Mormon Classics | Spalding Library | Cowdery's Bookshelf | Newspapers | History Vault
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Thomas B. H. Stenhouse (1825-1882) Rocky Mountain Saints (NYC : D. Appleton & Co., 1873) |
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more of T. B. H. Stenhouse's 1873 book | Fannie Stenhouse's Tell it All (1875)
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THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS: A FULL AND COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE MORMONS, FROM THE FIRTS VISION OF JOSEPH SMITH TO THE LAST COURTSHIP OF BRIGHAM YOUNG; INCLUDING THE STORY OF THE HAND-CART EMIGRATION -- THE MORMON WAR -- THE MOUNTAIN-MEADOWS MASSACRE -- THE REIGN OF TERROR IN UATH THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN SACRIFICE -- THE POLITICAL DOMESTIC, DOCIAL, AND THEOLOGICAL INFLUENCES OF THE SAINTS -- THE FACTS OF POLYGAMY THE COLONIZATION OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GREAT MINERAL WEALTH OF THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. BY T. B. H. STENHOUSE, TWENTY-ONE YEARS A MORMON ELDER AND MISSIONARY, AND EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OF THE SALT LAKE DAILY TELEGRAPH. ILLUSTRATED WITH TWENTY-FOUR FULL-PAGE ENGRAVINGS, A STEEL PLATE FRONTISPIECE, AN AUTOGRAPHIC LETTER OF BRIGHAM YOUNG, AND NUMEROUS WOODCUTS. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 549 & 551 BROADWAY. 1873. |
(Chapter 28 has not yet been transcribed)
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It was very natural that "the Saints" should recall to mind the sayings of their martyred Prophet when, even in the remotest manner, he had expressed an apprehension of early death - such as "I am going like a lamb to the slaughters etc.," or when he had done anything that could be interpreted as preparatory to "shuffling off this mortal coil." These were now sacred reminiscences and confirmed his prophetic character in the estimation and love of the people. Unfortunately, however, for the peace and unity of the Church, in all the multitude of his sayings and doings he made no direct and open preparation for the presidency of the Church in case of his death,* and thus his martyrdom wrought confusion among the disciples. They were left "like sheep without a shepherd." The apostles Taylor and Richards were with Joseph in Carthage jail, and all the other apostles were preaching in the States. On hearing the news of the tragedy, most of them hastened to Nauvoo, to counsel together upon the necessities of the situation. Joseph and Hyrum Smith, with Sidney Rigdon, had constituted "the first Presidency of the Church:" they were the ruling powers of the Kingdom. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had, in a conventional way, been recognized as _______ * It is claimed that "young Joseph" -- eldest son of the Prophet -- "was appointed through his father according to the law of lineage, by prophecy, and blessing, in Liberty jail, Missouri; by revelation in 1841, and by a formal anointing in a Council in Nauvoo, in 1844," to be the successor of his father. THE SCRAMBLE FOR JOSEPH'S PLACE. 205 "equal in authority to the First Presidency:" but up to this time the acknowledgment was merely nominal. At the death of the Smiths, Rigdon alone, of the First Presidency, remained, while the Quorum of the Apostles was entire. For several years preceding this period, Rigdon had been somewhat lukewarm and unreliable. Still, he clung to the faith, loved the Saints, and was certain to be present on the great occasions of Mormon demonstration. Sidney had never fairly got over the sufferings he endured in Missouri. His enthusiasm was chilled; and, besides this, Joseph, in seeking the hand of his daughter, Nancy, greatly offended him. At the time of the Prophet's death, Rigdon was residing with his family in Pittsburg, Ohio, trying to take life easily, while Brigham Young, the Pratts, Hyde, and other apostles were out on missions. When the news of the assassination arrived, he set out in haste and arrived first in Nauvoo. Parley P. Pratt, Brigham Young, Orson Hyde, Heber C. Kimball, and other apostles arrived soon after. Who should rule the Church was now an open question. Rigdon -- aware of the logical fact that one is the smaller part of three, and realizing that his active fellowship with the living Joseph had been questionable for some years back -- proposed to the Saints the appointment of a "guardian" over the church, a sort of regency, until further development should manifest "the will of the Lord." He had no hopes that he would then be accepted as a "prophet, seer, and revelator," though he had been ordained to all those high offices. Like a brevetted general, he had only worn his titles of glory. He was, therefore, contented to become the "guardian" -- if only he could attain to that position. Marsh had apostatized; Patten had been killed; and, by the accident of seniority, Brigham Young was at the head of the Quorum of the Twelve. No one questioned his fidelity to the Prophet up to this time; but, personally, he was remarkable for nothing - except being "hard-working Brigham Young." He was infinitely inferior in education and mental development to the Pratts and Hyde, but the apostasy of Marsh and the death of Patten, his predecessors in the ranks of the apostles, had brought him uppermost in that Quorum. 206 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS. The Church was now splitting into fragments. Many were uncertain of the future, and many more began to be doubtful of the past. In the language of Brigham, the people began to be "much every way." "Some were for Joseph and Hyrum, the Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, the Temple and Joseph's measures; some were for Lyman Wight; some for James Emmett; some for Sidney Rigdon, and, I suppose, some for the Twelve." 
Sidney Rigdon. Rigdon had been the Boanerges of the new faith, and had given it the first important aid which it received; but he was now waning in everything. He had seen Joseph revel in visions, dreams, and revelations, and had witnessed their wonderful effect upon the bewildered minds of the Saints. To step securely into Joseph's shoes, he had to do something like him, or to be for ever overthrown -- like Lucifer, for his ambition in seeking the headship of the Church. He essayed the role of Joseph and entered upon the shadowy regions of revelation. He had nightly visions about Gog and Magog, and saw wonderful things which were soon to take place. The great battle of Armageddon was at hand, and Rigdon was to lead on the hosts RIGDON DELIVERED OVER TO SATAN. 207 of the Lord to the slaughter till the blood flowed up to the horses' bridles. When that was all done and got through with, he, as a conqueror, was to be privileged with the honour of "pulling the nose of little Vic.!" This mad raving before public audiences, and the familiarity of language in using the name of her most gracious majesty, the sovereign of Great Britain, render comment on such fanaticism unnecessary. In private assemblages of the brethren he announced that he held "the keys of David," and he ordained some special friends to be "prophets, priests, and kings," and made general preparation for the maintenance of his claims, by force if necessary, to the guardianship of the Church. Rigdon was brought up for public trial before the High Council in Nauvoo, on the 8th of September, with eight of the apostles as "witnesses" -- who in reality acted as principal accusers. Brigham led off with a speech about Rigdon's history, and was followed by the other apostles and all who had anything to say about the matter. He was charged with the determination to "rule or ruin the Church." Brigham was as determined that he should do neither. Rigdon was said to be sick, and failed to appear at trial; but that was no hindrance. The accusations were listened to, and the family quarrel was anything but edifying to the Saints. Finally, it was moved "that he be cut off from the Church and delivered over to the buffetings of Satan until he repent." To this the reporter adds: "Elder Young arose, and delivered Sidney Rigdon over to the buffetings of Satan in the name of the Lord; and all the people said, Amen." Some ten persons voted in favour of Rigdon, and these were immediately "suspended" from fellowship. Brigham's notions of freedom of voting are singularly amusing. He works up his audience to the affirmative of what he has to propose, and as he calls for an expression of the people's mind by a show of uplifted hands, he stands up in the congregation to watch the operation. He then asks for a negative vote, and should any unfortunates differ from him they are captured. He has more recently added to this amusement of free voting the instruction beforehand to the congregation: "Now, brethren, 208 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS. look around you, and see who are voting; we want every one to vote one way or another." Should the voting be the "one way," all is serene; should it be "the other way," he then forces a collision which terminates with something analogous to King Richard's ejaculation -- "Off with his head! So much for Buckingham!" Brigham's free voting assemblies closely resemble those of the ancient parliaments of France, which were only convened to ratify the arbitrary edicts of the absolute monarchs of that kingdom. For some time after the trial, Sidney showed considerable disposition to fight the position assumed by Brigham and the Twelve, and for that purpose he revived the Latter-Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, in Pittsburg, Pa.; but it had only a short-lived existence. He is now very feeble with age and infirmity, and living in Friendship, New York. It has been generally expected that some day he would confess to having aided Joseph Smith in fabricating, from "Solomon Spaulding's Manuscript," the Book of Mormon; but there seems to be no ground for such a hope. All through his trial those who knew him before he was a Mormon spoke of him in such a manner as leaves no room to doubt Rigdon's own sincerity in the Mormon faith, and his total ignorance of the existence of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon till after that work had been published. As soon as Sidney was disposed of, the change in the government of the Church was almost magical. Joseph was always gushing over with inspiration and abounding in revelations. He had one or two men around him who aided him with counsel; but, after all, Joseph was the dominant figure throughout. Over the Church there were now twelve men, most of whom were ambitious to work. They were in new spheres of action, and set out, in the language of the conventicle, to "magnify their calling." In entering upon a new page of history, they thought it prudent to revise the past. Joseph had trusted more to miraculous interpositions, "the Lord," and outside politicians, then had been profitable. Brigham had been a hard-working man, and he knew the superiority of practical labour over visions, dreams, and revelations. He knew, too, the uncertainty of WHO SHALL RULE THE CHURCH? 209 politics. He had studied Joseph's troubles, had witnessed the terrible effect of Sidney's flighty attempts at continuing revelation, and had resolved to change the thoughts of the people. Joseph was "a natural born seer," and had a pedestal of his own. There Brigham intended that he should remain -- alone and undisturbed. With Joseph among them, the Saints had "walked by sight." With Brigham, they were now to "walk by faith." That was the safer position. Instead of vaulting to the prominence of the "Revelator," Brigham brought down the revelations to the grasp of the people, and distributed them broadcast among them. "Every member," said he, "has the right of receiving revelation for himself." This was a flattering privilege, and a great consolation; it had to satisfy the Saints, and it saved Brigham the unpleasantness of comparison. "Let no man presume for a moment that his (Joseph's) place will be filled by another," was the language of the hour; "you are now without a prophet present with you in the flesh to guide you; but you are not without apostles who hold the keys of power to seal on earth that which shall be sealed in heaven... I am not a prophet, seer, or revelator, as Joseph was," continues Brigham; "neither do I give revelations with 'Thus saith the Lord,' as he did, and so much the better for the Saints, for if I did so, and they did not live up to those revelations, they would be condemned." This was certainly a very kind consideration. What a deal of condemnation the Saints would have been saved if Joseph had only thought of it in his time! They now, however, had only "Hobson's choice," and were obliged to accept the situation. It is a sensible axiom that "half a loaf is better than no bread:" the Saints could not make a Joseph, they had of necessity to accept a Brigham. The soul and inspiration of Mormonism were gone. There was no successor to Joseph -- there could be none. Brigham at once announced that Joseph had left enough of revelation to guide them for twenty years. To build up "the kingdom" to Joseph, and to carry out Joseph's measures, were henceforth to be ambition and glory enough. Brigham might occupy Joseph's seat on the platform, but he could never fill his place in the Church, and no one knew this better than Brigham himself. He saw before him a multitude 210 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS. of people who had been gathered by revelation, and who had fed upon it daily. There was but one thing that could be done - make them work out an idea. "Build up the kingdom to Joseph: build it to Joseph!" -- "He is looking down upon us, and is with us as much as before." The people laboured for Joseph, and Brigham controlled and garnered the results for himself. The past style of doing business was to be changed; the loose ends were to be tied up, and everything was to be put upon a strictly commercial basis. The Saints were to gather to Nauvoo as before, but every member of the Church was to "proceed immediately to tithe himself or herself a tenth of all their property or money, and pay it into the hands of the Twelve," and "the members can then employ the remainder of their capital in every branch of enterprise, industry, and charity, as seemeth them good; only holding themselves in readiness to be advised in such manner as shall be for the good of themselves and the whole society." Brigham meant to control everybody and everything; and from the time when he signed the first epistle -- "Brigham Young, President of the Twelve, Nauvoo, August 15th, 1844," to the present hour, he has never lost sight of that part of his programme. In politics he was equally emphatic. None of the candidates for the presidential chair had "manifested any disposition or intention to redress wrong or restore right, liberty, or law," and the Saints were counselled to "stand aloof from all men and measures till some one could be found who would carry out the enlarged principles of our beloved prophet and martyr, General Joseph Smith." In the mean time "the Twelve Apostles of this dispensation stand in their own place and always will, both in time and eternity, to minister, preside, and regulate the affairs of the whole Church." The coup d'etat that overthrew Rigdon and placed Brigham on the throne was then complete. All that remained to be done, was to officially decapitate Rigdon and hand him over to Satan, which, as before stated, Brigham duly attended to on the 8th of September. There is something strikingly characteristic of the man in the foundation then laid of his present position. He has been THE THIN EDGE OF THE WEDGE. 211 charged with inconsistency in asserting at the time of Joseph's death that "no man should stand in his place," while subsequently he filled that place himself. But to this he has a ready answer: "No one can take the place of Joseph; he is still in his place at the head of the Church, and will always be there throughout time and eternity." This language is somewhat diplomatic, but it is consistent with the whole tenor of his life -- "the end justifies the means." That the people should not understand Brigham's ulterior purposes is not a matter of surprise. He understood them himself, and seized the earliest opportunity of preparing for the contemplated change as soon as the people should be ready for the experiment. On the 2nd of September an editorial appeared in the Times and Seasons, in which occurs the following shrewd, half-expressed anticipation of the change: "Great excitement prevails throughout the world to know who 'shall be the successor of Joseph Smith.' In reply, we say be patient, be patient a little, and we will tell you all. 'Great wheels move slowly.' At present we can say that a special conference of the Church was held at Nauvoo on the 8th ultimo, and it was carried without a dissenting voice that the 'Twelve' should preside over the whole Church, and when any alteration in the presidency shall be required, reasonable notice will be given; and the elders abroad will best exhibit their wisdom to all men by remaining silent on those things they are ignorant of." That the Twelve should preside over the whole Church, is placed in the fore-ground to be seen of all men, and to be spoken of openly, but, "when any alteration in the Presidency shall be required," a silent reserve was to be maintained, which only the wise could understand. Discussion was imprudent -- silence was wisdom. Shrewd Brigham! From a neutral standpoint, and taking the two men and their antecedents into account, the Church, however little it may have gained, lost nothing by preferring Brigham before Rigdon; but to a people like the Mormons, accustomed to so much revelation as Joseph had given them, and the guidance of "the Lord" in everything -- even to the building of a "boarding-house" - this period of their history is singularly suggestive. -- The "Revelator" was truly gone. The distinctive feature of Mormonism was henceforth to be 212 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS. implicit, unquestioning "obedience" -- an utter subjugation of will and personality to the dictates of the Priesthood. "Religion was made up of obedience, let life or death come." "Satan was hurled from heaven for resisting authority." * The past troubles of Mormonism were all then traceable to freedom of thought. The murderers of the Smiths were "a hundredth part less guilty than the apostates." "A little difference of feeling; a little difference of opinion; a little difference of spirit; and this difference has finally ended in bloodshed and murder." From this time the Mormon leaders have intensely hated "apostates," and to this day they have not discovered the possibility of any person leaving the Mormon faith, without at the same time "thirsting for the blood of the Prophet." While the Rigdon-Young difficulty about the succession was going on, Lyman Wight, one of the twelve apostles, and William Smith, another apostle and brother of the murdered Prophet, were objects of some anxiety; but the former was "let alone severely," and the latter, for a time, was spoken of with patronizing kindness as "the remaining brother of the Prophet and the Patriarch." Wight went to Texas with a small company to form a settlement. There they suffered a good deal together, and finally broke up and scattered where they could. The Prophet's brother was soon after accused of sowing his "wild oats," without proper regard to the order of the new revelation; and he was easily got rid of. He has since managed to maintain a happy obscurity. † John E. Page, another apostle, became discontented, apostatized, and was cut off, while Gladden Bishop, Strang, Brewster, Hendrick, Cutler, Emmett, and a host of other elders were in the enjoyment __________ * "Epistle of the Twelve." Times and Seasons, Vol. V., page 618. † From the beginning of Mormonism the ruling authorities have accepted defamation of character as the best weapon with which to assail the discontented. Without challenging the Mormon charges against the Prophet's brother, it is due to the latter to append the following from the Clayton County (Iowa) Journal: "During the war with the South he served nearly two years as a soldier, in helping to put down the rebellion. In 1841 and 42 he served in the legislature as representative from Hancock county, in the State of Illinois. He has followed the occupation of a farmer in the vicinity of Elkader, and upon Sundays occasionally preaching. As a man, he is candid, honest, and upright -- a citizen of whom rumour speaks no evil, and he is a faithful expounder of true Mormonism, while he deprecates polygamy." GREAT EXCITEMENT IN HANCOCK COUNTY. 213 of a fearful amount of new and bewildering revelation about who should succeed Joseph Smith, and all of them opposed to Brigham Young's leadership of the Church. Unborn, yet blessed and prophetically announced, was David Hyrum Smith, to be at some future time the ruler of the Mormon Church. * David Hyrum saw the light of this vain and wicked world on the 17th of November, 1844, about five months after the death of his father, and from his birth he became an object of the deepest interest to all professors of the Mormon faith. While the dissensions which have just been noticed stamped the history of the Church with the confusion of Babel, the Gentiles were preparing anew for hostilities. The assassination of Joseph Smith was soon discovered to be a great blunder. There was nothing about the Prophet personally, and still less, if possible, about his brother Hyrum, to justify, even in the remotest manner, the Carthage tragedy. The assassins had mistaken men for principles. Joseph was a liberal, big-hearted man, and the last person whom the world would have taken for a prophet. In Carthage jail the Prophet and Patriarch were but men: in Nauvoo they were representatives of a system. The mobbers, murderers, and assassins at Carthage could extinguish the one: the other was left intact. Brigham Young with a tragedy for his text was a more difficult man to deal with than Joseph Smith with a revelation to announce. The excitement in Hancock county was soon renewed, and the extremists on either side felt the desperation of their situation. The one sought to justify the assassination of the Prophet, the other to revenge his death. The resolutions passed at any meeting at Nauvoo or Carthage amounted to nothing: with such an account unsettled there could be no honesty on either side. There were hostility and conflict of interests which no preambles, resolutions, or public speaking could affect. The Mormons hated the Gentiles, and the Gentiles hated the Mormons. This was the only point upon which they were agreed. They were each of them ready to believe and act upon the most exaggerated and groundless reports, __________ * This prediction rests upon the remembrance of the Hon. John M. Bernhisel, formerly delegate from Utah to Congress. 214 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS. and there was nothing too bad for either of them to credit concerning the other. Of this time Governor Ford gives the following interesting picture: "The Mormons invoked the assistance of Government to take vengeance upon the murderers of the Smiths. The anti-Mormons asked the Governor to violate the constitution which he was sworn to support, by erecting himself into a military despot and exiling the Mormons. The Mormons on their part, in their newspapers, invited the Government to assume absolute power by taking a summary vengeance upon their enemies, by shooting fifty or a hundred of them, without judge or jury. Both parties were thoroughly disgusted with constitutional provisions restraining them from summary vengeance; each was ready to submit to arbitrary power, to the fiat of a dictator, to make me a king for the time being, or at least that I might exercise the power of a king to abolish both the forms and spirit of a free government, if the despotism erected upon its ruins could only be wielded for their benefit, and to take vengeance on their enemies.... BURNING A MORMON SETTLEMENT. 215 raising about five hundred volunteers; and thus did these Whigs, that which my own political friends, with two or three exceptions, were slow to do, from a sense of gratitude.... 216 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS. others to the neighbouring counties in Illinois. The sheriff was unable or unwilling to bring any portion of the rioters to battle or to arrest any of them for their crimes. The posse came near surprising one small squad, but they made their escape, all but one, before they could be attacked. This one, named McBratney, was shot down by some of the posse in advance, by whom he was hacked and mutilated as though he had been murdered by the Indians. THE SWORD AND THE TROWEL. 217 "When informed of these proceedings, I hastened to Jacksonville, where, in a conference with General Hardin, Major Warren, Judge Douglas, and the Attorney-General, Mr. McDougall, it was agreed that these had been raised, few or many, and put an end to these disorders. It was gentlemen should proceed to Hancock in all haste, with whatever forces now apparent that neither party in Hancock could be trusted with the power to keep the peace. It was also agreed that all these gentlemen should unite their influence with mine to induce the Mormons to leave the State. During the renewed contention the Mormons exerted every energy to complete the Temple. The faithful had been taught that they and all that was theirs should be consecrated to this great work, and themselves greatly blessed by aiding in it. They had learned that therein a great endowment would be bestowed upon the living, and peculiar privileges accorded to their dead. The faith and labours of the people were in an extraordinary degree stimulated by the announcement that if the Temple were not completed within a specified time "the Lord would reject them and their dead." † The Mormons estimated this building at about six hundred thousand dollars, and in its construction and design it exhibited "more wealth, more art, more science, more revelation, more splendour, and more God, than all the rest of the world." Their pride in this particular instance was pardonable, for the Temple was reared in the midst of great poverty, and, before they could complete it, the masons, carpenters, and artisans had their fire-arms lying beside their tools, while watchmen were continually on the alert to sound the alarm on the approach of any foe. Thus, in the New Zion, the Scripture story of the pains and perils of the Jewish builders of the walls of Jerusalem, under the guidance of Nehemiah, was repeated, which the Mormons failed not to remember, and from it made a pointed application. Indictments had been found in the Circuit Court of the __________ *"History of Illinois," pp. 361-410. † In a subsequent chapter the ordinances for the dead are treated of. 218 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS. United States, for the District of Illinois, against a number of the leading Mormons, for counterfeiting the coin of the Republic, and the marshal was eager for their arrest. The Governor declined to call out the militia to support the sheriff believing that it was better, after the calamities that had already befallen the Saints, and the promise they had given of expatriating themselves in the spring, to allow them to escape without further molestation; a conclusion which he readily reached, as he believed that none of them could be convicted. This bogus money-making in Nauvoo has been strenuously denied by Brigham and some of the apostles, and very probably those who denied all knowledge of that business were perfectly truthful in their statements, as far as they themselves were concerned. But that bogus money was made and in circulation, in and around Nauvoo, and also was sent to a distance for circulation, can certainly not be denied. That some of "the brethren" were engaged in its manufacture seems to be well supported by facts which subsequently transpired. No one unacquainted with the history of the Saints at this time could possibly imagine the recrimination and bitterness of feeling that existed between the Mormons and anti-Mormons of Nauvoo and the surrounding districts. It was worse than civil war, worse than a war of races; it was religious hate! It was fed by fanaticism on both sides -- a fanaticism that was truly despicable. It demonstrated beyond controversy that Mormonism, and what is termed by the Saints "the world," are incompatible with each other. With the faith of the Saints that they were building up "a kingdom," it was very natural that they should act differently from the citizens of a Republic, and that they should seek to control, and not submit to be controlled. With no faith in that religion, it was as natural for "the Gentiles" to view with alarm every influence and power in the county passing into Mormon hands. The idea of subjugation was at the bottom of their thoughts, and they were determined not to submit. It was evident to every one that there could be no peace so long as the Mormons remained in the county, and for their expulsion the anti-Mormons of the neighbouring counties pledged "their lives and their sacred honour." |
