Brigham's Wise Counsels.--Joseph Toronto.--Joseph Smith.--Seer and
Organizer.--Prophecy of August 6, 1842.
In those days of constant home changing Brigham was somewhat like the
father of a large rustling family; everybody came to him for comfort or
counsel. Perhaps I cannot do better than relate a few incidents to show
how they trusted to his guidance.
In 1845 an Italian sailor by name of Toronto, had saved his earnings,
until he had several hundred dollars. But he was worried for fear he
would lose it, and could not decide where to deposit it. On returning
from a voyage, and just before reaching New York, he had a dream in
which a man stood before him, and told him to leave his money with
"Mormon Brigham" and he should be blessed.
On reaching New York, he began to inquire for "Mormon Brigham," but no
one knew him. Finally he met a person who told him that Brigham Young,
the President of the Mormon Church, lived at Nauvoo, Ill. Toronto
never rested until he reached that place. Making his way to President
Young's office, he laid the money on the table, and, merely asking for
a receipt, would apparently have left without further explanation, if
Brigham had not detained him. The money was sorely needed, and the act
was so deeply appreciated, that the humble trusting man was taken to
the President's home, and became a permanent member of the family.
At Winter Quarters a man by name of Majors, a gentleman of wealth
and scholarly attainments, came to Brigham and said that one of his
thoroughbred mares was down from starvation and could not get up,--then
asked if he had better not kill her. "No," replied the President,
"never destroy life. Try to save her. If you can't provide for her give
her to Toronto and I will tell him how to provide for her." He further
arranged to have a windlass erected, and the mare swung up. Then sods
were cut. Of them a stable was built around her, and so the animal was
saved.
Afterwards I saw Brother Toronto sell a pair of her colts to Kinkaid of
Salt Lake for seven hundred dollars. Moreover, Joseph Toronto, humble,
untutored Italian sailor, became, under the wise counsels of Brigham
Young, a man of property, raised up an honorable family, and gave his
children a good education.
I could relate numerous other instances coming under my notice during
boyhood days, to demonstrate the fact that President Young, whether
on the plains or in his office, was always accessible to the common
people, and that his counsels, when carried out, invariably brought
blessings.
At Winter Quarters he was everywhere; now at the bedside of the dying,
next in his carriage flying perhaps to the scene of a prairie fire,
where his calm voice might be heard directing the labors of his willing
followers: counseling peace, but ever urging eternal vigilance.
No sooner would his hands drop the critical labors of the moment, than
his mind would turn forcefully to preparing for the onward move, which
all knew would come in the early spring. From the various camps he
selected the hardy, robust, and energetic men whom he wished to have
with him in the pioneer movement that the council had decided should be
made as soon as grass grew.
In my frequent use of the name Brigham, I do not wish to convey the
idea that there was only one capable man, only one great leader in our
camps. On the contrary, I consider that we had a collection of able
men. Joseph Smith, in his short prophetical career of fifteen years,
had not only given the Book of Mormon to the world, but had brought
forth and established the most perfect church organization that we have
any record of. In doing this he had gathered around him many able,
and some very learned men. Among the latter were such men as Sidney
Rigdon, Willard Richards, Lorenzo Snow, Orson Spencer, Orson Pratt and
Dr. Bernhisel; while of the former the new faith had gathered into
its fold, a legion of strong, intelligent spirits, such as Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, John Taylor, and a host of
others equally honorable and worthy of mention; men who have since
made notable history. These were now numbered in the camps of Israel
and Brigham Young valued their stalwart character, their sterling
integrity, and their wise counsel, and honored their decisions.
As a matter of fact, it was not President Brigham Young's personal
superiority which gave him preeminence. His leadership came by calling
and ordination from Joseph, and the approval of the people. Hence in
Mormon theology, back of Brigham stood Joseph and the people, and back
of Joseph stood the mighty Lord, even Jesus Christ, from whom came
the power and influence that held this multitude of moving families
together, and made it possible for one man--Brigham Young--to select
the men he desired to accompany him on the wonderful journey that still
lay before them.
Of course our people knew, or had reason to believe, that in Oregon
there were grand rivers, and extensive forests, with rich intervening
glades, inviting the home-seeker to come and take possession; but
experience had taught us that prosperity and wealth excite jealousy,
and invite turmoil and trouble, and so far had culminated in expulsion
from our homes. On the other hand, the interior of California was
marked on our maps as an uninhabitable desert, and Brigham said: "If
there is a place on this earth that our enemies do not want, that's the
place I'm hunting for."
If the reader will bear in mind that in July we had given a battalion
of five hundred of our ablest men to fight our country's battles in
Mexico, it will help them to realize the additional sacrifice the
people would now have to make to fit out and part with one hundred
and forty men for a pioneer advance guard, whose duty it would be to
find the place where, under the blessing of God, the Saints might
rest in peace. By parting with the battalion boys, our camps were so
weakened that in many instances mothers and children had to do the
rough, out-of-door work of husbands and fathers; and many of the early
converts to Mormonism were from the eastern states, and came from
homes where refinement had clustered round the family hearth and music
and song had happified their lives. The strenuous nature of frontier
struggles was consequently new to them. Nevertheless, in building up
temporary homes at Winter Quarters, it was no strange thing to see the
sisters hauling logs for the cabin, or mixing and carrying mud for the
chinking and daubing; and in the winter, when death stalked through our
camps, it seemed that a heavy per cent of the "called ones" were our
strongest, bravest men; men whose places could not be filled, no matter
how willing the substitutes were.
Nature seldom qualifies the woman to do the work of the man. There
is, however, much truth in the adage, "Where there's a will there's a
way," and the deeds accomplished under the most trying circumstances
prove that the Mormon people had the will, for what, indeed, is will
but another name for faith? And to those who have faith, all things
are possible. Only by this God-given power, so little known and
comprehended, were our people enabled to cross the trackless plains,
subdue the wilderness, and make the "desert to blossom as the rose."
Often in our public meetings the Elders would liken the Church to a
ship, and the "Ship Zion" was no mean figure of speech. Let us carry it
further and see her launched upon a boisterous, unknown sea; then let
an emergency arise in which the captain and many of the ablest sailors
are called away and the ropes have to be manipulated by inexperienced
hands; for that is exactly the condition we were in.
How appropriately even we might paraphrase Nelson's historical
signal: "England expects every man to do his duty." England was not
disappointed, and to this day the English nation is proud of the record
made by her gallant sailors. In simple justice, that is the way the
United States should feel toward the Mormon people; for never in the
history of the world was a grander movement made for the establishment
of liberty, than the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo. Like the
cutting; of the dykes of Holland, or the burning of Moscow, it was the
making of a whole-souled sacrifice, that they and all the children of
men might receive an expansion of religious freedom. And, we, their
descendants, have reason now to rejoice that it was the Latter-day
Saints who were thus resisting oppression and injustice, and suffering
untold sorrows, that this nation might retain the proud distinction of
being an asylum for the oppressed and down-trodden of the world. Coming
generations will award the Mormons the just praise that is now withheld
from them.
On the 6th of April, 1847, the annual Church conference was held at
Winter Quarters. It lasted only one day, for the labor of fitting
out the pioneers seemed to engross everybody's time. Hearts had not
yet ceased aching over the parting with the battalion boys; yet now
a band of the fathers were on the eve of starting on a perilous
journey, and the end thereof no man knew. Their departure would leave
a poverty-stricken community of widows and orphans. Thoughts of that
parting dampened every attempt at revelry and would have filled every
bosom with gloom, save that we knew it was God's will. For a year we
had been singing:
"In upper California, O that's the land for me--
It lies between the mountains and the great Pacific sea.
The Saints can be protected there, and enjoy their liberty
In upper California, O that's the land for me."
We furthermore recalled to mind that on the 6th of August, 1842, Joseph
had prophesied: "You will be driven to the Rocky Mountains; many will
apostatize, or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease;
yet some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and
in building cities and will see the Saints become a mighty people
in the midst of the Rocky Mountains." All believed in this prophecy
and rejoiced that it was on the verge of fulfillment. Consequently,
as Hannah, in the gratitude of her heart, gave Samuel to the Lord,
so these daughters of modern Israel gladly gave their husbands and
grown-up sons to be the standard bearers of the Prophet Brigham in
planting the Ensign of Zion in the tops of the mountains.