On Monday the High Council authorized Parley P. Pratt to raise a
company of twenty volunteers to go to Utah Valley. They were to fish and make a
treaty with the Indians to settle in the valley. Forty‑four men had
recently returned from Utah Valley after visiting the Indians on the east side
of Utah Lake. The brethren had complained about seventeen head of cattle that
had been driven off by the Indians. The chief whipped the offenders and
promised better conduct from his tribe.
On Tuesday a company of six men, under the leadership
of Levi Hancock, started their journey toward Winter Quarters. They carried
with them a letter from the High Council to Brigham Young. The letter included
news from the valley. There were 1,671 people settled there, in 423 houses.
There had been twelve deaths during the past few months. A grist mill and saw
mill were in operation. John Neff was starting a flouring mill and another
sawmill was nearly ready on Mill Creek. Two other saw mills were being built.
There were 872 acres of winter wheat planted. Spring gardens were being
prepared to plant tomatoes, cabbage, and other plants. During the winter
months, the brethren had been very busy working on roads and bridges. Bridges
over Mill Creek and Jordan River were almost complete. The Council reported on
the various groups that had left the valley, bound for California or Winter
Quarters. Captain Brown of the battalion had purchased the Miles Goodyear
property for $1,950 [at present‑day Ogden]. Several families had moved to
the ranch.
On Saturday several topics were discussed by
the Council. Henry G. Sherwood reported on the progress to establish a
cemetery. A potential site on the "table" proved to be too hard for
digging. The committee was ordered to continue their search. The progress on
the public works was discussed. Abraham O. Smoot and Daniel Spencer were
appointed to be on a committee to establish more roads. Work on the bridges was
halted because of deep snow in the canyons. Charles C. Rich was authorized to
procure a building to store the public property and firearms.
On Sunday evening Wilford Woodruff experienced a dream. He wrote:
"I had one of the most interesting dreams of my life during the night.
Most of it was taken from me when I awoke. I flew through the air from state to
state & escaped from the hands of my enemies. I went to Heaven and saw the
Saints in their employment. I saw Joseph & Hyrum Smith & many others
who had died of the Latter Day Saints. The innumerable company of Saints which
I saw seemed to be preparing for some grand & important event which I could
not understand. Many were busily engaged in making crowns for the Saints. . . .
The Saints were all dressed in white robes both male and female. My soul was filled
with joy & glory which I gazed upon the scenery that surrounded me but I
awoke and behold it was a dream."
On Monday Andrew W. Perkins and Henry W.
Miller returned from their visit to the Iowa legislature. They reported
promising news that a county would be organized on the Pottawatomie lands. The
politicians expressed a great desire for the Saints to stay in Iowa and develop
the land. They were anxious to have roads and bridges built, and to establish a
postal route to the Council Bluffs area.
On Friday, Mary and Jane Richards heard a
rumor that their missionary husbands, Samuel and Franklin Richards had arrived
in New Orleans. [In reality, they were still on a ship enroute from Liverpool
and would not arrive until April. Their voyage began on February 20.] Mary
hoped that the news was true and wrote: "It seemed as though it put new
life with us and caused our hearts to rejoice in the prospect of so soon being
permitted to enjoy the society of those we so dearly love. Oh! Lord grant that
the news may be true and we soon see their much loved faces again in peace and
enjoy thy smiles."
Brigham Young preached at the Russell home.
He said that every man had power according to his faith and faithfulness. This
power could not be taken from him as long as he remained righteous. He also
taught that rich men in the Church and Kingdom would be brought down poor. He
said that men could only rise and be exalted after they had descended below and
made poor.
The ship, "Sailor Prince" sailed from Liverpool for New
Orleans with a company of eighty Saints. They were led by Moses Martin and
Uriah Hulme.
On Saturday, Sutter's sawmill was put into operation. Henry Bigler
wrote: "This afternoon we started to saw, but it cuts slow there being so
much back water in the race, and the race has got to be cut deeper to give more
fall. The starting of the saw is to the Indians a great curiosity. The Indians
told Brown he lied, when he told we were making a thing that would saw by
itself, laid down on his belly for two hours, watching the same cutting boards,
when at last he got up and said "it was bueno," meaning it was good
and wanted to learn to be a sawyer, as before he could not conceive how a saw
could run without a man at one end of it."
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 17, p.105‑06;
Beecher, The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 221; Harwell, Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 1847‑1850, 89‑93; Ward, Winter Quarters,
194; Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 327‑29; Carter, The Mormon Battalion, 49
On Sunday the High Council wrote a letter to the Saints in California,
to be delivered by Levi E. Riter. The Council urged the California Saints to
gather to the valley as soon as possible, to help build up the settlement. They
were warned against settling with ease in California, where the world would
distract them from the cause of Zion.
The six men who had started out for Winter
Quarters during the previous week returned because the road through the canyons
was impassable. On Monday they started their journey again, this time traveling
up Weber Canyon. One of these men was twenty‑three‑year‑old
Ammi R. Jackman, a son of Levi Jackman. His father Levi wrote: "Ammi was
one of them. It was a hard and hazardous undertaking. Over one thousand miles
to go at this season of the year, without an inhabitant only at Bridger and
Laramie, liable to lose their way in the mountains or on the plains or to be
killed by the Indians. But the mail must go. I felt bad for him under such
circumstances but I believed the Lord would preserve them although they might
have to suffer much."
On Friday sad news was received about their
progress. Some men traveling from Fort Laramie met three of the six. The
brethren were in a sad condition with their feet badly frozen. They had
resorted to eating one of their horses. The other three men had proceeded on.
Levi Jackman wrote further about the
conditions in the Salt Lake Valley: "The winter has been very mild with
but little snow in the valley. Cattle have lived well by grazing. The large
wolves have killed some of our oxen and cows, and the Indians near Utah Lake
drove off some which was truly a loss to us under our impoverished
circumstances. But we hope for better times. Notwithstanding the little
dissensions and covetousness that was among us, take us as a whole, we enjoyed
ourselves and were as happy a people as could be found in any place."
On Saturday the High Council adopted a new
law to deal with the problem of stray animals. The Council also decided that
all those who had settled beyond the boundaries of "the big field"
without permission, must appear before the Council on the following Saturday.
Thomas Williams was granted permission to travel to the upper crossing on Green
River, to trade with the emigrants. He was instructed to act like an elder in
Israel at all times.
On Friday there was trouble at Strode's Store. Police chief Hosea Stout
became angry at Isaac Hill, who was speaking out against the police, using
abusive language. Brother Stout became enraged and began to physically assault
Brother Hill. As he was choking him, the fight was broken up by John Lyttle.
Later that evening, Brother Stout was called before the High Council on charges
pressed by Brother Hill.
The Council heard the case, and before
ruling, President Brigham Young addressed the gathering. He spoke critically
against the conduct of both of these brethren, but he was particularly
displeased with Hosea Stout's conduct as chief of police. He was entrusted as a
peace‑maker, yet he lashed out with violence. He understood that Brother
Stout's desires were to put down crimes and apostasy. Rather then just
condemning others, he should try to help them. "If I saw a man that I knew
would fall, I would not tell him so, but would try to save him as well as I
could." President Young told the police to clean up their act, to pray
when they came together.
President Young said: "We have good men
& bad men among us but if I see a bad man or a good man that needs reproof,
I will give it to him, but will I go into a store & strike a man? No. Would
it make him any better? No. But we should be saviors benevolent and kind and
imitate the example of the Savior." Both of the men made a confession of
their mistakes and they were reproved by the High Council.
On Saturday Wilford Woodruff celebrated his
son's birthday. Wilford Woodruff Jr. turned eight years old. Elder Woodruff
took his son to the water and baptized him. Afterwards the family gathered at
his home for the confirmation.
On Tuesday, eighty‑two members of the Mormon Battalion who had re‑enlisted,
were formally disbanded. They did not receive their promised pay allowance to
travel home, but did receive beef rations. Henry Boyle wrote: "The
citizens [of San Diego] became so attached to us that before our term of
service expired, they got up a petition to the governor of California to use
his influence to keep us in the service. The petition was signed by every
citizen in the town. The governor tried hard to keep us for six months longer,
but this latter offer was declined."
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 17, p.106‑07;
Levi Jackman Autobiography, typescript, BYU‑S, p.44; Beecher, The
Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 221; Harwell, Manuscript History of
Brigham Young, 1847‑1850, 93‑4; Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 3:329‑33;
Brooks, On the Mormon Frontier, 1:305‑06; Ricketts, The Mormon
Battalion: US Army of the West, 264
On Thursday a funeral was held for little Lorenzo Dow Young Jr. He had
been the first male child born among the Saints in the valley. He was six
months old when he died.
On Saturday Daniel Spencer reported on the
progress of the road committee before the High Council. Henry G. Sherwood,
Shadrach Roundy, and Edson Whipple were appointed to a committee, to fix the
price of lumber and the rate of sawing. Because of stormy weather and deep
snow, those asked to appear before the High Council during the previous week,
did not come.
Saturday was the eleventh birthday of Parley
P. Pratt Jr., son of Elder Parley P. Pratt. The family held a birthday party.
Elder Pratt wrote: "After dinner, in presence of the assembled family, I
related the circumstances of his being a promised child, with an account of his
birth, his history, and the death of his mother. I reminded him that he was my
first born ‑‑ my heir, both to estate and Priesthood. I exhorted
him to prepare to walk in my footsteps, and to do good and serve God and his
fellow men by a well ordered life, and by laying hold of knowledge and a good
education. I rehearsed to him my own sufferings, and the sufferings of my
family, and of the Church while in the States ‑‑ telling him of the
murder of our prophets and Saints, and how we had been driven to the mountains,
robbed and plundered of a very large amount of property and possessions. The
day was spent most pleasantly and profitably by all." [Parley P. Pratt Jr.
would later serve as a missionary to the British mission in 1862‑63. His
missionary companion was Joseph F. Smith, who later was the president of the
Church.]
On Sunday Orson Pratt addressed a public meeting at the Winter Quarters
stand. He spoke about the plurality of Gods. Mary Richards wrote that he
taught: "As a child grows up and becomes like his father, so we grow up
like our Heavenly Father and partake of all his attributes and in time shall
become just like him, even gods. He said that God himself was once man like
unto us."
Also on this day, a daughter, Elizabeth Ann
Stout, was born to Hosea and Louisa Taylor Stout. This came as a great joy
because they had lost all three of their children to sickness and death since
leaving Nauvoo.
Monday and Tuesday were rainy days. Mary
Richards wrote about an enjoyable gathering on Tuesday evening, at the home of
Phinehas Richards. "Father [Phinehas Richards] brought in Brother
[William] McIntire and his wife to play a few tunes for us on his violin. These
put the spirit of dance into the company, and finally we danced four French‑fours.
After which a part of the company took their leave, appearing well satisfied
with their visit. Brother McIntire and his wife stayed longer and took some
refreshments, talked about Brother Joseph Smith's death and the results."
On Wednesday Wilford Woodruff crossed the
river and traveled to Rollins settlement, in Iowa. He preached to the Saints
and had a good time with them.
On Friday the members of the Twelve met with Sidney Roberts who had been sent by the Whigs in Iowa to enlist the political support of the Mormons. His offers were accepted.
On Saturday Brigham Young authorized the
police to raise volunteers to stand guard every night for one month because of
Indian problems. The guards were to prevent the Indians from entering Winter
Quarters. No one was to trade with the Indians and would be fined if they did.
On Tuesday thirty‑five of the recently discharged Mormon
Battalion re‑enlisted soldiers, left San Diego on their journey to the
Salt Lake Valley. They were led by Henry G. Boyle. [They would meet up with
Orrin Porter Rockwell who would guide them to the valley via a southern route
through present‑day Las Vegas, Nevada. They would arrive on June 5, 1848.
Interstate 15 would later follow much of the route they blazed.]
Parley Pratt Autobiography(1985), p.334; Our
Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 17, p.107; Beecher, The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy
Snow, 221; Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 3:333‑34; Brooks, On the Mormon
Frontier, 1:306‑07; Ward, Winter Quarters, 196; Ricketts, The Mormon
Battalion: US Army of the West, 265;
Heavy snow continued to fall on the valley. On Tuesday Eliza R. Snow
wrote: "The storm continues sometimes rain & then snow. Most of the
houses are leaking profusely. Ours kept dry til this eve; but pour'd down thro'
the night without intermission." Patty Sessions wrote: "We have had a
wet bad time. One night we sat up most all night. It rained down through the
house so I dipped up much water in the house and carried out. We had no floor
and it was very muddy and our things wet. Today [Friday} we have got most of
our things dry. Not a house in the fort but what leaked. But we feel to thank
the Lord for the rain and snow for the land needed it very much."
Later, Sister Snow recalled this
uncomfortable week: "The roof of our dwelling was covered deeper with
earth than the adjoining ones, consequently did not leak as soon, and some of
my neighbors huddled in for shelter. One evening as several were sitting
socially conversing in my room, the water commenced dropping in one place and then
in another, and so on. They dodged it for a while, but it increased so rapidly,
they concluded to return to their own wet houses. After they left . . . I
spread my umbrella over my head and shoulders as I ensconced myself in bed, the
lower part being unshielded, was wet enough before morning. During the night,
despite all discomfitures, I laughed involuntarily while alone in the darkness
of the night I lay reflecting the ludicrous scene. . . . As the water coursed
through the willows and patter on the floor, washed the stones from the earth
above, and they went clink, clink, while the numerous mice which the storm had
driven in the shelter, ran squealing back and forth."
A couple cases were brought before the High
Council. Lorenzo D. Young brought a complaint against Simon Baker for taking a
cow from Sister Leavitt. Ira Eldredge issued a complaint against Parley P.
Pratt for cutting green timber or saplings. William Tubbs was given permission
to make sun bricks near the warm spring.
By Saturday the storm had left. John Steele
wrote about the grist mill operating on City Creek: "I could get a bushel
of sweepings at the millstones where corn was ground for $5.00 from Brother
[Charles] Crismon, who had his little corn cracker at the mouth of City Creek.
After I got it and made a cake, we couldn't bite it for the grit, so we made
mush and used it that way."
On Monday members of the Twelve crossed the river and met with many of
the brethren at the log tabernacle in Miller's Hollow for a political caucus.
They discussed organizing Pottawatomie County. Representative from the Whig
party tried to enlist the political support of the Saints. The brethren agreed
to support the Whigs if they would pledge that they would use their power to
protect the Saints from mobocracy. The brethren returned to Winter Quarters on
Tuesday.
On Wednesday about a dozen Pawnee Indians
came into Winter Quarters. They had returned from war with the Sioux and were
going to hold a council with the Omahas and Otoes. The Pawnees put on a
"very animated dance" in front of one of the stores.
On Thursday, Jonathan C. Wright returned from
his mission through Iowa, to Nauvoo, and then to St. Louis. He had baptized two
people and did his best to strengthen and comfort the Saints. He visited Emma
Smith Bidamon, but was received "coolly."
Azariah Smith received a letter from his father in the Salt Lake
Valley. Azariah wrote in his journal: "Mother is not there at present, but
will be next Summer. Father wrote that provision was very scarce; corn is from
six to seven and wheat from nine to ten dollars a bushel. He is going to get
corn and wheat so that when the rest of the family get there we will have
something to subsist on."
The "Missouri Republican" published five thousand copies of
William Clayton's "The Latter‑day Saints' Emigrants' Guide: Being a
Table of Distances, Showing all the Springs, Creeks, Rivers, Hills, Mountains,
Camping Places, and All Other Notable Places, from Council Bluffs, to the
Valley of the Great Salt Lake."
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 17, p.107; Our
Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 5, p.120; Beecher, The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy
Snow, 30‑1, 222; Smart, Mormon Midwife, 110; Wilford Woodruff's Journal,
3:335; Brooks, On the Mormon Frontier, 1:307; Bigler, The Gold Discovery
Journal of Azariah Smith, 112