DOCSLIB.ORG

Over the Rim: the Parley P. Pratt Exploring Expedition to Southern

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Over the Rim: the Parley P. Pratt Exploring Expedition to Southern Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All USU Press Publications USU Press 1-1-1999 Over the Rim William B. Smart Donna T. Smart Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Smart, W. B., & Smart, D. T. (1999). Over the Rim: The aP rley P. Pratt exploring expedition to Southern Utah, 1849-50. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USU Press at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All USU Press Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OVER THE RIM Parley P. Pratt, 1850. Daguerreotype by Marsena Cannon. Copy photograph by Nelson B. Wadsworth. OVER THE RIM The Parley P. Pratt Exploring Expedition to Southern Utah, 1849-1850 William B. Smart and Donna T. Smart, Editors UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS LOGAN,UTAH Copyright © 1999 Utah State University Press All rights reserved Utah State University Press Logan, Utah 84322-7200 Typography by WolfPack Cover design by Michelle Sellers Front cover illustrations from Clarence E. Dutton, Atlas to Accompany the Monograph on the Tertiary History of the Grand CaiionDistrict (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1882; reprint, Santa Barbara: Peregrine Smith, 1977). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Over the Rim : the Parley P. Pratt exploring expedition to Southern Utah, 1849-50/ William B. Smart and Donna T. Smart, editors. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-87421-282-0 ISBN 0-87421-281-2 (pbk.) 1. Utah-Discovery and exploration. 2. Mormons-Utah-History-19th cen­ tury. 3. Pratt, Parley P. (Parley Parker), 1807-1857. I. Smart, William B. (William Buckwalter), 1922- II. Smart, Donna Toland, 1923-F826.084 1997 979.2'01-dc21 99-6764 CIP CONTENTS PREFACE VII INTRODUCTION 1 THE JOURNALS 17 Great Salt Lake City to Sanpete 19 Sanpete to the Little Salt Lake 37 Over the Rim to Dixie 81 Little Salt Lake & Cedar Valleys & Beyond 111 The Long, Cold Trip Home 127 THE OFFICIAL REpORT 171 Pratt's Report to the Legislative Council 173 EPILOGUE 187 APPENDICES 189 Related Papers 191 Biographies of Expedition Members 200 Robert Campbell's Ute Dictionary 249 Robert Campbell's Emigrant Guides 252 BIBLIOGRAPHY 257 INDEX 262 MAPS THE PRATT EXPLORING EXPEDITION TO SOUTHERN UTAH X SALT LAKE CITY TO SANPETE VALLEY 18 PHELPS MAP OF "UTAH, YOAB & SANPITCH VALLEYS" 29 SANPETE VALLEY TO LITTLE SALT LAKE VALLEY 39 THE VIRGIN RIVER EXPLORATION 107 PREFACE Among many who helped, one man is chiefly responsible for this book. He is-or was-William Henrie. A desire to know better this great-great-grandfather led to examination of the journals kept on the Southern Exploring Expedition of 1849-1850, of which he was a member. Henrie left no account of that adventure, but perhaps journals kept by others would tell something about him? They do, but not much. He is mentioned four times. The roster of the expe­ dition lists him as a member of the Fourth Ten. The list of contrib­ utors to meet expenses tells us he gave five dollars. Isaac Haight's journal reports that on January 3, at the present site of Parowan, "camp met at 7 ocl P.M. Singing Prayer by Br Henry." And on March 17, in the south end of Juab Valley, two weeks from home, Robert Campbell's journal records, "fa Henry leaves his weak ox with the Indians, gives it to them." That's not much. But examination of the journals in search of William Henrie led to a paper presented to the Mormon History Association in 1992 and published in the Utah Historical Quarterly, spring 1994. And it led to the conviction that these remarkable journals deserved to be published in full in their original spelling, punctuation, and grammar. This we have attempted to do, along with an effort to place them in context of other exploration and travel in the region, the land itself, and what has resulted from the expedition. So, first acknowledgment and thanks must go to those who made this book possible, the journal-keepers themselves. Other reminiscences were written years later, but the contemporary jour­ nals were four. Most detailed and accurate, and therefore valuable, is that of Robert Campbell, official clerk of the expedition. Thanks to cooperation of the staff of the Archives, Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we were privi­ leged to work from the original holograph that resides there. The Archives also houses typescript copies of the journals of John C. Armstrong andJohn Brown as well as holographs of various papers VII viii OVER THE RIM of the expedition, including financial accounts, letters, and, of course, the official report to the Legislative Assembly. The original holograph ofIsaac Haight's journal is in the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California. All were made fully available to us. Special thanks to W. Randall Dixon and William W. Slaughter of the LDS Church Historical Department; Dixon for help in locat­ ing obscure materials, Slaughter for help in providing archival photographs to accompany biographies of expedition members. Cooperation was also unfailing from staffs of the Utah State Historical Society Library; Special Collections, Brigham Young University Library; Western Americana Collection, University of Utah Library; the Henry E. Huntington Library; and the small library in the Territorial Capitol Museum in Fillmore, Utah. The Southern Exploring Expedition is treated briefly in a number of histories of Utah and the LDS Church, but the only pre­ vious examination in depth is a master's thesis by Rick J. Fish, Brigham Young University, December 1992. We found his work useful and acknowledge it with thanks. Others helped. Lavoid Leavitt, St. George, indefatigable researcher of historic trails, guided us over the route the expedition followed from the time they crossed over the Great Basin rim into the Virgin River country until they exited it at Mountain Meadows. Alvah Matheson, nonagenarian virtual human encyclopedia of Iron County history, guided us through that region, including location of signatures carved into the rocks by the exploring company. With the late historian C. Gregory Crampton, we followed each foot of the Spanish Trail traversed by the expedition. James E. Bowns, Southern Utah University professor of biology and range ecology, was invaluable in identifying plants described by Campbell's jour­ nal, and archaeologist Mark Stuart was able to describe their use by Indians, prehistoric to the present. John R. Alley, executive editor of the Utah State University Press, has been unfailing in his support of the project and his counsel in how to accomplish it. His close attention to detail has done much to improve the product, as has his own expertise in western history and geography. Thanks to Tyler Leary for meticu­ lous copy editing, to J M. Heslop for generously photocopying many of the portraits and other illustrations in the book, and to Chantze Kin and Michael Spooner for preparing the maps. PREFACE IX Finally, though, thanks to Parley P. Pratt himself, to his offi­ cers and journal-keepers, and to the unsung members of the expedition-including William Henrie-for their fortitude, dedi­ cation, and grace under the harshest conditions. We feel honored to have known them, and to share their stories. -" Route of the Pratt Exploring Expedition to Southern Utah 1849-50 ity 1\ ,,I ,I fillmore, .1 I I ,I I"" Beaver I '. I, INTRODUCTION Brigham Young's accomplishment in bringing his 1847 Mormon Pioneer Company across 1,100 miles of prairie, mountain, and desert to Salt Lake Valley without death or serious accident required leadership, planning, competence, cooperation-and sacrifice. But as a demonstration of those qualities it pales by com­ parison with his accomplishment in the next two decades of bring­ ing to the valley in organized companies seventy thousand other Mormon converts from the eastern and southern United States and Europe. Even that was far from enough. There remained the challenge of finding places for all these immigrants to live, getting them there, and weaving them into the fabric of what was at one time a vast inland Mormon empire. This book is the eyewitness account of a little-noticed but important part of the latter effort. In its pages will be found abun­ dant evidence of the qualities demanded by Mormon pioneering, as well as the human weakness and questionable judgment that sometimes plagued it. The land to which the nineteenth century Moses led his cho­ sen people was harsh: little rain; thin, often-alkali soil; 95 percent of the land mountainous or desert unsuitable for habitation. With the nearest supporting civilization more than a thousand miles away to the east and nearly that far to the west, it was going to take a special kind of people to survive here. But there were compensations. Out of those mountains came streams of clear water that, the Mormons soon found, could soften the hard-baked soil and bring forth sustenance. The land was vast: in an area that included most of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau and stretched north in the Snake River drainage as far as the Lemhi River and south to the lower Virgin and across the desert as far as San Bernardino, there was room enough. And because the region was so harsh and remote, it contained no American or European competitors. Except for Indian tribes that the Mormons would ultimately push aside, there were no neighbors to trouble or 1 2 OVER THE RIM be troubled by.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Sacrifice of a Mother 33
    Maurine C. Ward: The Sacrifice of a Mother 33 The Sacrifice of a Mother Maurine Carr Ward It has been said that a sacrifice without a price is meaningless. Today, I wish to speak of a mother’s sacrifice. It was in 1836 when the Richards family1 in Richmond, Massachusetts, heard about the restored Church of Christ. Newly converted Brigham Young had introduced the Church to his first cousins. Phinehas, Willard, and Levi Richards, along with their sisters Rhoda, Nancy, and Hepzibah, immediately embraced the new teachings. Their parents and brothers Joseph and William rejected their supposed radical ideas, as did Nancy’s husband and Phinehas’s wife, Wealthy Dewey Richards. Wealthy watched in horror and sorrow as her husband, Phinehas, and her children all became increasingly interested in Mormonism. In an attempt to investigate the Church more fully, Phinehas, Levi, Willard, Hepsy, and Wealthy’s fourteen-year-old son, George Spencer, departed for Kirtland. There, in 1837, Phinehas and George were baptized. That fall, Phinehas returned to the East, carrying the gospel message back to his extended and immediate families, leaving George with Levi and Hepsy. Although Phinehas was able to baptize his three older children and other fami- ly members, his dear wife was still not converted. When the Saints in Kirtland left for Far West, Missouri, young George accompanied Levi and Hepsy, who settled on Shoal Creek. They were part of the thirty or forty LDS families living in covered wagons and tents and a few MAURINE CARR WARD is the editor of the Nauvoo Journal. She also edited the prizewinning biography, Winter Quarters: The 1846-1848 Life Writings of Mary Haskin Parker Richards, the first in a series of writings by frontier women, published by Utah State University Press.
    [Show full text]
  • Mormon Literature: Progress and Prospects by Eugene England
    Mormon Literature: Progress and Prospects By Eugene England This essay is the culmination of several attempts England made throughout his life to assess the state of Mormon literature and letters. The version below, a slightly revised and updated version of the one that appeared in David J. Whittaker, ed., Mormon Americana: A Guide to Sources and Collections in the United States (Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 1995), 455–505, is the one that appeared in the tribute issue Irreantum published following England’s death. Originally published in: Irreantum 3, no. 3 (Autumn 2001): 67–93. This, the single most comprehensive essay on the history and theory of Mormon literature, first appeared in 1982 and has been republished and expanded several times in keeping up with developments in Mormon letters and Eugene England’s own thinking. Anyone seriously interested in LDS literature could not do better than to use this visionary and bibliographic essay as their curriculum. 1 ExpEctations MorMonisM hAs bEEn called a “new religious tradition,” in some respects as different from traditional Christianity as the religion of Jesus was from traditional Judaism. 2 its beginnings in appearances by God, Jesus Christ, and ancient prophets to Joseph smith and in the recovery of lost scriptures and the revelation of new ones; its dramatic history of persecution, a literal exodus to a promised land, and the build - ing of an impressive “empire” in the Great basin desert—all this has combined to make Mormons in some ways an ethnic people as well as a religious community. Mormon faith is grounded in literal theophanies, concrete historical experience, and tangible artifacts (including the book of Mormon, the irrigated fields of the Wasatch Front, and the great stone pioneer temples of Utah) in certain ways that make Mormons more like ancient Jews and early Christians and Muslims than, say, baptists or Lutherans.
    [Show full text]
  • The Driver Families Their History, Emigration and Success in Ogden by Julie Cannon Markham, Great-Great Granddaughter
    The Driver Families Their History, Emigration and Success in Ogden by Julie Cannon Markham, great-great granddaughter Heritage of William Driver & Charlotte Emblen Boulter A royal residence for millennia, Thetford was the ancient capital of Queen Boudica, a Celtic leader who challenged the Roman occupation in 60 AD. She victoriously led her army against a nearby Roman settlement and then charged toward the new Roman city of Londinium. The Roman governor, realizing his troops could not withstand this tribal assault, left Londinium with his soldiers, leaving the city defenseless. Thousands were killed as Boudica regained control of Britain. The Romans later recovered their lost holdings and brought In 60 A.D., the widowed Queen Christianity to the Celtic tribes. A missionary preached on a Boudica of ancient Thetford gathered hill in Feltwell, near Thetford, and a pillar was erected in his Celtic tribes in East Anglia and honor.1 decimated the invading and brutal Roman army, killing about 60,000 In the fifth century, Germanic tribes known as the Anglo- soldiers. Thetford became the Saxons decimated the Celts as the Roman Empire lost power. ancestral home of William Driver. Christian missionaries from Ireland, greatly influenced by St. Patrick, again took Christianity to East Anglia, one of seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Faithful followers built a chapel around the Feltwell pillar. In 855, fourteen-year-old Edmund became the newly-crowned Anglo- Saxon leader of East Anglia, withdrawing into seclusion for a year so he could memorize Christian writings. In 869, the Viking army, known to all in East Anglia as the heathen enemy, advanced from Denmark in the east toward Edmund’s royal residence in Thetford.
    [Show full text]
  • Forestry and Resources for the Greatest Good, For
    Gifford Pinchot- Father of American Special Edition of the forestry and INTERMOUNTAIN first Chief of the REPORTER Forest Service. His philosophy was "conserva- tion and wise use of natural resources for the greatest ?a, good, for the greatest number United States of people over Department of the long run." Agriculture He overlaid that Forest Service basic philosophy with a strong Intermountain Region "public service Ogden, Utah attitude." His philosophy, June/July 1991 more than any other, has shaped the Publisbed for Forest Service multiple-use employees and retirees by tbe Public AffairsOffice.Intermoun- management of tain Region. Forest Service, C.S. DepartmentofAgricultureFederal the National Office Building, 324 2Stb Street, Ogden. ['tab 84401 Forests during Colleen Anderson. Editor the first 100 Susan McDaniel, Design and layout Pencil drawing by Susan Sprague. a seasonal Wilderness Ranger on Wm Carson years. Ranger District of the Thiyabe National Forest. 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 IM A GE F R OM I HE P A S T Walkara Walkara, considered handsome and dashing by young Indian maidens, sat of the for this oil portrait Just months before his death in 1855. (Photo credit: The Yutas Utah State Historical Society. It was painted by Solomon Carrelbo.) HEN BRIGHAMYOUNG n0and the Mormons entered the Salt Lake , Valley in 1847, they found a domain firmly under the control of the Yutas. The Yutas (later shortened to "Utes") were a nomadic people loosely grouped into five or six bands controlled by local chiefs. In the 1840's and 1850's, Ute encampments could be found from Utah Lake to the Cedar City area.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legend of Porter Rockwell
    Reviews/115 THE L E G E N D OF P O R T E R ROCKWELL Gustive O. Larson Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder. By Harold Schindler. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1966. Pp. 399. Gustive Larson is Associate Professor of Religion and History at Brigham Young University and the author of many books and articles on Utah and the Mormons. He is presently working on the anti-polygamy crusade. The sketches in this review are taken from this exceptionally handsome volume. The artist is Dale Bryner. The history of Mormonism and of early Utah as the two merge after 1847 has customarily featured ecclesiastical and political leaders, leaving others who played significant roles on the fighting front of westward expansion to lurk in historical shadows. Among many such neglected men were Ste- phen Markham, Ephraim Hanks, Howard Egan, and Orrin Porter Rock- well. Of the last much has been writ- ten but, like the vines which cover the sturdy tree, legend has entwined itself so intricately in Rockwell literature as to create a challenging enigma. This challenge has been accepted by Har- old Schindler in his book, Orrin Por- ter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder. The result has been to bring the rugged gun-man more definitely into view but with much of the legendary still clinging to him. An impressive bibliography reflects thorough research on the part of the author, and absence of discrimination between Mormon and Gentile sources indicates a conscientious effort to be objective. Yet the reader raises an intel- lectual eyebrow when confronted with an over-abundance of irresponsible "testimony" and sensationalism represented by such names as William Daniels, Bill Hickman, Joseph H.
    [Show full text]
  • Tribally Approved American Indian Ethnographic Analysis of the Proposed Wah Wah Valley Solar Energy Zone
    Tribally Approved American Indian Ethnographic Analysis of the Proposed Wah Wah Valley Solar Energy Zone Ethnography and Ethnographic Synthesis For Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Solar Energy Study Areas in Portions of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah Participating Tribes Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Ibapah, Utah Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Cedar City, Utah By Richard W. Stoffle Kathleen A. Van Vlack Hannah Z. Johnson Phillip T. Dukes Stephanie C. De Sola Kristen L. Simmons Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology School of Anthropology University of Arizona October 2011 Solar PEIS Ethnographic Assessment Page 1 WAH WAH VALLEY The proposed Wah Wah Valley solar energy zone (SEZ) is located in the southwestern portion of Utah and is outlined in red below (Figure 1). The proposed Wah Wah Valley SEZ sits in Beaver County, approximately 50 miles northwest of Cedar City and 34 miles east of the Utah/Nevada state line. State-route 21 runs through the length of the northern portion of the SEZ and provides access to the area. Figure 1 Google Earth Image of Wah Wah Valley SEZ American Indian Study Area The greater Wah Wah Valley SEZ American Indian study area lies in the Utah Basin and Range province within the Wah Wah Valley. The larger SEZ American Indian study area extends beyond the boundaries of the proposed SEZ because the presence of cultural resources extends into the surrounding landscape. The Wah Wah Valley SEZ American Indian study area includes plant communities, geological features, water sources, and trail systems located in and around the SEZ boundary.
    [Show full text]
  • MIGRATION • Tertained Hopes of a Long Journey Into the West
    AN OLD VIEW OF NAUVOO IN EARLY DAYS -This is from a painting by David Hyrum Smith. posthumous .son of the Prophet foscph Smith. JMeph Smith contemplated a · --------------------------- WESTERN T is evident that Joseph Smith did not expect Nauvoo to be a permanent I resting place for his people, but en­ MIGRATION • tertained hopes of a long journey into the West. Perhaps his opinion was not unlike that of Elder Heber C. Kimball, who prophesied when he first visited By C. Cecil rf!cqavin Nauvoo, "It is a very pretty place, but OF THE CHURCH HISTORIAN'S OFFICE not a long abiding home for the Saints."' Sidney Rigdon became provoked be­ cause of this prediction and exclaimed, our persecutors or lose their lives in con­ out a delegation and investigate the loca· "I should suppose that Elder Kimball sequence of exposure or disease, and some lions of California and Oregon, and hunt had passed through sufferings and priva­ of you will live to go and assist in making out a good location, where we can removt tions and mobbings and drivings enough, settlements and build cities, and see the to after the temple is completed, and where Saints become a mighty people in the midst we can build a city in a day, and have a to learn to prophesy good concerning of the Rocky Mountains. government of our own, get up into the Israel." mountains, where the devil cannot dig us out, Yet Joseph Smith never objected to The diary of Anson Call contains the and live in a healthful climate, where we can the prediction or reprimanded Brother following references to this incident: live as old as we have a mind to.• Kimball for relating to his friends that In company with about 50 or 100 of the * Nauvoo was but a temporary abode.
    [Show full text]
  • Utah Topic Ideas for National History Day
    Utah Topic Ideas for National History Day When you're thinking of ideas for your History Day project, be sure to consider Utah history. Why? When you choose a local topic, you're likely to find a wealth of primary resources right on your doorstep. Here are some great ideas for topics with a Utah angle. Explorers, Travel, and Trade in Early Utah • Rivera Expedition • Dominguez-Escalante Expedition • Shoshone, Pauite, Ute, Gosiute, Navajo Trade Networks – The Old Spanish Trail • Trappers and the Fur Trade • James Beckwourth, African-American Fur Trader • Jim Bridger • Peter Skene Ogden • Etienne Provost • Jedediah Smith • John Weber • The Donner-Reed Party • John C. Fremont • Miles Goodyear • Stansbury Expedition (UHQ) • Gunnison Expedition • Simpson Expedition • Pony Express • John Wesley Powell • Hole-in-the-Rock Trek • John Macomb Science and Technology in Utah History • Women inventors in Utah Territory (UHQ) • John Wesley Powell’s Geographic Surveys • Paleontology and Utah’s Dinosaur Rush (UHQ) • Dr. John Widtsoe – Father of Dry Farming • Invention of the Television, Philo T. Farnsworth • Thiokol and the Exploration of Space • The Artificial Heart • The Dirty Harry Nuclear Test, Nevada Test Site • The Downwinders • Utah’s Missile Launch Sites (UHQ) • Exploring Speed on the Salt Flats • Digital Pathbreakers: WordPerfect and Novell Utah’s Diverse Cultures • Native American Histories o Washakie o Ouray o Tabby-To-Kwana o Utes and Settlers in Utah Valley o Walkara and the Walker War o Black Hawk War and Circleville Massacre o Reservation
    [Show full text]
  • [Note: the Following Record Book, Which May Be a Duplicate of The
    [Note: The following record book, which may be a duplicate of the similarly untitled record book found in folder 5, is found in "Affidavits on Celestial Marriage, 1869-70," Ms 3423, FD. 5, LDS Church Archives.] [Inside front end sheet, recto] Joseph S. Smith Salt Lake City Utah Du. Book No 2 [Page 1 is blank.] [Page 2 is blank.] [Page 3] Testimony of Benjamin F. Johnson On the first day of April A.D. (1843,) eighteen hundred and forty-three, President Joseph Smith, Orson Hyde, and William Clayton and others came from Nauvoo to my residence in Macedonia or Ramus in Hancock Co. Illinois, and were Joyfully welcomed by myself and family as our guests. On the following morning, Sunday April Second, President Smith took me by the arm for a walk, leading the way to a secluded spot within an adjacent grove, where to my great surprise, he commenced to open up to me the principle of plural or celestial marriage, but I was more astonished by his asking for my sister Almera to be his wife. I sincerely believed him to a prophet of God, and I loved him as such, and also for the many evidences of his kindness to me, yet such was the force of my education, and the scorn that [Page 4] I felt towards anything un-virtuous that under the first impulse of my feelings, I looked him calmly, but firmly in the face and told him that, "I had always believed him to be a good man, and wished to believe it still, and would try to;"-- and that, "I would take for him a message to my sister, and if the doctrine was true, all would be well, but if I should afterwards
    [Show full text]
  • The Boggs Shooting and Attempted Extradition: Joseph Smith’S Most Famous Case Morris A
    BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 48 | Issue 1 Article 2 1-1-2009 The Boggs Shooting and Attempted Extradition: Joseph Smith’s Most Famous Case Morris A. Thurston Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Recommended Citation Thurston, Morris A. (2009) "The Boggs Shooting and Attempted Extradition: Joseph Smith’s Most Famous Case," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 48 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol48/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the All Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Thurston: The Boggs Shooting and Attempted Extradition: Joseph Smith’s Most Nineteenth-century lithograph of the Tinsley Building in Springfield, Illinois, where proceedings in Joseph Smith’s extradition case took place in January 1843. The courtroom was located in rented facilities on the second floor. In August 1843, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen T. Logan moved their law practice to the third floor of the Tinsley Building. Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 2009 1 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 48, Iss. 1 [2009], Art. 2 The Boggs Shooting and Attempted Extradition Joseph Smith’s Most Famous Case Morris A. Thurston hen the Mormons were driven out of Missouri during the winter of W1838–39, they found the people of Illinois to have sympathetic hearts and welcoming arms. The Quincy Whig noted that the Mormons “appear, so far as we have seen, to be a mild, inoffensive people, who could not have given a cause for the persecution they have met with.” TheAlton Telegraph declared that in Missouri’s treatment of the Mormons “every principle of law, justice, and humanity, [had] been grossly outraged.”1 Over the next six years, however, feelings toward the Mormons gradually deteriorated, newspaper sentiment outside Nauvoo turned stridently negative, and in June 1844 their prophet was murdered by an enraged mob.
    [Show full text]
  • Polygamy and Mormon Church Leaders Alpheus Cutler February 29, 1784
    Polygamy and Mormon Church Leaders Alpheus Cutler February 29, 1784 – June 10, 1864 “It is no exaggeration to say that Cutler, next to the apostles, was one of Mormonism's most important leaders during this period.” – Journal of Mormon History, “Conflict in the Camps of Israel,” DANNY L. JORGENSEN, p. 31 1808 One thing to keep in mind when it comes to this family and others in early Mormonism is everyone involved is either married to, or a blood relative of each other. It’s almost impossible to extract definitive information on who fathered whom, or making sense of how they know each other. To complicate matters further, some have lied about a father’s identity by using pseudonyms, even to their own children. Our story about Alpheus picks up in 1808 with his first marriage, as records of Cutler’s life before that time are sparse. He met and married Lois Lathrop (distant cousin of Joseph Smith) while living in New Hampshire. Several years into their marriage they moved to western New York, where he and his family listened to a sermon by David Patten and Reynolds Cahoon. 1833 Following Patten’s sermon, they asked him to pray for their ailing daughter, Lois, and according to journals after laying hands on her, she was cured. (There are also stories of the daughter, 21 yrs old, making the request they lay hands on her). Not long after she was temporarily healed from TB, the family quickly joined the Church and moved to Kirtland sometime between 1833-1834. She ended up dying about 4-5 yrs later.
    [Show full text]
  • “A Room of Round Logs with a Dirt Roof”: Ute Perkins' Stewardship To
    Eugene H. & Waldo C. Perkins: Ute Perkins Stewardship 61 “A Room of Round Logs with a Dirt Roof”: Ute Perkins’ Stewardship to Look after Mormon Battalion Families Eugene H. Perkins & Waldo C. Perkins On 17 July1846, one day after Captain James Allen had mustered in the Mormon Battalion, U.S. Army of the West, Brigham Young called eighty- nine bishops1 to look after the wives and families of the Mormon Battalion.2 Among the group called were Ute Perkins (1816–1901), a thirty-year-old member of seven years, his uncles, William G. Perkins and John Vance, and his first cousin, Andrew H. Perkins. Until Nauvoo, the Church’s two general bishops, Bishop Newel K. Whitney in Kirtland and Bishop Edward Partridge in Missouri, bore as their major responsibility the challenge to care for the poor and needy. In Nauvoo, in addition to the general bishops, the Church initiated the prac- tice of assigning bishops to aid the poor within Nauvoo’s municipal wards— hence the beginnings of ward bishops. During the trek west, as the calling of these eighty-nine bishops shows, the commitment to calling local bishops to care for small membership groupings was underway and became enough of an established practice that in Utah it became standard Church administra- tive practice—a presiding bishopric at the general level and ward bishops at the local level. Therefore, study of the bishops’ work during the Winter Quarters period deserves historical attention, to which effort the following material contributes.3 Ute Perkins lived in a temporary Mormon encampment called Pleasant Valley, where his father Absalom was the branch president.
    [Show full text]