The High Council met with a Captain Grant from Fort Hall. [Fort Hall was located near present‑day
Pocatello, Idaho, on the Oregon Trail.] They discussed with Captain Grant the
possibility of doing trade with the Hudson Bay Company. A letter was written by the council for
Captain Grant to take back to the management of the company.
On Tuesday it was stormy, and the weather was
snowy and cold the rest of the week in the valley.
On Sunday, a historic meeting was held at Orson Hyde's farm. After a wonderful feast, the members of the
Quorum of the Twelve met together.
Brigham Young expressed his feelings on the organization of the Church
and whether a First Presidency should be organized. All the Quorum members present expressed their feelings on the
subject from oldest to youngest.
Wilford Woodruff wrote: “Orson Hyde moved that Brigham Young be the
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints & that
he nominate his two counselors & they form the three first Presidency. Seconded by W. Woodruff & carried
unanimously.”
President Young nominated Heber C. Kimball
and Willard Richards to be his counselors.
After the meeting the went into Elder Hyde's house and feasted on pie.
On Monday, the Twelve met again to discuss
spiritual subjects and to conduct some business. They discussed posterity in this world and offspring in the world
to come. Brigham Young taught that
offspring of immortal beings were spiritual bodies. As for the business, John Smith (Joseph Smith's uncle) was appointed
formally as the patriarch over the whole Church. They discussed building the temple in Great Salt Lake City. The Twelve discussed the right to publish
Church periodicals. The Twelve was
granted liberty to publish papers in any part of the world where they
served. As the Twelve would go among
the nations, they should ordain elders among the new members to assist them in
their preaching. In this way, the
Twelve could spread out in different fields of labor. Orson Hyde and Ezra T. Benson were appointed to go to the East to
raise funds. Amasa Lyman was appointed
to go to the southern states to raise help.
Luke S. Johnson (former apostle) was approved to be ordained an elder.
Work started on the new tabernacle in
Miller's settlement. On Tuesday the
Twelve returned to Winter Quarters.
They rode through a cold hail storm to the ferry.
On Thursday, John D. Lee was tried before the Council. Over the months at Summer Quarters, there
had been much division and problems among Brother Lee's adoptive family. They also experienced periods of terrible
sickness and death. Brother Lee was
brought to trial on charges of improper conduct with his family. Brigham Young reproved him for trying to cover
up his faults and justify his errors.
President Young granted that any of Brother Lee's wives and adopted
children could be free of him. Two
wives were granted divorces and several adopted sons accepted their freedom
immediately.
Another case was formally held. W.W.
Phelps was again cut off from the Church. This time the reason was because he had married three wives
without authorization during his recent mission to the east.
On Saturday, Philemon C. Merrill, William
Pace, and fourteen other members of the Mormon Battalion arrived at Winter
Quarters. They had left Great Salt Lake
City on October 18.
Mary Richards wrote: “The weather cold. Jane [Richards] washing again today. I helped her again about the work & went see Olive. Attended a meeting at Bro [Jonathan C.
Wright's home] where Brother [Ezra T.] Benson preached us a good sermon,
advising the Saints to be faithful in observing the Sacred Covenants and gave
us much good instruction. Uncle Levi
[Richards] spoke in an interesting manner for a short time. After which the meeting was dismissed. This evening Jane was taken very sick with
the face ache.”
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 17, p.98; Wilford
Woodruff's Journal, 3:294‑96; Harwell, Manuscript History of Brigham
Young, 1847‑1850, 79‑80; Brooks, On the Mormon Frontier, 1:290;
Ward, Winter Quarters, 183; William Pace Autobiography
On Tuesday, a young Indian girl came to live with members of Brigham
Young's family. John R. Young recalled
how this came to be. There was a
disturbance at an Indian camp nearby.
“It was Wanship's band. Some of
his braves had just returned from the war path. In a fight with Little Wolf's band, they lost two men, but had
succeeded in taking two girl prisoners.
One of these they had killed and were torturing the other. To save her life, Charley Decker bought her and
took her to our house to be washed and clothed. She was the saddest looking piece of humanity I have ever
seen. They had shingled her head with
butcher knives and fire brands. All the
fleshy parts of her body, legs, and arms had been hacked with knives then
firebrands had been stuck into the wounds.
She was gaunt with hunger and smeared from head to foot with blood and
ashes.” She was cleaned up and clothed,
then taken into Lorenzo Dow Young family.[1]
On Wednesday, thirteen‑year‑old
Mary Eveline Stewart, daughter of George and Ruthinda Stewart, died. She was the first in the valley to die
because of sickness.[2]
Also on Wednesday, Jesse W. Crosby
wrote: “Weather cold. Many men complaining of frost bitten feet,
though the weather thus far has changed after cold a few days, pleasant
again.” Robert S. Bliss observed that
the ground was frozen 6‑8 inches deep.
On Saturday he crossed the Jordan River and other streams frozen solid.
On Saturday, the High Council met
together. It was decided that all the
hay should be moved out of the fort during the coming week, probably because of
fire safety. Elder John Taylor was
granted a site for a tanning works near Brother Gardner's sawmill, near the
warm spring. The Council looking into
the matter of Albert Carrington's dead cow.
It had been found by the hay stacks and it was evident that it had been
purposely killed. The men who found the
cow testified that they did not know how it died. After remarks by the brethren, President John Smith “sealed a
curse upon the person or persons who killed Carrington's cow, until they came
forward and made restitution.” The
curse was sanctioned unanimously by the Council.
On Thursday the Twelve met together and discussed the difference
between tithing and taxes. Wilford
Woodruff wrote: “President Young
remarked that there was a great difference between the tithing & taxes, for
tithing was a standing law of God for one tenth was required of every man &
woman who was the head of the family & that would probably be the law of
the Church until the coming of Christ.
But taxes was levied according to circumstances.”
On Friday, another group of about 20‑25
arrived from the valley. They were
mostly Mormon Battalion soldiers, but also included was the family of Joseph
Thorn. He had become dissatisfied with
the valley and left on October 6, 1847.
The brethren delivered 144 letters from the valley. Included was an epistle from the High
Council at Great Salt Lake City.
On Saturday, the Twelve met with Elder
Lorenzo Snow, who was the presiding Church authority over the Mount Pisgah,
Iowa settlement. He had come in from
Mount Pisgah for counsel.
News was spreading among the thousands of Saints across the ocean that
the pioneers had arrived at the valley.
For months it had been rumored that the Mormon pioneers had met disaster
and were eating each other in the mountains.[3] But the Saints in England, Wales, and other
parts were rejoicing in hearing the news of their safe arrival to the Salt Lake
Valley.
The Church publication in Wales, Prophet
of the Jubilee commented:
This is very sweet news to the children of
Zion throughout the world, and to the Welsh also. We give thanks to their sustainer for his great tenderness toward
them. . . . Neither let the Welsh think that they have arrived beyond the need
for assistance. . . . Consider how advantageous and lovely it will be to arrive
in a country where everything necessary is available, different from going as
they did to a place where there is nothing of the kind except what they
themselves established. Let this cause
us to be sympathetic with them, until we will all 'long pull a strong pull, and
a pull altogether,' now, for their sakes.
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 17, p.99; Beecher,
The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 214, 294; History and Journal of
Jesse W. Crosby, BYU, 46; The Journal of Robert S. Bliss, Utah Historical
Quarterly, 4:127; Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 3:297; Harwell, Manuscript
History of Brigham Young, 1847‑1850, 80; Brooks, On the Mormon Frontier,
1:290; Dennis, Prophet of the Jubilee, 190
On the dawn of the first Christmas in the Salt Lake Valley, guns were
fired to bring in this special day. Six
guns were fired: One to the east, one
to the north, one to the west, and three to the south. James Smithies recorded: “And they shaked the earth and broke several
squares of glass in the windows. This
afternoon we cast in our mites and had a good supper and we had a time of
rejoicing afterwards.”
Eliza R. Snow attended a party at Lorenzo
Young's new home. “After a splendid
dinner at which we freely & sociably partook of the good things of the
earth, father John Smith blessed the babe [Lorenzo] of Sister [Clara] Young. I served as scribe. Brother [Jedediah M.] Grant prayed and
dedicated the house to the Lord.”
Lorenzo Young added in his journal that the day was spent in
singing. Thoughts were on loved‑ones
and leaders back in Winter Quarters.
Former battalion member, Robert S. Bliss, was
among the Saints who wondered how his family was on this Christmas Day, back in
Winter Quarters. He recorded: “The snow is now nearly gone & the
weather fine. Today we were waked by
the firing of cannon & the day was spent in work by some & amusement by
others & at night dances & plays by the young people; I visited one of
my old neighbors who was driven out of Illinois with me & partook of a fine
Christmas Dinner; but my joys are damped by the consideration of my family;
They are more than a thousand miles from me & no possible chance to go to
them till Spring; their trials, privation, and afflictions is unknown to me
& were they known I could not relieve them; but the same being who has
preserved me in all my travels I trust will be their support in every situation
they may be placed in.
A young girl in the valley later
recalled: “I remember our first
Christmas in the valley. We all worked
as usual. The men gathered sagebrush,
and some even plowed, for though it had snowed, the ground was still soft, and
the plows were used nearly the entire day.”
On Tuesday, the council dealt with a case of wife abuse. Heber C. Kimball spoke out strongly that
such iniquity could not be harbored in the Church. Brigham Young said: “In
the first place, a husband should be a righteous man ‑‑ a man of
God and rule his household in righteousness and govern his wife with kindness
and love and not with a rod, club, or his fist. His conduct to his wife should be such that she will love him
with all of her heart. And he should
pray to God that his wife and children which are jewels given him might be
saved and not taken from him that not any thing need be lost which the father
hath given him.”
During the week, the Twelve worked on writing
an epistle to Saints. On Thursday the
epistle was prepared for the printing press.
It would be printed the following month in St. Louis. The epistle was a
call to the Saints who had been scattered and driven from Nauvoo to gather
immediately to the east bank of the Missouri River, in Iowa. Saints in Canada, England, Scotland,
Ireland, Wales, and other countries were asked to emigrate as soon as possible
to Council Bluffs. “For the time has
come for the Saints to go up to the mountains of the Lord's house, and help to
establish it upon the tops of the mountains.”
On Wednesday, police chief Hosea Stout
discovered that a number of Saints were planning on attending a nonmember
military ball to be held at Trader's Point on Christmas Eve. He spent that day “putting a stop” to these
plans. Brigham Young said: “I council the people not to go to the dance
tomorrow at the Point that is getting up by the soldiers there.” He instead encouraged the Saints to hold
their own dance.
On Christmas Eve, Hosea Stout and others were
sent by the Twelve to Trader's Point “to watch the moves of the officers” and
others at the military ball. Brother
Stout wrote:
We were well received by all who knew us. Were taken in, had our suppers in the best
of style. It was soon whispered around
amongst the whole company who we were and our business was naturally known by
some. All seemed to pay due regard to
us. We were invited to partake in all
their dancing & drinking always giving us the opportunity to dance oftener
than any one else. We passed off the
night very agreeably. . . . Before the
ladies, the officers were very civil as long as they were sober enough; but in
the barroom, they were exceeding vulgar.
Mary Richards wrote on Christmas Day: “The weather cold, spent Christmas at
home. Was sewing, reading, etc.”
On Friday, December 24, 1847, A historic multi‑day conference was
convened in the new log tabernacle across the Missouri River in what would
later be known as Kanesville. The
tabernacle was forty by sixty feet, capable of seating hundreds of people. Orson Pratt opened the meeting by dedicating
the building. Several members of the
Twelve addressed the congregation.
Orson Pratt explained that since the death of Joseph Smith, the Lord had
wanted the Church to be governed by the Quorum of the Twelve. However, the Lord had revealed through his
Spirit that it was time to again appoint a First Presidency. This would allow the Quorum of the Twelve to
again take the gospel to the nations.
On Saturday, Christmas Day, the conference
continued in the new tabernacle. A new
high council was organized for the east side of the river including: James Allred, William G. Perkins, William
Snow, Evan M. Greene, Benjamin F. Bird, Noah S. Bulkley, George Coulson, Andrew
H. Perkins, Lyman Stoddard, Henry W. Miller, Herman Hoyde, and Ira Oviatt. Plans were discussed regarding emigration to
the valley in the spring. The brethren
on the east side of the river were asked to assist those on the west side with
teams and wagons.
In the evening, the Twelve met in a private
session to discuss formally announcing and sustaining the recent reorganization
of the First Presidency during this conference. They discussed whether or not other brethren should be called to
fill the vacancies in the Quorum of Twelve caused by this reorganization. They discussed candidates, but did not move
to fill up the quorum.[4]
On December 23, on what would have been Joseph Smith's 42nd birthday,
his widow, Emma Smith married again to Lewis C. Bidamon. They were married at the courthouse in
Carthage by a methodist minister. Lewis
Bidamon, a widower, was a respected new resident of Nauvoo and friend of the
Saints.[5]
Beecher, The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy
Snow, 215; Diary of Lorenzo Dow Young, Utah Historical Quarterly, 14:164;
Bennett, We'll Find The Place, 294‑5, 321‑22, 344; Christensen,
Christmas Is For You, pp. 151‑152; Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 3:297‑300;
Harwell, Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1847‑1850, 80‑1;
Ward, Winter Quarters, 184; Brooks, On the Mormon Frontier, 291‑92;
Comprehensive History of the Church, 3:308‑15; Newell and Avery, Mormon
Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, 246‑48
On Sunday, the High Council met together. Elder Parley P. Pratt spoke for some time about those in the
valley who were becoming dissatisfied.
and desired to go to California with Miles Goodyear. The Council decided to have the city marshal
stop those who were planning to leave.
Levi Jackman explained: “A spirit of dissatisfaction began to show
itself as to the country and against our leaders. Some wanted to go to California and were determined they would go
at all hazards. The council took the
subject into consideration. Not knowing
what influence they might use in that place and for other reasons, we passed a
law that none would be permitted to go until the Presidency should return next
season. Yet some did start and we sent
the martial and brought them back.”
A new committee was appointed to draft city
laws. Those on the committee included
Parley P. Pratt, Daniel Spencer, John Taylor, Charles C. Rich, Henry G.
Sherwood, and Albert Carrington.
On Tuesday, several laws were enacted. If anyone was convicted of idleness,
trustees would be appointed to take charge of the person's property. The person was to be put into employment by
the trustees and paid for the labor. If
anyone was convicted of violence to person or property, they would receive a
certain number of lashes on their bare back, to not exceed 39, or be fined up
to five hundred dollars. If any person
was convicted of adultery or fornication, they would also receive the same
punishment. The fine could be up to one
thousand dollars. If any person was
convicted of drunkenness, cursing, firing guns within the fort, or disturbing
the peace, they would be fined up to twenty‑five dollars.
Parley P. Pratt wrote: “The opening of the year found us and the
community generally in good, comfortable, temporary log or adobe cabins, which
were built in a way to enclose the square commenced by the pioneers, and a
portion of two other blocks of the city plot.
Here life was as sweet and the holidays as merry as in the Christian
palaces and mansions of those who had driven us to the mountains.”
On New Year's Day, a group of Saints gathered
at Brother Miller's house. Patty
Sessions wrote: “It was the best new
years I ever spent. We feasted, then
blessed and was blessed.” Levi Jackman
said it was the best meeting he had ever attended. He was very impressed by sisters in attendance and remarked that
there was more intelligence in the hearts of the sisters during the meeting
than in the hearts “of all the crowned heads of Europe.”
On Sunday, the Church conference reconvened at 10 a.m. Elder William I. Appleby addressed the
Saints on the political state of the world, the gathering of Israel, and the
signs of the times. Elder Appleby had
recently returned from a mission to the east and the Saints were eager to here
his words. Hosea Stout commented: “His discourse was lengthy and very
interesting to all present for our means of information at this time was very
limited. He is a beautiful and easy
speaker.”
Other speakers included members of the
Twelve. Heber C. Kimball spoke out
against attending “Gentile” dances. An
evening session was held at which Orson Pratt and Wilford Woodruff spoke. Eight hundred people packed into the log
tabernacle that evening to hear the brethren.
Brigham Young requested that all of the priesthood be assembled for the
conference session on the next day.
On Monday, December 27, about one thousand
Saints packed themselves into the tabernacle for the conference. Historian Richard Bennett wrote: “The marshal kept calling for people to
clear the aisles, crowd the benches, free the seats at the front on the raised
platform for the High Council and the Twelve, and not to crowd the fireplaces
and stoves. Many kept their coats on,
and several spread buffalo robes down the rows and across their laps to keep
warm.
Heber C. Kimball spoke in the morning calling
on sinners to repent. The names of the
ordained Seventies were read. President
Brigham Young explained that the Seventies would not be reorganized into
Quorums until they arrived at the valley.
In the afternoon, John Kay sang, with violin
accompaniment what may have been the first public singing of William Clayton's
hymn “All is Well” (or “Come, Come Ye Saints.”). Orson Pratt discussed again the subject of reorganizing the First
Presidency of the Church. Others shared
their feelings. Wilford Woodruff
recorded: “It was then moved, seconded,
and carried universally that Brigham Young be the President over the whole
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑Day Saints. President Young then nominated Heber C. Kimball to be his first
counselor which was seconded and carried unanimously. President Young then nominated Willard Richards as his second
counselor which was seconded and carried universally. It was then moved, seconded, and carried universally that
President John Smith be the Patriarch over the whole church.”
President Brigham Young then spoke and
instructed the Saints on various subjects.
He preached about the resurrection.
He said that only a person with a resurrected body could hold keys of the
resurrection. Father Adam held the keys
of resurrection. President Young
testified that the communion of the Holy Spirit had been felt in abundance
during the conference. He said, “This
is one of the happiest days of my life.”
The conference was concluded and the next
General Conference scheduled for April 6, 1848. The congregation sang, “This Spirit of God Like a Fire is
Burning” ending with the “Hosannah Shout” three times.
During the evening the Saints enjoyed
listening, dancing, and singing to the music of the band in the log
tabernacle. The Twelve returned to
Winter Quarters on Tuesday, crossing over the frozen Missouri River.
During the week Ezra T. Benson, Amasa Lyman, Erastus Snow, William I.
Appleby, and others started a journey to the east in an attempt to solicit aid
for the needy.
One of General Kearney's officers arrived
during the week to try to persuade ladies to attend a nonmember ball at
Trader's Point on New Year's Eve.
The Twelve met together on Wednesday to hear
a mission report of Alpheus Cutler. He
had been to the South and reported that the Lord was opening the doors for
missionary work, especially among the Lamanites.
The Richard's family held a party on New
Year's Eve. Mary Richards
recorded: “There was a very agreeable
company assembled, Uncle Willard among the rest. The bishop presided over the party and all things was done in
order, had a good supper past around.
The dance went off pleasantly. I
danced 4 or 5 times. Danced the Old
Year out and New Year in with Henry.”
At the year drew to a close, Wilford Woodruff
wrote in his journal: “The blessing of
the Lord has been great upon us as a people during the past year in all the
various portions of the camp of Israel.
We have now found a place to build a stake of Zion, where the people can
gather together and build up Zion. . .
. What 1848 will bring to pass in the history of the Church and Kingdom of God,
time must determine.”
On New Years Day, in the evening, a party was
held at the Council house with the Twelve, the police, and their wives.
Elder Orson Hyde met with the Saints in St. Louis. There were nearly
2,000 Saints gathered in the city at that time. They donated $705.84 to help the brethren move the Saints to the
west.
Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 17, p.99; Levi
Jackman Autobiography, typescript, BYU‑S, p.44; Parley Pratt
Autobiography(1985), p.334; Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 5, p.76; Our Pioneer
Heritage, Vol. 6, p.307; Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 3:300‑303; Harwell,
Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1847‑1850, 81‑2; Brooks, On
the Mormon Frontier, 292‑94; Smart, Mormon Midwife, 105; Beecher, The
Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 216; Ward, Winter Quarters, 185;
Bennett, Mormons at the Missouri, 213‑14; Bennett, We'll Find The Place,
292
[1]They would name the girl Sally. After reaching adulthood, she would marry
Chief Kanosh and live with the Pahvant tribe.
[2]The first death among the Saints in the valley was
three‑year‑old Milton Howard Therlkill, who on Aug 11, 1847,
drowned in City Creek.
[3]Most likely a confused report with the Donner/Reed
tragedy.
[4]These appointments would not be made until more than a
year later. On February 12, 1849 the
following brethren were ordained apostles:
Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, and Franklin D. Richards.
[5]This marriage to a nonmember would cause quite a stir
among the Saints. Many felt that this
showed that Emma had forsaken the faith.
This certainly ended any speculation that she might join the Saints in
the west. Bidamon would soon start
legal action to block any further sales of Church property in Nauvoo.