects were discussed, but nothing definitely decided upon for some time. In the interim two gentlemen arrived; one of them, if not both, sons of John C. Calhoun. They had come to Nauvoo, and were very anxious for an interview with Brother Joseph. These gentlemen detained him for some time; and as our council was held in Dr. Bernhisel’s room in the Mansion House, the doctor lay down; and as it was now between 2 and 3 o’clock in the morning, and I had had no rest on the previous night, I was fatigued, and thinking that Brother Joseph might not return, I left for home and rest.

Being very much fatigued, I slept soundly, and was somewhat surprised in the morning by Mrs. Thompson entering my room about 7 o’clock, and exclaiming in surprise, “What, you here! the brethren have crossed the river some time since.” “What brethren?” I asked. “Brother Joseph, and Hyrum, and Brother Richards.” I immediately arose upon learning that they had crossed the river, and did not intend to go to Carthage. I called together a number of persons in whom I had confidence, and had the type, stereotype plates, and most of the valuable things removed from the printing-office, believing that, should the governor and his force come to Nauvoo, the first thing they would do would be to burn the printing-office, for I knew that they would be exasperated if Brother Joseph went away. We had talked over these matters the night before, but nothing was decided upon. It was Brother Joseph’s opinion that, should we leave for a time, public excitement, which was then so intense, would be allayed; that it would throw on the governor the responsibility of keeping the peace; that, in the event of any outrage, the onus would rest upon the governor, who was amply prepared with troops, and could command all the forces of the state to preserve order; and that the acts of his own men would be an overwhelming proof of their seditious designs, not only to the governor, but to the world. He moreover thought that, in the East, where he intended to go, public opinion would be set right in relation to these matters, and its expression would partially influence the West, and that, after the first ebullition, things would assume a shape that would justify his return. I made arrangements for crossing the river, and Brother Elias Smith and Joseph Cain, who were both employed in the printing-office with me, assisted all that lay in their power, together with Brother Brower and several hands in the printing-office. As we could not find out the exact whereabouts of Joseph and the brethren, I crossed the river in a boat furnished by Brothers Cyrus H. Wheelock and Alfred Bell; and after the removal of the things of the printing-office, Joseph Cain brought the account-books to me, that we might make arrangements for their adjustment; and Brother Elias Smith, cousin to Brother Joseph, went to obtain money for the journey, and also to find out and report to me the location of the brethren. As Cyrus H. Wheelock was an active, enterprising man, and in the event of not finding Brother Joseph I calculated to go to Upper Canada for the time being, and should need a companion, I said to Brother Wheelock, “Can you go with me ten or fifteen hundred miles?” He answered “Yes.” “Can you start in half an hour?” “Yes.” However, I told him that he had better see his family, who lived over the river, and prepare a couple of horses and the necessary equipage for the journey, and that, if we did not find Brother Joseph before, we would start at nightfall. A laughable incident occurred on the eve of my departure. After making all the preparations I could previous to leaving Nauvoo, and having bid adieu to my family, I went to a house adjoining the river owned by Brother Eddy. There I disguised myself so as not to be known, and so effectually was the transformation that those who had come after me with a boat did not know me. I went down to the boat and sat in it. Brother Bell, thinking it was a stranger, watched my moves for some time very impatiently, and then said to Brother Wheelock, “I wish that old gentleman would go away; he has been pottering around the boat for some time, and I am afraid Elder Taylor will be coming.” When he discovered his mistake, he was not a little amused. I was conducted by Brother Bell to a house that was surrounded by timber on the opposite side of the river. There I spent several hours in a chamber with Brother Joseph Cain, adjusting my accounts; and I made arrangements for the stereotype plates of the “Book of Mormon,” and “Doctrine and Covenants,” to be forwarded East, thinking to supply the company with subsistence money through the sale of these books in the East.

My horses were reported ready by Brother Wheelock, and funds on hand by Brother Elias Smith. In about half an hour I should have started, when Brother Elias Smith came to me with word that he had found the brethren; that they had concluded to go to Carthage, and wished me to return to Nauvoo and accompany them. I must confess that I felt a good deal disappointed at this news, but I immediately made preparations to go. Escorted by Brother Elias Smith, I and my party went to the neighborhood of Montrose, where we met Brother Joseph, Hyrum, Brother Richards, and others. Dr. Bernhisel thinks that W. W. Phelps was not with Joseph and Hyrum in the morning, but that he met him, myself, Joseph, and Hyrum, W. Richards, and Brother Calhoun, in the afternoon, near Montrose, returning to Nauvoo. On meeting the brethren I learned that it was not Brother Joseph’s desire to return, but that he came back by request of some of the brethren, and that it coincided more with Brother Hyrum’s feelings than with those of Brother Joseph. In fact, after his return, Brother Hyrum expressed himself as perfectly satisfied with the course taken, and said that he felt much more at ease in his mind than he did before. On our return the calculation was to throw ourselves under the immediate protection of the governor, and to trust to his word and faith for our preservation.

A message was, I believe, sent to the governor that night, stating that we should come to Carthage in the morning, the party that came along with us to escort us back, in case we returned to Carthage, having returned. It would seem from the following remarks of General Ford that there was a design on foot, which was, that if we refused to go to Carthage at the governor’s request, there should be an increased force called for by the governor, and that we should be destroyed by them. In accordance with this project, Captain Yates returned with his posse, accompanied by the constable who held the writ. The following is the governor’s remark in relation to this affair: “The constable and his escort returned. The constable made no effort to arrest any of them, nor would he or the guard delay their departure one minute beyond the time, to see whether an arrest could be made. Upon their return they reported that they had been informed that the accused had fled, and could not be found. I immediately proposed to a council of officers to march into Nauvoo with the small force then under my command, but the officers were of opinion that it was too small, and many of them insisted upon a farther call of the militia. Upon reflection I was of opinion that the officers were right in the estimate of our force, and the project for immediate action was abandoned. I was soon informed, however, of the conduct of constable and guard, and then I was perfectly satisfied that a most base fraud had been attempted; that, in fact, it was feared that the ‘Mormons’ would submit, and thereby entitle themselves to the protection of the law. It was very apparent that many of the bustling, active spirits were afraid that there would be no occasion for calling out an overwhelming militia force, for marching it into Nauvoo, for probable mutiny when there, and for the extermination of the ‘Mormon’ race. It appeared that the constable and the escort were fully in the secret, and acted well their part to promote the conspiracy.”[241]

[241] Ford’s History of Illinois, page 333.

In the morning Brother Joseph had an interview with the officers of the Legion, with the leading members of the City Council, and with the principal men of the city. The officers were instructed to dismiss their men, but to have them in a state of readiness to be called upon in any emergency that might occur.

About half past 6 o’clock the members of the City Council, the marshal, Brothers Joseph and Hyrum, and a number of others, started for Carthage, all on horseback. We were instructed by Brother Joseph Smith not to take any arms, and we consequently left them behind. We called at the house of Brother Fellows on our way out. Brother Fellows lived about four miles from Carthage. While at Brother Fellows’ house, Captain Dunn, accompanied by Mr. Coolie, one of the governor’s aid-de-camps, came up from Carthage en route for Nauvoo with a requisition from the governor for the state arms. We all returned to Nauvoo with them; the governor’s request was complied with, and, after taking some refreshments, we all returned to proceed to Carthage. We arrived there late in the night. A great deal of excitement prevailed on and after our arrival. The governor had received into his company all of the companies that had been in the mob; these fellows were riotous and disorderly, hallooing, yelling, and whooping about the streets like Indians, many of them intoxicated; the whole presented a scene of rowdyism and low-bred ruffianism only found among mobocrats and desperadoes, and entirely revolting to the best feelings of humanity. The governor made a speech to them to the effect that he would show Joseph and Hyrum Smith to them in the morning. About here the companies with the governor were drawn up into line, and General Demming, I think, took Joseph by the arm and Hyrum (Arnold says that Joseph took the governor’s arm), and as he passed through between the ranks, the governor leading in front, very politely introduced them as General Joseph Smith and General Hyrum Smith.[242] All were orderly and courteous except one company of mobocrats--the Carthage Grays--who seemed to find fault on account of too much honor being paid to the Mormons. There was afterward a row between the companies, and they came pretty near having a fight; the more orderly not feeling disposed to endorse or submit to the rowdyism of the mobocrats. The result was that General Demming, who was very much of a gentleman, ordered the Carthage Grays, a company under the command of Captain Smith, a magistrate in Carthage, and a most violent mobocrat, under arrest. This matter, however, was shortly afterward adjusted, and the difficulty settled between them. The mayor, aldermen, councilors, as well as the marshal of the city of Nauvoo, together with some persons who had assisted the marshal in removing the press in Nauvoo, appeared before Justice Smith, the aforesaid captain and mobocrat, to again answer the charge of destroying the press; but as there was so much excitement, and as the man was an unprincipled villain before whom we were to have our hearing, we thought it most prudent to give bail, and consequently became security for each other in $500 bonds each, to appear before the County Court at its next session. We had engaged as counsel a lawyer by the name of Wood, of Burlington, Iowa; and Reed, I think, of Madison, Iowa. After some little discussion the bonds were signed, and we were all dismissed.

[242] The “Deserét News” gives the following account of Joseph and Hyrum Smith’s passing through the troops in Carthage:

“Carthage, June 25th, 1844.

“Quarter past 9. The governor came and invited Joseph to walk with him through the troops. Joseph solicited a few moment’s private conversation with him, which the governor refused.

“While refusing, the governor looked down at his shoes, as though he was ashamed. They then walked through the crowd, with Brigadier General Miner, R. Demming, and Dr. Richards, to General Demming’s quarters. The people appeared quiet until a company of Carthage Grays flocked round the doors of General Demming in an uproarious manner, of which notice was sent to the governor. In the mean time the governor had ordered the M‘Donough troops to be drawn up in line, for Joseph and Hyrum to pass in front of them, they having requested that they might have a clear view of the General Smiths. Joseph had a conversation with the governor for about ten minutes, when he again pledged the faith of the state that he and his friends should be protected from violence.

“Robinson, the post-master, said, on report of martial law being proclaimed in Nauvoo, he had stopped the mail, and notified the post-master general of the state of things in Hancock County.

“From the general’s quarters Joseph and Hyrum went in front of the lines, in a hollow square of a company of Carthage Grays; at seven minutes before 10 they arrived in front of the lines, and passed before the whole, Joseph being on the right of General Demming and Hyrum on his left, Elders Richards, Taylor, and Phelps following. Joseph and Hyrum were introduced by Governor Ford about twenty times along the line as General Joseph Smith and General Hyrum Smith, the governor walking in front on the left. The Carthage Grays refused to receive them by that introduction, and some of the officers threw up their hats, drew their swords, and said they would introduce themselves to the damned Mormons in a different style. The governor mildly entreated them not to act so rudely, but their excitement increased; the governor, however, succeeded in pacifying them by making a speech, and promising them that they should have ‘full satisfaction.’ General Smith and party returned to their lodgings at five minutes past 10.”--Des. News, No. 35, Nov. 4, 1857, page 274.

Almost immediately after our dismissal, two men--Augustine Spencer and Norton--two worthless fellows, whose words would not have been taken for five cents, and the first of whom had a short time previously been before the mayor in Nauvoo for maltreating a lame brother, made affidavits that Joseph and Hyrum Smith were guilty of treason; and a writ was accordingly issued for their arrest, and the constable Bettesworth, a rough, unprincipled man, wished immediately to hurry them away to prison without any hearing. His rude, uncouth manner in the administration of what he considered the duties of his office made him exceedingly repulsive to us all. But, independent of these acts, the proceedings in this case were altogether illegal. Providing the court was sincere, which it was not, and providing these men’s oaths were true, and that Joseph and Hyrum were guilty of treason, still the whole course was illegal.

The magistrate made out a mittimus, and committed them to prison without a hearing, which he had no right legally to do. The statute of Illinois expressly provides that “all men shall have a hearing before a magistrate before they shall be committed to prison;” and Mr. Robert H. Smith, the magistrate, had made out a mittimus committing them to prison contrary to law without such hearing. As I was informed of this illegal proceeding, I went immediately to the governor and informed him of it. Whether he was apprised of it before or not, I do not know; but my opinion is that he was.

I represented to him the characters of the parties who had made oath, the outrageous nature of the charge, the indignity offered to men in the position which they occupied, and declared to him that he knew very well it was a vexatious proceeding, and that the accused were not guilty of any such crime. The governor replied, “He was very sorry that the thing had occurred; that he did not believe the charges, but that he thought the best thing to be done was to let the law take its course.” I then reminded him that we had come out there at his instance, not to satisfy the law, which we had done before, but the prejudices of the people, in relation to the affair of the press; that at his instance we had given bonds, which we could not by law be required to do to satisfy the people, and that it was asking too much to require gentlemen in their position in life to suffer the degradation of being immured in a jail at the instance of such worthless scoundrels as those who had made this affidavit. The governor replied “that it was an unpleasant affair, and looked hard; but that it was a matter over which he had no control, as it belonged to the judiciary; that he, as the executive, could not interfere with their proceedings, and that he had no doubt but that they would immediately be dismissed.” I told him “that we had looked to him for protection from such insults, and that I thought we had a right to do so from the solemn promises which he had made to me and to Dr. Bernhisel in relation to our coming without guard or arms; that we had relied upon his faith, and had a right to expect him to fulfill his engagements after we had placed ourselves implicitly under his care, and complied with all his requests, although extra-judicial.”

He replied “that he would detail a guard, if we required it, and see us protected, but that he could not interfere with the judiciary.” I expressed my dissatisfaction at the course taken, and told him “that, if we were to be subject to mob rule, and to be dragged, contrary to law, into prison at the instance of every infernal scoundrel whose oaths could be bought for a dram of whisky, his protection availed very little, and we had miscalculated his promises.”

Seeing there was no prospect of redress from the governor, I returned to the room, and found the constable Bettesworth very urgent to hurry Brothers Joseph and Hyrum to prison, while the brethren were remonstrating with him. At the same time a great rabble was gathered in the streets and around the door, and from the rowdyism manifested I was afraid there was a design to murder the prisoners on the way to jail.

Without conferring with any person, my next feeling was to procure a guard, and, seeing a man habited as a soldier in the room, I went to him and said, “I am afraid there is a design against the lives of the Messrs. Smith; will you go immediately and bring your captain; and, if not convenient, any other captain of a company, and I will pay you well for your trouble?” He said he would, and departed forthwith, and soon returned with his captain, whose name I have forgotten, and introduced him to me. I told him of my fears, and requested him immediately to fetch his company; he departed forthwith, and arrived at the door with them just at the time when the constable was hurrying the brethren down stairs. A number of the brethren went along, together with one or two strangers; and all of us, safely lodged in prison, remained there during the night.

At the request of Joseph Smith for an interview with the governor, he came the next morning, Thursday, June 26th, at half past 9 o’clock, accompanied by Colonel Geddes, when a lengthy conversation was entered into in relation to the existing difficulties; and after some preliminary remarks, at the governor’s request, Brother Joseph gave him a general outline of the state of affairs in relation to our difficulties, the excited state of the country, the tumultuous mobocratic movements of our enemies, the precautionary measures used by himself (Joseph Smith), the acts of the city council, the destruction of the press, and the moves of the mob and ourselves up to that time.

The following report is, I believe, substantially correct:

Governor. “General Smith, I believe you have given me a general outline of the difficulties that have existed in the country in the documents forwarded to me by Dr. Bernhisel and Mr. Taylor; but, unfortunately, there seems to be a great discrepancy between your statements and those of your enemies. It is true that you are substantiated by evidence and affidavit, but for such an extraordinary excitement as that which is now in the country there must be some cause, and I attribute the last outbreak to the destruction of the ‘Expositor,’ and to your refusal to comply with the writ issued by Esquire Morrison. The press in the United States is looked upon as the great bulwark of American freedom, and its destruction in Nauvoo was represented and looked upon as a high-handed measure, and manifests to the people a disposition on your part to suppress the liberty of speech and of the press. This, with your refusal to comply with the requisitions of a writ, I conceive to be the principal cause of this difficulty; and you are moreover represented to me as turbulent, and defiant of the laws and institutions of your country.”

General Smith. “Governor Ford, you, sir, as governor of this state, are aware of the persecutions that I have endured. You know well that our course has been peaceable and law-abiding, for I have furnished this state ever since our settlement here with sufficient evidence of my pacific intentions, and those of the people with whom I am associated, by the endurance of every conceivable indignity and lawless outrage perpetrated upon me and upon this people since our settlement here; and you yourself know that I have kept you well posted in relation to all matters associated with the late difficulties. If you have not got some of my communications, it has not been my fault.

“Agreeably to your orders, I assembled the Nauvoo Legion for the protection of Nauvoo and the surrounding country against an armed band of marauders; and ever since they have been mustered I have almost daily communicated with you in regard to all the leading events that have transpired; and whether in the capacity of mayor of the city, or lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion, I have striven, according to the best of my judgment, to preserve the peace and to administer even-handed justice; but my motives are impugned, my acts are misconstrued, and I am grossly and wickedly misrepresented. I suppose I am indebted for my incarceration to the oath of a worthless man, who was arraigned before me and fined for abusing and maltreating his lame, helpless brother. That I should be charged by you, sir, who know better, of acting contrary to law, is to me a matter of surprise. Was it the Mormons or our enemies who first commenced these difficulties? You know well it was not us; and when this turbulent, outrageous people commenced their insurrectionary movements, I made you acquainted with them officially, and asked your advice, and have followed strictly your counsel in every particular. Who ordered out the Nauvoo Legion? I did, under your direction. For what purpose? To suppress the insurrectionary movements. It was at your instance, sir, that I issued a proclamation calling upon the Nauvoo Legion to be in readiness at a moment’s warning to guard against the incursions of mobs, and gave an order to Jonathan Dunham, acting major general, to that effect.

“Am I, then, to be charged for the acts of others? and because lawlessness and mobocracy abound, am I, when carrying out your instructions, to be charged with not abiding law? Why is it that I must be made accountable for other men’s acts? If there is trouble in the country, neither I nor my people made it; and all that we have ever done, after much endurance on our part, is to maintain and uphold the Constitution and institutions of our country, and to protect an injured, innocent, and persecuted people against misrule and mob violence.

“Concerning the destruction of the press to which you refer, men may differ somewhat in their opinions about it; but can it be supposed that after all the indignities to which they have been subjected outside, that people could suffer a set of worthless vagabonds to come into their city, and, right under their own eyes and protection, vilify and calumniate not only themselves, but the character of their wives and daughters, as was impudently and unblushingly done in that infamous and filthy sheet?

“There is not a city in the United States that would have suffered such an indignity for twenty-four hours. Our whole people were indignant, and loudly called upon our city authorities for a redress of their grievances, which, if not attended to, they themselves would have taken into their own hands, and have summarily punished the audacious wretches as they deserved. The principles of equal rights that have been instilled into our bosoms from our cradles as American citizens forbid us submitting to every foul indignity, and succumbing and pandering to wretches so infamous as these. But, independent of this, the course that we pursued we considered to be strictly legal; for, notwithstanding the result, we were anxious to be governed strictly by law, and therefore we convened the city council; and being desirous in our deliberations to abide by law, we summoned legal counsel to be present on the occasion. Upon investigating the matter, we found that our city charter gave us power to remove all nuisances. Furthermore, after consulting Blackstone upon what might be considered a nuisance, it appeared that that distinguished lawyer, who is considered authority, I believe, in all our courts, states among other things that ‘a libelous and filthy press may be considered a nuisance, and abated as such.’ Here, then, one of the most eminent English barristers, whose works are considered standard with us, declares that a libelous and filthy press may be considered a nuisance; and our own charter, given us by the Legislature of this state, gives us the power to remove nuisances; and by ordering that press to be abated as a nuisance, we conceived that we were acting strictly in accordance with law. We made that order in our corporate capacity, and the city marshal carried it out. It is possible there may have been some better way, but I must confess that I could not see it.

“In relation to the writ served upon us, we were willing to abide the consequences of our own acts, but were unwilling, in answering a writ of that kind, to submit to illegal exactions, sought to be imposed upon us under the pretense of law, when we knew they were in open violation of it. When that document was presented to me by Mr. Bettesworth, I offered, in the presence of more than twenty persons, to go to any other magistrate, either in our city, in Appanoose, or in any other place where we should be safe, but we all refused to put ourselves into the power of a mob. What right had that constable to refuse our request? He had none according to law; for you know, Governor Ford, that the statute law in Illinois is, that the parties served with the writ ‘shall go before him who issued it, or some other justice of the peace.’ Why, then, should we be dragged to Carthage, where the law does not compel us to go? Does not this look like many others of our persecutions with which you are acquainted? and have we not a right to expect foul play? This very act was a breach of law on his part, an assumption of power that did not belong to him, and an attempt, at least, to deprive us of our legal and constitutional rights and privileges. What could we do, under the circumstances, different from what we did do? We sued for, and obtained a writ of habeas corpus from the Municipal Court, by which we were delivered from the hands of Constable Bettesworth, and brought before and acquitted by the Municipal Court. After our acquittal, in a conversation with Judge Thomas, although he considered the acts of the party illegal, he advised that, to satisfy the people, we had better go before another magistrate who was not in our Church. In accordance with his advice, we went before Esquire Wells, with whom you are well acquainted; both parties were present, witnesses were called on both sides, the case was fully investigated, and we were again dismissed. And what is this pretended desire to enforce law, and wherefore are these lying, base rumors put into circulation but to seek through mob influence, under pretense of law, to make us submit to requisitions which are contrary to law and subversive of every principle of justice? And when you, sir, required us to come out here, we came, not because it was legal, but because you required it of us, and we were desirous of showing to you, and to all men, that we shrunk not from the most rigid investigation of our acts. We certainly did expect other treatment than to be immured in a jail at the instance of these men, and I think, from your plighted faith, we had a right so to expect, after disbanding our own forces, and putting ourselves entirely in your hands. And now, after having fulfilled my part, sir, as a man and an American citizen, I call upon you, Governor Ford, to deliver us from this place, and rescue us from this outrage that is sought to be practiced upon us by a set of infamous scoundrels.”

Governor Ford. “But you have placed men under arrest, detained men as prisoners, and given passes to others, some of which I have seen.”

John P. Green, City Marshal. “Perhaps I can explain. Since these difficulties have commenced, you are aware that we have been placed under very peculiar circumstances; our city has been placed under a very rigid police guard; in addition to this, frequent guards have been placed outside the city to prevent any sudden surprise, and those guards have questioned suspected or suspicious persons as to their business. To strangers, in some instances, passes have been given to prevent difficulty in passing those guards; it is some of these passes that you have seen. No person, sir, has been imprisoned without a legal cause in our city.”

Governor. “Why did you not give a more speedy answer to the posse that I sent out?”

General Smith. “We had matters of importance to consult upon; your letter showed any thing but an amiable spirit. We have suffered immensely in Missouri from mobs, in loss of property, imprisonment, and otherwise. It took some time for us to weigh duly these matters; we could not decide upon matters of such importance immediately, and your posse were too hasty in returning; we were consulting for a large people, and vast interests were at stake. We had been outrageously imposed upon, and knew not how far we could trust any one; besides, a question necessarily arose, How shall we come? Your request was that we should come unarmed. It became a matter of serious importance to decide how far promises could be trusted, and how far we were safe from mob violence.”

Colonel Geddes. “It certainly did look, from all I have heard, from the general spirit of violence and mobocracy that here prevails, that it was not safe for you to come unprotected.”

Governor Ford. “I think that sufficient time was not allowed by the posse for you to consult and get ready. They were too hasty; but I suppose they found themselves bound by their orders. I think, too, there is a great deal of truth in what you say, and your reasoning is plausible, but I must beg leave to differ from you in relation to the acts of the city council. That council, in my opinion, had no right to act in a legislative capacity and in that of the judiciary. They should have passed a law in relation to the matter, and then the Municipal Court, upon complaint, could have removed it; but for the city council to take upon themselves the law-making and the execution of the law is in my opinion wrong; besides, these men ought to have had a hearing before their property was destroyed; to destroy it without was an infringement on their rights; besides, it is so contrary to the feelings of American people to interfere with the press. And, furthermore, I can not but think that it would have been more judicious for you to have gone with Mr. Bettesworth to Carthage, notwithstanding the law did not require it. Concerning your being in jail, I am sorry for that; I wish it had been otherwise. I hope you will soon be released, but I can not interfere.”

Joseph Smith. “Governor Ford, allow me, sir, to bring one thing to your mind that you seem to have overlooked. You state that you think it would have been better for us to have submitted to the requisition of Constable Bettesworth, and to have gone to Carthage. Do you not know, sir, that that writ was served at the instance of an ‘anti-Mormon’ mob, who had passed resolutions, and published them, to the effect that they would exterminate the ‘Mormon’ leaders? and are you not informed that Captain Anderson was not only threatened when coming to Nauvoo, but had a gun fired at his boat by this said mob in Warsaw when coming up to Nauvoo, and that this very thing was made use of as a means to get us into their hands; and we could not, without taking an armed force with us, go there without, according to their published declarations, going into the jaws of death? To have taken a force would only have fanned the excitement, and they would have stated that we wanted to use intimidation; therefore we thought it the most judicious to avail ourselves of the protection of law.”

Governor Ford. “I see, I see.”

Joseph Smith. “Furthermore, in relation to the press, you say that you differ from me in opinion. Be it so; the thing, after all, is only a legal difficulty, and the courts, I should judge, are competent to decide on that matter. If our act was illegal, we are willing to meet it; and although I can not see the distinction that you draw about the acts of the city council, and what difference it could have made in point of fact, law, or justice between the city councils acting together or separate, or how much more legal it would have been for the Municipal Court, who were a part of the city council, to act separate instead of with the councilors, yet, if it is deemed that we did a wrong in destroying that press, we refuse not to pay for it; we are desirous to fulfill the law in every particular, and are responsible for our acts. You say that the parties ought to have had a hearing. Had it been a civil suit, this, of course, would have been proper; but there was a flagrant violation of every principle of right--a nuisance; and it was abated on the same principle that any nuisance, stench, or putrefied carcass would have been removed. Our first step, therefore, was to stop the foul, noisome, filthy sheet, and then the next in our opinion would have been to have prosecuted the man for a breach of public decency. And furthermore, again let me say, Governor Ford, I shall look to you for our protection. I believe you are talking of going to Nauvoo; if you go, sir, I wish to go along. I refuse not to answer any law, but I do not consider myself safe here.”

Governor. “I am in hopes that you will be acquitted, and if I go I will certainly take you along. I do not, however, apprehend danger. I think you are perfectly safe either here or any where else. I can not, however, interfere with the law. I am placed in peculiar circumstances, and seem to be blamed by all parties.”

Joseph Smith. “Governor Ford, I ask nothing but what is legal; I have a right to expect protection, at least from you; for, independent of law, you have pledged your faith and that of the state for my protection, and I wish to go to Nauvoo.”

Governor. “And you shall have protection, General Smith. I did not make this promise without consulting my officers, who all pledged their honor to its fulfillment. I do not know that I shall go to-morrow to Nauvoo, but if I do I will take you along.”

At a quarter past ten o’clock the governor left.

At about half past twelve o’clock, Mr. Reed, one of Joseph’s counsel, came in, apparently much elated; he stated that, “upon an examination of the law, he found that the magistrate had transcended his jurisdiction, and that, having committed them without an examination, his jurisdiction ended; that he had him upon a pin-hook; that he ought to have examined them before he committed them, and that, having violated the law in this particular, he had no farther power over them; for, once committed, they were out of his jurisdiction, as the power of the magistrate extended no farther than their committal, and that now they could not be brought out except at the regular session of the Circuit Court, or by a writ of habeas corpus; but that if Justice Smith would consent to go to Nauvoo for trial, he would compromise matters with him, and overlook this matter.”

Mr. Reed farther stated that “the ‘anti-Mormons,’ or mob, had concocted a scheme to get out a writ from Missouri, with a demand upon Governor Ford for the arrest of Joseph Smith and his conveyance to Missouri, and that a man by the name of Wilson had returned from Missouri the night before the burning of the press for this purpose.”

At half past two o’clock Constable Bettesworth came to the jail with a man named Simpson, professing to have some order, but he would not send up his name, and the guard would not let him pass. Dr. Bernhisel and Brother Wasson went to inform the governor and council of this. At about twenty minutes to three Dr. Bernhisel returned, and stated that he thought the governor was doing all he could. At about ten minutes to three Hyrum Kimball appeared with news from Nauvoo.

Soon after Constable Bettesworth came with an order from Esquire Smith to convey the prisoners to the court-house for trial. He was informed that the process was illegal, that they had been placed there contrary to law, and that they refused to come unless by legal process. I was informed that Justice Smith (who was also Captain of the Carthage Grays) went to the governor and informed him of the matter, and that the governor replied, “You have your forces, and of course can use them.” The constable certainly did return, accompanied by a guard of armed men, and by force, and under protest, hurried the prisoners to the court.

About four o’clock the case was called by Captain Robert F. Smith, J. P. The counsel of the prisoners called for subpœnas to bring witnesses. At twenty-five minutes past four he took a copy of the order to bring the prisoners from jail to trial, and afterward he took names of witnesses.

Counsel present for the state: Higbee, Skinner, Sharpe, Emmons, and Morrison. Twenty-five minutes to five the writ was returned as served, June 25th.

Many remarks were made at the court that I paid but little attention to, as I considered the whole thing illegal and a complete burlesque. Wood objected to the proceedings in toto, in consequence of its illegality, showing that the prisoners were not only illegally committed, but that, being once committed, the magistrate had no farther power over them; but as it was the same magistrate before whom he was pleading who imprisoned them contrary to law, and the same who, as captain, forced them from jail, his arguments availed but little. He then urged that the prisoners be remanded until witnesses could be had, and applied for a continuance for that purpose. Skinner suggested until twelve o’clock next day. Wood again demanded until witnesses could be obtained; that the court meet at a specified time, and that, if witnesses were not present, again adjourn, without calling the prisoners. After various remarks from Reed, Skinner, and others, the court stated that the writ was served yesterday, and that it will give until to-morrow at twelve M. to get witnesses.

We then returned to jail. Immediately after our return Dr. Bernhisel went to the governor, and obtained from him an order for us to occupy a large open room containing a bedstead. I rather think that the same room had been appropriated to the use of debtors; at any rate, there was free access to the jailer’s house, and no bars or locks except such as might be on the outside door of the jail. The jailer, Mr. George W. Steghall, and his wife, manifested a disposition to make us as comfortable as they could; we ate at their table, which was well provided, and of course paid for it.

I do not remember the names of all who were with us that night and the next morning in jail, for several went and came; among those that we considered stationary were Stephen Markham, John S. Fulmer, Captain Dan Jones, Dr. Williard Richards, and myself. Dr. Bernhisel says that he was there from Wednesday in the afternoon until eleven o’clock next day. We were, however, visited by numerous friends, among whom were Uncle John Smith, Hyrum Kimball, Cyrus H. Wheelock, besides lawyers, as counsel. There was also a great variety of conversation, which was rather desultory than otherwise, and referred to circumstances that had transpired; our former and present grievances; the spirit of the troops around us, and the disposition of the governor; the devising for legal and other plans for deliverance; the nature of testimony required; the gathering of proper witnesses; and a variety of other topics, including our religious hopes, etc.

During one of these conversations Dr. Richards remarked: “Brother Joseph, it is necessary that you die in this matter, and if they will take me in your stead, I will suffer for you.” At another time, when conversing about deliverance, I said, “Brother Joseph, if you will permit it, and say the word, I will have you out of this prison in five hours, if the jail has to come down to do it.” My idea was to go to Nauvoo, and collect a force sufficient, as I considered the whole affair a legal farce, and a flagrant outrage upon our liberty and rights. Brother Joseph refused.

Elder Cyrus Wheelock came in to see us, and when he was about leaving drew a small pistol, a six-shooter, from his pocket, remarking at the same time, “Would any of you like to have this?” Brother Joseph immediately replied, “Yes, give it to me;” whereupon he took the pistol, and put it in his pantaloons pocket. The pistol was a six-shooting revolver, of Allen’s patent; it belonged to me, and was one that I furnished to Brother Wheelock when he talked of going with me to the East, previous to our coming to Carthage. I have it now in my possession. Brother Wheelock went out on some errand, and was not suffered to return. The report of the governor having gone to Nauvoo without taking the prisoners along with him caused very unpleasant feelings, as we were apprised that we were left to the tender mercies of the Carthage Grays, a company strictly mobocratic, and whom we knew to be our most deadly enemies, and their captain, Esquire Smith, was a most unprincipled villain. Besides this, all the mob forces, comprising the governor’s troops, were dismissed, with the exception of one or two companies, which the governor took with him to Nauvoo. The great part of the mob was liberated, the remainder was our guard.

We looked upon it not only as a breach of faith on the part of the governor, but also as an indication of a desire to insult us, if nothing more, by leaving us in the proximity of such men. The prevention of Wheelock’s return was among the first of their hostile movements.

Colonel Markham then went out, and he was also prevented from returning. He was very angry at this, but the mob paid no attention to him; they drove him out of town at the point of the bayonet, and threatened to shoot him if he returned; he went, I am informed, to Nauvoo for the purpose of raising a company of men for our protection. Brother Fulmer went to Nauvoo after witnesses: it is my opinion that Brother Wheelock did also.

Some time after dinner we sent for some wine. It has been reported by some that this was taken as a sacrament. It was no such thing; our spirits were generally dull and heavy, and it was sent for to revive us. I think it was Captain Jones who went after it, but they would not suffer him to return. I believe we all drank of the wine, and gave some to one or two of the prison guards. We all of us felt unusually dull and languid, with a remarkable depression of spirits. In consonance with those feelings I sang the following song, that had lately been introduced into Nauvoo, entitled, “A poor wayfaring man of grief,” etc.

1. A poor wayfaring man of grief Hath often cross’d me on my way, Who sued so humbly for relief That I could never answer Nay.

2. I had not power to ask his name, Whither he went, or whence he came; Yet there was something in his eye That won my love, I know not why.

3. Once, when my scanty meal was spread, He enter’d--not a word he spake! Just perishing for want of bread; I gave him all: he bless’d it, brake,

4. And ate, but gave me part again; Mine was an angel’s portion then, For while I fed with eager haste, The crust was manna to my taste.

5. I spied him where a fountain burst Clear from the rock--his strength was gone-- The heedless water mock’d his thirst; He heard it, saw it hurrying on.

6. I ran and raised the suff’rer up; Thrice from the stream he drain’d my cup, Dipp’d, and return’d it running o’er; I drank, and never thirsted more.

7. ’Twas night; the floods were out; it blew A winter hurricane aloof; I heard his voice abroad, and flew To bid him welcome to my roof.

8. I warm’d, I clothed, I cheer’d my guest, I laid him on my couch to rest; Then made the earth my bed, and seem’d In Eden’s garden while I dream’d.

9. Stripp’d, wounded, beaten nigh to death, I found him by the highway side; I roused his pulse, brought back his breath, Revived his spirit, and supplied

10. Wine, oil, refreshment: he was heal’d; I had myself a wound conceal’d, But from that hour forgot the smart, And peace bound up my broken heart.

11. In prison I saw him next, condemn’d To meet a traitor’s doom at morn; The tide of lying tongues I stemm’d, And honor’d him ’mid shame and scorn.

12. My friendship’s utmost zeal to try, He asked if I for him would die; The flesh was weak; my blood ran chill; But the free spirit cried “I will.”

13. Then in a moment to my view The stranger started from disguise; The tokens in his hands I knew; The Savior stood before mine eyes.

14. He spake--and my poor name he named-- “Of me thou hast not been ashamed; These deeds shall thy memorial be; Fear not; thou didst them unto me.”

The song is pathetic, and the tune quite plaintive, and was very much in accordance with our feelings at the time, for our spirits were all depressed, dull, and gloomy, and surcharged with indefinite ominous forebodings. After a lapse of some time, Brother Hyrum requested me again to sing that song. I replied, “Brother Hyrum, I do not feel like singing;” when he remarked, “Oh! never mind; commence singing, and you will get the spirit of it.” At his request I did so. Soon afterward I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail, when I saw a number of men, with painted faces, coming round the corner of the jail, and aiming toward the stairs. The other brethren had seen the same, for, as I went to the door, I found Brother Hyrum Smith and Dr. Richards already leaning against it; they both pressed against the door with their shoulders to prevent its being opened, as the lock and latch were comparatively useless. While in this position, the mob, who had come up stairs, and strove to open the door, probably thought it was locked, and fired a ball through the keyhole; at this Dr. Richards and Brother Hyrum leaped back from the door, with their faces toward it; almost instantly another ball passed through the panel of the door, and struck Brother Hyrum on the left side of the nose, entering his face and head; simultaneously, at the same instant, another ball from the outside entered his back, passing through his body and striking his watch. The ball came from the back, through the jail window, opposite the door, and must, from its range, have been fired from the Carthage Grays, as the balls of fire-arms, shot close by the jail, would have entered the ceiling, we being in the second story, and there never was a time after that Hyrum could have received the latter wound. Immediately, when the balls struck him, he fell flat on his back, crying as he fell, “I am a dead man!” He never moved afterward.

I shall never forget the feeling of deep sympathy and regard manifested in the countenance of Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him, exclaimed, “Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum.” He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly, and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterward understood that two or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom, I am informed, died. I had in my hands a large, strong hickory stick, brought there by Brother Markham, and left by him, which I had seized as soon as I saw the mob approach; and while Brother Joseph was firing the pistol, I stood close behind him. As soon as he had discharged it he stepped back, and I immediately took his place next the door, while he occupied the one I had done while he was shooting. Brother Richards, at this time, had a knotty walking-stick in his hands belonging to me, and stood next to Brother Joseph, a little farther from the door, in an oblique direction, apparently to avoid the rake of the fire from the door. The firing of Brother Joseph made our assailants pause for a moment; very soon after, however, they pushed the door some distance open, and protruded and discharged their guns into the room, when I parried them off with my stick, giving another direction to the balls.

It certainly was a terrible scene: streams of fire as thick as my arm passed by me as these men fired, and, unarmed as we were, it looked like certain death. I remember feeling as though my time had come, but I do not know when, in any critical position, I was more calm, unruffled, and energetic, and acted with more promptness and decision. It certainly was far from pleasant to be so near the muzzles of those fire-arms as they belched forth their liquid flame and deadly balls. While I was engaged in parrying the guns, Brother Joseph said, “That’s right, Brother Taylor; parry them off as well as you can.” These were the last words I ever heard him speak on earth.

Every moment the crowd at the door became more dense, as they were unquestionably pressed on by those in the rear ascending the stairs, until the whole entrance at the door was literally crowded with muskets and rifles, which, with the swearing, shouting, and demoniacal expressions of those outside the door and on the stairs, and the firing of guns, mingled with their horrid oaths and execrations, made it look like Pandemonium let loose, and was, indeed, a fit representation of the horrid deed in which they were engaged.

After parrying the guns for some time, which now protruded thicker and farther into the room, and seeing no hope of escape or protection there, as we were now unarmed, it occurred to me that we might have some friends outside, and that there might there be some chance of escape, but here there seemed to be none. As I expected them every moment to rush into the room--nothing but extreme cowardice having thus far kept them out--as the tumult and pressure increased, without any other hope, I made a spring for the window, which was right in front of the jail door, where the mob was standing, and also exposed to the fire of the Carthage Grays, who were stationed some ten or twelve rods off. The weather was hot, we all of us had our coats off, and the window was raised to admit air; as I reached the window, and was on the point of leaping out, I was struck by a ball from the door about midway of my thigh, which struck the bone, and flattened out almost to the size of a quarter of a dollar, and then passed on through the fleshy part to within about half an inch of the outside. I think some prominent nerve must have been severed or injured, for as soon as the ball struck me I fell like a bird when shot, or an ox struck by a butcher, and lost entirely and instantaneously all power of action or locomotion. I fell on to the window-sill, and cried out, “I am shot!” Not possessing any power to move, I felt myself falling outside of the window, but immediately I fell inside, from some, at that time, unknown cause; when I struck the floor my animation seemed restored, as I have seen sometimes squirrels and birds after being shot. As soon as I felt the power of motion I crawled under the bed, which was in a corner of the room, not far from the window where I received my wound. While on my way and under the bed I was wounded in three other places; one ball entered a little below the left knee, and never was extracted; another entered the forepart of my left arm, a little above the wrist, and, passing down by the joint, lodged in the fleshy part of my hand, about midway, a little above the upper joint of my little finger; another struck me on the fleshy part of my left hip, and tore away the flesh as large as my hand, dashing the mangled fragments of flesh and blood against the wall.

My wounds were painful, and the sensation produced was as though a ball had passed through and down the whole length of my leg. I very well remember my reflections at the time. I had a very painful idea of becoming lame and decrepit, and being an object of pity, and I felt as though I had rather die than be placed in such circumstances.

It would seem that immediately after my attempt to leap out of the window, Joseph also did the same thing, of which circumstance I have no knowledge only from information. The first thing that I noticed was a cry that he had leaped out of the window. A cessation of firing followed, the mob rushed down stairs, and Dr. Richards went to the window. Immediately afterward I saw the doctor going toward the jail door, and as there was an iron door at the head of the stairs adjoining our door which led into the cells for criminals, it struck me that the doctor was going in there, and I said to him, “Stop, doctor, and take me along.” He proceeded to the door and opened it, and then returned and dragged me along to a small cell prepared for criminals.

Brother Richards was very much troubled, and exclaimed, “Oh! Brother Taylor, is it possible that they have killed both Brother Hyrum and Joseph? it can not surely be, and yet I saw them shoot him;” and, elevating his hands two or three times, he exclaimed, “Oh Lord, my God, spare thy servants!” He then said, “Brother Taylor, this is a terrible event;” and he dragged me farther into the cell, saying, “I am sorry I can not do better for you;” and, taking an old, filthy mattress, he covered me with it, and said, “That may hide you, and you may yet live to tell the tale, but I expect they will kill me in a few moments.” While lying in this position I suffered the most excruciating pain.

Soon afterward Dr. Richards came to me, informing me that the mob had precipitately fled, and at the same time confirming my worst fears that Joseph was assuredly dead. I felt a dull, lonely, sickening sensation at the news. When I reflected that our noble chieftain, the prophet of the living God, had fallen, and that I had seen his brother in the cold embrace of death, it seemed as though there was an open void or vacuum in the great field of human existence to me, and a dark, gloomy chasm in the kingdom, and that we were left alone. Oh, how lonely was that feeling! how cold, barren, and desolate! In the midst of difficulties he was always the first in motion; in critical position his counsel was always sought. As our prophet he approached our God, and obtained for us his will; but now our prophet, our counselor, our general, our leader was gone, and, amid the fiery ordeal that we then had to pass through, we were left alone without his aid, and as our future guide for things spiritual or temporal, and for all things pertaining to this world or the next, he had spoken for the last time on earth.

These reflections and a thousand others flashed upon my mind. I thought, Why must the good perish, and the virtuous be destroyed? Why must God’s nobility, the salt of the earth, the most exalted of the human family, and the most perfect types of all excellence, fall victims to the cruel, fiendish hate of incarnate devils?

The poignancy of my grief, I presume, however, was somewhat allayed by the extreme suffering that I endured from my wounds.

Soon afterward I was taken to the head of the stairs and laid there, where I had a full view of our beloved and now murdered brother Hyrum. There he lay as I had left him; he had not moved a limb; he lay placid and calm, a monument of greatness even in death; but his noble spirit had left its tenement, and was gone to dwell in regions more congenial to its exalted nature. Poor Hyrum! he was a great and a good man, and my soul was cemented to his. If ever there was an exemplary, honest, and virtuous man, an embodiment of all that is noble in the human form, Hyrum Smith was its representative.

While I lay there a number of persons came around, among whom was a physician. The doctor, on seeing a ball lodged in my left hand, took a penknife from his pocket and made an incision in it for the purpose of extracting the ball therefrom, and having obtained a pair of carpenter’s compasses, made use of them to draw or pry out the ball, alternately using the penknife and compasses. After sawing for some time with a dull penknife, and prying and pulling with the compasses, he ultimately succeeded in extracting the ball, which was about a half ounce one. Some time afterward he remarked to a friend of mine that “I had nerves like the devil to stand what I did in its extraction.” I really thought I had need of nerves to stand such surgical butchery, and that, whatever my nerves may be, his practice was devilish.

This company wished to remove me to Mr. Hamilton’s hotel, the place where we had staid previous to our incarceration in jail. I told them, however, that I did not wish to go; I did not consider it safe. They protested that it was, and that I was safe with them; that it was a perfect outrage for men to be used as we had been; that they were my friends; that it was for my good they were counseling me, and that I could be better taken care of there than here.

I replied, “I don’t know you. Who am I among? I am surrounded by assassins and murderers; witness your deeds! Don’t talk to me of kindness or comfort; look at your murdered victims. Look at me! I want none of your counsel nor comfort. There may be some safety here; I can be assured of none any where,” etc.

They “God damned their souls to hell,” made the most solemn asseverations, and swore by God and the devil, and every thing else that they could think of, that they would stand by me to death and protect me. In half an hour every one of them had fled to the town.

Soon after a coroner’s jury were assembled in the room over the body of Hyrum. Among the jurors was Captain Smith, of the “Carthage Grays,” who had assisted in the murder, and the same justice before whom we had been tried. I heard the name of Francis Higbee as being in the neighborhood; on hearing his name mentioned, I immediately rose and said, “Captain Smith, you are a justice of the peace; I have heard his name mentioned; I want to swear my life against him.” I was informed that word was immediately sent to him to leave the place, which he did.

Brother Richards was busy during this time attending to the coroner’s inquest, and to the removal of the bodies, and making arrangements for their removal from Carthage to Nauvoo.

When we had a little leisure, he again came to me, and at his suggestion I was removed to Hamilton’s tavern; I felt that he was the only friend, the only person, that I could rely upon in that town. It was with difficulty that sufficient persons could be found to carry me to the tavern; for immediately after the murder a great fear fell upon all the people, and men, women, and children fled with great precipitation, leaving nothing nor any body in the town but two or three women and children, and one or two sick persons.

It was with great difficulty that Brother Richards prevailed upon Mr. Hamilton, hotel-keeper, and his family, to stay; they would not until Brother Richards had given a solemn promise that he would see them protected, and hence I was looked upon as a hostage. Under these circumstances, notwithstanding, I believe they were hostile to the “Mormons,” and were glad that the murder had taken place, yet they did not actually participate in it; and, feeling that I should be a protection to them, they staid.

The whole community knew that a dreadful outrage had been perpetrated by those villains, and fearing lest the citizens of Nauvoo, as they possessed the power, might have a disposition to visit them with a terrible vengeance, they fled in the wildest confusion. And, indeed, it was with very great difficulty that the citizens of Nauvoo could be restrained; a horrid, barbarous murder had been committed, the most solemn pledge violated, and that, too, while the victims were, contrary to the requirements of the law, putting themselves into the hands of the governor to pacify a popular excitement. This outrage was enhanced by the reflection that we were able to protect ourselves against not only all the mob, but against three times their number and that of the governor’s troops put together. These were exasperated by the speech of the governor in town. The whole events were so faithless, so dastardly, so mean, cowardly, and contemptible, without one extenuating circumstance, that it would not have been surprising if the citizens of Nauvoo had arisen en masse, and blotted the wretches out of existence. The citizens of Carthage knew they would have done so under such circumstances, and, judging us by themselves, they were all panic-stricken and fled. Colonel Markham, too, after his expulsion from Carthage, had gone home, related the circumstances of his ejectment, and was using his influence to get a company to go out. Fearing that when the people heard that their prophet and patriarch had been murdered under the above circumstances they might act rashly, and knowing that, if they once got roused, like a mighty avalanche they would lay the country waste before them and take a terrible vengeance--as none of the twelve were in Nauvoo, and no one, perhaps, with sufficient influence to control the people, Dr. Richards, after consulting me, wrote the following note, fearing that my family might be seriously affected by the news. I told him to insert that I was slightly wounded.

William Richards’s Note from Carthage Jail to Nauvoo.[243]

“Carthage Jail, 8 o’clock 5 min. P.M., June 27th, 1844.

“Joseph and Hyrum are dead. Taylor wounded, not very badly. I am well. Our guard was forced, as we believe, by a band of Missourians from 100 to 200. The job was done in an instant, and the party fled toward Nauvoo instantly. This is as I believe it. The citizens here are afraid of the Mormons attacking them; I promise them no.

W. RICHARDS.

“N.B.--The citizens promise us protection; alarm guns have been fired.

“JOHN TAYLOR.”

[243] “Des. News,” No. 38, Nov. 25, 1857, p. 297.

I remember signing my name as quickly as possible, lest the tremor of my hand should be noticed, and their fears too excited.

A messenger was dispatched immediately with that note, but he was intercepted by the governor, who, on hearing a cannon fired at Carthage, which was to be the signal for the murder, immediately fled with his company, and fearing that the citizens of Nauvoo, when apprised of the horrible outrage, would immediately rise and pursue, he turned back the messenger, who was George D. Grant. A second one was sent, who was treated similarly; and not until a third attempt could news be got to Nauvoo.

Samuel H. Smith, brother to Joseph and Hyrum, was the first brother that I saw after the outrage; I am not sure whether he took the news or not; he lived at the time at Plymouth, Hancock County, and was on his way to Carthage to see his brothers, when he was met by some of the troops, or rather mob, that had been dismissed by the governor, and who were on their way home. On learning that he was Joseph Smith’s brother they sought to kill him, but he escaped, and fled into the woods, where he was chased for a length of time by them; but, after severe fatigue, and much danger and excitement, he succeeded in escaping, and came to Carthage. He was on horseback when he arrived, and was not only very much tired with the fatigue and excitement of the chase, but was also very much distressed in feelings on account of the death of his brother. These things produced a fever, which laid the foundation for his death, which took place on the 30th of July. Thus another of the brothers fell a victim, although not directly, but indirectly to this infernal mob.

I lay from about five o’clock until two next morning without having my wounds dressed, as there was scarcely any help of any kind in Carthage, and Brother Richards was busy with the dead bodies, preparing them for removal. My wife Leonora started early the next day, having had some little trouble in getting a company or a physician to come with her; after considerable difficulty she succeeded in getting an escort, and Dr. Samuel Bennet came along with her. Soon after my father and mother arrived from Quakie, near which place they had a farm at that time, and hearing of the trouble, hastened along.

General Demming, Brigadier General of the Hancock County Militia, was very much of a gentleman, and showed me every courtesy, and Colonel Jones also was very solicitous about my welfare.

I was called upon by several gentlemen of Quincy and other places, among whom was Judge Ralston, as well as by our own people, and a medical man extracted a ball from my left thigh that was giving me much pain: it lay about half an inch deep, and my thigh was considerably swollen. The doctor asked me if I would be tied during the operation; I told him no; that I could endure the cutting associated with the operation as well without, and I did so; indeed, so great was the pain I endured that the cutting was rather a relief than otherwise.

A very laughable incident occurred at the time: my wife Leonora went into an adjoining room to pray for me, that I might be sustained during the operation. While on her knees at prayer, a Mrs. Bedell, an old lady of the Methodist association, entered, and, patting Mrs. Taylor on her back with her hand, said, “There’s a good lady, pray for God to forgive your sins; pray that you may be converted, and the Lord may have mercy on your soul.”

The scene was so ludicrous that Mrs. Taylor knew not whether to laugh or be angry. Mrs. Taylor informed me that Mr. Hamilton, the father of the Hamilton who kept the house, rejoiced at the murder, and said in company “that it was done up in the best possible style, and showed good generalship;” and she farther believed that the other branches of the family sanctioned it. These were the associates of the old lady referred to, and yet she could talk of conversion and saving souls in the midst of blood and murder: such is man and such consistency.

The ball being extracted was the one that first struck me, which I before referred to; it entered on the outside of my left thigh, about five inches from my knee, and, passing rather obliquely toward my body, had, it would seem, struck the bone, for it was flattened out nearly as thin and large as a quarter of a dollar.

The governor passed on, staying at Carthage only a few minutes, and he did not stop until he got fifty miles from Nauvoo. There had been various opinions about the complicity of the governor in the murder, some supposing that he knew all about it, and assisted or winked at its execution. It is somewhat difficult to form a correct opinion; from the facts presented it is very certain that things looked more than suspicious against him.

In the first place, he positively knew that we had broken no law.

Secondly. He knew that the mob had not only passed inflammatory resolutions, threatening extermination to the “Mormons,” but that they had actually assembled armed mobs and commenced hostilities against us.

Thirdly. He took those very mobs that had been arrayed against us, and enrolled them as his troops, thus legalizing their acts.

Fourthly. He disbanded the Nauvoo Legion, which had never violated law, and disarmed them, and had about his person in the shape of militia known mobocrats and violators of the law.

Fifthly. He requested us to come to Carthage without arms, promising protection, and then refused to interfere in delivering us from prison, although Joseph and Hyrum were put there contrary to law.

Sixthly. Although he refused to interfere in our behalf, yet, when Captain Smith went to him and informed him that the persons refused to come out, he told him that “he had a command and knew what to do,” thus sanctioning the use of force in the violation of law when opposed to us, whereas he would not for us interpose his executive authority to free us from being incarcerated contrary to law, although he was fully informed of all the facts of the case, as we kept him posted in the affairs all the time.

Seventhly. He left the prisoners in Carthage jail contrary to his plighted faith.

Eighthly. Before he went he dismissed all the troops that could be relied upon, as well as many of the mob, and left us in charge of the “Carthage Grays,” a company that he knew were mobocratic, our most bitter enemies, and who had passed resolutions to exterminate us, and who had been placed under guard by General Demming only the day before.

Ninthly. He was informed of the intended murder, both before he left and while on the road, by several different parties.

Tenthly. When the cannon was fired in Carthage, signifying that the deed was done, he immediately took up his line of march and fled. How did he know that this signal portended their death if he was not in the secret? It may be said some of the party told him. How could he believe what the party said about the gun-signal if he could not believe the testimony of several individuals who told him in positive terms about the contemplated murder?

He has, I believe, stated that he left the “Carthage Grays” there because he considered that, as their town was contiguous to ours, and as the responsibility of our safety rested solely upon them, they would not dare suffer any indignity to befall us. This very admission shows that he did really expect danger; and then he knew that these people had published to the world that they would exterminate us, and his leaving us in their hands and talking of their responsibilities was like leaving a lamb in charge of a wolf, and trusting to its humanity and honor for its safe-keeping.

It is said, again, that he would not have gone to Nauvoo, and thus placed himself in the hands of the “Mormons,” if he had anticipated any such event, as he would be exposed to their wrath. To this it may be answered that the “Mormons” did not know their signals, while he did; and they were also known in Warsaw, as well as in other places; and as soon as the gun was fired, a merchant of Warsaw jumped upon his horse and rode directly to Quincy, and reported “Joseph and Hyrum killed, and those who were with them in jail.” He reported farther “that they were attempting to break jail, and were all killed by the guard.” This was their story; it was anticipated to kill all, and the gun was to be the signal that the deed was accomplished. This was known in Warsaw. The governor also knew it and fled; and he could really be in no danger in Nauvoo, for the Mormons did not know it, and he had plenty of time to escape, which he did.

It is said that he made all his officers promise solemnly that they would help him to protect the Smiths; this may or may not be. At any rate, some of these same officers helped to murder them.

The strongest argument in the governor’s favor, and one that would bear more weight with us than all the rest put together, would be that he could not believe them capable of such atrocity; and, thinking that their talk and threatenings were a mere ebullition of feeling, a kind of braggadocio, and that there was enough of good moral feeling to control the more violent passions, he trusted to their faith. There is, indeed, a degree of plausibility about this, but when we put it in juxtaposition to the amount of evidence that he was in possession of it weighs very little. He had nothing to inspire confidence in them, and every thing to make him mistrust them. Besides, why his broken faith? why his disregard of what was told him by several parties? Again, if he knew not the plan, how did he understand the signal? Why so oblivious to every thing pertaining to the “Mormon” interest, and so alive and interested about the mobocrats? At any rate, be this as it may, he stands responsible for their blood, and it is dripping on his garments. If it had not been for his promises of protection, they would have protected themselves; it was plighted faith that led them to the slaughter; and, to make the best of it, it was a breach of that faith and a non-fulfillment of that promise, after repeated warnings, that led to their death.

Having said so much, I must leave the governor with my readers and with his God. Justice, I conceive, demanded this much, and truth could not be told with less; as I have said before, my opinion is that the governor would not have planned this murder, but he had not sufficient energy to resist popular opinion, even if that opinion led to blood and death.

It was rumored that a strong political party, numbering in its ranks many of the prominent men of the nation, were engaged in a plot for the overthrow of Joseph Smith, and that the governor was of this party, and Sharp, Williams, Captain Smith, and others, were his accomplices, but whether this was the case or not I don’t know. It is very certain that a strong political feeling existed against Joseph Smith, and I have reason to believe that his letters to Henry Clay were made use of by political parties opposed to Mr. Clay, and were the means of that statesman’s defeat. Yet, if such a combination as the one referred to existed, I am not apprised of it.

While I lay at Carthage, previous to Mrs. Taylor’s arrival, a pretty good sort of a man, who was lame of a leg, waited upon me, and sat up at night with me; after Mrs. Taylor, my mother and others waited upon me.

Many friends called upon me, among whom were Richard Ballantyne, Elizabeth Taylor, several of the Perkins family, and a number of the brethren from Macedonia and La Harpe. Besides these, many strangers from Quincy, some of whom expressed indignant feelings against the mob and sympathy for myself. Brother Alexander Williams called upon me, who suspected that they had some designs in keeping me there, and stated “that he had at a given point in some woods fifty men, and that if I would say the word he would raise other fifty, and fetch me out of there.” I thanked him, but told him I thought there was no need. However, it would seem that I was in some danger; for Colonel Jones, before referred to, when absent from me, left two loaded pistols on the table in case of an attack, and some time afterward, when I had recovered and was publishing the affair, a lawyer, Mr. Backman, stated that he had prevented a man by the name of Jackson, before referred to, from ascending the stairs, who was coming with a design to murder me, and that now he was sorry he had not let him do the deed.

There were others, also, of whom I heard that said I ought to be killed, and they would do it, but that it was too damned cowardly to shoot a wounded man; and thus, by the chivalry of murderers, I was prevented from being a second time mutilated or killed. Many of the mob, too, came around and treated me with apparent respect, and the officers and people generally looked upon me as a hostage, and feared that my removal would be the signal for the rising of the Mormons.

I do not remember the time that I staid there, but I think three or four days after the murder, when Brother Marks with a carriage, Brother James Aldred with a wagon, Dr. Ells, and a number of others on horseback, came for the purpose of taking me to Nauvoo. I was very weak at the time, occasioned by the loss of blood and the great discharge of my wounds, so that when Mrs. Taylor asked me if I could talk I could barely whisper no. Quite a discussion arose as to the propriety of my removal, the physicians and people of Carthage protesting that it would be my death, while my friends were anxious for my removal if possible.

I suppose the former were actuated by the above-named desire to keep me. Colonel Jones was, I believe, sincere; he has acted as a friend all the time, and he told Mrs. Taylor she ought to persuade me not to go, for he did not believe I had strength enough to reach Nauvoo. It was finally agreed, however, that I should go; but as it was thought that I could not stand riding in a wagon or carriage, they prepared a litter for me; I was carried down stairs and put upon it. A number of men assisted to carry me, some of whom had been engaged in the mob. As soon as I got down stairs, I felt much better and strengthened, so that I could talk; I suppose the effect of the fresh air.

When we had got near the outside of the town I remembered some woods that we had to go through, and telling a person near to call for Dr. Ells, who was riding a very good horse, I said, “Doctor, I perceive that the people are getting fatigued with carrying me; a number of Mormons live about two or three miles from here, near our route; will you ride to their settlement as quietly as possible, and have them come and meet us?” He started off on a gallop immediately. My object in this was to obtain protection in case of an attack, rather than to obtain help to carry me.

Very soon after the men from Carthage made one excuse after another, until they had all left, and I felt glad to get rid of them. I found that the tramping of those carrying me produced violent pain, and a sleigh was produced and attached to the hind end of Brother James Aldred’s wagon, a bed placed upon it, and I propped up on the bed. Mrs. Taylor rode with me, applying ice and ice-water to my wounds. As the sleigh was dragged over the grass on the prairie, which was quite tall, it moved very easily and gave me very little pain.

When I got within five or six miles of Nauvoo the brethren commenced to meet me from the city, and they increased in number as we drew nearer, until there was a very large company of people of all ages and both sexes, principally, however, men.

For some time there had been almost incessant rain, so that in many low places in the prairie it was from one to three feet deep in water, and at such places the brethren whom we met took hold of the sleigh, lifted it, and carried it over the water; and when we arrived in the neighborhood of the city, where the roads were excessively muddy and bad, the brethren tore down the fences, and we passed through the fields.

Never shall I forget the difference of feeling that I experienced between the place that I had left and the one that I had now arrived at. I had left a lot of reckless, bloodthirsty murderers, and had come to the City of the Saints, the people of the living God; friends of truth and righteousness, thousands of whom stood there with warm, true hearts to offer their friendship and services, and to welcome my return. It is true it was a painful scene, and brought sorrowful remembrances to mind, but to me it caused a thrill of joy to find myself once more in the bosom of my friends, and to meet with the cordial welcome of true, honest hearts. What was very remarkable, I found myself very much better after my arrival at Nauvoo than I was when I started on my journey, although I had traveled eighteen miles.

The next day, as some change was wanting, I told Mrs. Taylor that if she could send to Dr. Richards, he had my purse and watch, and they would find money in my purse.

Previous to the doctor leaving Carthage, I told him that he had better take my purse and watch, for I was afraid the people would steal them. The doctor had taken my pantaloons’ pocket, and put the watch in it with the purse, cut off the pocket, and tied a string round the top; it was in this position when brought home. My family, however, were not a little startled to find that my watch had been struck with a ball. I sent for my vest, and, upon examination, it was found that there was a cut, as if with a knife, in the vest pocket which had contained my watch. In the pocket the fragments of the glass were found literally ground to powder. It then occurred to me that a ball had struck me at the time I felt myself falling out of the window, and that it was this force that threw me inside. I had often remarked to Mrs. Taylor the singular fact of finding myself inside the room, when I felt a moment before, after being shot, that I was falling out, and I never could account for it until then; but here the thing was fully elucidated, and was rendered plain to my mind. I was indeed falling out, when some villain aimed at my heart. The ball struck my watch, and forced me back; if I had fallen out I should assuredly have been killed, if not by the fall, by those around, and this ball, intended to dispatch me, was turned by an overruling Providence into a messenger of mercy, and saved my life. I shall never forget the feelings of gratitude that I then experienced toward my heavenly Father; the whole scene was vividly portrayed before me, and my heart melted before the Lord. I felt that the Lord had preserved me by a special act of mercy; that my time had not yet come, and that I had still a work to perform upon the earth.

(Signed), JOHN TAYLOR.

NOTES.

In addition to the above I give the following:

Dr. Bernhisel informed me that Joseph, looking him full in the face, and as solemn as eternity, said, “I am going as a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as a summer’s morning. I have a conscience void of offense toward God and man.” I heard him state, in reply to an interrogatory, made either by myself or some one in my hearing, in relation to the best course to pursue, “I am not now acting according to my judgment; others must counsel, and not me, for the present,” or in words to the same effect.

The governor’s remarks about the press may be partially correct, so far as the legal technicality was concerned, and the order of administering law. The proper way would perhaps have been for the City Council to have passed a law in regard to the removal of nuisances, and then for the Municipal Court to have ordered it to be abated on complaint. Be this as it may, it was only a variation in form, not in fact, for the Municipal Court formed part of the City Council, and all voted; and, furthermore, some time after the murder, Governor Ford told me that the press ought to have been removed, but that it was bad policy to remove it as we did; that if we had only let a mob do it, instead of using the law, we could have done it without difficulty, and no one would have been implicated. Thus the governor, who would have winked at the proceedings of a mob, lent his aid to, or winked at, the proceedings of mob violence in the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, for removing a nuisance according to law, because of an alleged informality in the legal proceedings or a legal technicality.

I must here state that I do not believe Governor Ford would have planned the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith; but, being a man that courted popular opinion, he had not the firmness to withstand the mob, even when that mob were seeking to imbrue their hands in the blood of innocence; he lent himself to their designs, and thus became a partaker of their evil deeds.

I will illustrate this vexed question with the following official paper, which appeared in the “Deserét News,” No. 30:

“Two of the brethren arrived this evening (June 13th, 1844), from Carthage, and said that about 300 mobbers were assembled there, with the avowed intention of coming against Nauvoo. Also that Hamilton was paying a dollar per bushel for corn to feed their animals.”

The following was published in the Warsaw Signal Office; I insert it as a specimen of the unparalleled corruption and diabolical falsehood of which the human race has become capable in this generation:

“At a mass meeting of the citizens of Hancock County, convened at Carthage on the 11th day of June, 1844, Mr. Knox was appointed President, John Doty and Lewis F. Evans, Vice-Presidents, and William Y. Head, Secretary.

“Henry Stephens, Esq., presented the following resolutions, passed at a meeting of the citizens of Warsaw, and urged the adoption of them as the sense of this meeting:

“PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS.

“Whereas information has reached us, about which there can be no question, that the authorities of Nauvoo did recently pass an ordinance declaring a printing-press and newspaper published by the opponents of the Prophet a nuisance, and in pursuance thereof did direct the marshal of the city and his adherents to enter by force the building from whence the paper was issued, and violently (if necessary) to take possession of the press and printing materials, and thereafter to burn and destroy the same; and whereas, in pursuance of said ordinance, the marshal and his adherents, together with a mob of Mormons, did, after sunset on the evening of the 10th inst., violently enter said building in a tumultuous manner, burn and destroy the press and other materials found on the premises;

“And whereas Hyrum Smith did, in presence of the City Council and the citizens of Nauvoo, offer a reward for the destruction of the printing-press and materials of the ‘Warsaw Signal,’ a newspaper also opposed to his interest;

“And whereas the liberty of the press is one of the cardinal principles of our government, firmly guaranteed by the several Constitutions of the states as well as the United States;

“And whereas Hyrum Smith has within the last week publicly threatened the life of one of our valued citizens, Thos. C. Sharp, the editor of the ‘Signal:’

“Therefore be it solemnly Resolved by the citizens of Warsaw in public meeting assembled,

“That we view the recent ordinance of the city of Nauvoo, and the proceedings thereunder, as an outrage of an alarming character, revolutionary and tyrannical in its tendency, and, being under color of law, as calculated to subvert and destroy in the minds of the community all reliance on the law.

“Resolved, That as a community we feel anxious, when possible, to redress our grievances by legal remedies; but the time has now arrived when the law has ceased to be a protection to our lives and property; a mob at Nauvoo, under a city ordinance, has violated the highest privilege in our government, and to seek redress in the ordinary mode would be utterly ineffectual.

“Resolved, That the public threat made in the council of the city not only to destroy our printing-press, but to take the life of its editor, is sufficient, in connection with the recent outrage, to command the efforts and the services of every good citizen to put an immediate stop to the career of the mad Prophet and his demoniac coadjutors. We must not only defend ourselves from danger, but we must resolutely carry the war into the enemy’s camp. We do therefore declare that we will sustain our press and the editor at all hazards. That we will take full vengeance--terrible vengeance, should the lives of any of our citizens be lost in the effort. That we hold ourselves at all times in readiness to co-operate with our fellow-citizens in this state, Missouri, and Iowa, to exterminate--UTTERLY EXTERMINATE, the wicked and abominable Mormon leaders, the authors of our troubles.

“Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed forthwith to notify all persons in our township suspected of being the tools of the Prophet to leave immediately on pain of INSTANT VENGEANCE. And we do recommend the inhabitants of the adjacent townships to do the same, hereby pledging ourselves to render all the assistance they may require.

“Resolved, That the time, in our opinion, has arrived when the adherents of Smith, as a body, should be driven from the surrounding settlements into Nauvoo; that the Prophet and his miscreant adherents should then be demanded at their hands, and if not surrendered, A WAR OF EXTERMINATION SHOULD BE WAGED, to the entire destruction, if necessary for our protection, of his adherents. And we do hereby recommend this resolution to the consideration of the several townships, to the Mass Convention to be held at Carthage, hereby pledging ourselves to aid to the utmost the complete consummation of the object in view, that we may thereby be utterly relieved of the alarm, anxiety, and trouble to which we are now subjected.

“Resolved, That every citizen arm himself, to be prepared to sustain the resolutions herein contained.

“Mr. Roosevelt rose and made a brief but eloquent speech, and called upon the citizens throughout the country to render efficient aid in carrying out the spirit of the resolutions. Mr. Roosevelt then moved that a committee of seven be appointed by the chair to draft resolutions expressive of our action in future.

“Mr. Catlin moved to amend the motion of Mr. Roosevelt so that the committee should consist of one from each precinct; which motion, as amended, was adopted.

“The chair then appointed the following as said committee: Colonel Levi Williams, Rocky Run Precinct; Joel Catlin, Augusta; Samuel Williams, Carthage; Elisha Worrell, Chili; Captain Maddison, St. Mary’s; John M. Ferris, Fountain Green; James Rice, Pilot Grove; John Carns, Bear Creek; C. L. Higbee, Nauvoo; George Robinson, La Harpe; and George Rockwell, Warsaw.

“On motion of Mr. Sympson, Walter Bagby, Esq., was requested to address the meeting during the absence of the committee. He spoke long and eloquently upon the cause of our grievances, and expressed his belief that the time was now at hand when we were individually and collectively called upon to repel the innovations upon our liberties, and suggested that points be designated as places of encampment at which to rendezvous our forces, that we may be ready, when called upon, for efficient action.

“Dr. Barns, one of the persons who went with the officers to Nauvoo for the purpose of arresting the rioters, having just arrived, came into the meeting, and reported the result of their proceedings, which was, that the persons charged in the writs were duly arrested, but taken from the officer’s hands on a writ of habeas corpus from the Municipal Court, and discharged, and the following potent words entered upon the records--HONORABLY DISCHARGED.

“On motion of O. C. Skinner, Esq., a vote of thanks was tendered to Dr. Barns for volunteering his services in executing said writs.

“Francis M. Higbee was now loudly called for. He stated his personal knowledge of the Mormons from their earliest history, throughout their hellish career in Missouri and this state, which had been characterized by the darkest and most diabolical deeds which had ever disgraced humanity.

“The committee appointed to draft resolutions brought in the following report, which, after some considerable discussion, was unanimously adopted:

“‘Whereas the officer charged with the execution of a writ against Joseph Smith and others, for riot in the County of Hancock, which said writ said officer has served upon said Smith and others; and whereas said Smith and others refuse to obey the mandate of said writ; and whereas, in the opinion of this meeting, it is impossible for the said officer to raise a posse of sufficient strength to execute said writ; and whereas it is the opinion of this meeting that the riot is still progressing, and that violence is meditated and determined on, it is the opinion of this meeting that the circumstances of the case require the interposition of executive power: Therefore,

“‘Resolved, That a deputation of two discreet men be sent to Springfield to solicit such interposition.

“‘2d. Resolved, That said deputation be furnished with a certified copy of the resolution, and be authorized to obtain evidence by affidavit and otherwise in regard to the violence which has already been committed and is still farther meditated.’

“Dr. Evans here rose and expressed his wish that the above resolutions would not retard our operations, but that we would each one arm and equip ourselves forthwith.

“The resolutions passed at Warsaw were again read by Dr. Barns, and passed by acclamation.

“On motion of A. Sympson, Esq., the suggestion of Mr. Bagby, appointing places of encampment, was adopted, to wit: Warsaw, Carthage, Green Plains, Spilman’s Landing, Chili, and La Harpe.

“On motion, O. C. Skinner and Walter Bagby, Esqrs., were appointed a committee to bear the resolutions adopted by this meeting to his excellency the governor, requiring his executive interposition.

“On motion of J. H. Sherman, a Central Corresponding Committee was appointed.

“Ordered, That J. H. Sherman, H. T. Wilson, Chauncy Robinson, Wm. S. Freeman, Thomas Morrison, F. M. Higbee, Lyman Prentiss, and Stephen H. Tyler be said committee.

“On motion of George Rockwell,

“Resolved, That constables in the different precincts hold themselves in readiness to obey the officer in possession of the writs, whenever called upon, in summoning the posse.

“On motion, the meeting adjourned.

“JOHN KNOX, President. “JOHN DOTY, } Vice-Presidents. “LEWIS F. EVANS, }

“W. Y. HEAD, Secretary.”

The following will conclude the “Expositor Question:”

“Nauvoo, June 14th, 1844.

“SIR,--I write you this morning briefly to inform you of the facts relative to the removal of the press and fixtures of the ‘Nauvoo Expositor’ as a nuisance.

“The 8th and 10th instant were spent by the City Council of Nauvoo in receiving testimony concerning the character of the ‘Expositor,’ and the character and designs of the proprietors.

“In the investigation it appeared evident to the Council that the proprietors were a set of unprincipled, lawless debauchees, counterfeiters, bogus-makers, gamblers, peace-disturbers, and that the grand object of said proprietors was to destroy our constitutional rights and chartered privileges; to overthrow all good and wholesome regulations in society; to strengthen themselves against the municipality; to fortify themselves against the Church of which I am a member, and destroy all our religious rights and privileges by libels, slanders, falsehoods, perjury, etc., and sticking at no corruption to accomplish their hellish purposes; and that said paper of itself was libelous of the deepest dye, and very injurious as a vehicle of defamation, tending to corrupt the morals, and disturb the peace, tranquillity, and happiness of the whole community, and especially that of Nauvoo.

“After a long and patient investigation of the character of the ‘Expositor,’ and the characters and designs of its proprietors, the Constitution, the Charter (see Addenda to Nauvoo Charter from the Springfield Charter, sec. 7), and all the best authorities on the subject (see Blackstone, iii., 5, and n., etc., etc.), the City Council decided that it was necessary for the ‘peace, benefit, good order, and regulations’ of said city, ‘and for the protection of property,’ and for ‘the happiness and prosperity of the citizens of Nauvoo,’ that said ‘Expositor’ should be removed; and declaring said ‘Expositor’ a nuisance, ordered the mayor to cause them to be removed without delay, which order was committed to the marshal by due process, and by him executed the same day, by removing the paper, press, and fixtures into the streets, and burning the same; all which was done without riot, noise, tumult, or confusion, as has already been proved before the municipality of the city; and the particulars of the whole transaction may be expected in our next ‘Nauvoo Neighbor.’

“I send you this hasty sketch that your excellency may be aware of the lying reports that are now being circulated by our enemies, that there has been a ‘mob at Nauvoo,’ and ‘blood and thunder,’ and ‘swearing that two men were killed,’ etc., etc., as we hear from abroad, are false--false as Satan himself could invent, and that nothing has been transacted here but what has been in perfect accordance with the strictest principles of law and good order on the part of the authorities of this city; and if your excellency is not satisfied, and shall not be satisfied, after reading the whole proceedings, which will be forthcoming soon, and shall demand an investigation of our municipality before Judge Pope, or any legal tribunal at the Capitol, you have only to write your wishes, and we will be forthcoming; we will not trouble you to file a writ or send an officer for us.

“I remain, as ever, a friend to truth, good order, and your excellency’s humble servant,

(Signed), JOSEPH SMITH.

“His Excellency Thomas Ford.”

IV.

I think that the unpalatable assertion in the text will be proved by the following contrasted extracts from the London “Times” and the “Deserét News.”

THE BLACK COUNTRY.--The reports of the assistant commissioners engaged in the recent education inquiry contain some very painful notices of the state of morals in some parts of the kingdom. In collier villages in Durham, where the men earn high wages, which they know no way of spending but in the gratification of animal appetites, the condition of the people in respect to morals and manners, it is said, may not be described. Adultery is made a matter of mere jest, and incest also is frightfully common, and seems to excite no disgust. In some of those parts girls mingle with boys at school till 13, 14, or 15 years of age, and that in schools not superintended by women; it is impossible to state the coarseness of manners that prevails in these schools. Coming south, into Staffordshire, we are told that in the union of Dudley, where boys and girls can earn high wages, their independence of their parents’ aid to maintain them leads to a remarkable independence of conduct, and, in fact, no restraint is put upon their inclinations either by their parents or the opinion of the neighborhood. It is held rather a shame to an unmarried woman not to have had a child; and the assistant commissioner, Mr. Coode, says that the details given to him by the most respectable and trustworthy witnesses would, if they could be reported, be discredited by most men of the world only acquainted with the ordinary profligacy of the poor; but he adds that, notwithstanding all this, the behavior and manners in other respects of girls and women is not in public less decent than that in places of better repute, and it is generally asserted that this early corruption of females does not hinder them from being very good neighbors, and excellent, hard-working, and affectionate wives and mothers. Education in this district is not much prized; it is a common saying, “The father went to the pit and he made a fortune, the son went to school and he lost it.” But so much has been done by the upper classes in providing schools for the lower that education is gradually making its way, and many who can not read are ashamed of their deficiency, and desirous to have their children taught. In a village where an energetic clergyman, who has adopted a rough, strong style of preaching, has succeeded in filling his church, Mr. Coode noticed during the service that all the people affected to find the place in the books furnished to them, but full half the books were held upside down, and within his observation not one was open at the right place, except where some young person taught to read in the school was by to find it.

An Ordinance relating to Houses of Ill-fame and Prostitution.

Sec. 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of Great Salt Lake City, that any person or persons who shall be found guilty of keeping, or shall be an inmate of any house of ill-fame, or place for the practice of fornication or adultery, or knowingly own or be interested as proprietor or landlord of any such house, or any person or persons harboring or keeping about his, her, or their private premises any whore-master, strumpet, or whore, knowing them to be guilty of following a lewd course of life, shall be liable to a fine for each offense not exceeding one hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court having jurisdiction. In a prosecution under this section, the person having charge of any house or place shall be deemed the keeper thereof.

Sec. 2. It shall be lawful, on the trial of any person before said court charged with either of the offenses named in the preceding section, for the city to introduce in support of such charge testimony of the general character and reputation of the person or place touching the offense or charge set forth in the complaint, and the defendant may likewise resort to testimony of a like nature for the purpose of disproving such charge.

Sec. 3. No person shall be incapacitated or excused from testifying touching any offense committed by another against any of the provisions set forth in the first section of this ordinance by reason of his or her having participated in such crime, but the evidence which may be given by such person shall in no case be used against the person so testifying.

Sec. 4. The word adultery, as made use of in this ordinance, shall be construed to mean the unlawfully cohabiting together of two persons when either one or both of such persons are married; and the word fornication shall be construed to mean the cohabiting together of two unmarried persons.

Passed December 30th, 1860.

A. O. SMOOT, Mayor.

ROBERT CAMPBELL, City Recorder.

V. CHRONOLOGICAL ABSTRACT OF MORMON HISTORY.

1801. June 1. Birth of Mr. Brigham Young, at Wittingham, Vermont, U. S. In this year Mr. Heber C. Kimball also was born (June 14th).

1805. Dec. 23. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., son of Mr. Joseph Smith, sen., generally called “Old Father Smith,” and Lucy Mack, known as “Mother Smith,” born at Sharon, Windsor Co., Vermont.

1812. A book called the “Manuscript Found” was presented to Mr. Patterson, a bookseller at Pittsburgh, Penn., by Mr. Solomon Spalding or Spaulding, of Crawford, Penn.; born in Ashford Co., and a graduate of Dartmouth College. The author died, the bookseller followed him in 1826, and the book fell into the hands of a printer’s compositor, Sidney Rigdon, one of the earliest Mormon converts. Anti-Mormons identify parts of the “Book of Mormon” with the “Manuscript Found.” The Saints deny the existence of a Patterson, and assert that Mr. Spaulding’s book was a mere historical and idolatrous romance concerning the Ten Lost Tribes, altogether different from their Biblion. They trace the calumny to a certain Doctor (so called because a seventh son) Philastus Hurlbert or Hurlbut, an apostate excommunicated for gross immorality, and bound over in $500 to keep the peace, after threatening to murder Mr. Joseph Smith, jun.; and they observe that in those early days their Prophet was too unlearned a man to adapt or to alter a manuscript.

1814. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., powerfully awakened by the preaching of Mr. Lane, an earnest Methodist minister.

1815. Mr. and Mrs. Smith removed with their family--Alvin, Hyrum, Sophronia, Joseph, Samuel, Ephraim, William, and Catharine, from Vermont to New York. They first lived at Palmyra, Wayne Co., for ten years, and then passed on to Manchester, Ontario Co., the site of the Hill Cumorah, where they tarried eleven or twelve years.

1820. Many religious revivals in Western New York. Mr. Joseph Smith becomes partial to Methodism (J. Hyde, chap. viii.). Early in the spring of the year occurred Mr. Joseph Smith, jun.’s first or preparatory vision announcing his ministry.

1823. Sept. 20. Second vision; the Angel of the Lord revealed in rather a solemn way to Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., the existence of the Gold Plates, which, according to anti-Mormons, he and his brother Hyrum had been employed in forging and fabricating for some years. On the next day (22d) Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., opened the place where the Plates were deposited and saw them.

1825. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., was employed by a person called Stroude to dig for him, near Hartwich, Oswego City, N. Y. Money-diggers were then common in that part of the state, seeking the buried treasures of Captain Kidd, the buccaneer. Near Hartwich, between the years 1818-1832, lived Mrs. Spaulding, and Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., stole the “Manuscript Found” from a trunk full of papers (J. H).

1827. Jan. 18. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., married Miss Emma Hale, daughter of Isaac Hale, of South Bainbridge, Chenango Co., N. Y. This person afterward became the Cyria Electa, or Elect Lady, and ended by apostatizing and marrying a Gentile.

Sept. 22. The Golden Plates which the angel announced were taken up from the Hill Cumorah with a mighty display of celestial machinery, and the Breastplate and the Urim and Thummim were found. According to Gentiles, the latter was a “peep-stone stolen from Willard Chase.”

1828. February. Martin Harris, a farmer from whom Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., had borrowed $50 to defray expenses of printing the “Book of Mormon,” submitted a transcript of the characters to Professor Anthon and Dr. Mitchell of New York. The former pronounced them to be a “singular scroll,” and “evidently copied after the Mexican Calendar given by Humboldt.”

July. Translation of the “Book of Mormon” suspended in consequence of Martin Harris stealing (116-118?) pages of the manuscript, which were never replaced. For this reason he was not enrolled among the glorious first six converts to Mormonism.

1829. April 16. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., saw O. Cowdery the first time. Translation of the “Book of Mormon” resumed, O. Cowdery acting as secretary.

May 15. John the Baptist ordained into the Aaronic priesthood Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and O. Cowdery, his amanuensis, who forthwith baptized each other.

June or July. The Plates of the “Book of Mormon” were shown by the Angel of God to the three earthly witnesses--Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris.

1830. The “Book of Mormon” was translated and published, and this year is No. 1 of the Mormon Æra.

April 6. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organized at Manchester, N. Y. It began with six members or elders being ordained, viz., Mr. Joseph Smith, sen., Mr. Hyrum Smith, Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., Mr. Samuel Smith, Mr. Oliver Cowdery, and Mr. Joseph Knight. The Sacrament was administered, and hands were laid on for the gift of the Holy Ghost on this first occasion in the Church.

April 11. Oliver Cowdery preached the first public discourse on this dispensation, and the principles of the Gospel as revealed to Mr. Joseph Smith, jun. During this month the first miracle was performed by the power of God in Colesville, Broome Co., N. Y.

June 1. First Conference of the Church at Fayette, Seneca Co., N. Y. During this month Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., was twice arrested on false pretenses, tried, and acquitted; while his wife, by special revelation, was entitled “Elect Lady” and “Daughter of God.”

August. Parley P. Pratt and Sidney Rigdon were converted.

Sept. 19. O. Pratt baptized.

October. The first missionaries to the Lamanites were appointed.

December. Sidney Rigdon visited the Prophet.

1831. January. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., set out for Kirtland, the birthplace of Sidney Rigdon.

Feb. 1. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., arrived at Kirtland, Ohio, the first of his many Hegiras.

Feb. 9. God commanded the elders to go forth in pairs and preach.

March 8. John Whitmer was appointed Church recorder and historian by revelation.

June 6. The Melchizedek, or Superior Priesthood, was first conferred upon the elders.

June 10-19. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and sundry Saints transferred themselves from Kirtland, Ohio, to Jackson County, Missouri, where they arrived in the middle of July. The Land of Zion was dedicated and consecrated for the gathering of the Saints, and the first log was laid in Kaw township, twelve miles west of Independence, Missouri.

Aug. 2-3. Site for the temple of New Zion dedicated, a little west of Independence.

Aug. 4. First Conference of the Church in the land of Zion held.

Aug. 9. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., returned from Independence to Kirtland, and, arriving about the end of the month (27th?), established the fatal “Kirtland Safety Society Bank.”

1832. March 25. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and Sidney Rigdon were tarred and feathered by a mob for attempting to establish communism and dishonorable dealing, forgery, and swindling (J. H.).

March 26. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., acknowledged the President of the High Priesthood at a General Council of the Church; visited his flock in Missouri.

April 2. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., left Ohio for Missouri, and arrived at Independence on the 24th.

April 14. Mr. Brigham Young, converted by Elder Samuel Smith, and baptized by Eleazar Millard, in this year went to Kirtland, Ohio, and became a devoted follower of the Prophet.

May 1. At an Œcumenical Council held at Independence, Mo., it was decided to print the “Book of Doctrines and Covenants.”

May 6. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., left Missouri for Kirtland, where he arrived in June.

June. The first Mormon periodical, the “Evening and Morning Star,” was published by the Church, under the superintendence of Mr. W. W. Phelps, at Independence, Mo., where the Saints numbered 1200 souls.

Nov. 6. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun.’s, son Joseph born at Kirtland, Ohio.

In this year Mr. Heber C. Kimball was baptized.

1833. Jan. 22. Gift of tongues conferred.

Feb. 2. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., finished his inspired retranslation of the New Testament.

March 18. The Quorum of Three High Priests, viz., Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., Sidney Rigdon, a Campbellite or reformed Baptist preacher, and Frederick G. Williams, an early convert, was organized as a Presidency of the Church in Kirtland, and forthwith proceeded to have visions of the Savior, of concourses of angels, etc., etc.

July 2. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., finished the translation of the Bible.

July 20. A mob of Missourians in Jackson City tore down the new newspaper office, tarred, feathered, and whipped the Saints. Thereupon, three days afterward, the Saints agreed with their persecutors to leave Jackson Co., and laid the corner-stone of the Lord’s House in Kirtland.

Sept. 11. A printing-press was established at Kirtland for the publication of the “Latter-Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate,” Bishop Partridge being at the head of the Church in Zion.

Oct. 8. Elders W. W. Phelps and O. Hyde presented to the governors of Missouri a petition from the Saints of Jackson City praying for redress.

Oct. 31. Ten Mormon houses destroyed by the populace in Jackson Co.

Two of a mob were killed by the Saints. “This was the first blood shed, and the Mormons shed it” (J. H.). Until Nov. 4, the persecutions continued till the Saints evacuated Jackson Co., and fled to Clay Co.

December. Persecutions raged against the Saints in Van Buren Co., Mo.

Dec. 18. Mr. Joseph Smith, sen., was ordained Patriarch.

Dec. 27. The mob permitted Messrs. Davis and Kelley to carry the establishment of the “Evening and Morning Star” to Liberty, Clay Co., Mo., where they began to publish the “Missouri Enquirer.”

1834. Feb. 17. A First Presidency of Three and a High Council of Twelve were first organized.

Feb. 20. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., began to raise a small army for carrying out his dreams of physical conquest and temporal sovereignty (J. H.); also to defend himself against the Missourian mob.

May 3. At a Conference of Elders in Kirtland, the body ecclesiastic was first named “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” The body of Zelph, the Lamanite, was dug up by Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., in Illinois.

May 5. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., marched on Missouri with 150 Mormons(?). In other words, left Kirtland for Missouri with a company for the redemption of Zion.

June 19. The cholera broke out in “Zion’s camp” soon after its arrival in Missouri, and a terrible storm scattered the mob.

June 23. The camp, after suffering from cholera, arrived at Liberty, Clay Co., Missouri.

June 29 (or Nov. 29?). Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and Oliver Cowdery first make a “Conditional Covenant with the Lord” that they would pay tithing. This was its first introduction among the Latter-Day Saints.

July 9. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., left Clay Co. and returned to Kirtland, where he arrived about the end of the month.

1835. Feb. 14. A Quorum of Twelve Apostles was organized, among whom were Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. The former, being then thirty-four years old, was appointed the head of the Apostolic College, and, receiving the gift of tongues, was sent on a missionary tour toward the east.

Feb. 21. First meeting of the Twelve Apostles.

Feb. 28. The organization of the Quorum of Seventies began.

May 3. The Twelve left Kirtland on their first mission.

July. The rolls of Egyptian papyrus, which contained the writings of Abraham and Joseph in Egypt,[244] were obtained in the early part of this month.

[244] “Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit” is well proved by the Mormon attempts to decipher hieroglyphics. M. Remy has given, with the assistance of M. Théodule Devéria, a terrible blow to the Book of Abraham in the seventeenth note at the end of his second volume.

Aug. 17. At a General Assembly at Kirtland, the “Book of Doctrines and Covenants” was accepted as a rule of faith and practice, including the “Lectures on Faith” delivered by Sidney Rigdon.

1836. Jan. 4. A Hebrew professorship established at Kirtland.

Jan. 21. The authorities of the Church in Kirtland met in the Temple school-room, and anointed and blessed one another, when visions of heaven were opened to many.

March 24-27. The House of the Lord in Kirtland, costing $40,000, was dedicated.

April 3. In the House of the Lord, the Savior, Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared to Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and O. Cowdery, and delivered the keys of the several priesthoods, and unlimited power in things temporal and spiritual.

May. The Mormons were requested by the citizens to remove from Clay Co., Mo., to Carroll, Davies, and Caldwell Counties, and founded the city of “Far West” in Caldwell Co.

1837. June 12. Messrs. H. C. Kimball and O. Hyde, and on the 13th W. Richards, set out to convert England (returned in July, 1838). This was the first organized foreign mission.

July 20. Elders H. C. Kimball, O. Hyde, W. Richards, J. Goodson, T. Russell, and Priest J. Fielding, leaving Kirtland on June 13, sailed from New York in the ship “Garrick” (July 1), and landed at Liverpool. Three days afterward Preston had the honor of first hearing the preaching of the Gospel as revealed to Mr. Joseph Smith, jun. The first baptism by divine authority was performed by immersion in the River Ribble (July 30), and the first confirmation of members took place at Walkerford Chaidgey (Aug. 4).

July 27. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., was prosecuted with a vexatious lawsuit at Painesville, Ohio.

Sept. 27. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., left Kirtland to establish gathering-places and visit the Saints in Missouri, and arrived in Far West about the last of October or the first of November.

Dec. 10. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., arrived in Kirtland from Missouri.

Dec. 25. The first Conference of Mormons in England was held in the Cock-pit, Preston. An extensive apostasy befell during this month in Kirtland, Ohio; and the “Safety Society Bank” failed, to the great scandal of Mormondom.

1838. Jan. 12. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and Sidney Rigdon fled from Kirtland to escape mob violence, and arrived at Far West on March 14.

April 12 and 13. Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, the three witnesses to the “Book of Mormon” (others say O. Cowdery, D. Whitmer, and L. E. Johnson), charged with lying, theft, counterfeiting, and defaming the Prophet’s character, were cut off from the Church (J. H.). Orson Hyde, Thos. B. Marsh, W. W. Phelps, and others apostatized, accused the Prophet of being accessory to several thefts and murders, and of meditating a tyranny over that part of Missouri, and eventually over the whole republic (J. H.).

April 20. Elders H. C. Kimball and O. Hyde sailed from Liverpool on their return home.

July 4. Sidney Rigdon, in an anniversary discourse called “Sidney’s Last Sermon,” threatened Gentiles and apostates with violence; the “Danite Band,” according to anti-Mormons, was at once organized.

July 6. The Saints were again persecuted; 565 Saints left Kirtland for Missouri, and Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., was carried before Judge King.

Aug. 6. Troubles in Gallatin Co. occasioned by elections. The Mormons say that persecutions of the Saints commenced in Davies Co., Mo.

Aug. and Sept. Emeutes between the mob and the Mormons: the latter seized sixty to eighty stand of arms at Richmond, and fired on the militia, mistaking them for the mob. The militia, after losing several of their number, returned the fire, killing Mr. D. W. Patten (J. H.).

Sept. 7. Mr. Joseph Smith, jr., was tried before Judge King, of Davies Co.

Sept. 25. The Saints, attempting political rule in Davies Co., were attacked by the citizen mob, who murmured at being placed under Mormon rule (J. H.), and forced the intruders to vacate. Mr. Brigham Young fled for his life to Quincy, Ill.

Oct. 1. After a battle in Carroll Co., Mo., the Saints agreed to evacuate the town of De Witt, Carroll Co. (Oct. 11).

Oct. 25. At the battle of Crooked River, D. W. Patten, alias Captain Fearnot, the head of the Danites, was killed (Mormon Calendar).

Oct. 27. General Lilburn W. Boggs, of Missouri, issued his “extermination order” to General J. B. Clark.

Oct. 30. The militia (mob), to revenge the death of their comrades, slaughtered sixteen Mormons and two boys at Haun’s Mills.

Oct. 31. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and others, were betrayed by J. M. Hinckle.

Nov. 1. General J. B. Clark, with a military force, surrounded Far West, and took prisoners (by stratagem) Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., Mr. Hyrum Smith, and forty others, who were placed in jail, tried by court-martial, and sentenced to be shot--a catastrophe prevented by General Doniphan. The Saints gave up their arms, and Far West was plundered by the mob.

Nov. 2. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and his fellow-prisoners left Far West for Independence.

Nov. 4. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and his fellow-prisoners were kindly received at Independence.

Nov. 12. Mr. Joseph Smith and 52 others were tried at Richmond, Ray Co., Mo., and, after a narrow escape from being shot by the militia, were handed to the civil authorities, placed in close confinement in Liberty jail, and released.

December. The Saints withdrew into Illinois.

1839. Feb. 14 and March 26. Mr. Brigham Young and others fled from Far West to Illinois, and attempted to relay the foundations of the Temple at the New Jerusalem, twelve miles west of Independence, Jackson Co., Missouri.

April 6. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and his fellow-prisoners were removed for trial from Richmond to Gallatin, Davies Co.

April 9. The trial of the prisoners commenced before Judge King.

April 15. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., and his companions left Davies for Boone Co., and on the way escaped from their jailor-guards.

April 18-22. The Saints evacuated Far West, and arrived with Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., at Quincy, Illinois.

April 26. Mr. Brigham Young privily laid the foundation of a Temple at Independence (M. Remy). A Conference was held at the Temple Lot, in Far West, in fulfillment of a revelation given July 8th, 1838. (Appendix to “Compendium of Faith and Doctrines,” etc.)

May 9. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., visited Commerce, Hancock Co., Illinois, at the invitation of Dr. Isaac Galland, of whom he obtained, gratis, a large tract of land to induce the Mormons to immigrate, and upon the receipt of revelation called his people around him, and sold them the town lots (J. H.).

June 11. The first house was built by the Saints at Commerce, a new “State of Zion,” afterward called Nauvoo--the beautiful site--which presently contained 15,000 souls.

June 27. Orson Hyde, the Apostle, returned to the Church.

July 4. P. P. Pratt and Morris Phelps escaped from the jail in Columbia, Boone Co., Missouri.

Aug. 29. Elders P. P. Pratt and O. Pratt set out on their first mission to England, followed on Sept. 18 by Elders Brigham Young and H. C. Kimball, and on Sept. 20, 21, by Elders G. A. Smith, R. Hedlock, and T. Turley: O. Hyde, though previously appointed by revelation, did not accompany them (J. H.). The result was a body of 769 converts.

Oct. 29. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., S. Rigdon, E. Higbee, and O. P. Rockwell, the chief of the Danites, set out from Nauvoo as delegates from the Church to the general government, and arrived on. the 28th of November at Washington, D. C., seeking to obtain redress from Congress for their losses in Missouri.

1840. March 4. Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., returned from Washington to Nauvoo.

March 9. Elders Young, Kimball, P. P. Pratt, O. Pratt, Smith, and Hedlock sailed from New York for England.

April 6. The English mission from New York landed at Liverpool.

April 15. Elder O. Hyde set out from Nauvoo on a mission to Jerusalem.

April 21. Commerce was finally named Nauvoo.

May 27. The first number of the “Latter-Day Saints’ Millennial Star” was published at Manchester.

June 6. The first company of emigrating Saints sailed from Liverpool, and reached New York in July 20. About the 1st of June appeared the first English edition of the “Latter-Day Saints’ Hymn Book.”

Aug. 7. The first regular company of 200 emigrants, conducted by Elders Theodore Turley, a returning missionary, and William Clayton, an early English convert, sailed from Liverpool to New York.

Sept. 14. Mr. Joseph Smith, sen., died at Nauvoo.

Oct. 3. The Mormons began to build their Temple, and petitioned the Legislature of Illinois for the incorporation of Nauvoo.

Dec. 16. The municipal charter of the city of Nauvoo became law.

1841. January. The first English edition of the “Book of Mormon” was published.

Feb. 4. The Nauvoo Corporation Act, passed in the preceding winter, began to be in force. The Nauvoo Legion was organized by Mr. Joseph Smith, who made himself its lieutenant general.

April 6. The corner-stone of the House of the Lord in Nauvoo was laid. A second mission, composed of Elders B. Young, H. C. Kimball, O. Pratt, W. Woodruff, J. Taylor, G. A. Smith, and W. Richards left New York on April 2d, and landed at Liverpool on May 20.

June 5. Mr. Joseph Smith was arrested under a requisition from the Governor of the State of Missouri, was tried at Monmouth, Illinois, on the 9th, and was acquitted on the next day.

July 1. Messrs. Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball returned from England.

Nov. 8. The baptismal font in Nauvoo Temple was dedicated.

1842. March 1. “Book of Abraham” translated and published in “Times and Seasons.”

May 6. Attempt to assassinate Lieutenant Governor Boggs, attributed to O. P. Rockwell.

May 19. Mr. Joseph Smith made Mayor of Nauvoo.

Aug. 6. Mr. Joseph Smith prophesied that the Saints would be driven to the Rocky Mountains.

Aug. 8. Mr. Joseph Smith arrested a second time under circumstances similar to those of the first.

Dec. 7. Mr. O. Hyde returned from his mission to Palestine.

Dec. 26. Mr. Joseph Smith, charged with assassination, was arrested a third time under a requisition from the Governor of the State of Missouri.

In this year polygamy began to be whispered about Nauvoo (J. H.).

1843. Jan. 5. Mr. Joseph Smith acquitted at Springville.

Jan. 20. Mr. O. Pratt received back into the Church.

May 6. Lieutenant Governor L. W. Boggs (under Governor D. Dunklin), of Missouri (who had offended the Mormons by driving them from the state in 1838), was shot in the mouth through an open window--an act generally attributed to O. P. Rockwell, Chief of the Danites, “with the connivance and under the instructions of Joseph Smith” (J. H.). In this year Mr. Joseph Smith became Mayor of Nauvoo, vice J. C. Bennett, “cut off for imitating Smith in his spiritual wifedom” (J. H.). Anti-Mormons declare that in 1843 polygamy was enjoined a second time, but not practiced till 1852.

June 23. Mr. Joseph Smith again arrested, and released on July 2.

July 12. Revelation enjoining polygamy received.

Aug. 30. General J. A. Bennett baptized.

Nov. 4. Mr. Joseph Smith sent his letters to the candidates for the Presidency of the United States.

Nov. 28. Mr. Joseph Smith addresses a memorial to Congress respecting the transactions at Missouri.

1844. Feb. 7. Mr. Joseph Smith issued his address as candidate for the Presidency of the United States.

May 17. Mr. Joseph Smith was carried in triumph through the streets of Nauvoo.

May 4. Francis M. Higbee, expelled for disobedience from the Church, prosecuted Mr. Joseph Smith for slander, and arrested him under a capias: the defendant then sued out a habeas corpus before the Municipal Court of Nauvoo, of which he was mayor.

May 6. Dr. R. D. Foster and Mr. William Law, having libeled, in the “Expositor” paper, Mr. Joseph Smith, accusing him of having taken to spiritual wife Mrs. Foster, were punished by the marshal and municipal officers, who, with a posse, broke the press as a nuisance, and burned the types. The libelers fled, and took out a warrant against Mr. Joseph Smith and others, who resisted and repelled the officer in charge, whereupon the militia was ordered out.

June 13. The Gentiles armed against the Mormons.

June 17. Mr. Joseph Smith arrested and released.

June 24. Governor Ford, of Illinois, persuaded the Smiths, under the pledge of his word, and the faith and honor of the state, to yield up their arms, and sent them prisoners under the charge of sixty militia-men, the Carthage Grays, a highly hostile body, commanded by Captain Smith, to Carthage, the capital of Hancock Co., eighteen to twenty miles from Nauvoo, where 5000 Mormons were in arms.

June 25. The prisoners were arrested by the constable on a charge of treason.

June 26. The governor again pledged himself for the personal safety of his prisoners.

June 27 (Thursday). A body of 200 armed Missourians, with their faces painted and blackened, broke into Carthage jail, and at 5 P.M. murdered, in a most cowardly and brutal manner, Mr. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, and desperately wounded Mr. John Taylor; Dr. Willard Richards alone escaping.

Aug. 15. The Twelve Apostles, with Mr. Brigham Young at the head, assumed the Presidency of the Church, and addressed an Encyclical to “all the Saints in the world.”

Oct. 7. Mr. Brigham Young, the President of the Twelve Apostles, came from Boston, and succeeded to the Presidency of the Church, defeating Sidney Rigdon, who was forthwith cut off, and delivered over to the buffetings of Satan.

Nov. 17. Mr. David Smith, son of the Prophet, born at the Nauvoo Mansion.

1845. The Mormon leaders determined to abandon Nauvoo.

May. The capstone of the Mormon Temple was laid, and endowments began.

Sept. 11. Twenty-nine Mormon houses burnt by the Gentiles.

Sept. 24. The charter of Nauvoo was repealed by the State Legislature. The authorities of the Church made a treaty with the mob to evacuate the “Beautiful City” on the following spring. Several places were proposed: Vancouver’s Island by Mr. John Taylor, Texas by Mr. Lyman Wight, California by others; at last they chose some valley in the Rocky Mountains (J. H.).

1846. January. Baptism for the dead was administered in the Mississippi River; on the 20th a band of Mormon pioneers left Nauvoo, and “located” at Council Bluffs, Iowa.

February. The first Mormon exodus began with this month; 2000 souls crossed the frozen Mississippi en route for Council Bluffs.

April 24. The exiled Saints arrived at Garden Grove, Iowa Territory.

May 1. Dedication of the Temple at Nauvoo.

May 16. The pioneer camp of the Saints arrived at Mount Pisgah, Iowa Territory.

June-July. The Mormon battalion (500 men), on being called for by the general government, set out for the Mexican campaign. “Mr. Brigham Young sells a company of his brethren for $20,000” (J. H.). “You shall have your battalion at once, if it has to be a class of our elders,” said Mr. Brigham Young (Captain H. Stansbury).

Sept. 10-13. After three days of fighting the few surviving Saints were expelled from Nauvoo in a “cruel, cowardly, and brutal manner.”

Sept. 16. The trustees of the Church in Nauvoo made a treaty with the mob for the surrender of their city, and its immediate evacuation by the remnant of the Saints. Toward the end of this year and the beginning of the next, the Quorum of Three was reorganized at a special conference, held at Council Bluffs, Iowa, Mr. Brigham Young nominating his coadjutors. The “Twelve” delivered themselves of an epistle to the Saints, urging them to recommence the gathering.

1847. April 14. The pioneer band, 143 men, headed by Mr. Brigham Young, and driving seventy wagons, left winter quarters, Omaha Nation, on the west bank of the Missouri River, and followed Colonel Frémont’s trail over the Rocky Mountains.

July 23. Messrs. O. Pratt, W. Woodruff, and a few others arrived at the valley of the Great Salt Lake.

July 24. Mr. Brigham Young and the main body entered the valley on this day, which became a solemn anniversary in the Church. The Mormons proceeded to lay the foundations of the city.

Oct. 31. Mr. Brigham Young returned to Council Bluffs.

1848. Feb. 20. The emigration from England reopened after a suspension of two years.

May. Mr. Brigham Young (whose appointment had been confirmed by a General Conference held at Kanesville, Iowa) left winter quarters the second time, and, followed by Mr. H. C. Kimball and the mass of the Saints, reached the Promised Land in September.

September. Some Mormons who had started from New York for San Francisco, expecting to find the Church in California or Vancouver’s Island, arrived in Great Salt Lake City from the West.

Nov. 10. The Temple in Nauvoo burnt.

1849. March 5. At a convention held in Great Salt Lake City the Constitution of the State of Deserét was drafted, and the Legislature was elected under its provisions.

July 2. Delegates sent to Washington petitioned for admission into the Union as a free, sovereign, and independent state.

August. Captain Stansbury and Lieutenant Gunnison, Topographical Engineers, by order of the federal government, surveyed Great Salt Lake Valley.

Sept. 9. A bill organizing Utah Territory was signed by President Fillmore. The Perpetual Emigration Fund was organized. Five Yutas were killed in battle by Captain John Scott and his Mormons.

1850. April 5. The Assembly met, and Utah Territory was duly organized.

May 27. The walls of the Temple at Nauvoo were blown down by a hurricane.

June 14. The first missionaries to Scandinavia landed in Copenhagen, Denmark.

June 15. The first number of the “Deserét News” appeared under the editorship of Dr. Willard Richards.

Aug. 12. The first baptisms in Denmark by legal authority in this Dispensation took place.

Sept. 9. The “Act” for organizing the Territory of Utah became a law. Mr. Brigham Young was appointed Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Utah Territory by President Fillmore, who signed the act. The judges, Brocchus, Day, and Brandeburg, and Mr. Secretary Harris, arrived at Great Salt Lake City.

Sept. 22. Judge Brocchus insulted the people, and, accompanied by the other federal officers, fled from the Territory.

Oct. 13. The first company of Perpetual Emigration Fund emigrants arrived in Great Salt Lake City from the United States.

Dec. 7. The first branch of the Church in France was organized at Paris.

In 1850 was the Indian War. Mr. Higbee was the first white settler slain, and many of the Yutas were killed.

1851. Jan. 9. Great Salt Lake City was incorporated.

Feb. 3. Mr. Brigham Young sworn in as Governor of Utah.

April 5. Legislature of Provisional State of Deserét dissolved. The Legislative Assembly was elected under the Territorial Bill. A memorial signed by 13,000 names was forwarded to her Britannic majesty’s government, proposing for a relief by emigration of a portion of the poorer subjects to colonize Oregon or Vancouver’s Island, the latter being about the dimensions of England.

April 7. The Tabernacle was built, and at a General Conference in Great Salt Lake City it was voted to build a Temple.

Sept. 22. Opening of the Legislature of Utah Territory. Great trouble with the government of the United States fomented by the federal officials’ march. The Legislature forbade by ordinances the sale of arms, ammunition, and spirituous liquors to the Indians.

Dec. 13. Parovan City, on Centre Creek, Iron Co., Utah Territory, founded.

1852. June. Fifteen Frenchmen baptized in Paris.

Aug. 29. The revelation on the celestial law of marriage, alias polygamy (bearing date 1843), was published by Mr. Brigham Young.

Sept. 3. The first company of Perpetual Emigration Fund converts from Europe reached Great Salt Lake City.

Dec. 13. The Legislative Assembly of Utah Territory met for the first time. The judges and the Secretary of State appointed by President Pierce came to hand.

1853. Jan. 17. The Deserét Iron Company was chartered by the Legislature of Utah Territory.

Jan. 25. The missionary elders O. Spencer and J. Houtz arrived in Berlin, Prussia, and were banished on the 2d of February.

Feb. 14. Temple Block was consecrated, ground was broken for the foundation of the Temple, and the excavations began.

March 7. The first missionaries to Gibraltar arrived there.

April 6. Corner-stone of the new Temple laid with religious rites.

In the summer (July) and autumn of this year were serious Indian troubles. At 6 A.M., Oct. 26th, Lieutenant J. W. Gunnison and eight men of his party, including the botanist, M. Creutzfeldt, were massacred on the border of Sevier River, twenty miles north of Lake Sevier.

Nov. 1. The first number of the “Journal of Discourses” was published in England. This year Keokuk was made the outfitting place for emigrants.

1854. January. New alphabet adopted by the University of Deserét.

April 7. Mr. J. M. Grant was appointed to the First Presidency, vice W. Richards, deceased on March 11th.

May 23. The patriarch John Smith died, and was succeeded by another John Smith, son of Hyrum Smith, and nephew of the Prophet.

June 28. John Smith, son of Hyrum Smith, was appointed Patriarch over the Church.

August. Colonel Steptoe, commanding about 1000 federal troops, arrived at Great Salt Lake City.

Sept. 9. At the instance of Colonel Steptoe, who refused to resign his military commission, Mr. Brigham Young was reappointed governor, and held the office until 1857. Even the Gentiles memorialized in his favor.

1855. Jan. 29. Walchor, alias Wakara, alias Walker, chief of the Yuta Indians, died (was secretly put to death and buried by Jordan, Mr. Chandless).

May 5. Endowment House in Great Salt Lake City consecrated.

May 11. Treaty of peace concluded with the Yuta Indians.

May. Colonel Steptoe, after a stay of six months, marched with the United States cavalry to California.

August (July?). Judge Drummond, Surveyor General Burr, and other United States officials, arrived at Great Salt Lake City.

In the fall of this year one third of the crops was destroyed by drought and grasshoppers.

October. A branch of the Church was organized in Dresden (15th); Elder O. Spencer died on the 29th. The First Presidency of the Church proposed in a general epistle that Saints emigrating by the Perpetual Emigration Fund should cross the Prairies and Rocky Mountains with hand-carts.

Dec. 10. The local Legislature met for the first time at Fillmore, the Territorial capital, and passed a bill authorizing an election of delegates to a Territorial Convention for the purpose of forming a State Constitution, and to petition Congress for the admission of Utah into the Union. They also passed a bill authorizing a census.

Most of the Mormons became polygamists (J. H.).

1856. March 17. A convention of delegates met in Great Salt Lake City, and adopted a State Constitution, sending Messrs. John Taylor and George A. Smith, apostles, both as delegates to Washington, with a view to obtaining admission into the Union as a state. No answer was returned. During the very severe winter and spring half the stock perished by frost, and grain became very scarce.

May. Judge W. W. Drummond left Great Salt Lake City, after having forwarded false charges of rebellion, burning the library, and destroying the archives: these reports caused all the troubles with the United States.

The practice of tithe-paying was introduced among the Saints in Europe. Iowa City was made the outfit point for the Plains.

June. Lucy Mack, the Prophet’s mother, died.

Sept. 26. The first hand-cart train crossed the Plains, and arrived at Great Salt Lake City.

1857. (The winter of Mormon discontent.) March. Judge Drummond reported calumnies against the Mormons.

April. Surveyor General Burr and other United States officials left Utah Territory and returned to the United States.

The Territorial Legislature petitioned Congress to send better officers, or to permit the Mormons to appoint bonâ fide citizens and residents.

Mail communication with the States--the “Y Express” established by Mr. Brigham Young--was cut off, to keep the Mormons ignorant of the steps taken against them, and this continued for nearly a year. The Press in the United States generally opined that the Mormons were to be “wiped out.”

May 14. Apostle Parley P. Pratt killed by Hector M‘Lean in Kansas.

June 29. Brigadier General W. S. Harney, commanding Fort Leavenworth, was ordered to take charge of the army of Utah. He was removed after declaring that he would “hang Brigham first and try him afterward,” and was succeeded first by Colonel Alexander, and afterward by General Johnston.

Sept. 3, 4. Indians aided by white men massacred 115 to 120 emigrants at Mountain Meadow.

In this month 1400 men, artillery and liners of the 5th and 10th regiments, appeared upon the Sweetwater, followed by 1000 more, making the whole force amount to 2400 men, a kind of posse comitatus to enforce obedience to the federal laws.

Sept. 15. Mr. Brigham Young issued the remarkable document subjoined.[245] General Wells was ordered to occupy the passes in the Wasach Mountains, and 2016 Mormons prepared to defend their hearths and homes against the violence of the United States. Captain Van Vliet arrived at Great Salt Lake City.

[245] Proclamation by the Governor, proclaiming Martial Law in the Territory of Utah.

“CITIZENS OF UTAH,--We are invaded by a hostile force, who are evidently assailing us to accomplish our overthrow and destruction.

“For the last twenty-five years we have trusted officials of the government, from constables and justices to judges, governors, and presidents, only to be scorned, held in derision, insulted, and betrayed. Our houses have been plundered and then burned, our fields laid waste, our principal men butchered while under the pledged faith of the government for their safety, and our families driven from their homes to find that shelter in the barren wilderness, and that protection among hostile savages, which were denied them in the boasted abodes of Christianity and civilization.

“The Constitution of our common country guarantees unto us all that we do now or have ever claimed.

“If the constitutional rights which pertain unto us as American citizens were extended to Utah, according to the spirit and meaning thereof, and fairly and impartially administered, it is all that we could ask--all that we have ever asked.

“Our opponents have availed themselves of prejudice existing against us because of our religious faith to send out a formidable host to accomplish our destruction. We have had no privilege, no opportunity of defending ourselves from the false, foul, and unjust aspersions against us before the nation. The government has not condescended to cause an investigating committee or other person to be sent to inquire into and ascertain the truth, as is customary in such cases.

“We know those aspersions to be false, but that avails us nothing. We are condemned unheard, and forced to an issue with an armed mercenary mob, which has been sent against us at the instigation of anonymous letter-writers ashamed to father the base, slanderous falsehoods which they have given to the public; of corrupt officials, who have brought false accusations against us to screen themselves in their own infamy; and of hireling priests and howling editors, who prostitute the truth for filthy lucre’s sake.

“The issue which has been thus forced upon us compels us to resort to the great first law of self-preservation, and stand in our own defense--a right guaranteed unto us by the genius of the institutions of our country, and upon which the government is based.

“Our duty to ourselves, to our families, requires us not to tamely submit to be driven and slain without an attempt to preserve ourselves. Our duty to our country, our holy religion, our God, to freedom and liberty, requires that we should not quietly stand still and see those fetters forging around which are calculated to enslave and bring us in subjection to an unlawful military despotism, such as can only emanate [in a country of constitutional law] from usurpation, tyranny, and oppression.

“Therefore I, Brigham Young, Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory of Utah, in the name of the people of the United States in the Territory of Utah,

“1st. Forbid all armed forces, of every description, from coming into this Territory under any pretense whatever.

“2d. That all the forces in said Territory hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment’s notice, to repel any and all such invasion.

“3d. Martial law is hereby declared to exist in this Territory from and after the publication of this proclamation; and no person shall be allowed to pass or repass into, or through, or from this Territory without a permit from the proper officer.

(L.S.)

“Given under my hand and seal at Great Salt Lake City, Territory of Utah, this fifteenth day of September, A.D. eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-second.

BRIGHAM YOUNG.”

Oct. 5-6. The Mormons, who were “spoiling for a fight,” burned, without the orders of their governor, two provision trains, one of fifty-one and the other of twenty-three wagons, causing great want and violent exasperation in the army of Utah.

November. Army of Utah encamped near Green River.

Nov. 21. Proclamation of Mr. Cumming, the new governor.

Dec. 15. Mr. Brigham Young’s message to the Legislature of Utah.

1858. Jan. 16. Address of citizens of Great Salt Lake City sent to President Buchanan.

February. Colonel Kane reached Great Salt Lake City.

April 5. Governor A. Cumming appointed to Utah Territory after the thankless offer had been refused by sixteen or seventeen political persons; left Camp Scott, near Fort Bridger, and on the 12th of April entered Great Salt Lake City. The “rebellion in Utah” found to be a pure invention.

Mr. Brigham Young, followed by 25,000 souls, marched to Provo, with their stock, flocks, and chattels, even their furniture.

April 15. Governor Cumming officially reported a respectful reception, and the illumination of Echo Kanyon; also that the records of the United States Courts, then in charge of a Mormon, Mr. W. H. Hooper, Secretary pro tem., the Territorial Library, in charge of Mr. W. C. Staines, and other public property, were all unimpaired, the contrary report having constituted the causa belli.

April 24. Governor Cumming issued a proclamation that he would assume effective protection of all persons illegally restrained of their liberty in Utah. Few availed themselves of his offer. The Indian agent, Dr. T. Garland Hurt, was accused of having incited the Uinta Indians to acts of hostility against the Mormons--a standing charge and counter charge in the United States.

May 21. The governor made a requisition that “no hinderance may be hereafter presented to the commercial, postal, or social communications throughout the Territory.”

May 29. The “Peace Commissioners” from Washington, ex-Governor Lazarus W. Powell, of Kentucky, and Major Ben M‘Culloch, of Texas, the celebrated Indian fighter, arrived at Great Salt Lake City (where they staid till June 2), and after proclaiming a general amnesty and free pardon, obtained permission for the army of Utah to enter the Territory, and to encamp at a place not nearer than forty miles from New Zion.

June 12. Mr. Brigham Young treated with the Peace Commissioners.

June 14. The President’s pardon “for all treasons and seditions” was proclaimed by the governor, and accepted by the citizens.

June 26. The federal troops, having left Camp Scott, passed through the deserted City of the Saints, led by Lieutenant Colonel Cooke, who rode, according to Mormon report, with head uncovered; they remained for two days encamped on the Jordan, outside the settlement, and then moved twelve to fifteen miles westward for wood and grass.

1859. The Legislature sat at Great Salt Lake City.

Judge Charles S. Sinclair attempted to break faith by misinterpreting the amnesty, and nearly caused collision between the federal troops and the Mormons.

The Hon. John Cradlebaugh, ex-officio judge of the Second Judicial District Court, Utah Territory, quartered a company of 110 men in the court-house and public buildings of Provo, thereby causing disturbances; Governor Cumming protested against the proceeding.

The Deserét currency plates were seized at Mr. Brigham Young’s house.

Jan. 2. Religious service, interrupted by the war, again performed in the Tabernacle.

Feb. 28. Troubles between the citizens at Rush Valley and the federal troops under General A. J. Johnston, commanding the Department of Utah.

March 25. Mr. Howard Spencer, nephew of Mr. Daniel Spencer, was severely wounded by First Sergeant Ralph Pike, Company I of the 10th Regiment.

Aug. 10. Sergeant Pike, summoned for trial to Great Salt Lake City, was shot in the street, it is supposed by Mr. H. Spencer.

In this month the citizens of Carson Valley declared themselves independent of Utah Territory.

1860. Mr. Forney, Indian Superintendent, Utah Territory, and highly hostile to the Mormons, was removed.

Troubles with the troops. Mr. Heneage, a Mormon citizen, was flogged at a cart’s tail by two federal officers under a little mistake.

June 20. Major Ormsby (militia) and his force destroyed by the Indians near Honey Lake.

1861. The federal troops evacuated the Land of the Saints.

INDEX.

Aborigines, American. See Indians. Absinthe. See Sage, wild. Academy of the 7th Ward of Great Salt Lake City, 360. Adobe manufactory near Great Salt Lake City, 344-5. Adobe of the Western World, 197. Adobe, origin of the name, 197, note. Adoption among the North American Indians, 117. Adoption, Mormon principle of, 269. Adultery, Mormon punishment for, 426. Agricultural Society of Deserét, 316. Agriculture, list of premiums awarded at the annual show, 285-287, note. Agriculture, present state of, in Great Salt Lake Valley, 285. Alamo. See Cotton-wood-tree. Albino, rarity of an, among the Indians, 104. Albinos among buffaloes, 51. Alcohol distilled in Great Salt Lake City, 320. Alexander, Colonel B., his hospitality, 90. Algæ in Great Salt Lake, 326. Algarobia grandulosa, or mezquite-tree, 7. Alkali Lake, 153. Alkali Lake Station on the Platte River, 54. Almanac, the, published in Utah, 253. America, shape of the continent of, 6. American Fork, 447. “Americanisms, Dictionary of,” Bartlett’s, quoted, 17, note. Animal life, absence of, on the Grand Prairie, 18. Animal life, in the American Sahara, 64. Animal worship of the American Indians, 108. Animals and vegetables, confusing trivial names for, in America, 142, note. Animals, Indian signs for, 126. Animals of the Uinta Hills, 178. Animals, small quantity of food required to fatten, in the Rocky Mountains and in Somaliland, 140. Animals, wild, at Rocky Bridge, 159. Animals, wild, in the wooded heights of the Wind-River Mountains, 165. Animals, wild, of the Black Hills, 142. Animals, wild, of the Rattlesnake Hills, 153. Animals, wild, of Utah Territory, 279. Antelope at Rocky Ridge, 159. Antelope, its habitat, 67. Antelope, its meat, 67. Antelope or Church Island, 194, 323, 327. Antelope Springs, 464, 465. Antelope, the (Antelocapra Americana), 67. Ant-hills, 196. Apadomey female warriors, 113. Arapaho, or Dirty-Nose Indians, 142, 143. Arapaho, loose conduct of, 117. Arapaho, sign of the tribe of, 123, 124. Arapaho, their lodges, 86. Arapaho, their personal appearance, 143, 144. Arapaho, visit of some, from a neighboring camp, 142. Archery, Sioux skill in, 120. Arickaree, or Ree Indians, 37. Arms of the North American Indians, 57, 119. Arms, ignorance of the lower grades of English of the use of, 174. Army of the United States, remarks on the, 336. Army, grievances of the, 445. Arroyo, fiumara or nullah, an, 70. Arrow-poison of the Indians, 482. Arrows of the North American Indian, 119, 120. Arrow-wood (Viburnum dentatum), 119. Art in America, remarks on, 186, 187. Artemisia. See Sage, wild. Asclepias tuberosa, common in Utah Territory, 167. Ash Hollow, 70. Ash Hollow, General Harney’s defeat of the Brûlé Sioux at, 70, 89. Ash-Hollow Creek, 70. Assiniboin Indians, 97. Assiniboin Indians, their present habitat, 100. Assiniboin River, 100. Aurora borealis, a splendid, in the prairies, 61. Avena fatua of the Pacific Water-shed, 139.

Badeau’s Ranch, or Laramie City, 88. Badgers at Rocky-Bridge Station, 161. Bartlett’s “Dictionary of Americanisms” quoted, 17, note. Basswood, 17. “Basswood Mormons,” 17, note. Bath, the hot air and water, of the North American Indian, 119. Bathing and its dangers, 156. Battle Creek, 447. Bauchmin’s Creek, 189, 190. Bauchmin’s Creek, valley of, 189. Bauchmin’s Fork, 189. Bauchmin’s Fork, station at, 189. “Bear’s Rib,” Mato Chigukesa, made chief of the Brûlé Sioux, 89. Bear Bay, 182. Bear, flesh of the, as food, 231. Bear, in Cotton-wood Kanyon, 347. Bear, of the Black Hills, 142. Bear River, 182, 183, 325. Bear River, coal found on the banks of, 182. Bear River Mountains, 174. Bear Springs, in Utah Territory, 274. Bear, the grizzly, 192. Bear traps, 347. Beavers in the torrent-bed of Echo Kanyon, 187. Beavers, tails of, as food, 231. Bedstead, populousness of, 202. Bee, a, on the topmost summit of the Rocky Mountains, 165. Bee House in Great Salt Lake City, 246. Beer, or Soda Springs, 179. Beer of Great Salt Lake City, 320. Beet-root grown in Great Salt Lake Valley, 287. Bell, Governor, of Great Salt Lake City, 215. Bench-land of the Great Salt Lake Valley, 195. Bennett, J. C., his work on the Mormons, 205, note. Big Field, near Great Salt Lake City, 198. Bighorn, or American moufflon, 153, 155. Big Kanyon, 192. Big Mountain, 190. Big Mountain, pass of the, 190, 191. Bill of fare at a supper in Great Salt lake City, 232. Birds near Fort Kearney, 48. Birds of Utah Territory, 280. Birds, wild, of the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, 165. Bishops, the Mormon, 400. Bison Americanus. See Buffalo. Bissonette, M., the Creole, 139. Blackfeet, or Sisahapa Indians, 98. Blackfeet, sign of the tribe of, 124. Blackfeet, their friendliness to whites, 165. Blackfeet, their lodges, 86. Black Hills, the, 91. Black Hills, the, animals to which they afford shelter, 142. Black Hills, geography of the, 134. Black Rock, near Great Salt Lake, 324. Black Rock, view from the, 330. Black’s Fork River, 174, 176. Black’s Fork, vegetation of, 177, 178. Bloomer dress, 91, 92. Blue River, Big, 29. Blue River, Little, 38. Blue River, Little, fish of the, 38. Blue-Earth River, Indians west of, 96. Bluffs on the prairies, 29. Bogus, origin of the term, 417, note. Bonhomme Island, sand-banks at, 15. “Book of Mormon,” the. See “Mormon, Book of.” Books necessary to the Western traveler, 10. Books on Mormonism, list of, 203, note. Botany of Utah Territory, 280. Boulders, huge natural pile of, Brigham’s Peak, 136. Boulders, in Great Cotton-wood Kanyon, 346. Bow and arrow of the North American Indian, 119. Bowery, the, in Great Salt Lake City, 220. Bowery, visit to the, 258. Box-Elder Creek, 136. Boys, Indian, 59. “Brass, City of,” of the Arabs, 78. Braves, Indian, 57. Bread made in the prairies, 84. Bread-root of the Western hunters, 182, note. Breakfast in the prairies, 84. Brewery, Utah, 332. Brick-making at Great Salt Lake City, 344, 345. Bridger, Colonel James, the celebrated trapper, 178. Bridger, Fort, 178. Bridger, Range of the Uinta Hills, 176. Bridle and bit used on the prairies, 27. Brigham’s Kanyon, 194, 235. Brigham’s Peak, 136. Brigham’s Peak, the driver’s story of, 136. “British-English” Mormons on the road to Great Salt Lake City, 137. Brûlé Sioux Indians, their habitat, 98. See Sioux. Brutisch, Giovanni, the Venetian, 485. Bugs, bed, 160, note. Bugs, other, 160, note. Buffalo, absence of the, on the Grand Prairie, 18. Buffalo, annual destruction of, 50. Buffalo, berry, the, cultivated in Great Salt Lake City, 170, note. Buffalo, Britishers and buffalo shooting, 73. Buffalo, extinct westward of the Rocky Mountains, 50. Buffalo, former and present number of, 50. Buffalo, grass, 51. Buffalo, herds of, 48. Buffalo, Indian mode of hunting it, 51, 52. Buffalo, Indian mode of preparing the skins of, 52. Buffalo, its habits, 51. Buffalo, number of robes purchased by the several companies, 49, note. Buffalo, three great families of, 50. Buffalo, uses to which it is put, 51, 52. Buffalo, wild, as compared with tame meat, 49. Bullock, W. T., the Mormon, 419. Bunch-grass, 139. Bunch-grass, its geographical limits, 139. Bunch-grass, proposed acclimatization of, 140. Bundling among the North American Indians, 116. Bundling, antiquity of the practice, 116, note. “Bunk,” the, at Lodge-Pole Station, 66. Burnt-Thigh Indians, their habitat, 98. Butte Station, 468. Buttes, Red, trading-post of, 146. Buttes, meaning of the word, 146, note. Butterfield, or American Express, route of the, 3. Butterfield, or American Express, its receipts from government, 4.

Cache Cave, 184. Cache Valley, 335. Cacti of the American wilderness, 64. Cactus, intoxicating, 64, note. Calidarium, the Indian, 119. California, establishment of the mail-coach route from Missouri to, 4. California, roads from Great Salt Lake City to, 452. California, slope and surface of the land of, 8. California, time for setting out for, 138. Calumet, the, regarded as a sacred instrument, 112. Camel corps, proposal for establishing a, for American outpost duty, 46. Camp Floyd, description of, 334. Camp Floyd, hatred of the Mormons expressed at, 339. Camp Floyd, position of the camp, 446. Camp Floyd, second visit to, 444. Camp Floyd, the sick certificate, 342. Camp Floyd, trip to, 331. Camp Scott, near Fort Bridger, 179. Canadians, French, settled in the Far West, 152. Canis latrans, the, 64. Cannibals, how far the North American Indians are, 117. Cannon River, Indians west of, 96. Card-playing among the North American Indians, 117. Carrington, Albert O., the Mormon, 242. Carrington Island, 327. Carson City, 494, 496. Carson City, lawless violence of, 288. Carson House Station, 189. Carson Kit, the celebrated guide and Indian interpreter, 178. Carson Lake, 274, 491. Carson River, 493. Carter, Judge, and his store, 179. Caswall, Rev. Henry, his works on Mormonism, 205, note. Cattle starved in some regions, 138. Cattle, numbers of skeletons seen, 138. Cedar Creek, 334. Cedar, effect of climate upon the growth of the, 41. Cedar, gradually diminishing, 53. Cedar Island, the first, in the Missouri, 41. Cedar, the name, as used in the United States, 70, note. Ceremony and manners, Indian want of, 118. Chamizo, or greasewood, 158. Chandless, William, his work on Mormonism, 204, note. Cherokees, their present condition, 35. Cherokees, their lodges, 86. Cheyenne Indians, the, 99. Cheyenne Indians, sign of their tribe, 124. Cheyenne Indians, their chastity, 117. Cheyenne Indians, their lodges, 86. Chieftainship among the Indians, 117. Children, Indian fondness for, 103. Children, Indian, 59. Children, of the Mormons, 422-3. Children, of the Prophet, 249. Chimney Rock, the, 74. China-town, Carson River, 496. Chinche, or bug, the, 160, note. “Chip” fires in the prairies, 48. Chipmonk, or Chipmuk, the, 159, note. Chippewas. See Ojibwa Indians. Choctaw Indians, their lodges, 86. Chokop’s Pass, 480. Chronology of the most important events recorded in the Book of Mormon, 411. Chugwater, the, 90. Church Butte, geological formation of, 176. Churchill, Fort, 493. Cities, formation of, in Utah Territory, 291. City-Creek Kanyon, 195. Climate of Platte Bridge, 137. Climate of the country near Fort Bridger, 179, 180. Climate of Utah Territory, 275. Clothing necessary to the Prairie traveler, 10. Coaches, mail, from Missouri to California and Oregon, 4. Coaches, materials of which they are made, 12. Coaches, slow rate of traveling, 5. Coaches, the “Concord coach,” 12. Coal found on the banks of the Bear and Weber Rivers, and at Silver Creek, 182. Coal in Nebraska, 141. Coal in Utah Territory, 281. Coal near Sulphur Creek, 182. Coal on the banks of the Platte River, 141. Cold Springs, in Kansas, 18. Cold Springs, squatter life at, 19. Cold Springs Station, 487. Cold-Water Ranch, 49. Colorado, Rio, fountain-head of the, 162. Columbia River, fountain-head of the, 162. Comanche Indians, the, 60, note. Comanche Indians, their lodges, 86. Compass, the prairie, 48. “Concord coach,” description of the, 12. Conference, description of a Mormon, 302-9. Constitution of the State of Deserét, 289, note. Cookery, dirty, of Indian squaws, 80. Cookery bill, in the prairies, 84. Coon’s Kanyon, 194 Copperas Springs, 181. Corporation of Great Salt Lake City, 315. Corrals, mode of forming, 76. Corrill, John, his work on Mormonism, 205, note. Cotton grown in Great Salt Lake Valley, 287. Cotton-weed, the, 64. Cotton-wood Creek, 30. Cotton-wood Kanyon, Great, 343. Cotton-wood Kanyon, Great, celebration of Mormon Independence Day at, 349, note. Cotton-wood Kanyon, Great, timber of, 284, 285. Cotton-wood Kanyon, Great, visit to, 346. Cotton-wood Lake, Great, 347. Cotton-wood Station, in Nebraska, 30, 49. Cotton-wood tree, the, or Alamo, 32. Cotton-wood tree, its uses, 32. Cougar, the, or mountain lion, 153, and note. Council Bluffs, the natural crossing of the Missouri, 71, note. Council Hall of the Seventies in Great Salt Lake City, 229. Council, the High, of the Mormons, 401. Counties, list of, of Utah Territory, 291-3. Coureurs des bois, or unlicensed peddlers, 81. Court-house Ridge, the, 72. Court-house, description of it, 72. Court-house, in Great Salt Lake City, 417. Court-house, interesting case tried in the, 417. Cox, Daniel, his idea of a water communication between the Missouri and the Columbia Rivers, 162, 163, note. Coyotes, or jackals of the Western World, 64. Coyotes, at Rocky-Bridge Station, 160, 161. Coyotes, in Echo Kanyon, 188. Coyotes, near Black’s Fork, 176. Cree Indians, their habitat, 100. Creek, Ash-Hollow, 70. Creek, Battle, 447. Creek, Bauchmin’s, 189, 190. Creek, Box-Elder, 136. Creek, Cedar, 334. Creek, Cotton-wood, 30. Creek, Deer, 138. Creek, Dry, 483. Creek, Egan’s, 183. Creek, Grasshopper, 21. Creek, Horse, 79. Creek, Horseshoe, 165. Creek, Kanyon, Big, 191. Creek, Kanyon, East, 189. Creek, Kiowa, Little, 79. Creek, La Bonté, 135. Creek, Meadow, 451. Creek, Mill, 195. Creek, Muddy, Little, 140. Creek, Nemehaw, Big, 21. Creek, Omaha, or Little Punkin, 71. Creek, Pacific, 166. Creek, Plum, 48. Creek, Quaking Asp, 161. Creek, Sandy, 71. Creek, Sandy, Big, 167. Creek, Sandy, Little, 167. Creek, Sheawit, 482. Creek, Shell, 465, 466. Creek, Silver, 182. Creek, Smith’s, 486. Creek, Snow, 140. Creek, Strawberry, 161. Creek, Sulphur, 181. Creek, Thirty-two-mile, 38. Creek, Turkey, 30. Creek, Vermilion, 27. Creek, Walnut, 21. Creek, Willow, 161, 461. Creek, Yellow, 183. Creeks, or “criks” in America, 21. Crickets (Anabrus simplex?), scourge of, in Utah Territory, 284. Crops in Great Salt Lake Valley, 201. Crosby, Judge, 450. Cumming, Hon. A., governor of Great Salt Lake City, 215. Cumming, Hon. A., his impartial discharge of his duties, 216. Curriculum of the Prairie Indians, 107. Cursing and swearing in America, 14. Cynomys Ludovicianus, or prairie-dog, 66.

Davies, Elder John, his Mormon works, 214, note. Dakotahs. See Sioux. Dakotahs, meaning of the name, 95. Dana, Lieutenant, compagnon de voyage, 8. Dancing, Mormon fondness for, 230. Danite band, account of the, 359. Dark Valley, 60. Davis, Hon. Jefferson, his estimate of the cost of a railway from the Mississippi to the Pacific, 3, note. Dayton, Lysander, the Mormon Bishop, and his wives, 448. Dead, Indian mode of burial of the, 122. Deep-Creek Kanyon, 462. Deep-Creek Station, 463. Deep-Creek Valley, 463. Deer Creek, 138. Deer Creek, establishment at, 139. Deer, kinds of, found in the regions east of the Rocky Mountains, 68. Delaware Indians, account of the, 37. Delaware Indians, their lodges, 86. Denmark Ward in Great Salt Lake City, 198. Denver City, lawless violence of, 288. Deserét, agricultural society of, 285. Deserét, alphabet, the, 420. Deserét Store, in Great Salt Lake City, 249. Deserét, the land of the honey-bee, 169. “Deserét News,” account of the, 255. Desert, fertility of its eastern and western frontiers, 7. Desert, from Fort Kearney to the base of the Rocky Mountains, 6. Desert mostly uninhabited, 7. Desert, the First, 167. Desert, the Great, of Utah Territory, 455, 458. Des Moines River, Indians west of the, 96. Devil’s Backbone, the, 147. Devil’s darning-needle, or dragon fly, 60. Devil’s Gate, the celebrated kanyon of the, 151. Devil’s Hole, the, 458, 459. Devil’s Lake, Indians of, 97. Devil’s Post-office, the, 154. Diamond Springs, 60, 480. Diamond Springs, tragedy at, 60. Diseases of Utah Territory, 278. Diseases to which the Indians are liable, 278. “Divide,” the, between the Green River and Black’s Fork, 174. “Divide,” the, between the Little Blue and Platte Rivers, 38. “Divide,” the, between the Platte and Sweet-water Rivers, its sterility, 146. Divorce among the Mormons, 427. Dogs, Indian, 58, 472. Dog-Teutons in the prairies, 62. Dolphin Island, 327. Doxology, Mormon, remarks on the fourteen articles of, 387, et seq. Dragon-fly, or devil’s darning-needle, 60. Dress, Indian, 57, 59. Dress, of the Mormon fair sex, 227. Drivers of mail-coaches, their immorality, 5. Drivers or “rippers,” the, of the wagon-train, 23. Drought, trials of, on the counterslope of the Rocky Mountains, 167. Dry Creek, 483. Dubail, Constant, the woodman, 466. Dug-out, Joe, and his station, 334, 444. Dust-storms in the Valley of the Platte, 75. Dust-storms of Utah, 276, 450, 451. Dust-storms on the counterslope of the Rocky Mountains, 168.

East Kanyon Creek, 189. Eau qui court, or Niobrara River, 40, 72. Echo Kanyon, 184. Echo Kanyon, beavers in the torrent-bed of, 187. Echo Kanyon Station, 187. Echo Kanyon, the Mormons’ breastworks in, 187. Echo Kanyon, vegetation of, 187. Education in Deserét and England compared, 545. Education in Great Salt Lake City, 422, 423, 425. Egan, Major Howard, 453. Egan’s Creek, 183. Egan’s Springs, 454, 455. Egan’s Station, 467. Eggs and bacon, a constant dish in the West, 38. Eight-mile-Spring Kanyon, 465. Eight-mile Springs, 465. Elder, rank of, in the Mormon hierarchy, 402. Elk, the (Cervus Canadensis), habitat of, 68. Emigrants, diseases to which they are liable, 279. Emigrants, Mormon, arrival of, at Great Salt Lake City, 225-6. “Emigration Road” in Kansas, 16. Emigration Kanyon, 193. Emigration, Mormon system of, 295. Emigration, statistics of, 297. Endowment House in Great Salt Lake City, 220. Endowment House, mysteries of the, 220. Ensign Peak, spirit of Joseph Smith on, 196. Evening in the prairies, 38. Explorers, list of the principal, of the United States, who have published works on the subject, 171, 172, note. Eye of the Indian, 105. “Eye-opener,” an, 52.

Faces, Indian, 105, 106. Faith, articles of the Mormon, 387, et seq. Farms, Indian, 477. Farriery of the Indians, 119. Febrile affections in Great Salt Lake City, 279. Feet of the Indians, 104. Fences, “snake,” of the West, 188. Feramorz, Colonel, 343. Ferris, B. J., his work on Mormonism, 206, note. Ferris, Mrs., her work on “The Mormons at Home,” 206, 207, note. Ferry, the Lower, over the Platte, 140. Fête at Great Salt Lake City, account of a, 230-2. Fetichism of the North American Indians, 107. “Fever, the Prairie,” 22. Fingers considered as a trophy by the Indians, 142, note. Fireflies, or lightning-bugs, 60. Fires, prairie, 29. Fires, prairie, mode of stopping, 29. Fir-trees of Great Cotton-wood Kanyon, 346. Fish of the streams flowing from the Black Hills, 134. Fish of the Sweetwater, 152. Fish of the Wasach Lakes, 348. Fish of Utah Lake, 334. Fish Springs, 460. Fish, water of Great Salt Lake fatal to, 326. Fiumara. See Arroyo. Floods of the Missouri, 16. Flowers on the banks of La Grande Platte River, 41, 48, 53. Folles Avoines Indians, 96, note. Food prejudices, 65. Foot of Ridge Station, near the Sweetwater, 159. Fort Bridger, 178. Fort Churchill, 493, 494. Forts, frontier, a camel corps proposed for, 46. Forts, frontier, of the United States described, 41, 42. Forts, frontier, remarks on the army system of outposts in the United States, 43, 44. Fox-River Indians, their tents, 86. Fox-River, the, or Rivière des Puantes, 19. Foxes in Echo Kanyon, 187. Frémont, Colonel, his exploration of the Rocky Mountains, 164. Frémont, Colonel, his traveling proprieties, 149. FrémontIsland, 328. Frémont Peak, in the Rocky Mountains, 153, 161. Frémont Peak, its height above sea-level, 164. Frémont Slough, 53. Frémont Springs, station at, 53. Frémont Springs, the model veranda at, 53. Frogtown, or Fairfield, 335. Fruit in the gardens of the Prophet, 269. Fruit, wild, of Utah Territory, 283. Funeral ceremonies of the Sioux Indians, 122. Fustigator, the mammoth, of the American wagoners, 24.

Gambling, fondness of the North American Indian for, 117. Game, abundance of, in the Wind-River Mountains, 68, 165. Gamma, or gramma, grass of the slopes west of Fort Laramie, 7. Gardens of the Prophet, in Great Salt Lake City, 269. General Johnston’s Pass, 454. Geological formation at Fort Laramie, 90. Geological formation of Church Butte, 176. Geological formation of Echo Kanyon, 184. Geological formation of the banks of the Platte at Snow Creek, 141. Geological formation of the Black Hills, 134. Geological formation of the gold diggings, 484. Geological formation of the Mauvaises Terres, or Bad Lands, 72. Geological formation of the Rattlesnake Hills, 153. Geological formation of the valley of the Green River, 169. Geological formation of Utah Territory, 194. Geological formation westward of the fort, 91. Germans in the prairies, their behavior, 62. Gibraltar Gate, 488. “Gift, an Indian,” the proverb, 103. Gilston, Jim, of Illinois, 456. Girls, Indian, 59. Gold found in the Wind-River Mountains, 165. Gold found in Utah Territory, 281. Gold mines near the Great Salt Lake City, 270, 271. Golden Pass of Emigration Kanyon, 193. Gospel, grotesque accounts of the manner in which the Indians of old received the, 109. Government of the Mormons, 301. Grain, quantity produced in the Valley of Great Salt Lake, 284. Grand Island, in the Platte River, 39. Grand River, Neosho, or White Water, the Osages settled on the, 34. Granite Mountain, 454. Granite Rock, 462. Grape, the Californian, 345. Grass, bunch, 7. Grass, salt, 148. Grasses of the slopes west of Fort Laramie, 7. Grasshopper Creek, 21. Grasshoppers (Œdipoda corallipes), clouds of, in the prairies, 69. Grasshoppers, ravages of, 69, 70. Grasshoppers, scourge of, in Utah Territory, 284. Grattan, Lieutenant, his fatal fight with the Sioux, 88. Graves of the Mormon emigration route, 174. Grazing-grounds in Utah Territory, 284. Grazing-grounds of the West, their fertility and freedom from sickness, 7. Greasewood at Black’s Fork, 176. Greasewood the (Obione or Atriplex canescens), 158. Great Salt Lake, account of an excursion to, 322. Great Salt Lake, air on the shores of, 328. Great Salt Lake bathing-place on, 329. Great Salt Lake, buoyancy of, 329. Great Salt Lake, history and geography of, 324. Great Salt Lake, islands of, 327-8. Great Salt Lake, lands immediately about, 330. Great Salt Lake, quantity of salt in, 325. Great Salt Lake City, Academy of the 7th Ward in, 360. Great Salt Lake City, admirable site of, 196. Great Salt Lake City, Agricultural Society of Deserét, 316. Great Salt Lake City, arrival of caravan of emigrants at, 225-6. Great Salt Lake City, cheapness of the necessaries of life at, 320. Great Salt Lake City, coinage of, 356. Great Salt Lake City, conduct of federal officials at, 421. Great Salt Lake City, corporation of, 315. Great Salt Lake City, Council Hall of the Seventies at, 229. Great Salt Lake City, course of life in, 418-19. Great Salt Lake City, Court-house of, 417. Great Salt Lake City, crops in the valley of, 201. Great Salt Lake City, Denmark Ward in, 198. Great Salt Lake City, departure from, 441-3. Great Salt Lake City, eastern wall of Great Salt Lake Valley, 195. Great Salt Lake City, education in, 422, 423, 425. Great Salt Lake City, Endowment House at, 220. Great Salt Lake City, excursions in, 322. Great Salt Lake City, first view of, 193. Great Salt Lake City, foundation of the, 288. Great Salt Lake City, gold mines in Utah, 271. Great Salt Lake City, Governor Cumming, 215. Great Salt Lake City, hand-labor, articles of, in, 320. Great Salt Lake City, Historian and Recorder’s Office in, 419, 426. Great Salt Lake City, houses of, 197, 198. Great Salt Lake City, industry in, 316. Great Salt Lake City, Lion House at, 246. Great Salt Lake City, list of articles of industry at, 317-20, note. Great Salt Lake City, militia of, 354-5. Great Salt Lake City, murders committed in and near, 339. Great Salt Lake City, newspapers published in, 255. Great Salt Lake City, no market-place in, 201. Great Salt Lake City, prices, 320-1. Great Salt Lake City, principal schools in, 425. Great Salt Lake City, promulgation of the Constitution at, 289, note. Great Salt Lake City, public opinion in, 197. Great Salt Lake City, roads from, to California, 452. Great Salt Lake City, safety of, 224. Great Salt Lake City, Salt Lake House Hotel, 201. Great Salt Lake City, schools in, 345. Great Salt Lake City, shops in, 217. Great Salt Lake City, Social Hall and fêtes at, 230. Great Salt Lake City, streets of, 216, 217. Great Salt Lake City, supply of water in, 216, 217. Great Salt Lake City, the Tabernacle at, 219, 220. Great Salt Lake City, taxes of, 315. Great Salt Lake City, Temple Block at, 217-23. Great Salt Lake City, the Bee House at, 246. Great Salt Lake City, the Bowery at, 220, 258. Great Salt Lake City, the bulwarks of Zion at, 197. Great Salt Lake City, the Penitentiary at, 271. Great Salt Lake City, the Prophet’s house at, 234, 245-6. Great Salt Lake City, the public and private offices of the Prophet at, 246. Great Salt Lake City, the public library at, 235. Great Salt Lake City, the River New Jordan, 233. Great Salt Lake City, view of, from the Wasach Mountains, 359. Great Salt Lake City, visit to the Prophet at, 237-8. Green River, formation of the valley of the, 169. Green River, fountain-head of the, 162. Green River, its breadth and depth, 171. Green River, its length, volume, and direction, 171. Green River, its tributaries, 167. Green River, Macarthy’s station on the, 170. Green River, Mountains, the, 153. Green River, salmon trout of the, 170. Green River, Spanish and Indian names of the, 171. Green-River Station, 170, 172. Green-River, wool-producing country in the basin of the, 284. Grounds, Bad, or mauvaises terres of the United States, 6. Grouse, pinnated, 142. Guenot, Louis, his bridge over the Platte, 141. Guess, George, the Cherokee chief, 35. Guittard’s Station, 27. Guittard’s Station, the host at, 27. Gunnison, Lieutenant, his work on Mormonism, 203, 204, note. Gunnison, Lieutenant, his resumé of Mormonism, 398. Gunnison, Lieutenant, murder of, 339. Gunnison’s Island, 327.

Hair, Indian mode of dressing the, 56. Half-breeds, English and French, compared, 80. Half-breeds, women, 80. Half-way House, halt at the, 53. Half-way House, the store at the, 53. Ham’s Fork, 174. Ham’s Fork, the wretched station at, 174, 175. Hand-labor, articles of, in Great Salt Lake City, 320. Hands of the Indians, 104. Hanks, the redoubtable Mr. Ephe, the Danite, 191. Hanks, stories of, 193. Hapsaroke Indians, or Les Corbeaux, 124. Hapsaroke Indians, sign of the tribe, 124. Harney, General, his defeat of the Brûlé Sioux at Ash Hollow, 70, 89. Harrowgate Springs in the Wasach Mountains, 360. Hat Island, 327. Hawkins’s rifles, 9. Hayden, Dr. F. V., his opinion on coal in Nebraska, 141. Heat of the sun beyond Ham’s Fork, 176. Heath-hen, the, 142. Hickman, Bill, the Danite, 191, 344. Hierarchy of the Mormons, 399, 403. High Mountain, 458. Historian and Recorder’s Office in Great Salt Lake City, 419, 426. Holmes, the ungenial man, 177. Horse Creek, 79. Horse Creek, breakfast at, 84. Horse Creek, inmates of the station at, 80, 81. Horse-fly, a green-headed, 168. Horseshoe Creek, gold found at, 165. Horseshoe Station, 91. Horses, Indian, 56, 57-8. Horses, of the Dakotah Indians, 99. Horse-stealing, punishment for, in the Western States, 90, 360. Hotels in Great Salt Lake City, 201. Hotels in the Far West, 201, note. Hot springs near Great Salt Lake City, 236. Hot springs, analysis of the water of, 236, note. Houses, materials of, in Great Salt Lake City, 197, 198. Howard, Mr., 457. Humboldt River, 480. Hunkpapa Indians, 98. Hunkpatidan Indians, 97. Hunter, President Bishop, 226. Huntingdon Valley, 480. Hurricanes of Scott’s Bluffs, 78. Hyde, John, his work on Mormonism, 208, note.

Ice springs, 158. Ihanktonwan Indians, their habitat and present condition, 97. Immorality of the mail-coach drivers, 5. Independence Day, New, of the Mormons, 251, 349. Independence Day, New, celebration of, 349, note. India, remarks on the army system of outposts in, 43, 45. Indian arms, 57, 119. Indian arts, 118-19. Indian boys and girls, 59, 107. Indian camp, an, 472. Indian character, 102-3. Indian creed, few rites and ceremonies of the, 115. Indian curriculum of the Prairie, 107. Indian dancing, 110. Indian departments of the United States, management of the, 132. Indian dress, 57, 59. Indian farms, 477. Indian fighting, 43. Indian half-breeds, 80. Indian “home,” the, 32. Indian horses, 56, 57-8. Indian kleptomania, 60, 102, 103. Indian marriages, 116. Indian mode of hunting the buffalo and preparing the skins, 51, 52. Indian mode of stampeding animals, 76-7. Indian mode of wearing the hair, 56. Indian names, 115. Indian population in the middle of the last and present centuries, 99, note. Indian prejudice against speaking, 80. Indian religion of the, 107. Indian reservation, distribution of the, 32. Indian scalping, 112. Indian skull, form and dimensions of the, 105. Indian smoking, 110, 111-12. Indian summer, the, 79, 483. Indian, the name, a misnomer for American aborigines, 55. Indian village, description of the remove of an, 56. Indian villages and tents, 85. Indian women, 106. Indians, account of the Pawnees, 36. Indians, best scheme for preserving the race of, 35. Indians, causes which rapidly thin the tribesmen, 34. Indians, difficulties attending the scheme of civilization of the, 36. Indians, effects of alcohol among the various tribes of, 82. Indians, ferocity of, and whites, 60. Indians, grotesque accounts of the manner in which they formerly received the Gospel, 109. Indians, how treated by the United States, 32. Indians, kindness of the Mormons to the, 245. Indians, languages of the northeastern tribes of, 96, note. Indians, Lieutenant Weed’s defeat of the Gosh Yutas, 467, 470. Indians, mistaken public opinion of the, and of their ancestors, 55. Indians, proposals for raising native regiments of, 47. Indians, the American philanthropist’s mode of civilizing the, 35. Indians, the Comanches, 61, note. Indians, the dignity of chief, 117. Indians, their arrow-poison, 482. Indians, their course of life, 117. Indians, their future considered, 101. Indians, their “home,” 32. Indians, their murder of Loscier and Applegate, 484. Indians, their opinion of their own strength, 101. Indians, their progress toward extinction, 102. Indians, their Turanian origin, 55. Indians, the, of Utah Territory, 473. Indians, the squaws, 59. Indians, the Yutas, 474-6. Indians, total number of, on the prairies and the Rocky Mountains, 33. Indians, tribes and sub-tribes of the Sioux, 96. Industry in Great Salt Lake City, 316. Industry, list of articles of, 317-320, note. Intoxicating drink, a new, 24, note. Intoxicating drink, mode of manufacturing “Indian liquor,” 81-2. Intoxicating drink, one made from a cactus, 64, note. Irish women in the West, 175. Iron County, coal and iron found in, 282. Iron found in Utah Territory, 281. Island, Antelope, or Church, 194, 323, 327. Island, Bonhomme, 15. Island, Carrington, 327. Island, Cedar, the first, in the Missouri, 41. Island, Dolphin, 327. Island, Frémont, 328. Island, Grande, in the Platte River, 39. Island, Gunnison’s, 327. Island, Hat, 327. Island, Stansbury, 327. Islets of La Grande Platte River, 40. Itazipko, Sans Arc, or No-Bow Indians, their habitat, 98. Itinerary, the emigrant’s, 505. Itinerary of the mail route from Great Salt Lake City to San Francisco, 511.

Jack, the Arapaho Indian, and his squaw, 146, 147. Jackal, the, of the Western world, 64. See Coyote. Jacques, Elder John, his Mormon works, 212, note. James River, Indians of, 97. Jesuitism as a means of civilization of the Indians, 35. Jimsen weed, 111. Jo, St., city of, 12, 15. Johnston’s Settlement, 451. Jones, Elder Dan, his Mormon works, 213, note. Jordan, New, its course in the Wasach Mountains, 332. Jordan, New, the river in Great Salt Lake City, 233, 325. “Jornada,” or day’s march, 167. Junction-House Ranch, 53.

Kamas Prairie, 182, and note. Kane, Colonel T. L., account of him, 204, note. Kane, Colonel T. L., his work on the Mormons, 204, note. Kansas, a specimen of squatter life in, 19. Kansas, “bleeding,” 16. Kansas, “gales,” 21. Kansas, prairies of, 17. Kansas, rainy season in, 16. Kansas, shanties in, 18. “Kansas-Nebraska Act,” passing of the, 33. Kanyon Creek, Big, 191. Kanyon Creek, Big, station at, 191. Kanyon near Great Salt Lake City, purity of the water of the, 332. Kanyon, the Devil’s Gate, 151. Kanyons, stupendous, of Northern Mexico, 139, note. Kanyons, the, of America, 139, note. Kearney, Fort, 41. Kearney, Fort, longitude of, 6. Kelly, W., Esq., J. P., his chapters on Mormonism, 204, note. “Keening” the dead practiced among the Indians, 122. Kennedy, the Ras Kafilah, 455. Kennedy’s Hole, 460. Kennekuk, in Kansas, halt at, 19. Kickapoo Indians, description of the, 20. Kickapoo Indians, mode of building the tents of the, 85. Kickapoo Indians, strength of the tribe of, 20. Kickapoo Indians, the, 19. Kimball, Heber C., his address in the Bowery, 262. Kimball, Heber C., the president, account of, 241. Kinnikinik smoked by the American Indian, 111. Kinnikinik, the, 31. Kiowa Creek, Little, 79. Kiowa Indians, lodges of the, 86. Kiowa Indians, or Prairie-men, sign of the tribe of the, 124. Kisiskadjiwan River, Indians on the, 100. Kit, the traveler’s, 9. Kiyuksa, or breakers of law, Indians, 97. Kleptomania of the Indians, 60. Kleptomania of the Sioux, 102, 103.

La Bonté Creek, 135. “Ladies” in the Prairies, 91, 92. Lake Alkali, 153. Lake Carson, 274, 491. Lake Cotton-wood, Great, 347. Lake Devil’s, 97. Lake Great Salt, 194, 322, 323. Lake Little Salt, 274. Lake Miniswakan, 100. Lake Mono, 274. Lake Mud, 274. Lake Nicollet, 274. Lake of the Hot Springs, 195. Lake of the Wasach Mountains, 347. Lake of the Woods, 100. Lake Pyramid, 274. Lake qui Parle, 96. Lake Saleratus, 147. Lake Stone, 96. Lake Traverse, 96. Lake Utah, or Sweet-water Reservoir, 274, 332, 446. Lake, Walker’s, 274. Lake Winnipeg, 100. Lakes, Three, 161. Lance, the, of the North American Indian, 119. Land-tenure of the Mormons, 290. Lander’s Cut-off, 158. Language, its peculiarities, 121. Language, men’s first and progressive steps in, 121. Language, the, of the Sioux, 120. Language, the pantomime of the Indians, or sign-system of, 123. Languages of the Northeastern Indians, 96, note. Laramie City, 88. Laramie City, prices of skins at, 88. Laramie, Fort, climate and soil at, 90. Laramie, Fort, formerly Fort John, 90. Laramie, Fort, longitude of, 6. Laramie, Fort, vegetation of the slopes west of, 7. Laramie Hills, geography of the, 134. Laramie Peak, 79. Laramie’s Fork, 90. Lasso, the, 68. Last-Timber Station, 71, note. Lawrence Fork, 71. Lawrence Fork, origin of the name, 72. Leadplant (Amorphe canescens), the, of the American wilderness, 64. Leaf-shooter Indians, 96. Leather manufactured at Great Salt Lake City, 344. Leeches, American, 466-7. Legislative Assembly of Utah Territory, 310. Lehi City, 447. Liberty-poles in the United States, 251. Library, public, of Great Salt Lake City, 235. Lightning-bug, or fire-fly, 60. Lignite in Nebraska, 141. Lion House in Great Salt Lake City, 246. Lion, the mountain, or cougar, 153, and note. Litters, Indian, 58. Little Mountain, 192. Little Mr., his tannery, 344. Locknan’s Station, 21. Locknan’s Station, vegetation of, 21. Lodge-Pole Creek, or Fork, 64. Lodge-Pole Station, 66. Lodge-Pole Station, squalor and wretchedness of, 66. London, Mormon meeting-houses in and about, 301, note. Long-chin, the Indian murderer, 85. Long Valley, 471. Look-out Fort, 97. Louis, St., altitude and temperature of, 159. Loup Fork, ferry across, 71, note. Lynch, Lieutenant W. F., his proprieties of travel, 150. Lynn, Catharine Lewis, her work on Mormonism, 206, note.

Macarthy, Mr., his establishment, 170, 172. Macarthy, Mr., his rough-and-tumble, 183. Macarthy, Mr., of Green-River Station, 170. Mail-coach route from Missouri to California and Oregon, 4. Mail-coach, slow rate of traveling, 5. Main, or Whisky Street, in Great Salt Lake City, 217. Maize, question as to its being indigenous to America, 110, note. Majors, Mr. Alexander, his efforts to reform the morals of his mail drivers, 5. Mankizitah, or White-Earth River, 72. Manna in Great Salt Lake Valley, 287. Manufacturers in Utah Territory, 317-20. Marcy, Major, 73. Marcy, Major, his “Prairie Traveler” quoted, 4. Market-place, absence of a, in Great Salt Lake City, 201. Marriage among the Mormons, 427, 432. Marriage among the North American Indians, 116. Marshall, James W., his discovery of Californian gold, 356. Martin, Michael, his store, 173. Marysville, or old Palmetto City, trade of, 29. Materialism, Mormon, 384. Matriya, the “Scattering Bear,” death of, 89. Mauvaises Terres, or Bad Lands, extent of the, 72. Mdewakantonwan Indians, civilization of the, 100. Mdewakantonwan Indians, habitat of the, 96. Meadow Creek, 451, 452. Medical men in Great Salt Lake City, 278. Medicine-man of the Indians, 108. Medicine, the Indians’ knowledge of, 118, 119. Medicines necessary to the Western traveler, 9, 10. Menomene Indians, habitat of the, 96. Menomene Indians, tents of the, 86. Meteorology of Utah Territory, 275. Methodism, foundation of, 365. Mexico, Northern, stupendous kanyons of, 139, note. Mezquite, or muskeet-tree (Algarobia glandulosa), 7. Midway Station, 49. Military departments into which the United States are divided, 42, 43, note. Militia force of Great Salt Lake City, 354-5. Militia force of the United States, general abstract of the, 336, 337. Milk River, Indians of, 100. Milk weed (Asclepias tuberosa) common in Utah Territory, 167. Milk-sickness of the Western States, 284. Mill Creek, 195. Miller, Captain, of Millersville, 215. Miller’s Station, 495. Millersville, on Smith’s Fork, 177. Mills, saw, a night passed in one of the, 348. Mills, saw, in the kanyons, 347. Miniswakan Lake, 100. Minnesota Indians, 96, 97. Minnikanye-wozhipu Indians, habitat of the, 98. Mirage, a curious, 47, 48. Mirage, on the counterslope of the Rocky Mountains, 164. Missionaries, certificates supplied to, 353, 354, note. Missionaries, from Great Salt Lake City, 353, 354. Missionaries, number of, in Great Britain, 301. Mississippi, the, 15. Mississippi, Indians of the, 96. “Missouri Compromise,” the, 33. “Missouri Compromise,” the, origin of the trouble which gave rise to the, 33, 34, note. Missouri, establishment of the mail-coach route from, to California and Oregon, 4. Missouri, rainy season in, 16. Missouri River, navigation of the, 15. Missouri River, sand-banks of the, 15. Missouri River, sawyers and snags of the, 15. Missouri River, the Great, 15. Missouri River, the Little, Indians of the, 15. Missouri River, winter season on the, 16. Moccasins, Indian mode of making, 57. Moccasins, use of, to the prairie traveler, 11. Modesty, Mormon, instance of, 268. Mollusks of Utah Territory, 280. Mono Lake, 274. Montagnes Rocheuses, Les, 153, 162. Moonshine Valley, 480. Moore, “Miss,” and her ranche, 154. Moore, “Miss,” her history, 155. Moose deer (Cervus Alces), habitat of the, 68. Moravianism regarded as a means of civilization of the Indians, 35. Mormon agglomeration of all that is good in all sects, 397, 398. Mormon balls and suppers at Social Hall, 230-2. Mormon Bible, 367. Mormon Bible, contents of the, 368, note. “Mormon, Book of,” 367, note. “Mormon, Book of,” chronology of the most important events recorded in the, 411. Mormon Conference, description of a, 302-309. Mormon dispensation of Mr. Joseph Smith, 183. Mormon doctrines and covenants, 371. Mormon doxology, remarks on the fourteen articles of the, 387, _et seq._ Mormon emigrants, 137, 176, 180, 181, 182, 225. Mormon emigrants, miseries of one of the, 174, 175. Mormon emigration, system of, 295. Mormon emigration, the regular track of, 174. Mormon estimate of outfit for the Utah route, 138, note. Mormon feat at Simpson’s Hollow, 168. Mormon feat near Green River, 173. Mormon fugitives on the road, 456. Mormon gift of tongues, 268. Mormon government, upon what it is based, 301. Mormon hierarchy, the, 399. Mormon History, chronological abstract of, 548. Mormon lad, a, in the South Pass, 166. Mormon lectures on faith, 371. Mormon materialism, 384. Mormon meaning of the word, 361-2. Mormon meeting-rooms in London and its vicinity, list of, 301, note. Mormon modesty, 268. Mormon names, 227. Mormon neophytes, behavior of the, 228-9. Mormon polygamy, 373, 426, 428, 431, 432. Mormon Prophet, visit to the, 237, et seq. Mormon Saints, dress of the fair, 227. Mormon Scriptures, list of the, 209, note. Mormon shanty, Dawvid Lewis and his dirty, 174, 175. Mormon tolerance, 351. Mormon wagons, trains of, on the road, 137, 176, 180, 181. Mormonism, deep root which it has taken in Great Britain, 301. Mormonism, final remarks on, 441. Mormonism, Lieutenant Gunnison’s resumé of, 398. Mormonism, list of works published upon the subject of, 203, note. Mormonism, objections to, 404. Mormonism, sketch of, 361, et seq. Mormonism, what it is not, 403. Mormonland, account of, 272. Mormons, children of the, 423. Mormons, description of their Temple, 514. Mormons, fondness of the, for sleighing, private theatricals, and dancing, 229-31. Mormons, foundation of their city, 288. Mormons, how they regard the United States, 250. Mormons, kindness of the, to the Indians, 245. Mormons, period for, leaving the Mississippi, 138. Mormons, political prospects of the, 352. Mormons, promulgation of their Constitution, 289, note. Mormons, remarks upon the articles of their doxology, 387, et seq. Mormons, sketch of the religion of the, 361. Mormons, tenure by which they hold their lands, 290. Mormons, their belief as to marriages between a Saint and a Gentile, 170, note. Mormons, their complaints against Congress, 289, 290. Mormons, their Emigration Road, 71. Mormons, their hierarchy, 399. Mormons, their materialism, 384. Mormons, their Nauvoo Legion, 354-5. Mormons, their new Independence-day, 251. Mormons, their newspapers, 255. Mormons, their politics, 251. Mormons, their polygamy, 373. Mormons, their punishment for adultery, 252. Mormons, their quasi-military organization on the march, 138. Mormons, their sermons in the Bowery, 260, 264. Mormons, their tithes, 249-50. Morning on the prairies, 131. Motherhood, how regarded in the Western States, 432. Moufflon, the American, 153, 155. Mountain, Big, 190. Mountain, Ensign, 196. Mountain, Little, 192. Mountain Meadow Massacre, 339. Mountain Point, 195, 459. Mountain, Quaking-Asp, 181. Mountain, Rim-Base, 181. Mountain Springs, 462. “Mountaineer,” Mormon newspaper, 257. Mountaineers of the West, 81. Mountains, Bear-River, 174. Mountains, Black, 133, 142. Mountains, Granite, 454. Mountains, Green-River, or Sweet-water Hills, 153. Mountains, High, 458. Mountains, Laramie, 91, 134. Mountains, Laramie Peak, 79, 85. Mountains of Utah Territory, singular formation of the, 275. Mountains, Oquirrh, 191, 194, 322. Mountains, Rocky, 153, et seq. Mountains, Traverse, 332. Mountains, Uinta, 176, 178. Mountains, Wasach, 189, 195, 322, 330. Mountains, White, 450. Mountains, Wind-River, 68, 162, 163, 164, 166. Mud Lake, 274. Mud Spring station, 71. Muddy Creek, Big, 180. Muddy Creek, Little, 140, 180. Muddy Creek, Little, the Canadian station-master at, 180. Muddy Creek, Little, wretched station at, 140. Muddy Fork, 174. Mules in the West, 135. Mules, obstinacy of, 14. Mules, of Central America, 13, 14. Mules, rate of progress of, 14. Mules, recalcitrancies of, 157, 167. Murder, Mormon punishment for, 426. Murders in and near Great Salt Lake City, 225, 339. Murders in Carson City, 225. Murphy, Captain, his loyalty, 181. Muskrat Station, 159. Muskrat the, 159, note. Mustang of the Black Hills, 142. Mustang the, or prairie pony, 68, note. Myers, Mr., the Mormon of Bear-River Valley, 182. Mysteries of Endowment House in Great Salt Lake City, 220.

Names, Indian, 115. Names, of the Mormons, 227. Nauvoo Legion, account of the, 354-5. Nauvoo Legion, story of two warriors of the, 187. Nebraska, meaning of the word, 40. Nebraska River. See Platte, La Grande. Nebraska, Southern, rainy season in, 16. Needle Rocks, 183. Nemehaw Creek, Big, 21. Neophytes, Mormon, behavior of the, 228-9. Newspapers in Great Salt Lake City, 255. Nicollet Lake, 274. Niobrara, or Eau qui court River, 40, 72. Nullah. See Arroyo.

Oats, wild (Avena fatua), of the Pacific water-shed, 139. “Obelisks, the,” 188. O’Fallon’s Bluffs, 48, 53. Officials, federal, behavior in Great Salt Lake City of the, 421. Ojibwa Indians, habitat of the, 100, 101. Ojibwa, the name, 100, note. Ogalala, or Okandanda Indians, habitat of the, 98. Ogalala, village of the, 85. Omaha Creek, or Little Punkin, 71. Onions, wild, of the valley of the Little Blue River, 31. Oohenonpa Indians, habitat and numbers of the, 98. Ophthalmia in Utah Territory, 278. Opinion, public, in Great Salt Lake City, 197. Oquirrh Mountains, 191, 194, 322. Oregon, boundary-stone between it and Utah, 169. Oregon, establishment of the mail-coach route from Missouri to, 4. Oregon, origin of the name, 169, note. Ormsby, Mayor, his death, 479. Osages, account of the tribe of the, 34. Osages, cession of the territory of the, 34. Osages, mode of building the lodges of the, 85. Ottagamies, the Indian tribe of, 20, note. Outfit, the traveler’s, 9. Outposts, remarks on the United States army system of, 43, 44. Owl, the burrowing (Strix cunicularia), 66. Oxen shod at Great Salt Lake City, 270. Ox-riding, 24, note.

Pabakse, or Cut-Head Indians, 97. Pacific Creek, 167. Pacific Railroad, difficulties of a, 277. Pacific Railroad, routes proposed for a, 3. Pacific Springs, 163. Pacific Springs, station at, 163, 166. Padouca River, 60, 63. Pantomime, Indian, or speaking with the fingers, 123. Pantomime, preliminary signs for the traveler, 124. Pantomime, signs of some of the Indian tribes, 123. Pantomime, various other signs, 124-30. Panama, 501. Parley’s Kanyon, 195, 344. Patriarch, rank of, in the Mormon hierarchy, 400. Pawnee Indians, account of the, 36. Pawnee Indians, principal sub-tribes of the, 37. Pawnee Indians, readiness of the, to cut off a single traveler, 138. Pawnee Indians, sign of the tribe of the, 123. Peddlers, licensed and unlicensed, 81. Penitentiary, the, of Great Salt Lake City, 271. Phelps, Judge and Apostle, his “Sermon on the Mount,” 196, note. Phelps, Judge and Apostle, visit to, 253. Pigeons a constant dish in Italy, 38. “Pike’s Peakers” on the road, 60. Pine-tree Stream, 174. Pine Valley, 480. Piñon-tree, fruit of the, 466. Piñon-tree (P. monophyllus) of the West, 285. Pipes of the Côteau des Prairies, 88. “Pitch-holes or chuck-holes” of the prairies, 18. Placerville City, 499. Platte Bridge, delicious climate of, 137. Platte, Fort, 90. Platte River, a dust storm in the valley of the, 75. Platte River, appearance of the, at Platte Bridge, 136. Platte River, beauty of the banks of the, 39. Platte River, character of the soil beyond the immediate banks of the, 41. Platte River, coal found on the banks of the, 141. Platte River, division of the, into the northern and southern streams, 60. Platte River, farewell to the, 146. Platte River, fording the, 63. Platte River, La Grande, or Nebraska, 39. Platte River, Lower Ferry over the, 140. Platte River, noxious exhalations from the, 48. Platte River, shallowness of the, 40. Platte River, tender adieux at the upper crossing of the, 62. Platte River, timber on the banks of the, 40, 41. Platte River, wild garden on the shores of the, 41. Pleasant Valley, 461. Plum Creek, 48. Plum Creek Ranche, soil about, 48. Poetry of the Sioux Indians, 122. Point Look-out, 454. Poison Springs, 461. Poisons, animal and vegetable, of the Prairie Indians, 120. Polar plant, the, 48. Police, private, of Mormon life, 224. Police, public, of Great Salt Lake City, 224. Polygamy among the Mormons, 373, 426. Polygamy, justification of, 384. Polygamy, Mrs. Pratt’s letter on, 433, et seq. Polygamy, results of, 428. Polygamy, revelation to Joseph Smith on, 373. Polygamy, views of women respecting, 431. Pony Express, the, 28, note. Pony Express, the, on the road, 169. Pony Express, postage by the, 29. Pony Express, riders of the, 29. Population of Utah Territory, 294. Population of Utah Territory, excess of females, 301. Populus tremuloides, the, 180. Postal system of the United States, evils of the contract system, 172, 173, note. Powder River, Indians of the, 97. Prairie, absence of animal life on the, 18. Prairie, an evening in the, 38. Prairie compass, the, 48. Prairie dog, the (Cynomys Ludovicianus), 66. Prairie dog, his associates, reptiles, birds, and beasts, 66. Prairie-dog village, 65. Prairie fever, cause of the, 22. Prairie, fires, the, 29. Prairie, fires, effects of, on the temperature of the air, 79. Prairie hen, heath hen, or pinnated grouse, 142. Prairie, land of the United States, 6. Prairie, monotony of the, 18. Prairie, monotony of the rolling, 69. Prairie, or “perrairey,” the Western, peculiarities of the, 17. Prairie, pitch-holes or “chuck-holes” of the, 18. Prairie pony, or mustang, 68, note. Prairie saddle, the, 24, 25. Prairie, skeleton of the earth at the bluffs, 29. Prairie squirrel, the (Spermophilus tredecimlineatus), 159, note. Prairie storm, a, 21. Prairie the grand, 17. “Prairie Traveler,” the, of Captain R. B. Marcy, quoted, 4. Prairie trees, progressive decay of the, 69. Prairie turnip, the, 182, note. Prairie “weed,” 48. Prairie wolf, or coyote, 64. Prairie, wolf, the, 30. Prairies, alternate puffs of hot and cold winds in the, 79. Prairies, blanched bones on the, 48. Prairies, clouds of grasshoppers in the, 69. Prairies, names of different kinds of, 48. Prairies, the buffalo the “monarch of the,” 50. Pratt, Mrs. Belinda M., letter of, on polygamy, 433, et seq. Pratt, Orson, account of, 353. Pratt, Orson, “the Gauge of Philosophy,” Mormon works of, 212, note. Pratt, Parley P., Mormon works of, 211, 212, note. Pratt, Parley P., murder of, 340, and note. Prêle River, the, 136. President, rank of, in the Mormon hierarchy, 399. Prices in Great Salt Lake City, 321. Priests, high, rank of, in the Mormon hierarchy, 399. Prophecies of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, 356, note. Protestantism, origin of, 364. Provo City, 189, 219, 333, note. Provo River, 333. Puma, the, 153, note. Punishments, Indian, 103. Punkin Creek, Little, 71. Pyramid Lake, 274.

Quaking-Asp Creek, 161. Quaking-Asp Hill, 181. Quaking-Asp (Populus tremuloides), 180.

Rabbit-bush, the, 158. Race-course Bluff, 179. Railroad Kanyon, 480. Railroad, Pacific, Mr. Jefferson Davis’s estimate of the cost of the, 3, note. Rain-storms at Weber-River Station, 188. Rainy season in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Southern Nebraska, 16. “Ranch,” the, at Turkey Creek, 30. Rancho, the, in Mexico and California, 5, note. Rattlesnake bites and their remedies, 156. Rattlesnake Hills, the, 151, 153. Rattlesnakes, 156. Red Butte, 195. Red region, the, 136. Reese’s River, 486. Regshaw, Mr., his bridge over the Platte, 140. Reid, Captain Mayne, remarks on his “Wild Huntress,” 209, note. Religion of the Indians generally, 107. Religion of the Mormons, sketch of the, 361, et seq. Religion of the Sioux, 103. Religions of the United States, list of, 363, note. Remy, Jules, and Mr. Brenchley, their work on the Mormons, 204, note. Revenge, Indian, 103. Revolvers, value of, 9. Reynal, M., of Horse-Creek Station, 80. Reynal, M., sketch of, and his career, 81. Rice, the wild (Zizania aquatica), 96, note. Richland town extinct, 21. Rifles, Hawkins’s, 9. Riggs’s, Rev. S. R., dictionary of the Sioux language, 120, 121. River, Assiniboin, 100. River Bank and Stream camping-ground on the Sweetwater, 158. River, Bear, 182, 325. River, Black’s Fork, 174, 176, 177. River, Blue, Big, 29. River, Blue Earth, 96. River, Blue, Little, 31, 38. River, Cannon, 96. River, Carson, 493. River, Colorado, 162. River, Columbia, 162. River, Des Moines, 96. River, Fox, 19. River, Frémont’s Peak, 153, 161, 164. River, Grand, Neosho, or White-Water, 34. River, Green, 162, 166, 170, 284. River, Ham’s Fork, 174. River, Humboldt, 480. River, James, 97. River, Kisiskadjiwan, 100. River, Milk, 100. River, Mississippi, 15, 97. River, Missouri, 15, 97. River, Missouri, Little, 97. River, Muddy Fork, 174. River, New Jordan, 233, 325. River, Niobrara, or Eau qui court, 40, 72. River, Padouca, 60, 63. River, Platte, La Grande, or Nebraska, 39, 60. River, Platte, 162. River, Powder, 97. River, Prêle, 136. River, Reese’s, 485, 486. River, Sandy, Big, 30, 169. River, Sandy, Little, 30. River, Sioux, Big, 97. River, Smith’s Fork, 176. River, Snake, 162. River, Snowy-Peak, 164. River, Sweetwater, or Pina Pa, 150, 158, 161, 162. River, Timpanogos, 182, 333. River, Weber, 182, 188, 189, 325. River, White-Earth, or Mankizitah, 72. River, Wind, 162. River, Yellow-Stone, 162. Road from Fort Kearney, 47. Road from the Black Hills, 134. Roads from Great Salt Lake City to California, 452. Roads, junction of the Great Salt Lake City and Fort Hall, 167. Robber’s Roost Station, 468. Robidoux, Antoine, notice of, 75, note. Robidoux, Fort, 75. Robinson (“Uncle Jack”), 177. Rock, Independence, 148. Rock, Independence, names inscribed on, 149. Rock or Turkey Creek, 30. Rock or Turkey Creek, the “ranch” at, 30. “Rocks” of the West, 19. Rockwell, Orrin Porter, account of, 448-9. Rockwell, Orrin Porter, excellent advice of, 449. Rockwell, Orrin Porter, the Danite, 191. Rocky Mountains, a humble-bee on the topmost summit of the, 165. Rocky Mountains, first view of the, 153. Rocky Mountains, heights of the, 7, 153, et seq. Rocky Mountains, surface of the land on the western slopes of the, 8. Rocky Mountains, temperature on the counterslope of the South Pass of the, 168. Rogers, Colonel, or “Uncle Billy,” 471. Rose, the apostate Jew and Mormon, 456. Routes proposed for a Pacific Railroad, 3. Routes proposed for a Pacific Railroad, difficulties of, 277. Ruby Valley, 471. Russell, Mr. W. H., and the Pony Express, 28, and note. Russell, Mr. W. H., and the Pony Express, slowness of the transport by, 136. Rush Valley, 451, 453.

Sac Indians, tents of the, 86. Sac Indians, the, 19. Saddle, the native Indian, 25. Saddle, the prairie, 24, 25. Sage at Rocky-Bridge Station, 161. Sage hen or prairie-hen, 142. Sage Springs, 486. Sage, wild (artemisia or absinthe), description of, 53, 54. Saleratus Lake, 147, 148. Saleratus Lake, startling appearance of, 148. Salmon trout of the Green River, 170. Salt grass, 148. Salt Lake City, Great. See Great Salt Lake City. Salt Lake, Great. See Great Salt Lake. Salt Lake House Hotel, 201. Salt Lake, Little, 274. Salt, quantity of, in the water of Great Salt Lake, 325-6. Saltpetre not found in Utah Territory, 282. San Francisco, 500. Sand-banks of the Missouri, 15. Sand hills, the tract called the, 70, note. Sand Springs Station, 491. Sandstone at Grasshopper Creek, 21. Sandy Creek, 71. Sandy Creek, Big, or Wágáhongopá, 167. Sandy Creek, Little, 167. Sandy River, Big, 30, 169. Sandy River, Little, 30, 169. Sans Arc Sioux Indians, habitat of the, 98. Sault Ste. Marie, Indians at, 100. Saurians of Utah Territory, 280. Sawyers and snags of the Missouri, 15. Scalping, origin of the custom of, 112. Scalping, considered as a religious rite, 113. Schools in Great Salt Lake City, 345. Schools, principal, 425. Scott’s Bluffs, 77. Scott’s Bluffs, hurricanes of, 78. Scott’s Bluffs, origin of the name, 78. Scythians, scalping rites of the, 112. Seasons, the, in Utah Territory, 277. Seneca City, in Kansas, 21. Seventeen-mile Station, 48. Seventies, the, in the Mormon hierarchy, 400. Sevier, Mr., the Mormon, 463. Shanties, 18. Shanties, of Seneca City, 21, 22. Shanties, origin of the word, 18, note. Shanty, a, in Kansas, 19. Shanty, the, at Pacific Springs, 166. Shanty, the dirty, of Ham’s Fork, 174, 175. Shawnees, their lodges, 86. Sheawit Creek, 482. Shell Creek, 465, 466. Shops in Great Salt Lake City, 217. Shoshonee Indians, 473-4. Shoshonee Indians, their friendliness to whites, 165. Sibley, Major, his improved tent, 87. Sichangu, Brûlé, or Burnt-Thigh Indians, habitat of the, 98. Sierra Nevada, the, 493. Sign-system of language among the Indians, 123. Silva, Luis, and his wife, 154. Silver found in Utah Territory, 281. Silver, virgin, found in the White Mountains, 450, note. Simpson’s Hollow, 168. Simpson’s Hollow, feat of the Mormons at, 168. Simpson’s Park, 485. Simpson’s Pass, 486. Simpson’s Road, 481. Sioux Indian, a “buck,” 89. Sioux Indian, meaning of the name “Sioux,” 95, 96. Sioux Indians, books printed in their tongue, 120, 121. Sioux Indians, character of the, 102. Sioux Indians, constitution of the, 104. Sioux Indians, dependence of the, on the buffalo for subsistence, 51. Sioux Indians, destruction of Lieutenant Grattan and his party by the, 88. Sioux Indians, funeral ceremonies of the, 122. Sioux Indians, future of the, 100, 101. Sioux Indians, habits of the, in former times and at present, 102. Sioux Indians, language of the, 120. Sioux Indians, lodges of the, 86. Sioux Indians, manners and customs of the, 99. Sioux Indians, murder of M. Montalan by the, 91. Sioux Indians, poetry and songs of the, 122. Sioux Indians, present habitat of the, 95. Sioux Indians, principal bands into which the race is divided, 95-98. Sioux Indians, religion of the, 103. Sioux Indians, revenge of the, 103. Sioux Indians, sacred language of the, 122. Sioux Indians, sign of the tribe of, 124. Sioux Indians, skill in archery of the, 120. Sioux Indians, the Brûlé, their defeat at Ash Hollow, 70. Sioux Indians, women of the, 103. Sioux River, Big, 97. Sisahapa, or Blackfeet Indians, 98. Sisitonwan Indians, habitat of the, 96. Skins, prices of, at Laramie City, 88. Skull of the Indian, its form and dimensions, 105. Skull Valley, 454. Skunk, the, 189. Slade, the redoubtable, 92, 173. Slavery legalized in Utah, 243. Sleighing in Great Salt Lake City, 229. Smith, Captain John, the Mormon patriarch, 180. Smith, George A., the Mormon apostle, account of, 241. Smith, Joseph, account of the martyrdom of, 517. Smith, Joseph, his works, 209, 210, note. Smith, Joseph, his second son David, 241. Smith, Joseph, his son Joseph, of Nauvoo, 240. Smith, Joseph, vindicated, 405-6. Smith, Mrs. M. E. V., her works on Mormonism, 207, 208, note. Smith’s Creek, 486. Smith’s Fork, 176. Smoking among the American Indians, 110. Smoking material of the Wild Man of the North, 31. Smoky Valley, 484. Smoot, Bishop Abraham O., his address in the Bowery, 260. “Smudge,” a, before sleep, 165. Snags and sawyers of the Missouri, 15. Snake Indians at Ham’s Fork, 174. Snake Indians, lodges of the, 86. Snake River, fountain-head of the, 162. Snake River, Indian name for, 167, note. Snakeroots, 156, 157, note. Snow Creek, 140. Snow Creek, country about, 141, 142. Snow, Lorenzo, his Mormon works, 212, note. Snowy Peak, 164. Social Hall in Great Salt Lake City, 229. Social Hall, fêtes at, 230, 231. Soda, carbonate of, in Saleratus Lake, 147, and note. Soda, or Beer Springs, 179. Soil at Fort Laramie, 90. Soil beyond the immediate banks of La Grande Platte River, 41. Soil near Plum Ranche, on the Platte River, 48. Soil of Big Sandy River, 169. Soil of the bench-land of Great Salt Lake Valley, 195. Soil of the country beyond the Warm Springs, 158. Soil of the Valley of the Black Hills, 134. Soil of Utah Territory, 283. Soldiers, army grievances of, 445. Soldiers, at Camp Floyd, 444. Soldiers, discharged, on the road home, 154. Soldiers, disliked in the United States, 336. Soldiers manners and customs of the, of former times, 444-5. Soldiers, United States, dress of, 446. Songs of the Sioux Indians, 122. South-Pass City, in the Rocky Mountains, 161. South-Pass of the Rocky Mountains, 161. South-Pass its extent and height above sea level, 162. South Pass the fountain-head of some of the great rivers of America, 161. Spencer, Elder Orson, his works on Mormonism, 212, note. Spring Valley, 466. Spur, the prairie, 27. Squatter life in Kansas, a specimen of, 19. Squatter life, difficulties and dangers of, 101. Squaws, Indian, 59. Squaws, Indian, dirty cookery of the, 80. Squaws, of the Sioux Indians, 103. Squirrel, the chipmonk or chipmuk, 159, note. Squirrel, the ground, 159. Squirrel, the spotted prairie, 159, note. Staines, Mr. W. C., the Mormon, 269. Stalking the antelope on the prairies, 67. Stambaugh, Colonel, 233. Stampede, the great dread of the prairie traveler, 76. Stansbury, Captain, his scruples as to the observance of Sunday on the march, 149. Stansbury, Captain, his work on Mormonism, 203, note. Stansbury Island, 327. Stenhouse, Elder T. B. H., and his wife, 223. Stirrup, the prairie, 26. Store, a, in the Valley of the Platte, 53. Storm, prairie, at Walnut Creek, 21. Storm of dust in the Valley of the Platte, 75. Stone Lake, Big, Indian tribes at, 96. Stone used for the Mormon temple, 195. Strawberries, wild, 161. Strawberry Creek, 161. Streets of Great Salt Lake City, 216, 217. Sturgis, Captain, his chastisement of the Indians, 43. Suckers, the fish so called, 152. Sugar House in Great Salt Lake City, 271. Sulphur Creek, 181. Sulphurous pools in Great Salt Lake Valley, 274. Sumach, the, 31. Summer, the Indian, 79, 483. Sumner, Brigadier General, his chastisement of the Indians, 43. Sunflower, the, in the Valley of the Little Blue River, 31. Sunflower, value of its seeds, 31. Superstition of the Indian, 107, 108. Sweetwater Hills, or Green-River Mountains, the, 153. Sweetwater River, influents of the, 161. Sweetwater River, its beauty, 153, 154. Sweetwater River, its water, 150. Sweetwater River, M‘Achran’s Branch of, 161. Sweetwater River, or Pina Pa, 150, 158. Syracuse, in Kansas, 18.

Tabernacle, the, of Great Salt Lake City, 219, 220. Table Mountain, 162. Tangle-leg, a new intoxicating liquor, 24, note. Tannery of Mr. Little at Great Salt Lake City, 344. Tar Springs, 182. Taxes of Great Salt Lake City, 315. Taylor, John, the Mormon apostle, 270. Teachers and deacons in the Mormon hierarchy, 403. Teeth of the Indian, 106. Temperature at Fort Laramie, 90. Temperature at the Foot of Ridge Station, 159. Temperature of St. Louis, 159. Temperature on the counterslope of the Rocky Mountains, 168. Temple Block in Great Salt Lake City, 217. Temple description of the, 515. Tent, Major Sibley’s, 87. Tents of the Prairie Indians, 85, 86. Tetrao pratensis, 142. Tetrao urophasianus, 142. Thermal Springs near Great Salt Lake City, 236. Thermal Springs near Great Salt Lake City, analysis of the waters of, 236, note. Thirty-two-mile Creek, 38. Thirty-two-mile Creek, the station at, 38. Three Lakes, 161. “Thunder, Little,” chief of the Brûlé Sioux, defeated and deposed, 89. “Thunder, Little,” description of, 132. “Thunder, Little,” visit from, 132. Thunder-storms in Utah, 276. Timber of Grasshopper Creek, 21. Timber of Great Cotton-wood Kanyon, 346. Timber of La Grande Platte River, 40, 41, 53. Timber of Locknan’s Station, 21. Timber of the Black Hills, 134. Timber of the Mississippi, 15. Timber progressive decay of prairie, 69. Timber the Western man’s instinctive dislike of, 170. Timber, want of, in Utah Territory, 284. Time, the Indian’s notion of, 118. Timpanogos Kanyon, visit to, 446. Timpanogos or Provo River, 333. Timpanogos Water, 182. Tithes paid by the Mormons, 249. Tithing House in Great Salt Lake City, 249. Titonwan Indians, habitat and present condition of the, 97. Titonwan Indians, sub-tribes of the, 98. Tobacco, the traveler’s outfit of, 10. Tobacco, use of, among the American Indians, 110. Toilet of the prairie traveler, 10. Tolerance of the Mormons, 351. Tongues, gift of, 268. Tonkowas, tents of the, 85. Tophet, 454. Totem, the, of the Indian, 108. Towakamies, tents of the, 85. Townsend, Mr., the Mormon hotel-keeper, 202. Traders, licensed and unlicensed, 81. Trafalgar Square, barbarous incongruity of, 185. Trapper, the, of sixty years ago, 83. Travel, proprieties of, 149. Travelers, mismanagement of inexperienced, 229. Traveling, slow rate of, of the mail-coaches from Missouri to California and Oregon, 5. Traverse, Lake, Indians at, 96. Traverse Mountain, 332. Trona formation of Alkali Lake, 153. Trona formation of Saleratus Lake, 147, note. Troy, in Kansas, 18. Turkey Creek, or Rock, 30. Turkey Creek, the “ranch” at, 30. Turnip, the prairie, 182, note. “Twelve, the,” in the Mormon hierarchy, 400. “Twin Peaks” of the Wasach Mountains, 195. Twiss, Major, 138.

Uinta Hills, 176, 178. Uncle John’s Grocery, 27. Uncle John’s Grocery, Indians at, 27. United States, eastern and western divisions of the, 6. United States, extent of the, 6. United States, military departments into which they are divided, 42, 43, note. United States, “Prairie land” of the, 6. United States, present policy of the, toward the Indian, 101. United States, proposal for establishing a camel corps in the, 46. United States, remarks on the army system of outposts in the, 43, 44. Utah Indians, lodges of the, 86. Utah Lake, or Sweetwater Reservoir, 274, 332, 444, 446. Utah Territory, bad effects of conflicting judiciaries in, 312. Utah Territory, boundaries of, 273. Utah Territory, cities and counties of, 291-3. Utah Territory, climate of, 275. Utah Territory, configuration of the country, 273. Utah Territory, diseases in, 278. Utah Territory, geography of, 273. Utah Territory, geology of, 281. Utah Territory, grazing in, 284. Utah Territory, Indians of, 473. Utah Territory, lakes of, 274. Utah Territory, Legislative Assembly of, 310. Utah Territory, minerals of, 281. Utah Territory, Mormon government in, 301. Utah Territory, origin of the name, 272. Utah Territory, population of, 294. Utah Territory, present state of agriculture in, 285. Utah Territory, principal value of, 287. Utah Territory, proposed route to, 3. Utah Territory, rights of the citizens of, 311. Utah Territory, scourges of crickets and grasshoppers in, 284. Utah Territory, singular formation of the mountains of, 275. Utah Territory, soil of, 283. Utah Territory, springs of, 274. Utah Territory, the Great Desert of, 455. Utah Territory, the Indian bureau of, 476. Utah Territory, the past of Mormonland, 288. Utah Territory, United States officials in, 309-10. Utah Territory, want of timber in, 284-5. Utah Territory, wild animals of, 279.

Valley Home, in Kansas, 19. “Valley Tan,” origin of the name, 170, and note. Vegetables grown in Great Salt Lake Valley, 287. Vegetation at Black Fork, 176, 177-8. Vegetation at Quaking-Asp Hill, 181. Vegetation of Big Kanyon, 192, 193. Vegetation of Big Mountain, 190. Vegetation of Big Sandy Creek, 167, 169. Vegetation of Great Cotton-wood Kanyon, 346. Vegetation of Kansas, 17. Vegetation of Little Blue River, 31. Vegetation of the banks of La Grande Platte River, 41, 48, 52, 53. Vegetation of the valleys of the Black Hills, 134. Vegetation of the Wind-River Mountains, 163. Veranda, a model, 53. Vermilion Creek, 27. Viburnum dentatum, 119. Villages, Indian, 86. Violin, Mormon fondness for the, 177.

Waddington, Mr., the Mormon, 463. Wágáhongopá, or Glistening Gravel Water, 167. Wagon trains of the Great American Sahara, 22. Wagons, various uses of the, of the prairies, 71. Wagons, price of the, called ambulances, 73 note. Wahpekute Indians, habitat of the, 96. Wahpetonwan Indians, habitat of the, 96. Wakoes, tents of the, 85. Walker’s Lake, 274. Wallace, Mr., at the Bowery, 260. Walls, the great, of Great Salt Lake City, 197. Walnut Creek, 21. Walnut Creek, prairie storm at, 21. War-parties among the Indians, 143. War-party, return home of a, 144. Ward, Mrs. Maria, her work on Mormonism, 206, note. Ward, W.,the Mormon sculptor and apostate, 246. Wards into which Great Salt Lake City is divided, 217. Ward’s Station, or the “Central Star,” 91. Warm Springs, 158. Warm Springs, barren country beyond, 158. Warren, Lieutenant Gouverneur K., report of, on Nebraska quoted, 7. Warriors, Indian, 57. Wasach Mountains, 189, 195. Wasach Mountains, eternal snow of the, 323. Washiki, the Shoshonee chief, 165. Washington County, Utah Territory, description of, 292, note. Water communication, idea of, between the Missouri and the Columbia Rivers, 162, 163, note. Water, none in the First Desert, 167. Water, scarcity of, on the counterslope of the Rocky Mountains, 166. Water, supply of, in Great Salt Lake City, 216. Wazikute Indians, 97. Weapons necessary to the Western traveler, 9. Weapons of the North American Indians, 57, 119, 120. Weber River, 182. Weber River, head and course of the, 188, 325. Weber River, rain-storms and cold winds of, 188. Weber River, Station, 188. Weber River, tributaries of the, 189. Weber River, valley of the, 188. Weed-prairie, the, 48. Wells, General, the Mormon president, account of, 241, 354. Western man’s home, description of a, 468-9. Whisky a favorite with the wagon drivers, 24. Whisky “Valley Tan,” 170. White-Earth River, or Mankizitah, 72. White Knife Indians, 481-2. White Mountains, 450. “White Savages” of the West, 173, and note. Wichiyela, or First-Nation Indians, 97. Wigwams, huts, or cabins of the Eastern American Indians, 86, note. Wilderness, the American, 63. Wilderness, the American, animal life in, 64. Willow Creek, 161. Willow Creek, a little war at, 461. Willow Creek, Canadian settlers at, 161. Willow Creek, station at, 461. Willow Island Ranch, 49. Willow Springs Station, 147. Willow, the red, the bark of, smoked, 111. Wind, alternate hot and cold puffs of, in the prairies, 79. Wind River, fountain-head of the, 162. Wind River, Mountains, 162, 163, 164. Wind River, Mountains, evening view of the, 164. Wind River, Mountains, game in the, 68. Wind River, Mountains, gold found in the, 165. Wind River, Mountains, morning in the, 166. Wind River, Mountains, wild animals of the wooded heights, 165. Winds, cold, of Weber-River Station, 188. Wind-storms of the South Pass, 165. Wind, west, almost invariable at the South Pass, 163. Winnebagoes, Winnipegs, or Ochangras, Indian tribe of the, 20, note. Winnebagoes, their tents, 86. Winnipeg Lake, Indians on, 100. Witchetaws, tents of the, 85. Wright, Mose, 472-3, 481-2. Wolves at Rocky Bridge Station, 160, 161. Wolves, near Black’s Fork, 176. Wolves, the prairie, 30. Women, excess of the female over the male population in Utah Territory, 301. Women, house of the wives of the Prophet in Great Salt Lake City, 246. Women, Indian, 59, 106. Women, Indian names of, 115. Women, marriage among the North American Indians, 116. Women, Mormon marriage, 427, 432. Women, Mormon, their polygamy, 431. Women, motherhood, how regarded in the Western States, 432. Women of the Mormons, 228, 430. Women of the Sioux Indians, 103. Women, the half-breed, 80. Women, their separation from the men at meals, 117. Woodruff, Willford, the Mormon apostle, 242. Woodruff, Willford, his garden, 360. Woods, Lake of the, Indians of the, 100. Woodson, Colonel S. H., his establishment of the mail-coach route from Missouri to California and Oregon, 4. Wool-producing country in the basin of the Green River, 284.

Yellow Creek, 183. Yellow Creek, Hill, 184. Yellow Stone River, fountain-head of the, 162. Yoke, the, of the great American Sahara, 23. Yosemite, or Yohamite Falls, 500. Young, Brigham, President, extract from one of his sermons, 17, note. Young, Brigham, address of, at the Conference, 305-6. Young, Brigham, address of, in the Bowery, 261. Young, Brigham, alleged personal fear of, 226. Young, Brigham, character of, 239-245. Young, Brigham, gardens of, 269. Young, Brigham, his opinion of woman’s counsel, 207, note. Young, Brigham, house of, 234. Young, Brigham, mode of life of, 240, 242. Young, Brigham, nephew of the Prophet, 137. Young, Brigham, personal appearance of, 238-9. Young, Brigham, remarks of, on the “Indian Wars,” 243. Young, Brigham, visit to, 237-8. Young, Brigham, wealth of, 242. Young, Brigham, wives and children of, 249. Yuta Indians, “they who live on mountains,” sign of their tribe, 124, 477. Yuta Indians, a little war with the, 461. Yuta Indians, kindness of the Mormons to the, 245. Yuta Indians, graves of the, 122.

Zizania aquatica, 96, note.

THE END.

Transcriber’s Notes

The spelling of the source document (including inconsistent and unusual spelling, capitalisation, hyphenation, (deliberate) misspellings, phonetically written speech, etc.) have been retained, also in proper and geographical names and in literature references, except as mentioned below. The spelling (including the use of accents and other diacriticals) of non-English words has not been corrected, and missing words have not been inserted, except as mentioned below. Tabulated data and the results of calculations (even when they obviously contain errors) have been transcribed as printed, except as listed under Changes.

Depending on the hard- and software used to read this text, and their settings, not all elements may display as intended; due to very limited font support the deserét alphabet in particular may not render properly. Some of the larger elements (such as tables and illustrations) may be best viewed in a wide window or on a wide screen.

Page 356, Captain Suter: probably John Augustus Sutter Sr.

Page 362, “We say from the Saxon ...: there is no closing quote mark in the source document.

Page 413, “his brother Pacumeni was appointed by his successor”: probably an error for “... as his successor”.

Page 525: Closing quote mark inserted after ... rendered valueless there in a few days.

Page 561 ff. (Index): some entries are not in alphabetical order; this has not been corrected.

Page 568, “Mormon, Book of,” 367, note: the book has no footnote on page 367.

Changes:

Footnotes, illustrations, tables, etc. have been moved out of text paragraphs. Some of the larger tables have been split or otherwise re-arranged.

Some minor obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected silently. Some minor inconsistencies in the lay-out of the tables have been standardised silently.

Where relevant, page headers in the source document have been moved to the start of the paragraph to which they belong, and are given there [between square brackets]. Where they announce or refer to separate subjects, such headers have been split.

Some ditto marks („) and abbreviations (do.) have been replaced with the dittoed text.

Deseret and Deserét have been standardised to Deserét.

Page xv: Illustration numbers have been added to the List of Illustrations.

Page 215, Footnote 219: “Chestand” changed to “Ehestand”.

Page 228: “ζψον φιλοκοσμον” changed to “ζωον φιλοκοσμον”.

Page 253: הכבז changed to הננו.

Page 368, Footnote 204: “Kisheumen” changed to “Kishkumen”; “Femnarihah” changed to “Zemnarihah”.

Page 391: “VI.” (second occurrence) changed to “VII.”.

Page 430, Footnote 221: “cinque femmes où d’avantage” changed to “cinque femmes ou d’avantage”.

Page 458: “anti-Columbian immigration” changed to “ante-Columbian immigration”.

Page 484: “at our instance” changed to “at our insistence”

Page 486: “mummified us as in the Eastern prairies” changed to “mummified as in the Eastern prairies”.

Page 514, table row Grass in considerable quantity of good character: “12·19” changed to “121·9”.

Index: some spelling and hyphenation have been adjusted to conform to those used in the text.

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