A Young Folks' History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Part 15

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

GROWTH OF UTAH AND THE CHURCH.

As you were told in the last chapter, among the first things done by the pioneers was to send exploring parties out to find other locations for settlement. They knew that thousands of Saints would follow them to their new home, and room must be had for them.

In the first company that followed the pioneers was Peregrine Sessions. He, with some others, moved north from the pioneer camp and settled in what is now Davis county. Further north, at the junction of the Weber and Ogden rivers, there lived, before the pioneers came, a trapper and trader by the name of Goodyear. He claimed a large area of land, nearly all of what is now Weber county, saying that the Mexican government had granted it to him.

This claim he sold in 1847 to Captain James Brown of the Mormon Battalion for the sum of $3,000. In the spring of 1848, Captain Brown with his sons moved to the new location and began putting in crops. They were told that frost would kill the corn before it could ripen, but they worked on, and in the fall reaped a large harvest. Soon other families moved in, to whom Captain Brown gave land. Thus Ogden city and Weber county had their beginning.

Early in the spring of 1849, the first settlers moved south from Salt Lake City. They consisted of thirty families led by John S. Higbee, one of the pioneers. They settled on Provo river, built a fort for protection, and then began plowing and planting. There were quite a number of Indians in that part. Their head chief was Sowiette, and under him was Chief Walker.

The first was a kind Indian who wished to live in peace with the whites; but not so with Walker who delighted in stealing and fighting.

For some months everything went well with the Provo settlers, but in the fall the Indians began stealing, and once in awhile an arrow came uncomfortably near some settler when away from the fort. At length a party of men who were out searching for stolen cattle, had a fight with a band of Indians in which five of the savages were killed.

The settlers in the fort were now continually annoyed, until in February, 1850, a company of militia was sent from Salt Lake City to their aid. A fierce battle ensued, in which a number were killed on both sides, and the Indians were scattered to the mountains.

It was President Young's policy not to harm the Indians if possible, saying that it was cheaper to feed them than to fight them. But even this kind policy did not altogether prevent trouble with these wild people. In 1853, the Indians, led by Chief Walker, made war on the southern settlements, with the result that about twenty whites and a great many Indians were killed.

At the close of the war with Mexico all this western country became a part of the United States. At a convention held in Salt Lake City, March 4, 1849, the people asked Congress for a territorial organization. Later, a pet.i.tion was sent asking to be admitted into the Union under the name of "The State of Deseret." Until Congress could act, a temporary government was formed which existed for nearly two years. President Young was elected governor, and there were the other officers usually found in a state.

September 9, 1850, Congress pa.s.sed an act organizing Utah Territory.

President Millard Fillmore appointed Brigham Young as governor. Out of the six other officers, three were "Mormons," and three non-"Mormons" from the East.

At a conference held in Salt Lake City, October 6, 1849, a number of elders were called to new mission fields. John Taylor, Curtis E. Bolton, and John Pack were sent to France; Erastus Snow and Peter O. Hansen to Denmark; John Forsgren to Sweden; Lorenzo Snow and Joseph Toronto to Italy; Addison Pratt, James S. Brown, and Hiram H. Blackwell, to the Society Islands.

Brother Pratt had but recently returned from a five years mission to these islands, where twelve hundred souls had been baptized into the Church.

At the April conference, 1851, Edward Hunter was chosen to succeed Newel K.

Whitney as bishop of the Church. There were at that time about thirty thousand people in Utah.

President Young and the Apostles traveled much throughout the Territory, locating settlements, organizing wards and putting the Church in order. At the October conference, 1853, some of the leading brethren were called to locate in different parts of the Territory. Among them were Elders George A. Smith and Erastus Snow with fifty families who were called to strengthen Iron county, and Elder Lorenzo Snow with fifty families to go to Box Elder.

In the summer of 1854 the gra.s.shoppers did much damage to the crops, and again in 1855 in many parts these insects took every green thing. This brought on another scarcity. There was much suffering and again the people were compelled to live on roots. A number of the brethren had stored up some grain which they now shared with those who had none. In this way all fared very much alike and the hards.h.i.+ps were shared by all.

In the winter of 1856 a very sad thing happened. That year some emigrants came to Utah in handcart companies. Small, two wheeled carts were made at the place of starting in Iowa. On these carts were loaded baggage and provisions, and the men and boys pulled them across the plains. Sometimes the women and girls helped. A few ox teams usually hauled the heaviest loads in wagons, and in this way the Saints walked and pulled their carts over the thirteen hundred miles of their journey. This plan succeeded very well for those who started early and reached the valley in good time, but a number of companies started too late and were caught in fierce snow storms in the mountains. Many of these poor travelers died from hunger and cold, and if it had not been for some of the brethren who came out from Salt Lake to their help, no doubt most of them would have perished.

Topics.--1. Making settlements. 2. Trouble with the Indians. 3.

Organizing Utah Territory. 4. Famine of 1855-6. 5. The handcart companies.

Questions and Review.--1. Where was the second settlement in Utah made?

2. When and by whom was Ogden settled? 3. Tell about the settlement of Provo. 4. What trouble did the Provo settlers have? 5. What was President Young's Indian policy? 6. Who was Chief Walker? 7. What was done March 4, 1849? 8. What did the people wish to name the state? 9. When was Utah Territory organized? 10. Who was the first governor? 11. Name the first missionaries to France; to Denmark; to Sweden; to Italy; to the Society Islands. 12. Tell something about these missions. 13. Tell about the work of the Church leaders in making settlements, etc. 14. What was the cause of the famine in 1855-6? 15. What were the handcart companies?

CHAPTER x.x.xII.

THE "UTAH WAR."

The president of the United States appoints the leading officers of a territory. Many of the officers sent to Utah by the president were good men and did justice to "Mormon" and Gentile alike; but some were men who could see no good in the Saints, and were therefore always trying to oppress them. Such men were Judges Stiles and Drummond, and Secretary Ferris, who were in Utah in 1856. At last they left the territory and sent in a report to the president. In it Judge Drummond said that the "Mormons" were traitors to the United States, and would not obey its laws; that they had a secret organization whose duty it was to murder all who opposed them; that the court records had been burned; that the government officials were in danger of their lives, etc. Like reports were made by other persons, and the result was that a strong feeling was created in the East against the people of Utah.

On the 24th of July, 1857, the people of Salt Lake City were having a grand celebration in Big Cottonwood canyon. They were having a happy time. The band played, the choirs sang, the cannon roared, while the Stars and Stripes waved from trees and mountain peaks. Suddenly four dusty travelers rode into the camp. They brought news from the East, and startling news it was: the president of the United States had sent an army to Utah to establish law and order among the "Mormons!"

In the evening the Saints were called together, and the news was told them.

President Young spoke with power. "We have transgressed no law, neither do we intend to," said he; "but as for any nation coming to destroy this people, G.o.d Almighty being my helper, it shall not be."

Two thousand five hundred soldiers were on the march to Utah. General Harney was appointed commander, but he was succeeded by Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston. With the army came the new set of officers which the president had appointed for the territory.

In the commander's orders it was stated that the people of Utah were in rebellion against the United States, and that it was the duty of the army to restore the authority of the government and aid and protect the new officers in the discharge of their duties. On the 8th of September Captain Van Vliet arrived in Salt Lake City from the army. He told President Young that their intentions were not to harm the people in any way. President Young replied that he had had experience with military bodies in Missouri and Illinois, and he knew what the "Mormons" could expect. The captain tried to show President Young how useless it would be for a few "Mormons"

to resist a nation like the United States. Even if they prevented the army from entering the valley that year, more soldiers would be sent in the spring.

"We are aware that such will be the case," replied the president; "but when those troops arrive they will find Utah a desert; every house will be burned to the ground, every tree cut down, and every field laid waste."

The captain was deeply impressed, but such were really the intentions of the Saints. They could not trust the troops, and they did not intend to submit tamely to such scenes as they had pa.s.sed through in Far West and Nauvoo. They were not in rebellion, and if the president had simply sent some one to investigate, he would have found out that truth; but he had acted on the spur of the moment, and the troops were already far on the way. If they could be checked for a time until the truth could be learned, the danger of a conflict might be averted; but if not, then, said President Young, and the people were with him, their homes, fields, and gardens would be destroyed by fire and the Saints would flee to the mountains.

The army continued its march towards Utah. Col. R.T. Burton was now ordered by Gen. Daniel H. Wells, commander of the Utah militia, to take a small body of men and guard the emigrant trains that were coming in. The militia to the number of 2,500 men was called into service, and in September, 1857, Gen. Wells and staff went to Echo canyon and there made their headquarters.

Active preparations were now made to stop the enemy. Echo canyon, through which the troops would have to pa.s.s, was fortified by trenches and the loosening of rocks on the hill sides.

By this time the army was in what is now Wyoming, and was making for Echo canyon. Small companies of Utah men were sent out to meet them. They were instructed to annoy the invaders as much as possible, to burn the gra.s.s, drive off their cattle, etc., but they were to shed no blood if it were possible to prevent it. These orders were followed, and many exciting encounters and narrow escapes took place. Major Lot Smith, with a small company of men, at one time rode up to a large wagon train carrying supplies for the army. After capturing the drivers, they set fire to and destroy the whole train. Herds of cattle were driven off to Salt Lake valley, where they were kept during the winter and taken back to the soldiers in the spring.

Winter came early that year, and in the mountains where the armies were, the weather became very cold, with snow and sleet. The government troops made but little progress. They tried hard to reach the valley; but at last they were compelled to stop for the winter in the mountains of western Wyoming.

This was all the Utah leaders wanted. Now there would be time for finding out the truth. Most of the militia returned home, leaving fifty men as a guard in Echo canyon.

When the government at Was.h.i.+ngton heard the news from the seat of the "war"

there was considerable excitement, and Congress voted to send another army to aid the first one. Meanwhile the people of Utah were anxiously waiting for spring and preparing for the conflict which they thought must then come.

Topics.--1. Character of some territorial officials. 2. The army for Utah. 3. What the "Mormons" thought of the army. 4. How the army was stopped.

Questions and Review.--1. Who was Judge Drummond? 2. What report did he make to the government about Utah affairs? 3. What led President Buchanan to send an army to Utah? 4. What was the object of sending this army? 5.

When did the Saints first hear of it? 6. What did the "Mormons" resolve to do? 7. Why could they not trust the army? 8. What did the Utah militia do?

9. What was the object in annoying the troops? 10. What hindered the troops from entering Salt Lake valley that year?

CHAPTER x.x.xIII.

THE "UTAH WAR," (CONCLUDED.)

When that friend of the Latter-day Saints, Colonel, afterwards General Thomas L. Kane, heard of the troubles in Utah, he left his home in Philadelphia and went to Was.h.i.+ngton to see the president. Though feeble in health, he offered to go to Utah and try to settle the difficulties in a peaceable manner. The offer was accepted. Colonel Kane arrived in Salt Lake City in February, 1858, where he was gladly received. In the cold and snow of that winter he went to the camp of the army and had a talk with the new governor whom the president had appointed to take Brigham Young's place.

Colonel Kane told the officers with the army that they would be welcomed in the valley and kindly treated, but the troops must not locate in or near any settlement of the territory. The Colonel also convinced Governor c.u.mming that he had no need of an army to help him take charge of his office, and even prevailed on him to go back to Salt Lake City with him.

To this, General Johnston of the army was very much opposed. The president had sent him with an army to put the governor into his office, aided by sword and cannon; but now, if the governor could enter peaceably upon his duties there would be no need of him or his soldiers. The general didn't like it a bit; but nevertheless, Governor c.u.mming went with Colonel Kane to Salt Lake City in charge of some of the Utah militia.

Governor c.u.mming was received with the respect due such an officer, and duly installed into his position. He found the records and books of the courts safe, and learned that the reports which had led the president to send the army were not true.